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Got home at 1:00am today from a 28 day 16 State trip with Girlfriend. Saw Friends and family all over the Country. Big Cities and Hillbilly towns in the South Good time. Got some Great pictures of Fall colors in Pennsylvania. Went to PA . to see Girlfriends best friend She and I both Grew up with as tiny kids, She is battling brain Cancer. Kinda Sad. Saw many old Friends and relatives all over the Country. Saw my Youngest son 28 in Ill. that I haven't seen in 5 + years. Stopped in Cinncinati at a nieces house that had no Idea I was coming,, and just rang her doorbell . She was shocked. We are Blessed to have the warm Weather we have. I only saw warmth in Atlanta for 2 days then got cold as we left. Blue plastic covered roofs along the Gulf in Beaumont Texas and other areas and alot of destruction and bad from Hurricane Sally ,then they got it again yesterday. Got to visit My Dads grave for first time since He passed 18 months ago. next to moms.. That was touching. Saw them starting to tear down my 100+ year old red Brick Junior high School 1 block fro where I grew up and played Basketball 12 hours a day for many years. That hurt. I guess when You get older like Me you will see change from Your child hood. Will post some pics when I get with it ! Thanks for reading all . Did I miss anything here?.........................BOB!

Had a nice trip with my wife and some random visitors of friends like Edge, and my buddy Brian who scouted with me all summer. I posted a bunch of trail cam photos earlier and had a bunch more after. We put a lot of effort into a few areas and had some good bucks on a decent pattern. Well as figured the bucks didn’t play well when the time came for live fire. All the same we had a good time with games , food, mule riding, hiking, and had 2 chances at young deer but stuck to the plan. Edge has this last evening so wish him luck. Elk chili with Fritos is Awsome. Monday we had hail and snow and had to boil water to keep the mules watered. What a major bummer we couldn’t run the wood stove, man I hope we get some moisture soon. These dang Arizona deer are kicking my butt.

Super stoked about this recent purchase and had to share. Plus I was the only one on the planet that didn’t already own a 10/22.

When the Game warden stopped me opening morning to check my tag and told me that this year was the worst on record to have this tag, I was bummed. He actually told me that I should have surrendered it myself ! When I told him that my tag was a surrendered tag he said maybe that I got the tag that he TOLD his friend to surrender ! What a thing to say to a hunter. Thought is was uncalled for. He told me that if I saw a decent buck to shoot it. We found a Buck on wed eve before the hunt that was probably around 75". Nice mass, hooks, but short on the prongs. There was also a Buck in with them that was less than 70". On opening morning there were 8 trucks surrounding this group. We left and went to another area. Around 10am we went back there and both Bucks were down within 100 yrds apart. That's where we saw the Warden. Before the hunt we talked to a guy who's wife had the tag. He had been scouting since June. Never found a good buck. I think he surrendered the tag as we never saw him again. We also talked to the hunter who shot the second buck opening morning and he also had been scouting since June and the one he took was the best he had seen all summer. The Game warden also told us that there was only 1 80" goat in the unit. Well, he was right. I hunted the whole 10 days after this Buck. We found him on day 3. For the rest of the hunt we saw him every morning and evening. He was with 24 does, {48 eyes} and two other smaller bucks, low 70's. With the weather at 85 degrees and only 3 water tanks with water, it was hard to get within range without getting busted. They were watering at night. We tried many long stalks but where they bedded at 10 am every day we could only get to within 1000 + yrds, very open country. I should have had a decoy, but I didn't. Closest i got 1 evening was around 400 yrds and ran out of light. I was shooting my 257 roberts with 117 gr so a shot at 4-500 would drop 4 ft or more, not my kind of shot. I know some guys have more powerful long range rifles that reach out there 500-1000+ yrds. I am glad I went. 1 and only goat tag. We spoke to the water truck driver from the ranch and he was making 4 runs a day to Tusayan hauling 4000 gallons a trip. He said it was a terrible year for goats. So I didn't fill my tag, but hunted the 80" for 7 days. Had a blast. Could have shot several "Barely legal" Bucks but don't need to "kill" just to kill. Thanks to my hunting pal George for sticking it out with me the whole hunt. George had a cow elk tag also in 9 a week after. We did however fill that tag. Thanks for the backstrap George ! Picture of the bull elk was on the Antelope hunt. Saw him twice. First time he almost ran into the side of the truck and the next morning he walked along the side of the truck about 10-20 yrds and never spooked ! We had Elvis on the radio so we named him "Elvis "I actually walked to 10 ft from him. Appreciate your interest in the hunt. Safe hunting to all those who have upcoming hunts !

I am finally going to do my first back pack hunt here in a few weeks. I am working on my last minute details and wanted some input/insight from any veteran backpackers. My hunting partner and I will be hiking in Thursday afternoon and coming out Monday afternoon. The hike is around 5.5-6 miles one way. We will be going in the weekend before the hunt to haul 5 gallons of water so we won’t be needing a filtration system. He will be carrying the gun since I am carrying the game bags, cooking equipment, sidearm, rangefinder and spotting scope. I have pictures showing my gear list with weights, also my food list with calories and protein. My total pack without any water is 35 lb 10 oz. I will be adding a 70 oz bladder into my pack so my total with that will be right at 40 lb. If anybody has any suggestions on what I need to add or what I can cut I am all ears. Also any meal suggestions that you have used that have been successful.

Born and raised in AZ, and finally saw my first lion last weekend. Unfortunately it was in a canyon I was glassing on opening day of the early deer season down south, so surprise, we saw no deer that morning! 🤣 Saw THREE! Assuming either a mother and a couple of adolescents or three adolescent siblings. Anyway, I snapped a couple of pics through the Swaros and thought I would share here (Only got pics of two.....). Thinking I might buy me one of those phone-scope thingys.

Well what do I know. Regardless of weight you need what you need. I’ve done several successful backpack hunts for deer elk and javelina. Including a few solo. The weight that counts the most is the meat your packing out. I’d bring more food and water. Like a gal a day per person if I were you. if you can’t “field judge” a buck with 15’s your too far a way to kill it even if you wanted to. if there’s no rain in the forecast I would only bring the socks your wearing for a trip this short. what part of the state are you packing in to?

A gallon of water a day per person is the minimum we take. Dont skimp on water.

Crazy, i also saw my first lion on opening day. Ran out in front of me about 60ish yards. Went and set cams on some drinkers the next day to hopefully pattern it. Left a few days and checked. No cat. But since this year is so dry im gonna try and set some cams in tougher to get to spots. Maybe this year i have a chance at one with my bow. Couple deer pics from the cams

Sounds like a great trip overall. It is always bittersweet going home and seeing everything change from when we were young.

0725

Don't forget some wet wipes and a small pair of tweezers. Also some over the counter pain meds. Comes in handy for headaches, sore knees, whatever. Then again, you'll have whiskey. Bourbon I hope.

Seems like plenty of food. But....

Once you hold a 1911 in hands it’s hard to go another route.

I bought a Dan Wesson custom years ago. Best shooting pistol I ever had! Pre cz and just nice! Had to pawn it for medical bills. Yes, feel sorry for me haha

My 1st 1911 was a series 70 gold cup NM in 9mm got it in 1982 got rid of it in 1982 cause I shot like crap. I ended up trading it to a buddy for a security 6 .357 mag 6" barrel. we were shooting one day and I said you wanna trade he was like heck ya. I shot his .357 and always hit what I was aiming at out to 50 yards, at 100 I could pop 4 out of 6 antifreeze jugs. the 9mm gold cup I couldnt hit paper at 25 yards. he had no issues. one of the worse trades I ever made, and I regretted it ever since. I have a para p-14 older one since the early 90's shot it maybe 3 times up until last year then started shooting it alot. I can hit what I am aiming at and love the pistol but still preferr a Revolver. dont get me wrong I love 1911's and I have a few I want to get still kimber another early gold cup the ruger and a spingfield and and maybe one of those nice race guns. i'm not a pistol guy.

Who’s still wears underwear?

I believe that's the Universe telling you that you need a new rifle!

What makes it "Custom"?

you might be over thinking it. 5-6 miles isnt a long way. also dependent on what unit your going to. you wont be far from the truck if need be. I agree with NOT weighing everything cause Lbs aint going to tell you anything. Take your pack with what you want and walk 30 min to an hour in the flat desert. if its too heavy dump a 1/4 of the stuff.

Tha'ts awesome. I would bet mom and two yutes. I have never glassed a cat but have called in quite a few. Had a very close encounter a few years back while coues hunting in 24a. Had a cat take down a deer right on the ridge I was glassing. Heard the entire thing but they were under some trees and couldn't see it. Another cat was down at the bottom of the canyon whistling back and fourth. Very cool thing.

Who else read this and went "wing ding dinga dinga ding ding ding ding" in their head?

Way back in 1974 I received a Colt Gold Cup pre-series 70 National Match as payment for spending a hot summer digging up and replacing sewer lines…I worked my 14 year old butt off to earn that 1st 1911 and still have it in my safe today… I'm not sure when a person would have enough 1911s but I've got 4 and am always looking for the next one… lol

I've shot lots of pistols over the years, and I keep coming back to my 1911s. I had three for a long time and I kept telling my wife I need one more so that each of us in the family has one of their own. "Why do we each need our own 1911?" "Zombie apocolypse!" "Good point". Our NWTF chapter up here in Flagstaff recently gifted me an NWTF commemorative 1911 for all of my work running our chapter. I now own four 1911s! YESS!!!

Cool of you to offer. My question is with is just the money from the auction tags there is a million dollars each year. That's a of water that can be hauled. Besides the umpteen millions made from tags,licenses, and for profit point guard one would think that they could haul water themselves and upkeep the catchments. But kudos to you guys who do their job for them so the animals can drink and stay in their range.