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The New Jersey Fish and Wildlife Council will vote Tuesday on a proposal to revive the state’s bear hunting season.

The bear hunting season could be returning to New Jersey after farmers and residents have complained about the surging black bear population and the Department of Environmental Protection reporting that encounters with bears have increased by 237% over 2021 numbers, according to reporting from News 12 New Jersey.

Those factors have prompted Democratic New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy to reconsider his stance on the season, which he canceled in part starting in 2018 and entirely last year, following through on a promise he made to animal rights activists during his 2017 election campaign.

“Since the outset of my administration, I have promised to ground every difficult decision on the latest science and evidence in order to protect our communities,” Murphy said in a statement last week while signaling support for reviving the hunt.

“From the data we have analyzed to the stories we have heard from families across the state, it is clear that New Jersey’s black bear population is growing significantly, and nonlethal bear management strategies alone are not enough to mitigate this trend.”

Murphy’s change of heart would be a welcome one for many state residents who have complained of increased encounters with bears that have terrified residents and damaged crops and livestock.

“They really knock a lot of corn down, eat a lot of corn and they’ll take anywhere from 5% to 25% of a field. We’ve seen some fields that have been 70% decimated this year,” Phillip Broadhecker, a farmer from Hampton Township, told News 12. “You can actually go on to Google maps and look at Earth views in the fall of fields and see circles and round spots in fields, and it’s astounding how bad it is.”

Broadhecker said the damage doesn’t stop at crops, noting that livestock and even people’s pets have been the targets of the growing population of bears.

“We’ve got a lot of livestock that have been killed or injured up here. Goats, chickens, pigs, small horses, even people’s dogs,” he said.

It’s not likely that anything will compare to the running battle over .45 and 9mm, but rifle ammo wars are all the rage nowadays. The good news is we can learn plenty and get better with our tools by examining the outcomes. Competition is a good thing.

First: The Best .308 Hunting Ammo of 2022

Although we still haven’t climbed out of the ammo shortage, there’s good news if you hunt with a .308—many retailers have a variety of .308 hunting ammo available. The previous ammo shortages hit the .223 and .308 ammo stocks hard, while having less effect on stalwart hunting cartridges like the .30/06 and .30/30. This time, it seems that manufacturers have been able to stay on top of .308 hunting ammo production and hunters at least have something to buy.

Still, it’s a strange time, and there are both surprises and disappointments in the ammo market today (not exclusive to .308). Some ammunition has excelled, and some factory offerings that typically delivered excellent accuracy don’t seem to shoot as well as they used to. Some types of ammo seem to be everywhere, and other loads are scarce.

This year, I have tested and reviewed 11 different rifles chambered in .308 Win. I shot many types of ammo through these guns, testing it in affordable budget rifles, but also in mid-priced rifles. I’ve shot a variety of .308 Win. in specialized rifles like the Christensen Ridgeline Titanium FFT and the Howa M1500 HS Carbon. Through all this shooting, I was able to see what shot well, what didn’t, and hopefully help you pick the best .308 hunting ammo for deer or whatever your game is this year.

Best Overall: Remington 150-grain Core-Lokt Tipped

Best .308 Ammo for Deer:Federal Non-Typical Whitetail 150-grain Soft Point

Best Copper .308 Ammo: Barnes Vor-Tx 168-grain TTSX

Federal Premium 175-grain Terminal Ascent

Hornady Superformance 150-grain SST

Winchester Deer Season XP 150-grain Extreme Point

Federal Premium 180-grain Trophy Bonded Tip

Hornady Outfitter 165-grain CX

Federal Premium 165-grain Swift Scirocco II

Things to Consider Before Buying .308 Ammo for Hunting

Game and Bullet Construction

As with any hunting ammo, you want to choose a load and bullet that will suit the game you intend on hunting. The .308 Win. is an extremely capable (and oft underrated) cartridge, and is suitable for large game like elk, moose, and even brown bears. If you’re hunting heavy game, pick a bonded or monolithic bullet and keep your shot distances under 300 yards. However, most people are hunting medium-sized game with the .308 and just about any medium-weight expanding bullet will do. Luckily there’s plenty of good, affordable .308 ammo for deer that can still be found on store shelves.

Accuracy

Each .308 ammo offering listed here will have both five-shot average group accuracy and standard deviation. It’s always great to maximize accuracy, but keep in mind that each rifle will like a different load. If you can’t try several loads, pick one with a small standard deviation. That means that across all the rifles tested, the accuracy of the load didn’t very much, and there’s a good chance it will shoot similarly in your .308.

Cost

Ammo is expensive, and premium ammo is even more expensive. If you need top-end bullet construction or are shooting at distances that require best-in-class accuracy, it’s worth the extra cost. However, if you’re hunting deer-sized game at distances under 200 yards or so, less-expensive ammo is usually sufficient.

Interpreting the Data

To test each of these types of .308 hunting ammo, I fired and measured five-shot groups through a variety of rifles. I recorded a minimum of five groups for each type of ammo (based on my inventory), but I was able to record between 15 and 30 groups for most offerings.

Keep in mind that average group size is with five-shot groups across all rifles tested. Some rifles shoot better, some worse. The standard deviation is the average variation in group size across all rifles tested. This data only reflects the rifles tested. Accuracy, obviously, varies from rifle to rifle. I experienced a couple of loads that would shoot four-inch groups in one rifle, and one-inch groups in another.

There’s much more at the link, including good details on these nine different rounds studied.

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Next: Long-Range Big Game Rivals 6.8 Western vs 7mm Rem Mag vs .28 Nosler

The 7mm Remington Magnum is one of the most popular magnum cartridges in current production. Versatile and dependable, this old-school cartridge managed to overcome the American shooter’s aversion to the metric with its incredible long-distance ballistic capabilities.

However, the 7mm Rem Mag has been around for a long time (since 1962 to be exact), and the wheels of ammunition innovation haven’t stopped turning. Could a newer long-range ballistic superstar dethrone this popular old-timer?

In terms of long-range hunting cartridges, the 6.8 Western vs 7mm Rem Mag vs .28 Nosler match-up is a good one.

If you’re a big game hunter going after long-range sheep, elk, or antelope, is it worth pursuing one of the newer hotrod cartridges like the 6.8 Western or the .28 Nosler? Or should you stick with a safe option, like the tried-and-true 7mm Rem Mag?

In this article, we dive into a deep analysis of the ins and outs of these solid long-range performers.

There’s a lot of data in this second study as well.

He has no control over his own dog.  He doesn’t rule the dog – the dog rules him.  All he could do when it was over is ask is the child is okay.

If the child had been harmed in any way, he should have been held legally liable for any damages or medical bills, and then worse if the child had been killed.

Real men have control over their beasts.  Don’t be this pathetic man.

Source.

Wildlife encounters are pretty common in the Greater Boston area, from wild turkeys at crosswalks to coyotes in yards. Well-publicized coyote attacks in recent years and an uptick in sightings this year have some people worried. Wildlife biologist Susan McCarthy from the Massachusetts Division of Fisheries and Wildlife joined GBH All Things Considered host Arun Rath to help us understand coyote activity in the area. This transcript has been lightly edited for clarity.

Arun Rath: So first, could you start off by giving us maybe a bit of a coyote reality check? Are we seeing significantly more sightings in encounters than in the past? And does that mean there are more coyotes on the ground in Eastern Massachusetts?

Susan McCarthy: Well, what I can say is that it does seem as though there are more reports of coyotes in suburban and urban environments. But whether or not that means there are more coyotes on the landscape is a great question to ask. And so what we’ve determined is that over the past 10 years, the coyote population in Massachusetts has stabilized. Coyotes are existing at very high densities and they’re in all available habitats throughout the commonwealth of Massachusetts. We wouldn’t say that the coyote population is growing. … We know that’s not true. That’s not the case.

Yea, you go ahead and keep telling yourself that.  Mind you, don’t be so confused as to believe that Coyotes are afraid of you when you meet up with them.  With a buddy to help him out, this Coyote might have succeeded against that big cat.  But the point is that a single Coyote had the steel to go up against a big cat alone, even though he ended up calling it off in the end.

So as you walk your dogs in the evening and carry your cell phone to call 911 (but no sidearm), you tell yourself that Coyotes aren’t more numerous and there is no problem when those six eyes are staring at you from the bush.

Ever see a coyote and a mountain lion fight? 👀 pic.twitter.com/73GAYiMFr5

— Old Row Outdoors (@OldRowOutdoors) April 9, 2018

Ron Spomer answers some interesting questions.  I found it interesting that he recommends a slightly more squaring up against the gun with heavier recoiling firearms.  Also, the thumb over the pistol grip part of the stock (rather than around the stock) to prevent breaking the trigger pull badly with a jerking motion seems to have become customary.

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The old adage of “You get what you pay for” when it comes to optics is becoming less and less true every year – especially with optics like the Primary Arms SLx MD-25.  We have entered somewhat of a renaissance of electro-optics, which began, roughly in the early 2000s with the wide adoption of optics like the Aimpoint M68 and EoTech by the US military.  The civilian market quickly caught on, especially as the unholy 90s “assault weapon” ban came to an end in 2004, and ARs and other modern rifles came back in a big way.  Now, ‘iron sights’ and ‘back up iron sights’ on an AR are almost synonymous, as almost every AR or AK you’ll find on the range or at a training class is sporting some kind of optic as its primary sighting system.

There once were generally two choices:  A high dollar ($400+) option from suppliers like EoTech, Aimpoint, Trijicon, and Leupold; and a budget option ($150 and under).  The budget options were, generally speaking, of somewhat poor quality and overall lacking in reliability, durability, fit and finish, and features.  Companies like Holosun and Primary Arms have very much bucked that trend in recent years, however offering quality, durability, reliability, and features that can hold their own against many higher-end optics, at a fraction of the price.

Primary Arms SLx MD-25

One such optic is a new red dot from Primary Arms, called the SLx MD-25, which retails for $170 for the 2 MOA dot model.  If you’re short on time, the best way I can describe the MD-25 is that it’s a budget competitor to the Trijicon MRO, with a much more versatile reticle.  The MD-25 is what I would call a ‘mid-sized’ tubular red dot.  It’s dimensionally larger than a micro dot like the 20mm Aimpoint T1 or Holosun 503, but still smaller and lighter than the Aimpoint 30mm models like the CompM4/M68.

The MD-25, like the Trijicon MRO, features a 25mm window, thus giving you an optic with a near micro-like weight and size, but increasing the window size half way to that of a full size 30mm optic.  Going from a 20mm micro dot: what effect does the extra 5mm in glass and viewing area actually have?  When I shot three rifles I had with different sized optics mounted on them – one with a 20mm Holosun 503, one with the 25mm MD-25, and one with a 30mm Aimpoint PRO – I found that my ability to quickly find the dot from awkward shooting positions where my head wouldn’t be perfectly lined up behind the glass was considerably improved going from the 20mm to 25mm optic, but not noticeably better going from the 25mm to 30mm window size.  25 millimeters seems to be a kind of sweet spot of lens sizes for tubular red dots, at least for myself.

If you decide you like the idea of a 25mm red dot and want to know what you can expect to get for that $170 dollars – here are a few for the MD-25:

Many more features and attributes are reviewed at the source. What’s your “best” optic, and why? Of course, the platform matters. We’re using the Holosun 503cu on AR platforms. The price is good for an average self-defense shooter. This reminds, we need to get spare batteries.

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The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday turned away another challenge to a federal ban imposed under former President Donald Trump on devices called “bump stocks” that enable a semi-automatic weapon to fire like a machine gun.

The justices declined to review an appeal by a group of firearms dealers and individuals in Minnesota, Texas and Kentucky after a lower court rejected their argument that the government had violated the U.S. Constitution’s Fifth Amendment “takings clause” by effectively taking their private property without just compensation.

Trump’s administration moved to reclassify bump stocks as machine guns, which are forbidden under U.S. law, in a rare firearms control measure prompted by a 2017 mass shooting in Las Vegas. The Supreme Court in 2019 declined to block the ban from going into effect. The justices last month rejected appeals by a Utah gun lobbyist and firearms rights groups of lower court rulings upholding the ban as a reasonable interpretation of a federal law prohibiting machine gun possession.

Having banned the bump stock, now the BATF is coming for arm braces. Next, it’ll be the six-position AR stock. If this isn’t stopped, gunstocks of every kind will be outlawed by fiat. Perhaps you say that’s ridiculous? But if we’re playing chess and not checkers, it sounds like a “reasonable” pathway to outlawing rifles altogether.

To quote WoG,  “And thanks again, Donald.”

Simple ways to get water while on the move.

Without power, your water will eventually stop flowing. Alternate sources may become essential. The below video provides several temporary solutions for on-the-move or wilderness, but longer term, you may need a well on your property. If you’re going to dig a seep well, you want to locate a “flood plain.” A flood plain, regardless of size, is a low area where water gathers when a creek or river rises. Along a creek, a flood plain is usually about one foot above the waterline and mainly sediment, making it an excellent place to get good seepage. A seep well is a good shelter-in-place or overnight location solution. Creekbeds are cold at night so consider your camp location relative to the well.

“Hoist the Flag and Sound the Trumpet” is a bit of a long read, but if all things Navy interest you, check it out.

The need for a navy has been recognized for thousands of years. The Athenian Themistocles said that “he who controls the sea controls everything.” And you cannot control the sea without a sufficient navy. By the American Revolution, we had our own naval advocate in John Paul Jones who said, “in time of peace, it is necessary to prepare, and always be prepared for war by sea…without a respectable navy, alas America.” But how do you do that?

We can go start at the American Revolution when an ad hoc navy was both constructed and procured, when merchant ships became privateers or, like the Bonhomme Richard converted to a warship. We had a continental navy, state navies, privateers, and an ally with the French navy, but coordination was always a challenge. Harassing British seaborne commerce largely fell to the privateers. During the war, 1,700 letters of marque were issued. In the last year of the war alone there were 450 privateers patrolling the Atlantic seeking British merchant ships as prizes. Privateers captured three times as many prizes as the Continental Navy. British shipping insurance, as a result, increased ten-fold to thirty percent of their cargo value. That made merchants take notice who shared their displeasure with their members of Parliament.

Following the war, absent a navy, the young nation faced a new debate about a new Constitution. And in that debate between the Federalists and Anti-Federalists, we find them just as passionate on whether to have a standing navy and the size of the navy as on any other subject. It is Alexander Hamilton in Federalist Paper 11 who argued for a standing navy – a navy of respectable weight including great ships of the line against maritime powers to place a check on them. In Federalist Paper 41, James Madison argued that the Atlantic states and towns would benefit from naval protection, “if they have hitherto been suffered to sleep quietly in their beds.”

And, so, was born a clause in Article 1 Section 8 of the new United States Constitution that Congress must “provide and maintain a navy.” What remained to be determined, however, is what size to make an eventual navy.

[…]

We as a nation and a navy are not ready because we have chosen not to be. What do we need to prepare for a potential conflict with China?

We need executive vision and action.

We need congressional interest, oversight and funding.

We need a navy to build operational platforms.

We need a much larger industrial base. 

Well, our industrial base was shipped (sorry, couldn’t resist) to China. The fixation with the number of ships is strange. And, who precisely, is going to man these ships?

Here is a legal opinion on 501(c)(3). Apparently, the compiler of this PDF didn’t consult the God of the universe, but we’re used to that. It’s a long legal positioning squirming for a solution. The paper miserably fails to make a case for or against it.

The local church is immune to taxation, or it was. A tax exemption was a solution to a problem that did not exist as far as the body of Christ was concerned. But the government’s problem was; how to control Christians by Lawfare, and they solved it in 1954 through the Tax Code. The government created a “benefit” that was neither needed nor beneficial. It’s sort of like CCW permits, but that’s another topic.

Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 Since the passage of the Sixteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, which authorized Congress to impose a federal income tax, Congress has consistently granted churches and religious organizations special exemptions from paying taxes and for receiving tax–deductible contributions.2 However, if a church or religious organization wishes to qualify for and maintain this tax–exempt status, it must abide by the restrictions on political and legislative activities established in section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. 3 Section 501(c)(3) includes two

stipulations on political involvement: first, no substantial part of the organization’s activities may consist of carrying on propaganda or otherwise attempting to influence legislation;4 and second, the organization may not participate in political campaigning in opposition to, or on behalf of, any candidate for public office.5 In light of how the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and some courts have interpreted section 501(c)(3) [see discussion below], churches and religious organizations may well consider this law as yet another example of the government’s subordination of the rights of religious persons to “matters of national public policy” or to other rights.6 Understanding section 501(c)(3), however, is necessary for any church that wishes to positively impact the moral and social fabric of our culture. A church must decide whether it can be a viable and influential force in society within the constraints of section 501(c)(3) or whether it should forego the benefits of tax–exemption in order to participate unreservedly in the legislative and political process.

The bottom line is that if you submit to the IRS, your local body of believers ceases to belong to the Church of Jesus Christ, which is His body. You have further rejected your sovereign King, thereby committing Cosmic Treason against the Almighty, and you have taken the State as your new master in violation of the marriage covenant you made with Christ. Congratulations, you are now an adulterer that’s gone whoring with a new lover. The author of the paper clearly has no regard for the authority of the Law-word of God.