forepaw

Be sure and file a police report, with S/Ns and model #s of everything. That will automatically go to the nationwide database which is monitored by pawn shops. They (the good ones) know to scan high end optics as well as other potentially stolen goods and will notify local L.E. if your items show up. That is a tough blow, has happened to me and it makes you madder than &*IIOI. Always save paperwork, receipts and photos. Even then, sorry to say, accept that they are likely gone for good. forepaw

https://video.search.yahoo.com/search/video?fr=yfp-t-s&p=youtube+brian+litz+tall+target+test#id=1&vid=7100e906e28d368be52658f7d18ea61a&action=click Applied Ballistics is a little in depth, but the tall target test is pretty straightforward. It can be tedious, but you will need to make sure your rifle and scope are plumb before you try for accuracy at normal hunting ranges, or long range. The tall target will show you how much compensation is needed with your elevation turret. In other words, does it undertrack or overtrack by more than 1 or 2%. With your scope, I would be surprised if any is needed. You can also check windage to make sure your tracking is on. This can all be done at 100 yds. forepaw

My boys still think I feeding them a line of crap when I tell them of the snow of 67!!! I remember sitting in 10th grade biology class at McClintock H.S. The teacher, Mr. Cochran (who later became a good friend - he lived right down the street from my folks), got an emergency call from the office. It was the principal (or someone) at Payson H.S. where he had lived and grown up and graduated. They were watching the snow load on the roof of the gym, and were afraid this was the big one, the snow exceeded the design loading, and it was going to finally collapse under all that weight. They thought he might know about some auxiliary heating system or hot water piping that may have been routed under the roof that might help melt some of the snow and save the roof. He acknowledged he did not, and assumed the worst was imminent. I never heard what the final outcome was, but I knew it was serious. I do remember the Governor mobilizing the National Guard to ferry supplies, fuel, and livestock feed to Navajos up on the res. who were cut off and stranded. I believe that was Jack Williams, but may be wrong. (It was a long time ago). I also remember reading a LOT about the same mobilization, dropping feed to stranded and starving antelope all over N. AZ. I vividly remember the TV news images of N.G. airlifts of bales of hay being booted out the side door of military helos and bouncing on the ground amongst the starving pronghorns. That winter storm produced a catastrophic die-off of pronghorn from which AZ has never recovered. I remember years later in upper division life science at NAU reading about how the digestive system of pronghorns did not contain the type of protozoa required to process cellulose, and the feed just bulked up in their bellies and they were found starved to death with their digestive tracts full of alfalfa hay. Sad. Understandably, no one in the AZ Military Dept. knew about the digestive systems of various herbivores,and how they would not be able to digest the same feed that domestic cattle could eat. A couple of calls to ASU or UofA would have corrected that missing piece of the puzzle, but apparently it never happened. I am not sure it would have made any difference. It was a horrific winter storm. I still think about that storm when I drive across N. AZ or apply for pronghorn tags, and realize the populations have never come back even close, to what they once were. forepaw

24 mature bulls? Wow. That is something for 7W. Man you had quite a hunt. forepaw

Looks like a nelsoni, about a 7 yr. old. Nice. Ought to make a museum quality mount, either full body or shoulder. Looking forward to your story! forepaw

I take it that was the Barnes 110 gr. TTSX? How did it perform? What range? I load those in my .270 Win. to 3330 fps. Curious as to the MV out of the WSM as loaded by Double-tap. Must be in the neighborhood of 3500. VERY nice lifetime buck by the way. forepaw

Nice try LOL do you really think him getting a desert buck like that he is going to give up the unit! nice buck, glad everything worked out it could've been way worse for sure!!! those havalons can be dangerous! I know, I know. Just hoping to get a few grins on the thread, tough break to get hurt like that. And a close call too. Smart idea to call OGT to get rescue started. forepaw

Man, nice buck. What unit? forepaw

Not sure what precision rifle event you plan on shooting, but if you upgraded your optics, your setup could provide some fun shooting at the long range varmint silhouette and F-class matches at the Boulder Rifle and Pistol Club range. You probably wouldn't be seriously competitive at the Palma or 1000 practices, but might still turn in decent scores. Maybe better than decent, depending on wind. forepaw

You might be making it too complicated. Zero your rifle at 200 yds. Make sure you record good weather data - very important - and velocity - also important. Make sure you know your scope height above your bore centerline. Once you have that, you can make all kinds of changes in terms of weather, wind, distance etc., and it will calc. everything against your original zero. I have found Strelok pretty easy to use, and very accurate, most of the time very close if not dead nuts. forepaw

Anything in particular re: 5.7 hemi, or just the layout/design? I know some of the components are not the easiest to get to. Does overall performance and reliability compare with say, a 5.3 GM? Thanks. forepaw

It is pretty easy to tell for someone who knows how to read barrels, but the best bet is find someone with a borescope and see if they will take a peek inside that thing. Basically, look at the rifling just ahead of the chamber. It helps to take the action out of the stock so you can get your eye as close to the back of the action as possible. Try varying background and lighting. On a good barrel, the lands are sharp at the edges and flat on top. The grooves and lands are clear. On a barrel with some wear, say 1000 - 2000 rds. you can see the tops of the lands are getting a little indistinct at the corners. With high-velocity cartridges, at 2 - 3k rds. or so, you can see the lands are flattening out less distinct, and the edges may be slightly rounded. When you get past 4k, you may see just an outline of where the lands used to be for say, 1 1/2 or 2" in front of the throat. In some rifles, you can't see any lands at all in front of the throat - there is kind of a frosty or blurred outline, sometimes a sort of wavy remnant of where the lands used to be. Usually a rifle will lose accuracy well before it gets to this point. You can't tell much about the main part of the bore without a borescope, but you won't need one if the wear is this far advanced. I have only seen a couple of bores this bad. One was on a Sako .308 (a very nice rifle) at a pawn shop. When I pointed out the washed-out throat, the owner went a little nuts and told me I was full of bull, that anyone with a lick of sense knows these modern barrels are good for 100k rounds. I occasionally shoot with a guy who has a Rem. 40x in .308 that he swears has 40k rounds through the original barrel. It shoots ok, not great, but that must be some steel! Sometimes you can "chase" the worn rifling by seating your bullets out further and further. I am doing that on an old .270, and it still shoots pretty well, at least in terms of hunting accuracy. It probably has at least 2k rds. through it. I have a spare barrel ready to go, but just haven't seen the accuracy drop off enough to get it installed - but it is getting close. Eventually you either run out of neck to hold the base of the bullet securely, or else your OAL becomes too long to fit the magazine. It's actually time for a new barrel long before you have to worry about those conditions, however. Hope that helps. forepaw

I probably have more info than you want to hear about, but the condensed version is: For reduced/practice/kids load (very good BTW): 17/SR4759/140 Nosler Custom Competition, Lapua brass, WLR primer, jump 0.025". For a good med. range target load: 45/R19/140 Nos.CC, Lapua brass, WLR primer, jump 0.060". Vel. is 2600. This is an awesome 1000 yd. load. I am still working to find a hunting load I am satisfied with. Right now I am using 48/R19/127 LRX w/ Lapua brass, WLR primer, jump 0.092". Vel. is 2950 out of my 22" Tikka with the same 200 yd. zero as my target load, but I am just not liking the accuracy. It is ok (>2.5" at 200 yds.) but not great. My guess is that you cannot push the LRX fast enough from the Swede case unless you are using about an 8 twist 26" barrel. I suspect that bullet was designed for the 6.5x.284 and maybe even the 6.5x300 Wby. I know Lance T Kenyon uses it to good effect in one of his 6.5 wildcats, and maybe even the .260 Rem. but at higher velocity, as he uses long, heavy barrels. I have also used H4350 with the Nos. CC bullet. 44 gr. gives 2700 fps, with good accuracy. I haven't been using that load for two reasons: 1) Lapua brass does not seem to like Fed. 215M primers, and 2) H4350 can be a little scarce, and I prefer to keep what little I have for my .270. The Nosler 140 gr. CC is not the most advanced 6.5 target bullet, but for the price it is really good. I generally neck size, and body size about every 3rd firing. I anneal after the 5th firing. Right now I am on my 10th firing using new Lapua brass. It gets dirty, but does not seem to stretch in the T3 action. Hope that helps. forepaw

I saw a very nice Coues buck that had been spooked by some other javelina hunters in the low rolling hills north of the intersection of Barkerville Rd. and the road that forks to the NE from E. Freeman Rd (near the ranch, possibly the 96 Ranch), and west of the big north-south trending dry wash (it wasn't dry at the time!). By the time we got to Hayden everything was snow-covered and it was still coming down. Seems like this was in early February. Actually, closer to mid-Feb. as the receipt for my javey at Livingston's Lockers in Tempe is dated 2/24/69. Oh sorry, you wanted recent sightings, my bad! forepaw

Can't understand why there is not more support for the Barnes 127 LRX. You can start it faster from a relatively small case like the 6.5 CM or 6.5x55. I understand this gets into the no man's land between speed (and remaining energy) and B.C., but at long range, the question becomes not only ability to buck wind, but also stability in the trans sonic zone, where a little wobble starts while the bullet is still supersonic. I don't know how to predict where the advantage will be except to shoot both bullets in the wind at a reasonable range, say 500 yds. Get ready for an educational but humbling experience! I didn't agree with Van Zwoll's use of the 6.5 CM to shoot a bull at 600 yds. as I considered it a publicity stunt intended to sell rifles. But I understand that he is a highly experienced hunter and a cool shot. He was able to pull it off under perfect conditions (private, open land, no wind, no angle, calm animals). Not everyone will have those perfect conditions or could otherwise make the same shot under field conditions. If anything goes wrong - anything - will you be able to send in another EFFECTIVE follow up shot (or two, or three) before the animal gets away? forepaw

So the theory that the misfolded prions may be occurring spontaneously may mean it did not originate with Scrapie from domestic livestock - which also could mean it might not behave the same way as BSE in terms of transmission to humans? Lots of questions regarding origin (was it a chance gene?) and natural resistance of exposed animals that do not develop symptoms. I didn't see any mention that it has been around forever, like some animal illnesses (ebola), so what triggered it over the past few decades? And until the Norway outbreak, only in N. America? forepaw

I have hunted CO a few times, 7 or 8 different units, but am far from an expert. My archery deer tag this year is in GMU 61, and this will be my 3rd tag in that unit. I have never hunted, or even been in, the units you mention so can't help with anything specific. You might consider using the CPW website as they have some pretty good map tools, and also have a hunting helpdesk (hunt planner) where they can actually answer some pretty detailed questions. CO has always been a fun hunt and enjoyable trip. Just keep in mind that you will be in the Rocky Mtns. and the weather can change fast - especially be ready for rain and lightning. There are also some tips which will help with altitude, and you should take advantage of everything you can learn about that. These include limit alcohol, drink plenty of water, arrive a few days early to acclimate (especially if you're prone to getting headaches when trying to sleep at higher elevations) and take Tums to help neutralize lactic acid buildup once you start humping hills. Between Google Earth, CPW, other forums (www.bowsite.com is good) you should be able to get by with one scouting trip to recon. your area and find a camping spot. I am considering taking some judo points for blue grouse. Some years those suckers are plentiful, and it seems you could almost knock them out of the trees with sticks. Also, at least on the rifle hunts, you can shoot all the coyotes you want without any additional license, but once you have filled your tag, you must have a furbearer? or other license to shoot them. Not sure if this applies to archery or not. Good luck, hope you kill a couple of nice ones, and post pics. if you are inclined to do so. We will all learn something! forepaw

6.5x55 AI forepaw

There are four words to keep in mind when dealing with the National Park Service: you - can't - fix - stupid. forepaw

That would be Ten-X Campground. forepaw

Yeah, tell me about it. I let my left-hand Hoyt go for way less than it was worth. My Allegiance is staying with me however. Your price is fine, in fact low with the arrows and accessories. Someone will be getting a lifetime bow for 1/3 the cost of a new one. Bowtech still supports the Allegiance with parts and accessories. I changed from the speed modules to the smooth modules, and boy did it make the bow more shootable, and only lost about 6-7 fps. Someone will be very pleased to get your bow! forepaw

The Allegiance is a great bow - forgiving to shoot, blazing fast, light, durable, accurate, reasonably quiet. Not as many bells and whistles as current mfg. models, but still a classic. forepaw

This. "Anyway, I have used the compass enough to trust it, so I just kept going and found the vehicle". forepaw

You should always disinfect water from backcountry sources. Filtration is just the first step (though some units do add a low level of chemical disinfection using a silver iodide compound which eventually becomes depleted). It is easy to do and provides a significantly increased level of protection that will allow you to keep hunting effectively. Just carry either fresh, unscented household bleach (add 5 drops from an eyedropper per gallon, let sit for 1/2 hr. before drinking) or use Iodine tablets from REI or wherever you shop for outdoor gear. Same deal, 1/2 hr. contact time and be sure and rinse the threads and cap of your containers with the treated water. It is pretty hard to find a pristine water source these days. Polio, hepatitis, multiple types of enterovirus, and others, are still with us. forepaw

Man you are LUCKY! I have dumped dozens and dozens of rounds, never a problem. Somehow, the compound had to be crimped hard between the cup and anvil. I would notify the primer mfg. of that event. Send lot #, date of purchase, etc. forepaw