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Discover the PG Ultimate All 46 Weather Rifle

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Reasons to Hunt Elk

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Mission Statement: Remington Country eZine is the ultimate media zone for sportsmen around the globe seeking the latest information and insights from the worlds leading outdoor brand. Remington Country eZine combines the best in writing, photography, and video to create the next generation of media experience for hunters and shooters seeking the most credible information to help them transform their outdoor and shooting enjoyment.

Copyright Remington Arms; 2012 All Rights Reserved

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Publisher/Executive Producer: Chris Dorsey Senior Vp Sales/Integrated Solutions: Shane Jones Chief Financial Officer: Amy Dorsey Post Production Supervisor: Jeanne Chisholm Chief Of Videography: Larry Sletten Creative Director: Peter Greenstone Animation: Erik Tande Art Director: Chuck Cole Archives: Jayme Holman Senior Producer: Kevin Fay Writers: Thomas McIntyre, Patrick Kleinen Research: Kelly Mclear, January Clark
Orion Entertainment is the largest producer of outdoor adventure programming and content in the world with dozens of series airing on nine national television networks. With a 25,000 hour global HD footage library, an archive of thousands of photographic images, and a team of the most knowledgeable outdoor and media experts in North America, Orion is the industrys only full service marketing solutions company delivering best-in-class content and intelligence on all existing and emerging platforms.
COVER & INSIDE PHOTO: Dusan Smetana

Still Photography: Marcos Furer, Dusan Smetana

Working the brush choked bottomlands of Nebraskas North Platte River in pursuit of whitetail. Plenty of corn, cover, and water is helping the state become known as a premier trophy whitetail destination

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Grand Slam Whitetail Strategies 4

Uncovering the secrets of the new quest to take North Americas 8 subspecies of whitetail.
TAB L E OF CON TEN TS

Pump or Autoloader? 40
If you dont have to chose, take both...heres why.

Waterfowlings Newest Hot Zones 14

Ducks and geese are shifting traditional patterns...are you?

The Ultimate All Weather Rifle 46

Extreme conditions often produce the best hunting. Heres a rifle thats up to the challenge.

7 Reasons to Hunt Elk Now! 24

Theres no better time than now to connect with the bull of your dreams.

Predators and Varmints 50

Could this be the best coyote rifle and ammo combo of all?

Uplands Glory Days 32

From the Midwest to the Southeast, many upland bird populations are booming...isnt it about time you got in the game?

Big Game: Top 5 Mountain Hunts 54

A bucket list of riflemans adventures.

Personal Defense 58
Why Conceal Carry Stops Crime

The whitetail deer is now, and we hope always will be, the big game of the common man. Lawrence Koller, 1948
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Grand Slam Whitetail Strategies

Master these strategies and youll never strike out on your quest for North Americas eight whitetail subspecies.

David Morris

ike everyone else, hunters are fascinated by lists and achievements. The most famed combination of the two is the Grand Slam of Wild Sheep, a term coined by the writer, photographer, hunter, and developer of the Boone and Crockett measuring system Grancel Fitz, and encompassing the taking of Dall, Stone, bighorn, and desert rams by one hunter. Since Fitz popularized the concept in an article published in True magazine in 1948, over 1,500 legally taken sheep grand slams have been registered. Out of that idea have risen grand slams in the five subspecies of caribou, the three subspecies each of elk and moose, and the four types of North American bears. The first big-game animal in North America, in terms of popularity and historical significance, is the white-tailed deer. In 1816 when he started building his own guns because he was looking for something superior to what he could buy on the market at the time, Eliphalet Remington no doubt had deer hunting in mind. And today one of the newest, and perhaps most difficult-to-complete grand slams is for the eight subspecies of whitetails. Biologists have identified eight different subspecies based on adaptation to climate and habitat and the effects on the deers body and antler size. The eight are Dakota, Desert (or Coues), Gulf Coast, Northern Woodlands, Northwestern, Seminole (or Florida), South Central Plains, and Southeastern whitetail. The total region they inhabit runs over four-thousand miles north to south, from the Yukon to Mexico, and is almost four-thousand miles wide, from Prince Edward Island, Canada, to the Pacific Northwest coast. Some specific deer ranges are easy to figure: Northwestern deer such as the Columbia in Oregon and Washington; Southeastern deer in the Old South; Gulf Coast whitetail. Broader definitions are the South Central plains which covers Texas, Arkansas, Kansas, Iowa, Nebraska, and other states. And the Northern Woodlands of Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois and on east. Such a vast region with millions of square miles of territory requires a variety of strategies for a hunter to consider, if he has any hope of taking all eight subspecies.

PHOTO: Dusan Smetana 4

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Still-hunting the edges of fields and heavy cover can provide surprising resultslike a bedded whitetail that sprung from a picked corn field.

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By the time a buck is truly trophy class, his habits and patterns of movement have become so different from those of ordinary deer that he evades common hunting methods effortlessly. John Wootters, 1977

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RANGES OF WHITETAIL SUBSPECIES

he first and foremost strategy for pursuing the whitetail grand slam is location, location, location. A hunter needs to know where the prime real estate for each subspecies of deer is found. For the South Central Plains deer there is the famed Golden Triangle in South Texas, covering the counties of Dimmit, LaSalle, Maverick, Zavala, and Webb, from where more bucks have made it into the B & C records book than from anywhere else in Texas. Similarly the Northern Woodlands has a Golden Triangle of its own in Illinois over Pike, Brown, Adams, and Schuyler counties, adjacent to the Mississippi River. This makes the records books a great resource for pinpointing where the biggest bucks are found.

Dakota Whitetail Desert Whitetail Gulf Coast Whitetail Northern Woodland Whitetail Northwestern Whitetail Seminole Whitetail South Central Plains Whitetail Southeastern Whitetail

Some of the deer categories in the Grand Slam, though, are not likely to show any record-book animals. A Seminole buck, for instance, would be very lucky to make it into the low 100s scoring-wise, far below the 170 minimum, and you have to look long and hard to find a Boone and Crockett buck out of the Northwest. This is when a hunter needs to search for other sources of information. Canvassing outfitters from the various regions The adaptability of the whitetail speaks to their is one way, if you would be interested in doing a guided hunt, and there is a lot to be enormous range and the varied habitats in which said for using guides when trying to take on the multiple subspecies of whitetail can thrive. such a broad expanse of land and varieties of deer; no single hunter could possibly have adequate knowledge of all the regions inhabited by all the types of deer, or have time to learn it on his own without having to spend a lifetime at the task. Besides guides, another resource is social media. Hunters are always happy to trade information about the areas they hunt in exchange for input from another hunter about his region. Beyond the simple swapping of information, a strategy would be to have a hunt to trade with another hunter from a region different from yours. Another strategy for taking the grand slam of whitetail is to learn and adopt the hunting techniques of the region. In Florida and in many other parts of the South, hounds are traditionally

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LONG RANGE RELIABILITY

used for hunting deer. This can make for fast and exciting action, and a perfect situation for using the proven Remington gas-operated Model 750 Woodsmaster semi-auto rifle for shots on running game. A like situation is found in the Northern Woodlands where drives are the modus operandi for many hunting parties. The new modular, semiautomatic, big-game Remington R-25 in 7mm-08 Remington would be a good choice here, particular when loaded with reliable Remington Core-Lokt ammunition. In many notable trophy areas, particularly in the Midwest, shotguns are mandatory for hunting whitetail, and the best strategy here is to have a shotgun dedicated to big-game hunting. A hunter can certainly use his pheasant or waterfowl gun for hunting whitetail, but he will get far better performance out of shotgun like the Remington Model 870 pump-action Express Slug, which not only offers a fully rifled, heavy-contour barrel for greater accuracy, but also a cantilever scopemount system. The ammo match for this gun would be the Remington Premier AccuTip Bonded Sabot Slug which develops a phenomenal 1900-feet-per-second velocity for a 385-grain slug, providing a true 150-yard range. A hunter may have only one shot at a deer from a specific region, so he wants to make sure that it will count.

Meet the Model 700+ Premier Centerfire

Among the numerous Model 700 rifles made by Remington, there are several that are famed for their long-range capability. The Model 700 is overall noted for its lightning lock time, an invaluable aid to long-range accuracy. Among specific models, like the SPS Long Range and the Sendero, some of the distance-shooting features include a 26-inch, heavy-contour barrel in magnum and Remington Ultra Magnum chamberings, ergonomic composite and synthetic stocks, and X-Mark Pro Trigger with super-tight tolerances and mirror finish. When you link the longrange Model 700s with Remington Premier ammunition, you have a virtually unbeatable team. There are two excellent choices for possible 500-yard shotsthe Premier Core-Lokt Ultra Bonded that gives superb weight retention and accuracy and the Premier AccuTip which adds a polymer tip for laser-flat trajectory.

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REMFACT: Bucks are most vulnerable during the searching and chasing phase of the ruttypically one to two weeks before the majority of does enter estrus.

R
PHOTO: Dusan Smetana

ange also comes into play with Desert or Coues whitetail, only more so. Dakota deer may involve wide treeless spaces, but Desert deer hunting is a genuine cross-canyon and peak-topeak undertaking. As in literally no other whitetail hunting, quality optics are a must. And not just scopes and binoculars but high-power spotting scopes, too. A Coues deer may only give you an ear flick or antler glint from hundreds of yards away, and a hunter needs to be able to pick it out. He then needs to be able to make a long-range shot, which brings in Premier CopperSolid ammunition. While many hunters focus on the non-toxic aspects of the ammo, the nature of copper bullets means a better ballistic coefficient and superior downrange results at the long distances involved in Desert whitetail hunting.

When sitting over a field for whitetails, try periodically rattling and grunting to lure older and wiser bucks from adjacent coverthe same deer that often dont enter a field until very last light.

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A major strategy in the taking of the whitetail grand slam is time management. A hunter must consider ways of husbanding his hunting days. Most of us dont have an unlimited amount of time to devote to a quest like this, so we need to be smart about it. If a hunter will study season dates and areas he can get the most out of his hunting opportunities. For instance, Iowa and Illinois, separated by the Mississippi, represent two different subspecies areas for the grand slam. With the Illinois firearms season opening around Thanksgiving and the Iowa shotgun season getting going at the beginning of December, a hunter could, with sufficient planning, be able to run the two hunts back to back over the course of less than two weeks of vacation time. Another aspect of the best use of time is to consider hunting over holidays like Thanksgiving or Christmas.

Visit remington.com
and post photos of your prize trophies and tell us the stories of your favorite Remington products used to take them.
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PHOTO: Dusan Smetana

A lot of outfitters, in particular in Texas, have open dates over the holidays, when many hunters are reluctant to be away from their families. Picking dates like these may also give you a chance to negotiate reduced rates. Yes, hunting over Christmas wont gain you much popularity at home, but you might also consider bringing your wife and-or children along for a unique holiday adventure. One more consideration is what kind of whitetail grand slam you are after. Obviously, looking for the very largest deer from each of the subspecies will be time and cash consuming. On the other hand, if you are willing to go for a slam based on representative deer, this greatly increases your range of motion, as it were. As with holiday dates, outfitters are often very happy to find hunters interested in management deer, which can be quite good trophies when, for instance, they are a strong, old eight-point, rather than, say, a ten-point just coming into its prime. Theres no question that the newest slam is the most complex. The differences in hunting all the sheep or all the moose are far outweighed by the similarities. But with a geography as vast as that inhabited by the whitetail subspecies, and with the challenging array of habitats they occupy, and the distinct behaviors shaped by those habitats, the whitetail present puzzles as hard to solve as riddles wrapped in mysteries inside enigmas. That, however, is what makes the goal of taking the grand slam of whitetail so intriguing, and with the right strategies, a goal very much possible to achieve.

Opening day of deer season is not unlike Christmas, New Years, and Thanksgiving all rolled into one. Robert F. Jones
Magic of Rattling...greatest rattling moments ever.
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THE LEGENDARY REMINGTON MODEL 700.

With more

than 5 million sold since 1962, its carved a reputation for itself out of the sporting landscape of America. The most accurate, most popular production rie ever conceived.

2012 REMINGTON ARMS COMPANY, LLC.

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Want to Go Shooting?
You might be surprised at your options!
National Shooting Sports Foundation

scan QR code to download FREE where2shoot app

www.wheretoshoot.org

f youre looking for a place to go shooting, youll nd it right here. Wheretoshoot. org is the largest, most comprehensive online resource for nding the best places and services, planning your next adventure, learning how to get started, you name it. A site youll only occasionally visit? Hardly this site is about to become your favorite bookmark. Go ahead, give it a shot.

WWW.NSSF.ORG

Worlds Most Successful Rifle & Ammo combo.

The Model 700 and Remington Core-Lokt

COUNTDOWN THE STATS
For more than three generations the most successful combination of whitetail rifle and ammunition has been the Remington Model 700 bolt action and Remington Core-Lokt. The Model 700 perfected the push-feed action that holds the cartridge in three rings of steel, while the Core-Lokt was the first controlled-expansion round. And the numbers tell the ultimate tale f The Model 700, the No. 1 rifle among whitetail hunters f Over 5 million manufactured f Chambered in 40 calibers f Available in 900 different configurations f A major portion of the half-billion centerfire cartridges manufactured by Remington annually are Core-Lokts f Made in Remingtons 750,000 square foot Lonoke, Arkansas plant f Over one-thousand employees

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Successful waterfowling means having guns, loads, and gear that can handle extreme conditionsthe VersaMax autoloader and HyperSonic steel pack the most effective one-two punch on the market. And dont be fooled by claims to the contrary, nothing is better than a gas system when it comes to autoloaders.
Mike Vrooman
Product Manager, Remington Shotguns

North Americas Newest Waterfowling Hot Zones.

t was a different day and time. The latter part of the 19th century saw the height of market gunning for waterfowl in this country. Legendary locations included Chesapeake Bay and along the Mississippi and down on the Texas Gulf Coast. Two-hundred ducks made for an adequate day, and there were individual gunners who bagged hundreds of thousands of ducks and geese in their careers. To put it all into perspective, this was when there were virtually no game laws, no game wardens, and when waterfowl flocked so thickly on ponds, bays, and rivers they blanketed the surface wing to wing. Waterfowl was a resource that seemed unlimited then. Out of this came a waterfowler who is usually described as a market hunter, although he is famous for much more. Fred Kimble was only 22 when he was considered one of the finest duck shots in the Peoria, Illinois, area. The time was 1868 and the shotgun of the period was essentially a smoothbore musket, unchanged for centuries. Kimbles prowess with his gun sparked the jealousy of his older fellow hunters, and they ragged him mercilessly. What this inspired in Kimble was a burning desire to silence these men. In this post-Civil War era there were large quantities of surplus musket barrels to be had, and Kimble began boring and experimenting with these to create what we now know as the choke bore (and the most modern example of choke can be found in Remingtons ProBore interchangeable chokes, which produce optimal performance out of overbored barrels). Eventually, Kimble had a shotgun that could reach out to 80 yards and let him completely outgun his competition, not to mention shutting their mouths. Kimble went on to become one this countrys finest live-pigeon and clays trapshooters, racking up scores of 98x100 in shoots in his 90s. The result of market gunning, however, was severely reduced stocks of waterfowl. By 1900 the low numbers of ducks and geese inspired the initiation of protective legislation such as the Lacey Act of 1900 that prohibited the transport of illegally taken game from one state to another. In 1918 came the Migratory Bird Treaty Act that would be signed by the US, Canada, Mexico, Japan, and Russia to protect migratory birds that were no respecters of international boundaries but flew between nations and hemispheres. During the Dust Bowl in the 1930s when waterfowl numbers plummeted to historic lows, the Migratory Bird Hunting Stamp Act of 1934 was signed into law by Franklin Delano Roosevelt to provide federal funds for the acquiring and preserving of wetlands habitat. One of the most significant years was 1937, when both the Federal Aid in Wildlife Restoration Act, known as Pittman-Robertson, was passedcreating an excise tax that to

PHOTO: Remington 1 4

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Waterfowling holds some special magic, something available only from the world of water and wind, of mud stiff with cold, of black dogs and long guns. Michael McIntosh

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HYPERSONIC & VERSAMAX Waterfowlings Deadliest Combo

The deadliest combination of ammunition and shotgun for todays waterfowler starts with 1700-feet-per-second Remington HyperSonic Steel shot shells. HyperSonic Steel, with components like a hotter primer that moves the payload forward in two stages to control pressure, and Xelerator Wad technology, produces the worlds fastest shell, which translates into 40-percent shorter leads, or an eight-inch lead difference at 40 yards, meaning harder hitting and more pellets on the head and neck. And though the VersaMax Waterfowl shotgun reliably cycles 12-gauge rounds from 2- to 3-inch, it will shoot all that much better with HyperSonic Steel. Named the American Rifleman shotgun of the year in 2011, the VersaMax uses the Versaport gas system to regulate cycling pressure based on shell length, reducing recoil to the 20-gauge level. The gas-piston system is continuously self-cleaning, and the nickel barrel and nickel Teflon-plated internal components, plus the Mossy Oak Duck Blind camo overmolded synthetic stock and fore-end, provide allweather dependability.

date has generated more than two-billion dollars in aid funds, much of that through sales of Remington firearms and ammunitionand Ducks Unlimited was founded, now celebrates its 75th anniversary. Due to government and non-government efforts, the succeeding years have seen a renewal of waterfowl numbers, and then some. Current duck populations are over 40 percent above long-term (nearly 60 year) trends, with geese at record highs since counts began to be made. Altogether, this is an exceptional time to be heading out to the blinds. And which are the newest hot zones to think about?

ne of the least known yet most-fascinating-to-hunt waterfowl is the clapper rail, sometimes called the marsh hen. Various wags have quoted the old saw about rails that a hunter should, First to pay someone to clean them, then pay them to eat them, but this is a grievous error. Properly prepared, and in spite of a host of small bones, rail are as tasty as fine dove. The real challenge of rail hunting is that this partridge-sized bird can only be hunted on the tidewaters where the birds live on floating cordgrass mats, and they can only be hunted there on a marsh-hen tide that reaches nine foot. One of the best rail-hunting hot zones is the Broad River tidal channel in South Carolina, near Hilton Head (contact Capt. Owen Plair, or visit Bay Street Outfitters for information about guided hunts). The daily bag limit is 15 birds, and the hunting has many unique features. It is done from a flats boat with the shooter being poled into the birds. Because rails are not terribly hard to kill, it is shooting that genuinely lends itself to the use of a .410. Today, Remingtons Model 1100 offers the only auto-loading .410 on the market. The 1100 comes with a 27-inch vent-rib barrel and four interchangeable RemChoke tubes. Another interesting aspect of rail hunting is that, in South Carolina at least, it is one of the very few types of waterfowl hunting that still allows the use of lead shot. Which gives a hunter the opportunity to use Remington Lead Game Loads.

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QUICKER KILLS. FEWER MISSES. 11% SHORTER LEADS. MORE HEAD & NECK SHOTS.

PATENTED XELERATOR WAD TECHNOLOGY

Xelerator Wad Stress Concentrator Ignition Chamber New Hotter Primer Primary Powder Charge

WOUNDED OR MISSED BAGGED

Hypersonic Steel
(1700 fps, 1 oz.) @ 40 yds

High Velocity Steel

(1450 fps, 1 oz.) @ 40 yds

HYPERSONIC STEEL. THE WORLDS FASTEST, HARDEST-HITTING STEEL.

This kind of speed goes straight to their heads. It reduces required lead by 8 at 40 yards. Meaning youll put more pellets in the noggin and neck, and kill more birds with fewer shots. Powered by Xelerator wad technology. Hypersonic Steel. Made by the name America trusts. Remington.

2012 REMINGTON ARMS COMPANY, LLC.

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For another offbeat species there is Pacific black brant. Many people are nervous about Mexico, but San Quintin Bay in Baja California is still secluded and appears to be peaceful, and accompanied hunts originating in the US are available (go to getducks.com for more information). Approximately 40-percent of the worlds population of Pacific black brant winters at San Quintin to feed on the abundant eel grass. When it comes to more conventional waterfowl, locals only are in many places the key words for goose hunting. Canada geese have become a year-round fixture in many parts of the country, which has led to generous bag limits in the hope of trying to reduce numbers that have reached the nuisance level. This has created hot zones in areas not usually noted for waterfowling, such as the Northeast and in particular New York State. Tentative limits at the time of this writing are set at eight birds per day in New York, and western Niagara county is a great place to look for honkers. One more pick might be the plains just to the east of Denver. As far as some of the most liberal limits on Canadas, get into North Dakotas early season. Opening in mid-August, this prairie state permits a hunter to take 15 birds per day, with a possession limit of 30, enough geese to bottom out the shocks on a pickup truck when driving home. For big-bird hunting, look to Remington Wingmaster HD shot shells in BB and T shot. A quick mention should also be made about spring snow-goose hunting which did not exist only a few years ago. For spring snows hot zones, start in northwest Missouri around Squaw Creek Refuge and work your way north through the Dakotas and up into Saskatchewan. More hunters seem to be thinking in terms of trophy ducks these days, and one of the rarest is the king eider; and the hot zone, albeit with much ice and snow, for eider is on Alaskas

PHOTO: Dusan Smetana

Countdown 5 Great Waterfowling Destinations

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Pribilof Islands in the Bering Sea. Or if you are looking for a duck of a different color, and without quite as much bone-chilling adventure, Texas San Antonio Bay, south of Corpus Christi, is reported to have fantastic gunning for redheads. In the conditions that can be encountered in either destination, a shotgun to choose is the Remington Model 11-87 waterfowl super-magnum semi-auto with its all-weather synthetic stock. One of the prime factors in creating new waterfowl hunting hot zones is the increased cultivation of rice. Now California is the second largest state in the country in rice production, after Arkansas. Rice was a side benefit brought by the Chinese immigrants who began coming to the state during the Gold Rush, but intense cultivation did not being until the early 20th century. Today the rice-growing region of Colusa, Sutter, Yuba, and most well known, Butte counties is also, not coincidentally, the waterfowl hot zone of state. Rice, Arkansas, California, waterfowltheres a definite pattern here. Which brings us to the Bootheel of southeast Missouri. Perhaps the finest greenhead hunting in the country is to be found here around the upper end of what is known as the Mississippi Embayment, and the reason seems to be the spread of rice growing into the area. An avid waterfowler I know hunted there last season and before he left wrote a check for a five-year hunting lease. Along with phenomenal mallard shooting, a hunter can also expect to find good numbers of pintails and white-fronted geese. Once, all of North America was a waterfowl hunting hot zone. That changed, of course. But now we can see rising numbers and newer locations coming on, and they arent that hard to find if you look for them.

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rEmington spokEspErson

YOU COULD WIN A ONCE-IN-A-LIFETIME TRIP

PLUS A CHANCE TO MEET REMINgTON SPOkESPERSON BRETT FAVRE OR HALEY HEATH.
Whatever your passion, nobody outfits you to make more memories than Remington. Were taking that pledge to the next level with the 2012 Remington Country Adventure Sweepstakes. This year, well award one lucky winner the opportunity of a lifetime a chance to join Remington staff or industry professionals for the ultimate sporting trip of their choice. If you win, simply pick your trip and well cover your travel, lodging and transportation. Plus, you could also meet Remington Spokesperson Brett Favre or Haley Heath. Take advantage of this exciting opportunity and you could win an experience youll never forget. For more information, visit us at www.Remington.com/Sweepstakes.

Brett Favre

EntEr today at rEmington.com/swEEpstakEs

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hunter: another word for conservationist

Hunters do more to conserve habitat than any other group. And they have achieved great things for wildlife and wild places by supporting conservation organizations like Ducks Unlimited. Because of their support, Ducks Unlimited has conserved more than 12 million acres of habitat across the continent. Come share our vision of skies filled with waterfowl today, tomorrow, and forever. To find out more go to www.ducks.org Remington and Ducks UnlimitedProud Partners in Wetlands Conservation.
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BORE SQUEEG-E
A FASTER, BETTER CLEAN IN JUST ONE PASS.

The NEW Remington Bore Squeeg-E is part of a revolutionary firearm cleaning system.
EASIER Cleans in just one pass SAVES TIME Finish cleaning your firearm up to 15 minutes ENHANCED PERFORMANCE Mirror finish clean SAVES MONEY Pays for itself in just one year

faster with just one pass compared to using patch after patch

UNIVERSAL CLEANING SYSTEM

Everything youll need to clean your firearm: rifle, shotgun, or pistol/revolver in an attractive, embroidered range bag with an adjustable shoulder strap. 10 Matching Bronze Brushes
(from .22 caliber through 12 gauge)

REM SQUEEG-E

10 Matching Rem Bore Squeeg-E Threaded Revolver Adaptor Nylon and Brass Hand Brush (1 each) Large Thread Adapter

Gun Cloth Rem Pad Cleaning Mat (12 x 28) Patented Fast Snap T-Handle 1.0 fl. oz. Rem Oil 1.0 fl. oz. Rem All-In Bore Cleaner

(breaks up carbon, lead and copper build-up)

$130 VALUE THAT RETAILS FOR $80, A $50 SAVINGS!

LEARN MORE AT:

SQUEEG-E.COM

People ask me all the time how to protect our rights. Our rights are like our bodies they need exercise to stay healthy. So its great that youve chosen to exercise your right to own a gun. But thats not enough. If we dont also protect our rights, were going to lose them. And the only way to protect our rights is to vote for the candidates who support them. But if youre not registered to vote, youve already surrendered. Ive heard all the excuses people give for not registering to vote and excuses is all they are. Thats why I agreed to serve as Honorary Chairman of Trigger the Vote the voter registration drive sponsored by the NRAs Freedom Action Foundation. I will never surrender, and neither should you. Get tough register to vote!

- Chuck Norris, Honorary Chairman, Trigger the Vote

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The call of the bulls has a grand, musical beauty of its own. Theodore Roosevelt

In the bugle, elk are often active throughout the night during full moon phases. This can make mid-day hunts unusually productiveespecially when most hunters have left the woods thinking the morning activity is over.

n the 1870s when Brevet Major General George Armstrong Custer led the 7th Cavalry expedition into the Black Hills to map the area, look for a suitable site for a fort, and most portentously, considering all that grew out of it including the ultimate battle at Little Big Horn, to prospect for gold, Western elk numbers were still high. And Custer, an avid hunter and accomplished amateur taxidermist, meant to hunt the wapiti. As for his choice of rifle there was never any question. Custer considered the finest hunting firearms to be those manufactured by E. Remington & Sons of Ilion, New York. Custers choice was the Remington Rolling Block Sporting Rifle. In 1997 Remington came out with a No. 1 Rolling Block Creedmoor rifle in .45-70 Government, a rifle that was not a replica but a reintroduction of the actual gun built by Remington in the 19th century; and today this is a modern collectors item. Most likely his was chambered in .45-70 Government, because he would have had a virtually unlimited supply of military ammunition in that caliber. (Today, Remington manufactures .45-70 ammunition in both 300 and 405 grains. With his Remington in the Black Hills, Custer killed a magnificent bull elk, aided by his pack of greyhounds, and mounted the entire animal himself. After that, things went rather downhill for George Armstrong and the 7th. Over the next decades, though, the demand for antlers, hides, and even their ivory bugling teeth, took a drastic toll on elk. When Europeans first arrived on the continent, the elk population in North America stood at around 10 million. By 1900, fewer than 100,000 remained, with two distinct subspecies, the Merriams and the Eastern, driven to extinction. Since then,

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7 Reasons to Hunt Elk...Now!

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through energetic conservation, management, and restocking efforts, elk have risen to some 1.2 million, according to the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation which has been a driving force in bringing back the elk. The future, overall, looks bright for elk and elk hunting, but it is not without some dark clouds on the horizon. What it spells out, though, is that there is no better time to hunt elk, and if you need them, here are seven reasons for why you should hunt elk now!

eason Number One: None of us are getting any younger. This is not to say that elk hunting is strictly a young mans sport, but elk do tend to inhabit challenging terrain. You may need to look for them in deep snow, on steep slopes, in dark canyons, and in black timber filled with blowdowns. And succeed in getting a big bull down and you could be faced with having to pack it all out on your back. No, age is no barrier to elk hunting, but fitness is. Do everything you can to get yourself into elk shape, and then go hunting. Reason Number Two: The records books are bursting with elk today. Recent years have seen new worlds records in tule, Roosevelts, and American non-typical elk categories (the last perhaps the most spectacular elk ever taken in history). Somebody or something is doing something right. Perhaps it has to do with climate, but certainly it has to do with management. Whatever the cause, a hunter today stands a better chance of taking a book elk than at probably any other time. And if he cant find a book elk, the opportunities nonetheless abound for taking some of the finest trophy bulls that have ever lived. Reason Number Three: There are more places to hunt elk than existed even a hundred-fifty years ago. In 1877 the last Eastern elk was killed in Pennsylvania. Today the Keystone State offers hunting for elk that place well up in the Boone and Crockett records book. Altogether, some thirty states and Canadian provinces have elk-hunting seasons and exceptional numbers of trophy bullsa far cry from, say, the 1940s when only a handful of areas had any elk to hunt. Because of the wide variety of habitats from above timberline in the Rocky Mountains to the sere rolling hills of Central California and the Northern woodlands of the Upper Midwest and East, suitable firearms and cartridges
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Model 700 XCR2 & Premier Core-Lokt Ultra Bonded

In 2012 Remington is proud to announce the introduction of a new Rocky Mountain Elk

Foundation XCR II rifle to its Model 700 line. Chambered in .25-06, this latest RMEF Model 700 XCR II is truly built for the extreme conditions elk hunters can face with a Remington-patented TriNyte Corrosion Control System. This proprietary process starts with a 416 stainless-steel barreled action that is plated with electroless nickel, followed by a Physical Vapor Deposition (PVD) coating. Though micro-thin, this protective barrier provides superior abrasion resistance and virtual elimination of corrosion. Next, the barreled action is fit into an element-defying, synthetic stock with solid-grip, Hogue Overmold grip panels on the fore-end and pistol-grip and camouflaged with Realtree AP, which provides maximum concealment regardless of the terrain. The RMEF rifle features a 24-inch, hammer-forged barrel, receiver drilled and tapped for scope mounts, hinged floorplate, sling swivel studs, patented SuperCell recoil pad which significantly lessens the felt recoil, and the distinctive RMEF logo laser-engraved on the floorplate. Accuracy is further enhanced with the addition of our ultra-crisp, adjustable X-Mark Pro Trigger set at 3 pounds. Previous chamberings in Remington Ultra Magnum .300 and 7 mm, Remington Short Action Ultra Magnum .300, the traditional 7 mm Remington Magnum, .30-06, and .300 Win Mag. The regular-Model 700 XCR II.
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can cover a broad spectrum. If you are hunting the deep woods of Pennsylvania or Michigan, or it could be Kentucky, you might want a Remington Model 7600 Synthetic with an easy to handle 18-barrel. Pick the .30-06 chambering and match it up with the Remington Premier A-Frame 180-grain bullet and you have true elk performance. Or if youre hunting on the peaks Out West, you could go with the Remington Model 700 BDL 50th Anniversary Edition chambered in the classic elk round, the 7mm Remington Magnum, for the 150-grain Remington Premier AccuTip load. Reasons Number Four: Internet elk hunting resources have never been greater. You can begin by determining the downrange performance of your elk caliber by using the online Remington Ballistic Calculator, which can give you the velocity, energy, and trajectory out to 500 yards to help you break the shot clean. There is also social media where other elk hunters in any state can be found and vital information from there gathered. Online the RMEF also offers its annual elk forecast. And you can call up satellite images of virtually any hunting area on your computer to find likely elk honey holes.

R
REMFACT: Social media can help elk hunters in any state find vital information.

eason Number Five: There is more technology than ever to help you find your elk. Start with the GPS. Now you can scout elk and waypoint where you are cutting sign or finding herds. Place a trail cam beside a wallow and you will be able to ascertain what kind of bulls are in the area. Also there is a whole panoply of DVDs on elk hunting, showing and teaching you numerous techniques such as bugling and cow calling. Reason Number Six: Elk plus wolves equal fewer elk. Elk in the Greater Yellowstone Area in Wyoming have been more than halved by the presence of wolves, and not primarily by direct predation. The presences of wolves tends to push elk in the summer to higher ground and away from lower lush meadows. This forces elk to feed on less-favored browse, rather than to graze, as they prefer. The result is more stress on cows and lower birth rates. The story is the same throughout Idaho and Montana where wolves have expanded into the thousands after their initial reintroduction (some would say introduction because the wolves used for stocking were Canadian gray wolves chosen specifically because they preyed mostly on elk) in the mid-1990s. Wolves have

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REMFACT: Elk prefer to bed on the upper stretches of a ridge, so they can escape uphill if they detect danger from below.

PHOTOS: Marcos Furer

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already been returned to other prime elk states such as New Mexico, and with possibly more reintroductions in the future and the inevitable expansion of the wolves range, the elk in their path will suffer the same fate. Bottom line, if you want to hunt elk in any of these areas, plan to do it now. Reason Number Seven: The choice of elk hunts stretches virtually to infinity. Today a hunter can find extended hunting seasons on private lands that are enrolled in assorted ranching for wildlife programs. Many states have short-notice hunts for nuisance elk overrunning crop and cattle-grazing land. Another consideration is, what is an elk? Is it only a six-by-six bull, or does a cow qualify? The number of cow and/or fawn hunts seems to be on the rise across the country, and there is no better wild game meat than elk, plus the experience of elk hunting is the same whether for a bull or a cow, and in fact a cow can be harder to hunt as she is more likely to be running in a herd with scores of other noses and sets of eyes to pick out a hunter. An added impetus for hunting now, or certainly for applying for hunts, is to start racking up

Three Monster Bulls Up CloseRemingtons greatest hits!

preference points that many states offer for trophy elk hunting that cannot be matched anywhere else. In the end there are not merely seven reasons to hunt elk now but probably hundreds. Yet all of the reasons do boil down to one, that elk offer one of the greatest hunting adventures in the world. So get started.

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Wolf populations continue to expand across North Americas elk range and the result has been fewer elk in some areas. Legal battles to allow wolf hunting continue but the long term impacts of unchecked wolf and grizzly populations on elk herds will be consequential in many parts of the West.

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PHOTO: Orion Entertainment

PHOTO: Dusan Smetana

The

For Hunters By Hunters

For 40 years, the NWTF has supported hunting: Conserving 17 million acres of habitat Creating the next generation of hunters and conservationists Protecting your hunting rights Working to protect the 6,000 acres of habitat that disappear each day. Whether you hunt turkey, deer, quail or other upland game, the NWTF is working for you.

Text the word NWTF to 50555 to receive occasional news and offers from the NWTF via text!
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nwtf.org | facebook.com/TheNWTF

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There are covers I dont like to hunt except with certain people. Craig Woods, 1985
PHOTO: Marcos Furer

Mike Vrooman
Product Manager, Remington Shotguns

Uplands Glory Days.

Pheasants, grouse, and quail check out these places to catch the latest population booms.

For all the fine side-by-sides produced by Remington in the 19th and early 20th centuries, perhaps the most innovative upland shotgun of the day was the Remington Model 10. Put into production by Remington in 1907, it was the worlds first pump-action hammerless solid-breech repeater, the first of the streamlines.
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GETTING STARTED
Dont be fooled by a roosters long tail, take your lead from the red eye patch for best shooting success.

Best hunts with kids

(and the right gear)
Theres probably no better introduction to hunting for kids than upland birds. Upland hunting gets them walking rather than trying to sit agonizingly still in a blind or on a treestand, and there is often more continuous action in upland hunting to keep them engaged (and while hunting birds, there is also the chance of taking rabbits and squirrels; and if you want to go exclusively for rabbits and squirrels to introduce your kids to hunting, theres the Remington Model 5 Compact .22 rimfire, and of course Remington has a wide variety of .22 rimfire to choose from with one great choice being the Remington Golden Bullet, which comes in a hard-hitting 40-grain load). If you have good numbers of wild birds for the kids to get excited about, that would be the ideal situation, but dont disregard the option of commercial hunting preserves. The main goal is to create the most positive experience you can, but also remember that the biggest part of that experience is the time your kids will be spending with you and the lasting memories that will form. For gear, you cant go wrong with the Remington Model 870 Express Compact Jr., 11-87 Sportsman Youth Compact Synthetic, or any of Remingtons Compact shotguns, all with the Adjustable Length of Pull System that can customize the fit to youngsters as they grow.

he Model 10 loaded and ejected from the bottom of the solid one-piece receiver, leaving no openings on the top or side to collect rain, snow, or mud. With a list price for the Standard Grade of a whole $22.75, barrel options that included 32, 30, 28, and 26 inches, and choked full, modified, or cylinder, the Model 10 allowed every upland hunter to put together the ideal upland shotgun for him, and is why the 10 remained extremely popular for a quarter century. The appearance of the Model 10 coincided with the beginnings of pheasant-hunting seasons in this country. Chinese ring-necked pheasants have been transplanted in 40 of the 50 states, most successfully in the four Pheasant Belt states of South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, and Iowa. By mid-century pheasant populations had reached astronomical highs. At the summit in South Dakota during the five-month-long 1944-1945 pheasant season, the daily bag limit was ten birds, five of which could be hens, and the average hunter took 54 birds over the season. The next season, hunters in South Dakota took an estimated 7.5-million pheasants.

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After that, more efficient farming methods, leaving little wild shelter cover, started draining away pheasant numbers. But then came the Soil Bank Act in the mid-1950s and the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) in the mid-1980s, which took tens of millions of acres out of cultivation and allowed natural vegetation to grow back. This has led in recent years to glory days for pheasants in many parts of the countryand a great opportunity to use Remington Pheasant Loads. Here are some prime locations for pheasant and other upland birds. The mecca of pheasant hunting has long been, and remains, South Dakota, and native South Dakotan, now Wyoming resident, Mark Kayser has an unusual suggestion: bring a boat. As Mark says, some of South Dakotas best pheasant hunting is along the shores of Lake Oahe, and its open to the public. An 18-foot V-bottom boat with a 100-horse or more motor will offer unlimited hunting opportunities. Lake Oahe, a 231-mile long Missouri River reservoir, is managed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. To accommodate rising water levels, the Corps manages a strip of land adjacent to the shoreline. The amount of public land varies along the shoreline and a map can be ordered from the Corps office. Faded posts on the hillsides mark the boundaries between public and private. Some have been broken off by itchy livestock, so it is wise always to shy on the short side. Some swatches offer as much as a mile of hunting from the water to the public boundary, but many are 200 yards or less.

PHOTOS: Dusan Smetana

Remington makes a full complement of guns and loads for all manner of upland hunts.

Mark says to launch your boat at either Indian Memorial boat ramp two miles northwest of Mobridge off U.S. Highway 12 or Walth Bay boat ramp, 15 miles southwest of Selby on state Route 1804. Head south and look for overgrown habitat along the shores edge. Be aware that the western shoreline near the Moreau River and south is under Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe management and requires additional licensing.
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The Model 870 Wingmaster An Upland Classic

Lake Oahe is big water and should be treated with respect, cautions Kayser. Heed high wind warnings and be prepared for a variety of temperature extremes. Be on the lookout for sharp-tailed grouse, and a hunter may also bump the occasional greater prairie chicken or Hungarian partridge, all legal on a South Dakota small game license. Its been called the greatest field gun ever built. Introduced in 1950 to replace the side-ejecting Remington Model 31, the Remington Model 870 has exceeded ten-million guns made, making it the largest-selling shotgun in history. The Model 870 comes in some 28 different versions for everything from waterfowl to turkey, deer, and home defense; but its the Wingmaster that for many hunters is the first shotgun they ever own, and because of its extreme reliability and dependability could be the only one they will ever need. Maximum performance with the Wingmaster comes with Remington Nitro Pheasant loads. Nitro Pheasant features Remingtons own Copper-Lokt copperplated lead shot with high antimony content, some of the hardest lead made for hunting. Hard shot stays rounder for truer flight, tighter patterns, and greater penetration. Available in both highvelocity and magnum loadings in either 12- or 20-gauge, Nitro Pheasant loads and the Wingmaster are an unbeatable collaboration.

hen hiking over wide open spaces for pheasant or grouse, a hunter may want ammunition that can reach out and touch something. Remington Express Extra Long Range, available in 12, 16, 20, 28, and .410 gauges, and shot sizes from 2 to 9, will fill every bill, and wing. Other big country for upland birds is California. The Golden State may be the biggest secret in bird-hunting in the country. According to Jim Matthews, editor and publisher of the Wester Birds newsletter (outdoorsnewsservice.com), the eastern side of the Sierras and the Mojave Desert are now the prime locations for California valley and Gambels quail. For California quail, Matthews recommends the canyons along Highway 14 on the east slope of the southern Sierra Nevada Mountains. And for Gambels, theres the 1.6-million acre Mojave National Preserve. Its rare to find hunting on a federal preserve, but Mojave, the third largest National Park Service area outside of Alaska is, according to Matthews, the place to hunt Gambels (and also has hunting for chukar, as well as mule deer and desert bighorn sheep). Keep in mind that when hunting on many federal reserves, non-toxic shot is required even for upland birds, so be sure to turn to Remington Steel Game and Target Loads where the use of non-lead shot is mandated.

nother, perhaps lesser-known quail is the Mearns or scaled. These quail are actually quite sought after by hunters looking to collect all the species of North American quail, and Mark Kayser, again, has a recommendation where to hunt themNew Mexico. He suggests the area around Roswell if you dont mind competing with all those pesky extra-terrestrials. Mearns can make up part of a mixed bag with Gambels. While the overall bag is 15 birds per day with 30 in possession, only five daily, and ten in possession are allowed for Mearns. Look low for the Gambels and at higher elevtions for the Mearns.
continued on next page

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For guided hunts, consider contacting Santa Fe Guiding Company. Be prepared for a good deal of hiking, so for ease of carry, look at a 20-gauge Remington Model 11-87 Sportsman Field semi-auto. Remington has long supported conservation organizations, and when it comes to quail, the most important group is Quail Unlimited. Over the years, the organization and Remington have partnered on QU-edition shotguns, and while QU is concerned about all quail, there has been a particular focus on Northern bobwhite which have experienced some of the steepest declines in habitat, and therefore in numbers. QU has worked exhaustively on projects and initiatives to help preserve and enhance bobwhite populations, and its and others groups and government agencies efforts have produced some good news in many places. Right now some of the best bobwhite hunting is to be found in south-central Kansas, which has the added advantage of letting a hunter combine both quail and pheasant on his trip. Much of that land, though, is leased, and so not all-that easy to access. For top public-land bobwhite hunting, the place to look is Oklahoma. There are major plans to preserve and restore public grasslands for bobwhite. While such efforts are underway, the best hunting for bobwhite

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The ringneck pheasant is the classic American immigrant made good: hardy, eager to seize opportunity, and imbued with a fierce will to succeed. Anonymous

PHOTOS: Marcos Furer

The only thing better than hunting game birds with your favorite shotgun, is sharing the experience with a great bird dog that can seem to read your mind.

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While the 12 gauge is the favorite of most pheasant hunters, 20 and 28-gauges can also be effective for the typically close-in shots of early season.

PHOTO: Marcos Furer

undoubtedly exists on private plantations. There are, across the South, any number of great plantations, too many to list in any extensive way; so lets suggest one, in south Mississippi, 4000acre Longleaf Plantation (for further information, contact reeceholford@longleafplantation.net). Longleaf provides guides, dogs, and hundreds of acres of dedicated food patches for each hunter to roam. For quail, look to Remington Lead Game Loads which provide the ideal quail No. 7 shot size in 12-, 16-, and 20-gauge cartridges. Finally we come to grouse. One last tip from Mark Kayser is in his own backyard in north-central Wyoming for Hungarian partridges and sharptails, and for ruffed grouse, the upper tier of Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Michigan is probably the hotspot these days. Guide and outfitter Mark Nissen of Wisconsin-based Classic Bird Hunts points out that ruffs in the area run in cycles which tend to peak in those years ending in 9 and 0, and trough out in the 2 and
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REMFACT: To make pheasants take to the air, hunters and their dogs must create a situation in which running and hidingthe ringnecks favored means of escapingare not options.
PHOTOS: Dusan Smetana

3 years. Changing land use has seen a reduction in clear cutting in the national forests, which means less of the brush, young aspens, and berries that grouse thrive on. But state, county, and private lands are doing very well by ruffs. Nissen estimates that in the peak years, he and his hunters will push five birds per hour, meaning 40 flushes in a day, while even in the lean years he will see two to three birds in an hour. If you are interested in supporting grouse, look into joining the Ruffed Grouse Society and buying a Remington Premier Ruffed Grouse Society Edition over-and-under with 26-inch barrel and straight English-style stock..

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SHOTGUNNING:
Pump or autoloader for waterfowling...or both?
For many a waterfowler, the question of pump versus auto-loader is practically a matter of theology. More than a few duck and goose hunters grew up on the reliable Remington Model 870, and so their hearts belong to pumps. Theres a lot to be said for that point of view! Theres virtually nothing, whether rain or sleet or snow or mud, that can stop a slide-action shotgun from the swift completion of its appointed rounds. If you need confirmation of that, there have been more than ten-million Model 870s made to prove it. The pump does have some definite advantages. For one it is very simple to check a pump to see if it is loaded or to unload it.
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Theres little difference in field effectiveness between a pump and an autoloader, so pick one and master it...or take both and do the same.

The act of working the slide on a second or third shot puts the fore-end hand in the proper shooting position without having to think about it, and frankly, it has fewer mechanical parts that risk failing. Based on the gunmaking expertise that went into the Model 870, the Remington Model 887 Nitro Mag Waterfowl shogun is the most durable and reliable shotgun ever built. Its exclusive ArmorLokt construction process seals the receiver and barrel in an all-weather synthetic armor, leaving no external surfaces to rust. Twin steel action bars ensure smooth, positive chambering and ejection. The gun offers a sleek receiver design, exceptional balance, and natural pointing characteristics, along with 12-gauge 3 1/2 Super Magnum capability. The extremely rugged synthetic stock and fore-end are ergonomically contoured with overmolded gripping areas for comfortable handling. The SuperCell recoil pad turns the 887 into one of the softest-shooting pump guns ever, making for confident first shots and smoother, faster follow-ups. Add to that Advantage MAX-4 HD camouflage and a Hi-Viz front sight with interchangeable fiber-optic light

tubes to maximize visibility. There was a time when waterfowlers worried about the dependability of auto-loaders. Foul-weather conditions in the blinds always seemed to be threatening jamming, but the merits of an auto-loader were, and are, not to be ignored. Fast cycling for those follow-up shots, or for that double on ducks, is the most significant feature. Add to that the auto-loaders capacity for absorbing the recoil of heavy waterfowl loads. If concerns about reliability remain, Remington has now taken away any question about that. The Remington VersaMax Waterfowl shotgun endured thousands of rounds, of all 12-gauge loads, in extreme torture testing, assuring smooth cycling for everything from 2-inch target to 3-inch goose loads. The guns VersaPort gas system provides such extraordinary cycling by self-regulating gas pressure based on the length of the shell. Additionally with its self-cleaning gas piston system, overall maintenance time and effort is greatly reduced. With fewer parts than conventional gas systems, the VersaPort is easier to clean and to maintain. The

VersaMax Waterfowls other feature are Teflon-plated internal parts, a nickel barrel, Mossy Oak Duck Blind synthetic stock with overmolded grips, and Remington ProBore extended choke from improved cylinder to extra full. All of this came together to hand VersaMax Waterfowl the 2011 NRA Publications Golden Bullseye Award as the American Rifleman Shotgun of the Year and Field & Stream magazines Best of the Best shotgun award in the same year. So decisions, decisions. The traditionalist may opt for the pump for all the virtues of simplicity and the reassurance that gives the shooter, but then there is the speed of cycling and ultimate recoil reduction of the auto-loader. Truth to tell there is little to differentiate the Remington Model 887 from the VersaMax. Both waterfowl guns represent the zenith of current shotgun technology, reliability, and soft touch. Its a shame a duck-and-goose hunter has to pick one or the other. Or does he? Maybe the solution is to own both and use them on alternate hunting days. Not the worst idea in the world, when both guns are built by Remington.

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Duck Numbers Hit Record Highs

Population estimates for North American waterfowl show numbers in general well above the long-term (over 55-year) trends. Some specific examples, according the the US Fish & Wildlife Service Waterfowl Population Status, 2012 report, include mallards with over 10 million birds being 40-percent more than long-term trends, and 15-percent above 2011 counts. Green-winged teal are 74-percent above long term; redheads, 89-percent more than long term; canvasbacks, 33-percent; blue-winged teal, 94-percent; northern shovelers, 111-percent; and gadwalls, 98-percent above long term. The situation with geese is similar. Of 29 separate goose populations in North America, 17 showed increases in 2012 compared to 2011, with some, like Mid-Continent lesser snows and Rosss geese, off the charts: over 4-million birds, an increase of 27-percent from 2011. To take advantage of this abundance, look to Remington Nitro-Steel High-Velocity cartridges. Nitro-Steels offer maximum velocities of 1550 feet-per-second, denser patterns for greater lethality, zinc-plated shot to prevent corrosion, and are Wet Pruf sealed at the primer and cartridge mouth.

HYPERSONIC STEEL
The Head of the Non-toxic Class.
You would have to say that no shotgun is any better than the ammunition it shoots. Biologists going back more than 60 years recognized the threat of poisoning that lead shot posed for waterfowl. Finally non-toxic steel shot became mandatory for duck and goose hunting in the US in 1991, followed by Canada in 1999. Many waterfowlers, though, found the steel-shot loads of the day to be sorely wanting and turned to handloading steel for better performance. One of the advantages of steel is that its hardness allows for velocities far higher than lead, and over the years steel shot has been propelled

PHOTO: Dusan Smetana

faster and faster. Today the ultimate in speed is found in Remingtons HyperSonic Steel. With shot ranging in size from No. 4s for ducks up to triple-Bs for geese, HyperSonics reach 1700 feet-per-second velocities, meaning shorter leads,

Thanks to ideal spring breeding and nesting conditions, waterfowlers can expect peak duck numbers this fall.
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more pellets finding the lethal parts of the bird, and extreme hard-hitting power.

REMINGTON VERSA MAX. ANY LOAD. ANYWHERE. EVERY TIME.

Any perceived advantage of an inertia-driven autoloader dies the instant you shoulder a VERSA MAX . Its new VersaPort gas system cycles every load, from light 2 " to heavy 3 " magnums, with awless consistency, dramatically less recoil and less maintenance than any other autoloader out there.

For a devastating combination, choose Hypersonic Steel. At 1,700 fps, its the worlds fastest, hardest-hitting steel.

2012 REMINGTON ARMS COMPANY, LLC.

REMINGTON PREMIER AMMUNITION.

Our R&D staff is tirelessly perfecting the science behind

the one-shot kill, for you. Proudly crafting the most accurate, most lethal family of big-game ammunition available today. Premier ammunition, by the name America trusts. Remington.

PREMIER ACCUTIP

PREMIER CORE-LOKT

PREMIER SCIROCCO

PREMIER A-FRAME

2012 REMINGTON ARMS COMPANY, LLC.

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Guns & Loads:

Ultimate All Weather Rifle Meet the Model 700XCRII

Building on the half-century tradition of the Model 700 (Visit the NEW Remington Model 700 Network website), Remington introduced the Model 700 XCR II in forming a more consistent bedding area for the action in the stock. This regulates harmonics and also helps bring the barrel to rest in the same place after each shot. There is also the strongest action ever built, the famous three rings of steel. When the bolts closed a triple-reinforced steel vault locks in the cartridge, fully supporting it and creating a tighter, more precise fit in the chamber and more exact alignment with the bore. Today, Model 700s also boast the X-Mark Pro Trigger system with an ultra-fast lock time of 2.5-3.0 milliseconds. These triggers are externally adjustable with a 2-pounds range of adjustment, set at a crisp 3 pounds of pull at the factory. All that and more explains why the Model

All dedicated hunters develop a feeling toward a trusted rifle...it grows through long and close association with a thoroughly reliable arm. Tom Hayes
2010, incorporating many of the tested features of the Model 700. These include a cylindrical receiver, rather than the flat-bottomed type. Machined from solid-steel bar stock, this design provides enhanced rigidity and strength while

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700 is the number-one bolt-action platform for military and law-enforcement sniper units, and custom gunmakers worldwide, and why it has won more NRA Hunting Rifle Championships than any other firearm. More important, with chamberings from .17 Remington Fireball to .458, its taken big game on every continent in the world. Now the Remington Model 700 XCR II has made significant advances on the tried-and-true Model 700. The earlier Model 700 XCR (Xtreme Conditions Rifle) had a stainless-steel barrel and receiver, and the XCR II has added the TriNyte Corrosion Control System. Electroless nickel and Remingtons proprietary physical-vapor-deposition (PVD)

process lay down an atoms-thick film that is a virtually impenetrable barrier against rust and abrasion. The finish is also matte black for no glare and greater stealth. It has also undergone accelerated saltwater testing that has proven it far superior to the protection given by regular stainless steel. The Model 700 XCR IIs olive-drab green synthetic stock includes patented Hogue rubber overmolding grip and fore-end areas for a positive grip even in the worst weather, along with a hinged floor-plate. There is also the SuperCell recoil pad to tame the hottest rounds. And the rounds loaded in the XCR II include .25-06 Remington, .270, 7 mm Remington Magnum and Remington Ultra Magnum,

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.30-06, .300 short magnum, .300 Magnum, .338 Magnum, .300 and .338 Remington Ultra Magnums, and .375 H & H, and .375 Remington Ultra Magnum, with a 24-inch barrel standard and 26 inches in Ultra Mag calibers. Both of the .375s are equipped with rifle sights, and the rifle is also tapped and drilled for scope mounts. Yet all of the above only matters because it helps the XCR II perform under the most adverse conditions. The XCR IIs features have created an essentially weathertight rifle. Think about all the environments you might want to hunt in with your XCR II. Snow and rain are a given, but you might also find yourself in sub-zero temperatures in pursuit of Northern and mountain game. You could be Down South in extreme humidity, chasing wild hog or whitetail. There is the potential of the extreme heat and dryness of desert game like Coues and desert mule deer and desert bighorn. There are also all the saltwater hunting areas along the Alaskan and Canadian coasts for brown and black bear, and even mountain goat. The less a hunter has to worry about creeping rust or ugly scratches on his rifle, or trouble himself about the stock swelling or warping, the more attention he can pay to the hunt itself. If he knows that his rifle wont slip from his hand and that the trigger will break clean, then he is likely to make a better shot when the time comes. A good rifle, even a great all-weather one, is only a means to an end, the end of a hunters getting the game he is after.

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When you climb to the top of a mountain for a chance at a bucket list animal, you better have a dependable rifle or the trip may be memorable for all the wrong reasons.

Choosing the Right Loads for North American Big Game

There is certainly an entire gamut of rounds for North American big game, and Remington produces hundreds of calibers and loads to choose from (Remington Core-Lokt alone offers over 60 different loadings), including AccuTip Saboted, Copper Solid, BuckHammer lead and other shotgun slugs. The heaviest calibers such as .416 and .458 probably have more application in Africa than on this continent, but a case might be made for the .375 for game such as moose, big brown bear, and perhaps even elk. Ultimately there is no ideal caliber and load for every type of big game or every type of hunting in North America. Or to put it another way, there can be numerous ideal ones. A hunter needs to look at the kind of habitats he will be huntingopen long-range terrain, thick brush, or black timber. Will he be shooting from a blind or stand, in which case he might be able to use a lighter caliber and compensate by having the time to place his shot very precisely, or will he be still-hunting and need to make a fast shot when he jumps an animal. Furthermore, what is the best caliber for the game he is hunting? A .243 might be an excellent choice for pronghorn, but a stretch for big mule deer. A .30-06 can cover most anything, but an elk hunter might be better served by a .300. Will an AccuTip get the job done, or does a hunter need a bonded or A-frame bullet for heavy-boned, heavyweight game? How much power can a hunter handle? For some a .338 may not be an excessively heavy caliber, while for others a 7 mm magnum may feel like too much. Finally, does a hunter simply long for the nostalgia of certain venerable calibers, like 250 Savage, .30-30, .30-40 Krag, .35 Whelen, .44-40, or .45-70, all loaded by Remington? The only way to find out what best suits you and your hunting is to look at Remingtons wide array of cartridges, then try a variety of different bullets and loads through your rifle until you find the one thats just right for you.
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After the first week in Alaska I began to realize that the object of sheep hunting was to intentionally deprive yourself of all the comforts of normal life. Pam Houston, 1991

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Predators & Varmints:

Gearing up for Coyotes

Varmint and predator hunting was once the nearly exclusive domain of handloaders and wildcatters. For many years, about the only true commercial varmint round was the .220 Swifteven though many hunters, including W. D. M. Bell, the great elephant hunter, after he had retired on his considerable ivory money to a Scottish estate and took up red-stag hunting, tried rather misguidedly to promote it as an ultra-high-velocity big-game round. Wildcatters of the day played with assorted .17-, .22-, and 6 mm-caliber bullets to create some very good, and some admittedly rather bizarre, cartridges for predators and varmints. This changed in the early 1960s with the almost simultaneous development of the 5.56x45 mm (or 5.56 NATO) and .223 Remington rounds (almost interchangeable except for pressure differences) and the AR-15 rifle (the first commercial chambering of the .223 was

actually in the Remington Model 760 pump rifle, but its real fame was gained with the AR). The AR would eventually evolve into the M16 military rifle, and after some labor pains, became probably the finest combat weapon ever built, the AK not excluded. The fact is, the AR platform itself was never less than totally reliable and the .223 rose to such popularity that it is today certainly the most-fired centerfire rifle cartridge, and maybe the best embodiment of the AR is the Remington R-15 VTR Predator Rifle. For the varmint and the predator hunter for ranges out to 400 yards, the modular repeating Remington R-15 VTR, chambered in .204 Ruger as well as .223, incorporates the most-advanced design aspects of AR-15s, with strong emphasis on form and function geared to the v-and-p hunter. At the heart of the R-15 rifle is a 22-inch, button-rifled ChroMoly steel barrel with added stiffness for greater long-range accuracy. The barrel, with a recessed hunting crown, is free-floated within the machinedaluminum fore-end tube.

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Not your granddads varmint gun? The R-15 is the secret weapon in the battle to control burgeoning coyote numbers across the country.

The R-15s trigger is a clean-breaking single stage, and the semi-auto gas action reduces muzzle rise. Add to that an ergonomic pistol grip and lightweight overall weight from uppers and lowers machined from aluminum forgings. A receiver-length Picatinny rail is built in for mounting optics, the fore-end tube is drilled and tapped for accessory rails, and the rifle includes a five-round magazine. The R-15 VTR is cloaked in Advantage Max1 HD camouflage for ultimate concealment when trying to call those coyotes and bobcats into close range. And it is offered in various barrel lengths, from 24-inch to 18-inch carbine length, and stocks, including a thumbhole and a collapsible model. All in all, theres no finer varmint or predator rifle to choose from. And the only question is, which cartridge to shoot. Remington offers two different solutions, the Premier AccuTip-V and Premier Disintegrator Varmint. The gold-polymer-tipped AccuTip-V is loaded in a 50-grain boat-tail .223 as well as two

.204s, a boat-tail 40 grain and a rocket-fast 32 grain. They all offer match-grade accuracy and explosive impact, with the tip being driven back and the thin jacket and soft lead core fragmenting violently, delivering swift kills on thin-skinned predators. The Disintegrator applies the unique feature of a frangible bullet. The 45-grain .223 jacketed hollow point breaks into tiny fragments on impact, setting up devastating wounding. Added benefits of this extremely accurate bullet are that ricochet is eliminated, and the bullets are non-toxic, making them legal for wherever lead projectiles are prohibited. With the Remington R-15 VTR Predator Rifle and either the Remington AccuTip-V or Disintegrator round, the varmint-and-predator hunter has the ideal set up. More than that, the R-15 qualifies as a top choice for an all-around working rifle for ranch, home, even hunting larger game like deer, where legal, with heavier bullets. In short, its not your granddads varmint rifle.

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Whats Your Power Level?

With the family of Remington Power Level Ammunition, a hunter can fine tune both his rifle and his shoulder. Power Level in 7 mm and .300 Remington Ultra Magnum offers different bullets and velocities in each caliber, letting a hunter match his load to the specific game hes hunting. On the same theory as picking a 2-, 3-, or 3-inch shotgun shell, the hunter chooses the right cartridge for the job. And all Power Level Ammunition prints within 2 inches of one another at 200 yards, meaning a hunter has three rifles in one in his gun rack.

Pack a rangefinder with elevation compensation--and a flat shooting rifle and ammo combo--any time youre headed to the mountains to hunt.

Keys

to Shooting in the Mountains

Mountain hunting has it challenges, not least of which is being able to make the shot. In the mountains, shooting may involve firing across canyons, which makes estimating ranges just about impossible without a laser rangefinder. So the first step in making a shot in the mountains is measuring the exact distance. Angle is another concern. A shot whether uphill or downhill is effected less by the direct pull of gravity, meaning that the bullets trajectory is actually shorter than the level distance it travels through the air. In fact, unless the shot is extremely steep, the effect is not as severe as some shooters may believe, but a hold lower on the animals body than the ranged distance is the right move. A third key is the wind. Powerful breezes can whip around mountains, and gauging them, especially hundreds of yards across a canyon where the animal is standing and where the shot is heading is not easy, unless you know one trick. Mountain hunters should have a spotting scope in any case, but by focusing on the animal, then turning the focus slight back, away from the animal, a blurred image will be created that will show heat waves. These wavy lines in the eyepiece have a story to tell. Straight up and down means no wind. Waves at 1:30 or 10:30 show a 5 mile-per-hour wind blowing right to left or left to right, and at 3:00 and 9:00 it is a 10-mile wind.

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Big Game:
Top Five Mountain Hunts
Jack OConnor once described the mountain peaks he so loved to hunt as islands of the Arctic created by elevation. These polar archipelagoes start at relatively low altitudes in the Far North and climb progressively higher until, by the time you reach the Southern Rockies, you have to ascend to 10,000 to 12,000 feet to find the permanent snow and glaciers of an Arctic landscape. Its also where you find northern game like wild sheep, mountain goat, and grizzly considerably south of what is considered their usual habitat (wild sheep, of course, are found all the way down into Mexico, and mountain goat can be hunted in Colorado and even Nevada). Herein lies the challenge of hunting mountain game: not only having to withstand the rigors of an inhospitable environment but enduring the physical stress of high altitude and thin air. Yet it is hunting that has an irresistible pull on thousands and thousands of hunters. So here are the top hunts to match the mountains. The mule deer is certainly northern game, ranging all the way up into the Yukon, but we think of it far more as mountain game. Mule deer habitat includes steep slopes and deep canyons and can be found where the peaks rise to 14,000 feet. The reasons mule deer seek high altitudes are the same reasons other mountain game does. Above timberline are found large meadows and in these meadows grow forbs, flowering herbaceous plants, with exceptional nutritional value. This is an extremely attractive food for deer and other mountain game, even grizzlies whose diet can be largely based on vegetation. For mule deer, the open slopes also provide security from natural predators as they can more quickly spot them, or, with the strong mountain winds, smell them. Because of their bounding stotting gait, they are ideally suited to escaping over rough,

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Once youre geared up for your mountain adventure, be sure to get your heart, lungs, and legs in shape to endure the ups and downs as well as thin air of high elevation.

broken mountain terrain. The tall peaks also seem to be the favored habitat of the biggest trophy bucks who will remain in the high lonesome until either snowfall or the urge to follow does down to lower elevations during the rut pulls them off the mountain. Elk are another mountain dweller for many of the same reasons that mule deer are. Besides nutrition, bull elk, during the bugling season, like the transition zones between black timber and open parks and meadows. They can find shelter in the trees, but the openings also give cows grazing areas, while for herd bulls they are where they can meet the challenge of competing satellite bulls head on. In the early season, bulls may climb to escape insects, and when hunters arrive and push them out of the trees, they will retreat to the isolated summits. Post bugle, the big bulls are likely to remain there until the snow gets deep enough to force them lower. Although caribou are generally considered tundra or woodland dwellers, the mountain caribous name speaks for itself. DNA

studies have shown that mountain caribou are a hybrid between tundra and woodland, and because of this, they show both migratory and resident tendencies. Some mountain caribou in the Rockies may migrate long distances from foothills to mountains, depending on food, and weather, while others remain in one area. For a lot of caribou hunters, who have experienced feast or famine beforeeither vast herds of animals on the move or none at allmountain caribou offer the possibility of knowing they can hunt caribou in one place. Mountain goat may be the most underrated of all high-altitude species. While many hunters are attracted by the allure of wild sheep, they ignore the undeniable qualities of goats. Yes, they have relatively small horns, or rather horns whose subtle features require a knowledgeable eye to appreciate, but they are a deceptively large, hardy animal with a magnificent snowy coat and live in the same country (usually the more precipitous reaches of it) as sheep and probably offer an even greater hunting test. As a

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PHOTO: Dusan Smetana

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PHOTO: Dusan Smetana

mountain guide advised, when climbing do what you see the sheep do and youll be safe. Do what the goats do and die. With all the mountain game, it only makes sense to find grizzlies hunting there too. Actually, grizzlies also like the peaks for the isolation, the same vegetation that attracts the herbivores, and the abundance of small game like marmots and pika that provide convenient snacks. The tall slopes are where the sows will den and wean their young, and where the boars can be the kings of the mountains. Even before Jack OConnor glamorized

it, sheep hunting was the jewel in the crown of mountain hunting, and it is all its varied aspects that make it so attractive. Sheep hunting, and all mountain hunting, requires the intensive use of quality optics, with binoculars and spotting scopes are as important as rifles and riflescopes. Sheep shape is the definition of what it means to be in condition for mountain hunting. Then there is simply the toughness of the terrain and weather to be confronted, made tolerable by the majesty of the game, like sheep and all the other high-altitude species, to be pursued at the top of the world.

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The ULTIMATE Mountain Rifle

Hunters think that ultimate gauge of a mountain rifle For most North American big game hunting, the question isnt so much which caliber as it is using a rifle and ammo combo that youve practiced extensively with and that gives you confidence that you can make even long range shots. is super lightweight. There are though more important considerations, and the first is the cartridge, the heart of any rifle. The prime choice for many if not most hunters when they head to the summits is the
7 mm Remington Magnum. If there is one

secret to the 7 mm it is the bullet. In the 160-grain it gives an off-the-chart ballistic coefficient for ultra flat, long-range trajectory and a hefty sectional density for deep penetration. A half-century ago when Remington brought out the 7 mm, it also introduced the Remington Model 700 rifle which has gone on to tally up sales in the millions. In honor of the 700s golden jubilee Remington has come out with a Model 700 CDL SF Limited Edition. The CDL SF has the famed features of the 700 like the three-rings-of-steel receiver, and the X Mark Pro trigger, and a fluted stainless-steel barrel that helps make it one of the lightest Model 700s made, yet still keeping the rigidity and steady-shooting weight for mountain accuracy. If a hunter

As a man grows in age and wisdom, he wants his meat rarer, his whisky straighter, and his bullets bigger.
Dick Dietz, Remington Arms, retired

wants his Model 700 in a synthetic stock, there is the Remington Model
700 SPS Camo with the same weight

and many of the same features of the CDL SF.

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Personal Defense
CCW Permits and the Decline of Violent Crime
If a mans weapon is not dependable, then he is not dependable. Col Townsend Whelen, 1965

PHOTO: Remington

Shooting is a perishable skill, so make regular range practice sessions a part of your routine.
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& Tactical:
There is no more serious issue for the honest gun owner than self-defense. One of the key factors in self-defense is the right to carry a concealed weapon. This is a matter that touches on several fundamental aspects of life in the American democracy. There is the constitutional right to bear arms, affirmed over and over by the courts of the land, is the societal obligation to be able to step up and defend our fellow citizens if called upon, and there is the essential issue of being able to protect our own personal property, families, and ultimately our very lives. The right to carry plays a part in all of these, as more and more states accept the doctrine of this right, the benefit can be seen in a clear reduction in crime. The short versionCCWs (permits for carrying a concealed weapon) are definitely taking a serious bite out of crime. A growing body of hard evidence supports the belief that CCWs do indeed bring about a reduction in crime. Simple logic tells us that even just the possibility that any law-abiding citizen anywhere could be armed with a concealed weapon is going to make a criminal at the very least hesitate before committing an assault. The logic and intuition about CCWs is supported by an exhaustive body of evidence amassed through the monumental statistical analyses performed by economist John Lott. His findings are contained in his book More Guns, Less Crime, now in its third edition, and are increasingly being confirmed by other independent researchers. Lott reviewed population surveys from the census and the crime data for every county in the United States for the 29 years between between 1977 and 2005. His primary conclusion is that the adoption by states of laws allowing the general adult population to carry concealed weapons freely has, where put into place, resulted in a reduced incidence of violent crimes. That is the crime statistic for the more than 3000 US counties, showing fewer aggravated assaults, robberies, rapes, and murders! Having established the bona fides of the data, some recent anecdotes about the value of CCWs might be in order. In July of this year, a 71-year-old Ocala, Florida, resident, Samuel Williams shot and drove off two young gunmen when they invaded an internet cafe Williams was in. Williams had a carry permit for his semi-auto pistol, and when the two men entered to rob the cafe, Williams drew his gun, confronted them, dropped to one knee, and began firing, wounding both men and driving them out and down the street. The two men said to be falling over each other to get away. Jacksonville, also Florida (the state, by the way, is approaching one million CCWs), this August, two men stormed a Dollar General Store with two employees and one customer inside. The customer had a CCW and shot
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THE MODEL 1911 R1. A LEGEND IN TOP FORM.

The only thing

more American than a Model 1911 is one made by Americas oldest gunmaker. For more than 100 years, its defended freedom, served justice, protected families and dominated competition. And the Model 1911 R1 marks our proud return to one of the greatest legacies in rearms history, with the nest blend of exacting craftsmanship and out-of-box performance available today.

2012 REMINGTON ARMS COMPANY, LLC.

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Why the Classic 1911 Still Wins Today

After more than a decade, the Remington Arms Company is again in the business of making top-quality handguns; and it seems inevitable that the choice would be the Automatic Pistol, Caliber .45, M1911 as it would eventually come to be designated when taken into combat. The well-known history of the 1911 originates before the turn of the last century with the US Armys search for a semi-automatic service pistol to replace, and improve upon, assorted single- and double-action revolvers in military use. This was the era of small wars for the US. One of those was being fought in the Philippines against Moro insurrectionists, and the semi-auto pistols carried by US troops were unable to endure the rigors of jungle warfare. The answer came in the forms of the 1911s ultra-reliable self-loading action and a massive .45 caliber bullet for extreme stopping power. The pistol would see official action from the Battle of Bud Bagsak in the Philippines to the Invasion of Grenada and beyond, some 75 years. Remingtons history with the 1911 begins with the First World War when more than 20,000 1911s were built in Ilion, New York for the Doughboys to carry with them to France. Drawing on its history with the gun, Remington has added modern technology to the manufacture of the Model 1911 R1 using a match-grade stainless-steel barrel and precision-machined slide and frame, and giving the .45 a crisp trigger and fine-checkered American walnut grips. Able to deliver eight, rapidfire, high-impact shots (one in the chamber and seven in the detachable magazine) on target, the 1911 is best served by the finest self-defense ammunition like the brass-jacketed-hollow-point Remington HD Ultimate Home Defense or the copper-tin frangible Remington Disintegrator CTF that will not ricochet or penetrate through exterior walls into adjacent dwellings. For all the new wave of pistols made with synthetic materials, and supposedly innovative calibers, its the simplicity, reliability, and ruggedness of the 1911, and the proven effectiveness of the .45 cartridge, that make both of them winners still. For home defense, handguns are not the only choice with a shotgun like one of the Remington Tactical Shotguns, along with Remington shot-shell HD Ultimate Home Defense Loads, definitely needing to be looked at. Many times, just the distinctive sound of a shotgun action, semi-auto or pump, being slammed home is enough to send an intruder running out the door. and killed one of the criminals. The other fled the scene in an SUV parked outside. Finally, once again from Florida, a man with a valid concealed-weapons permit was walking his Jack Russell terrier when a dog described as a pit-bull type leaped over a wall and began attacking the Jack Russell. The man drew his pistol and shot the larger dog in the neck and shoulder, saving his terrier. No charges were filed against the man. These occurrences all took place within weeks of one another and all outside the home where there is no telling what the presence of a legally concealed weapon prevented. Perhaps nothing would have happened (other than the commission of crimes or the death of a petnot exactly minor matters), or perhaps there might have been an unspeakable tragedy. The inescapable conclusion though is that law enforcement would have never been able to respond in time to halt the threat. In all these incidents/ instances, it was only a courageous citizen with a legal firearm who stopped whatever might have happened in the unpredictable end. Now multiply this by the some 44 states that either allow unrestricted carrying rights or are shall issuemeaning that anyone meeting the legal criteria for carrying a concealed weapon must be issued a permitand you have to wonder why the few remaining states prohibiting carry refuse to see the light.

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E Z I N E

Remington Arms Company, LLC 870 Remington Drive P.O. Box 700 Madison, NC 27025-0700 TEL: 1-800-243-9700

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