Western Hunter

Lessons of failure lead to success in the backcountry Being born and raised in Montana, I have been very fortunate to hunt big game every year. I have taken some respectable mule deer but have had a few giants escape my bullet years prior. This year, I started off doing a backcountry early rifle hunt […] The post Into The Wilderness appeared first on Western Hunter. View the full article

Nate Simmons hunts Montana’s backcountry for elk during the peak of the rut. To access this post, you must purchase Western Hunter Magazine Subscription – Super Subscription - Magazine, TV Show, Exclusive Online Content or Season 8. The post Perfect Storm Part II appeared first on Western Hunter. View the full article

Nate Simmons hunts Montana’s backcountry for elk during the peak of the rut. To access this post, you must purchase Western Hunter Magazine Subscription – Super Subscription - Magazine, TV Show, Exclusive Online Content or Season 8. The post Perfect Storm Part I appeared first on Western Hunter. View the full article

Chris and his son Mark join forces to try and find a mature Coues deer buck to fill Mark’s tag […] To access this post, you must purchase Western Hunter Magazine Subscription – Super Subscription - Magazine, TV Show, Exclusive Online Content or Season 8. The post Coues Camp Part II appeared first on Western Hunter. View the full article

Western Hunter is joined by Rafe Nielsen of Browning for his first Coues deer hunt. To access this post, you must purchase Western Hunter Magazine Subscription – Super Subscription - Magazine, TV Show, Exclusive Online Content or Season 8. The post Coues Camp Part I appeared first on Western Hunter. View the full article

Nate Simmons searches Wyoming’s high country for mule deer. To access this post, you must purchase Western Hunter Magazine Subscription – Super Subscription - Magazine, TV Show, Exclusive Online Content or Season 8. The post High & Dry appeared first on Western Hunter. View the full article

Chris Denham heads for Nevada to explore some new country in pursuit of mule deer on public-land. To access this post, you must purchase Western Hunter Magazine Subscription – Super Subscription - Magazine, TV Show, Exclusive Online Content or Season 8. The post Few & Far Between appeared first on Western Hunter. View the full article

From the time light strikes the objective lens of the binocular until the time it emerges from the ocular lens, it goes through an intense array of bends, reflections, splits and re-convenes in a compressed state. How well each of the man-made components handles this task contributes to the quality of the image we see […] The post Optics Terms Explained appeared first on Western Hunter. View the full article

No product category has evolved more in the last decade than riflescopes. Not long ago, a 3-9x scope was the industry standard. However, with the improvements in laser rangefinders, shooters have been clamoring for more advanced riflescopes. The optics industry has responded with hundreds of new products with ballistic turrets, ballistic reticles, and with higher […] The post Swarovski dS 5-25×52 Smart Riflescope Review appeared first on Western Hunter. View the full article

It’s mid-afternoon. You’re laying on a rock in the sun, crumpling a candy bar wrapper and picking the last bits of ham and cheese from your teeth. You settle in behind the binoculars, but after a while, your leg falls asleep. You change positions, go back to glassing. Muffle a cough, drink some water. Glass. […] The post How To Glass Without Using A Grid appeared first on Western Hunter. View the full article

Way back in the last century (1999), Swarovski introduced the EL binocular, which was at the time an entirely new class of optics. I was a sales rep for Swarovski in those days, but when I heard about the new binocular and the price, I was incredulous! The SLC class was spectacular and sold for […] The post Swarovski NL Pure Review appeared first on Western Hunter. View the full article

About 10 years back, my dad started carrying a GoPro on our hunts. You know, the clunky silver-colored one with the bulging fisheye lens? He’d wear it on his head and was constantly fumbling with it, never sure whether it was even on or off. That paired with the video quality leaving plenty to be […] The post GoPro HERO 8 Review appeared first on Western Hunter. View the full article

Connor Gabbott is a professionally trained chef, photographer, videographer and hunter. In this episodes he shares his secrets for preparing and sharing wild game. But we also dig into his evolution as a hunter, his entry into the camera world, and career changes. Connor wrote the introduction and shared some of his favorite wild game recipes […] The post Ep 22: Connor Gabbott appeared first on Western Hunter. View the full article

We write a lot about physical fitness and nutrition in the pages of Western Hunter. At 57 years of age, I am convinced that physical and emotional health are the most critical components to truly enjoying a hunt. The older we get, the more likely we are to be able to afford out of state […] The post Fitness Over 50 appeared first on Western Hunter. View the full article

To capture unforgettable images, a great lens is at least as important as the camera body. A few years ago, good friend and fellow photographer, Rod Sinclair, and I went to photograph black bears. Rod was driving (photo strategy: make sure to have your friends drive, giving you more time to shoot while they park […] The post Lens Selection for Hunting Photography appeared first on Western Hunter. View the full article

A menu for those who thrive Success tastes like a chunk of Dall sheep backstrap over a pile of burning willows in Alaska; stew in a buried Dutch oven outside a wall tent; pan-fried antelope heart slapped on some burger buns shared in a dusty camp trailer in the middle of the desert; coues deer […] The post The Taste Of Success appeared first on Western Hunter. View the full article

When I landed on the MEAT! website, I was quickly impressed by the easy-to-follow design. Products are neatly organized into three categories: prepare, process, and preserve. Under the prepare category, you will find slicers, saws, mixers, and scales. The process tab includes grinders, stuffers, and a jerky gun. The preserve category includes dehydrators, vacuum sealers, […] The post Made With MEAT! Review appeared first on Western Hunter. View the full article

In the highly competitive world of college and professional football, critical evaluation of your team’s abilities is a must. Wishful thinking can leave you exposed not only to humiliating defeat but also to public ridicule in front of potentially millions of viewers and frustrated alumni. The Film Doesn’t Lie I’ve sat in many a film […] The post Confront The Problem appeared first on Western Hunter. View the full article

 Rafe Nielsen from Browning is back again! In this episode we talk about life without a SHOT Show in 2021. We dig into new rifle products and how those products are developed and brought to market. We also spent time talking about gun safes, why we should all invest in one and the process […] The post Ep 21: Rafe Nielsen appeared first on Western Hunter. View the full article

As many of you know, pursuing mountain lions and training dogs has become a way of life for me. However, like many other hunters, I hunt year-round for every species I can possess tags for. The truth is that I am a bowhunter at heart, and have been bowhunting elk religiously for over 20 years. […] The post How Turkey Hunting Can Make You A Better Elk Hunter appeared first on Western Hunter. View the full article

On February 15th, 2021, my son Jackson came running out of his bedroom, screaming and cheering, “YES!!! Dad, I did it, I passed my hunter safety class!! He even finished it off with one of his slick Fortnight dances. He was so excited to start hunting, and of course, I was super pumped to get […] The post Jackson’s First Turkey appeared first on Western Hunter. View the full article

As a health and wellness coach and avid hunter, I am always looking for good quality, delicious snacks for the wilderness. I do not like 98% of bars that I try because they taste terrible. Several bars these days are also made with junk ingredients and several fillers that mess with my sensitive stomach, so […] The post Pack Out Bars & Bites Review appeared first on Western Hunter. View the full article

Browning offers a whole line of heavy-duty safes, and Chris Denham takes some time to show off his new one and walk us through his thoughts. The post Browning Safe Overview appeared first on Western Hunter. View the full article

Buying a riflescope in today’s marketplace can be a daunting task. With dozens of companies offering hundreds of riflescopes each, the options and different variations can be overwhelming. Thankfully there are only a few key features that you need to consider when making the decision. The first and most important task is deciding exactly what […] The post Riflescope Buying Guide appeared first on Western Hunter. View the full article

Even with technology, it’s still basics that matter most When I was 11 or 12 and got my first .22, Dad wouldn’t let me get a scope for it until I proved I knew how to adjust the open sights to make the bullet hit where I wanted it to. Once I got that first […] The post Scopes and Terms Simplified appeared first on Western Hunter. View the full article