“pronghorn”

If you have the ambition to launch your own bowhunt, the West offers the best in do-it-yourself adventure.

Every once in a while I get quizzed as to what rifle to bring on a hunter’s first pronghorn hunt. Most of the time I ask in return what the hunter already has.

For a little more than a year I have been playing with some Berger bullets in a couple of rifles. Most shooters are aware of Berger Bullets—the southern California-based maker of very accurate, long-range bullets—but not all know of the company’s push into the hunting bullet market.

The newest offering from Traditions packs tons of features into a lightweight, yet long-barreled, modern in-line muzzleloader.

A barrel-locking nut and AccuTrigger make the 212 a very accurate option.

The most popular big game animals hunted in North America—deer and elk—belong to a group of animals classified as “ungulates.” Ungulate comes from the Latin word for "hoof", and since all ungulates have hooves, it’s quite appropriate.

Tag along during a spot-and-stalk for a magnificent pronghorn in New Mexico.

So you want to be a long-range hunter? You have a super-accurate rifle and you have tuned the ammo until it punches little bug holes in the target instead of groups. The trigger is crisp and clean and you have the best optics money can buy on top of the gun.

When hunting in the West you'll need binoculars that have a high magnification. Leupold's BX-3 Mojave series will give you that, without breaking the bank.