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I had the privilege of helping my nephew get his first elk this morning. He has a CHAMP and crossbow permit. Walking more than a 100 yards on flat ground was going to be tough, so sitting water was going to be our main focus of hunting. Yesterday, he and his dad found a tank that had a lot of elk coming into that was easy access for him to get into. After sitting last night, no elk were seen but some nice bucks did come in to keep them occupied while sitting. This morning I was able to go, so we decided to go sit the same tank. We got there just before daylight and we could hear some bulls blowing but they were a long ways off. After a little bit a bull started getting closer an closer blowing as he come. Finally we could see him on top of the ridge and he was coming in. He first got to the water facing straight on. He walked out into the tank and screamed right at us. He turned broadside and Mike was just about to shoot when he turned straight away and started drinking. After a minute or so, he started raking his antlers in the mud and little by little he started to turn. He was quartering away and I told Mike to aim right at the last rib and squeeze it off. The shot hit perfect, lodging in the opposite shoulder. The bull took off and I cow called and got him to stop. Not five seconds later he was down at 80 yards. The hunt was so much fun and glad I was able to be apart of it. Everything worked out perfect. Brian

People drive me nuts too, but, each and every time I have ever had an issue with another hunter, it has been close to the road. So, instead of blaming the peolle, I usually revert back to blaming myself for hunting near a road.

Misdirected hate. It is the person not the camera. 😵

Well you made your point without insulting a bunch of people and name calling members so I can agree with you on this.

I bet they bought a map of which water to put their cam on.

If that is an experience that makes you react like this, you don't get out or hunt much....

That’s pretty cool congrat!!

Well I had the opportunity to shake the hand of one of our last remaining WWII veterans this morning. I thanked him for his service and noticed he had a POW license plate. He was an airborne soldier captured by the nazis in Sept 1944 during operation Market-Garden(A Bridge Too Far) and spent 6 months in a stalag. God Bless him. lee

Hello all, I am putting up for sale my custom 338 RUM built by Brad and Keith Johns from Phoenix Custom Rifles. The gun is three years old and has never been fired due to deployments etc. At the same time this gun was built I also had them build a custom 6.5 SAUM which after load development by Brent Jacobs of Western Precision Rifles in Safford, it shoots about 1/4" groups at 100 yards; I am confident that this gun will do well below MOA with custom loads. Here are the specifics of the build: 28" stainless steel Bartlein cut rifled barrel American Precision Arms (APA) little bastard muzzle brake APA bottom metal LA for detachable magazines AICS magazine which is modified to fit 338 RUM case Defiance Rebel Long Action with fluted bolt and Defiance 20moa picatinny rail Jewel trigger Manners MCS T-2 stock (90% carbon) with custom Kryptek camo dip Vortex rings made by Badger Ordnance 5x25x56 Nightforce ATACR scope with 34mm tube and MOAR-T illuminated reticle (brand new) Desert Tan Cerakote I have decided to sell this gun because given my back issues with arthritis and the fact that this gun is a bit heavy at 13lbs I figured someone out there who is younger and willing to tote this bad boy around can put it to good use vice sitting in my gun safe (perhaps someone who has drawn that once in a lifetime Dec sheep tag :). In any case, I am now negotiable on the price of $5500 (would also consider a trade for a new or like new 20 or 28 ga O/U shotgun or side by side of equal value). I am also pricing this scope at my Mil/LE price point which anyone familiar with NF knows that discounts for their products are hard to come by. I prefer to sell the gun whole vice parting it out; it is being sold as is. The gun is local in Tucson and I am happy to meet and show you the gun. Cash or certified check which can be verified at a local AZ bank is the only form of payment. Any out of sale would be via FFL transfer and buyer would pay shipping and would also require funds to clear before shipping. My contact # is six one nine - 857- three one 26. Also, as an FYI, a carbon barrel on this gun would take it down to the 8.5 or 9 lb range which is doable but I don't want to put any more money into this gun.

Well with no hiking ability right now i needed that 1 goat that didn't mind hanging out near dirt road. Friend of mine bowhunter4life Mike had location and Cliff also from Christian Hunters of America was kind enough to go up Thursday and bed the lovesick buck who hung out in the exact pocket i needed him to be in this morning. My son was able to join us!😀 i know for many this might be a last day buck but for me this was a 6:10 am opening morning buck and i couldn't be happier!!! I saved that poor doe from this guy who was trying to run her to death i believe. After a bunch of 200 yard dashes back and forth they finally stopped for a snack at 311yards... and better late than never doesn't count in this case but here we go anways-OH BY THE WAY GUYS PLUG YOUR EARS... YEP I FORGOT TO WARN THEM. 😯 the 243wssm barked with 1 of SHERMAN's reloads and done deal. Gonna give cape to anyone in need if you lost yours during archery hunt or what not but only keeping a day. I have not skinned the head out. I have a euro skull business, i do not remove skulls from cape nicely but it was caped up to neck properly. 6mm/243 wssm hole on left side shoulder not bad and no exit. if in need of cape and wanna come cape out head let me know asap👍 6024994136 N.Phx

That right there is why you should have a blut in your quiver!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Well guys/gals... just got back from the trip. Didn’t get one but it was a successful trip in my opinion. I saw tons of game (elk, muleys, coues, javelina, bear, and turkeys). Hunted extremely hard and but on some miles through rough country. Did locate a few decent bucks and unfortunately blew a stalk on a 150” 4pt on the last day. Just give a big thanks to everyone who helped me with information for this hunt. I can’t wait to get back after em. Josh

Congrats to your nephew. Bet he is still stoked (maybe you too 😉 )

I hate people crying about cameras and nobody seems to care that hunters are setting their camps right on top of tanks, This morning I went into one of my areas and found a camp set right next to the tank. I have yet to see one of those camera infested areas, but every year I see people camping on the waterholes. I do not know if my experiences are that different than what other hunters are experiencing. There is a real world reason why the law exists. If azgfd won't enforce the law and people break the law willfully knowing azgfd is pathetic and not enforcing the laws, than what good are the laws and why does azgfd exist? I don't have an elk archery tag so it isn't directly affecting me right now, but when my hunt comes, do I hurry up and set my camp on the tank before somebody else does? If azgfd will not enforce the laws, what laws do we follow?

My favorite right now is the Salomon Quest 4D. A lot depends how the last matches one's foot and heel. https://www.cabelas.com/product/bargain-cave/new-this-week/footwear/pc/105591780/c/105633180/sc/105636780/salomon-quest-d-mid-gtx/2665072.uts?slotId=1

Made in Europe or USA is the way to go. I look for one piece, full grain leather, no liner or insulation, stitch down not glued sole. Hard to find everything I like in one boot so I often compromise on one or another feature. Most recently have worn LA Sportiva, Zamberlan, and now using some Keens. Not thinking the Keens are going to last long but they are lightweight and very comfortable. For $70 on clearance it was worth the gamble. So far, so good. Most important is fit. Everybody is different. Try a bunch.

Hanwag Alaskan GTX. Freaking comfortable, fit like a glove, sturdy, cheaper than kenetrek.

I have multiple pairs of red wings, these I wear at work... construction. I have multiple pairs of Lowa boots, my most used are these urban desert, really good for everyday and packing loads when needed. I believe the model now is the elite desert. People's feet are so different it's hard to suggest on the internet, but Chinese made danners and others are ok for light hunting but fail fast under heavy loads. Kent

Most of what is said here is spot on, except for the last part. If it is a publicly funded project then the engineer is selected based on qualifications, not price. If it's your money you can do whatever you want with it. Not all civil engineers or architects are know it alls, I certainly don't think I know everything. Make sure you get a PE, every single one registered in the state can be looked up on the state board of technical registration website. Make sure they know the permit process for your jurisdiction. Most good engineers are slammed right now so you will likely spend a premium. Good luck!

I thought I would rather sink it then to let it become worst. Just not bothered enough to mess with the crap.

So I’ve been off CWT since they switched the format and figured I better get back on here and update everyone on the hunt. It was an absolute grind, and I’m glad it’s over, but it was a really great time!!! I ended up buying a proof research 28 nosler and topping it with a 2.5-25x52 March. It was under 8# all put together. This thing is scary accurate with 195 eol Berger’s sitting on 86.5 gr RL 33. Anyhow, onto the hunt! I was lucky enough to have my 3 brothers along for it as well as my wife and my sister in law. To say I couldn’t have done it without them is an understatement! We picked out and area on google earth that I found based on the biologists suggestion. Her exact words were “it’s reallt hard to get to but you’ll find a lot of goats in there”. We all met for breakfast the day before the hunt opened and headed to the trailhead around 10:00am. The hike in to base was only 5 miles so I was thinking we’d be in easily by mid day. Boy was I wrong. Ran into another tag holder on the way in and he said “you’re going in there? You realize there’s no trail and it’s solid blow downs right?” On the plus side he did say they glassed some goats “way the heck back there” this summer!! We trudged on climbing about 2000 vertical feet in the first two miles. We followed the spine for a mile or so and then it dumped into the basin we picked out. I guess I have to say that I was a little underprepared for it!! On google earth I could see some blow downs, but I didn’t expect this! Literally every 30’ for the entire next 2 miles was a blowdown! We plodded on, finally making camp about 4:00 pm. We got a little glassing in that night and were pumped to find plenty of goats!! We glassed up a lone billy above camp a mile or so. We planned on getting a closer look at him in the am. We had to do all the bear stuff, hanging food, no chapstick etc. I had never dealt with that and it’s sort of a pain but I guess considering there was grizzly crap everywhere we needed to do it! The next morning we awoke to high 20’s and clear sky’s. We hiked up to the billy we had glassed. We found him not far from where we left him the night before. One of the many drawbacks of the blow downs is there was literally no cover to approach the goats with. While he was still way above us, I wasn’t sure how much activity they would put up with. Most of the goats I’ve run into on other hunts have been fairly stupid and just watch you from above within easy rifle distance. Realizing we didn’t have any choice, we just headed at him. At about 1000 yards he just got up and hopped over the ridge out of our lives. This made us realize this might be a little tougher then we expected. I wasn’t too bummed as I had gotten a pretty good look at him and he was the type of billy I knew I probably shouldn’t pass but also wasn’t a giant so I was a little optimistic that we would find a better one. It didn’t take long glassing and my brother glassed up a big group of nannies and kids. I had made a decision that I was only going to shoot a billy so we kept looking. About an hour later my other brother picked up some goats that we had somehow missed. It was two mature animals together. It didn’t take long looking to realize they were both mature billies. One had a Snow White coat and the other a kinda piss yellow one. The yellow one may have been a 1/2” bigger but the white one was much prettier. We decided whichever offered a shot would do. This time we were smarter and found a ridge to hide our approach. We picked a spot that we figured would get us to 500 yards and looped around to it. When we got there we peeked over and ranged them and it was 770 yards. I am capable of the shot with a decent wind read or a calm day, but the wind was literally blowing 3 different directions including straight up!! We pushed on and found a new location that got us what I thought would only be 100 yards on them. When we got there my brother ranged them and said 435!! Bingo. That’ll work! We slid into position, the only visible one was the Snow White billy. He was bedded with his left leg hanging off a cliff looking down on us. The obvious chest shot was actually blocked by his nose as he looked down so I decided to slip a bullet right past it and into his shoulder, hopefully catching some back lung and liver and breaking his close shoulder. With my brothers all locked on him I sent one up. He jumped up at the shot carrying his leg. I assumed it was a lethal shot but slammed another in his opposite shoulder as fast as I could. He dropped at this shot, anchored on the ledge he was bedded on!! Billy down! High fives all around! We didn’t realize that we were just getting to the hard part! It took us around 2 hours of rock climbing to get to him, and these billies were in some of the easier to get to stuff in there!! I was blown away with how gorgeous he was when we got to him. I had a lot of people tell me to wait for later season for better hair, but I’m in love with the dense look of his hair. It’s probably 3” long and dense. My first shot broke his close shoulder but wasn’t lethal due to the steep angle. I was very lucky to get a second one in him. His horns were awesome. I really didn’t know what to expect and wasn’t worried about an inch of horn either way but was really excited to see he was a mature billy. The biologist later measured him at 9” long, 5 1/2” bases and 7.5 years old. A really good billy for this part of Montana. We were able to get some pics on the shelf he was on but had to lower him with paracord to get him somewhere safe to butcher. With packs loaded with meat and a life size cape we slowly picked our way down the mountain and back to spike camp. The next morning we got up and loaded our packs and headed out. We had between 40-60# packs going in with our food and gear for 5 days. There’s a surprising amount of meat on a mtn goat and that combined with the cape (which weighed 40#) we all ended up with 50-70# packs on the way out. It took us 5 hours to go the 5 miles out. I can’t explain how demoralizing those blow downs are!!! I’ve never been so happy to see my truck!! We were all wiped out so we stayed in Cooke city that night. A giant ribeye and a half dozen Coors lights never taste so good!! I’m really lucky to have drawn the tag while I was still fairly young and somewhat fit. When we got home we butchered the meat, which looked and smelled excellent. I had heard so many horror stories about goat meat but I don’t believe what I hear as I’ve heard people say antelope, Sandhill crane, and sharptail grouse are all gross as well and they couldn’t be more wrong. My wife cooked up some tenderloin and backstrap that night and I have to say it was incredible. Similar flavor to antelope but maybe a little tougher. I was really thinking I would have to grind it all I to chorizo or jerky but we instead did all roasts and steaks with it. We got back to ND and turned and burned to the Missouri breaks for an archery elk hunt. Saw 25-30 bulls and had some close calls but no arrows in the air. I had to go back to work for 2 days to make sure the place didn’t burn down and now I’m off to Utah for an elk hunt! I love this time of year!

It sure is nice having a TV to watch that hunts the way we do in Az. I have been watching for a while now and am impressed. Spot & Stalk is a great way to hunt but cannot image doing it with a camera man in your hip pocket. From coues, mulies and elk great show.

Oh ya I cooked for a hunt they filmed, big bull down

Just a little update. I called proof research a couple days ago to see if they happened to have any rifles that were pre built and ready to go. He said hed look around. Got a call back yesterday and they have a demo 28 nosler with Stiller action and 26 barrel plus brake (exactly what I would have ordered anyhow!) for a screaming good deal. Weighs 6pounds 4 ounces. Should be a mean machine for goats and hopefully in the future a sheep hunt or two. Just ordered dies and some 26 Nosler Brass (per Caseys suggestion on another thread). Im gonna top it with a Marching 2.5-25 that I ordered for a different rifle thats still at the smith. Should make for about as light a rifle as a guy can get and still be able to stretch it to 1000 yards if needed. Anyone know where I can get some 195 Bergers?