cohofishing

Just made one for my minox spotting scope. Great idea. Took a little sanding to get the 1 1/2 female end to fit over my eye piece but when I got it right, it works great. Thanks for the idea, Brent

Man, Another awesome mule deer. You sure know how to get it done. Brent

Casey, It was good to finally meet you. Thanks again. Brent

That brings back memories. Congratulations to you both. Brent

I will take the h4831sc for $70. I will send you a pm

Just weighed my pack. With seven days of food, muzzleloader, and 15's. 65 lbs Leaving for my solo bivy hunt in Colorado at 2am. Hope I am ready for this . Been preparing for this for months. If nothing else, it will be a great vacation. Brent

There was no option to forward the date. I have and could have used my 2014 license but didn't. It shows both license numbers and the dates the are good for on my new license. The best option is to buy on January 1st. I was looking on my Colorado hunting license and it is good till March 31, 2015 so I guess the same system is in place there also. I guess if you draw a spring tag it will show the license number and dates it is good for. It would be up to you to make sure you have a current license. My Colorado license had my tag on it as one complete item. Looking right now, so does my New Mexico license which is also go for 365 days, March 31, 2015. Brent

I am sure this has been talked about before but just a reminder... Just finished putting in for my spring hunts. When prompted to buy next year's license, I did as usual. When printing it, I noticed that my license is only good till September 29, 2015. It also showed my current 2014 license good till December 31st. Called fish and game and asked why and was told that if you have a valid license at the time of the draw, that is the license number you would use for the draw. If you do draw and you haven't needed to buy that year's license for any other hunting, you would need to buy one at the time of the hunt. Makes sense I guess. I wish it had prompted me that I already had a valid license for 2014. Now it seems like I am in a weird cycle. I guess I need to think about buying my license on January 1st or maybe get a lifetime license. Just thought I would give the heads up, Brent

Thanks guys I was using 110 grains of buckhorn 209 with a 250 grain balistic tip Thor bullet. At 32 yards, it worked great. He never left his bed. Brent

My gun shot a three inch group at 100 yards open sights. The hunt I drew was my second choice. I have been trying to draw other units for a three years. I guess to be correct, my first choice hunt has always been a early archery hunt. This was the first year I tried to draw a muzzleloader second choice. I have been told that once they rub their velvet off, they go into the timber. I know that was true in Alaska with the Sitka blacktails. I only saw a handful of mature bucks and a couple of them were rubbed off, white. My buck's velvet came right off. I think timing is everything for the early muzzleloader hunts. Brent

Thanks. It was a 100+ load. I am 150lbs. It was a heavy pack. Wish I had a horse. Brent

Thanks guys. Here's the story. Not much of a writer but I will do my best. Honestly, I don't think my words or pictures will do this hunt justice but I will try. Day one Left Tucson at 100am and got to the trailhead at 400pm. Threw the pack on and hit the trail. Got in about 4 miles before dark and made camp while listening to elk bugle. They were all around me and kept at it all thru the night. Day two Broke camp and started back at it around 400am. After hiking a couple of miles, I finally hit the edge of my unit. Now I can start scouting. This is the first time I actually laid eyes on where I would be hunting. Spent the day high I as I could get and honestly felt disappointed. I knew because of the "super moon", most everything would be bedded during the day, but after glassing I had only seen a few deer and elk. I made camp by a meadow and a stream. It was a beautiful night but I still had no plan for the opening day. While eating my mountain house, I got to watch three moose and two small bucks feed in the evening light. I went to bed feeling a little better. Day three Woke up with the feeling that only other hunters can understand. Opening day. Broke camp and hit the trail at 600am. As the sun rose, it found me at 12300' glassing over a big bowl. I started glassing up elk right away. I think I saw four bulls and twenty or so cows in two groups. About 800am, I found my first buck. Actually three of them. One was a big 4x4 and the stalk was on. After loading the muzzleloader, I managed to close the distance to 180 yards before they noticed the blob carrying a 60lb pack trying to sneak up to them. They were gone. I glassed till noon and hit the trail. I still hadn't found what I was looking for. I crossed over the top at 12863' and made it into the next valley. I glassed up two horse camps and spent the day picking apart the country side and wondering what to do. After glassing up a number of does and small bucks, I finally found two big bucks across the valley. It was to far to try a stalk that night so at dark I made it down to valley floor and made camp. I was home. Here was where I would stay until I killed or ran out of food. The next morning, I made it above where I seen the bucks the night before and waited for the sun. It was cold. The night before, everything froze and it was so cold, that when I poured water into my jet boil for breakfast, it formed ice crystals. I started glassing and within five minutes found a big buck 160 yards away. After the thermals blew that stalk, I scratched my head. I was learning. Glassing up three more bucks, the race was on again. Same result. The evening found me back on the same hill. I was hoping that the bucks from the night before would appear. I hadn't gone thru that part of the valley so I was hopeful. As sun got lower, I started doubting that they would appear. Getting that feeling, I got up and starting glassing the other direction. There was a buck high on the hill. He was a good buck but in a bad spot to make a stalk. As I watched, he stopped eating and bedded back down. I could hardly see him. The wind was blowing and in the right direction, so I threw everything in the pack and dropped down and back up to him. I made it to my chosen rock breathing hard and still hopeful. Not being able to see I worked closer. At 32 yards, I saw his horns in the brush. I sat down and got ready. Half an hour later, he still hadn't moved. It was 530pm and getting late and I was a long way from camp. Three rocks later, he finally lifted his head above the brush a looked over the valley. I shot him right below his ear and he didn't even move out of his bed. He was beautiful. Old, full velvet, three point with eye guards that is a little over 28 inches. My first muzzleloader buck! One of the downfalls of hunting solo is there is no one to share the moment with. I texted my family with my delorme and started the real work. I got him boned out before dark and put the head light on. Two hours later, I made it to camp. Hung the meat in a tree and hit the bed. I knew I needed my rest for the morning. It was so cold that night that the meat was frozen when I woke up. I found out later that the low hit 18 degrees. Packing up camp, I tried to lift my pack. This was going to be painful. My gps said I was 11.60 miles from the truck and I had to roll my pack on to my back. This was going to hurt. I ran into a elk hunter a couple hours later. He had a string of pack goats and he was kind of laughing at me in friendly way. He pointed out the what I already knew. No one in their right mind goes into this country with out someone or something to help pack back out. He took my picture for me and went on his way. Ten hours later, I had only gone six miles. I had dropped 2000' in elevation and I was done. I hung the meat and make camp. Popped a few pm's and tried to sleep. I was sore. My gps said only 5.60 miles to go but I knew the worst was behind me. I had already hiked that part of the trail and I knew what I was in for. Waking up at 300am I broke camp and hit the trail. Six hours later, I saw the most beautiful sight in the world. I had made it. It was a awesome hunt. I meet some great people and covered over 30 miles of trails. Beautiful country and I would love to do it again. Couple things for those would like to try it. Altitude is no joke. Most of the time I had to stop and catch my breath after a hundred feet or so. Also, get a packer. My pack weighed a little over a hundred pounds and being 150lbs on my best day, it almost broke me. I hope I did you guys justice with my story. I took over two hundred pictures so I tried to pick the best. Here's a couple of selfies that I took when I was bored

Good luck. I will be in 75/751. At least they took the rain out of the forecast. Gook luck

300wsm are hard to find but I just saw 300 rum at sportman's in Tucson. Nosler brass. Little pricey, but good brass Brent

That got me pumped for my Colorado hunt. Great video

Awesome buck. Great job getting it done.

Your gun... I need to start reading my own posts

Just curious. What did you do to get your to shoot? Did you end up changing loads? Brent

For all you swacker fans, Camofire has 125's for $19.99

Getting ready for a hunt myself. Found that when I took off my scope for a Colorado hunt, the mount screws were loose. Maybe yours too? I also found that triple 7 powder, both loose and pellets,was all over the place. Not sure if it is because it is a dirty powder and I had to clean the gun in between shots. Tried to do it the same every time but who knows? Switched to Buckhorn209 and have had better results. A lot cleaner powder. If you do switch, make sure you clean with a solvent. It is not the same as regular black powder. They have a good website. Good luck Brent

Was able to spend two weeks at my parent's home in Alaska with my family. We were blessed with great weather and was able spend days out halibut fishing, crabbing, steam fishing, beach combing and hunting. Courtney was able to take her first Sitka blacktail and killed a great 3x2 in velvet using a borrowed 243. She hiked thru a grown over clear cut and up a mountain to make a great shot on this buck feeding a base of a cliff in the alpine.

I was raised in Hoonah. Yep, sure miss all the Alaska hunting. Traded it for my life here in Arizona twenty three years ago. It wasn't bad when I spent the summers up there fishing but when I retired from commercial fishing and sold the boat, the trips to Alaska have been few and fair between. Living in southeast, I never was able to take advantage of all there is to hunt in Alaska. Never really thought I would move. Trying to fit into my schedule a couple trips up there just to hunt and since I have family still there, I don't need a guide. I have been trying for a sheep tag but since that will probably never happen; I think I am going to try a get a mountain goat while I still can get up the mountains. Hopefully next year. Sitka blacktails are great eating and are a blast to hunt. We ended up getting two that day. Fresh crab and back straps. Yum. My wife would let me move back there just for the seafood but I just don't want to railroad in the snow. Brent

Actually, my parents live on a island near Juneau on the southeast side of the state. It was a great trip. Already planning the next one. Brent

I know this topic has been talked about before but I thought I would start fresh. I am planning to rent a satellite phone for my Colorado backpack mule deer hunt. Was wondering if anyone has any experience with one and what company would you recommend for a rental? I used one on my boat in Alaska but that was years ago and not a mobile. Been looking at a SPOT device but I would rather not have to commit to a year long service. Any advice? Brent

That is cool. Can it replace the gps that I normally carry? Can you create waypoints? Does it have viewable topo maps? Sorry about all the questions.