It was so cold that day in the swamp about 30 minutes south of Baton Rouge.  The temperature plunged to 19 degrees during the early morning hours, and the humidity was 80%, making the experience much worse than it actually was. The cold went right through our clothing and felt like it set up camp in our bones.   A lot of the area we were hunting was standing in water.  Gerald (Jerry) Boudreaux and I actually broke ice traveling to our stands. I remember many times in the past being cold when deer hunting, but that had to be one of the coldest days I ever spent sitting in a deer stand.    That swamp has a beauty all its own, but the main reason I like hunting there, is Jerry’s company.  I have enjoyed hunting with Jerry more than most others I have hunted with.  Jerry is a great friend and outstanding shot.  I can’t keep up with him when we shoot long range. He has a gift for shooting and is a true master when it comes to developing loads. He is even more anal retentive when developing loads than I am.

We hunted for a few days and the weather began to warm up some, making it much easier to stay in our stands.  We moved around, hunting in different spots, hoping to get a shot.  After about three days of hunting and not seeing any deer worth taking, we decided to move to the opposite side of that area to try our luck. The place I decided to hunt only presented at most a 200 yard shot.  I chose to use my Ruger Hawkeye in 358 Winchester, topped with a Leupold VX-III 1.5-5x20mm.  What is so amazing about the 358 Winchester is its accuracy and especially how well this classic cartridge dispatches game.  Most of the time when I shoot game with the 358 Winchester, they just collapse in their tracks. It has become one of my favorite cartridges to use in the field.

The .358 Winchester cartridge is very accurate and is an efficient design, that has a style and an appeal all its own. Winchester introduced it back in 1955.  The 358 Winchester has been chambered at different times by more than one company – though some have now discontinued it.  The 358 Winchester has an interesting up and down history, when it comes to the market place. It is hard to get a lot of North American hunters to try the 35 caliber cartridges outside of the 35 Remington.  I truly have been impressed not only with the cartridge but with my Ruger M77 Hawkeye. I am saddened that Ruger has not only discontinued the Blued/Wood chambering of the 358Win. in the Hawkeye, but has now dropped the stainless version as well, and no longer offers it in any of their rifles.  The Hawkeye has a generous magazine that allows the hand-loader the option of using the 225gr AccuBond, which is not possible in the Browning BLR, due to a shorter magazine length.

.358 Winchester loade with the 225gr. AccuBond

It is a straight-forward design being a .308 case necked up to .35 caliber and of course it fits in short actions, which reduces weight and enhances its accuracy potential.  The .358 Winchester is a good hunter’s cartridge. Now what do I mean by the statement that the .358 Winchester is a good hunter’s cartridge? Let me give the following examples.
The .358 Winchester is a 0-300 yard rifle, when I use the 225gr AccuBond and TAC powder moving at 2556fps – the distance where most hunters draw the line on taking longer shots.  On top of that, it is a big-time thumper with the 225 grain and 250 grain bullets especially with the Partitions.  The 358Win. throws 225 grain bullets down range with velocities that provide enough energy and momentum to drop any hog, deer, elk, black bear, moose and yes, even brown bear. You will not do any long range shooting with this cartridge, but whatever you hit within 300 yards, usually falls right where it is hit, or soon after.

Most shots in North America, even when elk hunting out west, occur between 30 and 100 yards. Often, it is a short shot that most hunters are presented with. If the animal is not dropped immediately, the 358 Winchester will leave an impressive wound channel and exit hole – providing a good blood trail for tracking.  It becomes really important to knock down your game quickly when you are hunting in an area where lots of other hunters are present, and the 358 Winchester will accomplish that most of the time. It provides a lot of thump when up close shots are necessary in black timber or thick woods. In some areas of North America and Canada, you could encounter large game unexpectedly and the extra margin of power the 358 Winchester gives in a short package, that is easy to manage during a hunt – is appreciated by hunters who use the 358Win.

To put it simply, the 358 Winchester offers some positive possibilities when using TAC or H4895, behind a 225gr AccuBond or Partition.  The velocities of the 358Win are just perfect for the 225gr AccuBond, or Partition – and these bullets perform in spectacular ways on game. It seems in the past that recoil was an issue with the 358Win and was used as an excuse to avoid it, but nothing could be further from the truth. Look at the following free recoil data examples of the 358Win with a 225gr bullet compared to a 165gr bullet in the 300Win. Mag. and the 30-06. I think you will see how the facts dispel the myth concerning the recoil of the 358Win.

Here is recoil of my 165gr HPBT deer load in my 300Win Mag.
Muzzle velocity (ft/sec): 3161
Bullet Wt (gr): 165
Charge Weight (gr): 74
Barrel Length (in): 24
Firearm Weight (lb): 7.50
Free recoil energy is 31.1 ft-lb. (42.2 Joule)

Here is the 30-06 with a 165gr bullet:
Muzzle velocity (ft/sec): 2950
Bullet Wt (gr): 165
Charge Weight (gr): 59
Barrel Length (in): 22
Firearm Weight (lb): 7.50
Free recoil energy is 23.9 ft-lb. (32.4 Joule)

Here is the recoil of my .358 Win 225gr AccuBond deer load.
Muzzle velocity (ft/sec): 2556fps
Bullet Wt (gr): 225
Charge Weight (gr): 47
Barrel Length (in): 22
Firearm Weight (lb): 7.50
Free recoil energy is 24.7 ft-lb. (32.1 Joule)

The cartridge is highly accurate as demonstrated with my out of the box Ruger Hawkeye, with no extra work of any kind done to the rifle.  I am inclined to believe, that the parent .308 case that is expanded to .35 caliber, is one of the main reasons the 358 Winchester is so accurate and efficient.

The .358 Winchester is just too good of a cartridge and very useful in so many ways, to be forgotten or neglected.   It features lighter recoil compared to other cartridges in the .35 caliber class, considering you are throwing down range bullets that can weigh from 180 to 250 grains.  The impact it has down range on game is impressive.  It’s easy to load for and very forgiving when it comes to finding accuracy with many powders like, IMR3031, IMR4198, RL-7, H4895, IMR4895, IMR4064, IMR4320, Varget, W-748, Tac, AA2495BR and BL-C2, just to name a few.  Its recoil is not like the 35 Whelen, and certainly not like a 300Win. Mag., 338Win. Mag., or Norma 358 Mag., but more like a .30-06 that uses a much lighter bullet.  In fact, if you can shoot a .30-06 with a 165 grain bullet, you can shoot a 358Win accurately.

Ruger Hawkeye in 358 Winchester and topped with a Leupold VX-III 1.5-5x20mm

When Jerry dropped me off that day, not far from my stand, I had the feeling something good was going to happen.  When hunting in this area, we are required to make sure any buck we take is at least eight points or better, or four on one side.   My gut feeling about that morning was right on!   All of sudden this nice buck stepped out some 120 yards from my stand, but stood facing away from me, and I was not able to see if he was a legal buck.  I figured he was an eight point, but was not sure, so I let him take off after a big doe that ran across the gas line in front of him into the thicket on the opposite side.  The chase was on and just as he entered the thicket I could see that he was an eight point, but I didn’t have time for good shot placement.

I waited for another thirty minutes or so, and then to my surprise I saw him working his way back through the thicket.  He came walking out into the open again as if  he were taking a Sunday morning stroll.   Just a few minutes before this buck stepped out into the open, I heard Jerry shoot.   I knew he hit something by the sound of his rifle’s report , and if Jerry hit it – it was dead!  All of a sudden, that buck stopped about 105 yards from me, and looked straight up at my stand.  I froze with my rifle shouldered, watching him through my scope.  I was trying to slow my breathing down and control my excitement, so I could place my shot correctly.   He then turned his head just slightly and I pulled the trigger, and sent that big slow moving freight train of a bullet down range – hitting that deer just behind the shoulder, about 3 inches below the spine, as I watched him fold up like an accordion and hit the ground.

The Author with a nice Whitetail harvested with the .358 Win

I call my 358 Winchester “A LITTLE BIG THUMPER,” and what a thumper it is while also being a joy to carry it in the field.  In this day and age of speed and more speed, (and I am a magnum man) one just needs to handle a classic like the 358 Winchester, to appreciate the experience of a well designed and accurate cartridge, that really gets the job done – without leaving a contrail on the way to the target. You only have to take the 358 Winchester to the range and in the field, to see what is so cool about this classic from 1955. You won’t be disappointed in the least, I promise. In fact you will be surprised at how it handles and shoots.  If anything ever happens to my Ruger Hawkeye in 358 Winchester, I will have a custom rifle built for me, unless Ruger chambers it again.

Suddenly stopping mid-stride, I slowly turned to Jana and whispered, “You’re going to kill this bear!” Not far below us a nice, fat, black bear stood, its hide glistening in the evening light. Quietly dropping our packs we both knelt down trying to make the least amount of noise possible. The slightest sound and this bear would be nothing but a memory. Unfolding the bipod on her new .300 WSM, Jana laid down in the prone position as the unsuspecting bruin continued to feed 150 yards away. With a Nosler AccuBond loaded up front it was “go time”. Suddenly, the wind switched, blowing towards the bear. Just then, he lifted his head and looked in our direction. “Jana when he turns broadside, take him” I said, watching the bear through the viewfinder of my SONY video camera. Just then, I heard the sound of her safety click off.

Spring bear season is an old tradition in the Kinsey family. My brother Al and I have been hunting bruins since moving to Montana in 1985. Back then, we would scour the hills in search of bears on our big, red, three-wheelers. Although we learned a lot through trial and error we would have saved ourselves a lot of money on gas if we knew back then what we know today.  Over the last 26 years we’ve taken some great DIY spot and stalk black bears during both the spring and fall seasons. My oldest son Walker took his first bear with my brother Al during the fall season.  Excited at his success and wanting to share that with my girlfriend Jana, I laid out a plan to take her into some of the areas that have produced some great bears for us over the years. New to Montana, Jana became a resident last fall and was able to harvest a nice whitetail buck on public land. Although we weren’t able to hunt fall bear, I promised to take her spring bear hunting when the season arrived.

Montana’s spring bear season typically opens April 15th and runs until the end of May in most districts. Many units have now extended the season by two weeks due to poor elk calf and deer fawn recruitment due to predation by bears, mountain lions, and wolves. We wanted to help do our part in keeping the bear population in check. I knew that a spot and stalk hunt would be a great addition to the new show I am currently producing called Skull Bound. This show is a bit different from the traditional outdoor show as each week host Jana Waller meets up with the world’s most outrageous characters as she hunts, fishes and searches out the next skull to embellish.

Finally, the snow in the high country began to show signs of receding. Soon, the bears would be seeking out the sunny, south-facing slopes in search of fresh, succulent grasses. It was the first week of May and with over 31 days to trek the old logging roads, avalanche chutes and clear cuts I knew that Jana would have her chance to score on one of the 30,000 bears that call Montana home.

My son Walker also accompanied Jana on the first hunt as he and Jana hoped to harvest bears under the big sky. We began our first search in a walk-in area that included tons of clear cuts and avalanche chutes, many of which faced south. Jana, Walker, and I listened to the wind in the treetops while hiking in along a swollen stream. “It’s really blowing hard today. Going to be tough to glass in these conditions” I said, while Jana and Walker led the way up the trail. Watching out for snags falling was a real threat and all of us were on high alert.  After a 500-foot vertical climb we reached a lookout point that allowed us to see multiple ridges, rocky cliff faces and small openings in the timber. It was the perfect lookout point to glass bears from. Looking for spring bears requires long periods of time behind binoculars. My new S4 lockdown optic system made the long glassing sessions much more enjoyable. By mid-morning the wind was blowing even harder, making glassing a real challenge. Several trees below us crashed down into the creek. “Time to go guys, it’s just too dangerous up here today” I said, as we wrapped up the video shoot. No bears were spotted on the first outing, but with lots of time to hunt and country to explore, I was excited to try out several of my “bear honey holes” in the coming days.

Several days later, we headed up an old logging road in my beat-up Toyota Tundra. Walker, seated in the back on the passenger side, looked intently out his small window for any signs of bears along the canyon walls. Jana, seated up front, watched out her side as I spoke of my many bear sightings in this area. Just then, Walker’s voice broke the silence of the morning ride. “Bear, right there, and he’s a good one.  Let me out!” he urgently exclaimed. Directly across from us, a beautiful cinnamon bear stood broadside watching us drive up the old road. Caught with our pants down, Walker tried to get situated for a shot as the bear made his getaway uphill through some burnt timber. Walker ran down the slope and sat down trying to line up on the bear which had stopped for a brief moment. “Boom,” we heard the sound of his .300 WSM going off.  Jana and I watched the bear move uphill before disappearing into some rugged cliffs. “I missed him clean Dad and hit that rock. If only he would have stood still for one more second,” Walker said with a look of disappointment. We still went to the area where Walker shot at the bear to make sure he wasn’t hit and it was a clean miss!

Jana, excited at seeing a bear only minutes into our hunt was ready to look for the next bruin. A half hour later we crept up the old road towards a nice south-facing slope. The snow still clung to the north facing slopes in defiance of spring’s arrival. A huge black bear showed up unexpectedly, walking along a skidder trail below us. Startled again, the three of us tried to get on the bear. Before we could get off a shot the bear made a mad dash for the thick alder-infested creek bottom. “That’s bear hunting. It’s 90 percent boredom and 10 percent excitement” I said, looking over towards Jana. Climbing to the opposing ridge, we searched high and low for that bear, which we estimated would square well over 6 ft. With the bear long gone we moved to another area that looked like prime black bear habitat. Lots of hours behind the glass proved to be useless the rest of the day as none of us could lay eyes on another bruin.

After a day of catch-up at the office, it was back to where we had run into the large six-footer that gave us the slip. With Walker back in school, Jana and I walked in behind a closed gate and began glassing during the last 3 hours of daylight. Seven hundred yards away, a blond bear fed in a greened-up clear-cut. “Jana I’ve got one, he’s up there on the top of that ridge feeding on fresh green grass” I said, still watching the bear’s every move. The race was on! Jana and I headed up towards the bear. We both knew the wind wasn’t perfect for this stalk, but decided to give it a go anyway.  A half hour later, we both turned the corner on the last switchback. “There he is right there!” I said, motioning to the blond fur ball moving slowly across the ridge. Two hundred yards above us, the blond bear fed on succulent glacier lilies while Jana tried to get a clear shot as it moved across a small opening. Filming the entire hunt, I locked down the tripod and punched the “record” button. The bear stopped midstride and turned to look down hill. “He’s got our wind Jana. Time to drop the hammer” I whispered, while watching the bear sit down and lift his nose into the air. Jana fired her .300 WSM, but missed him clean. The blond bear wasn’t sticking around for a follow up shot as he made a mad dash for the timber. Right then I knew something was wrong. “I think your scope is off, we need to check it” I said, still sweating from our ½ mile run.

We both knew that somehow the scope must have shifted since our last shooting session at the range. Setting up a piece of paper, we made a bullseye and pinned it up to an old stump.  Jana fired a round and it hit 6 inches high and to the left. After dialing in her scope, she fired two more rounds both of which hit dead center, but 2 inches high. Reassured that her rifle was driving tacks, we planned on hunting a different area the next day.  I explained that my brother Al and I had taken several big, spring and fall bears in this area, so Jana was excited.

Early the next morning Jana and I headed an hour’s drive east of my home. The morning was clear and cool with a chance of showers in the afternoon. Following my HuntingGPSmaps.com software, we drove up the mountain, following the roads to a great vantage point. Along the way, I caught movement out of the corner of my eye. There, 70 yards away, a huge mountain lion slinked away through the lodge pole pine. Jana was able to catch a glimpse of him before he disappeared. “You don’t see that every day,” I said, while putting my camera away. “Did you get any footage of him?” Jana asked. “Yes I did, but only a few seconds worth.” I said, as our hands hit with a high-five.  With a mountain lion under our belt we continued up the mountain to a gated-off logging road. From there we would walk to the head of the drainage and see if any bears were around.

We spent the next few hours hiking in on the gated road searching for any signs of a Montana spring bear. We spotted a few mule deer and a moose, which Jana practiced her stalking skills on.  After an entire day of scouring the area, we decided to head for the truck. On our trek back, I cautiously watched the slopes below us. Suddenly, I stopped dead in my tracks and Jana followed suit. One hundred and fifty yards below, a nice bear was feeding away from us totally unaware of our presence. Jana slowly dropped her Badlands pack and chambered a 180-grain Nosler AccuBond. I followed suit, but instead of chambering a round I leveled out my Miller tripod and hit the “record” button on my video camera. All those days of packing the camera where about to pay off with another episode for our show! Jana eased into the prone position and settled the cross hairs on the bear’s front shoulder. Time seemed to stand still as the bruin fed on the new shoots of grass below. Two minutes later, the bear sat down presenting Jana with a perfect broadside shot. “Take him now! I think he’s got our wind” I said, still recording away. “Whoomp” the AccuBond found its mark and dropped the bear dead in his tracks. “You got him Jana…he’s not going anywhere!”

After much celebration, we collected ourselves and headed down the slope to see Jana’s first Montana bear, and what a bear he was! Sporting a thick, black coat and long claws it was apparent this nice boar hadn’t been out of the den very long. We both snapped a ton of production stills for Skull Bound TV before the last rays of light sank behind the peak of the Bitterroots. Eight days of pounding the Montana backcountry rewarded Jana with a great bear. Spot and stalk bears are tough and for those willing to “keep on keeping on,” the rewards are measured in smiles. Jana’s smile was as big as the Montana sky as we headed back to civilization. It goes to show, nothing comes easy in life and in Jana’s case her never give up attitude is why her hunt was a success.

Lightweight gear, from rifles, to clothes, and packs is all the rage, but it is expensive and there are only so many pounds you can shed from your basic load. The cheapest, as in free, way to lighten your load in the woods is to get rid of the extra pounds we all carry around our midsection. In a few months, you can easily be ten pounds lighter than you are now. To get that same ten pound weight savings out of your gear would cost you thousands of dollars in new equipment. If you don’t have ten pounds to lose, then good for you, you are ahead of the game, but you can still get stronger.

When many people think of working out, the image of a body builder comes to mind. As hunters, that is absolutely not what we are going for. We want to build muscle to increase strength, but we want to build lean muscle. Being big and strong don’t necessarily have to go together. It is actually much easier to get lean and strong. Adding a bunch of weight to your upper body in the form of muscle would actually be counter productive to our goal. Weight is weight and you have to carry all of it, so our goal should be to get as strong as we possibly can be at an appropriate level of leanness.

I know for a fact that no one has ever had to bench press something heavy while hunting. To prepare for hunting fitness, we will focus on exercises that strengthen several muscle groups at a time and are specific to the muscles we use most in the field. The beauty of these exercises is that they don’t require any equipment and they can be performed almost anywhere.

There are four exercises that I believe every hunter should be doing several times per week. These are: squats, lunges, sit ups and push ups. These four coupled with walking or some other form of cardio are really all one needs to become a much stronger, leaner and more effective hunter.

Squats

There are many myths surrounding squats, and they have gotten a bad name because people think they are bad for your knees. Squats aren’t bad for your knees, bad squats are bad for your knees, but the worst thing for your knees is inactivity and being over weight. It isn’t necessary to do weighted squats unless you decide you want to later. For general fitness, you can make huge gains in strength, balance, flexibility and stability just by doing body weight or “air” squats. The squat works just about every muscle in your lower body and your core at the same time so you get a lot of exercise out of one movement.

To do body weight squats, start by standing up straight with your feet shoulder width apart. These are best performed bare foot or wearing flat soled shoes as running shoes have so much cushion under the heel they tip you forward unnaturally. To squat properly, you need to keep your weight on your heels, your shins vertical, and your knees over your ankles. You also need to keep your head up and your back straight. Actually, your back shouldn’t be straight but slightly concave so that your bottom sticks out. Now, controlling yourself all the way, squat down as though you were going to sit on a low chair or stool. You can help yourself balance by reaching your arms straight out in front of you. The goal is to squat low enough that your thighs are parallel to the floor, or lower. Most people will have trouble at first due to a lack of flexibility that comes from spending too much of our lives in a seated position. Start out slow trying to adhere to perfect form and increasing flexibility gradually by going deeper in the squat. Don’t cheat yourself by raising your heels off the ground, just go as deep as you can and you will gradually get better. Once you reach the bottom of your squat, come back up by driving through your heels and bringing your hips forward. Once you have a little practice, you can get into a good rhythm that will allow you to perform many squats in a short amount of time. Try to do as many as you can until you feel your muscles really start to burn. As long as you practice proper form, your body will tell you when you have done enough. If you are a little sore the next day, then you did enough, but always keep trying to do more.

Lunges

Lunges are an excellent exercise for hunters as they strengthen all the muscles used to hike up and down mountains in the pursuit of game. Lunges are very easy to perform, and it doesn’t take very many to start feeling a good burn. Lunges not only strengthen the lower body, but they also improve balance and stability. This is especially helpful to hunters for negotiating tough terrain and carrying heavy packs. Improved balance is very useful when stalking as it allows you to place your feet precisely and carefully so as to make very little noise.

To perform a lunge, start out standing straight with your feet shoulder width apart. Step forward with one foot and lower your body until your other knee just touches the ground. If you are stepping far enough out, your forward knee will form a ninety degree angle. Just like with the squat, keep the knee of your forward leg over your ankle and your shin perpendicular to the ground. Now, step back so that your feet are again shoulder width apart and switch to the other leg. Try to control yourself as you step forward by reaching with your foot rather than just falling forward onto it. If you are outside or have a lot of room, you can perform walking lunges where you simply bring your rear foot forward rather than stepping backwards. You can also add variation by stepping backwards instead of forwards. Later, you can increase resistance by performing lunges while wearing your pack or holding weights if you have them. Lunges are very effective, so you don’t have to do a whole lot to get good results. Start out with ten per side and adjust the number as dictated by your needs and level of soreness. Lunges are always deceptive for me and seem easy while I’m doing them, but leave me really sore the next day. When starting out, err on the side of less is more.

Sit-ups

Sit ups are great for building core strength, but everybody hates them for one simple reason, they are hard. Well, the reason they are hard is because they work. You don’t need perfect rippling abs to be a better hunter, but improving your core strength will also improve your balance and ability to carry your pack and rifle. Any load that you carry on your back or in your hands is carried by your legs, and your upper body has to be stabilized on top of your legs by your core. With a stronger core, you will experience less fatigue and have less back pain.

Everyone knows how to do a sit up, but you can increase the effectiveness of the exercise and balance out the work by performing what’s called a super sit up. To perform a super sit up, start out in a normal sit up position, lying on the floor with your knees up and feet flat on the floor. Now, before you curl up into a classic sit up, start out by raising your hips up off the floor as high as you can into what is called a hip bridge. Next, bring your hips back down to the floor and curl your upper body up into the classic sit up. As with the squats and lunges, do as many as you feel you need to get a good work out, but be sure to always push the limit a little bit.

Push-ups

Even though I said you didn’t need to build up your upper body, you still need to work your chest, back, and arms just for the sake of maintaining balance between your upper and lower body. Carrying a rifle all day can get tiring, and a stronger upper body will help you to hold steadier in unsupported shooting positions. Also, push ups are actually an effective core exercise as it requires a lot of core strength to hold your body in the plank position. Push ups provide a lot of bang for the buck and they can be performed just about anywhere.

Like sit ups, everyone knows how to do a push up, but I will go over a few tips just to be sure you are doing them right. Start out on the floor in the push up position with your hands shoulder width apart directly below your upper chest. One of the keys to a good push up is to keep your body perfectly straight in a rigid plank position. There should be a straight line running through your body from your head, down your back, through you hips, down your legs to your feet. Don’t let your hips sag or stick up in the air. As you lower yourself down, keep your elbows tight to your sides. Your elbows should slide along the side of your chest as you go up and down. Lower yourself until your chest touches the floor, and then push back up. If you can’t perform a full push up, start out with your knees on the ground, or by leaning into a counter or piece of furniture. By doing the push ups in a semi-standing or kneeling position, you lighten the load on your shoulders making them easier to perform. Just as with the other exercises, do as many or as few as you need to get a good work out while always striving for more.

Cardio

Cardiovascular training is good for overall health whether you are a hunter or not. Cardio not only burns calories, it also conditions your heart and lungs to work more efficiently. The result of this increased efficiency is that you will be able to hunt harder for longer and recover faster when you do rest. Depending on where and how you are hunting, you may choose to spend more or less of your training time on cardiovascular development. Ideally you should try to get in at least thirty minutes of cardio three times per week. If you are planning to go on a high altitude hunt, you may wish to do more cardio training. When most people think of cardio, they immediately think of running. Running is a great exercise, but unless you are already into it, I don’t feel that becoming a runner is necessary to improving your performance in the hunting field. Hunting is a stop and go activity which rarely requires you to push yourself for hours on end without rest. Being able to recover quickly during rest periods and continue to keep going throughout the day or over several days is much more important than being the fastest runner. Probably the best cardio exercise for hunters is simply walking. Walking is what you do most in the woods, so it goes to reason that walking is a good method of hunt preparation. Walking over uneven terrain or up and down hills is even better as it simulates real hunting conditions. If you want to get even more exercise out of your walk, put some weight in your hunting pack and wear it while you walk or hike. I have used everything from dumbbells and weight plates, to bottles of water, bird seed, and bags of salt as weight in my pack for exercising. Bottles of water work good as they are heavy, and you can easily pour them out if for some reason you get too tired to carry them back. If the weather keeps you indoors and you have access to equipment, machines like treadmills, ellipticals and stair climbers are also great for getting in the cardio portion of your workout. You may get a few funny looks, but you can even wear your weighted pack while working out on machines. Whatever activity you choose, pick one that you enjoy enough that you will be able to stick with it on a consistent basis. Also, don’t be afraid to change things up from time to time. Varying your exercise routines and methods helps to prevent you from hitting a plateau in your gains as well as keeping it interesting and fun.

If you really want to get the most out of your cardio training, try throwing in a few intervals. Interval training is when you add in a few, short, maximum effort intervals into your cardio exercise. For example, if you are jogging, every five minutes sprint as hard as you can for thirty seconds and then slow back down to a jog. Or, if you are walking, walk as fast as you possibly can for thirty seconds before slowing back down to your normal pace. The type of exercise isn’t important, what is important is that you periodically raise your heart rate up towards the red line for a brief interval several times throughout your workout. Interval training not only increases fat burning, it also conditions your body to recover faster.

Eating Habits

Most of us hunters who could lose a few pounds around our middle can do so fairly easily just by cleaning up our eating habits a little bit. Unfortunately, no amount of working out is going to get those extra pounds off if you don’t eat better too. Notice I didn’t say diet. I don’t like the idea of “going on a diet” as it implies that there will be a beginning and an end. Rather, I want you to simply improve your normal eating habits so that you can lose extra fat and keep it off in the long term. By making a few simple adjustments to your eating habits, along with increasing physical activity, you can get rid of those few extra pounds and lighten the load you have to carry this fall.

Sugar

The simplest and quickest way to cut out a bunch of unneeded calories from your diet is to cut your intake of sugar. If you currently add sugar to anything you consume such as coffee or cereal, stop. Yes, I know it tastes good, but not as good as being successful in the deer woods. Also, stop drinking soda. Think of soda as basically just sugar water. You are definitely not doing yourself any favors by drinking soda. Drink water instead, your body will thank you. Once you cut out the obvious sources of sugar, it is time to start looking for the hidden sources of sugar in your diet. To do this, you will have to read the ingredient lists on things you commonly eat. Beware, there are many aliases that sugar likes to hide behind such as corn syrup, high fructose corn syrup, fructose, sucrose, glucose, the list goes on and on. Basically, if it tastes sweet or really good, you should be suspicious and read the label. On that note, try to eat fewer things that have labels. Try to eat whole foods that are closer to their natural state. Fruit and vegetables, nuts, seeds, berries, meat and fish are always healthier choices.

Another major source of carbohydrates, a big word for sugar, is beer. I’ve got nothing against having a beer or two, but if you are trying to lose fat, beer is a good place to start cutting out unnecessary calories.

Fat

When trying to eat better to get in shape for hunting, don’t be too concerned about eating “low-fat.” Fat isn’t the horrible killer we’ve been led to fear, and your body actually needs some fat to function and survive. Most products that are labeled “low-fat” have fat taken out, but then sugar is added back in to make it taste better. You are far better off eating a reasonable portion of the full fat product than eating too much of something that says it is “low-fat.” Healthy fats like those found in olive oil, fish, grass-fed meats, wild game, and nuts are actually good for you and will help you feel more satisfied for longer.

If you have trouble with hunger after increasing your exercise level and cutting out unnecessary sugar, try adding a little more fat and protein into your diet. When you consume fat, your digestive system sends signals to your brain telling you that you are full and you should stop eating. By purposely eating healthy fats, like having nuts for a snack, you can actually consume fewer calories throughout the day. Protein will also help you feel full as well as provide the building blocks for new lean muscle that you are creating through exercise. Also, try to rethink your attitude about hunger. Even if you get a little hungry in the afternoon, you will survive until dinner time without a snack. While you are riding out being a little hungry, your body is burning fat that you wont have to carry up the mountain with you come hunting season.

Being leaner and stronger will pay huge dividends when hunting season comes back around. By performing a few simple exercises and getting in some form of cardiovascular training at least three times per week, you will find yourself a stronger more prepared hunter this fall. Making a few small changes to your dietary habits will help you to lighten your load, and the mountains won’t seem so steep or so high. Being fit will give you the energy and confidence to go see what lies over the next ridge, and you never know, it may just be the trophy of a lifetime!

A 1911 Saved My Life!
By Mason Payer

This story is a legend in my family told to me and my brother, my cousins, my mother, and my uncles throughout our lives by my grandfather Al. While the minor details of the story have become cloudy over time, the facts are true. When my grandfather was 17 he killed a charging grizzly bear in Colorado with a 1911. He certainly didn’t set out that day to kill a grizzly bear with a pistol and this story isn’t intended as a testament to the 1911’s suitability for defense against a grizzly bear. I truly believe however, that had he not been in possession of the pistol that day and had he not used it when he had the chance, three subsequent generations of my family may not be here today.

Albert Lupien was born in Chicago, Illinois in 1917. By 1934, Grandpa was 17 and the country was deep in the Great Depression. Desiring a paying job and some adventure, he signed on as a ranch hand at a cattle ranch in Gunnison, Colorado. At this point in his life he had no experience with ranch work or the wilderness, so when he headed out West for a year, he was totally green to the ways of wild Colorado.

Shortly after arriving at the ranch, Grandpa discovered that though he wasn’t very good at working cattle, he was a pretty good shot with a rifle. One of the jobs that he was assigned to do was go out with a .22 and hunt grouse for the pot. The manager of the ranch was a stern old cowboy, and before each of Grandpa’s meat hunting trips the boss would issue him five .22 cartridges with the expectation that he would return with five grouse. He was instructed to only shoot the grouse through the head so as not to waste any meat. Once, he was fortunate enough to kill two grouse with one shot by waiting patiently for them to line up one behind the other. When he returned to the bunkhouse with five grouse and a live .22 shell left over, the boss didn’t believe what he had done.

Somehow, Grandpa ended up in possession of an Army issue 1911 pistol and web holster. Recollections of its source vary amongst family members. Some remember it being loaned to him by a friend in Chicago. Others remember it being loaned to him by a guest of the ranch who was there deer hunting. I just remember it being loaned to him by someone at the ranch who felt he should have it for protection while out grouse hunting. I clearly remember my Grandpa saying that he was so skinny; the web belt wrapped around his waist twice. Whomever the pistol came from is unimportant, what was important was that he had it on him that fateful day and he had the fortitude to use it when he had the chance.

The day of the grizzly started like any other, and Grandpa went out to collect some grouse for the pot. Hearing rustling in a thicket of bushes, he quietly dismounted his cow pony and crept up to the bushes, thinking he was getting the drop on a covey of grouse. When he peered into the brush, he was surprised to find himself looking at a grizzly bear feeding on berries. Being young, somewhat foolish, and not knowing any better, Grandpa took careful aim at the bear’s head, holding the front sight of his .22 squarely between the bear’s eyes! At the shot, he fully expected the bruin to fall dead, but instead it let out a roar of rage and began swatting at its face as though stung by a bee. Not having planned for this reaction, Grandpa quickly turned and began to run to his horse only to see it headed back to the barn at top speed.

Not knowing what else to do, Grandpa began to run all the while hearing the enraged grizzly rapidly gaining on him. As he ran, he felt a strange sensation of a heavy weight flapping against his leg. The pistol! Knowing it was his only hope; he drew the heavy automatic, and began to fire wildly over his shoulder while running. Firing several times with no result, he realized he was going to have to make his shots count. Running past a small tree, he turned and braced the pistol against the tree continuing to fire upon the rapidly closing bear. As the grizzly closed upon him with its mouth wide open ready to deliver a crushing bite, Grandpa fired his last round which entered the bear’s open mouth breaking his spine and dropping him dead at Grandpa’s feet.

When his horse showed up back at the ranch without him, the boss began to worry about Grandpa. Once they found him headed back on foot, everyone was relieved that he was alive, but extremely displeased to hear that he had tangled with a grizzly bear. Though he came out unscathed, things might have ended very differently had Grandpa not had the 1911 that day. He ended up selling the bear hide to guests of the ranch, and the pistol was returned to its owner, so no artifacts of the legend remain save for the memories of our Grandfather telling us the story of the day a 1911 saved his life.

“I can’t be the first one to give up, but what are we doing?” This was the thought that ran through my head as I pushed my bike and trailer up the steep dirt grade. Myself, my brother Graham and our hunting partner Derrek “Butters” Butterfield were only half a mile into an eight mile journey and we were quickly beginning to question the logic of using mountain bikes with trailers to haul our selves and our gear into camp. We were hunting a limited access area where only foot, bike and horse traffic is allowed. It was the first of October and the temperature was in the low eighties. Within moments of beginning the hike, we were drenched with sweat.

Planning for this hunt, we chose to ride our bikes about eight miles on a dirt road and set up spike camp near a spring. We hoped this would allow us to hunt relatively undisturbed country free from the pressure of other hunters. As a contingency, we also brought along a large tent and extra sleeping bags to leave in the truck at the trailhead in case we needed to come out for a night, or if we chose to change our plans. Thinking that riding our bikes would be easier than hiking, we took way too much gear and food which turned out to be our biggest mistake as well as the source of our misery. Riding the bikes was not easier than hiking. In fact, we could hardly ride them except for the places where the road was relatively flat or downhill. Pushing the bikes with trailers attached while carrying a pack turned out to be a serious study in endurance and pain tolerance. Eventually, we developed a system where we rotated and the guy without a trailer would assist the other two by leapfrogging back and forth pushing the trailers from the rear.   The toughest part of the whole journey was the fact that we had to gain elevation almost the entire time. There were three main grades that we had to climb up separated by sections of broken, undulating terrain. While the elevation gain made it tough going in, it made it extremely easy yet hair-raising on the way out.

The first morning, I set up with spotting scope and binoculars atop the highest point near camp while Graham and Butters hunted two separate ridges below me. I spotted one group of does after about thirty minutes, but couldn’t find any bucks. Occasionally, I would spot the other two guys as they worked there way out the ridges. About one hour into the hunt, Graham came on the radio, “I see a buck.” This statement set off a bunch of question-filled radio chatter from Butters and I, which Graham quickly quelled with “Shut up! He is getting nervous; I’m just going to go shoot him.” So, we obliged and listened in anticipation for the report of Graham’s rifle. A few tense moments later, I heard the rolling echo of the shot and knew that my brother had harvested the first deer of the hunt!

By the time Butters and I had hiked out to the end of the ridge where Graham shot his buck, the day had already begun to heat up. We quickly realized that we were going to need to get this deer back to the truck and into the cooler. We had brought a large cooler half full of frozen milk jugs to keep in the truck back at the trailhead just for this very purpose. So, we completely boned out Graham’s buck and hauled it back up the ridge to the road above camp. We hung the meat in a tree along the road to so that we could pick it up on the way out to the trailhead. Knowing we had to come all the way back up the wretched climb we had made just the day before, we chose to take the absolute minimum amount of gear out with us. Initially, we thought we would haul the meat out and then ride back in that day, but quickly realized that we didn’t have the time or energy to do so. We knew we had the extra tent and sleeping bags back at the truck, so we only carried my Jetboil stove and one Mt. House dinner each. Graham also took his rifle to leave in the truck as he wouldn’t need it anymore. Thinking ahead to the next morning, we realized that we would be covering a lot of country at first light and that we had a good chance of seeing more bucks. While we didn’t want to carry any extra weight out and then back in, we knew it would be silly to not take a rifle, so I brought my rifle along just in case we spotted a buck on the ride in the next morning….

That night, we got Graham’s buck safely stowed in the cooler, and then enjoyed the pleasant surprise of taking showers with Butters’ Insta-shower. Rinsing off the sweat and dust of the day before felt truly indulgent and we didn’t stay awake very long after the sun went down. It was with some concern that we awoke in the middle of the night to the sound of rain on the tent. We had made a serious error in leaving the rain flies off of our tents in spike camp, so we knew that our sleeping bags and extra clothes were getting wet while we slept at the trailhead.

At Spike Camp. Notice the lack of rain flies.

When the alarm woke us up the next morning, none of us was in a hurry to get out of bed, but we had come to hunt, not sleep, so we got up and started heading back up the hill. The morning was overcast and a light drizzle fell, keeping us cool as we hiked up the road pushing our bikes. The cool morning air and light rain actually felt good compared to the heat and dust of the trip in two days before. Empty packs and no bike trailers also made our steps easier as we climbed our way up by the light of our headlamps. As we made our way along, it gradually began to get light, and we would stop to glass often. When we topped out at the end of the first grade, we could see lots of country including a huge open meadow that the road ran through ahead of us. We decided to rest for a few minutes and glass before pushing on. I took the opportunity to answer the call of nature with the thought in the back of my head that the other guys were sure to spot something as soon as I was otherwise occupied. Sure enough, a few moments later, I heard Graham whistle. I quickly made my way back to the road where they were glassing and Graham said “I see a deer; I think it is a buck.” We could see the deer feeding in the meadow over one half of a mile away, but it was still too dark to see if it had antlers. Since it was out feeding by itself, we had a feeling it was a buck, and as the light improved slightly we were able to see that indeed it was. Since I had my rifle, it was my turn, so I quickly traded clothes with Graham as I was wearing dark green workout shorts and shirt for the hike in while Graham was wearing his camo. Once we had traded clothes, I borrowed Butters’ shooting sticks and quickly began my stalk. With a smile I noticed that the wind was blowing in my face and the drizzle began to pick up slightly, perfect conditions for sneaking up on the buck. To stay out of sight, I climbed up into the juniper trees and little washes above the meadow and began making my way towards where the buck was still feeding. I knew he wouldn’t want to stay out in the open for long as it got light, so I hurried as best I could while still trying to be quiet. As I made my way closer, I topped out on a little ridge and could see the buck standing broadside with his head down feeding. I quickly ranged him at 280 yards and got my rifle set up on the shooting sticks. Looking through the scope, I realized I wasn’t very steady, so I decided to try to get closer rather than risk a shot. As I continued my stalk, I got into some thick junipers and couldn’t see the buck, so I just kept going, getting closer, and closer. Finally, when I emerged from the thick patch of trees, I could see where the buck had been, but couldn’t spot him. Suddenly, he emerged from behind a tree heading towards me! He had no idea I was there, but had decided it was time to get out of the open, so he was headed uphill towards the cover of the trees. At this point I was about 80 yards away and I got on the sticks again. Through the scope, I could see that he was going to cross an opening between two trees and that would be my only shot opportunity. As he crossed the opening, I lined up my crosshairs on his shoulder and fired. I heard the bullet hit and the buck only ran about twenty yards before he succumbed to the high lung shot. With joy, I walked out to the road where the other guys could see me and gave out a whoop of success.

After we took pictures of my buck, we realized that is was still lightly raining on our sleeping bags and gear we had left uncovered at camp. We also realized with much relief that my buck was right above the road, and we only had about three miles downhill to haul him back to the truck. After deliberating for a few minutes, we decided that Butters would continue on to camp so that he could hang our stuff up to dry while he hunted for the rest of the day. Graham and I would quarter my buck and haul it back to the truck to put it in the cooler. The ride out to the truck took about twenty minutes as it was almost entirely downhill. When we put my buck in the cooler, we decided we needed more ice to keep the meat cool for several days, so we headed to a little town about fifteen minutes away to pick up more ice. After picking up some blocks of ice, and fortifying ourselves with cheeseburgers from the local café, we headed back up the road to go meet up with Butters for the evening hunt. It felt good heading in with only full CamelBaks in our packs and two bucks in the cooler. As my brother and I made our way back up the dirt road, we took our time, discussing how we would all work together to locate a buck for Butters. So far, we had taken two bucks in as many days and still had three full days and an evening to go.

It was mid afternoon and the day was still overcast as Graham and I made our way up the last long grade before crossing a saddle above camp. As we paused to catch our breath, I looked up and noticed a herd of deer feeding beneath some rimrock on the hillside opposite us. We quickly got down and pulled out our binoculars to check out the deer. Looking through our glass, we realized that it was a bachelor herd of seven bucks! At this point, we had no idea where Buttersmight be, but we weren’t too far from camp, so we figured he must be nearby. When we called him on the radio, we were surprised to hear him call right back and tell us that he was on the ridge directly above us. Due to the terrain, he hadn’t yet seen the bucks, but he quickly made his way down to the road above us. Even though they were only 300 yards away, and we were in the open, the bucks weren’t alarmed by our presence and continued to feed. Butters got down to the road where he could see the deer, but couldn’t make it down to where we were as he would have had to cross a long open stretch of road. His position was closer to the deer anyway, so he decided to get set up for a shot. There was one buck in the group that was larger than the rest, so when he was broadside and clear of the other bucks, Butters took a shot. At the shot, there was a loud crack as the bullet hit the rimrock just above the back of the largest buck. Surprisingly, the bucks’ only reaction was to all bunch up for a few seconds and then go back to feeding. The largest buck stayed bunched up with several others, but another buck was standing out in the open, so Butters lined up on him and dropped his buck. With that we were tagged out, three for three in the first two days of our hunt. What had started out with shear misery and grueling work had turned out to be our most successful hunt ever.

After we quartered Butters’ buck and got it hung in a tree to cool overnight, we returned to camp where all of our rain-soaked gear was now dry thanks to Butters having hung it all up that morning. We feasted that night and the next morning on the remaining three days worth of food in an effort to reduce our load as much as possible for the trip out. The ride wasn’t too treacherous except for a few sections where the brakes on our bikes got so hot that we had to stop to let them cool off. Our packs were made lighter by the pride we felt knowing that we had all tagged out and were headed home. Leaving was bittersweet as we were happy to have harvested our deer, but were sorry to see our trip end so soon.

Note: All of our hard work getting the bucks packed out and cooled down right away paid off as all three of the bucks yielded the best tasting venison any of us has ever ate.

Hunt Dates: April 30-May 3, 2010
Species: Leopard

After months of anticipation and 23 hours in the air, I finally landed in Johannesburg, South Africa on the evening of July 4th, 2010. It was difficult missing America’s birthday but it was a sacrifice I was willing to make. As exciting as plains game hunting in Africa is, I was on a mission to hunt a fellow hunter of plains game; leopard.

This all started in March of 2010 when Nosler, Inc. purchased the leopard hunt at a local Friends of NRA banquet. The outfitter claimed to have a problem leopard on his property that was killing his resident cattle and was in dire need of getting a hunter over to his place to “fix” the problem. Fortunately, that hunter ended up being me.

Although listed and protected under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), the leopard is actually doing well in the wild with the latest population estimated at over 500,000 worldwide.

In preparation, I read anything I could get my hands on concerning leopards and how to hunt them. However, this cat was unique in that he wouldn’t come to bait because he would just kill a bovine calf whenever he got hungry which is why he was dubbed the Calf Killer. Regardless of his eating habits, Hanno, the property owner (who was also the outfitter) had been hanging meat in trees for over two weeks before I got there to try and get trail-camera pictures of the big cat and locate his patterns. In spite of his efforts, only female and young leopard were enjoying Hanno’s offerings.

From L-R Pietrus, Steven, Hanno and Jacu inspecting spoor below one of the many bait trees.

The morning after I landed, no time was wasted in breaking me in on the fundamentals of leopard hunting. First thing, load the big rubbermaid trash can full of rotting entrails in the back of the cruiser along with some ripe zebra quarters and head out to hang new bait and check old bait for the first half of the day. This is where the PH and tracker REALLY earn their money; words cannot explain the rancid smells that entice leopard and these guys are elbow deep in this stuff.

Jacu hanging a trail-cam to capture the photos below on this productive leopard bait.

Above, a young cat that had visited this bait for 6 days in a row along with his large mother below.

Once the morning duties were complete, the second half of the day was typically spent driving around, looking at game animals and trying to imagine of all the scenarios that could take place at the moment of truth with the leopard. This took place for the next five days (and four more leopard killed calves) when we finally got pictures of a respectable male leopard on bait (pictured below.)

This is the Tom we decided to make an attempt to hunt before our plans abruptly changed.

The decision was made to construct a blind (pictured above) and wait for him to come in again that night for seconds. After the blind was finished being built, we rushed back to the house to get our warm clothes in preparation to spend the night sitting in our newly constructed hiding spot. From the house, we remembered our chairs and spot light were still in another blind a couple miles away where we sat a few nights earlier for an unsuccessful brown hyena hunt.

This brown hyena is standing in the exact spot the leopard was taken later that evening. This is also where a fresh leopard kill calf was found a few days earlier and our highest hopes of finding the "Calf Killer."

As we were about to pull up to the hyena blind, I told the PH to stop a couple hundred yards short and we’ll sneak up to the blind just in case there was a hyena eating on some leftover bait we had left there. I loaded my rifle and as we quietly walked up to the blind, my PH Jacu’s eyes got really big and he told me to get my rifle ready because there was a leopard on the bait! I did not believe him because it was only 4:20 in the afternoon and there was no way a leopard was on the ground, eating our hyena bait in broad daylight. I stepped from behind the tree and it took me a second to realize that sure enough, there was a large spotted animal eating the bait with his head turned the opposite direction exactly 30 yards away. I steadied my Nosler Trophy Grade Rifle chambered in .325 WSM on the shooting sticks and followed Jacu’s persistent, whispered order to “shoot him in the shoulder!” I hesitated for just a couple of seconds in order to make sure the shot was true. The 200gr AccuBond struck him directly in the shoulder and he threw his head in our direction. That was the last thing he ever did.

We stood there for a moment; Jacu with his bino’s focused on him and me with my crosshairs. The leopard remained still and I asked if we should go up to him. Jacu replied that we should walk back to the truck and drive closer to him instead. As we walked back to the truck I started trembling and the realization of what just happened started to wash over me. We pulled up closer to the large cat and he still hadn’t moved an inch. Jacu told me to toss a rock at him and with the help of adrenaline, I threw it about 15 yards too far; twice! Carefully, we walked up to him to inspect his condition and in fact he was dead. Jacu and I just looked at each other with looks on our faces expressing, “Can you believe that just happened?” We called Hanno and told him we just killed a leopard and he too didn’t believe us until he drove over to see for himself. He was so excited as months of anxiety lifted off his shoulders with this cat now gone. It has now been five weeks since the leopard has been gone and still not a calf has been lost to predators. As you can see from all the photos above there are plenty of leopard living on Hanno’s property but we all feel pretty confident, the “Calf Killer” is in the salt and as you can see from the picture below; my face tells the rest of the story.

-Zach Waterman
PR Director: Nosler, Inc.

George and the draw
After pursuing nature’s harvests for the past four decades, June 2010 will go down as one of the most exhilarating times for me as a hunter. The ritual of applying for all of the western states starts in January and runs through June. For those of us who look to the calendar with the excitement of a seven-year-old waiting for Santa, the hope that lady luck will smile upon us “this year” is what keeps us up at night. Well, this year she did with a coveted Desert Bighorn Sheep Tag, one of only sixteen tags available for the whole state of California!

I had received an email from my good friend George from Redding, CA asking me why CA Fish and Game hadn’t posted the draw results towards the end of June. I told him that they were scheduled to be posted in a few days. Several days later, he sent me another email saying they had posted the results and as usual he hadn’t drawn any of the tags he wanted. I was about to run out of the house but figured I should check my results. As I rambled through the F&G website I punched up my applications and read down the list, G-1 Deer: Drawn, Antelope: not drawn, Elk: not drawn, Bighorn Sheep: DRAWN, Unit 505. Drawn? I immediately had to grab a seat, as this couldn’t possibly be true. I recall driving to the high school to pick up my son with the most ridiculous expression on my face and when he got in my truck he said, “What’s the matter?” I guess it was pretty obvious.

What do I do next?
Having been in the hunting/wildlife conservation industry conducting wild game cooking seminars, raising millions of dollars for wildlife habitat, and feeding most of the industry’s insiders for the past twenty years would prove to be fruitful. Useful information and contacts came from all angles. I soon realized that this, “once in a lifetime event” was going to be very different from any of my previous hunts. I am a dedicated detail freak and this hunt was all about the details, Outfitter vs. D.I.Y., am I really in Sheep Shape, long distance shooting comfort, trophy ID knowledge, sheep country gear? WOW, how exciting!

The first thing I did was get the names of those familiar with desert sheep and more importantly the San Gorgonio Unit that I would be hunting. The name Terry Anderson from San Gorgonio Outfitters kept coming up from just about everyone I spoke with. San Gorgonio has been Terry’s backyard for the past 50 years. Terry works with all the sheep organizations and is involved with habitat projects year round. He is the San Gorgonio Sheep Dude! I was able to go down to Southern California and meet with him in July for a brief tour of the area. When evaluating all my options, I could plainly see that teaming up with Terry and his crew was the only logical choice.

Sheep Shape?
I would have six months to get ready for climbing up and down the terrain that desert bighorns call home. Luckily for me, conditioning is a life-style, so I knew what I had to do to get ready. I also knew that this hunt would be an extreme effort and my training required an extreme approach. One of my sons plays for a tournament soccer club and practices at the local high school which has a good-sized stadium. Twice a week, I would do long sets of sprints up and down the stadium bleachers. I’m also lucky to have a large area of open space in my back yard that goes from sea level to 1,000 feet at a pretty good angle, which became my daily hiking routine, in addition to my normal exercise program.

6 months is a long time.
I basically walked on air for the next six months, knowing what a privilege I had coming to me. As the year whittled down I checked off the months and the obligations I had to take care of before late January/early February. As the earlier sheep seasons opened, I felt connected to this very unique/rare brotherhood. In today’s technologically advanced society I was in constant contact with Terry and his adventures in the other units. I was able to see photos of successful hunters on Facebook literally minutes after the smoke had cleared. Talk about keeping your blood flowing!

The San Gorgonio Unit has the latest hunt of the year, which worked out very well for me, as I would be tied up with events in December and at the Sacramento ISE show until late January.  It’s a very small world when you have one of only sixteen anything, especially a highly coveted sheep tag. This could not have been more evident than at the Sac ISE show. I couldn’t believe how many people knew I had this opportunity and came by my booth with pictures, well wishes and stories of what I was about to experience. I even got to see a picture of the beautiful ram taken with a bow by the other tag holder for Unit 505! Sleep was becoming more and more difficult as visions of desert bighorns filled my thoughts constantly!

Before I knew it, the show was finally over and I was heading down to the southern California high desert with my friends, Tony Naples and Christian Bourlette. Terry and his guides Jake Franklin, Andrew Pontious, and Pat Butler had spent the past three weeks scouting the massive unit in search of class-four rams. San Gorgonio has produced the number one ram in the state as well as many other top ranked sheep, but for unknown reasons they were having a very hard time locating the class of ram we were looking for. The early season rains we had in December should have pushed these sheep down from their lofty 12,000-foot summer homes but they remained undetected. Finally, they found two class-four rams. The first was in an area that Terry felt would present an opportunity for his archery hunter. The second was going to be my adventure. Not having a plan “b” was very uncomfortable for Terry and his crew. They’d worked very hard to locate good rams, but there are no guarantees when it comes to desert bighorn sheep. The chance of them disappearing in this vast landscape was very likely, so there was no time to lose!

After a ten-hour drive to the southern California desert we arrived at Terry’s at 8 pm. We quickly decided to call it a night when I was informed that 4 am was the established wake-up time and I was going to have to climb a 2,500 foot sheer cliff to get to the area that held these sheep. The morning came quickly and after a quick cup of coffee and a protein shake we were off to the drainage where they had seen the group of rams earlier.

We left the truck before first light and hiked about 2 miles to the foot of a very steep, long ridgeline that stretched to the north. Terry, Tony, and Christian stayed behind to set up their spotting scopes to watch from afar. Jake, Pat, Andy and I would make the 2,500 foot ascent to where they suspected the rams might be. The sun’s rays of light barely scratched through the darkness allowing us to glass upslope and after a couple of minutes we made out the silhouettes of rams bedded on a nearly vertical slope at the top of this very steep ridge, about a mile away. It was clear, even from that distance, that one of those rams was the “man amongst boys”.

We ducked behind the grade and proceeded to climb up the opposing slope out of sight of the sheep. The ridgeline had several bench-like stretches that allowed us to peer over the side to see if we could still see the bedded rams. As we made it up the first four benches, the rams were still there. As the morning warmed, the thermals were rising from both sides of the ridgeline, which took our scent up and away from the bedded rams. Just the day before, the wind was blowing 25 mph. Today, it was almost dead calm; conditions could not have been better. As we got closer the rams had gotten up front their resting places and started to feed down the western side of the slope. We had one more bench to work up before getting to where we’d last seen the sheep. We removed our packs and figured out the quietest route to the cliff’s edge. We crawled the last fifteen yards to a spot we felt gave us the best vantage position to view the valley below. As we got to the edge we peered over the side in an attempt to remain undetected. We were looking down to our left, which is where we thought they might have gone, but nothing. As I stretched my neck to see over the edge I heard Jake, who was laying to my left, say in a very low voice, “THEY ARE RIGHT THERE TO THE RIGHT!”

They were literally right under us as the cliff we were laying on was a sheer 90-degree drop for about 65 yards. The four of us were kind of bunched together, which made adjusting to their newly discovered location a bit cumbersome. The first rams I saw were a group of eight class-three rams bunched together. I scanned that group but couldn’t see the big one. I heard Andy whisper that the big one was to the left of the bunch. I looked, but couldn’t see him standing alone because there was a clump of desert brush right in the way. I slid my body over to my right and I didn’t need any confirmation that this ram was what we were looking for.

I had my shooting sticks set up but they weren’t going to work because of the extreme angle down to the ram. I had to nearly hang over the edge of the cliff to get the ram in my sights. Pat, who was lying to my right quickly grabbed his backpack and laid it down for me to use as a rest, but that placed my rifle too low. He quickly turned the pack vertical and I was able to see the ram clear of any obstacles. There certainly were a lot of things going on and it seemed like forever, but in reality it was mere seconds. With all the activity I started to feel like I had to make things happen quickly, in fact a little too quickly. I placed the cross hairs on the ram’s shoulder, who was standing broadside. I heard Andy say, “seventy-four yards” and as I squeezed the trigger I felt a slight thump, with all the adjustments I forgotten to take off the safety! At that very moment you would think panic might set in, but just the opposite happened. I clicked off the safety and felt a very calming feeling as though everything was going to be all right. I told myself that I had done this hundreds of times before and I just needed to get back on track. The ram was facing down slope with his head turned back to his left looking up at us on the cliff. There was a shadow cast across his left flank from his sweeping horns. By this time, the sheep were getting a little nervous. I resettled the cross hairs on the ram’s shoulder as he started to turn his head back to the right looking for an escape route. As the shadow cleared his flank my 180 gr. Nosler® Partition® found its way through both shoulders, dropping him in his tracks. I was so focused on that ram; I never heard the blast from the rifle. He rolled down the seventy degree slope for at least a hundred yards, eventually coming to rest just before a waterfall-like gulley. The sight of this magnificent animal lying there, knowing all that went into this moment was very powerful.

As the guides rejoiced in our accomplishment I shared something with them, I told them that his name was going to be “Pops”, not because he was, “a man amongst boys” which he was, but because today, 1/27/11 would have been my Dad’s seventy ninth birthday. As the four of us recollected the events that just took place and what it represented to each of us, there was a little extra moisture up on that dry desert mountain.

We now had to climb down this steep slope to collect Pops. Luckily we all had walking sticks, which proved to be a necessity. It took nearly forty five minutes to navigate down to the sheep. Once I got to him, I couldn’t believe how beautiful he was. His magnificent chocolate colored horns swept up and out with no flaws or chunks missing. His winter coat was unblemished and had a rich fawn color. Now I know why there’s so much passion and commitment for these animals!

“Pops” is gorgeous!

We spent the next hour or so caping and breaking down every piece of edible meat we could get. We packed four backpacks full for the journey down the mountain. Pat was our lead guide, navigating the treacherous terrain, hoping we wouldn’t fall off the face of the earth. Terry, Tony and Christian hiked to the bottom of our drainage and waited with packs full of Gatorade, which we really needed at that point.

It took us six hours to pack off that slope and when we finally reached our access point, Terry and Andy headed back to where we parked the trucks. My body was telling me that I had just experienced something very special. Pat, Jake, Christian, Tony and I sat in the shade of a tree admiring this incredible monarch. My thoughts drifted back to when we were up on that cliff, looking down on this ram and I stumbled a bit with the safety, only to have things settle down in a very surreal manner. I couldn’t help but think that the comfort I felt up on that cliff was the hand of a fallen marine warrior telling me, “You can do it.” Thanks Pops!

Foot note:
My first desert bighorn was taken on 1/27/11,
This was Terry Anderson’s 127th sheep taken,
1/27/11 would have been my Dad’s 79th birthday,
Pops was scored by CA Fish and Game at 172…..I guess 127 would not have had the same ring

I’m still on the 54′ Alaska Adventure as I type this report of one of the absolutely most enjoyable hunts of my life. Let me start this report by saying that I have taken quite a few black bears and a couple of real monsters, so this hunt was to be a no pressure, fun ordeal. I wanted to take a good mature boar and get good video. The video was much more important than the size of bear. I was also hunting 2×1 with long time friend, my partner on our TV ventures, James Brion.

Normally, Paul Brand and AK Safari Unlimited doesn’t begin their bear hunts until around May 6, but our schedules didn’t line up, so he took us a week earlier than he usually hunts. He also told me that the action would likely be slower, but we could still find a couple of bears.

On the first day, we all packed onto the 54′ boat and cruised about 4 hours to a big bay. On the way, we stopped and took photos of sea lions, saw otters, and on the side hill of the bay, we counted close to 60 mountain goats, some as low as 100 yards above the beach. The weather was cool with off and on rain, but not awful.

We counted over a dozen bears up on the side hills, some of them being quite high. Our hope was that they would move down in the afternoons and feed on the new grass on the tidal flats. However, they never seemed to make it down to the flats.

We moved the boat a couple hours away to another bay that had lots of clear cuts on the sides, and grass on the flats. At the new spot, we spotted 10 bears before we ever anchored. We took the skiff in, and began moving to check out bears. We saw one really big bear, but as we closed the distance, he moved out of the clear cut and into the thick forest.

As we worked around the hill we spotted another bear. He was a beautiful boar, with a nice head, but Paul guessed him as 6.5′ so we decided we should pass on him as we could find more of that size without much trouble.

The next day we moved the boat a couple more hours and we took the skiff up into a huge tidal area with 2 rivers flowing out. It was miles of grass, Paul said it was one of his “go to” spots and we spotted 3 bears on the way in. We stalked one to about 300 yards and decided he was too small, but then the sun went in and the bears just disappeared. It seemed when the weather was nice, the bears popped out and when it got nasty, they went in the woods to lay up.

We went back earlier the next day and spotted a bear within 15 minutes. He was a mile away across the flats and within a couple minutes he disappeared. It didn’t take long for him to show up again, so we took off after him. There were a number of tidal ditches, streams and channels crisscrossing the flats, so we were able to use these for a stalk. He was lying just above the main creek eating triangle grass and we found a huge old uprooted tree that we could put between him and us. It made the final stalk absolutely perfect. We crawled up into the roots, and I ranged him at exactly 135 yards. We watched him lying and eating grass like a lawnmower and Paul said he was a decent and mature boar. When he stood up, he said he thought we should take him and my cameraman said that the over the shoulder footage was excellent. So, I knocked the safety off and hammered him in the shoulder with the 180 Accubond. Bear Down…

We took photos, went back and pulled the skiff up to him and loaded him up. I handed the rifle to James and we took off to find him a bear. About one hour before dark, a bear emerged where we had seen one the day before and the chase was on. When we got within a couple hundred yards, we saw that he was rubbed all over his front legs and we stood around watching him. Someone looked back the way we had come and there was another bear a mile behind us.

We reversed course, crossed a few streams (one over my hip waders) and 15 minutes later, we were standing in knee deep water looking over the bank at another boar about 150 yards out. He looked a little better than my bear to me and Paul again said he was a mature bear, but no monster. James decided to take him as we had good over the shoulder footage again. He let the AccuBond fly and we had our second bear down in 5 hours.

We floated the skiff out at low tide, and it was a gorgeous and peaceful ride out. Harlequin ducks, pintails, eagles, otter and a host of other animals were everywhere, and the pristine snow covered peaks were a beautiful backdrop for the setting sun.

This trip was just plain fun. No pressure (everyone is going to kill bears), we ate like kings, and it was really nice to be able to come in to a warm dry “camp”, take a shower, dry your gear out, and sleep in a nice bunk. Also, being on the boat allowed us to move areas at will and find bears wherever they were. I just can’t say enough about the trip. I feel sure if a guy wanted a 7′ bear and wanted to hunt hard for 6 days, there is no reason why you shouldn’t be able to get one. Paul told us that this was the slowest hunt he had ever done due to it being so early. He felt like only 10% of the bears were out at this point. He told us that on the flat where we took our bears, on a good night in mid-May, you would see 20-25 bears.

The last day was spent catching a few fish, taking photos of eagles and cruising back to Homer. What a nice way to end an enjoyable trip.

I will be back on this trip in the future.

- Tim Herald
Magnum Hunt Club

Last year I got lucky enough to draw a mule deer tag for the unit in Eastern Oregon where I grew up hunting with my family and friends. There really is nothing like hunting with family in the same area where you first learned to hunt, fish and enjoy nature.

The morning of the first day started out great. We saw a lot of sign and even though nobody jumped anything, we knew that the deer were there. Unfortunately the weather had different plans and the snow started to fly right around noon. Usually during deer season the biggest worry is what to do with all the extra layers that you have to shed before lunch and we were looking at a full-blown winter snowstorm.

On the hunt back up to the top of the mountain, the early season snowstorm turned into a whiteout. The wind was gusting at about 35 miles per hour and every once in a while you could hear a widow maker succumb to the hefty breeze and come crashing to the ground in the burn to one side of us. We decided it was probably a good time to call it a day.

The next morning we found ourselves in 10 inches of fresh snow. Not only could we be absolutely certain about which tracks were fresh but the fluffy white blanket also scared any non-locals either back into their tents or to the nearest town, leaving us almost completely alone.

We made our way to slightly lower ground where we might not have to kick a deer out of its bed to have a chance to see one.

A few days later my dad made a great 400+ yard shot on a nice 4 point buck (8 point depending on where you live) on a day that I had returned to work. I made it back the following day, just in time to help load the quartered buck onto the packhorse.

The last day of the season. It had been raining nonstop all morning and after spending some time debating about where we wanted to hunt we went somewhere we stayed away from all season, due to the fact that it usually gets a lot of foot traffic. The rain and snow must have kept everyone at bay because, once again, nobody was there. I spotted a small forked horn about 600 yards away and tried to get as close as possible. I made it within about 400 yards and while sizing the buck up I got noticed by an unseen doe, which spooked all of them. At this point it was about 2 in the afternoon and I was a mile from the truck so I decided it was time to think about where to go for an evening hunt before having to return to work the following day.

While making my way around the hill a group of five does and a buck came charging right at me. Probably spooked by a road hunter, they weren’t worried at all about me and I took the shot at about 50 yards.

The 130 grain AccuBond from the 260 Remington hit him right in the shoulder and traveled almost the entire length of his body before stopping just under the far side hide. All in all, it was a great season and I can’t wait to do it again.

And yes, the old man’s deer is bigger.