Category Archives: Hunting thoughts

Alaskan Fresh Fish? Ordered Halibut and Salmon to Experiment and Chef

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Temporarily trading my rifle and bow for a fishing rod? Just temporary!

Fishing is actually hunting with a hook. In some river angling circles they call it hunting because they stalk the fish.

This winter, I am getting into my kitchen, chefing of wild Alaskan halibut and salmon I hope to catch in June? You bet!

A nice wild addition to my moose, bear, venison and boar dinners. 

I ordered direct from Alaska to further my  recipe  development. I found an Alaskan provider and direct shipper. Yes, it is expensive but here goes. 

I ordered from Alaska’s Tanner Seafood

I intend to to test out some recipes before I go on my Alaska trip.

Why?

With some fishing expertise on my part, I hope to bring home plenty for my freezer, and feed my friends and family. 

The foundation ingredients for these fish include my mouth watering favorites; lemon, butter, herbs and garlic among many other savory ingredients. 

Interestingly, I will be working on mouth puckering Aioli and Pesto recipes to compliment and enhance these Alaskan Ocean gems. 

I love chefing salmon sushi in my home for years with Atlantic salmon.  It will be interesting to taste compare my Norway farmed Atlantic salmon sushi and sashimi below against wild Alaskan sockeye salmon sushi. In this photo I also served Atlantic yellowfin tuna sashimi, soo good!

The Alaskan fish will be drop shipped to my door in the next week or two.

Good Eats! Talk soon…

50 Cal Flintlock Round Ball Effective Range for Deer

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As my readers may know, I harvested a red stag doe (called a hind) in Pennsylvania a few weeks ago with my 1775 Pennsylvania flintlock rifle. I estimated the range to the shot at 65 yards with a .490 round ball weighing 177 grains and shooting 100 grains of black powder. This round ball has a ballistic coefficient of .069. If muzzle velocity from my 43 inch barrel is around 1800fps then my energy at 50 yards is just shy of 700 ft-lbs. 

The bullet struck ribs at the rear of lungs and exited the offside shoulder. The bullet was never recovered. The deer did not run, it fast walked 20 yards and fell dead right there. After the black powder smoke cleared, I was impressed. That said, with such a low ballistic coefficient, I would not shoot at deer size game with my flintlock beyond 100 yards  See the distance and energies below.

 

Calculated Table
Range Drop Drop Windage Windage Velocity Mach Energy Time Lead Lead
(yd) (in) (MOA) (in) (MOA) (ft/s) (none) (ft•lbs) (s) (in) (MOA)
0 -1.5 *** 0.0 *** 1800.0 1.643 1273.2 0.000 0.0 ***
25 0.0 0.1 0.6 2.3 1543.1 1.408 935.7 0.045 0.0 0.0
50 0.6 1.2 2.5 4.8 1322.3 1.207 687.1 0.098 0.0 0.0
75 -0.0 -0.0 5.9 7.5 1148.6 1.048 518.4 0.159 0.0 0.0
100 -2.3 -2.2 10.8 10.3 1029.6 0.940 416.6 0.228 0.0 0.0
125 -6.6 -5.1 16.8 12.8 949.5 0.866 354.3 0.304 0.0 0.0
150 -13.4 -8.5 23.9 15.2 888.7 0.811 310.4 0.386 0.0 0.0
175 -22.8 -12.5 31.8 17.4 838.3 0.765 276.2 0.473 0.0 0.0
200 -35.4 -16.9 40.7 19.4 794.2 0.725 247.9 0.564 0.0 0.0

 

Know your rifle/cartridge and its capabilities.

Good Hunting!

Red Stag Doe Round Ball Bullet Forensics From My 1775 50 Cal. Flintlock Build

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Below, right side entrance wound rear lungs (on right). Left side exit low shoulder and exit. Bullet nicked heart on exit. 

Estimated MV from my Flintlock is around 1900 fps. 

Hornady says

“50 Cal .490 Lead Balls 177 gr

Item #6090 | 100/Box

“Completely uniform in size, weight, and roundness, Hornady® Round Balls deliver consistent and accurate performance.

A smooth, reflective gray sphere against a black background.

They’re cold swaged from pure lead which eliminates air pockets and voids common to cast balls. And the smoother, rounder surface assures better rotation and consistency.”

 

I am very pleased with killing energy and exit of the round ball which traveled from the last right side rib to the offside shoulder (about 18 inches) and exited.  

Good Hunting!

 

Tioga PA Ranch Hunt – Red Stag Deer and Huge Russian Boar with 50 Cal. Flintlock and Crossbow

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 Using my Jacob Dickert Pennsylvania 50 cal. Flintlock rifle, it was a challenge to hunt a 200 lb. red stag doe with patch and ball.

I was looking for a meat in the freezer hunt.  

Snow had fallen during the night of November 11, 2025. I woke to hunting and tracking snow.  Breakfast was scrambled eggs and boar sausage. Delish!

My guide Mike says, “let me know when your ready to hunt Ed” I smiled and said, “lets go”. I loaded powder and ball and ram rodded the load down the barrel.  It was a brisk walk up a forested hillside. Soon we began looking for tracks and sight of any game.

Mike said, “Ed, now is a good time to prime the pan, we need to be ready.  I flipped the spoon like frizzen up and added 4F powder to the pan from the small brass feeder tube hanging around my neck . Yep, I said, I’m ready. 

After a while we found fresh tracks in snow. We followed them to a steep incline with large spruce trees along the steep hillside. Walking along the edge of the incline was treacherous as the leaves under snow hid shale rubble to slip on. We took our time and glassed ahead and in the forest valley.

Suddenly, Mike pointed down the hillside to four deer making their way along the incline. He whispered, “Big doe in the group.” The Red Stag doe was hard to spot. Movement gave the group away. At 75 yards, they detected movement from us above. They held fast, allowing me to close the distance using the big spruce to block our movement down the hill.

I had an opening for a shot at the big doe, so I pulled the hammer back and aimed. But I was unsteady on my feet in snow and on a steep angle. Thinking, I had to find a tree with branches to steady my shot, I edged forward.

I was mostly hidden by the tree trunk. Mike was behind me by 20 yards and videoing me closing in. I pulled up the rifle again and fired at about 65 yards. 

Smoke billowed from the barrel.  After smoke cleared, I spotted some brown on the ground ahead.  You can see the snow covered terrain we were in and carefully approach the downed deer. The shot was angled forward into the lungs. 

I was so pleased to harvest this beautiful doe with one shot from my 1775 Flintlock that I built below. A memory I will cherish. Thank you Lord!

 

She will be good eating! Tioga folks carved and vacuum packed all the meat for 150 dollars. Nice!!

Back in New Hampshire, I hope for tracking snow for a whitetail with rifle. But at least some great meat for our family.

Next is to harvest a Russian boar with my TenPoint Crossbow and my Swhacker broadheads.

Mike set me up in an enclosed tree stand while several huge Russian boar wandered by me. One big boar made its way to a window for a shot. I did not have a good brace to rest the crossbow.  At the shot the boar was hit low in the midsection.

He was hit hard but not a killing shot. I could see him laying low at 40 yards. 

I got out of my stand and loaded another arrow.

 When the boar saw me approach he limped away slowly. I used trees to hide my approach and managed, to shoot him again at around 25 yards. Both shots exited the big boar. He fell for the final time. 

300 lb Russian Boar

Happy Hunter with my TenPoint Crossbow. 

Boar at the skinning shed below. Lots of pork chops!

Good Hunting!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sharpening Mako Shark Broadheads

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First, I found these broadheads come sharp already but in my estimation they can be sharper still. On one head I found one side sharper than the other. You can use these heads for hunting right out of the box and can be resharpened and reused many times. 

Or you can disassemble them and use a Stay Sharp C sharpener below. Just don’t lose the tiny screw that holds the blade. The C sharpener does a very good job of resharpening your main blade and bleeder blades. 

Another method is to use a wheel knife sharpener below on the assembled main blade.

I took off the bleeder blade but you may not have to.  Experiment with the angle you draw the blade through. I have one on order. Many like the simplicity of the wheels. Tip the head down at a 45 deg angle or more. With some pressure, draw the blade toward you several times. You should feel some scraping. Then draw with less pressure. Strop with curved or folded leather or denim. Test to easily cut paper.

 

Yet another simple method is to strop these blades on an oval steel diamond coated Jewel Stick. This won’t sharpen the bleeder blades though. I like this method for touch up the most. It is quick and does a shaving sharp job with practice.

Good Hunting!

 

Big Game Crossbow Bowhunting For Seniors

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We older bowhunters still have a strong desire to hunt big game. As we age we have issues with arms, joints, eyes etc.

“Staying in the game” is paramount to many of us because we love the adventure and excitement of the hunt and the resulting associated adrenaline. Without the fight/flight adrenaline many of us would not be hunters or for that matter, fishermen. 

Enter the modern crossbow. Today you can find crossbows everywhere in the hunting world and they pack a punch and accurate.

I have harvested wild boar with a recurve crossbow from Excalibur;

and black bear with my 10 Point Turbo. 

Of prime importance is accuracy. We owe it to the game we hunt!

I still love to shoot my recurve and compound bow but find my ability to pull and shoot heavier poundage is waning as I age. Years ago, when I was doing IBO 3D, I was pulling up to 82 pounds. Yikes!

Todays latest crossbows utilize hand cranks to pull and load the string, thus making it easy for seniors and juniors to shoot a powerful arrow and a sharp broadhead at big game.

The crossbow allows much more kinetic energy and penetration today than ever before. But you still have to get closer to game making it a real challenge. The hunter still needs to practice with the crossbow, loading, unloading, shooting at many distances.

Good Hunting!

 

 

New Bear Adapt2 Compound Bow and Special Peep Sight – Update

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As many of my readers know, I stopped shooting my compound bow several years ago largely because my dominant eye became dyslexic and could no longer see through my peep. Shoulder issues “back then” added to my problem as well.   I found some Peep solutions for it, lowered my poundage and bought this smooth pulling Bear Archery Adapt-2 bow. Shooting is so much better. Instead of taking my crossbow hunting this fall, I am working toward using this new bow for hunting. But we shall see. Game animals deserve my best accuracy!

The peep sight, a Sterner Dutera String Splitter Peep. It has an 11/16 opening that is so wide, that it is like not having a peep sight.  And to make my anchor consistent, I use a kisser button. See below.

Some pics of my shooting the Bear Bow below.

So there you go… I used my traditional feathered XX75’s below at 20 yards. Hit a little low but very heavy hunting arrows at over 550 grains with a 45 lb bow. Felt Great!

Two Arrow Test

Peak Bow Draw weight 45 lbs. at 28 inches

Arrow Wt.     Chrono            Energy            PF 

      575g       171FPS      37.3 FT-LBS    98.3 KG FT/S

      390g       201FPS     34.6 FT-LBS      77.5 KG FT/S

At 25 yards the 575g arrow will provide deeper penetration due to PF Power Factor of Momentum. 

Good Hunting!

Heavier Crossbow Arrow/Bolt Hunting Thoughts

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Most crossbow companies sell “arrow speed” to sell Crossbows based on say, a 400 grain arrow/bolt.

Yes, sure, that 400 fps equates to delivered kinetic energy to game but what about penetration?

Will a 500 or 600 grain arrow get more momentum thus deeper penetration. On a target butt, you won’t see a dramatic difference because it is the target butts job to stop the arrow. It is not flesh.

The same crossbow will lose some speed with the heavier arrows but gain in penetration.

African bowhunters on really big game use say 800 to 900 grain arrows. Bolts are shorter but a 500 to 600 grain bolt will carry more momentum thus penetration. 

An exit wound for an arrow provides the all important blood trail.

If hunting moose or larger, for example; With crossbow, use a heavier arrow.

Below is what Fred Bear said on the subject; https://www.arkansashunting.net/threads/what-did-fred-bear-say-about-heavy-arrows.95210/

Good Hunting!

Compact Tripod for Crossbow or Rifle

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I happen to own a great shooting tripod, a Bog Death Grip.  But it doesn’t pack well for air travel especially with my crossbow and hard case.

Lots of hunters want a tripod that grips your bow or firearm like an extra hand. For several years the Bog worked for me with that vice like clamp. My search has found a new more compact tripod and clamp from Fooletu on Amazon. It has a saddle clamp and 360 deg. ball and height adjust from 25″ to 75″ high.

 

Pictured, is the new tripod holding my crossbow steady at chair height and stand up height. The clamp works great.

I can swivel and tilt at will. Cost $129.00 with a fabric case. That is a great price for the engineering that went into it. And it fits into my new hard bow case adding 4.4 pounds bringing my loaded bow case to around 40 pounds for air travel. See the fabric tripod case Below. Fits perfect in the case!

Safe Travels!

Reflections of My October 2023 Newfoundland Moose Hunt

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It is 2024 now and near mid June. I took some time to reflect on my Newfoundland Moose Hunt.

Ed’s Moose taken Sept. 19, 2023

I was able to bring all 300 pounds of my frozen moose meat home on the back of our Subaru Ascent. On return home, we crossed over to Nova Scotia from the Port Au Basque side. An 8 hour Ferry ride. We had a ferry cabin, and 2 labrador retrievers with us.

I was hoping for a bull, but here along the Gander River, there were very few big racked bulls but never the less a decent quantity of moose live here. Given my senior age, I liked the hunt on the back of a Quad to get me close to bogs.

Cost of the hunt was in the $7000 range in total. Weather in October is storm prone, so be prepared.

So lets see, my moose meat costs $23 dollars a pound. Is it delicious? Absolutely the best! My wife goes bananas over the moose burger with a bit of pork mixed with it. This is my third moose and thoroughly enjoying the wild experience and the meat. We have shared meat with friends and family and still have plenty on hand. 

Below is the Moose hunt article.

Newfoundland Moose Hunt Sept 2023 With Gander River Outfitters

Good Hunting!

Next hunt is for black bear in Maine, in September 2024!