Hunting

In part three let’s take a detailed look at the remaining essential gear, as well as great backcountry rifle setups. Remember; good quality gear lasts longer, works better, and offers the best chance of keeping you alive when the chips are down.

Pigs are not the dumb animal many think they are, but they are creatures of habit. Find the areas or foods they like and use it to your advantage. Change up the baits you use to lure them in and it can lead to more pork in the freezer.

Airguns are not limited to what they used to be: guns for training children on gun safety. These days, airgun technology is advancing to the point where we can shoot heavier projectiles faster than ever before out of production rifles. Because of this, they are a great option to take out hunting! This Texan LSS .50 CF will produce up to 750 ft./lbs of energy, which is as much as a .357 Mag or 44 Mag in some cases. Yes, this is hard to believe, but not when you are holding a 600 grain slug in your hand.

With all the free time we seem to have, some in-home scouting can provide optimal preparation for the next time we can get out and do what we love. While we are confined to our homes, there are a few great resources that you can take advantage of to plan for the fall season.

I fondly remember picking up my grandfathers old dusty, faded hunting magazines and reading about hunting rifles. Unless you were buying a rifle from Kenny Jarrett, or other custom builders, sub-MOA rifles were nary to be found. Sometime during the late 90’s or early 2000, factory rifles started to appear that could produce MOA results with factory ammunition. These days, companies guarantee MOA accuracy and owners seem to fly into a fit of panic if their new rifle fails to group 1.047 inches at 100 yards. I recently got to spend some time behind a Mossberg Patriot Predator rifle, chambered in 6.5 Creedmoor, and had no problems hitting a 24-inch plate at 1,800 yards. How times have changed.

For the past two months, Nikon’s LaserForce Rangefinder Binoculars have been in my bino harness, and that’s where they will remain come fall.

This is the second article in a three-part series on the gear needed to be a successful wilderness-territory bivy hunter. In it, I’ll detail good gear and techniques for obtaining and purifying water, and carrying and cooking food.

Decoys can be extremely useful but do depend on a number of factors such as the game or predator you’re after, the season, and the quality of said decoy. All that said, if you’re in the market for a high-quality turkey decoy there is one I’ve had repeated success with: the Flambeau King Strutter.

As we emerge from winter and look forward to spring, there is only one thing on the mind of most hunters; turkeys!