Hunting and Fishing News & Blog Articles

Late summer is an ideal time to catch big smallies. (Jonathan VanDam/Major League Fishing/)

This weekend, I plucked a pair of 4-pound smallmouth out from directly underneath the boat in a 5-minute flurry that put me at 50 smallmouth landed over 4 pounds this summer. About a dozen of those topped five pounds, and three went over six, including my personal best of 7.4 pounds.

I’m blessed to live in a part of the country where smallmouth aren’t terribly hard to find. I’m within two hours of two of the greatest smallmouth factories on this planet: Lake St. Clair and Lake Erie, not to mention some lesser-known lakes located in northern Michigan that can produce truly giant brown bass. A few years back, my son caught an absolute beast of a smallmouth that went well over 8 pounds, just a half-pound shy of the state record. Catching a giant smallmouth isn’t exactly an art form, but there is definitely a system to it. Here are the tactics I use to hook more smallies.

1. Fish Where They Live

The old deer-hunting mantra about not being able to kill a big buck where big bucks don’t exist applies to fishing as well. If you’re looking to catch a giant smallmouth, you have to fish where they are. That happens in one of two ways: Lakes that are large enough that bass can get old (and thus big) even if the lake sees extensive fishing pressure. Smaller lakes with heavy fishing pressure simply haven’t proven capable of producing trophy-caliber fish on a regular basis in my experience. Which, of course, leads to the second type of lake capable of delivering giant bass: Fertile smaller fisheries with minimal fishing pressure. Like with whitetails, age is the key. Big lakes and/or limited pressure makes for big, old bass.

2. Find the Forage

A nice 8-point the author shot from a natural ground blind. (Josh Honeycutt/)

There are three does feeding on sage, and making their way towards me. This a straight meat hunt, but it doesn’t stop the adrenaline from coursing through my veins. I’m running hotter than a rusty Ford Pinto engine as the trio meanders to within 15 yards. A 4-foot-tall boulder is all that conceals me; still, I draw my bow so slowly it’s almost painful. The fattest of the three hefty does finally turns broadside, and I release. The green light from my knock disappears into her shoulder, and she crashes 10 lunges later.

Until last season, it had been a long time since I’d killed a deer from the ground. In an age where gear drives the hunting industry, people have forgotten that natural hides abound in the deer woods. There are plenty of places to tuck into and shoot a deer. Here are 10 of the best.

1. Boulders

Perhaps my favorite option is a large boulder, and especially a pile of boulders in close proximity to one another. I’ve come across several of these natural ground blinds in my life, and one of them is the hide I used to arrow that big doe last fall. Just remember: Never draw your bow while pointing the arrow toward a boulder or rock. That’s a recipe for disaster.

2. Brush Piles

Editor’s Note: This article was originally published by Coffee or Die Magazine on August 19, 2018. For more stories like this, visit www.coffeeordie.com.

Lauren McGough and her Kazakh mentor rode on horseback through the Altai Mountains until they caught up to their golden eagle, who was removing the fur from the fox it had just caught. Because of their language barrier, the two recreated the spectacular flight they had witnessed with their hands rather than retelling it with words, miming swooping and snatching, smiling at the memory of this dance between predator and prey. McGough’s mentor looked at her and lamented, “Why didn’t I take my daughters hunting?”

McGough is the only woman among the small fraction of American falconers who hunt with golden eagles. She discovered the sport by chance at age 14 when she came across the book “A Rage For Falcons” by naturalist author Stephen Bodio on a library shelf. She was immediately intrigued.

Lauren McGough hunts with her golden eagle. (Photo by Jeff Fincher/)

“I had assumed it was something that medieval knights did,” McGough said.

The teenaged McGough struck up a correspondence with Bodio, and before long she was taking tests on raptor husbandry and building an aviary in her parents’ backyard in pursuit of her falconer’s license.

Mallards and pintails will follow the ice line on their return flight north. (USFWS/)

Without fail, the week after duck season ends, the ducks show up. And as hunters, we lament the timing every year. Why can’t duck season last just a little longer?

To understand why hunting spring ducks doesn’t makes sense—and why it’s illegal under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act—we need to first look at their ecology. In spring, we always see more birds in places they don’t frequent in fall. This occurs because birds are less social this time of year. Hens and drakes pair up and spread out, looking to feed, roost, and loaf in places where they won’t be disturbed by unpaired males. Ducks become more solitary in the spring, simply because it’s safer.

“In the fall, we see big groups of ducks, but during the spring migration they become less tolerant of other pairs and unpaired males. When they arrive in the Prairie Pothole Region or other breeding areas, their lack of tolerance of others of the same species really spreads them out,” said Ducks Unlimited chief scientist, Tom Moorman. “That’s why it’s so important to have as much habitat in the Prairie Pothole Region as we can, because the millions of ducks need vast space for each pair to ultimately produce a brood.”

Many duck hunters want to hunt the spring because they believe ducks are much more susceptible to being fooled in March than in the fall. But the reason all those birds are showing up after your season closes is fairly simple: It’s because they’re not being hunted. If we could shoot mallards into February, that magical switch—the one that turns greenheads on and has them fluttering into the decoys with reckless abandon—would never get flipped. If hunting pressure persists, those ducks are going to seek refuge in order to survive until the Benellis go back in the gun closet.

“Ducks don’t like to get shot at and are averse to disturbance, so they are going to change their habits accordingly,” says Moorman. “It may look like there are 10 times as many ducks in the spring, but it’s because they are not getting disturbed.”

From left To right: 6.5 Creedmoor, .280 Ackley Improved, 7mm Remington Magnum, .30-06 Springfield, and the .300 Winchester Magnum. (Aram von Benedikt/)

During the past couple decades shooting equipment, including rifles, optics, and ammunition, have evolved to take advantage of the, well, advantage, that laser rangefinders have brought to the field. Rifles are more accurate, scopes more capable, and ammunition more aerodynamic and precise.

I’ve been blessed to hunt extensively on the North American continent, from the wilds of Alaska to the border country of Arizona, and for mule deer, whitetails, elk, pronghorn, Coues deer, moose, and more. I’ve outfitted and guided for many years. After a quarter-century of adventuring, I’ve formed opinions on what cartridges work well for western big game.

In an effort to compare apples to apples I’ve provided typical velocity numbers from each cartridge, using Federal Premium’s excellent Terminal Ascent ammunition. This ammo is loaded with their highly aerodynamic Terminal Ascent bullets, is typically very accurate, and performs superbly on game at close or long-range. Here are my top five picks.

1. 6.5 Creedmoor

The author’s daughter Cheyenne, with a once-in-many-lifetimes buck she harvested with her 6.5 Creedmoor. (Aram von Benedikt/)

Last fall my 16-year old daughter Cheyenne wrapped herself across the top of a boulder, trying to steady her crosshairs on the biggest mule deer she’d ever laid eyes on. It took her a minute because the shot was difficult and the buck was at an extreme angle below her. She’s a steady lass though, and a crack shot, so when the gun went off the buck was DRT (dead right there). Sixty days later the buck officially grossed over 208 inches B&C. She killed that deer with a 6.5 Creedmoor, the same one she and her mama have used to harvest multiple deer and elk.

The .338 Federal (second from right) doesn’t have the popularity of other .30 calibers, but it should. (Ron Spomer/)

The .338 Federal is the best deer and elk cartridge you’ve probably never fired or maybe never heard of. But you should have. This efficient short-action cartridge flattens game like the hammer of Thor without kicking you in the shoulder like a stubborn mule.

So why is it so uncommon? Well, it has a couple of “issues” that turn many hunters off. One, it throws heavy .338 bullets. Once hunters in the U.S. get to .308, they’re pretty much done. The old .30/06, the .308 Winchester, or any of our many .300 magnums will handle any game stateside and most anything anywhere else on the globe. So why go bigger? Second, the .338 Federal launches its 180- to 250-grain bullets from a small, short-action case (.308 Winchester). Most shooters have no problem with short-action cartridges if they throw bullets faster than the .308. That’s why the .243 Winchester, .260 Remington, 6.5 Creedmoor, 7mm-08 Remington, and now .277 Fury are wildly successful. The .338? It’s hiding in the basement.

Before we dive more deeply into why this cartridge gets no respect, let’s outline what it does. Yes, it’s pretty much just the .308 necked up to take .338-inch bullets. But here’s the thing: When loaded with 180-grain bullets, the little .338 kicks out more muzzle energy than a 7mm Remington Magnum pushing 160-grain bullets. It recoils less than a .30/06 throwing 180-grain bullets and at 300 yards drops only a measly 1/2-inch more.

If that doesn’t impress you, look at it this way. Load 210-grain bullets in a .338 Winchester Magnum and a .338 Federal. Zero both for their Maximum Point Blank Ranges (MBPR). At 300 yards the Federal will drop just 1.5 inches more than the Winchester Magnum. And it’ll slap your shoulder with 12 ft/lbs less recoil.

All of this should impress the many North American hunters who celebrate the mid-caliber deer rounds of the good old days, like the 32 Winchester Special and 35 Remington. Those, the old timers insist, put deer down now—hard. Heavy bullet. Wide bullet. Dead deer.

Keep your rifle setup as basic as possible on mountain hunts. (Tyler Freel/)

A rifle shot takes a fraction of a second. It’s the fastest part of a mountain hunt, but only a sliver of what makes a mountain hunter successful. There’s much more time, effort, and cash spent to get you to this point, but it’s also critical to make the shot when it matters. That’s why we’re out here, after all. Choke at the most inopportune moment, and all your dreams and efforts will be for nothing.

We always want to make the first shot count, and the stakes are high on a rugged, backcountry, mountain hunt. It’s not like chasing pronghorn, where if you miss or bust an antelope, you just go find another one. If that first bullet misses, or worse, strikes the animal too far back and only cripples it, the hunt can turn into a negative experience quickly. You might not get another round off in time before losing sight of the animal, and that will leave you with a bad taste in your mouth for years—you may never get over it.

Shooting your rifle accurately in the mountains when the pressure is on takes the right rifle platform and practice. Fortunately, there are things you can do to help ensure your first pull of the trigger results in a hike with a heavy pack—and not the walk of shame.

1. Choose the Right Rifle Setup

In the mountains, more bells and whistles on your rifle translates to more weight to carry, so you will often find the most ideal rifles are lightweight and simple. A 12-pound chassis rifle with a high-powered optic and an Atlas bipod is going to be an easier gun to shoot accurately than a lightweight mountain rifle, but it’s hell to carry. Even on a bench rest, some of the lighter rifles are challenging to shoot, as their lack of mass weight makes them much more susceptible to human error. So, you have to get plenty comfortable with lightweight guns before the hunt. Everything becomes more important when you’re shooting a lighter rifle: position, grip, breathing, and the rest all factor in. You also need to consider the cold vs. warm bore impact shift, and how quickly the pencil-thin barrels will heat up, which causes projectiles to become less accurate.

There are many factors that alert deer to danger. (National Park Service/)

There are many things that alert deer and cause them to hightail it to parts unknown, never to be seen in your food plot again. However, hunters have misconceptions about the things that always put deer on edge, or that all-out spook them. Deer are interesting animals, and the rules that govern when and how they blow out of an area are not always black and white. In light of that, here are 10 things that don’t always send whitetails running for safety of heavy cover.

1. Wind Stalls Deer Movement

I watched a big typical emerge from a cedar thicket. A sentry on his right and left, the trio of mature bucks marched across the field, straight toward my stand. Sweat poured from my brow, but the wind was so stiff it wicked away the perspiration droplets as fast as my adrenaline could manufacture it. Within minutes, I arrowed the biggest deer in the group.

Hunters say it all the time: “deer are spooky on windy days.” Well, tell that to the Penn State University (PSU) whitetail experts. The research undeniably supports bucks are more apt to move on windier days. Researchers analyzed three different categories of wind speeds (less than 1 mph, 1 to 15 mph, and 16 to 27 mph). The replicated study showed that, during daylight hours, bucks moved 30 meters per hour with less than 1 mph of wind, about 35 meters per hour in 1 to 15 mph winds, and a staggering 65 meters per hour in 16 to 27 mph winds. Translation? Wind doesn’t bother deer.

2. Human Urine Runs Off Deer For Good

A sockeye salmon migrating upstream to spawn in Alaska. (Ryan Hagerty / USFWS/)

As recently as early August, the Trump Administration appeared set to green-light the long-contested mine in Alaska’s Bristol Bay, home to the world’s largest sockeye salmon run. However, a letter from the Army Corps of Engineers to the Pebble Partnership, dated August 20 and obtained today, reveals that administrative support for the open-pit gold and copper mine may be unraveling.

The letter noted “discharges at the mine site would cause unavoidable adverse impacts to aquatic resources,” and requested that the Pebble Partnership create and submit a mitigation plan within 90 days. Further erosion of support for the proposed mine could be forthcoming in a call today with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

President Trump himself was reportedly preparing to issue a public statement withdrawing his administration’s support for the mine. That statement could be made as early as today, say sources, as Trump begins a week of public appearances at the Republican National Convention.

“The president is hearing from a number of his supporters that punching a mine in the heart of Alaska’s salmon country is maybe a bad idea,” says one source, who spoke on condition of anonymity. “He’s hearing that being opposed to a mine isn’t a Democratic or a Republican position, that maybe this is a bad project for this particular place.”

Sources indicated that Trump could either rely on the federal permit-approval process to delay the mine until after November’s election, or could vocally remove his administration’s support for the project altogether, which would have the same outcome but could bolster Trump’s standing with the conservation community. Coming just weeks after he signed the landmark Great American Outdoors Act, which dedicates billions of federal spending on conservation projects, Trump is hoping to appeal to outdoors-minded voters ahead of the November election, say sources.

Editor’s Note: This article was originally published by Coffee or Die Magazine on August 15, 2019. For more stories like this, visit www.coffeeordie.com.

There’s no doubt that hunting elk in the Rocky Mountain West is a physical activity. If you don’t live in a state like Colorado, where the average elevation is 6,800 feet above sea level, then you are already going into the season at a disadvantage. One of the most common killers for elk hunting hopefuls is the elevation and rugged terrain elk live in.

Just about every experienced elk hunter will agree that the farther you get from roads and subsequent hunting pressure, the better the quality of your hunt. Physical fitness directly relates to mental fitness. The fitter you are, the more likely you’ll be able to stay on the mountain longer.

Shooting your bow is great, but you need to get your legs in shape, too. (Michael Herne, Coffee or Die Magazine/)

Weighted Step-ups

If you’re hunting elk, moving uphill under load is almost inevitable. Aside from loading a pack and humping up and down hills, one of the best exercises for training your legs is weighted step-ups. I do weighted step-ups one to three times a week starting about two months prior to my elk hunting trip and rotating between these three workouts:

From top: Winchester M70 in .225 Winchester, a Winchester model 94AE XTR in .307 Winchester, and a Remington 740 Woodsmaster in .244 Remington. (Alex Robinson /)

Each year I head west for a waterfowl hunt in North Dakota, where I stay with a family friend who’s a dyed-in-the-wool cattle rancher. He rides a horses instead of an ATV, his Ford truck is older than I am, and all his rifles are made of wood and metal.

This rancher is a true rifle nut, and his hobby is collecting guns. Every time we look through them, he finds rifles he didn’t know he even had. When I was out there last week, he dug up three rifles from his stash of hundreds that were chambered for cartridges I wasn’t familiar with, namley because guns for these cartridges are no longer being produced. Here’s a quick look at each one.

1. Winchester M70 in .225 Winchester

The Winchester M70 in .225 Winchester. This cartridge was introduced in 1964 with the parent cartridge of the .219 Zipper. (Alex Robinson /)

Starting from the top, we’ve got a Winchester M70 in .225 Winchester. This cartridge was introduced in 1964 with the parent cartridge of the .219 Zipper. It was meant to be a replacement for the .220 Swift, but it never really caught on, and by 1971, Winchester stopped producing rifles in .225 Win. According to Hodgdon, it fired a 60-grain bullet at 3,428 per second and a 40-grain bullet at a screaming 4,020 feet per second (but still slower than the Swift in the same grain).

2. Winchester Model 94AE XTR in .307 Winchester.

A small spread of family groups, and a good hide will get the job done if you are on the X during North Dakota’s early honker season. (Alex Robinson/)

We had two geese dead in the decoys and a third was winged, waddling its way out of the oat field. My hunting partner was scrambling to reload his Remington 870 and I was trying to line up my Lab Otis (who was going berserk with all the action) on the escaping honker. I peeked out of the blind to see a flock of another dozen geese locked in on our decoy spread. I could hear a fresh batch of geese honking from behind us as well. There were distant flocks to our right and left. We were totally surrounded. This was the moment I had waited all summer for.

Lots of states have early resident goose hunting seasons. Canada goose populations have increased in many flyways to such a degree that resident honkers are considered nuisance critters by many folks. The estimated Canada goose population was around 6 million in 2019 (there was no 2020 waterfowl survey due to COVID-19). Early seasons often offer increased bag limits and opportunities to hunt geese that haven’t had any hunting pressure. But there’s no season that starts earlier, and is more fun to hunt, than North Dakota’s. It opens August 15 for residents and nonresidents, runs into September and allows hunters to take 15 birds per day. For a $50 license plus a federal waterfowl stamp, you can hunt in the mornings and evenings in cut fields or over water. If you’re a nonresident, the early season doesn’t count against your 14-day, or two separate seven-day, limit of hunting during the regular waterfowl season.

Hunting this season can be a fun-as-hell, barrel burning, freezer stocking, trip. But it can also turn into an incredibly frustrating hunt if you don’t understand the birds you’re hunting and the environment you are hunting them in. I’ve made the trek west from my home state of Minnesota the last four seasons, hunting with a small spread and no guide. Here’s what I’ve learned and what you should know if you decide to hunt this season yourself.

1. Understand the Birds

Brushing you blind in around a bale of hay offers total concealment. (Alex Robinson/)

You’re not hunting migrating geese. These are residents who have nested in the area and know it well. During this time the geese will be in family groups that gather in larger groups of 100 to 300 (though sometimes a little larger) to feed. The geese will typically roost on big lakes and feed relatively close to the roost. In some cases, I’ve seen lazy flocks walk from their roost lake about 100 yards to their morning feed (A quick side note here: I’ve been burned by hunting fields that are very close to the roost. The first flight will come in nicely, but the rest of the birds will skirt the field until later in the morning). Expect birds to feed in the morning and the evening, though not necessarily in the same fields. The geese will mostly be feeding on cut oats and alfalfa. Like most waterfowl hunts, scouting is critical. Find out where the birds are roosting, where they are feeding in the morning, where they go to loaf during the middle of the day, and where they feed in the evening. I recommend at least a full day of scouting before you hunt (but a day and a half is even better).

Plugging a sod bank behind Fire Island’s new Old Inlet. (Matt Whelen/)

Sight fishing in shallow water is one of the most exciting ways to chase fish on inshore waters. Kayaks are ideal for fishing in such places. They have a stealthy hull and shallow draft, but some models are difficult to fish from while standing up.

It’s not a boat stability issue, but rather a wind problem. When you stand in a kayak, your body acts like a sail. You will catch any breeze and get blown off target. And the wind is always blowing when you’re fishing near the ocean.

The new Sportsman AutoPilot from Old Town aims to change this. It’s a large, stable kayak designed as a platform for a 45-pound saltwater-grade through-hull Minn Kota GPS-enabled trolling motor. You can control it with a remote (called a “CoPilot”) that you wear around your neck.

A high seat and a wide deck with lots of storage space fore and aft make this kayak very fishable. (Joe Albanese/)

The motor comes with GPS sensors and auto steering functions that let you follow a course, hold a position, and keep your bow on a heading, even in heavy winds and strong currents. Since you control all these functions with a handheld remote, you can maneuver your boat while standing, thereby opening up a whole new way to fish.

The AutoPilot’s motor weighs 45 pounds. (Joe Albanese/)

I tested this kayak in the back of a new inlet cut by Hurricane Sandy through a barrier beach on Long Island’s South Shore. Strong tidal currents there have since dumped several square miles worth of sand into the bay behind Fire Island, creating wide, shallow flats perfect for trying out the new platform.

There’s no reason new rifle shooters should take a shot on game beyond 300 yards. (Leupold/)

Spend a Saturday afternoon watching outdoor television and you are bound to see a few “celebrity” bro hunters killing big ol’ bulls and bucks at extended ranges with a rifle. As cool as it may seem to see a deer tip over at 700 yards, it’s not a shot most hunters should take. It’s also irresponsible for the TV hunters to promote such a false narrative, because you should be able to stalk within 300 yards (or closer) of most game. I actually used to work for two outdoor TV networks, and can attest that the guys oozing machismo on those shows miss more long shots than they connect on—the whiffs just never make it to TV.

The kill shots they do air set a bad example for novice rifle shooters. It makes us think that long distance shots are the norm, when in reality, newer shooters like you and me should never pull the trigger on an animal past 300 yards. Because, truth be told, becoming precise with a rifle inside 300 yards requires a hell of a lot of practice. It takes real skill to make an ethical killing shot on elk or deer at longer distances, and many folks don’t put in enough time (or simply aren’t good enough) to make such a shot with any amount of consistency.

For the past two summers, I have gone to THE SITE Training Center in Illinois to try and become better with a centerfire rifle. I’ve learned quickly that shooting accurately past 300 is hard. You have to keep track of so many things at once: your shooting position, the wind, breath control, point of aim, and more. It all needs to be precise, and gets more difficult to coordinate the further you move away from the target.

Fortunately, there are plenty of practices, drills, and rules to know before you head out to the range and, later, a hunt. Here are the keys to becoming more accurate inside 300 yards.

1. Make Sure Your Rifle is Dialed

You shouldn’t just sight your rifle in at 100 yards and call it good. Zero the gun for your intended hunting and shooting purposes. (Ron Spomer/)

An annual question at shooting ranges around the country is “What distance should I zero for?” And the answer is…

The distance that gives you the most flexibility for putting your bullet on target quickly with minimum measuring, guessing, hoping, or missing.

And that’s rarely 100 yards.

The 100 Yard Problem

The old 100-yard zero is perfect if your longest shooting distance isn’t much beyond that. Otherwise a 100-yard zero wastes your bullet’s trajectory potential. By 200 yards you’re already needing to compensate for bullet drop. To understand this, let’s look at a trajectory that is considered “flat.”

Spotting scopes are a little like residential plumbing. When they work, you hardly notice their service. It’s when something goes wrong – a leaking pipe or a grainy image – that you start to question their utility.

This year’s collection of spotting scopes is a mostly serviceable class. There are no heart-stopping gee-whiz scopes in the mix but, with only a few exceptions, there are few leaky pipes. We had eight scopes in this year’s test, and the field was evenly divided between super-sized 80mm and larger scopes (based on the size of the objective lens) and those mid-sized and compact spotters that sport 65mm and smaller objective lenses.

What’s interesting about this year’s crop of spotters is the niche-filling presence of very affordable optics, decent spotters that cost under $600. Some of these, like Athlon’s Argos HD ($369) represent a howling bargain, and should be considered by any hunter on a budget. Others, like Maven’s new straight-barrel 65mm CS.1A, are fairly priced for their useful size and adequate image.

Because spotting scopes are expensive to make, and because the market is smaller than it is for binoculars and riflescopes, we tend to see robust numbers of spotters about every other year. It’s interesting to note that none of the leading European brands—Swarovski, Leica, or Zeiss—has a new spotter for the year. That’s allowed what I’d call the second tier of optics brands—Leupold, SIG, and Maven—to really shine in this year’s test. Here’s our take on the mix of submissions, ranked in order of their overall score.

For the rest of our Optics Test Reviews, click the links here:

One of the interesting trends in sports optics is how riflescopes have increased in sales over the last few years, and therefore in influence and innovation inside optics companies. Only a decade ago, we saw far more binoculars every year than we did riflescopes. But the rise of specialized shooting pursuits—each of which require a very specific riflescope—has eclipsed other optics categories.

That’s one reason why we have only a single binocular category this year. In previous years, we’ve had so many submissions that we’ve kept super-size binoculars by themselves, and tested compact binoculars as a separate category. But this year, we grouped all nine binocular submissions together.

It’s not as messy as you might expect. We didn’t have any binos with 12- or 15-power, or any wee little hyper-compact 24mm binoculars. But submissions did deviate along the price and quality spectrums. On the upper end of the field, we tested the new Zeiss Victory SF32, a stunning 10x32 binocular that will take its place with other heirloom-quality optics from Leica and Swarovski. Vortex’s new Razor UHD also impressed our testers. But we had plenty of useful budget-priced optics, too, led by Bushnell’s $129 Engage X and Celestron’s fairly priced 10x42 TrailSeeker.

The rest of the field sort of huddled in the middle, showing decent optical chops and selling at a decent price. Two standouts include Tract’s 50mm Toric Ultra HD and Meopta’s MeoPro Air, an open-bridge 10x42 that does everything you expect of a binocular, for an even $1,000.

For the rest of our Optics Test Reviews, click the links here:

The way it’s going, you’ll have a specialized scope for every rifle in your collection. Your 6.5 Creedmoor will need an optic with a reticle tuned to the trajectory of the 140-grain Federal Fusion it shoots so well. Your .300 Win. Mag. will require a first-plane precision scope in order to place bullets beyond 1,000 yards. And only a primitive would shoot an AR chambered in .223 without a matching .223 riflescope.

Whatever happened to buying a scope that can fit a variety of rifles? Those versatile riflescopes are out there, and if our 2020 Optics Test is an indication, the category is healthier than ever.

Because of the rise in specialization—it’s been compounded with the explosion in the number of purpose-built precision target scopes—for a couple years we have divided our riflescope evaluation into two separate categories. Those scopes intended for long-distance shooting are considered in our Precision Riflescope category. Everything else, especially those scopes that are designed for hunting but which have attributes like bullet-drop reticles or turrets designed for dialing, are grouped in what we call our Versatile Riflescope category.

This year, we tested 19 of these cross-over scopes (you’ll see only 17 write-ups here because we combined multiple configurations of the same model in a single review). They included four short-range scopes—from Athlon, Bushnell, and Konus, and newcomer Skinner Sights—that feature low magnification and configurations that can be used on everything from a personal-defense shotgun to an AR or even a slug shotgun or straight-wall cartridge rifle.

At the other end of the spectrum, our Versatile category included scopes with large objective lenses and high magnification that would be just as at home on an elk hunt as on the long-distance steel range. That wide variety of attributes makes head-to-head comparisons difficult, but by keeping in mind the organizing principle of the category—versatility—we made sense of this highly functional collection of scopes.

The best precision scopes get put to the test. (Andrew McKean/)

The explosion of participation in long-range target shooting has spawned an entirely new category of riflescope. I know. I know. Old news. But to appreciate how deeply the precision-rifle movement has penetrated the optics industry, consider all the resources firms are pouring into riflescopes that really have only one job, to help shooters engage steel targets at extremely long ranges.

Not many years ago, these optics companies would pour those resources into a flagship binocular or spotting scope, or into a riflescope with super-premium glass that might pair with an heirloom rifle. It says a lot about the ascendance of practical shooting games that now these companies’ flagship products are precision scopes built on hulking 34mm tubes with first-plane reticles that only a handful of shooters will ever use as intended. But it’s the influence of these shooters that is moving the market.

A representative of one scope company told me that he gets more requests for “MIL/MIL” scopes—riflescopes that have both turrets and reticle tuned to milliradian values, than for any other configuration, including the venerable old 3-9x42. Late to the precision-shooting game, this company scrambled to produce a 34mm, first-plane milling scope, which because of the precision components required by precision shooters, is priced well above $1,500.

“We don’t sell a lot of those scopes, but it confirms to the customer who buys our second-tier scopes that we’re serious about serving shooters,” said the representative. “As a result, we sell a lot more products.”

Any shooter who has run a PRS course understands the difficulty of acquiring distant targets, then using all the tools of their riflescope—precisely dialing the distance and windage solution with finely calibrated turrets, or using the fine references in the reticle to hold over or hold off—to make consistent hits at targets well beyond 1,000 yards. That task is aided by shooters’ ability to precisely focus the image, use illumination to highlight the reticle against the background, and rely on excellent glass and coatings to resolve small targets at far-distant ranges.

Jennifer Broome works a German shorthair. (Jennifer Broome/)

To keep upland and duck dogs primed for the fall, you need to train and exercise them all year long. But in the dog days of summer there are a few drills that can make a tremendous difference in your pup’s performance come opening day. Jennifer Broome is one of the best gun dog trainers in the country and her kennel QK Dogs is widely respected by hunters and dog handlers. She has some key tips for getting gun dogs primed for the season that won’t take much time out of your day. If you’re looking for smart and simple drills you can mostly do on your own, you’ve come to the right place. Stick to the basics Broome outlines below, and your gun dog will excel in the marsh or uplands this fall. —J.G.

1. Staying Cool

Don’t overwork your dog in the hot summer months. (QK Dogs/)

We all love having our dogs inside with us, but you need to acclimate dogs to the climate before exercising them, particularly during the hot summer months. I’m not saying you can’t bring them into the house, but a dog that spends all day loafing in the air conditioning can run into serious heat exhaustion problems if he isn’t used to the heat and humidity. Don’t just walk out of the house on a humid August morning and start throwing bumpers. Field dogs greatly benefit from living at least part of their days outdoors (with shelter and water) in order to better adjust to the temperatures in which they are required to work.

You really need to watch your dog in summer, particularly if he has packed on a few too many pounds. A dog that is one pound overweight is on par with a human who is 10 pounds overweight. Two of the tell-tale signs that your dog is tired or dehydrated is a low tail and a cupping of the tongue while the dog is panting. Keep an eye on his tongue. If it’s out and he’s breathing hard, it may be time to slow down the work. But if looks like you could pour a Dixie cup of water into his tongue because it’s cupped and curled upwards, he’s overheating and you need to cool him off. Get him to a stream or pond if you can. If one isn’t nearby, go to a shady spot and pour water on his belly, paws, or inside his ear flaps (not the ear canal). If you have only limited water, DO NOT pour it on his back, as it could overheat him even more. Getting into the air conditioning is a smart way to cool down, too. —J.B.

2. Staying Fit