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Showing content with the highest reputation on 10/27/2018 in all areas
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1 pointFor additional Info Call 520-579-9170 M1 Grand Winchester $900.00 [No Subject].zip
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1 pointFYI, when viewing the mobile version of the forum, the forum itself works fine, but if you click on the hamburger menu in the top right to view messages, it doesn't remain responsive.... the elements to view the menu options(account, browse, activity, etc.) are shown off screen to the right, and you have to scroll to the right to see those menu options (and they don't shrink to fit your screen size).
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1 pointGot 2 $25 charges. Javelina and turkey or javelina and bear. Gotta wait for results now
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1 pointYep, it's a keeper. I still have the first and last guns my dad shot. A Remington model 6 .22 was his first, and a Beretta 682 gold E was his sporting clays gun. Once they're sold, nearly impossible to get back.
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1 pointI'm with the keep it crowd. My great grandfather and grandfather on my Dad's side didn't pass on a dang thing other than maybe a propensity to also be an alcoholic. I'm trying my best to break that cycle. My two most valued possessions are an old Sears Ted Williams shotgun and an old Wilson Brothers era Black Widow recurve bow that were my Dad's. Those hunks of metal and wood aren't worth a lot of money but they represent a hunting heritage that my Dad and I shared and hopefully some kid down the line can hold them with the pride that I have and pass them on as well.
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1 pointA little delayed in posting this but I've been busy since getting back. Just spend a week hunting northern Wyoming with a general deer tag and any antelope tag. Having ran out of last year's Wyoming whitetail doe, this hunt was more about filling the freezer than finding a monster, but I was still aiming at taking a personal best mule deer and my first antelope buck. I drove from Colorado Springs through the night of October 4th-5th after working my three night shifts at the hospital, and on my way encountered unseasonably cold weather and a snowstorm that actually deposited a few inches on the Wyoming landscape. My first afternoon was a short one, taking time to sight in the 25-06 while getting covered in heavy, wet snow flakes before getting my hunt underway. I was expecting a friend and excellent hunter to come up and join me in a few days who had the same antelope tag that I did. Though our antelope unit was within my region for hunting mule deer, my friend did not have a deer tag and the antelope terrain was not the best for mule deer, so I focused my attention on finding a deer. Hundreds of deer filled the private fields as the shadows grew long, including a few nice whitetail bucks I would have gladly taken had they been on public land, but no mature deer showed itself on public land. I did spot two small 3 pointers on public land but decided to pass in hopes of a more mature deer. The next day was the last warm, sunny day before rain and snow were forecast to move back in. I began the day working small chunks of overlooked BLM, finding relative solitude as others road hunted and crowded into the very front of the larger sections of public land. I saw plenty of does but no bucks. I decided to walk into a chunk of public land that had two creek bottoms, one shallow and covered in cottonwoods, the other screaming buck habitat with steep hill sides covered sparsely in juniper. The original plan was to walk up the steeper bottom first, but the wind was not favorable so I opted for a long loop up the shallow creek bottom and then into and down the steeper section. After seeing seven does in the first drainage but nothing with antlers, I couldn't resist a short nap on top of the rim as it was a beautiful, mid 50 to 60 degree bluebird day. I begrudgingly awoke from my slumber, suddenly remembering I had two big game tags to fill. As I walked down the creek, I began to contemplate what my next move would be when I did a double take, seeing a deer's outline on the opposite slope of the creek bottom. Bingo. He had antlers I could identify from around 150 yards away, and a closer look through the binos told me all I needed to know- he was a shooter, monster or not. I dropped to a sitting position and touched off a shot. The buck dropped in his tracks, twitching momentarily but becoming completely still in a matter of seconds. As I walked up on my buck I was immediately thankful for the opportunity to fill my tag in good weather on a mature, healthy deer. The layer of fat on this buck was unreal. He was no monster, lacking width and depth of forks, but he was beautiful, a personal best, and would eat nicely. Two trips back to the jeep and I headed back to the motel. Our first day hunting antelope was tough. One to two inches of snow overnight left the Wyoming landscape blanketed in white- hardly ideal for spotting antelope. The high was in the mid 30s, so just enough snow melted to leave the prairie a sea of white pockets against brown. The melting snow turned the dust into a thick mud that stuck to our boots and weighed them down further with each step. Complete removal was impossible as the dead grass intertwined in our boot tread to form an adobe-like mixture of mud that might as well have been a brick on each foot. By the time we were back to the trucks, my hips hurt from carrying around cement slippers all day long and I was discouraged from the paucity of antelope on public land. The next day brought more snow, but little stuck where we chose to hunt. We consistently saw hundreds of antelope on private land, but being the second week in the season they had been shot at and pressured enough to be pushed off public parcels. Our game plan was to hoof it back into a huge chunk of BLM and state trust, hoping to find unpressed antelope in the back. Just as we crested the first major ridge away from the road and the parked trucks, Andy turned to me and said "Antelope. Crossing the road forty feet from our trucks onto public land from the private bottom." I rolled my eyes. Typical goats. A fast dip into the bottom and attempt to close the distance didnt work as two other bucks crossed the fence onto public and had us pegged. As we attempted to stay out of sight, we looked back up on the ridge we had just came from to see the first group of antelope had circled around and were now just a hundred yards from where we stood as we spotted them. They were moving but not spooked. Cutting the distance, I snuck up on the bank and rested my bipod. "330 yards" Andy whispered. I waited for the buck to clear the does. Rock steady, I squeezed the trigger and saw the buck kick as he began his run. I was confident in the shot, and he fell over less than fifty yards later. cu My first antelope was a fine, representative specimen of a mature Wyoming public land goat. I was thrilled to have punched both of my big game tags in five days and taken my first antelope, despite their contrary nature and the constant game of tag. The snow capped mountains served as a magnificent backdrop to a wonderful hunting trip and vacation from the stresses of working in an ICU. Most importantly, I had secured some prime game meat to share with family and friends and to eat over the coming months. A personal best deer and first antelope on hard pressured public land all in five days, with two well placed, clean shots. Not too shabby. Next up, a return to Arizona to chase coues deer in November. Hope you all are having an awesome hunting season!
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1 pointTikka website should be able to answer those questions I would imagine. Can't go wrong with a Tikka though, everyone I have ever shot has done so really well. By far the most accurate out of the box rifle available with butter smooth actions.
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1 pointAre you a AZ resident? If you are, I would hold out for a late Coues tag since you have 4 pts already. You can draw just about any early coues tag with 0 points.
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1 pointDave is as good of a resource as you will find and is a big wig with the AZ Deer Association. I would jump on his offer. You are also welcome to send me a PM. There are a lot of really good Coues units in the state. But a lot goes into a what is a good Coues unit for you. What some might find great, others might struggle in. Likewise a lot depends on your own ability to travel to certain areas, hike, shoot long distance, etc. Are you willing to hunt the Mexico border? Do you know what the significance of hunting the border is? These are all import questions. Like I said shoot me a message if you like and I will do my best to help you out.
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1 pointThanks for the info the link! I figured everyone has there own unit they are most comfortable with and thanks for the luck! If you have any questions on where to go for your blacktails shoot me a message I will tell you everything I know
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1 pointHad this on my mind as a topic for debate/input since last deer season. Finally making time on a quiet Friday morning to post it up..... Had an experience last hunting season that made me re-think what I assumed to be true about hiking-in to a hunting area. My preferred method over the past several season has been to find an area fairly far from any roads (3-5 miles) and hike-in before the first crack of light to hunt it. I had sort of always been aware of any disturbance I make hiking in, and kind of assumed that any deer in the immediate area of my hiking route to be spooked-off, and hence would of course focus my initial glassing on areas outside of or beyond my hiking route. Last year my buds and I were focusing on a particular drainage. I missed a nice buck on day two (my typical buck fever - rushed shot), and we decided to head back into the general area once again on day 3. One of my buddies was a 1/4 mile or so ahead of a me on the hike in, and was able to get this picture with his iPhone. Basically, he was hiking-up the trail getting close to our glassing spot (on a wide open hillside with just grass & some scrubby mesquite...) and he catches something in his peripheral vision from his headlamp. He looks to his left, and standing there about 10 feet off the trail is the buck that I had missed the day before! He was able to get his iPhone out and snap a quick pic before it wandered-off..... So basically, I just wanted to share this experience. For now on, I will NOT necessarily assume that all the deer have been spooked away by my hiking-in via headlamp. Conclusion for me is that they apparently feel VERY safe when nocturnal! Any other experience or thoughts on this topic to share?? Hunt on!!!!! S. Obviously very poor lighting. Approx 10-15 feet away with iPhone flash....
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1 pointI once stepped out of a hot spring in the back mountains of Northern Idaho. It was a full moon with not a cloud in the starlight bright night. Despite that there were no clouds in the sky, the moon was kinda flashing. At that moment I recognized that the flashing effect to the light of the moon was created by the huge antlers of a big muley in velvet. The deer was literally standing less than three feet from me. I could have reached out and petted the dang thing. Then I looked around and realized the hot springs we were in was surrounded by at least 18 deer. I could walk around among them and they paid no attention to me. Maybe the hot spring erased my human scent or something, but I guarantee that never would happen in the daylight.
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1 pointIf Im hunting solo Ill often cold camp very close to my ambush spot, within a hundred yards of a treestand or even in my ground blind so I dont disrupt the area. That seems to work well. The last few Ive killed have been in a stand I hiked over a mile to each way and it hasnt seemed to make a difference frankly. Of the last three, two were taken at almost exactly 7:30am while I arrived at my stand at 5:30. I may well have bumped something on the way in but there are plenty more unlucky ones moving through the area. I actually got a shot at a nice buck a few years ago by making too much noise. Humped into an area I like that is far from the road. After an almost two hour hike I was at my spot around 9:30 am. The rock I normally sit on was covered by snow so I wiped it off and used my boots to scrape clean the ground where my feet would be. Nice six point coues buck heard that from a couple hundred yards away and thought I was another deer making a scrape. He charged right in to me was over 150 yards when I first spotted him and I missed him at about 30. Barely had enough time to get an arrow on the string before he was right on top of me. Missed him and the. Killed a spike buck two hours latter. Last year I had a doe and her mini come up on my while climbing up a tree in my climber. They were about 35-40 yards away staring at me when I spotted them. I just kept going. They walked up to about ten feet of me to investigate this strange thing climbing up that tree and eventually just fed away never spooking or running. I make my best efforts to not disrupt the natural vibe of an are but frankly dont worry at all if I jump something in the dark. As stated by others I dont think it ruins an area in the least.
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1 pointIn three radio tracking studies of white-tailed deer in south Texas, we found that deer treat darkness like cover. They move out to feed farther from cover on dark nights, and they remain in, or closer to, cover on bright moonlit nights. As long as they can smell and hear, they are not prone to move long distances away long from humans in the dark. On windy nights, though, they do tend to be a little more spooky.
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1 pointNearly tripped on this log before I found it, actually have two years off the same bull This one went into the keeper pile as well
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