Western Hunter

The Land of Enchantment In 2016, I found myself looking for a partner to go on an adventure in the mountains of New Mexico. I’d just learned of the opportunity to hunt Barbary Sheep over-the-counter… the closest I believed I would ever come to the often fantasized “real” sheep hunt. After a brief pitch including, […] The post Rocky Mountain Fortune appeared first on Western Hunter. View the full article

When it comes to modern compound bows, true innovation is hard to come by. Each year since the late 80’s and into the first decade of this century, each year archery companies offered new bows that were significantly better than their predecessors. But you can only improve a mechanical device so much. In fact, today […] The post Introducing The Mathews VXR appeared first on Western Hunter. View the full article

It was odd and unfortunate that Chris Denham requested this article on a day when three of my peers found themselves on a life raft in the infamous Bering Sea. Their lives were saved by the survival training from our annual competencies. These three were fortunate. Six other medevac professionals lost their lives amongst a […] The post Wilderness Survival Rules and Tenets appeared first on Western Hunter. View the full article

20 years ago, I had never taken what I consider to be a really big mule deer. I had done enough wildlife photography of park deer and winter range bucks to know one when I saw one, but until the year 2000 had never been fortunate enough to walk up on a real whopper. I […] The post Goals and Why They Matter appeared first on Western Hunter. View the full article

“Pull, pull, pull,” were the last words I remember thinking to myself, a fraction of a second before the arrow began its journey towards the big buck I had spent the last seven nights dreaming about. I say seven nights because it wasn’t until opening morning that I located the particular group of bucks that […] The post Blessed appeared first on Western Hunter. View the full article

Last fall I had the opportunity to test out both the Zeiss Victory Harpia 85 ($4600) and the Conquest Gavia 85 ($1999) spotting scopes. Obviously, the price point on these optics are quite different, but knowing the Zeiss name, I planned on both being great products. I was excited to put them through their paces […] The post Zeiss Conquest Gavia 85 vs. Zeiss Victory Harpia 85 appeared first on Western Hunter. View the full article

Nightforce Optics has been an industry leader when it comes to bulletproof riflescopes for the last 20 years. Their reputation for durability and accuracy has been proven through its application in both military deployments and benchrest competitions around the globe. Both end users require an extremely accurate rifle optic that is dependable and holds zero […] The post Nightforce NX8 Rifle Scope Review appeared first on Western Hunter. View the full article

Great opportunities await for all fall bears My son Trent is 14 and like many 14 year olds, he has a lot going on. He is trying to learn to juggle school, wrestling, friends and a lot of chores on the ranch. His chores include feeding horses, dogs, chickens, goats and an overweight pig while […] The post In the Shadow of the Volcano appeared first on Western Hunter. View the full article

The NL Pure is the first completely new binocular from Swarovski since the introduction of the EL back in…well… a long, long time ago. The EL has reigned supreme for closing in on two decades because no one could build a better binocular, so Swarovski did it. The new NL pure is that good, it […] The post Swarovski’s Newest Binocular: The NL Pure appeared first on Western Hunter. View the full article

Mountain lions are one of the most elusive species in North America. Without the use of dogs many hunters go their entire life without seeing one. For this reason, the use of dogs has been essential in research and management. Lions cannot effectively be hunted using baiting techniques or spot and stalk methods. Using dogs […] The post Hunting The Mountain Lion appeared first on Western Hunter. View the full article

High-power riflescopes have been on the rise with long-range shooting and precision rifle competitions. Many of the top optics manufacturers have been steadily increasing the power range on their scopes over the past five years and are now offering scopes maxing out in the area of 25-35x magnifications. With the trend toward shooting more distant […] The post Mid-Power Rifle Optics Review appeared first on Western Hunter. View the full article

Every big game hunter out there owes it to themselves to go North to hunt at least once, if not more. The problem with going north to Canada or Alaska is the expense. For a great many people, sheep, bear, and moose hunts are prohibitively expensive. The alternative to these pricier adventures is a caribou […] The post Bucket List: Caribou appeared first on Western Hunter. View the full article

Early season mule deer tactics to maximize your glassing and hunting time in the field Sure, it was hot. The Nevada archery mule deer season isn’t known for its cold weather. The high desert in August heats up quick. Deer are everywhere just after daybreak, but they become scarce after bedding in the midday sun. […] The post Midday Mule Deer appeared first on Western Hunter. View the full article

Changes have been implemented for the new five-year season structure for Colorado. Season dates and other factors are evaluated every five years by Colorado Parks and Wildlife, and the results are often minor tweaks and changes to what has been a very consistent management and license allocation approach. But, with a booming economy and a […] The post Colorado Big Game Hunting Season Changes appeared first on Western Hunter. View the full article

A History Spanning Generations As a young man, Hoyt Buck served as an apprentice to a Kansas blacksmith. In search of a new method to temper steel, he handmade the first Buck Knife from a worn file blade in 1902. His handcrafted knives really began to be appreciated during World War II. With 40 years […] The post Gear Legends: Buck Knives Model 119 appeared first on Western Hunter. View the full article

Remi Warren has been a field editor for Western Hunter Magazine for so long that neither of us can remember! In this episode we dive into his hunting career, how he got started, and what is really doing right now. Remi is one of the most adventurous hunters I know. Long before New Zealand was […] The post Ep 13: Remi Warren appeared first on Western Hunter. View the full article

In this episode I sit down with Steve Opat from Fairbanks, Alaska. Steve is an avid hunter and is also a medical helicopter flight nurse. He is in a unique position to learn from peoples mistakes. We talk about the what brought him to Alaska, his experiences, and the survival mindset. Steve always has a unique […] The post Ep 12: Steve Opat appeared first on Western Hunter. View the full article

Becoming a houndsman was one of my dreams. There were some people that gave me advice starting out, but mostly I had to do it on my own. Now my dream has become a reality, and a large part of my life. When I started raising and training young hounds, I didn’t know much. Since […] The post Selecting & Training Young Hounds appeared first on Western Hunter. View the full article

Packing in the backcountry is fairly simple during the summer or early fall, because the weather is relatively mild and you don’t need a heat source in your tent for comfort. However, when the temperature drops below freezing and the snow begins to pile up, a woodstove makes all the difference. At that point, a […] The post Heat In The Backcountry: Woodstoves for the Hunting Horseman appeared first on Western Hunter. View the full article

Anti-hunting hunters. Sounds weird, doesn’t it? Sadly, it isn’t a joke. What’s scary is that the anti-hunting hunter is often us. I’m sure you’re reading this and thinking that I’m not referring to you. I’ve been guilty of it in the past, and as you read on, my guess is that you might realize you’ve […] The post Anti-hunting Hunters: Apathy is the worst policy appeared first on Western Hunter. View the full article

Although there is a lot written about navigating the backcountry on foot both on and off-trail, there is very little information written about navigating in the backcountry with horses and mules, especially in hunting situations. In this article I will describe how I have travelled in remote areas throughout the West with my pack and […] The post Navigating the Backcountry with Stock appeared first on Western Hunter. View the full article

Today, there is more amazing outdoor gear on the market than ever before, including advanced textiles and fabrics, mountaineering style boots, waterproof down, and equipment that is lighter, stronger and more efficient than ever before. But this gear comes with a price…a high price. The average cost of a hunter’s setup has never been higher. […] The post Ready for the Long Haul: 5 ways you’ve ruined your expensive hunting gear and how to prevent it appeared first on Western Hunter. View the full article

A template for lifelong bowhunting satisfaction There are many reasons bowhunting is becoming more and more popular, and it goes deeper than the obvious factors like easily available tags and favorable season dates for deer and elk hunting. There’s something more primal about bowhunting that taps into our hard-wired, predator instinct. Perhaps there’s a prehistoric […] The post Getting Started as a Bowhunter appeared first on Western Hunter. View the full article

Logging roads and western hunting go hand in hand. In much of the mountain west, logging roads are the primary access to a lot of hunting areas. While there may be roads through many of the areas we hunt. Targeting non-motorized gated roads can lead to a lot of success by providing sanctuary to animals […] The post Road Hunting: unlocking the secrets to foot hunting locked gate public roads. appeared first on Western Hunter. View the full article

Weary from a long season, refusing to give up is still the best strategy “Sleeping in that morning would have been easy and weighed heavy on my mind. However, standing in awe of this beautiful bull, I knew all the early mornings and long miles were worth it.” It isn’t an exaggeration to say that […] The post The Extra Mile appeared first on Western Hunter. View the full article