Coach

Awesome as always. Thanks for sharing!

Keep in mind they are a very young team this year. Also, both Sahuarita and Prescott are Division III schools, BR is division IV. We've got a new coach, and a lot of sophomores and juniors playing against older and more experienced guys from much bigger schools. No doubt there's going to be some rebuilding, but the boys really like their new coach and they are working really hard.

Hey guys, kind of an abstract thought. I'm in my 40's now. In my 20's & 30's I was absolutely addicted to anything hunting and fishing. When I wasn't tying flies I was reloading ammo, or out shooting and trying out new loads, or starting new salt licks and checking out old ones, or driving thousands of miles of every back road I could find for days on end just to see what was over the next ridge. I wanted to get my 3 sons into it too, and they all took to it their own way - I've coached little league baseball and NAYFL football since my boys could have a ball bounce off their head - I've watched them grow and learn along with a bunch of other kids I'd gladly call my own. Somewhere along the way, I lost my own passion for the things I used to love. I no longer tie flies, haven't gone fishing by myself in years. When I hunt, it's my boys' hunt, or if it's mine I don't give it much effort since I've usually used up all my time off on coaching or doing kids' hunts. I don't reload or shoot anymore the way I used to, or build arrows. I've lost my passion for archery, photography and writing, starting a business of my own... Is this just a normal "middle age rut" or what?

Hey Keith - good insight there. While we're constantly running and so involved in all the activities centered around our kids, my wife and I go for a 4 mile walk every day and the topic of conversation lately has been how little time we have left with them. My kids are now 17, 15 and 12 but in the next couple years, we'll have 2 kids out of school - one more to watch follow his brothers' footsteps, and then we'll be back to where we started with just the two of us. Having spent so much time and energy on parenting, it's going to be weird to not have that wonderful chaos.

Nice job! That's a beautiful animal - congrats on the hard work and getting it done on an amazing trophy.

Wow - what an amazing buck. Great job finding and staying with him. And what a great shot - 902 yards - that's simply amazing.

Darn. Bears are very tough - Especially with a high shot. Lots of muscle and bone up there. I hope you guys find it.

Nice!!! That is one pretty buck! Congrats.

Hope you guys find him. Kudos.

I remember this coming up a couple years back in unit 27. The officer patrolling wanted the tag for each species taped to the weapon. So you're gun had to have your bear tag taped to it and your bow had to have your archery deer tag taped to it. I highly doubt there was any legal basis to this requirement, but who wants to spend a few days in court defending their legality to have both a rifle and bow in mixed seasons?

What does that mean?

Check SlickGuns daily: http://www.slickguns.com/category/ammo?caliber=3 So far the prices are still very inflated, around 8 cents per round for powderless Colibri and 10 cents per round for standard velocity. I did get a good deal the other day from Cabela's. I got 100 Winchester Super X, 50 Rem Cyclone and 10 rounds of 00 buckshot for $17.50 shipped. They had a deal where any Herter's ammo shipped free and the .22LR had a limit of one per order but it worked out pretty well. Occasionally, you'll see standard bricks for around $50 which IMO is $30 too high, but still cheaper than gunbroker or swap meet/gun show prices. I still have a hard time with guys paying $160 per brick of .22 LR. But as long as they do it, the prices will stay inflated. You can buy .223 cheaper than what some are wiling to pay for .22 lr. It defies logic.

I really like the responses here, and truly appreciate the perspective you all bring. Honestly, I wouldn't trade a minute of the time I have invested in my boys. All I want to do is give them the opportunity to find out who they are and who they want to be and help them get there. Totally appreciate you great dads. It's a hard row to hoe, but you guys are living up to the demands, and my hat's off to you for that.

I don't do too much calling. I bought a pricey e-caller a couple years back because I needed an excuse to get in the field between regular seasons. IMO, it's alright - I've never killed any yotes or cats calling with it, but I hardly ever use it. From an ethics standpoint, I don't have an issue with electronic calls. What I do have is respect for are the guys who use mouth calls. To me it's more like tying your own flies, reloading your own ammo, building your own rifles and arrows. When you learn the art, as you have, you have a distinct advantage by being able to tweak each call based on the animal you are after. It's a more skill-based approach that electronic calls can't duplicate. IMO, don't worry about the e-caller guys having an advantage. I think you have the edge by knowing what sounds to make and when, and having full control over that crucial part of the hunt.

These days all I put in for is the strip and count on OTC archery or leftovers since my boys always draw something. How do you guys normally approach left-over tags? I had one last year in a VERY heavily hunted unit and actually saw some decent bucks, and went after them but came up empty. My take is these areas get pounded in the areas that are easy to get to, but nobody ever hikes even 2-3 miles in. I'm ready to do the whole backpack, short night, get away from the crowd thing this year. I think there's a ton of opportunity for left-overs for those who want to really get out there and hunt.

I would suggest a #4 shot in the hottest load you an find. Any chance of borrowing a gun that will take 3" shells.

Any CWT members out there yesterday? My family was out there and had a GREAT time. Honestly, I was a little intimidated at first but it really wasn't any harder than you choose to make it. A friend of ours had the shortest time of the day - 26 minutes. It took us about 4 times that long to get through, and some of the obstacles were too tough for me and my wife, but our oldest boys did all the hard parts - our youngest has a broken toe, so he was a little limited. My wife's mom, 65 is darn tough but she slid off one of the few obstacles that didn't have mud underneath and tore a ligament in her ankle. Overall, a really fun time. It was nice to see a lot of the kids from Show Low out there in teams working through it together. Hopefully next year, we'll get the Blue Ridge football team involved. It would be a great team building experience. The guys and gals who put this together did a great job setting up the course and keeping it fun and safe. If you've never done it, it's a really fun way to spend a Saturday morning.

Awesome bear, Congrats!

Wowser. Just picked my jaw up off the floor.

It's a house spider, about as scary as guinea pig. Glad you're a good sport.

Vid here shows it better than I can describe it http://mountaintuff.com/

It's basically a 3.5 mile run/jog/walk with muddy obstacles in your way. Some are big mud pits you run through or jump over. Some are elevated logs you balance on. There are swinging ropes over mud pits, crawling on your belly through muddy water under barbed wire, or through a culvert, trying to climb up a knotted rope straight up a slippery mud cliff about 20' which was extremely hard, monkey bars, carrying logs. I'd say there was about 25-30 muddy obstacles to get through.

I've been there and I feel your pain. I have a Knight Long Range Hunter and I thought I had found the best combination - Hornady 250 gr SST bullets with the red sabot, 100 grains of triple seven (2 50 gr pellets) and Win 209 primers, Leupold Ultimate slam scope. From what I've seen, 150 grains will not burn inside a 26" barrel. Three 50 grain pyrodex or .777 pellets, IMO don't produce much more velocity than two. Most of that third pellet burns up outside the barrel, kicks harder and is less consistent than two. I was shooting groups out to 300 even 400 yards that looked like what you would expect from a good center fire rifle - I'm talking close to MOA. Then Hornady changed their Sabot to make it easier to load. All of a sudden, I was spraying all over the place at 100 yards. I tried every bullet from power belts to barnes triple shock, and could not group at all. So I went away from the pellets and used 120 grains of loose .777 and all of the bullets I shot were better, but nowhere close to what I'd seen that gun shoot before. I finally settled on some TC bullets with the yellow plastic sabot and was able to take a bull elk at 250 yards and a nice coues at 210 yards, but I have never gotten that gun to shoot the way it did the first few weeks I shot it. I'm almost wondering if the Ultimate Slam scope gets loose inside on a ML. I'm about ready to stick a different scope on this gun because I've seen it shoot WAY better than what it is now, and I suspect the scope or mounts more than the rifle, powder or bullets. FWIW, neither first shot on the coues or bull elk were optimal. I hit the elk back and low, the coues back and high, but both were recoverable. I'd re-mount the scope, even try someone else's scope with the standard 2-3 pellet load, some TC's or Powerbelts. I absolutely loved the Ultimate Slam at first, but now I suspect the recoil has made it less accurate.

azsugarbear, excellent post. Lance, also a great post. It's nice to see fellow hunters who are passionate enough to get involved and work with AZG&F to come up with the right solution. I've never hunted bison, maybe never will, but it's refreshing to hear your perspective and your proposals for a better future for hunters and bison.

He's pretty much defined the parameters. 26" stainless fluted, 7mm. That means (aside from the Sendero) Remington 700 CDL SF or Weatherby Accumark (partially stainless)in factory guns. If anyone else besides custom builders makes a stainless 26" fluted rifle in 7MM Mag, I'm not aware of it. Personally, I'm a Savage fan, and while they make some of the most bland looking, mediocre to sloppy action, guns, they just flat out shoot. I spent the afternoon with a friend who loves buying cheap guns and turning them into works of art. We started off with 2 Savage 110's in .243. One he bought at a pawn shop for around $160 because the stock was duct taped to the barrel and was missing some screws. The second had the standard, sub-par savage plastic stock he got for around $205 at a pawn shop. We mounted cheap scope (don't remember the brand) on the plastic stock gun, and a good Zeiss on the wood one. The plastic one shot sub MOA with about a .75 group at 100 yards with cheap factory ammo. The wood one got the better scope but was clearly not in its factory stock. The wood was touching on the left side, the trigger was stiff with a lot of creep but still shot 1 1/4" at 100 yards. I brought out my only hunting rifle, a Savage 14 American Classic, really pretty gun, and I've never seen another like it. It's flat oiled American Walnut with a medium contour barrel in a matte finish - way prettier rifle than your typical savage, and shot 4 shots at 100 yards. I had a flyer at about 1.2" but of the other 3, 2 were touching and the third was within 3/4 inch, and this was in 300 WSM. There aren't many custom gun makers who can deliver sub MOA in a .300 Magnum, and I bought this one for around $480 because I liked the wood and matte medium barrel. We shot a lot of guns today, but what I saw was pretty much what I've seen over the past 20 years. You can take a stock, off-the-shelf Savage, even one that's been beat to crap, with a cheap scope and factory ammo and shoot anywhere from very respectable to down-right impressive groups. Some I've shot, especially in the lower calibers, .223, 22-250, .243 you can get under $400, sometimes under $300 including a scope, outshoot a lot of custom rifles.