Category Archives: Hunting

Craig Boddington Virtual Convention 2021

2021 CBEO Convention Press Release

Craig Boddington Virtual Convention Helps Save
Conservation Efforts Around the World


Contact:
Conrad Evarts
406-475-4994
conrad@craigboddington.com

Click this link to online convention

Helena, MT. — (January 5th, 2021) — The 2021 Craig Boddington Virtual Convention is open. This convention is Col. Boddington’s third annual online hunters convention and is important to conservation efforts worldwide. With the response to COVID restricting travel and ending brick and mortar conventions for the foreseeable future, outfitters urgently needed to connect with clients in a new way. Boddington saw a need for a simple and effective online convention to facilitate a comeback for outfitting in 2021. The continuation of hunting is a life and death situation for conservation; farms and concessions that support wildlife, antipoaching teams and rural communities worldwide rely on hunting to survive. These are good people doing good things for wildlife and Craig’s hand selected a group of carefully vetted outfitters that are committed to ethics and conservation.

Exhibitors at this virtual convention are exclusively members of Craig Boddington’s Endorsed Outfitters. ““I created this online convention to help hunters find trusted outfitters in a season of canceled conventions. Each outfitter was vetted with at least one visit and thorough research of their history. Clients can book with complete confidence. What about the personal interaction? We covered it. On each booth you’ll see a button to SCHEDULE SKYPE. Click on the button and to have a face- to-face discussion scheduled in no time. The money saved in travel can go to all kinds of efforts from anti-poaching, conservation projects, local schools and facilities. It’s a win not only for the outfitters but for wildlife and
hunters.” said Boddington.

Attendees can register to win a trip to join Boddington on a salmon
“HUNTING” trip during the Black Gold Lodge Craig Boddington 11th Annual Salmon Fishing Tournament, a safari for two to South Africa or series of prizes from African Sporting Creations.

Live seminars? They will occur via ZOOM. Starting with a live but virtual cocktail party at 6:30 CST on January 22nd, 2021 then moving on to a Q&A with Donna at the same time on January 23rd, a chat with Jim Morando and a seminar on filming hunts and gearing up for North America in 2021. Each night during the seminar week, a sweepstakes winner will be announced.

It’s important to visit the virtual show floor. It’s never been more important to fulfill your hunting dreams. All the outfitters are prepared to have one on-one conversations. Visit CraigBoddington.com to book a hunt with the best outfitters on Earth. Sign up for the newsletter to enter to win the sweepstakes.
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About Craig Boddington: Hunter — Journalist — Author — Adventurer Craig
Boddington is one of today’s most respected outdoor journalists. He spent the past forty years exploring our natural world as a hunter and sharing his knowledge and experiences in dozens of books and through thousands of published articles and essays. He’s a decorated Marine, an award-winning author, and continues to be a
leading voice for conservation and ethical hunting around the world.

 

RIFLE ACCURACY WITH DIFFERENT LOADS  By Craig Boddington 

Today’s factory rifles are, on average, more accurate than I thought possible when I started shooting. American hunters and rifle shooters have long been obsessed with raw accuracy, probably more today than ever before because of the growing fascination with long-range shooting. How much accuracy is really needed depends entirely on what you intend to do. Bench-rest and thousand-yard competitors need all they can get, and so do varmint hunters. Most big-game hunters probably have more accuracy than is truly necessary—but it’s a wonderful confidence builder to know that your rifle is capable of producing teeny, tiny groups! 

257 Roberts group: There’s no telling exactly what load a given rifle will shoot best…and it may not be the load you prefer to use. So far, Boddington’s Dakota .257 Roberts produces its best groups with Remington 100-grain round-nose Core-Lokt, not the most ideal hunting load for a flat-shooting cartridge. This rifle needs handloading and will get it!
257 Roberts group: There’s no telling exactly what load a given rifle will shoot best…and it may not be the load you prefer to use. So far, Boddington’s Dakota .257 Roberts produces its best groups with Remington 100-grain round-nose Core-Lokt, not the most ideal hunting load for a flat-shooting cartridge. This rifle needs handloading and will get it!

That’s a valid reason to demand extreme accuracy—and it’s amazing how many of today’s basic, inexpensive factory rifles deliver. I think this is because, with modern manufacturing, factory tolerances are tighter than ever, with more consistent barrels. When I was a kid, we figured a factory bolt-action that produced 1.5-inch 100-yard groups was pretty darned good. Rifles shooting one inch and better were cause for bragging. Today it’s amazing how many factory bolt guns retailing for less than $500 will consistently produce one-inch 100-yard groups. 

Continue reading RIFLE ACCURACY WITH DIFFERENT LOADS  By Craig Boddington 

308 Win or 30-06 Springfield? By Craig Boddington

The 308 Winchester is based on a 30-06 Springfield case shortened from 63mm (2.494 inches) to 51mm (2.015 inches). It was introduced in 1952, the year of my birth so, like me, is no spring chicken. We must never forget that the 30-06 Springfield is the most powerful cartridge ever adopted by a major military power. The 30-06 Springfield and its 1903 Springfield bolt-action rifle defined what we think of as “standard” action length. In part this was its undoing; its later Garand rifle was long and heavy; we wanted a shorter and more efficient self-loading action. 

88 308 blacktail: An excellent blacktail from northern California, taken with a Winchester M88 in .308. The 88 is one of several lever-actions chambered to the .308. Able to fit into short actions, the .308 offers a much larger choice of both rifles and actions than the .30-06.
An excellent blacktail from northern California, taken with a Winchester M88 in .308. The 88 is one of several lever-actions chambered to the .308. Able to fit into short actions, the .308 offers a much larger choice of both rifles and actions than the .30-06.

Well into the Fifties the 30-06 Springfield was not only America’s service cartridge, but also our most popular sporting round. Unabashedly, I am a 30-06 Springfield guy. As such, I have huge experience with the 30-06 Springfield … and not nearly as much with the 308 Win. In performance on game, the 308 Win and 30-06 Springfield are similar. Always it depends on who is doing the loading but, with greater case capacity, with bullets up to 180 grains the 30-06 Springfield averages about 150 fps faster than the 308 Win.

Superformance 06-1: Hornady’s first Superformance load was a165-grain .30-06, producing over 3000 fps. This was obviously a “fast barrel,” with velocity a bit higher than rated. No .308 load can approach this velocity, solidly into .300 magnum territory.
Superformance 06-1: Hornady’s first Superformance load was a165-grain .30-06, producing over 3000 fps. This was obviously a “fast barrel,” with velocity a bit higher than rated. No .308 load can approach this velocity, solidly into .300 magnum territory.

Game animals are unlikely to discern the difference; there’s really nothing you can (or should) do with a 30-06 Springfield that you can’t (or shouldn’t) do with a 308 Win. The gap widens with heavier bullets. These days few of us actually use heavier bullets, but with 200-grain bullets the 30-06 Springfield is about 200 fps fast, and with 220-grain slugs the 30-06 Springfield is nearly 300 fps faster than the 308 Win. 

Continue reading 308 Win or 30-06 Springfield? By Craig Boddington

Turkey Time! Craig Boddington Talks Turkey Hunting, Chokes, Shells, And Sights

Let me be perfectly clear: I am not an expert turkey hunter! No way am I going to give you calling tips or turkey hunting tips. I bumble along, and fortunately we have a lot of turkeys to hunt these days.

Strutting Turkey in the field
With the head tucked down this is a normal presentation when a gobbler is strutting, but this is a poor shot; better to wait a few seconds until the head and neck are extended!

So, important admissions made, I’m pretty good at shooting turkeys if and when I get a chance. Over the years—and I can go back about 50 years—I’ve hunted all the varieties, and I’ve hunted turkeys in a lot of places. My opinions have shifted over time, and may shift again. In part this is because, as turkey hunting has exploded, our turkey guns and turkey loads keep getting better.

Today I am convinced of three things: To anchor turkeys consistently you need good chokes, you need good shells, and sights are a really great idea.
Continue reading Turkey Time! Craig Boddington Talks Turkey Hunting, Chokes, Shells, And Sights

WHY NOT A 7MM-08 Rem? By Craig Boddington

During my career I’ve been wrong about many things. One of them was the7mm-08 Remington. Back in 1980 the cartridge was brand-new when a Remington 788 in 7mm-08 Rem came into the office. You remember the 788 bolt-action, Heavy, unlovely, rear-locking…and they shot like gangbusters. Colleague and friend Payton Miller and I were assigned to wring it out, I think for that year’s G&A Annual. The rifle grouped extremely well, but the truth is we both got it wrong: We scratched our heads, and didn’t understand what this brave new cartridge was for…or what it could do that existing cartridges couldn’t.

This Proof Research 7mm-08 grouped extremely well right out of the box, producing sub-MOA groups with Hornady’s inexpensive 139-grain American Whitetail load.
This Proof Research 7mm-08 grouped extremely well right out of the box, producing sub-MOA groups with Hornady’s inexpensive 139-grain American Whitetail load.

As to the latter, probably nothing…but that can be said about almost any new cartridge. As to what it was for, it was a mild-kicking, short-action cartridge that was probably very effective. Part of our problem was we had no first-hand experience with the 7mm-08 Rem on game. This was not entirely our fault. Payton and I took that early 7mm-08 Rem on several forays up the Central Coast for wild hogs, but we never got a shot. We figured it would do just fine…but we didn’t know.

Continue reading WHY NOT A 7MM-08 Rem? By Craig Boddington