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.
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!!
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.
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
Making a pocket field card for a specific load and bullet will aid in improved vital zone bullet placement.
The card is really a drop or trajectory table with wind and energy at a specific laser rangefinder game distances your looking to shoot.
I used my Nosler 300g AccuBond to create the table below for my moose hunt with the .375 Ruger. There are many ballistic calculators on the market. I use JBM Ballistics Trajectory calculator (free on-line). It works great!!
The pocket card you take into the field will look like the card above. Wind drift is in inches with a 10 mph 90 degree crosswind. I zeroed for 250 yards. Go to the website below and experiment.
You can select your bullet from this software’s drop down menu, enter the bullet muzzle velocity, zero-range, wind, elevation, vital-zone radius and many other parameters for the table you will create.
Trajectory
Input Data
Manufacturer:
Nosler
Description:
Accubond™ Spitzer
Caliber:
0.375 in
Weight:
300.0 gr
Ballistic Coefficient:
0.473 G1 (ASM)
Muzzle Velocity:
2550.0 ft/s
Distance to Chronograph:
10.0 ft
Sight Height:
1.50 in
Sight Offset:
0.00 in
Zero Height:
0.00 in
Zero Offset:
0.00 in
Windage:
0.000 MOA
Elevation:
0.000 MOA
Line Of Sight Angle:
0.0 deg
Cant Angle:
0.0 deg
Wind Speed:
10.0 mph
Wind Angle:
90.0 deg
Target Speed:
0.0 mph
Target Angle:
90.0 deg
Target Height:
40.0 in
Temperature:
40.0 °F
Pressure:
29.92 in Hg
Humidity:
50 %
Altitude:
0.0 ft
Vital Zone Radius:
5.0 in
Std. Atmosphere at Altitude:
No
Pressure is Corrected:
Yes
Zero at Max. Point Blank Range:
No
Target Relative Drops:
Yes
Mark Sound Barrier Crossing:
No
Include Extra Rows:
No
Column 1 Units:
1.00 in
Column 2 Units:
1.00 MOA
Round Output to Whole Numbers:
No
Output Data
Elevation:
7.540 MOA
Windage:
0.000 MOA
Atmospheric Density:
0.07925 lb/ft³
Speed of Sound:
1095.8 ft/s
Maximum PBR:
302 yd
Maximum PBR Zero:
255 yd
Range of Maximum Height:
136 yd
Energy at Maximum PBR:
2658.9 ft•lbs
Sectional Density:
0.305 lb/in²
I found that my rifle zero is best set for 250 yards as it allows for max point blank range with a vital zone radius for moose at 5 inches. Basically the size of a ten inch pie plate.
By experimenting with muzzle velocity, wind, altitude parameters in the JBM software, you will better understand how your bullet will perform as it speeds its way to the intended game.
Moose hunting provides an opportunity for lots of delicious meat and maybe a large rack to display in remembrance of the hunt.. I have been blessed with successfully hunting Newfoundland moose bull in October 2019 and a New Hampshire bull several years back, neither had great racks. Below is the New Hampshire moose.
So I am trying for a larger mature bull (more meat) with perhaps a larger rack. We shall see.
This new moose hunt is expected to be a river hunt using the Gander River Canoe or some say Gander River Bay boat. Newfoundland moose hunts are in September and October and are prime times for crazy weather.
I shot my last bull, quartering forward, in Newfoundland in a late September snow squall with 30 mph zero degree windchill. A one-shot kill at 100 yards with a Nosler 300g AccuBond. My bullet did not exit and was recovered under the skin on the far side after wrecking the lungs. He stood for just a few seconds before collapsing where he stood..
You’d think that I had dozens of rifles to choose from but in truth I have only 5 rifles. Two are muzzleloaders. My really big game modern rifle is the Ruger M77 African in .375 Ruger. I hand load it. My bullet of choice is the 300 grain Nosler AccuBond™ because it is a tough bonded bullet and has a high ballistic coefficient and a superior sectional density for long range hunting. Below left is the Nosler 260 grain and right is the 300 grain AB.
I like the 308/30-06/7mm/.270 type cartridge or greater for moose hunting. No, you don’t need a .375 Ruger, but I have one in my gun safe and it is accurate as all get-out. I shoot it very well.
For those not familiar with the .375 Ruger, it is slightly more powerful than the .375 Holland and Holland of African fame for Cape Buffalo and is a non-belted round.
With a state-of-the-art recoil pad, it reduces my .375 felt recoil by approximately 50%, like a .270 Winchester.
These recoil pads like the Pachmayr Decelerator™ and Limbsaver models are excellent and tames my .375 Ruger very well.
I can shoot it off hand, in my t-shirt. Get one of these pads today and stop whining about recoil!
Many Newfoundland bogs, that are prime moose habitat, are hundreds of yards in size and you need a rifle to reach out and maintain speed and energy.
I use the BOG Deathgrip tripod below for longer range shots. I have shot it prone and accurately out to 600 yards.
My scope of choice is the Leupold VX-6 3-18. What a combo! Below are the ballistics as calculated by JBMballistics.com with a muzzle velocity of 2550 fps with the Nosler 300g AB. Zeroed for 250 yards. With a 20 mph wind at 45º angle. The .375 Ruger with this Nosler AB bullet delivers over 2000 ft lbs. at 450 yards. Wow!
Wind at long range becomes a serious factor, understand your limitations. If you have a heavy wind at 90 degree crosswind angles, keep your shots at much shorter ranges. Quartering wind or wind blowing at you is a better situation, but you may need to move for a better shot opportunity. A trajectory and wind table printed in your pocket can be helpful.
August is just a month before Archery season begins in New Hampshire.
Sharpen your shooting skills and get your arms in shape. Distance judging is another skill that we can work on. Shooting downward from a tree stand at say my max range of 40 yards with a crossbow
or 20 yards with recurve make practice a must.
I use a Leupold laser rangefinder that accounts for the down angle such as the TBR True Ballistic Range models.
Shooting your practice broadheads vs field points can ensure hunting accuracy. If you hunt from a tree stand then practice in one too, or at that height.
Watch out for branches and clothing that can brush your string and send your arrow off the target.
I developed a mental pre-draw checklist, for branches and clothing/armguard you should too.
I am very pleased with my 10 Point Turbo Crossbow (390 fps) and my NAP Killzone Cut-on-Contact 100 grain mechanical broadheads however at 35 to 40 yards, my target points hit 6 inches higher than the Killzone broadhead. I have adjusted for the broadheads.
Killzone provides a practice blade. It isn’t easy to assemble the practice blade but once done, it works. Note that the there is a pencil point type head that you can get as well for this broadhead but i prefer cut on contact point. Haven’t killed a deer with it but we shall see.
Now is the time to purchase hunting items because they’ll be sold out come August/September.
On May 3rd, 2022, My hunting friend Ken Wenzel heard a gobble before shooting light in Fremont, New Hampshire. He set up with his back to a large tree near where the gobble was heard and began a series of clucks at dawn. It wasn’t long when…
His True Story – “When calling for Toms be on the look-out for Bobcats. 5/3/2022 I hear a gobble at 5:17 AM. I close the distance half way from the Tom. I get set up and start to call.
No response from the Tom.
I made some more calls with no luck. Spent maybe 5 to 10 minutes on my set up.
All of a sudden I’m charged by a bobcat. He or she was coming, at a good clip, towards me. (Editor – thinking he was breakfast)
It realized I wasn’t a turkey and locked up the brakes, skidded about about 2 maybe 3 feet in the leaves and smashed into my left boot and leg. Then the cat did a 180 and threw a rooster tail of leaves at me trying to get away. It stops 4 feet from me thinking what the hell is that. I yelled and it just kept looking at me.
I had to shoot over the cat to scare it away.
Still stayed there looking at me.
A few minutes later it did walk off. What a wild and scary moment I had.
No injury to the cat or myself.
Be careful out there guys. I’ll remember this day for sure. I do have 5 bobcats in my area that I have pictures of in the last 3 years. “
Honestly, I fussed and researched quite a bit before purchasing my new USA Made Crossbow. My goal was to purchase a fast and accurate, cost effective crossbow, with a crank cock decock system. I did not want to fuss with shooting my bow at my truck after a day of hunting, I wanted an easy way to decock it. Note: In New Hampshire law, crossbows cannot travel cocked in your vehicle.
My new Ten Point Turbo S1 is for all intent a 400 fps (390 fps actual) Crossbow with built in ACUSlide cock and decock system for the crossbow. This crossbow breaks into the “best of the best” category with features costing $2000 or more. MSRP is around $1299 to $1399.
I purchased the crossbow at my local crossbow shop Wyvern Creations,LLC in Lee, New Hampshire. Wyvern is operated by David Wilkins. David just sells crossbows and you can find Wyvern on the web too. See below.
A must have feature for me on this crossbow is the cock/decock mechanism to minimize back and shoulder strain from repeated shots with a rope cocking method. I like this brand new 2021/2022 design as the cock and decock mechanism is not an add-on, it is part of the bow stock. Some 2019 models are still being sold, but I prefer the newer design I have purchased.
. Dave gave me personal instruction too, and three 100 grain Killzone mechanical broadheads with 2 inch cutting diameter. And a sling too.
The Micro-Trac barrel, the advertisement says, is one of the best and reduces string contact by 50% providing long string life. The barrel is machined and not molded as some lesser models are. Molded barrels are said to be somewhat less accurate than the machined barrels but I have no experience with them so I am not a good source of info on molded barrels.
The RangeMaster Pro Variable Speed Scope has a dial for speed adjustment that you can see on the adjustable turret below and a red or green lighted pins. I like that in low light at dawn or dusk.
I adjusted the scope for 20 yards with 6 carbon arrow shots, then backed off to 30 yards and used the 30 yard pin. It was spot on! Then to 40 yards. It was spot on. The scope speed dial said 390 fps and that was proof as the dial adjusts the pin space.
The arrows are Pro Elite 400 Carbon Arrows (.003” straightness) and come with a detachable 3-Arrow Quiver that attaches parallel to the crossbow. I like that.
This new Killzone Rear Deployment broadhead (pack of 3) is said to open up to 2 inches and hit the same impact as field points. My test shows that they in fact do fly like the field points out to 40 yards where my test ended. I tried my 100 grain muzzy three blade and it hit 10 inches lower at the 390 speed setting at 40 yards.
My overall opinion of this crossbow out-of-the-box is excellent. Many others have reviewed this bow with similar excellent results.
I will hunt with this bow, maybe soon in turkey season. We shall see…
