EP307 How To Shoot Sporting Clays 101

The single biggest thing you can do to take more birds when hunting is to practice shooting sporting clays in the off season. On this episode I give an overview of what sporting clays is, why it’s so helpful, what to expect your first time, the costs, and how you can find a course and get started. 

Here is the episode I mentioned in the show: How To Set A Realistic Annual Hunting Budget

Sporting clays is imperative for the wing shooter. Unless you can hunt birds constantly, sporting clays is the best way to develop and hone your shooting skills. Due to the variable shots, angles, speeds, and scenarios it provides significantly more realistic practice than trap shooting or skeet, though both are helpful. 

  1. Trap shooting involves shooting at clays as they are being launched away from you, like a bird flushing away. 
  2. Skeet shooting focuses on clays crossing in front of you, simulating passing shots, or birds being flushed from the side but flying into your field of fire.
  3. Sporting clays is kind of like those two crossed with golf. You typically have a 20-position course where clay targets are thrown from different angles, directions, and with different purposes to mimic a variety of realistic hunting scenarios. 

All three utilize clay targets often referred to as sporting clays, clay pigeons, clay targets, etc. 

To get started shooting sporting clays you first need to find a course. They tend to be much smaller than golf courses and are more easily hidden, sometimes close by and without much signage or fanfare. Search on Google and in the yellow pages or other local directory and ask around at local shops and local gunsmiths. There may be courses close by that you do not know about.

Once you find a course you may be easily able to schedule a day and time to come, else you may have to join a club. Weigh your options and do what is best for you. But I recommend trying to get access to a course at least twice a year in order to be regularly improving your skills. More is better of course, but it’s also more costly.

There is typically a fee to run the course plus the cost of ammo. Most courses are 100 targets, and some provide options for less or more. There may be other costs or options as well such as a golf cart, or hiring a guide/tutor to help you learn about the sport and how to shoot the course. I very much recommend paying the extra fee to get a seasoned shooter to go with you and train you. If you are shooting in a group, then you can often split the cost and it becomes more manageable.

This professional instruction is invaluable if you are new to sport and it’s something I think you should continue to pay for once every year or two in order to keep growing and improving.

Most courses require you to use target loads for safety reasons. Some enable you to bring your own ammo and some may require you to buy it there. Ask in advance so you can be well prepared.

Most importantly, you should listen to this entire podcast episode to get all of the details of how to start shooting sporting clays.

EP306 Are Semi Auto Shotguns Better Than Over-Unders For Hunting?

There is fierce debate about whether autoloaders or over-unders are better shotguns. That is too broad of a question. Instead, I focus this episode on the merits of each for hunting, particularly hunting turkey, ducks, geese, upland game, and other pursuits under adverse weather conditions. Is one type of shotgun better for hunting? I think that generally speaking, yes, we can point to one that is more advantageous for that particular task.

The over-under shotgun is considered one of the most prestigious firearms ever developed and there are a multitude of fine guns produced by some of the greatest craftsmen in the world. These shotguns can be made to the tightest tolerances with the most beautiful materials and most appreciated features. And it is honestly these strengths that limit the potential of the gun for hunting under adverse conditions.

The autoloader shotgun was designed to be a workhorse. Fine options and versions do exist, but by and large it is a gun built to be a tool first. These guns often have looser tolerances which enable them to operate with some margin in wet, cold, and dirty conditions where you would not want to take a fancy and expensive over-under shotgun. The over-under may potentially be more reliable at the range and on clear sunny days, but they don’t fare so well under the conditions that many waterfowl hunters and turkey hunters find themselves in.

The semi-auto shotgun has long been considered less fashionable, but as a hunting gun, it has certain advantages. More ammunition capacity is appreciated. They tend to weigh a little less, cost less, and have more color options. They be better suited to dealing with poor weather both from the standpoint of coatings and finishes, and synthetic vs. wood options. 

There is not a thing wrong with using an over-under for hunting and when it comes to doves and grouse, many are. But very few come in camouflage, which is a clear indication that their intended use is not under conditions where that feature shines. In the hunting shotgun category and price range, there tends to be more semi-auto options than over-unders as well. 

Comparing the two types of guns on a broad scale produces some conflicting reactions, but when zeroing in on the use case of hunting, the autoloader pulls ahead into the lead due to the features, options, and cost.

Listen to the entire podcast episode for much much more!

EP304 5 Ways To Cook Turkey Nuggets!

Turkey nuggets are many people’s favorite part of taking home a turkey, but what is the best way to cook them? Well, I do not think there is a “best” way but there are lots of great ways to do it depending on what you like. On this episode I share five different ways to cook and prepare this spring delicacy. 

Turkey nuggets are almost always fried, but there are many ways to fry a good nugget and there are other ways they can be cooked.

  • Deep frying is the most common approach, this involves using enough hot oil to completely submerge the nuggets in some kind of a pan or pot.
  • Pan frying is another option that requires enough oil too to partially submerge the nuggets in the pan and then flipping them halfway through cooking.
  • After this you have the sauté method that requires a small amount of oil or butter. This is one of the only cooking techniques that you can use butter for. Here you end up with a little bit of a healthier product and possibly more flavorful, but it does not have that regular deep fried nugget texture.
  • The next way too cook turkey nuggets is with an air fryer. These contraptions are very useful, but they take up a lot of space and are harder to clean. Here you can use very minimal amounts of oil and a much more controlled cooking environment that will enable you to find a good recipe and replicate it easier every single time. But there are those downsides which I mentioned.
  • The last technique is the sear method. Rarely used for nuggets because you are not able to use much breading, searing the nuggets can still product a very flavorful dinner but this technique needs a little moisture to shine its brightest. So, consider pairing it with a sauce, such as a blueberry wine sauce, finished with a little butter. More details are in the episode.

Beyond the actual cooking technique, you have a variety of breading approaches that you can pair with each, such as dipping in flour, using milk or egg wash to get more flour to stick, or even double breading them. You can use corn starch instead of flour, breadcrumbs, or gluten free flour as well. Some people will dry dip the meat into corn starch, then dip it in buttermilk before dipping into flour. 

Every breading method has pros and cons, I personally prefer less breading because I don’t want it to soak up too much oil and initiate a bad post meal experience…

Listen to the entire podcast episode for all of the detials!

EP303 How Hunting Can Boost Next Year’s Turkey Population

Is it possible to improve the turkey population in your local area by actually hunting more? Well, yes, yes, it is. But it’s not what you think. Killing more turkeys won’t result in a bigger turkey population, but hunting and trapping turkey predators that have grown to out of balance proportions in your area can make a difference. 

Depending on where you live, predators like coyotes, foxes, raccoons, crows, possums and other predators may be overpopulated and causing undue issues with the turkey population, and potentially the populations of other game animals. Hunting or trapping these overpopulated predators can improve the wildlife balance and give turkeys better odds at survival.

Turkeys are especially susceptible to predators when they are young and unable to fly. They are in even more danger as eggs, before they hatch when almost anything from crows to raccoons can eat an entire nest. After they survive their first winter, they are much hardier. But making it to that point can be very difficult if the predator population is out of balance.

Coyotes are one of the most widespread problems nationally as their populations have been expanding unchecked in many areas. They can not only kill turkeys but also drive them out of ideal habitat which impacts their ability to survive in other ways. If you and a group of friends are able to exert concerted efforts to hunt or trap these kinds of predators you can make significant difference in your area. But it may take some sustained effort before it pays off.

You need to learn about your local wildlife and identify what populations are out of balance first. Going after foxes for example if the fox population is average or below average will not help, in fact it could cause other issues. We do not want to kill all predators, we only want to help restore population balance, especially when the populations have gotten out of balance due to manmade situations, which is often the case.

Then you need to study your local hunting and trapping laws to see what your options are. For many of these animals, trapping is more efficient and easier than hunting. Particularly with racoons and coyotes. Whatever efforts you may take, stay safe, legal, and ethical in all that you do.

EP301 TSS Turkey Hunting Ammo State Of The Union

How effective is modern TSS turkey ammo in the hands of the average hunter with the average choke tube? Is TSS always better than lead and worth the extra cost? How far out is TSS turkey ammo effective for turkey hunting? What is the maximum range for tungsten super shot turkey loads? In this episode I answer all of these questions and more, with actual data from my own testing. 

I recently tested seven different brands of TSS turkey hunting ammo as well as several brands of lead turkey ammo and put together a large overarching analysis of the marketplace, including Federal Premium TSS, HEVI-Shot HEVI-18, Remington Premier TSS, Fiocchi Golden Turkey TSS, Herters TSS, APEX TSS, and BOSS Tom TSS. I have also recently tested Winchester Longbeard XR, Remington Nitro Turkey, and numerous others.

I have done test videos at 50 yards and 100 yards with all the TSS loads, including ballistics gel testing. I will not get into all the details and minutia here in these show notes, but I will share one chart below along with the key take aways from numerous test.

Here are several key take aways from this testing.

First, the most expensive TSS loads were not the best performers, not even close. In fact, lead outperformed some of the more expensive loads under the conditions and at the ranges tested.

Second, some of the cheapest loads produced amazing results, above and beyond the call of duty with only average choke tubes and setups.

Third, depending on the brand and choke combo, you would get better results from lead ammo, thus totally nullifying any reason to use the TSS. However, the opposite is also sometimes true. Some brands produced results that were so great you could tailor the load to any hunting situation with unparallelled performance.

Fouth, TSS may or may not be worth paying for depending on your objectives and hunting situation. Tungsten super shot is potent stuff but for close range hunting, it provides few advantages to lead, especially considering the incredible cost.

Fifth, hunters tend to over choke their ammo, primarily TSS. This results in spending way too much money to find the best possible combination of ammo, choke, and shotgun in order to get maximum pattern density at long range. The issue is that most turkeys are not shot at long range, and hunters are missing too many short shots with the hope of making a rare long shot.

Sixth, the greatest value of TSS turkey hunting ammo is that it provides the most margin of error at the greatest span of effective ranges, perhaps 20 yards to 60 yards. Lead can be geared for short, medium, or long range, but an average turkey choke enables TSS to be viable at all three. Yet most hunters are choking only for ultra long range which is not ideal for maximizing your ability to capitalize on the greatest possible number of hunting opportunities.

Seventh, nothing is effective at 100 yards, it is an utter waste of time. Don’t attempt crazy shots like this, it’s a waste of money at best, and something that may wound turkeys at worst. But it is not going to kill turkeys, there is not enough ballistic energy left to do it.  And if you use larger shot, there isn’t enough pattern density left to even hit the birds. 

Listen to this whole podcast episode AND watch the videos for all the data and insights. 

EP300 The Definition Of A Real Hunter

What makes someone a real hunter? Is it how many days they spend each year afield? Is it the quality or caliber of their gear? Is it how they talk about the sport? Or is it something more? On this episode I talk about the things that have nothing to do with being a real hunter and then reveal something bigger that matters more.

Thank you so much to everyone whose support has helped pushed the show to 300+ episodes, I really appreciate it! This episode marks a great milestone in a very exciting time. You are awesome and I greatly appreciate it!

Subscribe Today!