lancetkenyon

Man, the amount of LEO bashing is amazing. How about we focus on the good things the LEOs do for us daily instead of the few bad apples? Sure, this might not be the popular thing to do, but it is my opinion. And to be clear, I am not an LEO.

These are amazingly accurate rifles. I have the 24" version of this rifle and it shoots sub-half MOA with hand loads. I absolutely love mine. Post up photos if you have any. Is this the 1" heavy barrel, or light varmint barrel profile? Just so people know, this is what they are routinely capable of. My brother has the same rifle, and his shoots sub-half MOA as well. This is my fun shooting and hunting load. This was one of many sub-half MOA loads during development. This is two separate groups. A 3 shot group on the bottom, and a 5 shot group on top after scope adjustment. This is my varmint load. Puts coyotes, rabbits, prairie dogs down like they were hit by lightning....or a bomb.

http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=5&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0CDIQFjAE&url=http%3A%2F%2Fazdailysun.com%2Fnews%2Flocal%2Fforest-service-officer-involved-in-fatal-shooting%2Farticle_472327bd-4afc-506f-a037-4f55d8458cd1.html&ei=19geVLuuC8HcoASd0ICQDA&usg=AFQjCNFANpKg1uJUthhvjlYCG6SOlABnLA

Actually, that is only three different guys. I will only hunt with two others now. My one buddy who always seems to draw the good tags on years I can't, and the other is my brother.

I usually hunt alone. Here is why: Most of my old hunting buddies were gung ho for the first 3-4 days, then got bored and wanted to go home. Another one smoked while walking through the woods. Others just wanted to road hunt. Others sounded like a herd of cattle walking through the woods. Others, couldn't hit the ground if they dropped their rifles/bows. Others wanted to go into town every night to eat dinner. And still others just wanted to drink instead of hunt. I ran out of friends after that.

My buddy just killed a good 6x6 in unit 1 on Wednesday. I am betting somewhere 340-350 from the photos. Really heavy, wide, great main beam length, good fronts, 3rds were OK, 4ths OK, back was the weak part.

I sure wouldn't say "energy is a myth". But the 20gr. difference we are talking here is not nearly as drastic as it could be with the velocities we are talking. I would not shoot a deer with a .223 Rem. and 70 gr. bullet at 800 yds. (only about 244+/- lb/ft left), but I would have no problem shooting the same deer with a .257 Weatherby and 100 grain bullet (about 926 lb/ft left) if I could place the shots where I wanted. The .257 80gr, TTSX at about 3600fps would only retain about 514 lb/ft. at 800 yds. That is just over half of the 100gr. at the same speed. At 100 yds, just about anything will do the job. .223 70 gr. @ 3000fps=1203 lb/ft .257 80 gr. @ 3600fps=2030 lb/ft .257 100 gr. @ 3600fps=2763 lb/ft .257 115 gr. @ 3440fps=2827 lb/ft .308 215 gr. @ 3100fps=4413 lb/ft But I do agree wholeheartedly that placing the bullet where it needs to be is priority number 1. An 80 or a 100 gr. TTSX will do the job on a Coues ethically and cleanly out to most reasonable ranges.

We both have the custom molded earplugs, and they stay in our pockets while hunting. I already told her she will be wearing them for the shot if time permits. But great call. And good call on the heat packets. I never thought about those. So, I went to Ben Avery this morning to verify final loads for the .300 backup gun that I just swapped scopes on. At 200 yds., this is what I got after sight in. Shot two 5 round groups at 100 yds. with the primary rifle too. I am more than pleased with this. They are .277 150gr. Nosler Accubond Long Range at 2909fps. I don't know why they look so small in the photos. The grid is 1" squares, but the holes look tiny, not .277 size. I also got to help a Dad with his 10 year old daughter who has a Jr. doe hunt in 12AW coming up in a couple weeks. Helped get some problems figured out, and the little girl was great. Good shot, great attitude. Good to see Dads taking their daughters out to learn the sport. And I got scolded by a few G&F Range Officers for not dragging my girl out of bed, most of them know her down there. Heading up again tomorrow for some scouting.

That is amazing you called one in! Too cool. They are out in force lately. I have seen 8 before in the wild over about 30 years. The past two weeks, I have seen 6!!! Pulled this guy out of the middle of the fast lane while heading up to Laughlin for work, about a mile south of Nothing. This guy was just chugging along across the road, He actually walked right up to me to get in my shadow for a rest. This one was about a mile away from the second one, same day. Same thing, walked right up to me and stopped in my shadow. Another one, about 3 miles from the last two, cruising the road. The same day as #3, I saw this smaller one. Then this guy on Thursday. He came up to see what I was holding.

I have used the .257 100 TX and TTSX on mulies with spectacular results. My last big bodied muley was taken at 488 yds. with my .25-06 Ackley Improved pushing the 100gr. TTSX at about 3590fps. Bullet went in at front shoulder and out at left hip. Deer did not take a single step. I don't think you would need any more speed than that, and the extra weight of the 100 gr. helps retain more kinetic energy downrange, plus better ballistics at extended ranges. For a lighter chambering like the .250 Savage, I can see the added speed of the 80gr. as being beneficial, but not in a .257 Weatherby. I say stick with a 100gr. TTSX.

Redhawk Rifles?

I have the Manfrotto MT294C3. I was hard pressed to allow myself to pay the $250 for a carbon fiber tripod. Now I wonder how I ever glassed before! Pretty light, but amazingly steady. Going from a $40 aluminum camera tripod to this is amazing. I have two different heads. A Manfrotto 700RC2 panning head like normal tripods use, and a Manfrotto made Vortex branded pistol grip head. Both have their advantages. I like the panner better for glassing long hours, but the pistol grip better for quickly looking over large areas with the 10s. When I go out solo, I usually take the panner only. Both heads use the same base plates, and I have multiple base plates and tripod adapters that usually stay on the binos, scope, and camera. Makes quick changes really easy. It is also nice to have two setups going if I am glassing a LOT of real estate and I am close to the truck. One with the 10s, and another with the 15s or spotting scope. My other tripod is a Primos Jim Shockey edition quick adjust aluminum with the detachable rifle cradle. Not the best, but sure is easy to get glassing fast with the 10s if something is spotted fairly close and on the move. And great that is quickly doubles as a rifle rest.

My son-in-law has a .308 that his father had built in Washington, and it kicks like a freaking mule! It is seriously worse than my .300RUM was without a brake. Not an exaggeration. Super light, like 5#, and a very hard rubber butt pad. I actually checked the bore dimensions to see if it was a .7mm or .264 bore that was mismarked with a .308 stamp on the barrel. I have shot some big guns, up to .30-378 Weatherby and .338 Mags with no brakes, and I swear they were not this bad. My son-in-law couldn't do more than 5 rounds, and I got to 6 before I told him load development was suspended on the gun. It has now been sitting for 2 years in a safe. Beautiful gun, and would make a great mountain gun if you put a brake on it. But I ain't shooting it any more.

Heck of a thing to do. There are still some great folks out there.

Holy huge brakes Batman! The weight alone would help reduce recoil, let alone the porting. As others have stated, that weight on the end of the barrel should not hurt the rifle, but will definitely change the barrel harmonics. Do a quick ladder test with loads similar to what you have been shooting to see where the accuracy node shifted to. I bet within a grain of powder +/- you will be close.

What kind of muzzle brake? Clamp on or thread on? Make/model? Bore dimensions? Who did the install?

And make sure you are carrying non-lead shot ONLY! Even when quail season is underway with duck season, you can get dinged for having lead shot on you. My brother found this out.

7W, one of my favorite units. Good luck bud. Stick with it. My daughter has a late rifle bull tag up there. Can't wait. We'll be up this weekend scouting some more. Let me know if you need anything brought up from the valley, I'll grab it for you.

http://www.azgfd.gov/regs/waterfowlregs.pdf

I wish my wife would accidently buy me some .280AI rounds.... Bump for a nice gun.

I have one account of a bear incident involving a fisherman here in AZ. One of my Dad's good friends went to the San Carlos Res and was fishing the Black River 30+ years ago. He was alone. Scheduled to be gone 4 days. Day 5, no word of him. Day 6, authorities are called. Day 8, his camp is found. Tent is torn up, sleeping bag is torn up, nothing of the guy at first. Some remains were found, along with lots of bear sign around the tent. No bear was ever found to confirm. It is not known if the bear/bears got to the guy pre or post death. It is probable he died from something and the bear/bears just found the remains. He was not suicidal, no weapons were missing/found fired, no knife with human blood, no pills, etc. No other human traffic was noted near the site either. A tragic mystery either way. Back about 20 years ago, I went to the same river, and thought about this the entire time. On my third day, I came to the river early in the morning, and on the opposite bank with about 20' of 6" deep water separating us, was a big black bear.....we eyed each other for all of 2 seconds before it bolted into the woods...and I nearly had to wash out my shorts.

I'm not making light of the fact that something might have been done that was not entirely legal. I am also not saying I have not mistakenly shot a bird that was not my intended game species. This will be a good lesson either way it turns out, to identify your target, and know when/where you can and can't hunt. I am also not bashing the officer. Most of them are hard working agents doing a job they love for little pay. Leniency by an officer is based on his/her discretion. I was not there, so I do not know the entire story or witnessed what occurred, so I will not speculate on how it all went down. I would sincerely doubt any judge would throw the book at anyone for a first offence of shooting a Sparrow in a technically closed area. We have determined that House Sparrow season is open year round for shotguns, statewide with a few closed areas specifically called out. We just need to determine WHERE this took place. If it was or was not in a closed area, might make all the difference in the world.

Where did this happen? There are a lot of areas closed by G&F for the House Sparrow limited season, even though it is open year round. If he was in one of these closed areas, he did commit the offense. Sorry, and I hope I am wrong in my assumption of location. See the notes below. A lot of areas with 25M (greater Phx. area hunt unit) are closed to sparrow hunting. 1. The U.S. Army Yuma Proving Ground is closed to hunting, except those areas open in accordance with U.S. Army regulations to properly licensed hunters holding a valid Yuma Proving Ground Hunting Program Access permit. Hunting access permit holders are required to sign a Hold Harmless Agreement and complete a Range Safety Briefing. Occasionally, due to military activities, some affected hunting areas may be temporarily closed. For information write: U.S. Army Yuma Proving Ground - Bldg. 105, Attn: Hunting Program, 301 C. Street, Yuma, AZ 85365- 9498 or call (928) 328-2630, or www. yuma.army.mil/hunting_program.htm. 6. The Grand Canyon-Parashant, Vermilion Cliffs, Sonoran Desert, Ironwood Forest, and Agua Fria National Monuments are open to hunting when the unit they occur in is open to hunting. 7. The following described area in Unit 26M is closed to hunting: those private lands lying just north of the Town of Cave Creek in Sections 10, 11, 12, 14 and 15 of Township 6 North, Range 4 East. 8. A portion of Unit 25M is closed to hunting. Hunting is not permitted in the following area of Unit 25M: an unincorporated portion of land west of Loop 202 (San Tan Freeway) known as the Elliot and Hawes County Island in Section 16, Township 1 South, Range 7 East. 9. Entry into portions of Units 40A, 40B, 46A, and 46B is subject to military closure and requires coordination with the appropriate land management agency for hunting access to Barry M. Goldwater Range (BMGR) and some adjacent areas. The BMGR is closed to hunting except open public recreational use areas, as allowed by an authorized entry permit. For specifics about accessing the BMGR refer to the Index: Hunting on Military Reservations. 10. The Florence Military Reservation (training areas B and D: the areas north and south of Cottonwood Canyon Road) in Unit 37B is subject to short term closures due to military operations, including live fire operations, and requires coordination with the Florence Military Reservation for hunting access. For specific closure dates or any other access concerns, contact the Florence Military Reservation at 602-267-2062. A map of the Florence Military Reservation is located on the Arizona Game and Fish Department’s website, azgfd.gov (type Florence Military Reservation in the search box). 11. The following described area in Unit 26M is closed to hunting: the unincorporated portion of land within the Town of Queen Creek in Pinal Countyin Sections 5, 7, 8, and 18 of Township 3 South, Range 8 East. 12. Within Unit 25M as described in R12- 4-108, all incorporated lands, including private property within municipal boundaries, are closed to hunting unless opened under Commission Order. Incorporated includes all municipal and corporate limits. County islands are open to hunting provided the hunter does not discharge a firearm within 1/4 mile of an occupied farmhouse, residence, cabin, lodge, or building without permission of the owner or resident. Privately held lands within county islands may be closed by the landowner. 13. The following described area in the City of Maricopa in Unit 26M is closed to hunting: that portion of the city east of Green Road, south of Smith Enke Road, and east of the Cobblestone subdivision and that portion of the city north of Farrell Road and west of White and Parker Road. 14. The following described area in the Town of Eloy in Units 26M and 37A is closed to hunting: beginning with the intersection of Cornman Road and LaPalma Road; south on LaPalma Road to Milligan Road; west on Milligan Road to Overfield Road; north on Overfield Road to Cornman Road; east on Cornman Road to LaPalma Road. 15. The following Pima County parks and preserves are open to hunting when the unit they occur in is listed as an open area: A-7 Ranch in Units 32 and 33, Oracle Ridge Property in Unit 33, Six Bar Ranch in Unit 33, Emperita Ranch in Unit 34B, Bar V Ranch in Unit 34B, Sands Ranch in Unit 34B, Clyne Ranch in Unit 34B, Diamond Bell Ranch in Unit 36A, Marley Ranch in Units 36A and 36B, Rancho Seco in Units 36A and 36B, Kings 98 Ranch in Unit 36C, Old Hayhook Ranch in Unit 36C, Verdugo in Unit 36C, Bee Ranch in Unit 37A, Mordka Ranch in Unit 37A, Buckelew Ranch in Unit 37A, Carpenter Ranch in Unit 37A, Cochie Canyon Ranch in Unit 37A, Lords Ranch in Unit 37A, and Tortolita Mountain Park in Unit 37A. Hunting in County Parks, opened by this Commission Order, is not permitted within ¼ mile of any developed picnic area, developed camp ground, shooting range, occupied building, boat ramp, or golf course. Developed areas do not include trails. 16. The following described area in Unit 36B is closed to hunting: in the posted portion of Sopori Ranch south of Arivaca Road in Sections 14 and 15, Township 20 South, Range 11 East. The remainder of Sopori Ranch is open to hunting. 17. The following described area in the Town of Marana in Unit 37A is closed to hunting: beginning at the intersection of Sanders Road and Avra Valley Road; north on Sanders Road to the Santa Cruz River; southeast along the Santa Cruz River to the Central Arizona Project Canal; southwest along the Central Arizona Project Canal to Avra Valley Road; west on Avra Valley Road to the intersection of Sanders Road. 92 Arizona Game and Fish Department — www.azgfd.gov Getting Started, License and Fees Small Game and Other Wildlife Seasons Small Game Hunting Notes 18. The following described area in the Town of Quartzsite in Units 43A and 44B is closed to hunting: Sections 15, 16, 17, 20, 21, 22, 23, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, and 35, Township 4 North, Range 19 West and Sections 2, 3, and 4, Township 3 North, Range 19 West. 19. The following Maricopa County parks and preserves are open to hunting as defined in R12-4-321: Lake Pleasant, White Tank Mountains, McDowell Mountain, and Estrella Mountain Regional Parks. Hunting in County Parks, opened by this Commission Order, is not permitted within ¼ mile of any developed picnic area, developed camp ground, shooting range, occupied building, boat ramp, or golf course. Developed areas do not include trails. 20.In Units 11M and 38M, the private property within municipal boundaries is closed to hunting. 21. The area in Unit 37A in the Town of Marana is subject to temporary closures in February for special events. All state lands located south of Cochie Canyon Trail in Township 11 South, Range 12 East. 27. The following City of Tucson water Properties located in Avra Valley are open to hunting via foot access only: the Duval property in Unit 36C and the Buckelew property in Unit 37A; all other Tucson water properties are closed to hunting. 28.In the northern portion of Unit 5A, access is permitted on the Clear Creek Ranch by written permission only by contacting the Hopi Tribe Wildlife and Ecosystems Management Program via e-mail at hopihunts@ hopi.nsn.us or by calling (928) 734-3606 or (928) 734-3605 from Monday- Friday 8am-5pm. Please contact in advance to gain access for hunting and scouting. In Unit 5B North, access is permitted on the Hopi’s Hart/Drye Ranch and in Unit 4A on the Hopi’s Aja Ranch by signing in at designated sign-in boxes located at access points.

Very interesting. I get something similar when you run my name...it lists my wife and her maiden name as an "alias" for me. I have never gone by "Annie," so they probably just pull the info from documents on which we both appear (i.e. mortgages, accounts, corporate filings, etc.). I would bet Tracey is his wife's name. With a screen name of "1uglydude", and you SURE you never had an alias of "Annie"? Sorry buddy, I just couldn't help myself...

The first foot photo....I thought...."Umm...not so much." Then I saw the second photo, and thought, "Unless you KNOW it is there, you will never see it." Great job saving the mount. Looks amazing.