Benbrown

I was shooting handloads with 150 AccuBonds in mine before I traded it off. I just ordered a Winchester Model 70 Extreme Weather in .300 WSM Saturday. I will be starting with the same loads in it. I may also try some 140 TTSXs to see how they shoot.

Very nice buck! Tough hunting this year, congratulations!

Congratulations! Any Coues buck is a trophy, as long as he is taken in fair chase. You'll remember that one for the rest of your life.

You didn't say for what cartridge your rifle is chambered. Generally, bore erosion is greatest with cartridges which are "over bore", meaning that case volume is quite large compared to the bore diameter. Although even very heavy powder charges will be completely burned withing a few inches of bullet travel from the chamber, there will be lots of superheated gases behind the bullet to work on eroding the steel in the barrel until they are all ejected. Long story short, if you stay within SAAMI pressure limits for the cartridges that you are reloading, barrel erosion will be about the same as if you just shot factory ammo. It's not the chamber in centerfire rifle barrels that erode first, but rather the throat just beyond the chamber where the rifling starts. As 10turkeys noted, throat erosion will not appreciably affect accuracy in barrels used for hunting until it gets very bad. Benchrest shooters usually rebarrel at the first sign of thoat erosion--sometimes two or three times a year, because they seat their bullets to jam the lands and they may shoot up to several thousand rounds in an average year. (As an aside, some cartridges at or near bore capacity with short necks may start to erode barrels within 1,500-2,000 rounds with either factory ammo or reloads. The .243 Winchester, which is basically a .308 Winchester case necked down to .243, is one example of such a cartridge). I have been reloading for my first centerfire rifle since about 1964 ( a .30-06 that I bought as a in high school Senior in 1961). I used it for scientific collecting while in grad school and while I worked as a wildlife research biologist. It has had at least 1,800-1,900 rounds down the tube and the barrel still looks (and shoots) just like it did when I bought it.

What does it weigh and what is the maximum height? Thanks!

It should last several thousand rounds, but if he gets to 1,200-1,500, he is likely to see some throat erosion in a .243. May or may not affect accuracy, depending on how anal he is about group sizes.

The rut is independent of weather. Rutting behavior in both bucks and does is dependent on changes in the amount of circulating hormones. These changes are triggered by changes in photoperiod (changes in day length). Like all of us, deer move about more when it's cold, but even when it's temperate the hormones flow and does get bred. Our rut here in the Boot Heel peaks between the second week of December and Christmas, based on the frequency of fawn drops. One characteristic of Coues whitetails is that the breeding season is long compared to those other native deer. Our fawn drops begin in June and last through August. Early in the rut, receptive does are not hard to find and bucks don't have to search that hard. At the rut wears on, there are fewer does coming into estrous and bucks do a lot more searching. Unfortunately, this happens after our last rifle hunt here in New Mexico, but the January archery hunters definitely benefit.

Sorry, Bill, I didn't see this post until I had already replied in Shawn's original post. I think that you are correct. Ben

I'm betting that it is the remains of an "arrastra", These were cylindrical "silos" with a stone floor. Ore was placed in the bottom and a circular stone was set on top of the ore. The stone had a shaft through the middle and it was turned by oxen, mules or donkeys, or sometimes by water power. The ore was ground up into sand and gravel from which the gold or silver could be more easily separated. Most of these that you find are Spanish in origin, but Mexican and anglo miners made and used them, as well. The one that you saw was probably dug into deep alluvium where there were few rocks and the hole could be easily excavated, then it was lined with rock to stabilize it. Subsequent gullying apparently cut away the support on one side and washed that part of the rock wall away. Pretty cool find!

I use a brush with a cleaning patch wrapped around it. When I clean the bore, I use a patch with the same cleaner to do the chamber last, followed up with a couple of dry patches.

Sounds to me like an extractor problem. They are not common in Remington 700s but do occur, even in new ones. Call Remington customer service and explain your problem. I am sure that they will get you some help.

Get to someplace quickly where you have cell phone service and dial 911. Tell them your location, the problem, and the identity of the snake (if you know it). Then start looking for someone to drive you. If you're in the south half of Arizona, head for University Medical Center in Tucson and let them know you are on the way. Use a pen or magic marker to document the advance of the swelling, drawing a line at the end nearest your body and recording the time. Do this about every 15 minutes. If you start to go into shock, or lose control of your ablility to control your motor movements, call (or have someone call) for a helicopter. I have a friend over in Rodeol who was bitten by a Mojave on his porch. He drove himself to the hospital in Silver City (about 90 miles) and ended up spending four days in ICU. He could have called 911 and had Portal Rescue at his house in less than 15 minutes, and would have suffered a lot less. One friend who is an expert on snake venoms opined that, were he bitten on a finger by a Mojave, he would be inclined to sever it and resolve to go on with his life with one less digit. Not sure that I would do anything that drastic, but they are bad medicine. There are "dry bites" for sure, but a seven-year old over near Portal was bitten by a large diamondback this summer and very nearly died. You just don't know the difference right away. Treat every one as though it is potentially fatal.

The Montana Extremes work pretty well--is that what you are referring to?

I guess that I am anal, but I use heavy duty ratchet straps: three of them. One to pull the Ranger up against the front of the trailer and one on each of the two rear struts to keep the back end from bouncing around. When my wife is along, she insists on a fourth that goes over the side bars by the seats for some more "hold down".

Too much? Probably for some folks, but I assume that you bought it to shoot and to hunt with it, so go on and do it. I hunted with a .300 Wby last year because it was the only synthetic stocked rifle I had availaible other than a .338 Win Mag (which most folks would agree is "too much").

I'll take it. PM me with your contact information. Thanks!

The internet is rife with posts by folks who have bought new Marlin firearms made in Cerebus Capital's new plant in North Carolina. Cerebus management riffed 73 skilled workers when they bought Marlin in 2007 and moved the operation to North Carolina. Quality control in the new plant has been almost nonexistent. I have read a number of horror stories about the new NC-made firearms. Do an internet search--I guarantee that you won't like what you see. Many of the folks who returned their rifles to Marlin got them back with new problems. You might want to try to find a gunsmith that knows Marlins and see what he can do to tune your rifle. Not an ideal solution, but perhaps the most practical one...

Tularemia is endemic in most most mammal populations. One of my graduate assistants contracted it while helping me necropsy a nilgai antelope in Texas. Others I have known who were wildlife biologists or technicians have contracted it from deer, squirrels, javelina, Axis deer and who knows what else. Generally, if an animal is dressed right away, the chances of contracting it are lessened but not completely erased. I use rubber gloves when cleaning and/or dressing mammals in warm weather, especially early fall deer and pronghorns. So far, I have not had a bout with it.

A study by a grad student up at NAU analysed DNA from more than 350 animals. He concluded that approximately 2% of the Coues whitetail populations consist of hybrids between Coues and mule deer. This percentage includes a low incidence of back crosses to the original species. So, the odds are that if you spend a lot of time glassing, tending your trail cameras, looking at deer and picking up antlers, you are likely to encounter some hybrids.

I have used both up in Colorado on the ranch where I hunt elk. In the interest of full disclosure, I do own and use a Ranger, both here and in Colorado. The Big Red has only two seats, while the Ranger can seat three. The Big Red has some nice features: half doors that close and keep you and any items that fall on the floor inside. It also has mesh curtains that clip shut on the sides, keeping branches, etc, from slapping you as you go by. The bed is also somewhat bigger than that of the Ranger. The downside: the suspension is stiffer than the Ranger and the wheel travel is shorter, so the ride is a noticeably more harsh on rocky trials and washboard. Although I don't have the power/weight ratios handy, the Ranger is quicker and more responsive than the heavier Big Red. The ground clearance is also less than that of the Ranger and the Big Red is just not as manueverable in rough going. For running up and down Forest Service or ranch roads that are maintained at least a couple of times a year, the Big Red is more than adequate. For real trail use, I much prefer the Ranger. Mine is a 700, now five years old, and it has gone places that I never would have thought to try without it. I have gun racks and a winch mounted on the back of the roll cage and they come in handy, too. The only fly in the ointment (so to speak) is that if you don't garage your Ranger with the camo paint job, the desert sun will fade it to a nice purple tint that will provide your friends with a catalyst for no end of sarcastic comments. Had I known this, I would have bought a cover from Cabelas back in 2007.

When I click on your link, I get nothing--same as I get when I click on the url address on the NM DGF website. Must be doing something wrong...

Thanks, Jason. I will be using this information this year--first year that I haven't drawn at least my third choice in quite a while. Ben

Those are much better pictures. If you compare the shape and size of the metatarsal gland in the last picture with the photos in Jim Heffelfinger's book, it sure looks like it may be a hybrid. Neat photos!

Really can't tell from that photo as the metatarsal gland on the near hind leg is pretty much cut off by the bottom of the frame. Otherwise, it looks like a whitetail to me. Why do you think that it might be a hybrid?

Shoot me a PM with questions and I will try to help.