catclaw

Sadie- I saw your photos at the campout this weekend with Lance and family and you sure have an infectious smile. I am glad you had a good time. Dennis

You all missed out on a great time. Great food as usual and awesome weather.

This will be a nice reprieve from the valley's heat!

They have finally released the pilot's name. He is an ATF agent out of Florida. Yesterday there were high ranking supervisors at the scene looking for items from his plane. Apparently he was loaded down with small arms ammunitions as they were popping off during the fire and there are spent casings everywhere! Sounds like he was overloaded for the high altitude takeoff with a full load of fuel. Killed his whole family I guess. What a bummer.

Most of the media reports have been quite flawed. The pilot and his family are of significance. They know who they are but for some reason, don't want to identify them. The school is a disaster. Even the buildings that didn't burn have significant water and smoke damage. This is not something that you plan for. My heart goes out to the community up there.

Get over yourself.

I was just teasing him... No cow tracks when I set the camera- I think they were moving up from summer to winter and just held up for a few days. I know you are going to get cow pics- just seems silly to post them unless they are unique or something. I never get "good" cow pics- just boring ones. I had a cow sleep against my camera one time. It was covered with hair and stink when I pulled it. Live and learn.

Wow, nice cows

I saw 30 bears during July and August last year while scouting in Central AZ. I only saw sows with cubs while actually hunting! Seems that is how it goes some years. Had a big sow come into a tank while i was in a stand (no cubs) but I don't shoot anything but boars so she was safe. Some years are like that. Found some HUGE tracks this year already. Maybe this bear will stick around long enough to get his mug shot taken! Nice pics

I used to hunt down there all the time. One year we were camped near Pena Blanca lake when the military got into a shootout with some smugglers. It sounded pretty awesome. Same hunt, we glassed up a patrol in some funky military camies cruising and escorting some civilians. We just backed out and left the area. This was back when we could get 2 Dec tags so it was a while ago. I will still go down there, but I won't take my family. My friends have had more bad experieces with Border Patrol than with the UDAs themselves. I never have myself though. I applied for a sheep tag on the border but my deer hunts are closer to home. Too many good units much closer is the main reason I don't go down there. I could shoot one of those drug runners if I had to but anyone that doesn't think this would start a sh!tshorm is sadly mistaken.

What a circus the last two days are at the G&F office! I was camping for the past 10 days so I had to drop mine off in person on Tuesday. There were vendors set up (sorry I couldn't stop and talk Amanda) and a blood drive going on! Talk about catering to a captive audience!!! I wonder if the main office was as bad as Mesa was? I was there about 1 pm, I can't imagine how bad it was by 5 or 6 PM! I am feeling good about this year.

Why would it be a felony? Just because it is a sheep??? Not sure what you are getting at.

That was painful to read- i don't think I took a breath for 90 seconds, but a good story none-the-less. I hope you are hooked now.

I heard that one time about 4 peaks too. It simply isn't true. Coastal Alaska, Coastal BC as well as Washington state have far higher bear densities that we can even imagine. States like NC and PA have far higher densities too. I have spent a fair amount of time on Mt. Graham and I haven't seen any more bears there than I see in many other places I hunt. I do believe it is ripe for bears coming into town and having theoretical conflicts though.

AMEN

I am not necessarily defending G&F but I think they have a pretty good handle on what they can and can't do with bears. Could be that certain bears have such a high re-offend rate that it isn't practical to turn them loose, only to have them tear something up. Perhaps there is a liability issue to deal with there too. Maybe this bear wasn't healthy. We had over 20 bears come into Mesa one year when it was really dry. Obviously, they are further from home coming into Mesa than Thatcher. Most just disappeared and made it back to the hills, but many were tranked. It is probably pretty expensive to relocate a bear. I suspect if someone wants to form a bear support group that is willing to do the relocation to acceptable sites with volunteer manpower, G&F will be all ears! I don't get worked up over this stuff. They send a couple of guys out, dart a bear, transport him 2 hours away so he isn't close by, tag him, let him go and he is killed by a hunter or car 3 weeks later... it just doesn't make a lot of sense to me. Females bears are far less apt to wander than a male bear. Probably a pretty good return on their investment to ship them off.

People get too emotional about all this. It is sad that we are elevating crimes against animals to a higher level than crimes against people!! It should not be a felony just to kill it. Now if he exploited it- sold it etc-then I wouldn't oppose it. As for the fines, it is a class 1or 2 misdemeanor. There is also NO culpability requirement for 99% of the title 17 violations. Under most statutes in title 17, if you are hiking along, trip and fall, you rifle goes off and shoots a deer, you are just as guilty [of the same crime] as the guy who sees a big buck on his trail cam- drives out and hunts it down and shoots it intentionally. There is also a caveat in the title 17 that says that if any officer knows that you broke such and such law, and did NOT arrest you, HE is guilty of a class 2 misdemeanor. Talk about screwed up laws. The dept will refer you to the commission now for one quail over the limit for a 5 year suspension of your hunting privileges- quite heavy-handed to say the least. Let's not give them anymore authority as they have zero oversight. No, the courts will have their day with this jackass and he will lose his hunting rights and pay a fine. He probably won't get more than 30 days in jail unless he has a previous criminal record. They should give him about 500 hours of community service in areas that contribute to wildlife; picking up trash at the lake, repairing damaged signs, clearing trails, painting stuff that is neglected... They should publish his photo on wanted posters, ban him from Bass Pro, sportsmans, Cabelas and any other sportsman supported vendor until he proves sufficient humility and rehabilitation. Thanks my $.02

OUCH! She better have her papers or she will get sent back!

Don't get rid of your 128, when I am scouting, i don't carry the 701 since I know I wont be shooting. The ball head is much lighter and more convenient when I don't have a rifle with me. The Claw is still a big improvement over nothing even with the lesser heads. If you have a spring loaded head such as the pistol grip ones, good luck. All my buddies that have them have retired them. Once the springs get worn it, the optics creep constantly. I can't imagine what a 48" long rifle would do with it!

There are at least3 different plate styles that I have seen on consumer sized tripod heads. The 501 plate is the best one for Claw use. It slides in and has a much larger bearing surface. Once I tried it, I could not stand to use the Claw without it. If you support the rear, it is not as big of a deal though. Here are some photos of each: 501 and Camlock style 501 plate plates next to Claw and 501 mounted on Claw another perspective of plates for comparison Two tripods with both style heads I hope this was helpful. The 501 head is real heavy and the 701HDV is heavier than some of the heads that use the camlock style plate but man is the 701/501 style smooth.

No, it will not work as well. The problem is that the detachable plate is not the same as the one on the 501-701 series. This makes all the difference in the world. Although i prefer my Bogen ball head for its light weight when packing in, there is no doubt that it pales in comparison to the 701 for both shooting rifles and shooting video. The 128 will be better than not using the Claw but you will be short-changing yourself to use anything that doesn't incorporate the plate system used by the 501-701.

I would go with a 6.5-06 imp or the 280 Imp if you want to make a long ranger out of it. If you go with the 6.5- get an 8.5 twist and the 280, a 9 twist barrel. The 284 Winchester is tearing up the 1000 target shooting world right now and the 280 is that in a long action. 6.5 gives you a better choice of accurate bullets and a little less recoil. Good Luck!

I bought 4 claws last year for myself and some buddies that just had to have them. I have had at least 5 others who have contacted me for instructions on where to get them. They aren't $180 anymore and this helps. Once I tried the 701 HDV head I had to have one (Sorry Cade, I just can't do the 501 setup!) My son and I have shot over 500 prairie dogs off the Claw- mostly STANDING or sitting in lawn chairs. It is NOT as steady as a portable BR but where I shoot PDs, you have to pan and search constantly. One guy stands with the 15s mounted on a tripod and calls out where the dogs are and calls the shots. It is a great system and fun to boot. I have not had the opportunity to shoot anything bigger than a lion off the Claw so far. The lion was easy because I was glassing with my 15s, spotted the lion and switched my 15s for 300 mag. From spotting the lion coming in to dead was less than 5 seconds! My biggest problem with the Claw is getting it to clamp on stocks with much taper in them. I am going to have to modify mine or come up with a shim to use on my latest McMillan stock as I can't clamp it straight. It really soaks up recoil too. If you are hunting where you can go prone with the SHORT Harris bipod, you will be steadier than the Claw. But anything else is not going to be any better. I have shot some great groups using my shooting sticks under the buttstock and the Claw on the front. I just jam my shooting sticks right behind the pistol grip and get the Claw on target. I then slide the shooting sticks rearward- which pushes the muzzle down and I have a pretty solid rest. The Claw is not a replacement for prone shots (although I shot PDs prone off mine out to 500 yds) but rather something to use for those shots when you can't lay prone do to terrain or vegetation. This scout had never fired a center fire rifle before and hit a 5" metal plate at 200 yds 3 out of 3. This is before I got the 701HDV. I can't find my card with the good prairie dog pics...

Hello Dan, I would like a 7mm barrel that will stabilize the highest BC bullets available. Dan might think of the 200 RBBT wildcat bullets that wont stabilize in a 9 twist and suggests a 7 twist where your buddy, who has never heard of wildcat bullets has the 180 Bergers is mind. Your buddy gets the 7 twist as per Dan's recomendation, runs thin jacketed Bergers in it (which will desintegrate in a 3 groove barrel) and the problems begin. They ordered 3 barrels SPECIFICALLY to shoot 180 Bergers. Dan knew this. HE recommended the 7 twist (my buddy wanted the 3 groove). Like I said, by the time he hit 80 rounds it was shredding the Bergers. He told me that he called him and asked him if he had other twists with a 3 groove, .284. He told me that Dan told him no. I didn't call Dan so I don't know myself and I don't care. He recommended a 3-groove, 1-7 twist to shoot the 180s. Bad advice. It wasn't my intentions to bash Lilja. Many people have built some great rifles with his barrels. I have only ONE Schneider barrel- no koolaid for me, most of mine are Kriegers. My last barrel was a Mark Chanlynn barrel- I prefer cut rifled over button. It is a great barrel. I did just order 2 Schneiders for projects and one will be chambered here shortly (7mm-300 WBY). I'll post some pics of it when done. If it doesn't shoot, I will state such. Time to move on. You don't need a 16# rifle to shoot accurate at long range, but a 7# rifle is not going to ever make a great long range rifle unless it is a carbon fiber wrapped barrel IMHO. If they were, the pro's would use them. I am done on this topic.

Gary Schneider makes 10 sniper barrels for every ONE that Dan builds. My buddy's "experience" is just that- a factual experience. You and I come from different worlds I guess. I know LOTS of guys that have had bad experiences with Liljas. Did you know Hart doesn't warranty their barrels??? Must tell you something! I have had best luck with cut rifled barrels, Krieger, Obermeyer, Rocky Mtn. Pederson et al. I used the last Schneider on a recommendation from the Scottsdale rangemaster. It is the "fastest" barrel I have ever had. Period. I never said that Lilja doesn't make good barrels, only that he thinks he is infallible and he is not. All the barrel makers that I buy from want me to be satisfied- if I am not, I can send it back and they will make it right. Hart and Lilja won't do that. I had a rifle built by a prominent BR gunsmith a few years ago. It wouldn't shoot. We tried everything; cryo, bushing the bolt, speedlock etc. Finally he tried to get it to shoot himself. He said that that barrel (Hart) was no good. Hart, of course, wouldn't warranty it so he put a Krieger on it. All of a sudden it was shooting. Will I ever buy another Hart?? I wouldn't spend the $$ to have it chambered if they gave it to me. Anyone who would recommend a 7 twist 3-groove for a hot magnum to shoot a bullet that will easily stabilize with a 9 twist is irresponsible. This fact alone guarantees that I will never buy a barrel from him. It's all in the Kool-aid Phil. Someone gets a screamer barrel and he is now the best maker in the world. whatever