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had a great fly fishing trip to Colorado and was blessed to hook into this 26" giant brown trout... it was similar to the River Runs Thru It movie where he falls in and fights the fish while floating down the river... lucky to be alive and to actually land it.

You were not hunting in Mexico then. Mexican tacos do not have sour cream on them.

Sell it and use the money to buy something you will shoot and enjoy. Its not like its a classic that will appreciate much over the next 20 years. Send it to your dad or send it down the road.

If you guys pay for my tag and gun permit I'll be your translator 😀

I grew up here but spent 20 years around Boise (elevation 2700') granted Southern Idaho along the Snake River Plain is known as the Banana belt of the NW so we got much less snow than our MT neighbors. We lived in a town of 2500 people and the locals knew everyone's business. Didn't bother me though. I coached my kids in Tee-ball and baseball and that was a great way to connect with the locals that were in a similar stage of life. My wife was born in Boise but you may be surprised how many people never leave those small towns (Boise was the "Big City"). Helena (elevation 4000') being East of the Rockies gets that polar vortex occasionally in the winters which is pretty brutal. My wife and I honeymooned across Western MT back in 1998 and a lady in Kalispell (not Helena) recounted their population boom in years prior followed by a 1996 winter with 12' of snow. She said as soon as Spring came many of those new arrivals were on the first thing smoking out of town. Helena is more flat so you won't have that same issue Kalispell had due to the way weather interacts with the mountain topography. Once Winter thaws you have what I call mud season until it dries out. Summers can find you with air quality issues from the wildfires. Having always owned livestock, I had to use stock tank heaters and still broke ice with a sledge hammer. Not fun at 0 degrees as you can imagine. I really heard about it when I was out of town and the Mrs. had to do it. You will get sick of winters the same way we get sick of summers here as others have mentioned, but seasons pass and maybe you snowmobile and ski so you can make the most of it. Like Idaho, the timber companies have sold off large tracts of land we used to be able to hunt to folks that lock it up and will trespass you like those Texas Oilmen the W Bros. You will have a leg up rolling into town with AZ plates on your rig instead of CA plates though. Also, you will want 4wd or if you have a Fwd car you will want to put on studded snow tires seasonally and sometimes that will not be enough if you beat the plows on the road. Also think about your proximity to family Parents, kids, grandkids, etc. If you are the hearty type and the Mrs. promises not to get home sick, I would go for it. Just don't expect the cost of living to be lower. I still have some snow shovels I can give you if you decide to go! Good luck and have fun!

Well ready to go. Any last minute advice

I had it narrowed down to the SX4 and A300 both new. Then decided on the SX4, now this 390 is tempting. I really want a nice pretty wood gun for my old school love of wood guns, but the synthetic 390 would be a workhorse.

391 is the best IMO. My A400 Xcel is a close 2nd. Still, for $550 the 390 is a great deal.

I wouldn't let Sportsman's, Cabelas, or Bass Pro even put a scope in a plastic bag for me. I can't tell you how many times I have seen their "mounting and bore sighted" crooked and either loose or way overtightened scopes that buddies get done there. As for buying your own tools, to do it right, it is going to cost you more than having someone competent do it once for you. If you plan to do it more than once or twice, then it starts to work out in costs. What part of the Valley are you in?

What a monster! Dream fish, congrats!

That is a beautiful brown!

Man I’m glad you asked this I’ve been wondering the same thing lol

Check out justrails.com they have some decent affordable stuff on there

It's still a cheaper hunt than the pig hunt I did in California .

Wow haven't thought about that movie in a while...... what a beautiful fish. Congratulations

Stay strapped

I’ve gotta ask What the heck does a scopes objective diameter have to do with it? free bump though.

Wow! Nicely done, what fly?

I have a list I can send you but if you have a list of the dirt tanks/water tanks up there there is salt on them. There is close to twice as much salt up there then what’s on the list.

I’ve got a BNIB Springfield Armory Hellcat Pro 9mm in the classifieds. Would make a great CCW gun.

Did you walk from Tucson to Marana each time?

Little Forky shot at 47 yards in unit 10 on the 20 th