300RUM

Not to jack this thread but the REI in Tempe has moved to Ray Rd. I think it is smaller with a lot less stuff. Yes, it is just north of the Home Depot on 54 th street. I saw it when I went to Home Depot but have not been in it yet.

My partner donated a tag to hunt for Heroes last fall. This spring we volunteered to take a veteran out on a hunt. It was a great experience. I really like to see those tags go to deserving individuals rather than remain unused.

I'm 6' 3" and 215. I have a problem with many jackets that do not come in a long size. The end of the sleeves creep up my arms. Something about it really annoys me. I will put a jacket on and pretend to draw a bow. If the end of the sleeve starts heading for my elbow we have a problem. This eliminates many potential sources of clothing. I have not noticed long sizes in Kuiu, how does the sleeve length fit you?

I noticed them also. I wonder if the antelope hangs out there on purpose and uses them as lookouts?

I have only had 1 archery goat tag. Unit 1 years back. I got skunked but had a blast. Suburban antelope can be very bold. I drive for a freight company and used to take trailers to the Ace Hardware warehouse in Prescott Valley. One day I was hooking 2 trailers together on the road next to the warehouse and heard CLOMP, CLOMP, CLOMP ???? A heard of antelope marched down the middle of the road, past an idling Kenworth, stopped and watched me hook up the air lines between the trailers then headed down the road to get a drink at a nearby ranch.

It really effects me now when I see someone like that. It is hard to describe the feeling but it is based in the realization that I was fortunate enough to beat incredible odds and not be in the same position. Some people make amazing recoveries and adapt well after serious injuries. This spring I took out an Army veteran who lost a leg just below the knee for a turkey hunt with Hunts for Heroes. Walking on a prosthetic leg he followed me around 4A and had very little trouble navigating the terrain. I was very impressed.

I just got mail from the federal government that makes me think about watching where I step. That may sound a little crazy but it is very true. Seven years ago I drew an antelope tag in northern New Mexico. My hunting partner was supposed to come along but back surgery put him out of action. Off I went, alone. I got there a day early to scout. My hunt was assigned to a public land ranch tucked in behind an indian reservation. It was around 100 square miles, that may sound like a lot but when you are confined to that space it can seem rather small. Late in the afternoon I was sitting up on the wall of the valley at the south end of my area and spotted some goats. There were a couple decent little bucks. I had spoken to a NMDGF supervisor who had informed me there were generally not large trophy bucks in the area so these would become my prey in the morning. I was just happy to be hunting. I got up early and was back in the same glassing position before the sun came up. About an hour after sunrise I spotted one of the bucks a long way out. I climbed down off my perch, the chase was on. Using the contour of the terrain I closed in to intercept them. When I arrived at my intended position I was about 450 yards out but the terrain contour now worked against me. If I was down in a sitting or prone position I did not have line of sight to the target. I was not going to take a standing shot at that range. The goats kept moving and this process kept repeating itself hour after hour and mile after mile. The heavy .300 RUM was becoming a pain in the shoulder. A lighter rifle would sure be nice. It was well into the afternoon when I crossed a small ridge and came to a fence that was close to the north boundary of my area. I was looking for a way to cross it when I spotted the buck. It was a 400 yard shot with a clear line of sight. Finally! I flopped on the ground, folded out the bi-pod, chambered a round, lined up the crosshairs and BOOM. The buck disappeared from sight. I dressed him, made the long hike back to my ATV and rode back to camp. The buck was down out in an area without any roads. My best access was a 2 mile hike out of camp. I had an early dinner, grabbed my pack frame and other necessary gear and headed out to recover the goat. On the way I had to cross a couple of nasty ravines. They were about 10 feet across, 15 feet deep with nearly verticle sides. Crossing was accomplished by working down a side drainage that fed in to it, working along the bottom till you found another side drainage to climb up and exit. Going back through with a loaded pack would be a challenge. I reached the buck and without much daylight left I decided just to strap the whole animal to the pack and get back to camp. I was making good time. About halfway back to camp I approached the edge of the first large ravine and headed for the mouth of the side drainage I had used to cross it. The grass was well over knee deep. I took a step and my left foot fell into the ground up to my knee. There was a very loud snap accompanied by a feeling that would make you believe you just stepped on a lightning bolt. The quick release shoulder straps on the surplus ALICE frame came in very handy as I dumped the pack, stabilized myself and extracted my leg from what was probably the mouth of a burrow. My foot was hanging at a 45 degree angle off the end of my leg and even the lightest touch caused incredible pain. There was no cell phone service anywhere in the area. I was on my own. Only about 30 minutes of daylight remained. After a short rest to recover from the shock I got the cable saw and light cord out of my little survival kit. I crawled over to a small tree, cut some branches with the right curve and splinted my ankle. At this point somebody with common sense would have dumped anything that was not absolutely necessary and started crawling. For some reason I found it necessary to unload my pack, butcher the antelope, reload the pack, put it back on and then start crawling. The next 5 hours were like nothing I had ever experienced or ever hope to again. Long, lonely, painful and extremely challenging both physically and mentally. Around midnight I finally drug myself into camp. Still no cell phone coverage but what a welcome sight. I was almost finished loading, all that was left was to put the ATV back on the trailer. It would not start. The feeling of despair was devastating. Do I just leave it behind? Well, the same stubborn fool that couldn’t leave the goat wasn’t going to leave the ATV. I unhooked the truck from the trailer and used it to drag the ATV on. With everything loaded I finally drove myself out. The damage was severe. Most surgeons recommended removing parts and fusing the joint. My wife found one who was willing to attempt to repair the ankle. When we went to see him he asked how I had injured the ankle. I told him my story. His first question “So you had to leave your antelope behind?” I told him “No, I brought it out with me”. His response was “Good man!” and he proceeded to take out his phone and show me pictures of deer, antelope and elk he had taken. I had a doctor that understood what I wanted to get back to doing and that inspired confidence. The surgery to repair the ankle was estimated at less than 5% chance of success. Fortunately I beat the odds. I drive a tractor trailer for a living so I was out of work for about 6 months. During this time I designed and built a nice light rifle. How does mail from the federal government relate to all of this? It contains the registration renewal for a satellite relayed emergency beacon. My father bought one for me after this incident and I have since purchased a newer, more compact one to replace it. If you have not looked into them I urge you to do so. They are light, compact and not terribly expensive. I sure wish I had one with me on that hunt. Also, think about a compact emergency kit that you always carry. Mine really helped save me that day. We all have family and friends to go home to. Below is a Garmin GPS 20 with an ACR Resqlink beacon and my emergency pouch. Also, the little buck that is a huge trophy to me.

In my .308 I was using 168 to 180 gr bullets. When I re-chamber to 7mm-08 AI my goal is to push the same weight bullets faster than the .308 and also have the better BC. I spent an afternoon picking through bullet manufactures twist rate recommendations and went with a 1 in 8.24 instead of a 1 in 9 based on what I found. My other rifle is a 1 in 9, I am sure to try some of the heavy bullets in it also. Your experience inspires some confidence there. I was working with a .243 many years ago and got caught in the "not enough twist to stabilize a heavy bullet" trap. It took me a while to figure it out and it is a lesson I have never forgot.

Some people are just not suited for certain jobs. You clearly would not do well as a secretary...... uhmmmm I mean "administrative assistant".

You have a 1 in 9 barrel don't you? Berger says the 175 elite hunter is OK in that twist. After you clear 168 gr in 7mm some bullets are recommended for 1 in 8.5 or 1 in 8. If you are looking at heavier bullets watch the twist rate recommendation so you don't end up with an unstable, under spun bullet.

Don't worry, at some point Mother Nature is going to send you the "bill". I had a series of easy recoveries then had one make it to the bottom of Wildcat Canyon before it died. It was 2:00 AM by the time I had it all packed out. The irony was the next afternoon, while scouting for my partner, I found an old logging trail that went to the bottom of the canyon from the other side that I did not know about.

The meat would rot at the bone first because the bone is in the middle of the meat and heat is trapped in there because cooling is done by heat dissipating into the air from the outside if the meat. The bone acting as a heat sink and cooling the meat? The first problem with this theory, the bone and therefore the heat are still in the middle of the meat. Look at the radiator on a vehicle, all those fins add up to an incredible amount of surface area. The more surface area you can expose to the air the faster you can cool.

I gave up on gutting them. I skin them ASAP and bone out the meat as I go. The hide becomes a tarp to work on. I lay the meat in the shade on game bags that are on top of piled branches so air can circulate under the meat also. I do not pack the meat into the bags until I am ready to strap them to a pack and head for the cooler. Even the tenderloins can be recovered with the gutless method. Just make an incision, reach in and cut them out.

I ran into this situation in Idaho. They have the same law. A kid found a young sow with 2 cubs and treesit near a road, not with dogs, just ran the cubs up a tree and mom stuck around guarding the tree. He was trying to find two other guys with tags so they could first shoot the cubs then he could kill the sow. When I talked to the game warden about it later, he said he would right that ticket in an instant and believed that it would stand up in court, I am not sure I would want to try and fight that ticket in court. The whole thing made my stomach sick. The prosecution argument in court in this case could be real simple. The law states you may not shoot a sow with cubs, it does not specify the cubs must be alive. If you kill the cubs she still has cubs, they now just happen to be dead. I expect the sow would be very reluctant to leave her dead cub. If you then kill the sow the argument that you killed a sow with cubs could easily stand in court. The bottom line is that a sow with cubs was killed. The order in which the killing is done does not really change that fact.

It's a beautiful state and another shot at drawing a tag. My problem with with New Mexico is that it seems to have an appetite for me. 2 of my last 3 hunts there put me in the E/R. Red Sparky tells me eating lots of chili should help solve that problem. Keep it in mind if you head over.

Isn't that what tracers are for?

It is great to hear so many of you are teaching your young children to drive. At the age of 10 I was a fairly accomplished off-road driver in the manual transmission CJ-5 that my father and I went exploring in. I do not have full mobility of the ankle but did recover a good range of motion. It is a little weaker and sometimes rolls to the side in the direction it was broken. I still get around fairly well and have no fear of heading out alone. I have not only a great surgeon but an incredible therapist to thank. My days of heading into the wilderness with a 100 lb pack to set-up a hunting camp are over, age contributing there also. The first tag drew after I recovered was 5B S archery bull. I had 5 months to get back in shape. It took me 10 days but I got my bull. I was real proud of myself that I was able to keep at it for 10 days so soon after recovering from that injury.

Maybe you could testify for the defense as an expert witness.

I don't think it can be done on a 7. The rear of the action behind the ejection port is much shorter than a 700 and the bolt stop is completely different from a 700. With a Wyatt's box the additional length of the box goes toward the rear of the gun and the bolt stop has to be modified to let the bolt travel farther back so it can pick up rounds from the mag.

Great pics. They can be good eating with some unusual recipes. My wife made some with coffee and brown sugar that was awesome.

My hunting partner cringes at the words "Hey, I have an idea", do you understand why? The barrel is shot out, I am going to scrap it. I purchased the gun as L/E surplus and have close to 4000 rds through it myself. I set the barrel back once when I blueprinted the action. As silly as my barrel vise may look it will not bend the barrel. The tire is centered over the rear 4x4 and only applying a clamping force. The first attempt failed because the tire spun. I had to go get my wife to step on the brake. I use hand tight plus 20 degrees. It is a figure I got from some B/R shooters who run switch barrel guns. I have no idea what the Remington factory dose but it is outrageous. I had my barrel vise clamped to the table of the mill for last factory barrel I broke loose. Braking that barrel loose shifted the position of a bridgeport mill that weighs around 3000 lbs. The short handled action wrench in the picture would never break loose a factory installed barrel. If you could save the .25-06 barrel and swap barrels when you felt like it that would be a cool setup. I bought a L/A 0.473 face L/H bolt off Gun broker a few years back. One day I plan to get another barrel I could swap into my .300's action. The cartridge I had in mind was the .280. After working with the 7mm-08 Ackley the idea of a .280 Ackley became real interesting. I will be watching your .280 AI build and load development with interest.

My father and I have a decent workshop. Machine tools, welders etc. Having all of those toys is lots of fun until you have to move them. Everything is currently packed and being moved. I can't find my barrel vise. Time for plan B as in BF Goodrich. Yea, I know "If you have BF Goodrich barrel vise...... you might be a redneck".

You can buy rough sawed lumber to the true dimension, in this case 4x4. I do not like to be a proponent of violence but in this case I believe each plaintiff should be hit over the head with a rough cut 4x4 and a finish cut one that is 3.5 x 3.5. Can you tell the difference? No, I did not think so. Case dismissed.

My birthday is at the end of August. When I was about 10 my father hooked up the boat to take me fishing at big lake for my birthday. We arrived in a snow storm.

It is an incredible shot, but with today's rifles, ammunition, optics and ballistic computers it should be expected. Look back 50 years. Carlos Hathcock made a 2500 yard or 1.4 mile shot using a M-2 browning MG. Guys with the skill these shooters have are going to keep pushing their equipment and skills to reach farther and farther. We are very fortunate to have such skilled marksmen fighting on our side.