tomgobbler

antler, i usually shoot the plain old hornady soft nose bullets, and have had great results with little damage. but when i went to buy some more is all western drug had was the v-max, so i thought i'de give them a try, these are the first 2 dogs i have shot with them, the first dog broad side, about 1 1/2" behind front shoulder @ 150 yards, pencil hole in, 3/4" size out, dog ran apporx 200 yards..... second dog 125 yards i hit it square on the shoulder blade and had about a 2 1/2" ENTRANCE hole, it hit that shoulder and exploded back out i guess.... and the funny thing was a piece of either bullet or bone exited out the other side about 5 inches back, about the size of a pencil.... so i dont know..... i wasnt real impressed, especailly with the entrance on the second bullet...... like i said i really like the plian old soft nose bullets... but we'll shoot a few more dogs with them and see how they do an a few more ( since i loaded 100 of them) good luck tommy

my buddy called me and wanted to go calling, and i asked what he wanted to try for and he said lets go try some grey's as the coyotes arent responding all that well, so off we went. the day ended up will calling 4, rolling 4, and bringing home 2.... we were calling some really thick, nasty brush, and i rolled one, that sucker bit the dust hard, with my 12 gauge, 3 1/2 in shelles, so i kept calling, and looked back around and it had crawled into some brush and i never found it, Then a little latter that day, my buddy dumped one with his 223, and we had the same thing happen, thought it was down for the count and then it was gone.... *(&)*& i hate it when that happenes.... anyway the one i shot, was one of the bigger geys i have seen/called/shot, it was right at 15 lbs..... look at the difference in the body and neck of these 2 greys.... the one is the normal average size.... then look at the big male compared to him.... sorry pictures were after dark when we got home, on my shop floor before i skinned them. tommy

i dont know what it is i have never seen one with white toes, and this is the second one in a month i have called in that has white toes.... probably 10 miles form the other one.... anyone else ever see one with white toes? also take a look at the stripe, runs almost the entire length of its back, pretty cool. tommy

congrats on a sweet ram. nothing like a little hard work that payes off in the end. cant wait to see the finished mount! tommy

My pleasure as always getting to hunt with you matt, and an added bonus to get to hunt with you're amazing wife. She had matt buggin her in one ear, and me in the other, and still held her cool while shooting at 425 yards. It was awesome to see that cows feet sticking straight up kicking for a few seconds. We worked hard, and we put her through some grueling hikes, with never a complaint one. It was one great day of hunting, one i'll not soon forget, Thanks Matt for letting me be apart of it all, and for getting to crash your hunt, it was one neat day! tommy

how big is the live trap? are you covering the intire thing with brush to camo it? are you putting dirt in the bottom of it, so it has a "sand" floor instead of a wire floor? i knew a guy that was having a cat get in his chickens and he put a live rooster in the back, but he had a big cage..... i would hang something from the inside, that looks like fur, ( remember game animal is illegal) a paice of jackrabbit fur would work, or you can go to wall mart and get a little bag of feathers, and then hot glue the ends of several of them together to make it look like a wing, and hang that from the top of the cage a few inches, with fishing line so that it "fluters" in the breeze, i have even went as far as gotton some of thoe "googly eyes" 1/4" or so and hot glued that to the fur/ or feathers.... dont know if this is necisary or not....but a buddy showed me it so i tried it...any good bobcat gland bait, and/or bobcat urine would work for the bait.... hope this helps. post pic when you catch him:) tommy

it took me awhile to get the first cat of the varmit calling season, and then got 2 in a row, one last week when i went out, and got another today, very pretty cat. good luck tommy

it took me long enough, but was finally able to break the ice with this cat, i've been getting quite a few dogs, and been waiting for a cat, and finally got it done today.

so no recovery on the frist pig? that sucks i hate it when that happens, and arent kids fun to try to get on animals, can be really frustrating, but cudos for sticking with it, and taking them back out. they are great to take, and the reward in the end is worth the frustration. great job

i've been checked probably 10 times in the last 10 years.... was out squirel hunting with the kids a few weeks back and they had a truck in the middle of the road with the officer standing and checking everyone that went through....

you looking to have your camp packed in? or just your elk packed out? I can do both, assuming it is on days i have off from work. i've got 4 horses, 3 that pack really well, packed out a mule deer 3 weeks ago, and went to flagstaff and packed out a bull elk for a guy this last friday. and will be packing out an elk this friday, after mathewp's wife shoots it let me know what you need, and if it works out an my days off, i can help ya. also assuming there isnt a foot of snow over the rim, that i can/cant get a 4 horse trailer up and over.... i'm located in taylor. thanks tommy

went out this morning and this is what i ended up with for my efforts. a nice badger with white toes on his back feet, anyone ever seen this?, i've only skinned about 3 dozen baders, so havent see all that many but never see white toes before. kins of cool anyway thought i'de share. tommy

and took all of your money up front and so now you dont owe a remaining balance when you pick these birds up! If you missed Mathews story from last spring it was one great hunt, he shot a bird around 6:15 or so and then his dad shot one around 8:00 opening morning, we were having breakfast in springerville by 8:30 opening morning all tagged out! awesome hunt, with 3" of snow on the ground.... the 3rd bird is his daughters.... the pictures are a little dark, sorry i need to get more light. good luck to all who drew tommy

yea you dont know how much i'm looking forward to the san carlos hunt as well as another great az spring! yea these will look really good in there with everything else yawl have!

Yea there are a lot of people that use the borax.... my trapping buddy, uses borax on the cats and not dogs, my other buddy uses it on both, and my other one like me doesnt use it at all....... so no right or wrong... yea for sure, would be nice wouldn't it.....or even a few years back on the cats.... they got up pretty decent ..... standman, we need to get together and go call soemtime, i didnt realize you were in pinetop, i'm in taylor....

Lance, dave and sadie came and picked up there bull a week or so ago, been waiting on them to post some pictures of it and her together, i took some while there were here at the house, but waitin on dave It was a pleasure getting to meet the family, and what a sweet young lady. Dave said when he got home at midnight sadie wouldnt let them go to bed until it was hung up on the wall. thanks again to those who contributed, and made all of this possible. May the Karma come back to you all 10 fold tommy

Ok guys here's the deal. I'm Mounting the Buffalo that Sadie was able to havest a few months ago. (free of charge) I don't want any of this expense to go to the family, hopeing their money will go to a transplant at some point for her. Sadie wanted the skull boiled and the real horns put on the skull and she wanted replica's made for the mount. So i was able to get a guy off of taxidermy.net to do the replicas for her (free of charge) he donated them, not knowing her from adam, He just read my story and called and told me he would do them for her. He had a little girl pass away several year ago from liver disease, so he understood the situation personally. I've already recieved them back from him and they look great. I also contacted My supply company and they are going to donate a shoulder form, and eyes for it. SO the last thing is the Tanning. I just got the bill for the tannying of the cape for $400.00 So what i'm asking for is some donations to cover this bill. If 400 of us would put in $1.00 , or 200 of us $2.00 , or 100 of us $4.00..... we'll you get the picture. So anyway i'm going to covering everything not covered in this, but what ever any of ya could do would be great. You can either mail a check to dave anderson... i'll have to get him to post his address.... I've already got the skull cleaned and ready, and the mount will be mounted in the next couple of weeks, with several weeks of drying, then finish work, so within about a month, the mount should be finished. ( dave you need to plan some time to figure out when to come pick it up in a month or so) looking forward to meeting you and sadie. or you could mail one to me. tommy hancock po box 679 taylor az. 85939 Thanks tommy

in the past the globe guy has made a 2 day trip i think 3 times a year, he leaves on a saturday and makes several stop out in new mexico, ending the day i think in gallup, and then on sunday he comes back through, i'm not sure were all he stops, but snowflake is one of them..... i NEVER felt the guy gave me fair prices and i WONT sell to him again..... i feel the fur auction is the same way, NOT the best plave to get the best dollar.... BUT there are lots of guys that both sell to him, and sell at the auction... Standman.... if your getting $175 for your big toms, and if they are from the high country, then i'll buy all of them from you, straight across the board for all toms, as long as there not yearling kittens. I have never used borax on any of my hides, you case skin, flesh ( scrape ALL fat, meat, ect off of hide), sew up holes, and wash ( i wash mine in a 5 gallon bucket with dishsoap or shampoo) rinsing really well. i leave them hang over a chair for a few hours or what ever until they are "dry" not really dry but exces water is off from the wash and rinse put it on a wood or metal hide streches fur side IN for abot 10-12 hours, then TURN it hair side OUT and restretch.... leaving for a week or so, then i pit it on wire and hang it from my shop, unitl i have enough that i'm ready to sale, the of course you can brush/comb it to make it look as fluffy and nice as possible.... Some use borax, some dont, i never have..... thats how i do, no right or wrong way , as they say there are several ways "to skin a cat" good luck in your hunting

I'm in taylor

The late elk hunt is just around the corner and and the elk are pushed farther from the road right now, hunt farther in and dont worry about how your going to get it out. i just packed out a deer last week, and ready for the late elk hunt. give me a hauler if your needing some help. good luck tommy

me ad my 11 year old drew 28 HAM jav's and i drew 27 turkey, will be buying the my son his first turkey tag as well, plus have a san carlos turkey tag, plus my brother drew 28 rifle, and him and his wife drew 4a/4b, plus mathewp drew unit 1 again.... so SPRING is going to be GREAT......

Well, i got down to shane's thursday night to do a little scouting, not that we really needed it, we always sit in one of two spots, we have a spot on the west side of the mountain, and one on the east side, its just a matter of choosing a side and going for it. Since Shane's BUddy, Ray had spent the week before my hunt, hunting mule deer, on he east side, i decided to look the west side over that evening. Ray had us some good bucks located, but i wanted to see what was hangin out on the west side. So i glassed from 1:30 or so, until dark, locateing 6 different bucks. 3 nice 80is 3x3's one small 3x3 and 2 unknows, as they disappered to fast. BUt a GREAT sign the evening before the opener. However daylight found us on the East side of the mountain were Ray thought there might be one of the bigger bucks he had seen earlier in the week. As we pulled up in the dark to our glassing spot, i met Ray for the first time, and i also was able to meet his "baby" his custom 30-378, with turrets out to about 2000 yards....he says with a chuckle anything on the this mountian that you can glass we can shoot. ( and it was a BIG mountain) anyhow as it begin to get light enough to start to make things out we each faced a different direction to begin the process of picking apart the mountainside. Ray about 75 yards down the ridge, to be able to look back into some cuts, me looking out the front and right side, and shane about 25 yards to my left watching the ridges and bowls to the left. About 30 minutes into glassing i barely make out a buck 3/4 of the way up to the top behind some brush. The sun still hasnt topped over the edge of the mountain range behind us, so with the buck being so far away and no sun to highlight his rack, i couldnt really make out what he was for sure. i knew he was out his ears in width, and he had a good body size, so i was thinking he had to be a decent buck. So i walk down to were SHane is sitting and ask him to come back up to were i am at, to take a look at the buck to see if he can get any better detail on him. As we are looking at him he moves out a little, and the sun finally tops out and so we get a little better look, but he is still a ways away. SO i radio Ray to come up and see what he thinks and to dig his gun out. In the mean time as Ray is making his way up a herd of pigs start up the mountain and run right into the buck, he didnt care to kindly to sharing the mountain and he ran the rest of the way to the top, SO now he is about 10' from the skyline and about 3 jumps from being gone for good. i tell Ray i think the buck is big enough to shoot, and show him were the buck is, and ask him what he thinks, and he says no problem, lets get him ranged and dialed in before he tops over. So he ranges him at 748 yards, and tells me how much to dial the scope so i lay down, rest the gun over Ray's pack, and dial the turrets to the correct yardage, ( allowing for the steep incline as well) he says you need to hurry, he's broad side ( very slight quarting away) and about 3 steps from being gone for good, so put a shell in and find the bucks shoulder in the reticle, hold steady for a split second and touch it off. ...... well what happened? is all i saw was smoke and dust with the muzzle break the gun has on it. SHanes says he down you nailed him, and i'm line no way, and Shane's like yep the big centry plant just shook a bunch as the buck layed and kicked in it. And i was like if you guys are just trying to get me to hike to the top of the steep mountain for the fun of it, i aint going to be happy, and Shanes says nope hes laying right there at the top. SO to make a long story shorter we hike to the top of the mountain and there lays my buck. an 85ish 2x2 with 6" eye gaurds, 13 1/2 inside spread and 15" main beams, but NO 3rd point, just a 2x2. BUt i'm happy with the buck, a 748 yard 1 shot kill opening morning at 7:45 or so. ANd it is my wifes birthday tomorrow, so i really needed to get home for that. ( Which i made it for) so what a day.... A BIG THANKS TO SHANE AND HIS BUDDY RAY, A GREAT GUY, THAT CAME ALONG AND GAVE A COMPLETE STRANGER A HAND. May all YOUR friends be like these 2 guys. Good luck tommy in the last picture you can barely make out the truck were i shot from

the gun is the 378 wthrby. necked down to a 30 caliber. so a 30-378.

"they" say, a cat will make its rounds every ten days or so.... would be interesting if you get any other pictuers, and if it matches that pattern or not.... if you could "pattern" him then you'de have a better chance of what day to go back and call... up your odds a little.... having said that, yes he will be around somewhere close, and yes there will be other cats.... he made a pile there, is that a "cat toilet" meaning was there other old cat scat there, or was that the first cat scat you see at that spot... if there is old there, then it is a regular toilet that they WILL be back to at some point. if it is new, then i'de still say when he makes his rounds again he will do his thing there, and so will other passing cats.... and if there was a cat there at some point then there will probably be one there every year, unless drastic drout or fire or something happenes. there is food, water, thick cover... there is cats.... i have caught a cat in the exact trap, in the exact location 3 years in a row, and in a month or 2 i'll garuntee ya i'll catch one this year in that exact same trap and set up..... give me a week or 2 in your spot and i'll have that cat for you good luck it is a nice looking cat, if you give him time to fur up. tommy

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