AZDirtyTaco

I would consider, but not at my cost. It would likely cost $60-80 plus cost of a box just guessing...

I'd pay money to walk up on that! I bet few can share a similar experience from that close... Super cool.

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I apologize if I'm misinterpreting the "throwing trash from your 460" piece and I hear what you're saying with the opportunists and people that are not respectful of someone else's property. I just don't agree that there is any form of entitlement to a spot unless you are there first, and regardless if that spot has a stand or blind brought in by someone else. I regularly see crap people have left for entire seasons or indefinitely - how can anyone honestly assess whether or not a stand is being used actively, every day, all day? Secondly, how easy would it be for me to cast out a net of blinds on all the tanks in area and therefore claim them all as my spots and just act like the jackwad elkoholic's story?

Super sad. I think he would have a few secret supporters of his actions on this site, unfortunately. As mentioned previously, it's pretty rare for me to be on a tank. But I have nothing but good things to say about the people I've come across on a few occasions.

Interesting that you would be willing to kill someone over you breaking the law and leaving your blind past 72hrs unoccupied and them cleaning up your trash? I'd take a sick day from work to hear that argument during your murder trial. I gather you're struggling to distinguish the difference of an active camp vs. a blind/stand that has been left illegally. The argument isn't worth the keystrokes if that's really a comparison you feel strongly about. The subject comes up constantly about people getting pissed and then crying here about how other people view their abandoned property on public land. Anyone that does intentionally leave their crap in the woods only has themselves to blame if it comes up missing or damaged. If you are going to be confrontational about "your" tank, spot, blind, stand, etc... I suggest you make it your 24/7 home for the hunt or run the risk of someone else being there. Funny to hear which topics some pick and chose when to respect and/or abide by the law. Lastly, there generally are only a few ideal locations on a tank to set-up. It's sad that some of you would be prick enough to think you can prevent someone else from having a good opportunity and get in that same position because you put up a stand/blind a day/week/month earlier. What, you just get to show up whenever you feel like rolling your lazy and hung-over ars out of camp because you already laid claim?!?!? Weak sauce and crappy ethics...

Super insightful and informative my man. Troll much?

Been a while since I looked back at this thread. Again, I'll say thank you for the input. Perhaps you missed my multiple responses that advised this MPR is going to be my lightest rifle to date. Weight is not my concern and I'm not trying to build a "lightweight" rifle (by your standards) which seems to be what a lot of the replies have been stuck on, including yours. Not sure how else to put it. What I feel like I failed to adequately iterate and was lost on some, is that I was looking for suggestions that were comparable to what my intended build was going to be. If I asked you what your opinion is on the most reliable mid-sized truck and you gave me nothing but information on diesels, would you say that your responses were helpful or actually answering the question? Common man... Don't respond to the thread and act like a prick if you aren't going to read. I don't care how much you know about optics, reloading, ballistics, etc... Anywho. Certainly didn't intend to offend you (till now) or anyone else for that matter. I was just looking for some conversation and other considerations from an informed group. Thanks for the input.

Just out of curiosity... What proof did you have that the stand was your stand? Seems that he could have made it a bit more uncomfortable for you than he did. I see a lot of personal property that gets left on public land. Sometimes it gets claimed, sometimes it gets left when it's no longer of value or is inconvenient for the hunter to remove. Cracks me up that a lot of hunters don't realize that your property is no longer yours when you leave it behind. That's called trash to many. Sorry Lance - not trying to roast your comment but found it difficult to avoid a direct response.

I didn't... I held out for one of the 2 monsters that dude showed me and passed on a bunch of small 5x's and average raghorns. It was my 1st archery bull tag and I wasn't thrilled with taking a bull off a tank unless it was the big one. That tank was an elk producing mutha for the couple days I sat on it.

My exact experience last year. By the time the elk settle down from the shock of being overrun by cattle, the hunt is likely over. It's such a kick in the nuts to go from having a spot wired to feeling like you showed up opening day like bum that hadn't scouted a lick...

I don't sit tanks often, but when I do, I will record the hunter walking into the tank as evidence I was there 1st in the event of an argument. I have never had a problem and on the couple of occasions I was on a tank another hunter came in to, those dudes were super cool. Last season I had helped a guy pull his blind down mid-morning because he had to end his hunt early for whatever-odd reason. In return for my help and feeling bad about rolling in on the tank, he shared a bunch of pics of several really nice bulls that had been frequenting that tank and within the past few days. I had 2 really nice coues bucks and a doe hit the tank not 15min after we finished chatting it up and he left.

100% qualified to speak on the subject my man! I would have given you the nod at 6 nights a year even... Good grief!!! I've been running airpads for almost 20yrs now and have the same Thermarest Classic pad I've had all along and still running strong as loaners to new backpackers I drag out. Easily have 120-150 nights on that pad. I have had to patch my Thermarest twice and easily did so in the field. I've never spent a hard nights rest backpacking and that was back when I used to pack my pad on the outside fo my pack, making it more susceptible to taking damage. I wish I could get by on a foam pad like that! I'm envious.

akaspecials - just curious... How many nights on average do you spend a year on that foam pad? That is madness!!! What are you, part yote or something?!?! Just ditch the pad altogether and scratch you out a spot in the dirt like a real man!!! I recently picked up a large Sea to Summit Etherlight XT 22oz R-value 3.2 and I legit sleep as well or better than I do in my own bed. I have about 6-7 nights on it so far and can't rave enough about how comfortable it is. A touch noisy but less so than the STS Comfort light which I used for 3 seasons before moving to the Etherlight. If I don't sleep well, I don't hunt well.

The cost of new 4x4's is bonkers too though and seems to offset the high dollars that can be fetched on the trades. I've done really well on my Tacoma's since '06 and have kicked the idea around of trading my '12 in but the price for a new one has gone way the heck up. The low new truck inventory seems to offset the pro's of the high market value for used. Any suggestions on how to best take advantage of the market?

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Pelican Elite 50

Just curious, how many of you practice leave no trace ethics? Also, what are some examples of things do you do while you're camping, backpacking, hunting, etc? Couple of things we do to minimize evidence of our stay: dig our firepit as reasonably deep as possible and cover it up before we leave disperse all unused firewood and spread out the smaller remnants of the woodpile breakdown old firepits when camped in an already used site nothing more than paper products ever get thrown in the fire to burn dig catholes for human waste avoid adding artificial materials to freshwater sources aside from funky a** feet... when in high use areas we'll all spend 10min walking the area picking up any trash I've always been disappointed to see how badly the land is treated. Firepits are one of my largest gripes when I see how much trash people throw in the fire. Copenhagen and Skull folks are my favorite offenders!!! A couple of years back I broke down a large firepit in one of the wildernesses that had a personal record of 23 tins found in it. I think we as hunters have even more skin in the game when it comes to preservation and I see a lot of places that hunters are some of the worse offenders. With all of the extra traffic in the woods this year, I think it's a good conversation to start. I'd love to hear what the CWT community is doing to help take care of this joint and preserve our wild spaces.

Ease up fellas. Anyone who has had a pool for more than a year can relate and crack up a bit at some of the sour pool comments. Every day I change my opinion of how valuable my pool is and every day I can relate to both sides of this coin and the comments. It's hilarious and all in good taste. Right now - I love my pool. Just spent most of my Sat replacing several sections of plumbing around the filter. Eff'er is still leaking at the input from the filter to the pump and will need a new housing soon... The next time I spend my day working on that mugger, I will sing a different tune and be looking into estimates to fill it with dirt!

Thanks! I'm replacing/upgrading the .300WM I used to run which is the primary reason I'm looking for this model in that caliber. The MPR's come in at 6.9lb for the 6.5CM and .308 which is pretty dang light in my book. I would absolutely look at those calibers if I wasn't in strictly in the market for the .300WM instead. I like the price on that XLR and saw a few articles with good things to say. I'll have to look a bit more into it.

Always hard to see how someone would appreciate an area enough to work so hard to get there and then treat it like a dump. So sad. I am heading up to the peaks once the snow thaws out and will up there a bunch this summer. I am planning to backpack hunt it this Sept. Would you be comfortable sharing anything you've learned about reliable water sources up there? PM me if you don't mind, please.

Hey Gents! I 100% appreciate all of the conversation and ideas being thrown out there. Thank you! It's important to iterate that I've spent a ton of time backpacking over the past 20 some odd years and continue to do the majority of hunting in the wilderness areas around the state. I am fully aware of the weight penalties associated with the CA - it's not a big deal for me. If anyone has another option to consider that is comparable to the MPR and within the same general price range, I would love to check it out! We kinda got down the weight/backpacking definition rabbit hole. I have steered away from the Nightforce NSX thanks to you guys and I am super grateful for all of the information! And thank you Dave for chatting it up with me by phone to share your personal experience!

All great info and things to consider - so thank you 1st and foremost! I really have enjoyed carrying my Savage as mentioned and this is a lighter version of the same platform. I would not be any means steer away from a shorter barrel and would consider a similar design rifle that has a shorter barrel offered. I'm not seeing anything out there, however. Or at least in the 2k price tag range. For me: the folders pack very nicely, are within a more than comfortable weight class to haul everywhere I want to go, and fit the bill for my current needs. So far I'm seeing a ton of great feedback for lightweight rifles and a lot of encouragement to reconsider what my definition of a "backpack" rifle is. None of which is wrong or bad advice - quite opposite really. I really like the functionality of the MPR type chassis and have had great success with them. I will someday have the need for one of the many great suggestions offered for the lightweight rigs, just not yet.

I get it, and it just kinda depends on how you look at it. Leaving the ring is a bit nuanced for sure and doing your part to leave that place in a way you would hope to see someone else leave it is the important part I think. It shows care, and too many people flat don't. My philosophy is to always do my best to leave our spot better than we found it and as close to its original state as possible. We spend most of our time in the wilderness areas and are always trying to minimize our footprint. The little twigs and debris adds up quickly after a just a night or two and before you know it, there's a decent-sized area that is a mess of a pile that suffocates the ground cover. It can even be a bit of an eyesore in some places. The primary goal being to help the ground recover faster and leave no trace of our stay. If there is a stack worth keeping for a return trip, we'll tuck it into a spot close by that is out of casual sight if we're camped along a trail. We'll often times even hook up the next weary traveler with a ready-made supply of good tinder and wood to get a decent fire going quickly. The repeated use of the same pits in popular areas starts to get outa control when one group after the next piles on. It doesn't take long before you have this disgusting 2' mound of soot and whatever each group of knuckleheads added to the mix. We'll knock them down, clean out the trash (glass, Copenhagen tins, plastic, cans, endless bottle caps, etc.) and freshen the joint up. I'll use Reavis Ranch as an easy example of a popular spot here - outa control! Some of this is relative to the location and general access for the masses. But I still do my best to apply all of the above to any place we stay, even when it's already badly beaten down. Wild places in AZ are smaller and fewer by the day. Time to start really doing more to preserve what little we have. Our kids need to have as much 'wild' left intact as possible to help feel some semblance of exploration and discovery.

I wish there was more done to educate people into being responsible.