Monthly Archives: November 2018

TRANSFIXED ELK – By Oliver Ford

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Oliver and Mary Ford have hunted together since he gave her a double-barreled Bernardelli as a wedding present in 1976. Mary soon decided she preferred deer and elk hunting to bird hunting, so the shotgun was traded for a Winchester 7x57mm Featherweight, ideally suited for her five foot frame.

Below Oliver and Mary on an early elk hunt on horseback, lots of riding and no shots at elk on that hunt…

When Mary decided to go for elk again in 2017, she opted for a Browning A-Bolt in .308 and loaded it with 150 grain Federal Trophy Copper ammunition, mainly for their reputation for through and through penetration but also because that ammo eliminated any concerns about leaving lead fragments in the venison younger members of the family would consume.

It was not until the fifth and final day of her hunt, just as legal shooting time was slipping away, that she had a chance to fill her tag with a large bull with a battle-broken antler that appeared on the edge of a mountain meadow in southern Colorado.

The bull stopped dead in his tracks at the first shot, but he managed a step forward, so she shot him again, not taking any chances. Over many hunts she had learned the necessity of well-placed shots. 

Across the mountain top, her son Ross smiled when he heard her shots, knowing what probably had happened while he and his guide, Grant Hottman, played hopscotch with an elusive bull they never caught up with. Sure enough, the cell phone buzzed, calling them to bring the trailer and help Mary’s guide, Doug Doster, Ronald and me with loading the bull.

Only Ross and his uncle Ronald drew tags in 2018, and Mary’s job as a dean required her to stay home, so I just went along for the hunt. Ross’ job required him to fly out and meet us in Colorado, so he arrived the day before the hunt began. The next morning Ross and Grant were off to the far side of the mountain again while Ronald hunted an area where he had taken a good bull previously. Noon found us all back at camp for the usual, great lunch. Ross reported he liked the feel of the pre-64 Mod 70 Featherweight in 308 and was confident that the same Federal load his mother had used would do the job when needed.

 

At 4 pm Ronald and Doug were situated in a high blind with a commanding view of that same meadow where Mary had been successful the year before. Ross and I were in an open blind closer to the lower end, where a small stream cut across the end of the meadow. Over the years elk had been known to move out into the meadow from almost every quarter. The previous year a herd of more than 20 elk had come out of the creek bed right at dark, following the lead cow almost all the way to the top before she spooked and they all thundered back where they had come from. There was a good bull in the middle but it was too late to shoot.

From our blind we studied the small clearing near the creek but saw nothing. We scoured the side of the mountain across from us but saw nothing but birds, We tried to determine what the wind was doing, but it kept changing directions, first in our face and then on the back of our necks and then down the length of the meadow. As the light faded and the trees were shrouded in shadows, we strained to see into the woods line, but details were slowly being erased as the end of legal shooting approached.

Suddenly I sensed that Ross had stiffened and was staring into the shadows along the creek. He had seen something move, but then… nothing.

Far away but higher, Ronald and Doug had seen the bull come up out of the creek bed, seeing his dark head, chest  and antlers and a bit of his rump, all of which was lost in the shadows from our lower perspective. Then he stopped.  All Ross had seen was movement in the shadows.  The bull then began to walk forward, slowly revealing the antlers that confirmed he was legal, even though an accurate count of points was impossible. As he emerged from the creek bed, he turned slightly uphill and stopped, presenting a clear broadside view, just as the elk had done that Mary took the year before.

Ross responded by leaning into his shooting sticks, slipping the safety off, aiming just behind the shoulder and firing, all in less time than it takes to write this. The bull stopped moving immediately, transfixed. When the bull did not fall, Ross shot again, just to be sure.

At first the bull did not respond, but then swayed back and forth, causing Ross to worry that he might lunge over a nearby precipice and tumble 70 feet into a mass of vines and sticker bushes in the dark, so he shot him in the shoulder, whereupon the bull fell over, kicked a few times and was done.

Then we could walk the 200 yards to where he lay, no more than 20 yards from where Mary’s elk had fallen the year before.

A later green scoring rated his 6×6 rack at a satisfying 309 and 7/8 points, and when he was skinned, we could see that both chest shots had left 3 inch wound channels through both lungs only a few inches apart.  The bull had been dead on its feet from the first shot.

 

As before, Doug called Grant to bring the trailer for us all to load the bull for the trip down the mountain to camp, where we marked a successful beginning to the 2018 hunt with a long, slow sip of Knob Creek bourbon. It had been a truly auspicious beginning and sudden end to Ross’ elk hunting season, but Grant and fellow hunter John Finch from Detroit, had taken photos that proved to be a preview of John’s hunt a day or so later.

After a side trip to Major Wildlife Taxidermy, the bull will assume a dominant position in the family trophy room filled with reminders of past hunts and fishing trips.

 

Hunt Info: Tim Barraclough, Kiowa Hunting Services, Raton, NM  Tim@kiowahunting.com

 

© 2018 Oliver Ford All Rights Reserved

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Whitetail Shoulder Mount – What Kind of Detail?

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This Trophy Buck is down, meat is in the freezer. Lets talk about this Whitetail mount and its taxidermy. Most of us don’t shoot deer like this often so get the taxidermy right!

This deer will be an upright shoulder mount with head turned slightly right from the deer’s perspective. Neck is full mature and muscular in rut. There is a company in Texas that is creating my mount. After I receive my mount next year, I will share who did the work!

The “form” is called a shoulder manikin. It appears on the web that the largest supplier is McKenzie.  https://www.mckenziesp.com/Whitetail-Deer-C16.aspx

 

Manikins available for a shoulder wall mount are from the above website:

Upright

Semi-Upright

Semi-Sneak

Full Sneak

I chose Upright and right turn because I like that pose of alertness. I had to qualify how I wanted the ears too. Straight forward where the deer is looking. If you don’t do that you give licence to the taxidermist to do what they want i.e. one ear forward and the other listening backwards for example. or ears flat back as another example. I don’t want that pose so “be specific”!!!

I do not desire a wooden wall plaque either just the deer shoulder mount. If you want more like a habitat that surrounds your deer you can see them on the above website. Like below. I could do prickly pear cactus and cedar with sagebrush if I desire. Of course I can order and create that later if I wanted. But now you know the basic shoulder mounts. I did not cover other attributes as I wanted the reader to see what basics are out there for a Whitetail shoulder mount.

 

Good Hunting!

 

Texas Trophy Deer Hunt – Hales Kitchen Back in New Hampshire

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I harvested three deer, a Trophy Buck and two does just several days ago. The meat was boned (due to NHFG CWD Reg’s)  by a local Texas wild game processor and shipped via UPS and guaranteed to arrive in three days. There were 2 large boxes with insulation foam inserts that shipped with 113 lbs of unprocessed venison parts and sealed in vacuum bags with notations of parts such as hams, loins, back-straps etc.. Cost of three deer prep and ship was over $500. I could have risked a one week ground ship but the risk of loss was too great having made such a large investment in the first place. I share this with you, in case you must do this as well.

I hunted Texas because, my research found there was a high probability to see and harvest a mature 4 1/2 year old buck (on a 40 square mile “low fence” Cattle Ranch and Hunt run by Wildlife Systems, Inc.) with antlers that were fully developed. Yea Baby! My guide Pete, driving us in a 4 wheel ORV in some cases 10 to 15 miles off road around this wild cactus, juniper and mesquite like chaparral (part of the Edwards Plateau)  to a blind in the pitch black of night or on an afternoon stand… we hit the trail hard.

It was adventure! And it paid off Big Time with this 144 3/8 Boone and Crockett buck of a lifetime! And two conservation does for the freezer. I have eight grandkids and friends who love my mouth watering venison creations. 

Venison Arrived still partially frozen but thawed enough to begin processing.

My Kitchen Grinder set up with a LEM Grinder from Bass Pro.

The sanitary cutting boards, knives and sharpening stone.

I started with the larger hams by carving out major muscle groups and cutting larger muscle groups into steak and smaller muscles into tips, stew meat and for burger.

Below this meat is for venison burger using the LEM Grinder. I purchased a small amount of top round Angus beef roast with some fat to add to the burger as venison has very little.

Below are two back straps. The one I am pointing to has had the tough silver skin removed.

Below using a sharp knife this silver skin membrane is easily removed.

Let the LEM Grinder do the grinding. I used the rough (large hole) and finish (small hole) disc’s to create a nice burger. It is vital to have refrigeration was available throughout the process to keep the meat cold.

Below is half done for the burger. This container was mounded by the time I was done. I processed perhaps 35 lbs of burger. My wife and I had venison burgers for dinner. Wow! They were just delicious! OMG!

Next came the vacuum sealing in meal size portions. I date the seal-a-meal packing and note the contents. My wife and grand daughters helped to vacuum seal and freeze it. We can enjoy the Venison for the next year or two. I gave my two tween young grandsons and I a lunch of grilled back-strap and steaks with crispy browned potato medallions with some bacon fat and Olive Oil  just moment ago. They inhaled it! The meat was exceptionally flavorful with wild “hints” that identify venison. I added a 5 minute marinade, a bit of Worcester Sauce, salt and fresh cracked pepper. The texture of the meat was delightful. I got my grill up to 400º F before putting the meat on. I seared each side leaving the meat rare to medium rare.

I was gonna take a picture of the lunch but since it was hot off the grill we ate it straight away. Sorry maybe a photo at a later meal.  🙂

Today November 13th, 2018 and it is pouring cold rain outside here in New Hampshire. What a great way to warm up with grilled venison and fried potato medallions.

Good Hunting!

© 2018 All Rights Reserved

 

 

 

 

 

The 375 Ruger – A Hammer When You Need One

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This nostalgic article comes as a retrospective of my Texas Whitetail Hunt where shots are limited 150 yards or often 90 to 100 yards.  I was missing my  big bore super accurate .375 Ruger with reduced loads.

On that hunt a larger caliber and slower bullet is not necessarily bad, as my 50 cal TC Muzzleloader can attest. But I needed to special order powder and primers to ship ahead.  If your shot distances are short, accurate big bore round nose or even flat point should be an option to consider such as a 30-06 or 300 win mag or larger to hammer one down as long as you can shoot it accurately.  It just so happens that I own a .375 Ruger that shoots 1/2 inch groups at 100 yards and have taken Red Deer. It is my Hammer when I need one and It was missed.

Bull Moose

American Bison

 

A full power 300 grain bullet with a full power load out of the .375 is way more than you need producing over 4000 ft-lbs at the muzzle unless you have a Cape Buffalo staring at you with malice, it is not necessary. However a reduced hand load from my loading bench is just the ticket for A Big Bore Hammer when you need one to drop’em where they stand.

Checking my inventory of rifles the .375 Ruger is staring me in the face. Yes my 30-06 is also a great choice with 180 grain bullets such as the Nosler Partition Protected Point.

In retrospect, personally, I have done exhaustive testing with the .375 Ruger years back with reduced loads and worked up loads that were potent for Whitetails and accurate as all get out. I used Speer Hot-Cor™ in 235 grain back in 2014. You can’t get these heads right now. I have two boxes but there are other choices as you will see.

Through the Chronograph they exit the barrel at around 2200 fps (energy for deer needs at least 1000 ft-lbs). Trajectory and energy are as follows and near to my 50 cal Muzzleloader:

Yards  Energy ft-lb   Drop

  • 75      2128            0.3
  • 100    2002            0.0
  • 125    1881           -0.9
  • 150    1767           -2.4

 

The Barnes Bullet in 235 grain TSX is another great option.  See reduced load data at website below.

https://www.chuckhawks.com/reduced_big_bore_loads.htm 

A 300 grain TSX with 45 g 5744 will produce a MV of 2000 fps with a ME of 2664 ft lbs and a recoil of 22 ft-lbs.

Accordingly the table looks like this for the 300 grain TSX head that opens up like a buzz saw in .375 size.

Yards  Muz Energy   Drop

  • 75       2275         0.5
  • 100     2151         0.0
  • 125     2033        -1.1
  • 150     1921        -3.0

The .375 Ruger cartridge is so versatile in the appropriate rifle can cleanly kill any game on the planet provided good shot placement. My friend Larry Weishuhn is a .375 Ruger believer and he owns one too. A one rifle for the world kind of gun we say.  By hand loading, it can shoot exactly the same as the .38-55 and the .375 Winchester for deer or bear or beefed up can equal or better the .375 H&H Magnum for Brown Bear, Cape Buffalo or Elephant. For those considering Alaska as a hunt destination in your lifetime. I would consider a 375 Ruger Rifle on the future purchase list especially if you hand load.

Good Shooting!

© 2018

 

TC Encore Pro Hunter 50 cal. Muzzleloader Drops’em Cold

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The 150 grains of Pyrodex and 295 grain Powerbelt out of my Thompson Center Encore Pro Hunter 50 Cal and Gold Ring Leupold VX-3 2-8x36mm took out the center of the practice target at 100 yards.

On this trophy 11 Point Texas Whitetail the 50 cal was like a lightning bolt. He fell stone cold, his legs up for dressing. If you look you can see the exit wound above the right G2 antler.  Since the Powerbelt tip hid a hollow point underneath, it mushroomed in a huge way and left a quarter size exit wound. The only problem was I had to ship my powder and primers to the outfitter and could not take the leftovers home.

The TC Encore has a special recoil absorbing stock and butt pad. Thus allowing the hunter to focus on the shot rather than the recoil.

Since I only had one shot, I had to make it count.

Energy delivered was over 1600 ft-lbs at 80 yards. Enough for Elk and even Moose with good shot placement out to 150 yards.  This model is a convertible, thus allowing many other calibers and barrels to fit. In fact I used a 30-06 barrel for my Russian boar hunt last year, see below.

Just like the buck…one shot, one kill.

The 30-06  is great medicine as this boar can attest. I may experiment with some round nose bullets in Creedmoor too. Hornady makes a 160 grain interlock for the 6.5 and there are videos on 300 lb pigs, all with exit wounds.

One of the things that my guides at Wildlife Systems said is that you don’t want to be trailing a mortally wounded deer very far of the trail as there is nasty prickly pear and barbed Christmas cactus out there that can ruin your day. And of course the ubiquitous Rattle Snake.

Better to drop them right there if possible.

On this hunt, none of us really needed a spitzer bullet as our shots were within 150 yards. I’m thinking Hornady 160 grain round nose 6.5mm for next year. Or 180 grain round nose in 30-06.

Good Hunting!

© 2018