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.

Prediction – 6.5 Creedmoor Cartridge will overshadow the .243 Winchester by Ed Hale

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I owned a .243 Winchester and tested a few Rifles in that Caliber for my New Hampshire Rifleman Magazine. I loved the accuracy and low recoil but it always nagged at me that bullet weight and CXP Criteria Limited the Cartridge to deer size game. Hornady’s HIT’s Calculator does the same. I entered 110 grains bullet, .243 diameter and velocity 2700 fps at impact and got a HIT value of 790 making it a medium game deer cartridge or smaller.

http://www.hornady.com/hits/calculator

On the other hand with the 6.5 Creedmoor at 129 grains and Impact at 2700 fps it puts me into large game for 100 yard impact velocities with very similar low recoil. Further, that the sectional density SD of the .243 Winchester is .242 or less and does not have enough weight for its diameter to “reliably” penetrate sufficiently on larger game such as elk.

I tested rifles with 6.5 Creedmoor and found them easy to shoot and low recoil yet todays bullet advances make it ideal for both target and hunting with the 140 to 143 grain bullet on big game above deer. But I still consider it for thin skinned game like elk and big black bear and close-up, under 100 yards for big moose broadside only. Where it shines is long range! With an extremely low drag bullet it is fantastic for energy retention. I own a Ruger American Predator in 6.5 Creedmoor and simply love its accuracy and low recoil yet can take a broadside moose in the right hands with good shot placement. Accordingly, I sold my .243 Winchester.

See the Chuck Hawks website below on Sectional Density

http://www.chuckhawks.com/sd.htm

In the case of the 6.5 Creedmoor the SD is .287 with a 140 grain bullet providing ample penetration for its weight vs diameter on CXP 3 size game and the 143 grain Hornady ELD-X nearly places it in the Winchester CXP-4 category.

The 6.5 Creedmoor was created for Target and beats the .308 round in long range competition but with Low Drag Ammo the 6.5 Creedmoor shines in Long Range Hunting for Big Game like Elk and African Plains Game like Kudu and game under the Eland.

Recommended Energies for Moose are 2500 ft-lbs but that hasn’t stopped the .270 and 30-06 hunters from using these rifle cartridges on Moose at over 100 yards and believe the 6.5 Creedmoor will kill moose cleanly at 100 yards or less with a well placed broadside shot.

There is one attribute that Jack O’Connor, a great hunting mentor,  would be greatly pleased with, and that is low recoil, thus allowing for very accurate bullet placement. This he discussed this incessantly in regard to the .270 Winchester with 130 grain bullets.

In conclusion the .243 Winchester’s recoil as compared to the 6.5 Creedmoor is a little less but so is its limit on game hunted. Thus I predict over time the 6.5 Creedmoor which is supremely accurate and delivers CXP3 energy and high SD for deep penetration will overtake the .243 in future sales but will not erase the  millions of rifles chambered in 243 Winchester for CXP2 or less size game.

© 2017 All Rights Reserved.

 

 

 

Highlight- The Remington 783 Rifle comes with a Scope for How Much?

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Since 2013 the Remington Model 783 has come down in price and includes a 3-9x40mm Scope ready to shoot. Price – around $340.00 to $400.00 with scope. Can you say Wow! Just several years back you’d pay $800.00 to $1000 or more for the Rifle alone…And for a bit more it comes in Camo too!

I have not shot this rifle but coming from Remington you should have great aspirations for at least 1 MOA or better if you hand load. It has so many features that I get dizzy reading about them all for that price! A new hunter has only to buy his ammo and head to the range! An exceptional value for a budget conscious hunter! Read more at the Remington site below.

https://www.remington.com/rifles/bolt-action/model-783/model-783-scoped

Adjustable Trigger

Great Recoil Reduction 54% Super Cell

Dual Pillar Bedding

Free Float Barrel

Cartridges – Just about anything up to 300 Winchester Magnum.

GOOD HUNTING! GOOD SHOOTING!

 

Russian Boar Forensic Lung and Heart of Nosler E-Tip 30-06 168 grain

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This video is a Forensic exam ( I use that term loosely)  as I recorded on video, demonstrates for the hunter first and foremost that the  Nosler E- Tip was devastating on this 350 pound Russian Boars lungs and heart.  Second that hitting the heart for me was a testament to study of wild boar anatomy before the hunt as I wrote in articles more than a month ago. As you can see it was a perfect double lung hit with the reward of striking the heart as well making for a fast clean kill.

© 2017

 

Spring is not far off. NH Rifleman Magazine will be testing and writing soon.

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I am beginning to look at new rifles to test. My main objective is accuracy, reliability and affordability. Along with that is to test scopes, spotting scopes, rangefinders and bullets/cartridges and reloading. I also want to look at backpacks this year for those who want a pack to carry your rifle and meat out of the field and forest. And talk about hunts and bucket lists and cooking in the field. Should be great fun!

New Hampshire Rifleman Magazine Seen Around the World. by Ed Hale

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It is perhaps the most rewarding to see my New Hampshire Rifleman Magazine grow and be read by sportsmen and women around the world. To you my readers I say thank you!

My statistics of readership in the many thousands each month give the lions share to the USA and then Canada. But it just blows my mind away to see readership in Germany, Great Britain, Australia, South Africa, Spain, Switzerland, Croatia, Brazil, Slovakia.

I have not advertised nor significantly promoted the Magazine, it has grown largely by the trust placed in me to write about products from companies like Nosler, Leupold, Ruger, Savage and Thompson Center, Bellmtc, Timney Triggers and Skinner bog in Maine to hunt Russian Boar just to name a few. Web searches find us regularly.

We try to test and write about products that hunters and shooters need, like rifles, scopes, rangefinders and bullets, reloading etc.. We talk about places to hunt and bringing game to the table for friends and family to enjoy.

I would rather hunt that just about anything for the heart pounding adventure and to the value hunting provides for wildlife conservation, food, survival, woodsmanship, healthy living away from our electronic world and to respect our connection to nature as the caring predators that we are.

Hunt Forever! God Bless America!

Wild Game – Partridgeberry Cumberland Sauce

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Ok now you’ve got some game meat that is tender and juicy but you want to heighten the palate to a new level as I do. You want to serve it to your finest guests and to family and make the meal memorable without question. That is how I feel when I am cooking, if it is worth doing for your guests it is worth doing it so it is memorable.

I found such a sauce. It is entitled Cumberland Sauce, named after the Duke of Cumberland in the late 1800’s also known as Crown Prince of Hanover. It’s derivation however is not English, it is of German origin. It has a puckering wine-citrus sweet-sour fruit bouquet that enhances any wild game to a whole new level by tingling your taste buds. Great with wild boar, venison, duck, goose or wild turkey.

Cumberland Sauce traditionally uses red currant preserve (not easy to find) as its fruit base but here I am going to substitute lingonberry or partridgeberry Preserve with Blueberries as the Newfoundlanders do.  Partridgeberry is a low bush cranberry found in the maritime provinces of Canada and Newfoundland and identical to the Lingonberry of Denmark and Sweden. My wife and I love the partridgeberries of Newfoundland where her family originated. Accordingly we will call it Partridgeberry Cumberland Sauce

Image result for partridge berry of newfoundland

Partridgeberry Cumberland Sauce

Ingredients:

Rind from 1 orange zested or sliced and julienned

Rind from 1 lemon zested or sliced and Julienned

1/2 jar (6 oz) of Lingonberry or Partridgeberry Preserve.

Or 6 oz cranberry sauce

 

2 TBSP of Blueberries (fresh or frozen) Wild Newfoundland blueberries are better

1/2 cup of Port Wine

The juice of 1 large orange (approx. 1/4 cup)

The juice of 1 lemon (about 1/8 cup)

1/2 TBSP Dijon Mustard

1/4 teaspoon ground ginger.

Directions:

Cook the rind, boil the orange and lemon zest or julienned rind over high heat in 1.5 cups water and boil/blanch for 2 minutes for zest and 5 minutes for the rind. (Save a pinch of zest or boiled rind for a garnish at the end.) Strain and toss out the water. The resultant rind and residue will retain citric kick but tender.

 

To an empty pan add port wine, blueberries, Lingonberry/Partridgeberry Preserve, orange juice, lemon juice ( I used a hand operated squeezer to make the juice) mustard and ginger and brought to a boil. Once the blueberries burst they added the bright red color I desired (about 3 to 5 minutes). Strain through a fine sieve or cheese cloth.

Simmer with cooked orange and lemon rind until thickening appears on a spoon.

 

 

Serve in its own dipping cup with garnish. It can be served hot or cold. I like mine warm for dipping.

Makes just over a cup for a meal for 4 as a dip. The recipe can be doubled if desired. Refrigerate any remaining…you wont want to lose a drop.

Variants of berries can be substituted to create your very own Cumberland Sauce.

Have some fun! A cookbook may be in the works….

Wow!

© Copyright 2017 All Rights Reserved.

 

 

 

Why Hunt Russian Boar?

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Why hunt Russian boar in Maine woods, like I did at Skinner Bog Hunt Park? I answered that when I put 100 pounds of the best meat I have eaten, in my freezer and to provide for my family and friends.

This high fence hunt is a way to keep interest in the ability to kill for food and understand that someone must kill for you to live. Might as well be me! And I love to cook and eat what I catch too! Skinner Bog has deer and elk too.

http://www.skinnerbogdeerfarm.com/russian-boar-hunts/

I prefer to hunt deer, bear, turkey and other large game but when my budget and time off work are meager, I will do what I love best, one way or another. I just love to Hunt!

I like to eat what I kill, my dad taught me to garden and to hunt to self provide. He and his parents lived through the depression and the protein menu was often beans and what game you brought home of any and all types.

Russian Boar hunting in a high fence hunt often provides an opportunity to shoot but, in my opinion, it is not a guarantee. You, the hunter, must have a measure of skill. It can be harder or easier to kill your boar depending on how you like to hunt such as stand hunts over food where you wait for the boar to come to you. Still Hunting in the dead of winter is my favorite time and method because you are using your senses of sight, sound and smell. It takes more skill to still hunt in thick cover where you have to read sign and determine the age of the tracks and droppings. I hope to hunt them next with my bow to up the challenge.

The chances of getting a  shot at these boar are extremely good in high fence hunting because of forage and silage provide to feed these boar create windows of going to or coming from a feeding area in the deep woods.

Ok, so why high fence hunt these animals at all? Why not just get your pork at the supermarket? First of all the meat is darker and redder than pork so you can’t get it at the local store.  It is for the same reason that a hunter hunts deer. Hunters like me like to hunt and they like to eat and cook (chef) what they catch or harvest and I like to know what my animal ate, how it lived in a wild setting, and see that this animal was harvested and utilized fully for its nutrition. I was doubly rewarded when I decide to butcher the animal at home and cut it up to my liking and of course I learned so much about the meat and use of the fat.

I highly recommend a hunt of this type if you want to provide for yourself instead of the supermarket because your chances of bringing home the some of the best meat you will ever eat are so terrific.

Good Hunting!

© 2017

Whatya do with 35 pounds of Russian Boar Fat Trimmings? By Ed Hale

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I was just amazed at the quantity and quality of fat from my very hairy Russian Boar.

Of course I have boasted about the quality of meat a bit, but here I could have just thrown that beautiful fat in the trash as a byproduct of the butchering process.

That is not me, I love to experiment! Accordingly, I read up on the rendering process and what I could do with the resultant lard. For the record, the fat does not smell much, the wet rendering process creates little odor in the kitchen that my wife was concerned about. “Wet rendering” is a hot water bath in a large pot that renders (pulls the fat as a liquid) the fat so that as the fat melts, it will not burn.

Below are 2 pots that have slowly heated water, beginning the process. Some folks, I did not think of it, will put the fat through a meat grinder which speeds up the rendering process significantly.  I turned the stove vent on low to ensure little odor.

The next best thing was to cut up the fat in the pot with scissors.

After 3 hours, the fat was somewhat liquified at a temperature of 275ºF measured with my candy thermometer.

I could tell when the water which boils at 212 F was gone because the temperature of the liquid rose slowly above 212 to the 275 mark. I was patient to heat the fat slowly over my natural gas stove so I did not burn it.

Here I am pouring the fat into wide mouth canning jars.

After cooling for several hours the fat now called Lard has solidified and off to the freezer. The lard is good enough for making fine pastry dough or for frying foods such as chicken, fish, seafood, french fries or even to make donuts or fried dough. The good fats in this lard are abundant but like everything, moderation is key.

Below is a neat article suggesting that Lard is the new health food. It is a fun read or the saturated-fat-healthy article below that.

http://www.foodandwine.com/articles/lard-the-new-health-food

http://greatist.com/health/saturated-fat-healthy

So don’t throw out that fat, render it. I now give a tiny bit to my dogs in their food. They love it. I can’t wait to fry with it too.

Here is the fat in my freezer below. I did not mention the left over fat solids are called crackle and can be used in salads etc. I have yet to use the crackle but saved some for a later use.

© 2017 All Rights Reserved

 

 

Carving My Russian Boar at Home? How’s it Going? by Ed Hale

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If you have butchered your own game then making the jump to a large skinned and quartered wild boar is just simply more to cut-up but you need refrigerator space or a very cold garage to store meat while cutting.

I have stored the quarters of meat in my cooler in very cold February winter garage at around 15 to 20 degrees F until I got to them to cut up. Below are the ribs laying on the large rear leg roasts. Look at the fat on the base of the ribs!

I have had the meat home for one week and have literally just one piece left to cut up, a rear leg,and I might just leave it whole and freeze it. Below my LEM Grinder.

I have created nearly 100 pounds of vacuum sealed meat such as Chops, Stew meat, Roasts, Steaks, Boar Burger, Breakfast Sausage, Italian Sweet Sausage, Chorizo Sausage, and mild Apple and Leek Sausage.

I used the book “Home Sausage Making” 3rd Edition by Susan Mahnke Peery and Charles G. Reavis by Storey Puiblishing. It is a simple straight forward book. I like it!

https://www.amazon.com/Home-Sausage-Making-How-Techniques/dp/158017471X 

below breakfast sausage patties on left, Italian sausage links on right and coarse grind meat below.

I have grilled a few chops, they are soooo good and the sausage is fantastic!.

 

Made a boar stew that was so good that I shared it only with my family.

 

My wife loves the Apple and Leek sausage perhaps the most but the breakfast sausage patties are fabulous too. Much of the sausage I did in 2 pound increments so if I liked it, could make more or didn’t like it, I lost 2 pounds meat in the test.

My boar burger is rough ground and works “the nuts” in my Chili Recipe. Honestly, I have been a hunter for over 50 years and this Russian Boar, a female, is the best eating game animal I have ever experienced so I am taking care to vacuum seal every morsel.

I have yet to use any tenderizer methods on this meat! Wow!!

Good Hunting and Good Eating!

© 2017

Russian Boar Shield No Match for Nosler E-Tips by Ed Hale

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Long before the bullet entered my 300 lb plus Russian boar at Skinner Bog, the bullet encountered the “Shield” at 15 yards. The “Shield” is an unbelievably thick leather like gristle in the hide itself perhaps 3 inches thick that protects the vitals of these boar. The shield is for protection in battle for mating purposes, to prevent the tusks of an aggressor boar (some as large as 5 inches) from entering the vitals.  Having said that, the 168 grain copper bullet was designed to  “E”xpand and it did just that on the shield placing 2700 ft-lbs on a half inch area. The Energy Expansion tip E²Cavity™ video below.

 

As the E² Cavity fully expanded on the boar shield hide it set up a 2700 fps supersonic shock wave that created radial blood vessel damage of more than 6 inches in my giant boar with a quarter size entry wound in the image below and completely wrecked the lungs and heart. It collected some tissue with it and punched a 2 inch exit hole in the ribs and blew through the shield on the other side. Wow!! Talk about making a hole!

Yes it’s original design was for lead free zones but I like the fact that it does not come apart, exhibits no lead and keeps on trucking! When I was in the Navy, we used the term, “make a hole” to get through a crowded room. This new term “Make A Hole” is given new meaning with the E-Tip exit hole below.

In conclusion, I did lose some rib meat to the radial damage but the bullet exited fully expanded and intact after breaking the shield and ribs on both sides.

Regular copper jacketed lead bullets in 30 caliber would have mushroomed completely “at that speed” with likely jacket separation and lead fragmentation.

The only other bullet that can take this punishment and not come apart is a bonded bullet where the lead and copper are bonded together like the Nosler AccuBond.

So if you are like me and serving your game to friends and family the E- Tip is a fabulous choice and the best choice for me.

Good Hunting!

© 2017