Hunting glossary

Bag limit

The legal number of animals of a species you may take in a season or day. Always know it before you hunt.

Ballistic coefficient (BC)

A number describing how well a bullet resists drag. A higher BC means flatter flight and less wind drift at distance.

Bedding area

Where animals rest through the day, usually in thick or elevated cover. Hunt the edges, not the middle, or you will bump them.

Blaze orange

The bright fluorescent orange clothing many regions require hunters to wear so they are visible to each other. Deer and most game see it poorly, so it does not spook them as much as it warns people.

Blind

A concealed position - a built or portable hide - you sit in to stay hidden from game, common for waterfowl and turkey.

Boone & Crockett

The best-known scoring system for North American big-game trophies, measuring antlers, horns and skulls.

Broadside

When an animal stands fully side-on to you - the ideal angle, giving a clear path to the heart and lungs.

Buck / Doe

A male / female deer. (For elk it's bull / cow; for turkey, tom / hen.)

Buck fever

The rush of adrenaline that makes you shake or rush the shot when game appears. Breathe, and focus on one small spot.

Buckshot

Large lead or steel shot pellets loaded in a shotgun shell for bigger game and predators at close range, as opposed to the small shot used on birds.

Caliber

The diameter of a firearm's bore and its bullet, e.g. .308 or .30-06 - a rough guide to a cartridge's power.

Cartridge

One complete round of ammunition: case, primer, powder and bullet. The bullet is only the projectile that flies.

Choke

A constriction at the muzzle of a shotgun barrel that controls how tightly the shot spreads. Tighter chokes (full) reach further; open chokes (improved cylinder) spread sooner for close birds.

Cull

To selectively remove certain animals, often to manage a population's health or balance.

Decoy

A lifelike fake animal used to draw game into range, especially for waterfowl, turkey and predators.

Draw weight

The force, in pounds, needed to pull a bow to full draw. It must meet the legal minimum for hunting.

Effective range

The farthest distance at which you can reliably make a clean, ethical kill. Know yours, and do not shoot past it.

Estrus

The period when a female animal is receptive to mating - the 'heat' that drives the deer rut. Hunters time and call the rut around it.

Field dressing

Removing the internal organs of an animal soon after the kill, to cool the meat and prevent spoilage.

Funnel / pinch point

A spot where terrain squeezes animal movement into a narrow path - a prime place to wait.

Gauge

A shotgun's bore size, measured in an old way where a smaller number means a bigger bore - a 12-gauge is larger than a 20-gauge. The .410 is the exception, named by its bore in inches.

Glassing

Scanning the country with binoculars or a spotting scope to locate game from a distance.

Grain

The unit used for the weight of bullets and powder charges (7,000 grains to a pound). A heavier-grain bullet usually hits harder and drops faster over distance.

Ground shrinkage

When a buck looks smaller once you walk up than it did through the binoculars - a common, gentle humbling.

Gut pile

The remains left after field dressing. Move it away from where you'll hang or process the meat.

Holdover

Aiming above the target to compensate for bullet drop at ranges beyond your zero. See our holdover tool.

MOA

Minute of angle - an aiming and accuracy unit, roughly one inch at 100 yards (two at 200, and so on).

Muzzleloader

A firearm loaded from the front of the barrel, often with its own dedicated hunting season.

Nocturnal

Active mainly at night. Heavily pressured game often turns nocturnal, moving only after dark.

Predator call

A device or technique that imitates prey in distress, or a rival or mate, to draw in foxes, coyotes and other predators within range.

Quartering

When an animal stands at an angle - toward or away from you. Quartering-away is a good shot; quartering-to is risky.

Rangefinder

An optical device that measures the exact distance to a target, letting a hunter set the right holdover or sight and avoid a poorly judged, unethical shot.

Recoil

The backward kick of a firearm when fired. Managing it with fit, stance and technique keeps shots accurate; heavier calibres and lighter guns kick harder.

Rut

The breeding season, when bucks and bulls are most active and least cautious - a prime time to hunt.

Sabot

A lightweight sleeve that lets a smaller projectile be fired from a larger bore, common in muzzleloaders and slug guns, boosting velocity and accuracy.

Safety harness

A full-body harness worn when hunting from an elevated treestand, tethered to the tree so a fall cannot become fatal. Falls are a leading cause of hunting injury.

Scent control

Everything you do to keep game from smelling you: playing the wind, clean gear, and scent-free products.

Scrape / rub

Sign left by bucks: a scrape is pawed bare ground, a rub is bark stripped from a sapling. Both mark territory.

Shooting lane

A cleared line of sight from your stand through which you can take a safe, unobstructed shot.

Sighting in (zero)

Adjusting your sights or scope so the shot hits point of aim at a set distance, confirmed on paper at the range.

Spot-and-stalk

An active style: spot an animal from afar, then carefully close the distance on foot for a shot.

Stand

A fixed position you hunt from, such as a tree stand or ground blind, usually overlooking travel routes or food.

Still-hunting

Moving through cover very slowly and quietly, pausing often to look and listen - not the same as sitting still.

Tag

The licence document you attach to an animal once harvested, proving it was taken legally.

Thermals

Air that rises as it warms in the morning and sinks as it cools in the evening, carrying your scent with it.

Tine

A single point on a deer's antler. Hunters count tines to judge and describe a rack.

Trajectory

The curved path a bullet or arrow travels, dropping with distance. Knowing it is the key to hitting at range.

Vitals

The heart-and-lungs area, low and just behind the shoulder - the target for a clean, ethical kill.

Wallow

A muddy, water-holding depression that animals like elk and wild boar roll in to cool off, coat themselves and, in the rut, scent-mark. A useful sign to hunt near.

Wingshooting

Shooting flying birds on the wing with a shotgun, as in upland and waterfowl hunting.

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