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Every good sheep hunt is a mixture of sweat, pain, hunger, adversity, exhilaration, and awe, followed by more pain and suffering. This one was no different.

Not everyone will agree with me, but I believe that a person has not hunted until they have hunted sheep. I also maintain they are not sheep hunters until they’ve gone in unguided, depending only on their grit and sinew to find, kill, and pack out their ram.

I didn’t feel quite right taking to the mountains with no means of killing a ram myself, but I was happy to accompany my buddy Frank on his draw hunt. I got to watch Frank take his first ram last year on opening day, and being hooked for life, he was chomping at the bit to get another one on the ground.

For two days, we saw only ewes, lambs, and small rams, then the snow kept us tent-bound. When we finally got out, we encountered a wolverine, miles of steady rain, and then, when the weather lifted, a basin full of sheep.

Watch the video from our trip to get a virtual seat on the mountain, and experience a little bit of the pain, hunger, adversity, and heaping doses of awe and exhilaration that we did. Spoiler Alert: Frank killed a grand old ram, and I caught the shot on camera. Then the work started, with miles of grinding country under our very full packs. It was a trying eight days, but as with any good hunt, it ended way too quick.

Photograph by Craig NYHUS/Lone Star News

Late summer marks the beginning of dove season, and across the country kids are receiving their introduction to the sport of hunting by sitting on a bucket at the edge of a grain field and maintaining an eye on the sky. But dove hunting can be extremely challenging, even for experienced shooters. Here’s how to give young shooters the best chance of success and help ensure that their first opening day is but one of many.

1) Find a Gun That Fits Most kids get to have very little input on their first shotgun, but your child will benefit if you can involve him in the process. When you go shopping, keep in mind that a short stock and a lighter weight will help your child manage the gun better, and a gas-operated semi-auto will soften the punch of recoil. A 28-gauge gun is probably the best option, since it produces a more forgiving shot pattern than the smaller .410 and less recoil than its larger 20- and 12-gauge counterparts. Make gun safety the top priority at the range and in the field.

2) Spend Time at the Range The best way to kill more doves is to break more clays. Practice crossing shots at the skeet range and, if possible, have your new hunter practice a few shots from a low-gun position so he’s familiar with the process of mounting, swinging, and shooting all in one motion. Spend a few Saturdays before the season opener at the local sporting clays course, and always be encouraging, helping him develop proper shotgun technique.

3) Do a Dress Rehearsal Take your child to the field about a week before the hunt and set him up in the same position he’ll be in on opening day. Have him treat the experience as though he is hunting, watching for doves, remaining still, and tracking the birds as if he is going to shoot. Spend no more than 30 to 45 minutes in position, just enough to give your youngster a view of the field as it will appear on opening day.

4) Give him the Best Seat If you’ve scouted your dove fields, you likely have an idea of where the birds will be flying. Use this knowledge to position your young shooter where he’ll be able to see the doves coming and have a clear shooting lane. By positioning a kid where he can see birds early, you’ll give him an extra second or two to get prepared, which can mean the difference between a hit and a miss.

5) Prepare him for the Challenge Many kids go into the field with the expectation that they’ll bag a limit of birds quickly, making precise shots on even the toughest flyers. As all experienced hunters know, that just isn’t realistic.

Don’t make the experience about counting birds. Instead, use your time in the field to enjoy each other’s company, explain how difficult dove hunting can be, and take the time to discuss the role of hunting in conservation. Tell him it’s okay if he misses and that you’ll come back again another day and try again.

Photography by Bill Humphrey

Most hunters think the rut is a mature buck’s Achilles’ heel because that’s when he moves about most during daylight hours. However, once the rut kicks in, predictability goes out the window. A mature whitetail’s most vulnerable period may actually be long before the rut, when he’s far more patternable.

Without the distractions of the rut, a buck has only two priorities: food and security. Once he’s figured out the best place to find both, an older buck will make that his core area, possibly for the rest of his life. Studies of mature bucks fitted with GPS collars have shown that, other than during the rut, they spend the vast majority of their time in 5 to 10 percent of their home range. Your task is to identify that 10 percent without letting the bucks know you’re around.

Bachelor Party

There is another distinct advantage to the early season. Bucks are often in bachelor groups at this time of year, which is one of the ways younger bucks learn the safest places to hang out. Where you find one buck, you often find several, and their daily activity patterns can be quite routine. If you hunt open country—plains, prairie, and agricultural areas—you already have a decided advantage: Keep tabs on deer from a distance with a binocular or spotting scope.

Trail cameras can be extremely helpful in scouting deer without alerting them to your presence, which is particularly important when hunting older bucks. Any camera is better than no camera, but those with remote transmission capability are best. Set them up to send images or video clips to a device so you don’t have to visit the cameras often. As you compile several days’ or weeks’ worth of data, you’ll start to recognize patterns.

Beware of Fad Diets

Just because you’ve located bucks doesn’t mean your job is done. Early fall is a period of transition, and whitetail patterns shift as food preferences change and different food sources become available. Learn the cycles of preferred deer foods in the areas you hunt.

For example, where both white and red oaks grow, white oaks drop their acorns earlier and over a shorter period. The deer will be on them, but only as long as they last. The same is true for ripe persimmons. Deer will eat ripe soybeans almost anytime they’re available, but they really seem to key on them after a rain softens them.

If you did your homework, your best odds for taking a mature buck will be the first time you hunt a stand. Don’t be hasty, though. Wait until all conditions—wind, weather, time of day—are favorable. If you don’t score on day one, hunt conservatively and let stands rest between outings.

If you don’t connect with your target buck before the rut, don’t panic. Research shows he’ll be back in his old haunts after, and then you can pattern him again.

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Into every life a little rain must fall, so offset it with epic hunting adventures. The North American continent retains wild beasts aplenty in open, wild country like the Mountain Men enjoyed 200 years ago. Towering mountains, gnarly canyons, expansive grasslands and deep forests. More than 440 million acres of public land are open to free exploration, camping and hunting. Why settle for the same 100-acre deer lease year after year? Dream big, lay plans, saddle up and grab your adventure.

Note that these aren’t ranked in any particular order—that’s for you to decide.

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1. Mountain Goat Backpack Hunt British Columbia

Most U.S. hunters have never seen a mountain goat, but you can—up close and personal. Just be prepared to hike. These white cliff climbers can be hunted in several Western states, but tags are few and far between. In British Columbia you buy them over the counter. Nonresidents must hire local registered guides, but that’s a good idea anyway, considering how remote and rugged goat country is. You may have to hike a day or two from the road or fly a few hundred miles to a wilderness lake before starting your climb. You’ll share the experience with grizzly bears, black bears, wolves, and mountain lions. Probably moose, mule deer, bighorn sheep, and caribou, too.

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You’ll be in, on or around cliffs, ledges and rocky spires, living out of a backpack. Think ultralight everything—tent, sleeping bag, rifle, scope, underwear. The less weight you lug, the farther you go and longer you last, but don’t scrimp on boots. Get them with tall, stiff sides for ankle support and stiff, deeply lugged soles for clinging to rock. A small binocular will suffice for finding white goats, but back them up with a 20-60X spotting scope for judging horns. Differences between a big billy and a young one are slight.

Be prepared for rain and snow. You can hunt in September, but goats’ coats get thicker and longer later in the year. For a real trophy, try a late October or even a November hunt. The first half of October is usually a safe bet for thick coats without battling extreme cold and snow. Standard deer cartridges are fine, but use a stout bullet, either bonded, partition or monolithic. High muzzle velocity and high B.C. bullets minimize drop and wind drift. Steep shooting angles, both up and down, put shots high. Learn your ballistics or use a ballistic rangefinder with angle compensation.

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2. Elk Wilderness Horseback Hunt Montana

Nothing’s more classic than a Rocky Mountain horseback elk hunt from a canvas tent camp. Wood burning stoves, Coleman lanterns, campfires and starry skies. Dozens of outfitters offer these adventures in most western states, but Montana is my pick for its expansive mountain ranges without excessive elevation. Besides, Lewis & Clark hunted here. You can book with an outfitter/guide or do-it-yourself if you have the horses and camp gear. Either way it’s a grand adventure and much easier than packing your elk out on your back. Horses let you prowl deep into the back country without blisters. You’ll cover more ground than foot hunters ever could.

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For this adventure, carry a rifle of 6.5mm up through the 338 Magnums. A 140-grain, controlled expansion bullet launched at 2,700 fps or faster will work just fine if placed in the vitals, but most serious elk men like 7mm, .308, and .338 controlled expansion bullets. Accurate placement is more important than power. Don’t overdo the scope! Elk are twice as big as a big whitetail. You don’t need 20X to clearly target one under a crosshair.

The ultimate elk hunt comes during the September rut. Bugling bulls add a spine tingling note to the adventure, and if you call one close you’ll understand “adrenaline overdose.” Check the Montana Fish, Wildlife, & Parks website for application periods and procedures. In recent years tags have remained available late into summer, but that can change.

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3. Plains Pronghorn Wyoming

The pronghorn antelope isn’t an antelope at all, but who doesn’t want to hunt the second fastest land mammal in the known universe? To hunt pronghorn is to experience pioneer America of 1850. Native Americans, mountain men, explorers, cowboy and settlers all stalked these sharp-eyed speedsters, and now it’s your turn.

Wyoming has more pronghorns than any other state and plenty of public lands on which to pursue them, most of them easily accessible to an ordinary highway car. You can camp out on these public grass- and sage-lands, too. Few things are as romantic as a sip of amber beside a crackling sagebrush fire while the coyotes serenade the moon. This is an affordable adventure almost anyone can manage and the perfect initiation into western hunting.

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Dig up some land ownership maps, consult the Wyoming Game & Fish website for season dates, tags and locations and apply for your permits, usually due in January. If you draw, start training to become an open country stalker and High Plains marksman.

Pronghorns are our easiest big game to hunt because they live in the open. Scour the country at 10X. Look for white rumps and sides, then the black horns. Note the wind and the lay of the land and start your stalk. It’ll be easier than you first think. Slight rolls in the ground, sagebrush and grass hide your moves. Move slowly when you peek over the top.

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High B.C. bullets at high speed from 243 Win. through the 300 Magnums give you the reach. The 257 Weatherby is perfect. Zero 2 inches high at 100 yards and see where your bullets fall at 300, 350, and 400 yards. The extreme range at which you can hit a 10-inch circle every time is your maximum shooting distance. Stalk carefully and you won’t need to stretch it. Most pronghorns can be stalked well inside of 300 yards. Skin and cool carcasses immediately. Contrary to rumor, pronghorn venison is top shelf when properly handled.

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4. Quail Trifecta Arizona

Bobwhites have fallen on hard times across the southeast, but in Arizona you can find three of their colorful cousins—and shoot all three on the same hunt, maybe even in the same day. How many folks can say they’ve done that?

Like so many Western states, Arizona has plenty of public land. Quail are sprinkled across it based on elevation and rainfall. The lowland deserts with cacti and catclaw brush are Gambel’s quail habitat. These covey birds would rather run than breathe, so when you hear them calling “chicago chicago,” or notice your dog repeatedly breaking point, circle wide and come at them from another direction. Populations boom after high winter rainfall.

Scaled or blue quail are grassland versions of Gambel’s and most common in the southeast corner of the state after heavy winter rains. They’ll tolerate some brush, but need grass. They also love to run, but they’ll crouch when a good dog pins them or two hunters approach from opposite sides. Be careful where you shoot and be ready to put on some miles. Go high for Mearns (Harlequin or Montezuma) quail. They live among the live oaks in the “sky island” mountains of southeast Arizona where they scratch for tubers. Good boots are essential. Most ground is sloped and covered in loose gravel or ankle-twisting stones.

Seasons open mid-November and stretch through January. Licenses can be bought any time. Mid-summer thundershowers fuel Mearn’s populations.

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5. Late Season Pheasants South Dakota

The ultimate upland bird hunt has to be South Dakota pheasants after Thanksgiving. This remains the Pheasant Capital of the World, but it’s slightly corrupted with too many “preserves” where wild roosters are augmented with raised and released birds. You can get those in any state. You want to punch up wild ringnecks in South Dakota, and there are several places to do it.

One is on small farms where you get permission to hunt. Tough! The other is on small farms where CRP grass fields have been leased by the State for public hunting. No need to ask permission! Check the SD G,F&P website for maps showing these fields. The third and fourth wild bird hotspots are state Game Management Areas and Federal Waterfowl Production Areas. These are small to large grasslands usually sprinkled with wetlands (glacial potholes) and set amid private farmland, which supplies the grain. Wild pheasants use it all, and after late November they’ll be concentrated in the heavy cover because crop fields are gleaned and frost will have shriveled a lot of vegetation. Snow shrinks accessible habitat even farther.

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A wild rooster hunt isn’t for the weak of heart or leg, especially if the wind is blowing and mercury plummeting. You never know which field or slough they’ll be hiding in, and sorting it out means hiking miles through tough, thick grasses, rushes and cattails that tangle, grab and slow you down. Add below zero temperatures and high winds and you’re facing the toughest upland bird hunting in the country. But when a polychromatic rooster bursts from a clump of snow-crusted cattails at your feet, cursing your impertinence, you’ll warm up. When three or fifteen do it simultaneously, you may need a cold drink.

To pull off this adventure, know your birds! Pheasants are masters at running from noise and hiding in odd places where no one bothers them. But they have to come out to eat, twice a day. There’s your first break. Now, how can you catch them between their feeding fields and dense hiding cover? I’ve spent 50 years figuring that out, which partially explains how I was able to bag three-rooster limits five days in a row last November, all on free public hunting lands. You can do the same, but you’d best get started.

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6. Mountain Moose Alaska

The best hunting for the biggest deer in the world is in the mountains of Alaska where Alaska-Yukon bull moose climb above treeline to escape summer bugs and grow antlers that can span more than six feet! These are the biggest, heaviest antlers in the world and the bulls carrying them can go over 1,200 pounds.

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Hire a master guide. He’ll provide camp, gear, grub, and sometimes horses (highly recommended) or at least a human packer or two to help haul out all that meat. Moose venison isn’t called the “beef of the north” for nothing. You don’t want to miss a sliver. And if you don’t haul it out in a hurry, a grizzly might lay claim to it. This is the real, wild America the way it’s always been. Empty, hard, wet, steep, and wooly. You have to take life by the horns to survive. Do not go lightly, but go joyfully because riding the tundra mountain wilderness may be your ultimate connection with the natural world—and your role in it as a legitimate hunter.

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Go in September before the bulls begin rutting. Glass the high, lush basins. You’re likely to see two to four bachelor bulls together. Later in the month they’ll strip velvet and those palms will flash white like slabs of sheetrock. Any common deer cartridge will handle a moose so long as you put a controlled expansion bullet into the boiler room. Give him a few minutes to realize he’s dead and he’ll topple over. Then the work begins.

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7. Dall Sheep Fly-in Backpack Hunt Brooks Range, Alaska

If any adventure can top an Alaska moose hunt, this is it. The 700-mile-long Brooks Range is the northernmost extension of the Rocky Mountains. Its entire north slope is treeless—perfect habitat for sheep. And Dall’s are there to make the most of it. There’s no place for these magnificent white rams to hide. You see every dip and roll, every rock and pothole, so leave your agoraphobia behind. But be prepared for long mountain views, longer mountain hikes, camping under the northern lights and singing along with howling wolves. Be ready to see caribou, red fox, gyrfalcons, and tundra grizzlies. This is the most remote, wild, thrilling mountain hunt on the North American continent.

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Nonresident tags are readily available, but you must hire a registered guide/outfitter. Most are booked a year or two in advanced, so start planning early. You may hunt with bow, muzzleloader or modern firearm. The outside chance of tangling with griz suggests a rifle in the 270 Win. through 338 Win. Mag. class. I found a 5-pound Rifles Inc. Strata Stainless with Leupold 2.5-8x36mm scope in 280 Ackley perfect for my Brooks ram. Barnes TTSX bullets shot MOA and provided the deep penetration any unscheduled grizzly might have demanded. Tough, controlled expansion bullets will turn smaller calibers into bear stoppers if you park them where they’re supposed to go. Few griz/hunter interactions ever move beyond the scaring stage.

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You may need to shoot long here, so learn your trajectory tables and practice at varied distances. The range at which you can keep every shot inside a 12-inch circle is your limit. Better to shoot $500 in training ammo than miss your chance because you’re too inexperienced. It’s hard to judge distances in these big, open mountains, so bring a rangefinder with angle compensation. White sheep are rather easy to spot, so a 10x32mm or even a pocket binocular will suffice. You or your guide should pack a spotting scope for sizing up heads. Rams must be full curl or at least 8 years old. The average horn taken is just over 35 inches, average age 9.5 years and average length of hunt to bag one 4.5 days. But plan to stay at least a week. You don’t want to shortchange yourself in a wild place this spectacular.

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8. Muskox Nunavut

Folks think muskox are throwbacks to the Pleistocene, and they are, but so are Dall's sheep, mountain goats and whitetails. Muskox, uniquely adapted to survival in the high Arctic, just look a bit more exotic, like prehistoric cousins to bison. Actually, they’re more closely related to wild sheep. And hunting them on the barren, flat tundra they call home might make you feel like you’re hunting in the Pleistocene.

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Relax. This is good old Mother Earth, and the Inuit people have thrived here for a few thousand years, living cheek to jowl with muskox, polar bears, caribou, tundra grizzlies, red fox, Arctic fox and hordes of ducks and geese. Surely you can survive for a week. You must hunt under the tutelage of a registered guide anyway, probably out of a plywood cabin or at least a good tent camp with stoves, cooking facilities and plenty of food. You’ll boat or fly to camp and cruise the shoreline or cross the vast tundra with snowmobiles, dog sleds or ATVs. You can hunt in late summer/early fall and avoid most of the snow and thirty below or go in March to challenge the brutal cold. I went in late August and was delighted by the tundra changing color, the geese and loons packing up and flying south, the rock ptarmigan running about and the continent’s largest “bunny,” Arctic hares. They weigh as much as 15 pounds! You might want to buy a hare license, too.

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Linda Powell and I hunted northeast of Yellowknife near the shores of the Queen Maude Gulf with superb native Inuit guide George Hakongak. The area had been hunted by another party the previous week and the muskox were on the alert. We found just one broken-horned bull the first day, but two small herds the next. We had to follow for miles and stalk them twice to line up good shots. Despite the early date, the pelts were thick and lush with guard hairs reaching 11 inches. Late winter pelts will be even longer.

A muskox is one of those species you hunt for the novelty more than the tactical challenge. You are out to experience places and habitats foreign to most humans, yet as much a part of our hunting (hunter-gatherer) heritage as any whitetail or mule deer. Chances are you won’t get to stalk a polar bear, walrus or narwhal, but tens of thousands of muskox thrive in the Canadian Arctic, just waiting for an adventurer like you. With the right bullet, your deer rifle will do just fine.

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9. Mixed Bag Birds Hell’s Canyon, Idaho

Extreme western Idaho is the place to enjoy a heavenly upland bird hunt in Hell. Hell’s Canyon was bulldozed by the Snake River eroding its path north through the Seven Devil’s Mountains of Idaho and Wallowa Mountains of Oregon. In the process it carved the deepest canyon in the continent and created such a diversity of habitats that a smart, tough hunter can pursue six species in a day with a good chances of collecting them—all on public land.

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This bird bonanza includes ruffed and dusky (formerly blue) grouse, gray and chukar partridge, valley quail and ringnecked pheasant. The pheasant is a bit of a long shot, partly because its season opens later than the others, but with good planning, you can nab it. Here’s how to pull off the trick. Map a Payette National Forest road route into the high ridges west of U.S. highway 95 between Riggins and Council. Begin hiking a drainage west toward the river, ready for ruffed grouse near the creek. The lower you go, the better your chances for eventually stepping into quail and pheasant. Leave the creek to walk any flat to gently sloping grass flats for gray partridge. Climb the steeper, rocky slopes for chukars. Atop the high ridge you should find ponderosa pines and Doug firs bordering the open grass. This is where dusky grouse hang out. Drop over the top and down the forested north slope to find more duskies and ruffed grouse.

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Forest grouse season opens around September 1, partridge and quail two or three weeks later. Pheasant doesn’t come in until mid-October. If this sounds like an unbelievable cornucopia of birds, consider that sage grouse and sharp-tailed grouse and mountain quail used to be common in parts of this area, too, but habitat changes have pushed their numbers too low to allow hunting.

This is a bird challenge no upland hunter should miss, but don’t take it lightly. The terrain ranges from steep to leg-cramping, lung busting, heart attack steep. Rocks lie in wait to twist ankles, cacti to puncture skin. Early season temperatures can hit 90F and water can be hard to find. Prepare by working stadium stairs hard with 20 to 40 pounds on your back. Find stiff, tall mountain boots like LOWA Hunter GTX Extreme or Tibet GTX that fit without blistering. Break them in and carry spare socks in your bird bag for a mid-day change.

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Minimize gun weight to under 6-pounds. Take plenty of shells. You can carry more 20 ga. or 28 ga. than 12. Doubles are sweet, but I often use my old “beater” Franchi 48 AL auto for the extra firepower. Idaho does not mandate a 3-shell limit for upland bird hunting, and when half the covey flushes AFTER you’ve fired twice, those extra two or three rounds in the magazine come in handy. When you climb and sweat this hard, you want to take full advantage of your shooting opportunities.

You can camp nearly anywhere in the forest, but bring plenty of water. There are springs, but don’t count on finding them.

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10. Osceola Turkey Florida

You tell me where when and how. This is one bucket list hunt I haven’t tried yet, but my chance is coming, and once I take it I’ll check off two bucket list items at once: the Osceola turkey hunt and the turkey Grand Slam.

Turkeys may be little more than the largest gallinaceous bird in North America to some, but to anyone who’s hunted them, they are the most challenging “big game” feathered challenge in the world. Five variations (subspecies) frequent North America, and I’ve taken all but the small, dark Osceola of Florida, our only game bird named after a Native American chief.

Photograph by Kevin Howard

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This is another bucket list hunt you take not so much for the quarry, but for the place, the history and the unusual habitat where it lives. Osceoloa’s live in our country’s only sub-tropical swampland. Longleaf pines and palmettos, Spanish moss and live oaks. Swamps and glades and slow-drifting rivers. Prehistoric-looking wood storks and man-eating alligators. Toto, this isn’t Kansas anymore.

Photograph by Kevin Howard

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Osceola experts say these toms start gobbling in January and peak in March. They reportedly gobble hard, but typical vegetative cover, especially thick palmettos at ground level, muffle the sound. A noisy Tom can sound as if it’s a long way off when it’s already within shotgun range. Cover is so thick in many places that getting a clear view of the bird and a clean shot can be a challenge. As if all that weren’t challenge enough, these dumb turkeys aren’s so dumb. The males are reportedly notoriously difficult to call into range. Sounds like challenge enough for any bucket list.

Public land is available but heavily hunted, making turkeys there hard to fool. A better bet is private farm and ranchlands which undoubtedly come at a price. If I’m going to travel all the way to Florida for a hunt in March, I’m laying plans to catch a few fish, too. And then I’m going to explore all the wild life in those swamps and glades. The birdlife in Florida is an adventure all its own. Don’t forget the binocular.

Photograph by Kevin Howard

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This top ten list of North America’s greatest hunting adventures is, by its very nature, incomplete and subject to change. I could be talked into exchanging the muskox hunt for caribou, the pronghorn for mule deer, the elk for blacktails…

But this is good news. The fact that we have a confusion of hunting options on this continent points to the success of our North American Model of Wildlife Conservation, to the hard work and millions of dollars we hunters have contributed to restoring our wildlife heritage. Life is indeed short, but the list of potential outdoor adventures is long and enticing. Start your list and begin working to make it happen. Go for the gusto.

Photograph by Natalie Krebs

OL reader Ted Welschmeyer from Gilbert, Az., sent us this account of his favorite gun. To share your own, email us at [email protected] or submit them to our Facebook page. We want to know the story of your favorite gun, and what makes it special to you. And, of course, we want to see a nice picture of it.

My favorite old gun is a 7.65 Mauser bolt-action rifle with iron sights. It came from my late Uncle Frank when I was 16 years old. When I asked him about the price, he said the charge would have to be what he had paid for the gun, and that was a whopping $18 cash. He had ordered the gun from an old Sears and Roebuck catalog. Over his years he had harvested several deer with it, but no longer needed it because of having gotten a new lever action 30/30 rifle.

So, with all the soda bottle money I had collected at two cents each, plus many small odd jobs, I had the cash to make the purchase. Therefore, I had my first ever deer gun, but no ammunition, so my dad offered to buy me a box. It had 20 rounds of outstanding ammunition along with words of wisdom from Dad: "Son do not waste those bullets because they cost good money." So I took his words as gospel, and needed only one shot to hit the bullseye at 100 yards. It was good enough for me as a starter gun. That fall on November 20, 1965, I harvested my very first deer with it, a nice 150-inch whitetail buck.

Over the next several years, I harvested 15 more deer with that one box of ammunition. It was always one shot, one deer, and no tracking needed. Most of the shots were 100 yards or less and I made every one count. At 67 years of age now, I still look forward to deer hunting. In fact in 2014, I harvested a fine eight-pointer while hunting with my three brothers in the Missouri Ozarks. When my dad was around we always hunted with him and at the age of 78 I saw him shoot a doe at 150 yards with his own 7.65 Mauser. The following year he was called to his happy hunting grounds.

So now, each time I open my gun safe and put my hands on those guns, I am reminded of so many wonderful memories of hunts with family and friends in the great outdoors!

My Favorite Gun: Browning A-Bolt

My Favoirte Gun: 1917 Enfield

My Favorite Gun: 1903 Mannlicher-Schönauer

My Favorite Gun: Marlin 1893

My Favorite Gun: Remington 1100

My Favorite Gun: Remington 11-87

My Favorite Gun: Remington 700

My Favorite Gun: Savage 99

My Favorite Gun: Winchester 77

My Favorite Gun: Winchester 101 Light

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This new rifle from Savage solves a problem that has befuddled riflemakers since the introduction of the .17 HMR in 2002. Namely, how to make a safe semi-auto for that hot little rimfire.

[See the full Gun & Optics Test here].

The A17 has a delayed-blowback action that lets the pressures generated by the .17 HMR drop to safe levels before it cycles—and, based on our testing, it seems to work. Unfortunately, its plain looks, creepy trigger, finicky magazine, and humdrum accuracy dampened our enthusiasm. With some refinements and better looks, the A17 might become a winner, but it isn’t there yet.

There are many natural signs each year that herald the approach of the fall season, but here in Virginia, the first one is the dropping of walnut leaves. Often the last trees to leaf out in spring, black walnuts and their cousin the butternut walnut begin dropping their leaves in August and signal that cooler weather is coming soon. Primarily found in the Midwest and Eastern United States, walnut trees are a group of deciduous hardwood trees with varying shapes of nuts. These nuts are probably the easiest way to identify the trees. Black walnuts (Juglans nigra) look like round green tennis balls when they are freshly fallen (butternuts are more “egg” shaped). The rough husks soon turn from green to a very dark brown as they lay on the ground in autumn. Here are just five of the wonderful things you can do with this esteemed native tree.

1. Eat them The nut meats are rich tasting and contain 173 calories an ounce. They are high in fat, with a fair bit of protein, magnesium, phosphorus, copper and manganese. The wild animals might even let you get some, primarily because they don’t like to chew through those thick, bitter husks. This means that there can be black walnuts on the ground well into winter.

2. Apply them Fresh green walnut hulls can be dried out and soaked in alcohol to make a homespun version of tincture of iodine, which is very handy as a topical disinfectant on cuts, scrapes, scratches and burns. Dry the green husk chunks in the late summer sun, place them in a jar, and cover with high proof liquor. Let the mix sit for 6 weeks, periodically shaking the jar. Strain out the solids and keep the liquid as a first aid tincture. This liquid should be kept in a cool dark place and replaced annually.

3. Dye stuff The black gooey hulls make an outstanding dye for fabric, leather and even a wood stain. Crush them in hot water in an iron pot (if you have one). The iron acts as an assistant to the dying process. You could also toss a railroad spike in the mix if you were soaking cloth in a plastic, enameled or stainless container. While the brew is still warm, submerge your garment or cloth, and let it sit in the liquid for several days. The brownish grey color is great for making your own camouflaged clothing.

4. Stun fish Native peoples once used crushed green walnut hulls as a fish “dope” to stun fish and feed their tribe. This was typically done in very slow moving or still water, with massive amounts of hulls. Today, these practices are illegal in most areas, but something to remember for dire emergencies.

5. Expel your worms Gross topic, I know, but if you find that you have contracted intestinal worms in an austere environment (no doctors or meds), you might need it. A strong tea of black walnut hulls can be drunk twice daily for one week (no more than that) to expel or even kill the invaders. This horrible tasting brew is best consumed on an empty stomach first thing in the morning, and then a supportive dose prior to bed.

What do you do with walnut? Make furniture or gun stocks? Shell the nuts and make squirrel bait (or cookies)? Please tell us your uses by leaving a comment.

At some point, mounting and shooting a gun correctly should become automatic and instinctive. It takes lots of practice, and lots of shotgun shells.

As a general rule, I can hit doves better when I don’t know they’re coming, rather than when I see them heading my way at a distance. Gil Ash, the well-known Texas wingshooting instructor, told me that it’s because my subconscious is a lot better at shooting than my conscious self is. This is what instinctive shooting is all about, and at some point dedicated followers of its tenets reach that state of wingshooting nirvana where things just happen the way they’re supposed to happen. Ash calls it the “ah-hah moment.”

Ash once told me in an understated sort of way that what he teaches is “the ability to hit a moving object in the air with a shotgun.” That’s about as scientific-sounding as it gets for Ash, a Southerner who typically expresses himself in a uniquely Southern way. Vicki, Ash’s wife and teaching partner, is no less suited to the task, although her style is more subdued.

The Ashes have been teaching the finer points of shooting a shotgun for a couple of decades through clinics, television shows, magazine columns, instructional videos, and best-selling books. Because their shooting skills are nothing short of dazzling, everything they’ve done to promote their techniques or themselves has been hailed in the shotgunning world. Their latest venture is a subscription-based Internet shooting school called the OSP Knowledge Vault that’s accessed through their Optimum Shotgun Performance Shooting School website. The Knowledge Vault covers myriad wingshooting topics, and you can see what it looks like when you pull the trigger on a successful dove shot. In fact, there are about 100 such shots, as well as videos, to view. Here's a handful of sample videos that you can watch.

Gil and Vicki Ash have an online training school that features lots of solid shooting advice in the form of videos and photos.

It’s All in the Mind Essentially, the Ashes are purveyors of instinctive shooting, by which the shooter trusts his instincts to relay the right information to the trigger finger from the eyes and muscles when it’s time for the shotgun to go “BOOM.” For their disciples, shooting at a target correctly is more a spontaneous reaction born in the subconscious, rather than an orchestrated series of deliberate computations that eventually might trip over each other.

“It never fails—the guy who has no warning that a dove is coming until it’s right on top of him will have a better chance of hitting it than he will hitting the dove that he sees coming from a long way off,” says Ash, who could be speaking of me. “When he starts thinking about how much to lead it and how fast it’s flying and what he ought to do, he’s already messed up.”

Ash doesn’t put down any type of lead, be it swing-through or sustained.

Clearing away the physical obstacles and mental mistakes–and they vary from shooter to shooter–that keep a shotgunner from reaching his optimum ability is the first order of business for Gil and Vicki. Part of the process involves convincing shooters that variations of snapshooting, or instinctive shooting, will solve most of their problems.

Gil’s and Vicki’s clinics at various shooting venues around the country typically begin with a classroom segment in which Gil explains the relationships between hand-and-eye coordination and how we often “see” things without “seeing” them, such as the ignition switch in our vehicle, or the light switch on the wall. Likewise, through the application of correct form and repetitive shooting, our subconscious assumes control of analyzing and processing a target’s flight data and lets us know the moment to pull the trigger.

Good form, from mounting to pulling the trigger, leads to more success – whether in a dove field or a duck blind.

Hits and Misses The first time Gil Ash watched me shoot, at one of his courses at Selwood Farm Sporting Clays Range near Talladega, I became a shooting model for others there. That is, Ash used me as a model of what not to do when mounting, acquiring a target and shooting. I was good at my job.

At the time, one of my biggest problems was mounting the gun to my shoulder correctly on a consistent basis. If the mount isn’t done properly, nothing else about the shot is likely to be. In my defense, a lot depends on the angle of the shot and where it originates. Go figure, right? Sometimes if I suddenly spot a target coming in from 9 o’clock, my shotgun stock comes up at 12 o’clock to crash against my cheek, or maybe my ear, or maybe my chin. At any rate, Ash considers improper gun mounting to be one of the biggest obstacles to shooting success. He suggested a couple of cures that helped me. Maybe they’ll help you too.

First, wrap a small flashlight that has an adjustable beam with tape so that it fits snugly and straight in the barrel of your shotgun (top barrel of an O/U; dominant-eye barrel for a side-by-side). Focus the light beam to its tightest circle, then point it at a small target on the wall of a darkened room, such as a light switch or a figure in a painting. Keep the light on the target and bring the gun up smoothly, making sure that the light is still shining on what you are looking at, at all times through the mount. It will be slow at first. If the light isn’t staying on the object of focus, lower and mount the gun again, taking more care that the front hand is pointing the gun toward the target. The fore end hand and the trigger hand should work together, keeping the light where you’re looking as you mount the gun to your cheek. Repeat this until precise mounting becomes automatic, then practice it occasionally.

Muscle Memory Exercise number two involves focusing the gun-mounted flashlight on the seam between the wall and ceiling of a room. Follow the light with your eyes while making the gun go from one corner to the other, mounting and unmounting the gun at all corners of the room. You should see that, as the gun is mounted to your face, the light will probably go over or under the seam of the corner and isn’t exactly on the seam. This will change with practice as the consistency of the gun-mounting motion improves, says Ash. The mount to the face must be smooth for the gun to go exactly where you are looking. Repeat this exercise 50 times a day for seven days in a row, between now and dove season.

Six Tips to Make You a Better Dove Shot Gil Ash has a way of expressing himself that wingshooters can understand and appreciate. Here’s what he has to say about:

1. Shooting stance Put your lead foot forward just enough so that if you were trying to spit on your big toe, you could just look down and let ’er go.

2. Target focus Concentrate on the dove, not the gun or the mechanics. If you see 50 percent of the dove while you’re preparing to shoot, and 50 percent of the gun, you’ve got a 100 percent chance of missing.

3. Muzzle awareness The gun’s muzzle is not your friend. Pay no attention to it. If you’re trying to see where the muzzle is in relation to the dove, you’re going to stop your lead. You stop, you miss.

4. The difference between a field gun and a target gun A field gun is made to be carried a lot and shot a little. A target gun is made to be carried a little and shot a lot. Use one or the other for its intended purpose, but it’s usually not a good idea to use one or the other for both purposes.

5. Lead Start in front of the dove and stay in front until you pull the trigger. Shoot the bird where it’s going to be, not where it was.

6. Changing shooting methods If you always do what you’ve always done, you’re always going to get what you’ve already got.

This is an exciting announcement! I didn’t think it was possible to actually hear about another project that Bear Grylls could possibly be doing, but he has another TV Show lined up called Bear Grylls’ Survival School for an early 2016 debut. Bear Grylls already has two successful shows… well, three really. Along with Running […]

We’ve been using trail cameras for close to 30 years on our deer property in western New York, and in my world of whitetail management I don’t know anyone who doesn’t. They add an incredible amount of information and insight to our hunting and property management program. And most importantly, it’s fun to run cameras.

Our earliest cams were something else altogether. They hummed and whirred and clicked and flashed and scared more deer than they captured on film. But, they sure were fun and we couldn’t wait to arrive at camp, pull film, and head to the processor. We bought film by the truckload and our cabin wall was covered with beauty shots of the bucks using our property. The neighbors looked on with a suspicious eye but eventually got on board. Now everyone in the neighborhood is using them.

The cameras of today are incredibly more advanced, and they can be set up to gather all kinds of useful data. Some of the more advanced, cellular-based cams can send pictures directly to a computer or mobile phone so you don’t have to stink up the woods pulling memory chips. Pin up bucks have been replaced by digital files.

Camera use, of course, has exploded. Hunters everywhere are using camera-gathered data to make better management and hunting decisions and so is the scientific community. Herds are monitored for buck-to-doe ratios, fawn recruitment, age distributions, predator populations, and just about anything a deer hunter or deer manager could be interested in.

But anything that’s fun can’t be all good, at least according to some who believe game cameras give hunters an unfair advantage. The state of Montana, for example, has made scouting camera use illegal during the hunting season. A Montana wildlife law enforcement official confirmed that the driving force behind the law was “for fair chase reasons, not game management reasons.” And, their regulations state the following:

“It is illegal for a person to possess or use in the field any electronic or camera device whose purpose is to scout the location of game animals or relay the information on a game animal’s location or movement during any Commission-adopted hunting season.”

Probably no one spends more time on deciding what is fair chase and what is not than the Boone and Crockett Club and the Pope and Young Club. According to the presidents of both B&C (Tony Schoonen) and P&Y (Jim Willems), neither have any issue with the use of traditional trail cameras that require hunters to visit the camera site to retrieve data cards or film (as far as fair chase goes). But, both oppose the use of cameras that transmit images directly to a location where they may be viewed by a hunter. Animals taken with the use of a direct transmit camera are not eligible for inclusion in their record books. Schoonen relayed this statement:

“Trophies taken with the use of trail cameras, including scouting, are eligible for entry in B&C, but only if the hunter has to manually remove film and/or a card from the trail camera itself to retrieve the images. Trophies taken with the use of trail cameras, including scouting, that transmit images to a computer/base station for viewing are not eligible for entry in B&C.”

So there we have it, according to the two arbiters of fair chase, some cameras are OK, while others are not. An ethics issue to be sure. A can of worms, maybe.

The Quality Deer Management Association (QDMA) looks at camera use through yet another lens. While it supports fair chase, the association finds it subjective and often hard to define. It is a science-driven organization and relies on science to inform its positions and policy. The QDMA is considered by most to be the nation’s leading authority on deer and its well-versed when it comes to trail cameras.

Lindsay Thomas, Director of Communications, summed up QDMA’s position on trail camera use this way:

“QDMA is interested in what’s best for the whitetail resource and thus deer hunting, and we see no measurable negative impact on whitetail populations by trail cameras. Actually, we see a huge positive impact. Trail cameras are providing information that is helping a lot of hunters improve and protect deer herds. Trail cameras may even keep more hunters engaged in the outdoors, because it’s just so much fun, especially for young and new hunters, to see what’s out there and learn more about deer.”

Personally, I tend to look at deer cameras through the lens of science and sound deer management. I’m with QDMA on this one. If cameras are not negatively impacting the deer herd, and they’re providing hunters with tons of information and hours of enjoyment, how can that be bad? We’ve been using cameras of all shapes and sizes (including those that transmit images) for almost 30 years and if they give hunters an unfair advantage, you couldn’t prove it by us. Our deer always seem to come out on top no matter how many cameras we aim at them.

How do you see it? And will your state soon be telling you what cameras you can use or more likely, not use?

The landscape was changing. Urban populations were bulging. Fewer folks were living in the country.

And fewer people were fishing.

Officials at the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources www.fw.ky.gov recognized this population shift, recalls Dane Balsman, urban fisheries biologist for the KDFWR and director of the agency’s enormously popular Fishing in Neighborhoods (FINs) program.

“The main reason people get out of fishing is that they don’t have a place to go or they don’t have time to drive an hour or two to get to a place to go,” says Balsman. “So if people can’t get to the fish you take the fish to the people.”

That’s what the FINs program does. It started in 2006 with six lakes in three counties Today the KDFWR manages 40 FINs lakes in 25 counties. More are planned.

All harbor largemouth bass and many are supplemented regularly with keeper-sized rainbow trout, channel catfish and hybrid sunfish. To help spread the resource FINs creel limits are a bit more restrictive than they are in other waters in the states. All the lakes are well managed. Anglers can fish in comfort and safety.

The popularity of the program is a testament that city folks love to fish.

“We know that a lot of people fish at these lakes,” Balsman said. “It’s really a win-win-win. The cities love it and we love it. But mostly it’s a win for the fishermen. Many of the lakes are ADA accessible. They can easily be fished from the bank. They’re not intimidating. People are catching fish.”

Kentucky is hardly the only state pumping fish into urban waters. It’s no secret that the country has become more urban, a trend that will almost certainly continue. If you live in a large or mid-size city and need a place to fish check with your local state wildlife agency. You’re likely to find a surprisingly array of fishing options in your neighborhood.

“A lot of state’s have urban fishing programs,” Balsman said. “Check them out. You might be surprised how good the fishing can be close to home.”

For more about the Kentucky program go to fw.ky.gov. For options near where you live, Google “urban fishing programs” for your state.

Gloom and doom. We whitetail hunters have gotten used to it over recent years with historic outbreaks of EHD, the continued spread of chronic wasting disease, and severe winters debilitating deer herds across the country—all in just the last half decade. But finally, there could be some positive news on the horizon courtesy of Mother Nature and the climate effect known as El Niño.

According to a recent Fox News report, federal meteorologists are predicting that this year’s El Niño could be one of the most severe in decades. And that’s likely good news for deer and deer hunters.

This El Niño effect that we hear about every few years is caused by abnormally warm water temperatures in the Pacific Ocean, which then impact climate trends across the globe. For the US, this typically results in milder winter conditions for northern states, offering a respite for deer from the sometimes deadly cold weather months —or at least that’s the hope for the 2015/16 season.

According to wildlife biologist and QDMA staff member Matt Ross, “The severity of winter weather conditions is the limiting factor for whitetail populations from the Upper Midwest through the Great Lakes, New England and Canada. When conditions are bad, you can count on seeing both direct and indirect impacts.”

These impacts can of course come in the form of winter-kill, but it can also have longer term herd impacts. According to a 2015 Winter Severity Index Report from the Michigan Department of Natural Resources, “research suggests that winter weather can affect deer mortality, fawn production, and deer physical condition (including antler development).”

With this being the case, it’s fair to say that the opposite conditions—those that might be created by the El Niño effect this year—could lend themselves to more stable deer populations, healthier animals, and possibly even better antler growth in the year to come.

As of now, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is predicting warmer than average temperatures from December through March for parts of Wisconsin, Minnesota, Michigan, North Dakota, New York and numerous other states in the northern reaches of the country. So is 2016 shaping up to be a banner year for whitetails? It’s likely too early to say, and we’ve still got the 2015 season to worry about, but it sure is nice to know that it’s a possibility.

(Meanwhile, the Old Farmer’s Almanac says the exact opposite: it's recently-released forecast is predicting abundant snow and frigid temps for this winter.)

But for now, here’s to warm waters in the Pacific!

Summer may be winding down but there aremore vacation days yet to burn, plenty of grass still to cut and a few more days left to hang at the beach or lake. In the woods, the heat is severe, the bugs vicious and the whitetail’s antlers still in velvet. Hunting may be the furthest thing from your mind. But it shouldn’t be.

In fact, this nation’s earliest deer season opened already—August 15 to be exact—in the low country of South Carolina, with other seasons, mostly with bow, rolling into the national mix in mid to late September. Virtually every state with a whitetail population will have some sort of season in full swing—either archery, muzzleloader or even firearm—at some point in October. That means if you haven’t done anything to get ready for the coming season, you’re already late.

But don’t despair. The days are still long and you can still start getting yourself in position to score big come opening day. But you need to put your butt in gear and work smart. Just like a high-performing athlete training months before his first game, this is our preseason. Time to get our minds, our gear and our land in shape. Keep the following in mind as you begin Deer Season 2015-16.

1. Gear Check When last season came to an end, I cleaned my shotguns and clothing and tossed most of my stuff in a pile or in bins in the back of my garage with the full intention of getting it all organized in a week or two. Turkey season came and went with much the same intentions and results. Last month, I finally set aside a day to go through everything in the garage. Start with camo clothing and check it to make sure it still fits properly, isn’t too faded or worn and isn’t missing important buttons or fasteners. Replace anything that needs replacing. Remember to go through base layers as well as outer layers and rain gear. Run water down the outside of rain gear and make sure it is still keeping moisture out.

Make sure laces on boots aren’t frayed or broken and fill the tub and put rubber or waterproof boots on and stand in the water, rocking your feet back and forth to simulate the flexing they will experience when being walked in. Make sure there are no leaks. Put waders on and slip into a pool or lake. Better to find leaks now than in the winter when water temps are in the 40s or worse. Check grunt tubes and other calls to ensure reeds and other sound-producing parts or surfaces are still delivering the same tone they did when new. If they aren’t, replace them.

Go through your ammo and make sure loose rounds are properly placed with similar rounds and properly identified. If you’re not sure, don’t use them. Also, be sure cartridges or the brass on slugs is not corroding or damaged in any way. Take your hunting knife and sharpen it. Now is also a good time to go ahead and replace batteries in flashlights, radios, GPS units and especially trail cameras. Which leads us to…

2. Build Your Surveillance Network Now …trail cameras. These always-vigilant sentinels of the deer woods are working hard when you have to sleep or be at your job or school. Some even send photos via email. Whether you have high-tech retrieval methods available or simply have to visit the camera every week or two to download images, cameras should be up now.

So how many do you need? Depending on the size of the property you hunt, I recommend having at least three to four cameras. I know guys who want one for every 40 to 50 acres of land they hunt or on every plot they plant. That’s awesome if you can afford it. There are plenty of pricey units out there, but don’t shy away from lower priced units from names like Wildgame Innovations, Primos, Bushnell and Moultrie. They all make great units. One model from Wildgame Innovations that retailed for a mere $80 six years ago has outlasted other units I had from companies that charged much more.

Hang cams in places that deer are likely to travel, especially along field corners or holes in fences bordering crop fields where deer will feed through late September or even early October. If legal, put out a salt block, bait pile or create a mineral lick site and set a cam on that to draw deer in where they can virtually deliver you their selfies creating the best census you can garner of your current deer population. Check cameras during the middle of the day or even the middle of the night to avoid spooking animals at times of day when they are likely to be on the move.

3. Be There or Be Square Even with trail cameras at work 24/7, they is no substitute for boots-on-the-ground scouting; especially when it comes to determining new stand locations and checking existing ones. With the long, lazy days of summer still in full force, deer in most areas are drifting to the agriculture by early evening, so focus your scouting energies in the afternoons. To do much scouting in the mornings only increases the risk that you’ll bust deer since many will be bedded right near fields and done feeding by first light.

Grab a good optic, I like a mid-sized 10X, slip undetected into a good vantage point such as a blind or stand on a field edge that is across from where you hope to hunt, and watch what comes and goes. Note where and when deer appear, jotting it down in a notebook or on your smartphone so you can develop a record. Video or photograph them with a quality camera to begin building your seasonal hit list. Bucks are still traveling in groups right now, so if you get a group of decent boys coming regularly to a field, identify the best one and get on that bunch with the bow opener in hopes they are still hanging in the area.

Food dominates a whitetail’s thought processes right now, and at no time in the year are they on a more consistent pattern of movement. Identify a few key entrance points and slip in quietly at midday—wearing rubber boots and going scent-free to avoid leaving evidence of your presence—and hang a stand about 20 to 30 yards off their trail where you can access the spot quickly and quietly. Be sure prevailing winds won’t blow your scent toward approaching deer and you should be ready come that first day you are allowed to tote a bow or firearm afield.

TOP STORY Murthy laments backlash after insulting 90 million Americans with condescending lectures on gun ownership

U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy said he stands by tweets that implied gun owners are a public health issue, lamenting how something as trivial as insulting 90 million law-abiding Americans somehow made his year-long confirmation process a contentious battle and has subsequently diminished his efficacy as the nation's "chief doctor."

Speaking before a banquet room full of journalists in San Francisco on Aug. 17, Murthy reaffirmed his position that gun violence is a preventable health problem, comparing it to seat belts and swimming pool safety.

“For anybody who has worked in a hospital, people understand that gun violence is a public health issue,” he said. “The reason is whenever you have large numbers of people who are getting injured or dying, that’s a public health issue. It’s why doctors spoke up about seat belts, especially in the 80s or 90s when we saw a large number of people dying in motor vehicle accidents.”

The Senate confirmed Murthy, 38, in December in a 51-43 vote. The vote was delayed for about a year because of concerns about his inexperience and his support of gun-control measures and the president’s health care law.

A former physician at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston and instructor at Harvard Medical School, Murthy made many comments on Twitter in his role as founder and president of Doctors for America, formerly Doctors for Obama.

He repeatedly said doctors should demand patients tell them if they are gun owners and, if so, doctors should "counsel" them about gun violence. The smug condescending nature of this "I-Know-Better" commentary insulted millions and fueled a backlash that delayed his confirmation for a year and has hampered his ability to be an effective surgeon general.

The NRA called him a “serious threat to the rights of gun owners,” citing his 2012 tweet: “Tired of politicians playing politics w/guns, putting lives at risk b/c they’re scared of NRA. Guns are a health care issue.”

For more, go to:

Surgeon General Vivek Murthy Doesn’t Back Down on Gun Control

Surgeon general stands by comments on gun violence

Surgeon general: I have no regrets about calling gun violence public health issue

SB 347

CALIFORNIA SCHEMING Legislators ponder extending one-year ban on gun ownership to 10 years for a raft of misdemeanors

The California Legislature returned from its summer recess on Aug. 19 and among bills soon to be debated is Senate Bill 347—a proposal to expand the reasons why California residents can face a 10-year ban on gun possession.

The bill is sponsored by Sen. Hannah-Beth Jackson (D-Santa Barbara), who also sponsored the 2014 legislation that put “Gun Violence Protection Orders” in place, which allows the state to temporarily deny Second Amendment rights to Californians whose families, friends, or co-workers believed they were a threat to themselves or others.

The Gun Violence Protection Orders last one year. SB 347 proposes to extend that order for a decade. In addition, Jackson's bill wants the 10-year ban to cover transfers of firearms to a family member without undergoing a background check via a licensed dealer, and extend to those who commit such "crimes" as sell ammunition to someone under the age of 21.

"SB 347 is a testimony to the insidious nature of gun control, inasmuch as it shows how the government—once on the path of gun control—incrementally expands it to cover every possible avenue by which residents might obtain a gun, even one that has been in the family for years," writes AWR Hawkins on Breitbart.com on Aug. 18. "It is clearly a way to ensure the California government has knowledge of where every law-abiding gun owner lives and how many guns that owner possesses."

SB 347 proposes to add to the state’s already existing list of misdemeanor crimes that result in a 10-year prohibition on possessing a firearm. These include: — Transferring a handgun without a firearms license. — Selling or giving possession of ammunition to a minor. — Selling handgun ammunition to a person under 21 years of age. — Possession of ammunition by a person prohibited from possessing a firearm. — Furnishing ammunition to a person prohibited from possessing ammunition. — Carrying ammunition onto school grounds. — Receiving stolen property consisting of a firearm. — Carrying a loaded or concealed weapon if the person has been previously convicted of a drug charges. — Possession of a firearm that is not registered.

“The addition of these misdemeanor offenses to the prohibited category list that include the ‘transfer’ of firearms or ammunition could entrap family members who are giving firearms to relatives and are unaware of the requirements for firearm transfers through licensed dealers,” reads an alert from the NRA’s Institute for Legislative Action.

California legislators are also expected to discuss Sen. Lois Wolk’s (D-Davis) SB 707, which would ban concealed carry permit holders from carrying a gun on a college campus. California law currently contains an exemption allowing concealed permit holders to carry on campus but Wolk apparently believes they pose a safety risk even though, as Hawkins notes, she "has yet to cite one crime committed by a permit holder on a campus."

On August 13, Gov. Jerry Brown signed an NRA-backed bill that protects the guns of those subject to Gun Violence Restraining Orders (GVROs).

The language of the GVRO law requires a person subject to such an order to forfeit guns by turning them over to police or selling them. The bill Brown signed -- AB 950 -- changes this so that those subject to a GVRO can transfer their guns to a Federal Firearms License (FFL) holder for safekeeping until the GVRO expires.

California is among at least 12 states where proposed legislation has been introduced in 2015 to make it harder for people accused or convicted of domestic violence to get or keep a firearm, according to the Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence. Six states passed gun laws banning or restricting gun ownership for accused and convicted domestic abusers in 2014, including two -- Louisiana and Wisconsin -- with Republican governors running for President.

There already is a federal law on the books -- the 1996 Domestic Violence Offender Gun Ban, often called "the Lautenberg Amendment," which bans access to firearms by people convicted of crimes of domestic violence.

For more, go to:

JERRY BROWN SIGNS BILL PROTECTING THOSE FACING GUN VIOLENCE RESTRAINING ORDERS

GUN CONTROL: CA LEGISLATURE TO CONSIDER 10-YEAR BAN

California seeks to put 10-year gun bans on more misdemeanor offenders

Gun-Control Backers Turn Their Focus to Domestic Violence

Domestic Violence Offender Gun Ban

STATE ROUNDUP Maine gun dealers see increasing handgun sales as open-carry law nears Oct. 14 enactment

A Maine law that goes into effect Oct. 14 will "allow" adults to carry concealed handguns without police-issued permits is triggering a spike in gun sales at shops in the Lewiston-Auburn region, according to the Bangor Daily News.

John Reid, owner of the J.T. Reid’s Gun Shop in Auburn, told the Bangor Daily News on Aug 18 that handgun sales were up. “I’ve ordered another 100 handguns to add to the inventory,” Reid said, adding that personal defense weapons, such as 9-millimeter and .38-caliber pistols, were the top sellers.

Nick Ayotte, the owner of Northeastern Firearms in Turner, told the BDN that normally, summer is slow for gun sales, but customers are interested in Maine’s changing law.

While the law doesn’t require any certified safety training, Ayotte and other gun shop owners encourage it, as well as obtaining the now-optional concealed handgun permits. That system, which is recognized in about 20 other states where permits are required, will remain in place.

“It shows a commitment to being responsible and being safe,” Ayotte told the BDN.

Maine’s concealed carry permittees are required to undergo a criminal and mental health background check and safety training by the military or a handgun instructor.

The Maine Department of Public Safety has created a website dedicated to the new law change that includes links to several of Maine’s applicable laws regarding use of force and use of deadly force.

The site states it is still illegal to carry guns at courthouses, public schools, state parks, federal buildings, the State Capitol area and private property, such as bars. It is still illegal to carry a handgun in a bar while under the influence of intoxicating liquor or drugs.

Among the new requirements in the law is that that buyers acknowledge the receipt of handgun safety materials from the state with a signature.

Under the new law a person carrying a handgun without a permit is required to “immediately” disclose the presence of the weapon or face a civil fine of up to $100. Some legislators want to amend that to only require mandatory disclosure only if an officer first asked about weapons.

For more, go to:

Maine gun dealers report more sales as new carry law approaches

Florida: City council considers gun buyback program in Fort Myers

Tough Handgun Law Linked to Lower Gun-Related Murder Rate in Connecticut

Pennsylvania: State College Borough Council revisits gun ban for parks

Senator proposing tighter gun control after church shooting

New Jersey: EDITORIAL: Christie’s wrong on gun control

Florida: Campus Carry's Second Coming Planned for 2016 Legislative Session

Louisiana: Stricter gun laws for abusers could save precious lives: Sara Ratchet

Ohio: Education better than legislating gun storage

Permit or no permit? Alabamians at odds over proposed gun legislation

IOWA MAY GET ‘STAND YOUR GROUND’ LEGISLATION

Connecticut Gun Control Advocates File Elections Enforcement Complaint Against the NRA

IN THE COURTS Michigan ruling OKs open carry in school 'Easy Mass-Kill Zones'

The lethal prohibition against "allowing" licensed, vetted gun owners to openly carry firearms in schools and the utter insanity of declaring schools "Gun Free Zones," thereby making them attractive "Easy Mass-Kill Zones" for lunatics, have been challenged in a Michigan court and, surprisingly, common sense has prevailed.

Michigan Circuit Judge Archie Hayman ruled on Aug. 10 that Kenneth Herman, of Grand Rapids, may carry a gun inside his daughter’s school -- provided he carries it out in the open where it is most likely not to panic students and teachers.

According to the Associated Press, Herman sued the Clio Area School District after his daughter’s elementary school refused to grant him access while he was openly carrying a pistol.

The ruling highlighted the confusion in Michigan's hodgepodge of restrictions and exceptions contained in its gun laws. While one provision states that “an individual who possesses a weapon in a weapon-free school zone is guilty of a misdemeanor,” another allows individuals “licensed by this state or another state to carry a concealed weapon" to do so.

Herman has a concealed carry license.

State law prohibits license holders from carrying “a concealed pistol” on school grounds, but doesn't preclude licensed holders from openly carrying firearms. Hayman, seeing a way to protect children while upholding the concealed carry ban on campus, found a common sense middle ground.

According to the AP, 20 co-sponsors have signed onto legislation by state Rep. Andy Schor (D) that seeks to allow concealed carry by licensed permit holders in "Easy Mass-Kill Zones." That legislation, however, has not advanced in the state house.

For more, go to:

Judge Allows Man To Openly Carry A Gun At His Daughter’s Elementary School

New York Libertarians take pistol permit law to court

Gun owners challenge New York’s pistol permit law

The only thing that keeps turkey-hunting expert Gary Sefton from devoting his entire fall to the pursuit of the grand bird is a secondary obsession with whitetails. However, the cagey 71-year-old who hails from Cornersville, Tennessee, is not nearly so indecisive when it comes to fall turkey tips.

“Fall turkey hunting Tips One and Two are to find the food,” Sefton says, matter of factly. “That can be acorns, wild grapes, grasshoppers and insects, or any kind of mast, including beechnuts. I’m a real avid fall turkey hunter, so I scout in the late summer for the best mast crops. With that done, I’ll know where to find fall turkeys before I head out the door.”

Local ag fields can be great spots, Sefton says, but be warned that some can be so large that it can be hard to pinpoint spots where turkeys will enter them. That’s why Sefton’s favorite setups are smaller, more isolated stands of mast trees hidden within larger blocks of timber. These take some dedication, as well as some shoe leather, to find and monitor, but for Sefton it’s a labor of love.

“You find a beechnut tree that’s loaded in late summer, you’re in good shape,” he says, adding that he always carries a good binocular during scouting trips to help him evaluate mast from a distance. He also recommends wearing comfortable boots because he likes to log several miles on each trip locating the very best trees. Experience a Classic Hunt Sefton is particular about his scouting, and also about his fall hunting tactics.

“The classic way to hunt turkeys in the fall is to scatter the flock and call them back,” he said. The details are pretty much as you’d expect—only louder. Much louder.

“Once you determine where the turkeys are feeding, try to get just as close as you can—and then you have to turn into their worst nightmare. The louder you holler and scream and stomp and break limbs, the better. You’ve got to get them scattered—make them fly—and you don’t want to them to fly off in only one direction.

“I usually take along some blue-light-special dove loads in my vest, just for scattering them,” Sefton continued. “If you don’t shoot, you can’t create enough chaos and commotion. You have to work on their flocking instinct to call them; if you don’t scatter them in all directions they don’t need to call to find each other again.

“Once you flush the flock the first time, 99 out of 100 times they’re going to land in a tree, because that’s their survival instinct,” Sefton explained. “The old-timers used to say, they would sit in that tree an hour for every year of age, but my contention is that they sit up there until they forget what got them up there.

“Once I determine where most of them flew up, I’ll make a half circle around the area, and every time I hear a turkey fly out of the tree I’ll shoot my shotgun up in the air,” Sefton explained. “Usually when I shoot, three or four more will fly out of there. Then I go back to the original flush site and set up. You have some time, so I might take a few minutes to make a natural blind.

“Then you wait for the turkeys to start calling. It will take about 20 minutes; never more than 40. Typically, I will start calling myself, and they’ll start answering. Then I’ll pick the closest bird, and I’ll mirror its calling. Whatever it does, I’ll do it right back. Oddly enough, they will respond to their same call consistently. Be prepared that you’ll have many more turkeys responding to your calls, but you can’t get sidetracked. Keep answering that same, single bird, and pretty soon, it’s time to get your gun up.”

Save the Gobblers for Spring? Sefton’s pet scattergun is a well-worn Remington 870 pump, pushing 3-inch No. 6 loads. He won’t point it at just any bird.

“I’ve hunted fall turkeys in many different states, and I’ve lost count of how many fall birds I’ve bagged, but I don’t believe in killing gobblers in the fall,” he said. “You kill a gobbler then, and that turkey will never be able to gobble for you in spring, and that’s my most enjoyable time to hunt. That’s when you get to experience the vocal, along with the visual display, and that’s just the ultimate thrill.

“Fall hunting is more challenging, and they don’t come strutting in—they come in sneaking and ducking and dodging,” Sefton explained. “One time I broke up a flock and called in nine different turkeys—and finally got a shot at number nine and killed it. The previous eight, every one of those birds saw me and busted out of there like scalded cats. It helps to carry along a single hen decoy, so you can get that evil eye off of you.

“If you like to call, fall turkey hunting might be your thing,” Sefton opined. “Sometimes it takes 15 to 20 minutes of solid calling to convince them to come in, and you can’t quit. During the spring you can’t call that much. During some fall hunts, I’ve worn blisters on my tongue.”

Tongue-in-cheek anecdotes aside, Sefton says that all fall turkey hunters need to master just two different calls: the distinctive, high-pitched kee-kee run, and the “lost” call, which is a long series of yelps.

“The kee-kee run is best done using a diaphragm, and you can also produce good ones using a friction call,” Sefton advises.

Other Tactics “I’ve killed turkeys out of a blind in a fall, but you really need to have them patterned,” Sefton says. “If you can do that, you can call them down off the roost.

“Another way to scatter them, and the most effective, is to scatter them off the roost, if you can locate the roost the previous evening. Then the next morning, you sneak in there, and start beating logs on the roost trees, and shoot the shotgun in the air. That works great.”

To learn more about turkey hunting from the well-traveled, hard-hunting Gary Sefton, pick up his new book, “Lessons Learned from the Magnificent Bird”—211 pages of turkey tales, tactics, and techniques, available from Amazon.com.

This video isn’t all about deer hunting (although the host does kill a couple whitetails in it). I’m posting it here in the BBZ Blog because I think everyone who bowhunts whitetails will appreciate the sentiment behind this film: doing it the hard way.

The project is essentially a love letter to hunting with a self-made, traditional bow. It’s pretty slow-moving at times, but that seems to jive with the theme overall. My main takeaway: when it comes to bowhunting, the process is even more important than the results. It’s great to kill a P&Y buck with your compound bow at 40 yards, but the experience of killing a doe with a self-made bow at 20 yards can be just as meaningful, and maybe even more so.

Keeping with the DIY theme, Clay Hayes wrote, shot, and edited this film on his own and it’s grittier than a lot of the high-production hunting videos out there. That’s another reason I like it.

I don’t hunt with a traditional bow because for me, hunting big-game with a compound is still plenty challenging. But still, I love the message of “Untamed.”

How about you?

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