John O

I did not see mentioned availability of ammunition. If you shoot some fancy type of wildcat round, and need to re-sight in during the hunt, or leave ammo at home, or run out, you could be in trouble. Just about any sporting goods store carries 300 mag, 30-06, .270, 7mm mag, and maybe .243. My son is 12, and has deer hunted for two years. I load for him .270, 110 grain bullets, at their lightest load, and they come out at 3050 f/s. He can shoot through 20 rounds without a complaint about recoil. .270 has my vote.

I don't know if I have ever seen a better video of the impact of a bullet on an animal! Great shot and, and congrats!!!!!

I have been bowhunting less than a year, and have taken a whitetail and a Javelina. I am no expert, but have done a lot of homework. As I learned during my javelina hunt, after the shot if the animal can't be located easily, a million thoughts start going through your head. Here is the guiding principal I use to help me keep things in perspective. The animal does not know it has been shot! If it were you or me, we would grasp at our chest or belly, knowing that death is imminent because we understand the gravity of the situation. To the animal, something just happened that wasn't right, now something hurts or doesn't work that did before, and nothing but instinct kicks in. I think too often we expect the animal to understand what has happened, and react accordingly. Now, with this in mind, following all of the rules as far as wait time, tracking, trailing, etc. can be followed and kept in perspective at the same time. This may sound a little dumb, but it has helped guide me while attempting to locate these two animals I have shot.

Congrats! Enjoy your stink meat.

Call WGP in Tucson. I have used this guy for the last 4 animals I shot, and he is great. I'm sure that even if you don't bring the meat for him to process, he would be willing to help you determine over the phone if it is still good. Just as an example. Last August, I shot my buck at about 9:00 am, and it was about 90 degrees. I gave him 45 minutes to expire, then it took me about 2 hours to get him dressed and drug to the car. By then it was 95-100 degrees. I called my buddy at WGP, and he told me I had plenty of time to get it to him before it would start spoiling. I actually didn't get the meat on ice until about 4:30, and when I brought it to him later that evening, he told me it looked great. I don't know if this helps, but I do know that the guy at WGP will be able to give you a pretty good idea. The number is 520-292-2262. Good luck!

So last year I was able to fill my Javelina HAM tag with my .357 magnum. I figured it was time to try something different, so I bought a PSE bow, and started practicing for 2009. I spent 4 hard days trying to fill this tag, with very few pigs located. In the processs I shot just under a nice two point buck at 68 yards (ARRRRRHH!), so I felt that even if I didn't get a javelina, that I had nice opportunity for a buck. On my last day out I was hammered, so I found the easiest ridge to hike to, and decided to glass for deer for the afternoon. Low and behold, 30 minutes later a huge herd of pigs started feeding right into me. I couldn't believe it! After two shots missed by the little buggers jumping string on me, I shot one at 10 yards quartering away. I know I hit him good, but there was absolutely no blood. I found the arrow, covered with blood, and knew I would be there until I found him. I marked the arrow location with a piece of TP, so I could reference it, and started walking circles, bigger and bigger, until I finally found a streak of blood 150 yards from the arrow! Go figure. The blood trail was only about 20 feet long, and then nothing. The trail was headed down a steep hill, so I decided to just head down, and then I finally heard him in the very bottom. My little prayer was answered, and I found him. It took 3 arrows to finish him off! Turns out my first shot was a little high, just below the spine. Pound for pound these have to be among the toughest critters on the planet. My big thanks go out to the man upstairs for helping me locate this big guy. He weighed 35 lbs dressed and skinned. Sausage a comin!!!

Not a shed, but I went to pick up some meat from the butcher the other night, and he had this skull there. He says the antlers (if you want to call them that) did protrude out of the skin when the guy brought it in to have it processed. Any guesses on what he would score?

I can't tell you how proud I am of my two boys. They worked hard for 3 days, and my oldest son was fortunate enough to take this buck during the junior hunt. (Sorry, the date stamp was a month off on my camera)

I am shooting a PSE firestorm lite. IBO is 300, but I am shooting about 285. If I add 28 grains to my arrow weight by moving to a stiffer spine, how much slower will I shoot?

I am shooting gold tip XT 7595's. Arrow weight (with no broadhead) is 310 gr. I was making a mistake in the calculator on draw length. My actual KE is 68.1, which should be plenty for anything I want to hunt in AZ. I think I will stick with the gold tips. I haven't broken one yet, and they don't totally bust my bank. My only complaint is their finish is a little rough.

The whitetail I shot in Aug. was at 73 yards, and the arrow went through him like he wasn't even there. I found it stuck in a prickly pear cactus right behind where he stood. There was so little blood on the arrow, I thought I had missed him, until I looked closer (passed just behind his vitals). He walked about 30 yards, then was done. I know I have plenty for deer, but I want enough energy so that I don't need to buy new arrows and re-sight in for every game animal I hunt. I am doing the same with my rifles. With the limited time I have, I would rather spend my time scouting than re-sighting in and hassling with getting set up for each hunt.

According to the calculator I am at 61.5 ft-lbs. My bow isn't that fast of a shooter, but this should be plenty of KE. Now I just have to find a way to get close enough for a shot (the hard part).

Sold again (pending funds)

I am selling my M-1 carbine. It's just collecting dust, and I know there is a better home for it out there. Here is some detail: On the barrel- Inland MFG Div General Motors 8-44 On the receiver- IRCO 716XXXX Behind the rear sight- Inland Division 546XXXX Comes with 2- 15 round magazines, and 1- 30 round. As far as I know it is all original. Feel free to contact me if you have further questions. Price is firm $675 I live in Marana, but could drive into Tucson or as far as Picacho Peak to meet.

Nice buck! Did you put a tape on him?

The rifle is back on sale. Feel free to PM me with any questions.

Rifle is sold, pending funds.

Chrono'd the different weights last night. The additional 25 grains took me from 281 to 275 f/s. I found this calculator on line that predicted the performance to within 2 f/s of what I actually got. http://www.thearcheryhut.com/calculators.php

Not sure exactly, but you could go to Archery Headquarters (or another shop) and shoot different arrows through the chrono (I think they will shoot your bow for you) this is what I did and determined my new arrow (which is a Easton FMJ 340 and I have been real happy). Getting about 280 FPS with a 100 grain tip from my X-Force. You may not get more KE put you will definitely have the ability to get penetration (but the whole KE/penetration gets very confusing). Redman Thanks. My friend has a chrono, so I might just put a 125 gr. tip on my current arrow (gold tip xt 5575), and look at the difference. I shot my deer at 73 yards last year, and am still wanting to keep my capability out to that distance. At my speed the arrow is really dropping fast out at that range, so I need to try and figure out how much the down range performance will change. So why is your X-Force shooting at 280 f/s? I thought those shot well into the 3's.

Price Lowered $600 PM me if you want more info.

That is a really nice one Scott. When your living right, good things happen. You deserve it!!

OK. I have a little time on my hands- I went out scouting the Wednesday before my sons youth hunt started. I found a great area, that had no sign of foot traffic into it during the first two general hunts. It is about a mile hike back from the road and an 800 ft. elevation climb. I arrived at noon, followed 9 pigs up to the glassing point, and then watched them push out deer after deer going up the opposite hill. I saw 13 does and 6 bucks over a 1 hour period. I figure we had it made! So I took the boys out of school mid-day Thursday, and we headed out. We camped just off the road, and were up well before light to hike into the spot. It was just beginning to light up during hour hike in, when two bucks crested the hill in front of us at about 150 yards. They moved quick and were over the hill and out of sight before we could even think of getting set up for a shot. We got to our spot, and set up to glass. The boys had brought a favorite book and their gameboys to play during the long expected hours of glassing. From time to time they would get out their binos and glass a little, then put them away and back to their reading or games. After an hour or so, I glassed up a little forkie working his way along the top rim of a huge bowl at about 700 yards. He eventually started in our direction, and I figured when he got to 350 yards we would be ready for him. We had practiced most of our shots at just shy of 300 yards, so I knew Jake could make the shot. Just as he was coming into range he made a U-turn and went up over the hill, and out of sight. The next 5 hours were spent glassing up the same 6 or seven does over and over and over and over, while trying to find some antlers or hoping some bucks would show up. The day ended and we headed back to camp. The boys wanted to try the same spot the next morning so we followed the same routine. The next day was a real surprise to me. I saw 1 doe all day! With the slightest amount of increase in road traffic, and a few distant gun shots, the deer had totally changed their behavior. It was almost as if they had all turned nocturnal. We hiked to 4 other vantage points to glass that day with nothing found. I figured it was time to change plans, so we packed up in the afternoon and headed home. On the way home I decided to hit up a spot that was more mule deer country for the last hour of daylight. Low and behold there were deer on every hill I looked at. We did see some bucks, but it was right at dark. We took Sunday off, ready to hit it again on Monday. We arose early, hit the circle K for donuts and gatorade for breakfast, and headed towards our new spot. I must have glassed up 25 does before I finally found some bucks at about a half a mile. Amazingly enough, they were whitetails, when I was expecting to see mule deer. It was 11 am, and my younger boy was hungry, and ready to head back to the car and get some lunch. I encouraged him to just hang with us a little longer. We snuck up on the hill just short of where I had seen them. They were gone. I put my binos on a tripod and picked apart every bush, tree, and shadow looking for an antler or ear flicker. Nothing. I remembered reading on this site so many times, that if you loose a whitetail, go back to where you saw them last, and they will be nearby. I figured that late in the day they would be looking to bed down. We had the sun at our backs, so I needed to change our position to be able to glass into the shadows. After much coaxing, I convinced my younger son to hike up one last hill. As we snuck up to the top, I pulled up my binos, and immediately saw a buck standing in the bottom of a small draw, hidden from where I had been glassing before. He didn’t know what we were, so he just froze and hung tight. We had plenty of time to set up the .270 with the bi-pods. He was facing us at 185 yards, and I told Jake he had time to wait for him to turn broadside. He did, and then all of a sudden the wind got really gusty. Jake asked me to dial the scope power to 9, so he could zoom in. I told him to shoot when he was ready (we had practiced this many times). The shot rang out, an I could see the buck stumbling. Jake had already chambered another round, and I told him to take another shot. This time he tumbled hard, and we could see he was down. I was so proud of my boys, especially my younger one who was willing to hike up one last hill. We made great memories, and I feel really blessed that we were given an opportunity at success. I also have come to learn what "hunting" really is: Hunting is reloading with your son, to get the rounds ready for his hunt (even if all he did was clean out the primer pockets) Hunting is going shopping for camo with the boys Hunting is talking about what mindset and pre-shot routine to follow at bedtime night after night Hunting is all the scouting trips, and all of the great wildlife you see along the way Hunting is camping out with the boys, and all of the laughs and "man time" Hunting is working really hard to find bucks, and coming home empty handed day after day And once in a while, a small part of hunting is being able to shoot and tag a good buck

I share this only so others can learn from what happened this year with my son's Jr. javelina hunt. If this is already general knowledge, then at least I learned something. I put him in for the Jr. javelina hunt in 33 first choice and general rifle 33 second choice. He was drawn for general rifle, so I figured the Jr. hunt tags were all drawn. Not so. There are 53 left overs. Evidently the first 20% of the tags are drawn for those who have bonus points, then the second choice is looked at. This makes sense to me for general hunts, but not for Jr. hunts. Only juniors can apply, so this means that those 14 or under (who have a bonus point from hunter safety) have a less likely chance of being drawn for the first choice junior hunt. So anyone (juniors or not) who is putting in for a 100% draw odds area who wants to get that tag, needs to put the same unit down for their first AND second choice. This is the only way to ensure you are drawn for that hunt (assuming there are left over tags). I am not one to fight the system, but I did want to get the word out, in case anyone did not know you could do this on the application. Happy hunting!

Yes, you can put the same number down twice, and it won't get rejected. I knew about the 20% initial BP draw, but I was not aware of the work around. I only share so others can avoid my situation in the future.

I got 6 cans of tuna, 12 unmatching dress socks, 3 pairs of levis with the crotch ripped out, 4 broken bicycles, 2 p235-65 R17 half worn bridgestone dueller tires, and a 9 year old has been lab mix named Rosco (dog may or may not be included depending on his pathetic look at the time of trade).