catclaw

Dang, Casey, how do you keep track of the distances of that many bucks? Heck, I can only remember a couple. I can guess on some but there's way to many to be remembering the yardage Longest one that was actually LASER ranged was 365. I shot one in the Cayantano that was easily 500-550. I didn't own a rangefinder back then and it was a risky shot- at a trotting deer no less. Only being able to see my bullet strikes let me walk the third one it- It was the first year that Barnes came out with the X-bullet!

My boy and I got Archery bull tags in unit 10- NO POINTS- I had a tag last year!!!

I hear all these stories and believe most of them- there is still a human element involved. I have two quick examples: A friend was drawn for a muzzleloader deer hunt a few years ago- he doesn't own a smoke pole and ONLY applies for Dec WT tags as he is a school teacher and can only hunt during the Christmas break. He went down to G&F to complain that he didn't apply for this hunt. They pulled his app (the original) and someone had written in additional choices in PENCIL in an obvious different handwriting! Either someone at the Post Office has a sick sense of humor or someone in the draw dept was trying to sell more permits. The second one is that a friend of mine got drawn for an elk tag this year that he didn't even put in for!!! He didn't want to raise a stink for fear that when they found the mistake, they would take his tag away! It doesn't take much for a computer operator to , after being bribed, put you in for 100 bonus points- almost guarantying that you will draw. I have seen too many important, influential people draw multiple <5% odds tags in the same year and succeeding years to believe it's coincidental. Nope, there are still problems down there.

I passed on 25 bucks yesterday alone. I tried for one that I think will go high 80s just before dark, but an errant doe busted me who was about 300 yds from him and I didn't get a shot. Haven't seen a bull worth shooting yet either! Another week to go!!

Manzanita is pretty pricey. There really isn't any place to look at optics and such is there. I don't think Prescott is big enough to support a SW. Might be the first one to fold!!! I will, however, welcome it as I like shopping there. Dennis

I'm not sure what you are looking for in a 20x binocular. The only one worth using that I know of is the discontinued Zeiss stabilized. They run around $5K. There are a bunch of 15-16X binoculars that are worth using in the $800-2000 range. The 30X Doctors are fantastic but HUGE and very specialized.

Casey- your are going to have to get a bigger rifle if you are going to kill one bigger than 80"- you know those stinkin' WSMs won't kill a mature deer- what is going through you head??? Get at least a 300WBY or maybe a 300 RUM... Dennis

Way to go Casey and Doug! Wow, a 34A late tag- almost as hard as Kaibab late but not what it used to be in terms of quality. Good luck you guys.

Oh---- Don't tempt me Doug! I have actually done a fair amount of horse control work and did considerable testing with the first generation Barnes X- They worked quite well for an animal that size. I can say without reservation that a 22-250 makes a very poor long range horse round!!!

It matters very little what brand of call you use. More important is stand selection and the frequency with which you call. I called in a large boar black bear last month with a wooden cow elk call. I imitated a deer in distress and had the bear within 60 seconds. I personally like the Critter calls the best- an open reed allows more sounds than a closed reed. After about the middle of February, you will need to howl to have much luck with coyotes. I used a Dan Thompson Red Desert howler but I suppose there are others that will work. The mouth piece on that call makes a great long-range call as well. FoxPro is the WORSE thing that ever happened to varmint calling. There are a zillion wannabe callers out there educating the predators and making it much harder to get anything in. It's a shame.

They have some real ignorant folks working there that frequently give their opinions whether right or wrong. They won't tell you that you can hunt wild horses and donkeys either- you won't find a word about them in the regulations. The wild horse and free roaming burro protection act only applies on specific FEDERAL lands- BIA, DOA and BLM. If you encounter them on State trust land or private property they are not protected and are considered Feral. You are right about the hogs being hard to find however. I talked to a friend on Friday night that twice saw them while fishing at Blue Ridge Reservoir- but it was a number of years ago.

Bullsht- they are FERAL- they are not non-game. It is no different than shoot a cow in your pasture. Do you have to have a license for this?? Not only no license- but NONE of the laws apply. You can use weapons that would otherwise be illegal. I have been down this road before with G&F.

All those companies have been corrupt- too many people buying tags that they didn't really draw. At all the commission meetings I went to there was overwhelming support for abolishing the online system all together- permanently. Here's my take- if you can't afford to write a check for the tags then you can't afford to hunt those hunts. Can you afford a safari to Africa? If not, you don't go. If you can't afford a sheep tag- don't apply. You can't buy lottery tickets on CREDIT- why should you be able to buy lottery tickets for the hunts on credit?? Go get a cash advance on that same credit card and pay for the tag up front. The biggest problem here is that SOME were allowed to use credit and the balance are not- They should have rejected EVERYONES applications and told them to reapply with paper. I'll bet they are screwed up again on the fall hunts.

Not to rehash all of what was in that other thread, I have chased them in the Jack's Canyon/ Chavez Pass area but that was in the early 90s. Feral hogs are unregulated and do not require a hunting license at all- just like jack-asses on non-federal land. They can be gunned down with miniguns if you so desire. It's like shooting a cow on your farm for beef- no law says what you can use to shoot them.

I would take it to McMillan and have them bed it for you. They are great. Derrick Martin at Rio Salado [Accuracy Speaks] is a great accuracy smith as well when he is there.

To answer your question, Robar companies in Phoenix have several such treatments, Rogard , being their flagship dark treatment and NP3 is a nickel teflon matrix that is very slippery and works awesome on bolt bodies. I can highly recommend both treatments- I would have the action and barrel done in Rogard and the bolt body NP3. Nice contrast and no need to lube. Don't know that it is better than Cerakote, but they are in Phoenix [Deer Valley/14th Ave I believe]

I use different stuff depending on the time I have and the condition of the barrel. I use a water-based general cleaner to get the powder fouling out so I can get to the copper. I then scrub it good with a solvent and a bronze brush. I then run a few patches with Kroil through until I am convinced that it is down the copper fouling. Use the end of a Q-tip under good light to EXAMINE the muzzle end of the barrel. That Q-tip inserted will really light it up. If I have time, I will foam it with wipe-out or similar. Usually waiting 30 minutes before patching out. Usually doing this twice will get most any copper out. If I still have copper after two applications of foam I will short stroke a patch coated with JB or Iosso and then kroil this out and once again repeat the foam. This always gets it clean. If I don't have that much time, I will work out the copper with Montana Extreme or Barnes CR-10, waiting about 5-10 minutes between soakings. I may run a couple of patches of Rem cleaner through it to speed things up. I always finish up with kroil and put it away that way UNLESS it is going into long-term storage- then I run a patch of good gun oil down the barrel.

I have one and have had three. I think it is as close to perfect as you are going to find if you like shooting a far piece. I have killed more than 10 bulls with my Sako [rechambered 300 H&H]. I have killed quite a number of deer with it as well. I have used a 165 grain bullet almost to exclusion. A bear and a couple of elk to 200 grainers but that is it. I absolutely abhor muzzle brakes and would encourage you not to go that route. They are extremely loud and have a place on only two types of hunting rifles; a dedicated varmint rifle so you can see the varmints explode and a dedicated long range coues rifle where ALL shots will be carefully executed and plenty of time to put earplugs in. One rifle I had did have a muzzle brake and it was very effective. I deafened a guy on a hunt in Mexico with it who still has permanent hearing loss to this date. My longest shot has been 550 yds, another was right at 500 and all the rest have been under 400. All the elk have been under 100! Sorry, I have been gunned for the cross-canyon elk shots but always managed to stalk much closer. Elk are simple to hunt compared to deer!!! If I were to use it mostly for elk I would probably use a 180 grain bullet in lieu of the 165. I handload and this is really the best way to take advantage of it. Make sure you have a scope with lots of eye relief and you won't need a muzzle brake. I have Leupold VXIIIs for their very generous eye relief.

Derrick is a very good gunsmith but I don't know if he has reamers for a 30-378. I don't know about the other guy in his shop. If you don't mind driving to Prescott, Danny Pederson is excellent. Another choice would be to have Gary Schneider (now in Payson) make you a barrel and I am pretty sure he will install it. Dennis

I didn't say I was going to KILL 2 elk this year- only hunt twice. I can legally have 2 elk tags under this scenario and IF I don't fill the first tag, I can continue hunting on the later hunt. My son killed 2 elk in Unit 10- legally as he shot and killed a 340" 6x6 that had apparently already been wounded in the flank by another hunter. We tracked it down and finished it off after he whacked it at 300 yds. The other hunter met up with us and explained that he had hit it earlier. I called my buddies on our radio and asked them if they had seen blood on the bull before my son shot. They said it looked like it did. We had already taken photos and the whole works. We allowed the other hunter to tag it in the spirit of first blood doctrine- either boy could have legally tagged that bull. We went back to work with the 15s and found another. We made a 1 mile stalk to a tank and this time he didn't have to share the glory with anyone! That is how you kill 2 bulls in one day- legally! I am hoping to kill on my first hunt and donate my other tag to Hunt of a Lifetime. Dennis

My son got a Junior elk tag in 1 I got Antelope in 2A (which allows me to buy an any elk tag over the counter) I also got a bull tag in 23. And Phil- you thought you were lucky this year!!! Last year my oldest killed two 6x6 bulls in one day. Looks like this year I get to hunt elk twice!!

Yesterday was the first chance I have had to scout in 10 post-rut. We bumped one huge bull last night and glassed 14 more this morning, four of which were over 380 and one monster that was easy 400". I hope he isn't broken- it was hard to tell at the distance. I hear all the broken horn stories from unit 10, but none of the bulls we saw were obviously busted. If I can just get this digi-scoping thing down and get some photos of these monsters. Thanksgiving, hurry up!

And this one

We scored on a couple of nice bulls in 10, not the booners that we saw scouting, but a week hunt was suddenly shortened to a weekend and we couldn't be as picky- now if I could just get the photos to post...

NIce bucks- dang!