As you folks know, I hunted North Carolina’s Buffalo Creek Outfitters who read my bad reference for them. I gave the head of the day to day operations, who called me today, my honest opinion which again I highlighted. He spent more time distancing himself from me and other hunters than endearing us.

If you are going to hunt with an outfitter; You the hunter will sign a legal release of responsibility by the outfitter at the time of the hunt. You should be able to see the release before-hand like at an outdoor show! Ask for it! And ask for recent references of at least 3 hunters and phone numbers. Ask if they provide a post hunt survey to improve the hunt? Ask how big are the deer by age e.g., 1.5, 2.5, 3.5 years and the size of the area is to be hunting. What kind of stands or blinds? Distances to shoot? Reptiles/Bears? Water/ Swamps Fields? Special hunting rules not posted? Penalties?

The poor hunt was, in the end, my fault; my fault for not doing the homework. There are far better outfitters…

Further ask if they are members of a state or national outfitters association. These groups have guidelines to live by and are a source for you to praise or zing your outfitter.

The American Guide and Outfitter Associations listed state by state but North Carolina nor most southern states save Texas are listed but can create memberships and a place to go to get unbiased info on Guides just not where I hunted. See Montana http://www.montanaoutfitters.org/ for example

In the end what I said to this Outfitter in constructive feedback  is that you should have a Anonymous Hunter Feedback Survey Rating 1 to 10 (10 being the highest) and a box to collect the info without the hunters name. In that way I offered constructive feedback which he said he would consider.

Anonymous Survey Example:

Please Rate the Following:

Food 1 to 10

Feedback___________

Accommodations 1 to 10

Feedback_______________

Hunt 1 to 10

Feedback_______________

Personnel by Name 1-10

Feedback_____________

Overall Rating 1-10 ____________________

Things to make the hunt better?

If they will recommend this hunt to others. Y/N

Feedback_____________

http://www.rockinghamexpo.com/

Today it is possible because of military spec’s to buy an upper from one manufacturer and purchase a lower from someone else. Both need to go through an FFL dealer to purchase. My new AR is a hybrid where the Colt upper is mated to a mil spec lower. See Image below.

I shot 40 rounds (no glitches) with my son who also already owns an AR like semi-auto. Accuracy at 25 yards with open sights is a half inch.  I had a Tasco Red Dot sight already so we mounted it too and sighted it in. Groups were similar with  a red or green dot Image.

Back at home we cleaned it, took out the bolt and firing pin for cleaning and inspection. It was an easy task that looked harder than it was. Taking the forward and rear pins out then separate the upper from the lower. Of course many of you know this already. Next is to get a sling that works for me and connection points that I prefer. Forward is a hand grip that makes better sense than holding the picatiny rail. Recoil? What’s that? Of course it had recoil but it was not noticeable at all.

I will run this rifle through its paces for accuracy so  there is lots more to come.

© 2015

What’s under my Tree?

Santa thought,  now is a good time without going into detail. Nuff said? I agree! My firearm that Santa gave is a civilian AR model hybrid of an upper unit mated to a lower unit. I had the upper and Santa provided the lower after my background check at the FFL dealer. But it could be that you got a semi-auto pistol for conceal carry as well. See your local Police to obtain a permit!

Congratulations and… Incumbent on the owner is to become trained in the firearm use and care and to maintain safety at all times. The ownership of any gun carries with it great responsibility.

On the safety issue, it is vital that under that Christmas tree comes with the knowledge that all firearms should be under lock and stored safely, preferably in a Gun Safe or stored in such a way that children and the bad guys do not have access. Keep your bullets in another place is recommended when stored away.

Use of locks that thread through the breech are also an inexpensive way to make it safe helps too and are provided with new purchases. Use them if a Gun Safe is not immediately available but a gun safe should be one of your highest priorities.

Taking this kind of rifle to the range should be done by someone already familiar with it or have a friend that has experience with one.

If you are a member of a Shooting Club or Fish and Game Club, like I am then you should have access to safety handling and training with your firearm. If you are not a member of NRA or a local Club you should tackle that as a priority. Get this one done, as they say in the TV add!

If you are like me, you will want to be highly skilled in the use of any gun. Read, study and train. Regular use of this kind of firearm and training is necessary for optimum performance.

More Later! Be safe have fun and Merry Christmas!

Thank you Santa!

©2015

In an age where our current leaders and wanna be leaders ( I was thinkin’ Hillary and Bernie Sanders) and some nutty Marxist College Professors like Obama and that Senator from Massachusetts known as Pocahontas among many others on the Left  are selling you the idea that Man-made Climate Change decreed by so-called “scientific consensus” (a contradiction in terms)  is responsible for the “workplace violence” of Paris Shootings, San Bernardino Massacre at a Christmas Party, the Boston Bombing, Oklahoma jihad beheading and of course ISIS (Obama says they are just thugs and have nothing to do with Islam. Right!? This is pure insanity by our government!

God Almighty blessed us with intelligence at least when we are adults to see that “If you do not protect your family no one else will” in a leftist society gone PC bananas. The police are helpful and I am grateful for them, but I am responsible for my families safety, no one else. Out at a shopping mall, at the theater wherever there are large masses of people I need to be prepared and vigilant and avoid places that have lots of people but do not allow Conceal Carry or Open Carry. In fact many Police Chiefs in light of the San Bernardino shooting have encouraged Concealed carry by qualified trained, permit carrying civilians like you and I.

President Obama and the lack of Homeland Protection he offered by leftist administrators and Justice Department has single-handedly pushed America to arm itself to the teeth by threats to the Constitution and continues on that path by Obama threatening to use his pen to override the Constitution and throw down the second amendment leaving you helpless at the hands of terror from the invasion from the southern border and those jihadist who want you to convert to Islam or cut your head off.

We the People are still in charge so protect yourself and family today. It is not because of Man-made Climate Change (a lie) it is because of an irresponsible federal government not addressing Islamic Jihad. The  more Obama threatens the 2nd Amendment the more we buy guns and ammo for protection. American homes are increasingly becoming arsenals so safety and locking up firearms is ever important.  Accordingly get trained, practice often and be safe. Confidence comes with practice.

Packin’ Heat is rapidly becoming an American Thing in the face of Islamic terror and it certainly is not due to Climate Change!

Be Safe! God Bless you all and God Bless the USA.

©2015

Life is short! Make it Count this Christmas like I do! Purchase a Leupold!

The VX- R shown above: https://www.leupold.com/hunting-shooting/scopes/vx-r-riflescopes/vx-r-3-9x50mm/

 Of all the attributes of a rifle scope and a pair of binoculars the most important part is Reliability in all weather conditions like rain and snow from fogging and operation of the dials and its world class ability to transmit the best and brightest images to the hunter.

Yes, you are going to spend more but you will get a lot more life-long bang for your buck by making the investment now.

I have lesser optics in my home from over the years trying to save a buck, and have had failures mostly of loss of the dry filling such as Nitrogen in scopes and binoculars. It drove me bananas last year when I could not see through a lesser brand scope (begins with N) in cold deer weather. Leupold uses Nitrogen too but all of my Gold Ring Leupold scopes are state of the art Argon/Krypton filled with Xtended Twilight Lens System™ and Diamond Coat 2 ™ lenses

Quote from Leupold: “Its advantages are two fold according to Leupold: it nearly eliminates the effects of thermal shock, and the Argon/Krypton molecules are significantly larger than nitrogen molecules, reducing the diffusion of gases sealed inside your scope even more than our proven nitrogen technology already does.”

As a lifelong owner of USA manufactured Leupold Rifle Scopes such as the VX-2

, VX-3 below

and now below the VX-6 3-18 44mm  that does it all from near to way far! Leupold says: “Our VX-6 takes all the advantages of our Quantum Optical System and multiplies it times six. You get virtually every feature you can imagine—legendary ruggedness, stunning optics, and a huge 6x zoom ratio that shortens the distance to your next trophy. With a VX-6 atop your favorite rifle, the advantage is all yours.” 

https://www.leupold.com/hunting-shooting/scopes/vx-6-riflescopes/vx-6-3-18x44mm-side-focus-cds-zl/

these scopes were field tested by your truly here in New Hampshire, in South Africa and on southern hunts and never, ever had one fail. NEVER!  

I am a fan of bigger calibers some might say, shooting my favorite big bore, a .375 Ruger Cartridge as a hand loader.

If you want to jolt a scope to test its internal twin bias erector springs, mount it on a Ruger M77 African in .375 Ruger with 260 grain Nosler AB’s exiting the barrel at 2600 fps!! No it wasn’t a typo not 160 grains, but a whopping 260 grain bullet. At Nashua, NH 600 yard range I tested a VX-3 and shot 3 1/4 inch groups with the 260 Noslers at 600 yards. Search this site and you can read the article on it. Leupold helped make it all seem so easy!

I hunted Africa for plains game with a cost effective Leupold VX-2 on a Ruger M77 in .338 Winchester Magnum and it served me well and I even smashed it during recoil into metal re-rod while taking a world record Cape Kudu with my son Jason.

. We had to pry metal from the dial but it worked just fine. Leupold fixed it, no charge!

Below is a VX-2 and VX-3 on a pair of my Ruger’s.

All Leupold scopes are designed, machined and assembled in America. Each comes with a Golden Ring Lifetime Guarantee, which means if for any reason it fails to do what it’s supposed to do, we’ll either fix it or replace it to make it right. Guaranteed.

So what are you waiting for! Get a Leupold today!

© 2015

From the field to freezer and then to the stew-pot. Venison stew is perhaps one of the most warming of comfort foods in Winter. My wife and I have been using traditional Pressure Cookers to make our Venison stew for years but we have fallen for the newer Electronic Pressure Cookers because they are very easy to clean and make timing and cooking a breeze with auto shut off, browning, simmering and saute as key features besides the pressure cooking. Retails for 100 dollars on Amazon and ships free right now. We love our Cuisinart! It is a terrific Christmas gift to you and your hunting family!

It is all in one.

Yesterday it was cold and raining so I felt like making a Venison stew. Electronic defrost on my microwave does a nice job in just 12 minutes. I just pop in the frozen vacuum sealed container of venison, set the defrost and hit start.

I like to cook the meat first and cook vegetables later with the meat. There are many Electric Pressure Cookers on the market. We have the Cuisinart below and like it very much

Ingredients:

1 lb cubed Venison

3 tbsp Olive Oil

1 tbsp Butter

4 tbsp flour

1 tsp kosher salt

1 tsp fresh ground black pepper

Using the Coated Pot with lid off

Place oil and butter in pot with meat coated with flour

Set the Menu to Brown and hit start.

Stir and sear meat to brown and carmelize as you like.

To pressure cook stop the browning: Add 1 cup of dry red wine and 3/4 cup of beef stock.

Place Lid and high pressure cook for 8 minutes following the manual instructions.After the timer goes off I will let the steam out by turning the steam weight. When there is no steam coming out the seal indicator will show there is no pressure and you can open the lid.

It takes time to reach the correct pressure thus allowing you to cut and prepare vegetables. I use 4 Potatoes cut into 1/8 chunks, Two cups of carrot cut into chunks. Three medium onions quartered. Two cups Celery cut to 1 1/2 inch pieces. Add what ever else you want such as turnip too.

Add vegetables to the pot along with 2 bay leaves, 2 cloves minced or pressed garlic. You can add other herbs as you like. I put in a pinch of dried oregano, basil and thyme.

Put the lid on and Pressure cook for 7 minutes. Bleed the steam off as I said earlier and open the lid. I added more beef stock, a butter/flour rue to thicken if needed. Salt and Pepper to taste and add 2 tablespoons of dry parsley or fresh chopped parsley. 

If you like mushrooms in your stew, I would saute some ahead of time and add them at the end.

Serve hot with your favorite beverage (a dry red wine goes well)  with  a hot sliced French Baguette with real butter. Ok, I’m getting Hungry!

Serves 4.

© 2015

There are many small Sporting Shops in New Hampshire and often they have expertise that some of the larger stores do not have. That said; Shop them all for Christmas. Large and Small. Put a smile on your hunters face this Christmas!

Stocking Stuffer Ideas

Gift cards to Outdoor Stores

Hunting Topo Map software for USA

A space blanket

Matches or a lighter for lighting outdoor fires

Water purification devices or tablets

A backpack saw or hatchet

A new Hunting Knife

Sharpening knife kit

A new First Aid Kit

Camo face mask

Trigger Pull gage.

Gun cleaning kit.

Slip on Pachmayr Recoil Reduction Pad – Decelerator

Gun cleaning products

Paper Targets, clay pigeons.

Laser Rangefinders

Ammo

Clothes wash products for Hunt Clothes

Deer and Turkey Hunt calls and decoys

Duck Hunt calls and decoys

2 way radios

Under the Tree Santa Ideas

New Gun?

Gun cases?

Gun safes?

Leupold Scopes, Binoculars, Spotting scopes, Night scopes

Reloading Press and Kit

Reloading Manuals and videos for reloading

Hunting Boots, Hats, Clothes

Camo kits for guns.

Camo Back Pack

Caldwell Bench Rest and Lead Sled’s

My wife and I sponsored wreaths to honor our fallen hero’s. Many of my hunting friends like me are former military. At a cost of $15 per wreath it is a great way to show your support for our fallen. http://www.wreathsacrossamerica.org/

God Bless our Troops!