Coach

So far, what I've heard is bucks that were 200" last year are 190-ish this year. Very little water in the spring seems to have had a negative affect on growth. That said, I can count the 190" bucks I've seen alive, in person on one finger, so I'm not too discouraged by the "less than optimal" horn growth. I'm not going up there with "200+ or nothing" approach. I just want to have a good time, see some good deer in amazing country, and if it is my turn to get a crack at one of those big boys, I hope all my practice and preparation come together when it counts. What's really cool, is how many people have been willing to share information so when I get up there I'll have a clue what I'm doing. Most, if not all of the people who have gotten me pointed in the right direction are from this site, and I am truly grateful to all of them.

Think about the caliber. 300 Wby in a super light gun has a lot of trade-offs. The same gun in .257 wby will do a lot better, accuracy-wise.

Twigsnapper, yes, I went with different wheels so I could run some 33" tires. The front is pretty tight with stock wheels so if you want to run taller tires, even with the same width, you need a little more room. I've got a post over on the campfire with pix of the truck after a 3" lift and new tires and wheels. Rossislider, yes, I'm selling just the wheels. I still have two of the old Big-O tires that came off, but I'm kind of saving those for my son's truck. The other two tires were very worn and ready to be recycled.

I'll provide pix if necessary. Got some custom wheels and want to sell the the stock wheels. Come get 'em.

My favorite all-around cartridges are .300 WSM and .270 WSM. With Nosler Accubonds, they do it all. That said, I'm in the process of reloading for my 25-06 as a "backup" gun for a strip tag. I'm going to load 100 grain Barnes TTSX on 50 grains of IMR 4350. That 25-06 is one amazing shooter - but as others have said, even though it's accurate out past 500 yards you lose a lot of energy, especially with a 100 grain bullet. I'll be shooting my .300 WSM Savage 114 classic as my primary gun - it just kills anything in front of it, with the heavy barrelled Savage 110 in 25-06 as a backup. I'll also bring my kids' Howa .270 WSM with 140 grain accubonds, just in case. They're all inexpensive rifles, but with handloads and practice, they all are very deadly. Who knows, if I like the way the TTSX shoot out of the 25-06, it might just be my go-to gun on this hunt. It's really heavy (1" bull barrel), but I've seen what it does to prairie dogs out past 400 yards. Shooting a 2"x4" target at 400+ yards, consistently, gives you a lot of faith. Add a solid copper bullet, and I have no doubt it's enough gun to get the job done.

IMO, if you have time, the only way to go is DIY. It's a lot of work, but well worth it. My family are picky eaters when it comes to game meat. If you take the time, and do it yourself, you are more likely to get super results. Think about it, these meat processors are going through lots and lots of elk this time of year, and the pressure is on to get them done fast. They just can't put the same attention to detail in as you can - it wouldn't be worth their time at $.80/pound to trim every bit of sinew and fat out, and save all the good "scraps" for grind.

That's a great ladies pistol. They don't have to work the slide. My wife has one and her mom has one. I'd buy this one if I didn't have so many expenses - very fair price for a great little pocket gun. Don't let the 32 ACP fool you. There are some really good personal defense rounds for this gun.

The way the youth hunt went this year, my older boys had unit 27 mule deer tags and unit 1 cow tags for the same time so we camped just on the 27 side of Buffalo Crossing and hunted deer mostly around Middle Mountain. The plan was to find deer fast in 27 then head over to the other side of the creek to get their elk. Neither had killed a deer yet despite elk, turkey and javis, so the emphasis was on deer. Friday - opening day was cold and windy. We saw a few does early and drove our butts off but no bucks. Saturday morning, we found a TON of deer but all does. We probably saw 30 does and got stalked by a Mt. Lion. By the time I had identified it and pointed it out to the boys, it turned and ran, about 50 yards away. Saturday night, Matt shot a small buck off Middle Mtn. Sunday, we couldn’t find squat. Sat water in the morning with Nick and then bumped into some road hunters and talked with them for a bit. They hadn’t seen much. We drove around a while and bumped into them again a couple hours later and they killed a nice 3x4 with trash about 20 minutes after we talked to them – just in the right place at the right time. Monday morning we tried to go way down South. We left camp at around 5 AM and headed toward Eagle Creek. I was thinking if we could get somewhere we could glass we could find a buck for Nick. I had forgotten how far down there it is, and by the time we got where we could do any glassing, it was already way too warm and we found nothing so we headed back to camp. Matt was ready to go after elk so I showed him some places in 1 I thought he could kill, but he’d have to do it solo since I was still trying to find a deer for Nick. When Nick and I left to look for deer, Matt took the Ranger over to one of the tanks I showed him and got set up. Nick and I still couldn’t find any deer around Middle Mtn. so with about an hour of daylight left he decided he wanted to go to Unit 1 and look for an elk. About 15 minutes after we crossed into Unit 1, we found a couple of fighting bulls so I dropped Nick off for a stalk. I moved off so I wouldn’t disturb them then hiked toward the bulls. The clashing of horns and bugling was intense, and I just kept thinking, if Nick can just keep working toward the fighting bulls there should be some cows close by. I resisted calling him on the radio as daylight was running out for fear I’d mess up his stalk. All I could do is sit back and listen to bugles and clashing horns, hoping he was closing in. Then I hear the BOOM of the .270 WSM and I knew he had sealed the deal. I called him on the radio and he told me he had one down. We quartered up his elk in the dark with headlamps and hiked the meat back to the truck and headed for camp, both sweaty and bloody. At that point I thought the hunt was done – a deer for Matt and an elk for Nick. I was looking forward to a nice shower and campfire. When we arrived at camp, Matt gave Nick a big high-5 for his elk and then informed me he had one down too. I kinda figured this might happen – the spot I had him sit is at least 50/50 any given day at sundown for a cow. Turns out it was an awesome evening. He got to the tank about an hour and a half before sundown, and started hearing bugles in the distance. I had told him earlier, the best way to find cows is to find bugling bulls, so he headed after the bugles. He wasn’t able to close in on them so he headed back to the tank, but by the time he got there, the elk had already arrived. There were at least 3 bulls going nuts at the tank and who knows how many cows. He snuck in as best he could, but they were alert to his presence. He had several cows to choose from but only one offered a broadside shot. One squeeze on the 300 WSM and he had his cow down. Now Matt is just 15 and he left camp on his own, did his hunt following the advice he has learned and got his cow all by himself. By the time I got there, he had already almost quartered this cow, but when it got dark he went back to camp so his mom wouldn’t be worried. He’s going to be one heck of a hunter – already is, in my opinion. Not a great pic, but he took it with his ipod since he was all alone. So Nick and I help him finish the field dressing and get the meat back to camp. It’s getting late now, but I insist that they hang all their meat on their own – they’re 13 and 15 and this is just part of the hunt they have to learn. Tuesday morning, we have the “Jones Boys” meat pole with a deer and two elk hanging. I can’t tell you how proud I am of these boys, and the way they conducted themselves throughout the hunt. Nick was all about hiking, learning trails and bedding areas, finding water sources and trying to really learn how the deer and elk move. By the third day or so, he was feeling frustrated about not being able to find a buck, but he fought through that, kept a positive attitude and just had fun with it. Matt was able to go out completely on his own and get things done. Many times we would see deer in unit 1 or elk in 27 (both illegal to take with their tags) – but they didn’t even think about breaking the rules. They stood fast to the rules and recognized that hunting lawfully and sticking to their ethics is the only way to hunt.

16" Thanks twigsnapper.

Hey, thanks for all the replies. There's just nothing like hunting with kids, whether they are going for turkey, javis, elk or deer. Nothing gets me more pumped up than seeing youth hunters out there, learning and getting out of the x-box/playstation world. Honestly, I haven't seen one thing, including organized sports, that pulls these kids out of the "entertainment zone" as much as hunting.

Thanks Bonecollector. I've got 5 5 gallon tanks, and I figure I'll need at least 10 just to stay mobile up there. I sent out a text to some buddies looking for any available, and lots of nice people have replied. Where are you located?

Sorry, I didn't take any "before" pix. Think of a dirty black roller skate worn by many before you, lol - some journey, disco lights... you get the picture. It wasn't pretty. My skid plates are so amazingly mangled from trying to make this truck go places stock my older toyo trucks went. Next project is get with Standman and his cousin to build some real skid plates, then on to the rock sliders. These tacos aren't 1/2 of the 1st and 2nd gen toyota trucks we're used to. One little limb and we get an education on "crumple zones". LOL.

I'm not really sure where to post this, but I've got an '08 taco that needs more ground clearance. I'm looking at some 33" tires and 3" lift kits. ToyTec has a nice one by Old Man Emu with Bilstein shocks, Skyjacker has another for around 1/2 the price that looks good. Just wondering what the best way is to get a little ground clearance and run bigger tires.

Well, It's finally done. I got some great feedback from you guys and Chef really educated me on a lot of things to look at. I opted for and Old Man Emu setup sold by Toytech. It's about $300+ or so cheaper than their "ultimate lift", but has essentially the same compontents, just different brand. The main difference is, the OME front coils provide about 2.5" of front lift, but for $150 they send the front coils already compressed with a .5" spacer to give it a full 3" in the front. The back is pretty much the same, an add-a-leaf and better shocks - just OME heavy shocks instead of Bilstein. The instructions were easy to follow, and while it took the better part of a day to do the fronts, I could do it in a couple hours, having done it once. The backs were harder than I expected because you really have to be careful to not stress the soft brake lines when separating the leafs from the rear diff. At first it's easy, but it can get tricky. If I had to do it again, I would totally separate the rear leaf springs and re-install them instead of trying to force the add-a-leaf in while the main springs are still attached. That would have saved some work for sure. After doing the 3" lift, I had Discount Tire add 255/85 r16 BFG Mud Terrains with some zero offset wheels give more clearance of the upper A-arm. Lifting a Taco and adding bigger tires is pretty delicate since the stock tires and wheels are so close to the mechanics. There's very little room to work up front, and some guys have to do a lot of cutting to clear bigger tires. Luckily, I only have to trim a little plastic to accomodate the 33" tires. One after a bath...

Ok, can someone help sum this up. I can see how this works with a smart phone - but what if I'm somewhere with no cell signal and no smart phone? Does the unit still send a message home that I'm OK, and give the option to get help if something goes wrong?

Nicely done sir! I hope you find the owner.

I'm really considering one of these for my 13B hunt. Looks like a good way to send a quick "I'm OK" message home.

That is awesome! Huge congrats to Chase - awesome shooting there buddy. And nice job dad!

Gotta add the Family pic...

Back when I was a teenager, a buddy and I set out for some quail hunting. We decided at some point to eat only what we shot. We had trouble finding quail the first afternoon and as it was getting close to dark, a jackrabbit was the first thing we could find. We cooked it over a spit and the texture was about like boot leather, and the taste was even worse. In the morning we put a can of Dinte Moore beef stew on a fence post and shot it, just so we could get a meal and not go back on our agreement. I used to love eating rabbit back in Oklahoma, but that was the first and last I ever tried to eat out here in the desert.

Happy Birthday from the mountains.

Great photos, Doug. I just spent the last 6 days up there with the family. It's just unreal how amazing the mountains are this time of year. Thanks for the great pix.

I'll be up there camped somewhere near Buffalo Crossing. Look for a blue Expedition. My 2 oldest boys have the 27 youth deer tag AND the Unit 1 cow tag, so we're going to go for deer first, elk second. If you can find bugles, you'll find cows. The big boys are done and the smaller bulls are going to be actively tyring to make the best of it. Find a well used trail that goes into thick North slopes. Walk the trail slowly and quietly. Many times you'll walk right into their beds and if you keep your eyes peeled ahead of you, you should get a shot. Good luck to your daughter.

Awesome - thanks for the ideas guys.