Coues Sniper

Great post dipstick. You have no idea what kind of shot he took at that deer and whether it was unethical. You have no idea where the deer was hit and whether or not he will die. He shot a lion at 5 feet. Most anyone would have done the same thing. I love hunting and I hate hearing about knuckleheads like yourself who sit back in their ivory towers talking trash about people who made shots that turned out less than perfect. Seriously doubt you've never made a bad shot, or put an arrow somewhere other than where you intended to.

Ernesto, Very sorry to hear of your mistake , but it happens to the best of us . I cringed when I read that you left your binocs back at the quad! But everyone makes mistakes, and it sounds like you have a heck of a ranch that has at least 2 great bucks on it for next year. To make you feel better, a couple years ago my old man shot the wrong sheep on a Dall hunt in Canada. He had to watch as a Boone and Crockett sheep walked off after he shot his smaller buddy . I'd still like to see pics of your deer if you don't mind sharing.

Wish I could. Good luck in the academy bro .

That's a giant . Congrats on a great buck.

No offense, but I only see this as starting an argument. Keep it positive please guys.

Ahhhh yes. Mexico ranch politics. I know them well . You did the right thing Jimmy in just going with the flow. In your situation anyways. There's not a whole lot you can do in those circumstances. Who knows how those other guys would have reacted if they found you guys on "their" ranch. Live and learn I guess. If you wanted to hunt with that guy again, you could use this experience as leverage on a future hunt however. I could fill up an hour's worth of reading on some of the ways we've been jerked around on hunts. Just makes you appreciate it that much more when you find a good ranch/outfitter. I'd still say you had a successful trip; you guys killed a couple great bucks! Congrats.

That's why it's so good though. Could you imagine how much they could get for an auction tag though???

Happy birthday Doug . Jealous of your quail dinner!

Mike, I know exactly which picture you are talking about. I have it on my work computer, but not here at the house. I'll post it tomorrow am if you can't find it by then.

I remember you posting that same article Tyson

Very nice!

I wish. Should be a great time. Take some pics for those who can't make it and have a ball man.

Way to go Luke! Great buck

+1 I actually agree with longshooter . Crap. Yeah the last time you actually agreed with me was when I accussed you of being gay. No, no, no, that was when you asked if I thought you should come out to everyone and I agreed that you should. Then you hit on me and I turned you down because I didn't go that way. And then you cried. Still hurts Larry I know. You'll get over it one day and find your Prince Charming. Keep your chin up and your wrists limp Princess, you'll be ok.

Pics like that piss me off to no end. If I wasn't 8 hours away, I'd come help too.

ditto. saving for another build.

GREAT looking buck, congrats

+1 I actually agree with longshooter . Crap.

I'm pretty sure it's every 48 hrs. That's what it is here in NV and up in UT anyways. And trapping is an acceptable way to kill a lion in some states. As some have said, it's not hunting, it trapping. It's got it's own different set of challenges. Don't poo poo it just because it's different. Many folks think hunting is inhumane, I think we are on all the same page on that battle. As far as shooting the lion, whats the big deal? Or what's the difference if it's up in a tree? If you feel bad for the cat, think about those PETA videos next time you eat a burger or go to KFC . Heck, I know of some ranches that trap lions in Mexico, and they don't shoot the lion either- they lasso a leg, stretch the cat out, jump on it, and strangle it with a piece of wire and for the record, I've never trapped.

+1. Wake up guys.

Man do I hate you . I have such a fetish for Ibex. And don't get me started on the Marco Polo. Or the Africa trip. Insanely jealous Scotty. I'm sure you'll keep us posted, but good luck I'll be looking forward to pics.

Gorgeous cat, congrats

Well, recently I posted about my hunt in Mexico and how my rifle pretty much sprayed bullets like a shotgun all around the deer I killed. I hit him 3 times out of, well let’s just say more than 3 shots, and had to switch to the old man’s gun and then proceeded to put one right in the crease at 475 first shot. I couldn’t understand it as my gun had shot so well up till then. Dumbfounded, I started playing around with the gun trying to figure out what the deal was once we got back. It shot all over the place. I’d be 14” low one shot (at 400) and dead nuts in the bull the next. At first I blamed it on a slightly loose brake and the new factory loads I was shooting as my old handloads still shot fairly well. But I kept tinkering and soon the handloads shot like garbage. I had less than a week to go till my next hunt, and I was pretty freaked out as I was holding about a 2 minute group, at best, and the zero seemed to switch every time I cleaned her. Finally, I had enough and went to a Gunsmith here in town that a friend recommended. He did the once over on her, took the scope off, cleaned the rings, made sure all the screws were tightened to specs, the works. He spent about an hour checking her out. Then he asked “when was the last time you cleaned it?” I told him just about 30 minutes ago as I had shot about 9 times that morning. He says “just for kicks let’s run a few patches thru and rule out the easy stuff first.” He slowly ran a patch thru and it had a touch of blue. The 2nd had even more. Then patch after patch came out blue. It took about 20 before the blue was gone. Now, I thought I was pretty anal about cleaning my rifle; I always used my Sweet’s and never really let her get dirty (about 12 shots is my max), but apparently I was doing a crappy job because here are these 20 blue patches thru my rifle. We then walked over to his indoor 100 yard range and shot a few times, and she shot really well. I really hoped that was it, but the real test would be when I took her out to 400 yards the next morning. I went home and decided to spend as much time as it took to get her as clean as I could. I followed the same method the smith did and slowly pushed soaking wet patches of Sweets thru the tube, and by the time I had a clean patch there was a pile of at least 50 patches. I spent another 20 getting powder residue out and making sure it was spotless and the Sweets was gone. I couldn’t believe it. I guess I just was going too fast and never let the Sweets do it’s work. I usually run about 4 wet patches thru and then a nylon brush about 15 times and then patches again till it was clean, usually 10 to 15. That wasn’t cutting it obviously. The next day I went out and got her dialed at 400 which took about 6 shots and then shot about a 2” 3 shot group. Sweet! That was all I had time for as I had to get to work. So I went out again this morning with the intent to shoot out to 700. After one fouling shot I shot the gong at 400 – touching the bull, nice! Backed up to 500 and shot again – almost dead center of the bull and touching my shot from 400. Backed up to 600 – great up and down and about 3” left but I had expected that as the wind kicked up just a touch. Had time for one more so I went to 700 and shot about 7” low. I’ll probably shoot once more to verify all that and see if the 700 yard shot was me or if I need to add a few clicks, but I feel pretty confident that the problem is solved. The gun was just dirty. I don’t know if the factory loads I was shooting were fouling the barrel more than my handloads (I had just started to shoot the factory loads a couple months ago) or what. Anyhow, I am relieved to say the least. Thanks for reading that whole mess, maybe some can learn from my dumb mistake. And if you’re in Vegas and need a good ‘smith, Matt Babb over at Bentwood is about the nicest guy you’d ever want to meet, and really seems to know his stuff. He even taught my wife how to shoot a pistol while we let my barrel cool between strings. By the time we left she shot about a 2” group with a Glock 19 and had never shot a pistol before (I don’t own one). He spent about 3 hours with us total. He got a customer for life for certain.

Bill, if it ain't broke, don't fix it!

Nice job on the bucks. That last one is ridiculous.