lancetkenyon

To the OP, great attitude! It does not take a filled tag to be a successful hunt. I am glad you get that. I have had plenty of unfilled tags but great memories from a hunt.

I'd get all my relatives/friends over to my place, and have them bring all the guns and ammo they have on hand. Sit back, guard the home front, and enjoy some deer and BBQ. Take turns posting up on the roof, to fend off would-be looters. One or two would be all it would take to send out the hint not to screw with us.

That is awesome. I was not aware of this companion tag. Good deal in helping get the future generation of hunters a little more opportunity at a game animal.

Looks tasty!!!

Couple of very nice, mature bucks. Congrats.

If you bought a stock to fit a Winchester Model 70 action...why not just buy a Winchester Model 70 short action? Either find a used gun and just use the action (I have done this twice with Rem 700s), or order a new action. Pawn shops are your friend if you are going this route. Doesn't matter the condition of the gun as long as the action is good, and the bolt face matched what you want to build. You can even order another bolt with different face if needed. They run about $190 from PTG. I bought a beat up .30-06 with a 20" rusted barrel and beat down wood stock for $200 just for the action (new actions are $450+), and built my .25-06 Ackley off of it. Tossed the barrel and stock after disassembly.

Too true about the size. Kind of like cell phones. Or computers.

SWFA SS 3-15x42 FFP. About $700 new. Amazing scope for the money. Warranty is every bit as good as Vortex, but people hardly ever need it!!! http://swfa.com/SWFA-SS-3-15x42-Tactical-Rifle-Scope-P62238.aspx Or look for a used SWFA SS HD 5-20x50 FFP ($. I have one, and it is leaps and bounds better than my Leupold 6.5-20x50 LR. A used SWFA is still covered by the lifetime warranty. I got mine for $1K used. Awesome scope. http://swfa.com/SWFA-SS-HD-5-20x50-Tactical-30mm-Riflescope-P51653.aspx

Great deer, great photos! Glad you have your priorities right! And I looked at the photos before reading the test portion, and I thought, "WTF is that, and what is it holding?" Bigfoot is a good description.

I have looked at the 6.5 SS and 6.5 4S, but with the very limited info and reamers/dies out so far, I will have to wait and see where they go by next year. The 6.5 SS seems like it would fit my bill very nicely, as I AM a speed freak. I would love to get 1K+ rounds out of a barrel. I know PTG has the reamers for the other cartridges I stated. And dies are available too. I would rather have 100 more FPS at the added cost of barrel weight, with installing a 28" barrel on my hunting rigs. The added length has never been detrimental to me so far. I have 2 rifles with 28" barrels. Thanks for the reminders though.

Great buck. I love seeing kids, especially girls, out learning the traditions and ethics of hunting. Good job Dad.

That first buck is going to be some GOOOOD eating! Nice way to put meat in the freezer. Second buck is a dandy too.

Had a buddy send me photos of this deer last night. He was fondling the rack like it was a passed out supermodel, and I don't blame him a bit. I am sure the photos do not do this buck justice, but holy COW the photos are amazing!

Awesome a DIYer got this buck!

Kind of short notice for a January hunt and trying to get all the permits done, but that is a good deal.

Not going to get back into the FMJ legality here in AZ, or ethics debate, but I am man enough to admit when I am wrong on a bullet manufacturer making a FMJ and calling it out for hunting purposes, albeit only for small game/varmints, not big game. Here is a Sierra "GAMEKING" in .243" 90grain FMJBT https://www.sierrabullets.com/store/product.cfm/sn/1535/243-dia-6mm--90-gr-FMJBT And a .224" "Gameking" FMJBT for varmint/small game hunting. https://www.sierrabullets.com/store/product.cfm/sn/1355/224-dia-55-gr-FMJBT .308 110 grian FMJ RN "Pro-hunter" https://www.sierrabullets.com/store/product.cfm/sn/2105/308-dia-110-gr-FMJ .308 150 grain "Gameking" FMJBT https://www.sierrabullets.com/store/product.cfm/sn/2115/308-dia-150-gr-FMJBT

Two bows still available.

Ttt

Bump

Oddball stuff is never on the shelves. It is all handloaded stuff. And components are easy enough to keep in my personal stock. That way, my brother can't ask to borrow ammo.

I, too, am going to be building a 6.5/.264 next year. That being said, since I reload all of my own ammo, the options really open up. I am not too much of a cookie cutter type of rifle shooter. I like different, oddball, wildcat cartridges. The choices I am looking at are: 6.5 Super LR (short action or long action) basically a .243 necked up to .264 w. 30° shoulder 6.5x55 Ackley Improved 40° (long action) 6.5 Roberts Improved 40° (long action) 6.5-.284 Norma or Winchester (long action) .260 Rem Ackley Improved 40° (short action) 6.5-06 Ackley Improved 40° (long action) I have two other Ackley chambered rifles (.250 AI & .25-06 AI), and love the brass life, and velocity gains they give. I think the .260 AI would not show nearly as much of a gain as these two, due to the fact the case already has very little body taper. But the 6.5x55 AI and 6.5 Roberts AI should be closer to what would be expected for gains. The 6.5-06 AI should show about 150-200fps gains too. Plus, they look so darned sexy!

Awesome!

I have a hunting spot with at least 20 around the area. Both the wide flat ones, and the small round ones. Plus a ton of petroglyphs. Amazing to see things from the past that no one has messed with. The limited amount of people who know this spot have respected it.

Thanks for the suggestions. Last Friday, I took my wife and daughter to Arrowhead Grille. Absolutely the best steak I have had. Looking forward to trying a few more mentioned on here.

Love wearing Carhartt's. Killed my buck 2 weeks ago in some 8 year old tan ones. I like the tan or forest greens.