Skip to content

Maximizing Your Marlin Lever Gun

Old West-style lever guns used to be deer hunting mainstay. From Florida swamps to Alaska woods, they’re great brush guns—but they can be so much more.

Tips for Western Whitetails

It’s always a good idea to gather tips from other hunters. Make the most of your next hunt by considering these observations from past whitetail seasons.

October Coyotes – Don’t Miss Out on Primetime Conditions!

October, taking advantage of primetime conditions during the early months of fall can lead to some of the best coyote-calling action of the season! Throughout this article, I’ll discuss the coyote life-cycle and how it relates to early season calling, the relationship between coyote populations and hunting pressure throughout the year, and how these coyote characteristics affect the early season approach to calling coyotes.

BBQ Bacon Dove Bites – Recipe

It is Dove Season! And that means it is also time for having fresh game on the table. Dove can be a little tricky to cook. It is very lean, small and can be very “gamey”.

Night Hunting Hogs With a Suppressed Muzzleloader? Hell, Yes!

A couple of months earlier, Jones and I were on the phone talking about two of our favorite things–hunting and shooting. Jones told me about a friend with a ranch located in the Texas Hill Country north of San Antonio, and the guy was having problems with hogs and had given Jones an open invitation to come out and kill as many as he wanted.

The 6.5-300 Weatherby – Lightning in a Bottle

In 1945, Roy Weatherby introduced three cartridges that became synonymous with speed. That has always been Weatherby’s calling card: high velocity equals flat trajectory, and they’ve stuck with that concept.

Setting Up A Rifle For An Elk Hunt

If a hunter isn’t comfortable with his setup, the hunt is much less likely to succeed. Here’s how to pick the right tool for your next elk hunt.

Prepping for Fur Season – Coyote Tips from a World Champion

Amid the daydreaming, l work through the process of preparation, planning, and practice.  Executing this process with efficiency and attentiveness will often be the difference between a successful or unsuccessful season of stacking fur.  Throughout this article, I’ll touch on several key points in relation to this process. I’ll discuss how I use my time now to prepare, plan and practice for a winning season of calling and (hopefully) shooting coyotes!

First Deer of the Year

On August 11 a friend of mine from back East texted me and I responded that I was deer hunting. “Boddington,” he came back, “it’s August…around here we call that poaching!” On the surface, it seems crazy. Here on the Central Coast, August temperatures soar above 100 degrees and wildfires are headline news. Even so, it’s deer season! The “coast zone” rifle deer season opens the second Saturday in August. This year opening day was the 11th; it could open as early as August 8…but never later than the 14th. This is the earliest rifle deer season in the Lower 48!

The Most Versatile Gun in the World

But, why I really love shotguns is because they are so versatile. Seriously, if you can find me any other gun that you can shoot a quail with at 15 yards and also shoot a whitetail with at 150, I will be very impressed. Not to mention all the different gauges, styles and brands.

The 400 Yard Deer Hunter: Summer Prep Required!

Long-range hunting continues to gain in popularity. But just because you want to go long doesn’t mean dropping in bullets at 1,000 yards. Most deer hunters, for example, take their shots at 100 yards or less. Yet, if those same hunters could extend their range to 400 yards? Their chances at filling their tags would go up greatly.

Alaskan Bear Rifles

I love to look at Professional Hunter’s firearms; they show the rigors of day-to-day hunting life and are often beat nearly to death. While we all have our safe queens, I appreciate those beat up, well-hunted guns that invariably have a story to tell, be it that one shot that even surprised the owner, of those hair-raising tales of dangerous game at close quarters.

Hunting Your Best When Weather Is At It’s Worst: Tips for Success

Two things are certain in life: the changing of the seasons and hunters being out there when it’s happening. We can anticipate, prepare, and come out on top or get turned back to the truck early, defeated.  Use these 7 tips to stay one step ahead of Mother Nature and her varying moods this year:

Nikon’s New LaserForce Range-Finding Binocular: Quality rangefinding Binos for under $1,000

I still remember the moment. A package arrived at my remote home amidst the rough, high-elevation mule deer and elk habitat of my youth, dropped casually on the porch by the United Parcel Service driver. We lifted it, my brother and I, to a place of honor on the kitchen table, and carefully removed the contents from the packaging. Dashing to the back porch we pointed the new marvel at a distant hillside and exclaimed with glee at the result. It was the first laser rangefinder we owned, and it changed our hunting and shooting lives.

Field to Table: 3 Unique Ways to Make Venison Chili

By now, most hunters have their own “secret recipe” for venison chili. Sometimes, though, I think those secret recipes can be confused with boring – especially if it’s the same way you’ve been fixing chili for years.

Instead, look to trying one of these three unique dishes, which are probably unlike anything else in your cookbook. They’re sure to bring a different flavor, and maybe inspire you to change up that old secret formula.

Best Turkey Hunting Gear of 2018

Turkey hunting gear can make or break a hunt. With gobblers having some of the best vision in the animal kingdom, and ears that can pick up details that humans can’t fathom, it’s imperative that hunters have the right equipment to get the job done.

Here is some of my favorite gear for 2018, which helped me harvest five turkeys just last season.

Best Entry-Level Rangefinder: Vortex Impact 850 — Full Review

As Vortex’s entry level rangefinder, the Impact 850 outperforms its price point. As someone who does a variety of hunting, I look for diversity in my gear. I want equipment that’s going to function whether it’s spring or fall, archery season or gun season, and good conditions or poor. When it comes to a rangefinder, I’ll be looking for optics that can function for bowhunting deer, shotgun hunting turkey, and rifle hunting elk.

Field to Table: Prepping Wild Game In the Off Season- Canned Antelope

Talk to a hunter about eating antelope and you’ll get a wide range of responses, from complaining that it’s foul and tastes of sage to praising it with the highest of compliments. It’s one of the few cuts of wild game that inspires such debate.

Personally, I love antelope, and have a hard time understanding the complaints from those who don’t.

It’s incredibly lean, with fewer calories than a wild turkey and less fat than a whitetail. This is a common criticism from hunters, but it should be noted that other ungulates like elk and moose are even leaner than a speed goat. Sure, it’s no slab of grass-fed beef, but it’s no vegetable, either.

Legendary Sure Shot Game Calls Continues to Innovate: New One2 — SHOT Show 2018

Sure Shot uses a different style of architecture in how a call is built, going back to the companies first patent, for a double reed call held together by rivets. Starting in 1959, they won pretty much every calling contest in the world for a decade straight. Since that first duck call, they have expanded into many styles of predator calls, and continue to be used by hunters around the world today.

The CZ 550 American Safari Magnum in .375 H&H — Full Review

The mere mention of the word obtains my undivided attention; it is the concept of a hunting adventure in the wild places of Africa, and is undoubtedly my happy thought. The word safari is taken from the KiSwahili dialect of East Africa, and it simply means ‘journey.’ It represents the challenge of shooting a big-bore rifle and being in an environment where there are animals large enough to take your life with ease. The CZ 550 rifle is, in and of itself, a journey, in that it has its roots in the Czechoslovakian Brno ZKK 602 rifle, and has come a long way to get to the current inception. That ZKK 602 is still revered among those who enjoy the big bore bolt-action rifles; the action is considered as rock-solid and reliable as a Mauser 98.

The Best Binos for the Money — Vortex Viper HD 8x42mm & Impact 850 Rangefinder

When you’re planning a hunting trip there are few very important considerations — what gun are you going to take? What does the weather look like? How much will the tags cost? Equally as important as what firearm you’re going to take is what binos will you take? For a mid-range 8X binos, the Vortex Viper HD 8×42 are hard to beat.

Turning Clothing Into Gear — DIY Moose Hunting with Sitka Subalpine

Moose were the furthest thing from my mind at the moment. Cold water was at the forefront, cold water and the fact that I was falling. Yup, you guessed it – falling into said cold water. Good gear for a hardcore backcountry hunt is paramount to success and survival. Clothing is no exception, and should be given serious consideration.

How to Mount A Scope with Ease

Learn how to mount a scope. If your equipment fails you on the shot of a lifetime, don’t let it be the fault of an over-glorified Walmart greeter.

2017’s Top 5 Best Days of the Whitetail Rut

On the minds of hunters all year long, the rut is a magical time to be in the woods. And although every day spent afield is a good one, mark these dates on the calendar as some of the best for 2017.

The Ultimate Whitetail Rifle: Tricking Out Your Bolt Action for Fall

The whitetail deer has to be our most popular big game animal in the Continental Forty-Eight, yet the settings in which we hunt them, and the means with which we hunt them has got to be the most diverse ever.  Entire volumes have been written on what makes up the consummate deer gun, and while I’m not going to attempt to define that within this article, I would like to talk about some ideas to optimize your existing deer rifle, or perhaps to choose a different rifle in order to try a different means of deer hunting.

Top 10 Exotic Hunts That Should Be on Your Bucket List

Traveling to hunt is something I feel everyone should do at least once; it represents an adventure that can quickly make a hunter feel years, if not decades, younger. An unseen valley, an exotic species, perhaps the need for a different rifle or cartridge, it all adds a flair to the sport we love so much. Now, depending on where you call home, the destinations I’m about to list may or may not seem like an exotic place to hunt, but here are ten places that I’ve either fallen in love with or plan to in the near future.

Field to Table: Venison Philly Cheesesteaks

There’s a lot of science behind creating the perfect venison cheese steak, from thinly sliced meat to slowly cooked onions. Venison sandwiches can be a thing of beauty, but they can also be a nightmare. There’s a fine line between the two when it comes to deer, and it’s usually crossed when the lean meat goes from tender to leather.

Top Seven States for Public Land Whitetails

For deer hunters that have grown restless in their home state, finding a new area to hunt can be maddening. Instead of dropping your money on an expensive lease, though, look to one of these seven states as a potential public land whitetail destination.

Modern Hunting Bullets

Times change, and technology changes along with it. We hunters have an irrefutable connection with the past; we discuss our favorite cartridges — often with opinions based upon the experiences of our forefathers — and we long for the opportunity to recreate those hunts made famous in the hunting literature we adore so much. However, I feel that if our hunting heroes of yesteryear could’ve had the opportunity to use those tools that we now have available, they’d embrace them immediately. And among all the improvements we’ve seen in the last half century, I rate modern bullet development at the top of the list.

A Bolt-Action Remington Rifle & Scope Starting at only $399? Full Review.

The Remington 783 Scoped rifle and scope package might provide an answer to that dilemma of those looking for a good rifle at a great price. For less than $400, shooters get a quality rifle along with scope rings and a scope—everything they need to get deer season off to a good start. And, it comes with the scope and rings installed and boresighted.

Kids and Guns: Take Your Children Hunting!

Fall is here, your kids are back in school, and many of you are getting ready to hunt, and while you might enjoy that quiet time in the woods by yourself, I’m going to suggest that you shake things up a bit this year and let the kids come along to hunting camp.

Traditions Mountain Rifle – Review – Hawken Style Sidelock Muzzleloader

The Traditions Mountain Rifle is a Hawken style traditional sidelock muzzleloader with a double tenon wedge system. It is deadly accurate with roundballs, and is absolutely gorgeous for the $520 price. If you have always wanted a traditional style muzzleloader, this new entry to the Traditions stable is probably the one.

Marlin .45-70 1895GBL: Lever-Action Powerhouse—Full Review.

While Hollywood gave screen stars Winchester rifles, many real-life heroes carried Marlin rifles. According to the company’s website, Annie Oakley, Captain Hardy, and William “Buffalo Bill” Cody all used Marlin rifles. And, today’s 1895GBL carries on the tradition of providing great lever-actions to consumers.

Kimber Hunter .308 Deer Rifle (vs. Wild Florida Hogs) – New Gun Review

With deer season just around the corner, I thought that now would be a good time to review the Kimber Hunter, which is their entry level deer rifle of a very high end line. If you are a regular here at GunsAmerica, you’ve probably seen the ad for the rifle running on our homepage, and they sent me a review rifle a few months ago. Now that summer is pretty much behind us, it’s time to start thinking new deer rifle, and if you have the budget, the $885 MSRP Kimber Hunter is an option you should seek out. Most people think 1911 when they think of Kimber, but the company started with rifles, and it is still a core component of Kimber Firearms today. The Hunter is the same action as the $1,400 Kimber rifles. If are have been looking for an upgrade this deer season, please watch the video.

Is the .30-’06 Springfield Dead?

In this day and age of short magnums, super-short magnums, long cartridges, fat cartridges and everything in between, it seems logical that some of our tried-and-true favorites may have become obsolete. So, is there still a place for the “old” .30-’06?

Gun Review: Stoeger P3000 Pump-action Shotgun

The Stoeger P3000 Pump-action Shotgun. If you need a waterfowl, hunting slug gun, or home defense shotgun, and are constrained by budget, this is a great way to pick up a brand new one for less than 300 bucks.

Factor LED Flashlights — Review

“Buy it. Try it. Use it. Abuse it.” And, “If you are not happy with your purchase, send it back to us for a full credit of your purchase good toward any other Factor Product.”

Mossberg Yetis–and We’re Not Talking Coolers–SHOT Show 2016

Mossberg had a couple of new shotguns to show off at SHOT Show 2016. These were all built on the tried and true 930 platform. One is a new compition gun that bares Jerry Miculek’s name and the other is a winter themed hunting shotgun. Both of these new lines are pretty cool and one of them is down right cold.

Deer Hunter’s Secret Weapon – Get ‘Em Quick

I’m sorry that I didn’t get this out quicker for those of you who have deer season kicking in this week in your state. This product, the Walker Game Ear, shocked me when I got to test it this summer, and I had in mind that I should run the story before deer season, because it is an absolute secret weapon. If you haven’t tried these things, they have super sensitive microphones embedded in them, so they not only protect your ears from your eventual gunshots, they also allow you to hear like…well, a deer.

Benelli 828U–The Future of the Over-Under Shotgun

Over and under shotguns have been around for quite some time and have changed relatively little over the decades. Cosmetically, the Benelli 828U looks like a slightly more space age take on the classic double, but the under the hood features are what stand out as the unique elements of this shotgun.

Bigger is Better: Glock 40 GEN4 MOS 10MM

Tired of all of the kerfuffle about the diminutive GLOCK 43? Had your fill of all of the hype about single-stack stopping power? Want a polymer pistol capable of stopping a Grizzly? Check out the GLOCK 40. This beast is big, capacity is not an issue, and it shoots the 10mm, which–when loaded right–is impressive. So how does the G40 handle?