Best Varmint & Predator Cartridges
Backcountry Hunting Podcast
What's your favorite predator and varmint cartridge? Do you use one for both? Or specialize with a favorite predator rifle and a different one for varmints? In this episode, I sit down with two professional guides to discuss great predator and varminting cartridges. We talk through the differences between the two, and address the various challenges and demands placed on cartridges, such as those ideal for minimal fur damage; those for maximum authority for competition calling, and those cartridges required to cover all tasks including crossing over into deer hunting. Becuase we...
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Lever-Action Hunting Stories & Trigger Work with Chris Ellis
Backcountry Hunting Podcast
Ever wanted a great trigger in your lever-action rifle? This episode we're joined by Chris Ellis, who has hunted from the mountains of West Virginia to the plains of South Africa with a lever-action rifle. Chris is a trigger man, and we talk through the crucial advantage that a crisp, reasonably light trigger provides in the field, along with the blessing that Timney's new lever-gun triggers are to hunters. We swap cape buffalo and American buffalo-hunting lever-action stories, and share favorite models and cartridges and bullets. Plus we discuss the new drop-in trigger models Timney...
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USE ENOUGH GUN, with Kiwi Terminal Ballistics Specialist Nathan Foster
Backcountry Hunting Podcast
What does "Use Enough Gun" mean? Especially when hunting elk, moose, and bison or tough game such as Tahr or feral cattle in New Zealand and Sambar Stag in Australia? A phrase originally quoined by legendary author and hunter Robert Ruark, "Use Enough Gun" means what it says. This episode, we're joined by terminal ballistics specialist Nathan Foster, who has dedicated his life to the study of how bullets kill and what cartridges and bullets are most effective for various tasks. We examine the "small-bore for big-game" trend, and Foster explains where it began and why it's so misleading,...
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Ultimate Bear Gun Build, with Alaska Arms' Morris Melani
Backcountry Hunting Podcast
What is the ultimate all-around bear gun? Is there a gun and cartridge that will handle all bears, in all situations? Whether hunting cross-canyon blacks in Montana or baited bruisers in Alberta, or coastal brown bears or interior grizzlies in Alaska? How about personal protection while hiking or fishing in bear-infested country? We think there is such a rifle, and it's even sorta affordable. Ruger's M77 Guide Gun has all the features a savvy bear hunter wants: controlled-feed action, compact size, powerful chamberings, backup sights, stainless construction, and so on. M77 Guide Guns are...
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Hunting Q&A: Bullets, Cartridges, & Rifles
Backcountry Hunting Podcast
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Planning & Doing a DIY Mule Deer Hunt, with Hunter McWaters
Backcountry Hunting Podcast
Ever wanted to plan and execute a DIY mule deer hunt on public land? Here's how to do it folks, as showcased by Hunter McWaters. Hunter is the host of The Hunter's Quest TV show, , and . Hunter talks us through getting a tag, the e-scouting process, creating hunt plans A, B, and C, planning and arranging gear, and finally putting boots on the ground and your hunting plans in action. We also discuss the importance of being ready to shift gears and roll with the unexpected; of preparing to chart and navigage long stalks in big country, and being able to make precise shots at...
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Live Q&A: 7mm Backcountry Cartridge Examined from Every Angle!
Backcountry Hunting Podcast
Inspired by all the interest in Federal's ground-breaking new 7mm Backcountry cartridge, we recently held a live Q&A with our Patreon members. Here are the great questions we fielded and discussed: Is the 7mm Backcountry, with it's 80,000 PSI chamber pressure, safe in traditional bolt-action designs? I wanted a .280 Ackley. Should I switch and get a 7mm Backcountry instead? Are 7mm Backcountry steel alloy cases reloadable? If so, how hard is that going to be? How does the cartridge's 80,000 psi pressure affect barrel life? Supposedly the 7mm Backcountry kicks...
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Hunting Bison In Alaska, with Jack Jaeger
Backcountry Hunting Podcast
This episode takes us far out into the Aleutian Islands off the west coast of Alaska's mainland, to hunt wild bison. Recorded audio-journal style, we're bringing it to you raw and unedited. Hunting by invitation with Jack Jaeger, who is designated to hunt buffalo for the tribal elders, we circumnavigate the island on a small fishing boat, landing in a skiff and hunting up from the coast when buffalo are sighted. With a big cow taken and the quarters packed out and hung to age, we weather howling winds and slashing rain, and then ascend into the Island's high peaks in an attempt to...
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Leupold's New VX 6HD Gen 2 Riflescope
Backcountry Hunting Podcast
Leupold just launched a new flagship hunting scope, called the VX-6HD Gen 2. Friends, I didn't think the first-generation VX-6HD could get any better. But by golly, Leupold has successfully improved my favorite riflescope. The new Gen 2 version has an improved, tool-less turret, a built-in throw lever on the power ring, and most importantly, it's now got the same internal guts and gears as Leupold's legendary Mark 5 line of precision/tactical scopes. In this episode, I sit down with Tim Lesser, Vice President of product development and marketing and get an awesome backstage...
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Commissioning a Custom Rifle
Backcountry Hunting Podcast
In this episide, Alaskan custom gunsmith Ray Saft and I dig deep into the various characteristics of actions, stocks, barrels, cartridges, and special chambers appropriate for a backcountry rifle build. To showcase the process of discussing and commissioning a custom rifle, we use a pair of in-process 6.5x55 Swedish Mauser mountain rifles, one with a titanium action and carbon-fiber barrel; the other with a skeletonized steel action and traditional steel barrel. This is part one of a three-part series we're doing. When completed, we'll discuss the rifles and upcoming test protocols...
info_outlineIs there a cartridge that will reliably knock a deer or elk or bear over? Not unless it's named Ford, Chevy, or Dodge. Or maybe Freight Train. This episode takes a candid look at the idea of "knock-down power," mythbusting the notion and detailing how to determine a cartridge with real authority.
We define and explore kinetic energy, the TKO formula, momentum, and of course compare the numbers generated by popular cartridges such as the .30-06, 6.5 Creedmoor, and .375 Magnum.
Next we detail common visible impact reactions and explain what they say about the bullet used and the impact location of the shot. True stories of mule deer, elk, caribou, moose, whitetails, and more are told to showcase each situation... Including lung shots, heart shots, gut shots, and spine/nervous system impacts.
There's no such thing as knock-down power, folks. But there's SOMETHING. This episode digs deep into just what it is. ENJOY!
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