As an older rifle hunter, I may not be able to track a whitetail for miles. I need options. I will be hunting from the ground. Finding good deer sign is critical as is being scent free as much as possible. Using scents help cover your human scent. Many scent options. You choose. I bought a portable tree seat/hammock so I can hang out in an area here and there. Comfort is key to stay on-stand. My hat and upper clothing is hunter orange and visible 360 degrees. 

I tested it for being able to swing my rifle right and left. It works. Next, I can’t wear a larger back pack due to laws on hunter orange visibility. Deer see shades of grey. 

So, I purchased a fanny pack with water bottles with a shoulder harness. I have an older fanny pack but hangs to low on my body. The new fanny pack should sit on my lower back much better and hunter orange will be visible 360 degrees. I will put camo tape on the water bottles to hide the white or use another bottle type with camo to carry some hot coffee.

Finally, an inexpensive hunting blind might cover some of my movement. I may or may not use the blind depending on the set up. 

Staying warm is key. Accordingly, hand warmers are essential as long underwear and layered warm clothing. I have a grunt and bleat call which my aid to cover noisy walking in crunchy snow and leaves. For gps, I have onX and my Garmin In Reach Explorer as well as map and compass.

The goal is to enjoy my hunt in cold weather. A buck would be icing on the cake.

Good Hunting

I flew to Alberta Canada last spring with hopes of scoring on huge black bear. Never saw a keeper, just smaller bear like we have in New Hampshire. Yes, I harvested a smaller bear with crossbow. 

My 1/2 mount taxidermy cost $2500 and took more than 14  months to make.

Canada now has a $1000 dollar export tariff to be paid on my mount before shipping. Then about $1400 US for shipping. So between taxidermy I paid already,  tariff and shipping it will cost close to $5000 to get my lesser black bear home. When the shipper called, I asked myself, is the tariff of $1000 and $1400 ship fee totaling $2400 US  worth it to bring home this lesser Alberta bear?  Canada is punishing US clients with their export fee. I would have paid the $1400 shipping. I had to say no to the tariff fee which nixed the whole deal. 

Honestly, is the $2400 better spent elsewhere here in the USA. You bet. I thought about the transaction for less than a minute and said…No Thanks. They are sending it back to the taxidermist.

My word to the wise, If its not a Canada trophy bear, don’t shoot.

I wont be hunting Canada any time soon with that tariff.

USA hunting is looking better and better. 

Hunt USA

Sounds scary right? Covering your muzzle with electrical tape when hunting?

I have walked under a fir tree laden with snow. Snow fell into my muzzle. I thought, if only I taped the muzzle. Secondly, falling awkwardly and your barrel muzzle is now pugged with snow. What to do? Use a stick to clear the muzzle is not a wise option as it just pushes snow further down the barrel, better yet, tape the muzzle in the first place with one layer of tape. 

Many use electrical tape to cover your rifle muzzle when rain, snow, debris can accidentally obstruct and plug your barrel.

Soldiers cover barrel muzzles in the military when slogging in mud and debris! You can too. 

My experience – Firing your rifle with just a small piece of tape covering the muzzle will not affect accuracy nor injure your rifle. As shown above, you can also cut a piece of a surgical glove, or nitrile glove like the thumb or finger portion and place it over the muzzle then tape it to the barrel.  I put tape on my barrel, then pull a piece of it off to cover the muzzle. 

I like the very thin nitrile glove idea too. 

Think Smart!

I have been receiving New Hampshire Fish and Game news via email for quite some time.

Not long ago, I got an e-mail looking for Volunteers to teach 3rd and 4th grade NH students about New Hampshire’s Great Bay & its Inland Estuary and its value to humans, flora and fauna alike in a fun hands on program. See www.greatbay.org 

The goal is education. Passing on the love of the Bay and “Discovering” its value and environmental balance to young students and adults alike covering Animals, Archaeology, Biology, Birds, Earth Science, Ecology, Environmental Science, Fishing, Hiking, Hunting, Clamming, Oystering,  Native Americans, and Natural History.

On September 2, I gathered all day, with other would be volunteers to receive training to educate young students through the Great Bay Discovery Center in Greenland New Hampshire, right on the Bay itself. 

As a sportsman-conservationist I felt right at home in this program which educates from September to early November. I was impressed.

The program includes the value of hunting, fishing, trapping, harvesting of wild game and estuarian food sources like clams and oysters and protecting the resource from overuse and re-seeding of disappearing flora and fauna like oyster beds and reintroduction of wild turkeys.  

I felt like a time traveler visiting the life of the native Abenaki people their customs, wigwams, and wampum.

So much fun! I was hooked!

Also early settlers and how life evolved along the bay and commerce using flat bottom sail boats called Gundalows to sell goods among shoreline settlers.   

We learn that Great Bay Matters in a fun and educational way!

Organizations like The Great Bay Resource Protection Partnership is also involved, a collaboration of conservation organizations in the coastal region that promotes landscape-scale land conservation and stewardship.

http://www.greatbaypartnership.org/

Check it Out!

I don’t own a Wicked Ridge Invader m1 but the review below among others is a reason to buy one. It is very close to my Ten Point Turbo S1 in quality and shoots just as fast. But my Ten Point costs $450 dollars more. I am not in the market for a new crossbow but if I were, this crossbow or similar would be an easy choice, especially at $799 vs mine at $1250. Can you say budget and tech friendly!

https://crossbowmagazine.com/wicked-ridge-invader-m1-review/

Check it Out

It’s Time! As daylight begins it’s earthly turn toward fall, scientists say, the tiny pineal gland in the whitetail bucks brain signals with hormones to end blood flow to the velvet on antlers. And the beginning of a bucks increasing desire to fight off other bucks and mate with a receptive doe.

For the buck …the rut has begun.

As blood dries up in deer antlers, the velvet dries and begins to peel off and the antler hardens as the weeks progress to October. Bucks join in rubbing off remaining velvet and seek other bachelor bucks to joust with. Just weeks away, does will come into estrus and may be receptive for mating.

Years back in mid October, I was bowhunting in Pennsylvania, I was in my treestand and below me does were feeding in late afternoon. Suddenly, an impressive plump 8 point bucks shows up, his fur glistened in the afternoon sun.

The does, not yet receptive seem nervous. He steps among them smelling the air. He approaches one young doe from the rear but she hops forward and away.

He follows.

She mingles with other does and again he follows. Feeling harassed she darts away weaving among other deer. What a show, I thought as the chase was on.

I grunted from my stand hoping against hope the buck might come close. He was so focused on that doe, that I could’ve blown a trumpet, and he’d never hear it.

Again she weaved and lurched left.  Like a cutting horse on a cattle ranch …he wheeled left on his haunches, front legs in the air to reposition and cut off her path. The panicked doe lurched right, again the buck wheeled again to cut off her exit.

I became frustrated not being able to take a shot, I grunted from my stand hoping for them to head my way. Crazy as it seems, the doe ran into thick brush under my stand,  weaving easily through tangled brush. The buck followed but due to heavy brush his antlers got hung up.

I thought, Here’s my chance. I came to full draw, my heart pounding. I looked for an opening. The bucks chest, quartering toward me, was covered in overhanging branches. Still looking for a hole to thread my arrow, the buck looked up and saw me move. Still at full draw the buck backed out of the tangle.

I had no shot, thus I let down my draw.

The little doe now a hundred yards ahead in the hard woods. The buck slipped to my left and entered into the hardwood, still in pursuit. My hunt ended but the scene I encountered plays over and over in my mind. I was pleased that I did not attempt a shot. The angle was wrong, and the brush would have likely deflected the arrow. Pleased with my decision, I watched that handsome buck melt into the forest. Pleased that I let him walk to hunt him again. 

That’s Hunting

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