You can add other items but here are essentials to keep you safe while hunting.

First Aid Kit with Aspirin and Ibuprofen

Water, at least 16 oz

Hunting Knife (Sharp)

Compass and Map

Flashlight or Headlamp with new batteries

Waterproof Matches and Lighter

A Candle for fire starter.

Toilet Paper, Mine is Orange colored.

Pen and pencil, Hunt License

Space Blanket and Whistle

Candy or Protein Bars and Apples to keep mouth moist.

Pack Lunch if out all day.

Phone All Charged and can work in your hunting area.

Medical info on you such as allergies, med’s you take. Who to contact in Emergencies.

Drag Rope

Field Dressing Kit with Gloves

Hand and Body Warmers

What is the best cartridge/caliber for Northern NH deer hunting with rifle and scope? Lets qualify some things first. Most deer are killed within 50 yards according to many and some say within 40 yards. Why? New Hampshire woods are thick and here in southern NH there is more woods than fields with lots of under growth saplings etc. to deflect and play havoc with your bullets path. Small caliber light weight bullets can kill a deer fine but if the bullet encounters a runaway sapling that you didn’t see in your scope, then color that deer gone and put a drag rope on the sapling you just mangled. I believe the .270 Winchester and like calibers in metric such as a 7mm are fine all around calibers for rifle country but strictly talking about thick woods the 30 caliber such as .308 and 30-06, and up is better because the bullet has better sectional density (mass in pounds divided by bullet diameter squared) at 165 grains and above weights like 180 grains. If it hits a twig on the way it will, more likely stay on track to the target and not explode.

But here comes the conundrum… Most hunters will hunt with the gun they “love” no matter the deer caliber(6mm,.270, 7mm), they just realize that it may have some limitations in heavy cover…and that is fine with me.  If you call it trusty, that is a good thing! I would shoot my trusty .375 Ruger Loaded down for deer in heavy cover. Shoots like a muzzleloader, slow and heavy.

Hunt with what you can shoot well!

So the answer is all of the above.

Love the gun your with… and know its limitations!

Practice how you are going to shoot in the woods!

© 2016

The use of urine based scents and lures have been used by hunters here in NH for more than a century with no ill effects to produce Chronic Wasting Disease. But F&G argues that the lure industry is not regulated and that CWD animals have appeared in penned deer who produce urine based scents for hunters. Yet no link has been clearly established by scent urine and CWD: See http://www.wildlife.state.nh.us/wildlife/cwd/index.html#lures

Meanwhile every hunting shop in NH has an isle full of these urine base lures because they remain legal…for now.

NHFG strongly advocates against use of these urine based lures to protect the Deer herd.

My preliminary research shows that some lure companies are on board with testing their urine based lures and have openly participated in CWD research and testing via the Archery Trade Association’s Deer Protection Program. https://www.archerytrade.org/news/ata-launches-deer-protection-program

“With help and advice from the nation’s top CWD experts and state wildlife agencies, the ATA spent the past two years working with its Scent Manufacturers and Urine Providers committee to self-impose protective restrictions on their products and the deer/elk facilities that provide urine for those products.”

Those that comply with the strict adherence to collection methods and testing are allowed to display the ATA√ logo .  Lure companies are a billion dollar industry but shrinking due to states that have outlawed the urine based lures.

What do I make of NHFG recommendation? It is simply a protective approach. Once the CWD label is put on a State it sticks forever.

Are there synthetic lures that are not urine based?  Yes there are several online but most hunters trust the real thing. You can go on line and look for them.  I will go the synthetic non-urine lure route if readily available… I went to two stores this morning who sell urine based lures. It revealed that there are few to none of synthetic Doe-in-Estrous lures on the shelves, however most urine based lures do participate in ATA Chronic Wasting Disease prevention and have the ATA√ Logo. That leaves little choice for synthetic unless you buy off the web. I have created awareness in my area regarding the NHFG position. I will have some Kirshner’s Synthetic Lure soon to try. I have been a fan of Silvertop Lure over the years and took a nice buck with it a long time back. It is now made synthetically with no urine. http://www.bobkirschnerdeerlure.com/ . I spoke with Bob Kirshner moments ago and his herd of deer are USDA HMP Herd Certified (No CWD). He does not believe the ATA logo is much to shout about and he has been in the business for decades. So lets try the Synthetic lure…

Shoot Straight, Shoot Often.

© 2016

Hunting after 12 pm was the ticket today. The weather was just fabulous as if late summer at 72 degrees, blue sky and crimson leaves on the maples and little wind. Like a slice of heaven for a few hours.

The bird release was in the morning, I think, with no hunters or dogs present.  Today the release official did his job safely and left. We hunters gathered like a gaggle of geese waiting for 12 Noon. The birds released were mostly in the woods. The grass in the release field was so short, I could almost play golf. The birds would be sitting ducks if they landed there. Dogs were aplenty but for me with no dog was funny as there were dogs everywhere around me, just not mine. A walk in the woods listening to the call of a cock pheasant drew me forward. These rascals were hard to put to flight but the dogs eventually put them up. Here I took my two beautiful cock pheasants for the day with my goose barrel on my 870 Rem. Pump.

I plucked them, gutted and saved the tail feathers. I halved each bird and will do final prep for cooking soon. If there is a chance for longer grass in the field during pheasant season that would be better to work the dogs and put the birds up but I understand that harvest of the most hay is necessary.

Tips for cooking I am told by some is to brine your meat for at least 4 to 8 hours as the meat can dry rapidly. I will use some whiskey in a salt/sugar brine.

Cook at 500 degrees skin-on, with 1/4 apple and or 1/4 oranges as stuffing and/or as a baste with some honey or maple syrup in the apple/orange juice. Garnish with apples and oranges and parsley. Watch the bird as it cooks fast.

For a fast savory stuffing use the best prepared stuffing like Pepperidge Farm and add your favorite mushrooms. If you have time make stuffing from scratch.

© 2016

New Hampshire Rifleman is offering  up to $100 to the winner of the Outdoor Hunter/Writer Contest. (New Hampshire Residents Only) It will run from now to the end of November 2016.

Rules:

1. There must be at least 5 New Hampshire student participants (grade school to high school) who write and publish an article in New Hampshire Rifleman Magazine to be eligible for up to $100. Four students published will be $80 reward for best article. Three articles will get $60 as reward for best article and so on.
2. The student must write about shooting or hunting as adventure ( kills are not necessary for the article) and the value it provides in their life and family e.g., gets me away from TV and Video Games, Love the Forest and fall colors, like shooting with mom and dad, or went deer hunting or duck etc.e.g.,  Maybe about your hunting dog too. What life lessons did hunting or outdoors teach you? How to stay warm? Standing still for deer is not easy. Hard to sleep when thinking about hunting the next morning. Describe the sun and sky at dawn in a Duck Blind, are examples.
3. The length of the article needs to be 200 words or more and must have pictures. It can be submitted via email to the Editor, Ed Hale at erhale@comcast.net as “NH Rifleman Contest.” Please provide your name, age, school attending, grade and phone number with parent permission name/email address.
4. Grammar is very helpful but less important than content and describing the adventure and your feelings and senses of the moment.
5. Winner will be chosen by the Editor by December 10, 2016 and a photo op presentation shortly after. There can be a tie, in which case the authors will split the prize.
6. Please begin the article:
7. My Name is__________, I am ______years old and live in _________town, NH. My parent(s) _______________, Phone # ____________has given me permission to write this article. I attend __________school in _______NH. The title of my article ( write it as a header) then body and any images. Good Luck!
8. Note: We dropped number of words to 200 or more from original 500 to increase participation. Please try to use software like MS Word or e-mail to write your article with images.

A few days ago I cleaned the barrel and was impressed with how fast the barrel cleaned.

Today, I fired new loads with 165 grain Nosler Partitions using 58 grains of IMR 4350. This is supposed to be a fast accurate loading according to Nosler Reloading Manual #6. I did not chronograph the round but the loading table suggests it is well over 2800 fps. It appears to shoot well near MOA or bit larger but a tack driver load has not yet appeared, likely in-large-part due to the 7 lb. 8 oz. trigger. Recoil was very manageable even at the bench, which speaks to the terrific stock and its built in recoil system.

I am sure to find a sub-MOA loading for this barrel but a lighter trigger, I believe will be the ticket to stardom for this very versatile rifle. A friend of mine adores his TC Encore Pistol (same frame) but had the trigger lightened to 3 pounds. Nice!

There are folks that sell trigger spring kits that can lower the trigger pull weight but will discuss later at some point.  The ejector lifts the case and makes it easy to remove and reload.

So far… how do I rate the rifle and system? I giv’em’ an A.

More soon…

© 2016

I have just received the 30-06 barrel and forend for testing. Nice packaging! I tried to swap the barrel of the muzzle loader which requires you to tap out the hinge pin which I did with a wooden dowel. I got the new barrel on and the hinge pin went in quickly. I added the new forend which did not come with mounting screws so I figured the screws from the muzzle loader forend will work. But they didn’t. They were only for the muzzle loader, larger in diameter and designed to attach to the ramrod standoffs. So I contacted TC folks who are sending the correct screws. I made the recommendation that all rifle forends be packaged with the correct forend mount screws. I will begin testing the rifle next week. I have already attached the second TC 7429 steel scope mount base (Weaver style) to the rifle and swapped the Leupold VX-III scope to it. It was very fast and easy to swap over the scope as it required loosening the two large knurled screws that hold the scope to the base.

While the screws are arriving I will load up some rounds for the 30-06 Springfield.

We wait…

© 2016

September 1 is the general season opening day. New Hampshire’s Population of black bears is growing despite record harvests. The population is estimated at 6000 bears. Wow! That is a lot of Bruin! Note that baiting permits for bear needed to be turned in by the first week of August for this year.

See this site for bear season details by WMU. . http://www.wildlife.state.nh.us/hunting/bear-season.html

The best resource for hunters locating bears is the 2015 New Hampshire Wildlife Harvest Summary.

http://www.wildlife.state.nh.us/hunting/documents/2015-harvest-summary.pdf

In it you will learn where the deer moose and bears are, how big, male to female ratio and harvest by town even. So if you are thinking about hunting bear then read this great report like I do each year.

Good Hunting! Be Safe!

My wife, who has Newfoundland heritage, and I visited just few weeks back and landed in St John’s, in the northeast corner of the Island.  Ok, so I left my rifle home on this trip and took my Nikon D60 instead.

So we began our trip with some local micro-brewed beer and weekend cod fishing. Here are 2 market size cod that are about to become fillets for dinner. As you can see, I’m a happy man, and well fed too!

Back home along Massachusetts fisherman are restricted to 1 cod fish per day due to the weakness of the fishery but no where near what Newfoundland encountered.

It was 1992 when Newfoundland shut down the Cod Fishery due to over-fishing. Today the Cod are back and Fishing for these delicious fish has returned under strict regulation.  Regulation has its place, eh!

Nestled on the shore side of St Johns is the fishing village of Quidi Vidi and carved out of the granite landscape. Photo’s by author Below.

This photo I took with my Nikon D60 is very special as I waited for the sea gulls to congregate. Looks like a post card doesn’t it!

We fished just a 1/4 mile off shore with hand lines and just red teaser worms and hooks.

While in St John’s my wife wanted to visit a local brewery called Quidi Vidi Brewery (photo by author below) where she fell in love with Iceberg beer brewed there. Icebergs which contain very pure water from around 20,000 years ago or so “they say”  break up and are harvested to make the Iceberg beer. Smaller bergs that can be taken on small vessels are called mini-bergs.

At dinner in St John my wife Sue and I feasted on local fare and Iceberg beer and mingled with the locals. Somebody has got to do it, eh! As the Canadians say.

We rented a Ford SUV in St Johns and me and the Mrs. drove to the the family cottage in Jamestown about 130 miles up the Trans Canada highway. The cottage is on the ocean, you see.  It was 30 years ago, when I visited Jamestown with the wife and pointed out this house and shoreline property for sale to my mother and father-in-law who have family nearby. It was affordable to them back then and in just a few weeks they purchased it and never looked back.

The view from the upper deck overlooks Goose Bay, and inlet of Bonavista Bay. Breath taking! So now you know why I recommended this property to family. It was carved by God and Nature to create this splendid view of James Head and Goose Bay.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bonavista_Bay

So the wife and I explored a bit and found ourselves at Bonavista Cove where John Cabot landed in the fourteen hundreds.

We walked here in hopes of encountering a Puffin, a beautiful pelagic seabird at home in the north Atlantic. It was my wife that spotted the Puffin first and I proceeded to shutter my Nikon D60 to produce this photo of the only Puffin we saw.

Some folks have a problem saying Newfoundland and mumble New Finland, or perhaps New Found Land. Just say this to say it correctly; understand Newfoundland. The “found” part is said as “fin” and you are good-to-go.

A great vacation adventure!

© 2016 Articles and Photos Property of the Author- All Rights Reserved.

The first shots out of the Ruger American™ Predator are just astounding in my last article as they were sub Minute of Angle. The engineering innovation that went into creating the Ruger American Brand is exemplary for its price point and accuracy and it is 100% American made! I am a believer and loved the chambering in 6.5 Creedmoor which was designed for extreme accuracy for target but right at home in the fields and woods of North America for deer, elk, caribou and black bear and most African Plains game…

I purchased a Ruger American in .243 Winchester a few years back and I love how it handles at just 6.6 pounds. Now to test a 6.5 Creedmoor in the Predator model.

Spec’s are listed below but more on the website. These Ruger’s are cold hammer forged and my sub MOA groups last week and today seen below attest to the ultra- precise rifling that provides exceptional accuracy. The Ruger Marksman Adjustable™ Trigger can adjust from 3 to 5 pounds and aids in the off-the-shelf accuracy like a custom rifle.

http://www.ruger.com/products/americanRiflePredator/specSheets/6973.html

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I collected JBM data for two bullets that I own in the Ruger American; Predator in 6.5 Creedmoor with Sierra 120 grain Spitzer with 120 grain Pro-Hunter Spitzer with 43 grains of H4350 Powder at a fast speed of 2760 fps.My test bed scope is my trusted Leupold VX-6 3-18x44mm set at 10x for 100 yards.

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

A 4 shot group measured 5/8 inch at 100 yards and delivers MPBR max at 265 yards and 1194 ft-lbs. The Ruger American was right there today with outstanding sub-MOA group of 5/8 inch off a Bench Rest at 100 yards.

What a highly accurate rifle for the price of around 400 to 500 dollars Just a few years back it cost thousands of dollars to own a shooter with 1/2 inch groups. 

Later I shot the Ruger American- Predator with a slightly slower factory loaded 143 grain Hornady ELD-X Precision Hunter at 2648 fps far below to collect bullet performance data.

The Ruger American- Predator shot the 6.5 Creedmoor Factory Loaded Hornady ELD-X Precision Hunter a bit slower but at 100 yards delivered over 350 more ft-lbs than the 120 grain head due to heavier bullet weight/speed and its Extremely Low Drag. This bullet shoots 1 inch groups at 100 yards with no noticeable recoil difference. Energy at Max Point Blank Range MPBR of 265 yards is 1663 ft-lb with the Hornady ELD-X vs 1194 fps for the Sierra. A difference of 470 ft-lbs in favor of the 143 g VLD-X in the Ruger American – Predator 6.5 Creedmoor Rifle. I love this Ruger American- Predator rifle and bullet Combo.

Moreover, with with the 6.5 Creedmoor in the Ruger American Predator’s 22 inch barrel with 143 grain Hornady Precision Hunter ELD-X load it maintains over 1000 ft-lbs at 600 yards to kill a deer. The Sierra at 1000 ft pounds can only reach to 350 yards.  Lesson Learned? I get it! I  shot the Ruger American with a t-shirt at the bench rest. The recoil pad is fantastic and absorbs recoil handily. The precision trigger on the Ruger is a blessing. I gotta get me one of these!

© 2016