By David E. Petzal

This past summer, a geezer friend of mine was railing at the current generation of hunters who roost in trees like so many spavined turkeys and rarely walk anywhere.

“They haven’t sweated up ridges like you and I have,” he snarled.

Sometimes, you gotta walk uphill, and if you haven’t done much of it, here are some tips from someone who has done a lot it and hated every yard.

By David E. Petzal

In 1987, Don Allen a retired airline pilot from Sturgis, South Dakota, and his wife Norma, founded Dakota Arms, a company that produced high-grade hunting rifles based on a design worked up by him and ace metal man Pete Grisel. The Dakota Model 76, the company’s basic model, was an immediate success, and was soon joined by other variations.

By David E. Petzal

Breaking up is hard to do.—Neil Sedaka, 1962

Changing your mind at this stage of life is a lot harder than breaking up.—David E. Petzal, 2009

Over the past decade and a half I’ve been braying to one and all about the pernicious effect that high-tech gadgetry is having on hunting. Now, however, I think it’s time to re-think things. A couple of weeks ago I went on a mule deer hunt in southeast Oregon, and while I and my rifle made it, my sense of distance did not. For whatever reason I was misjudging ranges by 100 yards or more, even at 300 and under.

By David E. Petzal

If you have any doubt that we live in the best of all possible worlds, take a look at this. The five (yes, five) shots in the single hole in the bull were put there during the NBRSA Nationals in St. Louis. They were fired by a contractor from California named Tom Libby, and his rifle of choice was a 6 PPC. The group measures .093-inch, and the big sockdolaper is, it was shot at 200 yards.

I am indebted to Mr. M. Coleman, gunsmith, raconteur, and philosopher, for the photo and the info.