TAM

I'm up to 15 now after the draw. Hopefully I started putting in early enough in life that I can pull a tag some time before I die.

Iron Springs Road is no where close to unit 17A

That was me... you're right Weatherby brass ain't cheap! I own both a .300 RUM and a .270 WBY and know what you're saying but at roughly 2x the volume of powder and bullet weight you are going to pay more for the powder and lead with a .300 RUM. Probably costs more to get started with a WBY but I think down the road it will cost more to put fuel in the tank of the big .300 RUM case. JMO

Seems like an odd comparison at opposite ends of the specturm??? But since you asked... The .257 is a light weight fast bullet with the very best Ballistic Coeficent of about .500 and a pretty mild recoil. On the other hand the 300 RUM is twice the bullet weight launched at speeds over 3,000 FPS with the best BC's being as high as .680 and a pretty stout recoil. I guess it all comes down to what you want to do with the rifle? Shoot up to deer size critters out to 500 or 600 yards with the .257 or shoot Elk size animals out to 1000 yards and beyond with the .300 RUM? The BC is without a doubt much better with the 300 RUM. I'm not sure about the ballistics from 0-500 yards but I'm sure the ballistics on the .300 are much better than the .257 from 500-1000 yards. Not to mention more energy delivered to the target at all ranges. However it all comes at a price... more recoil, more powder, and more money. I still think it's a real wierd compairson... It's like asking which is better a Corvette or a Peterbilt??? Honestly, if a buddy of mine came up to me and said, which of these two should I choose, I'd say neither. Go with a .270 WSM, maybe 7MM mag or 7MM-08. You want speed, flatter trajectory, I'm guessing a case smaller than a gunpowder filled hotdog, maybe something you can shoot more than 4 times in a day without visiting your dentist to have your crowns all replaced...There are lots of good bullets out there right "in the middle" that do almost everything very well. ... 6.5x284

Seems like an odd comparison at opposite ends of the specturm??? But since you asked... The .257 is a light weight fast bullet with the very best Ballistic Coeficent of about .500 and a pretty mild recoil. On the other hand the 300 RUM is twice the bullet weight launched at speeds over 3,000 FPS with the best BC's being as high as .680 and a pretty stout recoil. I guess it all comes down to what you want to do with the rifle? Shoot up to deer size critters out to 500 or 600 yards with the .257 or shoot Elk size animals out to 1000 yards and beyond with the .300 RUM? The BC is without a doubt much better with the 300 RUM. I'm not sure about the ballistics from 0-500 yards but I'm sure the ballistics on the .300 are much better than the .257 from 500-1000 yards. Not to mention more energy delivered to the target at all ranges. However it all comes at a price... more recoil, more powder, and more money. I still think it's a real wierd compairson... It's like asking which is better a Corvette or a Peterbilt???

Thanks everybody... I did have a great day. Kids made me breakfast, went to lunch with a friend, and my wife took me to see Horrible bosse's at the movies where I LMAO!!!! Thanks for thinking of me

I bought a 10" AR500 steel plate from a guy off ebay and shipping was pretty cheap. The post office has that deal where they will ship up to 70lbs for under $10. Not sure what's on ebay now but you may want to take a look? Good luck, Tim

Terry, Several years ago I hunted a ranch that was about 45 minutes east of Raton near a town called Des Moines. It wasn't a big ranch but there were a lot of antelope on the place. There were several mid 70's type bucks and perhaps a couple upper 70's but nothing big. Not sure how similar the trophy potential is to the west where you'll be hunting but it was very average where we were. Got lucky and pulled my 5th NM antelope tag with my 11 year old son this year. As always I'm expecting a crap shoot. You just never know what to expect until you get there to check things out. I'd give the ranch owner a call before the hunt... some of them are great and others will make your rancher buddy down here in Prescott look like a nice guy! I won't say his name but you know who I'm talking about The biggest problem I've run into is ranchers that don't want to give you "unrestricted access" to the entire ranch. I've had two of them try to tell me that they will assign me a "pasture" to hunt until the other hunters fill their tags. They will try to convince you that it's for saftey reasons and so you won't have hunters on top of each other but they're just catering to their paid hunters. Had another rancher tell me that there was one certain pasture that was totally off limits because that's where he kept all his prize horses... coincedentally the day before the hunt we saw the biggest buck of the trip in that pasture. Hopefully you won't run into that problem but you may want to have the name and number of the G&F officer for the area handy in case you need him to remind the rancher what the rules are. Even if the rancher is a jerk and there are nothing but small bucks on the place at least you have an antelope tag in your pocket... Have a great hunt!!!

It got pounded with rain yesterday!

I was just in 10 yesterday with my family shooting prarie dogs and we saw about 19 antelope. One was a pretty nice buck. This is a huge unit and there are plenty of antelope but in my opinion they are very spread out! You can find antelope almost anywhere. As others have pointed out this unit will require plenty of scouting. Good luck!

Nice work Cody! If you need a taxi I'll get you the number for this guy I know down in Gilbert...

Perhaps she's a really small midget?

Yep he's still around and well worth it... http://www.gilawildernesshunting.com/Home_Page.php

Looks like you drew the same tag I did! Congratulations on a difficult tag to draw, you should have a good time. If you're not familiar with the unit you may want to call Tommy Maldanado at Gila Wilderness Hunting. He offers do it yourself hunt packages with a mapping service to get you into productive areas. He lives in the unit and knows it well. I've used his service for both mule deer and coues deer in the Burro's and he put us on good deer both times. Good luck!!! http://www.gilawildernesshunting.com/Home_Page.php

Very cool looking mount Tony!!!

It looks like my 11 year old son and I will get to hunt antelope near Roswell in September and I will get to go chase coues deer in the Burro's in November! Now if I can just pull an AZ December coues tag

Bump!

I have a 2007 Polaris Sportsman 500 EFI 4x4. Equipped with Electronic Fuel Injection (EFI). It is in EXCELLENT condition and will take you anywhere you want to go. Only 85 hours of ride time on the engine. Starts up easy every time. Runs great and idols very smooth. Easy riding automatic transmission. Tires and rims are in great shape with plenty of tread life left. It is VERY CLEAN and well taken care of. The plastic, seat , and racks are in great shape with no rips, cracks, or tears. Clean title ready to sign over to a new home!!! Asking $4,850 Tim 928-533-8807 Prescott AZ

Nice work Blake and a big congrats to Ryanne!!!

I used to spend a lot of time in that unit and I think it's got more country than most people think. I don't think 30 bucks for 40 tags is all that unrealistic for a December hunt, but I think more than likley you are seeing one of the faults of AZ G&F's "non-manditory" reporting system. If only 4 people returned their survey cards and three said they killed deer then they say there was a 75% success for the unit even though they only got 10% response on the survey. Pretty much a joke if you ask me!!!

Yes you did and you were 100% right! The mount looks great but please be a little more careful about feeding Casey's ego! We don't need that boys melon getting any bigger See you at the show on Saturday!

After more than 5 years since I killed my first lion I was able to hang this on my wall today.... and I love it!!! After loosing my first lion (a story that many of you know that I'm not going to get back into right now) I had the good fortune of taking another nice cat with the help of my friend Randy Epperson. This second cat was mounted by Marc Plunkett and it looks great! Thank you Randy and Marc for putting my crushed dream back together. HAPpy ending to this lion hunt!!!

The Pink Panther was taken to another taxidermist here in town that was going to try and re-mount him. However after the hide was soaked off the form and through no fault of his own, the hair slipped and it was a total loss.

Yep I know a few as well but I'm not even going to bother when 98.5 grains groups less than 1/4" MOA. I did shoot a few with 99.5 grains yesterday and they did not show any signs of pressure, so I'm sure I could go higher if I wanted to. I agree, but if a person is willing to spend some time working a load it is possible to achieve both!

Sticky bolt, plunger impression on the brass, and enlarged primer pockets have always been the three biggest warning signs of high pressure for me. I have also noticed that most 300 RUM's seem to like max or near max loads. If you haven't tried Retumbo then you should! I don't know of a 300 RUM that doesn't love the stuff. It's uaually very accurate and pushes heavy bullets faster than most other powders. My pet load for a 210 grain JLK thru my 300 RUM is 92.2 grains Retumbo. I spent a couple hours at the range today testing out a 180 grain JLK long boat tail bullet thru my 300 RUM. I started at 98 grains of Retumbo and got a giant 1.25" group. Next group was 98.5 grains which produced one jagged hole that measured 0.192 inches. Then 99 grains and 99.5 grains both produced about half inch size groups. All at 100 yards. Every rifle, bullet, powder, brass, and primer are all going to shoot a little different. Sometimes you pull your hair out trying to find the perfect load and sometimes you get lucky like I did today. If your groups are getting smaller I'd keep burning powder until you see signs of pressure then STOP! Good luck!