nw07heavy

Can you please post a link to your brothers site? I tried the address your listed and was not able to find anything. Big Browns, Any luck on picking a hog hunting facility yet? Wondering about enroute distances, since I also am in Queen Creek.

I'm also looking for info on rifle hog hunts, Does anyone have any feedback regarding hangemhighwhitetails hog hunting for this year or next year early 2017? Texas sounds like it has some good ranches to hunt and I'd like to find out more about hog hunting there. So far I've found a couple of hog hunting ranches in CA near Paso Robles near where great zinfandel, syrah, petit sirah, and other varietals are produced. This would also provide the opportunity to cruise Hwy 1 down the Pacific coast. Does anyone have recent 2015-2015 experience regarding Dunton Ranch North Fort Rock, AZ hog hunts? Any insight any of you could provide would be greatly appreciated.

Maybe better late than never. Even though it is easy for us to hit deer sized targets in their 'kill zone' at a half mile or more I would remind the shooters to ensure they carry different performing bullets for close range as well as long range shots. The expansion qualities, penetration, and energy shedding of the bullet really needs to match the retained terminal velocities (at target range) of your load(s). I have witnessed some toughened bullet jackets of several VLD bullets fail to expand at a half mile and further which allowed hit animals to move off a great distance due to 'pinholing', with little blood trail. Overly 'soft' bullets which may expand perfectly at long range often 'blow up' in close shots and do not penetrate as needed. Intermediate and long range wind mirage reading can help make more accurate windage inputs, even though a wind velocity meter is being used at the shooter's position.

Great job, and nice animals.

Nicely done, congratulations.

Many of the Berger hunting bullets were 'slumping' (deforming on acceleration) when fired in some of the 'super' magnums with hot (read: fast) loads, so Berger needed to strengthen the jackets on many bullets, or face deformation and destruction of the projectile. Although this helped keep the bullet intact during acceleration the heavier jackets did not allow for quick expansion on low powered cartridges. Example: A .308" heavy jacket bullet fit for a very fast long range .300 RUM will be a bad match for a very slow 30-06. Selecting a hunting bullet is sometimes a tough choice especially when trying to decide on target distance, target toughness (animal tissue vs. animal bone hit), and target mass. Bullet selection can be a 'bear'. Some hunters opt for a fast expanding bullet (to cause fast killing damage) which will ultimately dependably stop expansion and weight loss (in a bone hit) such as a Nosler Partition (or A-Frame in a heavy dangerous animal), which may be a good choice for many cartridges of varied velocities (or hits at much varied ranges). Some manufacturers such as Hawk Bullets allow you to select the specific bullet jacket thickness, and consequent expansion characteristics, for any of their bullets. This is to accommodate all the expansion and expansion control needed for any specific bullet and hunting application. You just need to know what you need, based upon your past experience.

For anyone wanting to comment on the AZ Game & Fish Big Game Draw site's unacceptable performance for it's customers (us), you can post your (hopefully objective,concise, and well meaning) concerns and comments to Governor Ducey on his 'Engage' Office of the Governor website, since this is a state problem. It is worth the small effort to try to stimulate some positive action to benefit both the state and it's citizens.

For anyone wanting to comment on the AZ Game & Fish Big Game Draw site's unacceptable performance for it's customers (us), you can post your (hopefully objective,concise, and well meaning) concerns and comments to Governor Ducey on his 'Engage' Office of the Governor website, since this is a state problem. It is worth the small effort to try to stimulate some positive action to benefit both the state and it's citizens.

Congratulations on a nice bull.

Great bull, congrats.

Great bucks for you and the wife. Glad to see you did so well in WY.

Fabulous trophy buck. Congratulations!

Thanks. I use a Sako TRG-42 in .338 Lapua Magnum and an IOR 3.5-18X 50mm FFP tactical scope. I elected this cartridge as one of my hunting rounds after seeing the extreme meat damage from cartridges that exhibit very high levels of hydrostatic shock. The .338 Lapua damaged hardly any meat whatsoever on antelope or elk. My .338 Lapua load is a 300 grain Berger Hunter with tough jacket. My load velocity is a mild 2,740 or so FPS yielding 5,000 foot pounds at the muzzle. The .814 G1 BC, or .417 G7 BC, allows the projectile to stay supersonic past 2,000 yards at a 23.50 station pressure (my elk country norms). This moderate velocity bullet that does not slow down much, only 80 FPS per 100 yards at max velocity. Velocity at 1,200 yards is 1,782 FPS and energy is 2,115 ft lbs (2,000 considered needed for elk sized game). Using a standard tactical 'zero' of 100 yards, station pressure and local temperature, and Applied Ballistics on my iPhone it is very easy to crank a firing solution into the TRG. I carry an Accuracy 1st Whiz Wheel as back up in case of lost power in my iPhone. Of course the set up is far more accurate than a shaky old shooter like me so every bit helps. All shots this year have been one shot 'band/flops' and the longest only 400 yards. The biggest worry was tracking the trotting elk and sending a round shooting offhand in the heavy woods at 100 yards with the 15 pound TRG. Attached is a photo you requested. I, too, want to go back to Wyoming to hunt antelope. It is the most fabulous hunting state I have visited. I have been to Alaska, but only to fly and deliver an airplane, and did not hunt. I can only imagine how great a state it would be to hunt.

Had a great time harvesting an antelope buck and doe in Wyoming. The doe was a five minute hunt very short range 300 yard shot and the buck in 30 minutes with another very short 400 yard shot. Boy, these antelope are really tasty.

No problem at all with the meat. I just use dry ice (-109F frozen carbon dioxide) to solidify the meat in a cooler. This will essentially stay good indefinitely. The very cold temperatures, in addition to the toxic to microbe life carbon dioxide atmosphere in the cooler will preserve the meat. You just need to keep replacing the two blocks of dry ice every day during the trip. Of utmost importance is to remember to activate positive pressure HVAC (Never use max A/C or any cabin air recycle when carrying dry ice) in your vehicle to purge any CO2 that escapes from the coolers with dry ice. Positive pressure is the same technique that prevents explosive gas build up in petrochemical processing facilities. I actually prefer to process/cut my own animals, since I have control over the process. Antelope are small enough that they are easy to process and vacuum seal.

Very nice Bull, congratulations.

Great job and nice kill. Congratulations.

Great trophies all. Congratulations to the hunters.

Very nice shot. The veil or cloud shroud makes for a striking tie in of the peak and brilliant forest.

Switzerland, Germany, and Austria have really taken measures to protect their forest areas. The hundreds of years old traditions, lifestyles and mountain huts, dairies, and cross mountain trails have made for a very unique environment. I found in many regions such as Appenzell and the Berner Oberland (Switzerland), and Mayrhofen (Austria), the traditional and sometimes mandated building codes has preserved the original look and utter charm of entire areas. A real joy is the fact that all traditionally owned properties in these area are open to everyone to pass through, with not a single 'No tresspassing' sign. All that is expected is that hikers re-close any gates or wires after crossing an animal fence. Also very notable is that I saw absolutely no litter, damage to signs or property, tree carving, or other evidence of passers-by as I sometimes do here. This respect of others is paramount in these areas. Most areas have electric cable car systems, allowing everyone to get into the remote areas, without cars or trucks and roadways to disrupt the natural environment. The only noise you can sometimes hear is the quiet spinning of the cable pulleys high in the cable supports. Hikers do not need to carry whole camps in their packs, for they can take a cable car or cog train up and hike from mountain hut to hut or gasthaus with only a small day pack. Food, wine, and beds are available at all places.

I was going through some photos while waiting for my hunts to start and found some that may be interesting for those interested in the Alps and Western Europe. In order they are: 1 & 2) Jungfrau Massif from the Schilthorn, 3) Wild orchids in meadows, 4) Bearded Bellflower, 5) The Jungfrau, 6) Lauterbrunnen Valley, 7) Aescher Gasthouse built into the mountainside, 8) Chillon Castle (Lord Byron), Lake Geneva, 9) Jungfrau Massif and Lauterbrunnen Valley, 10) Eiger, Monch, and Jungfrau Mountains from Mannlichen, 11) Cog gear trains capable of climbing extremely steeply through the very long tunnel through the mountain solid rock up to the Jungfrau Station at 11,332 feet, the highest in Europe, 12) 'The Sphinx', the outside view of the Jungfrau Station, 13) Aletsch Glacier flowing 11 miles to Italy (note the lateral moraines), 14 & 15) Trumpet Gentian, 16) Lauterbrunnen Valley from above, 17) Mannlichen Meadow, 18) Clusius Gentian, 19) Meglisalp panorama, 20) Meglisalp July evening, 21) Wildflowers in Meglisalp Valley, 22) Spring Gentian, 23 & 24) Town of Colmar, Alsace France, 25) Best preserved Roman amphitheater, Orange, Rhone Valley France, 26 & 27) Hallstatt, Austria, 28) Cable car above Murren (the entire surrounding mountain area is pedestrian only), 29) Meglisalp . I hope my photography isn't too bad for anyone looking at these shots, and admittedly I'll have to do better in the future.

Threedflyer, I too grew up in Washington, Seattle specifically. We hunted first on the west side but very quickly grew tired of the solid overcast of 170 days per year, the continual rain and dampness, deep mud (ever jump from skunk cabbage patch to skunk cabbage patch in a beaver marsh only to miss and plunge seven feet into a black-water channel when duck hunting?), and near zero visibility in the forest due to the heaviest brush and undergrowth we have ever seen. We then began hunting on the east side in and around Yakima, Ellensburg, Wenatchee, and Blewett Pass and loved the much more open, and far drier forest. You will find the Arizona Colorado Plateau forests (northern and eastern AZ) much like those of eastern Washington, but warmer and usually more 'user friendly'. The biodiversity range is extreme here, from low desert javelina and coues deer hunting in cactus and ocotillo to the 9,200 msl Hannagan Meadow for elk, mule deer, bear, and blue grouse (the 'frontier') area with dripping springs, open meadows, and sub-alpine firs with hanging lichen. You will find places you will love to hunt here. Welcome to Arizona and good hunting.

.338 Lapua

Just back today from a successful cow elk hunt in 3C. Played footsies with an elk group on a high ridge before getting an offhand shot. We were so far off-road I had to debone the entire animal to get it out. Lots of fun this weekend and met lots of nice hunters.

Congratulations, nice elk.