TAM

Thanks, I'm real happy with it! Greg has done several animals for me over the years and I've always been more than pleased with his work. I can't wait to get my lion and Kaibab buck back from him!

Worked for me. Very nice!

Here's a fox I just got back from Greg in January.

Just to add my .02 cents, getting into hand loading to save money on ammo is kind of like getting into hunting to save money on meat. It's true, but don't let it stop you!

I would also recomend Greg at Trails End Wildlife Art. Congrats to you and your son!

Way to go guys!!!! Javelina are the perfect animal to introduce kids to hunting.

Just to expand on what Hawkeye was saying about being responsible after the shot. Just this past weekend I shot a javelina at only 250 yards on a fairly open hillside. The javelina dropped in his tracks and the herd stayed put and didn't run off. Since I was hunting with my 5 year old boy he couldn't spot the shot for me and when I looked with my bino's at where the javelina was standing he was gone! The javelina that was standing next to him was still there but the one I shot at was gone. I really wasn't sure what happened, if I missed or if it fell over and was conceled by a rock or bush. I really wanted to shoot one for my son's sake, and easily could have taken additional shots at the herd which was still out on the hill. I knew I couldn't shoot at another one until we checked out the spot where the first one was standing. I'm glad I didn't shoot because when my friend Greg finally showed up and went down to check it out I watched through my bino's as he walked over and picked it up! You couldn't see it from my position, but it was dead right there the entire time! If you're going to be long range hunter, you have to follow up on your shots!!!

Sundevil, I elected not to post pic's of my 2007 NM goat because it was a bloody mess! I tried to clean it up, but it was still pretty messy. Even after I walked up to him he was still squirting blood all over! I was shooting off my harris bi-pod and pulled the shot and hit him in the neck. Send me your email address and I'll email it to you. My 2005 antelope is not to impressive and I'm not sure I've even got any pictures. It's a long story, but basicly while I was out hunting I came across a bedded buck that wouldn't move. When I got to within 50 yards he finally struggled to get up and his guts were literally hanging out and dragging on the ground, and his back leg was broke and hanging by the skin. His horns were small, but some slob had shot him twice and left him to suffer and rot. I did the right thing and cut my tag on him. Needless to say I was not happy.

I Took my middle son Connor (we call him Bulldog) out for his first javelina hunt yesterday. We went with Greg McBride and his two daughters. We were able to get into the pigs within 200 yards or so from where we killed a couple last year. I couldn't find them at first but after an hour or so I heard them grunting and squeeling below us. Bulldog and I quickly found a big rock for a rest and I proceeded to shoot this fine young lady pig from about 250 yards. The report from my rifle didn't really spook the herd, and Greg and his two daughters were able to move in from another ridge they were on to sneak closer and get another one. Bulldogs favorite animal is a Collared Peccary. He has a book that explains that they're not pigs, they're Javelina or Collared Peccarys. If you call them a pig, he will quickly correct you! A few months ago at school his class worked on a project where the teacher asked each student what there favorite animal was. Connor said his was a Collared Peccary. The teacher told us after class that she had no idea what he was talking about and actually had to do a Google search to figure it out. Now Connor has pictures to show her himself. As you can see from the pictures it's not a very large pig, but I don't care. I'll save the big ones for Bulldog and his brothers when there old enough to pack 'em out themselves!

Well said Double D!

For what it's worth I'm a non-resident, and I've drawn two antelope tags in the last three years. Anyone want to bet I'll get another this year? Anyway, the owner of the ranch we were assigned to this year told me that he is a cattle rancher and if it were up to him he'd kill, shoot, trap, remove all the antolope on his place and replace them with cattle. He feels like he's getting ripped off by the state that these state owned animals are living fat and happy on his ranch for free. Yes he gets a few bucks from selling some LO tags, but in his opinion, it's not a fair trade off. I'm not sure who or what to believe in the case of NM antelope. On one hand the private LO's are raising these state owned animals on their dime. But on the other hand when you have LO tags it creates another set of problems. Jason is right that the system is flawed. If you favor the hunters the LO's get screwed, and if you favor the LO's the hunters get screwed. I do know that there is a good chance I'll be drawing another tag there again this year and hunting another private ranch that some people are paying a couple grand to hunt. Tim

Like mentioned these cow buffalo need to be culled. It's not being offered as a true hunt, just an opportunity to shoot a buffalo, bring home some meat, hide, and horns. It's not for everyone, but it should be a fun experience. It sounds very similar to the way they opperate the Arizona hunts on the Raymond Ranch.

I'm not sure if I'm going or not? It's more of a shoot than a traditional hunt. I think you get about 400 pounds or so of meat plus the head and hide. You are on your own for hotels and I think it's in the NE corner of NM. Let me know if you have any more questions. Thanks, Tim

Thanks everyone! You guys are right the smile does say it all, I've never seen the kid so happy in all his life. Greg is going to bleach the skull so Connor can take it to school for show and tell.

Congrats on the pigalina! Did you find any gold?

March 7 & 8

That's about as good as they get Casey! Anytime we lump an entire group of people together there are bound to be a few bad apples. However if you look at this new breed of long range hunters I think you'll find a group of people that have spent a lot of money on shooting systems and a lot of time to tune them in at the range. They are for the most part very well prepared for longer shooting conditions and senarios. I could argue that there is a large percentage of hunters that don't spend enough time at the range to be proficient at even 100 or 200 yards. No one seems to flame the short range hunters for this? In fact I'll bet that it's some of these same yahoo's that shouldn't be shooting at 200 yards that are taking pot shots at 400, 500, and 600. We've all seen them, we all have a friend or two that thinks it's ok to sight there rifle in at deer camp by shooting at a couple beer cans on a burm that's 67 yards away. After blasting the sand all around the can they say something like that's close enough for me! These are usually the same guys that come back to camp and say they saw a herd of javelina with at least fifty something pigs in it and that there were a couple big boars that came all the way up to there belt buckle. These are what most people call slob hunters and believe me they exist on both sides of the fence. We shouldn't be non supportive of any legal group of hunters because of a bad apple or two. Chances are you've got a bad apple or two running in whichever group you align yourself with as well.

The main reason I'm using Todd Bettin is because he is very familiar with the ABS carbon wrapped barrels. He'll be usiing a Stiller Predator action, with an ABS barrel, with a Mcmillian Howler thumbhole stock, Timney trigger, cerra coated, limbsaver recoil pad, removable muzzle break, and Tally rings. I'll probably top it off with my Ziess 6-20 x 50mm scope. Should be a shooting machine and weigh in at about 7 lbs. He guarantees less than 1/2 inches at 100 yards, and says that most will shoot .3's. I've been working hard and saving my pennies for a long time, so I can't wait to get it. It takes about 8 months and I just ordered it, so It won't be done until September.

In my opinion the Jewell triggers are the best, but to me they are about equal with a Timney down to about 2.5 pounds. Once you drop below that is where the Jewell's really shine. If you were building a rifle for the bench I'd put a Jewell in it. If you are building a rifle to hunt with I'd save the money and put a Timney in it because you probably aren't going to set a hunting rifle below 2.5 pounds. I'm currently having a custom .300 RUM built from the ground up. I'm having a gunsmith in Iowa named Todd Bettin build the rifle. They're not inexpensive, but if you truly want to have a rifle that you can be confident in at long range I would look into some of the different custom rifle builders. There are many good choices out there and several have been mentioned. I also have a Christensen Arms rifle and love it. The carbon wrapped barrel really keeps the weight down. This new custom I'm having built will have a 28 inch ABS carbon wrapped barrel, which from the research I've done is supposed to be a superior system to the Christensen Arms barrels. I can't wait!!!! Don't for one second think that a custom rifle is a must have to kill animals. But if you can afford to have one built they sure are fun to shoot!!! Good luck!

You're right about the hosts actions not being the responsibility of Cola Blanca's. I've hunted the last two years with Dan in Mexico and he runs a first class operation. He is an ethical hunter and outfitter and I'm sure there are others on this site that will attest to that. A testimony to Dan's ethics is that he could very easily get away with allowing deer hunters to shoot other animals like mountain lions, bobcats, coyotes, ducks, etc without the proper permits. He makes it very clear in his camps that the only permits they have available on his ranches are coues deer and javelina. All other animals are off limits. There's no "wink, wink", or "SSS", he's very clear that we need to follow the laws and only shoot the animals we have permits for. I have every intention of going back in 2009!

At least Yellowstone got real wolves! All we got in Arizona and New Mexico is a bunch of wolf/dog hybrids because the pure Mexican wolf blood line is extinct. Perhaps they could find some hybrid whitetail rabbits and release them and give them endangered species status.

I think if the G&F is going to make a rule change they should make it on the basis of good solid information and scientific facts. Not just assumptions or hear say. At this point I don't think they've done any research to see what the bottom line impact of hunting over salt has contributed to hunting in Arizona. Right now they have no proof or scientific evidence one way or the other that hunting over salt or bait has a good or bad impact on hunting success. How hard would it be to take a year or two to conduct some research or surveys to gather some hard evidence before they make there decision? When is G&F going to start using real life data to manage the herds instead of a bunch of political agendas?!!!

Yes it works, and sometimes it works real good if it's in a good spot. However, it's not a magic potion and deer don't come running. It takes some time and effort. It needs to be replenished every few months. Make sure do dig out a hole about 2-3 foot in diameter and about 6 inche deep to start with. If you use the powdered stuff then make sure to pour some water over it before you leave. This helps to kind of get it activated and to start leaching into the soil. You can also use salt pelets you buy in 20 pound bags from the grocer store. These also work well and put a lot more salt into the soil. Good luck!

Sorry Gino I couldn't resist! Give me a call if you ever come through Prescott and I'll take you to the Mexican place where Josh and I have eaten a couple times. We like to call it the "Dirty Sanchez".

I think some smart guy must have found Larks password to the site! There's no way such an educated response could have come from him.