Red Rabbit

I am posting this for a friend: German Shorthair Pointer Pups AKC registered tails, dews, first shots done great pedigree, awesome colors males $450.00 females $500.00 call Jim @ 928 853 2094 for more info and pictures. located in Williams, AZ thanks (prices edited)

Welcome, The AZ game & fish website has some general info on where to hunt each species in each unit. http://www.azgfd.gov/h_f/hunting_units.shtml For javelina in 6A, you might look at the base of the rim from West Clear Creek to Beaver creek east of I-17 to Dry Beaver creek west of I-17. Also Sycamore Canyon and along the road to Childs from Camp Verde. Good luck. You can buy an OTC archery coues tag and hunt in Jan, since you had to buy your license for the javelina tag. Unfortunately, you cannot hunt coues or muleys in 6A in Dec or Jan. Better coues unit are south of Tucson and will be open to Jan archery deer. Doug~RR

Dennis, Would the Slik 713CF be an option? http://www.thkphoto.com/products/slik/slik-cfs3-b.html http://www.adorama.com/SLCF713.html?search...d&item_no=3 Manfrotto 055cx (it's close to your specs) http://www.manfrotto.com/Jahia/site/manfro...=68&child=2 http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/5844...ION_TRIPOD.html I have seen neither. Doug

Jan 1 in the Verde Valley and Rincon Basin? (just put in for the whole year off) Otherwise, what Stan said.

Lowa Tibet GTX. Great comfort and support. Gore-Tex. Uninsulated. Rubber rand to protect the toe leather. They fit about 1/2 size small, so order larger accordingly. http://www.schnees.com/product_categories/...gtx-sepia-black Shoebuy.com has them a little cheaper http://www.shoebuy.com/lowa-tibet-gtx/119630 You can also do a search for shoebuy.com coupons and save 10-20% online

Bill, Plenty of crows with the smaller beaks and bodies, and the larger-billed ravens around Flag. Owing to their plentitude, it escapes my reasoning why ravens are protected. RR

With all that tall grass hiding the deer, I hope there is a good snow to lay it down before our Nov 7 hunt RR

Wilkommen!

Gee Amanda, what a great way to initiate/field test that new scope that Santa brings you Hope this works out for you. RR

You can still see the flash shadow of the deer (note shadow near the belly & legs) against the trees.

Sounds like the question about which rifle to get has been solved. It should be a shooter. Enjoy! Doug~RR

Minnesota DNR released results of its study. The X-rays shown in the online PP presentaion are interesting in showing the dispersal of lead fragments. Some of the conclusions are obvious and predictive to the most casual observer. MN Lead Fragmentation Study

Hope those of you with deer hunts this weekend have an enjoyable hunt and success in many ways. Take some cool pictures and write a good story to share with us (don't forget the Junior story category for the buck contest). Doug~RR

Clay, congrats on your bull . Sometimes a taxidermist might want a good cape as extra, as other hunters sometimes cut it a little short, or the hair starts to slip because they don't recover the bull that night or leave in too much neck meat and the hide does not cool. Befriend your friendly taxi. Otherwise, if you tie around the neck instead of the rear legs and drag, it will be easier as you won't be pulling against the hair, antlers and unfolded legs. Doug~RR

Doug Burche at UltraCoatings did my 6.5WSM in a black Cerakote that looks like black matte. Have had no problems with the cerakote. He also gave it an Ultra Bore Coat treatment. http://www.ultracoatingsinc.com/services.html http://www.nicindustries.com/firearm_coatings.php

Stan, Sounds like a nice evening was spent. Nice pic with the sandstone illuminated by the setting sun as a background. I went out Sunday morning to the other side of the highway, until Rica said it was too warm to run around after a few hours. Ran into 2 decent sized coveys, surprisingly. I was doubting the Gambel population for this year. Doug~RR

While developing the loads with the E-tips in the 300 WSM I have, the better groups have hovered around 1" This got me to thinking if we really need those tiny 0.5" groups for normal hunting to say 400 yards, which is a long way for many and probably further than the game will be spotted. I think the coues I have shot have averaged 250 yards distance. So can one be content with say 1.5" groups? If one's rifle consistently shoots its bullets into 1.5" groups, that means that the furthest a bullet will be away from the point of aim at 100 yards is 3/4" (half the groups size) Likely, it will be closer, hitting inside of the 1.5" circle. So at 400 yards, this fringe bullet would only diverge 3" away from the point of aim at worst. Will missing your point of aim by up to 3" when the crosshairs are centered on a buck's or bull's chest cause one to miss the lungs? In other words, the 1.5" groups will theoretically be 6" groups at 400 yards, still well within the kill zone size of a coues or elk. On top of group size, one can add human error in flinching, buck fever, heavy breathing from trudging up the mountain, unsteady rest, and error in range and wind judgement. But in itself, group size would not be a factor within 400 yards. Even Weatherby comes with only a 1.5" guarantee with proper ammo. Remington, Kimber and Winchester will likely say a 2.5" rifle is within their specs. So so we need a 1/2 inch rifle for normal hunting? (Granted, it's nice for the confidence and the shots past 500 yards.)

SOLD!

Cabelas Moose Bag. Used. (there may me some blood stains ) Attaches to frame with 3 pins/rings on each side of bag (pins/rings not included) Similar to this Alakan I bag Packframe Rifle Hanger. Note: the top hanger is different than the one shown in Cabelas catalogue (see pitures) Packframe Rifle Hanger $25 shipped for both Doug~RR

Reduced to $25 shipped.

If those bucks bed down, one would never see them in that tall grass. Hope for a heavy snow to knock the grass down before hunting season. Video seems pretty clear.

According to the Gore website, SitkaGear will have it out for the fall of 2009. I did not see any notice on the Sitka website about Optifade, though. http://www.gore.com/en_xx/news/optifade.html Doug~RR

Reminder: The ADA youth camp in Unit 23 is next weekend, Oct 10-12. The date of the 36A camp is Nov 21-23. These are great events to donate some time and help to others. RR

After 16 years of applying, my antelope hunt in Arizona was about to begin. With the gas combusted through several weekends of scouting, one buck had been located that would become the primary target buck. Even so, the day before the season found my truck heading into two new places to locate two bucks reported over 80”. The first location held three bucks as described to me earlier, but the scores were seemingly exaggerated. Off to the second location to find the largest rumored buck. While the large buck may have indeed been there, but the aesthetics of the area to hunt were not desirable, especially when I was warned that if I kept nosing around, it would be a good way to get shot. So I left to the area where the target buck was roaming. Late that afternoon found the buck with 14 does tucked up in a large basin. After rising from their beds, they circled and fed up a ridge which had the fence to the unit boundary. As they stood contemplating the crossing, my hopes for tomorrow diminished. Luckily, a few turned and led the group away from the fence to a vantage point. As the continued feeding and moving, they appeared they were going to circle towards me. Risking spooking the herd, I backed out to a more distant vantage point. As I viewed the heard from afar using the tripod mounted binos, another truck with two hunters appeared to glass the basin. After a few minutes, they spotted the herd and watched them until dark, as my opportunity for the morning opener dimmed. They stopped as they drove past, and we discussed our intentions and plans. Sunset on the eve of the opener illuminates a ridge near the hunting area. Come morning, with each of us glassing from a different hill, a single shot rang out 15 minutes into shooting light. The herd had been bedded a few hundred yards from the other hunter, John from Scottsdale. The big buck rose to chase a smaller buck away, and in doing so, headed straight to John where a single shot with a 165gr SST from his custom 30.06 dropped the buck instantaneously. I arrived to congratulate him just as he was beginning the field chores with his friend JC. Since the sun had just crested the butte to the east, more pictures were taken of John and his nice 83” antelope. This is John’s first antelope and a great way to continue his big game hunting career. He is very pleased and feels blessed that the hunt unfolded as well as it did for him. After the shared feelings of success, the need to find another buck grew within me. However, I had no real number 2 choice that compared to the buck John took. So I looked for a heart-shaped buck nearby that John and JC had seen the day before. Unfortunately, I saw only a lone doe and a smaller buck, and some stickery wildflowers. I headed the truck westward down the highway to check a previously scouted spot where a buck with some mass was supposedly running. I located a herd in the distance as evening neared, and arrived on a point 350 yards overlooking the two bucks after driving several miles around and making a short hike. One was about 16” tall, with good mass, but his prongs were only extending out about an inch. I passed on this buck and drove to camp the night. The second day of the long anticipated antelope hunt in AZ unit 18A included a drive along a ridge which offered glassing to the basins below. However the basins and flats only held cattle and no speedgoats. After reaching the ridge’s end and glassing the flats below, the return drive had the afternoon sun at my back. I headed south along a different road to glass other draws and slopes. Stopping at the crest of a hill, the tripod mounted 15x Leicas revealed a few tan spots in a cedar-edged opening at the base of a ridge several miles away. After driving across the basin, I parked the truck below a shallow ridgeline and set up the tripod and binos again. Changing to the spotting scope revealed there was a buck with horns worthy of further scrutiny. So with about 30 minutes left before sunset, I loaded the Mystery Ranch pack on my back, put the 6.5 WSM Super Grade in the Kifaru Gun Bearer and headed up the edge of a wide drainage. My goal was to remain unseen as I hiked under the edge of the drainage until I got to a side cut which would hopefully bring me around to the edge of the opening where the antelope were located. Peering over from the end of the cut from behind a cedar tree revealed the antelope still close to a mile away to the east. Being that far away, I cut across the opening to the line of cedars along the north edge of the flat. Eventually after some more walking, I was able to use the Leica rangefinder to determine they were still about 900 yards away. Skirting through the trees and counting steps, I relocated the small group of antelope from the edge of the trees, used the last tree as cover and sat under the limbs just under 400 yards away. The binos on the tripod showed the buck to have good mass above the prongs, but somewhat weak in prong length. As this buck was probably the second best one seen during the weeks of scouting, the decision was made to shoot him. The laser was used again the find the distance to a tree next to him, the turrets were dialed, and the rifle rested upon the tripod once the bios were removed. The buck dropped before I heard the kwop of the bullet a quarter hour after sunset. Not knowing any source of danger, the five does ran directly towards me in a seemingly frantic manner and stopped less than a hundreds yards out. I reached the buck with very daylight left. Pictures with the flash turned out poor, but the westward view back towards the truck revealed a red horizon. After caping and field dressing the antelope by headlamp, all the while trying to keep the dirt off the hide and meat, the Mystery Ranch was loaded with meat, cape, head and gear. The hike back to the truck took slightly over an hour. With the pack weighing an estimated 70 pounds, my office job legs felt the work. Pictures were taken the next morning after sunrise. Soon thereafter, the Wildlife Manager drove up to check the tag and hunting license. She and I had a nice chat for 30 minutes. It has always been nice to see and greet the wardens out in the field. Doug ~RR

Maybe it's just the wide angle lens, but that left fourth looks awesomely LLLOOOONNNGGGG.