Coach

Anyone have one they want to part with?

wow, i tend to be overtly hostile to bad folks but that is some serious pain. I hope he earned it.

House cat

Wow - what a monster buck. That's one heck of a first deer. Huge congrats!

Great Job, Shelvin. I can't wait for the full story - he's a beast!

Another big ++ on the Kodiak 10x14 with the big vented windows, but for 8 adults, you would need a big wall tent, probably 10x20. Unless you're using stacking cots I just don't see 8 cots plus gear in anything smaller.

Man, if I were in the market right now it would be between a Sako A7 in 6.5 creedmore and just about any .257 WBY. Don't get me wrong, I love my Savage 300 WSM, but something about those smaller bores has me gravitating toward them.

Oak creek or Haigler?

Here's an odd story but fun. I've got an old .22 that my grandfather bought as a kid. It even has an indention where he crossed many a fence with it. The fun part is, he put on ice skates to collect walnuts (Oklahoma - way back when) to earn the $5 to buy it from a hardware shop. I know how many rabbits and squirrels I killed with that gun, but can only imagine how many came during his time with it, not to mention my dad and his brothers.

Yeah, I'm not looking for any kind of piracy or subjectively inappropriate access. Since bailing on cable, the one thing I miss is getting up on Saturday morning and having a bunch of college football or baseball games to watch.

I was going to guess early Remington rimfire. That brings me to something related to old guns and rimfire. When I was a really young kid, I lived in Browning Montana. My dad used to take us to "Buffalo Jumps" to look for arrow heads, etc. I found an intact 45 caliber rim fire cartridge. Anyone have any history on 45 rim fire?

So, my work has a VPN, and that's how I access our internal network so I'm familiar with the tech from a computer aspect. But when it comes to using a VPN at home with Kodi - can you give me a little info on how you set this up? I've got a Roku and want to be able to watch college football. Sounds like I can go with the Sling sports package, but I'd like to learn more about how you set up Kodi with a VPN.

Our F250 got stolen TWICE. First time was right out of the Sea World parking lot - recovered in Mexico. Second time was some water park in Ahwatukee. This time the thieves got in a long car chase in the desert with Sheriff's deputies - the truck was recovered but totaled. For some reason they took the air filter out and sucked in a ton of dirt. There are times I miss certain aspects of living in the valley, but the crime down there sure sucks. Sure hope the rifle is recovered. I also hope they use it to perform a colonoscopy on the dirt bags who stole it.

LEM 'nuff said.

love those old Buck knives

I guess the good news is, one of the things we love about these deer so much is their hardiness. They adapt and thrive. Those dumb enough not to get away from the roads will probably die young. Even with all the early hunts, extra pressure, the ones that have learned how to not get eaten by a lion will also probably learn how to not get shot by a road hunter. Hunting coues, especially older, mature bucks has always been tough challenge. That's why we love it so much. I used to really get worked up about how G&F was issuing more tags, but I have to believe the bucks will continue to be there. Maybe not as many, but those that do make it will be even smarter and harder to chase - isn't that why we're so passionate about chasing them?

Not to derail this, but after 24A followed the same pattern as the 30-something units, it's all about more people, less and younger deer. I'm just waiting to see a "trophy" pic of one with spots still on it and nubs barely breaking the scalp, not to mention fresh milk on its nuzzle. Call it "veal"?

We dumped cable TV a while back. I sometimes miss it but not $100 a month worth. We're on the roku now and most of what we watch is on Netflix. I do miss flipping channels and coming across a good college baseball game.

It really boils down to what you want, what you *really* want out of the hunt. If you want a higher percentage of success, or the biggest buck you might get from your hunt, there is no shortage of reputable guides who dedicate their lives, literally to finding, following and chasing the biggest bucks anywhere. I had the pleasure of meeting Ryan Hatch just a couple weeks ago while on vacation. This guy lives and breathes the strip, although he's never had a rifle tag there his whole life. He's a really nice guy with a passion for that area. The Bundy brothers grew up there ranching, and when it came time for one of them to finally get a tag after years of helping others, well we've all seen Brock's buck. Capt'n Don Martin can show you the success his clients have achieved. My hat is off to the really great guides up there. It's hard to express how passionate they are. With all due respect to the amazing guides and the time they put in, at the end of the day, I'd rather hunt solo and end up with nothing if I didn't find it. Especially there.

I might have to go against the popular trend here. I did it in what many consider the worst year in recent memory. Did it solo, spot and stalk and I know the deer I ended up with would have scored a lot better in any other year. It was still the most challenging and rewarding hunt of my life. I opted not to take up some really great outfitters' offers, no scouting packages (these are generally bs in my humble opinion). If you can, go up a weekend or two before the hunt, drive all the main roads and get a feel for the unit. It's HUGE and impossible to cover in one hunt. You'll have to figure out what area you feel the best in, that matches your style of hunting and just decide to focus on that area. If you try to cover too much ground you'll just be road hunting, which in the late part of the hunt sometimes proves to be more productive than hiking/glassing. Shoot me a PM.

that won't last long.

Happy Birthday Houston!

Diesel Excursions are awesome - you're lucky your's doesn't have the 6.0. We spent a fortune at BulletProof on ours, but it's a tank now. I agree with Hoss50 on getting it out to a broader market. Try Craiglist in other cities, even Ebay motors. These trucks are very sought-after but you have to reach a big audience to find the folks willing to pay top dollar and even arrange for shipment.

Sorry Wildwoody, nuthin dead this time, only rocks and a lot of gravity.

Red Rabbit just posted some amazing photos from upper Antelope canyon (I think) and I didn't want to derail his thread but here's some photos from 2013. Funny thing is, that little guy, Josh is now 15 1/2 and about 6' 1" We've got similar pix from 2014, 2015 & 2016, but this was when we really got the hunger for Utah's red rocks. We're headed for Zion Monday morning hoping to do more of the same. Corona Arch.