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Showing content with the highest reputation on 10/10/2024 in all areas
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4 pointsI made a couple cases on the 3d printer for me and my buddy’s Garmin’s. Before I printed the final versions grey/orange I made one in white. I have no need for the white one. If anyone wants the white one, they can have it free (local pickup). I added a foam liner to the inside of the lid to protect the screen. Located in Queen Creek.
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4 points
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2 pointsWhat a day this was. Went out for a solo hunt. shortly after day light I had glassed up a group of 6 mule deer bucks. I watched them for almost 2 hours waiting for the right opportunity to make my move. I snuck in from just over a mile away and watched/studied from 300 yards out trying to figure the best way to make this opportunity work in my favor. The wind was in my favor, and I had very little cover to close the distance. I ended up at the last juniper tree between me and the 6 bedded bucks. I peeked around the shaded side of the tree just to get caught by the small 2x2 in the group at 91 yards. All the deer got up and were on edge and ended up busting out. I watched them go over the next ridge and then hiked back to my jeep. I sat there contemplating if I wanted to try again and locate these bucks or push farther up the road and hike into a water hole I had found on onx. I said screw it drove farther up and then hiked in 1.5 miles to the water hole I had never seen before. Lucky for me it had water and quite a bit of deer tracks. I brushed myself in a blind and sat down at about 11. It was pretty warm out and I was hot from the hike in. But by 215 this buck showed up and was on water drinking out of nowhere. I ranged it at 41 yards while he was facing me head down drinking. I got up on my knees and drew back. He lifted his head after drinking and looked over to his right while elbow deep in the mud. I debated for a second to let him turn or just send it head on into his chest. I felt super confident in the shot, so I let it rip. The arrow smacked the deer with the loudest thud I have ever herd shooting an animal with my bow. He dropped in his tracks and flopped for a few seconds, and it was all over. I packed up my gear and hiked around to check out what I had just shot. I knew he was a solid buck but definitely wasn't expecting to shoot my biggest coues yet off a random water hole in an area I never hunted before. My gut was telling me he might break 100" mark, but I didn't spend a lot of time admiring him as I had to get to work taking care of the meat and getting it all packed out. After just over a 2mile hike back to the jeep with very little water left i was beat, but it was all completely worth it. The next morning I took the head out of the freezer and taped him at 111 7/8" I was shocked beating my old record of 104" with my bow.
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2 pointsThompson Contender Pistols and barrels for sale. 2 complete guns are chambered in .223. Each one $750obo. 3 other barrels 44mag/357mag/30-30. The 30-30 barrel has the muzzle brake. $300obo for each barrel Took prices from gun broker. East Valley FTF.
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2 pointsI ues a harris bi-pod. The tall one and sure has been useful. It's amazing how handy it is for setting your gun down whie glassing too. The trade off is, it definitely makes your gun a bit front heavy when shooting off-hand, but it didn't take long to get adjusted to it.
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2 points
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2 pointsOptimistic is the only way to put it ! Hopefully things get better in the ammo and outdoor gear world. It sucks that it seems everything is about how much can be made before dumping things instead of how to make things better.
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2 pointsI also used lower and upper cabinets from a kitchen remodel. You can see it’s a matter of making it work since they’re not built to fit. You can see the old microwave nook and cabinets not reaching corner to corner. We did this 25 years ago and I since dressed it up by adding some 1x to make continuous shelving and filled in or created shelving to maximize whatever space is there. It’s a real small space. I also put fresh paint on the 70s era doors and drawers. I choose to keep the vintage hardware because I feel you can’t get rid of all the history.
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2 points
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1 point2011 F150 Lariet 4 door 4x4 3.5 EcoBoost with 6" lift and color matching camper shell and fender flares w/ 138K miles. Very clean truck inside and out leather tan interior. Brand new 315 75 17 BFG KO3 tires , recently did a trans flushand filter replacement service. Coolant flush and new coolant. Has been well taken care of. Purchased a new truck , thats why the sale. Asking 17K or obo
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1 pointTikka T1X in KRG chassis $800 will shoot cci standard velocity same hole at 35 yards. will shoot sk rifle match same hole at 50 yards. will come with athlon 4-20x50 scope if interested for additional cost.
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1 point
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1 pointI agree. I’ve spent well over $1000 on high end bipods and I still keep coming back to the Harris S25. In the short mode it’s perfect height for me prone. It’s the only one that when extended is perfect height for me to shoot sitting down. Faster then any other bipod out there to deploy, and if you actually sit down and compare the specs, they’re lighter then the other ones that are comparable lengths. Best of all they’re 1/3-1/4 the cost of the “high end” bipods.
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1 pointLots of good ideas posted here. One thing I will add is that when I ended up building my own, I intentionally made it 37" high to the top of the bench. This allows me to either stand or sit (with a tall shop chair), while doing tasks at the bench. I found that to be helpful for me since I sometimes like to stand while trimming brass on a hand trimmer if it's just a small batch. As others have stated you will want something with a heavy top that is sturdy and won't wobble every time you resize a piece of brass.
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1 point
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1 pointHad a good hunt, we were on bulls everyday. I was chasing a specific bull and the closest I could get to him was 86 yds one morning. He had a distinct growling bugle so when he sounded off we knew it was him. Finally on the morning of the 11th day of the hunt, we were after him then he went quiet. We were in the area he was just walking around cause I thought he was gone then all of a sudden we hear a bull make a noise in his bed. I hike down a little bit and get setup, my buddy and his son hang back and start calling, cows first then a bull. The lead cow is now 8 yds from me just staring right through me, the bull is 18 yds behind 2 burnt tree stumps covering his vitals. Its not the same bull im after but this bull is in my lap and im done at this point chasing a certain bull. Im stuck not being able to move, the bull starts coming closer but I cant draw with the cow so close to me. Finally cow looks other direction, I draw, start squeezing release and the cow starts to bust out as im squeezing, bull does some matrix move as I release. Arrow is in flight as I see the bull moving, arrow connects but a absolutely terrible shot. I see my arrow in the bulls neck. Im thinking this is so terrible. He goes maybe 20 yds and blood is just pouring out of him, at that moment, im thinking that bull is a dead bull walking. The herd settles down and the bull is now 40 yds standing broadside just pouring blood still. I take another shot at the bull, probably didnt need it but a bull still standing is still a live bull. I hit a little high and they bust out. My buddy and his son work down to me, they dont know what happen. I tell them I made a terrible shot but there is blood everywhere. We give the bull an hour then the easy tracking job started, looked like someone was just pouring out red paint on the hillside. Bull went 80 yds and piled up in the bottom of the canyon. The bull was broke and I knew his top end was broke but not his second on one side. We had passed this bull 4 or 5 times during the hunt cause he was broke.
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1 point
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1 point
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1 pointReturn it to AZGFD. While some of these tag donation organizations get tags to great people, too many give tags to the same people year after year. Seems like it gets abused more and more to me.
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1 pointI just built a secondary bench for the workshop at our family's property. I used a 60x30" butcher block for working area ($99 at Floor & Decor) and used 2x4's we had laying around along with salvaged screws and old wood stain that needed to be used up. A member on here also sold me a fantastic Lyman press, coupled with a Rockchucker I had laying around (primary use is for pistols, once cases are prepped and primed I can charge and then seat/crimp between the two presses). Storage is below and case trimmer, etc. is mounted on a smaller block of wood and can be clamped on as needed. I'm a lousy carpenter and it's not built for looks but its stout and I like it.
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1 pointWhat an amazing hunt. I knew up front it would take a lot of preparation and planning. Since it’s a 12 hour drive each way, scouting was going to be difficult. So turned to CWT and leaned on the members here, and some friends who have hunted the area before and anyone willing to give some advice. It’s kind of a long story so I’ll try to sprinkle some pix in here and there to keep it interesting. I can’t even begin to tell the story of this hunt without thanking all the people who helped make it happen. My mom and dad were there all along, willing to help out with the kids since my wife, Carrie was going to have to be doing things solo while I was away. Big Bry and Mark both brought over wall tents with stoves. Other friends provided extra gas cans. My mother-in-law lent me some Yeti coolers (these things are awesome). Kent McClendon, Eric Santanna, Jason Standage all were more than willing to give me some useful advice. Special thanks go out to Ryan Ghan, a member here who spent 22 days up there during the archery hunt, and was willing to share everything he learned up there on his hunt. His advice was central to my approach as a “newbie” to the strip, along with Kent’s advice. But the biggest thanks go to my wife, Carrie. Not only was she willing to hold down the fort while I was gone, she pre-cooked meals for the entire trip and even put together a little care package with a bag to open each day with a note and something funny just to give me a daily smile from home. The journey started way back before the hunt when it’s time to wrap your head around having the tag everyone wants. Lots of reloading, shooting, preparing, map scouting, making calls, sending emails, making sure you’ve thought it all through and are as prepared as possible. Day 0: It’s Tuesday night and I’m at home ready to pull out. I’ve got a place to stay the night in Page (Mark's Camper) and if I leave by 4:30, I’ll be on track. A quick check and the trailer lights aren’t working. Frantic rewiring and new lights, I get out of town around 8:30 PM. I’m In Page at 1:00 AM. Between faulty smoke / O2 detectors beeping all night, I get around 2 hours of sleep, and I'm back on the road. Day 1: I left Page at sunup and headed for the Strip. A little running around in St. George looking for a charger for my laptop since I left mine at home (dumb, dumb, dumb) no luck, fill up my gas cans and head South into the unit. About 50 miles in, I’m on a 10-mile long two track looking for a place to set up camp, and hear “bang, grind”….I know I have a major breakdown but I don’t know yet what just broke. I look around the trailer and find the passenger’s side wheel is broken loose and rubbing on the wheel well. The mount that holds the leaf spring to the frame has broken off. At first, I was really worried about this – how in the world was I ever going to get the trailer out of there to where I could get it welded? Turns out the part that broke is about the only thing on the whole trailer that bolts on – whew! Both sides were pretty banged up so I removed both of them and planned to take them into town to get fixed later on. Luckily I brought a lot of tools and extra jacks. No choice now, this is camp. I set up the wall tent, get as cozy as I can. I finished getting set up right about dark One cool thing about Bryan's wall tent, dubbed "Camp Cantaloupe" (Our buddy, Jay's son thought they were hunting "cantaloupe", on an antelope hunt, and the name stuck), is that wherever it goes, the occupants sign the back wall. Day 2: It’s the day before the hunt starts and I head to a spot Ryan told me about to do some glassing. I turn up nothing and spend the rest of the day learning the area and looking for deer. Mid-day I head over to Whitmore and drop a few trail cameras down there and at Ivanpaugh. The "trick tanks" on Whitmore were a joke - they all had at least 4-5 cameras on them just a couple feet off the water. Here's Whitmore "trick tank 1". That afternoon I head back to my primary spot and glass until dark. Right at dark I spot what *might* be a buck bedded, but it’s just too late to tell. That night, the wind was howling - 50+ MPH gusts. I tuck as far as I can tuck inside the sleeping bag, but it still sounds like I’m in a wind tunnel. Day 3: Opening morning: The alarm goes off - It’s time to hunt. The wall tent continues to huff and moan, but I manage a little breakfast, head back to where I thought I might have seen the bedded buck the night before and start glassing, wind in my face, sleet and rain. The “bedded buck” was just a bush. By 1:00 PM with hours of freezing rain in my face, I knew it was time to regroup. I was chilled to the bone and didn’t want to take a chance of getting sick. So I went back to camp, started a fire in wood stove, dried my clothes and caught a nap. That afternoon I saw my first deer of the trip. A little buck was bedded near the road. I wanted him to stand in case there was a big one with him, and he let me get 30 yards from him before he finally got up. I glassed the rest of the evening, but no more deer. Day 4: I decided to glass the same area one more morning, then get more aggressive and start walking it. There are supposed to be a couple really nice bucks in there, but I’ve yet to see them, and there is quite a bit of pressure in there. Glassing turned up nothing so I hiked in and started working the fingers one at a time. I bumped into another guy up on top of this ridge, and he informed me there was another group of 5 guys in there earlier – no wonder I wasn’t seeing anything glassing. At least 8 of us all hunting the same hill. In the afternoon I took the broken/weak parts from the trailer into St. George to get welded. Big thanks to Wade at V.C. Milne & Sons Welding for meeting me on a Saturday when the shop was closed. That was a huge weight off my shoulders to at least know I can get my trailer and gear out, once I bolt it all back together. After getting the parts repaired, I headed back out, but it was getting late so I decided to drive some roads in the North part of the unit around Black Rock & Mustang – no deer. Day 5: With my “Plan A” spot getting a little over-pressured I expanded out to a new area. I got to the far end of a ridge with the wind in my face and just started sneaking into the wind and glassing. About 8:00 AM I see some does up on a little point just a couple hundred yards away. It eventually turns into 8 does and one scraggly little 4x4. It’s a good sign though, looks like the rut is on. I back out and try to circle around them, only to see a doe running down a different ridge. I was only able to see one other doe with her, but eventually a small but heavy 4x4 buck appeared just ahead of me, obviously following the does from a distance. Things are really looking up in the new area! At lunchtime, I re-assembled the trailer with the newly re-welded brackets. Much better. That evening, the wind had changed and was now coming out of the NW so I started at the South end of this long ridgeline and worked my way North. This end was much thicker and very hard to glass. I bumped one doe and then sat and watched a nice valley and a couple hillsides as the sun set. I was about to re-trace my path back to the truck just about dark, but decided to take a peek over the ridge just behind me. As I snuck into the saddle, I immediately see two white patches and realize a deer is right there. Up come the binoculars and I can tell it’s a buck, with a good looking frame, and he’s staring right at me. There’s a Pinion tree between us with a little gap on one side that we’re watching each other through. I don’t dare move my feet because he can obviously hear me from this distance so I have to sort of crouch/squat and lean over to see him through the gap. I’m now shaking and trying to make out more details of his rack, but I just can’t see well enough. Eventually he starts to feed and I try to take a half-step to my left so I can see him better, but immediately he was staring at me again. To make matters worse, daylight is running out FAST. We continue this "cat and mouse" routine right up until the final couple minutes of shooting light and he starts walking across the hill he is on, about to drop off the other side. I knew if he dropped off, I would have no chance at repositioning for a shot before dark but I still hadn’t gotten a really good look at his tine length – mostly just head on. Between low light, bad angles and my shaking hands I just could not make out many details of his rack. As he walked toward the edge, I looked as closely as I could and got a pretty good look at his front right fork. It looked good and deep, so I assumed that’s a pretty good indicator of the top forks as well, which would make him really good. I make the decision to go ahead and shoot. As I squeezed the trigger….nothing….I still don’t know what on earth happened. I’m guessing the safety was in between safety and fire, but try as I might, I still can’t get that gun to do that again. So I rack in another round, check the safety, extend the bipod since he’s getting further away now and just about to disappear over the edge into the next drainage. I get on him quickly, but the gun is leaning. I grab the closest rock and stuff it under the left leg of the bipod. I get him back in the crosshairs just as he's breaking the ridge and fire. Boom – WHACK! I just love that sound. I see the buck spin and tumble sideways. I know my hunt is over, now I just have to see if he is as big as I am hoping he is. As I get over to him, I realize the first hit was back – not a surprise given that he was on his way over the ridge and out of sight when I shot, so I had to finish him off. At this point there was very little light left and I did my best to get a tripod and camera set up before it got totally dark. Wouldn’t you know it, the darn remote to my camera didn’t work so I had to use the timer to click a pic, then run behind the buck and pose, so the pix aren’t the very best in the world, but here they are. Of course I left my big pack and field dressing stuff at camp so I had to go get it, hike back in and quarter him in the dark. I got back to him around 9:00 pm with a lantern, tarp, headlamps, game bags, pack and skinning knives. It was around 20 degrees and dropping fast. Finally around midnight I was making my last trip out and back to camp. At 1:00 AM I was done. It was around 14 degrees. One thing that blew me away was the body size of this deer. He was HUGE! I’ve quartered cow elk that weren’t as big. I tried to take some pix to give some perspective of his size. The shooting stick is almost 6 feet long, and the knife in the pix is the standard Buck 119, around a foot long. I was a little disappointed in his tops, especially on his left side. He’s a really nice buck, by far my biggest mule deer to date and I feel fortunate to have taken him, but I’d be lying if I didn’t admit a part of me wondered if I didn’t get a little too caught up in the action. It was only the third day of the hunt, so chances of finding a bigger one were pretty good, especially up there. But given the situation, I had to make a snap decision and that’s how it goes. He’s not the 200+ incher I dreamed of, but I can’t complain about him or the hunt at all. It was an amazing time and just beautiful country. The Strip is an amazing place. The minute you set camp and look upon it, you know you are in a special place. As I was driving out, I was already looking forward to the next time I’m lucky enough to be there. By the way here’s a look at that front right fork that suckered me in. lol. And here are some more pictures. Got to add my signature to "Camp Cantaloupe" A really cool "collage" that Carrie put together so I could dress up the tent. Some trail cam pix off of the Ivanpaugh trick tank including a crazy non-typical buck. The view off Whitmore... A lion off of Whitmore trick tank 3: I hope you enjoyed the story and pictures. Best wishes to all of you CWT members out there.
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1 point
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1 pointWow! I loved the story!! Congratulations on your buck and thanks for sharing so many details and pics! You have a very supportive wife!!! Glad you had a great hunt