JMP

While weather may affect daily activity of deer, I don’t think a cold front initiates the rut. I’d say that’s more influenced by photoperiod and estrous cycles… which don’t drastically change from year to year.

i've got photos of some pretty serious hailstorms and the thanksgiving snow storm. my cameras are all doing fine, though they seem to have stopped taking pictures of large deer... so come to think of it, maybe they aren't. I do keep my coverts in the security box.

Hope this doesn't come to Arizona http://www.saveelk.com/

i don't see a problem with scores. they let me know how big an animal is. when someone uses a score as a way of feeling better about themselves, well then, that just says something about that person. like being in a record book actually means something. i don't see what the big deal is with having a lot of people on a hunt. i would go glass and look for an animal to shoot for my sister's cousin's ex-boyfriend's half brother twice removed if it meant time in the mountains observing deer and not in an office. what's the big deal? if you don't want a lot of people in your pictures then don't take em with you, but why be critical of others who do?

I'm wanting to get a spotter here in the next few months, and only have a grand or so to spend. I'm looking at these two spotters, the fieldscope and the leupold. The leupold is lighter, but I know the nikon's get good reviews. Does anyone have experience with either that they could share? Recommendations between the two? Other options that I'm not considering? Thanks. Jay

Doesn't look like the birders like the leupold at all. Thanks RR.

here's another option. http://www.mountsplus.com/miva/merchant.mv...ROD/all/HV-ASLI

If everyone on this site started to kill cats like Josh, they'd go endangered in Arizona. By far the best looking cat I've ever seen.

too many politicians. not enough statesmen. guys with ideas that they stick to instead of party line rhetoric that they ignore as soon as they get in office, but go back to when it's time for re-election. I'm bored of them all.

they get a lot of water out of the browse they're eating, as well as through the breakdown of carbohydrates to a lesser degree, but I think they still know where to find water to actually drink, or they move to find water.

Awesome! F'ing great buck. Congratulations.

most guys that shoot that far know very much about what they are doing, and are not flinging arrows any more than guys who shoot animals with ultra mag rifles are flinging lead at animals over 800 yards. guys who do that know very much about what they are doing too. in terms of distances and percentages the limits of each type of weapon are being pushed similarly.

Does this look hybrid to anyone else? I don't think it looks anything like a coues, except the bucket / picket fence rack. http://www.azgfd.net/photos/details.php?image_id=2855

I just bought a new tikka t3 lite in .300 WSM that I plan to take bivy hunting on the south island in new zealand, and then it'll be my backpacking rifle when I'm back here for good in a few years. I'm going to sight it in this weekend at 100 yards. I don't have access to a chronograph. I have a tactical scope on it. Right now I'll be shooting 180grn. factory Winchester Ballistic Silvertips for economical reasons mostly, and the published factory specs didn't seem to perform much worse than some of the more expensive rounds. My question is this... can I sight the rifle in at 100 yards, and then shoot it at 200 yards, and again at 300 yards without adjusting my scope settings at all, and use the difference in impact points to calculate the muzzle velocity for use in the nightforce or other ballistic software programs? Eventually I'm hoping to punch these rounds out to 500 or 600 yards at animals in the southern alps. This is how I calculated the speed of my bow for use in archers advantage to print sight tapes, I imagine it would work, but don't know positively. Thanks in advance. Jay

Thanks 308Nut. Awesome goat hunt by the way. I really enjoyed reading about it, and reckon goat hunters are some of the toughest hunters out there. I hope to do that one day. I'll probably just go about sighting my rifle to 600 yards as you suggest. Just a question about chronos though, how do they account for differences in calibration. It's rare that you'll find two chronos that will read an arrow speed the same. are there similar differences with reading bullet speeds in different chronographs? and if so, how does it affect finding the true BC? thanks again.

I was just giving the guy who posted it the benefit of the doubt... but agree, about looking mule deer. Hard to tell from pictures, especially when you can't see his hind legs.

i love that bladed eye guard. nice job.

this one's bound to get ugly.

Sorry to hijack the thread here.... but this and a comment or two or three on the other "going topics of the day" just kind a irk me. why is it that the people who like to criticize how other people hunt typically have never tried it? To say that putting up cameras is somehow cheating, or taking shortcuts is absurd. Or that shooting long distances somehow makes you less of a hunter than a still hunter? Please, man. Then try to say the shortcuts are not good or bad, they just are. Your entire post criticized how every one else hunts except for still hunters who somehow are not taking shortcuts. still hunt with a a knife and spear and then start talking about not taking shortcuts. The truth of it is, you probably don't spend nearly as much time in the woods as the guys that hang cameras and check a circuit of them every week. or nearly as much time behind your rifle, money on equipment and ammo, nor do you know your weapon as well as the guys who routinely shoot over 800 yards, and can tell you the exact velocity, trajectory, and energy at that same range. And you probably don't have the self discipline of an archer sitting in a tree stand over water in august, and that somehow that is using an animals basic needs against him??? This is freaking the life and death of an animal, and predator prey situation... should we tell the crocs in africa they have to chase the wildebeest on the ground after they had their fill of water? If you don't want to develop the skills to shoot 800 yards, then don't. If you don't want to spend the time setting up and checking game cameras ("techno crap") don't. If you don't want to hunt over water... don't. But let others have the same liberty to do as they please without your snark. I can't tell you how many deer I've glassed from 1000 yards away were just out of view of still hunters pushing them along. You do your thing. Let others do theirs. Jay

serious. looks like it's a cross with a red deer. awesome.

hope you get a big one Brian. Good luck.

what a great looking cat. I love the silver coats. congrats.

I think these packs are way overrated, which is sure to get me some looks down the nose from lots of guys on here, but... here is my review. I bought my 107 to use on 3 to 5 day bivy hunts. The things I like. Expandability. quiet material. Ability to add lots of accessories. The scabbard. It just looks cool. Things I don't like: The aluminum stays need serious tweaking. After several attempts to save my lumbar spine from an awkward anterior pelvic tilt I took the stays out of my arc teryx bora 80 and copied the curves. It carried much better after that. The packs are heavy, it's smaller than my bora, but weighs much more. They are great in that they expand, but they do on an axis away from your back changing your center of gravity in an awkward way. Most packs expand bottom to top, this pack is designed front to back. There are no webbing straps on the bottom of the pack that allow you to strap your tent to bottom. When your pack is full of animal quarters and the compression straps are extended, you'll have to find a place for your tent on the inside or get creative with rope. Camo is not a necessity in a long haul pack, but at least the material is quiet. The pack is very rigid, almost like an external frame, although the straps and belt are comfortable to wear. The compression straps are not long enough to extend around a fully loaded supper duffle. You can get a set of straps from cabelas that will fit the hardware sizes, but this just adds weight and money (not much). I don't think that all of the webbing straps on the belt and sides of the pack are necessary, and just add weight. I cut a lot of them off of my 107. There are two mesh pockets on the side for water bottles or something, but are pointless considering the lower compression strap fits right across them. I cut them off of my pack. The suspension is very adjustable for height, but is not comfortable for my shoulder width (I am thin). Make sure you try one on weighted prior to purchase. The scabbard is cool, but heavy and positioned poorly for most situations (maybe not for quick draw shooters). It is difficult to sit down on a rock to rest with your rifle in it. I have also had it impede my left foot while scrambling down off boulders causing me to stumble. I know I'm not the only guy that thinks these are overrated. Most of my friends that like to bivy hunt cycled through them also. Anyway, I just wish I hadn't spent the money on mine. I figured I'd voice some things to think about before you drop your cash on one too.

that buck looks to be well fed, geez. good spread. good height. nice.

So, uh... how was the October 31 hunt?