Summertime is a good time for predator hunters to tinker with guns and handload a supply of ammo. But it's also a good time to go hunting with a camera. Calling and shooting predators with a camera is almost as much fun as doing it with a rifle ... and there's no skinning involved. And because the camera shooter needs to do everything a rifle shooter does in order to get a trophy worthy of hanging on the wall, it's a great way to practice hunting technique. But there are a few differences, so here are some tips concerning them.

The Remington Model 700 has grown to be one of the world’s classic rifles. I like them enough to always have one or more in my collection. But from a predator hunter's perspective, there's always been one thing wrong with it: The 700 has never been available with a detachable magazine for .223 Rem. and similar sized cartridges.

Crimping bullets in place when handloading the .223 Remington came up in a conversation the other day, making me think it might be worth a blog post. But first, just in case you’re new to reloading, let's define crimp as: pinching or squeezing an object in order to prevent something from moving (the photo at left shows a crimp).

In this, our last look at beaver hunting for now, let’s talk a little about tactics. On this topic, the first thing to remember is that if you're going to be shooting beavers, it will likely be only problem beavers you're targeting. And the problem with beavers is their dams. This was exactly the case the other day when I went after a pair building a dam under a bridge.

Following up on my introduction to beaver hunting, I want to re-emphasize my caution about checking your local laws to make sure that what you're doing is completely legal. Beaver control has become a necessity in much of North America, but shooting them is not always allowed or it's restricted in a variety of ways. So, check your regulations. With that reminder out of the way, let's look at what guns work best on beavers.

This is a varmint and predator hunting blog, so it's only fitting that we spend a little time looking at hunting the largest rodent in North America. Compared to prairie dogs, rats and other rodents, this critter is a relative monster. Forty- and 50-pound animals aren't uncommon, and there are stories about big ones that tip the scales at 100 pounds. That's a rodent twice the size of a big coyote.

If you're looking for a new rimfire this season, you're blessed with a lot of choices. Quality and price range from low to stratospheric, with only a few rifles hitting that magic middle ground that suggests you're getting more than you're paying for. In that category, I propose one rifle worthy of consideration: the Browning T-Bolt rimfire.

Optics are a critical part of varmint and predator hunting. And because good optics aren't cheap, whenever we throw down dollars for expensive glass, we want to end up with a product that meets our needs. Modern optical designers do a fabulous job of providing us with riflescopes, and while they can bend light like a Jedi Master, they can't bend the physical laws that govern it. As consumers, we need to understand those laws at least a little, and a good start is to be aware of something called the "optical triangle" and what it represents.

Many years ago there was a cute half-hour TV comedy featuring a character called ALF. The name was an acronym for Alien Life Form, and ALF's favorite earth food was cats. He used to say, "I love cats—with a side of fries." I thought of him again when a friend sent me photos of a fox he's seen stalking one of his cats.

We all recognize that our varmint and predator rifles fire many more rounds than our big game rifles. And because the game we hunt with those rifles is so much smaller, they must deliver a higher level of accuracy as well. More use and a high degree of accuracy both dictate we use thorough cleaning methods on these guns. And while most shooters do a good job of cleaning a rifle's bore, there's one part of a rifle's interior that almost no one cleans, mainly because it's impossible to reach it without the right tools.