SilentButDeadly

Well done Mike!

Everything is sold, pending funds.

TTT. The Manfrotto tripod is sold pending funds. $225 for the Scope+SLIK tripod

This is the ideal scope for someone who needs a great spotting scope but doesn't have the cash flow for the big boys. FYI, I've also thrown it up on Tucson's Craigslist, with a couple of tripods to sweeten up the offer. Would be happy to sell it separately to a CW member for lower negotiated price. PM me any offers. Scope glass is in good condition with no scratches (see photos). The scope has been kept in a case its whole life but there are obvious signs of wear to the exterior paint. See past solid reviews by Bird Watcher's Digest that put it up there with the top level scopes: http://www.birdwatchersdigest.com/site/print.php?id=313 Fujinon Super 80 Fieldscope with 20-60x Zoom. Comes with a Manfrotto aluminum tripod with #128 Panhead and quick release adaptor plate. I also have a Slik tripod available for +$20.00. Everything for $300.00OBO Fujinon EBC multicoatings applied to every air-to-glass surface. waterproof and fogproof, is incredibly lightweight. Oversized BaK-4 porro prism. Collapsing sunshade. Optional stylish view-through case. Magnification 20-60x. Objective Diameter 80mm. Angle Of View 20x: 1.7° 60x: 1.1°. Field Of View at 1000 Yards 20x: 99' (33 m at 1000 m)60x: 57'(19 m at 1000 m). Minimum Focus Distance 25.0' (7.6 m). Exit Pupil Diameter 20x: 4.0mm 60x: 1.3mm. Eye Relief 20x: 12mm 60x: 20mm Relative Brightness 20x: 16.0 60x: 1.8. Twilight Factor 20x: 40.0 60x: 69.3. Accepts additional separately purchased bayonet-mounted eyepieces with flat viewing fields and nearly nonexistent distortion & astigmatism. Fixed tripod mount with 1/4 inch-20 threaded hole. Spotting scope dimensions 18.7 x 3.7 x 4.6 inches (475 x 94 x 118mm).

done.

I chased and filmed this buck 5 years ago - no idea what happened to him [media=480] [/media]

Please take a moment to read and watch this video. http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2013/02/14/1592831/video-after-tragedies-coloradans-unite-around-universal-background-checks/

Esquire Mag has it listed, not as the best Dive Bar, but as The Best Bar in America - http://www.esquire.com/bestbars/

I'm in awe. Amazing work, never give up.

badazz

Yeah buddy!

Matt, That buck is the mirror image of mine from last week! Awesome job. Glad to know you're on CW!

I decided to take him out whole because I knew I could, having done it a few times before with other friend's and family's bucks. The forecast was for 95 degrees and I didn't feel like letting the heat catch up. All that said, in hindsight it would have been much easier and safer to have boned him out up there on the mountainside.

After 7 years of chasing game with a only bow I finally put down my quiver for an October Rifle tag. My wife and I had a baby last September and the days for bow hunting just aren't there like they used to be. My close friends, ones that I've made here on CW.com, know how I've scouted and hunted these little rat deer the last few years. Dozens of sheds, and a couple of less crafty mule deer bucks have landed in my trophy room since I last shot a Coues with an arrow. To be honest I'd started to doubt my ability with a bow, the fact that I've been successful with elk and muleys is a undoubtedly the direct a result of spending so much time focusing on whitetail and learning from mistakes. This is my first ever big game animal with a rifle, a borrowed 30-06 from my dad (that incidentally I bought as a gift for him from a fellow CW member a few years ago). I took this buck on the 5th day of the season, Halloween morning, while I was with my father-in-law Ernie Allen. I had been out most of the other days helping others and even got a stalk with my bow at a great buck a few days before in a similar situation as the one I took this buck. Ernie found this guy with a group of four other bucks right after sunrise. They were feeding along the side of a steep mountain about 3/4 mile away. When they bedded I got up and started to climb the far side of the ridge and planned to pop over and shoot him in his bed at a couple hundred yards. Unfortunately when I got into position I could see them up feeding and headed over the ridge top. I took a deep breath, backed out, and started climbing for the top of the mountain planning to catch them on the backside. When I reached the peak I found that I couldn't climb over; I was cliff-ed out. I took a chance and started to come around below the peak on the same side as the bucks. To my tremendous fortune the buck had hung up on the bench in the shade with another deer. I was able to take my time and made a 135 yard shot while he stood feeding on an acacia along the shadow line. He's just shy of 18" wide on the inside spread - the widest buck I've ever laid hands on. It was an odd feeling, getting ready to pull that trigger, after all of the years and all of the missed opportunities at other bucks. There was a euphoria and even an epiphany of sorts in that moment. I think what I realized was that there is more to being a hunter than just calling yourself a 'bow hunter' or a 'rifle hunter'. I've been nothing but a 'shed hunter' the last six years if a method is how you define yourself. But after all of that time and all of those experiences I have to admit that everything I did that morning was automatic; from gearing up at the truck to taking my time coming over the ridge to check on the bedded deer and not spook them I never had to think twice about my next step. The pack out off the mountain was a monster 2.5 miles back to the trail head with a 1,400 foot elevation drop (thankfully it was down and out). That Eberlestock pack gets an MVP for helping carry the whole deer out. Special thanks to my mentor Ernie, he was out there fresh from knee surgery and is a grizzled warrior...

Well done Mike!