With the Labor Day weekend here our summer is at least officially over. But with that comes our favorite time of year, our hunting seasons. Here in Arizona our bow seasons are in full swing with at least a couple of monster Mule Deer taken so far. Our black powder season starts soon and in about 6 weeks our early gun season begins. The success rate for deer and elk are pretty good here in the southwest. But getting drawn is the problem. It is not unusual to put in for 15 to 18 years and never get drawn especially for the prime areas and especially for big bull elk and Rocky mountain sheep. Also if you own a lot of land here and your land is overrun with elk and deer, unless you get drawn for the area your land is on, you can’t hunt them. The land may belong to you but the game belongs to the state. I keep hoping our game and fish department will go to a system like a couple of other western states use. This if you don’t get drawn for elk or deer for 3 years in a row, you automatically get a tag the 4th year. That would keep hunters putting in and keep the revenues coming in. I know a lot of hunters that after 10 years of putting in and not getting drawn, just gave up and hunt in other states. So you guys back east that wish you could come out here and hunt Elk, Deer, Sheep, bears and a lot more, just remember you have to get drawn. So be glad you can just buy your tag over the counter and hunt wherever you like. The other man’s grass is not always greener.

The situation above is one of the reasons I book our HHC every year and try to go to Africa every year or two. The Reeder clan loves to hunt and are not going to give up totally. Kase has been to Africa with me twice and this past May Colleen took a monster Cape Buffalo, a huge Eland, and a monster Kudu. I will continue to hunt, even if I have to go out of state or out of country to do so. This reminds me, our next Africa hunt is next May and we always try to book the entire camp and have 12 hunters there. Right now I have 10 hunters booked for the hunt and I have 2 openings left. If you are interested, get in touch with me for more info.

OK, now let’s see what is new in the gun world. Savage has been sold to an investor for 170 million. This looks like a good thing as the investor is a gun guy and has plans to expand Savage and add new products. Sounds good, so far. They just announced their model 110 Prairie Hunter chambered in the 224 Valkyrie. And this is not just another Savage 110. This one is loaded with very special features, features you would expect to find on $1500 to $2000 guns. This one should do very well for Savage.

Glock recently put out their two toned model 43X and 48. Both in 9mm and both very well made pistols. The 48 especially has been selling as quick as we can get them in over at our gun shop. The 43X is selling almost as quick. The 48 is the perfect carry gun with it’s slender, single stack frame and corrosion resistant silver slide. The gun itself is perfect for the person with a medium size hand and not bulky under a shirt or jacket. The 43X is just as good but my personal preference is the model 48. Apparently Glock had some complaints about the two toned guns not being professional enough so they did what every gun company should do, they listened to their customers. So now they are making the 43X and 48 in the two toned and in all black. Same gun just now the all black is available too. Listening to it’s customers is what has made Glock #1 in the handgun field for nearly 30 years.

Smith & Wesson announced an addition to it line up recently. Actually they are re-introducing one of my favorite revolvers. That is the model 648. The model 48 is one of my personal favorites and has been for many years. It is the blue version and chambered in 22 Magnum. Now S&W is bringing back the 648, the stainless version of the model 48, also in 22 magnum. The new version of the 648 is based on the K frame, the same frame that the older model 10, 19, 15, 66 and a lot more are based on. The 648 has an 8 shot cylinder and comes in a 6” version with the heavy underlug. I personally have plans to scope mine for small game hunting here in Arizona (I don’t have to get drawn for small game). The Abert squirrels here are almost as big as a house cat with their big fluffy solid white tails and tufted ears and tend to hang out in the tops of the Ponderosa pine trees way up there and yell obscenities at us. The 22 Magnum is almost a necessity for these big boys.

Another one I am excited about getting to play with and add a scope to for even more small game hunting is the Kel Tec CP33. This one is similar to their 22 Magnum version, the PM 30. The CP33 only weighs less than 2 lbs empty and the magazine holds 33 rounds. The gun had a piccatinny rail on top for a red dot or scope. The Kel Tec pistols have no class or character but they work every time and have been extremely accurate. I have seen the 22 Magnum pistol, that retails for less than $500, sell on gunbroker for well over $700 due to their scarcity. A year or two ago Colleen gave me one of the Rock Island Armory 22 Magnum pistols for Christmas and what a great gun that one is. This past Christmas she gave me the Kel Tec 22 Magnum. Now if I just could take some time off this fall, I hope to do some bunny popping with both guns and maybe even the new Kel Tec CP33 if they are released in time.

A new rifle that is guaranteed to be accurate is coming from an unusual gun maker. It is the Cascade from CVA. CVA has long been known for medium priced black powder rifles. Now they are bringing out a new bolt action center fire rifle called the Cascade and they promise great accuracy and workmanship. In fact they cover this promise with a guarantee. That being, buy the gun, use it for 14 days and if you aren’t fully satisfied, return it to CVA for a full refund. How’s that for a promise.

Kimber has revamped or done something to their 357 Magnum revolver, the K6S. It is now a 3” and to me looks sleeker than before. The original was butt ugly. Glad to see they are getting away from the fat girl with a mustache look. I got 4 flyers in the last week or so from new companies announcing their new ……AR-15s?? With the AR-15s and AR-10s already a glut on the market, who do these folks plan to sell them to? But there is a silver lining. If you have ever wanted an AR-15 and personally I think every household should have at least one, then now is the time to buy with prices lower than ever. And in case you wonder why I say every household should have one, there are several reasons. One, the gun is light and has no recoil. Two, the gun is easy to shoot and to learn to shoot. Three, if you are out of town or work late, it is a gun that is not intimidating to a wife or daughter. And finally it holds 30 rounds in the magazine, just in case. If you are married and have a youngster, then pick up an AR-15 now while the prices are low and teach them to shoot it. It is just another bit of peace of mind.

One of the companies with a new AR-15 is Hammerli Arms. Hammerli has been around for many years and had specialized in high dollar competition target pistols in Europe. They also made the very first few 357s in the Interarms Dragoon series of revolvers, before Interarms started making them here in the states. Anyway they have a new high tech AR-15 called the Tac R1 22C. Another gun with a lot of numbers and letters in the name that we will probably forget. The gun looks good and is made very well. I just don’t know who is going to buy it.

On the subject mentioned above, a have several friends that bought their wives the Mossberg Nightstick. That is the model 590 with a pistol grip and shot barrel. The only problem is it is a shotgun and some ladies are not really comfortable with a shotgun’s recoil plus they have to work the pump action and this could pose some other problems. I think the Mossberg Nightstick is a great home defense gun but for the ladies I think an AR-15 would be much better. My humble opinion only.

I haven’t mentioned this before but now that the dust has settled I will do so. In 2018 I shot a monster Cape Buffalo in South Africa with my 450 GNR encore pistol. One shot using Hornady’s new 500 grain DGX, Dangerous Game Expanding bullet. I shot it a second time as insurance. The buffalo on an early scoring looked like it was going to be the new #1. Now it looks like #2 probably. But I am happy just with a monster Cape Buffalo. Spring ahead a year and in early June I received a huge box from South Africa and Life Form taxidermy. Inside were my Tssesebe, my Red lechwe and my Cape buffalo. But there was one problem. Upon close examination the buffalo wasn’t mine. It was a great buffalo but not mine. My buffalo’s horn boss met in the middle. This one had a 2” space between each side of the boss. Mine measured 99” tip to tip. This one is 80”. Not my buffalo. Probably a top 20 in the world buffalo, but not mine. Life Form started looking immediately for my buffalo. After a month of searching, no buffalo. So they did the right thing. Next may I will be hunting another Cape Buffalo, with the cost of the hunt, the taxidermy and shipping on them. And to make things better, they said it would cost them about $5000 to get the buffalo crated up, run thru customs and shipped back to the Africa. So what do we do with this beautiful Cape Buffalo mount? They said, Keep IT. It would cost them too much to ship it back. So I have a $25,000 Cape Buffalo shoulder mount. What do I do with it? If you want it, I will sell it to you. For $1500 plus shipping I will crate it up and ship it to you. If you have a business where a huge Cape Buffalo would look good, give me a call. 928-527-4100 for more info and pictures. In Africa that big buffalo would cost you a minimum of $20,000 plus about $5000 for the taxidermy and shipping. I will sell it to the first one who wants it for $1500 plus the shipping. I figure you are looking at around $2500 total. A helluva deal.

Our next HHC is coming in a month. It is Oct 3 thru 6 at the Wilderness Hunting Lodge in Monterey Tennessee. We have around 35 people signed up so far and should have about 50 total. If you would like to join us, consider this my invitation to you. Call Sandy at 931-979-4050 and sign up. This is going to do it for this time. Our fall seasons are here. If you head out squirrel or rabbit hunting, take a lady or youngster with you. You will have a hunting partner for life, and besides that, they are our future. Til next time, God bless,
Gary