Red Sparky

Nice buck. Be proud of any animal you harvest. To me the trophy is the hunt, the meat is just a bonus.

Good Job! That sounds like a great hunt. BTW you can tell him my freezer is empty and I love elk meat .

It is mainly looked at that way because of the draw process. As a resident of NM I have plenty of opportunity to hunt but if I was a NR applying here I would only have a chance at 6% of the tags. Both states have their "trophy" units for deer and elk but look at how long it might take to draw those units. Here in NM we don't have a point system so hunters may go their entire lifetime and never draw a Gila bull elk tag. If I was to start applying now I may never draw an AZ strip mule deer hunt. I don't think I could ever catch up on points. I think the ones saying it is trophy over opportunity don't know how to work the draw systems. I admit I have never put in for antelope here but in the last 12 years I have drawn 10 elk tags and I have never not drawn a deer tag. I also don't apply for the "trophy" managed units, I even apply for cow elk tags, because I would rather be hunting than sitting on the couch thinking about next year. I think both states have plenty of opportunity.

It's the new math they are teaching in school.

The draw odds are correct: 400% aren't going to draw and 100% are going to draw.

I have to say I have both types of drills, both Ridgid and 18 volts LI-Ion batteries, and prefer my brushed drill to my brushless.

I just got back, we went there over Christmas and toured the northern part of your state on the way. Stayed in Flagstaff on the way to and from, did the Petrified Forest and Grand Canyon on the way. Did Hoover Dam and the Meteor Crater on the way back. There were tons of people everywhere in Vegas, and if the elevators were full you had about 14 oriental people try to pack in. Don't know about motels/ resorts since we stayed at Blue-Green Vacation Resort since we bought in as owners. It is kind of like a time share but they have 66 resorts over the US and you can use any one at any time. Either use your points or bonus time, where you pay. It would have cost us $80/night for both the King Suite and the adjoining Queen Suite that we had if using bonus time.

You catch the other thread about the ice cream? I guess there was a superstar mule deer that had numerous pictures eating ice cream cones out of peoples hands. That thread got locked.

I haven't been delayed or denied but here is what happened when I picked up my 6.5 Creedmoor on Monday. I have never gone by my first name I have always gone by my middle name. My drivers license has first initial and middle name. Now when I bought my house, got my CCW license and all FFL checks I have to use my full legal name. Something about the feds don't recognize your middle name as your legal name. My signature is always my first initial and middle name. So I used my full name and the clerk says I am going to have to redo the paperwork because my drivers license doesn't have my first name on it, just an initial. So I pulled out my passport card, the one about the size of a DL and not the whole book, and my CCW license that has my full name and pictures on both. Needless to say I walked out with my rifle in about 15 minutes.

If I don't have anything nice to say, then say nothing at all. NOTHING AT ALL.

Never have liver left over after frying with onions the night of the kill. As for doves, I make a cajun roux and cook in cast iron skillet, served with dirty rice.

All of your post say otherwise than not having a dog in the fight. I truly don't have a dog in the fight but to answer your question.....Most DIY guys can't afford to keep the ice cream from thawing.

Leave the rims stock but get a decent A/T tire tread as it will get stuck on a postage stamp off road with factory tires. you have a new dodge dont you ? No I watched Born and Raise, Land of the Free Episode 42. Great ad for new Dodge and factory tires.

Not all traditional cup and core bullets are built the same. The thickness and annealing of the jacket have a lot to do with expansion. Also the jacket could be bonded to the core to keep the bullet together and retard expansion. Why is it I can get a traditional cup and core bullet for my .222 that will pretty much "blow up" in a coyote but I can get another traditional cup and core bullet that will penetrate a deer? The other thing that I have read about, mainly in handgun bullets, is a traditional cup and core hollow point bullet that plugs up the hollow point and doesn't expand.

Hydrostatic shock and temporary wound cavity. What animal? if something small like a deer the forces from the temporary cavity can force a baseball hole out the other side but the bullet has hardly expanded. If you are talking an elk the temporary cavity starts shrinking before hitting the other side and you will get a 1-2" exit from the mushroomed bullet. Fascinating to watch shots into ballistic gelatin.

Depends on your eyesight. My glasses are about 15X and I can't see squat with them off and can't see to 800 yards with them. No in all seriousness a 15X should be fine. The more magnification the more mirage you get. I have a fixed 10X on my .222 and have no problem to 600 yards.

Ive seen signs put out before and no ones actually hunting, they just dont want anyone else there. That or they go back to camp for lunch and want to keep their spot. The best one I put up was elk hunting close to a road, about 400 yards away down a steep slope. The sign said "Hunters bugling down hill to see how many people we can pull in" Sure enough two guys come sneaking down the hill and my buddy shouts out " Well we got the first two!" That was priceless to see their faces.

Leave the rims stock but get a decent A/T tire tread as it will get stuck on a postage stamp off road with factory tires.

Nice but nothing I just have to have right now.

Sucks. Just recently I had my porta-band saw and welder stolen out of my vehicle. Luckily they were Harbor Freight just for use around the house, but it still pissed me off and made me want to kill somebody. Hope you get your stuff back. Game cameras are now around the house instead of the woods as I think it was the tweaker in the neighborhood.

That sucks. Just wait until we have about 1000 more of them.

In my unit here in NM there are 50 tags for the archery elk hunt I put in for. The problem is there are 500 archery deer tags going at the same time. Elk is broken down into two archery hunts Sept. 1-14 and 15th-24th, deer is Sept. 1-30. Basically I have scouted this unit for the last 4 years and been there 4-5 times before the Sept. 1st opener. I roll in two days before my hunt starts and set up camp and get ready. Usually I will try to talk to other hunters to find out which tags they have so we can work together. About 80% of the time it is deer tags and not elk tags. The problem is with the first hunt you get Labor day thrown in there. Luckily where I hunt is not popular with the Labor Day crowd but you do get an increase in activity from some campers. I have had people scouting the second hunt when I was on the first hunt. What I have learned is the further you get from the road the less people you run into. At least the scouters I have run into have been out during non prime hours. When I say that the chances of the elk bedded and not moving were greater. The joys of hunting public land.

All my 7.62x39 are for my SKS and are not reload able. I just buy the cheap surplus ammo for it.

I wouldn't worry about it. They can limit your weapon choice on harvest, strictly saying archery only to harvest, but they can't violate your 2nd Amendment right to bear arms. They would have to prove you killed it with the firearm which has been done. Archery only elk hunt some idiot took his elk to be processed got rid of the blood shot ribs but missed the 7mm slug in the opposite shoulder.

Nice.