Coach

I'll take it. Just sent you a PM.

Nice write up. There's nothing like busting up a bunch of javi's and hitting the call. Getting them all riled up and coming back over and over again is an awesome rush.

I've had really mixed results with decoys. Sometimes they come running in at full bore, other times as soon as they see the decoy they hold up strutting and wanting the hens to come to them. That said my decoys are pretty old and when you stuff them in a bag they don't always look realistic in a fast setup. In my experience, if you have two or more young toms they tend to race in. If you have an older, single tom he is less likely to come all the way in. My sons have killed a LOT of turkeys over the past few years in the youth hunt and it's really been a mix anywhere from setting up with a blind and decoys to driving and calling where you hear a gobble in the distance, next gobble is on top of you and you hide behind whatever is there. For me, it's the most fun if you do the full setup with a blind and decoys and get to coax them in, but that hasn't always been the most productive.

That is sooooooo cool! Thanks for sharing.

A friend of mine who passed away a couple years back was a real rock hound. He had found huge veins of turquoise, all kinds of neat rocks. I'll see if I can find some of his tumbled stones and post pix.

125 definitely hit on something I didn't like about the Yeti. I borrowed one from a family member and one of the rubber latches broke. Obviously I couldn't return it like that so I bought a pair of replacements, but the process was tricky. There is a thin aluminum rod that runs the entire length of the cooler lid that you have to push all the way out to replace the latches, and it is not easy to push that thing out and back in without bending it.

I love hunting those cute little buggers, but a few weeks back I was hunting with a buddy down in SE AZ, staying in a little hotel in Portal, and the javi's there were kind of like your neighbor's dog. They just walked up looking for a handout. You could shoo them away, but the minute they heard a plastic bag ruffling, they were back right at your heels. Pretty funny.

Loving that smile with his javi. Seeing these kids out hunting with family is truly awesome.

That's awesome. I bet you guys had a blast out there chasing them with a bow. Sounds like she's getting hooked. Good luck on the elk draw.

Just finished my first build - 6.5x284 Norma. A little work left to do but it shoots fantastic. Perfect for deer/antelope but maybe a little too light for elk, IMO.

If you want a cool wildcat, 7mm STW is something I think would be a really fun build.

Awesome bow, great price.

Seems a lot of magnum brass is nearly impossible to find. I've been looking for Remington or Winchester .270 WSM & .300 WSM. All I can find is Nosler and Norma for over $2.00 each - ouch.

That's awesome. Love the story! My favorite part is "Might not be the best story but it is mine,lol!" Perfect, and congrats!

Had a blast last weekend. Our first archery double.

Really sorry to hear that. Looks like a good hit too! Hopefully the birds will lead you to him.

Awesome buck. Love those deep forks.

That's awesome. I've tried grunts before with no success - congrats, and thank you for your service!

Wow! That's just amazing. Huge congrats finding bulls like that on the late hunt and getting these guys on them. Fantastic job and huge congrats all around.

That's an awesome bull, especially for a late hunt.

Nice!

Awesome job sticking with the trail and finding that amazing buck. True hunter right there.

Merry Christmas, and congratulations on a stellar buck. Making a shot like that, let alone passing so many bucks takes a lot of dedication and patience. I'm very happy for your hard earned success.

I've been reloading quite a while now for quite a few different rifles with a lot of the same characteristics. I've experimented with a lot of different powders over that time as well and keep coming back to what appears to be as close to "universal" powders as they come. At the low end, I load for 25-05, which is essentially a .270 with a smaller bullet. At the top end, .300 WSM (.300 Wby Mag for years). I'm always intrigued by the variety of different loads in the different manuals but pretty much everything I reload for seems to cluster around IMR 4350 - H4831, with some variations. In both powders I've heard H4350 is exactly the same as IMR4350, same with IMR4831 vs H4831 vs H4831sc, with the minor exception of shape and size of the granules. At the same time, I see a lot of people who love Alliant R19 and R22 and Varget for the same types of guns. The cool thing about reloading is that you have almost full control over all the variables that go into making your gun shoot just right. But the variables seem almost overwhelming at times. Even if you know what brass, powder, bullets and primers your gun likes, tiny things like 47.5 grains vs 48.5 grains or a few thousands of an inch in the COAL make a huge difference. Won't get into all those topics just yet, but just wanted to know what powders have given the best results from the reloaders here.

I've had Harris bipods on my rifles since I started hunting coues a long time ago, and they are really good for the most part. Sometimes it's tough to get exactly level if you are on uneven ground - I've even tilted it up on shot on one leg which isn't ideal. On my latest youth hunt I took along a borrowed tri-clawps. If you can handle the extra weight, these things are amazingly stable. You can adjust to any height, get perfectly level and the rifle is balanced at the center point. I'll definitely be carrying one from now on. I like to carry a shooting stick for quick stuff, keep the harris mounted for times when you have to get prone or sitting fast and the tri-clawps for long range shooting when you have time to really get set up for a 400+ yard shot.