Hunting

Having the right tool for the right job helps eek out the most enjoyment of the sport. When I was invited to go waterfowl shooting, I didn’t want to risk water damage to the wood on my upland shotgun. Falling in the water or being pelted by hours of rain is not uncommon when waterfowl hunting, so I knew I needed a shotgun designed for the wet environment of a waterfowl blind. Enter the Mossberg 930 Pro-Series Waterfowl, a 12 gauge, gas operated semi-automatic shotgun designed to take the abusive environment of waterfowl hunting.

For deer hunters that have grown restless in their home state, finding a new area to hunt can be maddening. Instead of dropping your money on an expensive lease, though, look to one of these seven states as a potential public land whitetail destination.

Waterfowl hunters are a dedicated lot; heading off to the lakes and swamps before daylight, stringing out decoys, shivering motionlessly in the blind as the morning fog cuts through their best camo jacket, all for the sake of making the skies rain ducks and geese. CZ has just the ticket for those of you who are really serious about filling the skies with shot and bringing down every bird that comes in range, the CZ Swamp Magnum Camo.

SilencerCo this week debuted the Maxim 50, an integrally suppressed muzzleloader that is legal in all 50 states.  It’s the first of its kind and yep, it’s legal everywhere, from La La Land to the Big Apple.    

The National Park Service is looking for competent hunters to volunteer to help thin the Grand Canyon bison herd which is overpopulated.

Earlier this year I noticed a Facebook ad for American Technology Network’s (ATN) new X-Sight II HD digital rifle scope. As firearm-related ads are wont to do, it called my name until I finally decided to check it out.

DoubleStar expanded its popular Always Ready Carbine (ARC) line with the addition of a .300 Blackout caliber model; meeting the needs of hunters who wanted those larger 30-caliber bullets for hogs and deer. This filled the gap in the ARC line for a suppressible caliber version as well.

“Phil, we’re going to pass on him; he’s just a bit too short for what we’re looking for.” Really?  The bull was as dead as yesterday, comfortably wading in the billabong, completely oblivious to the hunters standing 40 paces away behind the shade tree on the bank. But, professional hunter Graham Williams was very serious, and all I could do was draw the rifle down on the buffalo and count coup. Something in my body language must have expressed frustration, and the ever-cool Willams uttered what I would soon learn was his catch-phrase: “Please be patient, there are many bulls to be looked over.” I shouldered the big German double, and continued on the buffalo trail beside the series of waterholes that dotted the small valley.

Times change, and technology changes along with it. We hunters have an irrefutable connection with the past; we discuss our favorite cartridges — often with opinions based upon the experiences of our forefathers — and we long for the opportunity to recreate those hunts made famous in the hunting literature we adore so much. However, I feel that if our hunting heroes of yesteryear could’ve had the opportunity to use those tools that we now have available, they’d embrace them immediately. And among all the improvements we’ve seen in the last half century, I rate modern bullet development at the top of the list.