catclaw

I am not sure what you are insinuating that the hiring process is "crap" but it is actually very straight forward. It is being done locally instead of through corporate so that we can better screen applicants and have a better pool to hire from. You turn in an app, can pass all the stuff, have a decent interview, there is a good chance you have the job. As far as being a new company, not hardly. This company has contracts in NY, TX, CA and now this one in Florence. Congress has mandated that ICE and other Fed agencies contract these services out to save money. This is a brand new contract and we are doing what ICE agents were doing previous to Nov 1. If you have buddies that work as DOs at the facility in Florence and they are bad-mouthing the "new" company it's probably only because they are more restrictive than the previous contractor and are making people tow-the-line so to speak. The detention side is a different company than the transportation side. Some things haven't gone smoothly but that is to be expected with a new contract. I think we are doing a pretty good job right now; good pay, good benefits, 4-10 work schedule, provide all the uniforms and gear, pay for training etc. Things will only improve. The drivers being hired now will come into the job with people on their side to train and help them so it should be pretty painless for them. This is the easiest job I have ever had.

No, it is not with Wackenhut. I don't think they are currently hiring.

My son-in-law is wanting to finance an AR-10 project and decided he will part with some of his "horde" to do it. I dunno if ammo is still hard to come by or not. If anyone is interested in this get with me. He has 9mm, 40 S&W, .223 and some 7.62x39. This is NOT a fire sale so don't get your hope up that he is giving it away. He lives in S/E Mesa. Dennis

The only Wolf stuff must be 7.63x39 and he didn't bring me any of that. I have Winchester, Remington and Federal

You driving to Mesa, I am not bringing them up. I have 80,000 rnds of 223. No discounts.

7.62x39 $28/100 wolf .223 $29/100 wolf .223 $40/100 Federal .40 S&W $40/100 (Winchester white box) 9mm $33/100 (Winchester white box)

Wolf 7.62x39 Federal .223 (fmj I believe) Winchester white box 40 and 9mm some of the Wolf .223 as well.

I got a call from Eric at Jay's Bird Barn this morning telling me that the 15x56 Kaibabs that I ordered several months ago were here. I know testing in mid day is tough but tried anyway. I set them up on tripod beside my 15x56 SLCs. Right away I decided I didn't like the head on the Vortex tripod but the legs were fine. I stuck a Vortex resolution chart up 60 yds away so I could make some meaningful comparison. The Kaibabs are very, very good- no handicap hunting with these. I found that the focus was much stiffer on the Vortex than the Swarovski and the depth of focus was a little better on the SLC as well. The SLCs also had a little wider field of view- at 600 feet it was about 8' wider near as I could tell. Both were sharp edge-to edge. The resolution on general items was tough to differentiate. When looking at the chart though, the slight nod went to the SLCs. My SLCs are over 3 years old and the new ones may be even sharper- I don't know. The Vortex would close a little tighter than the SLCs for those of you who have a tough time with some of the other big roof prisms. Physically, they were about the same size. The eye cups on the Swarovski are without competition and the Vortex was no different; the objective covers are similar but the eye piece covers on the SLCs are still the best. The Kaibabs came with a two-piece tripod adapter that is very small. It has a quick-change feature that worked well. For $1200, my first impressions are that it is a great glass for hunting whitetail. It gives up very little to the $2000+ Austrian optics. I will take them out next week and do some more comparisons in shadows and lower light conditions so I can compare brightness. Vortex has the best warranty in the business- can't go wrong here.

How did you guys do?? We went 3 for 4. Killed ours along the Baldy Wilderness area. Dennis

My son had it the past two years and it was dismal for us. The only nice bucks we found were in a burn and the stupid sheriff closed the road the day we went in to hunt them. Saw lots of does, very few bucks bigger than spikes. He has the other side of the highway this year. We glassed for hours above Skull Valley and saw nothing. I have written it off.

I am not sure I see the utility in camo painting a sniper-type rifle? Like the deer is going to make it out at 500 yds?? It is an interesting pattern however, but just does trip my buzzer. I guess I am too old school.

We will be camping off the 273 by Lee Valley somewhere. Good luck with your son.

I have watched lions come in and drink, then gone to the tank and still could not find their tracks. They are very light-footed excepting maybe an adult with 30# of meat in his belly! When you see a lion track, you will know it!

There is obviously some very poor or politically motivated management going on in many cases, especially with regards to deer hunting. I didn't hear very many positive things about the two elk hunts this year either. Many complained of being overrun with hunters in the field. Not a good way to encourage recruitment. Are we trying to emulate Colorado??? As far as surveys go, some WMs are pretty good at field craft and have a handle on their units. There are some others, and I have met them, that couldn't find catfish in a swimming pool. I have no idea what they do for the reports they turn in. I one time counted 70 deer in one day during a hunt. I mentioned this to the WM and she didn't believe me. I had to go show her. She had no idea what was in her unit. I would like to have seen that year's survey. The little cards they mail us leave a lot to be desired too. They should go to an online reporting system where you have to report your hunt in order to access your personal data or maybe give a deadline with a $5 penalty or something. That way EVERYONE reports. I think some people lie, but the more data you get, the more accurate your study is.

If you are going to use it sitting flat on the ground or at the range to look at your targets, it is fine, I like to spread my legs out in rough country to get comfortable and I glass a LOT standing up. It just doesn't cut it for that. If I could afford to have a whole stable of tripods, I am sure I would find a good use for the 190, hunting CWTs in not one of them. I really like the new Bogen that has the pull-down legs too- you can get it into play in like 4-5 seconds. It's a little heavier, but perfect for a guide.

You guys are learning. If it isn't evidence of a crime, it is finders- keepers. Don't take them home until they are dry though. In case nobody told you, it is NEVER a good idea to talk to the police. Period. I was a cop for over 20 years so I speak from experience! I have taken a lot of them home. I don't call unless someone did something bad and needs to be caught ( had a couple of USO guides that got in big trouble when I found where they had dropped 3 of them in one spot) If there is a bullet hole in the skull, I probably wouldn't take it.

That is definitely NOT a lion track. Sorry

Depends on the weather, but if you can hunt anywhere, I would start on the Rez side of Black River where it starts to drop off from the real high stuff. You can scout easily by purchasing a fishing license and "hiking into Black River". The other place you should be is in the burn off the rim below Black Canyon lake area. Dennis

NO, IT IS NOT. I hunted with one for a number of years and killed a dozen or so bucks with it. As long as I had perfect broadside presentation it was fine. I shot a nice buck in unit 22 one year and it ran off. I made an amazing (read lucky) follow-up shot on it at about 400 yds and broke its back. When I hiked over, it was still alive and pissed off. I never used a 22-250 again for deer hunting. I think it (22-250)is a rifle for a superior marksman, not a kid's rifle. Go with something that shoots a heavier bullet. A 243 doesn't have a lot of recoil and is heads and shoulders better for deer hunting than any 22 caliber rifle. I feel like the 250 Savage is even better- I built one for my kids and they have taken a half dozen cows elk and a hand full of deer with it. Had the 260 Remington been available at that time, I might have gone that route instead. I have heard too many horror stories about big game and the 22-250 to even consider it anymore. It doesn't not have much energy once you get past 250 yds. Do your son a favor, and get him something that will be effective when he hits a shoulder bone or a raking shot. Nothing worse than losing an animal to the shot. Dennis

When you use a target bullet, there is always the risk of poor terminal performance. The only bullets that seem to be very reliable are the Berger hunting bullets. I have had Sierra MKs work good one time and pencil through the next and explode on the impact the next time. I have heard mixed reviews on the Amax. If you don't know better, you should probably work loads up with hunting bullets to begin with. Bullets such as Accubonds, interbonds, Scirocco IIs et al are both very good hunting bullets and very accurate. You are talking about 300-400 yds, there is no advantage to using target bullets at this range. If you want to shoot 800-1200 yds, then I would stick with the Bergers or other PROVEN ultra long range bullets. I have never used the current generation Amax bullets on big game. It may work fine for you. If it disintegrates (correct spelling) after impact, it will be fine as long as it penetrates a few inches before doing so. This is typical with the Bergers. Since you don't have time or money to change, you take your chances and let us know how it does.

I found the Bogen 190 to be too flimsy. It is a nice tripod- just not really sturdy with a full sized spotter or even with 15s. That is why I went to the heavier (slightly) 4 leg section Velbon. It fits in my pack and will stand up tall enough for a 6' guy. There are even better ones, but they start getting real expensive. The velbon was $300 and came with a head. I switched it with my Bogen head and use it on my old tripod for taking photos. Same reason I don't carry a 4 1/2# rifle, I want to be able to hit something when I shoot!

Looks like a fun pack! Been there, done that!

The cheapy, light tripods are OK if you are sitting AND the wind isn't blowing, add either of these and you need more tripod to be effective. What is the point of carrying one if it is not doing the job. Not everyone needs and can afford a Gitzo carbon fiber tripod. I used a Bogen aluminun tripod for years and still do but my main tripod is now a Velbon El Carmagne 640. It is carbon fiber, magnesium and has nylon locknuts as opposed to the $700 Gitzo alloy locknuts. I use a small Manfrotto ball head and love it. For use with the Claw, I am switching to the 710 HDV head which is a fantastic head. The Velbon comes with a head for about $300 but I don't like it for binocular use- it is fine for cameras and spotting scopes however. A 5'10" guy can easilly stand and use the 640. If your budget is tight, you are going to have to go heavier to get cheaper. sorry!

WRONG This is what you don't get. Many of the title 17 laws specifically state that in less words, that if a Wildlife Manager chooses to use discretion and give you a warning, he, himself, is now guilty of a crime! Titles 13 and 28, the other two commonly enforced laws by Law Enforcement, don't have those provisions. And to make it worse, almost all the laws in title 17 are "strict liability" which means if you did it, you are guilty as opposed to typical title 13 and 28 laws which add culpability into the mix. For example, if you trip over a log and your gun goes off and shoots a doe, you are GUILTY of whatever host of violations you can think of; big game out of season, antlerless in an antlered season, exceeding the bag limit and so on. In title 13 (criminal statutes) you have to have some level of culpability- usually the minimum is reckless. If you applied this standard in title 17 they would have to show that you were either Reckless in your actions that caused whatever violation or you did it knowingly or intentionally. If you took careful aim at a deer, with nothing but and empty hill behind you and shot the deer but the bullet went clear through and hit a grapefruit sized rock on the hill, riccocheted off and hit another deer that was 50yds away and completely out of your possible view, you would be guilty of exceeding the bag limit and possibly other violations under current title 17 rules. If there were levels of culpability applied, they would have to show two things; that you in fact killed the second deer and that your actions were reckless... Add no allowance for judgement on top of this, and you have a pretty screwed up system with respect to game laws in Arizona. This is why I would NEVER turn myself in if something like this happened. You are going to get screwed big-time. Don't blame the WMs, most of them I have encountered are good folks. I met a very lazy one in 24A a few years ago but that was the exception and not the norm. Blame our ridiculous title 17...

Has the talk forum been down a lot for you guys lately? Seems like about every 4th time I try to get on I get a server error. I check another site and all is fine.