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I got a late start to hunting. I moved to AZ from Sarasota in 2003. I've fished AZ quite a bit but only started to hunt in 2019. The main reason I decided to start was I wanted my two son's to practice some of the numerous skills and traits that hunting teaches like patience, persistence and discipline. And to have them spend as much time outside enjoying nature as possible. I did draw an early antler-less tag in a good unit my first year applying and I was successful on that hunt. And even though I did my pre-scouting and camped in the unit before hand that season, I basically shot a fish in a barrel, on morning three. I've been applying for a late, antler-less hunt closer to home the past two years and drew tags. Both of those hunts ended with my tags still in hand but I learned tons about the unit and elk scouting and hunting in general. Now, it seems to me like maybe old dad's the one out there learning some of the lessons I wanted my son's to practice while hunting and scouting. Because after two years, a lot of patience, persistence, discipline and disappointment, I think I may have a good grasp of this unit and antler-less elk hunting. Because after scouting, camping and spending countless hours on OnX I came up with a good plan A, B and C and was finally able to fill the freezer with elk meat this season, on opening morning! I'm looking forward to many more years of spending time out in nature with my boys and coming home with tasty, healthy food.

I've seen a few whitetail on the edges of sheep country in recent years. Always trying to hunt outside the box, I decided go in with intent to fill my '23 archery tag or get my butt handed to me and let go of the idea the terrain is worth hunting. Yesterday, I didn't even get to glass the more predictable deer country as a small 3x3 coues was spotted in the gentliest terrain on the sheepy side of the mountain. He bedded down at 730am right in the open. I decided to get aggressive under the cover of rain. I turned 1000 yards into 66 yards in 30 minutes and picked the perfect rock outcropping to pop out around. 20231222_082625.mp4 The rain had scent locked down and while I was comfortable to not be busted immediately, 60 yards is my coues limit and my gut told me this deer was not going to get up and feed towards me and the rock ledges. Turning 66 into 60 without cover took an hour and a ton of patience and frozen moments as he would snap his head in my direction. Finally, at 61 yards, he got up and as he shook off a gallon of water, I drew and released an arrow that went lower than I'd of liked. The soaking wet drop away felt significantly slowed my arrow prior to release. Thank goodness for the Lumenocks helping me understand this quickly and when he stopped at 100 yards to understand what hit him, I put my slider on 130 and put him down hard. I ran up and put another one in him as quickly as possible. Not the greatest part of the story but one of my favorite things about this forum is reading lessons learned. With everything soaking wet, this will go down as one of my heaviest pack outs of all time, in sheep country!

I know it's not a gun most would spend any time or money on but it's what the wife wanted a sks . I had one when we first got together over 25 years ago. Now I'm making it hers with a new stock . I'm still fitting and waiting for the matching hand guard . It still needs cerakote in some sort of pink and grey/ black .

The 2024 youth giveaway is quickly approaching !!! Entries will be accepted on January 1st . See the contests and giveaway section for all rules and the prize information EARLY BIRD DRAW PRIZES AND INFORMATION . Entries at youthgungiveaway@outlook.com All one word and all lower case .

*SOLD* I've been hesitating to sell this shotgun, however I find myself shooting my 20G more often. With that being said... My initial price was a bit high, my apologies...... Benelli Legacy 28G, 26" barrel, semi-auto shotgun for sale. I've owned this shotgun since 2008 or so, bought it new. This is not a 'safe queen', I've hunted with this shotgun every bird season since buying it. It has never failed me, no issues at all. Cycles everything you load into it. The factory recoil pad began disintegrating last year, I called Benelli and they advised it was a known manufacturer's defect; they sent me a brand new pad in early December (I waited 6 months!). Pad is installed and the shotgun has not been used since. No rust, A few scratches from normal hunting. I do not have the original box or hard case. I'm looking for the original paperwork, not sure I will find it. Price: $1250.00. Must pick-up in Chandler, Az. Ammo: I have (22) full boxes of misc 28G ammo and (7) 1/2-3/4 full boxes of 28G ammo that I would like to sell with it. Stored indoors, climate controlled environment. I will sell the ammo without the shotgun for $275.00; must take entire lot. Not accepting offers on the ammo. Shotgun w/Ammo: $1450.00. Must pick-up in Chandler, Az. ***TRADE for Swarovski SLC 15x56, Excellent glass w/no scratches + cash on my end. *** Information from Benelli website: Manufacturer: Benelli Armi SpA, Urbino PU, Italy Importer: Benelli USA; (800) 264-4962; www.benelliusa.com Action Type: semi-automatic, recoil-operated shotgun Gauge: 28, 2¾" Receiver: steel upper; engraved aluminum alloy lower Barrel: blue, 26" (tested), 24"; carbon-fiber, full-length vented rib Chokes: interchangeable, screw-in chokes; cylinder and modified supplied. Magazine: tubular, two-round capacity Overall length: 45½" (24" barrel) Weight: 4 lbs., 14 ozs. Trigger Pull: single-stage; 5 lbs., 1 oz. Stock: AA Grade walnut with satin finish and WeatherCoat: length of pull, 143⁄8"; drop at comb, 1½"; drop at heel, 2¼" Accessories: improved cylinder and cylinder chokes; choke tube wrench; owner’s manual.

Really not much to say. ASU athletics is in the toilet. Enjoyed watching the Cats rock OU in the 4th quarter. Congrats to the Cats on finishing strong.

+1 on this one. I bought one just to carry backpacking for sheep as a backup as it’s all plastic and weighs like 2oz. Lightning fast, Angle compensating, and ranges to 1500 easily. Would take it over my Leica 1600b any day. Same thing, got it on sale at SW for $125.

Been in the safe for a long time I don’t know the rd history. I have shot less than 20 rds. it is a tack driver. I have always been a 22-250 fan, but this one is to heavy for me to hunt with a great range gun!

I had a sig kilo 2k, loved it. But the LED's in the display went out after about 4-5 years. Sig said its out of warranty, only offered a discount on buying a new unit. Total crap. Same exact thing happened to a friend, but his went out on his rifle elk hunt so he couldn't read the distance. Very bad! I loved the Sig until I realized it's a short lifetime with bad warranty. I'm not the type to buy a new rangefinder every 5 years. So I bought the Vortex ranger 1800 for the lifetime warranty over spending my money with Sig. The Vortex works for me. But I don't need it read much further than I can shoot. I can get it to read out to about 800-1000 fairly consistently. That's far enough for me, or I need to get closer. Probably good advice, and a decent unit for new young hunter.

Work at 85016. Live 85361.

I bought a sig used and it works so dang good. Hopefully it keeps working

Challenge excepted! Hopefully I can formulate a good enough strategy going forward to secure a fairly constant source of elk meat for my family. Here's what a .308 Nosler Accubond 165 grain does to a set of elk lungs, at 290 yards.

Kitties had a good season. Congrats 🤮

Yep, agree on all. Kind of like cowboys fans, loud when things are going well, silent all other times.

My ex- wife preferred my 28 with a brake over my .257 wby.

100% agree that an off-the-shelf 7PRC is an awesome rifle. Don't get me wrong... if I were starting over right now and didn't have a ton of 7Mag brass... I would go with the PRC. In my initial post, I just wanted to give credit to the 7Mag in a rifle with the higher twist rate... Whether custom or factory... They rock! Especially if they have a little throat to them!

I bought my son the Sig Buckmaster 1500 last spring. Spent about $125. It has worked great this season. I can't comment on warranty, however. At that cost, I look at it as a disposable item.

Nicely done man. Congrats

I can’t let the view count stay at 666 just before Christmas. Cheers

I did not see any WT bucks bigger than 100. I killed a nice mulie , however. Deer numbers were good but buck to doe ratio was terrible and many does were tended by 2 and 3 year old bucks. The horses aren't helping either. Far more horses than deer or elk.

He is very interested.

If he’s interested in working at Empire Cat let me know.

Y'all take fooz ball way too serious.