My last moose taken in 2019 was killed with a single shot from my .375 Ruger, but I held off as he stood bewildered and collapsed after a few seconds.

My rifle recoil was significant as I sent a 300 grain Nosler AccuBond at him.  At the greater recoil, it took me longer to eject the spent shell and put a new one in the chamber.

I was too slow to cycle the bolt because I did not practice it in advance.

I am moose hunting again in Newfoundland this coming year, and If I can’t cycle the .375 to my liking, I’m debating to shoot a rifle that allows a faster bolt cycle but still has plenty of down range energy. I’m thinking 7mm Rem Mag or 30 cal like the 30-06 Springfield. 

In researching moose kills, most require MORE than one shot to anchor them. Their nervous system appears slow to react to a kill shot.

Accordingly, practice should include cycling the bolt in earnest and get a second shot into your moose to anchor it. Yes, your first shot is still critical but cycle the bolt and be ready for a second shot.

Further, listening to other big game hunters, to try to use less scope magnification for a wider field of view and follow your bullet contrail hit.

Newfoundland offers enough open landscape for shots out to 500 yards or more. Shooting a rifle that has poor energy e.g., 1000 ft lbs at these distances limits the hunters ability to reach out. Spitzers with sectional densities above .250 to .300 for good penetration and G1 ballistic coefficients (BC) of at least .4 or more to hold its downrange energy is ideal.

My personal moose killing energy minimum is 1800 ft-lbs and around 2000 fps for a good bullet mushroom. Accuracy should be sufficient to hit a pie plate size kill zone from your rest. Make it a goal to learn to use a ballistic calculator. I use

https://www.jbmballistics.com/cgi-bin/jbmtraj-5.1.cgi

Your bullet must arrive with enough killing energy and ability for your bullet to mushroom at those distances. It is sometimes the case that you have penetrating energy but the bullet does not adequately mushroom. Check that your bullet speed at the game should be near 2000 fps at the hit for mushrooming (lead core) and energy in the 1800 to 2000 ft-lbs. or greater.

Bullet manufacturers often publish the range of speeds that produce adequate mushrooming for your bullet choice.

Practicing for the first shot and follow-up shot to quickly cycle the bolt will give confidence to the hunter. I use a Bog Death Grip tripod for distant field shots.

Good Hunting!

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New Jersey Bill Would Require Landowners to Notify Neighbors Before Hunting Their Own Land

New Jersey Bill Would Hinder Private Land Hunting | Outdoor Life

Quote from Outdoor Life “Legislators in New Jersey introduced a bill last month that would change the state’s regulations for hunting on private land. Assembly Bill 3732 calls for an expanded safety buffer that would prohibit hunters from nocking an arrow or carrying a loaded weapon within 450 feet of any occupied building in the state. A3732 would also require private landowners in the state to notify neighboring landowners before they could be allowed to hunt on their own land.”

Recently, I had a buck in my sights standing offhand. Darn it, I could not steady my crosshairs. I was not confident of a kill shot, and did not try the shot. 

He saw me, and moments later… he melted away.  

” We will meet again” I thought.  “He is not going any where so maybe another time we will meet again… and I’ll be ready.”

I set up a stand in the same area the very next day. A double rainbow appeared where that buck stood just a day earlier. 

Success comes in many forms. Letting that buck go was a success in my ethics and… I was rewarded with this glorious double rainbow. Yes, can you see the second rainbow?

The rainbow had significance that this hunter can understand.

I enjoyed that view till the rainbow disappeared. 

Perhaps a rainbow will grace your stand too. Yes, I’d perhaps rather seeing the buck again, but I did enjoy the rainbow.

Good Hunting!

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The perfect deer hunting tree stand location can become burned out if you use it too much. Dependence on a single tree stand for day to day hunting, places increasing amounts of human scent in that area. Your Busted!!

Smart hunters know that wind is a key factor whether on the ground or up in your tree stand. If deer are expected from the west and wind is blowing your scent toward them. Your stand time will be wasted.

Experts say, deer can smell 500 to 1000 times more than a human.

Here is a great article I found on-line by Mike Hanback. Check it out!!

https://www.realtree.com/deer-hunting/articles/busted-5-things-you-don-t-know-about-deer-senses

Good Hunting!

Good Hunting! 

Deer Season Dates by Wildlife Management Unit | Hunting | New Hampshire Fish and Game Department (state.nh.us)

The biggest advantage of muzzleloader season in NH is that the deer are calm and have not altered their feeding and bedding habits.

As regular firearm season approaches deer find places to hunker down and are more warry. The other big advantage of muzzleloader season is that does are coming into estrous and bucks are moving more. Stay warm. Dress in layers. I carry a small day backpack.  Have my license, a pen, a sharp knife, drag rope, first aid kit, hand warmers, water and snacks and a phone or communications device.

I tell family specifically where I am hunting. Perhaps you should too!

If in camo, I wear an item of orange like a hat or camo orange vest. Deer don’t see orange, but people do. Deer see movement!

I enjoy cooking and eating my venison, and thus gut my deer asap after tagging, and open the cavity to cool it as soon as possible to preserve that meat quality. I do not hang my deer more than a day or so before cutting.   I like to vacuum seal my meat or burger. It will last for a few years in a freezer and over time will often lose more wild taste and even tenderize some cuts. I have begun pressure canning too and it tenderizes the toughest cuts.

See you out there!

Perhaps it is time we stop whining about recoil! Fix it!

Honestly,  the fastest and least expensive way to reduce felt recoil from big game rifles  is to install a slip-on or grind-to-fit recoil pad that was scientifically designed to reduce that instant whack to your shoulder.  Yes you can use a heavier rifle. Not me.   Or a thread on device to your barrel, sure to give you an ear-ache. I’ll pass.

I have used both Limbsaver™ and Pachmayr Decelerator™ pads for the past 20 years to my great relief. I owned a heavy recoiling  Ruger M77 in.338 Winchester Magnum and still own and use my M77 African in .375 Ruger. One was fitted with a Limbsaver SVL Pad and the other was fitted with a Pachmayr Decelerator. Both cut my felt recoil by approximately 50% or so. Below is a video from Limbsaver.

I shoot these big guns off-hand in my t-shirt because the recoil is more of a push than a whack, thus making it easy for the shooter to absorb the recoil almost painlessly.

Even more,  you can reduce felt recoil on your young son or daughters deer rifle too. A  6.5 Creedmoor/260 Rem shooting a 120 grain bullet at 3000 ft/ sec creating about 14 ft/lbs but with a state-of-the-art pad the felt recoil is nearer to 7 lbs of felt recoil, less than a .243 Winchester. Below is from the website; https://shooterscalculator.com/recoil-calculator.php

Time to fix that rifle recoil is now!

Good Shooting!

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