In and around Apple Blossom time here in the Northeast it is time to leave the rifle and pick up your deep sea Rod and Reel. If you are like me and love to catch what you eat then you will not be disappointed. The Haddock and Cod are calling me and I must return to the Sea with my trusty rod. I have fished on my own for many years but I do enjoy a midweek fishing trip with Al Gauron’s fishing charters. We went to Jeffrey’s Ledge a famous off shore destination. If you want to fish with fisherman, fish  mid week as the weekends are full of tourists.

I ran into this fisherman friend named Moe. He is 86 years young and he can catch Cod and Haddock with the best of them. At 86 years old he could still jig for cod for most of the trip though we both switched to bait to give our jigging arms some relief.

No giant fish just good wholesome cod and haddock keepers for the table.

Today the Cod and Haddock were caught on both bait and jigs. The largest fish that won the pool was a Cod, I think. A Haddock on the previous trip weighed in at 14 pounds.

A Tasty treat from the briny deep!

I caught three keeper cod and two keeper haddock (out of 20 or so fish caught) making about 6 pounds of fillet after all is said and done. Paid me back for most of my trip! The weather was spectacular and the wind was less than 5 mph in early afternoon. We ran into schools of herring and pollock every where. A very good sign.

Last week the boat sat over a deep hump and everyone caught hundreds of keeper red fish, a rare occurrence.

On the way out and back I shot the breeze with Moe and Ron who are 86 and 75 years young. Moe is a former Navy man and Ron is a Marine, both were in great shape. We talked of their fishing experiences. Moe says he used to catch Cod and Haddock from shore when he was young. Times have changed. And I spoke of the era of the Steaker Cod fish in the 1980’s were it was not unheard of to bring in 40, 50 and 60 pound cod fish.

On this trip fisherman caught and released several Wolf Fish (endangered). Me too.

The captain said he rolled a big Cod and his rod bent sharply but got off the Jig. Largest hit he has got this year. Moe won the “pool” with a Cod fish around 10 pounds. I was thrilled for Moe!

I was privileged to have the time to talk to Moe and his Friend Ron as they both were elders that were still adventuresome.

Good Fishin’ © 2014

Nope – No Tom this go round.

Saw plenty first time out. Nice Tom at 50 yards but would not come in. He stayed just out of range. Other hunters made it harder to get one as the land owner likely tipped them off to my success last year. Had 2 young deer within 25 yards of me and 6 turkeys. No keepuh’s as they say. What a thrill!

More coming…

Turkey Season is just days away. This week and next week you should be out locating flocks and know where they roost. Use a locator call, like an owl call or a crow call to get the Toms to gobble. http://www.primos.com/products/turkey-locator-calls/ They are everywhere. Try to hunt in places that others do not know about or are out of the way. Try not to hunt where there are many other hunters, I know its hard but you will have a better hunt. I will carry a camo back pack with my hen and tom decoy. Water for hydration, a laser rangefinder to mark my max shot distance an orange hat for when I am moving. Go back and re-read my earlier Turkey Article. Check out you tube video’s and other articles. Where is your checklist? Don’t have one? You should! It is a waste of time and effort to get to your spot and find out that essentials are missing. Like a pen to write out your turkey tag. I like to take slices of granny smith apples to keep my mouth and throat hydrated. Ever had a coughing fit while on stand? It can ruin a hunt. More as we get to zero dark thirty…Can you feel the little surge of adrenaline? Be Safe. Check out NH retailers for Turkey gear..

Ok, roast a few marshmallows and lets talk of rifles and bullets.  Today we have the best bullets on the planet, with construction ranging from all lead as in old west and today with solid copper or gilding copper jacketed bullets with which to load our rifles. And some of those rifles reveal the best of both worlds, big game such as deer and varmints too. It is bullet weight, shape, composition, speed and sectional densities along with a bullets terminal velocity drive the ability to provide sufficient energy for a clean kill.

Marginal cross use cartridges such as the .223  lack sufficient sectional density (diameter/weight) to provide consistent kills at normal terminal design speeds of 2000 fps where the bullet mushrooms in the game delivering maximum energy to a deer and black bear size game. Yet on lighter game, such as coyotes and the like, they shine due to the smaller target mass and body thickness and penetrate well with excellent wound channels. At 6 mm, this in my estimation, is the small game to big game caliber such as gophers and coyotes to deer and bear. A one gun machine that also kicks little. The  6.5 mm and above like the .270 or 7mm there is sufficient sectional density coupled with energy and good bullet construction and shape for really big game such as Elk and Moose. I consider brown bear as “Dangerous Game” and should be treated that way, with respect. The smallest caliber I recommend is the  .338 Winchester Magnum with 250 grain bullets like the AccuBond or a Partition/ A Frame style.

There are many schools of thought on which rifle and caliber to own however Most New England Hunters shoot the .270 Winchester, 30-06 and 308 for all around big game performance It is not as recoil friendly for a new hunter unless you purchase reduced recoil cartridges, which manufacturers do make.

From a hand loading perspective I would opt for the larger calibers all the way up to my .375 if I was not a varmint hunter, because I can create reduced loads for any of these cartridges. That is why I highly recommend to my readers that they become hand loaders, you will be so glad you did. It will bring a whole new level of satisfaction to those that do. In addition it gives you a large measure of Freedom. Like you, I like freedom to choose.

© 2014

Former Senator Scott Brown would be happier in Massachusetts where he can mingle with the Liberals sometimes on this, and the Republicans on that, but he lost his senate race in Taxachusetts. I believe Scott Brown is a Maverick, one who is unpredictable with liberal tendencies on Second Amendment issues.

Yes, so he comes up here to New Hampshire dragging his liberal baggage with him. But up here in “Live Free or Die” Country he is getting a dose of Conservatism from God fearing, church going Constitutional, Second Amendment advocates and those who really embody the Live Free of Die Motto!

We want Freedom, We want Free Enterprise, and we want the Constitution of the United States as our Founding Fathers wrote it. Not how a liberal would re-interpret it. We want smaller Government Scott! Of the People by the People and For the People.

Scott, you just can’t walk the talk up here a drop the word Freedom every now and again.

Gun Quotations of the Founding Fathers

“Give me Liberty or Give me Death!”

Patrick Henry

What does former Massachusetts Senator Scott Brown say?

Ban Assault Weapons and create Electronics to control guns!

Clearly  the Founding Father’s would be livid too with Scott.

Citizens, as Scott Brown fully knows, do not own true military assault weapons as they are not capable of fully automatic fire.

So what if Scott Brown was a kid up here in New Hampshire? Did he learn anything about Live Free or Die?

Sportsmen and Second Amendment advocates are angry and frustrated with his emphasis on Gun Control using electronic’s to control guns. Would they also control the guns of Criminals? Of course not! We would then become the only criminals!

No rest for the weary! Scott, renounce affiliation with those who want to place electronic shackles on Firearms and make Freedom loving individuals into criminals.

Scott, embrace the Founding Fathers belief that; “An armed society is a Free society!”

Or go back to Massachusetts!

For more reading on Scott’s Second Amendment positions read the Granite Grok Interview where he was as clear as mud:

http://granitegrok.com/blog/2014/04/so-is-scott-brown-really-a-surrogate-for-andy-leach

So you’ve been tellin’ yourself; Someday soon I will get into Reloading my own Ammunition! Now is the time my hunting and shooting friends!

The early spring and summer months are great to reload once the grass is cut and chores are minimal. Reloading for me is great down time, a be with myself, event.

It’s quiet in my basement, just me, brass cartridges, primers,powder and bullets along with my Reloading Press and a reloading manual. I just like the quiet time too.

Honestly, I am a read-a-holic when it comes to reloading manuals. I own several and each of them provide different perspectives, unique unto themselves. I own the Nosler Reloading Manual, the Hornady Handbook of cartridge reloading, the Speer book of Cartridge reloading and others.

Common in all reloading manuals is safety and a methodical approach to reloading.

It is very safe once you understand the fundamental that you are working with. If you are going to reload I suggest that you purchase a professional video such as the Precisioneered-Handloading DVD from RCBS; http://www.amazon.com/RCBS-99910-Precisioneered-Handloading-Dvd/dp/B001F0NRP4

Or go to RCBS site for more basics; http://www.rcbs.com/guide/#basics or perhaps to other vendors of your choice. I like and trust RCBS.

The above video is only 11.99 on Amazon.

Also make a purchase of at least one Reloading Manual. I like Nosler http://www.nosler.com/reloading-guide-7/ and Hornady Manuals http://www.hornady.com/store/9th-Edition-Reloading-Manual  so take your pick. Pick them up at your local sporting goods shop that handles reloading products.  Once you have read up a bit now choose your reloading equipment. If you are going to shoot volumes of bullets then a turret press will allow you to crank out accurate volumes of ammo. If extreme accuracy with inspection at each step are your goals then you might consider a simple single stage reloading press. I have used just a single stage RCBS press for more than 30 years.

I like it but I don’t shoot volumes of ammo. May be 50 rounds every other week for pistol and 20 rounds a week for Rifle. If I was going to be in Competitive Events then I would invest in a turret multi-stage press like RCBS : https://shop.rcbs.com/WebConnect/MainServlet?storeId=webconnect&catalogId=webconnect&langId=en_US&action=ProductDisplay&screenlabel=index&productId=6314

So what are you waiting for? Go get ’em!

It was my day off and went on a scouting drive and a trip to the Rifle Range. I brought two of my Rifles along to get some cobwebs out. For those that follow my articles I own the Ruger American .243 Winchester, what a rifle! I tested it then I bought it! I hand load most all of my ammo ‘cept shotgun.

Laying beside that rifle below, was my Ruger African M77 in .375 Ruger. My deer load is a Speer 235 grain just loping along at a modest 2100 fps like a hot muzzle loader. Grouped about the same just a bit over 2 inches at 150 yards. With 270 grain full power loads they tend to shoot into one hole…well, almost, at 100 yards.

I went for a 150 yard shot with the Ruger American .243 on a bench rest with 55 grain Nosler Varmint heads coming out of the barrel at 3500 fps. They grouped in the 2 1/4″ range. Great for coyotes at out to 600 yards. I proved this gun a real shooter with submoa groups with 90 grain heads. Very little recoil! On deer it can kill with sufficient energy out to 300 yards with a 90 to 100 grain head.

Here in the Northeast just don’t hit a branch before your deer as the bullet will likely be deflected.

Which is why I love the .375 Ruger for deer, when hand loaded. What branch? Great mass and momentum to plow through a small sapling and still deliver tremendous energy.

The .375 Ruger with a 270 grain spitzer AccuBond exits the barrel at around 2600 fps and can deliver almost 1500 foot pounds at 600 yards. A great Big Game rifle for any game on the planet except perhaps a bull elephant with a bad attitude at short range. When hand loaded down you can shoot small game with minimal damage to the meat. Yes really! When loaded down it acts a lot like an accurate muzzle loader. No crack sound, just a boom. What a day! Nice weather too.