Kilimanjaro

Amanda, sorry for your loss. I know how much a dog can mean in one's life.. Just be thankful for the long years you got to spend with her!!

No go on the Hill Country.. they just couldn't do the stock the way I wanted it.. O'Day over at MGA in Spring,TX said no problem.. to send it his way and he'll fix it up right.. Probably going to get the new stock with all the glass bedding and all that jazz, float the barrel, flute the barrel, custom muzzlebreak (maybe), add a Pachmayr declerator, and teflon coat all the metal.. Not a total custom gun, but it'll do.

Doug, sweet gun!! I really like the looks of that one. I got my action and barrel ordered today.. It'll get here in a week or so and then its off to Match Grade Arms to get customized.. Its a 300 WSM.. bought that 4.5X14 Leupold with the B&C reticle last week at Cabelas in Phoenix to top 'er off with..

Introducing... the Homey gun.. Manufactured with the aspiring street thug in mind.. Perfectly located sights for that "realistic" LA style of shooting.. Perfect for drive bys, bustin' caps, etc.. GET YOURS TODAY!! Supplies are limited.

By no means can I say I have a favorite pic from all of 2006, so i'll fill ya'll in on my favorites for the year. It was a great year.. first pic, my bachalor party in Vegas. 14 of us went and tore the town up! One of my buddies is a commercial pilot back in TX and he flew 6 of us out on a private plane. A private chartered plane to Vegas for your own bacholar party, flown by one of your best friends. How cool was that!! That's me in the right rear.. That party will go down in the history books.. I couldn't even look at a beer even a month afterwards!! then its on to the biggest day of my life.. our wedding. She put up with my crap for over 9 years before we decided to have the big blow out!! It was a great day. And yes, I am burnt.. And yes, she was mad! Playing golf quite intoxicated with your buddies while wearing no hat or sunscreen the day before your wedding was not the best of ideas!! I will catch flack on that one for as long as I live... then came the honeymoon!! I'm the luckiest guy in the world to have a wife who WANTED to go to Africa on a safari. We had the time of our lives. 7 animals taken, lots of relaxation, and plenty of sights taken in and memories made.. then we got in another state high peak in this summer. That's your's truely on Az's high peak. That makes 4. and we're knocking out 2 more this spring. One of these days I'll have all 50 under my belt. then a little Mako shark action off the San Diego coast in Aug... Caught a 100 pounder.. In Nov., a little coues deer action. Alas, no deer, but we still had a good time.. this one was my favorite.. I took it thru my Swaro 15's. It just sums up the look of AZ to me. then a trip to DEEP Mexico, to the states of Michocan and Jalisco, to a friend's wedding. What a beautiful place. And while there, we caught a real Spanish bullfight.. Talk about a neat expirence. And of course, I've done a bit of quail hunting this season as ya'll have seen in a few of my posts this winter!! I'll just post a few of my favs from this season. A homecoming Bobwhite Christmas hunt over horses.. and a couple of local ones happy Mearns hunters. Well...like I said, I couldn't pick just one!! I had tons more, but these show how my year went pretty well. great pics everyone.. KGaines, I like yours the best.. I'm getting ready to be a Dad this Aug and I cannot wait to be in your shoes. Great shots!

Jim, very nice "southern units" bucks!! Congrats to you and your old man...

Finally, a quote that has some real meaning and truth behind it.. you'd better believe it.

yep, best of luck to you as well! She'll be keepin' ya wrapped around her finger from now on! On our next doc trip, we find out the sex of the baby. He/she is due in late July or early Aug.. Gonna be a whole new world for me come this summer!

congrats!! Mine will be here in either late July or early August.. scared outta my mind!

thanks guys!! Kev and 5yr, I didn't know that they had transplanted them down there.. I haven't been down there in years.. I guess the mountains down that way would have been native habitat for them as well.. Come to think of it, I do believe that I've read somewhere that we even have some in far west TX as well ,but ya can't hunt them.. Kinda like our Mearns population in TX. They're there, but not in any kind of numbers.. We used to quail hunt down there in the bootheel every year when we were kids.. My old man would load up myself and my brother and we'd meet up with my uncle adn my cousins and my Gradpa and we'd make the drive from west TX and go there every year and stay for a week or so and chase Gambels and blues till we were blue in the face!! There used to be SO many birds in that country.. good times those were. AZP&Y, super cool mount, but its missing the hardest one of them all to get!! Those danged Mtn quail!! All I need is those pesky Mtn quail in Cali and I'll have the slam.. I amlost did it last year in one season, but we never did get into a mtn quail covey.. we went out near Santa Barbera, Cali and got into TONS of Valley quail, but only 1 covey of Mtns, and we only saw a fleeting glimse of them as they sailed outta sight and up the mountain.. went 5 for 6 on the species last season.. I'm 4 for 4 this season, but I'm just not gonna try and make a Cali trip this year.. Got too much going on right now.. Potential move to MT coming up right around the corner, expecting wife, etc.. thanks for lookin' guys!!

On Sat morning, I got up and checked the weather forcast for down south of here and saw that the area had gotten a bit of the white stuff sprinkled on the ground overnight.. With that said, I loaded up the hounds and we went Mearns chasin... Again!! It's just been too good this season not to go as much as we can. There just seems to be coveys everywhere we go!! And with the scent conditions handed to us overnight, how could I pass it up?? On the way down to the area, I saw these Gould's turkeys.. Its not everyday you see this sub-species of turkeys.. as you guys know, this area of Az is the only place in the US that they reside in .. the vast majority or their range is Sonora and Chihuahua Mexico. pretty cool to see.. From there, it only got colder the further south we went!!! While I was driving down, I felt like I was in northern Montana instead of a couple of miles north of the Mexican border!! Once we got to "our" area, there was still a bit of snow on the north facing slopes.. Plenty for awhile, but it didn't last too long before that AZ sun came out and did away with it.. Penny sure did like it!! It was only the third time she's ever seen snow. An oximoron photo of sorts.. snow on cholla cactus.. its been some crazy Az weather these past couple of weeks!! the pups got right to work with all the moisture on the ground and in the air.. Virgil with the first find of the day with Penny backing from the creek bottom.. And now, just the opposite.. Penny with a covey find with the boy backing her .. I wish this pic would have come out clear, but I was in a hurry!! It both pups with 2 separate singles near eachother.. You can see both pups pointed in opposite directions. As good as it gets.. This was a FANSTASTIC day to be out in the Mearns hills. just me and my pups.. I had my limit in just over an hour.. And I was only taking a bird or 2 from each covey.. Awesome dog work and plenty of birds make for a good outing! It was just one of those days that will be long remembered. thanks for lookin!!

I must say.. if anyone was deserving of a coues deer, it was you Christian!! You put in more time than anyone I know of! Way to go on a great season.

On Sat morning, I got up and checked the weather forcast for down south of here and saw that the area had gotten a bit of the white stuff sprinkled on the ground overnight.. With that said, I loaded up the hounds and we went Mearns chasin... Again!! It's just been too good this season not to go as much as we can. There just seems to be coveys everywhere we go!! And with the scent conditions handed to us overnight, how could I pass it up?? On the way down to the area, I saw these Gould's turkeys.. Its not everyday you see this sub-species of turkeys.. as you guys know, this area of Az is the only place in the US that they reside in .. the vast majority or their range is Sonora and Chihuahua Mexico. pretty cool to see.. From there, it only got colder the further south we went!!! While I was driving down, I felt like I was in northern Montana instead of a couple of miles north of the Mexican border!! Once we got to "our" area, there was still a bit of snow on the north facing slopes.. Plenty for awhile, but it didn't last too long before that AZ sun came out and did away with it.. Penny sure did like it!! It was only the third time she's ever seen snow. An oximoron photo of sorts.. snow on cholla cactus.. its been some crazy Az weatehr these past couple of weeks!! the pups got right to work with all the moisture on the ground and in the air.. Virgil with the first find of the day with Penny backing from the creek bottom.. And now, just the opposite.. Penny with a covey find with the boy backing her .. I wish this pic would have come out clear, but I was in a hurry!! It both pups with 2 separate singles near eachother.. You can see both pups pointed in opposite directions. As good as it gets.. This was a FANSTASTIC day to be out in the Mearns hills. just me and my pups.. I had my limit in just over an hour.. And I was only taking a bird or 2 from each covey.. Awesome dog work and plenty of birds make for a good outing! It was just one of those days that will be long remembered. thanks for lookin!!

I have got to get me one of those dudes before I leave Az!!! I've only seen them a handful of times and it was at work each time.. so no hunting.. I've never seen one while hunting.. Where did you get this one, if ya don't mind me asking.. looks like up in the high country.

keep at it !!! You know how many pigs are in those units!!

nice....

thanks guys!! From the look and sound of the upcoming weekend forecast, there is a very good chance at upwards of 9 inches of accumulated snow above 4800 ft.. If that comes true, you know where I'll be!! I have wanted to hunt those Mearns in the snow since I moved here..

Had one of those weekends that you will remember for a good long while. One of my good friends decided to come out here to Az from Amarillo, TX and give Mearns hunting a go for the first time. We loaded the mutts up and headed south with fingers crossed. The first morning started out great with good dog work under a flawless sky and even had a few birds in the bag. But after lunch, the sky decided it was time for a change and opened up and started raining pretty good on us.. After that, we were in for a treat. The dogs were pointing the coveys from an honest 100 yards away.. And coveys we found! We got into 9 more BIG coveys after lunch and wrapped the day up with both of us taking our limits and 11 coveys total to show for the soaking.. Day two put us about a mile or so from where we hunted the day before.. Fog in the morning and then blue bird skys and a high of 49 degrees was the call for the day.. And with that moisture on the ground from the day before, the dogs brought their "A" game for day two.. Points and coveys came easy this day for us. It was a day that will not be forgotten. We rounded out this day with 14 birds in the bag and plenty of memorable points from the pups.. Not too bad for a first time Mearns hunt! I kept telling him how lucky he was and that this was most definately not the norm for most Mearns hunts!! The next day it was time for Brandon to head on home.. But before I took him to the airport, we made a quick trip before lunch just to the north of my house and got into a 40+ covey of Gambels.. Run and gun was the name of the game for these birds and we ended up with 5 for the effort.. Not a bad way to end an already fantastic weekend of Southern Arizona quail hunting!! Virgil nailing a single to the floor up on top before the rains started.. Brandon walking into a rain soaked point.. A limit of beauty... Desert Devils.. Boy, are we whooped Dad!! Let's call it a day! thanks for lookin'!!

nice bow kill Jim....

Agreed.. And there should also be one for bird hunting for bird nerds like me!!

Well, I finally got Christmas off this year from work and we pointed the truck east and bee-lined it back home to TX for some relaxation for the holiday and of course some Bobwhite hunting! I was gonna try and squeeze in an axis deer hunt on a buddy's ranch near my hometown, but we just plain ran out of time.. I guess I'll just have to go back in Feb.. Dang. The weather was pretty good for the quail hunting.. nice moist conditions thanks to a recent shower and a nice breeze.. BUT, the bird numbers were as bad as they have ever been in recent memory.. last year where we could find 15 covies, we found 2 or maybe 3.. and it's like that all over the entire state right now.. hopefully we'll get some much needed rain in the area this winter and spring.. if it rains, there are birds.. plain and simple. But we still did ok for the short amount of time we had.. We moved 6 covies in one short afternoon hunt on horseback.. Those Tennessee walking horses are a dream to hunt on!! Its like no other horse ride you've ever been on.. smooth as glass. Here are a few pics from the hunt.. Headed out into the sea of Kline grass where those Bobs like to feed.. Virgil with the first find of the hunt.. And his very first covey of totally wild TX Bobs!! and of course the covey explodes right when I'm on the wrong foot and I miss with both barrels!! But that's pretty typical of my shooting!! "I'm thirsty Pops.. give me a drink!!" Me giving the kiddo a "piggy" back ride!! and the outcome for the afternoon's hunt on one of my all-time favorite types of hunting... Bobs over horseback.. Then on the way back to AZ, we took the long road back to see the grandparents and spent a little time in the high country mountains and snow of central NM.. We wanted to at least see some snow during the holiday break!! I would say from the expressions on the pups' faces that they enjoyed it very much!! We were gonna chase Blues and Gambels at Whitesands Missle range since we were already there, but the forecast wasn't too hot for bird numbers so we decided to point the truck west and head on back to AZ.. Now I'm back to the same place I was last year.. all I lack for the US quail slam in one season is those pesky Cali birds.. last year those wily Mountain quail outsmarted us..Maybe I'll have to plan for a weekend in Cali next month! I hope all of you had as good a holiday as we did!! Thanks for lookin'!

Desertbull, I think that made me laugh more than anything I've ever read on this forum!! Now THAT was a good one!!

great post Amanda!! Looks like a great hike!!

Hey, I know that guy in that pic!! That's my buddy Nate from San Diego! Small world!!

I just read this on the cox news website... I think they wanted to kill those little mutts she was walking and she just got in the way.. (Tucson, AZ) -- Tracy Gordon's morning walk with her three Chihuahuas took a turn for the worse when a pack of javelinas attacked. It started with one javelina sighting on Snyder Road near North Sabino Canyon Road. The javelina charged across the street and Gordon's Chihuahuas took a confrontational stance. Gordon bent down to pick up her dogs to protect them and when she looked up, eleven more javelinas seemed to appear out of thin air. The attack was a blur. One javelina bit her leg, causing Gordon to drop her dogs and fall to the ground. She was then trampled by several javelinas. Gordon saw the javelinas throwing one of her dogs, Peatree, around like a rag doll and she ran to a neighbor's home to call her husband for help. Another dog, Tino, suffered a large bite on the neck while the other Chihuahua, Bebe, was not injured. I like the part about being trampled.. the news clip makes it sound as if each Javie weighs in at over a ton!!! I'm sure the bites hurt like heck, but trampled?? Come on!!!