Schmitty

nice job!

One more question if you don't mind, can I get your load info for the TSX? Thanks 51.5 grains of IMR 4350 with the bullet seated .005" off the lands. Be careful and work your way up as this load is a 1/2 grain above the published max load.

The old X bullets used to have a reputation for fouling barrels do to a very long surface bearing area. However, I've found the TSX's to shoot very well and fouling is comparable to any other jacketed bullet. I'd give them a try as the 100 grain TSX was the most accurate bullet out of my 25-06.

3 triple 7 pellets and the 290 grain Barnes TMZ shoot 1.5" groups out of my Omega and have accounted for two elk, both Flopped on the shot. I'd shoot a heavier bullet than the 250 on elk, I think there was only a 100 fps difference w/ my muzzy between the 250 and 290. This was the first load I tried and it shot well enough that i never got around to trying anything else. Good luck on your hunt! Schmitty

Another option is to have wide world of maps print you a custom map with all of the features you want and then they can laminate it. I had a 1:24K topo map made for most of Unit 8 and I think it ran me $45 or so and they can laminate it for a few bucks more. Unit 10 is a bigger unit, so you'd probably need to get two maps printed. I find the topo maps to be much more useful personally, the only deal is that the road #'s aren't marked, so I just marked them by hand using a Kaibab Forest map. good luck with your hunt. Schmitty

Minox BD 15x58 ED BR For Sale SOLD!!!!!!!!!! Here's a review on the Minox 15's from an article about Big Eyes. The whole article can be found at www.24hourcampfire.com Minox BD 15x58 ED BR "Big, heavy, and bright." First impressions can mean a lot, and with the Minox 15x58 ED BR, what you see is what you get. What you do not see is the price, and because of its MSRP of $1,050, reviewers unanimously voted the Minox as the "Best Value." The largest (225x159x69mm) 15x that we tested, as well as the heaviest (52.55 ounces), it was — as the reviewers noted — "very heavy for a small hand," "bigger and heavier than the Geovids," and "massive glass." Despite its weight and bulk, reviewers were very impressed with the Minox's optical performance: "Very, very close optically to the Swaro and Leica," "98% as good as binos costing twice as much," and "incredible optics, at any price." When Minox introduced the revamped 15x58 ED at the 2006 SHOT Show, the big news was the ED flouride glass, which, according to Minox, aids in accurate color rendition. Compared to the earlier versions of the Minox 15x58 without the ED glass, the new ED BR is a noticeable improvement, not only in color fidelity, but in sharpness and resolution as well. Reviewers noted that the Minox stayed with the Leica and the Swarovski into the far edges of twilight, with image quality constant well past legal shooting light. Resolution was excellent, if a fine hair less sharp than the very best. Clarity and brightness were also excellent, partly because of the 58mm objective lenses, the largest of any 15x binocular that we tested. Reviewers noted "no eye strain,” “easy to get properly adjusted," and "great tripod adapter." A few reviewers noted that it "does not adapt well to bifocals," that its "objective covers felt cheap,” “the Swarovski-type tethered covers are much nicer," and "very big ocular housing, tricky to fit in eye socket." However, these observations did not detract from the overall impression that the Minox 15x58 is truly a lot of glass for a great price. Runaway best "bang for buck." MSRP: $1,049. Four-plus stars.

Another thought, If I was looking at buying a new top of the line ML, (I know you already ordered the encore) but I'd look heavily into the Savage ML-10. I've never shot one, but I had a guy at the SHOT show chewing my ear off with it's praises and everything I've read concurs with his opinion of superior trigger, accuracy, velocities, ease of use, etc. Shoot me a line and I'll run the powder/sabots over your way. take care, Schmitty

Great post Doug! Personally, I like the draw the way it is, there is always a glimmer of chance for a bull tag for those without many points. I always pick an early bull archery hunt as my 1st choice and a much easier to draw cow tag as my #2 choice. This keeps me in the woods hunting elk about every other year or so, which is what a guy should expect considering the cow tags usually have a 40-50% draw rate. In 22 years of hunting AZ, I've only drawn one bull tag (last year with two points), I caught alot of crap for pulling a premium tag with only two points. However, it was my only bull tag in 20 plus years of playing the game. I'm still waiting on my first antelope, sheep and buff tags. good luck to everybody this coming fall! Schmitty

Tim, Shoot me a PM as I'm up your way and have a few things you can try. I boughta bunch of pyrodex pellets that on clearance at Wal=Mart a couple of years back. I've also got a few different saboted bullets that you can try out. My smokepole shoots 3 777 pellets and the barnes tipped 290 grain sabots pretty well, so I don't see myself using the aforementioned components any time soon. You're welcome to them if you want it. good luck on the hunt, that was one of my choices as well. Schmitty

I fought the good fight and finally got through this morning after wearing the skin off my thumb yesterday. I even tried calling at numerous times throughout the night as kids were constantly waking me up for one reason for another. Obviously there are alot of other insane, hunt obsessed idiots like myself because all I could get was a busy signal. However, all is well as I received another BP for antelope (an annual ritual), but drew my 2nd choice, an earlier antlerless hunt in my favorite unit so I have no complaints. good luck to all, Schmitty

I know your young bud, but asking a man to give up his exact hunting spots isn't exactly kosher. It's pretty much the same as asking if you could have relations with his wife or daughter while he stood by and watched. Keep getting out there, walk a little farther and you'll find some birds and have a few spots that you can call your own. Schmitty

I watched a few pigs fight over a road killed cottontail the other night. Two of them were pulling on each end with a 3rd trying to get in on the action. They did not want to get out of the road until one proved to be the victor and ran off with his spoils.

I've hunted them in Shackleford county a couple of times, including this year killing a couple on each trip. However, the ranch I've hunted (friend's family) has been working pretty hard to trap/kill all of the hogs they see and it showed this year as we didn't see nearly as many pigs as usual. It is neat country however, lots of rolling grassy/mesquite hills with big free range ranches that are loaded with deer, turkeys, predators and pigs. It's TX so the folks will want to corn the roads or hunt over feeders, but the country lends itself well to spot and stalk. You might want to google shackleford county hog hunting and see what comes up. It's not as thick or dense as S. or north TX. The country reminds me a lot of southern AZ. Have fun! Schmitty

20 plus years ago while hunting deer in 28 we tripped over alot of pigs in the Peloncillo foothills.

I don't think that there are any commercial tannerys in AZ. If you take it to a taxidermist, all they will do is ship it out of state to a commercial tannery. I've seen Moyle's tannery up in Idaho's work and it is very nice and their prices are hard to beat. Google Moyles tannery and you should be able to find their website.

Give Danny Pedersen at Classic Barrel and Gunworks a call up in Prescott. He might be able to help you out over the phone. His website is www.cutrifle.com. He's swamped right now and rarely answers his phone as he's on the machines, but he'll call you back in a couple of days.

I read it a few years back. As I live up here in Prescott, it was interesting that I know alot of folks in the tales and being familiar with most of the locations where the stories take place.

Great Job on a Fantastic Buck!

Casey, Why is it all the cats you shoot have spots on them? I couldn't resist. Nice looking cat you got there! Schmitty

Sorry, but these binoculars were sold back in Nov. Schmitty

I shot a couple whitetail does and hogs in TX with the 90 grain SST out of my .243 just to see the results. i was impressed with the performance, complete penetration on all animals, with decent trama inside and nickel sized exit wounds. Ranges were between 25 and 200 yards with similar performance across the spectrum. As for the Barnes, I've killed 4 deer and 2 elk with the old style X bullet. Great penetration and decent expansion. Results varied with 4 DRT's and 2 who made it 30-40 yards before piling up. I've loaded the new TSX in a couple of rifles with very good accuracy. The grooves cut into the bullet do help w/ the fouling, but they kill the BC. Good luck, Schmitty

Unless you look at it through a borescope, you'll never know. You'd have to take the rifle to a gunsmith with a borescope who knows what he's looking at in order to get a fair evaluation. I'd just tell the guy how many rounds are down the tube and how you've shot the rifle; rapidfire, etc. Chances are if it's a military type rifle it's got a chrome lined bore and there won't be much for throat erosion, unless you've put 10K rounds down the tube at full auto. Hope this helps, Schmitty

Cabela's had a couple of Matrix's a few weeks back. I've got a dark horse I'd sell if you want to save a few bucks. I really like it, but I just got a big bill from the taxman so I need to scrape up a few bucks. good luck. Schmitty

Hey Catclaw you are so deaf I figured you couldn't hear a gun go off anymore! So why worry about a brake!!!! As for they scope smacking you in the face, I've never had it happen to me, but I like scopes with ALOT of eye relief. I've seen guys at the range w/ some pretty high magnification scopes creeping awfully close to that scope bell and all I can think is OUCH! as you just know they are gonna get whacked. The brake looks awfully well made and I'm glad it working out for you! I hate shooting next to guys who have them, but they sure tame those big thumpers. Good luck with your rifle. Schmitty

I saw 4 mule deer bucks last weekend all in velvet, but the two I saw tonight were hard horned.