BowHuntAZ

TTT

Elevation turret seemed to spin too easily. Vortex checked it out and made sure it's good to go. Like new now

I'm giving up hope that there's a such thing as a precision muzzle loader. I get bullets to touch at 100 then 4" groups at 150 and again at 200. Good enough to kill my bull with. Putting the muzzy away til season starts in a couple weeks. Got a rifle coues tag to fill and one last weekend of scouting for the elk hunt after that. My rifles blowin up rocks at 400 today so I'm ready next weekend. Good luck everyone!

I don't have any positive input to give today on this subject so I'll keep it short. Went to go to shooting location this morning at 5:30 and I-17 was closed due to car fire so we knew we wouldn't be able to make it back down to town to get back to work later so we headed to location B. Now behind schedule but still in a spot we can shoot out to 300 yards. The muzzy is not grouping anywhere near what it was last time out. Adjusted windage this time to zero (never got that far in the previous tests, too worried about shooting groups to set zeroes yet). It held a good windage zero at 100 yards but now I'm getting 1.5" groups and some random 4" high flyers (elevation) at 100 yards. Still prepping and cleaning the exact same as every other time. I did notice some bullets felt harder to push down the barrel than others and those were typically my flyers, I'm assuming there's a variable in the sabots from TC causing them to fit tighter than others? I'm guessing this tighter fit is causing more pressure and higher velocities which is increasing bullet flight height. Anyone else have this experience with TC sabots? I got frustrated with the muzzy so i got out my rifle and it hit a perfect bullseye on the first shot at 300 yards today and 1" next to that on the 2nd shot with a gusty 10-20 mph wind going strong.

My vote is for Verde. I have a couple pants and jacket in Verde and it blends in good with most areas in AZ. The Vias stands out too much with the amount of light / white color it has in it, in my opinion. One of the hunting magazines recently wrote an article about camouflage patterns and they used a couple of local AZ guys (I think BC777 and his buddies) in it as examples of poor camouflage selection with them all matching in their Vias camo sitting behind a buck they just shot and standing out like sore thumbs. This also goes to prove that camo patterns aren't always that important. ie; all the old school red flannel guys that killed toads throughout the years. So I would say get what you like best.

Bugle - I'm going back out to the desert again this week to get a zero and test different ranges for drop I'll let you know how it goes. I did another load development day after my last post on here and found one that seems to work real well. I'm still using BH but instead of "rough" measuring by volume in the BH tubes I figured it would make a lot more sense to weigh the powder like you would when reloading for a rifle and found that 90 grn by weight shooting a TC shockwave bonded 300grn sabot is the ticket so far in my gun. My groups tightened up to 3/4" last time out. The consistency of the amount of powder is an obvious advantage that I didn't realize I was missing out on at first. BH being a loose powder varies greatly by volume when poured into a tube, sometimes comes out more compact and appears to look the same but when weighed it's off sometimes by almost 8-10 grns. Another learning experience for this muzzy newbie. One month and counting til my hunt. I'll report back with my results after this week.

That's one of them there PETA wolves with a pedicure.

Thanks for the messages everyone. Figured out what I needed to know thanks to you guys. This is a great website with some awesome people!!

I have a 35A rifle coues tag coming up at the end of October and have an access question, hoping someone on here with experience can help me out. Please PM me if you don't mind. I'm hoping to save a wasted scouting trip by not being able to access the area I have in mind. Thanks in advance and good luck to everyone on their hunts!

I saw the same sign a couple weeks ago and was wondering the same thing. Anybody know this processor?

PM sent AZLance

pm sent

yotebuster thanks for the feedback. I completely understand what you're saying about the many variables that affect the consistency. I will be doing more cold bore testing as the temps here cool down and allow for me to get more than one cold bore shot per hour but this weekend didn't allow for it as hot as it was even at 7am. I guess it's good to know that I am getting average groups already but I'm still slightly unhappy about that size of groups. I understand it's a so called primitive weapon but with modern technology I expect better from my equipment. But then again I am not shooting a $5k custom muzzle loader either so I can't expect too much. That's a great idea to field test the load in the gun for a while. I was wondering about the load sitting in my gun for a few days and was curious how much it will affect the shot. I will definitely try that out and see how it affects my gun. Keep the input coming guys, I appreciate it and hopefully the OP is getting some good advice as well. I didn't mean to hi-jjack the thread but i think it's beneficial to anyone muzzle loading.

I got out Saturday and shot a few different loads and I wasn't as impressed as I hoped to be but there's still time and more options to try. Here's what the constants were: All 100 yard shots from a bench. All with a moderately warm barrel (It would take too long to actually go cold) All shooting a Federal 209A shotgun primer. The variable: Wind was anywhere from 2-10 mph gusty but manageable. Load 1: 90 gr (by volume) of BH209 with a Thor 300 gr = Group 2.5" (I was very disappointed in this and will try more loads later with this bullet) Load 2: 90 gr BH209 with a Thor 250 gr = group 2" Load 3: 90 gr BH209 with TC Shockwave 300 gr sabot = group 1.8" Load 4: 100 gr BH209 with Thor 250 gr = group 1.8" I am interested to try all of these bullets with more powder to see what it does. I'd also like to see a high velocity since I'll be shooting an elk with this and would like to be effective over 200 yards. I was really hoping for 1" groups at 100 and will continue to try different powder and bullet combinations until I achieve this. I also plan on trying a different primer to see if it affects the groups.

I did buy the BH breech plug. I also upgraded to Warne two piece bases with Leupold rings and put a Leupold VX3 on it. If I happen upon a good load for it this weekend I'll let you know what works for me. I'm planning on shooting a 300gr conical but also bought some sabots to try. I'm new to muzzys myself so I'm learning from scratch too.

I just recently bought the V2 LR and will be mounting my scope on it tonight and shooting it this weekend. I have a few different bullets to try out and plan on using BH209 after all the hype I've heard about it. I'll let you know how it shoots. It's hot as heck down here so I probably won't be out there too long but hopefully long enough to get a good idea of what it can do at 200 yards for now. My hunt isn't until November so I have time to do some fine tuning still.

Great pics Amanda! Cute little bugger.. I've never come across a Coues fawn before but did run into this muley doe with her fawn a few years back up in the high country of Utah. I stayed back for a while once I saw them on the trail and waited for them to head off. Once they did, I crept up there because it was my only way through and when I got up to where I last saw the doe I looked down and the fawn had just bedded right next to the trail. So I took a couple pics and got out of there quietly as the doe stood there 30 yards off trying to get my attention.

+1 a Go Pro won't keep that elk meat cool

I'll have to dig for my old files to see what it adds up to. Hopefully I still have them packed away some where, it's been a few years since I last went. Just a rough guess though I would say in the $250-$400 per critter for a normal size animal cape and skull. With smaller animals you can group a few in one crate and it will save on some of the shipping fees but you still pay Dip & Crating for each one plus import fees and taxes. I recommend using a local fur dresser (USA side) for quality reasons. Hook up with your taxidermist before you leave for your hunt and he can give you all the info you need on who to have your capes delivered to. I've never been impressed with taxidermy work I've seen done over there either. It is cheaper for a reason. Plus you have a high probability of them crating it incorrectly and rubbing hair off of your cape. Good thing is you have up to two years to save up for all of those trophy fees and ship/dip fees. It's all worth it though! Regardless of all this, it's a great time and a hunt you'll remember the rest of your life. Hunting Africa is an adventure everyone should experience at least once in their life.

A fair heads up on the Dip / Ship and import fees are higher than $150 per critter. It varies by animal species of course but the dipping and crating are usually done by one company which will send you one bill. Once you pay that bill they deliver it to the shipping company that will send you another bill for the ride over here. Then you pay customs fees and other miscellaneous importing and handling fees once it lands. Also, swine, primate and bird species all have to go in their own individual crates and will add a hefty bill so be careful when you think you're shooting a "cheap" warthog or monkey it gets $$$ real quick when you want to get it all home. I don't mean to scare anyone away from this deal but figured I'd at least give someone that might be interested some insight as to what to expect. I've been to S.A. twice and have brought back multiple antelope species, a couple of warthogs and even a bird so feel free to bug me with any questions you might have.

SPF

Selling my older pack because I don't use it any more and changed to a little bit larger pack. It's a Bruzer Gear mid size pack (2700 cu. in.) I've had it for a few years now and it barely has any wear on it. The only thing wrong with it is the elastic cord webbing that used to be on the front of it wore out so I cut it off. There are no tears on the exterior. The inside bottom of the main pocket liner is coming apart a little bit but doesn't affect anything structural. I've used it to day hunt and it has packed elk quarters but there are no stains or odors. It's a good quiet pack for bowhunters and it's waterproof without a rain fly. H2O compatible. It does have an interior frame that is removable. Here's a link to their website so you can look up all the details. http://www.bruzergear.com/index.html Comes with the main pack, two side accessory pods, GPS / call pocket and a middle / front pod that also unclips and converts into the butt end of a rifle holder. Asking $125.00

TTT

In case anyone was wondering, the main bag is not really as pink as it looks in these pictures. It is slightly discolored from the sun but is still more of a camo color than the pink tint it appears to have.

Bag is still for sale. Make me an offer.