Coach

Well, that's an interesting "turn of events"... If he was willing to take away someone else's hunting rights for 5 years, he should be subject to the same penalties and not complain too loudly about it.

I've got a couple big hunts coming up where hauling a big camp trailer just isn't an option. I've always wanted either a quality cotton wall tent or Cabela's Alaknak, and just wanted to see if there are any bargains to be had. I might get through the season borrowing from friends, but I'd rather not ask to borrow expensive gear. If the price is right, I'd rather just get one now. If any of you guys are in the valley and see a good deal in the Cabela's Bargain Barn, I'd appreciate a head's up. For the Alaknak, I'd only be interested in the 12x12. Same basic dimensions for a wall tent, would like a floor. With either, a good quailty stove is a huge plus.

One more thing you are going to have to look at closely, and this is hard because trying on a boot in a store with dry socks, even really good ones, is when your sock compresses with sweat and use, does your foot slide forward in the boot? You have to realistically measure what width of boot you should be wearing. When you are going downhill, over hard terrain, your socks are wet and compressed, do your toes slide foreward into the front of the boot? One of the first things I look for in a boot is whether it is "lace-to-toe". Can you adjust the boot based on the width of the ball of your foot compared to the width at the "gap".' If you're 6' or taller, I can guarantee most boots will be too loose in the heel and too fat in the toes. I've bought a lot of boots over the years. The old style Cabela's Mounain boots were awesome. They don't offer those anymore and the new versions suck for a vareity of reasons. The Perfekt hunter is a solid boot that I'd recommend to anyone. What it lacks is the rock-absorbing ring of rubber you see in the Denali.

Thanks 123456, I just called them and it sold today. But I do appreciate the heads-up.

Hey, nice looking bear! Probably no better place to hunt big bears than the SC. Thanks for posting the pix.

Yup, that's what I'm looikng for. And from the sounds of it, the 20x12 would even be better. Thanks everyone for the replies so far. I'm just getting caught up.

Hey Bill, Thanks for posting this. If anyone knows these hunters, please congratulate them for their restraint. Lots of people aren't either for-or-against hunting, when it's done right. But we've all seen how homeowners get really upset and a bad taste for hunting when it ends up in their back yard. I'm sure everyone on the mountain remembers the debacle a couple years back when a big bull was shot basically in a neighborhood and it ended up in the newspapers, etc., some charges filed and a lot of people upset with how the hunt was conducted. Kudos to the hunters on this one for doing the right thing. This is a perfect example of what defines ethics. There were probably times where it would have been legal to take the bear, but they opted not to until it was further away from residents.

I don't have a 7MM/08... BUT... I have been handloading for a lot of different guns over the years. 25-06, 270 Win, .270 WSM, .300 WSM and .300 Wby, for me - my friend adds a 7mm Rem to the mix. There has been one powder that has stood out over anything else we've tried and that is IMR 4350. I've gotten rid of everything else and have this powder in my quarter bore to the big magnums. IMR4350 combined with Nosler Ballistic Tips & Accubond, and CT Silvertips (all very similar bullets) with Winchester brass and WLRM primers (don't ask me why, they just work) seem to produce the best accuracy. Some guns like them touching the lands so your COAL is as long as you can get and still have them fit in the magazine. I can't even begin to list all the tweaking of powder, primer and bullets I've tried in various guns over the years. For some reason they all perform best with the exact same formula - That tells me that it's a very good all-around recipe. I know it's expensive to go buy a pound of new powder and box of bullets, but without fail this combo of powder, priimer brass and bullet has been the best I've seen so far in the widest ranges of guns and calibers.

Nice - bump for a fair price on a beautiful gun.

Nice, I didn't even know we had blues here. My cousins are sometimes on "Hillbilly Handfishin" catching blues out of Cache Creek back in Oklahoma on the Discovery Channel. Who would have ever thoght some un-educated noodlers would find "Hollywood" noteriety? My late uncle "Rob" Robert, was maybe the best-of-the-best noodlers down in that country, but he passed away long before his passion was embraced by popular media. To him, it was just a way of life. You knew you had entered his section of dirt when you saw every fence-post for 12 feet over 2 miles with a huge catfish head/skull on top. I've watched him dive into a cattle pond and carry out a 35 pound flathead like he was tending his own sheep, and tenderly lay her back down on her bed. Man, I hope that generation isn't lost.

Not sure what you are asking for - I'm sure you can get some good advice here, but your initial question isn't very clear.

Thanks Elkhunter1, I'll take a look at that.

There's another topic discussing this, and it is definately an interesting situation. First and foremost, I applaud Mr. Husted for his honesty. He wasn't pressured into coming clean - he chose to do so. I also applaud G&F on their decision. They found themselves in the "ultimate catch 22". On the one hand, you've got a person (let's just pretend he's not on the commission, for now) voluntarily admitting to what we would all probably agree is a minor infraction. For starters, most people don't even know there is a small window that it's illegal to shoot Gunnison Prairer dogs. Secondly, he wasn't even the person that shot the prairer dog in question - it was a youth hunter he was accompanying. But the rules clearly state that "take" does not necessarly mean actually "killing" anything, it is broadly defined by "persuit". And persuit, as I have found, is an extremely open term. According to the law, you are unlawfully "taking" game if you are even there with the intent to take game. I'd be happy to expound on that via PM. Back to the quandry G&F found themselves in. On the one hand, it's a minor infraction, even a technicality. If they persue and follow, to the letter of the law, you'll find a lot of people upset that they "threw the book" at someone who was just trying to be honest. On the other hand, if they dismiss it, you'll have an equal number of people upset that they gave special treatment to the individual because he was acting as a G&F commissioner and turned a blind eye. There is no way boots on the ground G&F wins in this situation. How would you like to be the officer who didn't even witness these events, but still had to testify against your boss's boss (and maybe then more bosses)? No matter what direction they take, they are going to come out in a bad light. So, the most honorable thing they can possibly do is follow the "letter of the law". They have to discount the fact that this guy did the right thing by coming to them and admitting an honest mistake and even harder, they have to omit the fact that he is at the very top of the chain of command in their organization. That's a very hard situation to be in the middle of. From the standpoint of all of us hunters, his actions might not have been "technically legal", but even he didn't know he was breaking the law at the time he was doing it. I've shot p-dogs all summer as a way to sight in guns in years past. I didn't know there was any difference between shooting a prairie dog or ground squirrel or setting a mouse trap in my garage. Rodents must die. Personally, I'd drop any and all charges against the guy. We've got enough intentional poaching to reign in before I'd go after the guy who made an honest mistake and openly admitted it. On the other hand, every time I go on a job interview and fill out an application, I have to list the time I made an honest mistake and openly admitted it, and it was right along side of what what this guy is going through. If you think only those intentionally breaking the law find themselves on the other side of the law, I and Mr. Husted would disagree.

Best wishes on getting it back, and I applaud your restraint for not naming names or starting a smear tactic against the guy, but putting subtle pressure on, in hopes those involved will realize they aren't doing themselves or our sport any favors by acting in this manner. Karma can be a goddess to those doing the right thing and a real b**** to those who intentionally screw people over. You might never see that rack again, but I think you've been very tolerant in your approach, and I know somewhere along the path, you'll be justly rewarded. Even if it's just knowing you took the high road when someone wronged you.

My kids will shoot some cows in unit 1. They're 13 and 15 and already trying to find ways to make it harder. They've got rifle tags but one wants to use a bow and the other my grandfather's Hawkins .50 cal. Could be a really fun hunt. They both laugh that every time we go out to check our spots at how many opportunities there are to shoot one from the road, no matter what time of day it is.

"The color differnce is what I think is really neat." The amazing racks they are sporting is what I think is really neat! Nice bucks - I sure hope you get an arrow in one. Thanks for sharing.

Until they see the Swaro's around your neck, lol. Guess you could claim to be out "birding" but you'd need the signature orange shirt for that.

But if it did "magically show back up" that would be an admission of guilt by the guy who took it. Let's hope he has a concience and does the right thing - but it's hard to expect that from someone who would just take it in the first place. Personally, I'd have a lot more respect for the guy if he just manned up and admitted to taking it "in a moment of passion" and gave it back with an apology.

I've heard great things about Lowa, Kentrek. Best boots I've owned in a long time are the Perfekt Hunters you already have. Do you wear wool socks with them? Might keep the sweat controlled better but if you don't like hot feet, that might make it worse. Personally I love mine in the desert, but don't hunt it much outside Dec - Feb. Those Denali look like a great boot. I'd stay away from anything that is has any part of the upper Nylon/Cordura if waterproofing is a high priority. I've never seen one that could stand more than a couple days of cactus and not break the membrane. My speed freaks leak like a sieve after a couple of Javi hunts. Still like them for light/medium use but they are overpriced for what you get, IMO. IMO all the good boots are a little hot, but experimenting with socks can mitigate that. I find my feet stay much cooler with Merino wool than with cotton. Let us know what you find.

+ 2.

Dang Jim - I sure hope you get it back. You might have timed this better though. Isn't there a big expo coming up? If this guy gets wind that you've got a volunteer army looking for it, he probably won't display it in Phx. If there is a big one coming up, might have been better to wait until he was set up and the CWT'ers could give him heck. One very nice deer BTW. Sorry it was stolen.

I'm using the old-style bino harness and keep my rangefinder in a pouch on my daypack. I'm sure there are much better systems out there, so I wanted to get some opinions as to what is the best way to carry your binocs and rangefinder these days. I want something that keeps my binocs from bouncing around and my rangefinder easy to get at with one hand.

Wow - I'm glad I haven't gone prarie dog hunting this summer. I had no idea there was a season on them. Bet there won't be next year I'm not surprised that he was cited, but I would sure like to be in the courtroom to hear to proceedings. On the one hand, it sounds like he didn't even shoot the p-dog. So is he now an "accessorie" to taking wildlife out of season? Is the kid being cited? This could get interesting.

I saw a doe a couple years back in 3C that was almost white - I'm sure not a true albino, but she looked nothing like the other does she was hanging around.

I put my Covert II out on July 5th on a really active spot. The biggest card it would take was 2GB. Well, that filled up in 5 days. I was looking forward to almost a month's worth of pictures but missed out on the last couple weeks because the card filled up so quickly. I tried putting in a 4GB card today and the menu wouldn't come up to format it. Is there any way to get this camera to work with larger cards? I absolutely LOVE the camera. The battery life is fantastic, the triggering, everything about it. I just need more capacity.