Best of all he loved the fall, wrote Ernest Hemingway in an epitaph for a friend. Don’t we all? For hunters throughout the Northern Hemisphere, this is our season. Summer heat is abating, leaves are starting to turn, and animals are feeling good.
Like Robert Ruark’s hunter’s horn, autumn sounds earlier for some, later for others. I’m at the farm in southeast Kansas in early October. Fall isn’t here yet, but I’m seeing the first signs: morning temps in the 50s for the first time in months.
We don’t see our deer much through the summer. Sure, they go to agriculture at night, but our country is mostly climax oak forest. There are plenty of good groceries in the woods, especially in this year of heavy rains after four dry years. Just yesterday, we were out checking stands and clearing shooting lanes. We saw a lot of deer, so they’re feeling the fall, too.
The author dreams of having a good tracking snow during his Kansas rifle season. It falls late enough for snow to be possible, but in twenty years this light dusting in 2011 is the only snow he’s seen during that season.
There are rubs in the woods, but we probably won’t see scrapes for a couple of weeks. With all the rain, it’s still so thick and green that trails aren’t yet well-defined. Every year is a bit different, and it always depends on where you are. Far to the north and west, aspens and tamaracks are turning golden and elk are bugling. I’ll be spending the next couple of weeks in elk country, hoping they’re still bugling.
We North Americans don’t have a patent on that wonderful mountain music. A few years ago, I looked out across a valley at a sea of gold, heard bugles drifting up from the trees. Closed my eyes, I thought I was in Montana. Then I realized I was in Mongolia. The trees weren’t tamaracks, but almost: Siberian larch instead of western larch, the bugles coming from Asian wapiti, not the American version I’ll be hunting next week.
Farther west across the great land mass of Eurasia, there won’t be bugling. Instead, from the British Isles and Spain eastward to the Caucasus, the red stags are roaring. Though they are kissing cousins to our elk, their challenge is an altogether different sound, a deep guttural bellow.
The wapiti adapted to Asian steppes and American plains while the red deer were (and are) creatures of forest. I’m told that the elk’s bugle carries better in open country, while the red deer’s roar resonates in thicker cover. Either way, the sounds are amazing. Around the Northern Hemisphere, this is our season, and hunters are working out their strategies.
A nice European red stag from Austria’s Alps, taken in early October. Red deer and wapiti are close enough to interbreed, and both species rut in early autumn. The sound they make is entirely different: The red deer challenge is a deep guttural bellow, aptly called a “roar.”
Depending on latitude, autumn comes at different times, and may be short or long. Much farther north, tundras are bright crimson. I won’t be up there this fall, but at this time of year I remember many fine autumns. I heard from Alaskan buddy Dave Leonard a couple days ago, as he was finishing a fine caribou season down at the tip of the Alaska Peninsula. We caught it perfectly a few years ago, tundras in full color. In 2024, I went up for the October bear season. Still autumn, but late, days getting shorter, best colors faded.
Instead, there was a different harbinger. We camped in a valley that was flooded with ptarmigan, the greatest concentration of any upland gamebird I have ever seen. Glassed at distance or when a flock took flight, it looked like a sea of bright white. Up close, they were still turning to winter colors, russet heads and necks, brown backs, lower bodies and wings Tide-washed to the whitest white. With near-constant wind and rain, we didn’t get a bear that trip. I didn’t pack in a shotgun, but I got a huge kick out of watching the ptarmigan. Now and then a big flock would swoop over our tent, wingbeats loud like breaking surf.
For most American hunters, autumn means deer season. For the majority, that means whitetails. Out West, mule deer. As autumn comes at different times, our various deer aren’t on the same schedules, nor are our seasons. With our southeast Kansas whitetails, we’ll have good pre-rut activity in October, with the peak of the rut usually just before Thanksgiving. If the weather is right they’ll still be chasing when rifle season rolls around a week later.
The rut varies from north to south, usually earlier to later, and sometimes varies within larger states. In the Southwest, Coues deer rut much later than northern whitetails, in January and well into February. Mule deer also usually rut later than whitetails, December into January. There’s a reason why a notorious mule deer poacher was called “Mr. January.”
Here in the States, our hunting seasons aren’t necessarily set for the best time to hunt our various species. Many seasons are pre-rut. Throughout the West, most mule deer seasons come and go before the rut gets serious. Some, like our Kansas rifle deer season and all later elk seasons, are purposefully post-rut. Thanks to our awesome North American Model of wildlife management, game managers walk a tightrope, maximizing opportunity while avoiding excessive harvest. Thus, relatively few of us have the luxury of seasons that coincide with the “best” times to hunt, when our game is most vulnerable.
This valley in Mongolia is blanketed with Siberian larch, golden in early autumn, and filled with bugling Asian wapitis. Many valleys in Montana look and sound the same but the trees are western larch (tamarack), and the wapitis are Rocky Mountain elk.
It doesn’t matter. We all know when our seasons are coming up and we know the challenges their timing brings. Right now, in October, some of you are in the middle of your hunting season. Others, like me, are still looking ahead. Some of us are blessed with long seasons. We can study the lunar calendar and plan on hitting it hard when the moon is dark. Many American seasons are short and we don’t have that luxury. Our Kansas rifle deer season is just twelve days, the timing set in stone for decades. I don’t even look at the moon phase anymore, since there’s nothing I can do about it.
We can’t do anything about the weather, either. We can look up the norms and averages, but we can’t predict what the weather gods will bring. When a hunting season rolls around, it’s often the weather that will make us or break us, perhaps more than any other factor. Now, in early fall, we can look ahead to hunts and seasons still to come and imagine that the weather will be perfect, realizing it probably won’t be. Of course, we’ll play the hand we’re dealt, and hunt as hard as we can.
Nothing wrong with being optimistic, hoping for the best. Too warm makes things tough, and that’s common with these late falls we’ve been having. Hard rain is also bad–just hope that it stops. When it does, it doesn’t matter what time of day; the game is going to move. Strong, gusty wind is probably the worst of all. Animals can’t hear and can’t smell, and will usually hunker down.
Perfect for me is crisp and cool, with a light, steady breeze that I can feel and manage. A good tracking snow would be nice. I remember a couple of mule deer hunts when overnight snow changed the game and got deer moving. Naturally, there can be too much of a good thing. On a mule deer hunt in Alberta we were caught in a terrible blizzard, where the roads drifted shut. We were hunting a great ranch that held monsters, but I doubt we could access 10 percent of the country we had available.
Waking up to a good tracking snow creates ideal hunting conditions almost everywhere.
Northern hunters—and the animals they hunt—are used to extreme cold. I don’t like it, can deal with it if I must, but cold can also be too much of a good thing. On another Canadian whitetail hunt in early November the temp dropped way below zero. I thought it would be wonderful. The deer thought otherwise. It was the first major cold snap, and it shut them down; we hardly saw any tracks until it warmed up a bit.
My southeast Kansas whitetails are fair-weather creatures. For the early December season, still a long way out, I want calm, frosty mornings, warming as the sun comes up. Naturally, I’ll take what we get, and it could be anything. A few seasons back it was perfect the day before opening day. Overnight, a weird warm front came through and it was 75 degrees F at dawn. We couldn’t buy a deer for three days, then it cooled down and we filled our tags. And I’ve seen the opposite: First time it drops into the teens, our deer shut down.
With a foot of crunchy oak leaf litter on the ground, stand hunting is the only option we have. My fantasy is to wake up opening morning to a foot of fresh, fluffy snow. Then, at least in my mind’s eye, I could sneak into his bedroom and give Bucky a surprise. It’s never happened. In the twenty years we’ve had that farm, we’ve never had more than a light skiff of snow during rifle season. Maybe this will be the year. I hope this is also the fall your hunting dreams come true.
The UK and Ireland are among the best places in the world to be a deer hunter.
Image above: Most of the large red deer in England are in deer parks and on estates, like the ones above. However, there are a few pockets of free-range red deerin England, and there are plenty in Scotland.
If you’re a deer freak, you need to spend some time in the British Isles. I doubt there’s a similar-size region in the world that offers such variety of antlered game. A half-dozen free-range deer species, plus more in parks and on estates.
Throughout the UK and Ireland, bird hunting is the most common field sport. Deer hunters (stalkers in the local lexicon) are a small minority. This creates both problems and opportunities. Without enough hunters to keep them in chec, deer numbers continue to grow, creating agricultural issues in many areas, and escalating road hazards
If I believed in reincarnation, I’d want to come back as a deer stalker in the British Isles. Unlimited opportunity through a long season. Mind you, there is no “free” public land hunting. Some landowners don’t allow hunting, while others accept that overpopulation isn’t good for anyone, including the deer. Typically, arrangements are made with local deer stalkers to manage the herds. Game meat is sold, with ready markets to restaurants. Thus, deer stalking is a harvest, proceeds defraying crop damage and lease costs. The stalkers I know harvest a lot of deer.
The primary entities of the British Isles are the United Kingdom (England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland), and the Republic of Ireland. Seasons, species, and situations differ, but there is deer stalking in all, and visiting hunters are welcome. From our smug American viewpoint, we think of gun laws over there as draconian and repressive. Yes, to a degree. No handguns or semiauto rifles. However, temporary permits for hunting are surprisingly simple. I’ve taken rifles into England, Scotland, and Ireland with no problems. Considering the amount of shooting deer stalkers do, if you choose to borrow or rent a rifle, you’ll be handed one well-suited to the country and game.
Let’s look at deer stalking in the primary entities of the British Isles.
SCOTLAND: Scotland joins England to the north and is more sparsely populated, especially her wild and remote northern highlands. Also, quite far north, there is terrain reminiscent of southern Alaska. Scotland is most famous for red deer stalking, primarily in the north. European roe deer are also endemic, although they thin out to the north. Free-range fallow deer are widespread, but more localized than in England and Ireland. Just before Covid, Donna and I did a marvelous roebuck hunt in Scotland with Michael Gross’s International Adventures. It took place in June in central Scotland, and we hunted several properties, including the late Queen’s Balmoral estate. Gorgeous country, lots of roebucks.
A fine roebuck taken on a summer hunt in Scotland. Boddington took his Dakota M10 in .275 Rigby (7×57). Although some advance paperwork is required, he’s taken rifles to England, Ireland, and Scotland, never experienced difficulties.
In Scotland, the emphasis is on the stalk, and it’s a harvest. On red deer, this can be frustrating, especially for we antler-conscious Americans. Because of both northern climate and genetics, Scottish stags aren’t huge, but you must go in understanding that visitors are rarely allowed to take the best stags. Instead, you’ll take stags with mismatched points or poor antlers. If you’re looking for a giant red deer, Scotland isn’t for you. However, you’ll have a wonderful experience, with lodging ranging from old castles to picturesque local inns.
Taken by the author on his first hunt in Scotland many years ago, this stag is very representative of stags usually taken. Scottish red deer aren’t large, and the best stags are usually spared to continue to breed.
Roebucks are hunted in spring and summer, while red deer hunting focuses on the roar in September and October. Non-native sika deer are widespread in Scotland, free-ranging east to west, primarily in the north. I took a nice sika deer as an adjunct to a red deer hunt thirty years ago. Today, sikas have expanded their range and are a threat to forestry in many areas.
IRELAND: Ireland was once home to reindeer and the huge Irish elk, both gone for about 10,000 years. Ireland is a separate island and roe deer are not native. They were introduced in the mid-19th century, increased for fifty years, then vanished a century ago. Thus, the red deer is Ireland’s only native deer, joined today by widespread sika and fallow deer. Free-range populations of both species exceed 50,000 animals, though both are spotty. Recently, the Reeve’s muntjac was introduced from England and seems to be taking hold, so may eventually add a fourth Irish deer.
Donna Boddington took this excellent Japanese sika deer free-range in the Wicklow Mountains of southern Ireland, likely one of the best places in the world to hunt sika deer.
Red, sika, and fallow deer are found in both Ireland and Northern Ireland. I haven’t hunted in Northern Ireland, but that northeast corner is said to produce Ireland’s best red deer. Country-wide, there is an issue with interbreeding of reds and sikas, so you could say a hybrid red/sika is yet another Irish deer. We hunted in the low, rugged Wicklow Mountains south of Dublin with the Nolan family’s Glacial Valley Hunting in October, prime time for sika deer to be in the rut.
It was a magic hunt, lodging in a historic country pub nestled between ridges. Sika deer are secretive and sneaky, but there are plenty of them. Naturally, Donna shot a much better sika than I did. While we were there, our friend Megan Fonte took a red/sika hybrid, so I got a chance to examine this “other” Irish deer. Hers was an ancient cull stag with wicked spikes for antlers, hybridization obvious.
Boddington with James Nolan of Ireland’s Glacial Valley Hunts enjoying a pint of Guiness at the traditional Irish pub that served as a fun and comfortable “camp” on a sika deer hunt in southern Ireland’s Wicklow Mountains.
ENGLAND AND WALES: Wales is a block of 22 counties in the west of England. By road or train, travel between England, Scotland, and Wales is transparent. It’s worth noting that game regulations are set by county. Seasons are not necessarily the same, and some counties set a legal minimum of 6mm for deer, while in others a .22 centerfire is legal.
Red deer and European roe deer are the only native deer. The little roe deer are widespread throughout, easily the most numerous deer, overpopulated in numerous counties. Over the years, I’ve done several spring/summer trips for roebuck. With long daylight, typically you have “outings” in the early mornings and late afternoons, with a long break in between. Not all outings are successful, but I’ve shot several roebucks on each trip. Again, it’s a harvest; you shoot what the guide or stalker tells you. Most I’ve taken aren’t large, but England’s rich farmland produces good antlers; there are always one or two good bucks in the mix.
English red deer (Robin Hood’s deer) are potentially bigger than in the rest of the Isles. However, most red deer are on estates and deer parks, with just a few pockets of free-ranging reds. When I was in the run-up for the Weatherby award, I tried desperately to get one. First, down in the southwest corner. Could have shot a spike, but that wasn’t what I had in mind. Then, we went up to New Forest in south-central England. Probably the largest contiguous tract of oak forest in the country, but it’s a patchwork of small holdings. We saw a giant stag on the next property, bigger than any red stag I’ve taken anywhere. We saw him daily, but he never came onto the land we could hunt.
While there, Donna shot a free-range New Forest fallow deer in New Forest. Fallow deer were likely introduced during the Roman occupation, and are the most numerous of several non-natives, widely free-ranging and overpopulated to almost pest numbers in much of central England. Dating back to the Norman conquest, it seems it was in vogue for large landowners of the nobility to have deer parks on their estates.
Donna Boddington took this free-range fallow deer in the New Forest in southern England. Fallow deer are England’s most numerous and widespread non-native deer, also plentiful in Ireland.
Most famous is the Duke of Bedford’s deer park at Woburn Abbey, southwest of London, with records from the 5th Duke of Bedford in 1661. In the late 19th Century, Herbrand Russell, 11th Duke of Bedford, had a keen interest in zoology. He added some 42 different species, including sika deer, Chinese water deer, and Reeve’s muntjac. As the story goes, a huge tree fell during a storm and breached the brick wall surrounding the deer park. This is the likely source of both muntjac and water deer. Free-range muntjacs are now widespread throughout central and southwest England, water deer more localized in farmland near Woburn Abbey.
Sika deer are free-ranging in localized pockets, not nearly as widespread as in Ireland and Scotland. I’ve never seen a sika deer in England, but I haven’t looked for one. In May 2025, I was stalking roebucks in central England with friend Simon Barr and guide Alex Nielson. Lots of roebucks. We saw several muntjacs, but spring/summer is wrong for that little deer. Few bucks are in hard antler, and they’re hard to see in tall cover. Years ago, I did a wonderful February hunt for free-range muntjac and water deer. Late winter is the best time, cover as low as it gets. Hampered by cold rain, my muntjac wasn’t very big; I’d like to do that hunt again.
All free-range sika in the British Isles are considered the small Japanese race, but their origin is unclear and some get awfully big. There are also Manchurian sikas, hog deer, Pere David’s deer, all the rest—and who-knows-what-else—on estates, but that wraps up the free-range picture.
Regardless of species, big animals on estates are costly, though often less than under similar situations in New Zealand and Texas. Because the harvest is essential,and the venison pre-sold, free-range stalking throughout the British Isles is inexpensive and productive. Timing depends on the species and antler cycle, but there is some stalking throughout the year and it’s all wonderful fun.
Guide Alex Nielson and Boddington with a fine English roebuck, taken in May 2025 with a Rigby Highland Stalker in .275 Rigby (7×57). (Photo courtesy Tweed Media)
A program by the Wild Sheep Foundation is changing lives, connecting families, and creating confident, proficient hunters.
Renée Thornton wasn’t raised in a hunting family, but she cares deeply about where her food comes from. After a decade-long pursuit of trying to find ethically and organically produced meat from small local producers and farmer’s markets, Thornton embarked on a personal journey to become a hunter when she was in her mid-forties. It wasn’t easy, as many other adult-onset women hunters have discovered. As a result of her experiences, Thornton became passionate about engaging with and helping other women learn to hunt.
Her experience led to the formation of the Wild Sheep Foundation’s Women Hunt program, which is both a hunter-skills training program and a social and collaborative effort to help more women find their way into the hunting fields and support those who are already there. As founder and chair of the Women Hunt program, Thornton spearheads an ever-growing network of dynamic female conservation and hunting enthusiasts.
In late 2018, Wild Sheep Foundation (WSF) formed a volunteer committee under Thornton’s guidance to build the Women Hunt program. The committee soon found an ideal partner: FTW Ranch in the Texas Hill Country, home of the highly regarded SAAM hunter-focused shooter-training program. FTW was developing a week-long training course for new hunters called Field to Fork, and they agreed to hold one specifically for women.
The first Women Hunt Field to Fork course was held at FTW in 2021, and it’s now an annual event hosting a dozen women each year. Each participant pays her own travel expenses to get to Texas, but once there, everything is paid for, including the course (normally $4,950, which includes food and lodging), and a package of high-quality women-specific gear donated by program sponsors.
There are far more interested participants than available spots, so the Women Hunt committee developed an application that requires answering a number of questions about the applicant and her motivations for attending. Typically, 100 to 125 applicants vie for the twelve coveted spots. The committee performs a blind, merit-based assessment of the applications. (Applicants are not required to be members of WSF.)
One of the unique aspects of the application is that it not only asks potential attendees why they want to learn to hunt, but how they plan to give back to the conservation and hunting community once they have completed the course. This, more than anything, is what sets Women Hunt apart from other hunter skills training programs.
“Although the training course currently hosts only twelve women a year, it has a much larger impact because of the giving back,” Thornton explained. “Every graduate has a ripple effect; our graduates have reached thousands of other women. It’s a small group with a large impact.”
In addition, graduates of the course become part of a family of sorts, and continue to be assisted and encouraged in their ongoing hunting journeys. “We try hard to find them local mentors,” Thornton said. “They get a complimentary membership to the WSF chapter nearest to where they live, and an invitation to engage with other hunters in their region.”
Participants in the Women Hunt course learn to shoot under the tutelage of expert instructors at the FTW Ranch in Texas. (Photo courtesy of Kim Nieters)
I spoke with a number of graduates of the Women Hunt program to learn what spurred them to apply for the course and to get their thoughts on the program.
Kara Browne’s husband and two teenage sons are all avid hunters, and for years she longed to join them but, as she put it, “I didn’t want to be a project.” Her husband, a WSF member, saw an e-mail advertising the Women Hunt course and forwarded it to her.
“At first I didn’t do anything with it,” she said. “But then I started thinking…. my friends are always taking classes to learn new things. Why not? I filled out the application and sent it in.”
Browne had never shot a hunting rifle before arriving at FTW for the 2023 course, where she trained with a Weatherby rifle in 6.5 Creedmoor, a women-specific rifle that fit her well and that she ended up purchasing. She remembers taking a shot one morning on the range at FTW. “The instructor said to me, ‘Do you know why you missed that shot? You closed your eyes!’ It was such a privilege to have this very experienced person helping me understand what was doing.”
Beyond the skills training, Browne said it was the confidence she gained from the course that made it great. “Also, the learning environment was ideal,” she said. Although she was one of the older women in her class, she discovered a surprising bond with women in different stages of life, ranging from early twenties to middle-aged. “We were all different. Not just in age, but for example, there was one vegetarian who wanted to learn to hunt so she could eat wild game, and then there was me who had been cooking wild game for decades. But we’d work together on a project, like butchering a deer, and we all were like-minded.”
Browne hunted wild boar during the class. She didn’t get one, but she had a blast chasing them through the hills with her hunting partner. When she got home, there was a week left in the Montana deer season, and she went afield with her family for the first time as a full-fledged member of the hunting party. Her husband and sons were impressed with her newfound skills, and a bit envious of her experience. “It was everything I needed to feel confident,” she said. “Now, on our family’s adventures, I’m one of the hunters. I’m not just following them.”
Hands-on experience in skinning and processing an animal is an important part of the Women Hunt Field to Fork course. A professional chef shows the participants how to turn a deer into a delicious meal. (Photo courtesy of Kim Nieters)
This past October, Browne downed her first animal, a pronghorn, on a hunt with her family in eastern Montana, making a 240-yard shot. “All four of us got one,” she said. “I felt like I was really part of the crew.”
Today Browne volunteers with her local WSF chapter and enjoys connecting with others who care about wildlife conservation. She is also very involved in a local orienteering club. The confidence gained from hunting helped her develop the confidence to head off-trail with just compass and map. “I get so much delight from doing that!” she said.
Suzanne Agan has a Ph.D. in Environmental Science and is a professor at the American Public University System. She grew up with no exposure to hunting and something of an anti-hunting mindset, although an early career stint with the California Waterfowl Association helped her understand how hunting supports wildlife conservation. When her boss at the university asked her to design a course focusing on hunting and wildlife management, she began to research the issue. When she stumbled upon the Women Hunt booth at a conference of The Wildlife Society in 2023, she learned about the program.
“I was so focused on the science behind hunting and wildlife conservation that I had never really thought about the other aspects of it, including sustainable food sourcing. I knew I wanted to apply and attend the course to get a firsthand perspective on hunting,” Agan said. Although she was initially focused on her job assignment, the questions in the application got her thinking about the personal aspects of it as well as the professional ones.
“The program is so well done,” she said. “The whole thing was all new to me, yet from the first moment I was very comfortable around everyone, instructors and students alike. In the first three days I went from never shooting a rifle to being proficient out to 700 yards. My biggest concern regarding learning to hunt was the possibility of wounding an animal, so for me it was all about gaining confidence in my shooting.”
She especially remembers her first shot at the 700-yard target. After breaking the shot, she searched in the spotting scope, unable to locate her hit. The instructor asked her where her shot hit and she said she didn’t know. He said, “That’s because you blew out the bull’s-eye!”
While she did not shoot an animal during her hunt at FTW, a month after she returned home to Georgia, a friend invited her and her husband to hunt deer on their property. They hunted all day, and toward evening, a buck stepped out of the trees 150 yards away and stood broadside.
“It was a gift,” Agan said. “A gift I never knew I wanted. I didn’t hesitate. I shot it right through the heart. I never would have done it prior to the Women Hunt course. That day changed everything.”
Agan continues to practice her shooting skills, meeting regularly with one of her former FTW classmates at a shooting range; they also hunted together last year and plan to do so again. But Agan’s time in the field with her husband has been another unexpected blessing: “It’s something we do together now. It’s been great for our marriage.”
Agan created the course her boss asked for and now has the joy of teaching a wide range of students, both hunters and non-hunters, about the intersection of hunting and scientific wildlife management. She has also found that being a hunter has significantly benefited her research, which focuses on red wolf recovery in North Carolina. “Now I can relate to the hunters I talk to. It has helped me gain valuable perspective. And just from being in the field as a hunter, I’ve learned so much about deer biology, why seasons are structured the way they are, and how deer interact with predators.”
Hoping to welcome more people like Dr. Agan into the hunting community, Women Hunt recently partnered with The Wildlife Society, which has helped spread the word among wildlife biologists. According to Thornton, some 30 percent of program applications are now coming from non-hunting wildlife professionals.
Suzanne Agan had never shot a rifle before taking the Women Hunt course. A month later, she bagged her first deer. (Photo courtesy of Suzanne Agan)
Although Manitoban Brandi Love grew up in a family of hunters, she never hunted, spending her teen years focused on horses and rodeo events. When her father experienced health problems in 2020, she regretted never having hunted with him. She began looking for hunter-skills training, not wanting her dad to have to teach her.
When she saw the inaugural Women Hunt program advertised on social media, she applied and was selected. After attending the course in 2021, as she puts it, “The door swung open.” Since then, she has hunted bear and elk with her dad every year. She also accompanied her parents on a mouflon hunt in Hawaii and most recently to South Africa for plains game.
But her biggest takeaway is the community of like-minded women she now feels a part of. “My social connections and group of friends have shifted so much since doing this,” she said. “These women all prioritize themselves, which is so beneficial for their entire families.” Love now volunteers as secretary of the Women Hunt committee.
When Paula McClain was growing up, her parents absolutely forbade her to touch guns—they were “man stuff.” She married into a family of avid hunters and anglers, but even with them, it was mostly the men who went hunting. Her husband encouraged her to join them in the field, and she did a couple of times, but she felt fear simply handling ammunition. “I wanted to be independent and self-sufficient, but as a deaf person, I was apprehensive of whether I could really do this on my own,” she said.
Her son Caleb, an avid hunter, found out about the Women Hunt program and encouraged her to apply. She did and attended the course in 2022. “The program was over the top, more than I ever anticipated,” she said. “The instructors were so patient and knowledgeable. Most of the students knew very little. I loved that it was all age groups, all walks of life, all sorts of socioeconomic status. But all of us wanted to know more about conservation and how to harvest an animal the right way, start to finish.”
During the week, McClain went from being afraid to handle a box of ammunition to ringing steel targets at 1,000 yards, one after another. “It’s a very intensive, immersive experience,” she said.
One of the standout moments of the course for McClain was when the group headed to the meat shed to learn how to skin and process a deer one of the hunters had shot. She flashed back to when she was about ten years old and her uncle had brought home a deer and had hung it up and was skinning it in her parents’ backyard. She asked her mother what he was doing. Her mother told her what her uncle was doing was disgusting, and she was not allowed to even look out the window.
“But I was always so curious about that, and when we started processing the deer, I thought, I can do this! It’s not yucky at all! Since then, whenever my son shoots a deer, I always ask him to let me help process it. That moment in the meat shed, I realized that if I can do this part, I can do all of it: learn to shoot a deer and process it and cook it for my family.”
Recently, McClain’s family acquired a deer lease. “I’m not at all nervous now to go by myself, be out there in the dark. I still have a lot to learn, but every outing is a learning experience. I am learning the ways I need to adapt. As a deaf person, I can’t listen for deer, so I have to have heightened awareness in other ways. I am constantly building on the skills I learned in the course.”
McClain is a principal at the Mississippi School of the Deaf and the Mississippi School of the Blind. This gives her a platform to teach conservation concepts to her students and help them learn what it means to take care of animals and their habitat, as well as to show them that outdoor experiences can be enjoyed by everyone, including those with hearing and vision challenges.
Most of all, though, she is thankful for the way her newfound confidence in the outdoors and love of hunting has brought her closer with her family, and especially with her son Caleb, who has become her hunting mentor. She is also excited about an African safari she booked for 2026 in the Limpopo region. “It’s my trip,” she laughs. “But I’ve invited Caleb and my husband and some other family members.”
Kim Nieters is the Vice President of Operations for the Wild Sheep Foundation. Despite coming from a hunting family and having spent a thirty-plus-year career working with hunters and supporting hunting-related causes, she was never a hunter herself. Her father hunted, and although he took her brother along, she was never allowed to go. “It was always boys-only,” she said.
A decade ago, one of her co-workers took her antelope hunting. She got an antelope, but having no experience with firearms, she was uncomfortable with the gun. “I was more afraid of the gun than I was of hunting,” she said. On a second trip afield, her rifle went off unexpectedly as she was getting set up for a shot. “I didn’t have the safety on, and I had my finger on the trigger,” she said ruefully. No harm was done, but understandably, the experience scared her badly, and she never wanted to hunt again.
But last year when she had the chance to attend a Women Hunt course created for women who work in the hunting industry, Nieters decided to do it. “The opportunity to learn from the best at FTW was something I did not want to miss,” she said.
The patient, professional trainers at FTW caused her confidence with rifles to soar. “At one point I was setting up for a shot from a sitting position and one of the instructors got behind me and said, ‘We have a floater!’ He was talking about my cheek not being on the stock. We all laughed, but I have never forgotten that. My biggest takeaways from the course were what I learned on that range: Build your house, get comfortable, safety first, and pay attention to what you are doing and don’t worry about what everyone around you is doing.”
Nieters is now a confident shot with the Weatherby rifle she used at the FTW course and now owns, and she plans to hunt deer in Wyoming with it this year. She is especially looking forward to taking her twenty-two-year-old daughter afield in the near future. “I’m so proud of WSF for creating Women Hunt. It is a life-changing program,” she said.
So what’s next for the Women Hunt program? Thornton is hoping to expand it to offer more learn-to-hunt courses and involve more women. Funding is the major issue. “There is a clamor for us to do more, but we need more funding to do more than one a year,” she said.
She is also in the process of helping to build a Women in Hunting Community, open to all women interested in hunting—first-timers and experienced hunters alike. The idea is to help women find resources and support in their local area along with project opportunities and organizations to join. Women Hunt also hosts a “Beer and Bubbly” social hour at the WSF convention every year, where everyone is welcome.
A third prong of Women Hunt is the Rubye Mayflower Blake Legacy Fund, which has a mission to empower women recovering from traumatic experiences by fostering healing through the transformative power of nature.
There’s no doubt that the participants in the Women Hunt program are having an outsize influence. All the course graduates told me they are strongly encouraging other women they know to follow their hunting dreams. As Paula McClain said, “It’s like that old TV commercial: one person tells two people, and on and on.”
All the Women Hunt participants I spoke to described the program as a life-altering experience. If you know someone who would be interested in this program, or if you would like to support this important initiative, you can learn more at wildsheepfoundation.org/womenhunt.
Aoudad hunts are fantastic mountain-hunting experiences.
Photo above: A fine aoudad from the Davis Mountains of Far West Texas. This ram has excellent horns, but this photo also shows the sheer size of a big aoudad ram, and it shows off the mane and chaps on the front legs.
Want to experience a hunt for a great mountain animal without breaking the bank? Think about aoudad. Properly, the aoudad or Barbary sheep is neither a sheep nor a goat. One genus, one species, Ammotragus lervia is sort of a natural bridge between the two families, with some attributes of both. Personally, I think they’re closer to goats, but the aoudad is a strikingly attractive animal with thick, curving horns, long, luxurious neck mane, and those unique chaps down the front legs. It’s also sharp-eyed, wary, and difficult to hunt.
I may never draw another sheep permit, and there are many mountain hunts I can’t afford. But I can hunt aoudad, and I think they’re awesome. So, every few years I find myself hunting them. The world’s largest population is found in the rugged mountains of Far West Texas. One estimate suggests 25,000, although that could be low. I love to hunt them there, scenery right out a John Ford Western. It’s a real sheep hunt, in many ways like hunting desert bighorns. With two differences: First, you’ll probably see a lot more animals. Second, although the cost of aoudad hunts have increased (like everything else), they’re a fraction the cost of a desert bighorn hunt, and readily available.
This is a mixed herd of aoudad, photographed in March. There are several rams mixed in with ewes and lambs. That’s a very good ram to right of center, another one lying down facing away on the left side.
Far West Texas is hardly the only option. They’re also found farther east, widely distributed in the Texas Hill Country and Edwards Plateau, both on fenced game ranches and free ranging. There are also populations in New Mexico and Mexico. There’s even a herd on California’s Central Coast, introduced by William Randolph Hearst.
In 2001, I hunted native range aoudad in Chad’s Ennedi Mountains, and they are now hunted in Morocco’s Atlas Mountains of Morocco, where some fine rams have been taken recently. I’ve hunted them free range in southern Spain and in arid mountains in South Africa’s Eastern Cape.
Although I don’t hunt them frequently, I’m enough of an aoudad nut that I don’t pass opportunities. In the last year I had two entirely different aoudad experiences. Last year, Jim Craig and I hunted them in Far West Texas with Jim Breck Bean’s High West Outfitters. Craig, from Indiana, has taken more North American wild sheep than anyone I know, but never an aoudad. He won this hunt in a Wild Sheep Foundation raffle so we rallied in Marfa, Texas on a hot September midday.
Most of my Texas aoudad hunting has been in late winter, January into March. Not because the weather was cool, or because that was the best time. Pure convenience, after the fall hunting seasons. Texas outfitters consistently tell me that early fall is best for big rams, when the males gather in bachelor herds. In October 2020 buddy John Stucker and I hunted the Davis Mountains and caught it right. The rams were yarded up in groups up to the dozens. First morning, John shot the longest-horned aoudad I’ve ever seen, an astonishing 37 inches on both horns. Usually, among a forest of horns, it’s difficult to pick out the biggest one. This ram stood out.
Boddington and buddy John Stucker with Stucker’s first aoudad, taken on the first day of a hunt in the Davis Mountains. This is the longest-horned aoudad Boddington has ever seen, over 37 inches on both horns, taken with Christensen .300 Winchester Magnum.
So last September, Jim Craig and I hunted a ranch southwest of Marfa. I’d been there before, on a February mule deer hunt. It’s tall, bluffy country, ideal for aoudad. We saw quite a few and one of our party took a fine ram, so I was excited to be there at the right time.
At first it seemed we were a bit early, still too hot, even at 7,000 feet elevation. We glassed high and low for a day, saw few, then aoudads started to show. There was no indication the rams were gathering, but most of the herds had rams with them. Now comes the hard part. Males and females have similar horns in relation to body size. It takes experience to sort the girls from the boys, and to identify mature rams. Fortunately, our young guide, Creed Cade, grew up in the area and knew his stuff.
On a blazing afternoon we spotted a big herd feeding above a tall cliff, big, dark ram among them. It was Craig’s stalk, so I stayed in the truck with Jim’s wife, LeeAnne. Just as well. The only way up was on the north end of the cliff, tough climb. I’m no spring chicken, and Jim Craig has ten years on me. In the steepest stuff, he was hands and knees both up and down. We heard his shot just before sunset. We couldn’t recover his ram until next morning, which worked out perfectly for me. At dawn, there was another group on the same cliff, mature ram among them. Jim’s ram was a real giant, the second-best aoudad I’ve seen. Mine wasn’t as big, but it was a solid, heavy-horned old ram, exactly what I’d hoped for.
Jim Craig and guide Creed Cade with Jim’s awesome ram, taken on a tough stalk. Boddington believes this is the second-best aoudad he has ever seen.
I love the Far West Texas mountains. Because of numbers, aoudad hunts are highly successful, but not easy. It’s a real mountain hunt; footing is murderous in crumbling rock, spiny cacti everywhere. Farther east, on Hill Country ranches, it’s a whole different experience.
Hunting aoudad on lower, brushier ranches is in some ways more difficult because there’s rarely enough relief for glassing. But it’s physically easier, often done from stands. It’s not necessarily more successful because aoudads are unpredictable and don’t require surface water. The driest, harshest piece of Texas probably looked like paradise to the first aoudads introduced. Where I hunted them in Chad, it may rain once in a decade.
Over the years, I’ve had Texas ranchers tell me, “I introduced aoudad years ago. Probably some around, but we never see them.” Son-in-law Brad Jannenga had a different problem on his Aspire Wildlife ranch near Hondo. There were no aoudad present until a group appeared in his northwest pasture. Crossed in from a neighbor, for sure. However they got there, they’re not wanted, but they’ve been there for two years. One good ram was shot, and then they learned how to vanish. I’ve hunted them on foot, sat for them, never saw more than a quick flash, no chance for a shot.
By this summer the herd had increased to maybe sixteen unwelcome guests demanding room and board, with at least one good ram among them, others up-and-coming. In June, ignoring the heat and taking advantage of the axis rut, gunwriter friend Lane Pearce brought his godson Kevin Roe and young son Lawson to the ranch to take an axis buck. Lawson got a fine buck the first evening, so with time on our hands we spread out in stands in the northwest pasture, hoping to whittle down the trespassing aoudads.
Good grief, these things had become like ghosts. That pasture holds other species, all seen. Nobody laid an eye on an aoudad. Then, on the last evening, Lane and I sat together, our box blind a sauna in 90-degree weather. Fun evening anyway. A herd of addax fed in front of us, and as sunset approached, whitetails in their red summer coats started to come out.
Lane was on my right, with a long, narrow clearing out his side window. Just after sunset I glanced past him and saw a big tan form at the end of his clearing. Not just an aoudad–a pretty good ram. I had the rifle, and I managed to climb over Lane and get to the window. The ram had good mass and reasonable horn length. But it was standing behind a stout tree, shoulder covered, no shot. Although 150 yards away in failing light, the ram must have seen my movement. In that instant he started to trot. Maybe he would have stopped, but it looked like he was headed out. I was shooting Lane’s Weatherby 307 in 7mm Backcountry. I swung with him, caught up, got to his shoulder when the rifle went off. In recoil, I neither saw nor heard impact, then he was gone into thick stuff.
I’d shot the rifle at the ranch range, knew it was on. I was certain I’d hit him, also sure the height was right. However, I also knew I’d hit him a bit too far back. Aoudad rams are stoutly built and extremely tough. This wasn’t good. I could only hope the 170-grain Terminal Ascent had done its job and exited.
It was full dark by the time ranch manager Ethan Cook collected us, so we went to camp and gathered lights and thermals. There was not much blood, but young Lawson Roe found it easily. We found the ram almost as easily, down and dead just sixty yards into the brush. As I’d expected, my hit was a few inches too far back, about at the diaphragm, and the bullet had exited. I can’t say it was an aoudad hunt to match the mountains the mountains of Far West Texas, but I was pleased. I’d spent a lot of time hunting that ram.
Boddington used gunwriter Lane Pearce’s Weatherby M307 in the new 7mm Backcountry to take this aoudad on his son-in-law’s Texas ranch. This is not a giant aoudad, just a good, mature ram, taken because aoudads made their way onto the ranch and aren’t wanted.
The right rifle for a black bear hunt depends on the type of hunting you’ll be doing.
The three primary ways to hunt black bears are spot-and-stalk, hunting with hounds, and baiting. The last two aren’t legal everywhere, and spotting and stalking is only practical where terrain and vegetation offer vistas for glassing. I hate sitting still, so baiting is my least favorite. However, baiting is highly productive because the black bear’s greatest weakness is its appetite. Although it’s not my favorite, I’ve done a lot of bear hunting over bait, especially the last few years.
This is a good-sized black bear, taken over bait with a Mossberg Patriot in .350 Legend. The author likes all the .35s but doesn’t believe it and other mild .35s carry enough energy downrange for the longer shots required in spot-and-stalk bear hunting.
My recent Kansas whitetail hunting has helped. I’m getting better at stand-hunting, able to sit longer with less fidgeting. It’s worth the wait when a bear appears—it’s almost as exciting as when a leopard comes onto bait. The difference is, baboons and birds telegraph a leopard’s approach. The black bear usually appears silently, materializing out of the shadowed woods, most often at last light.
Now comes the hardest part: Judging size. Black bears are among the most difficult animals to judge. Spot-and-stalk hunting is the worst, when the bear is just a dark blob on a hillside. Hound hunting is the best, because you’re very close when the bear trees or bays, and you’ve probably seen the track.
There is an advantage to baiting because the bait provides a size reference. Most commonly, a barrel is used, and that’s your yardstick. Be aware that barrels aren’t created equal. Wally Mack in Alberta uses 55-gallon drums. I’m in Andre Morin’s bear camp in Maine right now; he’s using 35-gallon barrels.
Black bears also aren’t created equal. Any area that has black bears can produce an outsize monster, but some areas are known for extra-big bears. It’s good to know what the expectations are, but even then you’ll make mistakes. Fortunately that doesn’t matter too much because black bear meat is good (cook it thoroughly!), and there’s a special thrill about bear hunting.
I don’t consider the black bear dangerous, but I’ve had two outfitter friends who were badly mauled by small black bears. Going into darkening woods after a shot isn’t pleasant. And bears are tough, regardless of size. I like to know I’ve hit them well, with something certain to have done the job.
Depending on hunting method, great black bear cartridges start with versatile .30-calibers, go up through the mediums, and include larger handgun cartridges and the big-bores. Left to right: .308 Win, .30-06, .338 Federal, .338 Win Mag, .44 Rem Mag, .444 Marlin, 45-70.
This doesn’t require a cannon. Most black bears taken are similar in weight to buck whitetails, but heavier in bone structure and muscle. However, you never know when you might get lucky and encounter a monster. The heaviest black bear known was taken in North Carolina in 1998, weighing an astonishing 1,100 pounds. That’s a different animal from the average 150-pound black bear, so it’s not a bad idea to be overgunned.
With black bears, the hunting methodology determines the shot. In spot-and-stalk hunting, depending on terrain and vegetation, you want to be prepared to shoot at least 200 yards. You don’t need anything special, just a versatile well-scoped hunting rifle. I’ve used various cartridges between .270 and .375. The .308 and .30-06 are hard to beat, but I’ve also used 7mms and magnum .30s. Since I believe in bullet diameter, and always hope for extra-large, I like the mediums, so long as they’re fast enough to reach out.
One of my best black bears came from North Carolina, in the fall season. We were hunting from tall deer stands, ambushing bears coming out of corn fields. I used my heavy 8mm Rem Mag. A fast .33 might have been even better. I love the .35s, but in spot-and-stalk hunting, the milder .35s—.350 Legend, .35 Rem, .360 Buckhammer—may not have the energy to reach 200 yards on bears. A bright scope is essential because most stalks will be done in fading light.
This North Carolina bruiser is one of the author’s best black bears. The tactic was to catch them coming out of corn fields at dawn. Distance was unknown, and the area has big bears. Boddington used his 8mm Rem Mag, a good choice under these conditions.
While any versatile scoped rifle can be used for all three methods, ideal arms for hound-hunting and baiting are different. Over hounds, the shot will be very close. The houndsman’s first concern is for his dogs. He wants the bear hit hard and killed cleanly. Larger bears often bay on the ground, and it becomes a wild melee. This is one of few situations in the hunting world where scopes are a hindrance, because of their tunnel-vision effect, increasing danger to dogs.
Getting to the dogs can be a hard scramble, so your firearm should also be light and unencumbering. A big handgun in a shoulder holster, from 10mm or .41 Magnum on up, is ideal, if that’s your cup of tea. Houndsmen often carry good old lever-action carbines.
Just last night, in Maine, I was talking guns with outfitter Andre Morin. He hunts bears with hounds and over bait, and he immediately said, “I don’t like the .30-30.”
That was interesting, because I told him that both guys I knew who were mauled by black bears were attacked by bears wounded with .30-30s. Oregon outfitter Jess Caswell spent a long time in the hospital after his incident. When he healed up, he bought a Model 600 Remington in .350 Rem Mag. It’s short, light, and has ferocious recoil, but it’s a real bear-buster. For hound hunting, Andre carries a Traditions break-open single shot. He has two, one in .35 Whelen, another in .450 Bushmaster. Bear-busters.
With baiting, the game changes. This is probably the best method for bowhunters. There will be a clear shot, at a known distance determined when the blind or stand is set. It’s no secret I’m mostly a rifle hunter, so on baited bear hunts I’ve often sat 75 yards from the bait. That allows for more fidgeting, but that’s too far for bowhunting, also too far for iron sights when the light starts to go.
A few years ago, I went to Wally Mack’s camp (W&L Guide Service) in northern Alberta for the first time. He sets all his bait sites the same way, with the stand at a maximum of 25 yards. Every stand is set up for any method of take, hunter’s choice. Last year, son-in-law Brad Jannenga, a serious bowhunter, took the biggest bear of the week with his bow. A couple days later, on the same stand, daughter Brittany shot two big bears two hours apart. She used a .300 Win Mag with open sights.
Brittany Boddington took these big black bears about two hours apart…from the same stand. She used Krieghoff Semprio slide-action in .300 Win Mag. A versatile .30-caliber is always a good choice. With open sights she was banking on bears coming in good light. These did.
Just now, I was delighted to see that Andre Morin (Katahdin’s Shadow Outfitters) in Maine, sets his bait sites the same way: Close shots only. Method of take is hunter’s choice. When we got to camp, his “scoreboard” from the 2024 season noted 20 bears taken with archery gear, handguns, shotguns with slugs, and an eclectic array of centerfire rifles.
Although I’ve dabbled in all methods of take, I’m mostly a rifle guy. So, what are the best rifles for hunting bears over bait? Since the distance is known, it depends on what gives you the most pleasure. First time at W&L, I had scoped rifles in .350 Legend and .450 Bushmaster. I shot a nice bear with each, but I felt a little silly shooting bears at 20 yards with scopes. Last time I was there I used my .303 double and a Big Horn Armoy M1889 in .500 S&W, both with iron sights, and took two nice bears.
The author used a Big Horn Armory M1889 in .500 S&W with aperture sight to take this Alberta bear. That’s a bear-busting cartridge in any platform, but handgun cartridges in rifle barrels gain a lot of velocity, significantly increasing performance.
I went to Maine because it was on my bucket list to take a black bear in the Northeast. I wasn’t sure what to bring. I’d never shot a black bear with a .45-70, so I brought my Ruger/Marlin 1895 with an older Swarovski 1-6X scope. I knew Andre sets his stands close to his baits. Although I considered removing the scope and using the ghost-ring aperture, I left the scope on.
My bear materialized just before sunset, the bait already in deep shadow. My night vision isn’t what it once was; I’d have struggled with the aperture. It wasn’t a big bear, just an average, acceptable Maine bear. My 300-grain Hornady flat-point broke the on-shoulder, wrecked the chest cavity, kept going. He traveled 30 yards, leaving a massive blood trail. The old .45-70 still works!
So do the .35s. I love them, all of them. Old friend Mike Deasey from Pennsylvania was my hunting partner on this Maine hunt. Mike brought a Marlin in .35 Rem, still a great deep-woods cartridge. Next night, he shot a bear with a 200-grain Sierra round-nose. His bullet exited and his bear also went about 30 yards. Two lefties, two lever-actions, two bears.
Okay, so what do I think is best? I admire the .35 Rem, love the .348 Win. All Marlins can be easily scoped, but the top-eject Winchester M71 .348 can’t be. Except for hunting with hounds, a serious black bear gun needs a light-gathering optic because too many shots come at last light. Forty years ago, I had a Savage 99 in .358 Win that was stolen. I always wanted another, but few 99s were made in .358. I just bought one from GunBroker–can’t wait to receive it. Flat-shooting enough for stalking, and hard-hitting under any conditions, that’s the rifle I’ll take on my next black bear hunt.
The Preserve Sporting Club & Resort in Rhode Island is raising the bar for conservation.
Nestled in the rolling hills of Richmond, Rhode Island, The Preserve Sporting Club & Resort is unlike any other luxury destination in New England, or, for that matter, the country. While it offers the kind of amenities that might draw comparisons to a high-end resort – equestrian facilities, world-class dining, private residences, and upland bird hunts – the real story lies in the 3,500+ acres of conserved land made up of woodlands, wetlands, and carefully managed fields where wildlife conservation takes top billing.
Leading the charge is Eric Northup, a lifelong Rhode Islander, seasoned outdoorsman, and wildlife biologist who has been with The Preserve for a decade. As he puts it, “We straddle both worlds here – hospitality and habitat. But wildlife always comes first.”
At the heart of The Preserve’s conservation efforts is a long-standing partnership with the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), a branch of the USDA. Together, they’ve implemented a suite of programs designed to restore and protect wildlife habitat across the property. From rewilding small pockets of land to large-scale cover cropping and forest management, the goal is clear: make the land work for wildlife.
“Whether we’re rehabilitating degraded habitat or building new ones from scratch, we go above and beyond what’s required,” says Northup. “That means planning burn cycles, planting the right mix of grasses, and making sure every acre serves a purpose for wildlife.”
Chairman Paul Mihailides, who purchased the property from the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation in 2014 and led its transformation, is passionate about that mission. “We’ve created something truly unique here,” he says, adding: “This isn’t about checking boxes. It’s about setting a standard where conservation is the first conversation we have – not an afterthought.”
The results are visible and measurable. NRCS conducts on-site inspections twice a year to evaluate progress, and The Preserve continues to earn praise for its commitment. “We’ve had them tell us that our forest management and habitat creation efforts go beyond best practices,” Northup says. “That kind of feedback reinforces what we already believe – that this land deserves our best.”
For hunters, The Preserve is best known for its upland bird program. While pheasants, quail, and grouse remain huntable species, there’s no longer a self-sustaining wild population of pheasant in the region – so The Preserve raises its own.
“We source our chicks from licenced, approved breeders and raise them for four months before releasing them,” Northup explains. “They’re strong flyers, well-conditioned, and released into cover that’s specifically built for their survival. Think sorghum, sunflowers, switchgrass, and millet – tall enough to hide a bird and short enough to see your dog’s tail working.”
Twice a week from October to March, guided walked-up hunts give guests a chance to flush and shoot quail or pheasant. These aren’t your average pen-raised birds either. “Everything from habitat prep to predator control is taken seriously,” says Northup. “It’s a full-cycle conservation effort.”
Mihailides adds, “As a lifelong hunter, I believe in ethical, responsible stewardship. Our hunting experiences are about tradition, but they’re also about giving back to the land.”
While the state of Rhode Island allows year-round hunting of released pheasants on private land, The Preserve imposes a seasonal window. “It’s not about shooting birds just because we can,” Northrup says. “It’s about respecting the rhythm of the land.”
While The Preserve controls invasive predators like coyotes and red foxes to protect upland birds, they also work to safeguard native carnivores. “We have protected populations of bobcat and fisher cat on the property,” Northup says. “There’s a balance. Not everything is about maximizing game species – sometimes it’s about letting nature be.”
Raptors, songbirds, and mammals all benefit from this holistic approach. Nest boxes for owls and kestrels are placed strategically, while brush piles and snags from downed trees offer shelter to smaller mammals and ground-nesting birds.
The approach is nuanced and data-driven. Northup regularly conducts population censuses for whitetail deer and wild turkey, ensuring sustainable hunting and management. Importantly, there are no hunting seasons for ruffed grouse or bobwhite quail in Rhode Island, but The Preserve’s private license allows controlled hunting within its own program.
“We’re not trying to return to some imagined wilderness,” Northup explains. “We’re creating a working ecosystem that’s healthy, diverse, and resilient.”
After a devastating gypsy moth outbreak five years ago wiped out thousands of oak trees, many landowners would have rushed to remove the unsightly dead wood. Not here. “We left much of it standing, and it’s become incredible habitat for pileated woodpeckers, insects, and even migratory birds like the scarlet tanager and snowy owl,” says Northup. “Sometimes what looks like destruction is really just part of an ecological transition.”
At the southwestern end of the property, The Preserve has recently completed a new pond and marsh complex through another NRCS-supported project. Designed to support migratory waterfowl, the area now serves both as habitat and as a low-impact hunting zone. “That pond is already drawing ducks, and it’s only going to improve with time,” he says.
Even the smallest features are considered part of the wildlife plan. Fields are burned at carefully timed intervals to renew grasses. Dead tree stumps are “grubbed out” or left to decay naturally. “We build with wildlife in mind – even when we’re doing something as simple as clearing trails,” Northup says.
The Preserve features exceptional recreational shooting facilities.
With 287 home sites spread across thousands of acres, The Preserve could have easily fallen into the trap of unchecked development. Instead, Mihailides has been intentional about how and where to build. “We use cluster development principles to reduce our ecological footprint,” he says. “That means grouping homes together and leaving larger open spaces for habitat. You don’t see that level of planning in many commercial projects.”
The Preserve is also working to ensure the entire site remains accessible. “We want our homeowners and members to enjoy the land, not just look at it,” Mihailides says. “That’s why we’ve invested in miles of trails, wildlife viewing areas, and educational signage. You can live here and still be a student of the land.”
And while it might seem counterintuitive, opening up some areas for hunting or recreation has actually improved the health of the land. “When people are invested in the outdoors, they want to protect it,” Northup adds. “That’s why we focus on access and education as much as habitat.”
The Preserve’s conservation work doesn’t happen in a vacuum. The club hosts events for local schools, offers internships for environmental science students, and partners with wildlife nonprofits across the region. “We’re trying to raise the next generation of conservation-minded citizens,” says Mihailides. “This isn’t just about The Preserve. It’s about setting a regional example.”
Ultimately, conservation at The Preserve isn’t just a feature – it’s the foundation. Every trail, food plot and building is part of a larger plan to blend recreation and responsibility.
“You can’t manage land like this without understanding both biology and people,” Northup says. “We’re not just managing for deer or pheasants – we’re managing for the whole ecosystem.”
That might be why The Preserve stands out as a model for how sporting clubs can be more than just playgrounds for the wealthy. They can be sanctuaries for wildlife, classrooms for conservation, and, with a bit of vision, a path forward for hunting traditions in the 21st century.
“We’re not finished,” says Mihailides. “We never will be. That’s the beauty of conservation – there’s always more to learn, more to protect, more to give back.”
Photo above: Although its velocity has been eclipsed by “modern” fast .30s, the .300 H&H was (and is) an important development and is fast and versatile. The author used a rebarreled Remington M700 to drop this excellent southern greater kudu with a .300 H&H and 200-grain Sierra bullet.
America’s lasting affair with .308-inch bullets began in 1892 with the .30-40 Krag. It blossomed three years later when Winchester used the same bullet diameter for our first smokeless power sporting cartridge, the .30 Winchester Center Fire (WCF), better known as .30-30.
In the shift to smokeless propellant, various European powers adopted similar diameters. Great Britain fielded the .303 British in 1889, with a .312-inch bullet. In 1891, Russia adopted the 7.62x54R, also .312. Why we chose a .308-inch bullet is unclear. Perhaps xenophobic American engineers wanted their own unique diameter.
A century ago, the .30-40 was a common sporting cartridge, mostly in surplus Krags. The .30-30 became legendary and is still popular. It was first chambered in the John Browning-designed 1894 Winchester, quickly adopted by Marlin and others. The ’94 Winchester would become the most popular sporting rifle of all time, followed by the Marlin 336. In both rifles, .30-30 was the most popular chambering. Between just those two, something over ten million rifles were sold. Until at least the 1950s, .30-30 was synonymous with “deer rifle.”
In 1903 we “borrowed” much of Peter Paul Mauser’s design to create the forward-locking, stripper-clip-loading 1903 Springfield. We also copied much of Mauser’s cartridge design to create the rimless .30-03 cartridge, using the .30-40 Krag’s round-nosed 220-grain bullet. European armies were shifting to sharp-pointed bullets, so in 1906 America’s engineers went back to work. They shortened the case slightly and went to a lighter, faster spitzer bullet. The result was “Cartridge, ball, caliber .30, Model of 1906,” shortened to “.30-06.”
Boddington believes the .30-06 (and all faster .30-calibers) are needlessly powerful for deer, but perfect for elk. This Montana bull was taken at 350 yards with a Savage .30-06 and 180-grain Barnes bullets. No problem.
Army ordnance folks modified 1903 Springfields to the new cartridge by screwing the barrels in one turn for the shorter cartridge. This sounds more confusing than it is: The shorter .30-06 case can be safely used in the longer .30-03 chamber, but not the reverse. For some years both versions were commercially manufactured, then the .30-03 faded away. The .30-06 became a world-standard hunting cartridge, its .308-inch bullet defining the .30-caliber.
For the next 50 years, whitetail hunters preferred the .30-30. Hunters wanting more range and power chose the .30-06. In today’s magnumized world, we think of the .30-06 as mild and slow. It is neither; it is fast and hard-hitting, the most powerful cartridge ever adopted by a major military.
The .30-30 isn’t fast, and its blunt-nosed projectiles (in tubular magazines) lost velocity quickly. Still, before WWII, open-sighted lever-actions had little handicap because few hunters used scopes. However, none of the most popular lever-actions could handle the .30-06. The Savage 1899 action wasn’t long enough, but it was strong and its rotary magazine could handle sharp-pointed bullets. In 1915 Charles Newton designed the .250-3000 for Arthur Savage, which was the first production cartridge to break 3,000 feet per second (fps). Suddenly, the Savage lever-action gave Winchester serious competition. It became even more serious when, in 1920, they necked the .250-3000 case up to take a .308-inch bullet and created the .300 Savage.
The evolution of America’s most popular .308-caliber cartridges. Left to right: .30-40 Krag, .30-30 Winchester, .300 Savage, .30-06, .308 Winchester. Depending on how much range you need, all are still suitable for a wide range of hunting.
Powders were different back then and .30-06 loads were slower. The .300 Savage propelled a 150-grain bullet up to 2,700 fps, close to .30-06 performance of the day. The .250 and .300 Savage cartridges are based on the .30-06 case shortened; the .300 was given a stubby neck to wring as much performance as possible.
From 1920 onward the bolt-action gradually eroded the lever-action market, but the Savage 99 continued to be a major thorn in Winchester’s side. In .300 Savage, it was powerful, reasonably flat-shooting, and (like the Marlin) its solid-top receiver was readily adaptable to scopes.
The author’s son-in-law, Brad Jannenga, used Boddington’s Savage 99 in .300 Savage to anchor this excellent axis deer at about 200 yards.
The semiauto Garand in .30-06 served through WWII and Korea, but the army wanted a detachable-magazine rifle mated to a more compact cartridge. Seems like the .300 Savage was exactly what they were looking for. Maybe the short neck put them off, or maybe Winchester had more pull. Several experimental cartridges were developed, mostly based on the shortened .30-06 case. Winchester grabbed the likely final version, introducing it as .308 Winchester. Two years later, it was adopted as 7.62×51 NATO, along with the M14. The M14 was short-lived as our service rifle, but the .308 came to define the short bolt-action, and it is now our second-most popular centerfire, trailing only the .223 Remington. Easily adapted to all action types, the .308 is now more popular than the .30-06. The .308 is about 93 percent as powerful as the .30-06, which is not damning with faint praise.
Boddington and PH Mark Haldane with a big waterbuck, taken on open floodplains in Mozambique with a Winchester M88 .308 Winchester. Although more popular today, the author doesn’t believe the .308 is as versatile as the .30-06 and faster .30s, but it’s still a fine cartridge, suitable for essentially all non-dangerous game throughout the world.
There are no flies on the .30-06. It is still a powerful and versatile cartridge, but it’s not a speed demon. The .30-06 was still new when folks started to put bigger cases and more powder behind its .308-inch bullet. Charles Newton was first with his .30 Newton in 1911, almost reaching 3,000 fps. Far ahead of its time, the .30 Newton was a casualty of the Depression, now almost forgotten.
The next notable fast .30 came in 1925 with the .300 H&H Magnum, based on the .375 H&H necked down to .308-inch bullet. It’s interesting that staid Holland & Holland used the American .308 rather than the .312-inch bullet of the British .303. I theorize this was out of respect for the .30-06, which earned its sporting spurs on the 1909 Roosevelt safari. By 1925 the ‘06 had a tremendous reputation in British East Africa.
Since then, there have been too many fast .30s to name. Belted, unbelted, short, and long. The .300 H&H was most popular for forty years, but Roy Weatherby’s improved version, the .300 Weatherby Magnum, introduced in 1945, is much faster. Still Weatherby’s flagship and one of my favorites. The .300 RUM and .30-.378 Weatherby are faster still, but now we’re getting into severe recoil. Then there are short-action fast .30s: .300 RCM, RSAUM, WSM. Awesome performance from compact cases, but only the .300 WSM has gained major following. 1963’s .300 Winchester Magnum is now the most popular belted magnum in the world.
Versatile .30-calibers are ideal for the full run of African plains game. Boddington used his Jarrett .300 Win Mag to take this Cape eland bull with a 200-grain ELD-X.
Until recently, most .308-inch barrels had 1:10 rifling twist. These were able to stabilize bullets up to the old round-nose 220 grainers, but were unable to stabilize the new extra-long, extra-heavy low-drag bullets, now up to 250 grains in .308. That’s what new fast .30s like 30 Nosler and .300 PRC are about, specified for fast-twist barrels. If I were serious about extreme range shooting (I’m not), I’d probably have a fast-twist .30. Recognizing that bullet weight increases recoil, and hunting guides the world over already complain about poor shooting with magnum .30s.
If the .30-06 isn’t fast enough to suit you—and you can handle a bit more recoil—then get a .300 Winchester or .300 Weatherby Magnum. For anything short of the largest bears and big bovines, ain’t nothin’ out there as versatile as a fast .30. Yeah, I know. The 7mms and .270s have huge followings, and the 6.5mm is the new darling. I like them all. It depends on what and where I’m hunting, but none of them hit as hard as .30-calibers, thus are not as versatile.
Bullet diameter (frontal area) makes a difference on game. Larger-diameter bullets disrupt more animal tissue and transfer more energy upon impact. If you don’t believe that, then I have little more to say. Sure, longer-for-caliber bullets of smaller diameter penetrate better. They don’t hit as hard. We can play Sectional Density (SD) and Ballistic Coefficient (BC) games, but a .30-caliber bullet makes a bigger hole, and .30-caliber bullets are available in adequate weight to ensure penetration.
Paper ballistics of the .30-30 are unimpressive, but no one can question its deer-thumping capability. Both the .308 and .30-06 are probably overpowered for deer, but both are fine elk cartridges at sensible ranges. Forty-eight years after my first safari, the .30-06 is still my pick for the most versatile, effective, and shootable cartridge for African plains game. There are times and places where I want a flatter trajectory than my .30-30, .300 Savage, .308, or .30-06 offers. I’m not into over-the-horizon shooting, but when I think I might need some distance, especially with animals larger than deer, I want to hit them hard. Usually, I reach for a fast .30.
I’ve used many, from .300 H&H to .300 PRC. Love ‘em all. Great for elk, awesome in Africa, where animal size varies constantly. As with deer, we could correctly argue that fast .30s are needlessly powerful for sheep and goats. The problem is that shots in mountains are often difficult, and it’s essential to use a tool that gives great confidence. I’ve taken a lot of mountain animals with 6.5s, .270s, and 7mms. All are appropriate for the size of game. However, I’ve used fast .30s the most (.300 Weatherby most of all) because, when the chips are down, a fast .30 gives me the most confidence.
I’ve hunted with all the PRCs, recently bought a 7 PRC. I love it and I’m likely to do my last mountain hunting with it. For big deer like elk and moose, and for the full range of African antelopes, I’m still happy with my .30s. Loaded with a good 180- or 200-grain bullet, I’ve never suspected a .30-caliber wasn’t enough gun.
Join the fun–and see some amazing animals–at the Boone and Crockett Club’s 32nd Big Game Awards in Springfield this summer.
Photo above: A diorama at Johnny Morris’s Wonders of Wildlife Museum in Springfield, Missouri, where hundreds of recently taken record-book big-game animals are on display this summer.
In late July, thousands of big-game hunters and their families will converge in Springfield, Missouri, to celebrate hundreds of new entries in the Boone and Crockett Club record book, including several new world records. You can join Boone and Crockett, its partners, and the many fortunate and skilled hunters who will be gathering to celebrate all things hunting at the 32nd Big Game Awards.
The event recognizes the biggest heads, horns, and antlers from North America that were entered into the B&C records during the last three years (2022 through 2024). The top entries during this period were invited to send their mounts to be remeasured and displayed at Johnny Morris’s Wonders of Wildlife Museum and Aquarium in Springfield. In addition, all qualifying animals taken by youth hunters during the three-year period are invited to be included.
This year, there are three new world records on display: Justin Kallusky’s 2022 mountain goat, Aron Wark’s 2023 muskox, and Tim Carpenter’s 2023 Roosevelt elk. You can also see Dustin Huff’s new No. 3 all-time typical whitetail from Indiana as well as two new state record American elk, one from Virginia and one from Pennsylvania.
The new Boone and Crockett world record mountain goat, taken in 2022, is among the hundreds of new record-book animals on temporary display for the 32nd Big Game Awards event at Johnny Morris’ Wonders of Wildlife Museum in Springfield, Missouri.
If you haven’t been to Johnny Morris’s Wonders of Wildlife Museum and Aquarium, it alone is worth a trip to Springfield. Billed as the largest immersive wildlife attraction in the world, the complex features 350,000 square feet of exhibits that take you on a journey through immersive habitats with a focus on the origin of the conservation movement, including historic artifacts and milestones that celebrate the vital contributions of sportsmen and women to wildlife conservation. Located next to the Bass Pro Shops flagship store, the entire complex is a celebration of America’s sporting heritage.
Most notably, the museum is home to the Boone and Crockett Club’s National Collection of Heads and Horns, a historic display of mounted trophies dating from 1906 that includes the Chadwick Ram, considered one of the greatest big-game animals ever taken in North America.
The new record animals are on temporary display in the museum next to the National Collection of Heads and Horns from May 3 through July 26, and you can see them as part of the museum tour any time during this period. The Awards weekend is July 24-26, and events will be held at the White River Conference Center adjacent to the museum. For information and to register, click here.
In addition to thousands of immersive wildlife displays, the Wonders of Wildlife Museum houses the historic National Collection of Heads and Horns, a collection of animals dating to the early 1900s. For anyone interested in the history of hunting and conservation, the National Collection of Heads and Horns is a must-see.Recent Boone and Crockett record-book entries will be on temporary display through July in several galleries adjacent to these historic mounts, which are part of the National Collection of Heads and Horns. Both the old and new trophy displays are well worth a visit.
Beyond lions and leopards, the Dark Continent is home to other fascinating felines.
Photo above: The author considers the serval the most beautiful of Africa’s small cats. This is a captive serval, obviously well fed. Boddington has only seen two of these cats in the wild.
Among Africa’s cats, the lion and leopard get the most attention. That’s as it should be, because those animals that fuel hunters’ dreams sometimes bring us back time and again as we try to fulfill them. We aren’t always successful. We accept that going in. As we’re failing in dream fulfillment, Africa will offer gifts. Chances to accept those gifts are fleeting; decisions must be quick. Like most of us, my dreams of Africa were mostly about facing dangerous game. It took me years to appreciate some of the other gifts Africa offered up. Sometimes I failed to accept those gifts, and some of those animals required hard hunting on later trips.
In addition to lion and leopard, Africa has eight smaller cats, all unique, interesting, and beautiful. Maybe they’re not of interest to everyone, but if Mom Africa smiles and offers one, maybe you shouldn’t kick sand in her face. At least, be aware of what’s out there, so you can make a sound decision. So, while we keep dreaming of lions and leopards, let’s take a quick look at Africa’s smaller cats.
The cheetah is the largest of these eight cats; it is leaner, faster, and at least a third smaller than a leopard. The cheetah, Acinonyx jubatus, is a cat of savannas and semi-deserts, where their speed counts. I saw a pack on the Tsavo Plain in 1977, even then a rare sight. Today they are making a comeback in some areas, and have been on license in Namibia, which has the largest population.
I never expected to take one, so my cheetah was one of Africa’s gifts, quick decision needed. My buddy Joe Bishop owned the Namibian property we were hunting. Joe knew he had cheetahs around, and was worried about new sable calves. Joe loved his predators, but he issued uncharacteristic orders to take a cheetah if seen. Might as well suggest taking a unicorn. The problem with cheetahs: They don’t return to kills, don’t take bait, can’t be tracked. They are near-impossible to hunt on purpose.
PH Pete Kibble and I had just glassed some wildebeest on a knoll. Finding no decent bull, we started away, heard a commotion, and turned back. Wildebeest were running, dust was rising, and two cheetahs were sitting atop a freshly killed wildebeest. Pete put up the sticks and I shot the big male with a .338 at 250 yards. Cheetahs are not importable to the US, so Dirk de Bod has the lifesize mount in his camp and I can visit it.
Boddington and PH Pete Kibble with a big male cheetah, taken in Namibia 20 years ago. A pure gift: The landowner knew cheetahs were operating on his property, wanted them gone. Out of nowhere, a hunting pair killed a young wildebeest in plain sight and offered a quick shot.
I don’t have all of Africa’s smaller cats, probably never will. That big cheetah was one of few taken in a pure chance encounter, a gift. Most of the rest I’ve hunted specifically, not always with success.
On down from cheetah, Africa’s seven smaller cats are: African wildcat, caracal, civet, genet, golden cat, palm civet, and serval. Genets and palm civets aren’t much larger than a stout rabbit, up to 40 pounds for a huge civet; or a big caracal, serval, or golden cat, formidable but secretive predators. The biggest challenge: How do you find them?
Africa’s smallest cat is the genet, genus Genetta, with some seventeen nearly indistinguishable species. Most are squirrel-size, with spotted bodies and a ringed tail longer than the body. The genet is African but was introduced into Spain and is still there. It also ranges across the Red Sea to the Arabian Peninsula. The genet we are most likely to encounter is the widespread common genet, G. genetta. They are extremely nocturnal, often sleeping in trees during the day. Although I’ve caught glimpses of a few in daylight, they are frequently seen along African roads at night. They are best taken by night-hunting in thick cover. Look up as well as sideways; they’re arboreal and often found in trees. Because of their small size, a .22 is probably the best tool.
The genet is the smallest African cat, nocturnal and arboreal. The numerous species are almost indistinguishable, but this genet, taken in South Africa’s Limpopo Valley is almost certainly the most widespread and plentiful common genet.
The much larger civet cat (Civettcis civetica) also extends deep into Asia. A long, narrow cat, the African civet can reach 40 pounds, usually less. Colored like a raccoon, highly nocturnal, with pungent scent glands, civets will often raid your leopard bait in the dark, causing much commotion. Might as well shoot—if you want one—as you’re not likely to see a leopard that night. We see them often on the roads in Mozambique after dark, but none of the small cats are on license there. The civet I have mounted was taken in Chad in 2001, attesting to their wide range. It was one of my few successful chance encounters, another gift.
Taken in Chad, this big civet is among few of the small cats taken in a pure chance encounter. Most have required specific hunting.
The African palm civet (Nandinia binotata) is a much smaller animal, slightly larger than a genet, with ridiculously long tail. It is widespread and common through Africa’s forest zone, often taken in Liberia, where virtually all hunting is done at night. I took mine there on my first Liberian hunt in 2013, and saw several more, but one seemed enough. Halfway across the globe, palm civets also occur in the forests of Southeast Asia. Similar in appearance, the larger Asian palm civets are classed in different genera and species.
This palm civet is the first animal the author took on his first safari to Liberia in 2013. Much smaller and with an amazing tail, the palm civet is not closely related to the African civet but seems to be fairly common throughout the forest zone.
The African wildcat looks much like a housecat. It should: It’s an ancestor to the domestic cat, with which a wildcat will freely (and gleefully) interbreed. Felis lybica extends deep into Asia as the Asian wildcat. Millenniums back, it diverged from the much larger European wildcat. It is gray or brown in body color, with black body bars and ringed tail.
At Mungari Camp in Mozambique, the dominant camp cat is a big tomcat named Pudding, my buddy of many years. He may well be pure African wildcat, surely a hybrid at least. He’s a good guy, usually drops by in the morning so I can share my coffee milk. I shot one, won’t shoot another, as they are too similar to my friend.
The African wildcat is widespread but never common. Several times, PHs have said, “Good Gawd, that’s a wildcat.” Usually too late. Like most wild felines, they are largely nocturnal. I took my one and only wildcat at night, with a shotgun. I don’t know how else one might hunt one, except with blind luck.
The African wildcat is widespread and relatively common, just rarely seen. Kinship with domestic cats is obvious. Primary indicators of a wildcat versus domestic are black barring on legs and black rings on tail.
The last three, caracal, serval, and golden cat, are the most interesting to me. Similar in size, all three can weigh up to 40 pounds, so are significant predators. The caracal, or African lynx (Caracal caracal) extends into Asia as far as India. The body color is generally reddish, with the long ear tufts of all the lynxes, some spotting on legs with a short tail. An adaptable cat, it’s widespread in Africa and found in most habitats, ranging throughout Southern and East Africa, then across the continent in the Sahel between forest and Sahara.
Although primarily nocturnal hunters, caracals are more active in daylight than many cats, so are frequently taken in chance encounters. I’ve seen a couple, never got a shot, so I got mine hunting with hounds in the Eastern Cape. This is the most reliable method. Sheep and goat ranchers hate caracals. Most of the packs used to hunt leopards with dogs come out of South Africa and are trained hunting caracals.
The author and PH Larry McGillewie with a good caracal (African lynx), taken with hounds on a big ridge above the Great Fish River in South Africa’s Eastern Cape. Many caracals are taken in chance encounter, but hunting with hounds is the most successful method.
To me, the serval (Leptailurus serval) is the most beautiful, and also one of the most elusive. Background is golden, spots jet black, tail longer than a caracal’s, shorter than a leopard’s. Their range is like the caracal, but the serval is more associated with grasslands and savannas. I looked hard in a lot of places where they occur, never saw one. Tanzania has a high population; various friends took servals there in chance encounters. I don’t have much luck with that method. In 2010, I did a long hunt in Tanzania, with serval at the top of my wish list. Hunting with Michel Mantheakis, we saw one in Rungwa, squirting through an open burn at 500 miles per hour. That’s one of exactly two servals I’ve seen in the wild.
In the right areas in South Africa, they can be hunted with hounds like caracals. Charl van Rooyen (Infinito Safaris) told me he had an agricultural area south of Limpopo that had a good population; he takes a couple each year with some reliability. The first night, we took the second serval I’ve ever seen, a good-size cat, and the end of a long quest.
Excepting Central Africa’s golden cat, which Boddington has never seen, he rates the serval as the most beautiful of Africa’s small cats and is definitely the one he worked for the hardest. Right place, right time: This beautiful serval was taken on the first night on a hunt with Charl van Rooyen around agriculture in northern South Africa.
Last is the African golden cat, Caracal aurata, thus closely aligned with the caracal. Short tail, no ear tufts, coloration highly variable, usually reddish-brown, sometimes with spots. Primary habitat is the forest zone, where it may not be rare, but is rarely seen. That’s about all I can tell you about the golden cat. On a dozen forest safaris, I never saw one, and even SCI’s record book lists only five. I figured, if I kept trying, the caracal and serval were possible prizes, and they were. I don’t think I’ll keep looking for a golden cat.
I hear it in every American hunting camp, and constantly at every hunting convention: dreams of an African safari. “When the kids are out of school. When the mortgage is paid. Maybe in a couple of years. Someday.” The great booking agent Jack Atcheson, Sr. had a great sales slogan: “Go hunting now, while you are able.” Someday is not guaranteed, nor are the health and physical abilities to enjoy it.
Much in life is a matter of priority. I drive vehicles until the wheels fall off and have never owned a boat or an RV. Unlike hunting on public land in the US, African hunting is not “free.” There are hunt costs, travel costs, plus shipping and taxidermy. However, a plains game safari is the greatest bargain in the hunting world. And, as Peter Capstick wrote, an African safari is “the last great adventure on Earth.” The hardest part is making the decision. So just take the plunge.
The most sensible starting point is a plains game safari in either Namibia or South Africa. In either country, you can do a week’s hunt and take four or five nice animals for the same cost as a medium-grade guided elk hunt in the Rockies, and not much more than what I charge for a whitetail hunt in Kansas.
On any hunt, it’s best to be in as good condition as age and overall health allow, but plains game hunting usually isn’t extremely physical. Expect lots of walking at an easy pace in moderate terrain.
Southern Africa is so game-rich that, on a plains game safari, you can expect to take most of the animals you seek. Few North American hunts—for any species—are as uniformly successful as African hunting. Everywhere, of course, it depends on your luck, how picky you are, and how well you shoot. On a first plains game safari in Southern Africa, you should average a nice animal about every 1.5 hunting days.
Some hunters start by searching for an outfitter. I’m more goal-oriented, so I find this sort of putting the cart before the horse. I like to start with a “wish list.” Study African animals and decide what you want to hunt. The record books are excellent, well-illustrated resources, showing where animals are found and where the best specimens have been taken. Field guides to African animals are also excellent.
Most wish lists have priority animals that usually require specific hunting, such as greater kudu, sable, nyala, waterbuck, gemsbok. Then, a few (usually) more common animals: blesbok, bushbuck, impala, hartebeest, warthog, wildebeest, zebra. As in combat, a hunting plan rarely survives the first encounter. The wiliest and least common animal on your list may be taken in the first hour; the theoretically easiest and most plentiful animal may elude you to the last day.
You may not fill your entire list, but along the way you will encounter animals you didn’t think about. My examples above included none of the pygmy antelopes, such as steenbok, klipspringer, any of the duikers. The little guys are rarely on a first-safari wish list, but one or another will be encountered. Part of the value of studying African animals is recognizing animals and, within your budget, adjusting your wish list on the fly. When your PH says, “Sir (or ma’am), that’s a marvelous unicorn. I think you should take it,” it’s not impossible he’s trying to upsell you. If he then says, “Sir (or ma’am), if you don’t want that unicorn, may I borrow your rifle?” Think fast, no time for long discussion. You will regret passing the opportunity. It’s good to know what a unicorn looks like, their density and value.
Donna Boddington with a nice impala. Widespread across Southern Africa and inexpensive, the impala is a secondary animal on most first safari wish lists, but it’s a challenging and fun animal to hunt.
Value? In Namibia and South Africa, the most common safari pricing is a daily rate (camp, food, PH, and vehicle), plus per-animal trophy fees, payable for animals taken, or wounded and lost (shoot straight and don’t take risky shots). Trophy fees vary depending on desirability and availability, but it’s a simple scale. Kudus cost more than impalas. Every outfitter has a price list, and it’s good to know what that unicorn will cost you. Alternatively, many outfitters offer “package” hunts: One flat fee that includes certain animals. These can be exceptional deals — just make sure your most important animals are included. Substitutions and additions are usually allowed. Either way, total safari cost is largely determined by controlling your trigger finger.
The search for an outfitter can be confusing. There are hundreds across Namibia and South Africa. Prices, game lists, and camps vary, but not by much. The vast majority are good, solid operators, although there are a few bums. Word of mouth is always a good reference, also the major hunting conventions. You can shop around, talk to several outfitters and find someone you click with. Another option is to use a booking agent, offering experience, plus an available point of contact. These days, a lot of shopping is done online. Fine, but I’m nervous about unvetted websites. However you shop, get references, make a list of questions, and call those references.
Use due diligence in searching out your outfitter and professional hunter. Then, once you’re there, listen to your PH.
You’ll want to know about the animals most important to you, and you’ll ask about the camp and the food (usually awesome). What kind of vehicles? Maintenance or equipment issues? Have they gotten their trophies home? How long did it take, and were the skins in good shape? Assume any reference list is a stacked deck, happy customers. Go beyond their experience. How many other clients were in camp? Were they successful?
Ask about noteworthy PHs and write down names. Only in small operations is it likely that the outfitter will be your PH. And you don’t necessarily want to hunt with the boss. He or she is running the business and handling logistics; your assigned guide or PH is the person who will make your dreams come true.
These are all also questions for the outfitter. In person at a show is great, but these days we rely too much on the impersonal shorthand of text and email. In almost universal use among African outfitters and PHs is WhatsApp, the smartphone application that allows free voice to/from anywhere in the world.
Don’t be afraid to ask tough questions of the outfitter: How big is the hunting area and who owns it? Owned, leased, private, government concession? How long has the operator been hunting? Is he/she fully licensed in that country and area? It’s not insulting to ask for copies of area tenders and PH licenses. No reputable operator would hesitate to provide them. Do they belong to their country’s PH or outfitter association? Or the larger International Professional Hunters Association (IPHA) or African Professional Hunters Association (APHA), and to international groups such as Safari Club International (SCI) and/or Dallas Safari Club (DSC)? Again, the outfitter is unlikely to personally guide you, so find out who you will be assigned to, and repeat the same research.
Once your outfitter is chosen, dates are set, and deposit made, travel is probably the next big hurdle. Rates go up and down and escalated after Covid. However, in real dollars, the cost of round-trip tickets to Africa haven’t changed much since my first safari 48 years ago. Traveling without firearms is simpler. More so than most places, operators in Namibia and South Africa have invested in good “camp rifles.” However, temporary permits in both countries are simple, so this is a personal decision. Absent firearms, you can save money on travel by using wholesale websites. With firearms, I recommend using a good, gun-savvy travel agent. Either way, ensure your bags will be checked all the way through and, above all, do not allow tight connections.
Taxidermy and shipping of trophies is another cost. Regrettably, both have escalated. Taxidermy is a bit cheaper and faster over there, and there are excellent taxidermists in Southern Africa. Air freight is by cube, not by weight, so mounted trophies are costlier to ship. Also, in the heat of the moment, after your life-changing first safari, is a poor time to decide what you really want mounted. Shipping salted-and-dried skins, plus skulls and horns, is less expensive. Once you get them home, they have a long shelf life; you can stretch out the taxidermy bill. Of all safari costs, shipping has probably gone up the most (thank you, Covid). The smaller the shipment, the less cost. Try to make sensible decisions on what you want sent home.
Other than that, preparing for your first safari is simple. Plan on plenty of range time. Get shooting sticks, get good with them, and do lots of practice off sticks with a .22. Just use small targets! Expect to have a great time. Trust me, you will. Continue to read and study; the more you know, the better time you will have. Go on my website (craigboddington.com) and take our Safari Ed course on the “Videos” page. It’s fun and free.
Most important: Get off the dime and just do it. I promise you won’t regret it. Once there, listen to your PH, and have fun.
Much field shooting in Africa is done from sticks. Get a set of sticks and practice frequently. A good old .22 is probably the best teacher.
