COOSEFAN

TOO LATE.........the magical binos are no longer for sale. I'm keepin' them......at least for now Thanks, JIM>

dang Kevin.....you are da man! Very informative to say the least! Just to add something, you mentioned about getting fitted for a custom stock.......I did that for mine and was told that it's best to put on a jacket when doing this 'cause usually you'll be wearing one in the feild and it makes a difference on where your finger reaches the trigger. Also, about the Jewell trigger....Thats what my buddies have and it's amazing to shoot.....but I'm not good with working with mechanical things like that so you got me interested in the Timney trigger. How often will I have to mess with the Jewell trigger if I get that one? Is it often enough that I should go with the Timney for the same reasons as you did? Thanks, JIM>

I'm new to the "long range" type of shooting/hunting but I have been around a few guys who have it down to a science! Two guys in particular spend 2-4 days a week working on and shooting their rifles......and that is year round! One of em' builds custom guns and the other is an engineer that dreams about ballistic coefficients and trajectories in his sleep! Both guys swear by the Remington 700 action and both swear that all you need is either the 7mm mag or the 300 Win mag. They use Jewel triggers, Hart barrels, and McMillan stocks, and a bunch of other trick stuff on their guns. All that practice and use of expensive upgrades allows one of these yahoos to punch 4" groups at 900 yrds! He also uses a rangefinder, the weather service to pick the day and even a Kestrel wind and humidity checking device! They probably would never take a 900 yard shot on an animal, but by practicing at that range, they feel like a 700 yard shot is just a walk in the park if the conditions were right. BTW....these same guys are building a "long range" rifle for me right now! The barrel has been ordered and I recently just picked out the stock and colors from McMillan and it's also been ordered. I gave them a Remington 700 action in the 300 WinMag caliber and I'll be buying the Leupold 6-20X with an added target knob. I went with the Lazzeroni thumbhole stock with a marble finish in 50% tan / 25% black / 25% olive, also the entire gun, scope, hardware, bipod etc. will be going to LTM Refinishing to get Cera-Koted ( i think that's what it was called?) in a matching tan color! She's gonna be a beauty and I can't wait to start throwin' lead through it at the range! It's supposed to take around 5-6 months to build so I will have pic's of it then. Best of luck, JIM>

I love character bucks....there's never two exactly alike and that makes em' more special! Congrats on an awesome critter, looks great! JIM>

Well.......whatever you do works, so don't change a thing.......you lucky son-of-a-gun

You have no idea how many Chupacabra's they have glassed up! I still have nightmares Chupacabras Christain, it was good seeing you at Ursery archery range today and it was a pleasure meeting your Dad. We shot 3hrs. Chupacabra them binos would scare me TJ NO, NO, NO.........NO Chupacabra's have been seen through these.......that was just Christian after eating some strange mushrooms he found Don't be skeered.......these binos find Unicorns, not Chupacabras!

Man, you boys that put in for the 9 and 10 bull hunts are crazy......everybody knows there aint' any more big bulls there! They all got killed off last year.....and that's why I put 6A LATE bull 1st choice Seriously, best of luck to you all! JIM>

Heck boys, it don't matter tellin' people what you put in for.....the apps are in, it's done, no turnin' back now! I'll be completely honest and tell ya what i put in for....... ELK : 1st: 6A Late bull / 2nd: (no need for a second choice.......my first choice is the best hunt in the state!) Antelope : 1st: (who cares......aint gonna draw anyways!)

Here is a picture of the Lion that was caught the week prior in the boulder pile. This was the only hole where you could see the lion.......you can see how difficult it would have been to get this cat! The boulders all around this pile were unstable so it was just a disaster waitin' to happen. This one was possibly the momma of the cat we caught last friday. JIM>

I took this picture this morning and was amazed at how well these darn things blend in to their surroundings!!! Imagine glassing for a bedded Coues in the middle of the day and you pass over this spot..............would you have seen it?

Alright.....I'll still post a story and pic's later, but this was a smaller cat so we took our time with it, letting the dogs enjoy the moment and gain some experience. It jumped several times but the dogs did a great job and stayed on it. We wanted our buddy to catch up to us so he could see the cat but the cat wouldn't stay put and we eventually lost the trial as it got mixed up with another lion that my bro n' law had caught last week. These two cats have been running together and have been seen by quite a few people lately. It got hot fast and we gave all our water to the dogs so we all got burnt out fast today, finally making it back to the trucks by 3:00pm. Beaten up and bruised, but it was a successful day! JIM>

Yes dangit........and that is one of the reasons this one is still alive! I'll fill ya in when I can round up all the pic's.....plus I'm serious about bandaging up my battle scars That mtn. range is BRUTAL!

I'll post a story and pic's of todays "wild ride" later after I get all my cuts, bruises and blisters bandaged up! Thanks, JIM>

Well........I didn't get an arrow in em' today, but had the opportunity! I'll post pic's shortly. JIM>

I'd love to have a Coues to carry me around the hills showing me where all the hidin' places are! I just haven't been able to catch one yet and I'm sure either my legs will drag the ground or I'll break his back.......probably both!

Haven't packed any critters out, but the mules are awesome for shed huntin'! BUT....better yet, go directly to the source and use an Elk to show you where he and his buddies have dropped their antlers!

Great job, Congrats! JIM>

Awesome pic's everyone! Here's a few of my favorites.........

Great pics and Great buck! Best of luck! JIM>

Congrats on seeing a Lion! It's always a rush when you first realize there's a Lion in your feild of veiw! I've been very fortunate in finding Lions, but alot of it has to do with how I hunt and where I hunt. If you spend alot of time on the SC Rez you will eventually see one and between Bear hunts and Duck hunts I've seen 9 lions in one year on the Rez. Last Nov. on the late Elk hunt I watched a female Lion as she carried one of her kittens down a rocky slope while the other kitten was trying his best to follow her! That was incredilbe to see! Matter of fact, there's a few lions right near my house that keep scaring off hikers...........one of em' might get an arrow in it this Friday ! I'll keep ya posted......JIM>

This is kinda funny because of the posts made before I headed back down to Mexico about crazy things happening to me. This following event ranks up there as one of my craziest and undoubtedly hardest to believe.....and that's why I almost kept it to myself. I know what I saw, and the people around me that day can attest to my excitement. To get the record straight, I have glassed up and watched quite a few Mt. Lions in the past and feel very confident in my ability to identify what a lion looks like and how it moves. You'll understand later why I feel I had to mention that We've been hunting a new ranch in far south Mexico and to say it's thick would be an understatement! We have to use machetes to get to glassing points and then proceed to stare at small openings just hoping a small Coues will step into it. The weather was hot and the deer weren't moving at all, so we had my buddy Craig do a push. He was to "cut" his way through the bottom of a ravine below us and then on to where we had another hunter set up. Halfway through the push he called on the radio and said he could smell something dead but the brush was too thick to locate it. We could hear him swingin' the machete and you could tell he was getting very frustrated with the task. A few minutes later he called back and said he heard somethin' take off and to be watching so I moved over to a point where I could see his location better. I immediately noticed movement on a ridge leading out of where Craig was at and thought at first it was a deer. My hunter "Steve" got set up with his rife as I tried to follow it through the brush and in the first clearing it passed through I saw it had a long tail! "LION" I said to Craig, but it looked really dark...........and it wasn't running normal! I told Craig and Steve that it's gotta be a Lion but it's really dark colored and it's back wasn't straight like a Lion, it had a "round" appearance like a bear! I could only see it's outline every now and then behind the thin bushes as it made it's way up the ridgeline. It also had an abnormal "bounce" almost like a pig trotting. It finally got in a clearing but was trotting straight away and uphill and again it looked wider than a Lion with more pronounced shoulders, mid section and hips plus it really looked dark, almost black. Steve was trying to see it in his scope and I tried to call out landmarks as I followed it hoping to see it broadside. Finally, as I started shaking with excitement 'cause I had already determined this wasn't a Lion, the cat turned and sidehilled to the left and slowly went through a small opening..........."IT'S A JAGUAR" I yelled! The cat looked fat and stocky and once I could see it broadside I could see it had a pattern with spots. It wasn't bright colored yellow-orange like I thought it should be, but instead was a darker tan/brown with it's head, back and tail being the darkest areas. He definitely wasn't as dark looking when he was broadside and it was very noticeable he had a spotty pattern all over. The cat sidehilled for a short distance then trotted uphill again and disappeared in the thick brush at the top. I was freakin' out at what I just saw and couldn't believe it. Steve and I glassed hard to try and relocate it and Steve found movement back down near where the cat had gone through the last opening. I got excited thinking he was coming back out but it was a small Coues buck walking up the ridge. We watched as the buck hit the scent line of the cat and he took off making a big circle ending up back in the same spot with his ears and head looking all over. That buck stood there for almost 20 minutes just staring in all directions, appearantly not knowing what to do, but then trotted back the way he came the first time. The neat thing with the buck was that it gave me something to compare size to and verified it was indeed a big cat! I had moved glassing points prior to finding the cat so I didn't have my camera handy, but here's where he was and where he went. Craigs direction of travel and where he kicked the cat out is in "yellow" and marked with an "A". The Jaguar went from the red "B" to the red "C" before disappearing. This also took place before there was sunlight in the canyon like there is in the pic's.

Fantastic buck! It's got character all over da place! Huge congrats to your dad! JIM>

Great job and great buck! Congrats and welcome to the site! JIM>

Congrats to all involved.... that's how you get it done!!! Great job, JIM>

I have the Swaro 80mm HD and I feel certain there is no better scope out there. I just don't use it enough to justify the price and I would have bought a cheaper scope if I had known. I would just base it on how much you plan on using it, If you plan on using it alot, then by all means buy the best scope you can afford and in that case, the 80 is better than the 65 Good luck, JIM>