Marlin Research for 45-70 For Black Bear

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Black bear, many say, are not hard to kill with good bullet placement. That said, there are bears harvested that reveal previous wounds and occasionally find the errant bullet. Bears are very tough, if not hit correctly.

So for all the easy-to-kill crowd, if you miss vitals, you are not likely to recover your bear, and if you do, you will likely be tracking with dogs for miles. Good luck with that. 

With a bigger bore like 45-70, perhaps you will make your bear guide happier too upon recovery.

In my own limited bear experience in 2024, with my 7mm Rem Mag with 160g Nosler Partitions, I hit the front shoulder of a smaller bear quartering towards me and exited on the last rib on the other side. I got blood immediately and the bear went 20 yards. My 7mm was designed for much longer range harvests and it worked but a bit clumsy with a long 26 inch barrel from a treestand shot at 25 yards.

I really would have preferred a more compact fast handling big bore rifle such as the 45-70.    

After significant research on YouTube, I saw a review of a new Marlin Lever vs a Henry in 45-70.

Listen and watch.

I likes this comparison video very much! As I said in a earlier piece,

Spring into a Marlin Lever Action Model 1895 SBL 45-70 – Testing Soon

The action on levers, is key. I have placed a deposit on the Marlin Lever Action Model 1895 SBL 45-70.

We shall see…

Spring into a Marlin Lever Action Model 1895 SBL 45-70 – Testing Soon

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I have been looking and waiting for the right big game 45-70 lever gun to talk to me and I think I found it.

The Ruger made Marlin Lever Action Model 1895 SBL 45-70 is a stainless, easy and fast-like “butter”  levering rifle with a 19 inch barrel. There is a shorter version but will share on that later.

I put a deposit on it as I wait for more snow to melt. I will reload this cartridge. 

 What makes this rifle so special is that it is,… well you’ll have to wait till I get it and take it to the range for me to share. 

More Soon…

 

 

My Alaska Delivery of Halibut and Salmon Arrived In New Hampshire

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As I wrote  a few weeks ago, I purchased some Alaskan Salmon and Halibut from Tanners Alaskan Seafood.

My 24 hour Alaskan delivery arrived frozen, as promised. Here are the fish packs below.

I made a baked pistachio crusted halibut with butter herbs and lemon. It was spectacular. Looking forward to a Sockeye Salmon dish soon!

Yes, it is expensive but in June I will catch some myself and bring many pounds home.  Gotta get my Omega 3’s! Below my dishes, pistachio crusted halibut and sockeye salmon w/herbs and lemon. So fresh and delicious. 

More soon…

 

 

NH Rifleman Magazine Readership Year Ending 2025

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We are very pleased with our worldwide NH Rifleman Magazine readership since we began in 2012.

Newfoundland Moose on Gander River

We are broadly Outdoor folks who particularly enjoy the shooting and hunting sports!
We camp, we fish, we hunt and shoot rifles, reload our own ammo and shoot bows and crossbows.
We eat what we kill and enjoy cooking our wild game harvest for our families!
We like to educate and are meat-eating adventurer’s too, often going to far off wild places including Africa and Canada and soon to Alaska. 

Texas 144 Class Buck

Top countries reading New Hampshire Rifleman Magazine. 

Enjoy!

Todays Compound Crossbows Are Great Bear Medicine Especially with Swhackers – Some Hunt Thoughts

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There is no doubt that the engineering and physics of todays compound crossbows make tremendous hunting tools for speed and accuracy especially with my Swhackers.

 

My bow is a TenPoint Turbo, shooting 360 fps. I added a Burris Oracle Laser Scope. A great combination. 

Todays fastest crossbows are in the 500 fps range but for me, personally, I find crossbows better in the 300 to 400 fps range allow crossbow targets to capture the arrow without undue stress to remove the arrow, yet easily harvest game cleanly and often fully penetrate and exit.

There are limitations and concerns with such powerful bows however.

Broadhead tipped arrows of all kinds and bows can very easily deflect in brush, thus shot distances are often limited and must be unobstructed for the bolt/arrow to hit the vitals of the game you hunt.

I recall this past September in a ground blind for bear hunting in Maine with my friends at Foggy Mountain, I set up my crossbow on my steady “Death Grip™ tripod. Nice!

But once set up above, I noticed that there were tiny fir branches a few inches in front of my arrow. In the photo above you can see fir branches. 

I thought, Yes, its a tiny branch, but my decades of bowhunting experience says, even a tiny branch can cause deflection.

I took the time to clear the branches.

An hour later, I harvested a sizable handsome boar. At the 29 yard bait barrel, the boar arrived appearing as if by magic. He stuck his head in the bait barrel and immediately backed out. He faced me in the ground blind and walked  8 to 10 yards toward me. I was on him and very still. Seeing no movement he turned to head back to the goodies. When he was “momentarily broadside” my arrow tipped with a 125g Swhacker hit the big bruin in the ribs.

The swhacker went through that bear so fast that the exit speed, even with a 2.25 inch cut, was so fast as it destroyed the broadhead striking a granite rock. 

I knew the bear was mine. Very pleased with my shot I reflected on the power and accuracy of my crossbow.

I highly recommend shorter range crossbow hunting especially with Swhackers. 

Good Hunting!

 

 

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…

My Twister Arm Trainer Progress for Halibut Fishing – One Month In

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I love this arm and hand trainer for $30 on Amazon. When I received it, I tried to close it like the woman below. I got it almost half closed/collapsed on one try. Today, I just did 10 reps fully closed. Wow!

On the hand grip, I did twenty closed grips last month. Today I can do an easy sixty.

My arm and shoulder muscles are growing and strengthening very well.

The secret of using these devices is that they can be used anytime, especially when I watch TV. 

Secondly, at home, reeling a deep sea rod and reel with 10 to 15 pound weights on the line and the drag set to just lift these weights is a great to mimic a real halibut.

I will work up to 20 pounds at some point. It is not easy, that’s for sure but will simulate catching a fish near to 100 pound class. That’s my strength goal and to keep fishing for more big fish on the same trip.

Alaska is on my mind… 

 

Senior Hunters and Fisherman Like Me Require Adventure To Remain Healthy

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This past September, I shot a nice estimated 200 pound Maine “Foggy Mountain” black bear (a boar) with my crossbow from a ground blind. It was my 76th birthday.

It was a solo hunt as are most of my hunts. On my 75th birthday, the year previous,  I shot a nice  black bear from a tree stand with my 7mm Rem Mag. 

As I age, I have discovered that by dangling an adventure-like carrot in front of me, then I use that adventure as my health and exercise goal. 

Note: This past week in January, local hospitals were filling with possible heart attack patients from shoveling in very cold and snow conditions. 

If out in cold weather and exerting yourself, shoveling snow for example, many doctors suggest hydrating, stretching and

maybe take a baby aspirin to thin blood before heading out to shovel. 

I carry baby aspirin on my person as a rule of thumb just in case. 

It seems that I purposely become adventuresome just to maintain my body and mind health.  Maybe find non hunting adventures as I further age as well to stay healthy as well.

I like to eat what I hunt and love to chef my own food. I started a cookbook but have yet to publish it. Maybe this year. We shall see….

Adventure Awaits…

 

My Exercise for June Alaska Halibut Continued…Adventure Takes Preparation

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Some visiting Alaskan halibut fisherman get the shock of their life when a really big halibut bites their line and zaps every ounce of strength from their arms and body trying to land such a creature. Fisherman have to stop fishing on the trip just to recover as their arms ache and are like jelly. I watched a video of a 40 year old stout fisherman reeling up a huge fish. He need a 10 minute break so one of the mates took over for a bit. They strapped a fishing belt on him and took 30 to 40 minutes of unbelievable struggle to get the beast to the surface where they shot it twice. It took 4 men to bring it over the gunwale. That is why I am preparing. 

I am in week 3 of my halibut fishing exercise routine. Having said that, I feel great. I had to return to the Gym today and moving forward, I did some treadmill cardio, stomach and our many shoulder muscles to strengthen besides my many home exercises. 

Besides, another snow storm or two or three is headed our way in New Hampshire. I need muscle strength everywhere for that. The most recent storm dumped 16 inches overnight this past week. In and around Boston, some older men had heart attacks etc. Pace yourself and research things you can do like exercise in advance. 

My exercises have also got me to think about the quality of my food and its nutritive value for my body and mind. You too! Some YouTube research enlightened me on super foods for brain and body like salmon, blueberries (especially wild) and eating eggs for breakfast. 

Having a fishing, hunting, hiking etc. goal in front of me helps keep me in better shape.

Good Health Takes Effort on Our Part. 

Broken Antler Brow Tine Repair

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See my first article on this repair.

February Antler Repair? I Ran Across A YouTube To Fix A Broken Antler Brow Tine

This is my first attempt at a brow tine repair. Came out ok. Need to paint/stain more but the JB Weld KwickWood® putty worked.

Note: I used my new GoPro Hero 13 Black to film and edit the above video.

Below is the right side brow tine fix. Not bad for my first try. I can play with paints and other stains but hey, it looks ok for me. 

Practice on other antlers, can improve my skill. Need to buy paint/stain/urethane for correcting brow color if I want a pro job. But I am happy with it as it is for now. It was as a fun repair winter lesson.

Stay Warm