Coach

Gunbroker - Anderson lowers hovering around $40. The rest you can build inexpensively from Midway. I'm filling my safe before the next election.

Dang - wish I were closer.

Hey guys, haven't posted here much lately. I want to start a topic about realistic, in-the-field shooting. Let me preface this with a couple real life examples. Last year I was helping some family and friends on a hunt up in the Kiabab. Not a strip hunt, just early 12a E. Lots of deer around. Anyway, these guys would get so deep into what their guns could do, going into charts, this drop, that, etc... You get them in the field, for starters they couldn't glass, couldn't hike one ridge without getting to camp and complaining. Yet they all had faith in their gun setup. If they were in a certain position, and the deer was in a certain position, they could drop it at xxx yards. But countless times we had deer in very shootable situations, but it wasn't perfect. At one point, the group of bucks we were after trotted by at 75 yards, and neither hunter even took their gun off their shoulder. It was like it had to be exactly what they expected or nothing. Contrast that with some situations where most everyone I've ever hunted with can make a shot at moving, even running deer. I've dropped one with a muzzle loader at 80 yards busting out of a bed. I can't count the times where the hunter has to make a quick shot, and does so naturally. I'm not advocating for taking low-percentage shots. We all have to know our limitations. My point is, I think a lot of folks who are just getting into hunting have an unrealistic view of hunting based on what they see on videos and only practice for that image that they perceive as the way it's supposed to be. When it actually happens you have to be able to shoot off-hand, off a rock, off a tree-branch that's bending, you get the point. A lot of guys now are shooting guns that in perfect situations can ding a plate at 800 yards or more. But in real life conditions, they can't hit a pie plate at 100 yards offhand. Anyway, just about to head off to elk camp, but this had me thinking. Love to hear your thoughts and opinions. -Coach

Hey guys, thanks for the comments. I'm glad this thread is staying on a positive note, and I should re-iterate that I'm not bashing long range hunting and certainly not anyone who opts not to take a shot because they don't feel comfortable with it - that's a good thing. I think Saguaro really makes a good point though. There's a lot to be said about just being comfortable shooting by practicing in actual situations, not just at the range. BTW, awesome buck Hoss!

Those look great! Awesome job and thanks for sharing.

Congratulations on an amazing pronghorn. Great tribute as well - thanks for posting.

Great buck - gotta love those wide coues! Awesome job!

Dang Brian, that's a stellar buck. Keep that mojo going on your elk hunt! Huge congrats!

A guy with his ego, his connections, and of course $Billions - with a "B" that's thousands of millions, think he's gonna pull his own plug - nada as in nada chance in he!!. He would have ratted out some very powerful people who were engaged in his little teeny sex scandal. I'm chalking this one up to "assisted suicide". "

Looks great! I'm partial to the Tundra, but I got a deal I couldn't pass. Those Fords are darn sweet. Glad it worked out for you and you did it right with the leveling kit. Congrats.

Anybody set up to hydrodip a gun stock in KUIU Verde 2.0? Even better if it's in the Show Low, Heber area. I found the film online and I'm considering doing it myself but between the film (3 meters, which I don't need) activator and base paint it may be cheaper to have it done. Thanks!

Ouch, that's like hooking a trailer to your Maserati.

I'm not going to say it's aliens....but it's aliens.

Really cool action - thanks for sharing.

Didn't figure that to be around for long - sweet truck & those 7.3's are great. Just ask me about the 6.0 - sad face.

+1 for Wyoming.

not much access. hike in, take in water.

Sorry for the late response. I haven't been as active here lately as I used to. I absolutely think the antler restrictions in NM did work. What I was referring to was the push-back from people who didn't want to be forced into that particular type of management. We are pretty lucky down here in the SW - we can hunt deer every year. Some areas are more challenging, but we're not like most of the country where you either have to own your own big chunk of land or buy into a lease to get to hunt quality deer. We have OTC archery hunts in most units, always some left-over rifle and black-powder hunts in units that produce great bucks if you work hard and get away from the crowds. I'd just like to see what happens in unit 1 & 27 if they are managed more for quality than quantity. Great genetics, great food source, plenty of water. 200+ mule deer don't have to only be a "strip" thing - and they aren't. Many units in AZ have all the things required to produce trophy quality bucks, and many do - despite not being managed as trophy units. If you live in AZ, you can always go hunting - but don't forget our neighbor states - Utah, NM, Nevada, Colorado - if you do your homework, you can meat-hunt every year while building up your chances for a stellar trophy hunt within hours of home.

Sweet pistol. Those Kimbers have a really nice, crisp trigger. Someone is going to get a good gun at a very good price.

Seriously, He!!'s gate becomes Heck's gate? Bart Simpson moment coming on.

Funny part is, this isn't just an Arizona thing. There have been multiple rescues in Italy and Spain where these prima donna types just have to go hiking in their flip-flops and end up stranded. That said, I'm not for shutting it down. If you get yourself in a pickle in there - like heck's Gate - deal with it snowflake. But don't expect someone on the tax-payer's dime to come bail your dumb azz out.

I'm really glad to see unit 1 go to a draw. Living up here my whole life, it's obvious that unit 1 has amazing potential, especially after the burns. hunthard is absolutely correct. You only have to look at 3A/3C to see that the quality of deer goes up when you give those yearling bucks a chance to grow. Generally speaking, unit 1 used to have tons of deer. They were everywhere. But it kind of turned into a cluster "F". Lots of road hunting, yearling bucks killed en-masse. I actually advocated for an antler restriction like New Mexico has so we could rebuild the age-class deer unit 1 has to offer. Guess how well that went - ha. Our habitat is perfect for growing not only herd size, but trophy quality deer. We just have to back off a bit and let them mature. Unit 1 & 27 are rebounding after years - decades of over allocation of tags. Gents, 3A/3C, 23 are becoming strip-like tags in terms of trophy potential. 1 & 27 will do the same if we allow the bucks to mature. The stories I've heard about 27 back in the "good old days" - and I actually saw it back then when I first came here from Oklahoma. Back then, there were something like 1700 tags - anyone could hunt - and there were deer everywhere. I didn't even have a pair of binoculars the first year I hunted 27 back in the '80s. Point being, of course we all know G&F is all about over-allocating tags because that means $$$ for them. Managing 3A/C for trophy potential should be a blueprint for 1 & 27. It works.

Public land is one of the few things that separate us from just about every other state in this country. If USFS gets their way, it's going to be limited access, pay-to-play all over the state. And AZGFD won't do a thing about it because, well, they don't exactly have a track record of going against their "Big Brother" or whatever it is. Tangent starting here - we pay state, local, federal taxes + a whole bunch more, then we pay extra tax on outdoor equipment, tax on gas - then we get to Roosevelt Lake, and have to buy an additional "Tonto Pass", it's more if you have a boat or RV, just to access - you guessed it - public land. But it's not really "public" is it? We pay for the people who tell us how and when we can use it, but at the end of the day, it's theirs - not ours. And that is broken.

Youth 16 - could be a good hunt.

Awesome photos Doug, as always. Thanks for sharing.