Category: Fieldcraft
June 16, 2022
Night hunting is a different creature, especially when it comes to hog hunting. I never saw them during the daylight hours, and they’ve grown too wise and wary to let a mistake occur. Switching to thermal imaging is your ticket to lessen the negative impact hogs are placing on the countryside.
I love night vision, but thermal breathes new life into the night. I started out simple with the ATN X-Sight, and these optics are chock-full of features that deliver optimal performance. The only restriction I’ve found is distance, and night vision is only as good as the light output and throw of your IR light.
Fast forward, after utilizing the ATN night vision for a few years, I was able to jump into the thermal imaging game. I was fortunate to have ATN send a few Thor 4 optics for the entire Gun Talk team to test out. That moment changed how I looked at night hunting and my day hunt strategies.
The ATN Thor 4 is, again, exploding with features. Here are a few of my favorites.
Detection
With a 384×288 sensor, you can expect detection out to 750 yards, target recognition at 335 yards, and positive target identification at 205 yards. Think about that for a second. If you can detect a target at 750 yards, how easy will it be to develop a plan to get within shooting range? That is why thermal is a crucial night-hunting tool.
The range with the Thor 4 allows me to close the distance, whereas night vision is much closer, leaving less time for a plan. This isn’t 100% the case every time in the field. There are times when thermal isn’t the best. I had an issue a few years ago where the fog rolled through, and I didn’t get the distance I’d become accustomed to. ATN isn’t the only thermal device that runs into this issue. Fog is just a booger to deal with, and humidity builds its own problems. However, if you run at night during cooler months, nothing hides.
The hunting party crested the hill and instantly smelled hogs. It was the musky smell mixed with muddy water, unmistakably the feral pig kind of smell. We were coyote hunting and attempted to get out and set up early, but I knew the dog hunt was over if we located hogs. A quick scan of the area with the Thor 4 detailed 40+ hogs moving away at 300 yards. They had no clue we were in the area, so we hatched a quick plan to head them off. After covering plenty of ground, we took 8 out of the sounder. It was fast, but I can’t imagine that night vision would have offered the same opportunity. It’s helpful, but there’s nothing out there that hides.
Recoil Activated Video
I’m about the most forgetful person. When tensions get high and adrenaline runs rampant, I don’t always remember to hit the record button. Recoil video recording has literally saved my bacon on many occasions. I know most won’t use video recording to publish, but it’s fun showing buddies that come over what these optics are capable of and how much fun they’re missing. In all seriousness, don’t forget to insert the SD Card.
Power
The ATN Thor 4 has enough juice on a full charge to run an entire night. In fact, with the correct settings, you can get 18+ hours of continuous run time. So, if you plan on doing a mix of day and night hunting, never power down your optic. There are nights when I forget to power down the optic, and it’s still truckin’ along when I ready myself for the next day’s hunt.
One-Shot Zero
An easy way to get started on the hunt, the one-shot zero feature ensures you’re on target every time out in the field. The one-shot zero makes sighting in the optic effortless. Plus, think of all the ammo you save. I’d suggest sighting in the twilight hours. It offers enough contrast, but if you must sight in during the day, take hot hands with you and tape it to your target.
This is the first feature you’ll likely encounter when you get a new ThOR 4, which may be your favorite. The bonus of having an easy sight in the process is utilizing several firearms. Once you finish the sight in, save the ballistic profile. Then, at that point, it is pretty much a plug-in and play situation.
Price
I can’t think of many thermal optics that you can purchase for under $2,000, and they just don’t exist. If they do, I guarantee they aren’t as feature-rich or durable as the ThOR 4. One of the best parts of the ATN sight is the opportunity to purchase refurbished units.
I’ve said it a thousand times. Now is the best time to start if you aren’t utilizing thermal for hunting or scouting. Get what you can afford but get it as fast as you can. Thermal is the great equalizer in the field. In fact, it tips the odds completely in your favor. ~ KJ
KJ
Kevin Jarnagin (KJ) hails from Oklahoma but quickly established Louisiana roots after joining the Gun Talk team. KJ grew up as a big game hunter and often finds himself in a different venture often. Whether it’s making his way to British Columbia for elk or training with pistols, KJ always seems to find a gun in his hands and adventure on his mind.
Photos: Shane Kessler
Sword Fighting 101: the pointy end goes in the other guy
While sword fighting skills may not be as much of a pressing need as it was to our ancestors, most sword collectors have an interest – whether it is largely academic, a lifelong dedication to training or just practicing a few moves and/or doing some occasional (safety conscious) ‘backyard cutting’.
With this in mind, I am pleased to present to you a series of articles that address the more practical side of the hobby – Western, Eastern and general sword principles as well as links to further resources and much more to be added as this page expands over the coming months.
To get started, simply select your main area of interest from the menu below.
Select Your Sword Fighting Style
Universal Sword Fighting Principles
Did you know that you can read the classic treatise on Sword Fighting, the Book of Five Rings by Miyamoto Musashi for Free Online? Check it out here!
Like the humorous illustration at the top of this page, the basic principle of a sword fight was to deliver a fight ending blow without taking one yourself – or as the Sword Saint, Miyamoto Musashi put it, “the object is to cut down your enemy”.
Simple enough, but as is often the case, the simple things in life are often overlooked.
While battle was and still is essentially chaotic in nature, and no plan survives first contact with the enemy, there are several characteristics and factors common to the winner (survivor) of a medieval duel, trial by combat or battlefield ordeal – and these are outlined in chapter 14 of Hank Reinhardt’s excellent book, the Book of Swords as follows:
- Physical Conditioning (modern people were nowhere near as tough as our ancestors) especially of the back and the abdomen, though cardio and strong wrists are key for Sword Fighting.
- Mental Aspects – specifically, Awareness & Calmness/Serenity.
- Deception – fighting fair is a sure way to get you killed in a sword-fight. Historically, foul play was not only expected, it was par for the course.
- Confidence and Toughness of Spirit
- Rhythm – or rather, the lack of it. Falling into a predictable pattern is anathema to sword fighting.
- Intimidation – or rather, not being intimidated or using intimidation against a lesser opponent.
- Timing and Distance – simple enough, but striking at the right time and being close enough to actually hit is a skill in itself.
- And finally Caution – not timidity, but having enough common sense to not underestimate your opponent.
Most of these factors to winning a sword fight, be it in a duel 400 years ago or in a modern day sports contest, are self explanatory, timeless principles. But while quite a few are more or less the correct ‘winning’ mentality and take years to cultivate, others are simple techniques or tricks.
For example, it is relatively easy to learn a few tricks and employ deception in Sword Fighting. Examples include, feigning weakness or fear before attacking strongly, glancing down at a leg, dropping the shoulder and feinting a downward blow only to whip it up and attack the helmet, or the classic Musashi tactic – feigning to jump aside when the enemy attacks, and then dashing in strongly the millisecond they relax..
Examples of Simple Deception in Sword Fighting
Example One
Figure 1: Fighter A closes the distance with sword raised preparing for what appears to be a mighty overhead strike.
Figure 2: With sword still raised, his actual attack is a hard kick to Fighter B’s liver, groin, bladder or midsection, his sword raised to intercept against Fighter B’s sword if the kick is unsuccessful, or attempt to deliver a follow up strike on his momentarily staggered opponent..
Example Two
Figure 1: Fighter A steps in and prepares to deliver a full force overhead attack on Fighter B with speed and intent.
Figure 2: Fighter B wisely parries the attack with the forte (strongest part) of his sword.
Figure 3: Without missing a beat, fighter A follows up with what looks like the same attack he did in figure 1, however..
Figure 4: While looking at the opponents head and keeping the actual target only in his peripheral vision, he sidesteps out of the way of any potential counterattack and attacks with one hand, suddenly dropping the attack into his opponents foremost leg. Because the first attack was so strong and potentially deadly, Fighter B is likely to fall for the feint.
Simple tricks like these work, but they do not occur in a vacuum. One of the classic Musashi tactics is to utilize everything in the environment to your advantage – such as standing with the sun behind you so that the glare distracts your opponent, or chasing them in such a way that they trip over inanimate objects behind them.
However real skill at sword fighting occurs not from a few simple tricks, but when all the winning factors are present. As Hank and Musashi both note, it all comes together when you are ‘in the zone’ – when you aren’t really thinking about anything in particular and just let everything happen naturally, with the right technique at the right time delivered at the right speed to the right target at the right distance.
To achieve this state of ‘no-mind’ one must train diligently. Below are some training techniques from an excellent resource I found to help you create the necessary foundation.
Basic Attacks and Lines of Defense
There are basically 8 angles of attack with a sword when cutting – straight down, straight up (ouch!), diagonally down to the right, diagonally down to the left, diagonally up to the right, diagonally up to the left and left and right strikes horizontally.
While other angles are theoretically possible, they are all pretty much variations of the 8 main attack angles – as are thrusts.
Most experts agree that if you want to win at sword fighting, you are better off seizing the offensive than waiting for the right time to counter-attack. But no matter how skilled you are on the offense, at some point you will have to take some defensive action, and for that there are basically 5 main counters as shown below.
1: Can be used to defend against an overhead attack and should have enough space so that it can absorb the force of the incoming blow. The same basic principle can be used against a rising vertical attack, though with the sword held downwards instead of up.
2: Simply extending the arm outwards and away from the body can parry most downward diagonal cuts or thrusts or high horizontal attacks coming from the left to the right.
3: Conversely, an attack from right to left is parried by swinging the arm across the body.
4: Diagonal rising cuts, cuts directed to the right leg, or low horizontal attacks can be parried by dropping the sword downwards and bracing with enough space to absorb the impact of the blow.
5: Conversely, low attacks directed to the left side of the body are parried by turning the wrist so that it faces outwards and sweeping the attack aside.
Unlike Hollywood however, parries should be a last resort and should be part of a layered defense as the best option to avoid an incoming strike or thrust is to not be there when the strike comes in, by a combination of footwork, slipping or ducking the attack and having a parry in place as a last line of defense.
Sword Training Drills
It is a controversial book, with stick figure illustrations and somewhat lightweight at only 80 pages. But the Modern Swordsman by Fred Hutchinson is, at least in my opinion, one of the very best books on Sword Fighting and Sword training for the self taught swordsman ever written..
From training on a wooden pell to deliberately practicing sword strikes in slow motion with exaggerated strikes that extend beyond the ideal to simulate the effects of an adrenaline surge on technique, to recommendations to train with overly heavy swords to build up muscle all the right spots and make a normal sword feel weightless, this book is jam packed with unique and innovative sword training ideas.
For example, have you ever thought about training your hand eye coordination by striking or thrusting at floating, randomly moving bubbles?
You would be surprised how hard it is – and how such a simple drill can dramatically increase your precision and ability to avoid focusing on details that will distract you or cause you to lose focus.
Probably the best $7.99 I ever spent on a Sword Fighting Book and absolutely no fluff or filler..
Real Sword Fighting
Why train for it and what it would really be like..
No-one these days who trains in swordsmanship literally expect to end up in a life and death sword fight. But most serious martial artists who study the sword, be it in the Eastern or the Western Tradition mentally train as if preparing for the real thing in order for it to be valid and as Guy Windsor so eloquently put it in his book Sword Fighting For Writers, Game Designers and Martial Artists “Every martial art is, at its root, a way to handle the terror that comes with someone trying to kill you”.
In a very personal story by Guy, he explains how his sword training helped him cope with the stress of almost losing both his wife and his baby daughter to a pregnancy gone horribly wrong in its late stages. Part of this was combat breathing (in for 4, hold for 4, out for 4, hold for 4) but the majority of his strength came from his sword training experiences and mental toughening it brings about..
Because back in the day, real sword fighting was much more hideous, viscous and downright frightening than Hollywood could ever imagine. Forensic archeologists have found that the vast majority of skeletons found on the battlefield took several hideous blows before they finally succumbed to their wounds..
In his book, Guy writes on the subject:
“The mental state of the combatants is usually maximum arousal expressed as rage, especially when wounded. The records abound with tales of men continuing to fight long after a sensible modern person would have stopped and called an ambulance… There is no pain in the midst of combat. That comes later”
Test Cutting
Probably the most exciting part of training, other than sword fighting and sparring practice, is test cutting – and it is practiced at various levels.
From formalized and very serious Japanese Tameshigiri to casual backyard cutting of water filled bottles, often all you need is to take into account some very important safety considerations, a suitable target and – of course – a well made and sharp sword.
So what is a suitable target? Well, here are some that are popular in the sword training community:
- Soft rush mats, either tatami mats or cheaper beach mats (though beach mats do tend to scratch up a blade and are not as consistent as tatami).
- Water filled P.E.T. bottles and milk jugs
- Pool noodles (great for perfecting speed and edge alignment)
- Carpet Rolls
- Bamboo or River Cane
- Cardboard Tubes or boxes (though cardboard can scratch up a blade as well as they often have some of the abrasive grit used in the pulping process left behind).
- Rolls of soaked newspaper, either with or without a PVC insert to simulate bone.
Of course, for the sharp sword part – you’ll find plenty of reviews and information on many different types of swords in the various sections of SBG.
But for information on what kind of targets to use and how to cut safely, I think you’ll find the free ebook and video below to be of some considerable benefit:
FREE EBOOKS FROM SBG!
100% free to download PDF eBooks from SBG. Simply click on the cover to download – no messing about, no asking for your email address, no need to subscribe to our newsletter (though you can if you like, its how we will tell you when new ones become available).
Just free information (free to read, free to distribute – just don’t change anything or try to sell them!)
No BS, just free downloads
An important Word on Sword Safety
WARNING – GRAPHIC IMAGE DIRECTLY AHEAD…
VIDEO: Sword Safety 101
A MUST watch video for everyone and anyone who handles swords
They say a picture tells a thousand words..
And in this case, the picture sent to me below is the best way to REALLY drive it home that swords are not toys and that a moments lack of concentration can have implications that last a lifetime…
This injury was caused by a Gladius made in the Philippines that cut right through the target and kept going, biting deep into the cutters leg and causing him to lose 6 pints of blood and requiring 66 stitches and emergency surgery…
Swords are not toys. So please, for your own sake AT THE VERY LEAST, watch the video to avoid this kind of thing happening to you…
Seriously.
I hope you found this information on sword fighting and training helpful. To return to the Sword Buyers Guide Hompage from Sword Fighting and Training Basics, click here
GEAR READY FOR HUNTING? GOOD, REMEMBER TO VOTE
Got your hunting gear together already? Great, because now you’ve got plenty
of time to study your voter’s pamphlet, get an absentee ballot if necessary,
and make sure you vote on or before Nov. 8.
Traditionally, I’ll be in the midst of an elk season one month from now, and I’ve got all of my hunting gear together, the truck is gassed up, my rifle is clean, got gas for the camp stove, which means I’ve got plenty of time to fill out a ballot and vote.
Around the rest of the country, many of you may be just getting into whitetail deer seasons, or waterfowl and upland bird hunting is heating up. So, since this is a reminder, there’s no excuse for not voting. If you’re going to be in the field, now’s the time to get an absentee ballot, fill it out, and stick it in the mail or a drop box.
It’s pretty easy to get an absentee ballot. Contact your local city or county election office and get the details on applying.
So, consider yourselves reminded. There is no excuse for not voting, especially this year, when much is at stake, including Second Amendment rights.
That said, this column’s readers seem to like numbers, and this week we’ve got a bunch of them.
Self-Defense Incidents
A major report in Reason last month revealed what it called “the largest and most comprehensive survey of American gun owners ever conducted.”
This report “suggests” people use firearms in self-defense “about 1.7 million times a year,” and that AR-15-style rifles and magazines holding more than 10 rounds “are in common use for lawful purposes.” The study “was based on a representative sample of about 54,000 adults, 16,708 of whom were gun owners.”
A major survey reported last month estimates armed citizens
use firearms for self-defense about 1.7 million times annually.
The survey was commissioned by William English, a political economist at Georgetown University, as part of a book project, Reason said.
The research estimated there are some 415 million firearms in private ownership, including an estimated 171 million handguns, 146 million rifles and 98 million shotguns. Pretty impressive, huh?
Well, check this out: “The survey suggests that up to 44 million AR-15-style rifles and up to 542 million magazines with capacities exceeding 10 rounds are already in circulation,” the Reason report revealed.
Speaking specifically of “assault rifles,” Reason said the survey found that two-thirds of survey respondents who acknowledged owning a semi-auto long gun used them for “recreational target shooting.” Fifty percent “mentioned hunting,” refuting claims by the White House and Capitol Hill anti-gunners that nobody hunts with an AR-15. And one-third “mentioned competitive shooting.” This might include high-power matches, 3-gun competitions or some other rifle discipline.
A whopping 62% said their rifles are also used for home defense, and 35% “cited defense outside the home.”
No question about it, we own a lot of hardware, so if Congress were to somehow pass legislation banning so-called “assault rifles” and “high capacity magazines,” they’ll have a heck of a time enforcing it.
Keep this in perspective: Long before anybody tried to collect any of those firearms, there would be a herd of attorneys lining up to file so many civil rights lawsuits, it would jam the federal courts for years.
Homicides Up in ‘21
Just as this column was being written, a publication called Grid published a report stating “provisional data” from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimating 48,000 deaths from “gun-related suicides, homicides, accidents and other incidents” in 2021.
It’s an 8% increase over the firearm-related fatalities in 2020, which was a fairly violent year with urban unrest and outright riots. According to the Grid article, “The death rate per 100,000 residents climbed to 14.8 last year, eclipsing decades-old rates of high gun violence, according to the CDC.”
By now, the FBI has released its Uniform Crime Report for 2021, which was to have been available just a few days ago. Insider will have some interesting data to share shortly, once we’ve had a chance to digest the report.
One thing the Grid story acknowledged is “Suicides are still the most common gun death in the United States.” In 2012, the ration was 62% of gun-related deaths were suicides and 35% were homicides, with a handful of deaths being presumably accidents or justifiable shootings. By last year, the ratio had narrowed, with 55% being suicides and 43% homicides.
Source of the data, according to the Grid article, is ‘CDC Wonder,’ a collection of online databases.
Gun sales may change dramatically now that three credit card firms have
adopted a new merchandising code to isolate and identify gun and ammunition purchases.
Cash and Carry
When news broke recently about a decision by Visa, MasterCard and American Express to create a new “merchant category code” (MCC) to help isolate and identify gun-related charges, the firearms community was justifiably peeved.
These financial institutions were under pressure from the gun prohibition lobby and a pair of anti-gun politicians, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and Rep. Madeleine Dean (D-PA), to institute this scrutiny. Warren and Dean issued a press release touting their effort. They refer to “suspicious activities including straw purchases and unlawful bulk purchases” as a reason for credit card transactions to be weaponized against gun owners.
When this story first broke, a phone call from an old colleague offered an interesting suggestion: Cash-only gun purchases. If you don’t have enough cash to pay for a particular firearm, maybe put some money down and come back with more greenbacks when available to settle the balance. No credit card record, no foul.
This started with an early-September decision by the Geneva-based International Organization for Standardization (ISO) to create the new MCC for firearms retailers. While on the surface, proponents describe this scheme as an effort to prevent mass shootings by monitoring credit card activity, but some critics in the gun rights movement think this could be a backdoor registration scheme.
Jim Shepherd, a colleague and editor of The Outdoor Wire, called it “a calculated move to circumvent regulations preventing federal tracking of gun sales.”
Rep. Karen Bass, an anti-gun California Democrat, lost two handguns from her
Los Angeles home to burglars. (Official image from Bass’ congressional website.)
Call it Karma, Karen
U.S. Representative Karen Bass (D-CA), who has been representing California’s 37th District and is now running for the office of Los Angeles mayor, is an anti-gunner based on the “F” grade she recently received from the National Shooting Sports Foundation.
So, when Bass reported a burglary at her Los Angeles home, she wound up with egg on her face because two guns were part of the loot taken. Bass claimed the guns were safely stored.
According to various published reports, the perps took nothing else, even though they could have taken cash, electronics and “other valuables.”
Bass told reporters the guns had been purchased years ago. According to a Fox News affiliate in Los Angeles, Bass said the guns had been for personal protection, a right her voting record suggests she wasn’t concerned about for her constituents.
Don’t Rob Cops
Here’s a bit of advice to would-be robbers: Don’t try ripping off undercover cops because it will not end well.
This is a lesson learned the hard way by a 19-year-old suspect in a drug deal gone really bad in Prince William County, Va., according to The Washington Post. The newspaper said a man identified as Jaiden M. Carter was one of three people involved in the caper, which an attorney for the Carter family quickly declared was “another example of unnecessary police brutality.”
Carter and another man, identified as Jalil M. Turner, were allegedly involved in a drug buy, but instead tried to rob the undercover cops of their buy money. They allegedly took the money and “additional property,” before returning to their own car. About that time, backup officers arrived and “converged on the car.” There was “an exchange of gunfire,” the newspaper reported. Carter was fatally wounded.
The Post quoted a statement from police, which said two handguns were recovered at the crime scene and one of the guns had been “illegally modified to be fully automatic with an extended magazine.”
Deer are the most sought-after big game animal in North America, and many hunters take the sport seriously. Discussions about the best deer-hunting cartridges have been occurring around campfires all over the world for decades.
For that reason, picking the “best” cartridge for deer hunting is sure to evoke strong feelings. Many gallons of ink, and maybe even a little blood as well, have been spilled on this exact topic.
Add to the mix the fact that deer vary significantly in size across their range and are found in a number of different habitats — both often necessitating the use of a different cartridge for optimum performance — and you’ve got a tricky situation on your hands.
However, there are still a few different cartridges that always seem to rise to the top in the debate. Here are my picks for the seven best deer-hunting cartridges.
Before I get started, please understand that the purpose of this article is not to bash anyone’s “pet” cartridge. Just because it does not appear on this list does not mean that I think a particular cartridge is “garbage.” Indeed, there are dozens of outstanding cartridges out there, but not all of them can make the list of the best deer hunting cartridges.
For that reason, picking the “best” cartridge for deer hunting is sure to evoke strong feelings. Many gallons of ink, and maybe even a little blood as well, have been spilled on this exact topic.
Add to the mix the fact that deer vary significantly in size across their range and are found in a number of different habitats — both often necessitating the use of a different cartridge for optimum performance — and you’ve got a tricky situation on your hands.
However, there are still a few different cartridges that always seem to rise to the top in the debate. Here are my picks for the seven best deer-hunting cartridges.
Before I get started, please understand that the purpose of this article is not to bash anyone’s “pet” cartridge. Just because it does not appear on this list does not mean that I think a particular cartridge is “garbage.” Indeed, there are dozens of outstanding cartridges out there, but not all of them can make the list of the best deer hunting cartridges.
.243 Winchester
Developed by necking a .308 Winchester cartridge down to 6.2mm, the .243 Winchester is considered an entry-level deer-hunting cartridge in most states. With bullets available in a variety of weights ranging from 55 to 105 grains, the .243 Winchester is well suited to a number of applications, especially deer hunting.
This little cartridge has developed a reputation for being extremely effective on deer, not to mention being accurate, flat-shooting and having a mild recoil. These attributes make the .243 Winchester one of the best deer-hunting cartridges around for small-framed hunters, such as women or children.
7mm Remington Magnum
The 7mm Remington Magnum is one of the best deer-hunting cartridges for hunters needing to take longer-range shots. Most 7mm Magnum loads feature bullets with high ballistic coefficients fired at high velocities, giving the cartridge a flat trajectory.
While this sort of performance is not needed by the average deer hunter, it gives hunters the ability to take shots with confidence at ranges out past 250 yards. Even with all of that power, the 7mm Remington Magnum has a manageable amount of recoil, which also helps explain its popularity.
.30-30 Winchester
Developed in the 1890s for the Winchester Model 94 rifle, the venerable .30-30 Winchester was one of the first cartridges designed specifically for smokeless powder in the United States. Though the cartridge is pretty anemic on paper by modern standards, the .30-30 Winchester has been cleanly taking deer for more than a century, so it is clearly an excellent deer-hunting cartridge.
At ranges of 150 yards or less, the .30-30 Winchester is one of the best in the business. Combine this with the fact that most rifles chambered in .30-30 are handy, quick-pointing lever-action rifles, and you can see why the .30-30 is so popular among hunters in the southern and eastern United States.
.30-06 Springfield
It’s really tough to determine which cartridge has killed more deer in the United States over the last century: the .30-06 Springfield or the .30-30 Winchester. Regardless of which one is No. 1, it’s pretty clear that the .30-06 Springfield is one of the best deer-hunting cartridges in existence.
It is flat-shooting and powerful with a manageable amount of recoil, and there are dozens of great rifles chambered in this outstanding cartridge. If you had to choose one cartridge to hunt with for the rest of your life, you could do a whole lot worse than the .30-06 Springfield.
.44 Magnum
In a nod to all of the hunters out there who prefer to hunt deer with a pistol, I had to include a good pistol cartridge on this list. It’s hard to think of another pistol cartridge that has accounted for more dead deer in the last half-century than the .44 Magnum.
At one time it was the most powerful handgun cartridge in the world. Even though that is no longer true, it is still one of the best deer-hunting cartridges around for hunters who use pistols or carbines.
The .44 Magnum’s big, slow and heavy bullets deliver bone-crushing power and have plenty of power to ethically take even the biggest deer out to 150 yards or so.
.45-70 Government
A personal favorite of mine, the .45-70 Government is one of the best deer-hunting cartridges for hunters who need a good “brush gun.” While some would criticize the .45-70 Government for being a little on the big side for deer, there really is no such thing as using “too much gun” on any animal.
This is especially true with the .45-70 because not only does it deliver bone crushing power, but it also does so while using a heavy bullet at a moderate velocity. Because of this, the .45-70 does not produce large amounts of ruined, blood-shot meat, like other cartridges (including the 7mm Magnum or sometimes .30-06).
Like the .30-30, the .45-70 Government is most often available in handy lever-action rifles, making it a great choice for close-quarters shooting. Additionally, the .45-70 also has a manageable amount of recoil. At close range, there are few other cartridges that can compare with the .45-70, especially if the owner also wants to hunt larger species such as bear, elk and moose.
12-Gauge Slug/Buckshot
Unfortunately, not everyone in the United States is allowed to hunt using centerfire rifle cartridges. Instead, some states restrict hunters to using shotguns during their modern firearm seasons. That is the reason it is on this list.
Using a rifled slug barrel and topped with a scope, a 12-gauge shotgun is quite the deer slayer out to about 150 yards or so. A 1-ounce (437.5 grains) lead slug is absolutely deadly on a whitetail deer.
Additionally, using buckshot (the name is no accident), a hunter carrying a 12-gauge shotgun is ideally armed for a close range encounter with a deer. Though it is only effective out to about 30-35 yards, buckshot is a great choice for shooting a moving deer (like when using hounds) or when hunting in areas with thick vegetation.
As much as I enjoy hunting my native New York—with its Catskill and Adirondack Mountains and all the other beautiful places—I simply love traveling abroad to hunt new countries and continents. Canada, Alaska, the Rockies, Africa, Europe and Australia—there is an entire world out there to be explored and hunted. Doing so is not as easy as hunting in your home state; it requires an extra measure of research and planning.
The legality of traveling with a firearm for hunting can be a daunting task—when leaving the country—due to the multi-national laws involved. I’ve also been on a couple of hunts that involved more than one country, and it took a bit of homework to have things in order before I left. Then, you face another set of hurdles once you return to the US of A, so there is an entire flock of ducks to have in a row.
Let’s deal with the trips that stay in the continental US first. You’ll need a good gun case—one that meets all the TSA requirements—and a set of TSA approved locks. These locks feature a unique key for you, but they can be opened by a TSA master key for inspection. I’d highly recommend that you break down your firearm (if possible) within the case, by removing the bolt or dismantling a double-barrel shotgun, to assure the agents that the firearm is not loaded. Keep any and all ammunition in an approved container (original cardboard box or one of the plastic ammo containers) and put it in your checked-on luggage, separate from the firearm. I declare my firearms to the ticket agent when checking into the flight, and ask them (kindly) to summon a TSA agent. While the ticket agent may look at you in horror at the mention of traveling with firearms, the TSA agents are much more familiar and comfortable with the processes involved. Other than that, if you’re staying in the States, you should be good to go.
International travel with a firearm can be a bit of a different story. The same flight rules apply as described above, but there are permits and temporary licenses that must be obtained and carefully guarded throughout your travels. The first stop—long before your trip begins—is to make an appointment with U.S. Customs to have Form 4457 (Certificate of Personal Effects Taken Abroad) filled out and signed by a Customs Agent. This will assure that you can bring your firearm back into the United States upon your return; it is the proof that you owned the firearm before your trip commenced, and that you didn’t purchase it abroad. I’d also recommend that you put your scope and binoculars (with serial numbers) on the certificate to avoid any issues. I like to make a clear copy of my completed Form 4457 and put it in the bottom of my rifle case, as an insurance measure. I’d like to throw a shout out to the ladies and gentlemen at the Albany, New York Customs office; they are pleasant and more than accommodating for the multiple 4457’s I’ve needed over the years.
You’ll definitely need to keep any ammo separate from the firearm case, and I like to keep it in a plastic case—I’ve used MTM Cases for years with great results—and I use a bit of duct tape to keep things secure. Some countries in Africa want you to declare the amount of ammunition brought into the country, and some have limits on the amount you’re able to bring in. Some even collect a surcharge, per round of ammunition, upon entering the country.
There is usually a fee associated with the temporary import of a firearm into another country. I remember Canada gets $25, and the African countries all differ. It will pay to be very familiar with the location of the serial number of your firearms, as they will be required for your temporary permit. That permit, which allows you to carry a firearm in another country, needs to be well taken care of. I remember hunting in Zambia, where we had to make sure that paperwork was with us at all points in time—even in the most remote places—as we were hunting with a government Game Scout at all times, as is common in many African countries.
Once you’re done hunting, you’ll want to keep things equally tidy for the return trip. I save all of the empty cartridges I can (I’m a stingy reloader) to show that I didn’t leave any ammunition in the wrong hands. You’ll need the necessary exit paperwork—usually an exit stamp on your import permit—and upon returning to the Land of the Free, U.S. Customs will need to see that Form 4457, and you should be all set.
There are several travel agencies that specialize in assisting the traveling hunter, my own personal favorite being my pal Steve Turner over at Travel With Guns. They have all the necessary forms and the know how to help you get in and out of your destination without a hitch. Steve and his team can give you the requirements on medications (a very important point when traveling to an area known to harbor malaria), as well as handy maps of and tips on the area you’re visiting. While they charge a nominal fee for their services, it is money well spent; there’s been more than one occasion where Steve & Co. have helped me out of a jam. I remember sitting in the Bulawayo, Zimbabwe airport, waiting in a long line for guys to fill out the import paperwork (and needing to share the vintage carbon paper); we had the forms already filled out thanks to Travel With Guns and avoided a long wait. There was also a time Steve got us out of JFK Airport a day early because of an impending hurricane. When I travel to hunt in a different country, Steve gets my business.
You’ll want to make sure that your passport is valid for at least six months after your trip is over, to avoid any hassles. Many times, you can fill out paperwork for international transportation ahead of time—which helps get through the process quicker—and you’ll need to provide your passport number. I always keep the number of the US Embassy in whatever country I’m hunting tucked away in my wallet, along with a Xerox copy of my passport, just in case. And, let me leave you with one last piece of advice: pack light. The overweight baggage costs are astronomical; I learned that the hard way!
The last part of the hunt can often be addressed before you leave, and I’d recommend you do. Getting your trophies home—especially if the species you’re hunting falls under a CITES classification—can be not only a hassle, but a real drag. Contact a good import company—I use Bob and Rosella Quartarone of Safari Specialty Importers—to provide my trophies with the best possible care during the trip back to my taxidermist. They will provide identification tags, so your hard-earned trophies don’t get lost in the shuffle. Though there are other companies to choose from, I feel Bob and Rosella are among the most knowledgeable and diligent in the industry.
Pick up the phone, fire up the laptop, and plan your adventure; life is indeed short and international hunting will provide some of the best memories of your hunting career.
Categories
How to Walk Silently
- Take slow, measured breaths from the nose. Most martial arts (the training ground for stealth) emphasize this.
- Watch the next place you will take a step. Be mindful of objects you are stepping on.
- Outside, try to walk on bare dirt or live grass. Dead foliage creates a perceptible “crunch” even when lightly stepped on. If you encounter an area where forced to walk through foliage, then pick the clearest path and proceed slowly, possibly bending over and removing obstructions from the location of the next step.
- If following someone, match the cadence of their steps (i.e. when they step with their left foot, you use your left foot). This will help mask any noise your feet may make. Remember that sound travels at 340 meters per second (1116 ft/sec), so you might need to adjust your walk accordingly: Note the delay between the visual step and the sound of the step from the one you are following, and try to use the same delay for your steps, only the other way around – you must step slightly before the person you are following.
- Place the heel or toes of your foot down first and roll your foot slowly and gently onto the ground. If moving swiftly, run/leap from location to location. Avoid landing flatfooted. For moving backwards, this is reversed, so that the ball of the foot is placed down first, and then the heel lowered to the ground.
- For getting really close to a target, walk on the outer edge of your feet, rolling your foot from heel to pinky toe. Though very silent, this technique is also uncomfortable and should only be used for short distances. The hips can be rotated slightly to make this technique easier.
- When speed is required, try this: Stand 90 degrees to the direction you want to go with your feet spread slightly, then take the foot on the other side of where you want to go, and while balancing on your other foot, move it across, making an X with your legs. Take your other foot and swing it out from behind to the start position. This method allows you to walk with some speed silently, even when wearing jeans which usually make lots of noise.
- How to walk silently on gravel: Bend low at the knees. The first part of your foot to hit the ground should be the heel. “Roll” forward on that foot until you’re on the ball of your foot (the padded part just behind the toes). Just before you’ve rolled all the way onto the ball of your foot, put your other foot down, heel first, directly in front of the first foot, almost touching it. You should be able to smoothly roll from the first foot to the second. Continue by rolling on the second foot, until you’re almost at the ball, and repeat by putting the first foot in front of the second. This should all be done fluidly.
tips
- Running on the balls of one’s feet (‘digitigrade’) helps with speed and quietness, but be careful; this requires more strength in the feet and lower legs, and greater flexibility in the ankle and foot joints. It also requires better balance than normal movement, and creates a greater impression on softer surfaces (due to the weight being spread over a decreased surface area).
- When climbing items such as trees and cliffs, be mindful of where your foot lands. Try to place the toes and front padding of the foot in between branches and on crevices of the cliff. If you are forced to step in the middle of a branch or push up the side of the cliff, do it slowly and proceed with caution. A little force may dislodge a shower of debris or break a twig alerting watchers.
- Avoid shifting your weight until your forward foot is quietly and firmly on the ground. This will require a considerable degree of balance and practice.
- If you have problems with dragging your feet, then try walking around slowly with your shoelaces untied and dangling to create noise if you don’t raise and lower your feet. WARNING: Do not attempt to do this quickly or carelessly, as you could trip and fall. Keep it slow, steady and measured.
- Remember; sound is a form of energy created in walking as a byproduct of wasted energy (i.e. using more force than required in placing the foot on the ground). Control of foot placement minimizes this.
- You don’t just walk with your foot; your whole body is involved, from arms and head for balance, to hips and torso for driving the leg movements, to the legs themselves for creating the distance. ‘Play around’ with your movements so that you build a picture of what works for you and what doesn’t.
- Try Zig-Zagging as you walk: step with one foot then step forward and to the side. Step the other direction. Repeat. This way you keep more of your balance.
- When breathing, breathe through the open mouth, rather than the nose, to reduce the noise of breathing. Try to avoid situations where you must sneak around with indigestion, as growling stomachs, burps, and various other internal difficulties can be as much of a giveaway as a footstep. If you feel the urge to sneeze, this can often be suppressed firmly pressing on your upper lip – in this rare case the cartoons got it right. Unfortunately, there is no good way to suppress coughing, so your best bet is to try and prevent it by covering your mouth and nose when breathing dusty air or other irritants. Cloth isn’t necessary – even breathing through cupped hands can help.
The following method is taught by American tracker Tom Brown and taught to him by an Apache elder.
The Fox Walk
The basic movement of the ‘fox walk’ is that the foot is placed on the ground before weight is placed on it and the stride is shorter than a ‘normal’ one. If you have studied Tai Chi, you will have been taught a similar way of moving. The centre of gravity for this walk should be in the hips.
- Touch the foot lightly to the ground, with the outside edge hitting the ground first. The heel, ball and edge of the foot strike together.
- Next, roll the foot inward, until the whole surface area of the foot is on the ground.
- At this stage, the walker will be able to feel exactly what the foot is stepping on and be able to judge whether the foot needs to be withdrawn or if it is safe to put weight on the foot.
The benefits of fox walking include less strain on the body and less damage to the countryside.
Stalking/The Weasel Walk
Stalking is not only moving silently, but extremely slowly and done properly can enable the stalker to approach wild animals, sometimes even close enough to touch them. Each step will take typically up to a minute to complete. The movements flow and there should be no shakiness. Learning to stalk takes practice, so that you can freeze your movement if an animal looks towards you.
The walk is similar to the fox walk and is sometimes referred to as the weasel walk. The arms are kept very close in to the body and the hands can be put on the knees for support.
- The back foot should be picked up and moved slowly to the front of the body. The foot should then be carefully and slowly lowered until it is a few inches away from the ground.
- The toes are then turned upward and contact with the ground is made with the outside ball of the foot, which is then rolled slowly inwards.
- The heel of the foot comes down and finally the toes. At this stage, weight can be put on the foot. If an object such as a stick is felt before the weight is placed on it, the foot can be removed and replaced somewhere else.
- Cat walk. Begin your step by lifting your foot straight up, toes pointing down to avoid snagging. Place the outside of your foot down first. Press the ball of your foot into the ground consciously, rolling from the outside in. Bring down your heel, then slowly shift weight to that foot. Be prepared to lift and shift whenever you feel any obstacle that might snap or crackle under your weight.
- Map your steps. To avoid watching your feet, make a mental map of upcoming ground cover for the next eight to 10 paces, noting where you’ll need to sidestep branches or high-step fallen logs.
- Go slow. When looking for game, take three to four slow steps and stop. How slow? Three steps should take you at least 20 seconds.
- Hide your noise. Mask the noise of footfalls by moving whenever other sounds can muffle your own. Wind in the trees, moving water, and even airplane noise can all hide the sound of a human on the hunt.
Local law enforcement agencies from suburban Southern California to rural North Carolina have been using an obscure cellphone tracking tool, at times without search warrants, that gives them the power to follow people’s movements months back in time, according to public records and internal emails obtained by The Associated Press.
Police have used “Fog Reveal” to search hundreds of billions of records from 250 million mobile devices, and harnessed the data to create location analyses known among law enforcement as “patterns of life,” according to thousands of pages of records about the company.
Sold by Virginia-based Fog Data Science LLC, Fog Reveal has been used since at least 2018 in criminal investigations ranging from the murder of a nurse in Arkansas to tracing the movements of a potential participant in the Jan. 6 insurrection at the Capitol. The tool is rarely, if ever, mentioned in court records, something that defense attorneys say makes it harder for them to properly defend their clients in cases in which the technology was used.
The company was developed by two former high-ranking Department of Homeland Security officials under former President George W. Bush. It relies on advertising identification numbers, which Fog officials say are culled from popular cellphone apps such as Waze, Starbucks and hundreds of others that target ads based on a person’s movements and interests, according to police emails. That information is then sold to companies like Fog.
“It’s sort of a mass surveillance program on a budget,” said Bennett Cyphers, a special adviser at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a digital privacy rights advocacy group.
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This story, supported by the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting, is part of an ongoing Associated Press series, “Tracked,” that investigates the power and consequences of decisions driven by algorithms on people’s everyday lives.
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The documents and emails were obtained by EFF through Freedom of Information Act requests. The group shared the files with The AP, which independently found that Fog sold its software in about 40 contracts to nearly two dozen agencies, according to GovSpend, a company that keeps tabs on government spending. The records and AP’s reporting provide the first public account of the extensive use of Fog Reveal by local police, according to analysts and legal experts who scrutinize such technologies.
Federal oversight of companies like Fog is an evolving legal landscape. On Monday, the Federal Trade Commission sued a data broker called Kochava that, like Fog, provides its clients with advertising IDs that authorities say can easily be used to find where a mobile device user lives, which violates rules the commission enforces. And there are bills before Congress now that, if passed, would regulate the industry.
“Local law enforcement is at the front lines of trafficking and missing persons cases, yet these departments are often behind in technology adoption,” Matthew Broderick, a Fog managing partner, said in an email. “We fill a gap for underfunded and understaffed departments.”
Because of the secrecy surrounding Fog, however, there are scant details about its use and most law enforcement agencies won’t discuss it, raising concerns among privacy advocates that it violates the Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which protects against unreasonable search and seizure.
What distinguishes Fog Reveal from other cellphone location technologies used by police is that it follows the devices through their advertising IDs, unique numbers assigned to each device. These numbers do not contain the name of the phone’s user, but can be traced to homes and workplaces to help police establish pattern-of-life analyses.
“The capability that it had for bringing up just anybody in an area whether they were in public or at home seemed to me to be a very clear violation of the Fourth Amendment,” said Davin Hall, a former crime data analysis supervisor for the Greensboro, North Carolina, Police Department. “I just feel angry and betrayed and lied to.”
Hall resigned in late 2020 after months of voicing concerns about the department’s use of Fog to police attorneys and the city council.
While Greensboro officials acknowledged Fog’s use and initially defended it, the police department said it allowed its subscription to expire earlier this year because it didn’t “independently benefit investigations.”
But federal, state and local police agencies around the U.S. continue to use Fog with very little public accountability. Local police agencies have been enticed by Fog’s affordable price: It can start as low as $7,500 a year. And some departments that license it have shared access with other nearby law enforcement agencies, the emails show.
Police departments also like how quickly they can access detailed location information from Fog. Geofence warrants, which tap into GPS and other sources to track a device, are accessed by obtaining such data from companies, like Google or Apple. This requires police to obtain a warrant and ask the tech companies for the specific data they want, which can take days or weeks.
Using Fog’s data, which the company claims is anonymized, police can geofence an area or search by a specific device’s ad ID numbers, according to a user agreement obtained by AP. But, Fog maintains that “we have no way of linking signals back to a specific device or owner,” according to a sales representative who emailed the California Highway Patrol in 2018, after a lieutenant asked whether the tool could be legally used.
Despite such privacy assurances, the records show that law enforcement can use Fog’s data as a clue to find identifying information. “There is no (personal information) linked to the (ad ID),” wrote a Missouri official about Fog in 2019. “But if we are good at what we do, we should be able to figure out the owner.”
Fog’s Broderick said in an email that the company does not have access to people’s personal information, and draws from “commercially available data without restrictions to use,” from data brokers “that legitimately purchase data from apps in accordance with their legal agreements.” The company refused to share information about how many police agencies it works with.
“We are confident Law Enforcement has the responsible leadership, constraints, and political guidance at the municipal, state, and federal level to ensure that any law enforcement tool and method is appropriately used in accordance with the laws in their respective jurisdictions,” Broderick said in the email.
“Search warrants are not required for the use of the public data,” he added Thursday, saying that the data his product offers law enforcement is “lead data” and should not be used to establish probable cause.
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Kevin Metcalf, a prosecutor in Washington County, Arkansas, said he has used Fog Reveal without a warrant, especially in “exigent circumstances.” In these cases, the law provides a warrant exemption when a crime-in-process endangers people or an officer.
Metcalf also leads the National Child Protection Task Force, a nonprofit that combats child exploitation and trafficking. Fog is listed on its website as a task force sponsor and a company executive chairs the nonprofit’s board. Metcalf said Fog has been invaluable to cracking missing children cases and homicides.
“We push the limits, but we do them in a way that we target the bad guys,” he said. “Time is of the essence in those situations. We can’t wait on the traditional search warrant route.”
Fog was used successfully in the murder case of 25-year-old nurse Sydney Sutherland, who had last been seen jogging near Newport, Arkansas, before she disappeared, Metcalf said.
Police had little evidence to go on when they found her phone in a ditch, so Metcalf said he shared his agency’s access to Fog with the U.S. Marshals Service to figure out which other devices had been nearby at the time she was killed. He said Fog helped lead authorities to arrest a farmer in Sutherland’s rape and murder in August 2020, but its use was not documented in court records reviewed by AP.
Cyphers, who led EFF’s public records work, said there hasn’t been any previous record of companies selling this kind of granular data directly to local law enforcement.
“We’re seeing counties with less than 100,000 people where the sheriff is using this extremely high tech, extremely invasive, secretive surveillance tool to chase down local crime,” Cyphers said.
One such customer is the sheriff’s office in rural Rockingham County, North Carolina, population 91,000 and just north of Greensboro, where Hall still lives. The county bought a one-year license for $9,000 last year and recently renewed it.
“Rockingham County is tiny in terms of population. It never ceases to amaze me how small agencies will scoop up tools that they just absolutely don’t need, and nobody needs this one,” Hall said.
Sheriff’s spokesman Lt. Kevin Suthard confirmed the department recently renewed its license but declined to offer specifics about the use of Fog Reveal or how the office protects individuals’ rights.
“Because it would then be less effective as criminals could be cognizant that we have the device and adjust their commission of the crimes accordingly. Make sense?” Suthard said.
Fog has aggressively marketed its tool to police, even beta testing it with law enforcement, records show. The Dallas Police Department bought a Fog license in February after getting a free trial and “seeing a demonstration and hearing of success stories from the company,” Senior Cpl. Melinda Gutierrez, a department spokeswoman, said in an email.
Fog’s tool is accessed through a web portal. Investigators can enter a crime scene’s coordinates into the database, which brings back search results showing a device’s Fog ID, which is based on its unique ad ID number.
Police can see which device IDs were found near the location of the crime. Detectives or other officers can also search the location for IDs going forward from the time of the crime and back at least 180 days, according to the company’s user license agreement.
The emails and Fog’s Broderick contend the tool can actually search back years, however. Emails from a Fog representative to Florida and California law enforcement agencies said the tool’s data stretched back as far as June 2017. On Thursday Broderick, who had previously refused to address the question, said it “only has a three year reach back.”
While the data does not directly identify who owns a device, the company often gives law enforcement information it needs to connect it to addresses and other clues that help detectives figure out people’s identities, according to company representatives’ emails.
It is unclear how Fog makes these connections, but a company it refers to as its “data partner” called Venntel, Inc. has access to an even greater trove of users’ mobile data.
Venntel is a large broker that has supplied location data to agencies such as Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the FBI. The Department of Homeland Security’s watchdog is auditing how the offices under its control have used commercial data. That comes after some Democratic lawmakers asked it to investigate U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s use of Venntel data to track people without a search warrant in 2020. The company also has faced congressional inquiries about privacy concerns tied to federal law enforcement agencies’ use of its data.
Venntel and Fog work closely together to aid police detectives during investigations, emails show. Their marketing brochures are nearly identical, too, and Venntel staff has recommended Fog to law enforcement, according to the emails. Venntel said “the confidential nature of our business relationships” prevented it from responding to AP’s specific questions, and Fog would not comment on the relationship.
While Fog says in its marketing materials that it collects data from thousands of apps, like Starbucks and Waze, companies are not always aware of who is using their data. Venntel and Fog can collect billions of data points filled with detailed information because many apps embed invisible tracking software that follows users’ behavior. This software also lets the apps sell customized ads that are targeted to a person’s current location. In turn, data brokers’ software can hoover up personal data that can be used for other purposes.
Prior to publication, Fog’s Broderick refused to say how the company got data from Starbucks and Waze. But on Thursday, he said he did not know how data aggregators collected the information Fog Reveal draws from, or the specific apps from which the data was drawn.
For their part, Starbucks and Waze denied any relationship to Fog. Starbucks said it had not given permission to its business partners to share customer information with Fog.
“Starbucks has not approved Ad ID data generated by our app to be used in this way by Fog Data Science LLC. In our review to date, we have no relationship with this company,” said Megan Adams, a Starbucks spokesperson.
“We have never had a relationship with Fog Data Science, have not worked with them in any capacity, and have not shared information with them,” a Waze spokesperson said.
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Fog Data Science LLC is headquartered in a nondescript brick building in Leesburg, Virginia. It also has related entities in New Jersey, Ohio and Texas.
It was founded in 2016 by Robert Liscouski, who led the Department of Homeland Security’s National Cyber Security Division in the George W. Bush adminstration. His colleague, Broderick, is a former U.S. Marine brigadier general who ran DHS’ tech hub, the Homeland Security Operations Center, during Hurricane Katrina in 2005. A House bipartisan committee report cited Broderick among others for failing to coordinate a swift federal response to the deadly hurricane. Broderick resigned from DHS shortly thereafter.
In marketing materials, Fog also has touted its ability to offer police “predictive analytics,” a buzzword often used to describe high-tech policing tools that purport to predict crime hotspots. Liscouski and another Fog official have worked at companies focused on predictive analytics, machine learning and software platforms supporting artificial intelligence.
“It is capable of delivering both forensic and predictive analytics and near real-time insights on the daily movements of the people identified with those mobile devices,” reads an email announcing a Fog training last year for members of the National Fusion Center Association, which represents a network of intelligence-sharing partnerships created after the Sept. 11 attacks.
Fog’s Broderick said the company had not invested in predictive applications, and provided no details about any uses the tool had for predicting crime.
Despite privacy advocates’ concerns about warrantless surveillance, Fog Reveal has caught on with local and state police forces. It’s been used in a number of high-profile criminal cases, including one that was the subject of the television program “48 Hours.”
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In 2017, a world-renowned exotic snake breeder was found dead, lying in a pool of blood in his reptile breeding facility in rural Missouri. Police initially thought the breeder, Ben Renick, might have died from a poisonous snake bite. But the evidence soon pointed to murder.
During its investigation, emails show the Missouri State Highway Patrol used Fog’s portal to search for cellphones at Renick’s home and breeding facility and zeroed in on a mobile device. Working with Fog, investigators used the data to identify the phone owner’s identity: it was the Renicks’ babysitter.
Police were able to log the babysitter’s whereabouts over time to create a pattern of life analysis.
It turned out to be a dead-end lead. Renick’s wife, Lynlee, later was charged and convicted of the murder.
Prosecutors did not cite Fog in a list of other tools they used in the investigation, according to trial exhibits examined by the AP.
But Missouri officials seemed pleased with Fog’s capabilities, even though it didn’t directly lead to an arrest. “It was interesting to see that the system did pick up a device that was absolutely in the area that day. Too bad it did not belong to a suspect!” a Missouri State Highway Patrol analyst wrote in an email to Fog.
In another high-profile criminal probe, records show the FBI asked state intelligence officials in Iowa for help with Fog as it investigated potential participants in the events at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6.
“Not definitive but still waiting to talk things over with a FOG rep,” wrote Justin Parker, deputy director of the Iowa Department of Public Safety, in an email to an FBI official in September 2021. It was unclear from the emails if Fog’s data factored into an arrest. Iowa officials did not respond and the FBI declined to comment.
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Metcalf, the Arkansas prosecutor, has argued against congressional efforts to require search warrants when using technologies like Fog Reveal.
He believes Americans have given up any reasonable expectation of privacy when they use free apps and likens EFF’s objections to tech like Fog to a “cult of privacy.”
“I think people are going to have to make a decision on whether we want all this free technology, we want all this free stuff, we want all the selfies,” he said. “But we can’t have that and at the same time say, ‘I’m a private person, so you can’t look at any of that.’ That just seems crazy.”
Although he is not an official Fog employee, Metcalf said he would step in to lead training sessions including the tool for federal prosecutors, federal agencies and police, including the Chicago Police Department, the emails show.
That kind of hands-on service and word-of-mouth marketing in tight-knit law enforcement circles seems to have helped increase Fog’s popularity.
The Maryland State Police is among the many agencies that have had contracts for Fog Reveal, and records show investigators believed it had a lot of potential.
“Companies have receptors all over. Malls, shopping centers, etc. They’re all around you,” wrote Sgt. John Bedell of the Criminal Enforcement Division, in an email to a colleague. The agency purchased a year of access to Fog in 2018.
“Picture getting a suspect’s phone then in the extraction being able to see everyplace they’d been in the last 18 months plotted on a map you filter by date ranges,” wrote Bedell. “The success lies in the secrecy.”
Elena Russo, a spokesperson for the agency, confirmed it had a Fog license previously but that it had lapsed. “Unfortunately, it was not helpful in solving any crimes,” she wrote in an email.
Still, as more local policing agencies sign up for Fog, some elected officials said they have been left in the dark. Several officials said there wasn’t enough information to grasp what services Fog actually provides.
“Who is this company? What are the track records? What are the privacy protections?” asked Anaheim council member Jose Moreno, remembering his confusion about Fog during a 2020 council meeting. “That night our chief had very little information for us.”
In Anaheim, the Fog license was paid for by a federal “Urban Area Security Initiative,” DHS grants that help localities fund efforts to prevent terrorism. A police spokesman said the department has not used it.
Defense attorneys worry there are few legal restrictions on law enforcement’s use of location data.
It’s a gap police agencies exploit, and often don’t disclose in court, said Michael Price, litigation director of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers’ Fourth Amendment Center.
“(Fog) is exceedingly rare to see in the wild because the cops often don’t get warrants,” said Price.
“Even if you do ask for (information) sometimes they say ‘We don’t know what you are talking about.’”
Privacy advocates worry Fog’s location tracking could be put to other novel uses, like keeping tabs on people who seek abortions in states where it is now illegal. These concerns were heightened when a Nebraska woman was charged in August with helping her teenage daughter end a pregnancy after investigators got hold of their Facebook messages.
Government’s use of location data is still being weighed by the courts, too. In 2018, the Supreme Court ruled that police generally need a warrant to look at records that reveal where cellphone users have been.
Nearly two years after walking off the crime data supervisor job with the Greensboro police force, Hall still worries about police surveillance in neighboring communities.
“Anyone with that login information can do as many searches as they want,” Hall said. “I don’t believe the police have earned the trust to use that, and I don’t believe it should be legal.”
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AP National Writer Allen G. Breed contributed from Greensboro, North Carolina. Dearen reported from New York and Burke reported from San Francisco.
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This reporting was produced in collaboration with researchers Janine Graham, Nicole Waddick and Jane Yang as well as the University of California, Berkeley’s Human Rights Center Investigations Lab and School of Law.
For decades, if you were a Midwest or East Coast deer hunter living in a densely populated state, it was likely you never shot a whitetail with a rifle during deer season. Due to safety concerns, hunters in these regions of the country legally had to shoot slug shotguns from smoothbores or sabots from a rifled shotgun barrel (centerfire rifle cartridges can travel much farther than a slug or sabot). But that shotgun-only requirement has started to shift in the last five years with the advent of straight-walled rifles as historic slug-gun states like Ohio, Indiana, Iowa, and Michigan have begun to allow the platform to be used during deer season.
Winchester took advantage of these regulations in 2019 with the launch of the .350 Legend, an effective deer killer that produces mild recoil and muzzle jump. Of course, straight-wall cartridges have been around for well over a century, so you can also turn to such classic rounds as the .45/70. There are so many great options, in fact, that it can be tough to choose the ideal straight-wall rifle to fit your needs and budget. Here’s a rundown of some of the best straight-wall rifles available.
- Marlin 1895 SBL/Trapper
- Winchester XPR Stealth SR
- Ruger AR-556 MPR .350 Legend
- Franchi Momentum Elite .350 Legend
- Winchester 1892 Carbine
- Ruger American Ranch Rifle
- Uberti 1885 High Wall
- CMMG Resolute Mk4 .350 Legend
- Mossberg Patriot
Marlin 1895 SBL/Trapper
Marlin
Marlin is back in the saddle and under the leadership of new owner Ruger. The company has released two lever-action 1895 rifles chambered in .45/70. The Marlin 1895 SBL which sports a 19.1-inch cold hammer-forged stainless-steel barrel with a threaded muzzle and a six-round tubular magazine (read our full review of the Marlin 1895 SBL here). The adjustable ghost ring rear sight and fiber optic front sight may be all you need, but there’s a full length Picatinny rail for mounting low-power scopes or a reflex sight. The short and handy SBL is compact enough for hunting dense forest or from a blind or tree stand.
If you want maximum maneuverability check out the Marlin Trapper variant with a 16.1-inch barrel. A polished stainless finish on the metalwork and attractive laminate stock makes these guns suitable for hunting in wet, nasty weather, and they’re also an excellent option for hogs, black bears, and even moose and elk. The 1895 is manufactured in Mayodan, North Carolina, and these are not only among the best straight-wall rifles made today, they may well be the best Marlin rifles ever made.
Winchester XPR Stealth SR
Winchester Guns
When the budget bolt-action war was raging Winchester’s XPR emerged as one of the standouts. Built from quality components and offered with features such as an MOA trigger—a system that gives shooters a lighter, smoother feel with less creep, overtavel, and takeup— various metal finishes, and stock designs, the XPR is a fine addition to the vaunted Model 70. I’ve shot several of these rifles in .350 Legend and loved them all, but my hands-down favorite is the new Stealth Suppressor Ready version. The .350 Legend doesn’t require a long barrel to reach maximum velocity, so the XPR Stealth SR’s stubby 16½-inch barrel doesn’t compromise performance, but the shorter barrel also makes this 3-foot, ½-inch rifle easy to handle in tight cover.
I hunted with a suppressed Stealth SR in Maine last year (albeit for bears, not whitetail) and even with a suppressor, the weight and length weren’t burdensome. Accuracy was on point, and the recoil and muzzle blast were so mild that most anyone could be accurate with the platform. The Inflex recoil pad, Pic rail, nickel Teflon bolt, and Permacote metal finish are all nice touches that make this rifle an even more compelling value at just over $700. After testing and evaluating the XPR Stealth SR in the field I came away impressed with the rifle’s reliability, accuracy, and overall fit and finish.
Ruger AR-556 MPR .350 Legend
Ruger
Ruger’s 350 Legend AR is an ideal rifle for any eastern whitetail hunter. With a collapsed length of 33.38-inches, the Ruger is easy to maneuver in the woods and instant length of pull adjustments allow shortening the stock when you’re wearing heavy winter clothing. A hard coat anodized finish on the 7075-T6 forged receiver stands up well against abuse. The bolt carrier and staked gas key are chrome-plated to resist propellant gases, and the pistol-length gas system offers superb reliability from the .350 carbine. As with other ARs, follow-up shots are fast, but with Ruger’s two-stage Elite 452 AR trigger and cold hammer-forged 4140 chrome-moly steel 16.38-inch precision barrel with Ruger radial brake there’s a good chance you won’t need a second shot. The 15-inch M-LOK handguard offers plenty of space for accessories, and at 6.6-pounds this rifle is lighter than many bolt guns on the list.
Franchi Momentum Elite .350 Legend
Franchi
The Franchi Momentum Elite isn’t the most affordable bolt-action rifle on this list, but it does offer some upgrades that warrant the extra cost. The stock is a step up from those found on most sub-$1,000 rifles and comes with raised panels and texturing, a design Franchi calls Evolved Ergonom-X. The rifle’s TSA recoil pad is borrowed from the brand’s shotgun line and the dense rubber does a suitable job reducing felt recoil. This gun’s Gore Optifade Elevated II stock is paired with a Cobalt Cerakote finish which gives the gun a classy look while offering protection against the elements. Franchi’s adjustable Relia trigger breaks between 2 and 4 pounds, one of the best triggers of any rifle on this list. The 22-inch barrel is threaded, a Picatinny rail comes standard, and the detachable polymer magazine holds three rounds. Take a closer look at the Franchi and you’ll see why it costs a bit more than some rivals: the stock-to-metal fit is superb and the chrome, spiral-fluted bolt runs smoothly through the action. Even the two-position rocker-type safety is easy to operate silently. This gun is heavier than most at 7.9 pounds.
Winchester 1892 Carbine
Winchester Guns
Though the John Browning-designed Winchester 1892 is well over a century old it’s still one of the best moderate-range deer hunting rifles of all time. The 1892 was designed to handle pistol caliber cartridges, and so today’s guns are chambered in .357 Magnum, .44/40, .44 Remington Magnum, and .45 Colt. Of these, I believe the .44 Magnum is the most versatile and useful, a rifle capable of effectively killing deer out to 100 yards or more in competent hands. It’s light (6 pounds) and maneuverable enough to ride in your pickup, on an ATV, or in a short saddle scabbard. The buckhorn sights are rudimentary but functional for most stand and blind hunting, and capacity is an impressive 10 rounds. At 37 ½ inches long, the 1892 is light enough to carry in a pack when you’re headed deep into a public land tract. The 1892 is designed for fast, quick shooting and handles more like a grouse gun than deer rifle. Plus, it’s just fun to shoot, and as a bonus it digests the same rounds as your favorite revolver. Winchester offers ornate versions of the 1892 like the new color case-hardened Deluxe Takedown model, which is stylish and practical, but the basic Carbine provides everything you need for eastern whitetail hunting in a functional and relatively affordable package.
Ruger American Ranch Rifle
Ruger
The American Rifle has been a best-seller since its release, appealing to hunters with its robust design, quality components, excellent accuracy, and reasonable price tag. There are numerous variants chambered in both .350 Legend and .450 Bushmaster, but the Ranch model with its 16.38-inch threaded barrel, Picatinny rail, and durable polymer stock offers the most appeal to whitetail hunters. It also has an adjustable (3 to 5 pounds) Marksman trigger. To access the trigger, remove the stock by unscrewing the two screws near the floor plate or magazine. There is a small screw in front of the trigger group you can tighten to increase trigger pull or loosen to decrease it. The short, threaded barrel makes it easy to install a suppressor, and with a can in place the .350 Legend produces very mild recoil and minimal muzzle blast. The tang-mounted safety is easy to operate, and Ranch rifles accept AR-style magazines. Though it’s certainly austere, the Ranch does everything a deer hunter needs for under $700
Uberti 1885 High Wall
Uberti
The 1885 was another John Moses Browning design and its falling block remains one of the most robust rifle actions of all time. Uberti builds 1885 rifles similar to Browning’s blueprint, and most of these guns are chambered in .45/70, so quality hunting ammunition is widely available. However, if you want a bit more punch there are Uberti 1885s available in .45/90 and .45/120 as well. With its classic lines, color case-hardened receiver, and octagon barrel the lever gun is a real beauty, but it isn’t light: expect this rifle to weigh in at around 10 pounds. That added mass does an acceptable job of reducing recoil, though, so the Uberti is quite mild for a .45/70. Optional Creedmoor-style flip-up sights are available, and they make a stylish and functional addition to this classic hunting rifle. I carried one while hunting whitetails in Texas and the gun performed admirably out to 150 yards, anchoring both bucks I shot in their tracks.
CMMG Resolute Mk4 .350 Legend
CMMG
CMMG was the first company to introduce an AR rifle chambered in .350 Legend, and the company’s Resolute Mk4 carbine is a refined deer hunting AR that’s loaded with quality features. The Resolute kitted out with a long list of CMMG’s zeroed accessories, including the muzzle brake, trigger guard, ambidextrous charging handle, and more. Unlike most ARs that come in basic black you can also select from several Cerakote color options (grey, charcoal green, and bronze). CMMG has deleted a portion of the top rail of this rifle which adds more M-LOK attachment points at the 12 o’clock position (there are also slots at the 3, 6, and 9 o’clock) and reduces weight. The Resolute Mk4 weighs just over six pounds, and with an overall length of 32.5-inches, it handles exceptionally well. Five-, 10-, and 20-round magazines are available, and this rifle’s 16.1-inch 1:16 twist hammer forged barrel is topped with a zeroed 9mm muzzle brake that can be removed and replaced with a suppressor.
Read Next: The Best Hunting Rifles of 2022
Mossberg Patriot
Mossberg
There are currently three Patriot rifles chambered in .350 Legend with MSRPs ranging from $454 to $637. The least expensive, unadorned synthetic version with its plain black injection-molded stock and matte blue finish, will get the job done in the deer woods. It comes with Weaver scope bases so mounting an optic is easy. There’s a Youth Super Bantam scoped combo version, which includes a bore sighted 3-9×40 scope and 1-inch stock spacer for adjusting length of pull. The gun is ready for the field right out of the box and costs less than $500 making it an ideal choice for a new hunter. If you’re a traditionalist you’ll like the walnut stocked version, but regardless of the variant you’ll get a serviceable, durable hunting rifle that’s of good value. The Patriot also comes with a detachable box magazine, fluted bolt and barrel, and a bladed, adjustable LBA trigger.
Rule #4 reads, “Be Sure of your target and what’s beyond it.” That’s easy on a square range with a two-dimensional target in front of a tall earthen berm. Too easy. Maybe you are moving. Far more often, the target is not moving; it is just static. And there is generally a lack of No Shoots downrange behind the targets we are shooting. As a result, there is not much opportunity to practice Rule #4 and the downrange problem.
If your instructor adds in “… and what is between you and the target as well as around it” that makes the downrange problem even more difficult.
How big of an issue is this downrange problem? How concerned do we, as armed professionals and armed citizens, need to be about this?
As groups, armed professionals and citizens have unfortunately shot uninvolved or non-hostile individuals, wounding or killing them with rounds that missed those whose actions justified deadly force. Those killed have included victims, bystanders, and uniformed, on-duty police officers.
This is an issue, and we need to be concerned about it.
The Four Safety Rules (photo courtesy of the Gunsite.com website). Always be sure of your target.
This past weekend was Tom Givens’ yearly Rangemaster Tactical Conference, also known as TacCon, at the Dallas Pistol Club in Carrollton, Texas.
Numerous presenters gave classroom and live-fire presentations on a broad spectrum of topics for the self-defense community. I was fortunate to have been invited to be a presenter. One of my classroom presentations was based on several research studies, including Tom Aveni’s 2008 work for the Police Policy Studies Council, titled “Critical Analysis of Police Shootings Under Ambiguous Circumstances. Numerous officers from six different agencies participated in the study that focused on decision-making driven by suspect behaviors. Each officer had multiple scenarios for the study.
A problematic finding in the study had to do with a mugging scenario that involved victims who were farther downrange than the suspects. The victim was positioned in the officer’s line of fire when the suspect drew on and then shot at the officers. Most officers in the study – though not all – returned fire at the suspect when shot at. Many of those officers had one or more rounds hit the downrange victim or bystander.
Unfortunately, the study only uses the words” most” and “many” as it did not capture the numbers of victims and bystanders that were hit.
While there are other lessons from that study, the downrange problem is one that trainers and instructors need to be aware of and address.
One large west coast agency has experienced a couple of these events in the last few years. These were cases where the suspects’ violent actions created the situations that led to the tragic outcome. Even though COVID has adversely impacted a lot of training over the past couple of years, it will not give us a pass.
What are some different ways of doing this?
Including bystanders and victims near or behind the suspects during force-on-force scenarios is one idea. Program the problem into the firearms training simulators like those from FATS and VirTra.