catclaw

I have watched lions come in and drink, then gone to the tank and still could not find their tracks. They are very light-footed excepting maybe an adult with 30# of meat in his belly! When you see a lion track, you will know it!

There is obviously some very poor or politically motivated management going on in many cases, especially with regards to deer hunting. I didn't hear very many positive things about the two elk hunts this year either. Many complained of being overrun with hunters in the field. Not a good way to encourage recruitment. Are we trying to emulate Colorado??? As far as surveys go, some WMs are pretty good at field craft and have a handle on their units. There are some others, and I have met them, that couldn't find catfish in a swimming pool. I have no idea what they do for the reports they turn in. I one time counted 70 deer in one day during a hunt. I mentioned this to the WM and she didn't believe me. I had to go show her. She had no idea what was in her unit. I would like to have seen that year's survey. The little cards they mail us leave a lot to be desired too. They should go to an online reporting system where you have to report your hunt in order to access your personal data or maybe give a deadline with a $5 penalty or something. That way EVERYONE reports. I think some people lie, but the more data you get, the more accurate your study is.

If you are going to use it sitting flat on the ground or at the range to look at your targets, it is fine, I like to spread my legs out in rough country to get comfortable and I glass a LOT standing up. It just doesn't cut it for that. If I could afford to have a whole stable of tripods, I am sure I would find a good use for the 190, hunting CWTs in not one of them. I really like the new Bogen that has the pull-down legs too- you can get it into play in like 4-5 seconds. It's a little heavier, but perfect for a guide.

You guys are learning. If it isn't evidence of a crime, it is finders- keepers. Don't take them home until they are dry though. In case nobody told you, it is NEVER a good idea to talk to the police. Period. I was a cop for over 20 years so I speak from experience! I have taken a lot of them home. I don't call unless someone did something bad and needs to be caught ( had a couple of USO guides that got in big trouble when I found where they had dropped 3 of them in one spot) If there is a bullet hole in the skull, I probably wouldn't take it.

That is definitely NOT a lion track. Sorry

Depends on the weather, but if you can hunt anywhere, I would start on the Rez side of Black River where it starts to drop off from the real high stuff. You can scout easily by purchasing a fishing license and "hiking into Black River". The other place you should be is in the burn off the rim below Black Canyon lake area. Dennis

NO, IT IS NOT. I hunted with one for a number of years and killed a dozen or so bucks with it. As long as I had perfect broadside presentation it was fine. I shot a nice buck in unit 22 one year and it ran off. I made an amazing (read lucky) follow-up shot on it at about 400 yds and broke its back. When I hiked over, it was still alive and pissed off. I never used a 22-250 again for deer hunting. I think it (22-250)is a rifle for a superior marksman, not a kid's rifle. Go with something that shoots a heavier bullet. A 243 doesn't have a lot of recoil and is heads and shoulders better for deer hunting than any 22 caliber rifle. I feel like the 250 Savage is even better- I built one for my kids and they have taken a half dozen cows elk and a hand full of deer with it. Had the 260 Remington been available at that time, I might have gone that route instead. I have heard too many horror stories about big game and the 22-250 to even consider it anymore. It doesn't not have much energy once you get past 250 yds. Do your son a favor, and get him something that will be effective when he hits a shoulder bone or a raking shot. Nothing worse than losing an animal to the shot. Dennis

When you use a target bullet, there is always the risk of poor terminal performance. The only bullets that seem to be very reliable are the Berger hunting bullets. I have had Sierra MKs work good one time and pencil through the next and explode on the impact the next time. I have heard mixed reviews on the Amax. If you don't know better, you should probably work loads up with hunting bullets to begin with. Bullets such as Accubonds, interbonds, Scirocco IIs et al are both very good hunting bullets and very accurate. You are talking about 300-400 yds, there is no advantage to using target bullets at this range. If you want to shoot 800-1200 yds, then I would stick with the Bergers or other PROVEN ultra long range bullets. I have never used the current generation Amax bullets on big game. It may work fine for you. If it disintegrates (correct spelling) after impact, it will be fine as long as it penetrates a few inches before doing so. This is typical with the Bergers. Since you don't have time or money to change, you take your chances and let us know how it does.

I found the Bogen 190 to be too flimsy. It is a nice tripod- just not really sturdy with a full sized spotter or even with 15s. That is why I went to the heavier (slightly) 4 leg section Velbon. It fits in my pack and will stand up tall enough for a 6' guy. There are even better ones, but they start getting real expensive. The velbon was $300 and came with a head. I switched it with my Bogen head and use it on my old tripod for taking photos. Same reason I don't carry a 4 1/2# rifle, I want to be able to hit something when I shoot!

Looks like a fun pack! Been there, done that!

The cheapy, light tripods are OK if you are sitting AND the wind isn't blowing, add either of these and you need more tripod to be effective. What is the point of carrying one if it is not doing the job. Not everyone needs and can afford a Gitzo carbon fiber tripod. I used a Bogen aluminun tripod for years and still do but my main tripod is now a Velbon El Carmagne 640. It is carbon fiber, magnesium and has nylon locknuts as opposed to the $700 Gitzo alloy locknuts. I use a small Manfrotto ball head and love it. For use with the Claw, I am switching to the 710 HDV head which is a fantastic head. The Velbon comes with a head for about $300 but I don't like it for binocular use- it is fine for cameras and spotting scopes however. A 5'10" guy can easilly stand and use the 640. If your budget is tight, you are going to have to go heavier to get cheaper. sorry!

WRONG This is what you don't get. Many of the title 17 laws specifically state that in less words, that if a Wildlife Manager chooses to use discretion and give you a warning, he, himself, is now guilty of a crime! Titles 13 and 28, the other two commonly enforced laws by Law Enforcement, don't have those provisions. And to make it worse, almost all the laws in title 17 are "strict liability" which means if you did it, you are guilty as opposed to typical title 13 and 28 laws which add culpability into the mix. For example, if you trip over a log and your gun goes off and shoots a doe, you are GUILTY of whatever host of violations you can think of; big game out of season, antlerless in an antlered season, exceeding the bag limit and so on. In title 13 (criminal statutes) you have to have some level of culpability- usually the minimum is reckless. If you applied this standard in title 17 they would have to show that you were either Reckless in your actions that caused whatever violation or you did it knowingly or intentionally. If you took careful aim at a deer, with nothing but and empty hill behind you and shot the deer but the bullet went clear through and hit a grapefruit sized rock on the hill, riccocheted off and hit another deer that was 50yds away and completely out of your possible view, you would be guilty of exceeding the bag limit and possibly other violations under current title 17 rules. If there were levels of culpability applied, they would have to show two things; that you in fact killed the second deer and that your actions were reckless... Add no allowance for judgement on top of this, and you have a pretty screwed up system with respect to game laws in Arizona. This is why I would NEVER turn myself in if something like this happened. You are going to get screwed big-time. Don't blame the WMs, most of them I have encountered are good folks. I met a very lazy one in 24A a few years ago but that was the exception and not the norm. Blame our ridiculous title 17...

Has the talk forum been down a lot for you guys lately? Seems like about every 4th time I try to get on I get a server error. I check another site and all is fine.

I could get into the main website but when I clicked on the forums it was not found and I got a server error.

Mike, I swear you are a retard sometimes. I was making the point that the WM are good guys for the most part but that their hands are tied by the stupid laws. You have obviously never read title 17 and have no grasp of criminal law in Arizona-especially when it comes to culpability. Like I said, I don't trust the current commission one bit.

The commission we have now would suspend you for leaving a candy bar wrapper on the ground by your stand- I wouldn't trust them with something that significant. If the animals is still alive that long after the shot, you don't deserve to tag it. Our game and fish laws by and large are quite archaic. Many of them allow NO discretion whatsoever to the wildlife managers. They state that if....such and such happens and it comes to the attention of a WM and he/she does not arrest you, then THEY are guilty! With laws like that on the books, I wouldn't dream of finishing one off the day after. I would still pack my pistol, but wouldn't shoot it unless it charged me.

My friend found an I-phone while hiking this weekend in the Globe area. If any of you know who this might belong to, contact me via PM. Dennis

Yeh- but nobody has no pictures this time!!!

He charged the phone up but it has a password on the screen saver so he can't get the numbers. Aren't all I phones A T &T? I guess he can try and go to the service provider and turn it in. I have never found one that I couldn't dial out on.

It snowed twice, once, my buddy had an inch on him while sitting in a tree stand waiting for the 370 from the night before. The wind was bad and he wasn't boogered so we figured to set up on him the next night. No dice! There was an inch on the road at Hannagan Meadows and a little less than that in our camp (9200') It was 36 inside the trailer when I got up on the morning of the 23rd. Strange 2 weeks. When they are rutting hard, they are screaming their heads off, smaller bulls are cutting in, bulls are running after cows to keep them in line. I saw this last year but not a trace of it this year. Sure, they are rutting, but it never became the frantic scramble that makes this hunt so enjoyable! A rifle would have resulted in an early kill in our case, but would not have made the hunt any more enjoyable!

I don't have the answer but I agree it was tough. I spent 9-8 though 9-23 in unit 27 and it was cold and rainy most of the hunt- we got snow twice! The rut NEVER did pick up; it was worse on Thursday the 24th than it was the week before. I have never had to hunt so hard to find bulls. They were nocturnal in spite of almost NO moon. I watched a 370 class bull breed a cow about midway through the hunt and there were no satellite bulls to be found. Very, very strange hunt. There was plenty of water in 27 and it made no difference. Bulls wallowed at night and shut up during the day. There were bears and turkeys everywhere. We saw two lions to boot. The dates are not changing- the second Friday is going to shift with each calendar but it returns in a cycle. I don't think the rifle/muzzleloader guys are going to fare much better unless the moon phase changes things.

WOW- how is that for memories!!

I looked through most of them and liked the Leica the best but couldn't get over the spaceship look it had. I ended up with the Pentax 80mm ED. It is a great scope but BIG. If I bought another new one today, it would be the new Leica ($4000) or the Vortex Razor HD. The Kowa 88mm is superb as well. All of these I like better than the Zeiss and Swaro.

That was pretty good! Love those steep hill jobs. I once had to tie a boar to a tree to dress and skin him in a prickly pear patch. He just kept sliding down the hilll!

They are not worth $800 unless they are NIB.