Browning Speed 7mm Rem Mag with Hand Loaded 160g Nosler Partition on Black Bear

The Nosler Partition bullet is renowned around the world for penetration. I used it exclusively on an African Plains game hunt thus my selection for bear hunting. My Browning Speed in 7mm Remington Magnum was my choice. 

 

On my Maine Foggy Mountain black bear hunt, I tried to get 175g Partition bullets for my bear adventure. Unfortunately, they were not available, luckily, the 160g Partition bullets were.

I have chronograped my new hand loaded 160g Nosler Partition at around 3050 fps using IMR 4831 powder. That is cookin’

As you can see below, I shot my bear in the slightly quartering toward front right shoulder.

The bullet exited the off side ribs wrecking the lungs. No death moan aka no lungs. I estimate the terminal energy at around 3400 ft-lbs. Wow! The boar went 25 yards and piled up. Funny, I never felt the recoil estimated to be near 28 ft-lbs.

On inspection during meat processing, the wound site had a 2 inch by 3 inch wide football-like cavity beginning at around an inch in after entering. I did not hit shoulder bone. 

The bullet continued through lungs, ribs and exited. Was that overkill? Many bear hunters use the 300 Win Mag with 180g bullets. delivering 3700 ft-lbs at 25 yards and hitting you with 35 pounds of felt recoil.

If I go on a trophy black bear hunt, where bears often exceed 300 to 400 pounds, I may opt for a 300 Win.

Big Canadian bears can be aggressive, like climbing into your treestand and popping their teeth. 

If you can handle heavy felt recoil… not a problem.

Good Hunting!

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My Small LEM Power Meat Grinder Works Great on Game Meat Year After Year

GOT GAME MEAT?

I love my LEM meat grinder.

I use it mainly for game meat grinding and occasionally for sausage making. Mine is a #8 Grinder with only 1/3 HP. Most are now 1/2 HP and only cost around $375 dollars for many years of worry free grinding. I have done three moose, a dozen deer, four wild boars and a bear and it still looks new.

What makes this grinder so great is the quality stainless steel grinder parts and it sets up really fast.

I keep the original shipping box to store it. 

Amazon sells it! 

Check it out!

Do You Want/Need Full Bullet Penetration On Black Bear? How did the Nosler Partition do?

One of the biggest complaints I hear and read by “bear guides” during the recovery phase is “lack of a blood trail” on a supposedly lung shot bear.

Bear fat, experts suggest, can often plug the exit hole if the exit hole is small and dense bear hair can absorb blood as well. Exit hole size on exit can aid in blood flow if the hole is large enough. Energy to penetrate and exit is equally important. Bullet caliber?

Bigger bores work but you also need penetration. 

Are we missing more here? What about the bullets construction?

What about the sectional density of the bullet? Is the bullet monolithic copper, standard cup and core, is it bonded, or is it partition/A-Frame?

Terminal ballistics tell the story here. Both bonded, partition, and monolithic bullets lead-the-pack in penetration. Cup and core, jacketed lead works but tend to separate thus penetration is often less in big game such as elk, moose and bear but cost much less. I have used both monolithic copper, bonded and partition/a-frame more than typical cup and core styles. They do cost more but I’m a good, better, best kind of hunter. Often seeking the best in bullets. 

My recent Maine bear was hit with a 7mm 160g Nosler Partition In the shoulder at 3000 fps.

The internal damage was devastating and left a 2 inch wide tunnel on entering the shoulder, wrecked the lungs,exited and left an immediate blood trail for just 25 yards where we found the bear piled up. 

The bullet mushrooms extremely well and the rear core remains intact for deep penetration and often exits. 

The Nosler Accubond is one of the worlds best bonded and accurate bullets but Nosler says the Partition bullet is best on penetration for an exit wound. 

And they were right! The Nosler Partition did the job very well. Go Nosler!

Good Hunting!

 

Processing My Maine Bear Legs and Backstrap – And Some Delicious Meal Ideas

I’m thinkin’; “Get the processing/butchering done as soon as possible.”  Accordingly, I pulled my briefly frozen bear leg meat to thaw.  Just enough thaw to begin cutting and processing.

To read about my September 9th hunt, look back four articles or so to my hunt with Foggy Mountain Guide Service. It was an adventure in the deep woods of Northern Maine. 

Onward to processing meat and meal ideas…

Meat Process Tools: 

Sharp Knives

Large Cutting Board

Salt for periodic cutting board sanitizing if you stop for more than 1 hour or so. 

Clear large plastic bags

Vacuum sealer and quart seal bags

 

Step 1

Cut fat from leg.

Step 2

Remove silverskin

Step 3

Cut and remove leg calf meat from bone and bag it in large bags kept in your fridge. I will make burger with this later.

Step 4

Debone shoulder and rump leg meat. I found front legs and shoulder blades hard to debone so I boiled meat off. Rear rump leg meat is easier to debone.

 

Place bulk cuts of leg meat in large bags in the fridge as you go. I label the bags stew, steak, roast, backstrap, for burger, and trash meat.

Below backstrap cut for roasts.

 

Later pull bags from the fridge for making finish cuts, vacuum seal label and freeze. 

Grinding Burger

I use 20% pork butt to add to the meat. The grind is done in two stages; rough and finish. Looks Great.

The key to cooking bear meat is to use a meat thermometer to ensure the meat reaches an internal temperature of 160ºF or more to destroy Trichinosis.  Just like we did with pork some years back.

For tenderness, I found that stewing the meat at a slow boil for three to four hours with salt, pepper, thyme and bay leaf and veggie mirepoix (don’t forget the garlic)  until tender produced very flavorful meat. To speed this up, I have used a pressure cooker in the past as well. 

I toss out the mirepoix and save the cooked juice with the meat and freeze it in pint containers. 

Stewed tender meat that has been cooked well beyond 160F can be used in a variety of dishes such as my signature bear stew with vegetables and gravy below.

I rave about the tender mouth feel of stewed bear meat.

 

Chopped stewed meat makes a great lunch soup with noodles, peas, carrots and beef broth or beef bouillon. 

We use it for our spiced up bear tacos.

You can use the stewed meat to make a bear stroganoff too over noodles and so much more. 

The ground burger raw meat with pork can make a mouth watering meatloaf or chili as long as the cooked meat hits the 160F.  The best way to ensure that the right  temperature is reached is to either measure temperature or cook/boil/stew/bake it for some time.

I hope this article was helpful in creating your own adventure in the woods and your cheffing in the kitchen. 

Good Eating!

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Easy Black Bear Bone Soup – For a Chilly Fall Day

It is a chilly day and nearly October. I was craving some hot soup for lunch.

I recalled freezing pint containers of stewed Maine bear meat in a beef stock base a few weeks ago. 

Reflecting that I wisely cut meat off the bones then boiled the remaining meat laden bear leg bones in a beef and mirepoix stock a few weeks ago. 

 

Ingredients:

1 pint frozen previously stewed bear meat in beef broth.

5 or 6 cups beef broth or beef bouillon broth.

1 cup frozen peas and carrots

1 cup fine egg noodles

1 cup thin sliced fresh white mushrooms.

1 tsp thyme

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1/2 tsp onion powder

Salt and Pepper to taste.

In a 4 quart pot, boil beef broth with frozen previously cooked bear meat and frozen peas and carrots. Add  remaining ingredients. Simmer till noodles are done. Taste and adjust as you like. Serve hot with a crust of bread or toast. Wow! 

I found the bear meat very tender and very flavorful with NO hint of wild.

It is all in patience and preparation.

Serves 3 or 4. 

Give it a Try!

Enjoy!

 

 

 

Installed Impressive Stryker T-Top On My Key West Bay Reef 216

Recently, I installed a brand new Stryker T-Top on my Key West Bay Reef 216. It is an impressive product. The aluminum welding on assembly parts is unbelievable.

It came to me shipped and unassembled in several pieces. It took me several days to assemble and install. 

Best boat canopy investment I have made! Maybe a top for you to consider.

Good Fishing!

Black Bear Oil and Beeswax Candle Making – Easy and Fun

 I rendered bear fat from the bear I harvested last week and made special bear fat candles in honor of my early New England heritage.

Below is my very first bear wax bayberry candle. Bayberry is one of my favorite candle smells.

My first lighting of my bear fat candle Nice!

There are recipes on line to create your own for you to check out. Food grade Stearic Acid, wicks, bees wax, and  I purchased on Amazon. I had jelly jars to make the candles.

My Bear Oil/ Beeswax Candle Recipe

Ingredients:

2 cups rendered bear fat

1/2 cup food grade stearic acid beads

4 Tbsp bees wax

Premade wax wicks

Bayberry Oil 30 to 60 drops. Use a dropper. 

In a few small pots, heat water to make a bath to melt the beeswax, stearic acid beads and heat the rendered bear fat.

You can use canning jars to melt your ingredients while in the water bath show above.

Add the hot bear fat and hot stearic acid to a bowl and stir.  Now add melted beeswax to the bowl and stir.

Finally, add drops of your essential oil like my bayberry oil.

Stir and pour your mixture into candle jars with standing wicks shown below.

I used cooled moldable wax buttons to hold wicks in place to the bottom of jars.

 

 The Bayberry smell is reminiscent of Williamsburg, Virginia in the 1700’s. Enjoy!

Good Hunting!

 

 

Making Maine Black Bear – Bear Balm

 Bear oil/grease below is the base of this easy-to-make bear balm recipe.

The many uses of bear fat is legendary in early America.

It is used for cooking, frying, pastry, lubricating, candle making, skin and hair care, waterproofing boots, shoes, and softening/protecting leather are but a few. 

It is an easy to make recipe which looks alot like mayonaise.

 

Ingredients:

1 cup black bear rendered oil/grease.

1/4 cup Jojoba Oil

1/4 cup cosmetic stearic acid beads heated to liquid.

Heat bear oil and organic stearic acid separately in a water bath below. The stearic acid  beads liquify at 180F. 

Combine hot bear oil and stearic acid liquid quickly in a glass mixing bowl while hot and mix. Then add the Jojoba oil and Essences and mix again by hand.

I used 50 drops of Bayberry Oil, 12 drops of Lavender Oil, and 12 drops of Sandalwood Oil to my basic recipe.

Scent essence oils are essential for calming aromatherapy too. 

Chill the balm in the fridge till stiff, then the whip the balm with a power mixer.

It looks like fluffy mayonnaise!

Place in small jars, label, and use small amount on hands and arms, rubbing it in.

The Bayberry oil etc. comes through as a very pleasing aroma. My next batch will be eucalyptus and peppermint scented. Enjoy!!!

Smooth Skin and Good Smells

Good Bear Hunting!!

 

Delicious Black Bear Tacos – Wow!

I had lots of slow-stewed (6 hours) shredded bear meat on hand as part of processing my bear leg bones.

Accordingly, I made black bear tacos with the shredded meat and it was spectacular. Enough meat for 4 later meals. 

 

My favorite Taco seasoning mix is Ortega brand powder mix. I added two tsp of the mix to 1/4 lb of meat with a splash of water to the shredded meat in a frying pan and mixed/sautéed till warm. 

Place on a soft fajita. I flip my soft fajita over my gas stove flame to toast it a bit. This gives a fresh cooked flavor to the fajita.

Add meat, salsa and veggies, sour cream and shredded cheese. Wow! My wife gave it a big thumbs up too!!

Enjoy!