Lead or unleaded? Professional hunter Peter Ruddle explains the environmental, health, and ballistic reasons why he now prefers non-toxic copper bullets over traditional lead designs.
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Lead or unleaded? Professional hunter Peter Ruddle explains the environmental, health, and ballistic reasons why he now prefers non-toxic copper bullets over traditional lead designs.
Continue readingThe world of ballistics can be an exciting adventure, but a beginning hunter is advised to play it safe. Start with a rifle chambered for a “regular”, non-Magnum caliber, but with a decent starting velocity, and sight it in for the maximum point-blank range. For hunting, pick the ammo with the best bullet you can afford. Learn how to hit targets at long range (here’s a blog on the subject), but try to keep your shots within the point-blank range.
Continue readingUnfortunately, not all hunters are able to practice shooting as much as they would like to. Ammunition is expensive, and range time might not be easy to organize. While nothing replaces actual practice, here are seven ways to improve your rifle shooting skills without firing a single round, and without taking too much time from your daily plans.
Continue readingIt is very important to establish a hunter’s maximum ethical hunting range (the distance at which they can confidently hit the target) and take this experience to the field. Recognising your shooting ability and remaining within your bounds are the key ingredient to confident shooting whether it be short or long-range
Continue readingA bolt-action rifle chambered for .30-06 or a .308 Winchester and topped with a 2-7x or 3-9x variable power scope will have you covered for most big-game hunting scenarios, and will last you at least until you’ve figured out what your preferred type and style of hunting is and what rifle and caliber are better suited for it.
Continue readingWide open spaces, often accompanied by scorching heat, but sometimes unexpectedly cold. Grey ghosts lurking in the bush, enormous cat pawprints you may see on the dust of the roads. Spot-and-stalk hunts, or waiting in a bling over a water hole or salt lick. Doesn’t this remind you, at least a little bit, of Africa? But whether you think about deer hunting in Arizona as an exotic or All-American hunt, it’s one of the hunts that should be on every deer hunter’s bucket list.
Continue readingMany people look down upon introduced animals, or “exotics,” but Barbary sheep, or aoudad, originally introduced from Africa’s Barbary Coast, have been roaming free in the southwestern United States for at least half a century, and have thrived in this new environment. They provide a true, challenging mountain hunt.
Continue readingThe state of Colorado is named after the Spanish word for “colorful”, and hunting in this state is precisely that.
Continue readingDo silencers have a place in the hunting field? Peter Ruddle answers the most common questions about hunting with a sound moderated rifle.
Continue readingThis post covers the difference between alligators and crocodiles from a hunter’s perspecitive: how to hunt alligator and how to hunt crocodile, how much does it cost, etc., in addition to the basic data about biology, appearance, distribution, etc. And yes, you meet one later, and the other after a while, the alligator and crocodile joke.
Continue readingThis post covers coyote and wolf as hunting quarry – how differences in where they live, what they hunt, etc. influence the way people see them, how they hunt coyotes and wolves, what best hunting methods for coyote and wolf are there, and how much is the price for wolf or coyote guided hunts.
Continue readingCrocodiles evolved 60 million years ago, and outlived dinosaurs. They are dangerous neighbors for people in rural Africa, who are only happy when a hunter comes from Europe or America to kill one. Hundreds of people perish in crocodile jaws in Africa, which makes hunting the reptiles ethically justified: if they can kill us, we can kill them. Try walking in the shoes of Lt. Col. Patterson and Jim Corbett, but beware: crocodile hunting can be dangerous.
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