Check out the cover for the newly renovated Western Hunter Magazine!
Category Archives: Information
Western Hunter Magazine Cover Photo Volume 11 Issue 1
Posted in Information
Tagged blog, hunting blog, western hunter magazine, western hunter magazine blog
Previous Cover Photos of Western Hunter Magazine
Posted in Information
Tagged blog, cover shots, hunting, western hunter blog, western hunter magazine
Google Earth App; a powerful tool to have! by Roe Hunting Resources
Join Chris Roe of Roe Hunting Resources as he explains the benefit of the Google Earth App. for hunting purposes.
Western Hunter Magazine Archery Editor Shawn Monsen-Super Peep, Do you or don’t you?
Posted in Information, Tactics
Tagged archery editor, archery gear, shawn monsen, western hunter magazine blog
How to Cape and Quarter Deer Video-Field Care
Posted in Information, Tactics
Tagged caping, caping your deer, field care, skinning deer
Learn How to Cape your Deer-Deer Skinning
Learn how to cape your deer
What to watch out for when booking a hunt by Field Editor Jay Scott
This article was featured in Western Hunter Magazine Volume 10 Issue 4
What to Watch Out for When Booking a Hunt
By Jay Scott, Field editor
As a professional guide myself and someone who goes on guided hunts, I’ve learned a few things over the years that will improve your odds of having a great guided hunt experience. This article may not make many friends with my fellow outfitters colleagues, but it’s something that has been on my mind as a topic to bring up to the Western Hunter readers. Below are some tips and things to watch out for while booking a guided hunt.
Communication
I like to take notes while talking with an outfitter about an upcoming hunt. Then I will send an email recounting our conversation, so that there is no misunderstanding about what I expect or what the outfitter expects. This may be your only guided hunt of the year, but your outfitter may have dozens of hunters booked and has probably had hundreds of conversations with prospective clients, so it will do you both good to have some documentation of your conversation.
References
Ask your guide for a list of past clients who you can talk to about their experience. Fellow hunters can give you an entirely different perspective than the guide himself. Everybody sees themselves and their operation differently. Discuss topics like the quality of the food, the camp, and even the condition of the vehicles used during the hunt. We all dream of tagging a trophy, but after three days of cold cereal and bologna sandwiches, it can get old quick! It is also important to talk to clients who were not successful during their hunt. Would these sportsmen re-book regardless, even though they went home empty-handed? If so, then you know the outfitter did his job.
Trail Camera Photos
While trail cameras can be an incredible scouting tool, they can oftentimes be the main reason a prospective client books a hunt. Remember that one photo at one period of time often doesn’t relate in any way to the success of the hunt. Just because the outfitter sends you a photo doesn’t mean the animal will be anywhere near the same country the photo was taken in. Be aware that the trail cam photo you have been sent might not even be the outfitter’s own photo. I’ve even seen less scrupulous outfitters use photos of successful hunters that they didn’t guide.
Other Clients
This is a big one for me when booking a hunt. If there are more than two people in camp for the same hunt, to me that creates a problem as an outfitter and a hunter. Realize that in any one given unit, an outfitter usually has 5-10 good spots to hunt. If you have to share those good areas with three or more hunters, you end up hunting the same country over and over. As a hunter, I want to be able to go to all the good spots the outfitter has located, not just one or two because there are a bunch of other hunters in camp.
Scouting
It’s best to check with your prospective outfitter to find out what hunts he or she has just prior to your hunt. I’ve heard way too many horror stories about guides showing up the day before the hunt because they were tied up on other hunts. I would ask my outfitter how many days they will be in the unit scouting prior to my arrival. I think a minimum of five days is acceptable.
Guide
I would ask which guide will be taking you on the hunt. If the outfitter can’t provide you with a name, then I would assume something fishy might be going on. For instance, it has been common practice for years for outfitters to book as many hunters as they can and then call around to try to find enough guides to cover the hunters. To me this is unacceptable, unless it’s fully disclosed up front. In my opinion, there is no reason that you shouldn’t be able to talk to your specific guide prior to booking your hunt. If the outfitter balks at this, I would be extremely suspicious.
Price
I’m a firm believer in you get what you pay for in regard to a guided hunt. If the outfitter’s price is way below the other competitors, then you need to ask yourself and the outfitter why that is. Guiding hunts in the West is very expensive; there is a tremendous amount of overhead with equipment, fuel, and time. A lowball price may reflect an outfitter’s lack of experience or it could just be a poor business decision, neither of which is a good thing for the client. Of course, just because a guide is expensive doesn’t prove that he’s that good either, so doing your due diligence with references is critical. I try to find outfitters that are right in line with the majority of other outfits offering similar hunts.
Equipment
For the western hunter, good optics equipment is a critical component to a successful hunt. I don’t think it’s necessary to have every little gadget available to be a good guide, but certainly having good quality optics is important to your guide’s ability to find and field judge your trophy. Also, ask specific questions regarding the type of equipment you should bring on the hunt. What type of boots, clothing layers, raingear, packs, optics, etc. You can’t ask too many questions.
Experience
Local knowledge is extremely important when booking a guided hunt. Trends of good areas and animal patterns/movements on past years’ hunts can be very valuable info. Be wary of guides who have never stepped foot in the area you will be hunting. I like to know that my outfitter has at least hunted one full season in my unit prior to booking the hunt.
Sales Pitches
One final item worth mentioning is to watch out for an outfitter who makes things sound too easy. I’ve found over the years that most hunts are a grind and never easy. If your guide sounds too optimistic, then you’re probably in for a doozy of a hunt. Keep in mind that Boone & Crockett standards are very high for a reason and that even seeing a trophy of this caliber is difficult, so any outfitter who makes any kind of guarantee of success on record book animals should be immediately suspect.
You
Finally, as a hunter going on a guided hunt, there are a few things you need to be responsible for. First, you need to be upfront with the outfitter in regard to your physical abilities and overall health. Second, it’s important to have a good attitude and be ready to follow the guide anywhere he leads you with a smile on your face. Lastly, it’s important to communicate with your guide as to your expectations for the hunt. I can’t overstate this – good communication usually leads to a successful hunt for all parties involved.
Follow more of Jay’s adventures at www.jayscottoutdoors.com.
Zeiss Long Range Hunting by Chris Denham
Zeiss Long-Range Hunting
The phrase “long range” has become the hottest label in western hunting. Most often it is used in reference to the act of shooting, but we are hunters, not just shooters. So, if you’re going to be successful hunting the open expanses in the West, you need to be thinking about an entire long-range system – not just about a rifle – because as the old saying goes, “You can’t shoot ‘em if you can’t find ‘em.” The system I’m referring to has many components, starting with your boots to your bullets, but let’s focus on one component and even narrow it down to one company – optics by Zeiss.
Folks may think that long-range hunting is a new idea, or at least new in the last decade, but it actually has roots going all the way back to the ‘80s. I still remember my introduction to this realm when, as a rookie sales clerk, I sold my first pair of Zeiss 15x60s. I was amazed that someone would fork over $1000 for a pair of binoculars, but to the Coues’ deer and sheep hunters in Arizona, armed with a tripod adapter, that was a small price to pay.
Binoculars designed for the western hunter have continued to evolve, reaching the newest pinnacle by incorporating a laser rangefinder. In 2008, Zeiss Sport Optics raised the bar way up high in this category with the introduction of the RF binocular.
I had the privilege of using a pair of the 10x45s that year on an archery elk hunt in New Mexico. The hunting was terribly slow, allowing me more time than I would have liked to fully test them. Using the Outdoorsman’s tripod adapter, I spent hours sitting behind them. I was continually impressed with the RF’s ability to repeat the same reading time after time on animals well past the 1300-yard maximum stated in the owner’s manual.
Being a right handed bowhunter, it is critical that you can operate the unit with just one hand (with the right hand in my case). Due to the location of the ranging button on the right-side barrel, it was a piece of cake to hold it steady and my finger just naturally fell on the button. I can’t overstate how important it is that all of the controls are easy to reach and simple to use. When a bull elk finally gives you that five-second window for a shot, this isn’t the time to be fumbling around with your rangefinder.
Everybody has their own opinion, and many hunters still prefer to have a separate rangefinder from their binoculars. I’ve been on many hunts when somebody forgot, lost, or broke their rangefinder. I might lend them my rangefinder for the day, but they are not getting my binoculars, too! Whatever the reason for deciding to keep your binoculars and rangefinder as two separate entities, Zeiss offers a solution with the PRF, incorporating the same impressive laser as is found in the RF binocular. At less than 11 ounces, it’s easy to carry and the 8-power optic delivers the image quality you would expect from Zeiss.
All of the high-performance optics companies offer a spotting scope with at least 60x magnification. However, early last year Zeiss began shipping a new eyepiece that, when coupled to an 85mm Victory DiaScope, delivered a power range from 20x all the way up to 75x! I will admit, at first I was skeptical; I just didn’t believe that the package could maintain a crisp, usable image at that magnification. I was proven wrong in the first five minutes I used it. Even in Arizona, with our heat waves and ever-present dusty haze, I was studying mule deer eyeguard length at over a mile. If you’re looking for the ultimate in high magnification performance, then the Victory DiaScope 85 with the 20x-75x Vario eyepiece is your package.
Now we’re finally getting to the hot products that has everyone talking – ballistic riflescopes. A riflescope must have one of two features to fit into the category of a long-range hunting scope, and those are either a ballistic turret or a ballistic reticle. Zeiss has a multitude of scopes in their full-featured Victory series and Conquest series, with a variety of choices in power ranges – enough that I can guarantee you’ll find a scope to fit your needs.
Custom ballistic turrets are pretty simple to use (difficult to make, but easy to use) and they all work about the same. Once you have a turret built for your specific rifle and load, you simply dial the distance and hold the reticle dead on to your target and squeeze the trigger. The real work is done in the setup stages, but that’s an article all by itself. One the other hand, ballistic reticles are very different from one company to the next. The Zeiss Rapid Z reticle is as fast and accurate as any that I’ve used. With either option, you really need to spend some time on www.zeiss.com. Zeiss has done a great job of demonstrating both products, with features and benefits.
As you can see, Zeiss offers a fully integrated long-range hunting system. As a company, Zeiss is committed to delivering products that western hunters are looking for. In fact, each product we discussed in this article has been introduced in some form in just the last three years. As exciting as the last three years have been, I have a feeling the next three will rock our world.
