Coach

Anything can happen on the strip. When I was doing some research up there I heard everything. One story was a guy who lived and ranched up there his whole life. When he finally got the tag he used horses and all means available to him (obviously holding out for a giant) and came home empty handed. I've also heard of several guys who stayed in town and did nothing but drive main roads ending up killing monster bucks. One buck I know of well over the 200 mark was being watched by a very well known guide up there for months before the season, only to cross over into the adjacent unit and get shot by a guy out taking "nature break" not 50 yards from his camper. If there's any take-away, luck still plays a big role up there, as does weather and timing. I'd like to say the hardest working guys get the biggest deer, but like all hunting it's being in the right place at the right time, whether by hard work or luck or a combination of the two. There's a great quote out there, that's actually more of a paraphrase as nobody seems to know its true origins - mostly attributed to Samuel Goldwyn. "The harder I work, the luckier I get". May or may not apply to hunting on the strip but there it is.

The smell of breakfast on Saturday and Sunday when all my boys are home. The way my wife tells me I'm her best friend after 22 years of marriage. The blue of the sky over the white mountains, and the promise of my Lord, Jesus Christ to carry me through the rough parts of life I couldn't navigate without Him.

I think the 25's are pretty perfect for coues. 257 Wby Mag in the accumark, just about anything 6.5 - I'm partial to the 6.5x284 norma, I also like .300 WSM and .270 WSM. If I were to build one today, it would be like Doug's (Red Rabbit) 6.5 WSM. That has just about everything I like in a gun out west. But you have to hand load, lol. No stopping in at Wal Mart and picking up a box of 6.5 WSM,

Any way you join the 6.5 club, you'll like the results. It's not overly pricey to build one from the ground up. I built a 6.5mm-284 Norma off a Savage long action with a Shilen barrel and boyd's stock. It shoots great with a variety of handloads.

Fair enough - thanks for sharing your knowledge of this subject with us. BTW I've got some friends living in Blue so I know what a tight community it is down there and I certainly understand where you are coming from.

Beautiful shotgun. Bump.

If you had property or ran cattle in the blue wilderness you would say otherwise. That is ground zero for the hybrid wolf reintroduction, and the land is yet to recover from that. last thing we need is bears that have NEVER been native to az released in to the blue.Look at Montana, the objective has been met/surpassed many times over and the state still can't manage them. If reintroduction is pushed for hunting purposes AZ will have yet another BS "endangered" untouchable species to deal with. Ben Lilly did us all a favoe by eradicating them. RIP. Tread lightly in this. Sonoran Grizzlies, which is the sub species we had in AZ, is extinct. Reintroducing ordinary grizzlies into an unsuspecting habitat would be detrimental. Saying you would be "behind it" is a selfish an uneducated response. I certainly understand your position, but I'm unclear on a couple parts of your response. If they've never been native to AZ, how were they eradicated? And to say my response is selfish and uneducated, I think I described my issues with the wolf re-introduction clearly. I know full well of the dangers and possible loss of access caused by re-introduction of any species - don't get me started on the apache trout debacle. With all due respect, how does my stance constitute either selfishness or being uneducated?

All I can say is "Thank You" to our brothers and sisters putting their lives out there every day, and to those who have fallen. And a special "Thank You" to the hunting and fishing organizations that have programs for returning, wounded vets. These men and women have given their eyes, ears, limbs and sanity to keep us safe. We need to do everything we can to bring them home and take care of them as diligently as they took care of us. May God bless our warriors and their families. Freedom isn't free.

Might do that place some good unless it reaches homes in Young.

As I understand it, the last AZ grizz was killed on Escudilla. There's some scratchings on rocks down on the Blue from one of the last known trappers who caught/killed most of the last wolves and griz in there. I'm a little on the fence here. I'm not a big fan of the wolf re-introduction and how it's been handled. However, if there ever is a place to re-introduce the grizzly, it's the Blue Range. I don't see them nearly as dangerous to livestock and game as the wolves have been, and it sure would be cool to see one in the wild. That said, there's a lot of politics involved in re-introducing species. We could see it used to block access to areas where they are being repopulated and monitored. Any access limitations are something I'm very against. If done correctly, without loss of access, I could be behind this move.

So sad to see such a wonderful young man have his calling cut short. I'm sure he will live on in the lives he touched. I am truly sorry for such a tragedy and the loss of those who knew him well. He and his family and friends are in my prayers tonight.

Prayers sent. Best wishes on a full and complete recovery.

While I'm super happy for you, I have to admit I'm a little jealous. Some of you guys have an amazing knack for finding those sheds - huge congrats and thanks for sharing. That's pretty darn cool. That takes a lot of time in the woods and hard work.

Kinda sad posting this. The Black River has always been a very special place for me. Certain parts of it I have asked my family to spread my ashes, should they outlive me. The last few trips, I've seen it more congested, more polluted, both from the fire and human disregard. I used to have places I could hike into and never see another person. Now, no matter how far I hike up or down, I find more people. I get that - we all want to enjoy a limited stretch of river. But the attitude has become increasingly hostile. Everyone seems to have the same mentality and frustration. They/we think if we hike far enough we'll get that little stretch of river to our self, if just for a couple of hours. Beyond the people, the river itself isn't doing well. The banks are knee-deep sludge from the fire runoff, and everything is coated with some gooey slime-type algae. It really breaks my heart to go down there and see areas littered in trash and human waste. I used to consider the Black a sanctuary, but it sure isn't what it once was.

Thanks again guys.

I guess I'm a little slow on the uptake here. So the way a person would "sell" their bonus points would be to allow another applicant to apply with them using their accumulated points for a fee, to hopefully get the other person drawn, then surrender their own tag to reinstate their points. Is that correct?

Hey guys, thanks so much. Spent the whole day with the family which is really nice. Going to do a little fish fry of smallies from the Black and our family favorite home made caesar salad.

Remington 870 youth in 20 guage. Shoots 3" turkey loads. My boys have stacked up a bunch of toms with this gun - probably 7+ between them. The others have been taken with a Mossberg 835 that shoots 3.5" 12 GA and kicks harder than a mule but kills anything in front of it.

It's pretty interesting when you start seeing these coolers compared. I had no idea how many there were out there. I've done a little searching and it isn't just one or the other - like Yeti vs Canyon. There's Grizzly, Orca, Pelican, Engle, Siberian. I found this video pretty good, except they brought the Orca 24 hours later than the other coolers.

^^Kinda what I was thinking - for trophy bulls and bucks AZ and NM have a lot to offer. I have been an almost-lifelong resident in AZ and I wouldn't trade our hunting opportunities for any other. That said, NM has tons of opportunities for AZ residents if you know what to look for. But folks I've met up in Montana and surrounding states talk about how easy it is go hunting every year. So it sounds like they've got the quantity (and really cold-azz winters) but either state you mentioned has quality - and if you are smart about the draw system, you can go hunting something big game just about every year. Trophy tags in either state are hard to come by even for residents. Best of luck in you decision.

Definitely one of my favorite all-time movies. Lone Watie has some of the best quotes ever. "I didn't surrender neither, but they took my horse and made him surrender. They have him pulling a wagon up in Kansas I bet."

From "Mr. Mom", Did you use a .38? Answer: 38...39, whatever it took... now I'm showing my age.

coach..a tomcat is 32acp. uh ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh Yes, you are absolutely correct - foot in mouth. But the virtues of the Tomcat remain, despite my blunder.

These are awesome guns in general, but especially for people who want a semi auto but lack the hand/wrist strength to rack that first round. Being able to pop up the barrel, drop one in and push it back into place seems to work for those who aren't comfortable with a similar walther, etc. Not the exact same gun, but my wife has the Tomcat (.380 version of this one), as does her mom and they both felt this was the best choice between a revolver and other .380 autos.

As always, Ernesto - fantastic! Thanks for sharing.