Red Rabbit

Chris, Hope that pup got that O/U wrapped for you Doug~RR

If guilty, we can hope the sentencing rope is shorter than the limb of leniency is tall (figuratively speaking).

SD also, to illustrate their mindset. http://www.citizenlink.org/videofeatures/A000012237.cfm

Ron's partner Bart posted a little info on MM. http://www.monstermuleys.info/dcforum/DCFo...5/16151.html#31

Possibly good news for northern Arizona shooters MEMO S-2 TO: Larry D. Voyles, Director FROM: Mike Senn, Assistant Director, Wildlife Management Division PRESENTER: Josh Avey, Habitat Branch Chief TITLE: Request for the Commission to Approve the Purchase of the approximately 160-acre Foster Ranch Property for the Development of the Northern Arizona Shooting Range located in Coconino County, Arizona. DESCRIPTION: The Commission will be asked to vote to approve the purchase of the approximately 160-acre Foster Ranch Property for the development of the Northern Arizona Shooting Range located in Coconino County, Arizona. The Commission may vote to take action on, or provide the Department direction on this item. DATE: April 30, 2010 Summary: In 1998, the Arizona Game and Fish Department (Department) began its efforts to acquire a site to construct a shooting range facility in the Flagstaff area in order to provide a recreating shooting opportunity to the public. Flagstaff is the largest city in Arizona without a public shooting range, forcing recreational shooters to use makeshift areas, such as cinder pits in the forest, and causing law enforcement personnel to travel to other cities for training purposes. A local shooting range would promote multi-purpose venues including rifle sight-in, pistol, shotgun, clay target, and archery. Most recently, during a 90-day period, personnel from the Department's Development, Shooting Range, and Habitat Branches in partnership with the Flagstaff Regional Office and the Coconino National Forest (Forest) evaluated a total of 24 sites. On June 27, 2009 the Commission directed the Department to continue due-diligence on the proposed Willard Springs Land Exchange with the Forest, execute the Agreement To Initiate and dedicated funding to initiate the NEPA EIS scoping for FY 2010. Additionally, the Commission dedicated funding to simultaneously evaluate Department/Forest recommended alternative sites (Cochrane Hill and Winona/Telegraph Range sites) to determine if acquiring these sites would reduce the proposed Forest timeline of 10 years or save millions of dollars in costs associated with the federal land exchange process and continue to consider any suitable private parcel. The Commission also refined the project's objective: To develop a local shooting range with the potential to expand into a regional facility located within 30 minutes of downtown Flagstaff by the year 2013. To date the Department continues to pursue the following: (1) The Willard Springs Land Exchange, (2) Evaluation of two alternative Forest exchange sites, (3) The Foster Ranch private parcel. Considering the protracted history of this project and previous Commission direction, the purchase the 160-acre Foster Ranch property will achieve the Department's and Commission's short-term objective. Recommendation: The Department recommends that the Commission vote to APPROVE THE PURCHASE OF THE APPROXIMATELY 160-ACRE FOSTER RANCH PROPERTY FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE NORTHERN ARIZONA SHOOTING RANGE LOCATED IN COCONINO COUNTY, ARIZONA AND AUTHORIZE THE DIRECTOR, AS SECRETARY TO THE COMMISSION, TO EXECUTE ALL DOCUMENTS AS MAY BE NECESSARY. From a different AZGFD document dated 12-2009: A new location that has emerged for consideration is the Foster Ranch property, a 160-acre deeded property just south of I-40 from the Winona exit. Research of the property reveals it has passed preliminary investigations. A few remaining due diligence investigations are needed before fully considering this property as suitable. A private deeded property transaction could have the shortest timeline for establishing a shooting range.

Hey Mark, Welcome aboard! Doug~RR

A drive along the Apache Trail was on the agenda for this past weekend. I had not been out to Canyon and Apache lakes in maybe 25 years, so I took the long route to Jeremy Ulmer's grand openting of his archery shop, Chasing a Dream, in Payson. Saturday sunrise at Canyon lake did not light up as anticipated, but I did find a neat cactus in a hole that did remind me of an owlet at first. The early morning light was gone by the time I left Canyon Lake, but I took a few photos anyways on the way to Apache. No vehicles were met on Fish Creek Hill, but it was not as bad as its reputation. After spending a few hours in Payson, I drove back along the trail to Phoenix Saturday evening in hopes of some nice evening light, but bluebird skies prevailed. Doug~RR

More about the fire in the Daily Sun, Flagstaff's "newspaper" http://azdailysun.com/news/local/article_5...a06d1f8c0a.html

They would average your bonus points, so if your son has two or more less than you, then yes, your odds go down. Depending upon which unit and hunt season and how many BP you have, it may put you out of the 20% pass for top BP holders. If you do not draw, then you coud also apply together for one of the likely leftover tags in the border units. The odds of either one of you having a tag by putting in separately would be better than putting in together, but it could end up that only one has a tag, or you may draw different hunts if you both draw and have put in several choices. Having your dual app selected and not getting a tag might only hurt if there is just one permit remaining. And a lot of this depends upon #BP, what unit and season you want to apply for.

It's been many years since "Saturday Night Fever" . Glad that Jim gave me a body double

Mike, While you're waiting, put some muzzle brakes on your rifles and TCs

After success on my Goulds turkey hunt in southern AZ (see "other big game" forum for story), I went back out to photograph some gobblers. I was able to stalk within 50 yards of this tom as he and his hens fed up a hillside. Taken with Nikon 300mm f/4. Doug~RR

Flagstaff is not any better than Kali as the city council votes to oppose SB1070 http://azdailysun.com/news/local/govt-and-...81b37b42e7.html

Pops and Jim, Must have been great to have the jakes so close and then have the Tom come in. The rear lighting gives the tail a nice glow in the first photo. Congrats on a good hunt together. Doug~RR

At the End of the Rainbow. A glance off the highway while driving to the Parker Canyon area revealed a faint rainbow coming up from the valley. The weather service had forecast a good chance of showers Thursday and Friday with Friday being the opening day of my Goulds Turkey hunt in southern Arizona . Only thirty-six permits were issued this year for a spring hunt for Goulds, so I was very surprised to see I had drawn a permit for one of these treasured birds that have reintroduced by the Arizona Game & Fish Department and have successfully grown in numbers in the various sky island mountains of southern Arizona. Goulds are the largest of the turkey subspecies and are similar to the Merriams as mountain turkeys, but have white tipped tail feathers. Thursday night I was at a location that friend Chris, aka SunDevil, had harvested his Goulds last year. He spoke of some large oaks that overhang the road and served as roost trees. Sure enough, a peacock locator call induced a set of gobbles after dark from those oaks, but had concern of another truck that was idling close by. I made plans to camp a little ways up the road and return early in the morning and set up a little ways up the draw for when they flew down from the roost. That Thursday night, rain upon the camper shell awoke me. The pattering stopped on the roof after a few hours, but I was not expecting what had replaced it. When the alarm beeped at 4 AM, I popped open the camper door to see snowflakes descend through the beam of the headlamp. At 5 AM , the snow was still falling and looked to have accumulated a couple of inches upon the lid of the ice chest outside. Not wanting to get my Athena O/U soaked by the wet flakes, I awaited a let-up of the snow fall and possible a better Saturday morning. After the time of the not-visible sunrise, snowfall had reduced to a few falling flakes, and thus I emerged from my cocoon of a sleeping bag under the camper shell. As I surveyed the white landscape and snow covered trees under the overcast skies, I heard a gobble from the valley below camp. Then another gobble was heard, which was followed shortly by the single blast from a shotgun. I suspected that a hunter in the truck the night before had set up in the snow and was a benefit of being in the elements. After the other hunter had left with his drumsticks, I made a few locator calls and yelps, but was rewarded by silence. Snooze, you lose. With a small sense of disappointment, I drove to another location Chris had talked of at the end of a ridge that was a roosting spot and had a water tank close-by. A yelp elicited a distant gobble response, so the pack, decoy and shotgun were mounted on the back and the pursuit was on. The gobbler responded a few times, but was moving away and finally shut up. Pursuit ended and it was back towards the truck That Friday afternoon, I met Chris and Dave, another turkey hunter without a tag. We each went to different spots that evening go find and roost a bird. Dave went to where I missed out in the morning and had seen one gobbler and seventeen hens roost. Chris saw three gobblers and saw fresh tracks and drag marks in the muddy road. I heard one elusive gobbler in another creek drainage that was unresponsive to yelps and locator calls. A fantastic Arizona sunset concluded the first day, although I missed it as I was up a canyon trying to bed a bird.. Around the campfire, we decided to all head to where Chris had found the three gobblers without hens, as they would likely be the easiest to call in. That following morning, three gobblers were sounding off in from their roosts. As we walked down the road to get up-canyon from the chosen gobbler, it sounded off from a tree right above us. A place was chosen nearby, but after he was heard flying down, he moved up the canyon higher up above us on the slope. We gathered out deke and headed further up the road to maybe get ahead or locate the other gobbler up the canyon. As we crested a rise in the road, I spied a turkey to the side down in the creek bottom We saw 3 gobblers feeding along with several hens. They were paying us no attention, and paid no attention to Chris’ light yelps. Eventually, the flock saw us and slowly headed up the opposite slope of the creek. We moved a few hundred yards back down the creek bottom to get ahead of them, set the decoy and started calling to no avail. After twenty minutes, I got up the pull the deke and flushed the group out of the creek only fifty yards above us, Surprising, the had not called back in response to our calling, nor given any vocals of their own. Since we saw them move slowly up the slope above the creek and the gobbler strutted numerous times, we went a few hundred yards further down and set up again in hopes of having the flock come back down to the creek bottom. We did communicate and sight with a bright red-breasted Trogar, a bird that sounds quite like a hoarse hen turkey. After another thirty minutes of unresponsiveness and no sighting, we decided toe still hunt up the creek bottom. Barely a hundred yards up the creek bottom, I spot a hen turkey. It detects me, and walks up the opposite side of the creek bottom. It is followed by five other hen, and a single gobbler. I keep looking for the other two gobblers, but this was the entire group. When the gobbler cleared the group of hens, a load of #5s downed the gobbler with coppery iridescent feathers. In addition to the beautiful feathers, he sported an eight inch beard and bumps for spurs. Supposedly, the lack of spurs is genetically prevalent in these Arizona Goulds. Regardless, a beautiful bird taken southern Arizona. AT THE END OF THE RAINBOW…IS A POT OF GOULD.

Hey Daniel, congrats.

I have heard that access fees for the Long Meadow and Vegas ranches are getting higher than the simple donation years ago to the volunteer fire department. The WM or regional office should have contact info for you friend.

What is the worst thing/least enjoyable about a coues hunt?

Casey, I heard if the laundry gal asks you if you need anything else, politely say no.

http://www.fs.fed.us/r3/asnf/news/2010/201...ll-closed.shtml Would be best to call the ranger district

I would think that you and son would want to keep it as a 30-06 so it would he could pridefully say that it is same one his great gramps used. Convert one of your other 06 for him. My thoughts. Might consider the 280AI and throat & twist it for a the longer, higher BC 180 Bergers VLDs. With the 280AI, you would not have to alter the bolt face. Nosler has brass and ammo.

Is this a pre-64?

Congratulations to you and your wife on a healthy girl.

One needs to consider the source printing this. The National Inquirer??? That's a source of credibility.

I had a 700 SS laminated Mountain rifle in 260 rem. That rifle would be good also in 7-08, 308, 270. There is reduced/managed recoil ammo for all three cartridges. The 270 would probably be the best and more versatile for a lifetime. In 270, it would maybe weigh 1/4 pound more.