Lightweight mountain rifles can be just as accurate and easy to shoot as traditional heavier rifles.

Photo above: Even with a 21-ounce Nightforce SHV scope in steel rings, Barsness’s New Ultra Light Arms .30-06 weighs exactly seven pounds, still qualifying as a mountain rifle.

Most big-game rifles weigh around 8 or 9 pounds with scope. But in the past twenty-five years or so, we’ve seen the advent of big-game rifles that are both much lighter and much heavier than that average. Here, we’ll look at the development of what are called “mountain rifles,” defined as weighing 7 pounds or less with scope. 

The modern mountain rifle started to evolve after the development of “lay-up” stocks in the 1960s, stocks made of strong, lightweight synthetic fibers held together with epoxy, which weighed far less than a typical wood stock. Even a walnut stock made of very plain, coarse-grained wood has to be pretty darn slim to weigh under 32 ounces (2 pounds), and the lightest I’ve weighed went around 26 ounces. Lightweight lay-ups generally weighed 24 ounces at most, even with a substantial recoil pad. Some only weighed about a pound, with Brown Precision’s Pound’r going right around 16 ounces without a buttpad. So many mountain hunters bought Pound’rs that they became a target for other synthetic stockmakers, some of whom made stocks weighing as little as 12 ounces, resulting in rifles lighter than 6 pounds with scope. 

Many traditionalists, of course, started whining about such rifles being not only supremely ugly but unshootable, because they kicked hard and were too light to hold steady. To a certain extent these complaints were true, but while beauty is in the eye of the beholder, it’s also conditioned by tradition. During the nineteenth century transition from flintlocks to cartridge rifles, many hunters thought repeating rifles were really ugly, especially bolt actions. Of course, later traditionalists often started referring to some bolt actions as “works of art,” especially the pre-’64 Model 70 Winchester.

The other objections, that super-light rifles couldn’t be shot well and kicked too much, were also partly related to tradition. Before lay-up synthetic stocks, the most practical way to lighten bolt-action rifles was to slim and shorten the barrel. Hardwood stocks could only be slimmed so much, and the most popular bolt actions weighed at least 2 1/2 pounds—including the 45-ounce “sculpture in steel,” the pre-’64 Model 70, and the basic 1898 Mauser.  One of the most highly prized actions for custom lightweight rifles, the G33/40 version of the Mauser, was a “small-ring” version with recesses milled in the action—which still weighed 40 ounces.

While it’s possible to make a 7-pound scoped rifle on such actions, even a light scope and mounts weigh a pound, meaning the bare rifle had to weigh around 6 pounds—with the action close to half the weight.  As a result, most early attempts at really light bolt rifles had very short “toothpick” barrels, with fore-ends not much thicker, making them extremely muzzle-light and hence hard to hold steady. 

When traditionalists heard about 6 or 7 pound synthetic-stocked rifles, they transferred their experience (if any) with toothpick rifles to the new “plastic” lightweights. But synthetic stocks allowed the use of heavier barrels of conventional length—as did newer, lighter actions, starting with the Remington 722 in 1948. The 722 was the forerunner of the short Remington 700 action, and weighed around 35 ounces. Of course, the traditionalists also whined about that as well, saying the short cartridges designed to fit their magazines lacked sufficient “killing power” for big game.

This, of course, ignored the fact that the premier short-action cartridge was the .308 Winchester, introduced in 1952 in the new Model 70 Featherweight (which still used the full-sized pre-’64 action, so ended up weighing close to 8 pounds scoped). Yet despite the .308 being “too short,” its ballistics matched original .30-06 factory ammo, a cartridge considered plenty for most big game by famous hunters from Theodore Roosevelt to Ernest Hemingway.

The major point, however, was many traditionalists already considered lightweight rifles impossible to shoot well. If and when they actually shot one, I suspect many didn’t try very hard, or grasped them very firmly in an attempt to steady the reticle. This is not the way to shoot a hunting rifle, especially from field positions.

Lighter rifles do reveal flaws in shooting technique, such as failing to hold the rifle consistently the same way every time, and pulling the trigger too quickly and firmly. Heavier rifles are far more forgiving of such flaws—although a longer, heavier barrel results in steadier holding, even in really light rifles. 

The “mountain rifle” I’ve taken more big game with than any other is a New Ultra Light Arms Model 24 .30-06, which has a 24-inch Douglas No. 2 contour barrel, measuring 0.6 inch at the muzzle. This is far from a being toothpick, and in fact is just about the same size as the standard (not Featherweight) pre-’64 Model 70’s barrels. Yet the NULA weighs slightly less than 6 1/2 pounds with a typical 12-ounce, 3-9x hunting scope, due to a Kevlar-based synthetic stock weighing 24 ounces with a 1-inch thick Pachmayr Decelerator, and the total action weighing 24 ounces. In fact, the stock and action combined are almost as light as a pre-’64 Model 70 action. Thus more of its weight is up front, promoting steady aiming.

A more recent trend involves putting “dialing” scopes on light rifles. In the 3-9x range, these generally weigh about a half-pound more than traditional “set and forget” 3-9x scopes–about as much as a cup of water. A couple years ago I decided to try a 22-ounce Nightforce 3-10×42 SHV on the NULA .30-06, which increased the overall weight to exactly 7 pounds—still within the definition of “mountain rifle.” 

I also used detachable steel Talley rings, so the Nightforce could be easily switched out for other scopes—mostly because I often use the NULA to test new scopes. Its combination of fine accuracy and substantial recoil quickly reveals any mechanical faults—one reason I decided to try the rugged SHV for general use. 

Another factor I discovered after hunting with lightweights for several years is they don’t group as well with the fore-end placed on a harder front rest—and even a well-packed sandbag can be considered hard with 7-pound rifles.  Eventually I tried folding the terrycloth towel in my range bag and draping it over the front sandbag, whereupon rifles that wouldn’t consistently group under an inch at 100 yards would start shooting much smaller groups. In fact, I own sub-7-pound rifles that will group three shots into around an inch at 200 yards, including the .30-06, and a couple that group even better. 

Hunters are fond of pointing that benchrests are scarce in the field—but that doesn’t mean we have to shoot off a hard rest. To a certain extent this includes bipods, the portable equivalent of a mini-benchrest—and in the semi-vertical country where a really light rifle makes a difference, I prefer not to increase its weight by adding a bipod. 

Instead, my portable rest is the fleece daypack I always carry in steep country anyway, filled with stuff from lunch to layers of clothes. Bench-testing proved the soft daypack works just as well as a folded towel, and provides some degree of height adjustment. I’ve shot big game from 300 to 500 yards in varying terrain by laying the pack flat, or on its side, or standing it upright. But I also practice a lot with light rifles, both at the range and by hunting smaller game, because (again) they are not as forgiving of faulty shooting techniques.

Eventually many traditionalists accepted lightweight rifles, partly because of growing older (as luckier traditionalists do), and realizing carrying 9- or 10-pound rifles uphill wasn’t as much fun as it used to be. Of course, to really make a difference, older hunters need to lose a lot more weight than the 2 to 3 pounds of a really light rifle, whether from ourselves (which becomes more difficult with age) or our other equipment. Luckily, far lighter gear is available today, in everything from boots to packs. A lighter rifle, though, can definitely help reduce the load and, if we learn how to shoot it well, it should not handicap our accuracy in the field.

Today’s Top Mountain Rifles

Today’s mountain rifles are lighter, easier to shoot, and more accurate than ever. Here are a few of the best, all of them weighing less (often much less) than 7 pounds.

Weatherby Mark V Backcountry Ti: Tipping the scales at less than 5 pounds, this rifle has an action machined from titanium, a carbon stock, and a fluted 24-inch barrel. A shock-absorbing 3D-printed butt pad and muzzle brake help tame recoil. It comes in 13 calibers.

Nosler M48 Mountain Carbon:  This 6-pound rifle mates the M48 action to a match-grade carbon-wrapped 24-inch barrel and pillar beds it into a Granite Green Ultra-light Mountain Hunter stock. All steel surfaces are Cerakoted, and the rifle comes with a sub-M.O.A. guarantee with Nosler ammo.

Kimber Mountain Ascent: This ultra-lightweight rifle has a 24-inch stainless steel fluted barrel, adjustable trigger, and reinforced carbon fiber stock. The 84L action has a 3-position safety and Mauser-style claw extractor. The base rifle weighs an astonishing 4 pounds 13 ounces and comes in 10 calibers.

Browning X-Bolt Pro Tungsten: Weighing in at 6 pounds 1 ounce, this rifle has a full 360-degree carbon fiber wrap stock with compressed foam core. The 22-inch stainless barrel and receiver are finished in Tungsten Cerakote, which is also on the exterior of the stock for added protection. Additional features include a detachable magazine and spiral-fluted bolt with enlarged knob. 

Sako 85 Carbonlite: The 85 Carbonlite is the lightest Sako rifle ever produced, featuring a carbon-fiber stock with a soft-touch surface, and right-hand palm swell and cheek piece. These rifles have a 20¼-inch barrel, detachable magazine, and lightweight aluminum trigger guard.

HS Precision PHL: The Professional Hunter Lightweight from HS Precision weighs less than 6 pounds. With a Pro Series  action, 22-inch 10X cut-rifled barrel and detachable magazine box, it is designed to be easy to carry on hard hunts and comes with the company’s legendary ½-MOA accuracy guarantee.

New Ultra Light Arms M20 Ultimate Mountain Rifle: Built on an intermediate-length action, this rifle is designed for exceptional accuracy with .308-class cartridges. The action weighs just 20 ounces, the finished rifle about 5 pounds. A 3-inch magazine allows extra versatility for load development.

Remington Model 700 Mountain SS: A 22-inch mountain contour stainless-steel barrel and Bell & Carlson synthetic stock reduce the weight on this classic bolt gun to just 6.2 pounds. The 700’s innate accuracy and consistency are enhanced by the adjustable X-Mark Pro trigger. Comes in 7 popular calibers.

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New research proves that spending time outdoors improves our physical and mental health.

Photo above by Vic Schendel

August 4, 2020, marked a momentous conservation occasion in the United States. On that day the White House officially signaled that the long-pursued Great American Outdoors Act was, indeed, a reality, and the legislation passed into law on August 9. Representing one of the more significant  environmental investments in recent decades, this Act restores an impressive and permanent $900 million a year to the 1965 Land and Water Conservation Fund, while allocating an additional $9.5 billion over the next five years to support badly needed maintenance projects for the country’s national parks.  This legislation, supported by political elites and public entities on both sides of the proverbial aisle, represents a landmark decision for American citizens and the country itself. Perhaps it also signals what truly matters to the heart of the nation, emerging, as it did, in the caustic hurricane of contemporary American politics. 

For those in the conservation community, the value of maintaining public lands and our access to them cannot be overstated.  Hunters are a vital component of this community and embody a conservation ethic founded on the belief that wildlife is a public trust. But for this to be true, hunters and everyone else  must be able to access and utilize wild spaces where animals can survive and thrive. Whether we hunt, fish, forage or simply hike, we need our public lands; they are the legacy of every citizen, a true inheritance for future generations; and a vital necessity for that great majority who cannot own expansive lands of their own. 

Indeed, public lands in the United States are a relatively scarce commodity.  The majority of American lands–60 percent–are privately owned, and in some states the figure is over 90 percent. For many outdoor enthusiasts, finding a place to pursue nature engagements can be a difficult challenge, and this can be especially true for hunters. Each year hunters are forced to navigate a complex system of private land ownership; a patchwork of geography and opinion where attitudes towards hunting can vary widely and where access to even adjacent public lands may be effectively denied.  

But there is an even larger importance residing here. While we understand the value of public lands in terms of pursuing what we love, the wider benefits associated with maintaining our public lands and access to them are not as obvious as they might or should be.  As humans, we are fundamentally designed to be in nature. In this context, accessing wild spaces is, in fact, a journey home.

Certainly, there is something inside all of us that yearns for the beauty of the natural world; a longing that is fulfilled only by nature’s rhythms. We know the feeling of peace, unity, and wonder that washes over us as we crunch through forest trails, brush against dew-covered grasses, or smell the fresh earth rising beneath our every footfall. As we embrace the stillness of a forested wonderland, broken only by the melody of songbirds greeting the morning sun, something inside of us awakens. When we crest the mountain ridge we do indeed rise to new heights—of awareness and freedom. There is joy to be gathered everywhere when we journey afield.

While hunters have always understood these connections at some visceral level, it is only recently that these truths are being confirmed by medical researchers around the globe. Indeed, multiple studies reveal that being in nature can deliver a myriad of health benefits. This nature remedy can lower stress levels, reduce and prevent depression, improve physical health, and even enhance positive character traits, including empathy and generosity. Can anyone doubt that our lives and world could use a little more of these?  Indeed, numerous breakthrough studies are revealing what hunters have long known know to be true: humans need nature – it’s in our DNA. And this connection has never been more important than it is now.

Stress, anxiety, and depression have been on the rise in many countries,  – particularly in younger people, – for the last couple of decades. In the United States, between 2007 and 2012, anxiety disorders in teens and children increased by a startling 20 percent. According to the National Institute of Mental Health, one out of three young people between the ages of thirteen and eighteen are expected to experience an anxiety disorder. Meanwhile, roughly one third of Americans show signs of anxiety and clinical depression, according to the US Census Bureau. Even more disturbing, research presented in 2017 at the Pediatric Academic Societies Meeting revealed that the number of young people admitted to hospitals on account of self-harm or suicidal thoughts had doubled over the preceding decade.

These issues are now compounded by the COVID-19 pandemic. Mental conditions are being amplified in the current environment, and those affected by the virus– both the patients and their families– are said to be at high risk of developing anxiety and depression. 

Researchers looking at these overall trends have been unable to determine what exactly is behind them. They have yet to discover the definitive causal relationships. That said, a number of theories are gaining significant traction, many of which relate to the manner in which young people are engaging with the world around them.  Their principal access is no longer through experiences in small groups and in natural settings. Overwhelmingly, it is through the channels of technology, opening up a far different world of experiences, possibilities, and risks. 

Social media has connected people to a world where they are constantly aware of their peers’ successes. Meanwhile, by engaging in social media, individuals are, at the same time, constantly broadcasting requests for attention; requests that may be applauded, ignored, or even attacked. The psychological consequences can be devastating. Before social media, if you were being bullied at school, you at least knew you could escape that bully when you went home at the end of the day. In our current, interconnected world, there is no longer any escape. Technology has taken us prisoner in a cage of our own making.

Likewise, the many woes of the world are now livestreamed constantly into our homes and most of what appears in the media, unfortunately, only highlights the most negative aspects of humanity. This is a dark lens through which new generations can only see the world for the terror it may hold, and not for the beauty and compassion it also maintains. Underlining all of this is the fact that, increasingly, we are becoming a society that is constantly plugged in, hypnotized by our computers and our phones. All of this disconnects us from the natural beings we truly are.

Not surprisingly, many researchers are now pointing to an overall link between the rise in mental disorders and the use of social technologies; and with society’s disconnection from nature more generally. In fact, a recent study found that people living in urban settings have a 40 percent higher risk of experiencing mood disorders, and a 20 percent higher risk of experiencing anxiety disorders, when compared to people who live closer to nature.

A study conducted in 2015 compared the brain activity of individuals after they had walked for a 90-minute period in either an urban or a natural setting. Findings revealed that those who had walked in a natural setting demonstrated lower activity in the section of the brain typically associated with a fixation on negative thoughts. Another study on children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), found that children who spent time in nature were able to effectively increase their attention span. 

Utilizing these insights, medical doctors are going so far as to prescribe time in nature to help cure people of the mental and emotional issues they may face. This growing field, known as ecotherapy, involves incorporating regular time outdoors to serve as therapeutic sessions in relieving a variety of medical ailments. It seems clear that even though our societies have become increasingly industrialized and our lives more urban, we, as a species, were fundamentally stitched together in a natural world and our bodies and minds remember and quietly long for this connection.  

While many of these findings may not seem particularly surprising to hunters, having evidence-based research supporting the therapeutic effect of nature is of profound importance and presents an extraordinary opportunity. The hunting community should not only embrace these findings, but work as ambassadors to communicate them. The insights emerging today have the potential to serve as a rallying point around which a larger community of citizens may stand for something that is critically important to hunters: access to the wild beauty, the sustainable wild food provisioning, and restorative power our public lands.

The signing of the Great American Outdoors Act is a win for all citizens and a testament to what can be achieved through popular and political will. We must never stop fighting to protect our public lands. Our health and well-being rely on it.

On good days, we believe we can win this fight. The signing of the Great American Outdoors Act was more than just a good day, for hunters.  It was a great day, for us all. 

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When choosing a cartridge in the 6.5 family, remember that velocity matters, but so does energy.

In the 1890s two parallel developments, smokeless powder and jacketed bullets, delivered unprecedented velocity and performance. The world’s military powers scrambled to replace large-caliber blackpowder cartridges with smaller smokeless cartridges that increased range. Several countries adopted 6.5mm (.264-inch) cartridges, and hunters soon found them effective.

As a sporting cartridge, the most widespread of the early 6.5mms is the 6.5×55 Swedish Mauser. Although never wildly popular in America, it has always retained a following. Until recently, most domestic 6.5mm cartridges have failed; the 6.5×55 was pretty much the only 6.5mm with lasting impact in the U.S. My, how things have changed! Since the introduction of the .260 Remington in 1997, seven more factory 6.5mm cartridges have been introduced.

It’s too early to know if all of these will achieve long-term commercial success but, clearly, the 6.5mm is “in.” The early military 6.5mms were developed with heavy 156- to 160-grain bullets, delivering amazing penetration. These were round-nose bullets; sharp-pointed and boattail bullets were later developments. However, by tradition, 6.5mm bullets have always been long and heavy-for-caliber. Mate these qualities with modern bullet aerodynamics, and you have the primary basis not just for the 6.5mm’s resurgence, but for its ascendance in popularity.

The 6.5mm Creedmoor is easily the most popular of the “new” 6.5mms, a market-grabbing wunderkind that is probably the most popular 6.5mm cartridge ever. I have one, a Mossberg Patriot that shoots very well. However, the 6.5mm Creedmoor, the old 6.5×55, and the .260 Remington are almost triplets in ballistic performance. With its shorter case, the Creedmoor is best suited to the new longer and more aerodynamic long-range bullets. However, in accuracy, range, and power, these three are too similar to argue about. None of them are fast, all pushing 140-grain bullets at about 2,700 fps.

The 6.5mm Creedmoor was developed as a long-range target cartridge, its case short to accommodate long bullets in short actions. The intent was to remain supersonic as far out as possible, yet with mild recoil. Accurate and efficient, it’s a wonderful long-range target cartridge. It’s also a great hunting cartridge, with plenty of energy for deer-size game at moderate ranges. Despite the hype, the Creedmoor is not an extreme-range hunting cartridge. It is also not an ideal elk cartridge, although it is adequate at modest distances. Personally, I think any 140-grain bullet is on the light side for elk-size game. Better be careful! 2,700 fps is not fast, and remember: The formula that derives kinetic energy (foot-pounds) uses the square of velocity.

So, using the same 140-grain bullet, a cartridge that develops just 300 additional fps yields a lot more energy. Specifically, a 140-grain 6.5mm bullet at 2,700 fps yields 2,266 ft-lbs of energy. The same 140-grain bullet at 3,000 fps yields almost 2,800 ft-lbs–and, zeroed at 100 yards, has nearly a foot less drop at 400 yards. These are significant differences. This was brought home by two incidents in the last year, odd in this pandemic year, when I’ve done very little hunting.

In January I shot a whitetail in central Mexico with Armando Klein of Sierra Madre Hunting. I used his rifle, a well-scoped (and dialed-in) Blaser in 6.5mm Creedmoor (a nice camp rifle!). My buck was ranged at 300 yards across a canyon. The first bullet struck a bit low in the chest, and I quickly shot again with a slightly higher hold.

Between preparation and shot the buck moved a bit and was in deep shadow under some oaks. After we reached the deer, we ranged back and discovered the shot was actually 325 yards. This doesn’t sound like much difference (and isn’t). But, because of its low initial velocity, past 300 yards the Creedmoor drops quickly, and distance calls must be ever more precise. For my first shot to have been perfect, I needed to know it was 325 yards, and I should have dialed up a couple more clicks.

In September I had a Montana mountain goat tag. I drew a great area, and a wonderful local outfitter, Ryan Counts, had good horses to get my old knees up the mountains. I never doubted whether I would get a goat, but I drew a tricky shot. We’d been on the billy most of the day, and he was steeply uphill in a cliffy place where, if he hung up, recovery might be suicidal. So, we had to wait until late afternoon, when he came down to feed, to make sure he would roll down to a place we could safely reach.

God bless angle-adjusting rangefinders. The shot was steeply uphill at 468 yards, but actual shooting range was 410 yards. Simple enough: just crank the scope’s dial and shoot. Except: A bright, sinking sun was precisely in my eyes and scope. I’d be on him, then the scope would go black and, in near-panic, I’d have to start over. This is real field shooting, not a known-distance range. You get the shot you get! The goat was scampering along a steep cliff. The range wasn’t changing much, but there was no way to keep him in the field of view, manage the awful light, and dial the range!

I was shooting an AllTerra rifle in the proprietary 6.5mm SST, with a 143-grain ELD-X at 3,025 fps. I knew the bullet drop was 20 inches at 400 yards. I gave a little daylight over the withers, hit the goat hard, and then hit him again. Another real field situation: Ryan and I were lying over a boulder in a sheltered valley, where it was dead calm. Up in the rocks there was nothing to indicate wind. When we climbed up to our goat, we realized that, up there, the wind was howling. No wonder my first shot struck to the left, too far back, but nobody could have called that wind. This was another situation where extra velocity and energy matter!

Modern 6.5mm cartridges run the gamut, from Creedmoor and cousins on up to large-cased and super-fast cartridges like the 26 Nosler and 6.5-.300 Weatherby Magnum. I’ve hunted with both and I have a 6.5-.300, an awesome tool that shoots as flat as any cartridge on the books. However, it has recoil and blast, and requires a long action and long barrel, so is heavy.

In between, there are several cartridges that I have come to consider as being in the “sweet spot” for 6.5mm performance: About 3,000 fps with a (more or less) 140-grain bullet. This is not a new level of 6.5mm performance, achieved by both old and new cartridges. Charles Newton’s .256 Newton (.264-inch bullet) came close in 1913, but Newton’s several rifle ventures failed. This is the level of performance of the .264 Winchester Magnum (1958), and also the European 6.5x68mm (1939). Although rare in this country, the 6.5×68 is a great cartridge, preferred by many European hunters for chamois. Although it hasn’t been popular for many years, I still have a soft spot for the old .264. I had one when I was a kid, and still have a good one. The 6.5mm Remington Magnum (1966) comes pretty close, one of the first “short-action magnums.”

Don’t like any of these old-timers? No problem. There are several new, ultra-modern cartridges that do exactly what the .264 (and 6.5×68) did decades ago. The cool little 6.5-.284 Norma, based on the short, fat .284 Winchester case with rebated rim, almost gets there. 3,000 fps with 140-grain bullets is exactly what 2018’s 6.5mm PRC (Precision Rifle Cartridge) does. The brand-new 6.5mm Weatherby RPM (Rebated Precision Magnum) exceeds this velocity.

If factory-available cartridges don’t appeal, you can take a step back in time to the 6.5-06. Based on the .30-06 case necked down to .264, the 6.5-06 was first wildcatted nearly a century ago. Exact velocities always depend on who is doing the loading, and barrel length, but the 6.5-06 is at least as close as dammit to producing 3,000 fps with a 140-grain bullet.

It’s amazing none of the “majors” picked up on the 6.5-06, but with 1920s propellants, it was overbore capacity and, until very recently, 6.5mm bullet selection has been limited. Art Alphin of A-Square standardized the 6.5-06 in 1997, so its proper name is 6.5-06 A-Square. There are no factory loads, so it’s somewhere between proprietary and wildcat—but it remains popular among serious handloaders.

There are other wildcat and proprietary choices. The cartridge I used on my Montana goat is the 6.5mm SST (Sherman Short Tactical), a proprietary of Sherman Wildcat Cartridges. The 6.5mm SST is based on the 7mm RUM case shortened. With the efficiency of its short, fat case, it exceeds 3,000 fps with 140-grain bullets. The AllTerra rifle I used is extremely accurate, and I appreciate that it fits into a short action and struts its stuff from a shorter barrel.

There are now many cartridge choices in 6.5mm (maybe too many). Some are modern in design, others archaic. As a hunting cartridge, I’m convinced the ideal 6.5mm velocity combining flat trajectory and downrange energy with tolerable recoil is around 3,000 fps with (roundabout) 140-grain bullets. I haven’t messed with all the cartridges that do this and probably will not, but, provided good accuracy in a given rifle, all will provide good service on deer and mountain game. All are also adequate for elk, although perhaps not at long range. My old .264 Winchester Magnum is extremely accurate, and I have no problems getting handloaded 140-grain bullets past 3,000 fps–which is why I haven’t abandoned it in favor of a cartridge with a more modern case design.

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It may not be the most beautiful of Africa’s plains game, but the hartebeest is fascinating and challenging to hunt.

Photo above: A Cape hartebeest. Photo by Dirk de Bod

Among the millions of words I’ve written about African hunting, this is the first piece I’ve devoted specifically to the hartebeest. This is odd, because I’ve spent a lot of time hunting and observing them, and, on most safaris anywhere in Africa, one or another hartebeest is likely to be encountered.

Long-legged and tall in the shoulder, the hartebeest is not among Africa’s more beautiful antelopes. But its thick horns, usually with sharp turns (rather than smooth curves) are unusual and interesting. So is the animal. With a distinctive “pogo-stick” gait (much like the stott of a mule deer), the hartebeest clan is among the fleetest of antelopes, especially over distance, and they are usually wary and difficult to approach.

Relying primarily on vision and mobility for security, the hartebeest prefers open plains or mixed thornbush. Always a grazing herd animal, primary requirements are grass and water. They are not found in the forest zone, and although they do fine in semi-arid country, they are not found in the Sahara. Otherwise, one or another hartebeest is found in most hunting areas. Top to bottom and east to west, the various races of hartebeest (genus and species Alcelaphus bucelaphus) are probably the most widespread of Africa’s large antelopes.

The hartebeest appears slab-sided, narrow through the chest, so they are deceptively heavy. Bulls of the plentiful Cape hartebeest race of southern Africa weigh about 350 pounds. The East African races average a bit smaller, while the hartebeest of Central Africa are the largest, with mature bull up to 450 pounds.

As is often the case with species that have multiple similar races, science and our various hunters’ record-keeping systems aren’t always in accord. However, science and the venerable Rowland Ward book are pretty well in sync, identifying eight “genuine” subspecies. The type specimen, the Atlas or bubal hartebeest, was most recently confined to the Mediterranean coast from Tunisia to Morocco. This has been a tough neighborhood for wildlife, and this race became extinct about 1930. Also questionable is the tora hartebeest, found along the Blue Nile where Eritrea, Sudan, and Ethiopia join. At best, numbers are very low, and some authorities believe this hartebeest is also gone.

The six races currently huntable  are: red or Cape hartebeest, common in Namibia, South Africa, and Botswana; Lichtenstein hartebeest, from central Tanzania south through Mozambique and southwest through Zambia; Coke hartebeest (kongoni in Swahili) from northern Tanzania up through central Kenya; Lelwel hartebeest from Uganda westward to northern Cameroon; and western hartebeest on west to Senegal. All of these hartebeests occupy large ranges and, in general, are not scarce. There is also the Swayne hartebeest, still huntable, but with local distribution in Ethiopia’s Rift Valley.

Complicating things, there are also natural hybrids where major subspecies come together. Neumann hartebeest is a natural hybrid between Swayne and Lelwel, hunted in southwestern Ethiopia; and the Kenya highland hartebeest (not hunted since Kenya closed) is a natural Coke-Lelwel cross. Jackson hartebeest is probably also a Coke-Lelwel cross, occurring from northwestern Kenya into Uganda. Locally, hartebeest in eastern Uganda are called Jackson, but record-keeping organizations consider them Lelwel.

Among the races, normal horn conformation and body color are distinctive, but with too much variance to always be definitive. Cape hartebeest are typically dark mahogany, with thick horns that grow up and back, then bend forward, and finally turn sharply back. Lichtenstein hartebeest are lighter in color, with short, thick horns that typically end with near-parallel tips. The Coke hartebeest, which I only hunted in Kenya, is reddish-tawny with lighter legs and hindquarters, and the weirdest horns of all, growing up and outward, and then turning abruptly up or back. The Lelwel hartebeest is similar in color, but larger, with horns more similar to the Cape variety. Western hartebeest are more uniformly tan, though distinctive with a while line between the eyes, with massive horns, U-shaped from the front, and ending with backward-pointing tips.

Both males and females carry similar horns, so judging is tough. On bulls, the penis is quite far back and not always readily visible, and vegetation often obscures this irrefutable evidence. It takes experience; you must look at many to get the hang of it. The primary means to locate a bull is mass of the horn bases, often almost completely grown together. Females can have impressive horns, but never with the mass.

Regardless of race, hunting hartebeest is a matter of painstaking glassing and then a careful approach, keeping out of sight until within range. When hunting from horseback was common, early hunters noted that, when approached, hartebeest would seem to drift slowly away, but their ability to cover ground was deceptive: The horses would be worn out before any distance was closed. Provided there’s enough cover, whether vegetation or terrain, my experience is you can often close for a shot–the first time. If that doesn’t work, unless you’re desperate for camp meat or a bull appears really spectacular, once hartebeest start drifting away, it’s wiser to wave off and keep looking.

I’ve waved off lots of times, but it never hurts to try. We see a lot of hartebeest out on the floodplains of Mozambique’s Coutada 11. Sometimes distribution of African animals makes no sense: This area is below the Zambezi, which is a major natural barrier. So, I’ve always thought the hartebeest there should be the Cape hartebeest of southern Africa, but they are pure Lichtenstein, stockier and lighter in color. They’re plentiful, but horns are rarely huge. One morning Mark Haldane and I saw a giant, heavy with amazing tips, huge for a Lichtenstein. Well, of course we had to have him, but he was in a big group way out on the floodplain, zero cover and windy. We tried a half-dozen approaches; I don’t think we got within 600 yards.

We let them drift off and settle down, and started walking toward them at an oblique angle, carrying two sets of sticks. Amazingly, we closed to 375 yards. With one set of sticks under the butt, the other under the fore-end, I held a bit high and a bit more into the crosswind and dropped him with a Blaser .270.

Because hartebeest tend to be open-country herd animals, identifying and isolating a bull for a shot is often the hard part, and they are nervous, seeming to have a longer “flight” radius” than many antelopes. So, shots tend to be longer. I’ve taken a fair number beyond 300 yards, farther than usual for shooting in Africa, and always because that’s as close as we could get! That said, I’ve never considered hartebeest especially hardy. Any accurate, well-scoped plains game rifle from 6.5mm to .30-caliber should work fine, and I’ve taken several with 7mms and .270s because those are favorite calibers I often carry.

Since they are relatively narrow through the chest, given a choice I prefer bullets that open fairly quickly but, like everything else, it’s more a matter of shot placement than precise caliber or bullet. And, if shot placement is poor, a hartebeest can give you a long day. Years ago, in the Selous, hunting with Cliff Walker, I made a bad shot on a Lichtenstein hartebeest. The trail took us into a dense thicket line and led us on and on. We jumped the animal several times, too thick to shoot, and now we were losing daylight, and we lost the spoor. I cast one way, Cliff another. The bull jumped up just in front of him and he dropped it at about ten feet with his .577 double. That worked, but usually hartebeest don’t require quite that much power.

A hartebeest isn’t usually a difficult antelope to find, but density varies widely. Across several safaris to C.A.R. I never had a chance at a Lelwel, although I finally got a “Jackson” in Uganda. Pretty much the same with western hartebeest: Saw few in northern Cameroon and almost none in Burkina Faso, seemingly the least common of the large antelope present, but I did get a good one on my third hunt in Cameroon. Although the books say the Lelwel is the largest-bodied hartebeest, the one western hartebeest I’ve walked up to was a giant, massive in the body, but that’s the only one I’ve seen up close.

In Mozambique, we can go to the floodplain on any day and see plenty of hartebeest. This is also true of many areas in southern Africa, but some places and times are better than others. Years ago, I was with Dirk de Bod in central Namibia and he told me there was a hartebeest migration passing through just behind the Windhoek International Airport, at the time (and maybe still) an unfenced area. We spent a day there, and there were hartebeests everywhere: Big herds, small groups, hundreds! The end result was obvious so we took our time, looked around, and I got my best-ever Cape hartebeest. Getting a good hartebeest generally isn’t a mission, but it’s usually not quite that simple.

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Having your firearms appraised helps safeguard your family from getting ripped off after you’re gone.

When I reached Duke McCaa of Gulf Breeze Firearms by phone, he was in the middle of appraising a hunter’s gun collection. This isn’t particularly surprising, considering how many appraisals McCaa does a year and how in-demand his services are. As a licensed appraiser who specializes in firearms and knives, McCaa bounces around the country—from Rhode Island to Washington to Illinois and every other state—providing private gun owners with detailed appraisals of their firearms collections. 

In many cases, these appraisals are conducted after the gun owner has passed away, and McCaa often discovers that the owner never kept detailed records of the guns in the collection—records that could have helped put a more precise value on each firearm. Most gun owners can tell you all about every gun in their collection, where they bought it, where they’ve carried it, and what game they’ve shot with it, and they assume that after they pass away, their heirs will be able to sell it for its true value. But that’s not always the case; McCaa says that there are crooks and swindlers who are only too happy to take advantage of grieving relatives, acquiring collections at a fraction of their value while posing as legitimate appraisers. 

“It’s criminal,” McCaa says. “Many of the owners of these gun collections would haggle for an hour over $20 while making a purchase. When they die, these swindlers prey on their widows.” McCaa says he’s seen family members sell $250,000 collections for $100,000 simply because they didn’t appreciate how valuable they were, and because trusted the word of an appraiser who was ultimately out to scam them.   

Think of a good appraiser as an attorney. They know the rules, they know what you deserve, and they’re willing to serve as a voice of dissent when someone is lying to you. Most gun collectors are passionate about their firearms, and a collection belonging to a family member who has passed likely represents a substantial financial investment, but it also represents an important part of the collector’s life. There may be guns in the collection passed down from older family members. There may be guns that are rare and hard to find. Perhaps there’s a special rifle they carried to Africa a dozen times or maybe it’s the shotgun they used to hunt upland game around the world. Regardless of the size or value of the collection, there are those who would gladly pay your family a fraction of the actual value to make a profit. 

And that’s why you must have your firearms appraised—and the best time to do that is while you’re still alive and kicking. Sometimes the back story makes a big difference in the value of the gun. Was it owned by a prince, a celebrity, or a notable hunter? Was the custom work on the gun completed by an in-demand gunsmith? Having this information makes it easier to evaluate the value of a firearms collection, and that’s easier when the original collector is still able to work closely with the appraiser.

“If you have a gun collection, you need to have an inventory, insurance paperwork, and a maintenance schedule,” McCaa says. Compared to homeowners insurance, firearm insurance is relatively cheap—you can often cover $100,000 worth of guns for a few hundred bucks a year—and that’s an important first step in protecting your investment. Having a detailed inventory is critical in case of a loss, such as a fire or theft. 

McCaa, who has earned a solid reputation for being fair, provides clients with a “buy value” for each firearm, a number that is based on substantiated references regarding the value of the gun. A buy value represents a fair selling price. McCaa also offers to buy the gun at a portion of that price or consign it. This way, McCaa’s customers know he is willing to pay a high percentage of the buy value for the gun, or consign it for sale. At that point, the gun’s owner has multiple options—they can sell the gun to McCaa at the agreed-upon price, consign it, or sell it themselves. Whatever they decide, they’ll have a solid understanding of the firearm’s current market value. 

Don’t be fooled into believing that your firearm collection is too small to be of value and doesn’t require an appraisal. “I once sold three guns that totaled $150 in a week,” McCaa says. “That same week I sold one gun for $150,000.”

It’s rare that an appraiser has experience with evaluating both high- and low-cost firearms, and that’s one reason McCaa is in great demand. Appraisers who deal almost exclusively in low-cost firearms may not be equipped to properly appraise or sell a high-end firearm. Conversely, those who deal exclusively in high-end guns like Rigbys, Purdeys, and Holland & Holland firearms may not be able to accurately appraise guns that cost a few hundred dollars.  

Which brings up another point—can’t you simply have a friend who knows a great deal about firearms provide a rough appraisal? Not really, and here’s why: provided you trust the person (and you’d be surprised how many people will be tempted to fib on the price of a gun in the hopes of scoring a good bargain), someone who doesn’t understand true market value of a firearm won’t provide you with accurate figures. 

“I saw an appraisal sheet where the owner filled out the value of a gun at $587.25,” McCaa says. “Well, that’s what he paid for it at the store. That doesn’t necessarily represent the true value.”

McCaa says that he fields several calls a week to appraise collections, and that most of those collections contain 100 guns or more, although he’s done collections that contained far more and far fewer guns. He charges daily costs, including mileage, plus $25 a gun (except in rare cases where an extremely detailed appraisal is required). That’s on par with other leading appraisers, and while $2,500 may seem like a lot to spend having a 100-gun collection appraised, consider this: If those 100 guns are worth an average of $1,000 each, and you sell them for 75 percent of their market value, you’re losing $25,000 for no reason. And 75 percent would actually be a very good return without an appraisal. In reality, you would be more likely to get 50 percent, losing $50,000.

Should you have your gun collection appraised? The answer is unequivocally yes. If you pass away without getting an appraisal, the best-case scenario is that friends or family will offer up their best estimates of the value of your firearms. At worst, criminals will take advantage of your family at a vulnerable time, and the gun collection you worked so hard to piece together will end up helping to line the pockets of someone who has taken advantage of your loved ones. 

For more information on appraisals with Duke McCaa, visit www.gulfbreezefirearms.com  

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Take careful precautions to avoid run-ins with grizzlies if you’re hunting in their stomping grounds. 

Photo above by Vic Schendel

Hunters are most likely to experience bear problems in three broad-category situations: while looking for game, while camping, and while handling, dressing, retrieving, or transporting downed animals. The primary rule when hunting in grizzly or polar bear country is to always be alert for bears, and/or to “stay bear aware.” That these maxims are practically clichés by now is unfortunate, because clichés tend to go right through people’s ears, or at most receive a gratuitous nod. “Stay bear aware, right, got it. Will do.” The advice is good, but a bit too pat and vague to be very helpful.

A biologist friend likes to be a little more specific. He tells Montana hunters, “Think grizzly, and think defensively. Assume that grizzlies are in the area, and that an encounter is very possible. Anticipate scenarios and how you will handle them. Have your self-defense deterrents within reach, and know how to use them in a hurry. Practice with gun and bear spray before you go hunting. Know the guidelines for handling different types of encounters.” 

That’s an excellent start, but to really lower the odds of bear trouble in the key situations, we need to delve into more concrete details. 

In grizzly country, for instance, “being alert for bears” means not only scanning for actual animals near and far, but also looking closely for evidence that bruins are in the vicinity. Bears tend to leave plenty of sign. Claw marks raked into tree bark; tufts of hair stuck in the bark of “rubbing trees” and fence wire; berry bushes bent, broken, and imperfectly stripped of fruit; logs torn apart (by grub-seeking bruins); digs where a bear has unearthed roots or ground squirrels; large, oval bedding depressions in grass or other vegetation; half-buried carcass caches; and of course scat and tracks. Several scat piles in one fairly small area can signal that you are near a bear’s bedding site. 

Fresh tracks are important sign, of course, and it’s worth knowing how to distinguish a grizzly print from a black bear’s. Griz tracks are not necessarily larger, but the claws are usually longer than the toe marks, and the toe marks are jammed tightly together on a fairly straight line. Black bear toe marks are spaced apart and form a noticeable arc from large toe to small, with claw marks seldom longer than the toes. Remember, the idea here is to avoid bear trouble before it happens, so if you are encountering fresh grizzly sign or an abundance of sign, the smart move might be to change course or leave the area entirely and find another place to hunt. 

Be especially alert and ready to defend yourself when hunting in the following high-risk conditions: In thick, heavy cover (where a large percentage of sudden grizzly charges occur); along noisy waterways, especially in tall cover; and on high-wind days. If you are hunting along and suddenly pick up the whiff or stench of a dead animal, don’t investigate. Back up and move well away to avoid the possibility of running into a carcass-defending griz, which could very well react with a defensive charge. 

If you see a bear that hasn’t yet seen you, move out of sight quietly and leave the vicinity. If you see or meet a bear that sees you or approaches, stay calm, don’t call out or yell, don’t run or try to climb a tree, but do stand your ground and prepare your deterrent and/or weapon. If the bear doesn’t approach, slowly move back and away. Stop if the bear comes forward and stand your ground with weapons ready.

For hunters in grizzly country, one of the most potentially dangerous situations occurs after a game animal is down. This should be considered a prime-risk, red-alert time, and treated as such. (The risk is even higher if you are alone.) Have your bear spray at hand and your rifle or sidearm loaded, with a round chambered, and within easy reach. If possible, move the carcass away from thick brush and into the comparative open. If you are alone, stop, stand, and survey the surroundings every few minutes. Stay attuned to natural sounds around you, such as rustling brush, the crackle or crunch of leaves or twigs, alarm-chattering squirrels or scolding birds–any of which might signal an approaching predator. With partners, one person stands armed (with both spray and gun) and ready while the other does the field-dressing. If both people are needed to move or lift the carcass, at least one should keep surveying the surroundings during the effort, loaded weapon(s) within reach. When the gut pile is removed, it should be immediately placed on a piece of tarp or thick plastic drop-cloth and skidded as far as feasible (100 yards if possible) from the carcass. Bears will almost always go for a gut pile first. If you must leave the carcass, or part of it, for later retrieval, mark it with a stick and bright flagging tape. On the return trip, glass the flagged stick from a safe distance. If it has been disturbed, you know a bear might have found the meat. (Even better, attach a motion-detecting alarm device like a Critter Gitter to the carcass. The high-pitched alarm and flashing lights will ward off bears and other scavengers.) Whenever possible, pack rather than drag out game meat. Dragging leaves a scent trail bears can follow. Make plenty of noise while hauling out meat, to help alert and hopefully drive off any bears in the area.  

Another prime time and location for bear trouble is while camping, and in a camp, “bear trouble” can mean more than personal safety. Anyone who has returned from a morning’s hunt to find tents, sleeping bags, packs, camp stove, lanterns, and miscellaneous other (expensive) gear torn, clawed, bitten, crushed, or carried off knows a thing or two about bear problems. I’ve also seen boats, rafts, and even a float plane wrecked or damaged by marauding bruins. (We’re talking about all three kinds of bears here: black, brown, and polar.) Camp-raiding night bears are another, more startling and serious, kind of problem, and the rare camp-invading predatory bear should be considered a possibility. 

Start by positioning your camp wisely. Of course you want to be a good distance from any known bear trails or travel routes. Bears also use human trails, game trails, river and stream banks, and lake shores as travel and foraging lanes, so it’s best not to set up camp too closely to such thoroughfares. Whenever possible, choose a clearing for your tent site and avoid camping close to thick cover. 

Everyone has heard the basic rule: “Keep a clean camp in bear country,” but not everyone realizes what a clean camp really means these days. First comes a sub-rule: Don’t sleep where you cook and eat. Ideally, the cook site should be about 100 yards from the sleeping tent, but this isn’t always realistic. Sometimes 100 feet or less is the best you can do, and that can suffice if the cleanup is scrupulous. Locate your cook site so that you can see an approaching bear while cooking or eating. (Try not to cook or eat near thick cover, or where your view of the surroundings is blocked.) Note the wind direction and remember that a bear is more likely to approach from downwind. Never leave food unattended (even if it’s sizzling in a pan). Despite being large, even cumbersome animals, bears have a way of suddenly appearing out of nowhere, especially when there are edibles to be had. Don’t try to burn or bury leftover food or garbage. What’s left behind in the fire ring or covered underground is enough to attract a bear. Ursid noses are unbelievably acute. They can smell sardines inside an unopened tin; they can pick up meat, fish, or bacon odors from as far as ten miles away, given the right atmospheric conditions. Bears have been known to break into a car and tear out the backseat to get at a food-laden ice chest locked in the trunk.

They also have a peculiar sense of what constitutes “food.” One hunter’s backpack was carried off and torn apart by a black bear because the pack contained a tube of toothpaste, which the bear ate down to the cap. Scented soaps, toiletries, and sunscreens can also attract bears. Inside a tent, crumbs from a candy bar or sandwich, a pack of chewing gum or mints, can be and have been enough to draw in a scent-following bruin. All such items, including canned goods, garbage, game scent, and clothing permeated with blood or food aromas, must be separated from the camp and either hung out of reach in bags or locked up in bear-proof storage containers. For secure tree-hanging, the bagged items should be suspended at least fifteen feet from the ground, and at least eight feet away from tree trunks. Locked bear canisters can be kept on the ground. But remember, although they are “bearproof,” they are not scent-proof. In other words, to a bear they still smell like food. So a bear can should never be kept inside or near a tent. Place it on level ground at least 100 feet away. A covering of clean pots and pans can serve as a bear alarm.

One way to make safe camping much easier, especially for hunters who have game meat or hides to protect, is to use portable electric fencing. Initially, the purist woodsman in me balked at the idea of such contraptions in the wild, but I’ve come to see the sense and value of an electric fence in certain situations. Some modern units weigh less than ten pounds, take about twenty minutes to set up, and have a very good track record at keeping out bears, including large grizzlies, even when game meat or a carcass is lying within the perimeter. (I do know of three cases where polar bears have broken through electric wire and attacked humans. True security while sleeping out in polar bear country usually involves rotational night-watches with armed guards, even when fences are used.) For an excellent review of how electric fencing works and the best ways to use it, check out biologist Tom Smith’s article, “Protecting Your Camp from Bears: Electric Fencing,” available on the Alaska Department of Fish and Game website: adfg.alaska.gov. 

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There’s a model that’s right for everyone in Leica’s line of high-end compact rangefinders.

If you’re in the market for a high-quality compact rangefinder, check out Leica’s Rangemaster CRF line, which has a model to fit every taste and budget. All three of these models fit easily in any pocket and feature a rugged, robust design. They are made with crystal-clear, all-glass optics. The 7x magnification is a major advantage when you need to get a good look at game (many other compact rangefinders have magnification ranges of 4x to 6x).

At the top of the line (see photo above) is the CRF 3500.com ($1,199), which uses a high-end Class 3R laser to give precise, fast readings out to 3,500 yards even in bad weather. The latest Bluetooth technology allows you to use it with the Leica app on your smartphone and connect it to the Kestrel Elite or an Apple Watch, taking full advantage of the latest applied ballistics technology even when you’re far from civilization.

Then there’s the CRF 2800.com ($749), which measures distance to 2,800 yards and can be customized through the Leica ABC Ballistics app on your smartphone, providing you with holdover calculations out to 1,000 yards. You can also connect it to a Kestrel Elite weather meter and it will display windage corrections. The 2800.com and 3500.com are both equipped with full onboard atmospherics to adjust ballistic calculations precisely to your current environment.

The entry-level model is the CRF 2400-R ($550). Weighing just 6.5 ounces, this waterproof rangefinder is easy and intuitive to use and gives distance readings up to 2,400 yards and the equivalent horizontal range (EHR) as well, for accurate shots in steeply angled terrain.

Learn more at leica-camera.com.

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The fascinating, complex, and intelligent behavior of animals never ceases to amaze us.

Photo above by Gary Kramer/garykramer.net

The hunting world is full of contradictions, some more visible than others. One of these is how often hunters, in private, share their wonder at the capacities, intelligence, and emotional expressions of wild animals, and how infrequently they do so in public.  There certainly appears to be an unstated reluctance by hunters to acknowledge or celebrate the intelligence and emotional capacity of animals, especially when there is any likelihood the discussion will drift into a debate over the ethics of hunting itself.  It seems there exists a deeply ingrained fear that discussing the shared capacities of humans and animals is a strategic mistake, and we might acknowledge that, yes, there really is some risk to this. But, will engaging in such discussions always unleash more criticisms of hunting?  Isn’t it possible that demonstrating our careful study and acknowledgement of the complex lives of other animals might lead to a better understanding of hunting and hunters?

When we talk about the minds and emotions of animals, we usually refer to their sapience and sentience.  These are technical terms but are easy to understand. Broadly speaking, sapience encompasses thinking and intelligence, whereas sentience represents the capacity to experience emotions and feelings. Advances in modern technologies, from radio-tracking devices to camera-equipped drones, have been exploding our understanding of both.

Every day we see news features that present us with incredible examples of the amazing thinking and emotional capacities animals of all kinds possess. The constant barrage of new observations into the private lives of animals, combined with scientific advances to probe ever deeper into their behaviors and relationships to other species, is leaving less and less room for those who see animals as fundamentally distinct from humans or driven solely in their behaviors by that catch-all term, instinct. The great seventeenth-century scientist and philosopher René Descartes may have been brilliant, but his belief that animals were machines and incapable of feelings has long been laid to rest.

Hunters need to recognize that the wider public is seeing animals as less and less different from humans, and it isn’t all Bambi’s fault. Through the magic of new technologies, we are all seeing with our own eyes what formerly was hidden from view by distance, darkness, or depth. Hunters must join with this new awakening or risk being out of step, once more, with social change. That, I suggest, is where the real risk lies; not in sharing our own fascination at the thinking and emotional capacities expressed by the animals we pursue. After all, our investment in observing wild animals in their natural state is exceptional by any social standard. Hunters and anglers spend more time trying to understand how animals behave than most people, by far, and are rewarded by experiences and observations that only a small segment of society will ever encounter. That knowledge is something to be celebrated, not hidden.

Many of us are familiar with methods commonly used to determine animal intelligence. Perhaps the most widely known involve mazes and/or boxes, which the animal must figure out in order to be rewarded with food. Sometimes this involves the animal needing only to navigate through a series of twists and turns, while other times it can involve multi-step processes whereby tools must be employed or repurposed, such as pushing a button or lever to access a reward. Another common test is the mirror test, in which animals are exposed to their own reflection in order to determine whether they understand the mirror to be showing them a reflection of themselves. There is truly no shortage of variation to the tests that scientists employ in their search to understand animal intelligence, and their findings have been remarkable.

While most of us have already heard about the intelligence of great apes, a growing body of evidence now points to the intelligence of a much broader array of species. For example, a study published last year revealed that New Caledonian crows are able to engage in complex puzzle-solving and can plan three steps ahead. In the test administered for this study, the crows had to select a short stick from a tube, which they then used to get a stone out of a second tube, which they could use to weight and depress a platform to get a piece of meat. This test revealed an astonishing level of problem-solving and strategizing on the part of the crows.

Outside the lab environment, researchers have also been able to identify intelligence markers by observing animal behaviors–sometimes very sneaky behaviors! For instance, researchers studying squirrels have determined that they are capable of engaging in tactical deception. When they have a nut in their possession and they are certain that they are being watched, squirrels will pretend to bury the nut, going through the entire process they normally would–digging the hole, refilling and patting it down–all the while keeping the nut hidden in their mouth to bury later when they are out of sight.

These are just a few examples of findings from recent studies of animal intelligence. In fact, this entire field of research is snowballing. Across the board, from large mammals to insects, scientists are proving more and more that the thought capacities of animals are far beyond what we had initially assumed, with creatures demonstrating incredibly sophisticated cognition. Indeed, a study of manta rays in 2016 revealed these creatures can pass the mirror test, demonstrating self-recognition, considered a high cognition capacity once thought limited to humans, chimpanzees, and dolphins. Viewed against a historic backdrop in which we consistently distinguished and distanced ourselves from all other animals, these findings are exciting for many, and certainly challenging for some. Almost every hunter I know, however, can relate their own observations of animal intelligence, striking behaviors they have witnessed and struggle to interpret.

Sapience, or intelligence, is only part of the story, however; we must also consider animal sentience. While intelligence has been tested and proven in a variety of species, measuring the emotional capacity of animals has proven a more nebulous target for researchers. Nevertheless, there has been a litany of scientific ventures across a number of disciplines, including many within the field of medical research, which shed new light on the emotional lives of animals. Findings reveal strong evidence in support of animals’ capacity to experience a diversity of positive and negative emotions, including joy, contentment, empathy, grief, sadness, fear, anxiety, anger, and jealousy.

Elephants, for example, have repeatedly been observed displaying grief and mourning over the loss of herd members. In 2016, a doctoral student studying African elephants released a video depicting how, after the death of a matriarch, three different families of elephants came to the site where she had died in order to touch her bones. While we may wonder at the motivations, few observing such behavior doubt that it indicates a sophisticated level of emotionality. Elephants have also been seen protecting the bodies of deceased loved ones from scavengers, standing watch and chasing away any predators that approach. These behaviors have extended to offspring, predictably, and to other members of the herd as well.

In July 2018, a killer whale gave birth to a calf off the coast of British Columbia only to have it die just half an hour later. Visibly distraught by the loss, the mother refused to let go and instead carried the 400-pound calf, keeping it at the surface of the water as she travelled more than 1,000 miles over a 17-day period. Following this journey, it appeared the mother finally accepted the death of her calf, and released it to the ocean depths. The whale’s journey was a media sensation and while some dismissed the unique observation as insignificant, many people, including experienced scientists, did not. Whatever the mechanism behind the mother’s behavior, one has to travel a long way to avoid calling it what we would if a human mother and child were involved: mourning. 

Of course, to those of us who have a pet, these findings are unsurprising. When our dog greets us at the door, wagging his tail, we can see in his eyes and body language that he is happy to see us. Likewise, when he curls up next to us shaking as a thunderstorm rages outside, we know he is afraid and in need of comfort. When we ask him to sit, he understands and responds, but we know his intelligence goes far beyond learned commands. None of us needs a scientist to tell us our dogs are intelligent and can experience emotions; we see this firsthand every day. Nor do we need a psychologist to tell us how we feel about our dogs, or what human word best describes it. Why should we doubt that wild animals possess these same capacities? 

I believe current research is only scratching the surface in our understanding of the lived realities of animals. To me, this is incredibly exciting. I am thrilled at the prospect of learning more about the intelligence and emotional lives of other species, and I am not alone. It is these rich, interconnected layers of existence that speak to the beauty and mystery which are the magic in our world, and in our lives afield. This is something hunters never stop admiring, and must always fight to conserve.

With this in mind, I stand firmly in support of legal, ethical hunting, and I believe this remains the most natural and humane manner in which we can participate in the complex circle of life. I love wildlife; I always have. But I also recognize that we, like every species, must make our way, and I believe we should do so as naturally as we can. Most hunters I know feel the same way. And this love goes far beyond the appreciation of wild meat to a deeper gratefulness for the entire natural system we seek to engage. Many of my fondest hunting memories are not of harvesting a wild animal; instead, they are of simply being in and around the hum and buzz of a wilderness alive with incredible creatures. In the end, what we hunt most is the experience of nature, of being sometimes amazed at our own frailties and always enthralled by the capacities of wild things. 

As hunters and conservationists, let’s celebrate the beautiful and complex lives of all wildlife–those we hunt and those we simply admire–as we wander the wild places we all depend upon and enjoy. We can be excited about knowing wild species think and feel in ways much like ourselves. This does not mean we must somehow remove ourselves from participation in the drama of existence. However, it does mean that we may walk a little more humbly along the way. 

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No one knows who shot this incredible bighorn, or where it is today.

One exciting aspect of running a record book is coming across animals from long ago that seem to be shrouded in a mysterious fog. Photos of this bighorn sheep were discovered recently in the Sports Afield archives, which was recently moved and re-cataloged. Because the photo of this animal was never published in a regular edition of the magazine, it had been overlooked. 

After researching, we discovered it had been published in the 1953 Sports Afield Hunting Annual in a photo essay, with no information as to where it came from or, who owned it. The photos were taken by E.R. Augustin from Livingston, Montana, in the studio of Lenfter Brothers Taxidermy. Henry (Hank) Lenfter is shown. The photos were taken no later than early 1953 (and they may have been taken several years earlier. They show the various steps of mounting a life-size bighorn.

Longtime sheep guide and Hunting Application Services proprietor Larry Altimus estimates the ram scores 200-plus points, and several other sheep experts agree that it reaches this magical mark. To put this in perspective, the largest bighorn sheep ever recorded scores 217 2/8 Boone & Crockett points, and the minimum for inclusion in Rowland Ward is 170 points. A grand total of about forty rams have ever been recorded with a score of 200 or better.  

In the 1950s the US was not known for producing rams of this size; in fact, there is only one sheep recorded with a score of 200 points taken in the US before 1990, a ram from Wyoming that goes back to 1883. Only in 1990 did the US produce a second 200-plus ram, which came from Montana. According to Montana sheep aficionado Doug Dreeszen, the Montana bighorn season was closed in 1915 and reopened in 1953. Little is known about the exact season dates that year, but it is unlikely the ram came from Montana. The animal depicted is probably a Canadian ram, likely from Alberta. We have not been able to locate its present whereabouts, and for now it must remain in our collective imaginations, in that “department of mysteries” that every true hunter keeps adequately stocked with hopes and dreams that fuel the will for the next hunt or discovery. 

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