yotebuster

I would say AZ is the least necessary place, but still very necessary. I killed a couple antelope in 19a and that checkboard mess, wouldn’t have wanted to do that hunt without it. I also killed some pigs in 21 that were real close to private that I had to skirt around. Came in handy there. In NM it’s an absolute must have. Those ranchers will just shoot you if they catch you on their ground.

How bout some pics of this buck!! I dunno why but I have a fetish for killing stuff on the edge of places I can hunt. It scares a lot of people away to hunt small public tracts, edges of NF, checkerboard etc. I like the extra work it takes in the preseason and love the satisfaction I get from it!! I rattled an eastern whitetail in from 1000 yards out on a refuge here in ND. The second he hopped the boundary fence I planted him in his tracks.

I’ll take it if you can ship it. I’ll cover shipping of course. I understand FTF is easier so if you wanna hold off in case you get a local buyer I totally understand. Just let me know and I can PayPal you the money or send a check and you can cash it before you send.

The Dead centers will retain all their weight as they are solid lead. They don’t really mushroom as much as just turn into an amorphous blob of lead as they pass through. They kill stuff nicely though. The critters I’ve shot with a Barnes had a “cut” wound Chanel almost like a broad head which is nice but they never shot quite as good as the dead centers in my guns.

I used to shoot these out of my old encore. They’re great bullets. Pure lead so no jackets to separate. I would go that route for sure if I was taking a non magnum muzzy elk hunting. We shot a half dozen elk with them and they all shot clear through them on lung shots. Never had any tough angled shots with them though but I think they’d be great in that case.

Yes. Couldn’t hunt without it. I’ve heard basecamp or basemaps or something like that is just as good and cheaper but haven’t really looked into it or tried it. Maybe someone will chime in about it.

Also be aware that blackhorn loads should be reduced about 0.7 from pyrodex loads. The max I would shoot of BH in a CVA, Trafitions or TC would be about 100-110 gr by volume or 70-75 weight. 105gr BH by weight would likely blow up a CVA or traditions and probably a TC.

Be careful with the black max on elk. Not sure if this thread is directed toward elk or deer but I killed two muleys with the black maxes last fall. One hit just under the throat patch on a head on deer. Hit the spine and vaporized. Broke the spine and obviously crushed the deer but didn’t exit. Thank god it didn’t as it was a giant shorthair buck and it would’ve destroyed the cape. I wouldn’t have wanted that to be an elk shoulder though as it wouldn’t have penetrated at all. That was a 300gr black max at 2350fps out of my ultimate at 120 yards with open sights. The second deer was 368 yards with my bad to the bone muzzy which cranks the same bullet at 2650. He was above me in his bed at a 45 degree angle. Shot him through the front shoulder (the heavy bass of it) and it angled up through his heart. That one completely fragmented as well. Awesome deer bullets and I’ve heard the match hunters will pencil through a deer but I think if I had a muzzy elk tag this year I’d take the match hunters instead. Even if they don’t expand at all they’re still .45 cal which is a nice size hole.

Dunno anything about those bullets but once you get dialed in maybe measure your powder by weight instead of volume. They have a conversion ratio on their site. Much more accurate. I would look in that 100gr by volume range for blackhorn. Muzzleloader are expensive as heck to shoot by the time you get through $1 worth of BH209 and a $2 bullet.

Stick with blackhorn 209. It is oil soluble so you use hoppes to clean it up. Any pyrodex is water soluble which means that the powder and any residue will imbibe water from the air and it affects accuracy both in the powder and in the residue on the barrel. Shoot good magnum shotshell primers with it as well. I’ve had good luck with Barnes bullets as far as terminal performance out of non magnum muzzleloaders. Stay away from EZ load sabots. They are too soft and will be inconsistent.

Good on you and your mom for having the guts to get out and try something new! It might take you a couple years to draw rifle in one of the desert units. I agree with the others on the OTC archery hunt. Another option would be looking into CO, WY or MT rifle. All should be doable for getting tags for fall of 2021. If you’re looking into it be sure to buy a preference point if you decide on MT or WY. They sell them in late summer. If you decide on MT let me know and I can line you up on some places. Your chance for a giant will be less then AZ by far but your chance at a nice 4x4 muley will be much better.

Wow. That’s really tragic. Mike sold me my first set of swaro 15’s. We talked for a couple hours in the Sportsmans warehouse parking lot off I-17. I didn’t know a coues deer from a jack rabbit at the time as I had just moved to AZ from ND. He texted me several times throughout that first year I lived here with hints and ideas on how and where to find deer and pigs. Really a nice guy. I know a lot of a55holes and they seem to live forever, but nice guys like Mike always seem to be the ones that go tragically.

The auction tags on the paunsuguant sell for $40k+ in Utah. That tag is late October rifle as well. I would argue the late kaibab hunt is as good as that is anyday. I’m not sure putting a price tag on those hunts and I hope AZ stays away from that type of system, but it does show you what kind of a quality opportunity you have and what it’s worth to some people. I’m glad you got the tag instead of someone forking over big cash for it but just make sure you give it the attention it deserves. And put some pics and a story up when it’s all over.

Take priority on the deer tag. The draw odds on that elk tag are like 40% with just loyalty and hunter Ed points and nearly guaranteed every other year or every third year. I would hunt the weekends only for the elk tag and put all my eggs in the late kaibab deer tag basket. You can kill raghorns on a lot of hunts nearly every year, but a chance at a 190+ muley only comes around a few times in your whole life so make the most of it. I would also focus my scouting on the deer hunt. That late archery elk tag will be tough to scout for anyhow. It’ll be tough for just about anything to be honest. Pretend you don’t have it or if you’re that worried about the points, turn it back so someone else can hunt it. Using your ten day’s off you can hunt essentially the whole season of the late kaibab. If they auctioned that tag off like they do in UT that would be a $40,000 deer tag. Your late 10 archery hunt wouldn’t bring much in comparison.

You had 13 resident points and had 13a archery and didn’t draw? I was hoping I could sneak a max tag with 11 but didn’t. Would have guessed 13 would get you one though.