Coach

Last I heard the Vortex backorder list on rangefinders is until September. I'm gonna wait it out, but I was really close to getting a Leupold with similar specs. Since they've been out a little longer, they are probably more available.

Well I sure am glad to hear stories like Rifleman and Becker where they actually track down the bad guys and get their stuff back. Usually, it doesn't work out that way so I'm glad to see some of the theiving scumbags get held accountable. Nicely done, gents! Rifleman, I sure hope they drop the case against you. You were just doing the right thing, and it sounds like you were able to not only retrieve your own stolen property but that of other hunters. Kudos, and stand tough. This may be a stretch, but I'd bet a vast majority of camera theft boils down to 17-22 year olds. There just seems to be a period where young boys turning into men don't have the mental capacity to comprehend the nature of their actions. (BTW, this applies to ALL crimes if you study it a little). It's not necessarily that they are "bad kids" - their brains are just wired differently at that age. Empathy, consequence, conscience, "moral compass", are often lost on these young men at that age - I know I didn't develope those character qualities until I was older. Maybe all us dads have a responsibility to teach these things, reward and encourage them, because they sure don't come natural to a late-teens/early twenties boy. They HAVE to be taught by a positve role model. Ok, stepping off the soapbox.

I voted for the Muzzys. G5s fly well, but I like the replaceable blades on the Muzzy and have just had outstanding results with them. I've shot a lot of heads including G5 Montecs & Strikers, Slick Tricks, Magnus Stingers and BuzzCuts, lots of clones, couple older mechs...Sold all of them except my muzzy 100's.

Here's one that hasn't been brought up yet. The Baretta Tomcat. I'll start with the cons: It's 32 ACP. Ok, now that we're past that, first thing I'll say is you can get some pretty decent self defense rounds in 32 ACP that help bridge the gap from there to .380/9MM. The Pros. Semi Auto so it's very slim, low recoil, very easy to use, and for my wife the #1 selling point - No slide to work. The barrel tips up from the front and you just stick one in, press it down till it clicks and fire till it's empty. I knew my wife was going to be picky. She refused to even look at the revolvers, mini Glocks etc. She liked the Walther 380 and clones, but just couldn't work the slide on top. As soon as she handled the Tomcat, she said that was exactly what she wanted.

Man - it just doesn't get any cooler than that! A great buck, a very capable youth hunter, excellent footage. Nicely done!

Hope it's not too late. That Garmin radio/GPS setup is a good idea that didn't really work out so well. The radio distance is dismal at best. I've been with friends on the Kiabab and Navajo. My super cheap Cobra radios out performed the Garmin Rhinos on both hunts in many categegories . While I think it's a reaklly giood concept, they are yet to make it work as planned. The general functioning works well as, you can transmit your location just by speaking over the radio. Where it fails is range. On cheap radios I coud stay in contact with fellow hunters but the Rhinos failed to pick up a signal.

Yeah 270WSM, that's the same hunt. It's really not that big of a tank, and I still wonder why he was so emotional. Guess he finally crossed something off his list, but I gurantee there are a lot harder working hunters on this site. Not trying to take anything away from that hunt, but I find it a little strange when some celebrity shows up, does a hunt that you or I or our neighbor has done, and somehow gets rock star treatment. He didn't find that tank, he didn't scout it. Now I sound like POS current President with the "you didn't build that" comment. But to be fair, he didn't. He didn't do the scouting, he didn't get off the trails and find this spot on his own. Someone else did all the ground-work and put him where he needed to be. Then he did a show about how hot it was in his blind until "his" buck showed up, I've been hunting that area for coming on 3 decades now - that's a long time to look at the same stuff every year and dig in a little deeper each summer or fall. When you see one of your hot spots get turned into - I dunno - advertisement lettuce? Guess I'm just venting now, but I'd way rather see the celebs go hunt Texas or Africa. Arizona is way too pristine and pefrect to let the money rollers and big cameras turn it into cheap horn porn.

Here's what I've seen. Elk seem to love the big, chunky salt tabs like are usually used in water softning systems. They look like a pill about 1" wide by 1/2" inch across. Deer seem to like it better when you have very finely granulated salt that gets down deep in the dirt. The more natural the salt the better. Deer will stick their hooves into the muddy salty dirt. Elk prefer to just chomp down on the big hunks of straight salt.

I might have a friend inteterested in that Monarch.

Nothing at all wrong with quads. They are great if you are by yourself. Personally, I've got a wife and 3 boys. We'd have to have an army of quads. One day I'd like to have a really nice jeep or older FJ. But for now, the Ranger has been a really great tool to get us all out there together.

Lance is definately on a roll. Good stuff right there, and a great belly-laugh. The good news is he didn't steal anything and he's trying to be a "stand-up" guy. The bad news is, he really thinks that you are in "his spot". Not to distract this thead too much, but I had a similar experience years ago. I had a good water tank in 24A all scoped out. Had cameras there for weeks and when I finally went in to set up a blind, I notice someone else had a double bull set up on the wrong side of the tank. I wrote a note similar to the one you posted, but said basically, "looks like we're hunting the same tank, let's get in touch so we aren't on top of eachother." So that night I get an email from Randy Phillips from Archery Headquarters and he's got Fred Eichler set up on this tank. Well, to be honest, I didn't know who either of them were, but they had a lot of interest in some of my cameras on the tank. Randy said I could probably get some free arrows or something if I had footage of the buck Fred ended up taking. I got some pix sent from Randy's phone and just didn't think much of it. One night, I couldn't sleep so I start flipping channels. I found this guy Fred Eichler for Eastman's Hunting Journal hunting coues in AZ, so I decided to watch it. No kidding this was the same tank, the same hunt I was on and the pictures I had on my phone and email were actually the same ones used in the show. Kind of a funny story. That tank is going to be awesome this year and I'd like to try and take a bear off it in August.

I'm re-posting this camera. I had a lot of interest but it's still available. Nice camera, soft case, all accessories and spare battery. $600. Might consider partial trade on a good coach gun or compact 1911.

I've had some pretty close encounters with bears along the Black River over the years. Usually, it's young bears probably on their first months away from momma bear and they are interested in fish. When that has happened, they were on the opposite bank as I was cleaning fish and I would toss the carcasses toward them. They usually shied(sp?) off but came back later to eat the scraps that made it to the other bank. From what I've seen the bears we have are not very aggressive. Most see a human and bolt out of there like a wary deer. Some down around the Black get a little bold. I've seen them break into cars and get in camp late at night. I would hate to shoot a bear out of fear, but there have been some fatal maulings in AZ over the years. Best practice is, give 'em some room, when they know you are there and don't run off on their own, it's probably good to give them a good scare. It's a lose-lose when they they aren't scared of humans. We end up with busted up camps, and they usually end up dead.

Wow, what a gorgeous buck!

Ouch - that sucks!

I've been using the Nat Geo TOPO! maps for years. They've been completely compatible with both Garmin GPS units I've used - the Etrex Vista and now the GPSMap 60 CSX - both uploading and downloading. Pretty much does everything I need it to do.

Wow, those are some amazing photos. That "Straight Seven" is my dream bull. Thanks for posting those.

Nice shooting Brian, what bull tag did you draw?

I've got a Ranger and absolutely love it. For the longest time I didn't get the appeal of side-by-sides but they are great for hunting and just cruising around forest roads. The only Rhino I've driven was absolutely awesome - BUT it was nowhere near stock. It had after market long travel supspension, all kinds of add-ons and upgrades. I don't even want to know how many thousands of dollars it took to get it like that. My Ranger is stock - an '06 700 with a seat in the cargo box and I can fit a family of 5 (my sons are 15, 13 and 10) easily.

That is awesome! Super cute kid right there - thanks for sharing!

That's really nice of you to try to find the owner.

PM sent.

I also love smoked trout - the only way I'll eat it. +1 on apple or pretty much any fruit tree. Peach and pecan trees are great too. I also agree on the brine and skin-on suggestions. I like a little brown sugar in the brine too - and tend to baste the fish from time to time as it smokes with the same brine.

How did I miss these, and why in sam hill are they all at a 45 degree angle???? Nice pix, and thanks for sharing, although, next time you might want to mount your camera perpendicular to the ground so we all don't get sea sick!

Man, I love those 1st gen runners. Here's my sweetie before I sold her.