azmetalman

My favorite elk rifle is a Ruger M77,.300 Win. Mag.bedded in a Bell and Carlson stock, 180 Barnes TSX, 74 grains of RL22. This has accounted for 4 bull elk in the last 6 years. 3 bulls dropped in their tracks and 1 walked about 40 yards and collapsed. Longest shot was 293 yards. 2 shots at 292 yards. This year's bull was at 92 yards. I like this setup.

My 2 cents for what it is worth. My Ruger .300 Win Mag. shoots very well with H4831 or RL 22 and 180 gr. Barnes TSX. I prefer the RL 22 because it works well in 3 of my rifles. I agree that this cartridge is very forgiving. RL 22 is also the best performing powder in my Ruger.270 Win with the 130 gr. Barnes TSX.

What a great story!!! What a fantastic bull. Thanks for sharing. CONGRATULATIONS!!!

Too funny. Nice buck. I think you should name him Hollywood since he likes the camera so much.

Good story. I appreciate your persistence. You killed a very nice and well deserved mature Coues buck with great mass. Life is good.Soon you will forget all of the tourists you saw in the field. Thanks for sharing and it is very cool that you and your dad hunt together.

"aint the biggest but..." First or any Coues large or small at 730 yards it doesn't matter. You are fortunate to have been there with your dad. You will never forget that moment, the sound of the shot or the day. You jogged my memory. My dad was with me when I killed my first Coues , a fork horn, in October of 1959. I was blessed to be with my dad when he killed his last Coues that was running at full throttle at 150 yards. He did this with 1 shot from a 30/40 Krag in November of 1963. I have that rifle and the same partial box of Winchester 150 grain cartridges in my safe. This is what good memories are made of. Thanks for sharing the photo and your thoughts. They made me stop and think about a whole bunch of Coues hunts with my dad. I will look forward to the picture and story of your first Coues.

Personally I think using the word harvest is just pandering to PETA and those who would stop us from KILLING our dinner.

Saturate your dryer lint with Vaseline and store it in a 35mm plastic film canister. It will light even if it is raining or snowing and it will burn hotter and longer. I use cotton balls saturated with Vaseline. They store easily and last forever. Just work the Vaseline into the cotton balls and squeeze out the excess. When it comes time to use them pull the fibers out of the the wad like you are trying to fluff them up. Obviously they won't fluff but you get the idea. Try this one. It is fool proof.

Bill I love your comments about the Salt House Canyon Party. A bunch of years ago when I still lived in Tucson my wife and I attended a professional convention in Carefree. While sitting by the swimming pool one evening one of my contemporaries who is a very big man (no fat) was talking about how he enjoyed straight shots of Tequila. I had heard this dribble a number of times before so I came prepared. I had a fresh quart of Bacanora that I had purchased on a trip to El Novillo. I brought the bottle out and gave my friend 3 shots. In 30 minutes he was slurring his speech and went to bed. He showed up at the very last meeting the following morning and accused me of feeding him Coleman lantern fuel. Bacanora is pleasant but it will separate the men from the boys if necessary.

I agree with you. While I understand that our AZGFD is supported by user fees, the per hunter fee on top of license and permit fees appears to be another revenue source. I really like the online approach but the charge gives me a headache.

Very nice. Look at the head on this guy. Looks like a real good bear. CONGRATULATIONS!!!

Thanks for the great story and the pics of a great bull. I am curious about your release. Had it been in use for a long time?? Brand and Model?? I am considering a number of different releases at the moment. I recognize that all products have some rate of failure and don't consider a single incident as being statistically significant. It is good to gather as much info as possible. I am glad that your accident didn't include any injuries to you. Again....CONGRATULATIONS!!!

Bow Guard hard case by Plano. 56"x17 1/2"x6", secure storage for 24 arrows in the case, removable accessory box with lift out section and broadhead compartment. Vintage but like new. $35.00 , Easton 2114 Game Getter - 11 aluminum arrows - 10 new,1 used,5" fletching , + 5 used no fletching) - 31", nocks and inserts installed. All are straight. $25.00 Easton 2114 XX75 Orange - 9 aluminum arrows - used, with nocks and inserts. Will need fletching. 31". These were shot into targets only. All are straight. $20.00 Pick up in Fountain Hills or I can meet you in the vicinity.

I went back to Bull Basin Archery this morning. I made a stupid mistake and my new Hoyt needed a tune up. John did that and more. I am much more comfortable with the bow since he noticed a flaw in my form and that the draw length was a touch too long. He made sure the cams were in sync and generally gave me a perfect bow. I bought an additional dozen Carbon Express Maxima arrows and field points. ( You can't beat their price on these 2010 models). Meanwhile My wife who hasn't shot a bow for 40 years wanted to try out a compound. Weston took great pains to set up a bow for her to try while I stayed in a different zip code. She had never used a release so Weston set her up with one of those also. After shooting a few arrows she is really jazzed about a future purchase from Bull Basin. I am excited that she has a high level of interest. If she decides to hunt fine. If not that is also OK. Just the fact that she is willing to give the sport a serious try I am very happy. Thanks to John and Weston for a great morning. If you haven't been to their shop you owe it to yourself to stop by and see for yourself.

DotShot thanks for this post. I have not had the opportunity to shoot an animal with my T3's so this information is important to me. Most importantly I am glad you found the animal. If anyone out there has had personal experience with the T3 on big game animals I would like to hear about it. I recognize that in the end we all make equipment choices for our own reasons. Hearing users successes and failures from actual infield experiences helps all of us. Thanks.

Nice job. Nice video. Nice bear. Very good shot. I was sitting on the edge of my chair as if I was there. Thank you for sharing this hunt with us.

Thanks for the update and the link. Very good news.

ruff country I admire your approach. It is interesting to me since I am going through a similar phase. I have been hunting the Gray Ghost in Arizona since 1959 and taken bucks with various centerfire rifles with open sights, peep sights and scopes. My next quest is archery and/or my 7 x 30 Waters TC Contender which is scoped. Now you have given me yet another idea. Thanks!!

Look at those "stumps". Great buck. Good Job!!!

Enjoyed the story. Nice bull. Good Show!!!!

You made a good move. Speaking from personal experience you can ask just about any question and someone or many are eager to help. I read new posts every day and use the search tool for information that may not be easily discerned due to age of the post. Enjoy yourself. You won't find a better site anywhere.

I haven't watched this before. Great bull!!! The footage is really exciting. I was on the edge of my chair. Thank you for sharing this. WOW!!!!

Another benefit of this trick is that as your trip goes on you have lots of cold water to refill your canteen or hydration pack, as the ice melts in the jugs. Just want to make sure you use clean jugs and good drinking water if you plan to do this. Even better For what it is worth...in addition to the frozen water in milk jugs I freeze milk, orange and tomato juice in the original containers as well as anything that isn't going to be consumed the first night or next day. All of this helps keep your camp food cold for an extended trip.

Another benefit of this trick is that as your trip goes on you have lots of cold water to refill your canteen or hydration pack, as the ice melts in the jugs. Just want to make sure you use clean jugs and good drinking water if you plan to do this. Even better

Very nice. This is the kind of photo that gets all of us stoked up for the fall season. Welcome to the Forums and thanks for sharing your find with us.