BML

July 20, 2012. 11:45 AM

Only one bear was ruled out. The other two had inconclusive results so there is a chance it was one of them. I see your point though. Last report I heard from a few days ago is that they do still have traps set in the surrounding areas.

I'm shooting the 140 AMAX with H4831SC. How far off the lands are you seating them? My rifle is not a custom build so I'm having to work a little harder to find the right load.

STOMP442, it's funny you mention that the 6.5x284 is a true 3000fps shooter with 49g. I'm actually shooting mine right now testing some loads. I've had more people than I can count tell me if I wanted a 3000fps gun I picked the wrong caliber. I can achieve 3000fps in my rifle but the loads are just too hot and won't group at all past 100. I'm ok with that though. 2800-2900 still gives me plenty of energy for coues at long range.

I have the same gun. My trigger guard screw did the same thing. I think it's a design flaw because once you take that screw out, it will not go back in without some sort of bondo. Easy fix, but every time you take it out, you will have to do the same thing. As far as grouping, I would first check for fouling. Copper and carbon fouling are pretty common in my rifle. I clean every 30 rounds no matter what.

I have an EGW rail on my 6.5x284 and I really like it. Mine is a straight rail though, not the 20 moa. One thing to watch for is clearance. I have low rings and the rail is so long that I can't get my scope far back enough without the front bell of the scope hitting the rail. I have a Leupold VXIII 6.5x20x40 and it just barely fits with low rings. Once I get my load dialed in I'm going to get the higher rings.

I bought this one around the same time and I still use it. It definitely has minimal options compared to today's units but mine still works very well. Good luck with the sale. It's the perfect unit for someone who wants a cheap unit to get them where they need to go and back safely.

Shot the deer in my profile picture with Slick Tricks through the mesh. Didn't affect arrow flight at all.

That's cool!! Thanks for sharing.

Those are nice!! I need to make a set of those. Care to share your plans and what wood you used for the surface?

That's pretty bad arse Jim!! Creativity at it's finest.

No problem Lee. There is one big scenario that I expect will be the biggest problem to this rule. At first, there will be many people to will abide by the rules and at least make their best attempt at following the new rules. Unfortunately, most will not. What will happen is all the folks following the new rules will get sick and tired of people driving by them on closed roads with zero punishment. The good folks will then simply say "screw it" and then very few will be following the new laws. The only way I see to enforce this 100% is to have every single closed road marked as closed. Then it needs to be patrolled on a regular basis. I doubt the FS will ever have the manpower to do either, though.

Sounds good Jim! Getting swamped with clients is never a bad problem to have! Good luck to you all this coming fall.

Good work Jim!! Always enjoy your write ups! Congrats on the turkey. When are we gonna go kill us a couple bears?

Lee, There wasn't a single FS vehicle anywhere we went. Not surprising though. They don't have the manpower to enforce the new TMR. I suppose if they come across folks on closed roads they may or may not issue citations but no way in heck are they devoting man hours strictly to enforcing this new law. Also none of the closed roads were marked closed, but that's part of the TMR. They have already said they aren't going to mark them closed. I'm not against the new TMR but without educating the public there's just no way possible it will be an effective plan.

I hung some trail cameras last weekend. Drove in on a road that was open, but had 6 or 7 side roads that were all closed. I had to hike in a mile or so on a road that I originally was going to drive on. No big deal. Fresh quad tracks all up and down that road though. I talked to several different guys that were turkey hunting that had no clue that any of the roads were closed or even what the new travel management rules were.

I would have looked for 6 days. Haha. Great find. Thanks for sharing the pic. Get in touch with Josh aka Grong. He can give you an idea on what its worth.

I'm no expert but I'd listen to this guy!!

That kind of just happened to me this past weekend. Had to grab some milk at the grocery store. I used the self check out and someone had left all their change in the cash dispenser below the scanner. I took it and gave it to the check out lady. I'm sure someone came back for it. I don't claim to be perfect, but I will NEVER take someone's blind or camera or whatever I come across in the field. It's not mine and taking it is theft, plain and simple.

Gary, I live up in Prescott Valley. I took my truck to a friend of mine's shop. Northern AZ Offroad and Alignment. Let us know how everything works out.

I had a horrible case of the death wobble on my 08 Dodge with the 2 inch leveling kit. Take it to a GOOD reputable alignment or 4x4 shop. Have them adjust the caster all the way. I think mine went all the way to 7 or 8. Never had a problem with the death wobble after that. I did A TON of research when I started having problems with mine. I can't even tell you how many stories I read about people dumping thousands of dollars replacing every front end component trying to get rid of the death wobble. $60 and the alignment shop is all I spent.

To answer your question, Jake, I would still scout and hunt the area. Leave a note if you want, but don't base your decision on a response to the note. I've had this happen to me one time. On my elk hunt I sat in a natural ground blind that I built on a tank during a hunt a couple years prior. Someone put 2 blinds, one on each end, of the same tank. One of which was inches from the ground blind I built. I got to the tank first and since the blinds were empty I sat in the ground blind. I never touched either blind, even though the one next to me blocked a good portion of my view. Those hunters showed up and it got a little testy at first, but we agreed that I would sit in the ground blind and they shared the blind on the other side of the tank. The tank was 80+ yards long and I had no intentions of shooting to that side anyway. IMO where I made the WRONG decision was after that night, I decided NOT to return to that tank. That tank was getting hammered with elk every evening and I chose to let someone else change my hunting strategy. The regs clearly state it's first come first served and that's how you should approach the situation you are in. Keep hunting that area. If whoever owns that blind is there when you show up, then respectfully leave. If they aren't, well then you have the area you've spent all that time scouting all to yourself! Good luck to you!

For real man? You don't have any idea why it's been left out for so long. Maybe there is a legitimate reason the owner can't get back into the field to retrieve it? Maybe an injury or severe illness or whatever. There are lots of unexpected things that could happen to prevent a hunter from returning to the field to get his/her blind. Justify it as "abandoned" or any way you like to make you feel better, but bottom line is you just admitted that you will take something that is not yours with the intent of using it at a future date as if it was yours. That's theft and that makes you a thief. Period. I see more and more hunters with this "f-you" mentality towards their fellow hunters every year and it's disturbing.

My dad has 17 and has never drawn. I only put in for archery and have been lucky enough to draw 4 tags from 1999-2010. Archery is a blast man!

I'm hearing that you are one of many that has happened to. Let us know what you find out.