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My god some of you are miserable people 🤣

Biden voters probably includes the other 🤣

The claw is a very handy tool. Just make sure to mount it in the middle of the rifle where the center of gravity is. my goal was to get my daughter within 200 yards. An inexperienced shooter is not going to go out and shoot sub moa without a lot of practice, even from a bench rest at 100 yards. Paper plate, yes but not sub moa. Paper plate at 200 yards is a dead deer my daughters first two deer were 160 yards and 140 yards. These deer were glassed up at 1000+ yards. Stalking to get close was an extremely fun, enjoyable and memorable part of the hunt. Getting that close made the shooting part easy

I had been in this unit several times over the last month as my son and nephew both shot bucks on the youth hunt and my uncle a buck on the first rifle hunt so I was pretty familiar with the area. The first morning was some what slow my brother-in-law, my daughter and myself spent the day in the same general area my uncle had shot his buck at. We were glassing up tons of does throughout the day hoping for any legal buck as my brother in-law only had all day Friday and Saturday morning to hunt. I glasses up a small bachelor group a few ridges over through the spotting scope, a couple small fork horns and some spikes. My brother-in-law decides the juice isn’t worth the squeeze so, we keep looking a little closer to no avail. This is the story for the rest of the day and Friday evening. Saturday morning we head out in a slightly different direction and it’s more of the same does, does and more does. About noon I take him back to camp he packs up and leaves. I head out for the evening hunt in a different area that I hadn’t been to before, as I drive up and setup my tripod I glass up some coatimundi. A few minutes later some cow elk. I keep glassing but can’t turn up any deer. I get a call from my buddies who we’re coming up to help me the rest of the weekend, I tell them where I am and keep glassing up until dark. Last light I finally catch movement a few does and a spike. Buddies never make it up to me for the evening hunt so we meet back at camp and make a game plan for the morning. Sunday morning head back to the same spot I was at the evening before. It looks very promising and produces to a degree. We glass plenty of does and two spikes, I decide I don’t want to take a spike the first morning with extra help. Mid day we head out to another area and glass more deer on several different fingers more of the same does, does and more does. We head back to camp grab a few snacks and head back out for the evening hunt in a completely different area. We spent that evening watching does and elk hoping for that buck to step out and he did…. Right as the sun is setting I pan over to my right and there is a deer standing stills a board staring right at me. After a close look I can see he is a spike. I pull out the range finder and hit him with it, 150 yards broadside. I call my buddy over and he keeps an eye on him while I grab my rifle. I set my rifle on the top of the tripod and put the cross hairs right on him. At this point I’m torn, to shoot or not to shoot. This is a gimmie a once in a lifetime opportunity for me this never happens to me, he’s less than a 200 yards from the dirt road standing broad side at 150 yards. I go back and forth in my head and with my buddy as the spike starts to feed casually. I decided to wait and see if anything else was following behind him. It’s starting to get dark and i loose the spike. I spent the rest of the night hoping I didn’t just blow my chance at a buck as Monday was my last day to hunt. Back at camp we kick around ideas and talk about the spike that got to live another day and make a plan for the morning. I decide we’re heading back to the original spot where I had glasses up the bachelor group on Friday morning. When we get to the spot we start seeing deer right off the bat but you guessed it, does. I pull out the spotter and start looking back to where I saw the bachelor group, after a few minutes I pick up movement a deer steps out and can tell immediately that he’s got antlers then another buck and another. These were definitely the biggest bucks I had seen all weekend and on the previous hunts. We formulate a plan one buddy stayed behind on the spotter and the other took off with me down the finger and up to the other side. The journey there was a pain in the butt cat claw, manzanita, scrub oak. We get to where we are two fingers over from the deer on the same elevation plain. My buddy who stayed back let’s us know he could see us and that he never seen the bucks come out and should still be there in the same spot we all seen them together My buddy starts glassing and I pull out my range finder and start ranging different spots the average is roughly 450. I find a half way decent spot to set up my rifle on the bipod and dial it to 450. We continue glassing for a bit when my buddy says “I got them!” I immediately jump on the rifle and chamber a round. My bipod is just a little to low I have to jump up and get my pack to raise it up a bit. I set my rifle back up on the pack. my buddy is doing a heck of a job explaining to me where the deer are, I finally get one in the scope and watch him walk into thick brush. My buddy tells me “here comes another one and he’s a lot bigger than the last one.” I can see the buck making his way up to the same spot the other deer just stepped into. The buck steps out into a little clearing, my buddy say “he’s stepping out broadside!”Boom! The recoil was just enough it through me off of the buck. The shot felt good. I chambered another round and was back looking for a follow up shot but there was no need my buddy said you rolled him! He’s down I can see him kicking! I stay in the scope for a second just to make sure he’s not going to jump back up. “He’s down, he’s not moving anymore”. My buddy tells me. I get off the rifle we high five and celebrate a little. I call my other buddy who stayed back watching from the truck and he said “you missed! “ “I saw the bucks all walk away.” WTF!? you can’t be serious the shot felt good?! I said. My buddy who was there with me when I shot eased my fears and said to me “I saw the impact he’s dead.”. “Go up there and get your buck”. I trust his word and take off with my pack and he walks me in to exactly where that buck was laying! When they meet me at the buck i had him gutted out already. We took some picture’s and admired him for a little. We hung him up and skinned him and quartered him out on the spot. We split up the meat between two packs and one buddy carried the gear. That pack out was rough to say the least. Thank goodness for great friends. I wouldn’t have been able to kill this buck without them.

helll, ive hunted with lots of grown asss men who couldnt set up their own rifle, find the deer and kill it! Let alone a brand new hunter.

I Had a great week hunting with some friends. Was planning to hunt the entire week if I had to. deer were tough to spot and was only seeing spikes or does for most of the hunt. On Sunday saw a beautiful buck that walked right out of my life. Tuesday rolled around and I saw a nice buck I decided to take. Was able to sneak into 350 for a chip shot. got the skull back and it looks great. Work was done by big brown taxidermy in queen creek.

Hidden Canyon Hunter $150 Saddle Mountain Skinner $180

So as I mentioned in another thread, we bought some llamas this year in hopes of making a small side business out of it. I'm a horseman by heart, but llamas have grown in appeal to me over the years. We've done some camp trips over the summer, I took them Mule deer hunting in Colorado, but we didn't use them much. Last month a friend and I went into the backcountry to try our hand at some Colorado Elk. We took 3 llamas, 2 of which were rookies. We went a few days early to scout. We found the elk the night before opener, but due to the terrain, we decided to pack up the llamas and move closer. On the second day of the hunt, my buddy was able to harvest his first Elk. We packed half the meat out to our spike camp. We went up the next morning and a bear ate a whole hind quarter that we failed to hang high enough in the meat tree. Overall, we spent 7 days in the backcountry and packed the llamas over 22 miles of the roughest country Id care to take stock. They did phenomenal. Definitely one for the books.

SunDevil great job. Im sure your daughter cherishes every moment of those hunts while being mentored by her dad.

Practice, Practice and more Practice. Some people just never become proficient or have a knack for hunting. Mediocre is at best all to be expected. Just like anything else when you are teaching a friend, spouse or child. At some point they will take it forward. With a kid especially only YOU can ascertain when they have reached thei pinnacle. Sure it should get better but with kids do not put too much emphasis on the end result. They, like us. Are unique and take time to figure it out.

I think that’s exactly the most important to practice. Going from binos to scope or naked eye to scope and being able to find what you’re looking for is tough. Going out plinking and picking rocks, stumps, etc to shoot is great practice.

My daughter missed a shot at a great buck down south one year because she couldn't find it in the scope. I felt horrible because I felt like I let her down. I should have had her ready for the situation. We were set up on the buck at about 150 yards while it was bedded down. She was in the prone position with a dead solid rest on my pack and the buck in her cross hairs. I told her to shoot once it stood up and gave her a shot. Unfortunately the buck got up and instantly walked into a thick patch of ocotillo and did not give her a shot. So we picked up and ran around the other side of the ridge to cut it off. I found it at 200 yards broadside and threw the rifle up on my shooting sticks for her and she was never able to find it in the scope. She could see the buck but didn't understand keeping her eye on the buck and bringing the scope into position. So after that she got a lot of work with her M4 with a scope and going out plinking and just practicing bringing the scope up while keeping her eye on the target. I want to make sure that never happens again.

Shooting straight is important. Teaching kids how to hunt, stalk and shoot a deer at reasonable ranges, I might argue is equally important. I am not against some of this equipment and may purchase a rest for my tripod as Im not as steady as I once was. A steady rest for these kids is a great idea. That said, I will probably leave those 1 shot one kill 1000 yard shots to the 10 year olds. I am just not confident to make an ethical shot at the ranges many of these kids are shooting at deer. No disrespect intended but I have always enjoyed hunting deer. Not just pulling the trigger and killing a deer. Im sure there are lots of Granddads, Dad, Uncles and friends that make sure these kids get the full experience. To those, you have my highest respect even if that includes long range shots as long as they been practiced with those kids before the hunt.

I was going to write up more but there are too many variables to account for based on the limited information. If it were me, I would start by replacing the scope. I’ve had less than stellar results with anything Vortex, not trying to bash but rather inform you based on my own experiences. I don’t know from personal experience how your rifle groups but I know of at least one guy with that rifle and his shoots pretty well with factory ammo. There’s a few guys on here that may be local to you that could probably help, but being that it’s hunting season, most are probably going to be busy. You have to start with a good zero, that’s an absolute must before you can start cranking turrets and hitting the long targets. As far as chronographs go, they get you close but not exact. Search the internet for “trueing your muzzle velocity” there’s numerous write ups on the subject.

Got a chance to hunt the southern portion of the state this year for the second season. Such a beautiful area. Opening morning was awesome at a mere 28 degrees. Pulled into camp and started glassing from there. TONS of deer up on their feet until late morning. Only saw a few smaller bucks and not looking for a meat hunt yet as we had until Tuesday night before we had to pull out. Met up with some friends midday and headed back to a spot I had been eyeballing on Google Earth. Started picking up a few deer with one being a mid sized buck. Too far and too small for day one. Moved the glass to the North and picked this guy up at about 1,000 yards. I usually try to keep all my shots to 350 yards or less. I just don’t practice enough to do otherwise. There really weren't any good vantage points for a shot except for the small rise right in front of the ridge he was on that I ranged to be about 200 yards from him and getting there I was going to be in the wide open for the first ½ of the stock. I decided it was worth a shot. Down the hill and into the wash to the right trying to use what little cover I had until I could get behind the rise. My buddies stayed up top and let me know he was still there and feeding out into the open. I used the small hill to stay concealed and finished the stock with a 40 yard belly crawl just far enough to where my barrel would clear the brush and I had a good sight line to the buck. Almost like he knew I was coming he turns dead broadside in a wide open spot. I ranged him at 195 yds. “Click” goes the safety and he lifts his head startled at the noise. I couldn’t believe he actually heard that from there. Still broadside I centered the shot and “BOOM - - SHWACK”...... Buck Down! Great hunt with great friends. Need help with sideways pics.

Hardly any leftovers available anymore anyhow

Dear Santa…

Kids need to learn that killing a deer the first time out to feed daddys ego isn't what it all about. They should hike a few miles for a couple years first before they get daddys participitation trophy, which they don't really care about at all.

I like the pig saddle or whatever variation you have. I also am a fan of a picatinny rail mounted directly if you have that option. It is even more stable. Bipod on the rear makes it rock solid. One thing we did for my niece as she graduated to the big gun was "blind cartridge" practice. We would have her hold on target and dry fire multiple times to ensure that she had trigger control and wasn't flinching or jerking. Then, we would put an empty case in the rifle and have her go through the process several times. during that we would substitute the empty case for a live round, all the while with her holding on target. She never knew if it was live or a dry fire. She remained rock solid and has never developed a flinching habit. Might not work for all but it worked great for her. She is 2 for 2 with shots on elk at over 490 yds and 530 yds.

Got to work this morning at 0700 and was contemplating maybe doing an evening hunt since this was the end of my hunt. I was talking to my Chief around 0845 and my hunt came up and he asked why am I still here? He said, you need to leave now…this is an order, I want to see you drive out of the parking lot. You don’t have to tell me twice. I get home and changed, loaded up my gear and headed out to where my son shot his deer because we saw “the bruiser” disappear before he shot his. I new it was still alive and maybe I had a chance. I made it out to where my son shot his around 12 and got set up. It started to get breezy and I new the deer would be bedded and out of the wind. I started glassing the north facing ridge and trees knowing there should be some bucks bedded. I immediately find a bedded spike and think this could be the same spike we saw with the “bruiser” on Sunday. I range it at 68 yds. I start to get excited and scour the area for other deer. For the next 2 1/2 hours I keep looking at the spike thinking, last day buck…why not, but then if I do shoot it surely the “bruiser” will appear. I then recall another CWTer talking about shooting a Coues with a handgun. It was 68 yds, I could sneak in and do this with my 9mm, how cool would that be, but then again it’s a spike. I go back and forth for the next 1hr. I finally talk myself out of it. The spike stands up and starts milling around so I think this it, the “bruiser” will surely get up too. As I scan around the spike I notice something jet black under some bushes and ocotillos. I think it’s a nose of another deer. I get my 15’s to verify and low and behold it’s a nose. I instantly get excited thinking it’s the “bruiser”, while I’m trying to figure out if this a doe or a buck it’s head turns and I see horn. Now this horn is way bigger than the spikes, so game on. I remove my 15’s from the tri-pod and position my rifle on top of the tri-pod. I range the face of this deer and it’s at 67 yds. I can’t believe I’m this close. I settle the crosshairs just under its face and squeeze the trigger. Rifle goes boom and the spike hauls butt down hill, my deer isn’t moving, but I can’t see it either. Now I’m shaking beyond belief right now, I don’t know if this the “ bruiser” or not. I slowly walk up to the spot and can see a deer down but the antlers are covered by all the foliage. As I inch closer and closer I start to see antlers and unfortunately this buck is not the “bruiser”. I am still tickled pink with my last day buck, I would have shot this on day one. I shot this just past where my son shot his and now I’m thinking, great this is going to be long drag out. After about 10 minutes into dragging and not having my son to help, I decide to cut the deer in half and make 2 trips to get my deer back to the truck. Just under 8 miles, Can’t wait till next year!!!!!!!

Ha thanks it’s a defiance action chambered in 300wm, proof research 22in carbon barrel, mpa chassis, silencerco omega suppressor and leupold mark 5 and it’s a lefty cause im special 😬

Ya it has. I build a 28 Nosler last December and have been able to find everything except primers to shoot it. I was looking for 1K of the same lot number to keep everything consistent to develop a load for it.

Dump it at the Owen's residents.

Was wondering if there is anybody else on here that has a bull tag in this unit for the upcoming rifle hunt or if anybody has been in this unit hunting elk this year just curious if anyone has seen any big bulls ?