De’j`a Vu Vegas. Shot Show 2012, Part I.

Fewer than half of the shooting events at the Range Day are shown in this photo.

 This show may be heard  following its broadcast date by clicking on the following link:  http://webtalkradio.net/shows/hoveys-outdoor-adventures/. If it is not the current show, it is still  available as an archived show and on iTunes.

For me the Vegas Shot Show got off to a ripping start with shooting a replica .45-70 1877  Gatling gun which is being sold by Colt for about $39,000 each. It has been a long time since I shot that much lead down range in so brief a period. For most of us writers at the Range Day, which precedes the Shot Show, shooting the Gatling gun was a stand-out event.  This touch of the Victorian-era past was much more pleasurable than blasting off a similar number of rounds through a .50-caliber Browning machine gun – which many of us had experienced in the military.  The displays at the Range Day are not restricted to firearms, and a variety of exhibitors participated in this pre-show event. Colt also offers its line of more conventional handguns and rifles at: www.colt.com.

Some of Bauer's new hunting line.

Among the non-gun exhibitors at Range Day was the Eddie Bauer company that had a variety of  shooting and outdoor clothing intended for outdoorsmen/women. This was something of  a return to the Washington company’s original roots as an outfitter to hunters  living in the Pacific Northwest and Alaska. When I lived in Alaska, I often used Bauer’s gear and still sleep in one of their down bags that I purchased in the 1960s. It could use some refurbishing, but it is still as warm as it ever was. Good gear will last. To see this gear on-line go to www.eddiebauer.com.

More relating to shooting, was EHP’s Hearing Protection equipment which includes an ear canal hearing aid device for about $300 as well as an ear-muff design incorporating the same technology with an ear cup that will resist ballistic impact from shot charges.  Both have circuits that cut out potentially damaging noise while allowing normal conversations to be heard. For more information go to: www.ehphearing.com.

Although I did not have a chance to shoot it, Cabot Arms introduced a left-handed .45 ACP 1911 Colt. This gun is an addition to their line of expensive, but very well made, 1911s which may run as much as $6000 a gun for match pistols. Not only does Cabot make these guns, but they have an associated company that actually builds machine tools to specifications that can range as close as one-millionth of an inch. Each part of their guns is made with such precision that no hand-fitting is necessary.  For more information on Cabot Guns go to www.cabotguns.com.

Cabot left-handed Model 1911 below right-handed version.

In recent years Browning has offered some of  the Winchester classic lever-action rifles, and this year the company has brought back the Model 71 lever-action in 348 Winchester. This gun was much-loved when it was introduced as THE gun for heavy northern deer and elk and for the ease that it packed on the horses used to get hunters into Western mountains during the late 1930s. I have  hunted with earlier Browning versions of the 1886 Winchester in .45-70 which was a similar half-magazine lever gun using the same action, and was very pleased with it.  To see these and other Browning-Winchester products go to:  www.winchesterguns.com.

Following somewhat along the path of earlier Barnes and Remington solid-brass bullets, Cutting Edge Bullets has introduced a line of machined bullets that may be loaded as hollow points, reversed and shot as hollow-based solids or fitted with a tough polymer tip to reduce bullet drop at longer ranges. These are now available to reloaders, and plans are to have these bullets offered as premium loads by a major manufacturer next year. This bullet is designed to penetrate about 2-inches, fragment its front end to make secondary projectiles, while the solid base continues through the animal. If this concept is appealing to you, get your bullets now, because once a contract is signed with an ammo maker, the company may  have few bullets remaining for other customers.  For additional information go to www.cuttingedgebullets.com.

 

Mike Leeds holding the Instinct L.

Although almost all of my present shotgunning is on game with muzzleloading shotguns, I found one gun of the several that I fired on Range Day that really appealed to me. My feeling about shotguns is that if I can hit something with it, it is a worthwhile gun. If I cannot, it does not appeal to me regardless of  who made it or how much it cost. Franchi introduced their Instinct L 12-gauge over-under, and I was able to break targets with it with monotonous regularity. The steel-framed version  fit me and shot well. That was the only one of the many shotguns I saw and shot at the show that I had any desire to shoot again. The gun is moderately priced at under $1,200, and would be a serviceable gun for upland work , close-in ducks with 3-inch loads and an occasional round of skeet or sporting clays.  At 5′ 10″ and 185 lbs., I fit the profile of the “average hunter.” If you have a similar body size you may also be able to shoot this off-the-shelf gun just as well as a custom-fit model that will cost many more bucks. I prefer the heavier steel-framed Instinct L over the aluminum framed SL. For a look at this and other guns in the Franchi line go to www.franchiusa.com.

If you ever find a shotgun that you can really shoot, let not money, love or kinship part you from it. You may never find another, not even of the same model gun, that you will ever be able to shoot as well.

The next four days of tromping through the Shot Show exposed me to thousands of products. For the purpose of my radio show, I elected to cover them in categories. On this episode I concentrated on muzzleloading guns and accessories which fit in with my gig as a Corresponding Editor for Gun Digest.

CVA's Optima Pistol.

CVA offered one  new gun this year which is the Optima muzzleloading pistol in .50 caliber which comes with a 15-inch barrel and their now-standard quick detachable breechplug.  This gun was introduced mid-season last year and has a suggested retail of $315.   I hope to hunt with this gun next year. In addition, they offer their 6.5-pound Accura with a new WeatherGuard coating and a ramrod with a build-on palm saver.  Other premium features on the gun include an adjustable trigger, one-piece scope base with rings, improved recoil pad and PBI’s new sling with steel fittings.

The interchangeable barrel Apex is available as a .45 or .50-caliber muzzleloader or in a variety of centerfire rifle calibers up to  .35 Whelen and .45-70 as well as a 12-gauge cartridge shotgun.  CVA continues to offer their low priced Wolf drop-barreled gun as well as the bolt-action Elkhorn and, at $177,  their least expensive muzzleloadeing rifle, the striker-fired Buckhorn. For more information go to www.cva.com.

CVA and Thompson/Center Arms have largely stopped producing side-hammer muzzleloading guns with T/C only retaining their Hawken and Firestorm rifles.  Most attention at the T/C booth was with their new switch-barrel and switch-stock bolt-action gun which puts the interchangeable barrel concept in a price range that the average hunter can afford. The Dimension  features a polymer stock, free-floating barrel and is offered in calibers from .204 Winchester through .300 Winchester Magnum.  Caliber and bolt-face interchangeability is aided by offering four bolt-magazines-barrel groups (A-D) to help the shooter properly match the gun’s components.

The new Dimension bolt-action rifle is offered with interchangeable barrels and a variety of stock options.

   For those who liked the Encore style action, but had no need for the interchangeable barrel capabilities in a muzzleloading rifle, T/C has introduced the Pro Hunter FX (Fixed Barrel)  which comes with the recoil-reducing stock, Encore action and a fixed barrel which considerably reduces costs. All of the Encore stock options will fit the frame, and this gun is also offered with a scope and the other features available in Encore-pattern guns, except for the ability to interchange barrels.  For more information on these guns go to: www.tcarms.com. 

All About North Carolina Swan Hunting: Part 2. January 23, 2012

Swan taken from Bodie Island on a previous hunt. Shown with an original 1842 British musket and swan flag.

This show may be heard  following its broadcast date by clicking on the following link:  http://webtalkradio.net/shows/hoveys-outdoor-adventures/. If it is not the current show, it is still  available as an archived show and on iTunes.  

 Chance plays a significant part in any hunt, and the impact of weather conditions on waterfowl migrations directly controls the likelihood of success on any waterfowl hunt. On Part 2 of  North Carolina Swan Hunting, I continued to Nags Head and duck hunted the public blinds at Bodie Island on the Cape Hatteras National Seashore after taking my swan the previous day near Lake Mattamuskeet. In this episode I describe my hunt in very warm weather and contrasted it with another hunt two years ago when everything was frozen solid. On that hunt I harvested a swan with an original 1842 British musket loaded with non-toxic shot.

  Hurricane Irene had swept through coastal North Carolina and damaged the blinds at Bodie Island to the extent that they could no longer be safely occupied. In many cases shooting locations had been shifted to points where the hunters could set up on shore, but needed to stand during the entire hunt or bring their own stools or marsh seats. I improvised a seat by putting my decoy tub (a reinforced mortar box) over a hummock of march grass on my second day’s hunt at blind number 19, which was on a deep-water pond. Two days of hunting from this location failed to produce any ducks.  I could  have called in some swan, but did not attempt it for fear of pulling them away from other hunters who might have permits.   

 Swan migrations are less impacted by weather conditions than ducks and geese. During the 2011-12 hunting season warm conditions prevented large-scale movements of  most species of ducks and snow geese down the Eastern Flyway to coastal North Carolina. By the time I hunted during the last week in December, some gadwalls were down, the teal had arrived, there were very few snow geese and only the resident Canadian geese were apparently present. Swan numbers were about the same as seen on previous hunts. Those who were fortunate enough to draw one of the swan tags did not have any problems getting their birds, provided that they drew a blind location that was on one of the ponds at Bodie Island that the swan regularly used.

  Both the Thompson/Center Arms’ Black Mountain Magnum 12-gauge shotgun and the original .75-caliber (11-gauge) British musket that I used were loaded with 1 3/8ths ounces of number 4 HeviShot contained in plastic shot-cup wads to keep from abrading the guns’ barrels with the hard tungsten-based shot. In the Black Mountain Magnum I used 100 grains of  Hodgdon’s Triple Seven powder and in the British musket 100 grains of FFg GOEX black powder.  Over the powder I use a stiff 1/4-inch cardboard wad (available in 11 and 12 gauges from Dixie Gun Works), a buffer of 20 grains of Cream of Wheat and then load the shot cups, shot and top the assembly with two appropriate sizes of thin over-shot wads. Both guns were fired with CCI musket caps.

Restaurants to fit every pocket-book are available, including this inexpensive family-run restaurant at mile 5.5 that caters to locals and offers menu selections ranging from sea foods to bar-b-que.

  Interviews in the Nags Head area included one with John Bone, head of the Outer Banks Chamber of Commerce who outlined various winter activities and the facilities available in the area and John Wright, the owner of Sanctuary vineyards. Wright makes succpernon-based and European varietal wines from grapes grown on his family’s lands at Jarvesburg, on the mainland across the causeway from Kitty Hawk. His wines are only available from the Cotton Gin stores on the Outer Banks and a few other locations. On the show we tasted some of these wines as well as two others bottled by the Duplin Winery for the Native Vine shop located at the western end of the Kitty Hawk bridge. Duplin products are sometimes available at Wal-Mart stores and provide a nation-wide opportunity  to sample these excellent wines.

  The Sanctuary Vineyard does have an on-line presence, and you can visit their website at www.sanctuaryvineyards.com. John is continuously experimenting with his wines and can be depended upon to offer some new winds each year. Often, a portion of the sale price of these wines is used to promote local causes such as museums and cultural events. Sampling these wines is a unique activity that is available all year to hunters, surf fishermen, bird watchers, photographers and others who visit  the Outer Banks during the magical mid-Winter months when the throngs of Summer tourists are absent.  

Fermentation vessel being chilled to stabilize the wine while the adjacent one is being heated to promote fermentation.

 On line information for all area attractions is available to potential visitors from the Outer Banks Visitors Bureau at www.outerbanks.org, telephone no. (877) 629-4386, as well as from the Outer Banks Chamber of Commerce at www.outerbankschamber.com,  telephone no. (252) 441-8144. The Bureau has a very informative booklet that they will mail to those who request it.    

Ads on this show are from the Packaging Division of  Buy Cheap, Make Cheap, Sell Cheap, who provides packaging that is only strong enough to stock on store shelves, but will instantly fail when used, making to customer return sooner to buy more products.  Also, SIN, Inc., (Synthetic Industrial Non-Nutritives, Inc.) was pleased to announce that their standout product, Puke Vodka, is now available in 5-gallon and 1-gallon pails for home consumption, so that the user can receive the full impact of his drinking experience in the safety of his own home.

All About North Carolina Swan Hunting: Part 1. January 9, 2012

Mattamuskeet swan. The author's bird is the gray-necked bird on the right.

This show may be heard  following its broadcast date by clicking on the following link:  http://webtalkradio.net/shows/hoveys-outdoor-adventures/. If it is not the current show, it is still  available as an archived show and on iTunes. 

The North American Tundra Swan is the largest waterfowl that may be taken on the Continent. This magnificent bird breeds in the Arctic areas of Alaska and Canada and migrates from there to winter in coastal North Carolina and Virginia in populations that number in the hundreds of thousands. A limited and closely controlled harvest of these birds is allowed each fall with the majority of the birds taken in Coastal North Carolina near Lake Mattamuskeet and fewer on the Outer Banks. Swan shooting is also allowed in some states in the Western Flyway, but the grain-fed birds taken in late December and January from eastern North Carolina taste much better than those harvested from the alkali lakes of the desert Southwest.

If a sport takes more junk to do than this, I don't think I want to do it.

 For decades, I have hunted these birds with a variety of muzzleloading shotguns using the non-toxic shots now required for all waterfowl shooting. As this is a draw hunt, I may not go every year; but when I am drawn I assemble my growing pile of swan hunting materials and head north. In recent years I have taken a boat in case I am not drawn for public blinds at the Lake Mattamuskeet Wildlife Refuge or for the blinds on Bodie Island which is part of the Cape Hatteras National Seashore. Using a boat allows me to hunt on public game lands in Pamlico Sound. My boat is a 14-ft. aluminum boat that is fine for lake hunting, but is only suitable for very near-shore work in protected waters near the sound. This year three hunters sank a 19-foot duck boat when waves driven by high winds splashed water over the back of the grounded boat and flooded it with the result that the boat pulled itself off shore and sank in 15  feet of water. The hunters were stranded until they were rescued several hours later.  These shallow sounds can be dangerous and unforgiving places in any weather that is harsh enough for ducks to fly well.

The weather for this season’s hunt was unusually warm to the extent that mosquitoes were bothersome at Bodie Island compared to my hunt two-years-ago when many of the fresh-water ponds were solidly frozen and there was  2-inch-thick ice in front of the blinds on Lake Mattamuskeet.  The result was that the swans had arrived, but other species such as snow geese and many varieties of ducks had not yet come in anything like their usual numbers. As with any hunts that are scheduled months in advance, I must go and take whatever weather there is. This is the reason that I stay for several days to increase my chances of success.

This year’s gun was a Thompson/Center Arms Mountain Magnum 12-gauge single-barreled percussion shotgun. The gun features interchangeable chokes and a relatively short barrel because it was principally designed as a turkey-hunting shotgun, rather than a waterfowler. I increased the gun’s weight by adding lead shot and beeswax to the hollow plastic buttstock and also often use a metal, rather than a wooden, ramrod. These weight additions, along with a slip-on recoil pad, make the gun more comfortable to shoot with 1 3/8-oz. waterfowl loads. The charge I used was 90 grains of Hodgdon’s Triple Seven FFFg powder, a 1/4-inch over powder paper wad, 30-grains by volume of Cream of Wheat, a red Winchester plastic wad for 1 1/4-ounces of shot, 1 1/4-ounce by volume of HeviShot no. 4s, and two thin over-shot cards to hold the shot. The Mountain Magnum rifle and shotgun were somewhat unusual in that they used musket-cap nipples, instead of the more common no. 11 caps; and I employed CCI’s Musket caps on the gun. I like these larger caps for waterfowling because they are easier to handle than the tiny no. 11s.

Billy Best (L), Andrew (C) and Author (R) at Mattamuskeet.

Through a series of chance circumstances I hunted with Billy Best and his son Andrew when we appeared to claim a blind that a person had drawn, but could not legally hunt for some reason.  (Perhaps he forgot his Federal Duck Stamp or HIP report.)  By chance, this was blind no. 6, which is located in an impoundment back from the lake. Very often this blind is frozen in when I come to hunt. As it was still very windy,  I had thought that this blind would be an ideal as waterfowl from the lake might come seeking quieter waters. This proved to be the case,  and we had the best shooting that I have ever had from a Mattamuskeet blind. I had two chances at swan. On the first opportunity, the cap fell from the nipple as I raised the gun. On the second, I apparently aimed between two approaching swan and missed them both. We all did shoot some ducks, and I also took a coot. You may now view “Coot Soup for the New Year” on YouTube by clicking on the following link:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sirFsYeHvAM.

It is entirely possible to miss swan, as was illustrated the next morning when I was invited by  Carl Hyatt  to join his group from Wilmington to hunt a private farm near the lake. There were thousands of swan over us shortly after dawn when they flew to feed in some of the many fields around the lake. These are very large farming operations, and these particular swan were coming to glean waste soybeans remaining after the harvest. The youngest shooter in the group had not taken a swan before, and he struggled to overcome a gun that did not fit him and was perhaps a bit over-coached by his dad and everyone around him, including me. It was agreed that he was to have the first opportunity at a swan when one appeared. He emptied his gun and did not hit it. On the second one, he repeated this event, and I fired a follow-up shot, dropping the bird stone dead in the decoys. Taking that bird finished my hunt, and I did not reload. I could not shoot another swan and nothing else was flying.

Permit holders with their swan.

One-by-one the other shooters filled their tags, although two of the birds had to be run down and finished off. On these enormous birds you must shoot at the head and neck to kill them cleanly. In the meantime, our young shooter continued to manipulate the gun and fire. Between he and his dad, one swan was killed leaving him as the last shooter to fill out. At long last, a swan landed in the decoys and he killed it by shooting it in the head and neck. In retrospect, that was about the only shot that he could likely have made with any degree of precision with what was for him an oversize and ill-fitting shotgun.

A very effective spread of mixed painted plywood and Bald's full-body swan decoys.

Bon Bald with one of his swan decoys and calls.

Although some shot opportunities would likely have been available had we just sat in that field, the calling and full-body decoys made by  Don  Bald  and the plywood silhouette decoys brought by  Hyatt, really worked to bring the birds in close enough to shoot.  If anything, this hunt illustrated that decoys and calling were useful and that nothing beats good gun pointing. It is also vital to know where the gun shoots with a particular load. It is common for heavy waterfowl loads to pattern low in many guns, and HeviShot loads will often impact  feet below the point of aim. With my muzzleloading guns, I tailor the loads so that they shoot to the point of aim, even if I must use less powder and/or shot to achieve that result.   On this hunt, I  fired two shots and killed one swan, which is about my usual result. I resolved the loose-fitting cap issue by crimping the copper caps as I put them on the gun, and never had another cap fall from the gun. This was a simple act that I had to be reminded to do.

Bald, who is from Illinois, is noted for his championship-quality hand-made turkey calls. Some of these he makes out of ivory or other exotic materials, although he also commonly takes even these “art calls” and kills birds with them. He hand molded and carved his full-sized swan decoys, but does not offer these as a commercial product. His swan whistles are also custom crafted, and with proper inducement, perhaps he might be persuaded to make another one. His calling appears on the radio show as the frequent softer and higher-pitched calls in the background that are frequently masked by the louder calling of the live birds. To see Bald’s calls, which are unusual and handsome, go to his website www.baldscalls.com. He may be contacted by E-mail at baldscalls@baldscalls.com.

Although I had my Swan, I continued my planned hunt to the Outer Banks to see what conditions were like there after Hurricane Irene had swept through the previous summer.  Some coastal areas had been hard hit, particularly the small community of Stumpy Point. There, half-sunk boats and  debris still choked the canal from two hurricanes ago, and last year’s storm had not resulted in any significant improvement. Although people had, and were, rebuilding their homes, the town’s few businesses remained largely closed. This community needs some help from heavy-lift cranes and other construction equipment to help restore it to functionality and restore it a place where a visitor might want to come to enjoy the water, fishing and hunting opportunities in a truly wild environment.

 On the next show I will continue my hunt on Bodie Island and contrast the wild and cultural environments between the largely uninhabited lands of  Hyde County and the built-up resort and tourist facilities found across the sound in Dare County where towns like Nags Head attracts tens of thousands of summer visitors.

Sponsor Salute: Velcro Wall, Misty Mange, SIN, Inc. & Others, Jan. 19, 2012

Roger Kicklighter with a road-killed buck that was hit in front of his in-town home. He gave it to me for processing.

This show may be heard  following its broadcast date by clicking on the following link:  http://webtalkradio.net/shows/hoveys-outdoor-adventures/. If it is not the current show, it is still  available as an archived show and on iTunes. 

  Cleaning road-killed deer concludes the final show of  2011 which features my almost believable ads from Velcro Wall, The leader in child suspension systems; Misty Mange, The hair care product that you and your pet can share; and SIN, Inc., The leader in synthetic food technology along with others that feature nude hunts in the wilds of West Texas and a romantic get away on Gator Island where your privacy is assured by more than 500 alligators that live in the surrounding waters.

  Broadcasts activities during 2011 took me from Coastal North Carolina through Nebraska to the Silver Valley of Idaho to Las Vegas, Nevada, and down to the beach at Biloxi, Mississippi. All of these locations inspired ads from local sponsors and a number of these are re-broadcast for this program.  Among them are those from the Strip Down and Dry Bar at Kellogg, Idaho, the Bare Butt Hunt Club of the Solitario in West Texas and Mega Gator Park in Orlando, Florida.

  I also provoked a little history with some of these ads including those from  Big Boomer of Nevada who sells muzzleloading supplies, including full size cannon, from the firm’s location on the edge of the Federal Proving Range in Central Nevada and who also offers a unique form of anger management therapy having to do with learning to shoot Civil War era cannon.

  Inventiveness is highly prized on my programs, and I documented the attempts and failures of SIN, Inc.’s attempts to launch their Fire-Breathing Dragon in time for the Chinese New Year celebrations. Their initial efforts failed when 12-feet of flame was projected across the table and resulted in burning down the test facility. An alternative of projecting a green pistachio jello with solid particles was also less than satisfactory, according to focus groups. They had better luck with their Mascot Division which produced eatable gators and bulldogs in time for the tailgate parties associated with the annual Georgia-Florida football game.

  SIN, Inc. also continued to explore the potential of the synthetic turkey and produced a red, white and blue turkey for July 4, a green and red version for Christmas and a turkey in a cooking pack which cooks itself to perfection in any well ventilated and combustable-free outdoor location, such as a concrete test stand.  The spirit of many of these shows was captured as YouTube videos on the wmhoveysmith Channel,  such as my production of  “Bear Paw Pumpkin Soup for Halloween,” which may be viewed at the following link: http://youtu.be/hkvBWzq_R-s.

  Have a good holiday seasion. I will see you back next year with my annual broadcast from the SHOT Show in Las Vegas, Nevada, which will feature  interesting products for outdoor folk who want to do things outside of the built environment and perhaps put some wild game on their kitchen tables.

Backyard Hunting for Deer, Squirrels and Geese, Dec. 5, 2011

Ruger Old Army .44-caliber percussion revolver with deer and squirrel taken with the same load on the same hunt.

This show may be heard  following its broadcast date by clicking on the following link:  http://webtalkradio.net/shows/hoveys-outdoor-adventures/. If it is not the current show, it is still  available as an archived show and on iTunes. 

  The ability to take a variety of game animals close to home is highlighted in this show which features Cabela’s .44-caliber Buffalo revolver that is made in Italy by Pietta, Ruger’s Old Army revolver, Knight’s Rolling Block .50-caliber in-line rifle and Thompson/Center Arms’ Mountain Magnum 12-gauge percussion side-lock shotgun. These more traditional guns are in contrast with the CVA Electra, the electric-fired ,50-caliber muzzleloading rifle used by Hunter Deen to take his deer in a previous episode.

  Following the successful deer-squirrel hunt with the Old Army using a new 240-grain bullet designed by Kaido Ojamaa, I attempted a hunt a few days later with a percussion revolver, in-line rifle and cap-lock shotgun to see if I could take more than one species of game the same day. Although this was the day after Thanksgiving and the woods were full of hunters, almost no shots were fired by anyone. I found nothing to shoot at and the only game seen was a very distant flight of geese than flew over the other end of the food plot where I had my decoys.

Buffalo revolver with loading components.

Notwithstanding, I discuss the guns and the loads. The Old Army is loaded with 35 grains of  FFFg Triple Seven powder, Ojamaa’s 240-grain bullet,  Ox-Yoke’s wax Revolver Wonder Seals and Remington no. 10 caps. This is a potent load fired from this pistol. It penetrated the shoulder joint, made a good wound channel and exited the deer after passing through about 12-inches of animal.  The charge for the Knight rifle is two of  Hodgdon’s Magnum Triple Seven 50-grain Pellets  and CVA’s AeroLite 300-grain bullets.

  Ojamaa has both 240 and 255-grain versions of these flat-nosed bullets which he designed for percussion revolvers. He sells these cast bullets as well as 6-cavity molds for making your own.  For more information contact him at kaido93@hotmail.com.

  For the Mountain Magnum shotgun I employed 90 grains of Hodgdon’s Triple Seven powder a heavy card over-powder 12-gauge wad, 40-grains of Cream of Wheat and a red Winchester plastic wad for 1 1/4-ounce of shot that as filled with no. 4 HeviShot and capped by two thin 12-gauge over-shot cards. Nothing appeared before the gun the day before I had to record this show. I have taken small game, geese, turkey and swan with this gun before, and I see no reason why the gun should not perform well again.

 Osceola turkey taken with Thompson/Center Arms’ Mountain Magnum 12-gauge shotgun and components.  

Ads on this show include pickled calf’s and hog’s eye-balls for an attention-getting holiday soup from Old Home Products and a new self-cooking turkey from SIN, Inc. (Synthetic Industrial Non-Nutritives, Inc.). Gift suggestions from Hovey include his outdoor books (Backyard Deer Hunting, Crossbow Hunting, Practical Bowfishing and X-Treme Muzzleloading), Backyard Deer Hunting T-Shirts and donations to finance his delivering a paper or poster at the 9th INTECOL Wetlands Conference sponsored by the University of Florida in June where he will present a long-term plan for the preservation of the Mississippi River Delta.

In the cooking section I discuss making  “Perlow with Green Balls” from the shredded meat derived from a boiled deer neck roast, two medium-sized ducks and Brussels sprouts. The recipe for this dish is given below:

 Perlows are rice-based dishes often done with chicken and/or wild meats to which peppers are added to make a spicy after-hunt meal. These are free-form creations, but most commonly have some fowl, any wild game meat, sausage, peppers and more or less vegetables as they are available. Traditionally they would be cooked in a cast-iron pot over campfire coals or on a wood stove.

This was cooked, as I often do,  in a pressure cooker. For those who don’t know about these efficient and fast cooking devices I have a YouTube video up at: http://youtu.be/REhez3aEjN0 that will show you some old and modern pressure cookers.  Many of  my cooking videos at the wmhoveysmith Channel also feature these useful pressurized cooking pots.  

This particular one was constructed with:

Perlow with Green Balls.

2 medium boiled ducks with meat stripped from bones

1 deer neck roast boiled and meat removed and shredded

12 Brussels Sprouts

6 small mushrooms

1 cup brown rice

2 cans tomatoes

1 small can tomato paste

1 pound frozen butter beans

1 chipped large Spanish onion

1/4 chopped bell pepper

1 small diced very hot red pepper

1 medium hot round red pepper

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

Pressure cook and shred all meat. Retain  broth. Add all ingredients to pot and boil until Brussels sprouts are tender. As rice cooks and absorbs broth (start with 4 cups of broth to one cup of rice), adjust liquid content as needed to keep from sticking. The dish, as shown here, is a very thick soup; but could be served dryer if desired.  The rice should be slightly firm and not cooked completely soft.

 

Hunt Destination: Moncks Corner, South Carolina, Nov. 21, 2011

This show may be heard  following its broadcast date by clicking on the following link:  http://webtalkradio.net/shows/hoveys-outdoor-adventures/. If it is not the current show, it is still  available as an archived show and on iTunes. 

  Moncks Corner in central Berkeley County, South Carolina, is the gateway to fishing and hunting opportunities in the Santee-Cooper Region. It is located  only 30 miles from Charleston and has access to abundant power, water and transportation resources making it a nearly ideal place for  industry,  businesses and  outdoor activities.  Individuals and retirees also enjoy the nearly limitless cultural opportunities offered in Charleston and nearby historic communities. 

  Elaine Morgan, Chief Executive Officer of the Berkeley Chamber of Commerce, gives an enthusiastic welcome to the Carolina Low Country and highlights the areas’ business, cultural, recreational and retirement-home possibilities. A 5th generation resident, she is well seeped in local history and culture. This includes the making of a Low Country Perlow, a distinctive rice-wild game dish which I cook and sample on the show using some “mystery meat” salvaged from my freezer.

 Morgan may be contacted at the Chamber via their website at www.berkeleysc.org, by E-mail at emorgan@bcoc.com or telephone at (843) 761-8238.  The Chamber is located in the historic 18th Century  Nesbitt   House located at 1004  Old Highway 52 near the intersection of  Dennis Blvd.  

General Francis Marion at the head of his rag-tag troops in a Carolina swamp as shown in a mural at Blacks Camp.

  Hunting and fishing opportunities are discussed with Kevin Davis, one of the owner of Black’s Camp which is a historic fishing-hunting camp located on nearby Lake Moultrie. This lake and Lake Marion to the northwest are connected by a canal that was dug when the lakes were formed during the early years of  World War II to provide power for war industries. Not only was this area significant because of its contribution to the war effort, it is historically important for the part it played during the Revolutionary War when Francis Marion, The Swamp Fox, conducted guerrila warfare against General Lord Cornwallis’ British and Loyalist troops which ultimately resulted in the general’s defeat at Yorktown, Virginia.

 General Moultrie, whose statue stands at Black’s Camp, was also a participant in this often

General Moultrie

bloody conflict. These  events were captured in spirit, if not in absolute fact, in Mel Gibson’s movie, “The Patriot.” A part of this movie was filmed in nearby Cypress Gardens and on other locations in South Carolina.

 Fishing opportunities discussed by Davis include record-size crappie,  shell crackers (red-eared sunfish), catfish and stripers from the lakes as well as his taking an alligator that weighed over 1,000 pounds. Hunts are also offered from the camp at the nearby Black Brier Hunting Preserve in addition to free-lance hunting on nearby Wildlife Management Areas. To contact Davis go to the camp’s website at www.blackscamp.com or call for room reservations at (843)753-2231. Guided fishing and hunting trips are available as well as restaurant and meeting accommodations for about 150 people.

  Although the deer that I and others hunted for three days on the Black Brier Hunting Preserve were not cooperative, I killed a small doe once I returned home to Georgia with  Cabellas’ Buffalo stainless steel .44-caliber percussion revolver using a round ball load and 40 grains of Hodgdon’s Triple Seven powder.  Felt Ox-Yoke Wonder Wad were used under the balls and  wax Wonder Seals over them.  This is a powerful load, and it is not recommended for brass-framed versions of this, or other,  percussion revolvers.

  

  The first shot on the moving deer hit high on the spine (above the hammer) and knocked it down. As it attempted to rise, I put a second shot through its heart.  These shots were taken while sitting on the ground.  Both were fired from a range of about 35 yards and completely penetrated the deer. Others using this round-ball load in this gun have killed deer weighing up to 130 pounds and hogs up to about 150 pounds. I do not know what the upper limit of this load is for double-lung shots on heavy whitetailed deer.

 This revolver shooting is documented in a series of seven YouTube videos on the Modern Percussion Revolver. The first of these, “Part 1. The Pistols” may be viewed at: http://youtu.be/PB0SYhonsqM.   On this series I introduce the pistols, load development, cleaning as well as using them for small and big game hunting.  Another revolver with big-game hunting potential is the now discontinued Ruger Old Army. This pistols shoots heavier bullets better than the Buffalo and develops over 500 ft. lbs. of muzzle energy. I am also attempting to take deer and other game with it. I have used it to shoot squirrels and to kill alligators in the past.

Wild Game Perlow

  Perlow cooking was undertaken using a medium-sized duck, sausage, deer backstraps, smoked wild-hog meat, onions, bell peppers, small hot red peppers and brown rice. This was cooked in a pressure cooker and yielded a first-time product was too hot for my taste, but otherwise worked out well.  Had I used one, instead of three, of the small hot peppers that would have been about right for me. Those who like hot foods, would probably think that my recipe was about right. After cooking, the only thing that I found it needed was a little additional salt.  

  Perhaps my only difficulty in cooking the Perlow was not partaking of the traditional Bourbon drinking that traditionally accompanies this activity, and my taste buds were not sufficiently alcohol-dulled to properly enjoy this traditionally hotly seasoned game-camp concoction. I gave it to a more pepper-tolerant friend who pronounced that it rated 5-6 on a 10-point hotness scale  and took it home.

 Ads on this show include SIN’s Synthetic Berry Division’s new blueberries that rely on copper ions fixing in algae from the Berkeley Pit in Beautiful Butte America, Montana, to color this synthetic product an azure blue while retaining the sugar, salt and butter tastes that you crave in a non-nutritive product. As this product is not attacked by bacteria or insects it may be cured hard and strung as colorful beads.

Wounded Warrior’s Son Bags First Deer, November 7, 2011

Hunter, now known as "Dead Eye" Deen with his first deer - a 5-point Georgia deer taken with a CVA Electra .50-caliber muzzleloading rifle.

 

This show may be heard  following its broadcast date by clicking on the following link:  http://webtalkradio.net/shows/hoveys-outdoor-adventures/. If it is not the current show, it is still  available as an archived show and on iTunes. 

Witnessing a young man taking his first deer is always a heart-warming experience and this was especially true when that young man is the 13-year-old son of  an Iraq veteran  in the  Wounded Warrior program.  Sgt. Billy Deen, who is totally disabled, and his son Hunter arrived full of hopeful expectations after having read my book, Backyard Deer Hunting: Converting deer to dinner for pennies per pound.

  “I told Hunter that we were going to learn some things on this trip, and it certainly turned out that way,” Billy Deen remarked after they both had been introduced to the CVA Electra .50-caliber rifle that Hunter was to use on the last day of Georgia’s muzzleloader season. This unusual rifle is the most advanced muzzleloader ever built and features electrical ignition, requires no  primers, and is easy, although somewhat different, to operate.

  Even though only 13, Hunter is large for his age and was able to handle the gun with an adult-level charge of 100 grains of  Triple Seven Magnum pellets and PowerBelt’s  new AeroLite 300-grain bullets.  After father and son watched the buck slowly approach the blind from 200 and turn  broadside 40-yards from the blind, Hunter became increasingly focused on the deer.  He  forgot that he had to turn the electric-fired gun on and wait for it to charge up before he could shoot.  

The indicator light on the top of Electra's grip.

“It seemed it took forever for that light to start flashing,” Hunter said. After that, he aimed at the deer and pulled trigger and the gun would not fire. The safety was still on. Coached by his father, he pushed the safety forward, re-aimed and nailed the deer with a  shot through the shoulder. The deer ran about 40 yards and died at the edge of the field.

  I arrived almost immediately, and we all walked up to the deer while I recorded  Hunter’s excited remarks. For those  moments he lost his characteristic microphone shyness, and this historic father-son experience was captured on radio. This included the traditional bloodying of Hunter’s face by his father and their jointly dragging the deer across the field.  

  The pair hunted the same food plot the following day, but no deer appeared. Nonetheless, both were more than pleased that Hunter had killed his first deer. The remainder of the day and the next morning were spent packaging the deer for the freezer and making  a custom low salt, low pepper deer sausage. This was also recorded for the radio show, and highlighted the “Converting deer to dinner for pennies per pound” aspect of deer hunting.

Electra's ignition system.

Because of the Electra’s unusual nature, I also go through the gun’s disassembly and cleaning on the show. Although the gun is no longer sold by CVA, the rifle is currently available for less than $200  through Sportsman’s Guide. Before purchasing the gun, make sure that it is legal for your state’s muzzleloading season. For more information about the gun, listen to my previous program, “Muzzleloading Marvels,” where you will hear an interview with Dudley McGarity, the president of BPI, the company that owns the CVA and PowerBelt brands.

  If you are interested in the Electra go to www.sportsmansguide.com. In Nov., 2011, the guns were priced ranging from the stainless steel scoped gun at $209.97 – Club Price 179.97 to $188.97 – Club Price $161.97. This is the last remaining stock. Once these are sold, there will be no more of  them; although CVA continues to offer support, accessories and repairs.

  The pair left Sunday morning with frozen deer meat in their cooler and a cleaned and caped deer head ready for their taxidermist. Although dad was uncertain if he was going to have the head mounted, mom had no such doubts and told them over the telephone to, “Mount that deer.”   As a precaution, I had skinned the head for mounting and these extra cleaning steps are described in the program.

A "cleaned up" Hunter Deen with Electra rifle and first deer.

 During and following the Deens’ hunt I had been hunting with Cabela’s Buffalo .44-caliber

First of 5 squirrels taken with percussion revolver.

percussion revolver. This gun had taken five squirrels, but my one chance out of a dozen hunts for killing a close-range doe failed when the ball was deflected by an unseen twig.

  To more fully consider the range of hunting possibilities offered to returning veterans, I also interviewed Chris Chaffin, who is the Public Relations Coordinator for the Paralyzed Veterans of America Outdoor Recreation Heritage Fund. This organization arranges for both the specialized equipment and outdoor opportunities needed for paralyzed veterans to hunt deer, hogs and other game.  For more information on the PVA and their hunting programs go to their website at: www.pva.org and www.pvaheritagefund.org.

  The PVA has recently launched a new way for people to donate money to finance these hunts. Using a mobile phone, text “HERO” to number 25383.  A $10 donation will be added to your next telephone bill.  You may also contact Chaffin directly to offer hunts or for making larger donations by calling his office at  (321) 729-0280 or his mobile phone at (321) 508-5500.  

  The Wounded Warrior program (AW2)  is administered by the U.S. Army. This program offers a range of  services to the nation’s most severely disabled veterans. Participants in the program must be recent veterans and have  30% disability in certain categories, which may be physical and/or mental injuries.  For more information call toll-free to: (877) 393-9058 or send an E-mail inquiring about the program to: AW2@conus.army.mil. There is also a website at:  http://wtc.army.mil/AW2/index.html.

  New products introduced during this show include PowerBelt’s .50-caliber 300 grain  AeroLite bullets for standard charges (80-100 grains of  black powder equivalent) This bullet features a longer profile for less bullet drop and more retained energy at longer ranges.  This new bullet significantly extends the range capabilities of .50-caliber muzzleloaders.  Although this deer shot at 40-yards was certainly no test of long-range killing power, it made a .50-caliber hole where it hit the shoulder and blew a 2-inch hole through the shoulder bone sending bullet and bone fragments through both lungs for a very quick kill.

McKenzie's Scent Fan Duffle can scent and re-scent hunting clothes using aromatic materials from the hunting environment.

 McKenzie’s Scent Fan Duffle is a bag with a fan designed to draw scents through hunting clothes. This may be used at home before a hunt to pre-scent clothes using natural pine or other scents (like the persimmon I use) from the hunting area. It may also be used  to help dry clothes and re-scent them using a vehicle plug-in on trips to and from the hunting area. For information on this product go to: www.mckscent.com or E-mail McKenzie Outdoors at mckscent@gmail.com.