Saguaro

You could order one from Shilen. http://www.shilen.com/chambers.html

It’s nice to read about people buying quality. Typically I read about low end enthusiasm here like someone WTB a Savage or Mossberg MVP in the hopes they can get them for less than the $300 they go for new. Or someone is looking to buy a scope and are asking what garbage you are willing to sell. Hopefully in the future the rifle threads have more Cooper, Dakota, Nesika, Mcwhorter, Sako, Anschutz, Christensen etc. and fewer Tikka, Ruger and Savage.

Colt 1917?

I love that store. It’s been there as long as I can remember. I bought a few guns from that place. Red Rabbit, do you remember when it was a grocery store as well as a gun store? I can remember gallons of milk, pornography, and booze and cigarettes for sale. I always thought a good name for the store would be Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms.

I was going to put up a few dirty Christmas songs to be funny, but then I thought about all of the “there’s kids on this site” backlash.

Also consider Anschutz, Cooper, Dakota or Lithgow for 22 WMR. You will have to order these, but they’re good.

You can go to Sportsman Warehouse or Bass Pro when you get to Mesa. There are a few others like Healy Arms in Tempe. You should have no problems finding at least a few of those choices.

There’s no clear winner. Most on here study optics to death and you will only get opinions. My opinion is that the European optics are the best even in rifle scopes like Swarovski, Leica, Zeiss and Schmidt and Bender. But be cautious. Even they sell low end products so beware of the model. I just made up my mind that I’m not going to buy any Leupold or Vortex anymore. I just ordered a Swarovski from cameraland that he has on special. I know there are a few good American companies, but I think the only one I will buy is Nightforce.

Is $4000 low or average price? I’m asking because I genuinely don’t know. I still don’t think I would do that for a Varmint.

I’ve only seen one in all my life. I’m 42. I called it in by accident 18 years ago. I’ve seen tracks on two other occasions. I glass a lot and cover a lot of ground and have trail cameras set up. I just don’t see them like others here do. It’s the same with bears. I’ve only seen one of those. It could be the areas I spend most of my time. Those areas aren’t historically lion or bear rich.

I don’t agree with you SirRoyal. But I have some respect for you. I know in order to have the title Sir, you must have done a few things right. Most I hear about are accomplished in the arts, theatre, medicine and things like that. Do you mind sharing with us your story? Have you seen the Queen since the Knighthood ceremony?

I don’t know how much time you have, but if you’re in Heber, you could give Nichols Sportsman a shot. It’s in Holbrook, about 45 minutes away. I try to buy all of my reloading stuff from him.

Thanks. I really don’t follow the bans from the department and at least you answered. This is how conversations should go.

So what have G&F banned in the past? I see people talking about this but I don’t know what they banned or laws they’ve passed that hurt us. I see where it went backwards a little like now you can use a 30 round magazine to hunt predators, you can take two Javelinas in a year, and you can hunt at night in some places. I’m not defending them, I just don’t know what they have banned. I’m hoping those that say they’ve banned things can answer that.

Can someone let us know what has been banned? I admit I’m not the best at keeping score on all of the things I’ve lost to the government. But maybe huntlines is right. He sounds like someone with a lot of answers.

I try to find positives. When I first got into game cameras about 15 or 16 years ago, they were big, about 10” x 6” and they took C or D or those big 6volt batteries. The current ones are much more small. 15 or 16 years from now, they should be the size of a watch. That may make people feel better, at least they won’t notice as many.

It will be impossible to prove. But that’s what bugs me. We know when you check the images from the SD card, you skip right TF over pictures of does and coyotes and other wildlife and take pause on those pictures of big bucks and bulls. Then you go to the next camera and see if there’s any of the same bucks, then you note the time stamp and get on google earth and try to think like a Deer. To me that is using cameras to take. It could also mean people actually use the cameras to take. You would have to be good to kill one with a plastic camera by smacking it over the head or delivering some other trauma by repeated blows to to animal.

It’s kind of funny in a way. Definitely a first world problem. Our hunting is not at stake, just getting pictures and it’s driving some crazy. Don’t get me wrong, I have my share of cameras and about 14 are out there now and I can’t wait to see what’s on them. What I don’t like is every tank covered and people telling themselves they don’t use them to target big animals. Just be honest about it. That’s what I use them for. I don’t have a permit, but when I do, I think I will have narrowed down a few places.

It might help to define what recreational use is? Do all of those guides install them because of outdoor recreation enthusiasm or is there another purpose? Could they be looking for big bucks and how often and which places they water? That’s what I do with cameras. I shoot many different guns recreationally. Some of those guns will never see a big game or varmint hunt. It’s pretty easy to see the recreation there, it’s more difficult to see the recreation in cameras. I guess I could see it if you had cameras in a unit that you didn’t have a connection to a big game hunt with friends or family.

I was taught growing up that you should have at least the following guns- a nice 22lr bolt action a nice 22lr pistol, revolver and semi a shotgun a varmint rifle a deer rifle. Those were the basics. We had more like a few lever actions, semi auto 22lr rifles and tons of pistols. the cartridges were always up to debate. Usually the common cartridges came up like the .270 and 30-06 for the deer rounds. For the varmints, it was usually the 243, or the 223. Later in life I think having a Magnum is nice. I started with a 300 RUM and had it built into a 300 WBY and have been very happy with that decision. Now I find I’m buying more of the novelty type of guns like the 6.5 Creedmoor, 22K Hornet, 280 AI, 22 WMR and planning on a 221 fireball and 338-06 Ackley Improved in the next 3 years. The 30-06 Ackley is starting to look good to me too.

That’s another thing I forgot to mention about how it was 30 years ago. Back then, ranchers near my town NEVER locked up anything. Maybe a few gates like ones with access in the city limits. I remember it well because it was my job as a passenger to open the gates. But now all of them have it locked up tighter than a drum. You’re right, it’s because there’s no respect anymore.

They are great rifles. I had all of my firsts with my dad’s 722 Roberts. I can still remember my first Coyote. Whenever we would go out hunting/ shooting my dad would tell me which guns to load up in the truck. “Grab the Roberts” he would say. That’s what we called it back then. I still have it. I watched him make incredible shots with it too at things like running coyotes and rabbits. It was also the first thing I used to shoot long range. Back then, 500 yards was really far. But it was capable.

Keep looking. I hope it works out for you, especially for the 725. It’s nice to read about someone that’s interested in something besides a Savage or Ruger American.

That’s the unknown I keep thinking about. What I see now was unimaginable 30 years ago. How weird it will be 30 years from now. I know the future has not been good to a few of my hunting areas. Some have been cut up into Windmills, potash exploration, juniper munching, and more 40 acre maggots. Top that off with the areas not getting any good rain and the future looks depressing. I honestly think it’s too late to do anything about cameras. Too many will think this is a game law that doesn’t apply to them. It should have been nipped in the butt 15 yeas ago. We are too spoiled now and so full of our privilege.

I like cameras. It’s always a unique surprise to check the cameras and find something nice. It could even be a good picture of a bird. I think in some areas trail cam pictures of a big buck will doom him and I’m not sure that’s what hunting should be. I can’t help but to think about the future when these topics come up like game cameras, long range shooting, outfitting, and online egos with Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, websites etc.. None of these were talked about or considered problems 30 years ago. I know there are more guides now than there were then. What will it be like in another 30 years and 4,000,000 more people later?