In bow hunting, weeks or months of preparation come down to a single moment. To capitalize on your opportunities, your body must be ready. Picking the right workouts can make the difference between a successful hunt and heading home empty-handed.

Preparing your body is just as important, if not more so, than picking the right gear and finding the perfect spot. Training builds trust in your physical capabilities, which gives you confidence heading into the backcountry.

This article will arm you with the knowledge you need to get ready for hunting season. You’ll learn which fitness qualities are important for an archer, and how to train them. Plus, you’ll we’ll share several of the best exercises that’ll make you a better bowhunter. Let’s start by looking at the muscles needed for shooting a bow.

What Muscles Are Used in Bow Hunting?

A bowhunter’s legs must be strong enough to carry them great distances, which means they have to have endurance as well. The arm, shoulder, core, and back muscles all have to be strong enough to draw and aim the bow. Hunting is a full-body activity that requires strength and endurance.

The entire leg is engaged during hikes for backcountry hunting. From the quadriceps running down the front of your thigh, to the hamstrings on the back, powerful glute muscles above those, and your calves running down the backs of your lower legs. They’re all involved in hiking and trekking in the wilderness.

To handle your bow specifically, your back muscles need to be strong. The latissimus dorsi, rhomboids, teres major, and trapezius help you draw the string. Your biceps, triceps, and deltoids help you draw and hold the bow in place.

And to the surprise of many, your core muscles are also used in archery, including the obliques, which run down either side of your torso. These muscles help you turn and stabilize your spine when shooting.

As you can see, bow hunting is a full-body workout. From draw strength to leg endurance, high-performance bow hunters train year-round to get their entire bodies and mind ready for the season.

Is Archery a Full-Body Workout?

While bowhunting in the backcountry is a full-body workout, archery is more specific. You don’t really need your legs to shoot a bow. Your arms, back, and shoulders do almost all of the work. To be a great archer you need to be strong enough to draw your bow and hold it steady.

Consider this: you can probably shoot a bow just as well from a seated position as you can while standing. Plus, you might not have the luxury of shooting from a standing position while hunting.

For that reason, it’s important to incorporate archery-specific exercises into your workout routine. While you’ll need cardio and leg exercises for hunting in general, bowhunters and archers alike need to carve out space in their workout to strengthen the arms, shoulders, and back muscles.

3 Pre-Season Workouts for Bow Hunters

Hunting — and bowhunting in particular — places unusual demands on muscles we don’t typically use on a day-to-day basis. That’s why training needs to be specific to the needs in the field. We’ve created a specialized program that focuses on creating strength and mobility for carrying a pack and bow across miles of rugged terrain as well as for drawing and holding your bow steady. In the rest of this article, we’ve made 3 of our pre-season workouts available so you can get a better idea of what MTNTOUGH training is all about. While these are just a small sliver of what’s inside, you’ll at least be able to understand how an entire program will make you physically and mentally tougher for hunting season.

If you can get through these workouts one to two times ahead of the season, you’re going to be way ahead of the curve when you head to the hills with your bow. To build trust in your body, you need to build resilience in key areas.

For example, the hips and shoulders. The hips support your legs and help you cover miles of rugged terrain. Your shoulders allow you to draw a bow and aim with unwavering accuracy. On top of that, you need to incorporate strength training and cardio into your routine.

Workout #1: Hip Health Workout

This hip workout combines cardiovascular conditioning on the rower, followed by resisted hip movements and some extra hamstring strengthening to get your hips in shape for hunting season. You’ll build endurance in your legs and upper body while making your hips more resilient. Here are the exercises in the workout:

1. Row Ergometer

The rower is a perfect complement to this hip workout because it uses a mix of upper and lower-body muscles, meaning you won’t exhaust your hips because it’s low-impact. If your hips are bothering you, it should offer a relatively painless way to warm up.

• Step 1: Strap your feet snugly into the rower
• Step 2: Grab the handle
• Step 3: Sit up tall in the seat and slide your body as close to the front of the rower as you can
• Step 4: Press with your legs, pulling the handle
• Step 5: Once your knees are nearly straight, lean back slightly and pull the handle into your chest
• Step 6: Reverse the steps to return to the start position

2. Banded Hip Flexors

This exercise strengthens the hip flexors, the muscles in front of your thigh that lift your leg. They often lack strength, particularly if you sit a lot at your job. Strengthening them can help prevent hip injuries.

• Step 1: Tie a band to a fixed object behind you, as low to the ground as possible
• Step 2: Face away from the band and get into an elevated push-up position with your hands on a bench or wall
• Step 3: Put your foot in the band
• Step 4: Drive your knee up to the chest, pushing against the resistance of the band
• Step 5: Return to the start position to complete one rep

3. Standing Fire Hydrants

Perhaps you want a visual, but this exercise looks a lot like what a dog does when it pees on a fire hydrant. It targets the gluteus medius, a muscle on the side of your hips, that’s ignored by many other leg exercises.

• Step 1: Place a min-band around your knees
• Step 2: Cross your arms in front of your chest, or keep them by your sides
• Step 3: Slightly bend both knees
• Step 4: Lift one leg as far as you can backward and to the side

4. Single Leg Hamstring Curls

Weak hamstrings can lead to muscle strains or sprains if you put too much force on them. Leg exercises like squats and lunges don’t target the hamstrings very well. In fact, not many exercises isolate them properly, but the hamstring curl does.

• Step 1: Get a slider or roller that can glide under your foot
• Step 2: Lie on the ground with one heel on the glider, crossing your arms over your chest
• Step 3: Bridge your hips into the air a few inches
• Step 4: Keeping your hips in the air, slide your foot away from your body until you feel the tension in your hamstrings
• Step 5: Slide the glider back towards your body as far as you can to complete one rep

Now that you know the exercises, it’s time to combine them into a workout. You’ll row, do a hip strengthening exercise or two, then repeat. In total, you’ll row 3,000 meters.

• 250-meter row/10 banded hip flexors on each leg
• 250-meter row/10 banded hip flexors on each leg
• 500m row/3 sets of 10 standing fire hydrants on each leg/3 sets of 10 single-leg ham curls on each leg
• 500m row/3 sets of 10 standing fire hydrants on each leg/3 sets of 10 single-leg ham curls on each leg
• 250-meter row/10 banded hip flexors on each leg
• 250-meter row/10 banded hip flexors on each leg
• 500m row/3 sets of 10 standing fire hydrants on each leg/3 sets of 10 single-leg ham curls on each leg
• 500m row/3 sets of 10 standing fire hydrants on each leg/3 sets of 10 single-leg ham curls on each leg

Workout #2: Shoulder Health Workout

If you’re unfamiliar with the Assault bike, you’ll be well-acquainted after this workout. Similar to the hip health workout, you’ll alternate a cardio exercise with shoulder-strengthening movements. This workout targets the muscles that archers need to shoot with range and accuracy.

Here are the exercises you’ll see in the workout:

1. Assault Bike

This isn’t your average spin bike. It’s a full-body machine that uses a fan in the front to increase resistance as you pedal harder. In this workout, you’ll use calories burned as a measurement of distance. The assault bike mainly works the legs, but the upper body pushes to add power.

• Step 1: Adjust the seat of the bike so that your knees are almost entirely straight at the bottom of each cycle
• Step 2: Sit on the bike and put your feet on the pedals, gripping the handles
• Step 3: Pedal with your feet, simultaneously pushing the handles on one arm and pulling with the other

2. Renegade Rows

As an archer, you need to push with one arm (the arm holding the bow) and pull with the other (the arm that draws). This exercise perfectly mimics that movement, strengthening your shoulder, back, arm, and core muscles. Generally speaking, rowing exercises are some of the best for archers.

• Step 1: Get into a push-up position, holding a dumbbell in each hand
• Step 2: Keeping your hips squared to the ground, lift one dumbbell up until your wrist hits your rib cage
• Step 3: Lower the dumbbell to the ground, then repeat on the other side to complete one rep
• Step 4: You can optionally add a push-up to increase the intensity

3. TRX Y’s

Strengthening the back of your shoulder is important for an archer. This exercise does just that, using the smooth resistance of the TRX to strengthen the muscles around your shoulder blade and the back of your shoulder joint.

• Step 1: Hold the handles of a TRX and lean back, walking your feet forward so that your body is at an angle relative to the ground
• Step 2: With a slight bend in your elbows, raise your arms straight overhead
• Step 3: At the top of the movement, your arms should form a “Y”
• Step 4: Lower your arms so that they point to the site where the TRX is attached

4. Push-Up +

The push-up+ is a regular push-up with a little something extra at the top. You’ll do a scapular protraction at the top, which is when you move your shoulder blades away from each other. This strengthens the pecs and rotator cuff muscles to make your shoulders more stable.

• Step 1: Get into the push-up position
• Step 2: Perform a regular push-up
• Step 3: Once you get to the top, continue to press the ground away from you, lifting your upper back toward the ceiling
• Step 4: Return to the regular push-up position, relaxing your upper back, to complete one rep

5. Weighted Superman

The superman exercise strengthens your lower back, glutes, and shoulders. This variation targets the shoulder muscles even more by adding weight. You’ll work the back of your shoulders, strengthening them through a wide range of motion to make them more resilient.

• Step 1: Lie on the ground on your stomach with a weight in each hand
• Step 2: Lift your legs and feet off of the ground
• Step 3: Lift your arms off of the ground, holding your hands close to your ears
• Step 4: Reach forward with the weights as far as you can, then return your arms to the start position
• Step 5: Lower your arms and legs to the ground to complete one rep

For this workout, you’ll alternate the Assault bike with shoulder exercises. Each round you’ll do either an endurance ride on the bike or a sprint. And each round the endurance distance decreases by 10 calories. Renegade rows and TRX Y’s are performed after the endurance ride. After sprints, you’ll do the push-up+ and weighted supermans. This workout will wear you down and rebuild you stronger than ever before – you got this!

• 70 cal endurance bike
• 10 renegade rows on each arm, 10 TRX Y’s
• 10 cal bike sprint
• 3 rounds of 10 push-up+, 10 weighted supermans
• 60-cal endurance bike
• 10 renegade rows on each arm, 10 TRX Y’s
• 10 cal bike sprint
• 3 rounds of 10 push-up+, 10 weighted supermans
• 50 cal endurance bike
• 10 renegade rows on each arm, 10 TRX Y’s
• 10 cal bike sprint
• 3 rounds of 10 push-up+, 10 weighted supermans
• 40 cal endurance bike
• 10 renegade rows on each arm, 10 TRX Y’s
• 10 cal bike sprint
• 3 rounds of 10 push-up+, 10 weighted supermans
• 30-cal endurance bike
• 10 renegade rows on each arm, 10 TRX Y’s
• 10 cal bike sprint
• 3 rounds of 10 push-up+, 10 weighted supermans
• 20 cal endurance bike
• 10 renegade rows on each arm, 10 TRX Y’s
• 10 cal bike sprint
• 3 rounds of 10 push-up+, 10 weighted supermans

Workout #3: Mountain Man Workout

You’ve read through one workout to strengthen your hips and one workout to improve your shoulder strength for archery. This workout is designed to prepare your legs for hunting season so that they can take you as far as you need to go.

You’ll need a weighted pack for this workout to simulate the demands placed on your legs during hunting season. We’re big believers in functional fitness. Here are the exercises you’ll see in the Mountain Man Workout:

1. Treadmill incline/decline walking

To simulate walking up and down mountains, set your treadmill to an incline of 15. You must walk facing both forwards and backward to prepare for hunting season because walking down a mountain with heavy gear can be just as difficult as walking up.

• Step 1: Set your treadmill to an incline of 15
• Step 2: Set your speed to an even pace that you can walk at without feeling like you need to grab onto the guard rails
• Step 3: Try to maintain a relatively upright posture as you walk

2. Lateral Step-Ups

You’ll need a box or bench for this leg exercise. Since you’ll already have a weighted pack on your back, you shouldn’t need extra weight. Rather than stepping straight forwards and backward, this movement prepares you for the often-awkward and unpredictable steps you’ll be taking in the wilderness.

• Step 1: Stand next to a box or bench
• Step 2: Place your inside foot on the top of the surface, slightly in front of your body
• Step 3: Lean onto the elevated leg and step up by pressing down with that leg
• Step 4: Once you have both feet on the box and are standing tall, step down with your outside foot
• Step 5: Step your inside foot back to the ground to complete one rep

3. Walking Lunges

This movement prepares your legs for grueling, uphill treks. It works the quadriceps, hamstrings, and glutes, using the weight from the pack on your back to push the leg muscles to the point of fatigue.

• Step 1: Find a clear space with room to walk forwards and backward
• Step 2: Take a lunge step forwards, planting your front foot flat on the ground
• Step 3: Bend your front and back knee, lowering your body towards the ground
• Step 4: As you go down, lean over your front leg slightly with your torso
• Step 5: Step forward with your back foot, coming up to a standing position with both feet together
• Step 6: Lunge with the other leg to complete one rep

Benefits of Pre-Season Bow Hunting Workouts

Preparing your body for hunting season is essential if you want to hit the ground running. You don’t want to waste any opportunities you might have because your upper body muscles aren’t up to the task of accurately shooting your bow. If you find the perfect spot, your legs should be able to take you there without giving out and forcing you to quit.

Unlike hiking or other mountain athletics, you start the journey with a heavy pack, but if you’re successful, you’ll leave with a significantly heavier pack. Sure, you’ll shed some pack weight along the way as you munch through your rations, but with hard work and some luck, the toughest physical challenge will be hauling elk quarters down the mountain at the end. Thankfully a heavy shot of primal adrenaline will help you along the way, but if you want to truly breathe in the victory lap, you’ll need to be in peak physical condition far before bow season begins.

The workouts above prepare your body for the various demands hunting will place on it. A study performed on rugby players found that adding only 10 training sessions before their season started reduced the risk of injury by 17%. With even more time spent training, your injury risk should drop even further.

Even though it’s not viewed as a traditional sport, hunters are mountain athletes nonetheless. So prep your body the same way athletes of other sports would. This isn’t some marketing gimmick either. It’s backed by data and scientific research – in fact, preseason training is the key to improving performance. For instance, a study performed on soccer players showed that sprint training in preseason improved their performance more than playing small games. The take-home point is that going out on small expeditions won’t prepare you for the big hunt in the same way that time spent in the gym will.

Upper body strength is one of the most important factors in archery technique. The shoulder workout will build all areas of the shoulder so that you can use your upper body to draw the bow and confidently take a shot. Strength training improves your technique, and it makes you more confident in your shot. That self-belief is crucial for your next hunt.

Make Every Shot Count

To take advantage of each hunt, you have to prepare your body beforehand. Working out before hunting season can make you more confident in your shot and allow you to cover more ground. Each workout you do before hunting season will make your life a little easier.

With that being said, you won’t get results if you walk into the gym and start doing random exercises. You need a program that targets the specific qualities that a hunter needs, like leg muscle endurance and upper body strength. Plus, you have to take care of your joints to make sure you don’t get hurt.

For guidance, check out the Backcountry Hunter Series. It’s specifically designed for people like you to maximize your performance. If you’re not ready to commit to anything, try the free 14-day MTNTough trial for access to all fitness content.

YOU ARE OPERATING INSIDE A fire building when suddenly you discover that you are lost, disoriented, and separated from your crew. As you attempt to locate a wall or a window, you come in contact with a hoseline. Which way is out? If you locate the coupling, you can determine which direction leads to the exit. Or can you?

The procedure for following the hoseline to safety in Essentials of Fire Fighting states, “Follow the hoseline out if possible (the male coupling is the closest to the exit; the female is the closest to the fire).”1

Yet time and again during training, when firefighters find the hoseline and follow it to the coupling, they become hesitant and indecisive: Which coupling leads out? I have seen firefighters attempt to uncouple a hoseline to determine which coupling has the swivel. I have seen too many firefighters turn toward the fire and wind up at the nozzle when they could have been out of the building had they gone in the opposite direction. When members are questioned about the problems encountered at the coupling, many times the response is that they just didn’t remember or fully understand the way it was explained in the text.

1. Photos by author. Click here to enlarge image

If the firefighter does remember to follow the male coupling out, there may still be confusion once the coupling is located. If the firefighter is at the midpoint of the hose between couplings, the first coupling he will encounter on the way toward the exit will be the female. The firefighter understood that he was to follow the male end to the exit, so that firefighter turns in the other direction and heads toward the male end, toward the fire. Many have stated that they have a good grasp of the concept until their face piece is obscured.

2. Click here to enlarge image

Here’s a simple memory aid I learned and have shared that seems to have helped firefighters remember the proper direction toward the exit: Bumps to the pumps. If the firefighter finds the hoseline and follows it to the coupling, the bumps (lugs) lead to the pumps (engine on the exterior) (photos 1, 2). It’s easy to remember and understand and reduces or eliminates the confusion and hesitation at the coupling. When a firefighter is low on air, disoriented and alone, the time spent at the coupling may be more time than he can afford to be able to get out safely. It also reduces the anxiety of being unable to determine the proper way out. This translates into better air management for the firefighter in distress.

Of course, this method is not a cure-all for every situation and every circumstance. It works best with threaded couplings that have rocker lugs. The male coupling has lugs on the shank. The female coupling has a smooth shank with lugs on the swivel (photo 3). The firefighter can feel the rocker lugs with a gloved hand under zero visibility conditions and determine the proper direction to the exit.

3. Click here to enlarge image

Some may ask about a situation in which the hose is advanced into a structure with the female end first. If this is the situation, the firefighter will have to identify this situation prior to entering the building. Some departments may use attack hose with storz-type couplings. In this situation, there will be no male or female couplings (photo 4). In this case, it will be difficult to determine the direction of the exit. However, devices that indicate the way toward the exit are commercially available. For example, one such device that can be slipped over a hose has a raised arrow marking a firefighter can feel to determine the direction of the exit. This may be a good alternative for your situation.

4. Click here to enlarge image

A quick drill on this technique involves using a single length of hose and a firefighter wearing gloves. Connect the couplings to create a continuous loop (photo 5). Place the firefighter at the midpoint of the hoseline, and have him follow the hose to the coupling. When the member reaches the coupling, ask him to determine, without looking at the coupling, whether he is headed in the direction of the exit.

5. Click here to enlarge image

As with all other firefighter survival techniques, this method needs to be practiced to develop and maintain a high level of proficiency. A thorough knowledge of your department’s equipment and procedures is important. Being familiar with any mutual-aid department’s equipment is equally important.

• • •

Perhaps you have heard of this method before. Perhaps you do not like it or feel more comfortable with your own. I’ve found that this works for me and has helped those who have had problems during training evolutions. What is most important is that if things go wrong, you are able to determine which way is out. ■

Endnote

1. Essentials of Fire Fighting, fourth edition. Stillwater, OK: Fire Protection Publications, 1998, 108.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR- ■ MICHAEL ALLORA is a lieutenant and a 10-year veteran with the Clifton (NJ) Fire Department. He is a Level 2 fire instructor at the Passaic and Sussex counties’ public safety academies. Allora has an associate’s degree in fire science from Passaic County Community College.

ORIGINAL POST: http://www.fireengineering.com/articles/print/volume-159/issue-2/departments/training-notebook/following-hose-couplings.html

DISCLAIMER: This is a guide. Everything listed within is for information purposes only. All loads should be worked up carefully. We have seen loads that require as much as two grains of charge weight adjustment from one powder lot to another. We have seen as much as five grains of powder adjustment required between different brands of brass. Failure to start low could result in damaged equipment or injury. USE AT YOUR OWN RISK.

7 MM PRC Cartridge Guide

Here we go again. Hornady announced the 7 PRC. In a market with many similar options, why do we need another? The short answer is that the others are poor designs by today’s standards. I imagine the design goals for the 7 PRC were much the same as the 6.5 and 300 PRC. Like the other PRCs, the parent case of the 7 PRC is the 375 Ruger. Hornady surprised everyone by splitting the difference between the other PRCs. The 2.28″ case length is perfect for a 7mm magnum cartridge. The number one selling point of the PRC cartridges is the modern throat design. The 7 PRC’s freebore of .233” makes it very flexible. It is not too long for the shorter bearing surface 180s and not too short for the larger bullets like the 195 Berger. At SAAMI length, the 7mm PRC will fit inside the 3.4” magazine boxes of last century’s design in SAAMI form. With the larger bullets, it will exceed the 3.4” magazine, but will not need a Wyatt’s box.

7MM Cartridge Options

There are numerous other options when considering a 7mm rifle. On the larger side, we have the 7mm Remington Magnum, the 7mm LRM, the 7mm RUM, and the 28 Nosler. You have the 7mm Winchester Short mag with identical case capacity. Then the 7 RSAUM is on the smaller side. So, what does the 7 PRC offer that the others do not? Let me rule out the 7 RUM and 28 Nosler right off the bat. They are too overbore for me. They wear throats out very quickly, are more prone to carbon rings, and are more difficult to keep in tune. They have short throats and need a custom reamer to make full use of the case’s abilities.

Let’s focus on the 7 RSAUM, 7 WSM, 7 Rem mag, and 7 LRM. Of the bunch, the 7 RSAUM is going to be the most accurate on average and will stay in tune with less work, yet it suffers from a few problems. At SAAMI length, longer bullets occupy too much case capacity. This is a major reason why it has disappeared from factory offerings. When built with a custom reamer and rifle, it is still a great option. The 7 WSM has the same capacity as the 7 PRC, but it suffers from the same shortcomings as the RSAUM. The 7mm Remington Magnum has anywhere from 1-3 grains more H2O capacity than the PRC. Once again, it suffers from a throat that is too short for modern bullets. It remains a great cartridge but has room for improvement. This is the main cartridge the PRC will have to outperform, as far as sales go, to stay around. The 7 LRM is a nearly perfect cartridge for the caliber and the bullets we currently have available. The only issue with it is it is not SAAMI-approved. This makes it a non-starter for production rifles. When compared to these options, the 7 PRC leaves little to be desired in a 7mm cartridge. The case capacity is perfect and the freebore is forgiving. These reasons are why the 7 PRC is going to be the best 7mm cartridge available in factory chamberings. If the success of the 6.5 and 300 PRC is any sign, this cartridge will get tons of aftermarket support. Hornady’s marketing will make this cartridge very popular. The anticipated aftermarket support will be what ensure this cartridge sticks around.

Why Choose The 7MM PRC?

Ok, so none of this tells you why you would build a custom rifle chambered in this cartridge. I have always loved the 7mm cartridges, with the 7 WSM being one of my favorites. Its capacity seems to be the sweet spot. The 7 PRC has the same capacity as the 7 WSM. It is slimmer and longer. This should make it easier to feed from a long-action magazine. I have found the short magnum cartridges don’t feed well from short actions. Because of this, I don’t see the point of short magnums in short actions. The 7 PRC will not quite compete with the 7 RSAUM in the raw accuracy department, but it is close. It will yield more velocity on average. This will translate to smaller horizontal dispersion in adverse conditions at long range. On average, it should also shoot flatter. It will run right with the 7 Rem Mag without needing a custom chamber. These are the reasons this cartridge is likely to be a success. Let’s get into the load information.

Bullets

We are choosing to focus on 175 and larger bullets for now. When time permits, I will work on some 168 Berger data. I don’t see the point of shooting smaller in a .284 when you could shoot the 156 Bergers from a .264. Any of the 168-180 grain bullets will be right at home in this case. My favorites are the Berger 180 VLD and Hybrids, as well as the 180 ELDM. Testing with the 190s and 195s will continue and this guide will be updated when more data is collected. Hornady kindly provided us with the load data provided below. I checked it with 180 Bergers and 180 ELDMs, except for the RL22 loads. This is because RL22 was too temperature sensitive in my previous testing.

******The loads in the above chart are all max loads. WORK UP!******

Powders

The 180s will do very well with the normal powders for this sized case. H4831SC and RL23 should offer good accuracy and low extreme spreads in velocity. They generally will be on the faster side in burn rate, which will yield lower max velocities. Retumbo, N565, and RL26 will perform well and will yield the fastest velocities. My barrel did not yield great accuracy with Retumbo or N565. If I were set on using these two powders, I would try some different primers. RL26 was accurate in my rifle but is not quite as stable as H1000. My favorite powder for the case is H1000. It provides great accuracy and extreme spreads. Velocity will fall right in between the other powders. I have settled on the low node with H1000 and 180 Hybrids at 2895 fps out of a 26” barrel. The case can go quite a bit faster, but the node was just too wide and stable to ignore. The larger bullets will still do great with these powders and will allow the use of slower powders like N570.

******While these may work in our rifles, they may be too hot in yours. WORK UP!******

Primers

Any of the large rifle primers should work in this case. In my experience, with this case capacity, the faster powders do best with Federal 210Ms and CCI BR2s. The slower powders do well with CCI 250s or Federal 215Ms. Don’t be afraid to experiment. Most of my testing was done with CCI 250s. Forum member 8nbait was having better luck with Federal 210Ms.

At the time of launch, the only case options will be Hornady and RCC. My testing was done with Hornady brass. Forum members 8nbait and Weatherbyfan were using RCC.

Comparing 6.5 vs 7 vs 30

Bullet mass and impact velocity should be heavily considered when choosing a cartridge. The correct choice will ensure ethical kills at your maximum range. The bullet mass is going to have a direct impact on the recoil. For some, this needs to be considered. I will never advocate shooting elk with calibers smaller than .308. However, 30-caliber magnums are not needed for deer and antelope-sized game. The 7mm caliber is a great choice for deer and smaller game. Too many people focus on energy as a killing power indicator. Based on countless instances of anecdotal evidence, this is just not the case. Bullet mass and impact velocity are better predictors of how fast an animal will go down. This mainly applies to frangible bullets, which we prefer over bonded bullets. Below is a comparison between a few different cartridges in each caliber. You will see they look very similar on paper. Just keep in mind bullet mass means more shrapnel to destroy the vitals of your target.

7MM PRC Conclusion

If you take a look at a reloading manual, you will not see much of a difference between the 7 PRC, the 7WSM, and the 7 Rem mag. What you are gaining is a better-designed factory chamber. The longer freebore will allow a reloader to make better use of modern bullets. The 7 PRC’s modern design will lead to a much better selection of factory ammunition. However, if the success of the other PRCs is an indicator, this cartridge will continue to grow. It will be a hit with those using factory ammunition as well as reloaders. The cartridge will be great for all hunters. Whether you choose a factory rifle or go the custom route, the 7 PRC is worthy of your consideration. The link below will take you to a thread on the forum with members’ input on loads that have worked for them.

Comment or ask Ryan questions here.

Watch the 7mm PRC Cartridge Guide Video here.

Bowhunting longbeards with a bow and arrow is challenging enough; make it easier by choosing the right arrow, broadhead, and vane combo.

by Jace Bauserman

Wild turkeys may be tailored to be shot in the dome with a load of #5s, but they are fun to chase with archery tackle. Not to mention, in many states, stick-and-string toters get the first crack at these springtime butterballs. Tags, even for non-residents, are affordable, and generally, there are no preference or bonus points needed to hunt turkeys.

The main reason I love chasing these birds with a bow is the challenge. Calling a wild turkey into bow range is no easy job, and once that bird reads the script and falls for the blind-and-decoy, bow-mounted decoy, or outside-the-blind ambush, your accuracy has to be exceptional.

I don’t have the data, but I’d argue that bowhunters lose more turkeys each spring than most all other game animals combined.

Why?

The margin of error is minimal, and bowhunters take too long shots on a tiny target with hard-to-decipher vitals. Precision is paramount when hunting wild turkeys, and you want an uber-accurate arrow with some weight to it tipped with a large, expandable broadhead.

For the past several years, my go-to for archery turkey hunting has been Easton’s 4mm Full Metal Jacket, AAE Hybrid 23 vanes, and SEVR’s Titanium 2.0 broadheads.

Let’s discuss my arrow choice first. No, you don’t need a micro-diameter arrow to bowhunt turkeys with; I filled my quiver with Easton’s 5MM FMJs for years. However, I like the 4MM for big game, and I don’t believe there is a more accurate arrow on the planet. The 4MM cuts the wind like butter and tracks seamlessly behind a large-cut expandable, reducing friction as it passes through the target. Weighing 482-grains, my Hoyt VTM 31, set at a draw length of 29 inches and a draw weight of 65 pounds (for turkeys), pushes these arrows at 274 fps. When you crunch the numbers, that’s 80.34 foot-pounds of kinetic energy, which is enough to blow through a moose, let alone a turkey. Plus, when you shoot a heavy, micro-diameter arrow, you get exceptional accuracy, penetration, and tranquil arrow flight.

Now for my broadhead, SEVR’s Titanium 2.0. Make no mistake; there are some great broadheads on the market, and if you don’t run a SEVR, OK, please just don’t thread a fixed blade into your arrow’s insert when turkeys are on the menu. Turkeys are thin-skinned and have hollow bones, and with a kill zone that’s a little smaller than the size of a softball, a large-cutting expandable can clean up an errant shot. You want your broadhead to cause as much damage as possible.

Yes, those dense dark feathers can clog up a broadhead and seem like armor, but remember, you don’t need a ton of penetration to kill a turkey. I often prefer it if I don’t get a complete pass-through so the broadhead can stay in the bird and cause increased trauma. You want to cut a large hole, and because SEVR blades pivot as they pass through the animal, it’s more difficult for all those feathers to gum up on the blades. With vented fixed-blade broadheads, you’ll get loads of feathers pulled into the vents halting penetration, and you don’t get a large wound channel. If my life depended on killing a turkey with a bow and arrow and having that turkey expire within seconds, I’m shooting an Easton FMJ 4MM or 5MM tipped with a two-inch cut SEVR.

I geek out about making my arrows. There’s a sense of satisfaction that comes from it, and it gives one the knowledge they are making the most accurate arrow for their set-up. Shooting expandable broadheads, we don’t need to go down the straight, offset, or helical fletch rabbit hole. Bowhunting turkeys should be a close-range game, reducing the importance of the fletch number or orientation. What matters, though, is the fletching style. I want a low-profile fletch to steer my arrows with excellence and not grab a pile of feathers should the arrow pass through the bird. Tall vanes that are super stiff tend to collect massive globs of blood-soaked arrows. I also want a fletch system that welds the fletch to the arrow-like cement. If the fletch-to-arrow bond is weak, the nose of the fletch will lift, and gobs of feathers will slip in under it.

My fletch go-to, not only for turkeys but for all animals I bowhunt, is AAE’s Hybrid 23 vanes. Each vane measures 2.30 inches in length, has a height of .38 inches and weighs 5.7 grains. AAE’s Plastifletch “Lick & Stick” material with a factory-applied activator ensures great bonding when used in concert with AAE’s Maxweld Primer Pen and Max Bond Arrow Glue. The vane’s base is well-built, and I love the stabilization ridges that run horizontally along the vane. These ridges increase ease of fletch, boost durability, and aid in accuracy.

I’m always on the fence when it comes to lighted nocks. There are some good ones on the market and some poor makes. When shooting 4MM arrows, I usually avoid them as the ones I’ve shot snap easily where the nock and arrow meet. The X-size nock from Nocturnal, which would fit an Easton 5MM arrow, does work well, and I like how well the lighted nock shows up against a bird’s dark feathers. I’m more confident of my arrow’s impact when shooting a lighted nock.

Now for a little bonus section. One of the questions I get most is: “Where do I shoot a turkey with an arrow?” Great question. However, it depends on the bird’s position. Here’s my where-to-shoot a springtime noisemaker guide:

• Broadside – Whether the bird is in strut or not, divide his body into thirds. You want to be in the middle third and, if anything, toward the top of that third. Hit a tom low, and you’ll watch him go. My broadside aiming point is about two inches back from where the wing butt disappears into the body. Hit the bird here, and you get all the goodies.
• Quartering Toward – A quartering-toward shot is complex, and I typically wait for a full-frontal. However, if this is your shot, I try to put my arrow into the wing butt or slightly in front of it, about two inches to the quartering side of the bird’s beard. This will break the wing at the joint and give your arrow a good angle to catch other vital organs. Again, stay in the top third.
• Quartering Away – As with big-game animals, this shot is money. Remember to stay in the middle third, come up the back leg, and let your pin find the distinct line behind the wing and below the tail fan. This happens when the bird is in strut. Slide your arrow in this spot, and it’s game over.
• Full Frontal – This is my favorite shot on a turkey. Yes, it’s more marginal, but I know that if I do my job and execute it, it’s 100 percent lethal. Let your pin settle above the bird’s beard and start pushing and pulling.
• Facing Away – Take the Texas heart shot. You want to put your arrow right at the base of the fan feathers. If the bird isn’t in strut, hit him right in the middle of the back, halfway up the body.

TIP: One of the best tips I can give to solve the “where” to shoot a turkey with an arrow conundrum is to get a 3-D target like Delta McKenzie’s Strutter Turkey. The target is inexpensive, and you can turn the full strut tom to any angle to improve your practice sessions.

Bowhunting turkeys is super enjoyable and highly addictive. Heed the advice in this article, and you’ll bag more birds with archery gear this spring.

UPDATED 03 NOVEMBER 2024

by Robert Ceran

Many anglers have a hard time telling saugeye apart from walleye, due to their very close resemblance.

However, it’s important to be able to tell the difference between walleye and saugeye, since the two species have different limits in most fisheries.

So if you don’t know what fish you’re holding in your hand, you can’t be sure if you’re allowed to keep it or not.

That’s why we put together this detailed guide on the primary differences between saugeye and walleye, to help you identify them easily on your next fishing trip.

What is a saugeye?

A saugeye is a hybrid resulting from a cross between a male sauger (Sander canadensis) and a female walleye (Sander vitreus). Saugeye closely resemble walleye, which can make it hard to identify them as hybrid walleye.

A study conducted in the Illinois River in 1995 showed that 4% of fish belonging to the genus Sander (ie., walleye, sauger, and saugeye) were saugeye. This suggests that hybridization between walleye and sauger happens quite frequently in the wild.

Saugeye occur naturally in many lakes and rivers in North America that have breeding populations of both walleye and sauger.

In addition to naturally occurring in these locations, saugeye are also stocked in increasing numbers of reservoirs in several states of the midwest, including Ohio and Kansas.

A key difference in biology between walleye and saugeye is that saugeye can thrive in reservoirs with turbid water, whereas walleye only thrive in clear water bodies.

Walleye vs saugeye identification guide

Saugeye have the same basic body shape as walleye, and can be hard to tell apart from walleye, especially if it’s not possible to compare both fish species side by side.

However, with a little practice, telling walleye apart from saugeye can become fairly easy.

The primary difference between saugeye and walleye is that saugeye have distinct dark blotches on their flanks, which extend well below the lateral line, while the dark blotches on the flanks of walleye are less distinct, and don’t extend below the lateral line.

In fact, the dark body markings of saugeye are actually more similar to those of sauger than walleye (more on that below).

A second difference between walleye and saugeye is that walleye have smooth cheeks with few scales on them, while saugeye have rough cheeks with many scales.

Finally, another difference is that walleye come with a white patch at the bottom of their tail fin, and saugeye usually don’t have this white patch on their caudal fin.

However, this difference is less reliable than the other two, as some saugeye do have a white patch on their tail fin that looks pretty similar to that of walleye.

How do you tell the difference between a saugeye and a sauger?

Next, let’s talk about the difference between saugeye and sauger (Sander canadensis), since you also need to be able to tell these two species apart in any water body where saugeye, walleye, and sauger co-occur.

Overall, sauger tend to be smaller and have a more slender body shape than saugeye. Also the body color of saugeye is generally of a lighter color than the body color of sauger.

The best way to tell sauger and saugeye apart is by examining their spiny dorsal fins (the first dorsal fin). While saugeye have a dark blotch at the base of their spiny dorsal fin, sauger do not.

In addition to this, sauger also have more distinct round dark spots covering the whole dorsal fin, while saugeye have less distinct black dots that are confined to the bottom part of the dorsal fin.

Key saugeye facts

Now let’s talk about the most important saugeye facts that are good to know.

Can saugeye reproduce?

Scientists originally thought that saugeye can’t reproduce (since most hybrid species are sterile). However, a study conducted in Tennessee in 2011 showed that saugeye can indeed reproduce with both saugeye and walleye.

Due to this revelation, saugeye are no longer stocked in bodies of water that have either native walleye or sauger populations, in order to avoid affecting the gene pool of the native species.

Instead, they are now only introduced into reservoirs where there is a minimal chance of mixing with either walleye or sauger populations.

Finally, even though saugeye are capable of reproducing, their reproductive success is not high enough to maintain a strong population without regular stocking efforts (due to a low survival rate of their offspring).

How big do saugeye get?

Saugeye can get as big as 30 inches long and reach a maximum weight of 14 pounds. However, fish this big are very rare, and their average size is much smaller.

Saugeye have an average length of 14 to 22 inches, and their average weight is 2 to 4 pounds. In other words, they generally tend to be smaller than walleye, but larger than sauger.

In some fisheries, it’s very rare to catch saugeye over 5 pounds, while double digit walleye are relatively common in most lakes where they occur.

What do saugeye eat?

Adult saugeye are predatory fish that feed primarily on smaller freshwater fish, including yellow perch, shad, and minnows. Similar to sauger and walleye, they also feed on invertebrates, including worms, leeches, and crayfish.

And while the diet of saugeye is very similar to that of walleye, saugeye tend to be more aggressive in their feeding behavior, which makes them easier to catch.

Where can you find saugeye?

Saugeye can be found in any lake or river that has breeding populations of both sauger and walleye.

The map above shows the distribution of saugeye in North America. They are mostly found in water bodies of the northern midwest.

In addition to naturally occurring in these locations, saugeye are also stocked in an increasing number of reservoirs in the midwest, especially in reservoirs where walleye stocking has been unsuccessful.

Why are saugeye stocked in some lakes?

Saugeye are stocked in reservoirs where walleye stocking has been unsuccessful. Walleye generally require a high degree of water clarity, and don’t do well in stained or turbid water bodies.

Saugeye, on the other hand, thrive in turbid waters, and have done very well in many of the water bodies into which they were introduced.

In addition to this, saugeye also feed much more aggressively than walleye, which makes them easier to catch. Saugeye also often feed in more shallow waters than walleye, which means you can readily catch them from shore.

Due to their advantages for sportfishing, saugeye have become increasingly popular among fishermen, and some anglers now prefer targeting saugeye over walleye. This has led to greater saugeye stocking efforts by several state authorities in the midwest.

Are saugeye good eating fish?

Yes, saugeye are very popular eating fish, and taste delicious. However, similar to other types of freshwater fish, the taste of saugeye can be negatively affected by its environment if it lives in a polluted water body.

What does saugeye taste like?

Saugeye has a delicate flavor that is similar to walleye, but slightly milder. Saugeye meat has a flaky consistency and comes with a mild flavor that has almost no fishy taste to it.

A great way to cook saugeye is by frying it, though baked and deep fried saugeye also tastes delicious.

Saugeye vs walleye taste compared

There are two camps on this topic: While many anglers claim that saugeye taste better than walleye, others say that both fish taste the same.

A friend of mine once did a blind taste test where he asked a group of his friends to taste both saugeye and walleye that had been caught in the same lake, and that were freshly prepared. The guests did not know which was which.

Most of his friends expressed a preference for saugeye over walleye, which would suggest that under the right circumstances, saugeye can indeed taste better than walleye.

Saugeye fishing tips

In general, most methods that work for walleye fishing also work for saugeye. However, since they feed more aggressively than walleye, saugeye fishing is generally easier than targeting walleye.

That means you can catch saugeye with many different artificial lures or natural baits, and with a wide variety of fishing tactics. And since saugeye are less finicky than walleye, you’ll need to spend less time worrying about finesse applications to entice shy fish to bite.

Personally, I like to fish for saugeye with jigs, soft plastics, or live bait rigged with a slip bobber. In the most productive fisheries, it’s not uncommon for anglers to catch bags of more than 20 saugeye per day.

When fishing for saugeye, keep in mind that they stay very close to the bottom, and don’t suspend higher in the water column (which walleye like to do sometimes).

If you find a productive saugeye location, mark it with a waypoint, as you’ll probably be able to find saugeye there again on your next fishing trip.

What is the best time to catch saugeye?

Since saugeye are most active around dusk and dawn, these are the best times to catch them. However, saugeye also feed intermittently throughout the whole day, which means you can get lucky at other times as well.

During spring and summer, saugeye often hunt in very shallow water, and can be caught just a few feet away from the bank in 2 or 3 feet of water. This distinguishes them from walleye, which generally prefer deeper water.

Here in Maine and many parts of New England, springtime means ice-out and smelt runs. In the early spring, smelt are spawning. Looking for tributaries and other feeder streams to complete their duty, trout and salmon will follow suit. Smelt can enter the river in many different ways, including getting tossed through dams, so they can be ever-present in many different areas in rivers, lakes, and ponds. Trout and salmon are hungry from a long winter and ready to feed. Baitfish meals that are full of protein are high on their list. This means it is a great time to get out those streamers. Some of the biggest fish are present and feeding this time of year and some of your best chances to find these beasts is to fish streamers. Here is a short list of some of our favorite ones at the shop!

Raptor Smelt

This is streamer pattern designed here at the shop that is tied to imitate a smelt. This pattern features a wing with a combination of synthetic and natural materials including Raptor hackle, Steve Farrar SF Blend, and peacock herl. These flies are tied on size 6 Daiichi traditional streamer hooks. With smelt runs in full swing during the spring, patterns that imitate this forage are incredibly important to have in your box. These flies will work well on floating, intermediate, and sinking lines depending on the depth desired. Smelt streamers in general work very well when swung, but can induce bites by being stripped sporadically as well. If you think you will be fishing for trout and salmon that are actively feeding on smelt, be sure to pick up a few of these flies.

Check out this pattern HERE

Floating Smelt

The floating smelt is an incredibly effective imitation of a dead or wounded smelt. This pattern is meant to be dead drifted on the surface to imitate this but can also be swung in the current with succesful results. The floating smelt works best when fishing on tailwaters that have smelt being washed down and injured through the dam turbines. With so many of our rivers heavily dammed in Maine this is a very regular occurence. This fly is tied with E-Z Tubing stuffed with foam and colored with a marker for the dark back. Tied on a size 4 Gamakatsu B10S stinger hook and features Fish Skull Holographic Living Eyes.

Check out this Pattern HERE

Grey Ghost

As effective as it is famous, it doesn’t make much sense to target Maine salmon and trout without a grey ghost in your box. Originated by the famous Carrie Stevens, this is probably the best known traditional Maine streamer pattern, and for good reason. This fly is very productive in the fall for inducing a territorial reaction bite, but is also a great pattern to be throwing during smelt runs. This fly can be effectively fished on a floating, intermediate, or sinking line depending on the depth desired. We offer a marabou wing version here at the shop that seems to be especially productive in our northern rivers and streams. These flies are tied on size 6 Daiichi traditional streamer hooks.

Checkout this fly HERE

Montreal Whore

Sometimes you just need the biggest piece of white marabou you can find tied onto a hook. That is what the Montreal whore is. A classic and super effective Maine “attractor style” streamer pattern, the Montreal Whore shines not only during the fall but during our smelt runs as well. This fly is a quick easy tie, but produces a lot of fish. Somewhere in between an attractor pattern and a smelt imitation, this is one fly you should be sure to have in your box. Like the Grey Ghost, this fly fishes well in both Spring and Fall months. Our version of this pattern is tied on size 6 Daiichi traditional streamer hooks.

Check out this fly HERE

Bead Head Woolly Bugger

As obvious as it is, this one had to make the list. Woolly Buggers just down right catch fish. And in the spring when the trout and salmon are looking for a big meal after a long winter, they cannot resist this super popular pattern. In the spring we like them on the larger size 4 and 6 hooks specifically in olive, white, and purple. Black is also very productive, especially in stillwater scenarios. We have many different sizes, colors and variations at the shop.

Check out this fly HERE

It’s impossible to pick up the Beretta A400 Xtreme Plus shotgun and not immediately feel the quality and see the precision of this gas-driven auto-loader. Then you bring the gun to your shoulder, fire it, and realize that it’s one of the softest 3½-inch, 12 gauge shotguns you have ever shot. You must pay a higher price for that experience of course (MSRP is $1,749), but Beretta has been making some of the best semi-autos the hunting world has seen since the A300 series shotguns were introduced in the early 1980s. When you buy a Beretta, you’re investing in gun that will likely last generations.

The Beretta A400 Xtreme Plus is the the pinnacle in Beretta’s long-running history of building a semi-auto shotgun that just about every waterfowler wants in their gun closet…probably right next to workhorses like their 3-inch shotgun the A390 and Xtrema2. Here’s a closer look at what makes the A400 Xtreme Plus our Editor’s Choice of the best duck hunting shotguns.

Beretta A400 Xtreme Plus Specifications and Features

These are the standard options that are included in the Beretta A400 Xtreme Plus shotgun:

• Gauge: 12
• Action: Semi-auto
• Capacity: 3+1
• Chamber 3½-inch
• Barrel type: Optima Bore HP Steelium Plus
• Barrel length: 26-, 28- (tested), 30-inch
• Chokes: 5 Extended (F, M, IM, IC, C)
• Front sight: Fiber-optic
• Finish: synthetic, Realtree Timber, Max-5, Mossy Oak Bottomland, Kryptek Wraith, TrueTimber
• Length: 49½ inches
• LOP: 14.3 inches
• Trigger pull: 5.1 pounds
• Overall weight: 7.8 pounds
• MSRP: $1,749

The Kick-Off Mega System Drives the Beretta A400

The lack of recoil that shooters experience is what sets the Beretta A400 apart from competitors like Benelli, Browning, and Winchester. Beretta calls it the Kick-Off Mega, which is a three-spring hydraulic system inside the stock that softens the blow of recoil. Part of the Kick-Off3 system is a long spring-loaded steel rod contained in the pistol grip of the stock, which acts as a buffer as the bolt moves reward. There’s also a rubber recoil pad on the buttstock and another rubber pad where your cheek meets the stock. That rubber pad will lessen any recoil you may feel, but it also acts as a good cheek weld, to keep you “in the gun” when ducks are swinging through the decoys.

I’ve shot light target loads, 1 1/8-ounce duck and goose shells, and 2-ounce lead turkey ammo through the Beretta A400 Xtreme Plus shotgun, and it’s never thumped me. You can certainly tell the difference when you’re shooting those different charge weights, but it only feels like deeper pressure on your shoulder. It’s kind of like the difference in getting a light massage versus a deep tissue.

The A400 Was Built For a Specific Purpose

You won’t see many duck guides carrying the A400 Xtreme Plus. That’s not a strike against this gun. It’s just heavier than most modern auto-loaders, and guides are tasked with carrying more gear than their clients, so they will often trade a bit more recoil for a lighter gun. Plus, they don’t shoot as much as the clients. It’s definitely a blind hunter’s gun; built for folks that boat in or don’t have to make long walks down a levee to a public stake. You certainly can tote this gun into the marsh—I have and so do many others—but it is much more cumbersome than a Benelli or Browning auto. While it may not be a joy to carry, once you get to your hunting spot there are few guns that can compete with the accuracy and soft recoil of this Beretta.

It’s definitely not meant to be an upland shotgun. It will kill a flushing rooster just fine, and if you pheasant hunt occasionally, the A400 will serve your purpose. But if you’re a dyed-in-the-wool bird hunter, who loves hunting behind pointers every weekend, there are better guns in the Beretta stable, like the A400 Action 20-gauge, or Beretta’s high-end double guns.

Throw a sling and red-dot optic (the receiver is drilled and tapped for one) on the A400 and it makes a fine, albeit weighty turkey gun. And it’s a hell of a clays gun, cycling 2 3/4-inch, 1-ounce target loads with ease. You won’t see a diehard skeet shooter pick this model of A400 (there is a clays version), but again, if you’re an occasional target shooter, this gun can do the job. It’s length, weight, and balance point, which is perfectly centered, make it easier to swing on clays than light autos that are easy to get moving but tougher keep in front of the bird.

Beretta’s A400 Has Superior Ergonomics

When you first hold the A400 in hand, it feels like a heavy gun, even though it’s only 7.8 pounds. But by today’s duck gun standards, that’s heavy (the A400 Xtreme Plus was only outweighed by the Remington 1100 and an old Browning BPS, that were part of our Texas gun test). It’s also a long shotgun at 49½ inches with a fat fore-end that folks with smaller hands might have trouble getting a good grip on.

But, as mentioned previously, long, heavy guns are often easier to shoot than shotguns that are a full pound (or more) lighter, which many modern auto-loaders are. It was advantageous to shoot the A400 on flittering bluewing teal that couldn’t decide if they would splash down in the decoys or rocket through them at 40 mph. With a big gun, your firearm is more apt to be in motion because it’s harder to stop and that’s a good thing when you’re shooting at ducks with unpredictable flight patterns. Field & Stream Shooting Editor Phil Bourjaliy has told me many times, that the bigger and clunkier a gun looks and feels, the easier it is to shoot, and that’s certainly true of the Beretta A400 Xtreme Plus.

It doesn’t have the pointy feel of a Benelli when you first start shooting the A400, but most hunters do shoot it well. The four of us certainly did in Texas, and anyone we handed the gun off to at the clays range shot it as good as their own personal guns, or close to it. That’s a staple of Berettas—they fit just about anyone.

The A400 Xtreme Plus Has Plenty of Extras

Like most of today’s duck guns, the Beretta A400 features an enlarged loading port and trigger guard, which makes it easier to load shells and pull the trigger with gloved hands. I performed both operations with a thick set of gloves on and had no issues. There’s also an extended charging handle for better grip when you’re unloading the gun, and a large lever-like bolt release button.

Once you open the bolt by depressing the button under the carrier, do be careful of accidently touching off the bolt-release button. It’s so large and sensitive that when I was walking an unloaded A400 out of the marsh on my shoulder I hit the bolt-release and it closed the bolt, pinching my shirt into the action. I also caught my fingers in the receiver on an accidental closure—it does not feel good.

There is no cut-off lever on the left side of the A400 Xtrem Plus. The first generation of the gun had one. It allows the bolt to remain open and keep the remaining shells in the magazine without entering the carrier and being lifted into battery. This is a feature some hunters use if they’re duck hunting and a big, greasy 12-pound resident honker starts winging its way towards the decoys. Press the lever, eject your 3-inch, No. 4 duck shotshell and you could slide in a load of BBs. But you won’t have that convenience with the new model.

The fore-end cap is easy to take off, requiring just a half-turn to remove it. That’s handy if you need to perform a quick field strip of the gun. The cap is also neon green on the inside rim, so if you drop it in the bottom of the pit blind at 5 a.m., it should be a little easier to find under the glare of your headlamp.

A Look Inside the A400

If you’ve ever cleaned a Beretta A390, you know that there are multiple pieces to remove and clean once the fore-end comes off. Beretta has made it much easier to perform maintenance on its guns with the A400 line. Once the fore-end is removed, the barrel slides out of the receiver. The gas piston is located inside a metal cylinder under the barrel and simply slides out for cleaning. To remove the bolt assembly, you depress the rotating bolt head, take out the bolt handle, and the bolt, bolt carrier, piston stock, and recoil spring all come out in one piece. Removing the bolt handle can be tricky. You have to push the bolt head back into the receiver until it starts to rotate, then the handle should come free.

The trigger assembly is held in place by a single trigger pin, which makes removing and re-insertion fast.

Testing the Beretta A400 Xtreme Plus

The A400 Xtreme Plus we shot had no issues cycling. A team of four editors—myself included—from Outdoor Life and Field & Stream tested the gun—along with 16 others—on sporting clays and bluewing teal for three days in Sept. 2021, at Pintail Hunting Club in Garwood, Texas. We put the gun through as much hell as we could find, dropping it in the water and muddy marsh, running hundreds of rounds through it, and letting it sit in the back of the truck with a bunch of other dirty guns, never cleaning it. The A400 didn’t hiccup once. It also was one of the fastest-cycling guns in our test, thanks to the Blink system, which Beretta touts as 36 percent faster than other shotguns. We couldn’t put an actual percentage to it, but it was a damn fast gun.

You may recall, the first version of the A400 did have some trouble ejecting 3- and 3½-inch shotshells. It wasn’t every gun, mind you, and I never experienced that issue with any A400 Xtreme I shot, but did witness others have a problem. I saw it struggle most with 3½-inch Remington Hypersonic and during snow goose shoots when the gun had to rapidly cycle an extension magazine full of 3-inch ammo. I asked different Beretta sales reps and engineers at the time what was going on with the gun, but the answers were always murky.

This gun doesn’t seem to have the same cycling issues. I’ve only seen the A400 Xtreme Plus fail to eject a spent shell on one hunt. It was an extremely cold day in February and my buddy was shooting a brand of shotshell that flared at the business end of the hull after ignition. And those “petals” would hang on in the action. I can’t say whether it was the gun’s fault or the shotshell’s; it’s just what I observed. And my friend has shot the same brand before and experienced clean ejection. So it could have been a bad batch of ammo.

The same friend that had the malfunction in February shot his A400 on snow geese a few weeks later after a good cleaning in warmer weather, with a different brand of ammo, and it ran through 10 rounds (he had an extension magazine on it) in multiple volleys, no problem. Another hunter also was shooting the A400 Xtreme Plus on that trip, and had no issues with his gun, which was also equipped with an extension mag.

How the A400 Patterned

Since we tested so many guns (17) in Texas, we picked one distance (35 yards) to pattern each gun from. The industry standard is 40 yards, but we wanted to showcase the patterns at a more realistic yardage for duck hunters. Plus, your average hunter should keep shooting distances inside 35 yards. Once you get out to 40 it takes more skill, and the likelihood of crippling birds goes up.

We patterned each gun with Federal Speed Shok 3-inch, No. 2s with a muzzle velocity of 1,550 fps and a charge weight of 1 1/8 ounces.

The Beretta A400 shot 60 percent above and 40 percent below point-of-impact. It’s a gun that shoots where you point it. Its best pattern put 109 of 140 (78 percent) pellets inside the 30-inch circle. That wasn’t the best overall pattern of the shotgun test, but it was one of the most even. It filled the target with no holes that a duck could fly through. Some guns like to shoot right, left, high or low, but the A400 was dead on. You cover a mallard with this gun and it will kill it.

Final Thoughts on the Beretta A400 Xtreme Plus

If you’re a gas gun stalwart and have the financial means, there is no better auto-loading duck hunting gun than the Beretta A400. Anything Beretta got wrong with the first generation of this gun, it fixed with the new model. Yes, it’s a little clunky and heavy, but you can’t argue with its accuracy, reliability, and light recoil. Plus, this shotgun is going to be in your family far past your lifetime. When you take that into consideration, $1,800 isn’t such an exorbitant price tag for gun that could someday belong to your grandchildren.

The Incredible, Edible Brassica

A look at which brassicas are best at various times of the season and under different conditions.

Todd Amenrud

From the time Toxey Haas and BioLogic first guided “whitetail deer management” into the age of planting brassicas, we have been researching, learning more about them and understanding better how to utilize different brassicas to help us accomplish a wide variety of management goals. If you have enough ground to devote to your food plot program, most managers would agree that a well-diversified food program with an assortment of plants that will offer your herd what they need regardless of the time of the season or current conditions is the way to go. Some of the plants you choose would likely be perennials, but for the best in attraction during the hunting season it’s hard to beat a food plot full of luscious late summer to fall planted annuals. When it comes to annuals, many readers know that brassicas are, in my opinion, the best deer food God ever created. They are my favorite plantings for numerous reasons; they are the most attractive, best producing (yield), most nutritious, easiest to plant and one of the hardiest growing food plot choices we have. Combine that with the fact that they’re also great for the soil. What’s not to like? Sure, I live in the North, but those in the South shouldn’t be so quick to snuff them. They work the same throughout the South, but closely examining the palatability timeframe and conditions under which each variety of brassica performs best is more important in the South than in northern climes. At first (about 20 years ago) we at BioLogic ran into a couple instances of having to battle the “whitetails’ learning curve.” When you introduce a plant deer have never seen before, one that if they tried it before the sugars had developed may have been bitter, it could take them a season or two to become accustomed to it. However, that was rare and I haven’t heard of it happening in years. Annuals, in general, are typically easy to plant and since these are late summer to fall plantings, (depending on your location north to south) the summer weed cycle should be over for the most part. While always called a fall planting, you’ll see that I call these late summer to fall plantings. Because if you wait to plant some of these until it’s literally fall (September 22 or 23, depending on the year and your location), in some areas you may end up with a failure, or at the very least you’re not getting the most out of the plants, especially brassicas. Many still plant their brassicas when they have always traditionally planted their cereal grains. In the northern region and into Canada, brassicas should be planted during July through early August and cereals planted from late July (in the far north around the Canadian border) through August or even September further south (Iowa, Illinois, Nebraska, etc). Obviously that should be adjusted a bit later the further south you go, all the way into October for the Deep South. Years ago, when Toxey Haas and Grant Woods first introduced brassicas to the food plot market, rape was the primary type of brassica used. As most of you probably know, brassicas require cold temperatures to convert the plants’ high levels of starch into sugar and transform it into its most attractive, palatable stage. Initially, for some in the South the brassicas weren’t reaching their most appealing state until after the hunting season was over. Since then, BioLogic has introduced other types of brassicas that develop their sugars much earlier, and even in the South are likely the best attraction and nutrition you can plant – bar none. A common progression during the hunting season would see your herd switch from legumes (both perennials like clover or alfalfa, or annuals like soybeans or cowpeas) to cereal grains (like oats, wheat or triticale) to brassicas (like radishes, turnips, rape and kale). While there are many other things we can offer our herd, with these three types of plantings your herd should have a palatable food choice throughout most of the hunting season or until each type of food runs out. Different crops will dramatically extend the palatability timeframe of your plot. To take that “variety approach” a step further, within every type of crop, by planting a different assortment of each it will also extend the amount of time your plot will remain attractive, especially when it comes to brassicas. From my experience, they will attack radishes first. Whitetails will first lay siege to the green tops, then finish by devouring every bit of the long root tubers. These aren’t your “auntie’s dinner radishes,” these are large tubers that resemble a “huge, white carrot” rather than our more familiar small, round, red and white radishes. My favorite blend is BioLogic’s Deer Radish, it’s not just my preferred brassica planting, it’s my favorite planting, period. From my experience they will begin eating these radishes as early as late August in the north and around early October further south (northern Alabama) until they’re gone. So if you plant enough, they can last throughout the season. Next, your whitetails will typically set their sights on various turnips and beets. While sugar beets are actually in a different plant family and are not a brassica, they are very similar. Just like turnips, they hold a high concentration of sucrose, however it is contained mostly in the root bulb (They still eat the tops.) as opposed to brassicas that have sugars contained throughout the plant, and the sugar presence is caused more by photosynthesis than cold temperatures. I usually see them hit these plants after the radishes, and I use them for attraction during the months of November and December and on until they’re gone. My favorite blend is Winter Bulbs & Sugar Beets, and just like the radishes, they will consume the entire plant. First they’ll eat the greens and then the root bulbs. The radishes are easier for them to pull out of the ground to consume, so with turnips and beets you’ll often see partially eaten bulbs or they’ll scoop out the top and inside of the turnip or beet so it looks like a “beet bowl” left in the soil.

Lastly, they tend to hit rape, canola and kale after the radishes, turnips and beets. These last three brassica types do not produce large root bulbs or tubers like radishes, beets or turnips, but they produce an amazing yield of sweet, green forage. I tend to use these last three brassica types more as winter nutrition than hunting time attraction, but especially when it comes to the blend Maximum, you may want to also plant some for hunting attraction. Maximum produces a yield of more succulent, nutritious forage than any other planting I’ve ever seen. While they certainly may hit these brassicas as soon as cold temperatures convert the plants’ huge green tops to become sweet, if you have radishes and turnips also planted, they’ll typically consume rape after the other two brassica types. Kale is especially cold hardy. Kale’s large leaves will stay green and attractive long into the winter even if covered by several feet of snow. I tend to utilize kale only as winter nutrition. Remember that the timeframe I’m suggesting for these to be their most attractive is just an estimate. It can vary from year to year and region to region. As an example, in the “big woods” where there isn’t a lot of agriculture or other crops to back up your food plots, they may eat any of these as fast as they come out of the ground. Or, if we have an unseasonably warm fall it may take the brassicas longer to develop their sugars, pushing back the entire attraction calendar. I didn’t want to be too northern biased in this piece, so I asked the “frenetic food plot scientist of Alabama,” Austin Delano, who also heads-up BioLogic’s Research and Development, “How do you notice whitetails reacting to each of these plant varieties throughout the south?”

Austin said, “I definitely agree with the order. I think deer density, surrounding food sources (or lack of), a deer herd’s familiarity with the plot, and weather conditions during that year are all variables that can determine how fast and when a brassica plot is consumed.”

He also echoed how important it is to have a “blend” with varying maturity rates and palatability timeframes.

Delano continued, “As far as a north/south comparison, I do think deer consume brassicas earlier in the fall the further north you go. Not just because the onset of cold weather changes the plants, but it also changes a deer’s metabolism and increases their need for heavier carbohydrate foods like brassicas. I also believe that brassica consumption (regardless of type) increases over time and gets earlier in the year when they are planted in the same area every year. In other words, deer that have several generations of exposure to brassicas typically use them earlier and more often.”

Basically he’s also talking about a learning curve, but now it’s working in the opposite direction, in the deer’s favor. I guess it’s in our favor too. The other great thing about brassicas is not only are they the best attraction I have ever seen, they are without a doubt the absolute best nutrition you can provide for your herd. With an average crude protein content of 32% to 38% (depending on the cultivar and stage of growth) and a TDN (Total Digestible Nutrients) of over 80%, that would suit me fine, but add to it they yield more than any other planting and they are great for the soil (radishes especially). Check mate! Brassicas win! As I said, best deer food God has ever created.

More often than not, I plant my cereals and brassicas separately, for several reasons. However, if a manager wants a fast, simple, “one and done” plot, a blend of cereals and brassicas (and sometimes other plants) together may be your ticket. Blends like Full Draw, Last Bite, Green Patch, or Winter Grass Plus provide brassicas mixed with cereal grains. An annual or bi-annual clover is sometimes added to provide extra nutrition or a flush of nutritious forage reemerging after dormancy the following spring. Delano also told me, in his home state of Alabama, he likes to mix Trophy Oats with Deer Radish. He said it’s an easy to do, “one and then you’re done” hunting plot. Provided you plant enough, this can keep them coming back for more throughout the entire hunting season. I don’t know anyone who tests more food plot options than Austin, or many who know as much about deer management, so when he says so, I take it as fact. There are several reasons why a manager may choose to plant each (oats and radishes) separately, but as a simple plan for an uncomplicated, yet diverse hunting plot I would consider this. Think about all the options we have to plant for whitetails, we’ve only partially covered brassicas (and one beet type). We didn’t even talk about spring planted crops that can also be very attractive to whitetails like corn, buckwheat or clover. Or other late summer/fall planted annuals like winter peas, which are amazingly appealing to whitetails. One important thing to mention is that brassicas can also be planted with perennials. In the North they traditionally plant perennials during the spring, but in the South this can be a great way to kill two birds with one planting. If you’re in the transitional region or north and habitually have problems with weeds in your perennials, planting a brassica/perennial blend during the late summer can produce a great start to a perennial plot. Blends like Perfect Plot or Premium Perennial are my go-to products for this. You just need to make certain when planted you give the perennials 50 to 60 days of growth so they can establish their root systems, which will ensure their survival and reemergence after winter dormancy. With the perennial/brassica option since obviously the brassicas are annuals and won’t come back, I would suggest that you over-seed with a pure perennial like Clover Plus or Non-Typical the following spring to fill in any spaces vacated by the annual brassicas growing there the previous year. In a very roundabout way, I guess I’ve tried to convey that “variety in a food plot program is important” and “brassicas are my favorite food plot crop.” All of the plants mentioned are great choices for a food plot, but they’re eaten at different times or under different conditions, which is exactly why it is wise to plant a variety if you have enough acreage to devote.

Where Warm Waters Halt

By Del Shannon

(The following is written in a manner of ‘in my humble opinion’)

Where warm waters halt…

This is the now iconic first clue written by eccentric millionaire Forrest Fenn. He’s earned the “eccentric” title in spades because of a single act: About 7 years ago – nobody is exactly sure except Fenn himself – he stole into the mountains north of Santa Fe, New Mexico and hid a treasure chest filled with $2 million of gold, gems and other valuables. And in an act that can only be called defiant, he wrote a book and a poem that describes the route to get to the treasure and dared anyone to try and unlock the riddle and claim his cache.

Since publication of Fenn’s The Thrill of the Chase in 2010, thousands of theories have been offered up as the location of this first clue. The location of the starting point of the hunt for Fenn’s treasure puts into context every other clue. Fenn has said you’re wasting your time if you’re searching without knowing where to start.

So where do warm waters halt? Not far from Questa, New Mexico.

I first heard about Forrest Fenn and his treasure chest while sitting in the breakfast area of the Taos Hampton Inn eating a self-made waffle and sipping coffee. I was there working on the reconstruction of the Cabresto Dam, just east of Questa. The Today show was on in the background and this is when I first saw Fenn, his piercing eyes revealing more intelligence than his carefully selected words. He was explaining that all you had to do was follow the nine clues spelled out in a simple poem and you were rich. Just like that, my curiosity was piqued.

Buying Fenn’s book and starting my search around Questa and Taos was obvious and easy. The land seemingly disappears into oblivion at the Rio Grande Gorge and thrusts to the heavens just steps away at the Sangre De Cristo Mountains, creating billions of hiding spots. Working in the area revealed that the landscape and its population are one and the same. The people of Questa and Taos stand out as easily as the canyons and peaks that surround them, none is even remotely like another.

Very little in the The Thrill of the Chase pointed me to anything that resembled the area around Questa and Taos. Fenn waxes Quixotic about his youth spent doing anything but focusing on school, holding a special place in his heart for Yellowstone.

One story in particular gnawed at me like an obsessive-compulsive beaver. In an early chapter titled “First Grade,” Fenn recounts being bullied by a boy named John Charles Whatever who often threatens to beat up Fenn, while at other times waves around a jar of olives in his face. The more I read and reread this passage the more it began to look like a ham at Chanukah – bizarrely out of place.

All I had to go on was the name “John Charles” and his olives, so I started there. After internet searches with dozens of permutations, I finally got lucky. After reading a history of Questa, once known as Rio Colorado, I learned that the great explorer, John Charles Fremont, once spent a few months during the winter of 1849 in Questa.

Fremont had tried to cross the southern Rocky Mountains in Colorado during the winter of 1848-49 and convinced 32 gullible men into joining his folly. Fremont was from an era where braggadocio was a suitable proxy for intelligence and thrived in an environment of delusional arrogance. By December 1848 eleven of his party had frozen to death and most others had started eating their belts. The party finally gave up and began limping their way south to New Mexico.

The surviving members stumbled into Questa in January 1849, but Fremont, sensing his men would be in an extended sour mood once they could again feel their feet and hands, headed for Taos. He was off to California a few weeks later

A tragic story, but this new knowledge didn’t appear to put me any closer to the Fenn’s treasure. John Charles Whatever’s olives did.

Besides being a lover of history, Fenn is a fly fisherman. The Red River fights its way out of the mountains near Questa, its last gauntlet is a maze of basalt boulders below a fish hatchery. Fed by springs, the water stays a consistent 48 degrees in the winter. In this same stretch of water there is a mid-winter (January through March) hatch of blue winged olive flies, which, along with the warmer water, coax brown trout out of the colder waters of the Rio Grande…along with the fishermen.

Fremont and his olives were pointing to Questa.

Still, more detail was needed, which came from another of Fenn’s stories. One evening, while re-reading the In Love With Yellowstone chapter I stopped after Forrest described his dismay after his father sold the families ’36 Chevy for a ’41 Plymouth. Why on earth was this such an important part of his life? And why didn’t he use the numbers ‘19’ in front of these dates. Every other reference to a year in The Thrill of the Chase uses all four digits – 1926 for example, the year his parents were married.

Forrest’s attempt at alarm over this car sale seemed insincere. After chewing on ’36 and ’41, which were details that seemed misplaced, and while using Google Earth to snoop around the Questa area, I noticed the latitude in the lower right hand corner. If I hovered the little electronic hand directly over the center of the village and it read 36 degrees, 42 minutes north. Hmmm… Then I moved it to the fish hatchery and it read – exactly – 36 degrees, 41 minutes, 0 seconds north. Holy crap!

Two hints at the starting place are compelling. If I could find a third it would concrete the location of “where warm water halt.” A local fly fisherman supplied my requested last hint.

Van Beacham is well known in Taos as the owner of the Solidary Angler, a local fly fishing shop and guide business. He’s also the author of A Flyfisher’s Guide to New Mexico, and this is how Van describes the Red River from the fish hatchery to its confluence with the Rio Grande in his book. “The lifeblood of the Rio Grande Gorge, the spring-fed section of the Red River extending from the hatchery downstream about 4 miles to the confluence with the Rio Grande is the main spawning tributary for browns and cutbows in the bigger river. It also provides major holding water for big cutbows and browns since the water stays about 48 degrees all winter long. Due to the warmer water temperatures, the Red River is the premier natural winter fishery in northern New Mexico.”

The Red River provides “holding water” for cutbow and brown trout because of its “warm water.”

It takes very little effort to connect the words “halt” and “hold.” In fact, they essentially mean the same thing. The word “hold” takes its origin, its etymology, from the Germanic word “halten,” which means “to hold.”

Bingo.

Warm waters halt in the Red River between the fish hatchery and its confluence with the Rio Grande. This is where anyone seriously searching for Fenn’s treasure must start.

Where to from there? Down river. Rio arriba.

In Fenn’s opening chapter titled “Important Literature” one of the books he talks about is For Whom the Bell Tolls. As with John Charles Whatever and his olives, if you look only at the surface you immediately reach a dead end, but when you dig a bit you realize there’s more to learn. Before Hemingway used the title for one of his books, For Whom the Bell Tolls was a line in a poem written by John Donne, a 16th century metaphysical poet. Donne begins with the famous first line of his poem, “No man is an island…” and ends with “…and therefore never send to know for whom the bells tolls; it tolls for thee.”

Follow the Rio Grande downstream from its confluence with the Red River and you eventually reach the John Dunn Bridge, named for the famous Taos gambler and entrepreneur Long John Dunn, an escaped convict from Texas who built the first bridge and toll road across the Rio Grande at this location. The splinters of Dunn’s original timber bridge are somewhere near El Paso, carried there by numerous spring floods, and in its place stands a steel truss bridge built by Taos County. Connecting John Donne and John Dunn was easy and obvious, especially after learning that both Dunn and Donne are different spellings of the Gaelic word for “brown.” And because Dunn and Donne are proper nouns, capitalize the ‘B’ and you have Brown. Voila.

But John Dunn’s home wasn’t at the bridge, it was in Taos just north of the plaza in the area now occupied by the John Dunn House Shops. How could the home of Brown be at the Dunn bridge if Dunn never lived there?

This problem was resolved by the author Max Evans and his book Long John Dunn of Taos. This homage to Dunn describes, among other things, his early 1900’s transportation company – really just several horses and a stagecoach – and how he met Taos visitors and artists at the nearest train depot in Servilleta, then the only way in or out of Taos. He piled them into his stage, headed east in a cloud of dust across the Taos plateau, and then snaked them into the Rio Grande Gorge via a harrowing and ridiculously steep switchback road.

Dunn built a stone hotel at the bottom of the gorge and on the edge of the Rio Grande where travelers were forced to spend the night, most of whom were grateful for the stop and for surviving the tormenting trip into the gorge, before delivering them to Taos the next morning. Dunn’s hotel was run by his mother, Susan Jane Dunn, who also lived at the site. A short rock wall on the east side of the river is all that’s left of Mrs. Dunn’s home, the home of Brown.

All of that is pretty convenient, but I still wanted more on Dunn. It turns out The Thrill of the Chase is almost overflowing with references to John Dunn. In the chapter “Looking for Lewis and Clark” Fenn talks about taking Babe Ruth candy bars with him when he and Donnie went into the mountains outside of Yellowstone for several days. The problem is the candy is actually called “Baby” Ruth bars. If you look into Babe Ruth you learn that a man named John Dunn (everyone called him Jack) signed Ruth to his first major league baseball contact. Hmm…

Or look at Fenn’s odd reference to Robert Redford in the “Important Literature” chapter. One of Redford’s most famous movie characters was The Sundance Kid (aka Harry Alonzo Longabaugh). In 1897, Longabaugh was arrested by Carbon County Montana Sheriff John Dunn after he and others from his gang robbed a bank in Red Lodge, MT. Wow!

Three separate John Dunn references in The Thrill of the Chase aren’t a coincidence.

The second clue – Put in below the home of Brown – points to the John Dunn Bridge. It’s too far to walk from where warm waters halt at the confluence of the Rio Grande and Red River; about 14 miles if you drive or eight-ish miles if you fight your way on foot down the Rio Grande. All these hints point to these locations as the first two clues.

But be wary from here. ‘Putting in’ could mean crossing the river or heading either up or down the canyon. And if you cross the river, which direction do you cross from? Do you head west or do you head east? You could go in three directions from the Dunn Bridge. I have my own ideas of where to head next, but not the chest, so they remain only ideas.

An obvious question remains: Why am I sharing this? It’s not as if I haven’t tried to find Fenn’s treasure on my own. I’ve made many trips to areas I felt certain that, when I walked out, I would be struggling to carry over 40 pounds of gold, jewelry and artifacts back to my car. But I’ve learned that the search isn’t as simple as my romantic visions make it out to be. It took a couple of years to unlock these first two clues and it may take much longer to unlock the rest.

And if I’m completely honest with myself, I’ll admit that I’d like the treasure found, in direct contrast to Fenn’s wishes that it be discovered 1,000 years from now. I’m a sucker for a good challenge wrapped in a mystery. So far I’ve done this alone, but I could be persuaded to work with someone else or as part of a larger group in the right circumstance. It’s always more fun to work with a team.

For the record, I didn’t contact Fenn for this story. What would he have said to me anyway? At best he would have complemented my sleuthing. More likely he would have just silently shrugged, smiled at me with his quick eyes, and walked away. I figure he’s done what he wanted to do and, whether or not he enjoys the attention he’s created, I’d make my own choice and leave him alone.

A final thought. To me, Fenn’s poem is a love letter to an area he unquestionably adores and which also helped him heal from his time in Vietnam. When you dig into the history of the Vietnam war, you learn that there is a Red River there too and pilots who flew into this maelstrom found some of the most dangerous air over this river.

I like to think that what Fenn found in New Mexico’s Red River was the thorough opposite of Vietnam’s. The paradox was not lost on him. In my mind I can see him casting for brown’s while marveling that one Red River could be filled to overflowing with death while the other held out its hand and reminded him there were still places where he could gently ease the visions of war from his head, replacing them with the rediscovered memories of the trout he chased in his youth as they led him, once again, to peace.

~by Del Shannon

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Always Treasure the Adventure!

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Dove hunting in Texas is a cherished tradition among hunters, offering exciting opportunities to test your skills and enjoy the beauty of the great outdoors. With its diverse landscapes and abundant dove populations, Texas is a premier destination for this thrilling sport. In this guide, brought to you by Find A Hunt, we will explore the best practices and top locations for dove hunting in the Lone Star State.

I. Understanding Dove Hunting Regulations:

Before embarking on your dove hunting adventure, it is crucial to familiarize yourself with the regulations set forth by the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD). These regulations include hunting seasons, bag limits, legal shooting hours, and licensing requirements. It is the responsibility of every hunter to comply with these regulations to ensure the sustainability of dove populations and the preservation of the sport.

II. Best Practices for Dove Hunting:

Scout Your Hunting Area: Doves are highly mobile birds that move in response to food availability and environmental conditions. To increase your chances of a successful hunt, scout potential hunting locations prior to your trip. Look for areas with ample food sources, such as grain fields, sunflower fields, or water sources, as these are attractive to doves.

Concealment and Decoys: Setting up proper concealment is crucial for dove hunting. Doves have sharp eyesight and can detect movement easily. Use natural cover like trees, bushes, or blinds to blend into the environment. Additionally, utilizing dove decoys can attract passing doves, increasing your chances of a successful hunt.

Safety First: Safety should always be the top priority when hunting. Always be aware of your surroundings and never shoot at low-flying birds or in the direction of other hunters. It is also essential to wear appropriate protective gear, including eye and ear protection.

Effective Shot Placement: Doves are small and agile birds, so shot placement is vital. Aim for the head and neck region, as it offers the highest chances of a clean kill. Practice your shooting skills regularly to improve accuracy and ensure humane harvests.

III. Top Dove Hunting Locations in Texas:

South Texas: Renowned for its vast agricultural lands and warm climate, South Texas attracts large populations of mourning and white-winged doves. The cities of Uvalde, Carrizo Springs, and Dilley offer excellent dove hunting opportunities.

Central Texas: The expansive agricultural fields and river bottoms of Central Texas provide prime dove hunting grounds. Areas around San Antonio, Austin, and Fredericksburg are popular among hunters.

West Texas: The arid landscapes of West Texas are home to significant numbers of doves. Cities like Abilene, San Angelo, and Lubbock offer diverse hunting opportunities, with sunflower and wheat fields serving as key attractants.

North Texas: The rolling prairies and croplands of North Texas provide excellent dove hunting experiences. Regions around Wichita Falls, Graham, and Decatur are frequented by both mourning and white-winged doves.

Conclusion:

Dove hunting in Texas is an exhilarating experience that combines the thrill of the hunt with the beauty of the state’s diverse landscapes. By adhering to regulations, implementing best practices, and exploring the top hunting locations mentioned in this guide, you can maximize your chances of a successful and memorable dove hunting trip. Remember to always prioritize safety and respect for the environment as you participate in this time-honored tradition. Happy hunting!