308Nut

Have you looked at the throat with a bore scope or just with the naked eye? Unless you look through a bore scope, even a cooked barrel looks sharp and clean to the naked eye. Sorry! M

QUICK!!!!!! Add another post. Your post count is 666! Yikes!! M

100" bucks can be found in any unit and I would venture to say a monster could come out of any given unit at any given time. Some units will lend themselves to a few more 100"+ bucks than others but in NO unit are they an every hillside let alone around every other tree. Maybe try and improve your glassing skills and time spent scouting and time in the field. If you are having trouble finding 100" bucks in units you are familiar with, you may have the same trouble finding them in any unit. I know that sounds condesending. I am not trying to be. Trust me, those bucks are there. You just have to spot them. M

My buddy charlie took this photo by the highway just south of Anchorage today. Enjoy!

jeffro has some great advice. I too would be looking at bedding it, making sure the barrel is free floating, scope mounts etc.... and a big +1 on the 140 Amax. 2-3 MOA seems pretty bad even with loads she does not like. It likely is something other than the load.

Goes to show you that no matter how prepared and air tight a plan is, sometimes unforseen occurances just happen. One thing is for sure though, your buddies who prepare religiously will still always have better odds and much more success than those who dont. Kudos for their efforts and preparation. M

I thought you liked to get close!!?? Just kidding. Aweome job and buck. Nicely done and great shooting. Congrats, M

Very nice buck! Congrats, M

Man dont kid yourself. 'Monster' is relative. That is a stellar buck and a monster to alot of coues fans. Good job and congrats!

My opinion (key word being opinions so take this with a grain of salt) is that even though things may be heating up, this can cause cold bad weather. A hotter apmosphere causes warmer oceans which cause bad weather. Sometimes that bad weather equals cold weather. Besides, as ice melts it has to go somewhere. Much of the extra ocean water may evaporate and could cause more clouds in the sky and more moisture in the air causing more wet sometimes cold weather. Regardless, (IMHO) sometimes an overall warming affect can cause cold weather in places. One thing is for sure, there are major changes happening in the far north. I see that 1st hand. Things are getting warmer here both in the winter and the summer. Carbon has been present in the air for thousands of years and gets introduced by natural causes. My concern is that the natural way of things AND billions of people on the earth not giving a crap combined makes for trouble. The earth can cleanse and renew itself all by herself. My concern is that with the addition of billions of human influences at the rate in which we do, we may be doing so at a rate that is too fast for the earth to cleanse itself in a timely manner. Is global warming a natural occurance? Probably. Speeding up the proccess may be a problem. These all of course are only opinions and thoughts. Not trying to change other's views or telling it how it is. Just food for thought. M

Not bad! One thing I strongly recommend (since youre putting so much time and coin into this) is to not overlook bedding the scope base or at least checking to see if it needs to be. If you tighten the 2 front screws down and leave the rear screws out, look to see if there is a gap between the rear part of the base and the action. Sometimes you cant see the gap but if you push on the rear and see even a tiny amount of flex, it should be bedded. Otherwise it will cause stress on the action and scope and you WILL be very frustrated trying to get it to shoot well. Even just a few thousandths of an inch is too much. Let us know how it turns out and how she shoots! M

What a gorgeous buck! Congrats. M

Well yesterday I warmly welcomed my new baby girl to the world. Mamma decided to do it all natural (for the second time). I think she is clinically insane for it but that was her wishes. Regardless, she is one TOUGH cookie. Her name is Riley Rebekah. 6# 13oz and 20 inches long. Very healthy! Regards! Michael

Honestly, I wouldnt attemp a 1K shot on a coues buck of any size be it a spike or the next world record. Last year I had a self imposed limit of 700-750 depending on the lighting and wind. Fortunately I got my buck at 440. The super small size of the vital zone at 1K is out of my comfort and confidence zone. Dont get me wrong, I have made plenty of hits on an 7" target a 1K but I have had plenty of shots outside that zone. I am looking for a mature caribou size target with a 12" vital zone. I am ten times more profficent on a 12" target than a 7" target. It doesnt sound like much but for me at that range it is everything. A moose or large caribou is what I am looking for. I dont worry about the energy either. The 300 grain 338 Berger bullets at the speeds I run them delivers over 2/3 the energy at 1K than that of a standard 30-06 load at point blank. I really am not looking to just go out and fire away at the first critter I find at 1K. I am much more picky than that. Everything has to be right and I have to feel totally confident about the shot I am taking. Believe it or not, I have passed up shots around the 500 yard mark because I didnt feel right. Wind, light, mirage, etc..... There have been occasions I have forced shots I was not comfortable with. The interesting thing is that all of those were under 200 yards. I guess there is a syndrome of "it is very close therefore my odds are good of making the shot even though its off hand or kneeling." I did that very thing in 08 and lost a medium sized mule deer. I hate admitting it but its the honest truth and a good learning experience. I had a buck at just under 200 yards, aimed (was fairly steady) and hit him a bit far back. I never recovered him. It has been said before, '$hit happens at 100 yards and $hit happens at 600 yards'. To me, it wasnt that '$hit happens" it is that I forced a shot I was not 100% steady on and I and the game paid the price. The lesson for me? I have to feel 100% confident about the shot I am taking or I dont take it. Even then I realize that be it 25 yards or 1K, something can go south. As long as I have stayed within my limits and feel confident in what I am about to do, I know that I have done all that I could do. Respect for the animal? You could take a 10 yard bow shot and disrespect that animal if you dont feel right about the shot. You could take a 60 yard bow shot and totally respect that animal if the conditions are right and you are completely confident with the shot. As long as a hunter stays within his limits, the game has been respected. M

I will up the ante I figure a 1000 yard rifle shot is equal to a 135 yard bow shot. Anyway the bubble on the bottom of my sight hits 135 yards and the degree angle i must cant my bow up is probably close to the cant of 1000 yard rifle shot. Close to a fair relationship. I just hope I will not be detected by my prey when I'm backing up for the shot. 135 yard bow shot! Why not? Bob Backing up for a shot seems a little rediculous. But, if that floats your boat then OK. Just dont expect others to respect your PRIDE. My pride is about self respect as long as I stay within my personal limitations. As long as I have done that, I really could care less about others respect. The things I do, I do for me and nobody else. Is what I want to do set a bad example? Some may see it that way. I see it as if I stay within my personal boundries and make a clean harvest, then that is a great example. M

I will up the ante I figure a 1000 yard rifle shot is equal to a 135 yard bow shot. Anyway the bubble on the bottom of my sight hits 135 yards and the degree angle i must cant my bow up is probably close to the cant of 1000 yard rifle shot. Close to a fair relationship. I just hope I will not be detected by my prey when I'm backing up for the shot. 135 yard bow shot! Why not? Bob Being an accomplished outdoor FITA archery competitor (98.6 yards) and a long range rifle competitor, I venture to say that 1000 yard rifle shot and a 100 yard bow shot are about equal. Where you get 135 yards is beyond me. In any event, 100 yards for archery and 1000 yards for rifle are both possible albiet difficult. For those who would actually practice and prepare are very realistic. For those that do not do it cannot understand and those who do cannot explain it. Maybe this is where 'ethics' come into play. To me a skillfull 1000 yard precision shot is perfectly ethical where it might be insanely unethical to a bowhunter who only shoots up to 30 yards. Regradless, I know my limitations and play within those boundaries. M

Wow. Just wow. What an AWESOME buck. I think thats the coolest and nicest bucks posted yet this year. Conrats! Gotta love the Edge! M

I am not sure if there is any corosponding info in the article at the link below, but there maybe some usefull info. http://www.longrangehunting.com/articles/f...nge-rifle-1.php

Coues hunter, this post is in NO way to try and make you change your views or methods. Rather, it is just a post to try and help you understand why I do what I do and why I do it. I have a confession to make to you coues hunter. Many times (I have admitted this in this thread already) I could get closer yet if conditions are right and the range is within my comfort zone, I will take the shot from where I am at. A sure thing is a sure thing. To wait or change the circumstances in my opinion can lead to missing out on what was a perfect opprotunity. A critter on the ground is worth 10 blown stalks. Granted, having stalked and harvested game at 20 yards and ambushed game with my bow at close range is definately something special and gratifying I wont argue that. It just happens to be my style. I love to shoot and do so very often. That is my strength, that is what I take advantage of. Like I said, it just happens to be my style of hunting. Now this one should make you fall down and have convolutions, I promised myself I would get my first 4 digit yardage kill this year if it meant hiking in the opposite direction as the critter till the yardage was right. Why? Becaise I can and just plain want to. I have prided myself with close up harvests and I desire to pride myself of a very far away harvest. I have never even attempted a 1K harvest in the past because I didnt have the equipment or the profficiency to feel comfortable with that range. Now I have both. Granted, I never had an opprotunity this year that was even workable to try and get something at 1K. The dall ram I passed on was 200 yards or nothing due to the terrain. No I did'nt pass him due to the short range he just was not what I was looking for and the moose hunt was either 20-50 yards or 3000 yards. No middle ground. Since I dont own a 50 BMG and dont know how to shoot 3000 yards if I had one, I was stuck with 20-50 yards. I ended up harvesting my bull at 20 yards with a 1K yard gun. Kind of anti clamactic but I had to put meat in the freezer. Call me crazey, but having a close up and a far away just 'does it' for me. I guess I just sleep better knowing I can do either. No disrespect meant here, just being 'honest'. Like I said, I am not trying to change your views. Just trying to help you understand why I do things the way I do them. We each have our own why of finding success and gratification from a hunt or hunting in general. In a sense, we are both looking for the same thing, just using different, even opposite approaches to get there. M

There are definately some decent archery tags and late rifle tags that will put you in the max point pass with 8 points. Not any super great hunts but some very good ones for sure. I wish you success. M

He looks alot bigger than 95" although I know how deceiving pictures can be. Regardless, dont down play him, he is a superb buck. Congrats! M

+1 Having hunted a variety of deer species (rocky mountain mule deer, desert mule deer, coues whitetail, sitka blacktails, elk, moose, caribou etc.....) I feel that a mature sonoran desert buck is hands down the most elusive and toughest to harvest. Congrats. M

That is an awesome buck. Congrats! M

Coues hunter, If I remember right, this thread was suppose to be about being less slobbish and NOT about bowhunting versus rifle hunting versus long range rifle hunting. It is about staying within our own limitations. If all you want to bow hunt and shoot 20 yards that is your buisness. If someone else wants to rifle hunt or long range rifle hunt that is their buisness. For you to come here and condem them or substandardize them for not doing it your way is just plain chicken $hit. I harvest game at whatever range I can. I take them at 20 yards and I take them at 1/2 mile. I bow hunt and rifle hunt. I have taken game with a bow and a rifle. It is called having more than one tool in your tool box. If you dont think shooting 1/2 mile is challenging then I doubt you have never tried it. Go try it before you come here and proclaim those rifle hunters as sub standard hunters. Would you let a plumber or electrician take your hard earned money if he showed up at your house with only one tool in his belt? I know I would'nt. M

When it comes to optical quality and clarity they are both awesome. However, there are no two pairs of eyes alike. I see the best through the Swaro ELs. The Leicas of equal value are just a hair less bright to me but I know plenty of other guys that beg to differ and many guys like me who beg to differ against the Leicas. The bottom line is you should be looking at both and not just once. Look a couple of times in a day. One when the sun is at its highest and another time in low light. Then think about it and do the same thing once or twice more. You may be suprised how much comparing them multiple times will help you see the difference. On that note, I love my 10x42 ELs but I would rather have the Leicas due to reliablity. I have had mine fog internally and know several guides up here who have had that happen to them as well and wont use them for that reason. Most of the guides up here use Leica even though many of those love the EL glass. On range finders, There are things I love about my Swaro and more things I hate. I prefer the Leica lasers many times more. They are smaller, lighter, easy to use, and give excellent readings even in bright light on dull targets. My swar is very finicky and bulky but does range much further. Hope that helps! M