Coach

Thanks for the info everyone. The Tikka t3x sure looks good, but that Montana rifles are beautiful. I'll have to see what the budget is and whether I go for the most bang for the buck or splurge on aesthetics. I did notice the Tikka has a 1 in 10 twist rate, and the Montana has 1 in 9. From what I've heard 1-9 is preferable in .243 but not a very big difference in the real world. Anyone have opinions on that?

Just got gifted one, it's a shoulder breaker for sure. I'm looking to sell it but not sure what's a fair price. Gunbroker has them everywhere from $300 to $450. All same model and in similar condition.

Yeah, sorry I didn't post a pic. The last few days have been crazy. It's an H&R but I'll have to get more info on it like age & exact model/length?

Nice job! Loved all the pictures too. Congrats!

Well, I got my antelope opening day, which was nice because I had the rest of the weekend to get ready for my elk hunt. I started in an area I had located a couple decent bucks but didn't turn anything up so started exploring some new country. I was glassing into a giant flat off of some really cool painted desert stuff and found a nice buck chasing a doe way, way out there and moving away fast. From my maps, it looked like I could get to a road that would take me closer, but ended up hitting a locked gate in the middle of nowhere. It looked like if I went far enough back around, I could get to it from another angle, but I decided to take a little two-tracker that looked at the flat from another direction. As soon as I got my tripod up and started glassing I found another buck, all alone about 1.5 miles out. Well, a buck right there was worth going after rather than trying to make a 20 mile loop to get on the guy that was moving fast in the wrong direction, so I started my stalk. I picked out a "knoll" way off in the distance that would at least tell me how far out in the middle of the flat this guy was. It turned out that knoll was much bigger than it looked from a distance - ha. So I worked my way off the red dirt hills to the edge of this huge flat. It was weird because it was really hard to navigate around in there. lots of dead-ends, up-and-down just to get to get off the hills and into the edge of the flat. I re-located the buck but he was still so far off I couldn't get a range from my sig kilo. Over 1000 yards still. I started working out a plan, and this guy just started trotting toward me. I got my first range at 643 yards, but it was clear he was going to do all the leg-work for me. There was a little ridge out there I didn't even see from up top, but once at eye level, he dropped behind it giving me an opportunity to make a move. There were almost no trees or bushes, so this was just what I needed to close the distance. As I got closer, there was a little run-off ditch I could use to stay low, but I knew once I came up out of it he'd be pretty close. Turns out, closer than I expected. When I popped up and started looking for him I expected him to be 200-300 yards out still, but he was withing 100 yards. I dropped back down and dialed my scope back down to the lowest power, then came back up to my knees. He was about 80 yards with his head down. I raised back up and shot him off-hand. He dropped right in his tracks. Doesn't get much easier than that - well until the pack out. Once I had him quartered and stuffed in my pack along with my gun, two pairs of binos, a tripod, etc. I could barely take more than a few steps in the sandy soil uphill toward the truck. I ended up having to leave half the meat and his head, and come back for them after getting more water and some food in me. Really kicked my old butt, but I manged to get him out.

That's awesome! Congrats!

Very nice buck! Huge congrats!

I'd love to see the fillets off of those. Thanks for sharing.

Thanks Amanda. I get the appeal of the makeover. Just old dogs and new tricks. I'll get used to it.

Any goat with a bow is impressive. That one is really cool! Looks like he was in an area that would be tough to stalk up on with a bow. Kudos!

Thanks, I'll try that out.

I'm probably missing something here. I used to come to a page where all new content was displayed by topic. Now it seems as if each response is ordered chronologically, so each topic can be spread out over a lot of responses. I don't mind the color changes, etc. but I'm finding it hard to peruse the latest conversations like the old format did.

It's good to see threads like this to help folks understand all the laws. As many have pointed out here, it would only take something really minor to ruin your hunt, or worse. So having knowledge of the law and following it to the letter can be the difference between a great hunt and a terrible one. Great job to all the folks contributing here.

I spent the weekend out there really trying to get to know the unit. It's strange for sure. There are some goats out there but with all the perfect antelope country out there, seems there should be a whole lot more. All our bordering states have TONS of antelope in all that open country. I eventually found a couple and think I have a starting point, but wow - I just can't figure out why they are so sparse in such perfect country.

I've got a buddy coming this weekend to help scout around the petrified forest NP. I've got other places in the south part of the unit near St. Johns. Like yotebuster said, my take is scout early and hard for the goat hunt. If I do my homework, it shouldn't take more than a couple days. Then I have the rest of the month to focus on finding a bull better than I have yet in unit 1. I've seen big goats, and really pretty ones but all in New Mexico. The first really nice mid-high 70's goat I see I'll go after him.

So, here's what I decided. Taking opening day of the goat hunt off, the 7th. Mondays are slow so if I don't get it done opening weekend I can squeak in a few hours on the 10th. Then from the 14th through 27th it will be all about elk. I went up in the high country last weekend and it was lush and green. I know this is a drought year, but I think the bulls up high are going to be well fed and watered. If I kill a decent antelope, I'll be happy but I really want to get up there hunting bulls in 1 again. I've done it several times and have yet to get one of the really big boys, and I want that more than an 80 inch goat.

SPF

My boys have grown up and two of them have Diamond Razor Edge bows I'd like to sell. Honestly, I don't know what's the current fair price to ask. These have been great bows and have a wide range of draw lengths and weights - perfect for young, growing hunters. They are in great shape and used only for 3D shoots and some bowfishing. If interested, shoot me a PM. --Update: Here are some pictures and more details. They both have upgraded TruGlo sights. One with 3 pins, the other with 4. The original sights are included as well. One has the original "3-brush" style rest similar to a wisker biscuit, but 3 separate brushes the arrow rests on. The other has a prong-style rest from one of my previous bows. I have the wrist straps for both, but one is missing the bolt & washer to attach it. There's a spare arrow holder too - not sure where it came from. I'm thinking $250 for both, and will throw in an actual wisker buscuit rest if interested. Thanks, Jason

Hey guys, sorry it took me a while to get to PMs. I haven't been on CWT as much lately. I've responded to all and updated the original post with pictures and more details.

My best 25-06 load so far is 117 grain SSTs with 50 grains of Hybrid 100v. Have also done well with IMR 4350 and 115 grain Combined Technology bullets.

I think 5A would be tough with a bow. Some great bucks but very little contour or cover in a lot of it. Seems like a hard place to get in archery range. 3B North at least has stalkable areas where the goats hang out, just don't get too close to any "abandoned" trailers out there - they probably aren't.

+1 Beautiful buck. I do love hunting antelope, but there's nothing I love more than bulls in the rut in Unit 1. My goal is to really scout hard and get it done opening weekend in 2A, then have all the time I need to focus on the elk hunt. Thanks again.

Thanks guys for all the replies. The end of the goat hunt overlaps the beginning of the elk hunt so it's not a "one or the other" situation. More just trying to determine how much of my allotted time off to allocate to each hunt. I'll probably do opening day & the first monday of the antelope hunt and then the rest on the elk hunt. For sure opening day and the whole last week when the rut is usually in full swing.

I got some Crispi Wyoming boots this year and I'm very happy with them so far. All the support of my Mendl perfekt hunters but more breathable and little to no break-in.

That is AWESOME! Sure looks like a lion attack to me!