.270

is homer stevens any kin to the old homer stevens who used to live at the skill center? had a big ol' elk rack on his carport. got to know him real well many years ago when building water tanks and putting in pipelines on the rez. Lark.

what? no wolf? if we're talkin' about taste. Lark

well, i know jack pretty good. we both served together as republican precinct committee members in RV at one time. he used to own the local pizza joint. was a town councilman, all that stuff. ran for county supv, etc, etc. and he is also a sportsman. i've had him check my license and kills numerous times over the years while he was on the azgfd posse or whatever it is. he has a real interest in wildlife and i'm confidant he'll do what he thinks is best, not what the rest o' the good ol' boys say is best. i'm sure his poltical ties had a lot to do with his appointment, but he's the only guy on the current commission that i have any confidence in to do what is right no matter what kinda heck he catches over it. again, wildlife has to come first and it "NEVER" does. look at the list: town manager= politician. police chief= politician retired county attorney= politician assistant state vetrinarian= political appointee retired wildlife bioligist and sitting member= i have to put this one as a political job too. don't know where he was a bioligist, but i'd guess for the azgfd, therefore he has a lot of built in bias. attorney= attorney. is there not one person in this state who isn't politically affilliated or is being paid back as a political favor who is qualified to be on the commission? these guys might be the best thing since homemade soap, but i see politicians who are being repaid for something. they might be absolutely qualified and have the best interest of Az. wildlife at heart, but there has to be at least one guy in this state who isn't a politcian or isn't politically connected that isn't at least as qualified or even more. i refuse to believe that there. isn't one non-degreed, non-affilliated, non-biased sportsman in this state that isn't completely and totally qualified to be on the commission and who would make an excellent commissioner. every time a list comes out it is the same thing with different names. attorneys, doctors, politicians, people who have never had a hunting license and have never hunted or fished in their lives. like i said before, one good friend who was on the commission hadn't hunted enough to even know what it's about. had to change political parties in order to get the appointment. and he was a good guy. i really liked him and valued his friendship, had a great family, an all around good guy. but there ain't anyway he was even remotely qualified to be on the commission. look at the jokers we've had in past 20 or 30 years. some rancher woman from down by tucson. she said and did some of the stupidest things i've heard of. the whole commission that sat around and let uso pull it's tricks and i feel was perfecly happy with the outcome until the sportsmen in the state threatened complete anarchy. we have the one hugger on there now that the state refused to seat so mr naplitano did it with some executive order. this bunch we have now that had the divine inspiration to do away with 25% of lion season for 99% of the hunters because a few guys said they didn't want to run their dogs in the summer. then don't run em, don't screw the rest of us out of 25% of the season. the same buncha guys that sat around and let the rocky bighorns get far enough south to get in the same herds with desert sheep. it goes on and on. politics first, wildlife maybe 3rd or 4th, if it's conveniient. again, these might be great guys, but they aren't being considered becasue of that. it's political. Lark.

go back and call him in. Lark.

bill, i understand the process intimatley. i just wonder why all the choices are always political. always. jack husted is the only guy i can remember that wasn't a 100% total politcal favor. had a good friend, well actually several, who were commissioners. the one guy, won't mention his name, had to change his political registration from republican to democrat so symington could nominate him. what good did that do? he didn't change his views just because he re-registered. look at this list here. politicians, every one of em. why not nominate you or amanda or just some guy that is a straight shooter and has some real knowledge and experience with Az and it's flaura and fauna? why's it always gotta be a dang politician? we get too many decisions that depend on political pressure and not what is best for Az. wildlife. the commission isn't supposed to be there to represent hunters or anglers or politicians. they are supposed to be there to represent the things that can't represent themselves, the wildlife. they have no say. the azgfd and the commission is supposed to do what is the absolute best for Az's wildlife and if they do what is best and if those decisions allow hunters and anglers the opportunity to take game and fish then things are working ok. the wildlife is supposed to come first. but it doesn't. it comes about 3rd or 4th. first is money. sell as many tags as possible to finance whatever. won't even go into it, but it isn't managed very well. second is political pressure. from whichever way the wind blows. then sportsmen. then even the opinions of anti's are added in there. then maybe after all this, the wildlife is taken into consideration. but the best welfare of the wildlife isn't. from what i can see, they are like livestock to the azgfd. sell as many of em as you can to make money. anyway, i'll get off the soap box, but i wanna know why every dang one of the guys on the list are politically connected and why every dang commissioner in the last 40 years has been. i'll bet there is at least one right now that has never shot an animal in their life. Lark.

if you're stuck on .30 caliber, i'd go with a .300 win mag, weatherby, or maybe even a .300 ultra or .30/.378. the short mag is a little flatter than an '06 but the bigger cases have a lot more potential. a lotta guys will argue against me, but well, you all know it, i'm the smartest guy in the world. the short mags are, or were, interesting. and i really like the .270 wsm, because it is a llot faster than a .270. but the .300 wsm just sorta runs outta gas. if you want to shoot 1000 yards, then a little more velocity is your friend. all guns really drop after 400-500 yards. i mean really drop. the farther you can stretch that is a big help. i have a .300 mag, well actually several, but one i really like. in fact i shot the barrel out on it and had a new schnieder installed. full 26 inch with a muzzlebrake. sorta spendy, but man it shoots. even a shaky ol' guy with a phony shoulder joint like me can make mickey mouse heads all day long with it. when i found out the barrel was gone i probably would have tried to go to a bigger cartridge but my kids bought me a high dollar leupold vari x 3 with a custom reticle and turret set up for my handloads. the short mag is ok, but i think you'd be better off with something that holds more powder. speed kills. my .300 is a model 70. the new "pre-64" style. they ain't a real pre 64, but they ain't bad. i've had it for about 14 years. the gunsmith trued the bolt and action and some other stuff. i haven't even bedded it yet. but it dang sure shoots. from what i've read, schnieder barrels are the best there is. tubb uses em and so do the marine and army snipers. but dang, they cost a lot. i'd use either a remington or winchester action. i think the remingtons are noted as being a tad more accurate. personally i like the mauser extractor. and i like winchester triggers. but they make some great dropins, like jewel or timney triggers that really improve over the piece o' crap stock remington. you can guy great drop in stocks with alluminum bedding blocks for a reasonable price. another thing i don't like are big fat heavy barrels. they are great at the range but miserable to pack around. and don't make one bit of difference in hunting accuracy. skinny barrels are just as accurate as a fat one, until they get hot, but when you're hunting, you shouldn't have to worry about shooting one enough to get it hot. but i like long ones. anyway, you axed. Lark.

question- why do the candidates always have to have some sort of political or professional affilliation? i see these guys are all either politically employed, reitired from politics or some other form of gov't employment. why don't you guys come up with some guy with no political or professional affilliation that is just concerned about Az. wildlife? why's it always hafta be political? is that some rule? the single biggest problem with the azgfd commission is that it is a political appointment. those considered for appointment always have some sort of political slant or aspiration. the ones doing the appointing dang sure do. and they always make decisions based on political pressure. wildlife do not have any political leanings. they can't tell if they get shot by a republican or a democrat. our wildlife is dependent on people. things have been changed and "managed" too much to just let nature take it's course. we have to step in now and give things a nudge. why make it political? if you guys actually have some input then input someone who isn't a puppet. i'd bet there will be a dozen folks at this meeting that will be much better candidates than anyone on this list. Lark.

the reason credit card interest has skyrocketed is so that the folks that pay their bills can pay off the bills o' the folks that defaulted. mine doubled awhile back. never made a late payment. seldom carry over anything past the month. i paid it off and told em to stuff it. i ain't about to pay off some welfare case's card for em. Lark.

just got back from the wolf hunt and bovine pugilism (cow punchin') trip. thought i got one, but it was just a coyote. dangit. i packed a fryin' pan and some k-paul's blackened wolf seasoning over to where it croaked to fry up some. man was i disappointed. it just ain't the same. did shoot a skunk tho. it wernt bad, but nothin' like wolf. i think it had rabies. i been a little afeared o' water since. only other endangered fecies i saw was a gila monster. started to kill it, but the last time i ate one it give me a bad case o' indignation. ain't never really got over it. seen a big herd o' tommygobblers. several herds o' henznpullets. quite a few deer, both the mule and whitetail variety. treed a coon. didn't even use the hounds niether. he was walkin' around by the creek in early afternoon and he went up a tree when i hollerd. did get a few photos of him. poor little feller. packed some salt. got started pumpin' a lotta water, of which the wildllife will get as much use from as the bovines. and at great expense too. slugged a few cows. welded on corrals. fixed the generator so we could pump water. would like to put a solar setup on the wells so's there wouldn't be a buncha diesel smoke pollution and to lessen the demand on foreign oil, but for some reason the gov't won't let it take place. and so there ain't a need to cause futher pollution haulin' the generator around. can't figger that one out? other than it is the gov't. whatever makes sense they are agin and whatever don't make sense they are all for. like wolves. but don't mention green enviro friendly solar 'lectricity. they're plum agin that. seen a fresh bear track and it was season and everthing but it didn't look like a great big one and where he was at he wernt botherin' no cows, so we just rode on. seen a lion track and even seen a for sure wolf track. it had been drinkin' some o' that man made water. too bad them mean ol' ranchers put all that stuff there. i'm sure he'd be a lot better off without it. the forest circus lit off a big controlled burn the day the wind hit. guess they don't get the weather channell. i looked from a high spot today and didn't see much smoke so maybe the rain last night knocked it down before it got away from em. but i'm sure they got more kerosene and get get'r perked back up again and get it up to official outta control forest fire status. it did rain a little last night from just below honeymoon on up. cooled off quite a bit. didn't see any snow on the peaks. didn't rain much below the smelly crossing. looked as if it rained a fair amount south o' the gila in the black hills. oh yeah, and we did see several more maroons. in fact quite a few. it was coues season ya know i'm glad at least a couple guys here have seen buggs bunny a'fore. well, maybe i'll have better luck next time. i need a little more variety in my diet. deer, elk, pronghorn, quail, turkey, trout, skunk etc. get a little boring. oh yeah, i looked in the mirror and all i seen was a good lookin' cowboy. real goodlookin' and tall. later maroons. Lark.

what a maroon. i've only seen a couple of the stupid things in my life. in fact i saw more of em before they "reintroduced" em than since. real wild ones. hurry up and send this email to the bunny sherrif so they can watch me. in fact, i'm headed to wolf country this morning. soon as i load my saddle and bedroll. be there for awhile too. hope i see lots o' wolf/dogs. bring home a big ol' ice chest fulla wolf meat. i did almost squeeze the trigger on one once. in unit 10. where there ain't sposeta be any. saw a big ol coyote and was literally squeezin' the trigger when my buddy said it looked like it had a collar on. sure nuff did too. nice little antenna stickin' up there. they need to put them big red flags on em like the quad runners and dune buggies all have. dang bowsniper, you need to get a real life and not worry so much about some inbred curr that ain't never gonna be able to make it on it's own. wolf meat, now that oughta be some real good stuff there. Lark,

the biggest enemys them wolf dogs have is cars and the gov't trappers that the usfw sends out to shoot em. besides, i'm far too smart to ever get caught by mere mortals.

instead o' wolf helper i like to use a little black footed feret, spike dace minnows, hump back chub (that's a fish, not bullwidgeon) or maybe some spotted owl for seasoning with the wolf burger. Lark.

only way to tell anything even close is to shoot it through a chronograph. you might be able to get within a couple hundred fps by guessing, but that's it. maybe. i've been shooting my .300 a bunch the past couple weeks, tuning in a load for the new barrel and scope. i shoot well over 200 fps faster than what the manual says. i've got a real consistent load that i've decided on and it varies from 20 to 60 fps, and that is a pretty consistant load. 100 fps differen isn't real uncommon with a lot of loads in a given barrel. get a chronograph, shot 5 or 6 rounds through it. anything else is just a guess. seems to me that i'm usually considerably faster than what the books say the load should be. barrel lengths, chamber sizing, throat length, all make a difference. Lark.

my wolf tags come 20 to a box. dang i like wolf burger. and i'm plum out. Lark.

i have a lyman 1200dps3 computerized digital 'lectronic reloader powder scale/throw. it's a real piece o' $h!t. anybody else have one o' pieces o' junk. tried to get my kid to throw it up in the air so i could blast it with my 12 guage but because him and his brothers went in on it for my birthday he wouldn't do it. anyway, it won't throw accurate for anything with any powder. used to be great, but was never real good with h4831. worked real well with h4831sc, h4350, varget, etc. now it won't throw accurate with any powder or weight. it's kept clean, isn't missused or abused, yet anyway. anybody have any experience with these steamin' yams? i won't put up with junk for very long. this thing was quite expensive and is supposed to save time and be more accurate, but my old manual rcbs scales are at least 50 times faster and just as accurate. the lyman throws heavy almost every time. and it isn't just a little, half a grain or more most of the time. i've had it weigh heavy for 20-30 times in a row before it will throw an accurate one. and you can't set it up light use the trickler. still throws a big blob all at once. sometimes over a grain with just one bump of the button. i sent lyman an email but if they're like every other customer service jerk i've ever deal with, they won't have anything but hot air and gas about it. anybody have any experience,k good or bad with these things? Lark.

seems all ice and the bp wanna do is hassle joe for catchin' em after they get here. sometime soon there is gonna be a tragedy between hunters and these bastards. Lark.

2-------7------d 2-------7------d 2-------7------d. Lark.

good on ya. you gotta be a tough guy to crawl off in a hole like that. alla you cornflingin' salt packers take note. this dude is a hunter. Lark.

glad ya'll are ok. now you've added one more thing to the really short of list of things that coues deer are good for. if you'da hit a coues you coulda just squeegee'd the windshield, like after ya hit a big bug, and been on your way again. Lark.

midway usa has em. in catalog #31 they are on page 601. Lark.

i prefer the liar method. that way i always get the biggest one. Lark.

the deer live in the "weather" all the time. hot, cold, rainy, windy, snow, drought. they're always there. the only thing that really gets affected much by the weather is the hunters. a buncha snow might move em. heavy rain might bush em up for awhile. but they're still there. "you" just hafta adapt. Lark.

casey has clients? guys droov all the way out here for banjo lessons? Lark.

hey, if you're gonna make us all look bad with your first post i vote we don't let ya play with us. good bull. Lark

after lookin' at that elk i ain't quite as jealous. good thing you got him outta the herd. he looks like a true nontypical and not a broke pedical bull. Lark.