Now is a great time to dust off your muzzle loader for this deer season. It is important to always verify that your muzzle loader does not have a powder charge in it.  Drop your rod inside to see if it is empty or take it to the range and fire it down range. If its an in-line then look down the primer hole if possible to verify it is clear or remove the plug.

I use solvent, cotton cloth patches and my cleaning/Loading rod to clean the barrel because I use a non-fowling powder substitute such a the new BlackMZ™ by Alliant Powder.

For my Hawken years ago I used soap and boiling water and sucked the water up in the barrel with plunger action of my cleaning rod. I stopped using all lead bullets years ago. Everyone has a slightly different technique.

All is fine as long as the barrel is clean. I finished my barrel cleaning after the long winters nap with a bore polishing cream in J&B Compound. Looking down a clean bore makes me smile!

I am using TC 300 grain sabot-ed Copper jacketed (yellowpoints), bought them last year, they are designed to expand rapidly in deer and bear. I chronographed the 300 grain heads using 100 grains of Black Powder substitute at 1638 fps which provides a muzzle energy of 1787 ft-lbs. At 50 yards energy is 1560 ft-lbs and at 100 yards it was still 1363 ft-lbs. That’s a lot of whump for deer! Energy minimums for deer are 1000 ft-lbs and it was still over that at 200 yards ( I limit shots to around 100 yards max).

I zeroed the muzzle loader for 100 yard so 50 and 75 yards were an inch high. My trigger breaks harder than my rifle but it does not creep.

I have to swap a scope to this muzzle loader each year. Use a good scope don’t get chincy here. The chances of getting a deer with Muzzle Loader are excellent in New Hampshire. You can get your License on line too at https://www.nhfishandgame.com/

Remember that most scopes are 1/4 inch per click at 100 yards, 3/16 inch at 75 yards, 1/8 inch at 50 yards and 1/16 inch movement across the paper per click at 25 yards.

As an example my shot was 2 inches low and three inches left at 25 yards. To correct this at 25 yards each click moves the crosshairs just a 16th of an inch with each click.

So move the vertical adjustment (top of the scope) up 32 clicks and your windage adjustment 16 x 3 = 48 clicks to the right. Seems like alot? It is!

Now move your target out to 100 yards and shoot again.

You should be on paper. Use the 1/4 inch rule to finish.

Many hunters today use the black powder pellets. They work fine.  I like the powder but that is likely because I am used to doing it that way. I tried the pellets but they’re not for me.

I use tubes designed for pre loading your bullet, powder and cap. Buy them anywhere muzzle loader gear is sold.  I take three extra’s with me when hunting. If I shoot, then I just pop the cap pour the powder in the muzzle, use the rod to push the bullet into the bore, grab the cap on the end of the tube and there you are. Good Hunting! © 2013

The New Hampshire Fish and Game Wildlife Harvest Summary is a must read for every hunter. The summary comes out every year and I read it every year (see below). Of course that does not mean you will kill a deer every year but the summary slices and dices the harvest data every which way so you can get at specific information that you are looking for. Trophy deer data is available too.

http://www.wildlife.state.nh.us/Hunting/harvest_summary/Wildlife_Harvest_2012.pdf

Southern NH has always had a great deer population so many hunters consider this a focal point. Yet at the same time there are many hunters that want a really wild experience away from roads and homes so they go north. North country, my hunting friends, grows really big bucks. Why? The deer density is low, hunting pressure is low. This is where a buck can live to the trophy age above 3 1/2 years and peak at about 5 1/2 years and his antlers are in their best size and shape. When I say north I really mean Central New Hampshire and north.

So if you want a bigger deer “on average” to hunt consider northern deer. Its harder, much harder some say. If you know the area, then it is not as hard as you might think.

There are porker bucks in Southern Zones but you have to do your homework to have a chance at them in and around No Hunting Signs. Getting written permission to hunt in southern hot-spots is very much worth investing your time. Do it before hunting season and be neat in appearance. All the landowner can do is say no. Offering to aid the landowner in some way can help as well.

Yes I love my venison and have shot many lesser bucks but this year I may hold for a bigger buck and it may take 2 or 3 years to achieve success.

Once you have located your hunting areas then it is essential to scout them out. Topographical maps are also an essential tool for the mobile hunter. I like Topographical Software. There are numerous companies that offer it. Today there are phone apps that can do this too. Just remember to keep your phone charged. I still prefer a way to print out my Topo map and carry a paper copy with me.

Remember to wear Hunter Orange  during the firearms season, it will keep you out of harms way.©

A squirrel behind me was making noise in the leaves, irritated with the scuffling in the Oak leaves, I turned my head to spot the little critter and found instead a large 8 point buck sniffing something in the air and walking my way with great interest.

It was early November, I was hunting with a friend some years back in a new spot during the first day of shotgun season in southern New Hampshire. I was supposed to be “still” hunting. I did not switch to shotgun that morning. I was hunting with my Hawken 50 Cal. Cap Lock Muzzle loader. My friend and I were spending time trying to identify movement patters when a large doe appeared walking down a woods path in front of me. She was definitely going somewhere.  I raised my Hawken and fired as she stepped between trees.  I missed cleanly finding the large errant bullet path in the leaves below her.  I should have got the doe to stop with a whistle, I lamented, or practiced more at the shot I took. Seeing another deer that day was unlikely, or so I thought.  We followed the fresh doe tracks to see where she was headed and to ensure that there was no injury.  She crossed a stream that fed out of a beaver pond and it was there that we found fresh rubs on swamp alders that were so worn that they dug a half inch into the trees. My eyes nearly popped out of my head, this was a rare find indeed. This was a signal to me that a mature buck (more than 3 1/2 years old) with a significant rack was in the area. What makes that rub so special is that when large antlers are growing, it takes large wide veins to carry nutrients all the way to the top of the large antler beams.  In August the velvet and veins are shed leaving rough bone hard former vein channels and bumpy ridges at the antler base, like a very, very rough file. Rough enough to file a three inch thick alder trunks to pieces. More on Whitetails here;

http://www.uaex.edu/Other_Areas/publications/PDF/FSA-9105.pdf

Back to the story;  I saw a deer trail that crossed the stream near the rubs but did not have boots high enough to follow. I needed waders! I believed that the buck was using the edge of the beaver pond as his home bedroom turf as the wind would blow towards the bedding area near the pond to signal danger or perhaps a doe coming into estrus.

I shared with my friend those same thoughts and we should hunt here this afternoon. He said, “Naaa, I have some things to do this afternoon, can’t make it.” Further, I think he did not buy my theory that the buck is bedded near the pond.

The problem was to get onto the bucks theoretical bedroom was next to impossible, because the wind blew into that so-called bedding area right to the edge of that beaver pond. Undaunted, I went home and showered, I dusted myself with baking soda, changed to newer hunting clothes grabbed my slug shotgun instead. In analysis of this situation, I needed a scent lure to draw the buck from his hideout and cover my own scent. I was using Bob Kirshner lures Silver top Doe in Estrus and his mature buck scent. I got my duck waders and put them in a backpack and off I went. It was around 1PM when I crossed the stream with my waders.  I took them off and left them at the stream edge. It was warmer than expected that day and nearly 60 degrees in the sun, sweat was on my brow, so I slowed my pace for the last 100 yards. Wind was blowing toward the theoretical bedded buck at the edge of the pond so I immediately placed both the doe in estrus and the buck urine not far from one another and found a forked tree to hide my back side if the buck sneaks up behind me. It was tough to navigate in there as it was more of a thicket than open woods. About 45 minutes had passed when A squirrel behind me was making noise in the leaves, irritated with the scuffling in the Oak leaves, I turned my head to spot the little critter and found instead a large 8 point buck sniffing and walking my way. The  scents I had placed worked like magic. My heart began racing as adrenaline shot through me. I was facing the wrong way to take a shot. The buck was looking at my orange back side but I made little eye contact with the buck while lifting my shotgun, a Remington 870 pump. I lifted it in-line with the tree so the deer could not see the gun movement. I rotated in an instant and the buck jumped. As the shotgun got to my shoulder the buck ran to about 45 yards stopped and looked back as if to say, what the heck was that?  This gave me a front shoulder to aim at. I sent the slug on its way and watched as it struck just behind the shoulder and neck. The buck went down but tried to get up, a follow-up shot ended the encounter. I believed not only was the buck was where I thought but by using both the buck and doe scent, the buck believed that an amorous intruder was with his doe in his bedroom no less. In hindsight, I was perhaps lucky, but was truly where preparation met opportunity. A photo of my prize should be next right?

Tragically, A few years later our home was destroyed by fire thus photo’s and my upstairs deer mounts were destroyed. I wrote an article for  NH Wildlife Federation News on that buck years ago.

I have taken lesser bucks with muzzle-loader and bow but none as grand, but still trying. I will show you a big buck yet.

You saw my friend Ovide Lamontagne’s buck from last year? Now that is a NH buck! Look back to December articles from last year in the photo below. Now that is NH Buck with brow tines that should be in the record book!©

August is a great time to scout in Northern New Hampshire for Deer and Moose sign. I began my scouting trips last month and found plenty of Deer and Moose sign in one area.

Last Month’s trip produced a young bull in the early morning dew at roadside. On the August cover.

Yesterday I went all the way to Pittsburg, NH to see what I could find and then worked my way south.

As I headed north I photographed the closed resort “The Balsams” at Dixville Notch. It is a shame that the economy is so poor for so long and this place is so silent in its nestled beauty. 

As you might suspect the deer sign increased as I moved south but so did the Moose sign. I spent the night camping ($25/night) at Lake Francis State Park on my solo journey .http://www.nhstateparks.com/francis.html

The highlight of my night there was a visit by a Raccoon who sniffed my tent and made mouth/ nose sniffing sounds that were so rapid that it could not have been a bear.  At 2 AM I shouted  “Beat-it”! . And he did…My guess is that this Raccoon made the rounds to every campsite looking for scraps left by messy campers. I am not a messy camper as food was locked in my car. It is the rare bear visits that can really light up your night they say!

In the morning at 5:30 AM I got in my car, no coffee yet,  and hit the road to Moose Ally on Rt 3 with my Nikon D60 hoping to put a Bull in my Camera lens. http://www.nikonusa.com/en/Nikon-Products/Product-Archive/Digital-SLR-Cameras/25438/D60.html

Strangely after two ten mile passes I did not see a single Moose. Even Moose Alley Trail was silent.

Nada, Zip! Are the Moose there? Of course they are.  Just not when I was driving at 20 mph. Morning at Lake Francis is glorious!

Oh, I listened to F&G radio on 1610 AM talk about the great Moose numbers for NH (Over 6000) the majority being above Concord NH. I have made this trip before to Moose ally and have always seen Moose. Hmm. Whats up with that? So I drove two logging roads and still nothing but Moose tracks. Moose must be somewhere? Just not roadside!

Back to camp for some breakfast I thought.  I had enough camp wood to cook over the fire. Breakfast over an open fire is something my family did for more than a half century and it brought back fond memories as a young boy.

I used one non stick all metal skillet for all my cooking starting with Coffee. Coffee made on a hot skillet is fast to heat up. Hot Colombian Roast Coffee..  Coffee in hand, I added butter to the skillet and cooked up two eggs over easy and put them aside while I cooked sausage, home fries and canned baked beans till they were bubbling hot and then added back the over easy eggs to the bubbling hot pan.  I could have had some venison but I was fresh out of it.This year, I hope.

I wanted to show you photo’s of Bull Moose but here is my breakfast feast over the fire instead. It was grand to be here just the same! Any day in the north woods is grand!

I used the clean, well maintained Shower facilities there at Lake Francis. Refreshed, I headed south for more scouting. I stopped at LL Cote Sports Center in Eroll, NH. I have been a customer of theirs for decades. It is just gigantic inside with everything imaginable for sportsman and women.  http://www.llcote.com/servlet/StoreFront

Heading further south I rounded a corner and there on the roadside was a Mackenzie Deer Target at the woods edge, you know, the ones that are so life like at archery shoots,  only it swapped ends as I approached, and ran into the woods.  A young handsome spike buck! Too fast for me to get a snap shot of his long neck and sweeping long spikes. Seeing is believing they say, so I marked the area and scouted. The deer sign was encouraging.

On the way south I came across these wind turbines that will forever be a part of this landscape and produce so little energy that it will take decades to break even, if ever.  Wait the photo captured them saying something as they turned. Y I K. I interpret that as a form of YUK!

I stopped at my nephews camp north of Berlin to check in on it, all was well. This camp was part of my family for 50 years. Shot my first deer there in 1967. Just a year later much of the heard was decimated by snow and winter-kill. We could walk on to the roof of camp back then. Guess Al Gore was still in diapers.

It was there that I learned to chop wood, and the value of a warm cabin in sub-freezing temperatures and the value of a good hunting friendships and getting up at 4:30 AM each day.

Back home now, my clothes are all smokey. A nice trip, a few Moose photos would have been better. When I got my moose three years ago. I scouted in my area for hundreds of field hours never seeing a Moose, just their tracks so stay at it. There is a Moose around the next bend in the road so be ready! ©

I like to shoot tight groups from a bench rest at 100 yards it makes me feel good. But honestly it does me little good when it comes time to deer hunt.

Practice for deer hunting is best performed after your rifle has been bench tested for groups at the distances you are going to hunt.

Here in New England the average shot at a deer with a rifle is around 40 yards or so. At my club, the range I can place targets are typically in increments of 25 yards. So the 50 yard mark should be ideal to shoot off hand at a target with no specific bullseye painted on it. The kill zone is basically an 8 inch circle but practice with a 6 inch area behind the shoulder and centered on the lungs. http://www.the-whitetail-deer.com/Anatomy-of-a-Whitetail-Deer.html. A double lung shot provides the largest vitals area see the website above.

I like to take cardboard and create the chest/neck area of a deer. I sometimes draw a deer chest that goes left and one that goes right in the same image. In the images I am sure to create the neck chest and front leg and elbow joint which are key landmarks for your rifle whether with open sights or with scope. The front leg of a deer has that pointed elbow joint at the base of the chest. I use that leg/joint in a broadside shot to position my crosshairs just behind it and above it so the point of aim is a bit below the center axis of the body and just behind the leg. A hit in this location is in the center of the lungs and into the arteries just above the heart. This gives you some radial error of a few inches for adrenaline, being slightly off the mark etc. and still make a great clean shot to Vital organs.

Should you have a desire to attempt a shot at a walking deer, like I do, then it is important to practice shooting at moving targets as well. Balloons that move 6 inches on the target in the wind are a great way to learn your trigger’s breaking point.

As much as it is fine to shoot fast shots in tight groups, it is the first shot that counts. Everything else is secondary. How long it takes you to get that shot off is equally important.

I time myself with the a five second practice sequence with the safety at full on. Counting begins with the word Go and then count one-thousand one, one-thousand two etc. At 50 yards it takes me 4 seconds to get the shot off with accuracy. Or have the friend time you from spotting a deer you want to shoot and the time it takes to bring your gun up to your shoulder take it off safety and make the shot. Try to improve this time sequence.

Of course there is no adrenaline so that factor is missing. Dry fire is valuable as well. Before live fire you can do the drill and see where your cross-hairs end up when the firing pin falls. You are training your upper arm muscles to obey minor changes to get a shot dead center and feeling where the trigger breaks as well.

Practice with the clothing you are going to hunt with when hunting time is near. If there is a shooting concern with clothing you can resolve it before going afield. It is great to practice with a hunting partner as well to spot mistakes.

Recoil reduction is key to deer hunting for all hunters so a state of the art recoil pad will help the expert as well as the novice. Both Sims Limb Saver® and the Pachmayr Decelerator® have a great recoil pad and even a slip-on style recoil pad. Use them! You will be glad you did.

I have endorsed them for years and don’t want to own a rifle without one.

Make a pact with yourself to try the stand and timed fire sequence! It will bring home the venison this fall!

In addition to this valuable practice, veteran deer hunters still hunt and stop periodically where there is a strategic view and have a tree nearby to brace their rifle against for a steadier shot at approaching game. Remember to have the wind either in your face when still-hunting or cross winding your body.  ©

“Shooting the Bull” has never had more meaning than to kill your 1000 pound Rut-crazed moose quickly before he sets his sights on you!

Bull Moose-in-rut, are in fact, crazy as all-get-out and considered by many including me to be “dangerous game” at close ranges of 50 yards or less. When vitals are missed on these beasts they can close 50 yards in just seconds.

If that doesn’t get your adrenaline pumping, nothing will!

Ok so you are determined to shoot a New Hampshire bull moose with a 50 inch spread or greater. Good Luck  because they are few and far in between. Can it be done? Of Course. NH produces some fine bulls particularly in the northern part of the state and can easily exceed 50 inches.

Whatever zone you have been assigned will determine the “success rate” for a bull with a rack that size.

Notice below in the Anatomy of a Moose rack where they measure spread. If this is the moose you are after then I recommend a Guide Service that specializes in moose and can judge a moose rack.

NH Guides can be found on the website below.

http://www.nhguidesassociation.com/hunting_directory.html

It is perhaps desirable to set a big bull with a large rack as your goal but remember that the joy comes from the hunt itself and the many days scouting and learning what your Zone has to offer.

Look at past data to get an idea and be realistic.

My Zone in 2009 was J2. I hunted in the lakes region very near to Lake Winnipesaukee. This photo is forever etched into my memory. This to me was “Heaven on Earth” and to hunt moose too. Wow! What was so great here is that I was observing good deer hunting territory as well.

My goal was simply to shoot what I considered a good representative of the species and I did. The moose I and my partner shot was a young adult and its rack was small/medium and body was fully mature and ready to mate. Its fur was without scars or blemishes and as handsome goes? He was all of that and muscularly large and ready to fight for his right to mate! He was killed at around 70 to 80 yards from us.

I have seen large bulls with giant racks but the face was scared and bony from all the fights.  I had my trophy mounted and am very pleased with the Taxidermy work. While you are scouting up your moose, you may want to locate a taxidermist to mount your trophy.

http://www.wildlife.state.nh.us/Hunting/NH_taxidermists.htm

Use Enough Gun!

Rifle Cartridge/bullet Recommendations to hunt Large Bull Moose.

I favor Nosler Products Such as AccuBonds and Partitions for moose size Big Game in Africa and here in the USA because they mushroom well and stay together for deep penetration.  See  http://www.nosler.com/bullets/

My recommendations are based on delivering energies nearing 2500 ft-lbs at the distances listed.

My .375 Ruger shot a 260 grain Nosler AccuBond below. It went through more than 4 feet of moose before stopping under the skin in the rump.

Most popular Cartridge loads are:

.270 Winchester – 150 grain heads at 100 yards or less

7mm Rem Magnum -150 grain heads at 200 yards or less.

30-06 Springfield -180 grain heads at 100 yards or less

.308 Win – 170 grain heads at 100 yards or less.

.338 Win Mag – 250 grain at 300 yards or less

.375 H&H or Ruger – 270 grain heads at 350 yards or less

444 Marlin -250 grain heads at 100 yards or less

In between these popular cartridges are many others for Moose just be aware of delivered energies to the vitals e.g. heart and lungs with a well constructed bullet. The faster your animal falls the less you will have to drag that 800 to 1000 pound dressed animal out of the woods. More on moose to come…©

Today the winners of the 2013 Moose Lottery were announced. Congratulations all. I was lucky to be drawn for a hunt three years ago. It was exhilarating beyond words. A moose hunt is a hunt of a lifetime.

With some help from F& G you will be able to find the best spots in your Zone but don’t just rely on that data. Talk to folks in your zone where moose are seen.  I killed my bull moose in a brand new spot by listening to locals.  I scouted every other week when time allowed and every week as the hunt neared but never saw a moose at all, just tracks. The problem you will run into is that other moose hunters in your Zone have been given the same information. Opening day is a great time to kill a moose but it took me and  my partner 4 days of hard hunting to connect as there were hunters all around. It didn’t take long for the moose to wise up. For those that have an either sex tag, it is widely known that calling a bull in, is said to be one of your best options and I am proof of that. I used a moose-in-rut scent bomb to cover our scent and set up the shot. Go onto YouTube and watch the many moose that have been called in to get an idea of what you may also try. Take a camera with you on your scouting trips and even a trail camera if you like. Just don’t leave the trail camera out for more than a few days unless it is a remote area. I scouted about 5 spots regularly then pared that down to three of the best spots. Always keep your options open. Fish and Game did a great job teaching you how to dress, quarter and haul your moose out by hand. I was prepared to do just that. Luckily a land owner offered a front end loader to get my moose in the pickup truck.

A tip from a land owner that he had moose on his property and that we could hunt was delightful beyond words. In fact, there was snow the night before and the landowner saw moose tracks from his skidoo and saw one of the largest bulls ever. After listening to that my partner and I struggled to sleep that night. The next morning we went to that spot intending to spend every moment in the woods. I was shooting a .375 Ruger African with a VX-3L 56mm Leupold Scope  and 260 Nosler AccuBonds. You can’t beat that combo as the scope can see till near the end of shooting light.   My partner had a .308 Winchester with 160 grain heads.

I called the moose with my nose pinched and hands cupped like a bull horn over my mouth. In addition, I whacked trees and rusted brush and sprayed moose estrus into the air. My partner was skeptical at best. We stood at an intersecting trail  where we could see more than 60 to 70 yards in three directions. The bull showed up directly in front of us as if I planned it, a rare event indeed. I shot the bull facing me as it walked forward. The nose of the Moose covered the heart area so at 80 yards I fired just to the left of his nose end entering the moose right shoulder. He did not stagger but put his head down in a charge. My parther having a better frontal shot now fired. The bull staggered and fell to his front knees rump still standing. I put a Coup de grace shot into his spine to finish him off with dignity and he fell stone dead. Upon the butchering process we found the two 260 grain Nosler AccuBonds in the skin of the rump but never found the 160 grain .308 head. It is recommended that your rifle be capable of delivering 2500 ft-lbs of energy or more to a full grown moose so check your rifles capabilities. The best shot on a moose is a broadside shot in the heart lung area where the bullet penetrates both lungs and can even hit the heart. Of course some moose do not seem to cooperate. While my partner went to get help, I did the job of gutting. A task I do not wish to do again alone. After the moose was hoisted into the truck we proceeded back to camp at dark and took the moose to check in the next morning. Moose  meat is simply delicious!  Go for it!! ©