weatherby1

Hello all I have a good friend from South Africa coming in the first of March. If anyone is interested in a good hunt down there let me know. He also has some very good packages put together for Zim.

In my opinion a .243 is not a good elk gun. For deer and smaller game it is a super cartridge. With that being said can you hunt an elk with a 243 absolutely. Last summer I took my 7 year old son to Africa and with his .243 using 85 grain Barnes triple shock bullets he took a kudu, Blue wildebeest, and quite a few other animals and every one of them went no further than 100 yards and died. I was not sure if I wanted him using a .243 for some of the larger animals, but the ph had no problems with it. After he assessed my sons shooting skills. (which he got from his mother by the way) So I would tell you go get a 243 have your daughter shoot it regularly and then make your own call if she needs it for elk hunting. If you do use it make sure that you use a good quality bullet and do not exceed her comfort level distance. Also when practicing I find it best to only let my son shoot 5 or 6 rounds and then quit on a good one. If we went more than that he would start to jerk the trigger or lift his head to see where he hit as he was pulling the trigger. Anyway you go you will be a winner because of the memories you are making with her.

Congrats on the pigs!! Your story brings back old memories from when I was a kid. My father and my Uncles shot a pig and it did the same thing. However they did not come up with an invention as you did. As the youngest there they said it was my job to go get it. So at the ripe old age of 10 they sent me in with a rope to tie on the pig. They did not make me go unarmed though, they gave me an arrow to defend myself. After we got home and my mother found out what had happened I think they saw the error of their ways. I think that mom has forgave them now, but we still do not mention it just to be on the safe side.

Here are the deer that my father and I shot this year. There is no real good story to a long with it. It was one of those once in a lifetime hunts where everything actually happens the way you plan it. I found these bucks about two months ago. I was not able to check on them for about a month after my accident, but as soon as I was able I went out to find them. It was as if I had only been gone a not a month. They were in the exact same spot that I had left them. Then do to work constraint with my me and my Dad we only had 1 afternoon to hunt togather. He wanted me to go and get one without him, but I decided I would rather wait until he could be there. On opening day I took my wife's cousin out on his first hunt to another spot that had a real cool forkie in it. We got out there and after about a hour of looking we found him and he sealed the deal with a nice 220 yard shot. Then I was done until Tuesday afternoon. My Dad picked up my nephew and met me then after a short wait we were abe to locate these two bucks again. They had moved about 150 yards but that was it. Dad got set up picked the one he wanted and shot his deer dropped at the shot and the other one just stood there looking around. So I got set up and dropped him both deer were shot at 310 yards and dropped in their tracks. My nephew was was very excited. It was the first deer hunt that he had ever been on. My wife's cousin's first deer with my brother-in-law and my two boys.This deer was 21" wide and had 4" bases not bad for a forkie!! Dads buck My buck

Hello all. This is just a reminder to everybody. About a month ago I was in a nasty accident on the farm where I work. I was crushed between a tractor and ripper. I was pinned there for over an hour before we could gather up a cutting torch and cut me out. I am fine now just have some burns,cuts,bruise,ect.. It could have turned out very different however the margin of death or never walking again was a mere inch. While I was pinned there I got started thinking about my family and what they would be left with I was gone. It finally hit me that the only thing that we can truly leave with those that are left behind is memories. So I would say to everyone be sure to take your kids,wife,mom,dad, whoever is important in your life hunting with you. I know that the country a lot of us hunt in is very rugged and remote and sometimes hard for little or old legs to follow in, but if that is the case find a spot that is eaiser for them. The deer are not going anywhere, you or they might be. I can assure you that they will rember the time spent with you a lot longer than the hike in or size of animal taken. If you loved ones have no intrest in hunting than spend time doing what interests them. It is all about the time spent and memories made that counts. It was a very eye opening expirance for me and while I have always tried to include my family in my hunts I find myself trying harder now.

Man that sounds great!! Wish I was closer. Have you ever tried putting some Johnsonville brats or their brown sugar and honey finger sausages on the smoker? They turn out great and make and good snack while tending the smoker. The brats take about 3 hrs and the finger sausages about 1.5 hrs on my smoker. They also freeze great and make a quick breakfast you pull them out frozen put them in the mico and a minute later you have an excellant breakfast sandwhich.

Way to Phi and Jaycie!!! That is awsome. Congrats all the way around.

We just got back from an unforgettable trip to South Africa and I thougt I would share a few photo's of what my two boys got done. I will post the rest later. My 7 year old son Riley and PH Ben with his Nyala shot with a .243 at 100 yards. My 4 year son Luke with his female Steenbuck shot with .22 at 15 yards. One shot GREAT JOB Luke!!!! Riley, Luke, and me with Riley's Warthog. One shot with his .243 at 150 yards. (I wish I could shoot as well as he does) Riley with his Blue Wildebeast once again one shot with his .243 at 120 yards. Riley with his Steenbuck. Riley and his Impala. This was the only animal that needed more that one shot.

I have two loads for it 1 is 108grains of 50BMG and a 200 grain bullet the other is 121.5 grain 50BMG and a 180 grain bullet. The 200 grain bullet I used in Africa and loaded it down so that I could handle shooting it without the brake. The 180 grain bullet is what I use for pretty much everything else. I have shot that load without the brake and I hope that I never do anything that foolish again. With the brake on it is nice to shoot although it does make a lot of noise.

I have had a 300 win mag. 300 weatherby 338-378 weatherby and 30-378 weatherby. Of all of them I liked the 30-378 best it was and still is my go to gun, but now that my boys are getting old enough to hunt with I have fell back on a 7mm mag. It gets the job done with about the same recoil but is a lot less noisy and with the young ears around and I think that is very important. I have shot a friends 300wsm and I did not care for the recoil. For some reason it seems like the wsm recoi is a little more jerky to me. That is probably not true but that is my opinion. If I was a young man though I would buy a 30-378 and never look back. It might cost bit more to shoot but I love the gun and cartridge. I have used the gun for everything from a Duiker to a Moose and so long as I did my part it did its. Whatever you get the key to a good long range gun is PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE. Good luck in the hunt for your new gun.

No elk in that unit. So being the nice guy that I am I will take the tag off your hands. I won't even charge you for it.

Yes there are Jaguarundis in Az. I saw a pair four years ago when I was hunting. I even had pictures, but unfortunatly a week afer I got the pictures I had my truck stolen and the camera was in it, and as usual I had not downloaded the photos yet. They are a very interesting animals to see. I was not sure what they were when I saw them I had to go home and do some research to figure out what they were. I got a chance to sit there and watch them for an hour or so.

I have been considering useing a small cargo trailer from Home Depot and insulating it. That way I could take it to camp with me. I have not worked out all the details yet. If I ever get it sorted out I will let you know how it turns out. Good luck with your project.

I like to put it on a left wing talk show. After a few minutes I am ready to shoot.

I would but I could not pry it out of my sons hands and unfortunatly a 7 year old being a 7 year old he promptly lost it.

Nyala was high on my list as well but when it came to crunch time it was to good of an oppertunity so I put my gun away and Riley got his. I loaded with 41 grains of IMR 4350 and a 85 grain Barnes Triple Shock bullet. That combo worked very well for everything. On the Blue Wildebeast it was a frontal shot, I was a bit hesitant about it but the PH had no reservations he told my son where to hit and he missed the spot by about half an inch later we found the bullet under the skin in the right flank so it penetrated about 3' of wildebeast.

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I baught a 30-378 5 years ago and I love it just as much now as I did when I first got it. With that being said I am now getting a 6.5x284 built. It has great ballistics and will not cost as much to shoot, or hurt your ears as bad. For just deer I don't think that a 300 rum is really needed, but by the same token if you want it then get it. It's not about what everybody here wants or thinks

Sounds like a great trip way to get it done!!

I have a remington 7400 in 30-06 that I shot my first deer and elk with. It has never failed to shoot staight or to cycle flawlessly.

I hear you I was out with a friend yesterday in 30a and walked up on a drop location then caught movement out of the corner of my eye and turned to see 6 men in black about 150 yds from us and the were a lot better armed then we were. We turned and walked away then once we were at a safe distance looked back and none of them had moved but they were definatly still watching us. Needless to say we are not going back to that area anytime soon. I noticed at their drop location there were a few small co2 bottles what are those used for?

I have always liked English Setters and Visala. I think the setter is a little easier to train, but that might depend on the dog. I don't think that you could go wrong with any of the breeds listed so long as you are willing to put the time in on them.

Great job Phil!! Congrats on a fantastic buck.

I took a couple of hunters out this weekend. My friends wife who is 7 months pregnant had been on a hunt last year but did not get anything and my brother-in-law who is 18 years old and has been waiting for this hunt for three years now. The first morning we all got up well before daylight and got into the area where I had been seeing a couple of good bucks. Just as it gets light enough to see we can make out the white rump of a mule deer a few long minutes later we can tell it is a big 4x4 so the lady hunter (she won the coin toss for first shot) gets set up and put the smack down on her first deer. She shot a really nice 160" 4x4. We get her deer taken care of and move to a new area that usually holds at least 1 good buck and after a little glassing we found another nice 4x4. So my bro in law gets set up and give this deer his first ever dirt shower not nap. He hit about a foot in front of the bedded buck and covered him in dirt. We followed the tracks half a mile or so and never saw any blood or the deer again so we backed out of the area.The next afternoon we got on a group of three bucks but because of the brush never could get a shot. Sunday morning we found a herd of 5 bucks with 2 of them being good mature 4x4's we get set up and another miss.By now my poor bro in law is feeling about 4 inches tall we keep telling him that is just part of hunting and to shake it off. We decide that we should move to a new area and let this one cool for a while. On our way out I look over and there is a buck. He is standing in a thicket so he thinks he is hidden and is not to concerned. We mess around for 10 minutes or so trying to get set up right, and he finally drops the hammer on his first deer at 400 yds.He was so excited that I really think if it had been a little slower bullet he might have beat it to the deer. Here is my brother-in -laws deer I need to check with my friend before I post her deer.

I have to agree with the majority here. I know it seems like the end of the world not to go deer hunting this year, but I'm sure all of us has been there at one time or another. I know that I have wasted 3 Dec. tags because of work, and 1 unit 27 archery bull tag because of college. What you need to do now is get your gades up. Then when you get that high paying job take the old man to Africa to tell him thank you for making live up to your potential.