We’re getting closer. Can you feel it? The whitetail rut is getting into gear, and with it comes the best chance of the season for a buck of a lifetime for deer hunters.

This is Week 2 of the 2024 Game & Fish Regional Rut Update, a series of seven exclusive weekly rut reports from the field by whitetail contributors Doug Howlett (East), Darron McDougal (Midwest) and Josh Honeycutt (South). Click here for last week’s report. This week’s report includes:

• In the East, Howlett reports food sources are getting most of the attention from bucks right now, but he believes “big things” are about to happen.
• In the Midwest, McDougal reports mature bucks have been primarily active at night, but that’s about to change, too, and perhaps by this weekend.
• In the South, Honeycutt reports rut activity has been on the rise in some states, though your hunting focus should be on food. Cool weather ahead should lead to increased deer movement.

EAST REPORT

Rut Activity Spotty; Food Is Still King for Bigger Bucks

• Despite a slow week, the East seems to be on the cusp of major rutting activity.

By Doug Howlett

Persistent warm weather continues to plague the region, though a short cold snap last week did kickstart some activity.

Hunters in New Jersey, according to David Sichik of Triple B Outfitters, began experiencing increased movement with a number of smaller bucks harassing some of the first does. Sichik’s trail cams began picking up bucks chasing early last week, and by the end of the week he had clients steadily scoring on bucks as well as the meat deer they came to fill their freezers with. Tiffany Jade, a New York hunter who made the drive over to the Garden State, scored with a nice 7-pointer (see Tagged Out below). Sichik loves this time of year. The week of Halloween is when his hunters traditionally do very well. So far, things are living up to his expectations.

In Virginia, deer sign is becoming more prominent in the eastern half of the state, as evidenced by the number of rubs and scrapes beginning to pop up. Cut corn and still-standing soybeans are serving as afternoon buffets for legions of deer, making those the places to target wall-hangers, which have not yet been harassed by too many hunters. Meanwhile, in the mountainous half of the Old Dominion, deer movement is still sluggish until after dark and there remains little sign even among the flats and shallow ridge passes.

West Virginia’s Larry Case says there’s been very little rut activity in the southeastern part of his state, stretching down into the southwestern part of Virginia. But that is all about to change. The very first reports of big bucks chasing does started to come in about the middle of last week.

In New England, hunter Michael Wheeler reports, “In the last five days, I’m finally seeing bucks on cameras in the mountains of Vermont, northern New York and New Hampshire. They’re using terrain features like funnels and saddles and beaver dams along swamps. They are cruising at night in locations that normally don’t see bucks cruising except when the rut is close or coming on. I haven’t seen daytime cruising in transition areas yet, but that should start by this week.”

Wheeler is, however, beginning to find more rubs and scrapes opening up on ridges and down low near river bottoms. He notes a number of youth hunters had luck last weekend in farm country down in the valleys, hunting edges of cut corn in the morning and evening. “A few youth hunters I know were successful hunting the edges of clear-cuts and old logging roads in the evening, catching bucks browsing,” he says. There’s been little chasing going on, but by next week sightings should begin picking up rapidly.

Also in New England, Ken Fecteau Jr., says there aren’t a lot of acorns this year, and much of the activity is occurring at night. He notes there still aren’t a lot of rubs and scrapes.

Pennsylvania has seen some dandies fall in the early part of the season, with deer activity just starting to kick in. With the moon at full blast this coming week, look for activity to go into high gear from early afternoon until dark. However, if more heat shows up as predicted, early chasing activity could push back until the sun is about to dip.

We are right on the edge of big things happening, and I fully expect by the next report to hear that chasing is kicking into high gear and more tags are being filled.

TAGGED OUT

Garden State Success

• Hunter: Tiffany Bezel
• Date: Oct. 20, 2024
• Location: New Jersey
• Method: Crossbow
• Stats: 7 points

Tiffany Bezel killed this 7-point buck Oct. 20 while hunting in New Jersey with Triple B Outfitters. She was in a treestand using a new TenPoint crossbow her parents had bought her as a gift. She had seen the buck on camera, along with a spike and another decent buck, the night before when the trio appeared after 4 p.m. On the afternoon of her hunt, however, the 7-point buck came in alone along a runway cut in the forest and well ahead of 4 p.m. In fact, Bezel had only been in her stand about a half hour when he appeared. “It was the earliest I’ve ever harvested a buck in the evening,” she says.

VIDEO

MyOutdoorTV: ‘Drury’s Thirteen’ Monsters of the Pre-Lock

The pre-rut can be one of the most thrilling times to hunt whitetails, and thanks to our friends at MyOutdoorTV, we’re excited to bring you big-buck footage that captures the essence of hunting during late October. In this episode of “Drury’s Thirteen,” Mark Drury has his sights set on what could be the largest Missouri buck of his life, while brother Terry is in hot pursuit of an Illinois brute he calls the “Decoy Buck.”

Want more whitetail action? For a limited time, use promo code GAMEFISH30 and get a 30-day free trial of MyOutdoorTV.* MyOutdoorTV gets you motivated with world-class hunting, fishing and shooting content. Choose your favorites from adrenaline-pumping hunts, thrilling fishing escapades, valuable shooting insights and delectable wild-game recipes. MyOutdoorTV is the outdoor enthusiast’s streaming service.

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MIDWEST REPORT

Scrapes, Rubs and Sparring Increase; Hunt Scrapes Downwind of Beds

• Although mature bucks are still primarily moving at night, expect daylight activity to begin increasing by this weekend.

By Darron McDougal

Despite numerous recent social-media posts in which hunters say they’re seeing bucks with does, most mature Midwestern bucks are still homebodies and hitting scrapes at night. According to HuntStand Pro Whitetail’s Whitetail Activity Forecast, daylight movement should be on the rise by Saturday and Sunday. For now, here are some observations from the past week.

Kansas has traditionally treated Nate Hosie of HeadHunters TV well during mid-October, but he didn’t kill a buck during his hunt there last week. He says an abundance of food has bucks spread out this year. “I had some close calls,” he says, “but the big fellas were mostly nocturnal.”

Whitetail expert Bill Winke shares that things have also been slow for the past few days in Iowa. “There was a good flurry of daylight activity around the middle of October but not much since,” he says. “Trail cameras are showing that bucks are covering a lot of ground, but it is all at night … at least here anyway.”

Josh Honeycutt, the South correspondent for Regional Rut Update, killed a monster Kentucky buck in September, but he has tags for Ohio and Indiana as well. While he’s been keeping tabs on cameras in those states, he says daylight movement has been minimal. However, he’s starting to see more action during legal light, including evidence that rubbing and scraping are ramping up, too. Still, for the next week or so, he says the action should be centered near white oaks. [Editor’s Note: Be sure to check out Honeycutt’s report on the Southern rut below.]

Michigan’s Nick Vander Schuur took a dandy buck and observed some promising activity on Sunday. “I watched two mature bucks chase a doe,” he says. “Most young bucks are looking. I know of some bigger bucks that aren’t chasing yet, but they’re marking their territory with lots of rubs and scrapes. I’ve heard some sparring in the distance. The rut should be going good by this weekend.”

READ: Best Days to Hunt the Deer Rut in Each Region

TAGGED OUT

Hoosier Hunter Bags Brute with Hand-Me-Down Bow

• Hunter: Logan Splater
• Date: Oct. 15, 2024
• Location: Hancock County, Ind.
• Method: Compound Bow
• Stats: 157 5/8 inches

Logan Splater had been seeing only young deer in the first few weeks of the season. Then, on Oct. 15, he finally had an encounter with a massive, mature buck he’d been chasing for four years. In fact, the deer had only shown up on his trail camera a few days prior.

“I knew where he was bedding,” Splater says, “and on the 15th, the wind was perfect during the peak of a cold front. When I arrived at the property, the landowner told me he had been brush-hogging paths throughout the woods all morning, which crushed my excitement, but I went hunting anyway.

“Around 6 p.m., some does appeared, so I was ready with my bow when the buck silently stepped out,” Splater continues. “He spotted me in the tree, and we had a staredown for about 10 minutes. Finally, he took a few steps. I drew and made a quick 25-yard shot. I was shooting my dad’s hand-me-down bow from the early 2000s, which made the hunt even more memorable.”

RUT GEAR

Gear Essentials for Hunting the Early Rut

As the rut continues toward its Novemeber peak, old- and new-school gear and tactics can help you score big. Here’s a look at gear trends and strategies for rut hunting, including hot items from Moultrie Mobile, Dryshod and Bushnell.

Click to Read More

SOUTH REPORT

Deer Movement and Buck Sign on the Rise; Still Focus on Food

• Cooler weather should lead to more deer activity in the week ahead.

By Josh Honeycutt

As we enter the final weekend of October, some areas in the South are experiencing a sharp increase in deer movement and buck sign. This is mostly limited to the northern stretches of the region and a few areas farther south. Small parts of Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina and Tennessee are seeing the beginnings of pre-rut movement.

Outdoor writer John Radzwilla is in southeastern Oklahoma where he’s starting to see more sparring on camera. Some younger bucks are even pushing does, he says. “My favorite days to hunt are cold and overcast days with rain in the forecast,” he says. “I really don’t pay much attention to the moon as much as I do the cold. You’ll drive yourself crazy trying to line everything up. Just get out there. You have to put in the time.”

BuckVentures Outdoors’ Jeff Danker is in northwestern Oklahoma, and he says the bucks are spread out and unpredictable. This is mostly due to a lot of rainfall earlier in the year. “The crops are thriving and everything is still green,” he says. “Deer are not hitting corn or feeders. Big bucks are starting to hit scrapes somewhat. There’s some movement in the evening but mostly at night. Milo is being cut now and should move deer and have new ones show up. I think it will be a great year for big deer, but so far, with all the rainfall, everything is grown up and deer can hide and eat everywhere.”

In Arkansas, Phillip Vanderpool of Legends of the Outdoors reports a massive mast crop—the best he’s seen in the Ozarks in a very long time. The Huntin Grounds’ Steven Fuller is also in Arkansas. He says it’s about time to start hunting harder. A big front that’s on its way is going to push even the big old bucks to start moving better. “In the last four days, new bucks are starting to show up in new areas,” he says. “The 2 1/2-year-old and younger bucks have been consistent on scrapes, but the older bucks should start hammering scrapes consistently this week. Does are on edge and already have their head on a swivel, so you know they are feeling some pressure.”

That said, continue to focus on food. Interestingly, Fuller is seeing very few acorns on the ground, which goes to show just how localized mast crops can be. “White oak and red oak acorns are few and far between,” he says. “I’m seeing deer even hit on what pin oaks and smaller acorns we have, and that’s not usually the case until much later into fall or early winter. Food plots and good native browse are going to be key. With cold temps and rain coming back to the forest later this week, it’s time to key on scrapes.”

TAGGED OUT

South Carolina Muzzleloader Monster

• Hunter: Jamie Holler
• Date: Oct. 19, 2024
• Location: South Carolina
• Method: Muzzleloader
• Stats: 14 points

On Oct. 19, after working a 12-hour shift and a short nap, South Carolina’s Jamie Holler gathered his gear and eased into position at his hunting grounds. He located a scrape that piqued his interest and settled in for the morning hunt, setting up camp in a small brush blind. A nice buck cruised through at first light, but it was out of range for Holler’s muzzleloader. Then, two does appeared and walked through. He thought about shooting one of them but didn’t. Seconds later, a spike ran down off the ridge.

About 15 minutes after that, a doe and two fawns ran into view. A nice buck was behind them, and they all worked toward Jamie’s position. Eventually, though, the doe spotted Holler and they all moved off. Around 9:10 a.m., he heard a stick break and looked up to see a huge deer walking down the ridge toward him. Holler slowly raised up into position, readied his muzzleloader and waited for an opportunity. The buck disappeared, reappeared and stopped in an opening 22 yards away.

“I bleated and began working the trigger,” Holler says. “I could feel the sear in that 12-pound trigger. I took the creep out and the hammer fell. My post was centered in the rear sight and positioned right behind his shoulder when the cap and powder ignited.”

The buck turned and ran back up the hill. After an hour, Holler followed blood up the incline about 150 yards before the blood trail got tough to follow. On hands and knees, he pressed on.

“I remembered how much I enjoy hand-tracking deer,” he says. “I love being forced to slow down and pay attention to every little detail, like how every third step he was landing hard, and how the smallest blood splatter gave away his direction of travel.”

After a while, Holler heard a deer crash through a nearby creek on the other side of a hill. He decided to take a peek, but told himself that if his buck wasn’t there, he’d back out. Fortunately, the deer was floating belly-up in the creek below. Holler had centered the lungs with the shot, and the buck went about 250 yards total. The deer weighed 202 pounds and sported 14 points.

“I couldn’t have dreamed it up any better,” Holler says.

WHEN TO HUNT DURING THE RUT

Game & Fish Best Hunt Times

• This free interactive Solunar calendar offers the best deer hunting times based on your exact date and location. Click below to access before planning your next trip.

Search for the Best Hunting Times in Your Zip Code

Gripping a compound bow is probably one of those things you don’t worry about or notice until it becomes an issue. I’ve had my fair share of grip issues and sometimes still tweak it slightly.

There are three stages you’ll need to go through to fix your grip:

• Good and bad grip
• Proper bow hand grip
• Making your grip you’re own

In this post, I will take you through what a good and lousy grip placement looks like, how to improve it if you’ve got a wrong placement, and finally, how to make your grip comfy. We’ll cover Good and bad grip placement; How to grip the bow properly, Making your grip your own.

Good And Bad Grip

So to understand what makes a bad grip ‘bad’ and a good grip ‘good,’ I’m going to talk about both so that you might be able to recognize if these are some of the things you do or don’t do. I believe it’ll be easier if I talk about the lousy grip first.

Bad Grip Placement

You’ll know a lousy grip placement when you see a guy holding onto his bow tight. The best comparison I can make to a wrong grip placement is gripping your bow as if you were gripping a baseball bat, knuckles out, fingers wrapped around, lots of tension in your hand. (pic number 1)

On paper, it sounds like it should work, right? Well, this couldn’t be further from the truth. The reason some guys do this is simply an anticipation of the shot. When their trigger goes off, they want to grab the bow subconsciously. What it’ll do is create torq in your shot. From the moment the trigger goes, your brain tells you to grip the bow.

This happens in split seconds. So the arrow is still in the bow. Your bow hand is the last thing to touch the arrow before it leaves the bow. So if you go from not gripping the bow at all to gripping it really tight, it’s going to torq the bow and change the flight of the arrow.

Good Hand Placement

So the opposite, good grip placement can be done in a multitude of ways, but the one common denominator is that the bow isn’t being gripped super tight. The bow is being held by the thumb and fingers pressing on either side of the bow.

What this does is it doesn’t create any form of tension in hand, and you are keeping the bow steady with the thumb and fingers (picture 2). Now, you can position your fingers in a load of different ways, but we will get into that later in the article.

Proper Bow Hand Grip

So here I’m going to walk you through how to get a good consistent handgrip placement. I’ll be explaining as if you are a right-handed archer (swap hands for left-handed archers). With your left hand, make an L shape with your fingers and thumb 90 degrees, then turn your hand about 30 degrees to the left.

Get your bow and slot your hand in (picture 3). Try to get some contact with the palm of your hand with your bow grip. Then what your going to do is your going to curl in all your fingers and run them at a 45 degree down from the shelf of your riser, then push your thumb along the inside of your riser.

You will achieve the best handgrip when you try to squeeze your thumb and fingers together without them actually touching. This will put pressure on both sides of the bow, putting a little torque in the bow.

Let’s say that previously you were gripping your bow last second in anticipation. You can follow the steps above to try and get used to the new idea. You can place your fingers straight out instead of curled. However, ultimately you want to be able to have your fingers curled for a better and more consistent pressure in hand.

Making Your Grip Your Own

Once you’ve gone and practiced the steps in my last heading, I almost guarantee you you’ll have said something along the lines of ‘I wonder could I move my…’, and the answer will usually be yes! A person’s grip is as individual as their thumbprint. You can move the angle of your hand down or out, move your first finger and your second finger around the front of the bow.

Like I said before, there is a multitude of things you can do. Once you’re keeping that squeeze instead of gripping, you can play around with it. All I’ll say is once you find something that you find a comfortable stick with it.

There’s no point in changing the way you hold your bow 24/7. At first, it might feel like a conscious effort to get your hand in the same spot. Over time, practice will make it subconscious action.

To give you an example of a grip, I’ll explain mine. Place the first two fingers around the front of the bow and the last two pushed up against the edge of the grip, thumb pushing onto the grip on the other side. I also use some sticky grip tape which I highly recommend.

Related Questions

Are shot trainers good? Shot trainers are suitable for practicing the execution of your shot, but sometimes, since it’s not the same pressure as a bow, the timing of your shot can be different.

You may find the following posts useful:

Should you wrap your bow grip?

Field archery shooting tips

How to hold bow arm steady?

How to use back tension with a trigger release?

What aperture for my peep?

Archery sight marks

By Discount Tackle Staff

There is nothing better than being out on the water with your friends and family enjoying nature, laughing, talking, and fishing. And the experience can only be improved when you have everything you need for a fun day fishing; having all the right fishing baits and tackle is essential to making the most of your time on the water.

A fishing hook is perhaps one of the most crucial fishing tackle items after your fishing rod and reel. This means a good selection of fishing hook types and hook sizes can be essential to making your fishing trip memorable and productive.

In this blog post, we break down the four major categories of fishing hooks and explain the different sub-types that make up each category, the rigging techniques and baits they are most often used with, and the species they are used to target. Finally, we provide a short explanation of hook sizing and hook strength naming conventions.

Type & Uses of Fishing Hooks

Artificial & Soft Plastic Bait Hooks

As their name indicates, artificial and soft plastic hooks are used for artificial and soft plastic bait rigs using soft plastic jerkbaits, worms, swimbaits, creature baits and more. Some of the most popular styles include worm hooks, extra wide gap (EWG) hooks, flipping hooks, drop shot hooks, and weighted and unweighted swimbait hooks.

Gamakatsu Black EWG Offset Worm Hook

In conjunction with weights and sinkers, worm hooks and EWG hooks can be used for Texas and Carolina rigging soft plastics. Drop shot hooks’ primary use is pretty self-explanatory: drop shot baits, but these hooks are often used for wacky and Neko rigging soft plastic worms and stickbaits, as well. That said, some tackle makers even make dedicated wacky and Neko hooks too. Swimbait hooks can be used with soft jerkbaits and paddle tail swimbaits.

Use of Artificial & Soft Plastic Bait Hooks

These hooks are ideal for freshwater fishing for species like largemouth bass, smallmouth bass, spotted bass, crappie/panfish, trout, pike, muskie, and walleye, as well as small inshore saltwater fishing species like redfish, sea trout, flounder, drum, and striped bass. Because of their rigging versatility, you can use them in rocks, weeds, and even timber.

Bait Hooks

Bait hooks are used for rigging live or cut bait such as live baitfish, strip baits, live nightcrawlers, fish eggs, and chunks of shrimp, crab, and other crustaceans. Popular styles of bait hooks include baitholder hooks, octopus hooks, J-hooks, circle hooks, and aberdeen hooks.

Eagle Claw 186AH Ringed Eye Baitholder Hook

Baitholder hooks have little barbs (sometimes called slices) along the shank of the hook that help keep chunks of cut bait on the hook. Octopus hooks get their name from their shape, which resembles an octopus tentacle. These hooks are used for a wide variety of fish species in both saltwater and freshwater and are often rigged with a live baitfish or egg clusters. J-hooks are somewhat similar to octopus hooks, except their shape more closely resembles the letter “J” (hence their name). These hooks are typically used for bait fishing for offshore saltwater species like tuna, sailfish, wahoo, and marlin.

Berkley Fusion19 Circle Hook

Circle hooks can be used with almost any type of bait and are unique in that they don’t require the angler to “set” the hook, but rather the hook sets itself in the corner of the fish’s mouth as it tries to swim away with your bait. Circle hooks are also best for catch and release fishing because they are the least likely to mortally wound the fish when they’re hooked.

Aberdeen hooks are very light and delicate and are almost exclusively used for fishing live minnows and other live baitfish to target crappie and other panfish like bluegill, sunfish, and bream.

Use of Bait Hooks

Bait hooks can be used in different casting, trolling, and jigging set-ups for freshwater species such as trout, salmon/steelhead, catfish, panfish, perch, and walleye, as well as virtually all saltwater fishing species.

Saltwater Hooks

Saltwater hooks, as their name implies, are intended to be used for saltwater fishing. Hooks that fall into this category are typically constructed with hard metal wire that is then molded into sharp and long points. Although you will find saltwater fishing hooks in many shapes and sizes, they are usually made of one of two materials: high-carbon steel or stainless steel. Saltwater hooks must also be made with corrosion-resistant finishes like tin to survive in corrosive saltwater environments.

Gamakatsu Heavy Duty Live Bait Hook

For our purposes, we define saltwater hooks as any hook suitable for use in saltwater, meaning there is some overlap with other categories. For example, a hook like Gamakatsu’s Heavy Duty Live Bait Hook is classified as both a baithook and a saltwater hook because it used for bait fishing, but also robust enough to survive saltwater environments and big game species. Similarly, heavy-duty treble hooks like Mustad’s 3565 DuraSteel O’Shaughnessy Treble Hook 2X Strong are both treble hooks and saltwater hooks because they have a treble hook design that is suitable for saltwater usage.

VMC 7237 InLine Single Hook 1X Coastal Black

That said, there are few styles of hooks that are, broadly speaking, only used for saltwater fishing. These include jigging assist hooks used on metal saltwater jigs and inline single hooks used on saltwater trolling and casting hard lures (aka plugs).

Use of Saltwater Hooks

Saltwater hooks are suitable for use for casting, jigging, and trolling with both artificial lures and real bait for all saltwater species. Thanks to their strength, certain types are also a good choice when targeting big game freshwater species like catfish, pike, muskie, and sturgeon.

Treble Hooks

Treble hooks are hooks with three points on them. They are most often used on hard baits and lures, but can also be found on some soft body swimbaits, live bait rigs, and even fished alone with dough baits for trout, panfish, and catfish.

Mustad D3551 Dough Bait Treble Hook

In addition to varying sizes and strengths, treble hooks also come in a wide variety of hook shank sizes and bends. For example, there are short shank trebles that have a shorter shank section between the eye of the hook and where the shank diverges into its three points. This shorter shank style is best fished on hard baits that will be retrieved near grass and vegetation because the hook points are closer to the body of the bait and do not snag as easily. When properly hooked up with, the shorter shank trebles also do a better job of keeping fish pinned and make it harder for them to use the hook shank for leverage to throw the hook.

Owner ST-36 Round Bend Treble Hook Black Chrome

Another popular treble hook style are round bend treble hooks. Just like their name implies, round bend treble hooks have a hook points parallel to the hook shank, which creates a perfectly round bend in the hook. The purpose of this design is to make it easier to hook fish that swipe at the lure instead of fully committing to striking it. There are a few other subtypes of treble hook designs, such EWG treble hooks and feather-dressed treble hooks, but for simplicity’s sake we will end our discussion here.

Use of Treble Hooks

Treble hooks are used in both freshwater and saltwater fishing on casting and trolling lures, crankbaits, metal jigs/spoons, swimbaits, and a few other specialty, niche bait rigs. They generally are not good for use around heavy vegetation and weeds because they are highly prone to snagging.

Fishing Hook Sizes & Strengths

In addition to a wide range of shapes and designs, fishing hooks also come in many different sizes and wire gauge strengths. Different sizes and strengths are used for different species and bait presentations.

Fishing Hook Sizes

Fishing hook manufacturers make hooks in an incredibly wide range of sizes; everything from the tiniest treble hooks for trout and panfish all they way to massive circle hooks used for shark fishing.

The size of a fishing hook is based on both the width between the point and the shank of the hook as well as the overall length (or height) of the hook shank.

Fishing hook size naming conventions can be somewhat confusing. Generally speaking, mass produced fishing hook sizes range from 18 all the way up to 12/0 (pronounced “12-aught”), with size 18 being the smallest and 12/0 being the largest. For hook sizes between 1 and 18, the higher the number, the smaller the hook. In other words, a size 1 hook is much larger than a size 18 hook. For sizes 1/0 and above (there is no such thing as a size 0 hook), higher numbers equate to larger hooks, meaning a 12/0 is much bigger than a 1/0.

Fishing Hook Strengths

While its pretty obvious that fishing hooks are made in lots of different sizes to match different size fish, did you also know that hooks are also made from different wire gauges or thickness? Usually, they run from extremely thin wire to thicker gauge wire. For instance, fine wire, 1X strong heavy wire, 2X strong heavy wire, 3X strong heavy wire, and 4X strong heavy wire, and higher.

Stronger hooks are used for big game species like catfish, tuna, marlin, and sturgeon, while lighter fine wire hooks are used on more delicate species like crappie, trout, and perch.

Final Thoughts

Fishing hooks come in a myriad of styles, sizes, and strengths and each has characteristics, benefits, and intended uses. A fishing hook is an important part of fishing and being familiar with the various parts, sizes, and types of fishing hooks will help you in choosing the perfect hooks for your next fishing trip.

So, the next time that you are on the water pondering what fishing hook to use do not fret. Follow our breakdown, and you will easily determine at the type of fishing hook that will help you put more fish in the net!

Skeet shooting and trap shooting are two popular forms of clay target shooting. Both involve shooting at clay pigeons (also known as clay targets or skeet) that are launched into the air at various angles and speeds. While the two sports are similar in many ways, some key differences set them apart.

In this blog post, we will take a closer look at the differences between skeet shooting and trap shooting, and help you decide which sport is right for you.

What Is Skeet Shooting?

Credit: Envato Elements/ MargJohnsonVA

Skeet shooting, also known as “skeet”, is a shotgun shooting sport in which clay pigeons are launched from two target machines known as “high” and “low” houses that are placed at different heights. When firing at the targets, the shooter stands in a variety of shooting positions around a semi-circular range. During each round, the shooter must complete a total of 25 shots.

Types of Skeet Shooting

The two most common types of skeet shooting are- American and International Skeet Shooting:

1) American Skeet Shooting

American skeet shooting is the most popular type of skeet shooting in the United States. It is governed by the National Skeet Shooting Association (NSSA) and the National Sporting Clays Association (NSCA). In American skeet, the targets are launched from “high” and “low” houses on a semi-circular range with eight shooting stations.

2) International Skeet Shooting

This form of skeet shooting is governed by the International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) and is shot on a rectangular range with eight stations. Like American skeet shooting, the targets are launched from a “high” and “low” house but from a different angle.

What Is Trap Shooting?

Credit: Minnesota Monthly

Trap shooting, also known as “trap”, is a shotgun shooting sport in which clay pigeons are launched from a single machine or a “trap” house located at the far end of the range. In this sport, trap shooters have five shooting stations and are required to take five shots at each station before moving on, making it a total of 25 shots.

Types of Trap Shooting

Similar to skeet shooting, there are different varieties of trap shooting, including:

1) American Trap Shooting

American trap shooting is practiced in the majority of American shooting ranges. It is typically done using a single launcher positioned in a small trap house which launches clay targets away from the shooter, who is stationed at one of the five available stations along the range.

2) Olympic Trap or Bunker Trap Shooting

In Olympic trap shooting, also known as “bunker trap,” a line of 16 machines is used to launch targets, rather than just one. The targets are launched at different predetermined angles, providing a challenging variation of the traditional trap shooting game.

3) Double Trap Shooting

Double trap shooting is a variation of the traditional trap shooting game in which two targets are launched simultaneously from the trap house. These targets usually follow a set part and shooters are required to shoot at them one at a time.

4) Wobble Trap Shooting

Like double trap, wobble trap is a variation of traditional trap shooting, where the target’s flight path is much more unpredictable. This is achieved by an oscillation mechanism that makes the trap move up and down as well as side to side

Skeet Shooting vs Trap Shooting: What’s the Difference?

Credit: Envato Elements/ vlad_star

Now that you have a general idea of skeet and trap shooting, let’s take a closer look at the distinctions between them so that you can make an informed decision and choose the one that you prefer the most:

1) The Movement of the Targets

In skeet, the targets are launched from two different houses at varying angles, making it a more challenging sport. In trap shooting, the targets are launched from a single house at a consistent angle, making it a bit easier.

2) The Rules

The rules of skeet and trap shooting are similar, but there are some key differences. In skeet shooting, the shooter must hit targets from both the high and low houses to complete a round. In trap shooting, the shooter must hit a certain number of targets to move on to the next round.

3) The Equipment

Both skeet and trap clay pigeon shooting require hunting guns and a supply of clay pigeons. However, the type of hunting gun and ammunition used can vary depending on the sport.

Skeet shooting typically requires a shotgun with a short barrel and tight choke, as the targets are launched at a closer range. Trap shooting, on the other hand, typically requires trap guns with long barrels and open chokes, as the targets are launched at a farther range.

If you’re interested in practicing skeet and trap shooting in your own backyard, consider investing in a clay pigeon thrower like the one from Do-All Outdoors. Alternatively, if you prefer to throw your own clay targets, the White Flyer Blackout Skeet and Trap Clay Targets are an excellent option.

Which One Should You Choose?

When it comes to trap vs skeet shooting, the final choice depends on your personal preference.

Skeet shooting is considered to be more challenging and requires more skill, as the targets are launched from two different houses at varying angles. It’s a sport that requires quick reflexes and the ability to adapt to different angles and speeds.

On the other hand, trap shooting is considered to be more beginner-friendly, as the targets are launched from a single house at a consistent angle and speed. This sport requires a steady hand and good aim, but it’s less demanding than skeet shooting in terms of movement and adaptation to different angles.

If you’re looking for a challenging sport that will test your reflexes and adaptability, skeet shooting may be the right choice for you. But if you’re looking for a sport that is a bit more relaxed and easier to pick up, trap shooting may be a better fit.

Summary

Skeet and trap shooting are two popular clay target shooting sports that share the goal of hitting as many clay pigeons as possible, but differ in terms of range layout, target movement, and equipment used. The choice between the two ultimately comes down to personal preference.

Looking to improve your shooting skills? Look no further than EasyShot shooting targets. Made from durable materials, our targets are excellent for honing your shot and improving your aim. Order yours today and take your shooting to the next level!

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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If you would like to share your story or thoughts on MW, please send your submission to [email protected]!

Always Treasure the Adventure!

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It might be known as the Sunflower State, but Kansas also grows monster bucks by the bushel. More than 50,000 archers hunted deer there in 2014, harvesting nearly 27,000 whitetails. Of these, roughly 15,000 were bucks.

Archery season begins in mid-September and runs through December, providing plenty of time for hunters to identify and pattern deer carrying trophy antlers.

When most hunters think of Kansas, they picture unending flatlands. But the state actually has a surprisingly diverse topography, ranging from the Great Plains in the West to the Smoky Hills in the center, to the Flint Hills and Arkansas River Lowlands in the southern and eastern reaches.

“There are fertile soils and a good mix of natural vegetation and croplands that provide deer with ample nutrition,” explains Kansas Department of Wildlife, Parks and Tourism deer biologist Lloyd Fox. “The state also has many acres of tall grass and CRP fields [Conservation Reserve Program] that provide perfect fawning areas.”

Kansas has long had a reputation for growing monster bucks – and for good reason. The No. 6 and No. 8 non-typicals in Pope & Young both came from here.

At 264 1/8 inches, Dale Larson’s non-typical has occupied the top of the Kansas records since 1998. Dale arrowed the buck during the rut in Pottawatomie County, one of the top counties for big deer. This giant, widely known as “Dagger,” has 31 points, an impressive 24 2/8-inch inside spread, and a long, spiraling drop tine.

Three years after that buck fell, Brad Henry of Topeka bagged a typical state record scoring 193 7/8 inches. Brad was hunting in Wabaunsee County when the largest deer he’d ever laid eyes on walking within bow range. The buck is currently No. 13 in P&Y.

Just about every county in the state has produced at least one P&Y buck. Many have produced dozens. The counties with the most all-time entries include Butler (129), Barber (107), Comanche (87), Greenwood (74) and Sumner (73).

But what’s happened recently? Entries made from 2010 until now reveal bowhunters in the eastern and south-central parts of Kansas are taking the most P&Ys.

In that time span, Bourbon and Marshall counties have produced the most (17 each), with Kingman (16), Comanche and Pottawatomie (14 each), Barber (13), Butler and Coffey (12 each) not far behind. In all of these counties, adequate escape cover, ample nutrition and low hunter densities combine to provide ideal behemoth buck prospects.

“Anywhere in the eastern third of the state has potential for producing a buck that breaks the (state) record,” says Marvin Whitehead, president of the Kansas Bowhunters Association. “I green score for a lot of guys who have no intention of entering their buck into the record books, so there are a lot more trophies taken than hunters realize.”

Despite the fact more than 95 percent of the state is privately owned, there are some good options for public bowhunting. In northeastern Kansas, Tuttle Creek’s 12,000 acres of walk-in hunting provide plenty of room to find mature whitetails. This area is prone to flooding in the fall, creating temporary islands where big bucks like to hide out.

Also, the 7,684-acre Marais des Cygnes Wildlife Area to the southeast is a public-land whitetail haven. Thick wetlands and oak and hickory stands give deer there cover and food.

With some areas having experienced herd decline as a result of drought and/or epizootic hemorrhagic disease several years ago, it shouldn’t have much overall effect on 2015 prospects, according to Lloyd Fox. But there figures to be some tweaking.

“We will make some minor adjustments in shortening or eliminating antlerless-only seasons in some units, and reduce the number of antlerless permits in other units,” he notes.

Kenny Fowler Buck

Taken in south-central Kansas, Kenny Fowler’s 23-point monster buck is a spectacular whitetail that demonstrates the state’s trophy potential. Check out this Big Buck Profile segment from NAW TV:

For updated deer-hunting rules and regulations, including information on seasons, bag limits and quotas, visit the KDWP website. For more information on P&Y bucks taken in Kansas and the rest of North America, check out pope-young.org.

In this cartridge comparison of the 7mm Rem Mag vs .300 Win Mag, we are dealing with two cartridges that each carry loyal users and often find themselves the subject of heated debate on numerous firearm forums and within hunting lodges. Both cartridges were released to the public hardly a year apart and further adds to the rivalry that has been raging. Regardless of where your allegiances are situated in this topic, hopefully you are coming into this with an open mind, because both of these magnum rounds are tremendous cartridges and their popularity and longevity in such a cutthroat field speaks in volumes to their performance.

For two cartridges that overlap in so many applications, it is easy to get on the path of trying to determine which cartridge is better. We are not here to lobby for one cartridge over the other. Instead, we want to present the numbers and discuss any strengths and weakness of both cartridges. By doing this, you as a reader has a better resource and source of knowledge to make your own decision.

We will look at several ballistic categories as well as other performance specs throughout the article, and we hope that in the end, you come away with information for a more educated decision based on your hunting and shooting needs.

A Brief History

While some of you might have no interest in the history of either of these rounds, we not only think it is interesting, but we think that if you have an idea of why these cartridges were designed and produced gives you a better understanding of their intended uses. Below you can find some very, very brief histories of these two cartridges.

7mm Remington Magnum

The 7mm Rem Mag has become over recent years, one of the most popular magnum rounds on the market for hunting purposes. It was released to the civilian market in 1962 and quickly gained popularity in the hunting world. This cartridge was able to match and even excel in several ballistic categories compared to the .30-06, one of the most popular long range, big game cartridges at the time, but the 7mm rem came with much more tolerable recoil when compared to other magnum cartridges on the market.

The 7mm Rem Mag is a flat shooting round that is available in a good selection of bullet weights, though maybe not as many as the .300 Win Mag. The majority of bullet weights used for the 7mm rem mag rounds for hunting purposes fall between 150 and 180gr though there are outliers of lighter and heavier bullets.

300 Winchester Magnum

The .300 Win Mag came into production by Winchester in 1963. When comparing to other popular hunting rounds, including other 30-cal bullets the .300 Win Mag is a newcomer. If you look around the internet long, you will find that there are circles of devout followers and also unbelievers in the .300 Win Mag for various reasons. In our opinion, it can’t be denied that this cartridge can fill several hunting needs and is the reason for its continued existence and in our opinion, one of the best magnum rounds of its caliber class.

This cartridge can be packed with large amounts of powder giving it a huge advantage in velocity and the ability to carry a large amount of energy over a greater distance. The cartridge is also able to be to take a variety of bullet weights. Most weights are within the 150-200 grain range, but there are several lighter and heavier rounds available. It is also available in a wide array of bullet styles which gives it a lot of versatility

This is an extremely popular caliber for long-range shooters including those chasing big game. The .300 Win Mag is not only a hunting caliber but is also favored by long range competitive shooters. While this cartridge has been and is still used in sharp shooting corners of the military, the majority of its action is found in the hunting world.

Specs

7mm Rem Mag300 Win Mag Parent Case.375 H&H Magnum.375 H&H Magnum Bullet Diameter.284”.308” Neck Diameter.315”.339” Base Diameter.532”.532” Case Length2.5”2.62” Overall Length3.29”3.34” Case Capacity82gr93.8gr Max Pressure (SAAMI)61,000psi64,000psi

Both the 7mm Rem Mag and the .300 Win Mag were designed from the same parent casing, but their final dimensions do have some very significant differences. We first notice that the caliber of bullets that the casings will accept are different. As the names imply, the .300 Win Mag takes a 30-cal (.308″) bullet, while the 7mm Rem Mag takes a smaller caliber (.284″) bullet. The case and overall length of the .300 Win Mag are slightly longer than the 7mm RM, and its overall case capacity has a larger volume.

While the .300 Win Mag has a higher case capacity and can take higher pressures, it also must send heavier grain bullets down range while maintaining necessary terminal ballistics. The 7mm Rem Mag, on the other hand, is using lighter bullets. Because of this, it will be interesting to see how these two cartridges stack up in various performance categories.

To do this, we have selected five popular rounds from each cartridge that include several different bullet weights and intended applications. For the sake of clarity and brevity, we decided on only five selections each. If your favorite round is not on the list, it’s not because we don’t think it’s a round worthy to take in the field. We have to cut it off somewhere. Below we have listed our ten selections to be used in this article.

Because a lot of the discussion is going to revolve around these ten rounds, and because we are very aware of the possible issues when trying to use a small sample size to extrapolate performance to a much larger field, we have compiled extra rounds for each cartridge. While we will not be graphing all of these rounds (that would be a nightmare for your eyes) we have calculated averages for both and will present those at the end of each section. This way, you can have more data at your disposal if you are looking to make a decision, and it will also check our small sample group and help us confirm that the results we are seeing is accurate for the cartridges as a whole.

These are factory loads, and the performance data we are looking at comes from the manufacturer’s website and well trusted and accurate ballistic performance calculators. While this is fine for comparing specific rounds, it doesn’t mean that the numbers are set in stone. It also means that if you look around at handloading website, you are going to see numbers that sometimes vastly outperform the rounds we will be looking at in this article. While hand loading and the art of balancing the various components that go into a cartridge is a topic worth discussing, it is beyond the scope of this article.

It is also not uncommon to see slightly different performance firing these rounds from your rifle compared to computer generated data. You might see slower velocities as well as changes in bullet energy and trajectory. This is common, and most are not even aware that this occurs and when it does, it is usually not a noticeable difference. What we are saying is that the differences in performance shown here will translate to differences in performance for you when using the same firearms chambered for each cartridge, so the comparisons made here are still valid.

Recoil

While most experienced hunters or competitive shooters are not too concerned with the amount of recoil, others still might be, and those with less experience definitely are concerned about recoil. And recoil does play a role in choosing a cartridge, especially if you are dealing with a decision on cartridges that can be used for similar applications. In our opinion, you can become accustomed to any recoil within reason it still stands that certain amounts can cause you to flinch or close your eyes before a shot.

We used a ballistics calculator to generate the recoil energy (ft.lb) generated from firing each of the ten rounds that we have chosen for comparison. It is important to make clear that we are looking at recoil energy and not the actual kick or felt recoil, though increased recoil energy for one round over another will often translate to increased felt recoil of the same round.

Quite a few factors can influence the recoil such as bullet weight, the amount of powder, as well as the firearm weight. We have kept some of these variables as constants to better compare the two cartridges. We kept both of these cartridges with being fired with a 9lb firearm, and the powder loads were selected from load data. Because we are looking at factory loads, we were very conservative with the amount of powder as factory loads are often loaded with grain in far less amount than the max capacity.

So as you can see, these numbers are pretty fluid and can fluctuate depending on a variety of factors. As long as you keep those variables constant from round to round, the trends we see are going to remain the same.

So, let’s take a look at the recoil energy of the ten rounds now (Graph 1).

When we look at this graph, we see a clear and distinct difference in recoil energies produced from these two cartridges. All five of the .300 Win Mag rounds produced between 27 and 32ft.lb of energy, between 7 and 14 more ft.lb of recoil energy than the 7mm Rem Mag rounds.

A rule of thumb that a lot of shooters go by is that 20ft.lb of recoil energy can influence the shot and even be uncomfortable for some shooters. Again, this is all relative and depends on who is holding the gun. If we do go by this rule, the 7mm Rem Mag rounds still could be troublesome for some hunters and marksmen though still a good bit lighter than the .300 Win Mag rounds.

When you have two cartridges that overlap in a lot of shooting situations each category deserves some consideration. For such a difference in recoil, it usually means there is a performance spec out there that the recoil energy is resultant from. Let’s continue and see what we find.

Let’s take a look at the how the recoil energy between these two cartridges compare when we work with a larger data set. You will find these tables at the end of each section throughout the article.

Average Recoil (ft.lb)

.300 Winchester Magnum7mm Remington Magnum 27.322.1

The recoil energy for these rounds was generated as we described earlier and used the same variables. With the larger sample size, we see the same trend that we saw above. The .300 Win Mag, on average, is generating around five ft.lb more recoil energy than the 7mm RM rounds and if you look at the individual rounds (not shown) they tend to group pretty tightly by cartridge type though there are some outliers for both cartridges as is often the case.

Ballistics

If you’re looking at a cartridge comparison, you are going to end up looking at the ballistic categories. If you’re a hunter, competitor, or just enjoy shooting, understanding how your cartridge of choice behaves in flight and understanding its limitations is critical to your level of success

In this section, we will take a look at several ballistic categories including the velocity, the ballistic coefficient, as well as the short and long range trajectory of the 7mm Rem Mag vs .300 Win Mag. After we have examined these sections, we should have a much clearer understanding of where these cartridges excel and where they fall short and will let us begin teasing apart applications one cartridge might be favored over the other. Of course, it might also tell us that both are more than capable of doing the same thing efficiently and effectively.

Velocity

The velocity is an interesting and critical performance spec for any cartridge comparison. While we will examine it as a standalone performance category, velocity has its hand in just about all other performance specs of a cartridge. It influences recoil, trajectory, and it even influences stopping power of the bullet in several different ways.

While you need a certain amount of velocity to get the proper terminal ballistics, there is a fine line between too little and too much velocity. It is a common mistake to think that the maximal velocity you can get out of a round means a better overall performance. If you load a round too hot it can lead to extreme pressures that become very dangerous for the shooter. If the round is not paired with the correct twist rate of the barrel, the bullet can be highly unstable in flight and become highly inaccurate.

We have compiled the velocities of the ten selected rounds from the manufacturer’s websites and have listed them here. We are looking at the ft/s of each bullet as it moves from the muzzle out to 500 yards (Graph 2).

The first thing that jumped out at us as we looked at this data is that unlike the recoil, there is not a cartridge that has an overall greater amount of velocity. Both the .300 Win Mag and 7mm Rem Mag have specific rounds that show a much higher velocity and also rounds that fall lower on the graph.

If we were to take averages of all the rounds, then there would be a slight advantage to for the 7mm Rem Mag rounds at each yard marker and each time the difference is less than 100fps. Now, 100fps for some might be a bigger deal than others, but keep in mind it’s only an average. There are 7mm Rm rounds that outperform some .300 Win Mag and vice versa.

Both cartridges maintain supersonic speeds over a 500-yard range and will maintain that rating over several hundred more yards. This is more than enough velocity to get proper terminal ballistics for these rounds but keep in mind some of these are not intended for hunting purposes.

From what we are looking at from these factory loads, velocity is definitely a wash between the 7mm Rem Mag vs .300 Win Mag, but that might not be the case when we bring in more data. Below you will find the velocity averages for the two cartridges.

Average Velocity (ft/s)

Yards.300 WM7mm RM Muzzle2976.43031.5 1002773.32828 20025902634 30023902442.7 4002236.42267 5002055.82098.2

When we look at more rounds for each cartridge, we still see that the 7mm RM has higher velocities than the .300 WM rounds at each marker through the bullet’s range. And, like the smaller sample set that we just looked at in our graph, the difference between the two cartridge’s average is less than 100fps at each yard marker.

With two cartridges that have the potential and the reputation for long range shooting, we wanted to also look at how long these cartridges can stay in supersonic flight. We have listed the average cutoff for supersonic flight in the table below.

Average Supersonic Limit (Yards)

7mm Remington Magnum.300 Winchester Magnum 1292.11258.75

We are interested in how long these rounds can maintain supersonic flight because it influences the calculations you will have to make to be accurate with long range shots. When a bullet falls below this speed barrier, its slight is less stable than it initially was and environmental factors begin to have more noticeable influence on the round. When you know when these effects start occurring, you can adjust accordingly or go with a round that might give you more flight time at these speeds.

With these two cartridges, we see fairly similar limits for supersonic flight though the 7mm RM rounds have, on average, 36 more yards of supersonic speed. In the grand scheme of things, we don’t know if that is enough to sway you towards one cartridge or the other without taking into consideration other performance specs. We do know what there is a lot of range in the limits for both cartridges.

Ballistic Coefficient

The ballistic coefficient is derived from an equation that includes input variables from specific cartridge specifications including bullet dimensions and velocity. The physics and math behind the ballistic coefficient and its implications, while interesting, is not something we are going to attempt to convey in this article, but we do urge you to check it out.

In the simplest explanation possible, the ballistic coefficient gives you an idea of how well a bullet is streamlined and how well it can overcome air resistance. The higher the BC, the better the bullet can cut through the wind, meaning it resists drag and wind drift much more efficiently than a bullet with a lower BC. As you can imagine, this makes the BC a relevant piece of information for both long range competition shooters and hunters alike.

We have compiled the G1(for comparison of all bullet types) ballistic coefficients for each of the ten rounds and listed them here (Graph 3).

As with the velocity, we see a lot of variation in BCs throughout all ten selected rounds and within each cartridge class. Both of these cartridges sports rounds with ballistic coefficients well over .45 and each have rounds with BCs above the .6 mark.

If you’re interested in the averages, the 7mm Rem Mag has an average BC of .56 while the .300 Win Mag has an average BC of .553. Though there is a slight difference in the averages, we don’t think it is a fair way to decide which of the cartridges have the better ballistic coefficients. If you need a round that’s going to resist wind deflection and drag, both the 7mm RM and the .300 WM have options to get the job done.

BCs are also important in the trajectories of bullets. Higher BC rounds tend to have flatter trajectories. Since these two cartridges were nearly identical in their BC’s, let’s see if the same trend continues when you look at the short and long range trajectories. Before we move on to the trajectories of these two cartridges, take a look at the average BCs of the larger sample size. It is important to remember when looking at these averages, that they are just averages and you’re not shooting averages out the barrel. It does give you a better idea of which cartridge has more options for higher performance numbers for each specific category.

Average Ballistic Coefficient

.300 Winchester Magnum7mm Remington Magnum 0.4890.483

When we looked at averages of the smaller set, the 7mm RM had a .01 difference in the averages of the rounds. In the larger data set, the .300 Win Mag had a .006 advantage over the 7mm RM rounds. Obviously, there is no real difference in the BCs of these two cartridges. If you are wanting a BC in the .05+ range, there are options for that with both of these cartridges.

Trajectory

Look on any forum discussing shooting and the ballistics of a certain cartridge, and you are bound to see the topic of trajectories pop up. We’re don’t mean to insult anyone’s intelligence, and we are probably speaking to the choir here, but a bullet’s flight path is not a straight line but rather a parabolic shape. A bullet’s design, their BC, and the muzzle velocity all influence the trajectories.

So why exactly is trajectory important, more specific, why is how flat a trajectory is so important? Even with today’s rifle optics, you can ask anyone whether adjusting for a 45″ drop or a 65″ drop is easier and 45″ will be the answer every time. Not only are you taking into account elevation but wind as well. And for hunters, where you might not have all the time in the world to take a shot, the fewer variables you have to account for the better.

Before we launch into the short and long range trajectories, we wanted to step back and show the trajectory of two similar rounds, one for each cartridge, that uses the same bullet design and similar weights, as these cartridges allow, that come from the same manufacturer. With just two rounds, it might be easier to get an overall view of how these two cartridges stack up before we throw eight other rounds into the mix. (Graph 4).

From this graph, it is easy to see that these two cartridges show very similar trajectories out to 500 yards. In this case, the 7mm Rem Mag shows slightly less bullet drop than the .300 Win Mag round and even at their most distinguishable range, we are only looking at around 5” difference. And we can’t rule out the fact that we could change the bullet weights of these two rounds and close or widen the gap. With that in mind, let’s bring in a more diverse selection of rounds for each cartridge and see if we still see similar trajectories.

Short Range Trajectory

While both of these cartridges were designed with longer range capabilities in mind, they are both also hunting rounds, and with hunting, you are going to come across as much or more shots at targets within 300 yards depending on the terrain and the game. With that, we feel it’s important to look at the short range trajectories (Graph 5).

We are looking at the bullet drop (inches) from the 50 to 300 yards with the firearm zeroed in at 100 yards.

At the 200 yard mark, all ten of these rounds are clustered very tightly with a difference of only .7” between the flattest and steepest round. We also do not see any trend towards one cartridge having a flatter trajectory than the other. In fact, the flattest shooting and steepest dropping round are both 7mm Rem Mag rounds.

As we move out the 300-yard mark, there is a little more spread between the rounds but still no clear cut advantage for one cartridge over the other. And when we say spread out we are still looking at a range of less than 2.5”. The top two performing rounds are a 7mm Rem Mag and a .300 Win Mag option, and they only have a difference of .6″.

We are again seeing that both of these cartridges are performing very similarly. If you want a flat shooting round for short hunting situations, both the 7mm RM and the .300 WM are going to get the job done.

Below, you will find the numbers for the larger data set. We have also included an additional 400 yard marker as there are certain hunting situations where this range can be a normal shooting distance.

Average Bullet Drop (Inches) at Short Range

Yards7mm RM.300 WM 50-0.23-0.193 10000 200-2.8-2.9 300-10.7-11 400-24.5-25.6

Just as with the smaller set of rounds we just looked at, these two cartridges are nearly identical in their trajectories. The 7mm RM has a flatter trajectory throughout the bullet’s range, but the largest difference seen between the two cartridges is only 0.9 inches at the 400 yard mark. With that type of similarity, it’s hard to even say it’s an advantage. At these normal hunting ranges, you are not going to get an advantage by going with one cartridge over the other. Instead, your advantage is going to be achieved by selecting from individual rounds and both the .300 WM and the 7mm RM have rounds with phenomenal trajectories.

Long Range Trajectory

Let’s step out and take a look at the trajectories of the 7mm Rem Mag vs .300 Win Mag at increased distances (Graph 6).

We are again looking at the bullet drop (inches) of the ten rounds, but now we are following them out to 700 yards with the firearm zeroed in at 200 yards.

At the 300 yard mark, we are looking at insignificant differences between the two cartridges. The averages of the rounds for each cartridge have a difference of less than .4”.

As we move out to more distant markers, we start to see more of an advantage for the 7mm RM though it is still fairly close, and there are several .300 Win Mag rounds that shoot as flat or flatter than several 7mm RM rounds. Before we list some these differences between the averages of the two cartridges, it’s important to keep in mind the applications you plan to use one or both cartridges for. For hunting purposes, shots out past 500 yards get pretty dicey so the 600 and 700-yard data points are not going to be as important to you as the .300 and 400 points.

Here are the differences in averages of the 7mm Rem Mag vs .300 Win Mag; 300yds (.34”), 400yds (1.32”), 500yds (2.62”), 600yds (3.08”), and 700yds (6.96”). To some these numbers aren’t going have any sway in their decision. For others, the trend of the 7mm RM losing altitude at a slower rate than the .300 Win Mag as you increase the distance is very important.

Though the averages give a slight advantage to the 7mm Rem Mag in flat trajectories, especially as it moves out to the 600 and 700 yards range, the two top performing rounds at each yardage marker was a 7mm RM and a .300 WM. You might have more options for flat shooting rounds for the 7mm RM but be aware that there are .300 WM rounds that can easily compete for flat trajectory.

In the table below, we have listed the average bullet drop for the two cartridges below. We have also added an additional 1,000 yard marker for those who like to push their limits.

Average Bullet Drop (Inches) at Long Range

Yards.300 WM7mm RM 1001.51.4 20000 300-6.7-6.4 400-19.5-18.8 500-39.5-37.9 700-104-101 1000-295.6-286.8

Like the smaller sample set and like the averages we saw when examining the short range trajectory, there is not a whole lot of difference between these cartridges. The 7mm Rem Mag rounds have a slightly flatter trajectory, on average, and this is most pronounced at 700+ yards, but when looking at individual rounds, there is a mixture of both cartridges from the high end of the bullet drop range to the flattest shooting rounds.

Stopping Power

In this next section, we are going to look at several sub-categories of stopping power. Stopping or knockdown power as some like to call it is going to be more important to those looking to utilize these cartridges for hunting purposes.

Stopping power is extremely important in a hunter’s decision for a cartridge. For us and the majority of hunters we know, putting down an animal quickly and humanely is of utmost importance. Not only is it because we don’t want the animal to get away and we don’t want to have to track it for miles, but we also respect the animals a great deal and letting one get away wounded is the last thing we want.

Unfortunately, there is no single measurement that is going to convey to us a cartridge’s stopping power, but there are several factors that influence stopping power such as bullet energy, penetration, and bullet expansion. The two former factors are something we can work with for comparing the 7mm Rem Mag vs .300 Win Mag with computer generated data. For penetration, we will actually look at two different metrics, the sectional density and the bullet momentum.

And while we do think understanding these components of stopping power is important, it is all worthless if you can’t put the right bullet where it needs to go. A small lack of force can be made up for with an accurate shot in the vitals.

Energy

When the powder in the casing is ignited, and the bullet is forced down the barrel and down range, that energy created from the burning powder is carried by the bullet. That kinetic energy is only one factor of a rounds stopping power, but it is an important one. We know from basic physics that if the cartridge can be fitted with larger and heavier bullets and sent downrange at increased speeds (more powder) than they should carry extra force with them. Because of this, we can easily compare two cartridges rather than having to look at the individual bullet types used.

When the bullet impacts the target, this kinetic energy is transferred to the surrounding tissue and organs causing massive damage. This transfer is also affected by how the bullet reacts on impact, such as how the bullet expands. More expansion causes a larger wound and also transfers the energy carried by the bullet more efficiently. Velocity is also a key component in a bullet’s ability to expand, but for now, we are just going to stick with comparing the energies of the rounds involved.

The amount of energy that is required to bring down game varies from animal to animal. While there are general rules of thumb for what is required, nothing is set in stone, and as we just mentioned, there is more involved than just bullet energies. Still, it is accepted that 1,000ft.lb of energy is a good mark for deer while 1,500ft.lb is more suitable for elk. As the species increase in size so does the amount of energy. And like we have mentioned before, using a proper bullet and putting it in the right spot can make up for lack of energy.

Let’s take a look at the bullet energies (ft.lb) of the ten selected rounds from the muzzle out to 500 yards (Graph 7).

Unlike the last couple of performance categories we have looked at, here we see a distinct difference between the two cartridges more so than just between different rounds. From the muzzle out to 300 yards, all of the .300 Win Mag rounds show higher bullet energy than the 7mm Rem Mag rounds. Right from the muzzle, the lowest .300 Win Mag round is carrying 3,474ft.lb of force while the highest 7mm Rem Mag round is carrying 3,303ft.lb of force. The difference between the highest .300 Win Mag and the lowest 7mm Rem Mag round is even more drastic with a difference of 615ft.lb of force.

What is interesting is that as these rounds move downrange, the gap between the two cartridges begins to close. While the three .300 Win Mag rounds maintain their lead; the other two are tightly clustered with several 7mm Rem Mag rounds.

If we look at the averages of the two cartridges at the muzzle and 500 yards, we can see how much this gap closes. At the muzzle, the .300 Win Mag rounds have an average bullet energy of 3,640ft.lb while the 7mm Rem Mag rounds have an energy of 3,162ft.lbs. That’s a difference of 478ft.lb. By the time they reach the 500-yard mark, that difference is nearly cut in half to 224.4ft.lb of difference.

While the .300 Win Mag overall has higher bullet energy, the differences are not too extreme. You can cherry pick a round from each and see quite a bit of difference as we did earlier, but there are a lot that carries very similar energies, and we saw that as they travel downrange they even out even more. And for hunting purposes, we are not sure that an extra .300 ft.lb of force is going to make much of a difference. IF you put either of them in the vital zone, they are both going drop the animal.

Let’s see if the trends continue in the same direction when we look at more rounds for both cartridges.

Average Bullet Kinetic Energy (ft.lbs)

Yards7mm RM.300 WM 03140.83479 1002733.83029 2002372.52658.4 3002051.72290 40017661988.3 5001513.31741.3

When we bring in the extra rounds, we still observe the greater kinetic energy with the .300 Win Mag rounds at each yard marker along the bullet’s flight. And like earlier, as the rounds move downrange, the gap between the two did shrink. While this category was a little more clear cut when thinking about the difference between the cartridges as a whole, there are still instances where some of the 7mm Rem rounds produced KE around or above the average of the .300 WM rounds.

And what shouldn’t be lost, is that while the .300 Win Mag does seem to have more KE, the amount that the 7mm RM rounds generate are not insignificant. Both of these rounds produce enough KE to create a lot of damage on the largest North American game at all ranges most hunting shots are taken.

Penetration (Sectional Density)

Penetration is another component to a bullet’s stopping power that we want to address in this article. For a bullet to quickly kill an animal, it must reach the vital organs. When thinking about how much penetration is necessary, you also have to think about the type of game you are hunting. A mature bull moose is going to require more penetration than a whitetail deer.

There are several factors that influence the amount of penetration that is going to occur, other than the type of animal. Some of these factors include the velocity, the caliber of the bullet, the weight of the bullet, and the bullet’s design. In this section, we are going to look at the sectional density (SD), which is a number calculated from the caliber of the bullet, as well as its weight.

The sectional density correlates with the amount of penetration a bullet will have on the target, and since we are not looking at bullet types and designs in this article, we think the SD is a good means of comparison for two cartridges. And though it is fine for looking at now, when making your final decision on a specific round, it is important that you take into account all of the factors. Understanding your bullet design, how it expands, and the velocity needed for proper expansion and penetration is a huge can be the difference between a clean kill or an injured animal you have to track through the night.

So when you look at the SDs of various cartridges and specific rounds, higher SDs correlate to deeper penetrating bullets. As an example, let’s take two rounds, both are 100gr, but one has a diameter of .100″ and the second has a diameter of .200″. The .100″ bullet is going to have a larger SD than the .200″ bullet and theoretically, deeper penetration. This is because the force behind the bullet is localized to a smaller area and can drive the bullet deeper.

We can do the same exercise, but instead look how the weight of the bullet affects the SD. With two bullets, each with a .300” diameter with one weighing 100gr and the second 150gr, the 150gr is going to have a higher sectional density and deeper penetration.

We have calculated the sectional densities for all ten of the selected rounds have compiled them here (Graph 8).

Like most ballistic and other performance specs we have looked at between the 7mm Rem Mag vs .300 Win Mag, there is not a whole lot of difference between the two cartridges. On average, the 7mm Rem Mag rounds have a SD of .279 while the .300 Win Mag rounds have an average SD of .289, a hundredth of a difference. Both cartridges have their rounds with heavier bullets and subsequent higher SDs.

Though the 7mm Rem Mag rounds are a smaller caliber than the .300 Win Mag rounds, they also have lighter bullets. This difference between the two leads us to rounds that have very similar SDs.

Average Sectional Density

.300 Winchester Magnum7mm Remington Magnum 0.2840.273

Again, with the larger set of rounds, we see the sameresults from earlier. The .300 Win Mag rounds show a slightly higher sectional density than the 7mm Rem Mag rounds.

Penetration (Momentum)

The second metric that we will use to get an idea of how these two cartridges compare in potential penetration is the momentum of the bullets. Moment is simply how well an object in motion will stay in motion. Meaning, how well can the object, a bullet in this case, overcome resistance and keep moving forward. The higher the momentum, the more the bullet can penetrate after encountering resistance. And, this is of course omitting the type of bullet that is being fired which in the field, is going to have to be taken into consideration. Though, for hunting purposes, just about all of the rounds for these two cartridges are going to be designed to hold together well and over controlled expansion.

It is also important to keep the sectional density in mind when looking at momentum. The higher the sectional density, the less resistance the bullet encounters because of the smaller area that is interacting with the target.

We have graphed the bullet momentum of our ten rounds and graphed them below (Graph 9).

From this graph, we can see that the rounds do appear to group with rounds of their respective cartridge type. The averages definitely lean towards the .300 WM rounds for higher momentum. We do see that advantage begin to shrink as the rounds move downrange with an average difference of 12lb/ft.s at the muzzle and 9lb/ft.s at the 500 yard marker.

We do see that the Barnes .300 WM round is a big boost to the averages and without it, the average performance between these cartridges would be much similar. Let’s take a look at the larger sample set and see how the two compare. Even without the highest performing round, we still see the rounds from each cartridge grouping together pretty tightly. For the .300 Win Mag rounds, all of the them leave the muzzle with over 75lb/ft.s of momentum while all of the 7mm RM rounds are below the 70lb/ft.s mark. We also do not see any overlap between rounds of different cartridges until the 500 yard mark, and even then, it is only the highest performing 7mm RM round that matches the lowest performing .300 WM round. And when we say highest or lowest performing, we mean that in regards to only the momentum numbers.

Let’s take a look at the averages of the full data sets.

Average Bullet Momentum (lb/ft.s)

Yards.300 WM7mm RM Muzzle75.466.6 10070.762.2 20064.957.9 3006153.7 40057.249.5 50052.646

When we add in more rounds, we are still seeing the same trends as before. The .300 WM rounds are generating more momentum from the muzzle out to 500 yards. We do see the difference shrink by a few lbs/ft.s but overall, the .300 Win Mag seems to have the advantage if you are wanting more momentum.

These results shouldn’t be too surprising. Given that the mass and velocity make up bullet momentum and since there was very little difference in velocity between the cartridges and the .300 WM rounds have heavier bullets, it makes sense that they generate more momentum.

Accuracy

Trying to determine which cartridge is more accurate is always a task that makes us feel a little dirty. The best method of doing this is through hundreds of rounds through several days of shooting and measuring groupings. Even then, two people’s results can be drastically different. Heck, one person’s results can be different from day to day. And we’re not discounting that method, it can be very valuable, but you just have to be cautious of who you are getting that information from. We think which cartridge has the better accuracy comes down to the person pulling the trigger and their level of experience shooting said cartridge.

If we look at some of the ballistics data such as the ballistic coefficients and the trajectories, there is not a whole lot of difference between the two cartridges in either category. The 7mm Rem Mag had on average slightly higher BCs and slightly flatter trajectories out past 500 yards than the .300 WM rounds, but as we stated during those discussions, there are rounds for both that perform better than others. And if you need some extra power at short range the differences are nowhere enough to make you decide against the .300 Win Mag. In fact, we don’t think there is a big enough difference in these categories to make you lean one way or the other regarding accuracy from the data we have looked at here.

And you can’t discount the role recoil can play in accuracy. We think that most of you here reading this article would easily adjust to the increased recoil of the .300 Win Mag, but there might be some who could easily be thrown off by the kick. And if you’re a person who enjoys burning through a box or two at the range, that extra 10ft.lb of recoil can be fatiguing and lead to a decrease in accuracy over time.

It’s all nitpicking to us. We did feel the need to mention it, but both the 7mm Rem Mag and the .300 Win Mag cartridges can drive nails with some practice on your end, and they can do it from a distance.

Price & Availability

When we look at the price of the 7mm Rem Mag vs .300 Win Mag, it can vary from round to round. Just between cartridges, we don’t think there is enough of a difference to choose one over the other based on price. Each cartridge has cheaper boxes of ammunition and each has more expensive boxes. You can definitely save a few cents per round by looking into handloading for both of these cartridges.

As far as availability goes, just about every major ammunition company are loading .300 Win Mag and 7mm RM cartridges and most of them carry several different models of each. We don’t think there is any difference in availability between the two, though there is less compared to other popular hunting rounds. And with the internet at your disposal, finding exactly what you need has never been easier.

AmmunitionPrice (20 Rounds) 7mm RM HSM Trophy Gold VLD Berger 168gr$47.99 7mm RM Hornady Superformance SST 162gr$32.29 7mm RM Federal Nosler Ballistic Tip Vital-Shok 150gr$36.79 7mm RM Winchester Expedition Big Game Long Range 168gr$43.99 7mm RM Nosler Trophy Grade AccuBond 140gr$58.00 300 WM Hornady Superformance SST 180gr$30.99 300 WM Federal Trophy Bonded Tip Vital-Shok 180gr$46.99 300 WM Nosler Trophy Grade AccuBond Long Range 190gr$48.99 300 WM Barnes Precision Match OTM 220gr$48.99 300 WM Federal MatchKing BTHP Gold Medal 190gr$52.99

Applications

As we start top close out this comparison, let’s try to take the results we have found and start teasing apart certain applications of these cartridges might be better suited or maybe applications where you can’t go wrong with either.

We have also provided the average tables throughout the article below to make it a little easier for you as we move through this section.

For long range precision shooting, both of these rounds have options to get the job done. The 7mm Rem Mag rounds have more options for higher muzzle velocities, flatter trajectories, and better BCs which helps performance greatly downrange. That is not to say that there aren’t .300 Win Mag options that can give you very similar performances, but most would rather not deal with the increased recoil for dozens of shots within a short time frame.

While both of these rounds can function in long range precision shooting, the majority of users are going to be using them in a hunting capacity. Both the 7mm Rem Mag and the .300 Win Mag can be used for medium sized game such as deer, hogs, antelope, and sheep at just about any realistic hunting range. We really like the lighter 7mm Rem Mag rounds for these game animals. Overall, both rounds are really overkill for these game animals stopping power wise, but that extra range can be a game changer.

Both cartridges also have heavy enough bullets and the terminal ballistics to be used for larger game such as elk, moose, and more exotic game and still have a wide effective range. For bigger and more dangerous game, you might like the kinetic energy and larger bullets of the .300 Win Mag but as we discussed in the previous sections, we would be comfortable with either cartridge in these hunting scenarios.

We did see slightly higher sectional density numbers, on average for the .300 Win Mag and pretty significant differences in the momentum data with the edge going to the .300 Win Mag as well. Both of these combined, barring bullet design, indicate that the .300 Win Mag should have better penetration potential. And that is not to say that the 7mm RM rounds are not going to penetrate well. Given that the cartridge is still around tells you that it is able to bring down large game efficiently. If you were of the mind to get as much penetration as possible, the numbers say the .300 WM is better suited. Even so, it’s really more about picking the correct round rather than the correct cartridge.

Best Rounds

Before we wrap up this article, we want to take the ten rounds we have been looking at and pick a couple that we think fits certain applications well.

Top Hunting Round

For the 7mm Rem Mag rounds, we are big fans of the HSM Trophy Gold VLD Berger 168gr round. We think the 168gr bullet is a great weight for hunting purposes as it has a manageable recoil. It has one the best muzzle velocities and BCs of all the rounds we looked at so you have excellent downrange ballistics, including a flat trajectory. It doesn’t have the highest amount of energy associated with it, but with the excellent Berger VLD bullet and velocity, you get more than enough penetration and expansion to take medium to large game at common hunting ranges.

For the .300 Win Mag, our choice goes to the Nosler Trophy Grade AccuBond Long Range 190gr. Some of our reasons for selecting this round is the terminal ballistics and the stopping power. This round maintains over 2,000fps throughout a 500-yard flight, which is more than enough to cause proper expansion of the ballistic tip bullet. This speed along with the sectional density is going to be more than enough to penetrate to and through vital organs of big bull elk and moose at long ranges. It might be a bit of overkill for medium sized game and you might get a bit more damaged meat, but there is little doubt that it will put them down.

Conclusion

Both of these magnum rounds have been in circulation for just about the same amount of time. More than enough to have a good feel for their strengths and their weaknesses. The fact that both are still used and still a topic of debate should give you an idea that both can be highly effective rounds in the right hands and the right situations.

We hope that this cartridge comparison of the 7mm Rem Mag vs .300 Win Mag has given you an unbiased look at some of the ballistic and other performance properties of these two rounds. We also hope that you have come to the same conclusion as we have after researching these two cartridges. With practice, either one can easily become your go to round.

Ammunition List

That’s a question that pet owners have been asking for years. Some people swear that they have seen a raccoon snatch up a cat right out of their yard, while others believe that raccoons prefer to stick to their own kind and would never touch a feline. So, what’s the truth? Are raccoons predators of cats, or are they simply taking advantage of an easy meal? Keep reading to learn more about this topic.

Why are Raccoons a Threat to Cats?

Raccoons are a threat to cats because they are predators. Raccoons will eat small animals, including cats if they have the opportunity. While it is not common for raccoons to hunt and eat cats, it is always important for pet owners to take measures to protect their pets from possible predators, including raccoons. Raccoon-resistant trash cans and animal fencing can help keep pets safe from these critters.

(How to get rid of chipmunks? See this post for more)

What Can You Do To Protect Your Cat From Raccoons?

There are several things that you can do to protect your cat from raccoons. One of the best things that you can do is to make sure that your cat is up-to-date on its vaccinations. This will help to protect your cat from diseases that raccoons may carry. You should also keep your cat indoors, especially at night when raccoons are most active. If you must let your cat outdoors, make sure that it is in a secure area that raccoons cannot access. Finally, make sure to clean up any food or garbage that might attract raccoons to your property. By taking these precautions, you can help to keep your cat safe from harm.

How To Keep Raccoons Out Of Cat Food?

One way to keep raccoons out of cat food is to store the food in a securely sealed container. Raccoons are very clever and resourceful animals, so it is important to make sure that the container is not something that they can easily open. You should also keep the food in a place where raccoons cannot reach it, such as on a high shelf or in a locked cupboard. Finally, you can try feeding your cat at times when raccoons are not active, such as during the day.

(How To Get Rid Of Iguanas? See this post for more)

Do Raccoons Eat Cat Food?

It is not common for raccoons to eat cat food, as they prefer to eat small mammals, insects, and fruits and vegetables. However, there have been cases where raccoons have eaten cat food, so it is important to be aware of this possibility if you have a pet cat. If you are concerned that raccoons might be attracted to your cat’s food, you can take measures to protect the food, such as storing it in a securely sealed container or keeping it in a place where raccoons cannot reach it.

What Do Raccoons Eat?

Raccoons typically eat small mammals, insects, and fruits and vegetables. This diet helps them to stay healthy and provides them with the nutrients that they need.

Raccoons In Backyard? Here’s What to Do:

If you have a raccoon in your backyard, one of the best things to do is to contact a professional wildlife control company (or take care of it by yourself with an air rifle). These companies are experienced in safely removing raccoons from properties. Once the raccoon has been removed, you can take steps to prevent them from returning, such as sealing up any holes or gaps that they might use to get back into your yard. You should also make sure to clean up any food or garbage that might attract raccoons to your property.

(For more on the best air rifles for pest control, see this post)

FAQs

Can raccoons transmit diseases to my cat?

Yes, raccoons can transmit diseases to cats. This is why it is important to make sure that your cat is up-to-date on its vaccinations. Additionally, you should take measures to keep raccoons away from your cat, such as keeping it indoors or in a secure area outdoors.

Can raccoons give my cat rabies?

Yes, raccoons can give cats rabies. This is why it is so important to make sure that your cat is up-to-date on its vaccinations.

Can cats help in keeping raccoons away?

Having a cat would not necessarily mean having no raccoons in your backyard. Raccoons are dangerous and robust animals, and they are bigger than your cat. This means that even the friendliest cat cannot protect your property from a raccoon invasion.

A raccoon has injured my cat, what should I do?

If a raccoon has injured your cat, the first thing that you should do is to take your cat to the vet. It is also important to contact a professional wildlife control company to have the raccoon removed from your property. Once the raccoon has been removed, you can take steps to prevent them from returning, such as sealing up any holes or gaps that they might use to get back into your yard. You should also make sure to clean up any food or garbage that might attract raccoons to your property.

Other animals that can attack your cat:

1. Dogs

2. Coyotes

3. Foxes

4. Bobcats

5. Owls

6. Hawks

7. Weasels

8. Raccoons

9. Bears

10. Cougars

Conclusion

Raccoons are easily adaptive, and their diet depends on whatever they have access to, if that means your cat, they will attack it and eat it. Raccoons will eat your cat if they do have other food resources around them but there are cases where they will only get into quarrels with them over fight or territory. It is best to keep your cats inside and away from any potential danger. If you do find a raccoon in your backyard, the best thing to do would be to contact professional help to get it removed as quickly as possible. There are also measures you can take afterward to prevent them from returning.

Out of the roughly 2,500 wild mushroom species in Michigan, approximately 100 of them are edible. Morels, chanterelles, oysters, chicken of the woods, and truffles are the most popular edible species, but Michigan mushroom hunters know that there are more gems to discover.

5 Edible Mushrooms in Michigan

1. Morel (Morchella species)

Morels can be yellow, tan, black, or gray. They are most notably known for their unique cap. The pitted cap is oblong and veiny, almost resembling a crumpled-up honeycomb. If you look hard enough, you can find morel mushrooms in all 83 counties in Michigan.

The best time to harvest morels in Michigan is in May, even though this species fruits from April to June.

They can be found just about anywhere but prefer woodland areas with moist soil, old orchards, and dead or dying trees.

Morels have a meaty texture and an earthy, nutty taste. The darker morels tend to have a smoky flavor, also. Their flavor is something to be showcased.

They are great sauteed in butter but also work well as an ingredient. Think pasta, mushroom soup, sauces, or even morel game burgers.

I recommend the following recipe:

• Morel game burger with charred scallion butter

Watch our video to learn all about how to find, forage, and identify morel mushrooms!

2. Chanterelle (Cantharellus species)

The golden chanterelle and the cinnabar red chanterelle are two popular species in Michigan. They are vase-shaped and have deep, false gills on the underside of the cap. Chanterelles are well-known for their fruity apricot scent.

You can find this species in the upper peninsula and the northern section of the lower peninsula. Because chanterelles are mycorrhizal, you will always find them near trees, especially beech, oak, and conifer oak trees.

July is the most bountiful month for harvesting these mushrooms.

These unique mushrooms have a slightly peppery and fruity flavor without the sweetness.Sauteed chanterelles are a great side dish, but you can also use them in risotto, on toast, in pasta, or to add a slight sweetness to meat dishes.

I recommend the following recipe:

• Chanterelle toast

Watch our video on when and where to look for chanterelles.

3. Oyster (Pleurotus species)

Although this species is easily cultivated, foraging it yourself is much more exciting. The white-light brown cap of the mushroom is smooth and oyster-shaped. They have decurrent gills and grow in a shelf-like formation on wood, usually overlapping each other.

They grow on many hardwood trees, but most commonly on aspen trees. You can find oyster mushrooms year-round in Michigan, but they are most abundant in June.

Even though they have a strong anise/licorice scent, their flavor is subtle and earthy, with only a hint of anise.

Their texture is meaty yet soft, similar to shitake mushrooms. You can fry, bake or sauté oyster mushrooms, or even use them to make your own version of Korean barbecue.

I recommend the following recipe:

• Korean barbecue crispy oyster mushrooms

4. Chicken of the Woods (Laetiporus species)

Chicken of the woods grows in shelves between two and ten inches wide. They range from a sulfur-yellow color to a bright orange color. The exterior is soft and smooth and releases a yellow liquid when pressed.

This species is usually found on Oak trees, but you can also find it on other trees, including the poisonous yew tree (do not eat the mushroom from this tree). It is a saprobic fungus and typically grows at the base of dead wood in the summer and fall.

Chicken of the woods can cause severe gastrointestinal discomfort if eaten raw. Once cooked, it is meaty and juicy. It tends to absorb the other flavors in a dish and could pass for chicken when mixed into a recipe.

You can use this wild mushroom to make sandwiches, fried “chicken,” teriyaki dishes, or boneless buffalo “wings.”

I recommend the following recipe:

• Chichen fried chicken of the woods

5. Michigan Truffle (Tuber species)

This truffle is firm with a brick red exterior and small warts covering its surface. The interior is dark colored with off-white veins. It has a sweet but slightly musty odor.

You can usually find this species growing near pine and spruce trees. Most foragers enlist the help of a truffle dog to sniff them out.

The best time to harvest these truffles is between August and November. If the mushroom feels slimy, it is overly mature.

The flavor of the truffle is similar to the smell – sweet and musty. Truffles are mainly used as a garnish and are not usually cooked.

The Michigan truffle is an exquisite addition to many dishes, including pasta, potatoes, and soups.

4 Poisonous Mushrooms to Avoid in Michigan

1. False Morel (Gyromitra species)

False morels are different colors than true morels. They are usually red, purple, or brown.

Instead of having a honeycomb appearance with pits, the false morel has a cerebral appearance. It is wrinkled and has many folds.

Some people eat false morels without an issue. However, the toxins can build up in your body over time and cause severe future damage.

Eating these mushrooms can cause gastrointestinal problems, muscular coordination loss, and death.

2. Eastern Jack O’Lantern (Omphalotus species)

This species is a dangerous look-alike of the chanterelle mushroom. While both can have a bright orange color, rumor says that the jack o’ lantern glows in the dark.

Some of the most notable differences are that jack o’ lanterns grow on wood, usually in clusters, and have orange flesh.

This mushroom species is not known to cause death. However, it does cause nausea, headaches, vomiting, and diarrhea.

Check our video on the 7 most poisonous mushrooms growing in the US (mushroom details and ingestion symptoms included)!

3. Eastern Destroying Angel (Amanita species)

This mushroom is found in deciduous and coniferous forests. It has a smooth white cap, crowded gills not attached to the stalk, and a bulbous base. It usually grows along the edges of woodlands or in hardwood and oak forests.

You can touch this mushroom but not eat it. Initially, it causes vomiting, nausea, and diarrhea. As the toxins spread, it causes cellular necrosis, leading to liver failure and death.

4. Autumn Skullcap (Galerina species)

This small brown poisonous mushroom looks similar to multiple edible mushrooms. It has a smooth cap with brown gills and a rusty-colored spore print. What sets it apart is that it almost only grows on decaying conifer trees.

The autumn skullcap has deadly amatoxins that can cause vomiting, diarrhea, liver damage, hypothermia, and death.

Magic Mushrooms in Michigan

Psilocybin mushrooms, also known as magic mushrooms or shrooms, are mushroom species with psychedelic properties. They cause hallucinations that affect the consumer’s auditory, visual, and emotional senses.

Some groups have used them in religious rituals for over 6,000 years. While some people consider them dangerous drugs, other researchers have discovered their medicinal use. Shrooms are a possible treatment for depression and anxiety.

A petition to decriminalize psychedelic substances has been making its rounds statewide. In the state of Michigan, there are at least twelve species of magic mushrooms.

In 2020, Ann Arbor was the first city to decriminalize these substances, followed by Hazel Park City and Detroit.

While it is still considered illegal, both federally and in the state, arrests and investigations are highly unlikely.

The most common magic mushrooms in Michigan include:

• Amanita muscaria var guessowii, aka fly agaric
• Gymnopilus luteus, aka yellow gym
• Psilocybe caerulipes, aka blue foot

Final Mushroom Foraging Tips

• Bring the correct gear. At the very least, you should bring a basket, a knife, and a trowel. A mushroom identification guide is also handy.
• Do not eat anything unless you are 100% sure of what it is.
• Know precisely what you’re looking for and which season it grows in.
• Only take what you will eat.
• Learn how to take a spore print.
• Cut the mushroom, don’t pull it up from the ground.

When laser rangefinders hit the market, they did more than just replace the shoddy rangefinders of the past.

With advanced technology and innovative features put into the mix, laser rangefinders came with greater durability, longer range, and better performance.

There’s no doubt the better features such as built-in pressure sensors, wind calculators, and ballistic drop corrections are what make laser rangefinders a must-have in the field.

But the one feature that’s highly underestimated and no hunter should go without ever again, is Rangefinder Angle Compensation.

When you’re in your tree blind, out in the canyon, or in mountainous terrain, you’ll need a laser rangefinder to make sure you get the right distances to your target. Trying to eyeball a distance can be risky. You could end up with a misplaced shot.

Now, trying to eyeball a distance while on an incline or a decline can end up being a disaster of a shot. But if you have an angle compensating rangefinder that can do the math and the measuring for you, you’ve just improved your chances of taking home your prey. Make way now for Angle Compensation.

Angle Compensating Rangefinder: To Have or Not to Have?

Every long distance shooter, whether it’s the bow or rifle you prefer, knows that gravity is like the third wheel that you just can’t get rid of. So you make room for it, and every shot you make in the field, you compensate for its effects. There’s two distances that need defining if you want to get an accurate shot.

• Line of Sight: the actual measured distance between you and the target
• True Horizontal Distance: the distance which gravity will act over; the distance you’ll need to aim for

Of course, if you’ve got the perfectly flat terrain with the broad side of that elk facing you from about 40 yards, then the line of sight distance is going to be the same as the true horizontal distance.

Gravity won’t have much of an effect to affect either the bow or the bullet. Some people decide to forgo the angle compensation feature, saying it just makes a rangefinder more expensive than it needs to be since you can get by without it. “It’s only a few yard difference” says the skeptic.

However, no matter how ideal the perfectly flat terrain can be or how good your distance estimating skills are, hunting can take you to high-angle areas that just might show you how much of a difference those five yards can make.

Errors between 20 to 25 percent can make all the difference. For the bow hunter, that could be a complete miss. For the rifle shooter, a 20 percent error at 200 yards is a 40 yard difference. That could also be a complete miss or worse, a wounded animal.

“But why would shooting at a target on an incline or decline make a difference?”

Have you ever played one of those carnival fair games where you have to toss a ball into a bucket from about 10 feet away? In your mind’s eye, you know you have to toss a little higher to create an arc for the ball to land into the bucket.

Easy right? Well, take that bucket and put it on the top of the Ferris wheel, still only 10 yards away. Thinking your imagined trajectory path may need some tweaking now?

The rangefinder angle compensation feature can take into consideration the angle shot and the actual distance to give you a corrected value as accurately as it can, even to -/+.5 of a yard. The only thing left for you to do is to adjust your sights to match what the rangefinder calculated.

Since most optics are zeroed in on flat ground, you might want to consider a rangefinder that has further ballistic calculating capabilities where you know how many “clicks” you need to make to adjust for angle degrees.

Let’s take a look at a scenario…

You’re up in a tree blind and you spot an elk stroll into your ranging spread. Your line of sight distance to the elk is 70 yards, but the elk is only 23 yards away from the base of your tree stand.

What’s the actual distance you should aim for? On top of that, for the bow hunter, what’s the angle you should launch your arrow for? How many degrees do you adjust your scope for? For the rifle hunter, how far will your bullet get before a complete drop takes place due to the effects of air resistance and gravity?

Do these kinds of distances matter on trajectory anyway? Anyone have an electronic level or a protractor on hand? Anyone know what the acceleration rate of gravity is? Wait a minute, you didn’t sign up to be in math class right?

As the above scenario illustrates, calculating the correct distance to make an accurate shot from either an incline or decline to your target can be quite the math challenge. To make it simpler, a rangefinder with angle compensation can do all the hard work for you.

Your rangefinder should tell you the line of sight distance is 70 yards to the elk, but your true horizontal distance is 23 yards.

For the Bow Hunter…

If you’re an archer, these distances are going to be very important to distinguish between which ones are important for your shot. The line of sight distance tells you that although the elk is further away to your eye, you should use the horizontal distance and aim as if it’s 23 yards away because gravity only acts over a horizontal arrow path.

If you aim for anywhere near 70 yards, you’re going to miss and lose that arrow. That’s because you overcompensated the trajectory path by 47 yards which is a 70 percent error rate. That’s a big difference when 15 percent is considered accurate.

For the rifle shooter…

For the firearm user, these distances won’t make a difference, nor would it be a problem. But if the distances were more extreme, and the angles were steeper, you’d need better math skills or you’d need to get yourself a rangefinder with angle compensation. If you had a line of sight distance of 400 yards to your target at a 40 degree incline, you’re going to want to aim low and use the horizontal distance of 335 yards.

Rangefinders with ballistic calculators can tell you what your bullet drop holdover will be according to your rifle’s zero and the type of ammunition being used. Gravity acts over a horizontal path, so the bullet is only going to drop the more parallel your rifle is to the ground.

It’s important to remember that there is going to be less of a bullet drop whether you’re aiming up or down, and to always aim low.

Where to Use Angle Compensation

Both rifle shooters and bow hunters alike can benefit from using rangefinders with angle compensation. Situations that they could prove helpful for include:

• Rifle hunters with extreme distances
• Archers in a tree blind
• Mountain goat hunting in canyons
• Ranging in mountainous areas
• Ranging in unknown territory

With this in mind, check out 6 of our most recommended angle compensating laser rangefinders in the table below.

6 Best Angle Compensating Rangefinders

Laser rangefinders with angle compensation have made it possible to be done with the days of carrying around bullet drop cards with you, and having to tediously do the math before every shot.

Even if you don’t know that you’d need angle compensation for any of your hunts, it’s better to be prepared than to be without.

Images Source: https://www.bushnell.com/

Further Reading

• HANDS ON: Sig Sauer Kilo1600BDX Review (6x22mm Rangefinder)
• How Do Laser Rangefinders Work? (Everything You Need To Know)
• Leupold RX-Fulldraw 4 Rangefinder Review
• Vortex Fury HD 5000 AB Rangefinding Binoculars Review
• Sig Sauer Kilo 3000 BDX 10×42 Rangefinder Binoculars Review