Author Archives: Ed Hale

About Ed Hale

I am an avid hunter with rifle and Bow and have been hunting for more than 50 years. I have taken big game such as whitetail deer, red deer, elk, Moose and African Plains game such as Kudu, Gemsbok, Springbok, Blesbok, and Impala and wrote an ebook entitled African Safari -Rifle and Bow and Arrow on how to prepare for a first safari. Ed is a serious cartridge reloader and ballistics student. He has earned two degrees in science and has written hundreds of outdoor article on hunting with both bow and rifle.

All Weather Rifle Barrels and Dry Lubes Are Best

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During deer season here in New England the weather is ever changing, sunny in the morning and drizzling rain or snow in the afternoon. It is wise to choose a rifle that is somewhat impervious to moisture and that includes the barrel and things attached to it. My Ruger African .375 Ruger is blued but not highly weather/rust resistant by the factory so I use bowling lane wax everywhere on the wood and barrel before going afield. Let it dry and it has little odor.

I hear that a hunting guide in Alaska paints his barrels. It works but must be a bit ugly! Of course there is stainless steel but as a new rifle, manufacturers offer spray on rust resistant coatings such as Cerakote, https://www.cerakote.com/project-gallery?tab=color

Or for example my Weatherby Rifle barrel with Weathershield coating. This website, Haus of Arms has this video on the difference between stainless and weathershield on Thompson Center rifles. I Own two rifles with weathershield coatings. I love them both for weather resistance. Easy to care for and no rust.

Just remember that the intricate parts in your guns action are likely not coated so you must take care for these parts as well. I use a dry lube (not stinky) that has a solvent to get the oil where you need it and then coats to protect the surface.

I hear that Otis has a nice dry lube created for the military. Remington offers a dry lube too!  Check them out! I use the Remington Dry Lube with Teflon! Very cost effective!

On waxes there are car waxes that work to repel rust and moisture from wood and steel and my bowling ball wax as well as commercial gun waxes by Birchwood Casey.

Hope this helps!

Good Hunting!

 

Hunting with Rifle and Tactacam 5 Video Camera – Intro

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I have not done a lot of hunting with video equipment because, I believe for a solo hunter, that it changes the focus of the hunt toward the video aspects of the hunt and not the game being hunted. Another family member or a friend can help or you can pay a camera man or you can get a Tactacam™ Video Camera and mount it to your scope as I am going to do and focus on the hunt.

The Tactacam 5 is “state of the art” has lots of options, is highly rated and looks like a very small spotting scope that can be attached to rifle, shotgun or bow or even a fishing rod. Admittedly, I am not a camera expert but a serious novice. The camera and scope mounting bracket will be arriving next week so I get to mount it on my Leupold Scopes on my .375 Ruger, Weatherby Rifles and on my Excalibur Crossbow scope. It is a push button on and off and can record an hour or more video they say. So stand-by and see what happens  when I mount and try to use it.

Tactacam 5.0 Product Image

In the mean time this video I found on the web is very helpful to see all the options this product offers.

Good Hunting!

New Hampshire – Hiking Mount Major with My Retriever Bella

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Yesterday was a slice of heaven up on Mount Major State Park near Alton Bay, New Hampshire. We hiked the main blue trail which is 1.5 miles to the summit at 1785 ft. Or 1100 feet high from the trail head.

Mount Major Hiking Trails

map image courtesy Gunstock Mountain Resort

https://www.alltrails.com/trail/us/new-hampshire/mt-major

My new Labrador puppy Bella is just about 4 months old and growing like a weed. Note for road trips in the car, be sure to carry some chew stuff as that  helped Bella pass the time. Stop for potty calls and carry bags for her waste.

She was leashed and my companion for the hike to the top of Mount Major and she handled it like a champ! I took a backpack with a first aid kit and lots of bottled water, enough for both of us. I am teaching her how to drink from a water bottle with a pop lid. She gets it! Glug glug! I purchased a harness for her so she did not have any neck strain.

What a great day! Calm wind, cool autumn air with oak, spruce scents filling the air along the trail. Acorns were falling as we hiked and could hear them patter to the ground around us. You just wanted to bottle the air to take home! Mount Major is perhaps one of the closest and unique trails to hike and can be climbed by most anyone, kids and seniors alike  with good footwear and those exercised.

 

View of Lake Winnipesaukee from top of Mount Major

 

Her blue harness took strain off her neck while on Mt Major trail

The harness was a terrific purchase and was aided by Petco folks to find one that fit her now, and added growth for her later. She loved the trip and hikers wanted to pet her (puppies do that) . Great socialization on the trail with other pets too. You need good footwear for the trail as there are loose rocks and granite as well as tree roots on the trail. We took our time and made the summit under 2 hours. It is very steep near the blue trail summit with exposed granite to walk up so be careful.

 

Love the kisses!

We stopped in Alton Bay at a Drive In style outdoor restaurant for lunch of fried Ipswich Clams and some dog biscuit and small vanilla ice cream for Bella.  She loved the Ice Cream! She slept all the way home an hour and a half drive. We stopped a Calef’s country store for their famous thick sliced Virginia ham for wife and dinner of ham and beans and lots of cold beer. Wow! Bella chowed down on her puppy food!

Happy Hiking!

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BOG Pod Death Grip- Rock Steady Like a Field Bench Rest

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There are so many rifle and crossbow tri-pod and bi-pods and mono-pods for many reasons. The BOG Pod Death grip was created to firmly hold and clamp your rifle, shotgun or crossbow at the ready and give you a rock steady rest when the moment of truth arrives.

I used it last year in Newfoundland on a Moose Hunt. The wind was whipping me at near zero temperatures gusting to 30 mph. I was rock steady for a 100 yard shot at a walking moose.

Truthfully, I likely would have missed or placed the shot wrongly without the BOG Death Grip.

If you go to my site search engine you can see my other articles on the BOG Death Grip. 

I will be taking the Death Grip to Texas for Trophy Whitetails just over a month from now! When the buck of my lifetime steps out it helps to steady that overwhelming adrenaline surge, I hope the BOG Death Grip will be there! 

In practice, for setting up my crossbow, I find it an essential tool to sight-in my broadheads out to 40 yards.

On high dollar hunts, especially,  it is an essential tool for shots of a lifetime!

I am a BOG Death Grip believer. 

Good Hunting!

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Flat Nose and Round Nose Bullets for Big Game

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Today’s bullet sales and profit seems to cater to where the bullet volume is. Specifically, sales cater to the long range crowd, shooting very low drag bullets and to the big game long range crowd. Long range in this case is beyond 200 yards which is a common sense limit for round nose ammo. Yes, I am one of those guys who likes to play with long range stuff but what about a hunter who owns rifles of odd calibers and/or those hunters who invariably do not hunt long range such as the deer hunters of my state of New Hampshire. These hunters often harvest deer in the woods at 40 to 60 yards on average with bullets that are of long range design.

And finally to those who believe, like  me, that a well placed round or flat nose or semi-spitzer bullet will drop game faster than a fully pointed spitzer would because more energy is delivered to the animal given that the range to the game animal needs to be relatively short, say 100 yards or less. Of course energy, frontal area of the bullet, and sectional density play a part.

The tug of a bullet entering game hide is, for all practical purposes, crushingly more powerful for a round or flat nose bullet than for a pencil pointed bullet which pokes a hole in the hide. In fact, you can often hear the slap (surface shock) of a flat or round nose which often instantly drops the game and highly recommended for dangerous game. I shot a red doe with a .375 dia flat nose bullet traveling at 1500 fps and she went 20 yards. Similar to the .375 Winchester or 38-55.. That speed is too slow for a spitzer to even open up and mushroom. Spitzers often need at least 1800fps to mushroom adequately. Semi- spitzers mushroom faster as they are more rounded.

Of course there are pro’s and con’s.

I have harvested deer with spitzers which mushroom ideally and have harvested with round and flat nose as well. Both work! My limited experience is that game seems to drop more often, on the spot, with round or flat nose than with spitzers give that it is short range. On long range I trust Nosler AccuBonds and E-Tips. Round nose and flat nose bullets are still out there. Hornady, Barnes, Speer and Sierra  makes them too.

My Texas buck in 2018 was taken with a muzzleloader and semi-spitzer tip and a flat hollow point design under the tip. He never took a step. Of course 150 grains of powder and a 300 grain bullet dropped him right there because of the huge energy delivered and frontal surface area.

My brother loves his 444 Marlin lever action with 240 grain flat points for New Hampshire thick stuff. Otherwise he likes his 300 win mag that does it all. I like the .375 Ruger for hunting everything because I handload. Of course, if it is a rifle, I love them all and of nearly every caliber.

Great campfire fodder!

© Copyright 2020

 

 

Muzzleloading Deer in New Hampshire is a Real Leg Up on Rifle Season

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I have always believed that if you hunt muzzleloader season in New Hampshire, then you have a leg up on the rifle season, and a best chance to get a shot at a big buck, or any deer for that  matter.

Deer that are shot at, don’t hang around, or at least in daylight hours.

That said; muzzleloading is your best chance at hunting game which has not been spooked. 

But there is more.

In Line Muzzleloading rifles are easy to purchase, very cost effective, and super accurate.

But don’t wait till the last minute to get your muzzleloader gear.

In the week prior to the season which begins in my Zone M  on October 31, everybody is out shopping and finding few bullets they liked, powder that was out of stock. And they are sometimes mad that there was none left! Who is to blame for that!

WORD TO THE WISE

Be  super ready now, shoot your muzzleloader and get all your gear now while it is in stock! 

Stay clean, scout ahead, keep your hunt clothes away from odors that cling, and watch that wind.

Luck is where preparation meets opportunity!

Good Hunting!

 

My Labrador Retriever Puppy for Hunting and Family

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There are many outdoor friendships we have and my best hunting friend is my dog. We have had several dogs over the years. Our newest is a female Labrador Retriever we named Bella.

Bella is going to be my hunting dog (ducks for sure) and family dog for my wife and I. We got her from an purebred breeder at the age of 10 weeks old. She is now just over 12 weeks and growing like a weed on “Miracle Grow”. She chews on everything and especially likes my leather shoes. She is heavy into the investigative phase sticking her nose into everything and eating what I can’t get out of her mouth when outside. All that said, she is very loving and loves to have her belly rubbed. She is growing so fast in fact that i must increase my education and her training now! Accordingly I have a few dog hunting books now and ordered DVD’s and some dog training supplies which I will discuss later. The most important thing is to love  Bella and get me up to speed in the training department. More to come…

Good Hunting!

© 2020

Campfire Peach Cobbler in a Dutch Oven on Labor Day Weekend

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I wrote an article a while back about having Peach Cobbler while Trophy Hunting Whitetails in Texas. See below.

Campfire Peach Cobbler in a Cast Iron Dutch Oven

You know, I enjoyed that dessert so much using a camp fire cast iron Dutch oven that I bought my own and used it yesterday Labor Day Sunday! I did not use charcoal briquettes, I used wood coals from the campfire that had just cooked a bunch of lobsters. See image below.

Open the lid and here is the Peach Cobbler! It was OMG delicious and with a  dollop

of vanilla Ice Cream was sooo good!

It was a Labor Day Special Dessert! Not a crumb or peach was left. Note that I had purchased aluminum tray inserts for the oven. Easy cleanup!

Good Camping!

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