Tines

Nick, I've used Wellers for Coues deer and they do great work. And although I've never used him, Clay at Mogollon seems to do exceptional work as well.

Thanks for the info, guys. Everything you mentioned, Dennis, seems to be information I've also gathered from other forums and sites. Great to see that most are on the same page. Thanks again and I'll let you all know how these next groups turn out....

Before I started trying to find a load for my dad's rifle, I did a little research on "reloading for semi-auto rifles". I realize that there are some "additional" factors in reloading for such rifles but I'm also finding that some guys claim them to be old "wives tales". I, for one, am not wanting to find out! I'm hoping that some of you can shed some light on this before I blow the rifle (or myself) up! :blink: The best group we've gotten is about 1.5" @100yds. And we're thinking this might be the best we're going to get. The only "issues" that we've had so far are over-pressurization "signs" on certain loads (although we're far from "maximum"). And these have all been primer issues. Once again, just looking for some concrete info on things to improve it's accuracy, all the while being safe. BTW, it's a Browning BAR in 7mm Rem Mag. P.S. Some of the things I'm finding on-line to remedy/reload for semi's appropriately seem costly and almost leaves a person not knowing where to begin..... Thanks, Jake

But I didn't send you the money yet????? HAHA! Glad someone bought it

Where are you located? I've got an '04 400 and might be interested. Thanks

Fun hunt! I killed two bucks off of the Fort with the December tag and always saw plenty of deer.....

Thanks guys! I knew there were some smart fellers on here. I have 2 shoulder mounts in the room but nowhere near where the birds were. Might be okay

And obviously I wasn't suggesting that hunting under a full moon is legit.....

Unfortunately that is not correct or many of us would be hunting at night. Regs state 30 minutes before sunup and 30 minutes after sunset. Please show me where it states that. I believe that's a misconception amongst big-game hunters in AZ. Remember, the guy asked about coyote hunting, not dove.

If you can identify your target than you're legal. But you really ought to sit down and read the Regulations before you step out into the field.

103 5/8"

Fellas, I think the point clb is trying to make is "what's your motivation behind killing a lion"? And the bottom line is, we've all got our own reasons why. And obviously we're going to have to agree to disagree on why. Neither is right or wrong when it's as easy as driving to Walmart and throwing down a little more than a roll of quarters for a legal lion tag. SimpleHunter mentioned earlier that road hunting is such a tradition in some families that it's accepted. I understand your "comparison" but the main difference I see in the lion scenerio is that one is illegal and the other isn't. And all of you road hunters out there who want to justify it, sorry, you can't. When I see you drive by at 5mph with your bow or rifle in hand, I don't care that your family is with you, you're still lazy AND illegal!. Even if I could convince you otherwise, what's the famous quote? "A man convinced against his will is of the same opinion still." To accuse someone of being an "anti-hunter" because his methods/reasons of take are different than yours is borderline "stupid" as well. Many of us are opportunists. Which is why we buy a lion tag at the beginning of the year to begin with, right? But you can be an opportunist and selective at the same time. I also don't find a problem with antler restrictions in some cases. Does that make me an anti-hunter? Maybe not but surely a "yahoo", huh? If you would have asked me 5 yrs ago if I would have shot a lion over dogs I'd say "nope". At the time I wanted to "work" for a lion. Ha! Boy was I ignorant. My mind had been changed for reasons I posted earlier. Many of you know that I had the opportunity to take a lion over dogs with Azlongears this year. Few hunters have chased dogs but many have sat on a hill with binos and glassed up critters, including a lion or two. That's the point that I'd like to make. To some, regardless of legality, the hunt means more than the kill. Cliche'? Probably. But it's the truth. In addition to the lion, for the rest of my life I get to stare at a giant coues deer buck on my wall. But even after the memory of his measurements fade, I'd be willing to bet the story won't.

Nice!

Cactusjack, Its pretty obvious what he meant by "accidental". I buy a lion tag every year in case I "accidentally" find one, Just like most WT hunters do. Even then, as much time as I spend behind the binos, the only lion I've glassed up was in Mexico. Guess that makes me a terrible glasser. Show me someone who thinks hunting with dogs is "easy" and I'll show you someone pretty ignorant. What little I know about being a houndsman is that if you think that finding a fresh kill means you'll have a cat in a tree within an hour is far from the case. IMO, a dedicated lion hunter will see a fraction of the success, yet spend 10x the amount of time in the field than most "hunters"...

Brian, Thanks for the info. I also believe that the far majority of mistakes on apps are our own. Regardless of what everyone's personal opinions are on this subject, I do have a question for you (I don't want to start an "on-line vs paper apps" war). Wouldn't an on-line system fix this problem? Like many other states currently have, why can't a simple "confirmation" style on-line process be implemented to ensure that someone knows exactly what they're applying for? With this paper application process, are we (hunters and the Dept) relying on individuals mistakes to create "more opportunity"? This isn't a new question and I'm not sure what answer I'm expecting/you can give, but it's a legitimate one nonetheless. Like someone mentioned earlier, it's not just the one who draws the tag who this affects, it's also those sitting at home who really wanted that tag... Thanks again, Jake

Bet I have a picture of the same ram, Brian....

Similar thing happened to my brother. Did your check clear the bank?

Sorry, it's already sold....

This is a brand new scope. I only took it out of the box, looked through it from my back yard and put it away in the case. It's been there ever since (beginning of May). Most of you know that they make great optics and I don't even have to mention how nice their transferrable warranty & customer services are. The taxidermist bill keeps getting bigger and I could use the cash. I know, what a problem to have! I'm in Tucson but I'll ship it for free to any Arizonan...... $290 Thanks for looking

It's a good story, Amanda...... Pretty sure I'll get skin cancer because of that day.

Randy's good people. Family of some pretty accomplished hunters. I heard the story but I'll let him share it if he's inclined. Some of you might know (or heard) of his son Matt. I think he was the youngest to take the sheep slam with his bow. You can watch Matt's NM state record Rocky on one of the PSE videos from a few yrs back... Cool video of a hunt shared with a father and a son.

Wow, guys! I got home yesterday about noon. I still can’t believe it! I hope none of you are disappointed and can appreciate what a magnificent Coues buck he really is. Even then, you've got to put your hands on him to "grasp" it all. Okay, I'll move on and try to spare unnecessary details. It’ll be tough though. Quite the adventure. First I want to thank Lance and Ryan for their info and accommodations. But I'd REALLY like to thank Andy (Azlongears) for all the help he gave me during this hunt! Andy and I arrived to "camp" late Sunday night. Monday came fast and we found ourselves glassing as the day broke. Not many deer were found and the stormy weather moved in fast, pushing us off the mountain and back to the house to get some dry clothes on. We ventured into an area not far from the first point for the afternoon and found what appeared to be better habitat and definitely more deer. All together, our first day out produced less than 10 does and one small 3x3. Not what I was hoping but we had a good plan for the next day.... We awoke a little earlier because we had to cover some more ground on the quads. We parked and hiked up to a "little" mountain. After only a few does and a bobcat, we moved over to the next point. Here we found 3 bucks (nothing big) and a couple of does. Things were looking better though. Usually I don't move as much but this topography required us to work from point to point and pick everything apart as good as we could. We work our way over to the next point and sit next to lone juniper tree with a big branch twisted and broken. Where we were, it could only have been one thing- "a big Coues buck did that", we told each other! That got us excited...... Not 10 minutes later, Andy says "Jake I've got a bedded buck and I think he's big!" 1.08 miles away was a buck bedded in the sun and from where we were, with the 15's, he looked good! I had a spotting scope but it was a fixed 30x so although it really helped, it was real difficult to see exactly what he was. Other than now and then he'd move his head and Andy and I would just look at each other and say "if those are his tines, he's huge!" 4 hrs later, I was sitting on the ridge right in front of the buck to shoot from. The terrain was horrendous to get over to him. I was looking directly into the sun so it was real difficult to find him. During those 3hrs of me stalking, he stood up twice but laid right back down in the same spot. I couldn't get any closer, which was frustrating but I hoped that the long range shooting would pay off. He was laying there at 520yds.... I dialed the turrets in and settled the crosshair. Andy and I confirmed that he was watching and slowly I squeezed the trigger...... After the crack of the rifle, I expected to hear the report of a hit...... I didn't! Andy tells me I hit just low. The buck jumps up and runs 10yds and looks around. After a few adjustments and double checking the clicks and range, I held a little high and hit exactly where I was aiming (air)! The buck is now working his way to the ridge top. He goes behind a juniper tree at the top and steps out of the other side. This is where we finally get a good look at the pile of bone on his head. It was unreal, almost animated, and he was about to be gone for good. He was so far sky lined that I could barely see his legs anymore.........then he stops and looks back at me. This entire time I’m thinking “people hunt their whole lives and never see a buck like this. And here I am shooting at it!” I squeeze the trigger one last time and remember that the shot felt pretty good. Andy yells "Dude, you just dropped him!!!!" Guy’s that buck was 3 more steps from being out of sight! This is where emotion and paranoia sets in. Ask Andy, he can tell you. I was a complete wreck not knowing if it was a lethal hit or a spine shock. I’ve seen more animals than I’d like hit the dirt…only to jump up at the last second from a back-strap shot or something similar. Let that be an example to you guys, if they’re still moving, shoot them again!!! We can’t see the buck at all anymore. He dropped in some grass but Andy said nothing had moved since. I gather my things and we work our way over there. As we approach the juniper tree, Andy says to me “I hate this feeling”. I felt it too. The unknowing is so overrated! About 40yds from the tree (the top of the ridge) I put a round in the gun and we literally run up to the top so that if he was alive and we caught him off guard, I could possibly get another bullet in him. What I saw next I’ll never forget….. I could see the body of a deer laying there motionless. My fear of not recovering this buck immediately went away. We walked up to him and I knelt down at his feet. Andy picked his head up and his exact words were “What did you just shoot?!” I was completely spent at this point. If I had anything to muster, I would have screamed for the world to hear. Actually, if anyone was around to hear, they were stupid for going back into where we ended up! We celebrated, took some pictures, quartered the buck out, stared at his antlers time and time again and right at dark we were on our way for the 3 mile hike back to the quads. At this time I was completely out of water. Unless you have some sort of valve to close off, bladder bags suck when the bite valve is pressed down and you lose most of your water not knowingly. I was so thirsty that Andy gave me some of his water. We bailed/slid off of the mountain in the dark towards a saddle where an old pack trail came through the bottom. This pack trail would eventually lead us to the quad trail that our quads were on. We made it to the bottom and that’s where things started to turn bad. It was so thick at times that I was literally on my hands and knees trying to get through manzanita bushes. Then frustration seriously kicked in. We couldn’t tell if we were 10ft from the trail or a half mile from it! Finally we’d find what appeared to be a trail and then it would just disappear. It’s probably 8pm now and through the skyline, we could see the saddle that we needed to get through. A short time later, we found the trail. That was as emotionally sustaining as anything I could imagine. I followed Andy up the trail until I started getting light-headed and things started spinning. Did I mention I was out of water and it SUCKED!? I stopped Andy and told him that I needed a break. I took my pack off and laid face down on the trail. It felt so good. About a minute later I can hear Andy talking to me. I’d like to think I was asleep but my gut tells me I may have blacked out for a bit. Guess I’m a sissy. I tell Andy that I can’t go any further. I’ve played sports my entire life, went through a pretty intense fire academy, and helped on MANY pack-outs. This was by far the worst I’ve ever felt physically. I found my limit. I probably surpassed my limit. The next thing I remember, Andy’s waking me up and telling me to go lay down next to the fire he built for me. I did and he mentioned that he was going to continue on and get the quad to me as close as possible. He also told me that he might not be back until the morning…….I didn’t care, nor was I worried. I knew he’d do all he could. The next 3hrs seemed to fly by believe it or not- only having to wake up to throw more wood on the fire and pray that Andy would be okay too. All of a sudden, I hear him whistle. I look up the pack trail a couple hundred yards and I could see his head-lamp. I broke down guys. I didn’t tell Andy that though. He made it down to me, completely exhausted himself, and gave me some of the creek water that he scooped up in his jug before he got to me. We rested for 30-40minutes and he tells me that he got the quad about 300yards up the hill! I couldn’t believe it. We threw the packs on and continued up to the quad. Those reflectors never looked so amazing! Let me tell you, I don’t know how he found his way to me but he did. Believe what you want but I’ll go with some Divine intervention. Not to mention, Honda builds a SERIOUS machine to go through and over the things Andy did! After driving for 30minutes or so I see some head-lights up on the quad trail we were on. Which was weird since it was almost midnight. Then I hear someone yell my name. It was Ryan. Lance got a hold of him and he brought water and a sleeping bag if staying the night out there was necessary. The emotional and physical support was overwhelming. We finally made it to my quad and back to the house at 2am….. Finally after cleaning up we hit the sack- only to find me awake at 7am not being able to sleep. There was too much to be “awake” for I guess. While I was lying next to that fire that night waiting for Andy, did I feel like it was “the end”? Not at all! But for the first time in my hunting career I did question whether or not I was going to make it out on my own. That question was answered. I couldn’t have made it out on my own. Bucks like this might come around to some people more often than others (probably not me), but friends like Andy? One-of-a-kind and I’ll never forget it! Can’t thank you enough, bro…… I had him unofficially scored by an official measurer. There’s one less 127 3/8” buck roaming the country my friends!!!

IMO, Nikon has terrible customer service and average glass. That's just me....

Where are you located?

Wow, your bullet's got to be RIPPIN' out of your barrel! I'm shooting the same powder and bullet but only 51.5gr. I'm shooting under 1/2" groups at 100yrds and when I bumped up the powder a bit, my groups got larger. I'm about 3100fps so you've got to be SCREAMING! Sounds like your rifle likes it, though.