TAM

Congratulations on a great buck!

Proof that quality scouting pays off!!! Congratulations on a super nice buck!!!

Cool buck... congratulations!

I did a high country mule deer last year in Nevada. We hiked in several miles and spike camped at over 10,000 foot elevation. When we got there there was 8-10 inches of snow on the ground. I had to work hard on that hunt and even found some good bucks. I didn't kill the biggest buck that we saw, but I did get a nice one that most other hunters would have never seen because they were hunting off the roads at the bottom of the mountain. Now every time I look at that bucks antlers on my wall I get to remember my burning legs, my gasping lungs, the mountain house meals, the cold nights, the incredible views, and my heavy pack. Yep, lots of memories that I will never forget.

Thanks for sharing your story. Great buck... Congratulations!!!!

I can do a bunny hop!

Way to go Scott... I can't think of another hunter that is more deserving of a big buck than you are. A great big congratulations to you!!! Don't leave us hanging, I want the story and the pictures in typical Scott Adams style!!!

Blackhorn 209 powder and 260 grain Dead Center bullets makes and great load in mine Good luck!

Bobcats are way cool... great job!!!

Awesome buck... Congratulations!!!

Congratulations on a couple nice bucks.

Great buck... congratulations!!!

Congratulations on a job well done!!!!

Nice work... Congratulations!!!

Way to knock 'em down... Congratulations!!!

Congrats on all the success. Looks like you guys had a great year!!!!

I just got these pictures emailed to me from Randy. This is the first lion that the dogs treed that was dead in the tree. Randy went back with the G&F officer and pulled her out of the tree to see what happened. He said she had a deer kill nearby and her belly was full and her body was covered with bite marks from head to toe. Maybe Randy will get on here and tell his opinion, but it sounds like the female killed a deer and began eating it when the Tom came along and whooped her and ran her up the tree where she died. Then along come the dogs which jump the Tom and run him up a tree futher up the draw. Mother nature sure is cruel... According to Randy this is the first dead lion he has ever treed.

Have a great one Phil

I'm glad you were wearing the snake gear! I don't mind snakes, but I sure don't want to get bit by one.

Thanks everyone! I'll keep you posted on the weird skull. It's going to take a couple months for the beatles to clean it off, but I'll take some pictues of it and post them when it's all done. An interesting side note is that a few hundred yards before my lion treed, and in the same draw, a couple of the dogs were barking treed on a different lion in a tree. The only problem was that it was already dead! While some of the dogs stayed at that tree a couple of them continued the chase up the draw and treed the lion that I ended up shooting. Randy was going to go back in there yesterday with the game and fish officer to pull the dead lion out of the tree and see if they could tell what killed it. Since my lion jumped from that same general area, and the dead lion is much smaller we're thinking that perhaps my lion hurt it in a fight and the smaller wounded lion went up into the tree and died? I'll post more later when we know more...

A helicopter could fall from the sky and crash into your sleeping bag at night while you are in it. There are a lot of things that could happen to us when we go hunting. The odds of most happening are usually pretty slim. I think it's ok to be aware of the possible problems you may encounter and to prepare yourself for them. But don't let them keep you off the mountain. Go kill a big buck!

Scott, sorry I don't have any ideas on where to get your Bergers, but thought you may want to give JLK Bullets a call. For what it's worth JLK's are made with the EXACT same jackets as Bergers and use the exact same manufacturing process as the Bergers. The only difference is the JLK's have even higher BC's than the Bergers. I have personally killed animals with both the Bergers and JLK's both with the exact same devistating results. Give 'em a try! http://www.swampworks.com/jlk/

I'm no expert, but I just bought a T/C Encore this year for an antelope hunt and had excellent results with 260 grain Dead Centers over 110 grains of Blackhorn 209 powder. They shot right at one inch at 100 yards and about 3 inches at 200 yards. Not to mention that clean up and loading a second shot is MUCH easier with the BH 209 powder. Good luck!

Welcome

Usually the foam pads are lighter and often have higher R-values than the thermarest pads. However, I think most people agree that it's pretty hard to beat the comfort of the thermarest.