Field & Stream No. 3 - 2020

Not sure about you, but I sure as hell can’t wait for deer camp. Typically, for me, the anticipation to get to our camp in New York’s Adirondack Park kicks in around late August or early September. Not this year. I can recall one particularly unproductive afternoon this spring when I killed a good bit of time scrolling through old photos from camp. I’ve also cooked and eaten meals that I usually save for our wall-tent kitchen in November. I’ve even had a couple of dreams about camp. All this, and it’s not even July yet as I write this. Must be an unforeseen consequence of being cooped up at home for the last 94 days. Not that I’ve been counting or anything… I will say that putting together…

Ralph Smith We sent Smith to camp for this issue—to a remote cabin in Minnesota where he took photographs for “Welcome to Camp” (p. 40) and the cover. “The cabin was really peaceful,” he says. “It was on a remote bluff at what felt like the end of the world.” Of all the shots he took, he says the one of whiskey by the fire is his favorite. “Maybe it’s the kid in me, but making big flames is a blast.” Phil Bourjaily Usually when we send Bourjaily on assignment, he’s the one hunting. But for “The New Faces of Deer Camp” (p. 96), he was just along for the ride with some first-time deer hunters. “They were a fun group,” he says. “They were all enthusiastic, not afraid…

FIRST SHOT Nosebleed Seat Photographer Nick Trehearne had been watching two big rams fend off smaller males that were trying to get the attention of the sole ewe that was in heat. “This was all fine,” Trehearne says, “until it was time for them to figure out who got her.” Their collisions echoed through the Montana valley, but for their final clash, this ram got distracted by the ewe and forgot to put his head down. The challenger smashed into his nose, and blood gushed. “He was dazed,” Trehearne says, “but he immediately went back to checking the ewe’s scent.” By then, though, the other ram had made his move.…

DO YOU GROW WEARY OF TODAY’S REDUNDANT RIFLE CARTRIDGE OFFERINGS?—Kenny Myers, Mt. Sidney, Va. No, I grew weary about 30 years ago, when I realized that if you can shoot, you are probably going to succeed, and if you can’t, it doesn’t matter a damn what cartridge you use BIG-GAME DOUBLE RIFLES ARE ALL SIDE-BY-SIDES. WHY ARE THERE NO OVER/UNDERS?—Michael O’Boyle, Shawano, Wis There are a number of very fine o/u double rifles, and Austrian custom gunsmiths turn out some truly gorgeous ones. They are beloved of Teutonic hunters. The double rifles with the real cachet, however, are the side-by-sides. I’ve never seen an o/u rifle in the field. WOULD YOU PUT A FIXED-POWER SCOPE ON ANY RIFLE MADE TODAY?—Jerry Sanders, Buffalo, N.Y. No. The only possible reason I…

SPEED IS KILLER. Shooters love to geek out over muzzle velocity just as much as bowhunters go nuts for compounds and crossbows that keep getting faster and faster. And that’s to say nothing of the natural speedsters we encounter in the outdoors—from a spooked pronghorn buck putting on the jets to a sizzling sailfish peeling line off your reel to a canvasback blitzing into a big-water spread. It was with all of that in mind that we decided to put together this bit of speed reading. So enjoy—and, please, take your time. 4160 Speed, in feet per second, of a 40-grain handloaded .220 Swift—the fastest round David E. Petzal has ever fired 1700 Speed, in feet per second, of a Remington Hypersonic—the fastest shotgun load Phil Bourjaily has ever…

THE KING OF 2 MILES is a big-bore event with targets ranging from 1,500 to 3,500 yards. The competition started in 2015 in Raton, New Mexico, where it’s still held, and has really grown. There are now Ko2M shoots in France, South America, South Africa, Canada, and Russia, and soon Ukraine and Italy too. My team and I won the stateside event last summer BEING A FORMER MILITARY GUY, an active hunter, and a Camp Perry shooter, I got tired of regular distances and wanted to push myself and my equipment even further. And what you learn at extreme ranges applies at more reasonable distances too. We’re out here in 2-, 3-, and 4-mile land, but what we’re learning is trickling down to military, law enforcement, and long-range hunters.…