TAM

Here's a copy of the letter I got 6/11. Good luck everyone! The New Mexico Department of Game and Fish is preparing to conduct special hunt drawings for Big Game hunting opportunities. The Department reminds all online applicants that funds must be available through the credit card account on the application. You may also want to notify your credit card issuer that they should not decline transactions related to your hunt application. If you have moved, changed your credit card billing address, cancelled your card account or otherwise changed your status, please access your account at the Department website ( www.wildlife.state.nm.us <http://www.wildlife.state.nm.us/> ) and update your information. Draw results will be available June 20, 2007 via the website ( www.wildlife.state.nm.us <http://www.wildlife.state.nm.us/> ). Sincerely, New Mexico Department of Game and Fish

I know you weren't asking about the Ziess Conquest scopes but I'd give them the nod over the Leupoulds, and there pricing is similar. If you just want to compare the Leupould and the Burris, then Leupould will win that race all day long.

What's it taste like? Yote tastes more like rodents and rabit, while lion tastes more like deer and elk. In a month or two the yotes will start eating the fawns and calves and will be much more difficult to distinguish.

Go with a home brew! Treestandman and myself have used about every make and model you can think of and none of them work as well as the home brew kind. Most of the store bought ones are battery hogs, or don't have much in the way of security. I've built a couple for around $200 - $225 that I'm real happy with. I agree with the comments above about not putting it on a water hole or another area where it will be found. People, especially other hunters will steal them!!! The only thing the locks do is keep honest people honest, if a crook wants it, he'll get it. Good luck, cause you'll be hooked in no time!

I'm not trying to start an arguement or say that McCain is the way to go, but who do you McCain haters vote for when he's up against Hillary or Obama? Do you waste your vote by not voting? Do you waste your vote with a write in name? Or do you just vote for the lesser of two evils? Just curious because that's probably what it will come to.

Seems to me that perhaps if Virgina Tech students were allowed to have guns on campus that someone may have been able to shoot the sorry bastard before he killed so many people. That's why the second ammendmend exists...... so we can arm ourselves and protect ourselves when the police can't help us.

It looks like the G&F would rather manage the herds using hearsay than sientific facts. Where is there proof that way too many coues deer are being killed over salt??? I'd bet money that the number of deer being shot each year over salt doesn't account for 1% of the total archery deer harvested. I've had trail cameras hung over salt for several years now and while it does help bring in deer, it's still not easy! I have yet to shoot a buck over salt. Even on the Kiabab the archery deer success is only like 7%. I'll bet for coues deer it's even lower. If a few more bucks are being killed each year because of salt is this really enough to be concerned? I doubt it! The other problem I see is that salt can and will last for years once leached into the soil. A 50 pound bag of rock salt left out in the summer during the monsoon's will melt into the soil in the matter of a couple good storms. There will be enough salt left in the soil to remain effective for the remainder of the hunting season. How will G&F determine if it's a man made salt hole or a natural salt hole if there is no salt pellets as evidence? How will G&F know if it's not the reminants of a salt block that a rancher left out years ago? What will stop hunters from putting out salt in July that melts away by archery deer season? Way to many variables on this one. Making new laws that you can't enforce is a JOKE!!! The only thing worse than that is making new laws that never had good reason to be made in the first place!

Bowtech probably has a better name and recognition. But with that said shoot them both and decide which one feels the best for you.

Thanks for the pic's and story, sounds like a real adventure! I've said it before and I'll say it again... Hap is a STUD!!!

Wow, I'm even better looking than I thought I was!

Sorry Auntie J but they're refering to the unit 23 hunt. I've hunted there several times and some places can be crazy. Get away from the roads if you want some peace and quiet. I've never hunted the Burro's so I can't speak for those hunts, but there are a lot fewer tags in there so I'd imagine it's not quite as bad.

Atypical, this is just my opinion and I'm sure others will be different, but you can take it for what it's worth. First off lets just be clear on one thing... if you're looking for an excuse to buy a new rifle then don't let me talk you out of it. Go for it! To me if you've been shooting a .30-06 for 25 years why change now? Especially if you're only stepping up to a .300 win mag? In my opinion a .300 win mag is only a slight upgrade in velocity and energy from a .30-06. Consider your ought six is probably shooting factory loads in the 2800 to 2900 fps range. A .300 win mag will shoot the same loads 3000 -3100 fps. To me you'd be much better off sticking with your tried and true .30-06 and spending your money on a reloading press and developing a little hotter load for the gun you already own. Plus you will more than likely gain some accuracy with your new hand loads as an added bonus. I just don't see a $600-$800 benefit to stepping up to the .300 win mag when your .30-06 is plenty for what you're asking it to do. Perhaps another caliber with a little more pop if you really want a new rifle?

Here's a link to a website with a pretty good ballistic calculator that you may find helpful. http://www.biggameinfo.com/BalCalc.aspx With a 130 grain bullet at 3100 fps muzzle velocity you should still have over 2000 fps at 500 and over 1000 foot pounds of kenetic energy which is more than enough to kill a coues deer. My biggest concern would be your hold over. You're looking at between about 26 inches and 32 inches of drop at 500 yards depending on what distance you zero in at (between 200 and 300 yards). If you were to use your current set up you would need a good scope with either some sort of mil dots, a TDS style reticle like Swarowski's, or a ballistic compensator knob like the Kenton Industries. Then it just takes a lot of practice to get comfortable at those distances. A longer barrel is a possibility, but the best estimates are usually 25-50 fps per inch. You'd really only be looking at gains in the 100 fps range so it's probably not worth the money spent. Spend the money on some reloading equipment and you can probably get the same gains with a hot load. JMO Good luck and have fun!

Just north of Kanab Utah there is a place called Moqui Cave. Kind of a tourist mesuem. They have all sorts of rocks, indian artifacts, and even what they claim are dinasour tracks. It's a neat place to stop with the kids if you're ever driving through Kanab.

OUCH!!! That one hurt Dogman! I didn't choose to be born in California, and at least I got out of there when I was only eight years old while there was still hope. Your point about a cattle rancher finding a new career if he can't get it right after 30 years of trying pretty much sums it up. Isin't there a saying something like..... you can't change the results if you don't change the recipe. I guess my opinion is that sometimes the simple way is the better way. All the biologists and science in the world doesn't mean a thing if we keep killing too many deer each year, especially the does. The scientific equation should be simple... kill fewer deer until the herds are able to rebound. I think managing the lions will be less effective at very best. I'm not a biologist either, but I'd guess that the ratio of lions per deer on the Kiabab is pretty similar to anywhere else in Arizona or perhaps even the west. I think the problem is that the G&F wants to over manage the deer by killing does and allow for a lot of hunter opportunity. Stop killing does and issue fewer permits and I'll bet money the deer come back. The lions are just an easy scapegoat.

Dogman, with regards to the "too many lions on the kaibab" theory... in your opinion are there significantly more lions there than anywhere else in Arizona, or is the theory just a convienent excuse?

Why waste the 5K when you've got a dog like Hap??? With a little work I'm sure you could have him sniffing antlers in no time!

I got skunked as well!!! Good luck to all those that drew tags.

That's right! I almost forgot Randy brought two dogs, Rowdy and the deer runner!

Sounds like a good plan to me! I think Red Ruby was along on our hunt last year? Wasn't she the younger white and brown dog? I think she had to stay in the kennel the day the others treed the lion because she had sore feet.

Hey Dogman it's good to see you're still hanging around here time to time! Sorry to hear about Rusty. I'll bet you'll think about her every time you hear a bell ring. My boys will be sad that she's gone. My 6 year old boy knows all there names and still asks from time to time if Hap and Rusty and Mike and Roxy will help him tree a lion when he's 10. I'm in the process of moving up to Prescott this weekend, so I guess we'll be neighbors...... sort of. I finally have the chance to get out of the heat and congestion of the valley. I can't wait! Take care, Tim

Yep the rumors are true! I shot one about 8 years ago with my bow down near San Manuel. It was a young one, perhaps 50 or 60 pounds. There were a bunch of other young ones in the herd with a big sow. I'm guessing the sow weighed over 100 lbs. Some guy had a farm or ranch down there I think on the San Pedro river? The pigs were out of control and were tearing up the place so he wanted them shot. I was on private land, but the pigs were running wild and not constrained by fences or anything. I'm not sure how they got there or if they're even still there.

Yep, that Hap is a stud! I owe the lion I shot last January to Hap, Rusty, Mike, and Roxy. Of course Randy and Josh did there part as well! Congrats on a nice cat!!! Here's a pic of the dogs so every one can see them. Hap is the black one on the top with Rusty right next to him, and Mike and Roxy are on the tail gate. Hopefully I got the right names with the right dogs, it's been over a year since I've seen them.

Results are up! I didn't get my oryx tag

Looks like you knocked 'em dead, way to go!