SHOOTOUT! 7mm Backcountry VS .280 Ackley Improved

Should you buy a .280 Ackley or a 7mm Backcountry? This is a question we get frequently, so we figured we'd take a deep dive and compare the two. In this episode we explore velocity, accuracy, pressure, barrel life, reloadability, and every other aspect of the two cartridges we can think of. Does one emerge a winner? You'll have to listen to find out. ;)  ENJOY!    FRIENDS, PLEASE SUPPORT THE PODCAST!  Join the Backcountry Hunting Podcast tribe and get access to all our bonus material on www.patreon.com/backcountry   Recent Patreon-only posts show success photos of our 2026 antelope and elk hunts... short audio-episode topics include Kids Hunting: Success on Elk and Antelope, Preparing to Hunt the Scottish Highlands, and Best Custom Barrels and Muzzle Brakes and "How Exit Wounds Affect Blood Trails,"  as well as ponderings on .30-06 High-BC Bullet performance. Check 'em out!  Email us podcast-related questions here: [email protected] Email hunt inquiries here: [email protected] VISIT OUR SPONSORS HERE:  https://www.ponchooutdoors.com https://javelinbipod.com www.swiftbullets.com www.timneytriggers.com www.browning.com www.leupold.com www.siembidacustomknives.com www.onxmaps.com www.silencercentral.com https://www.portersfirearms.com/

If you've ever dreamed of stalking roaring red stags across Scotland's cloud-shrouded Highlands, this episode is for you! We've just returned from two full weeks spent hunting out of ancient Victorian hunting lodges in two prime locations in Scotland, and in this episide we sit down and share stories, talk through logistics, and just revel in the pure excellence of the experience.  We also talk through the future of hunting in Scotland, addressing everything from appropriate rifles and cartridges to the overwhelming move to monometal bullets, and share how you can make a red stag hunt in the Scottish Highlands happen. ENJOY!    FRIENDS, PLEASE SUPPORT THE PODCAST!  Join the Backcountry Hunting Podcast tribe and get access to all our bonus material on www.patreon.com/backcountry   Recent Patreon-only posts show success photos of our 2026 antelope and elk hunts... short audio-episode topics include .280 Ackley VS. 7mm Backcountry,  Preparing to Hunt the Scottish Highlands, and Best Custom Barrels and Muzzle Brakes and "How Exit Wounds Affect Blood Trails,"  as well as ponderings on .30-06 High-BC Bullet performance. Check 'em out!  Email us podcast-related questions here: [email protected] Email hunt inquiries here: [email protected] VISIT OUR SPONSORS HERE:  https://www.ponchooutdoors.com https://javelinbipod.com www.swiftbullets.com www.timneytriggers.com www.browning.com www.leupold.com www.siembidacustomknives.com www.onxmaps.com www.silencercentral.com https://www.portersfirearms.com/

It's elk season, folks! The leaves have turned crimson and golden, frost is on the air, and bull elk are in the last throes of the rut. Magical. In this episode, WIlliam von Benedikt (a.k.a.  the Backcountry Apprentice) and host Joseph von Benedikt sit down to swap stories about hunting public land, DIY and often solo, for big bull elk with traditional muzzleloaders.  One nice bull fell to a well-placed round ball out of a .50-caliber flintlock longrifle this past week, and we dive into that story in detal; the challenges of the equipment, the intensity of the stalk, the shot, and the follow-up; solo processing a big bull when hampered by a shoulder injury and a fading headlamp; packing meat for miles out of roadless wilderness, and more. What a great conversation. ENJOY!    FRIENDS, PLEASE SUPPORT THE PODCAST!  Join the Backcountry Hunting Podcast tribe and get access to all our bonus material on www.patreon.com/backcountry   Recent Patreon-only topics include .280 Ackley VS. 7mm Backcountry,  Preparing to Hunt the Scottish Highlands, and Best Custom Barrels and Muzzle Brakes and "How Exit Wounds Affect Blood Trails,"  as well as ponderings on .30-06 High-BC Bullet performance. Check 'em out!  Email us podcast-related questions here: [email protected] Email hunt inquiries here: [email protected] VISIT OUR SPONSORS HERE:  https://www.ponchooutdoors.com https://javelinbipod.com www.swiftbullets.com www.timneytriggers.com www.browning.com www.leupold.com www.siembidacustomknives.com www.onxmaps.com www.silencercentral.com https://www.portersfirearms.com/

What backpacking items are absolutely essential to successful backcountry hunting? When you have to whittle down your gear list to crucial gear only, what do you toss out? In this episode we sit down for an interview conducted by Audrey von Benedikt, who draws on her recent adventures hunting rough country in New Zealand and asks the hard questions: What do you really NEED? Naturally, we also look at top backcountry rifles, cartridges, scopes, and more. ENJOY!    FRIENDS, PLEASE SUPPORT THE PODCAST!  Join the Backcountry Hunting Podcast tribe and get access to all our bonus material on www.patreon.com/backcountry   Recent brief Patreon-only topics include .280 Ackley VS. 7mm Backcountry,  Preparing to Hunt the Scottish Highlands, and Best Custom Barrels and Muzzle Brakes and "How Exit Wounds Affect Blood Trails,"  as well as ponderings on .30-06 High-BC Bullet performance. Check 'em out!  Email us podcast-related questions here: [email protected] Email hunt inquiries here: [email protected] VISIT OUR SPONSORS HERE:  https://www.ponchooutdoors.com https://javelinbipod.com www.swiftbullets.com www.timneytriggers.com www.browning.com www.leupold.com www.siembidacustomknives.com www.onxmaps.com www.silencercentral.com https://www.portersfirearms.com/

How do you win with a traditional blackpowder longrifle? How do you tune a muzzleloader to kill elk precisely and profoundly? You get good equipment that's properly suited to the task, and then you work it out. Our family has two premium blackpowder elk permits in our pockets, and in this episode we sit down to talk through the fun we've been having getting tuned up to hunt. HINT: It includes shooting at Fort Bridger, Wyoming and winning two superb custom longrifles.  Ever wanted to learn more about shooting, competing, and hunting with classic traditional blackpowder muzzleloaders? This episode may help... ENJOY!    FRIENDS, PLEASE SUPPORT THE PODCAST!  Join the Backcountry Hunting Podcast tribe and get access to all our bonus material on www.patreon.com/backcountry   Recent brief Patreon-only topics include .280 Ackley VS. 7mm Backcountry,  Preparing to Hunt the Scottish Highlands, and Best Custom Barrels and Muzzle Brakes and "How Exit Wounds Affect Blood Trails,"  as well as ponderings on .30-06 High-BC Bullet performance. Check 'em out!  Email us podcast-related questions here: [email protected] Email hunt inquiries here: [email protected] VISIT OUR SPONSORS HERE:  https://www.ponchooutdoors.com https://javelinbipod.com www.swiftbullets.com www.timneytriggers.com www.browning.com www.leupold.com www.siembidacustomknives.com www.onxmaps.com www.silencercentral.com https://www.portersfirearms.com/

How do you choose a riflescope that won't let you down in the backcountry? Pick from a proven brand, with a track record of performance and reliablity.  In this epside we sit down with a Leupold engineer and discuss what makes a scope tough, clear, reliable, and predictable, as well has how the best optics maximize light gathering and minimize sun refraction and glare. We talk through internal mechanisms and lens coatings and magnification ranges and recoil testing and so much more. What an inspiring conversation! ENJOY!    FRIENDS, PLEASE SUPPORT THE PODCAST!  Join the Backcountry Hunting Podcast tribe and get access to all our bonus material on www.patreon.com/backcountry   Recent brief Patreon-only topics include .280 Ackley VS. 7mm Backcountry,  Preparing to Hunt the Scottish Highlands, and Best Custom Barrels and Muzzle Brakes and "How Exit Wounds Affect Blood Trails,"  as well as ponderings on .30-06 High-BC Bullet performance. Check 'em out!  Email us podcast-related questions here: [email protected] Email hunt inquiries here: [email protected] VISIT OUR SPONSORS HERE:  https://www.ponchooutdoors.com https://javelinbipod.com www.swiftbullets.com www.timneytriggers.com www.browning.com www.leupold.com www.siembidacustomknives.com www.onxmaps.com www.silencercentral.com https://www.portersfirearms.com/

If you've dreamed of hunting New Zealand for giant Red Stags, Fallow deer, Himalyan Tahr, or Chamois, this episode is for you! We got on the phone with a professional guide and asked questions. Best routes to travel to NZ, how to bring a rifle to NZ, what the best hunting seasons are, free-range vs. estate/private land, how to choose a rifle, cartridge, and bullet for New Zealand big game species, necessary gear, and more.  ALSO! We're about to open our two podcast-hosted hunts with our premier outfitter on the northern tip of the South Island. One week is a traditional lever-action/classic rifle hunt for big red stags in early June, 2027. The other is a learning-type experience in early August, during which we'll teach rifle setup, field shooting, shot placement, and fieldcraft such as reading terrain, glassing, field judging, planning a stalk, playing the wind, blood tracking, field dressing, packing meat, and even how to cut and wrap venison and cook it like a professional chef--plus you'll take those skills to the field and hunt a red stag and a management/meat deer.  Those hunts will open first on www.patreon.com/backcountry , which enables our loyal long-time listeners and supporters first chance to book. Join us there if you'd like to share a campfire in one of New Zealand's finest hunting areas!  For more details on these and other hunts through the Backcountry Hunting Podcasts' sister company Global Hunting Adventures, email [email protected] and let us know what you dream of hunting. We'll help you turn those dreams into plans, and then into fantastic memories afield!    FRIENDS, PLEASE SUPPORT THE PODCAST!  Join the Backcountry Hunting Podcast tribe and get access to all our bonus material on www.patreon.com/backcountry   Recent brief Patreon-only topics include .280 Ackley VS. 7mm Backcountry,  Preparing to Hunt the Scottish Highlands, and Best Custom Barrels and Muzzle Brakes and "How Exit Wounds Affect Blood Trails,"  as well as ponderings on .30-06 High-BC Bullet performance. Check 'em out!  Email us podcast-related questions here: [email protected] Email hunt inquiries here: [email protected] VISIT OUR SPONSORS HERE:  https://www.ponchooutdoors.com https://javelinbipod.com www.swiftbullets.com www.timneytriggers.com www.browning.com www.leupold.com www.siembidacustomknives.com www.onxmaps.com www.silencercentral.com https://www.portersfirearms.com/

We're attacking the old debate, folks: If you had to pick just ONE CARTRIDGE to hunt ANYTHING you want, what would it be? I suspect our choices may surprise many of you. ENJOY!    FRIENDS, PLEASE SUPPORT THE PODCAST!  Join the Backcountry Hunting Podcast tribe and get access to all our bonus material on www.patreon.com/backcountry   Recent brief Patreon-only topics include "Preparing to Hunt the Scottish Highlands" and "Best Custom Barrels and Muzzle Brakes" and "How Exit Wounds Affect Blood Trails,"  as well as brief audio episodes on "6.5 Backcountry" (6.5 Creedmoor +P), and ponderings on ".30-06 High-BC Bullet performance." Check 'em out!  Email us podcast-related questions here: [email protected] Email hunt inquiries here: [email protected] VISIT OUR SPONSORS HERE:  https://www.ponchooutdoors.com https://javelinbipod.com www.swiftbullets.com www.timneytriggers.com www.browning.com www.leupold.com www.siembidacustomknives.com www.onxmaps.com www.silencercentral.com https://www.portersfirearms.com/

Can you now just walk into a gun store, buy a suppressor, and walk out with it? Recent legal rulings have upset the NFA's apple cart, leaving a frenzy of good and bad info scattered across cyberspace. In this episode we welcome Brandon Maddox, suppressor mastermind behind Silencer Central, to help clarify what we know, what we don't know, and what to expect in coming months. ENJOY!    FRIENDS, PLEASE SUPPORT THE PODCAST!  Join the Backcountry Hunting Podcast tribe and get access to all our bonus material on www.patreon.com/backcountry   Recent brief Patreon-only topics include "Best Custom Barrels and Muzzle Brakes" and "How Exit Wounds Affect Blood Trails,"  as well as brief audio episodes on "6.5 Backcountry" (6.5 Creedmoor +P), and ponderings on ".30-06 High-BC Bullet performance." Check 'em out!  Email us questions here: [email protected]   VISIT OUR SPONSORS HERE:  https://www.ponchooutdoors.com https://javelinbipod.com www.swiftbullets.com www.timneytriggers.com www.browning.com www.leupold.com www.siembidacustomknives.com www.onxmaps.com www.silencercentral.com https://www.portersfirearms.com/

No European country offers more spectacular hunting than Spain. Four species of ibex, chamois, red deer, roe deer, mouflon, wild boar, fallow deer, and even barbary sheep can be hunted across the rolling terraces and amongst the ancient mountain ruins. Archetecture, food, and history is unparalleled. And it's not expensive! In this episide, we sit down with outfitter Oscar Colomina and take a deep dive into just how special Spain is. And of course, hunting stories occur! ENJOY!    FRIENDS, PLEASE SUPPORT THE PODCAST!  Join the Backcountry Hunting Podcast tribe and get access to all our bonus material on www.patreon.com/backcountry   Recent brief Patreon-only topics include "Best Custom Barrels and Muzzle Brakes" and "How Exit Wounds Affect Blood Trails,"  as well as brief audio episodes on "6.5 Backcountry" (6.5 Creedmoor +P), ponderings on ".30-06 High-BC Bullet performance," a first look at a new heavy-for-caliber 270-grain Solid .35 Whelen load, a "6.8 Western Survival Forecast" and "Gear List for Hunting." Check 'em out!  Email us questions here: [email protected]   VISIT OUR SPONSORS HERE:  https://javelinbipod.com www.swiftbullets.com www.timneytriggers.com www.browning.com www.leupold.com www.siembidacustomknives.com www.onxmaps.com www.silencercentral.com https://www.portersfirearms.com/