Sir Buckwheat

It doesn't get any better than that! Sounds like you all had a great time!

Congrats! Nice looking buck.

I'm surprised you were able to follow that blood trail without using a tracking dog... Sounds like you had a great hunt. Tell your son Congrats!

Nah, his tracks look like this...

My dad always said you can either go fishing or take a kid fishing, but not both. I've found the same to be true with hunting. When I take the kids along I go to have fun with the kids and if we get a chance to shoot something??? Its a bonus. Take lots of snacks, toys, games, and patience. I take my kids with me a lot but when I'm ready to fill my tag I sneak off alone. I have filled tags with them there, my daughter was 3 the first time I took her out and we killed a little forkhorn buck. I bowhunt though and its tough to do with the kids. I have a rifle elk tag this year, the season starts saturday so we'll see how it goes. Second weekend is all mine though... Good luck. Another thing I do is I'm not picky about what I shoot when the kids are along. It makes a good experience for them no matter the size of the buck.

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Thanks BC, we're pretty happy to have him.

I took the kids out a couple weeks ago for their first prarie dog hunt. We were there about an hour and they each got shots at 4 dogs and killed 3 each. I was pretty proud, they are getting to be really good shots.

You have some great footage. Nice bucks too!

Friday I went to town and bought a cheap walmart special scope to see if they was my problem. Unfortunately that was the only scope that was in the budget for right now. It made a world of difference. Even with the Tasco on it I had 4/5 rounds touching at 100 yards and 3/5 touching at 200, shooting the Hornady Superformance with the 117 grain GMX. you could cover my 100 yard group with a nickel and 4/5 shots on my 200 yard group with a quarter. I think the flyer was my fault but it was still only an inch and a half off of the others. I know one thing for sure though, I'm going to have to invest in a sissy pad for this gun. For a 25-06 it stomps you! I may go ahead and put a new stock on it anyway since this one is pretty short. That ought to help. Looks like whoever built this gun did a fine job of it. I'll put some better glass on it by next year but hopefully this tasco will hold up until I get my elk tag filled...

Has anyone tried these guns out? I saw them on SWAT TV or one of those shows a while back. They're pricey but are supposed to be darn nice guns. Just wondering if they're all they are cracked up to be. They make them in Salt Lake City, Utah. I might have to swing by next time I'm up that way. Seems like a pretty good system... http://www.deserttacticalarms.com/firearms

We all had a great time. My son made me print off his picture so he could take it to school for show and tell on Friday... Ya, he is worth sacrificing a hunting season. He's getting to be a Daddy's boy too. Yesterday he wouldn't let me put him down. He only wanted my wife when he was hungry then he'd cry until I picked him up. She's probably cussing me today!!

I've been trying that here at home but no one seems interested. I even offered to let them shoot a couple of shots through it...no takers. Free ammo always makes it better. I think the .338 Lapua would be great to have but even reloading ammo for it gets a bit pricey. Of course when you're dropping 5k for a gun I guess the ammo is the cheap part!

I talked to a friend of mine that is in the Army. He had a chance to shoot one a couple of months ago while delivering ammo to a Special Forces squad that was training at the base where he is stationed. He said within 5 shots they had him making killing shots at 1500+ meters with the .338L. He was very impressed.

I love unique critters like that! Very Cool!! I saw a picture of a bull a few years ago that a guy killed in a Spike only unit. The regs say that it has to have one horn with no eye guard. His bull was a big 6 on one side and a 40+" spike on the other. He stopped at a check station and they OK'd it, although they weren't too happy he'd shot it. It was legal...

I'm in Utah, as far as I know we don't have a squirrel season here. My son really wants to shoot one though... My kids love dove hunting with me. This years been a little crazy since my wife gave birth to my 3rd child, son #2, two weeks ago. Terrible timing on my part to have a kid in the middle of bow and dove season. I think we'll keep him though.

Thanks Oneshot. No training wheels or any other gadgets. Once you get the right arrow/broadhead found all you have to do is keep your brace height adjusted and shoot. Its a lot lighter than my compound was too. I had to laugh the other night. Our regular season ended but I live in an area with an extended archery season that runs till the end of the year. I was hunting my neighbors field and he drove out to change sprinklers. I walked out to talk to him and he looked at my bow and asked "How in the He!! do you aim that thing? You can really kill deer and elk with that?" I just laughed and offered to let him shoot it. He declined but said he'd stop by sometime when he saw me out practicing and take me up on it then. He's a rifle hunter and razz's me about using a bow all the time.

Its the once peice reflex deflex design 68" long and 55#'s at a 28" draw. It shoots like a dream. Bill definitely does a great job with them! It is made of Zebra Wood on the handle inlaid with ebony and another red wood that I can't recall the name of. The tips and front of the handle have pink flame wood on them. Large peices of it look like it is on fire. The bow is a work of art as well as a smooth shooter...Hopefully I can add a nice Coues buck to the list of critters that have fell victim to my Zona!

This one's supposed to have a lifetime warranty just like the Leapolds, unfortunately I don't think it would be here by next weekend. Probably have to bite the bullet and go buy one...

With that much variance, I suspect you have a loose reticle inside your scope. It could be your mounts, but I doubt it. Try mounting another scope and see what happens. Bill Quimby I'll have to try that too. Thanks.

Thanks for the replies guys. I didn't realize the PH's in Africa carried mausers. Someday I'll make it there....hopefully sooner than later. Doubt I'll be able to afford any dangerous game but Kudu, Impala, Waterbuck, and Duiker have been in my dreams since I was 8 years old, along with getting to hunt the African plains. So I shot my gun the other day and once I got it sighted in things looked pretty good. I was shooting Federals Fusion Ammo in 120 grain. My last 3 shot group was pretty impressive. Friday I got to a town with more ammo. I bought another box of Fusions and a box of Hornady 117 grain GMX. My first shot didn't even hit paper. I finally got it zero'd in and had 2 shots pretty tight. The next shot was 8 inches high and left. Then I had a shot way right. I thought it might be me so I did a couple dry fires to make sure I was staying steady, then shot again. This one was 6 inches low. I wondered if it was the new ammo so I put the Fusions back in and got the same result. Shots all over. I could dial it in then within 2-3 shots it was all over the place. I'm thinking it might be my scope mounts. They came with the gun but I wasn't crazy about them They have set screws on the back that move the scope left to right. I'm thinking they are allowing the scope to move. I can't think of anything else that would make it zero in for 2 shots then jump around like it is. Any thoughts? I'm shooting a Bushnell Trophy that I bought 15 years or so ago and used it on a .300 Mag that I had. It never gave me a bit of trouble then so I don't imagine it would now. It hasn't been used in 10 years.

Great pic. Kids make hunting that much more enjoyable! My two older kids love to go with me, my youngest is only a week old so it will be a little while before I can pull him away from momma...

I actually went out and did just that last night. I bought it so I could take my kids elk hunting with me this year and it starts in a couple of weeks. I usually bow hunt but thats not easy with a 5 and 7 year old along so I thought we'd give rifle hunting a try this year. I'd been wanting a good rifle to shoot coyotes with anyway. We don't have a lot of variety here locally as far as ammo goes but I bought a box of Federal's Fusion ammo in 120 grain. The guy I bought it from said his brother had it custom built several years ago and only used it for 2 years then had problems of some sort and couldn't hunt anymore. This guy bought it from him for his kids but his kids didn't like it because the wood stock was too heavy. The barrel looks really clean and overall the gun is in good shape. The shells I bought say they have a 3inch drop at 200 yards when zero'd at 100yards. I sighted it in 3inches high at 100 yards and then backed off to 200 and shot my last 3 shells. Two shots were touching and the 3rd was about 3/4 inch high right of the other two. This just might be the best $200 I've spent...It will need a different stock since it doesn't fit me very well, its a little short, and an upgrade on my optics but the gun itself might be ok. I'll definitely be replacing the base and rings too, they gave me a little trouble right off and I wasted half the box of shells because of them. Right now I've got a Bushnell Trophy scope that I bought about 15 years ago. I also really like the 25-06 caliber. I've filled 2 cow tags with one that my father-in-law has, both one shot kills at 250-300 yards. I'm excited to get back into guns and long range shooting. I burned up a lot of powder when I was in high school shooting coyotes and can't wait to get back into that...

Another thing you need to be careful of is the scent you leave getting to your stand. That can spook a lot of critters as much as if they smell you sitting there, even hours later. Sounds like a good spot, analyze what you did wrong and try to do better next time. I have a hayfield I hunt that I'm lucky to be able to hunt once a week on a good week because of the wind. Thats why they big boys hang out there though. They know everything thats in the field long before they come out of the cover. If you can't get the wind right at the salt lick you might try finding which trail most of them are coming in on and try setting up on the trail coming in instead of at the actual salt lick.

Thanks. I've never enjoyed shooting as much as I have since I bought this bow. It also is a lot nicer to pack around the hills. Weighs next to nothing...