hunter4life

Turkey season has now ended for me. I filled my second tag on Saturday with a real nice gobbler that had two beards, a 10 1/4 inch main beard and a spindly 6 1/2 inch beard that was about one inch above the main beard. I would like to say I called this one in, but the wind was really howling and I was dodging falling tree limbs while I worked my way up a nice canyon and I don't think the turkeys could hear me calling or I could hear them gobble. I came around a corner and this guy was facing straight away in full strut showing off for a hen. I waited for him to turn and then dropped him with a load of No. 2's at about 30 yards.

RedRabbit, Thanks for posting your impressions on a side-by-side comparison. The results were pretty much what I would have expected based on prior experience with both brands, but it is nice to have confirmation of this. Casey, I think you will be pleased with your choice of the Leicas.

Great pics, as usual!! Those skulls were some nice finds and that is some beautiful country in which to hunt turkeys. I will be in Ft. Worth next weekend for my sisters graduation, but unfortunately it will just be a quick trip with no time for hunting or fishing.

I have not used the duovids, but I have used trinovids, ultravids and geovids in hunting situations where you can really get a feel for how good they are in actual use conditions and they have all been excellent. I have used a number of different swarovski models including the 15x56's and they are very good as well. I guess what I am saying is that there really is not much of a difference between the two brands. The main plus I see with the duovids is that you get a great 10x and 15x binocular all in one and don't have to carry two pairs, switch them out on the tripod, or go digging through your pack when you want to use the other pair. Theoretically the swarovski 15's might be a little bit brighter, but there are a lot of variables other than objective lens size that fit into the equation. I have never seen an objective, side by side, comparison between the duovid and the 15x56 swaros carried out using the special charts for evaluating binoculars for resolution and how long they can still pick out detail after sunset so I cannot say which one will truly work better earlier at dawn and later after sunset. In your case, it sounds like the duovids are the best option but that decision is up to you.

Realized this was an old thread. What camera did you end up going with?

I would recommend the Canon S3IS or the Panasonic FZ7. Both are 12x zoom with image stabilization which works good for wildlife out to medium ranges like 200 yards. From the pictures I have seen they both perform well for close-up pictures as well. My brother has the FZ7 and likes it, and I know other people with the S3 that really like that camera. If you want to take pictures at longer distances I would go with a digiscoping setup. With a good solid digiscoping setup, one can get pretty decent pictures out to about 1/2 a mile.

Here is some info on the vaccine from the website of the company that makes it. I am thinking about getting it for my dog. "This rattlesnake vaccine was developed to protect against Western Diamondback Rattlesnake venom. It is most effective against this snake's venom. Venom from many other snakes found throughout the United States is similar to the venom of the Western Diamondback Rattlesnake. Because of these similarities, this vaccine also provides protection against the venoms of the Western Rattlesnake (including the Prairie, Great Basin, Northern and Southern Pacific Rattlesnakes), Sidewinder, Timber Rattlesnake, Massasauga and the Copperhead. This vaccine provides partial protection against the Eastern Diamondback Rattlesnake. This vaccine does not provide protection against the Water Moccasin (Cottonmouth), Mojave Rattlesnake or Coral Snakes. Red Rock Biologics is developing a variety of vaccines to provide the best protection against poisonous snakes for dogs in each part of the country. " Here is the link: http://www.redrockbiologics.com/FAQ.html

Congrats on the javelina and turkey!!

Congrats!! It sure is an awesome sight when they come strutting into view.

Nice bird!! Lets hear about day 3.

Congrats on getting a nice gobbler!! Sometimes when they aren't gobbling much you have to take the opportunity that presents itself. I was out trying to fill my second tag this past weekend and the birds would only gobble from the roost in the morning. Not a sound after they got on the ground or in the evening when they went back to roost.

I have used my 12 gauge remington 870 shooting 3inch number 2's out of a full choke for 9 of my 10 turkeys and it has worked well every time between 10 and 60 yards. Lance, I have thought that the steel waterfowl shot in the sizes you mentioned would be good for turkeys, but I never actually tried it. I will have to give it a try when I run low on my current box of 2's.

Nice birds!! Those are some pretty good muley sheds you found as well. I saw a smallish 8-point muley on Sunday that was still carrying antlers, but some have dropped already. I wish I could take a few weekdays off to hunt turkeys, but with my current schedule I have to be one of the weekend warriors.

Awesome pictures, I love the close-ups of the different types of quail!!

Great pictures!! Chasing lions sure is fun and exciting.

Thanks guys. Vini, the beard was pretty thick and it was just a little under 9 inches.

Congrats on catching the lion and getting such great pictures!! That is really some awesome country that you all were hunting. Andy, I hope you got some pics of the tom you caught down by Tucson to show us.

Very cool pics!! My brother once saw a muley doe that was colored similar to that, but there was no way to get pictures.

Amanda, I have seen a number of banded rock rattlesnakes along the Gila river in NM. They do have a pretty pattern. They are pretty small compared to a diamondback and can be quite hard to see, but most of them I have run into rattle good and give you a good warning.

I have to second what LittleBear said. When it comes to something that can be hunted year round with no limits, the location should be kept secret if you want to be able to hunt them for very long. Loose lips sink ships. Over here in NM there was an area that had some decent feral hog hunting even though most locals knew about them. What finally knocked them back pretty bad was when Outdoor Life had an article about hunting in the off-season and mentioned the best location to find them. After this they got hammered and their numbers have stayed quite low.

Coues n' Sheep, The trophy room is at my parent's house and contains stuff that our whole family has killed. That is my dads Rocky Mt. bighorn that he shot here in NM about 10 years ago. I don't have any pictures of it on my computer, but I will try to remember to take some next time I am visiting. It nets 190 5/8 B&C. Getting back to lions, I have only seen 2 without dogs in the 17 years that I have been hunting and hiking and they were both only seen for several seconds. Hunting lions with dogs is an awesome experience and I have been lucky to have been on a number of chases with a friends hounds and on one we caught this winter with my brother's jagd terriers.

Josh, here are some pictures of a mount to give you some ideas. This Mt. lion was done by Woodbury taxidermy in Ingram TX. To decide on a pose that I liked I went to a taxidermy shop and got photocopies of all the different forms offered by different companies and that gave me some good ideas. I second what coues n' sheep said, do your homework so that you will be happy with the finished product. Also, let the taxidermist know where it will fit on the wall. Mine was going to be set up pretty high and the downhill facing pose makes it fit perfect for where it was placed.

Congrats on getting a nice lion!! They sure are a blast to hunt.

Here is a kill that a lion visited when we were chasing it this winter. It was pulled way up underneath a big juniper, and we figured that the lion had killed it before the snow and was coming by again. Josh, have you found that the bigger more dominant toms are the ones that make most of the scratches? I have not done a bunch of lion hunting, but I have chased a few and have never found many scratches.

Well, skunked once again. I think I am now 0 for 13 for on-range hunts. I did draw a depredation tag one year and got a good bull on that hunt. SunDevil, my brother has hunted with other people on the stallion range before and could probably give you some info. I also know some people who work on the range and could probably get you some info as well.