Whitesheep

Right now for me it would be a Desert Big Horn Sheep right here in AZ. Sure I would like to do AK and even Africa, but that just costs money and not so much that an average guy couldn't afford it if they gave up some things. An AZ Big Horn Sheep, however, is wait for the draw. Unless you have $300k to spend on a hunt, which I certainly don't. I probably started collecting points too late to ever have a chance, but that is my ultimate hunt.

How's the mount holding up? Hope you had a good taxidermist who would keep their mouth shut. Shouldn't post stuff like this the NSA is reading it all.

No one is laughing wildwoody. It is just that some of us have been there and spent hundreds before we spent thousands. If you count the optics I bought and replaced over the years my "serious glass" cost about double what I paid for it. We are just trying to help you avoid the same situation. No one is bragging. I wish someone had clued me in earlier as I could have another nice rifle on what I wasted. Good luck. Education is not cheap.

And then wait a little longer so you can acquire the last pair you will every buy. Trust me, you will save money in the long run unless your looking way over the hill and don't have many hunts left. Even then, make the last hunts count. High quality glass is also really nice on old eyes. Your kids are just going to spend your money anyway when you're gone.

Bummer situation Ultra. I was going to suggest a long talk with Mr. Turd, but it seems you tried that and it didn't work. Sounds like there may be some back story you don't know about that protects this guy. That being said I would stick it out, but keep looking. However, sometimes the devil you know is better than the one you find. I switched jobs after 12 years in a place I didn't really fit in to move to what I thought at the time would be a better job. It was frying pan to fire for me, which was a lesson in the illusion of greener grass on the other side of the fence. That being said the fire experience led be to my current job which is the best I have ever had and will be my last. Life is strange. It really is too bad that hard work and dedication don't get you to the top, but having dirt on someone or a brown nose does. If everyone within a company would look at their business card every day and see they work for the same organization; recall how payroll is made and finally remember that a bigger pie makes everyone's slice bigger, we would all get along better.

How long it takes each of us to learn that quality isn't cheap is an individual journey. Some never get there and spend more money in the long run trading in and out of lesser quality goods than those that figure out "you get what you pay for" earlier. Just get over it and buy the best made. For what you spend on a 4x4 truck or annually on your cell phone and TV bill $3000 for optics should not be out of the question for any serious hunter or outdoors man. I too had to get "optics religion" after trying to save money. Luckily I figured it out at the Nikon level and jumped right to the Swarovski, Zeiss and Leica level for binoculars and spotting scopes. My Swarovski Spotter on an Outdoorsman's tripod is the nicest thing I own as it is IMHO the best of the best; probably in the world. I can't afford to do this in a truck or rifle, but I can with optics. You know what they say about not being able to shoot what you can't see. Not quite there on rifle scopes and am currently stuck at the Leupold VX-3 level as because each rifle needs a scope I really can't afford $2500 for each rifle I hunt with. Now maybe if I settle down on that .280AI M48 for everything from coues to Elk I can get there too. Go big on optics, you will not regret it.

+1000 that ballistics programs are where you start and actual range results are what you develop your DOPE with.

My wife and I joined our friend and his wife for their annual Marine Birthday Ball last Saturday evening 11/7. What a wonderful time and a great way to celebrate the birthday of the worlds greatest fighting force.

Maybe not in time, but the gear from BDS are favorites of mine. Their Light Riggers Belt works great for hunting as it is stiff enough to carry holsters etc, but if you are carrying a pack with a waist belt, the buckle doesn't get much in the way. It also has a loop to run a rope trough or hook a carabiner to for recovery. http://www.bdstacticalgear.com/pd-bds-tactical-riggers-belt.cfm

I've been waiting all my time (30+ years) in AZ to see an formally undocumented prehistoric ruin. Finally I found one with a little help from a friend. To the right of my gloved hand you can see a hand print in the blackened plaster that is a little smaller than mine. I wear a size large glove usually. This room was blackened from floor to where the ceiling was. Sacred Kiva room would be my guess. It had one door, the one you can see in the prior picture. Looking into the Kiva room from the one door. There was probably a foot of debris from the ceiling and fallen walls on the floor. Many of the doors had wood in this type of shape. Amazing. The holes in the far wall were for the ceiling main beams. Another room actually had two small parts of the ceiling intact enough to see the main beams and the diagonal sticks on which the plaster floor was laid. This thread has been great and I am glad I was able to finally contribute.

These comments are why I don't read hunting magazines and don't watch hunting shows on TV. It has become too much about the range at which game is shot (longer = better) and the size of the antlers/skull. What happened to getting close to game to prove your "hunting" ability? While I haven't read any in a while, I recall most magazine hunting articles followed this formula: 1. Expert writer gets free hunt from high priced guide 2. Expert writer gets free high end optics and a loaner high dollar rifle 3. Expert writer gets free high end clothing 4. Expert writer hunts the entire time allotted to the hunt through wind/rain/snow/poor TV reception in wall tent set up by guide 5. On the last day expert writer kills the biggest thing to walk the planet of that species The only exception to this pattern I know of is the Western Hunter show where they actually sometimes don't bag anything. Rant over. Thanks for letting me vent.

There has been much good discussion over at Len's Long Range Hunting Forum including this link to a White Paper that accompanied their video and provides much deeper insight into what Hornady has done. This link was provided by Bullseye: http://www.hornady.com/assets/files/resources/ELD-X_ELD-Match_Technical_Details.pdf It is a very good read and IMHO Hornady does a good job of letting the data speak and doesn't bash other manufacturers. No matter what if you are a ballistics geek, this is a great read and you will appreciate Hornady's investment in research and development. Honestly I am not sure how much this will impact me personally as I keep my hunting shots inside 300 yards. I like the challenge of shooting further and shoot in silhouette when my ego needs correcting (out to 500m), but would rather get closer to game. However, if I was to go back to AK or even get to do Africa sometime, I would work up a load with this new bullet (once they make it in a large enough caliber) just for the insurance.

Tried it once for Elk but the roads were so bad in our unit you were constantly getting off to cross washes. I dumped my bike about 1/4 mile out of camp while my buddy rode on. In the end I caught up with him quickly on foot then beat him back to camp later in the day after we split up. He had to go back for his bike since we decided to hunt country no wheeled vehicle could cover and mine was closer to camp. I suppose if you had a big tire bike that could work. You will also want to lower your seat so you can reach the ground without damaging your privates trying to prevent a fall. My problem with mountain biking or hunt biking is that to go fast enough to maintain stability on rough ground you expose yourself to major injury if you fall. Major injury behind locked gate = I don't want to know. That being said, it could be good for scouting where you didn't have to carry so much weight in a rifle, ammunition, knives, game bags, extra water, etc. You would still have to be young enough not to have my aversion to injury. For those that have found it useful, more power to you, but it isn't for me.

Officially jealous.

Yeah, Cave Creek is the canyon near Portal, not the one North of Phoenix. It is all private land and no hunting is allowed. The group of bucks this guy was with obviously know that well.

Personally this guy would be mine if I found him outside of Cave Creek.

I apologize if this topic has been covered elsewhere, but I was not able to find a thread old or new that covers the use of 2-way radios while hunting. If such an thread exists, I would appreciate being pointed in that direction. The article "Your Ethics. Your Defining Moment" by Tim Christie in the July/August 2013 edition of Arizona Wildlife Views states: "Portable radios and cell phones keep us connected. Use them in the pursuit of game and your'e breaking the law in Arizona." This was a surprise to me. It has been my understanding that the use of radios or any electronic communications is not accepted by many big game scoring clubs like Boone and Crockett, but I was not aware of any legal limitations of their use in Arizona while hunting. I searched the WWW with Google and didn't turn anything up specific. A search for the word "radio" in the PDF version of the 2013-14 Arizona Hunting Regulations turned up this word four times. Three were in reference to shooting game with radio collars (don't) and one was on a checklist of essentials and specifically mentioned "FRS type radios." So what's up.? Is it illegal or unethical to use 2-way radios while hunting? If so, what does "pursuit of game" mean. Is a hunting group that splits up to cover a large area and calls each other together if one finds game or good sign "pursuit?" How about calling for help once a game animal is down? Thank you in advance for your guidance.

The .223 class cartridge is ideal for Javalina hunting in my opinion. For those of you who use a .224 bullet, what type and weight of bullet do you use and why?

Denny's has done me well on several vehicles. Custom work on an old C6 as well as general fixes on Dodge 42's They won't fix what isn't broke just to make a dime. If you want specialize work, they can do it too. http://dennystransmission.com/

Officially jealous.

Nice stand Bowhnt, but I would like a little longer chain. The commercial Caldwell 10" is actually pretty nice for the $. Mine has taken multiple .340 Wby's at 300 yards with no problem, but it does tend to knock the gong off the chains once in a while so that is why I suggest you might want them longer to soak up a little more power. Gongs are so much fun everyone should have several! For my next gong I am going to check out Industrial Metal as I have been ordering mine from http://shootsteel.com/ with free shipping on special days. You can even get blemish gongs from them although I am not really sure what that means other than a lower price.

Hey Huntharder, were you using a .224 bullet? I didn't know Nosler made a BT in this caliber. I really like BT's, but the smallest bullet Nosler lists on their site is a 7mm. In fact Nosler doesn't list anything under 6mm. Good to here the 60-65 grain bullets are working well. This is my thinking as well. While I have had good accuracy with 70 and 77 grain bullets they sure are l o n g and use up a lot of case capacity. Thanks for the information. OK, I wasn't looking deeply enough into Nosler's product line. The 60 grain NBT is on my list to try.

Only one of my hunting rifles carries a muzzle break for all of the reasons mentioned here and it is a forward break. I can stand recoil better than loud noises and my Elk rifle is a .340 Wby Mag (no break for a reason). When hunting I always carry ear plugs, but don't always get to use them. The plastic band plugs work pretty well, but they do tend to get hung up in all those straps (bino, pack, rifle) as well as pulled apart by deep brush. Carry a spare. My tinnitus comes and goes, but it has been set off again from all this talk from you who have it really bad. My heart goes out to you all, sincerely. In the future I am going to avoid threads like this as now the ringing is going to take at least a day to go away. At least it goes away.

Maybe G&F could charge a "tag insurance" fee like airlines and cruise companies do so if you can't go, you get your money or at least your bonus points back. Then if you want to be protected, you pay for it. If you accept this as one of life's little random events (unless it is a Sheep tag) than maybe you don't by insurance. Complicated systems are always cracked by people with the time, money and/or brains to do so. Think of how your new Jeep can now be hacked..... I am not so sure the "problem" G&F is trying to solve is worth the risk. Unless the goal is not to solve a perceived problem but to make more money.

If you are not already a member, I recommend you join the Arizona Desert BigHorn Sheep Society today. There is a wealth of information and help from this great group of people who really care about sheep. Care as in conservation, not just hunting them. Most if not all of the pictures posted by desertsheep appeared in the ADBSS news letter if I am not mistaken. Find out more here: http://www.adbss.org/ For me with this type of once in a lifetime hunt I would borrow money to hire a guide. Good luck,