stanley

I picked-up a new rifle so my boys and I could get on the 'suppressor' wagon. (Ranch buddy let one of my sons use his silenced rifle on our NM pronghorn hunt last year, and we're sold on them! lol) Anyway, against my better judgement, I stopped by Bass Pro on a whim late last week and rushed into buying a low-end Vortex scope. VERY limited hours for scope mounting services, so I went to Healy Arms yesterday to have them mount it. After talking to Mark's staff there, I ended-up buying a scope from them that is perfect for us! (Gonna go return the other one to BP.) Mark was super cool, as always, and he had the scope mounted and ready to go in short order. Knowledgeable and helpful! Good guys! Side note: I've always used scopes with the 'hash marks' built-in for holdover. We aren't super long-range shooters, so never went with the fancy and relatively complicated turret systems. In talking to Mark's guys, they said they didn't have any rifle scopes with hash marks, but they showed me Leupold scope with the 'CDS' system. It's awesome. It's basically turret management for dummies like me! No more holdovers for 300/400/500 yard shots. GO SHOP HEALY ARMS!!

I bought a Savage AccuCan AC30. Sort of middle of the road to low..... (Just like me. lol) Looking forward to getting out to the range!

Baby steps.....

I went with the Leupold VX-3HD 4.5-14 40MM CDS-ZL DUPLEX (Sounds fancy, I know... lol) So here's my take/viewpoint on CDS. With typical 'turret/dial' systems on scopes, it has always seemed confusing to me. There is elevation, windage, etc. Figure out how far and what conditions are, then dial it into the turrets. BTW, I know it must work VERY well for most folks who take the time to figure it all out and practice it! For me though, I don't have interest in super long range shooting. I just like to be able to shoot as accurately as possible out to 300-500 yards. To achieve that, I've always relied on the ballistic chart published for my over the counter ammo with my rifle zeroed at 200 yards (So hold over 8" at 300, 26 inches at 400, etc...). The Leupold CDS (Custom Dial System) is basically a way to account for the holdover. There are numbers on the top dial: 3, 3.5, 4, 4.5, 5, 5.5, 6, etc... Assuming the rifle is zeroed at 200 yards. If the target is ranged at 300 yards, you quickly set the dial to 3, and the rifle is now on target at 300. If the target is ranged at 450 yards, you quickly set the dial to 4.5, and you can aim directly at the target (no holdover).

Happened to notice this as I was paging down through the regulations (page 26). The light color is the supposed distribution of whitetail in the state. Something tells me they need to update their map!

Went with the good old trusty 30-06. Mark actually made a complimentary comment when he saw the caliber. He said that in the day and age of 6.5's and 300WSM's , you don't see many guys buying 06's, but the ballistics are almost on par with 6.5/7MM...... Old school. For me, it's a move mostly made out of practicality: a) We already own 3 rifles of that caliber. b) The ammo is much cheaper than the fancier calibers. LOL

You gotta know Trophy. Witty sarcastic humor is sort of his paint brush around here. Keeps it colorful....

The first new vehicle I ever purchased was a 1984 Toyota 4x4. I didn't spring for the SR5. Just the lowest stock model they had. No radio, no A/C, no nothing! Just the standard little 4 cylinder and 5 speed manual. Brand new for $8600. LOL Put 260K miles on that little truck and it never let me down once. This post makes me remember and miss that thing! Good luck on selling!!!! 👊

Mine is a pretty simple Tabasco copy. Just three ingredients: peppers, salt, vinegar. Ferment the peppers, then grind, cook/simmer, strain and test pH carefully for shelf life. I am VERY interested in what Hector has going on with the smoked habanero sauce/salsa!! I want that!!!

Born and raised in Kearny. I didn't even know I was white until I moved to Salt Lake City for school and saw all the white people walking around!

Bumper crop of peppers and tomatoes this year for me, starting in January. WTF do you do with a HUGE bowl of Habaneros, when just one is hotter than any normal person would eat?? LOL Ended-up making Tabasco style hot sauce with the Habaneros and Serranos. Also made some pretty darn good Habanero-honey sauce that went great on wings.

I did a search here prior to posting and found several references. Thought I would start a new thread, though.... Anyone out there that has taken-on (or is currently taking-on) the AZT?? I've got several friends who have either finished it or are at some stage of progress. I've been intrigued for years and now have a buddy that has committed, so I'm going to go for it! Now that the decision has been made, I find myself a little obsessed. A couple of guys I know that just finished last Fall insisted on doing it from South to North, taking each passage in order (1-43). I'm thinking we'll do each passage hiking north bound but will flex around on dates and locations for completion. Likely will kick-off with an initial expedition in the next couple of weeks, and then maybe try to do a couple of weekends per month after that, depending on availability. Haven't set a goal for completion yet... (I'm an empty-nester with lots of time/freedom, but he's still got a life to tend to... lol) So? Anyone doing it??? S. Explore the Arizona Trail – The Arizona Trail (aztrail.org)

Not really any unusual wildlife, unless you count 'hardcore through-hiking hippies'. Saw several of those along the way. LOL Saw some of the usual wildlife, but honestly not too much. Mainly because we were either yapping out loud, plus I had my Vizsla with a bell around her neck for lots of the trail. Wildlife generally heard us coming!

Interesting question, @CatfishKev. Had to think about that..... If memory serves me, I think we saw a total of just three. I recall two Diamondbacks and one cool looking Black Tail. Saw a few Garter snakes, as well.

Welp, 800 miles - FINALLY DONE! Due to super busy schedules across 4 hikers PLUS mother nature (The fires up on the north Kiabab torpedoed our planned finish last summer....), it took us much longer than anticipated, but last weekend my partners and I finally finished the AZT. Like many of you, I'm a native and love AZ. Doing this hike gave me an opportunity to see (and walk through) parts of the state that I had never seen. Many of them I am sure I will never see again! The real ball busters were Miller Peak, Superstition Wilderness (We did Roger's Trough to Roosevelt in one day. Ugh!), Rincons - Mica Mountain, the Mazatals, and of course the Rim to Rim. Many of the other sections were hard, but those 5 stood out. We of course hiked lots of easy stuff, too. Mexico Utah

Those are AWESOME!! @deserttacoma84, there are your cots!

I've got this shotgun's grandson (A500G circa 1990....), and love it. This one is a beauty!!

Someone got a great deal on a good tent! I've had this same set-up for 15+ years and have gotten LOTS of use out of it over the years. A great tent!

No bird died, but I had a freaking awesome weekend with a first-time turkey hunter buddy of mine. Good vocal gobbling action and plenty of birds. Didn't close the deal, mainly because I'm mostly a wanna be turkey calling hack but it was a blast.

My old man used to just pour a gallon of diesel fuel on old stumps or anywhere he didn't want anything to grow. lol

What WAS his point other than rambling a bit to say that Scheels doesn't want to collab anymore? I've been in Scheels just once to buy a jersey my son wanted for Christmas. Looked around just a bit but wasn't too impressed (or unimpressed). Seemed like any other big ol' sporting goods store. I prefer smaller shops for most of the stuff I buy these days. Bought a suppressor from Healy, just this morning. 👍

What about that grove that they chopped down on the north side of I-10 west of Picacho Peak? Wondering if that is pecan? If so, there's a gold mine of it there (acres and acres), if they are willing to let folks grab it. Noticed it the last couple of times I drove to Tucson..... Good luck in your search!

Try it now. Should be good to go. S.

Yep, the usual argument regarding what the previous Dem idiot did. Got it. Makes it OK for Trump to break his promises. Comparing Trump to Biden is a weak, old and meaningless argument, IMO. He is a Democrat, and you're simply pointing out all of the crappy things that happened under him. Doing that makes it sound like you are excusing Trump for breaking his promises. I see you FINALLY acknowledged the deficit. But only in comparison to a Dem, which again, is weak. Try comparing Trump's fiscal policy to a standard conservative Republican, and tell me what you get? I doubt you'll do the research to do that, but it would be a much more logical comparison. Tell me what "orange guy" is willing to do rather than fall off bikes? No more wars? Build a wall? Balance a budget? Focus on American First? I get it that you are super focused on illegal immigrants and terrorists (I not a fan of either of those things, either....), but can you tell me your thoughts on these things I just mentioned? Are you satisfied with his progress on those promises, or do you really not care at all as long as he's going after illegals here and terrorists in the Middle East? I'm not asking rhetorically. I am really curious about your take on these things.

Not my rules. I just work here. Amanda is the boss. What she says, goes!