New Hampshire Fish and Game has banned Bobcats hunting/trapping for many years. 

In May 2024 bobcat numbers are expected to explode.

NHFG says current Bobcat numbers in NH are around 1400 and may be upwards of 2000 in New Hampshire.

I believe Rockingham county is seeing a surge and these bobcats are regularly seen on-the-prowl in daylight.

And Rockingham is where we humans raise our kids and have our pets.

These supposedly cute bobcats kill young adult deer and fawns and turkeys in May and June. And compete with human’s hunting turkey and deer. 

But, just like coyotes have done in New Hampshire and all along the east coast. the bobcat and its young becomes entrenched, and surplus prey species such as deer, rabbits and squirrels subside, accordingly the bobcats will turn to pets and children just like coyotes have done.

I support a controlled hunting and trapping season for bobcats! Just like Massachusetts, Vermont and Maine have done.

Be aware when turkey hunting in May that bobcats will come to your turkey call and may likely attack thinking you are a turkey.

If attacked, hunters should defend themselves.

New Hampshire Rifleman Magazine predicts pet and human attacks will surface as bobcat numbers remain protected.

 Be Predator Aware! And tell Fish and Game to stop protecting bobcats.

UPDATE

My old Red Dot  Adjustments no longer work. Replaced with a Feyachi Reflex $42 dollars. 

Below is the original article

I took my AR-15 out to the range and swapped out my leupold rifle scope for my red dot scope for hunting coyotes near dusk. I always had to tuck my head and cheek low to see the red dot.

It’s an older model red dot, but it works fine. I found a picatinny riser rail that raises the scope ideally.  Below is my $12 dollar, Feyachi Picatinny Riser Mount, 0.75″/0.83″/0.95″ High, 5 Slots Riser Mount for Red Dot Sight.

I am not into paying big bucks for a new scope right now. Cost of the riser was $12 on line. My kind of fix! Yes, you can spend hundreds.on a new optic. 

Good Hunting!

I learned years ago, to fix problems I encountered with my hunting rifles for my African Safari. 

My first fix was to get rid of the hard recoil pads. Enough of beating up my shoulder. Two of the best state-of-the-art pads to reduce felt recoil are SIms SVL® Recoil pads below

and Pachmayr Decelerator® Pads.

You can also purchase these pads as temporary slip-on’s Below.

Both reduce felt recoil up to 50% by absorbing the instant hard kick and giving you a softened kick over milliseconds of time in soft calibrated rubber.  In addition, these pads often add recoil structure to the rubber to reduce barrel rise. Smart hunter’s get it! And there are more brands you can check out online. 

Triggers

If you are experiencing trigger creep or a heavy trigger, your accuracy will suffer. There are often better triggers you can purchase.

I am a Timney Trigger fan.

And many triggers are drop-in types that take little effort to install. Timneys are adjustable and crisp. Below is a Timney for a Remington 700.

https://timneytriggers.com/hunting-triggers/

Fixing recoil and triggers will increase your accuracy so much that you will essentially have a customized and super accurate rifle. Really!

Good Hunting!

Update: My 220g bear loads kick hard. And are hanging up. Many suggest a 24lb recoil spring or trigger spring.  May stay with 180g – 200g hard cast for bear backup. Stay tuned. Gen 4 and Gen 5 recoil springs hard to get. Gun no longer shoots 180g after 1st shot. Bought at KTP who will look at it and send back to Glock if needed. Yes, I’m disappointed. 

I just shot these 10 yard 180g Blaser groups below,  at my local range, for the first time with my new 10mm Glock for bear hunt backup. They will penetrate deeper than my 45ACP. Check your states laws on hunting with a hand gun vs carrying for protection. If hunting for deer in New Hampshire, with a handgun, current rules say no more than 6 shots in your pistol. 

Middle and Low right groups are 10mm 180g Blazers. Low left are 200g bear loads. Upper right is a single 180g shot. The trigger takes getting used to. You have to squeeze the trigger more to make it break. Not as hard though as a double action. It is a smooth firm pull. There is no quote “safety”, just the firm pull of the trigger.  I added new tritium sights for shooting in darkness on my bear hunt.

Recoil was perhaps a tad heavier than my 45ACP. Getting used to the trigger was perhaps the most difference.

I purchased more 200g Blazers and 220g hard cast lead bear loads to practice with this spring and summer. But I will likely need a stronger recoil spring with 220g… they kick and with a standard recoil spring they hung up. 

Getting more than one accurate shot off is key in choosing the 10mm if ever charged by a bear or a big game animal intent on attacking you. In fact, with practice you can perhaps get 3 to 4 accurate head shots in a charge. Then follow up with 11 or 12 more shots at 1200fps with each delivering 700 ft-lbs of penetrating energy to the heavily boned bear skull below. 

Hunt Safe! Be Prepared!

Becoming an Outdoors Woman Winter Workshop Registration Opens on Sunday, January 14

I am very excited to introduce my grandson Thomas Hale the hunter (age 11). 

Above, Thomas holds his first youth single shot shotgun intended for hunting snowshoe hares up in New Hampshire’s North Country.

He has graduated from .22LR and .223 Winchester to 20 gauge shotgun and 6.5 Creedmoor.

Together pictured below with his Dad Jason Hale, Thomas holds a scoped Howa 1500 rifle in 6.5 Creedmoor, which he shoots well. The 6.5 CM has less recoil than the 20 gauge.

It gives me great pleasure to see three generations of Hales’ who hunt.  Below left is my son Jason who hunted Africa with me and to the right of me is young grandson Thomas.

We believe hunting and fishing are essential for boys and girls to understand the natural beauty and responsibility gained in the circle of life.  Unfortunately, hunting and outdoor skills are so starkly absent in our government run K to 12 schools.  We as a family, love the outdoors and choose to develop survival and hunting skills that aid in maturing young male and female minds. 

Most importantly, where our meat and fish come from, along with the life and ethical death and respect of the game hunted. Importantly, we revel in the bounty of the food harvest, care of the meat, the cooking, and presentation of wild game around the family dinner table. Just imagine a warm venison or rabbit stew in the cold of winter. It put a big smile on my face! Yours too!

Additionally, safety was our utmost concern with Thomas. Accordingly, we spent time training and demonstrating how to shoot hold his rifle/shotgun around other hunters. Thus we created walking and turning drills to always carry and point the barrel in a safe direction. And it was fun too.

In this recent hunt we did not harvest any game but had great comradery on the hunt, told some tales of the hunt, and had some man time with father and grandfather. Hope you can get some too!

Good Hunting!

Our Vacation was among the many bays and coves around picturesque Bonavista Bay, Newfoundland.  My wife and I drove our car and spent the last month and a half in Newfoundland in the family cottage overlooking Bonavista Bay.

But the cottage on the bay was a home base from which to explore.

Human life on Newfoundland is centered around the thousands of bays and coves, Inland, are thousands of miles of virgin forests where big game such as moose, caribou and black bears thrive.

And where rivers and lakes teem with Atlantic salmon and trout.

Cod Fishing on the bay is one of my favorite pastimes with friends and family. The cod are market size and plentiful right in front of our cottage.

Cod fishing in front of the cottage

I fished with Mike Hogarth and his friend Jeff Power on one such outing at Trinity Bay just up the peninsula. 

The old red building below in Peace Cove, Trinity Bay were formerly fishing rooms where cod were historically split and salted and placed outside to dry, then shipped to foreign markets in barrels. 

Peace Cove, Trinity Bay East

Peace Cove Trinity Bay

From shore, below you can see the lighthouse in picturesque Trinity which is part of the Bonavista Bay Peninsula.

Trinity Bay, Newfoundland

Cod Fishing is still very active commercially as this boat below suggests.

Newfoundland is a wild and wondrous place as well as sophisticated in the cities like St John’s I have visited. And the people are very friendly!

Maybe you might like to visit too!!

Good Exploring!

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