Lawrence Pyne

The Latest in Lever-Action Deer Guns

Joe_Cermele — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 15:30:31 -0400

The All-American deer gun is back. Thanks to recent advances in polymer-tipped, spire-point bullets that are safe to use in tubular magazines, lever-action rifles—once generally considered to be short-range, big-woods specialists—are now as capable as many short-action bolt rifles. Even the top-selling deer round of all time, the venerable if traditionally lackluster .30/30, is now a potent deerslayer capable of accurate shots out to 300 yards in today’s lever guns.

Four Great Semi-Automatic Rifles for Deer Hunting

fieldandstream-editor — Tue, 31 Jul 2007 20:00:00 -0400

Ever popular with trackers and still-hunters, autoloaders are now gaining favor with others simply because gas-operated actions soften recoil and are more fun to shoot. Below are four excellent choices.

BENELLI R1 ($1,265–$1,465; 301-283-6981; benelliusa.com)

AVAILABLE CALIBERS: .308 Win., .30/06, .270 WSM, .300 WSM, .300 Win. Mag.

THE SKINNY: This isn't the prettiest gun, but it may well be the softest kicking and most versatile. The R1's ARGO gas system automatically compensates for different cartridge pressures, which lets traveling hunters switch from, say, a .270 WSM to a .30/06 just by swapping barrels, magazines, and bolt heads. No other auto can do that. With the revolutionary ComforTech stock, perceived recoil is reduced by almost 50 percent. My .280 turnbolt, for example, seems to kick harder than the .300 Win. Mag. R1 I tested. New for this year is a Realtree APG finish that almost makes the gun look good.

BROWNING SHORTTRAC BAR ($930–$1,139; 800-333-3288; browning.com)

AVAILABLE CALIBERS: .243 Win., .308 Win., .270 WSM, 7mm WSM, .300 WSM

THE SKINNY: The latest in a long line of Browning Automatic Rifles, the ShortTrac is easily the most stylish, lightweight, and accurate version yet. Unlike its blocky predecessors, it features a rakish, contemporary stock, and its streamlined aluminum-alloy receiver and composite components make it a pleasure to carry. In .308, it weighs just 6 pounds 10 ounces. The trigger is surprisingly good, and the hammer-forged Belgian barrel gives accuracy as good as many bolt guns. A friend owns a 7mm WSM ShortTrac that consistently produces sub-MOA groups. A left-handed version is now available.

REMINGTON 750 WOODSMASTER ($732–$831; 800-243-9700; www.remington.com)

AVAILABLE CALIBERS: .243 Win., .308 Win., .270 Win., .30/06, .35 Whelen

THE SKINNY: Early Woodsmaster models were sometimes derided as "jam-o-matics," especially when dirty, but the new 750 should shed that label once and for all. The fourth generation in the Woodsmaster line, it has a slick, redesigned gas action that provides faster and more reliable cycling. Remington's cushy new R3 recoil pad helps make it the softest-kicking Woodsmaster ever. Other changes include a low-profile receiver, a restyled stock, and a widened fore-end that sits nicely in the hand. A carbine version in .35 Whelen has already become something of a cult gun among North Woods hunters.

RUGER ALL-WEATHER RANCH RIFLE ($835; 203-256-3860; ruger.com)

AVAILABLE CALIBERS: .223 Rem., 6.8mm Rem. SPC

THE SKINNY: Ruger recently enhanced this already improved version of its hardworking little Ranch Rifle by chambering it in 6.8mm Rem. SPC—a .270 military cartridge. Its 115-grain bullet will take deer out to 300 yards. With an 18½-inch barrel, a synthetic stock, a stainless matte finish, and an improved, rounded receiver with ghost-ring aperture sights, the 6 7/8-pound All-Weather Ranch Rifle promises to be a rugged, compact gun, perfect for the whitetail woods (where legal). It will serve double duty on the ranch or farm for hogs, predators, or varmints, too. The rifle includes integral scope mounts and rings.

Turning Land into Whitetail Habitat Without Planting a Food Plot

fieldandstream-editor — Tue, 31 Jul 2007 20:00:00 -0400

STEP 1: Take stock of your mast trees and shrubs. Check to see if they are crowded and in poor shape. Don't overlook oaks too young to produce acorns. Treat them right and their day will come.

STEP 2: Eliminate the competition. You want to "release" the forage by removing competing trees and shrubs. Everything growing within the drip line (the area covered by a tree's branches) should be cleared. Then cut the adjoining trees on at least two sides to provide lots of sunlight and room to grow within the forest canopy.

How to Set Up a Two-Person Tree Stand for Teaching a Kid to Hunt

fieldandstream-editor — Tue, 31 Jul 2007 20:00:00 -0400

HOW IT'S DONE

[1] Place a simple ladder stand against your chosen tree. Adjust the stand so that the most likely shooting opportunities will be between the kid's 10 and 12 o'clock positions (12 and 2 o'clock for a left-hander).

[2] Once the stand is secure, use a rope to haul up a strap-on stand. Secure it about 1 foot above the ladder's platform at 2 o'clock (10 o'clock if you're with a left-handed shooter). This gives the mentor the same "over the shoulder" view sought by TV videographers. He'll be able to whisper instructions into the shooter's ear without either person having to turn his head or shift his gaze.

WHAT TO USE

Any 12- to 15-foot ladder stand will do, but using one with a shooting rail will help a kid take careful aim and lessen any fear of falling. Be sure that the rungs of the ladder are not too far apart for pint-size legs.

Muffy, the Quail Killer

fieldandstream-editor — Thu, 19 Oct 2006 05:35:00 -0400

Aesop, in his Greek fables, once asked, "Who will bell the cat?" Twenty-five centuries later, public officials are wrestling with the same question in light of growing evidence that in many areas, domestic cats are having a devastating impact on wildlife.

There are about 100 million cats in the U.S., 40 million of which are believed to be either feral cats or free-ranging pets. Although domesticated, they retain the hunting instincts of their wild forebears, and their impact on wildlife is staggering. Studies of free-ranging cats have found that some individuals-even well-fed cats-kill hundreds of wild animals per year, and a recent report, Cats and Wildlife: A Conservation Dilemma, estimates that cats kill about 1 billion small mammals and hundreds of millions of birds in the U.S. every year.

Cat predation can be especially hard on common ground-nesting species such as rabbits and quail. But cats also extract a harsh toll on endangered wildlife, from piping plovers in Massachusetts to Alameda whipsnakes in California.

Wildlife experts agree that some free-roaming cat populations, especially in rural areas, need to be controlled. However, because cats are domestic animals, they fall under a hodgepodge of jurisdictions. And proposed control programs elicit caterwauls of protest from animal lovers.

"It's a very contentious issue," says University of Wisconsin wildlife ecologist Scott Craven, co-author of the Cats and Wildlife report. "A lot of people believe very strongly that we have a responsibility to protect free-ranging cats," he says, because they wouldn't exist were it not for owners who fail to confine their cats or who abandon them. "But we also have a responsibility to protect wildlife from human actions," Craven adds.

That problem is often compounded in areas where cat lovers sustain colonies of feral cats through supplemental feeding. Cat colonies are a nagging concern in California, which is home to an estimated 3.5 million feral cats, many of which live in parks, reserves, and other protected wildlife habitats.

Cat welfare organizations such as Forgotten Felines and Alley Cat Allies are adamant that these "homeless" cats have the right to live out their lives unmolested by humans. They advocate programs in which feral cats are trapped, vaccinated, neutered, and released back to their colonies, where, proponents say, feeding programs turn them into benign felines.

Biologists counter that such programs won't help. Feeding programs only create stronger, healthier predators, says Ron Jurek of the California Department of Fish and Game, and they support cats at high densities. Feeding programs also create a "vacuum effect" that attracts more feral cats-as well as people looking for a place to abandon unwanted cats.

Ironically, animal rights groups such as the Humane Society of the United States and People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals also disparage "neuter-and-abandon" programs, but for a different reason. They say such programs only perpetuate the miserable lives feral cats lead. Instead, they advocate trapping feral cats and destroying those cats that cannot be placed for adoption.

And when animal rights groups espouse killing unwanted animals, it is a sure sign that the problem is already out of control.

Muffy, the Quail Killer

fieldandstream-editor — Thu, 19 Oct 2006 05:35:00 -0400

The Trouble with Cormorants

fieldandstream-editor — Fri, 07 Jul 2006 05:05:00 -0400

In the epic poem Paradise Lost, the devil sat like a cormorant on the Tree of Life, ready to despoil the Garden of Eden. It's an analogy that is still apt today, as burgeoning populations of double-crested cormorants are being demonized for everything from laying waste to once-verdant nesting islands to ravaging valuable fisheries.

From the Deep South to New England, anglers in particular believe the one to two pounds of fish that cormorants eat each day come at their expense. But perhaps nowhere are the big, black, migratory water birds more reviled than in the Great Lakes, where cormorants nest in dense colonies on guano-caked islands and their population has grown from a handful 30 years ago to several hundred thousand today.

"They're the bird from hell," says New York fishing guide Tony Buffa. "They deplete our fisheries. They push out more desirable birds. And they spread disease wherever they congregate because they produce so much waste." The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), however, maintains cormorants have only a minor impact on fish populations, and that they are an environmental success story. Pollution, the pesticide DDT, and persecution by humans nearly wiped out cormorants on the Great Lakes in the 1960s. But that changed in the early 1970s, when the Clean Water Act became law, DDT was banned, and cormorants became federally protected under a migratory bird treaty signed with Mexico.

On Lake Ontario, for example, only about 10 nesting pairs remained by 1972. Last year, biologists counted 18,831 nests and estimated the lakewide cormorant population at nearly 100,000, with about 25,000 crowded onto 56-acre Little Galloo Island in New York. Cormorants have also spilled over onto other nearby waters, notably Lakes Champlain and Oneida, and biologists say the spread of new colonies is almost inevitable.

Federal biologists note that cormorants rarely take more than 5 percent of the number of fish caught by anglers, but recent studies show that cormorants are adversely impacting some fisheries. Cormorants have been linked with a drop in Oneida Lake's walleye fishery, and a study released in December concluded that they have contributed to a sharp decline in smallmouth bass in Lake Ontario, where cormorants ate an estimated 87.5 million fish last year, including 1.3 million smallmouth bass averaging 7.9 inches.

"These studies show cormorants are having a significant impact on warm-water fish populations," said John Cahill, commissioner of the New York Department of Environmental Conservation, which spearheaded the study. "It is now clear that some type of management action will be needed" to reduce their impact on fish.

That is something many anglers have been advocating for years, but their calls for cormorant control have been coolly received by federal officials. Frustration on both sides boiled over last July when about 1,000 cormorants were illegally shot on Little Galloo Island, further polarizing the issue and drawing the condemnation of many environmental groups.

Proponents of control have found supporters in Congress, notably Representatives John McHugh (R-NY) and Collin Peterson (D-MN), who are working on legislation that would modify treaty obligations and allow cormorants to be hunted. For its part, the FWS plans to complete a cormorant population management plan, and last year it issued a depredation order that allows catfish farmers in the South and baitfish growers in Minnesota to shoot pillaging cormorants. Yet that is little consolation for fishing guides like Buffa, who have watched their business dwindle as cormorants have flourished.

"We manage sport fishing for humans, so don't tell me it's not a form of aquaculture, like catfish farms," he says. "They both come down to dollars and cents."

The Trouble with Cormorants

fieldandstream-editor — Fri, 07 Jul 2006 05:05:00 -0400

Heavy Metals

fieldandstream-editor — Wed, 07 Jun 2006 05:55:00 -0400

When lead shot was banned for all duck and goose hunting in 1991, waterfowlers had two options: Use inferior steel shot or hang up their decoys. How times have changed.

Today's waterfowl hunters have a variety of nontoxic shot loads to choose from. However, no one type is perfect for every application. Each has distinct advantages and disadvantages.

Chief among the latter is price. Premium nontoxic loads can cost up to four times as much as steel shot, which is why steel remains the most popular choice. Improved powder and wads have made steel more lethal than ever, especially when loaded at high velocities, but there's no getting around the fact that steel (at 7.8 grams per cubic centimeter) is only about 70 percent as dense as lead. As a result, it loses velocity much more quickly and has only about half as much energy at 40 yards. Unless you only shoot decoying birds at close range, that's reason enough to try one of the following premium loads. Your retriever will thank you.

Bismuth
The first premium nontoxic to win federal approval, Bismuth is a traditionalist's dream. It's harder hitting than steel and as soft as lead, which allows it to be safely shot in older guns with thin-walled or tightly choked barrels. Bismuth is somewhat brittle, however, and can sometimes produce erratic patterns.

Tungsten-Iron
Federal's Tungsten-Iron, with 94 percent of the density of lead, is loaded at high velocities and has excellent downrange energy. Because it requires a thick shot cup, however, each shell contains less shot, which limits its maximum effectiveness to the high-capacity shells. It's excellent for pass-shooting geese and open-water ducks. Use large shot (No. 2Â¿Â¿Â¿BBB) in magnum 10-gauge or 31/2-inch 12-gauge loads for best results. Tungsten Matrix
Tungsten Matrix is the most like lead of all the approved nontoxics. A mix of tungsten and plastic polymer, it's 97 percent as dense as lead and even softer, which results in comparatively loose, long-range patterns. It's a good choice for close to midrange shots at ducks when hunting thick cover where quick, sure kills are needed to cut down on lost birds.

Hevi-Shot
An amalgam of tungsten, nickel, and iron, Hevi-Shot is the latest and greatest. It's 10 percent denser than lead shot and produces tight, devastating patterns. Approved in 2001, it has quickly won converts, despite the fact that it's harder than steel and among the most expensive nontoxics. Because it has superior downrange energy, you can drop down one or two shot sizes for denser patterns.

Beaver-Dam Ducks

fieldandstream-editor — Wed, 07 Jun 2006 05:55:00 -0400

To paraphrase what Mark Twain once said about real estate, prime duck waters are so valuable because no one makes them anymore-with one notable exception: beavers. The rodents have made a major comeback, and the ponds that collect behind their many dams provide top-notch duck hunting.

Hidden beaver ponds near large wetlands open to hunting can be especially productive. A favorite pond of mine doesn't look like much at first glance, but it's just inland from a large marsh that's crowded with hunters on opening day. Once the shooting begins, mallards, blacks, teal, and wood ducks pile into my spot.

Other beaver ponds draw ducks because they provide not just refuge but plenty of food and cover. As a rule, newer ones are more attractive to ducks. Flooded soils release a flush of nutrients that promote the growth of desirable aquatic plants and invertebrates. Ponds with a rich variety of emergent and submergent plants-pondweed, duckweed, bur reed, flooded sedges, and wild rice-are almost sure to hold ducks.

As these waters age, most become less productive. But some age well, offering emergent woody shrubs, like buttonbush, which add to the diversity of food and cover. Any beaver pond bordered by mature acorn-bearing oaks is sure to attract wood ducks, regardless of aquatic vegetation.

Another general rule is that beaver ponds hunt best early in the season, when local puddle ducks are most abundant. The key to consistent shooting is to avoid hunting the same areas too frequently. And if you flush a dozen or more ducks as you approach, avoid the temptation to shoot. Instead, throw out a few decoys and wait for the birds to return in small groups.

The best way to find the most productive beaver ponds is to study aerial photos, which are more detailed and up to date than topographic maps. They are available from state-highway or tax departments and can be accessed over the Internet at www.terraserver-usa.com.