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Nov/Dec 2012 No. 60

MULE DEER BEST RIFLE RUT HUNTS

Phil Shoemaker

Alaska’sBIG GAME RIFLES

The

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20– Rifle Rut Hunts The Modern Realities of Hunting Big Mule Deer byBobRobb

50– Minimalist Goose Hunting Think Small for Big Time Action byPhillipBourjaily

38– Rifles in Alaska How History Influenced Modern Hunters byPhilShoemaker

26– On the Sly Why, Where and When Still-Hunting Works for Whitetails byJackBallard

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In the late 1970s, my buddies and I would pool our money, drive to Colorado, Utah, Wyoming, Nevada or Montana, buy over-the-counter

mule deer permits and go hunting, often during the rut. Because we could get

tags every year, we hunted the same places and were able to learn the country and the idiosyncrasies of the local deer herd. We did ex-tremely well and killed some re-

ally good bucks. That’s all changed. Today virtually all rifle rut tags in every state are issued via a draw based on either bonus or preference points (except Idaho and New Mexico, which have no such point system) or are controlled by land-owners who either charge a premium price for landowner tags or sell them to outfitters who run pricey guided hunts. Thus, hunt-ing whopper bucks on a budget today re-quires a lot of work – most of which occurs well before any seasons open.

The Modern Realities of Hunting Big Mule Deer

By Bob Robb

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Rifle Rut Hunts

November-December 2012Volume 10 / Number 6


Spread before my roving eyes was a broad, fertile river bottom upon which farmers cultivated soy beans, corn, alfalfa and a host of other

crops. The fields were interspersed with stands of native cottonwood trees, under whose lofty, arching branches sprung tan-gles of native brush. Dense pockets of eastern red cedar, an interloping invasive species, dotted the riparian swath along the Republican River in south-central Nebraska.

To an itchy-footed Montanan, it looked like the per-fect place to hunt whitetails on the hoof. On my two hooves, that is. There is no greater thrill in the art of deer hunting than stalking cat-pawed through a patch of mature hardwoods or an open forest of evergreens, on the prowl for a stately buck or doe for the table. Before me was a still-hunter’s paradise: sufficient cover to mask my movements and a visual field far enough to spot moving deer before they noticed me.

The sneaking would have to wait, though. I was there at the invitation of a friend who takes a dimmer view of still-hunting in a region where the ground blind and tree stand reign supreme.

On the

SlyWhy, Where and When Still-Hunting Works for Whitetails

By Jack Ballard

Still-hunting isn’t all about hiking; stopping frequently to look ahead increases the chance of spotting deer.

34– Hare of a Good Time Tracking snowshoe hares requires patience and persistence. byDaveCarty

44– From the Beginning A Most Meaningful Mule Deer byJohnHaviland


It had been 30 minutes since fresh tracks were cut, and still no bunny. After a half-hour of on-again, off-again adrena-line surges, I was running out of juice.

Bill Buckley and I had tracked the hare through dense stands of dog-hair lodge-poles, then cut smoking-fresh sign on the other side as the rabbit squirted out just ahead of us, giving us the slip. My heart rate would race every time Bill pushed through the saplings, knowing the rabbit had to be out there in front of him, somewhere. But it never was.

Every 10 minutes or so the bunny would swap ends and run through the same loop he’d led us through 10 minutes earlier, his tracks and our tracks crossing on top of each other. If we’d had a dog, it would have been a simple matter to take a stand and let the dog push the rabbit to us. However, even a beagle wouldn’t have been much use in the three feet of soft snow we were traips-ing through in our snowshoes, and after 45 minutes I was losing hope.

I’d never tracked a rabbit this long without seeing it. Bill had, however. Later that afternoon he mentioned once tracking a single hare 2 hours and 15 minutes – timed – before finally getting a shot. Even he was get-ting discouraged this time. When our bunny’s tracks suddenly vanished, a common occurrence when hunting hares, we threw in the towel. As exhilarating and frus-trating as it was, the hare had beaten us fair and square.

“Exhilarating and frustrating” sound like the descrip-tion of an elk hunt or even a turkey hunt, but it is dif-ficult to think of two adjectives that describe snowshoe hare hunting more accurately. In the East, my under-standing is that snowshoe hares have been run with bea-gles for generations, but where I live in the West, they’re not even on most hunters’ radar.

Also unlike turkey hunting or elk hunting, hare hunting is not a particularly expensive sport. All that is required is a sturdy pair of snowshoes, a .22 pistol and

Tracking snowshoe hares requires patience and persistence.By Dave Carty

a daypack to carry some survival gear. Don’t skimp on the survival gear. This past winter while heading out of the mountains in the teeth of an oncoming storm, a rescue helicopter passed overhead. It was learned a few weeks later they were looking for a friend of mine, who had been stranded a couple thousand feet farther up the mountain.

Of course, a place to hunt is required. A hunter who has spent much time in the winter woods of the Rocky Mountain states probably already has a pretty good idea of where the bunnies live: in the densest, gnarliest stands of dog-hair fir and pine trees they can find. Hares are right down there with the voles and mice at the bottom of the food chain, and dense stands of lodgepole sap-lings offer protection from predators as well as the pine twigs, the mainstay of their winter diet. Forget about finding them in willow or aspen groves; in the West it is pines and fir stands they crave. Since hares are largely nocturnal, hunting for them is best early and late in the day, when they are more likely to be caught moving around.

I don’t always follow my own advice, however, and at least half the time, I’ll head out in the middle of the afternoon. I’m too lazy to get up at the crack of dawn, and I’m not wild about walking out of the woods in the dark, no matter how much survival gear I’m carry-ing. Even so, at least one set of fresh tracks is cut, usu-

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Snowshoe hares are usually grayish or yellow, not pure white, making them somewhat easier to spot on a predominately white background.

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Hare of a Good Time


A Most Meaningful Mule Deer

By John Haviland

From theBeginning

Lastfallarathernicemuledeerbuckwasmorethananotchonmydeertag.Itrepresented45yearsofhuntingmuledeer,becauseIshotthebuckonthesameridgewhereIkilledmyfirstdeerwhenIwasa

boy.Thecountry,huntersandthedeerandIhavechangedagreatdealduringthosedecades.Foranumberofseasons,thosechangeshavecomefullcircle.

WhenIstartedhuntingthecountrywasnew.Averyfewroadswoundupfromthevalleyintothefoothillsandstoppedatthebaseofthemountains.Myfatherwoulddropoffmyfourbrothersandme,onebyone,atdawnattheopeningsofcreekbottoms,andgatherusbackupatthelastglowofday.Thatfirstofdaywewalked,followingcattleandsheeptrailsthatledtograssparksborderedbypillarsofDouglasfirs.Thedeerwerethere,butalwaystrottingawaythroughthegrayforest.Tocompensateformypoorspotting,

Left; John’s first buck (antlers pictured) was shot with a Savage 99 .303 Savage similar to this one. Above; Overgrazing and increased road access nearly ruined the Haviland family’s favorite hunting spot. Limited access and tag availability has helped it recover a great deal.

Nov-Dec 2012 • SUCCESSFUL HUNTER 3successfulhunter.com


Compared with the majority of the world, fire-arms were late arrivals to Alaska. Hunters and explorers toting flintlock rifles were wandering the game fields of Africa and North America

years before Vitus Bearing discovered Alaska in 1728. Al-though the coastline proved fabulously rich with marine mammals, its vast interior remained virtually uncharted until after America purchased it from Russia in 1867.

In order to enforce provisions of the U.S. Indian trade and intercourse laws that blocked the importation of arms and liquor to “savages,” military posts were soon established at the major southern ports of Kenai, Kodiak, Sitka, Tongass and Wrangell. However, a few local traders and politicians bitterly contested authority and passed local regulations allowing the impor-tation of liquor in “limited quantities.” They also tended to turn a blind eye to the profitable trade in smuggling firearms, but its influence remained local and minor.

The few natives who did possess muzzleloaders were well ahead of their time in regard to ammunition. An 1885 military reconnaissance expedition into interior Alaska, led by Lt. H.T. Allen, found natives along the Copper River using pure copper bullets hammered into shape. Lt. Allen stated, “The copper bullets are claimed by them to be superior to the lead ones for large game, such as moose and bear, for the reason, they say, that the copper ones will always break bones, while the lead ones will not.”

Things changed rapidly with the discovery of gold in the 1890s. The terri-torial census of 1880 listed 33,426 inhabitants, of which 430 were white; but by 1900 a stampede of hopeful miners had raised it to 63,592 individuals, 30,493 of them being white. Most arrived armed, with a gamut of rifles from surplus trapdoor Springfields and rugged Sharps breechloaders to the newest Marlin and Winchester lever actions.

Along the dense southeast rainforests, where distances are measured in

Rifles inHow History Influenced Modern Hunters

By Phil Shoemaker

The Savage Model 99 .303 with its 190-grain bullet was considered to have adequate power for any

game likely to be encountered in Alaska’s vast interior. The pock-marks on this one’s stock show

that the butt and forend were once decorated with brass tacks.

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Think Small for Big-Time Action


MinimalistGoose Hunting

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Publisher/President – Don Polacek

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6– Observations The Coues Deer Cult byLeeJ.Hoots

10– Free Range Quail for the Winter Blues byBrandonRay

16– Loading Bench Loading Steel for Ducks byJohnHaviland

62– One More Shot Modern Hunter-Speak byRonSpomer

Departments

56– Hunting Gear

60– Trophy Board

10

successfulhunter.com4 SUCCESSFUL HUNTER • Nov-Dec 2012

Jack Ballard

John Barsness

John Haviland

Gary Lewis

Brandon Ray

Bob Robb

Ron Spomer

Terry Wieland


FREE RANGE Brandon Ray

Quail for the Winter Blues

There’s a painting by John P. Cowan that sums up des-ert quail hunting in one

vivid scene. The title of the water-color is Any Way You Can. It depicts two quail hunters chasing a covey of scaled quail in desert scrub near a windmill. Detail makes it easy to envision the cowboy-hated hunters hurdling cacti as they throw lead at the darting birds. You can almost feel the yucca quills sticking in your shins, something easily understood to a quail hunter who’s “been there, done that.”

While much of the rest of the country turns cold and miserable

after Christmas, the desert is still inviting. Cool nights and mild days with sunshine are the norm. What better time of year for a walk through the prickly pear and cholla with a scattergun?

Blue quail, scaled quail, scalies, cotton tops . . . they go by many names, but desert quail are a formi-dable opponent. One lady rancher in New Mexico even referred to them as “grays.” At first, I wasn’t sure if we were still talking about quail or bug-eyed aliens in Roswell!

Smaller in size only to western mountain quail, blue quail are as unique as the arid country in which

they live. The following comes from Ben O. Williams’ classic book, Hunting the Quails of North Amer-ica.

“A scaled quail is a magnificent specimen in the hand, although its colors are not as striking as other members of the quail family. If one looks closely, the bird is not plainly clad. Each feather has a finely barred or scaled pattern that has an irides-cent silky glow. The colors are soft, with a rich mix of blues and silver grays – not the grays of fighting sol-diers, but the stately silver-grays of a noble prince. To me the scaled quail is prince of the game birds.

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FREE RANGE

14 SUCCESSFUL HUNTER • Nov-Dec 2012

“Unlike other quail, both the male and female scaled quail appear similar, but upon close examination a rooster’s uniform appears more scaly than the hen’s. Females are drabber in color and not as princely. The hen also has light brown streaks on the sides of the face and throat and her cotton top is buff colored and less conspicuous.”

Like Gambel’s quail, blues are apt to run from hunters without dogs. The birds often live in open desert scrub or grasslands up to a mile high in elevation, which gives blues good visibility to see a hunter coming. Be-cause they are constantly hunted by bobcats, foxes, coyotes and hawks, it is easily understood why blue quail are so high strung. Their paranoia is well deserved. If they hear your brush pants scraping the prickly pear and mesquites 100 yards away, or the panting of a sniffing dog, they

will run like a busted bank robber. Wild flushes outside shotgun range are typical. Large coveys of 15 birds or more are enough to cause a quail hunter’s heart to skip. Shooting even a handful is an achievement. Taking the daily bag limit is rare.

Blue quail can be found in several southwestern states. In Texas they are found in the western half of the state. Their range extends into the western Panhandle of Oklahoma and the southwestern corner of Kan-sas. In Colorado, the southern half of the state harbors blues. The entire state of New Mexico is blues coun-try. In Arizona they can be found in the southeastern third, and their range extends south into Mexico.

There is no hard line that sepa-rates one quail species from the next. Changes in elevation and fauna are a rough guide, but the birds don’t read the guide books. In desert scrub, it’s possible to bump other quail when blues are the main game. In Texas, Oklahoma and east-ern New Mexico, it’s possible to point a covey of bobwhites in the same pasture. In western New Mex-ico and Arizona, you might find a covey of blues in the grass and mes-quites, then a covey of Gambel’s in a brushy arroyo. Surprises like this only add spice to the adventure.

Depending on which state you

hunt, seasons run through January or even February. The daily bag limit is somewhere around 10 to 15 birds, depending on the state. Cost for a non-resident license is usually affordable.

Local biologists can probably point you to some good starting points on public ground. In the field, carry a map and let locals show

This is typical desert savannah country in Arizona blue quail country. Though blue quail aren’t as tied to water as other quail, windmills are good start-ing and ending points for desert quail hunts.

Because blue quail like to run, dogs help pin cov-eys down. Brandon’s English pointers: Jane (left) likes to nap and eat, while Sue would rather hunt.

Early Bugle & LateMigration Seasons. Theexceptional, high qual-ity back country biggame hunt you’re look-ing for! Elk, mule deer

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you where to look. Note windmills and stock ponds as good places to look for pitch-fork-shaped quail tracks. The best states for public ac-cess are New Mexico and Arizona.

Popular 20 and 12 gauges work well for quail, although some bird-ers get fancy with a .410 bore or 28 gauge. Light, fast-pointing over/ unders are often preferred over semiautos. My go-to guns include a Beretta Silver Pigeon 20 gauge with 26-inch barrels and a Browning Ci-tori 20 gauge with 26-inch barrels. For shells, 2¾-inch loads with an ounce of No. 7½ shot work well. Wear comfortable lace-up, leather hunting boots and sturdy pants to ward off briars and stickers and a vest or bird bag for extra shells, water and dead birds.

It’s been a few years since I’ve killed a mess of quail. These days, it’s more an occasional afternoon hike in the Texas Panhandle with my two English pointers, Sue and

A pair of blue quail and a bobwhite; a lightweight 20-gauge over/under is a preferred quail gun out West. Autoloaders are also popular.

Nov-Dec 2012 • SUCCESSFUL HUNTER 15

Jane. The hunt is more for them than it is for me. Last winter the plan was to circle a steep canyon at the end of the lane, then walk back

toward the house, near a windmill and some old farm junk. Typically, a covey or two is there every year.

Sue pointed the first covey, bob-whites, in the steep draw. At the flush, the second barrel of the 20 gauge folded a bird, a handsome bobwhite cock. We searched for the singles, but they were last seen buzz-ing into a canyon too steep for dogs.

A half-mile later, nearing the farm junk and old barn, Sue went stiff along the fence. I expected more bobs, but 10 gray birds buzzed out of the tall grass. This time it was a covey of blues. Two shots resulted in two birds. The sun was dipping low, so we headed for the truck. Sue sipped water from my cupped hand while Jane ate venison snack sticks.

Any Way You Can might mean a day of hurdling cacti to earn your supper, but there is no finer game meat than quail, and it’s worth plucking cacti from your butt to get it!

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Compared with the majority of the world, fire-arms were late arrivals to Alaska. Hunters and explorers toting flintlock rifles were wandering the game fields of Africa and North America

years before Vitus Bearing discovered Alaska in 1728. Al-though the coastline proved fabulously rich with marine mammals, its vast interior remained virtually uncharted until after America purchased it from Russia in 1867.

In order to enforce provisions of the U.S. Indian trade and intercourse laws that blocked the importation of arms and liquor to “savages,” military posts were soon established at the major southern ports of Kenai, Kodiak, Sitka, Tongass and Wrangell. However, a few local traders and politicians bitterly contested authority and passed local regulations allowing the impor-tation of liquor in “limited quantities.” They also tended to turn a blind eye to the profitable trade in smuggling firearms, but its influence remained local and minor.

The few natives who did possess muzzleloaders were well ahead of their time in regard to ammunition. An 1885 military reconnaissance expedition into interior Alaska, led by Lt. H.T. Allen, found natives along the Copper River using pure copper bullets hammered into shape. Lt. Allen stated, “The copper bullets are claimed by them to be superior to the lead ones for large game, such as moose and bear, for the reason, they say, that the copper ones will always break bones, while the lead ones will not.”

Things changed rapidly with the discovery of gold in the 1890s. The terri-torial census of 1880 listed 33,426 inhabitants, of which 430 were white; but by 1900 a stampede of hopeful miners had raised it to 63,592 individuals, 30,493 of them being white. Most arrived armed, with a gamut of rifles from surplus trapdoor Springfields and rugged Sharps breechloaders to the newest Marlin and Winchester lever actions.

Along the dense southeast rainforests, where distances are measured in

Rifles inHow History Influenced Modern Hunters

By Phil Shoemaker

The Savage Model 99 .303 with its 190-grain bullet was considered to have adequate power for any

game likely to be encountered in Alaska’s vast interior. The pock-marks on this one’s stock show

that the butt and forend were once decorated with brass tacks.

AL

AS

KA

Nov-Dec 2012 • SUCCESSFUL HUNTER 39


feet and obstreperous brown bears are likely to be en-countered, heavier calibers like the .45-70, .45-90 and .50-110 earned staunch supporters. The nearby Ca-nadian Northwest Mounted Police, and many territo-rial U.S. officials in the region, were quick to adopt the Winchester Model 1876 in .45-75. They worked well enough but were eagerly exchanged for the rugged and reliable Winchester 1886 and Marlin 1895 models as they became available. As testament to their effective-ness, both the rifles and calibers still retain a significant following in the region 120 years later.

Lever actions were popular in other quarters of the territory as well. Model 94 Winchesters were as popu-lar as they were elsewhere; but, in the vast, cold interior where distances were great and longer shots more likely, slim, light Savage Model 99 rifles and carbines were fa-vorites of miners, hunters and trappers. The .303 Savage with its 190-grain bullet was considered a better killer than either the .30-30 WCF or .32 Special. The box-fed Winchester Model 95 carbine in .30-40 Krag was also highly regarded and was adopted by territorial marshals.

On Kodiak Island and the coastal regions, where the largest bruins were found, the Model 95 in .405 Win-chester was considered a proper bear basher extraordi-naire. It too survives today in limited numbers. In 1948 bush pilot Bob Reeve killed the then-world’s record brown bear near Cold Bay with his.

By the turn of the twentieth century, tales of fabu-lous hunting opportunities in the far northern reaches of the North American continent had begun to spread. Wealthy sportsmen from around the globe began to ar-rive with the most up-to-date armament. Between 1900 and 1904, iconic African hunter F.C. Selous hunted the adjacent Yukon territories with his friend Charles Shel-don. He carried a set of his beloved Farqharson single-shot rifles and wrote, “personally I have found a .303 and a .375 [the early 2½-inch flanged nitro express car-tridge with a 270-grain bullet at 2,000 fps] bore rifles, both by Holland, very effective weapons against moose and caribou, whilst several of my friends [Sheldon being

Rifles inALASKA

Commercial Mauser sporters like this .30-06 were expensive luxuries, but residents of coastal Alaska, where brown bears roamed, were often willing to pay for them.

Gold brought thousands of fortune seekers to the territory. Many worked on gold dredges like this one in interior Alaska near Fairbanks. Relics of early rifles hang on the side of a nearby cabin.

successfulhunter.com Nov-Dec 2012 • SUCCESSFUL HUNTER 41

one of them] believe that the .256 Mannlicher is the best of all the small bores.”

Captain C.R.E. Radclyffe, another gentleman-hunter, visited Alaska in 1903 with a permit to collect for the British Museum. In his 278-page account of the journey, Big Game Shooting in Alaska, he wrote, “From a sportsman’s point of view the country is still a para-dise, for big game of various kinds still abounds, and owing to the stringent game laws passed by the United States it appears to be well protected for many years to come.” Like most visiting hunters to the country, both then as well as today, Captain Radclyffe carried the most up-to-date armament. He used an 8x57 bolt- action sporter built by C.G. Haenel on a German Model 88 action and used it to collect Dall sheep, brown bear and moose.

At the close of World War I, the population of Alaska again began to swell as homesteaders, miners and trappers trekked north in search of wealth, freedom and a new beginning. As a courtesy to those making the long trek northward, a territorial commission published an information packet for prospective homesteaders and in it described what they deemed adequate armament:

Rifles: Hunters in Alaska must use guns specially adapted to the game sought. For the little coast deer on the islands and along the coast of Southeastern Alaska small caliber such as 25-35, 32-40, 25-20, 30-30, are plenty large enough and do not destroy the meat. Hunting large game, caribou, moose, etc., use a gun much heavier, of high velocity, and great striking power, such as 7 MM.-8 MM-30-40, or one using the 1906 government ammunition. The last named is the favorite among the “sour-doughs,” using the needle-point soft-nose and lever action of the car-bine size. Those intending to hunt north of 620 or in any

place where the temperature will be 250 below or lower, the gun should be taken apart (screw spring and all), every particle of gun grease removed, and every piece wiped thor-oughly dry. Then moisten the fingers with three-in-one or nitro-solvent oil, pass the pieces through the fingers, mak-ing sure that the oil is applied to every part lightly so that it rests in the pores of the steel.

Never take a gun into the tent or cabin, except to leave it there long enough to become warm, when all of the sweat should be wiped off. Guns left in the cold—never taken in—will remain in good working order. When they are fi-nally put away, clean thoroughly and then incase heavily with gun grease.

In Southeastern Alaska, on account of the intense mois-ture and salt water, guns must at all times be in heavy gun grease. In this region they should be kept indoors, well wiped, and greased, and the grease removed from the inside of the barrel before using.

Never have a load in the barrel of a packed gun. There is no reason or excuse for so doing. It may be caught in overhead brush, or when used to rest on as a staff; both of which a gun on these trips is used for. Have the butt of the gun always con-cave, so that the points will dig and hold in case of slipping. With very lit-tle practice a shell can be thrown into the barrel while the gun is coming to the shoulder—loaded and cocked in one action. Always have the magazine loaded.

Care of ammunition. Ammuni-tion left out in very cold weather should stand at least twenty-four hours near a stove to dry out before using. Steel taken from cold outdoors into a warm atmo-sphere will sweat. Smokeless powder when damp loses largely its explosive power, and bullets, propelled by such,

After World War I, military bolt actions converted to sporting rifles became popular. Top to bottom: a Mauser 98, BSA Lee-Speed, Eddystone Enfield and a 1903 Springfield.

Many modern Alaskans still prefer to hunt with rifles of blued steel and walnut, like this 10.75x68 Mauser by Lon Paul (top) or .475 Turnbull Model 86 (bottom).


fall almost anywhere after leaving the muzzle of the gun. Such a condition oc-curs when shells are left in the cold.

It was good, solid advice that no doubt saved many cheechakos (new-comers to the territory who had yet to spend their first winter) from grief.

Although the great “war to end all wars” had proven to the world the rugged superiority of the bolt-action rifles, many old sourdoughs and cognoscenti of the leverguns remained unconvinced. However, as inexpensive, surplus bolt actions became available, they were ea-gerly snapped up by Alaskan hunt-ers. Surplus rifles like the German Model 88 carbines and rifles could be ordered inexpensively by mail through the Sears, Roebuck and Co. catalog. Famous Kodiak bear guide Bill Pinnell carried a carbine ver-sion in 8x57 for a quarter-century until he replaced it with a new Win-chester Model 70 .375 H&H after World War II. Surplus .30-40 Krags were also inexpensive and widely regarded. A roundnosed 220-grain bullet at 2,200 fps was as solid a killer on large Alaskan game then as it is now. So was the 215-grain bul-let in the British .303. Every now and then, a sporterized old Krag, SMLE or classy old Lee Speed still

turns up in the far reaches of the state.

The rifle and cartridge Alaskans came to cherish most for the de-cades following World War I was the accurate, smooth-feeding 1903 Springfield .30-06. After Teddy Roosevelt published his book Af-rican Game Trails in 1910 and extolled the virtues of it, our gov-ernment made Springfield rifles available to the public. The best riflemakers of the time – Fred Adolph, Seymour Griffin, Barney Worthen, Adolf Minar and Ludwig Wundhammer – immediately began to build sporting rifles using Spring-field barreled actions.

Astute Alaskans who carried rifles on a daily basis, like guides Andrew Berg, Slim Moore, Jay Williams and territorial hunter and warden Hosea Sarber, were quick to recognize the new sporters’ benefits. They used

them regularly on everything from sheep and caribou to grizzlies and brown bears. In his book Alaskan Adventure, Williams writes, “My lit-tle Springfield sporter, fashioned by Ludwig Wundhammer, was picked up in the morning as regularly as my hat.” It was his daily companion for 30 years until eventually lost in a boat fire. He replaced it with an-other Springfield sporter, restocked by Alvin Linden, in .35 Whelen.

The reverence with which these outdoorsmen held their Spring-fields was not unfounded. Any-one fortunate enough to handle an early Wundhammer or Minar (Jack O’Conner’s favorite) will immedi-ately see why. They were a melding of slim, old-world Germanic style with the elegant lines of English bolt rifles. The results were a uniquely lithe and lethal rifle designed for a hunter who carried a rifle on a daily basis.

In 1925 Winchester offered its Model 54 sporting rifle with many of the same features as those early Springfield sporters. When the com-pany chose to refine the design in the 1930s, input was sought from Jay Williams, his close friend Alas-kan game commissioner Frank Du-frensne, and popular gun writers of the era, Townsend Whelen and Elmer Keith. The resulting rifle was the now iconic Winchester Model 70, and by the late 1940s, it had re-placed the 1903 Springfield as Alas-

Rifles in

ALASKA

Phil still counts his 1920’s vintage Springfield .30-06, built by Adolf Minar, as a trusted hunting rifle.

successfulhunter.com Nov-Dec 2012 • SUCCESSFUL HUNTER 43

ka’s favorite rifle. This year, in rare bipartisan agreement, the Alaska state legislature even voted to make the Model 70 the “official rifle” of the 49th state.

As the U.S. economy picked up following World War II, a number of noted bear guides like Bill Pin-nell, Morris Talifson, Hal Waugh and Ralph Young gravitated toward the Model 70 in .375 H&H. Others chose the newer Alaskan .338 Win-chester Magnum variant when it was introduced. Most guides, including the majority of the territories’ meat hunters, maintained their faith in the highly flexible, well-proven .30-06. It was adequate to kill the still-current world record brown bear on Kodiak Island in 1952 and, with modern powders and bullets, it re-mains the most popular and useful big game round in the state.

As popular as Model 70s were, Alaska always held its share of avid riflemen and women looking for something different. In profitable years, gold miners, fishermen, guides and trappers, eager to try new weap-onry, placed orders for rifles from BRNO, Browning, BSA, Griffin & Howe, Husqvarna, Mannlicher-Schönauer, Mauser, Remington, Rigby, Sako, Sedgley, Weatherby and Wesley Richards. Local rifle-builders like Harold Johnson of Cooper Landing also stayed busy building large-bore lever actions.

Today, with the state’s popula-tion 10 times higher than it was in 1900, and with telephone and Inter-net connections in most villages and box stores in major towns, Alaskans have the same access to rifles as the

These early rifles belonged to famous Kodiak bear guides Bill Pinnell and Morris Talifson. Above is Talifson’s Model 70 .300 H&H, and below, Pinnell’s surplus German M88 8mm carbine has a hand hold whittled into the forend to make it a comfortable walking staff.

rest of the U.S. Rural inhabitants are still a pragmatic lot though, and stainless steel and synthetic stocked bolt-action rifles have become the most prevalent rifles chosen by hunters. The rugged, reliable and inexpensive Ruger M77 is prob-ably the most common. The .30-06 is still hanging on as the most popular round, but the .300 and .338 Winchester Magnums are not far behind. Among guides and bear hunters, the new .375 Ruger is rap-idly supplanting the .375 H&H.

The lever-action Marlin Model

95 in .45-70 is also popular, espe-cially the stainless steel carbine ver-sion. The Ruger No. 1 single shot also has a small but vocal group of supporters. Semiautomatics have made few inroads with the state’s big game hunters, but the stainless steel Ruger Mini-14 is ubiquitous in rural villages. The state has always had a substantial military presence, and the AR-15 is as popular here as it is elsewhere. Its reliability and ac-curacy make it the top choice for wolf hunters and state-licensed aerial gunners.

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