Jump to content

tontotom

Members
 View Profile  See their activity

  • Content Count

    136

  • Joined

  • Last visited

Posts posted by tontotom

  4. Posted · Report reply

    Interesting topic for sure. It's strange that habitat hasn't been mentioned. Up to 70% of the wells in the Springerville have gone dry due to lack of surface recharge. No water no animals. 

    Urban sprawl is taking a lot of habitat at the same time. We clear land for housing and then bitch when more people show up and apply for tags. Interesting-

  6. Posted · Report reply

    The deer herd up here took a major hit this last winter. No moisture fell in any quantity from November-June. Water dried up that has been steady for decades. Fawn survival will be minimal and deer health was poor until July when the spotty rains started. If this tag was drawn by mistake turn it back. That's my take.

    Few places in the unit have deer in any number like is mentioned above. To say you don't want "honey holes" is silly, any place that's holding deer is a honey hole. You will encounter a lot of locked gates and little chance to gain access. We could talk about the various reasons but most are due to previous conflicts between land owners and hunters leaving gates open, driving ATV's off road and a sense of entitlement by both sides. To think you might solve these issues in the next 6 weeks would be naive. 

    If you do come I'd like you to consider this one thing, without the ranches pumping water for cattle the deer, elk and antelope numbers would be 10% of what they are now.

    • Like 2

  9. Posted · Report reply

    I've smoked on a Masterbuilt for a long time and I love it. I also have a big propane one that we use for bigger gatherings. However, if you want the best there is buy a Traeger. My brother has one and his stuff is off the chart. I highly recommend pellet and the Traeger is hard to beat.

    • Like 1

  16. Posted · Report reply

    I hunt coyotes and other stuff I call in with my Rock River AR-15. My preference is the 16" regular barrel. It balances the rifle just right for me. Handle a bull barrel before buying, every one I've used was front heavy and didn't balance well for me. I started out with a 20" upper and sold it to get the 16". I have two and both are very accurate with military ammo. I use 55 grain FMJ for plinking and 55 grain Vmax for varmits.

    • Like 1

  19. Posted · Report reply

    I knocked a bull over last year just before dark. I shot it in a big meadow next to the road and the dang thing died 20' from the road. I tagged him and was elbow deep in guts when the young game warden drove up. He was nice and did the chit chat while looking at the tag and writing the information down. He then asked to see my license...I gave him that "WTF" look and didn't say anything for 30 seconds and then told him to hang around for 10 minutes when I would be glad to pull the license out of my pant pocket. I keep it in a money clip in my front pocket and told him he could fish for it if he wanted otherwise he'd have to wait and help load the bull. He was nice and said there was a report of some guys spotlighting in the area so he'd have to go.

     

    I've had some bad encounters in the past but this guy was way good. We get checked every time we draw unit 1 elk.

  20. Posted · Report reply

    Do yourself a favor and look at the Apache Forest website and the closed area maps. They have the forest closed almost to Clifton. Sad that so much is off limits but alas, big brother knows best......OK pisses me off but like Bill said above, the fine is heafty for the disobedient.

  22. Posted · Report reply

    When I was working up a load for mine I wanted a lot of speed and a bonded bullet. I tried 150 grain accubonds and they just wouldn't fly. The 165's shot a lot better, 74 grains of IMR 4831, magnum primers and the bullet just seated to fit my magazine (Model 70 SS with 26" barrel)yielded 3250 fps. I got tired of the kick and tried a lead sled. Accuracy fell off. Off the bags I could get a 3 shot 3/4" group and with the lead sled it opened to 1-3/4".

     

    I like the gun and it did well last year, an elk at 405 yards and a barbary sheep at 425 yards. I hope you find your guns sweet spot. The 150 grain bullets started flying good when the speed (chronographed) was around 3000 fps. Not exactly magnum performance!! I worked the 165 grains up to over 3350 fps without pressure signs but the groups didn't make me smile. When I backed off a little is when they shrunk down to acceptable.

  23. Posted · Report reply

    Here is one thing you need to know about Unit 1- it's good and sometimes even better but there isn't 380 bulls behind every tree. What I've done is picked the type of area I like to hunt and scout there. Good bulls are in every area but I'm assuming this to be a 330-340 type elk.

     

    What the last few years have been like is slow until the last week of the hunt. If you really want to hunt screaming bulls focus on the last week.

     

    This might not be the best unit in the state but the habitat ranges from cedar to aspens. I love it and wouldn't hunt any other unit. Quality areas would include Escudilla, Greens Peak, Big Lake, PS, Sipes Wildlife Area, Pole Knoll, Pool Corral, Black River, Boneyard, North Springs, Vernon, Green Spot, Rudd Knoll, Pat Knoll, Nutrioso, Alpine Divide, Greer, Baldy Wilderness, Red Hole Draw, and so on, and so on..........

     

    Point is there are a lot of places to hunt and I haven't even mentioned my favorites.

     

    Good Luck and hunt hard

  24. Posted · Report reply

    I'm just cleaning, weighing and separating some new brass. Out of 100, 60 are pretty good. I've uniformed the primer pockets and cleaned the flash hole. I now have some questions:

     

    1- what primer? I have large and magnum. Does this stubby case need a magnum primer?

    2- I have 130 grain berger VLD's and IMR 4064, 4350 & 4831 powder. Any prefernece?

    3- I have Savage 11 with 24" 1-11 twist barrel, anyone shot thi combo before? Accuracy? Velocity?

     

    Thanks in advance-

  25. Posted · Report reply

    I guess as I read this I get the feeling you were overspending on your optics and that bothered you in the field. I can't think of a situation I'd rather have a pair of Nikons instead of my Leicas. I've used both and for me it's not even a consideration. Not that the Nikons are bad, it's just that I feel better with the Leicas.

     

    The biggest difference to me is the clarity you easily dismissed. For you not that important, for me way important. My eyes are old as well as my legs, my belly is a little oversized so I might be exhausted after a day of hunting but my eyes don't hurt. Some guys buy cheap sunglasses because they can't justify loosing $200 pair. Not me, Costa's all the way for these eyes.

     

    This may not be what you were asking for but it's my opinion. I'll never part with my more expensive glass and won't ever discount those who use less expensive optics.

×