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.
UPDATE : I had trouble installing the new spring for the trigger so I am sending the frame to BELLM to do the work.
As most of you know, I tested the TC Pro Hunter 50 cal. Muzzleloader/30-06 Springfield Rifle Combo this summer and fall…and I bought it! The cheek rest and ammo pouch is an add on of mine.
I love the combination as I can now buy barrels for shotgun and other calibers for it. The only thing that can be significantly improved upon is the trigger. So I ordered the G2 kit below from the new website. http://1gunshop.com/catalog/?ret_id=1485279
I want the trigger pull in the 2 1/2 to 3 1/2 pound range so Kurt from the 1gunshop set me up for it. The kit should be here soon so I can install and test it before my Russian Boar Hunt.
In addition I will test the trigger with Nosler’s 30-06 Springfield 168 grain E-Tip that Zach Waterman of Nosler is sending me.
along with Leupold’s VX-6 zoom scope. It has a lighted crosshair too…
We all enjoy eating our wild game don’t we! I have shot Nosler E-Tips in my game and into media (fir planks) and find that the bullet flairs into petals for the E-Tip and stays together. It is a gilding copper bullet that will leave less copper in your barrel rifling than other bullet manufacturers.
In a deer hunt in 2015, I killed a spike buck at 300 yards with my test gun, a Savage 11/111 in 7mm Remington Magnum’Leupold VX-6 combo, loaded with 140grain Nosler E-Tips. Below is the exit wound.
I shot once a bit high and got full penetration, the deer fell like lighting but stood up moments later. The second shot was 4 inches lower through the lower ribs and shoulder and exited. The deer fell in its tracks for good! No trace of either bullet was found and I liked the fact that there was no chance of lead fragmentation from a bone strike that I have seen in my non bonded cheaper bullets of other manufacture. In bone strikes of early deer kills, I had to cut a large chunk of meat around the bullet path as lead and copper fragments were seen.
AccuBond Bullets are designed where the lead is bonded to the copper and stays together BIGLY, while other bullets come apart. The AccuBond keeps the lead together much more so, thus I believe it is also best in Class.
The AccuBond has been produced as an “all range” bullet, for near and far. Below is a 800 lb Bison I took with a 260 grain AccuBond with my Ruger M77 African Rifle and VX-3 Leupold Scope at 100 yards quartering away. The bullet entered the last rib and angled forward through the heart and lungs and exited after busting the opposite shoulder. The buffalo dropped in its tracks! No fragments found around the bullet path or wound site.
Another AccuBond Kill was a nice Moose with the same rifle and load.
For those who are shooting beyond 500 yards there is the Long Range AccuBond which has one of the highest Ballistic Coefficients for its bonded design as a hunting bullet. See the video below.
I have not had an opportunity to shoot this LRAB as I have no immediate need to hunt that long a range at this time, but if I do, you know I will use this bullet.
In closing, I have had more meat, and less fragment damage with the E-Tip and AccuBond than any hunting bullet EVER!.
UPDATE – My good friend Zach Waterman at Nosler is sending me Nosler gilding copper E-Tips to use on my upcoming Russian Boar Hunt so we can again see how a shoulder hit on a big game animal can still be accomplished with little or no fragmentation and no lead in the meat.
For those hunter souls that want to stalk game in the dead of winter long after deer season, it is important to know that smell, sound of footsteps in snow, and movement that has contrast (dark against a light background are still the biggest give-a-ways.
Contrast/Movement
This is a big one that you can equalize by wearing Snow Camo that blends your silhouette with a snowy backdrop. I intend to hunt Russian Boar in February and am giving lots of thought to my preparation.
I just purchase Seclusion 3D winter camo from Cabela’s. It is on Sale. I purchased a jacket that can go over my hunt jacket and a head mask. I expect that it will help to minimize my taller contrast in the snow. I also bought snow camo insulated gloves from eBay. I could have purchased pants or bib overalls but it was too much for my budget to add for now.
I wish to thank my world-wide readership for the ever increasing popularity of New Hampshire Rifleman Magazine On-Line. The year 2017 should be even better. More Hunting, more shooting, more articles.
If the temperature is very cold, like in the teens or less, you can experience firing pin issues if you are using a wet lubricant. It is best to go dry and use powdered graphite
like Brownells below. And dry fire your rifle on occasion before and during the hunt to keep that pin floating.
There is nothing quite like cutting a slice of sausage that you made yourself and putting it on a cracker along with your beer or wine. Oh, my God, does that put a smile on my face! There are hundreds of recipes out there to try. And there is a huge market for the suppliers of machines and stuffers to sell you. The easiest sausage is one that is made by hand in patties with no outer wrapping. The key to good sausage be it breakfast or otherwise is to add pork to your recipe that has a high fat content so that your sausage remains moist. If you haven’t made it before then follow recipes that others find satisfactory. All wild game including wild boar has so little fat that by itself will resemble neary 100% protein and will be a tough chew. It is the pork fat that carries flavor as well. Discard any fat from your wild game as it often carries a gamy taste. If there is lots of blood in the game meat then immerse/cover in ice and let it melt and carry blood away with it. Rough grind your wild meat then add the ground pork and then fine grind together so it is perfectly blended with pork fat.
The recipe below is so simple a child could do it!
If you want to have sausage to slice and freeze, you can roll a tube in wax paper and then slice and freeze it. If you want your slices for long term freezing, then put slices on a tray with wax paper, freeze then proceed to vacuum seal the slices and they won’t deform under the vacuum process. Or you can buy sausage tubing to stuff. There is a large market for gear, curing, smoking but by the time you are done you have spent lots of money so be advised to spend wisely. If you are big into game and have lots of meat then perhaps it is valuable to invest more.
I made the purchase of a larger LEM #8 meat grinder 1/3 hp from BassPro for Christmas $329. Thanks Santa! I also got some food grade silicone spray for the grinder part protection and easy clean-up.
and a few sausage making kits from my local BassPro Shop.
I own an older vacuum sealer and love it. Still works fine!
First, let me say that I have taught Hunter Education and shot placement on many animals. I have studied African Game shot placement with rifle as well. Wild boar seem to have their heart a bit lower and the shoulder/leg bone is a bit more forward than deer do. If you shoot just above the forward leg, you will have a heart shot but it is important to give yourself some additional room that will always kill your animal. Many experts agree to target the heart/lung area which is larger than just the heart. Further, that you want to damage both shoulders in the process if possible so that your boar has zero chance at a charge from a big ornery boar.
The lower picture shows a high heart/low lung hit in yellow. This is ideal. To do damage to both shoulders you need a bullet that can penetrate. Yes you can kill with smaller bores but if really close, it is comforting to have a big bullet.
See https://www.bing.com/images/search?q=Wild+Boar+Kill+Shots
Research in shooting “very large” Russian Boar is that a large caliber slug from a shotgun like a 12 guage or a 30 or 40 caliber such as the 30-06 Springfield, 300 Win Mag, 444 Marlin or 45/70 or a .375 does the trick and provides for the phrase used so often by Robert Ruark – USE ENOUGH GUN! In addition it is wise to carry a big bore side arm if possible. I am opting for my Ruger M77 African
with the .375 Ruger and 260 grain Nosler AccuBonds if I decide on a giant Russian Boar. On left. The AccuBond is a bonded lead bullet to the copper and will not come apart. Right is a monolithic solid used for Cape Buffalo and Elephant as a back up shot.
I have seen these boar fall dead in video and in others charge the hunter while wounded. Years ago my African PH said quite simply, “it is the dead ones that will kill you.” Your guard is down and in close proximity there is no time to react. Give your boar some respect and a little time to die.
Head Shots and Neck Shots drop them fast if you can get your boar to stand still.
My Outfitter is a chef and likes head shots so it does not ruin meat and suggests that the 375 for a head shot is not necessary so will take my Ruger American Predator in 6.5 Creedmoor too as it is akin to the .270 Winchester and quite capable. Lots of lesser Wild Boar are killed with .243 Winchester but a giant bruiser Russian boar up close, well…you better be a good shot.
Bow and Arrow
Heart Lung shots with bow or crossbow are quite common and are big medicine on Russian Boar. My Outfitter has a crossbow that I will try out while there. I may even take my own Bow on this trip. Who knows!
All in all should make for some adrenaline moments to remember.
New Hampshire Rifleman’s winning combination is the Ruger American – Predator Rifle in 6.5 Creedmoor winning Hornady bullet and winning Leupold VX-6 3-18x 44mm CDS scope.
The Rifle
The rifle that won my value driven pocket book is the Ruger American for under $400 dollars yet shoot sub-Minute of Angle at 100 yards as my Test Rifle. Not long ago it took a few thousand dollars to shoot groups like that. Adjustable Trigger, floating barrel and so much more that you have to read the spec sheet below. http://ruger.com/products/americanRiflePredator/specSheets/6973.html
In particular I have tested two of the rifles, one in 243 Winchester and the other in 6.5mm Creedmoor in the Predator series. Both shot sub MOA out of the box and both were in the $400 price range. Exceptional performance from these rifles was uncanny. I bought them both but later sold the .243 as recoil was similar to the 6.5 Creedmoor and it delivered more energy punch hands down. Wow! Accuracy? We got it!
The Cartridge
The 6.5 Creedmoor Cartridge is just slightly smaller than the .308 Winchester yet with a 143 grain bullet at 1000 yards it beats the long standing military champ .308 or 7.62 NATO in both trajectory and wind deflection. As a first time 1000 yard shooter, I was able to break 8 inch balloons at 1000 yards. If you couple that with an Extremely Low Drag Bullet you have a fabulous combo for Target, as that was the original intent of the cartridge, but what about Hunting? The 6.5mm Creedmoor can handle a wider array of big game bullet weights than the 6mm/243 Winchester. I suspect the 6.5 will in time overshadow the 6mm at least as a big game hunting round as it delivers a bullet in the .270 Winchester class with the mild recoil of a 6mm. Of course bullet velocities are a bit slower. The .270 Winchester is still a faster bullet as is the 7mm Remington Magnum but at a higher cost of recoil as well.
The Bullet
Hornady Precision Hunter ELD-X™ in 143 grain with new Heat Shield™ Tips Patent Pending with AMP® Advanced Manufacturing Process. Mushroom design as low as 1800 fps and stays together out of the barrel. ACCURATE-DEADLY-DEPENDABLE
In testing by Hornady, the Hornady Precision Hunter ELD-X™ Extremely Low Drag Bullet has a very impressive G1 Ballistic Coefficient of .625/ G7 BC .315 for hunting at any distance within the delivered Energy Envelope for the game hunted such as 1000 ft-lb for deer 1500 ft-lb for Elk size game. Click the video below.
The Target
The Scope
Leupold VX-6 3-18x44mm Side Focus CDS see the VX-6 video below
https://youtu.be/t9ocquk0m7Y
The most expensive item was the scope. The VX-6 is unparalleled in quality and zoom and has dual erector springs that are vital in a far off hunt. This scope raises the bar in optical quality. You can spend more, but you will likely not get more dollar for dollar. It is a scope for all time, near or far it is my best scope to date. It’s versatility, reliability was nearly unimaginable just a few years back. Retail $850 to $1430 and worth every penny. Leupold Scopes are All American Made!
A perfect 10 combination for a big game hunter for deer, elk and African Plains game with low recoil. And my grandkids can shoot it!
Put a Ruger American-Predator Rifle Combo under your Christmas tree!
I have cooked in my kitchen for many years along with my wife but there is always more to learn. If I am successful in my early February hunt and I do fully expect to be, I need to bone-up on meat preparation. Pun intended. I am comfortable doing the butchering as long as my meat is refrigerated. No problem in February! I have made it a habit to vacuum seal and freeze all of my meat for a month before eating any quantity. This does a few things, freezing is a way to reduce gamy flavor and aids in tenderizing. Vacuum sealed meats can last for more than a year or longer in a good freezer. If you want to try dry aging your meat there is a way today to do that in a separate refrigerator with a dry age box at this website. http://thesteakager.com/?gclid=CPmo-KSE-dACFQ1MDQodbN0LQg I have not tried this but looks very interesting.
On to the Marinades. My research finds that blood is the main carrier of gamy flavor, so if your meat has lots of blood then soak it in Buttermilk for 4 hours or more. Overnight works too to remove the blood and tenderize. Buttermilk has an enzyme and microorganisms that aids in the tenderizing process. Yogurt does this too. This website has a great recipe which begins with the buttermilk marinade. http://www.marksdailyapple.com/buttermilk-marinated-pork-chops/
To add flavor and tenderize, try these. The pineapple and Papaya have enzymes to tenderize and not mask the flavor. Apple Cider vinegar aids in the tenderizing process in many recipes. I use Braggs “Apple Cider Vinegar with the Mother”.
As I contemplate my Russian Boar Hunt, my mind wanders to the “Table Fare” Issue. I love to cook my wild game, and many pounds of great wild pork in your freezer is heaven but equally pounds of tough overly gamey meat is not.
Basically, they say that the flavor can vary as to what the animal was eating and how the game was handled after the kill…this is true for all game. Giant size over 300 pounds may play a role perhaps in meat toughness if very old, I think but hunters say still very flavorful so if want a bruiser, then go for it.
Make more burger. I’d like both a respectable Boar and Very good eating so we shall see. Culinary masters are cooking up a storm on these boar like Emeril Lagasse see on Martha Stewart.com. Emeril video works up twin boar chops with his “Essence” on the grill and a blueberry balsamic sauce with onion and shallots. Wow! My mouth is watering.
Most say that well cared for, Boar meat is just delicious no matter the size. One wife says it is better than domestic pork. Lots of folks all like ground wild boar in chili or sausage but add pork fat. All agree meat is very lean.
You can go on YouTube and see lots of Russian Boar Hunts around the world. I am not one to sit and wait for dangerous game. I like the spot and stalk method best, because I can select the animal I am after. Many hunts here in the north in “high fence” for Russian Boar are in the deep snows of winter. Tracking and cutting a fresh snow trail of several boar is a likely a great way to begin a spot and stalk like I did with my 1000 pound Bison some winters back in 2 foot deep powder snow. Fact is even the women are getting into the hunt for Russian Boar. See Below YouTube.
Below a young hunter gets adventure and a charging boar and comes home to tell about it. See this YouTube below. Shot placement is key, with sufficient energy to exit.
Below is a youtube of boar head mounts.
I am not hunting with these outfits, I will share my hunt and Outfitter if it all works out as planned.
