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Entries for September 2014
This Thing Called Eye Relief
By Ralph M. Lermayer
Perhaps no part of a riflescope’s specifications is less understood than eye relief. Many hunters don’t have a clue what their pet scope’s eye relief is, nor do they care. As long as they can bring Ol’ Betsy to the shoulder and instantly find hair in the scope, it’s perfect.
Eye relief is the distance from the rear le... READ MORE
Sure Cures for Wrong-Eye Dominance
By Ralph M. Lermayer
There is a surprisingly large number of people with eye complications, the kind of problems that make the act of shooting a rifle awkward or near impossible. The most commonly affected shooters are those who are right-handed but left-eye dominant. Although these shooters instinctively mount a rifle or shotgun to the right shoulder, their left eye i... READ MORE
Are You Using Too Much Scope?
By Clair Rees
Winter was setting in along the Utah-Colorado border. It was two days before Thanksgiving, and I was slogging slowly through a foot of snow blanketing the Dolores Triangle. I’d drawn a late-season permit for the area. Hunting had been spotty here during Utah’s 10-day October deer season, when only “so-so” bucks were in resid... READ MORE
Hunting Accuracy: How Much Do You Need?
By Jon R. Sundra
Ever been at a shooting range prior to the season opener and overhear someone say, as they’re looking at a retrieved target, “That’s good enough for hunting” or “More than minute of deer”? Those and similar comments suggesting pinpoint accuracy isn’t really needed for hunting are voiced at shooting ranges a... READ MORE
The Truth About Long-Range Shooting
By Ron Spomer
Ever since humans first threw a stone to kill a bird, we’ve been searching for tools that can extend that range: slingshots, muzzleloaders, centerfires, rangefinders. To facilitate extreme-range sniping, today’s hunter can use VLD bullets, multi-reticle scopes, laser rangefinders, calculators, angled cosine indicators and PDA computer p... READ MORE
How Low Can You Go?
By Ralph M. Lermayer
Recoil (ri koyl) — To move back suddenly and violently, for example, after impact. Any way you look at it, recoil means something’s coming back at you. And as it relates to firearms, how fast and hard that is depends on a lot of factors. But no matter which caliber, gauge or style firearm you use, there are steps you can take to minimiz... READ MORE
Care and Cleaning of Binos
By Ron Spomer
A hunting binocular is a bit like a hunting dog. You have to take care of it to get top performance.
Fortunately, binos are more easily trained in basic obedience like sit and stay. Lay one on a stump, and it’ll stay there through rain, snow, cold and gloom for as many nights as it takes for you to locate it. If you happen to find the Bushne... READ MORE
Bust Claybirds on a Budget
By Clair Rees
Shotgunning is more art than science. That’s painfully obvious when you hunt quail, ducks, pheasants or any other upland birds. Carefully aim a shotgun as you do a rifle, and you’ll miss every time.
Even if birds rained from the sky every time you touched a shotgun trigger, wingshooting skills deteriorate without practice.
Pre-season ... READ MORE
Quick Accuracy Fixes
By John Haviland
Sometimes new rifles don’t shoot as well as we’d like, or worse, a previously dependable rifle goes off its feed. Operator error is often the culprit with a rifle that throws bullets across a target like a slingshot flinging rocks. When the gun itself is the problem, though, a simple tweak or two often are often all that’s needed ... READ MORE
Coping With Wind Drift
By Ron Spomer
One of the more common bits of advice to shooters is “Allow a little for the wind.” Most of us know the wind will blow a bullet off course. Most of us don’t know how, why or how far. Any of us planning on shooting much beyond 200 yards should. Wind can turn a hit into a miss, easily shifting a projectile off course by more than a ... READ MORE
Let Your Subconscious Be Your Guide
By John Haviland
You look up to see a pheasant coming. In a flash, it’s going to cross right in front of you. Are you going to take that second to think about swing, angles and lead, or are you going to just shoot? “Shotgun shooting is all about disengaging the conscious brain,” says Shane Naylor, a wingshooting instructor at his Shane’s Spo... READ MORE
Ranch Rifle Redux
By Clair Rees
The ideal coyote rifle? How about an accurate, easy-carrying carbine that shoulders quickly? Song dogs don’t always give you a standing shot, so a rifle that delivers fast follow-up shots would be great. When Ruger’s Mini-14 came along, I thought I had my answer. I got my hands on a Ruger Mini-14 not long after the neat-looking .223 aut... READ MORE
Pick Your Performance Range
By Richard Mann
A hunter wanting to push the limits of long-range shooting with more room for error needs a flat-shooting rifle. Remington’s .300 Ultra Mag, launching a 180-grain bullet at over 3,200 feet per second, is one of the flattest-shooting cartridges available.
But let’s say a .300 RUM rifle owner is going on a black bear hunt in Canada, wher... READ MORE
Fur Taker's Delight
By Ralph M. Lermayer
To some, a rifle is a rifle is a rifle. If it hits generally where it’s looking and delivers ample power to put the target in the freezer, it’s good enough. For the majority of big game hunters, that’s pretty much true, but to a fast-growing segment of the hunting community, using just any rifle will eventually cost them results. ... READ MORE