DubTee

Well, I took the plunge two days ago and ended up purchasing the aids that the audiologist had picked out for me. Went into the office, they fitted the aids and programmed them for my specific hearing loss, and away we went. Retested my hearing with them on, significant improvement in the ability to pick up tones and clarity of speech. It is very different now, I have always had hearing loss so I just never heard some of the sounds I am hearing now. It seems like I can hear every bird within a quarter mile. I am really anxious to test them in a hunting situation, but I can already tell that it will be very different. Pretty comfortable overall, mine are behind the ear, with a little clear tube running into my ear canal with the speaker on it. I wore them all day yesterday and even played golf with some buddies today, not one person noticed I even had them on. I can tell exactly where sound is coming from directionally, obviously things seem louder but the biggest difference is the sounds I was missing, faint, high pitched, whispers, etc, are really noticable and crisp now. Still gonna be a while before I will be used to hearing these sounds and distiguishing which sounds can be blocked out, plus I just simply need to learn to listen.

As far as wraps go, I think they look cool, as far a visibility on arrow flight, you should not be able to see them. With a perfectly tuned arrow and proper follow trough, all you should really see is the nock. Now when you have missed, hit, or better yet shot through your animal, the wraps help in locating the arrow. What I really like about wraps is it gives me a bit better sense on what kind of blood I have, (lung, liver, or guts), it really shows up well on the lighter color wraps. For those of you concerned about seeing exactly where you hit an animal, try the lumenocks, or some kind of lighted nock. Price turns some off of them, but you will know exactly where you hit the animal and that can sometimes make a big difference. Plus, it looks like a laser beam flying through the air which is pretty cool.

For all you rifle gurus, I need some help please. I am wanting to purchase a rifle, this will be my first larger caliber rifle purchase ever. I have spent the past two months trying to educate myself on rifles; brands, calibers, scopes, etc., including trying to gather feedback and information from forums like this one where members put these rifles through real hunting situations. I am looking for a fairly light hunting rifle, so I have narrowed it down to stainless/synthetic, and I have pretty much decided on .300 wsm as my caliber of choice. Also, I am left handed so I know that narrows the search a bit as well and will be using factory ammo. My research led me to the Tikka T3 lite, great cost, good accuracy, etc, but the stock looked cheap to me (cosmetics are important). Tikka research led me to Sako, which is basically a higher end Tikka, or that is how I understand it. The next rifle that I looked at was the newer Sako A7, which I gathered as basically a Tikka T3 with smaller upgrades such as some more metal on the clip, the safety unloading feature, I think a bit better trigger, and accepting of weaver style rings. The downside to me was the reviews said the stock still seemed cheap (like the T3), and still had all the plastic on it, trigger guard, clip, and a part on the bolt. So then I looked at the Sako 85, good reviews, and it looked great (which is very important to me), but at an additional 600 over the A7, I thought I could do better for less. So now I researched the Sako 75, which the 85 replaced, and many think is still the better gun anyway. I am not opposed at all at buying an older model or used gun, and from what I gathered, a 75 could be had for around $1000 (I could be wrong though). My questions are these: First, am I on the right track, and if I am, what is the best way to find the rifle I am looking for (in this case a sako 75 left-handed in .300 wsm)? Secondly, what are everyone's opinion/experience on Tikka's/Sako's, and/or what other brands should I consider? Thirdly, if I am missing anything please chime in. Thanks in advance for anyone's opinion.

I'd be for mandatory harvest reporting, actually being transplanted from the midwest, it was weird not having to report my harvests here. The new thing back east is tele-check, call a number, give them some info, they give you a confirmation number and you are checked in. Maybe have to then write the confirmation number on the tag (or something along those lines), maybe give 48 hours or so to check your harvest in. If you are stopped after the time period and not checked in, you would be ticketed. No processors or taxidermists would allow animals without the number on the tag, meaning you checked it in. I think it would allow for a little better harvest data, instead of all this guesstimating which is probably costing us tags in the end.

Thanks for the replies fellas, the T3 is definitly on my list and looks better each day, I don't know if I'd be able to find a 75 anyway, and I'm not sure the A7 is worth the extra money over the T3.

I have had bad hearing my whole life (32 now). I have high frequency hearing loss, some higher pitched tones I simply can't hear. Absolutely drives me nuts in noisy situations or if someone is a soft talker or is whispering not to mention how it drives my wife crazy. I can't imagine what I'm missing when hunting, I have countless encounters in the midwest where I turn around in my stand and there is a deer not 10 yards away. On my elk hunt last year, I just could not pick up the distant bugles and was having a hard time listening for cow calls. About 4 years ago I tried the walker's game ear when hunting. Not much of an aid, all they do is increase volume but it did help a good deal. Only used one, I would suggest to anyone who would try them to get two so you can tell from which direction the noise is coming from. I finally went to see about real hearing aids about 3 weeks ago, I ordered a pair and they will be in next week. They are expensive as all get out, and I was a little aprehensive because of the price, my philosophy was I got along o.k. without them, will they enhance my hearing enough to be worth it? After speaking with several people who use aids, they said they are worth every penny and you can't believe how much you miss out on. I hope they are right, there's no turning back now.

I personally like taller bucks better because they normally score better. I agree with the others, massive horned deer are even better. I make my annual trip back to the midwest to bowhunt whitetails every November, shot this dude last year in WI, wide as all get out (25 inside) but doesn't score worth a crap. We had all kinds of trail cam pics of him, we knew he was a 4 1/2 year old with some messed up genes, he got a little close while chasing a doe and I let him have it. Hope the pic works.

You pay after you pass the test. Bring your hunting license as well. Stick to what was replied on this thread and you will do fine.

I've seen this photo on AT, claiming it was from south TX, everyone is crying photoshop on this one, I'd have to agree. As far as score on the buck, I'd say about 110ish gross.

I don't know of any places that has any other info, your local Game and Fish dept office will have a study pack available for pick up. Basically it's just knowing some common sense scenarios when guiding, like can you carry a gun, I think one was can the hunter give you meat, can the hunter fill out the transportation part of his tag before he kills, something about baying an animal with dogs without the hunter being there. I focused on the title 17 laws in the regs, also basic other rules and regs. A few other questions I remember where they tried to trick you up a bit, like can you kill a javelina with a 22 magnum handgun, how many bighorn sheep can you kill in a lifetime in AZ. Study up and you'll be o.k.

Yeah, and so far I am failing miserably, but getting there. 30, thanks again, it is becoming clearer now. Your unit 9/8 senario makes it clearer. How do I find out the cutoff for the 20% pass for a given unit, do I just count down the number of applicants from the highest bonus point group until I reach 20% of the tags and if the 20% runs out in a particular bonus group they randomly draw in that bonus group? One more thing, I guess I could see where the numbers in the second pass could fluctuate from year to year, but probably not by much, am I correct in assuming this?

30-378, That does help, thank you. I take it that in the 20% pass, they are only taking first choices into consideration, is this correct? I promise, no more questions after this, thanks for your time.

30-378/RR, Thanks, that does help a bit, I get it with the non-residents now. Looking at those pass tables seems to give a truer sense of what is going on in realtion to how many bonus points one has. So, if I understand this, are 20% of the tags for a particular hunt drawn first, and only those with the top bonus points are considered for that pass?

RR, This may be a dumb question, however being fairly new to the draw process, I would love to better understand it. I guess I don't understand the 20% pass thing. The way I understand the draw is this, let's say unit 10 archery: 150 tags available, 15 are immediatly cut off the top for non-residents. 135 left: Something like 10% more off the top for top bonus point holders? If I'm correct on this so far, then 121/122 tags left for first and second choice applicants. You send in your application, a number is assigned to your app, the number of bonus points one has corresponds to how many times your app is in the hat. If the computer draws one of your numbers, they look at your first choice, if it's available you get the tag, if not they look at your second choice, available you draw, if not you are done until the process starts again for 3rd/4th/5th choice (hunts that were not filled during first/second choice round) if you applied for those. I may make no sense here, but just want to learn how to find my "real" odds when applying. Thanks.

Hello all, this is pretty much my first post, been lurking for months, finally signed up. Great site, great information. I am a transplanted midwesterner, love to bowhunt, drew my first elk tag last year, early archery bull, man was it a blast. I was almost reluctant to check this year knowing my odds were way low, especially considering the units I put in for.....no elk or antelope tag for me this year. Congrats to all that were drawn, had a buddy draw an early rifle bull tag in 10, that should be fun, I'll keep everyone updated on how that one goes.

I am interested in the doubler for my 10X's, I am wondering about how well it works. I have not looked through one, just going off some of the feedback I've heard and for some reason it has not been that positive. It would be great to know how it performs in "real" hunting situations, any feedback is appreciated.