IA Born

I started my daughter with a Fred Bear fiberglass longbow (painted purple for her) when she was 4. She's now 9, shooting a Hoyt Ruckus and pulling 27.5 lbs and drilling the bullseye at 20 yards. I started my son with that same purple longbow when he was 2.5 years old and he's never looked back. Feel free to show your wife! I don't know how I missed that picture the first time, but that is AWESOME!

No kidding! I keep telling my 9 year old daughter that when she gets her first elk down, it won't get itself out of the woods and I may be too crippled to do the work. By the time my son is ready, that may not be much of a joke!

I just discovered this thread. Thought I'd share our furry family members. We've always had German shepherds. We got our female, Jake, in January 2001. She proved to be a handful from the get-go, but came around quickly with good training. She turned into the best trail dog ever as she frequently scared the snot (and other bodily fluids) out of border crossers (including armed ones) when we were hiking down there or she joined me on wildlife surveys in the Huachucas and on Ft. Huachuca. She's 11.5 now and retired from hiking for a couple of years now. She is my Energizer bunny that just keeps going and doesn't know how to quit. She's had bad hips her whole life, but her active lifestyle has kept her in the game. She's slower to get up these days, but she still gets up and meets me at the door every day when I get home! Yes, she eventually ate the whole thing! In January 2002, we brought home Thor, our big white male GSD. He started as a small 7 week-old puppy, but grew into a beautiful 108 lb boy who would turn heads and part crowds at the same time. Unfortunately, last June, we learned he had a cancerous tumor on his left front leg. We opted to have his leg amputated and begin treatments because his prognosis was good. Everything was going great until this past January. We took him to the vet because he wasn't feeling well. Chest x-rays revealed three new tumors in his chest and our vet said we had about a month, maybe two, before we'd see his quality of life drop. It wasn't even a month and we were devastated. Not long after that, he woke up a completely different dog than he was the day before and we couldn't watch him suffer. Three weeks to the day after we learned of his tumors, we called our vet and she came over that morning to put him at peace. He wasn't a hunting dog, but he was one of our protectors. He wasn't a fan of most guys and, as a result, most guys kept a safe distance from my family. Anyone that would have tried to come in the house uninvited would have had to shoot him to get him to release his jaws from their throat. I watched him and Jake back down groups of 20+ illegal immigrants on the US/Mexico border, including some armed bad guys. He loved being outdoors with us and was on every camping trip, fishing trip, and a few hunting trips. My favorite day of elk shed hunting had him and Jake by my side. He wasn't named after a comic book hero, but the real Norse God. His bark was his hammer and that's all he ever needed to get his point across! He gave us 10 great years of loyalty, protection, and unconditional love. I know I will spend the rest of my life trying to be the human he thought I was. He loved standing next to me when I was fishing. He loved to chase the lure or fly. This is what happens when you leave a white GSD out in a February rain in Tucson. Two pics from my favorite day of shed hunting, because they were with me. A great pic from during a snow storm this past December, before we found out his cancer returned. His demeanor with our kids is every reason why there will always be at least one GSD in our house! Within a week of losing Thor, the silence in the house was killing me and we started shopping for a new GSD. We were lucky to find a good deal on a litter with champion Czech bloodlines. We told our daughter this would be her puppy. A week and a half after saying goodbye to Thor, we brought this big boy home. She named him Odin, in honor of Thor. He’s 5 months old now and almost 60 pounds. He’s going to be BIG! He’s extremely smart and very well behaved. Jake didn’t care for him much at first and avoided him at all costs, but has since accepted him as part of her pack. She won’t play with him, but she tolerates him and puts him in his place when she needs to. Jake showing tolerance finally My daughter's puppy

I'm in the same boat and am irritated at all the people hoarding .22LR! We bought our daughter a .22 last year for her 8th birthday and now I have to ration what she can shoot because I can't replace it. its absolutely ridiculous!! I was in a gun store in El Paso, TX a couple of weeks ago and they wanted $15 for a box of 100 rounds of Remington. I laughed and walked out. I refuse to pay $40-$75/brick.

Back in 2009, I managed to boat a small tarpon (5-10 lbs) on my fly rod. I know the feeling of planning another trip. Nothing like watching a silver king jump!

Wow. 2 bonus points! You're the third person I know to get a Gould's tag for this spring with only 2 bonus points. Two friends of mine both (separately) got drawn in the Pinalenos for Gould's tags with 2 points each. And here I am sitting on 11 points. Go figure! Congrats again on an awesome season!

Wow, gonehuntin, that is BEAUTIFUL! I wouldn't let go of that for the world! I wonder if your great-grandfather was able to keep his from WWI or if he picked it up as a surplus rifle and sporterized it. Given the history of 1903s being sporterized for hunting, that is another great piece of history, too. That may be a next investment for me...if I can convince my wife!

A while back, I posted on here that I was looking for a WWI-era Springfield 1903 manufactured by either Rock Island Armory or the Springfield Armory and I had very specific serial number ranges. I have been searching for one of these for over 20 years. I either didn’t have the money, they weren’t in the condition I wanted, or I had too many other commitments going on. A little over a month ago I found one that met my criteria and had the money. It was a 1919 RIA 1903 Mk I. Although not exactly what I was looking for, the MKIs are cool and add an even more interesting twist on the 1903 lineage. I followed the on-line auction for a few days and then, on Holy Thursday, I went home for lunch during a meeting and placed a bid for about $1200 for this rifle. Going into it, I remember praying over it and saying “This is the only bid I will make and if I get out-bid, then God has something better for me.” I sat nervously through the rest of my meeting and as soon as it was over, I left to get my kids, knowing the auction would close as I was getting them. As I was sitting at a stoplight, I got an email letting me know I had been outbid with 13 minutes left. I contemplated pulling into a parking lot and placing another bid, but I remembered my prayer and decided that, since I was about to be confirmed in our church in a couple of weeks, I would hold my ground and trust that He had something better. When I got home and told my wife what happened, she was kind of bummed for me, but encouraged me to keep looking. As we were waiting for the babysitter to show up, I did a quick Google search for “Springfield 1903 for sale”. Right away, a good looking Springfield Armory 1903 with a 1918 receiver and SA 1919 barrel popped up in MN. I was dumbfounded at the price ($650) and the pics looked promising. All the add said, beyond the technical stuff, was that it belonged to the seller’s grandpa who had just died and he wanted to sell it or trade for a good 9mm pistol. He described the bore as clear, and the bolt as silky smooth and he sent more pictures. It looked GREAT. He said it had been in a closet unfired for years. I asked him if he was willing to ship it and told him I was very interested. Long story short over the next couple of weeks, we got the details of the transaction all worked out (including me paying part of shipping) and I further learned that his great-grandfather was, in fact, the original owner. After his grandfather died, nobody else in the family had any interest in the rifle. The week after my confirmation in our Catholic church, my rifle arrived and I went to pick it up from my local FFL shop. When I opened that box, my eyes got huge and my jaw just about hit the floor. This rifle was in almost pristine condition. It was missing the stacking swivel and had one spot on the bolt with worn blueing and one spot near the front sight with worn blueing. Not a scratch in the wood! I took it home and showed my wife, who was very impressed. The more she looked at it, though, the more she questioned its authenticity since it was that old but in such great shape. I flipped it around and showed her the “SA 3-19” stamp on the barrel indicating that it has been made in March 1919. She asked if the wood had been refinished. I flipped it over and showed her the “P” cartouche showing that it had been proof-fired at the factory before being issued as well as showing her the inspectors’ initials stamps in front of the trigger guard. The bore: show-room clean! No pitting, no wear on rifling at all! Then my wife looked at the shipping box and noticed it was shipped from St. Michael, MN. At my confirmation, I had chosen St. Michael as my saint because he was always something special to my family. My dad was a paratrooper in Vietnam and was wearing his St. Michael pendant the day he died. I wore that same pendant at my confirmation. My wife pointed out all the St. Michael connections and asked me if I thought my dad may have had something to do with me getting this 1903. I felt a complete chill all over my body! So here are a couple of pics of the culmination of my 20+ year journey chasing my Grail. My Elanor, if you will. She will not be a safe queen. First chance I get, she will be at the range and I will be developing loads for it! A HUGE thanks to my lovely wife for letting me end this pursuit! Thanks for indulging a super long story, but I had to share and finally have a few free minutes to post the story up.

I'm working on cleaning things out that I'm not using or won't be using. No sense in having something laying around that I know I won't use. I have one box of Federal 180gr Hi-Shok Soft Point .300 Win Mag ammo. $20 I also have a 1/4-1/3 full 1-lb bottle of H4831SC that is taking up space on my reloading bench. I got it in a box of stuff at a yard sale a while back. Its only been opened twice and both times were to verify the amount. Make a donation back to Amanda for CW.com and its yours. I will be traveling from Flagstaff to Sierra Vista this weekend with my family so I could meet someone right off an interstate if you are interested. If local, can meet you when its convenient.

Ammo SPF to Mulie Hunter. If it falls through, I'll let you know, Hawkens.

Of course it was well written...its from a Cyclone! Excellent article!

My thoughts exactly!

Great looking bird and way to do it with bow!

2 years ago, on the Horseshoe 2 wildfire, I called in a big Gould's tom to less than 40 yards with no calls and he was in full strut. Just my own half-a$$ed yelping. That was the end of May.

Glad my memory isn't as fuzzy as I thought!

Wow! That's a limb-hanger! Congrats to your son!

I'm pretty sure it is. I asked AGFD that at the R2 office and they confirmed it, if memory serves me correctly. Of course, with as much as I have going on, its possible my memory is fuzzy on that.

I'm hoping to get my tag and skip down the road from my house into 6A. With work deadlines and a sore shoulder, it will be tough though. If I can get a cortisone shot in my shoulder and meet my deadlines early, I'm going to try to get out for a morning or two, but it won't be until the 16th or 17th at the earliest. I was looking at Unit 27 after talking to a buddy of mine that hunts there, but, like you, its too far to drive for the limited time I have. Good luck!

Awesome bird and congrats!

X2 with Elkhunter. If the stock has been sanded down and the bolt and trigger are both missing, that will really hurt the overall value no matter what else. Feel free to PM me the serial number or even the first half and I can tell you the manufacture year. Depending on the year, Remington's early 1903-A3s were machined, but later, to speed up production, they were all stamped. Some later A3s also have a 2-groove rifled barrel. The stamped manufacturing and 2-groove barrels (down from the original 4-groove rifling) were all done to speed up manufacturing and get the rifles into soldiers' hands faster. It also has an affect on the value. Also, what year is the barrel? It should be stamped into the top of the barrel near the front sight. I just recently picked up an original Springfield Armory 1903 from 1918 that was in almost mint condition. What I paid for it and what its worth are 2 different things, but as I was shopping, I saw a few beat up A3s that were in similar situations and they were selling for around $400 +/-. If nothing else, you can put a sporterized stock on it, replace the bolt and trigger and have one helluva good shooting rifle!

I'll have to keep digging in the couch cushions to see what I have. WOW!

PM sent.

I just realized that I forgot to mention that its a 1-lb bottle that is 1/4-1/3 full. Big difference from an 8-lb bottle that is 1/4-1/3 full.

I have a bottle of H4831sc that is about 1/4-1/3 full. It came in a box of reloading stuff that I picked up at a yard sale 3-4 years ago. I have no loads that I use it for and its been sitting on my shelf untouched taking up space ever since I got it. It appears to be in good shape (checked it today to verify amount) and I think today is only the 2nd time I've opened it since I've had it (first time was when I got it to see how much). I figure with the recent craze, I may as well get it to someone who can use it and return some of the blessings I've been given lately. Make me a fair offer, offer up something in trade, or make a donation to Amanda for the site if you want it. I'm out of town 4/26-4/29 and can meet up with someone after that. Face to face only in Flagstaff as I won't be traveling much after this trip or I'll be busy with family obligations on weekends (can still meet in town though) through end of May.

TTT I'm back in town and can meet someone local if they want this. Might be driving through Phoenix and Tucson to the Sierra Vista area 10-12 May and might be able to meet up somewhere close to interstates.