Red Rabbit

Are those bulls down by the Hassayampa R again? Weren't some in the desert near the Gila a year or two ago also?

What's her budget? Does she need paved streets? Plowing during winter? Is she OK with having water hauled to her? South of Williams? Some nice places north of Parks towards Spring Valley. Fox Ranch south of Munds Park (expensive lots for trophy cabins). Baderville-near the Snow Bowl turnoff. I would not go east of Flag due to the high winds.

Still For Sale.

Looks like a handy "Desert Ghost Buster"

"Goat Sucker"? Did you get involved with some kind of Satanic cult? Might have to have the stock custom painted in a scaly greenish-gray skin motif, along with a chupacabra painted on the stock-butt. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chupacabra

Mike, I do not know if you should trust Jim to give you the right lat/long . Last weekend he said he was going to babysit some babies with big fuzzy antlers and he posts pictures of a scaly bass . What's up with that?

Nice. Don't you have any raghorns on your side of town? People are going to start thinking that 11M has trophy bulls Doug~RR

Jim, Let us know how the Swaro service turns out. I was told that Swaro brought in a bean counter from Europe about a year ago, and the warranty work is a little more stringent than it was. Doug~RR

Yes, 29

Not the Ritas. Definitely east side, but of where?

I wouldn't think of taking my dog hunting. They'll bark and scare the deer. Dogs will be ready to knock your tripod and expensive Swaros over They will only require you to purchase them a nice O/U to take quail hunting cuz they will only hunt with the finest equipment They will stand on rocks skylining themselves to cause game to hide and seek cover They run away down into steep canyons where you do not want to follow They are vampires and will suck the blood right out of your elk, rendering the wapiti useless as table fare They will eat the only Gambels you shoot after a full day of taking them hunting. Such gratitude. Yep. Leave em at home. The only good dog is a dead dog .

Thinking we may be in need of some more spring rains to bring some flowers, Gambels, fawns and antlers. Have any pics of storm clouds or rainstorms to put Mother Nature in the mood?

David, The muzzle brake will need to be permanently attached (eg welded) to increase the length, not just threaded on the 7-08 barrel, to get the 16" rifle min.

David, Thanks for the link to the bird forum. Seems one can get some educated and more scientific reviews there on optics as birders tend to be picky. Others are http://betterviewdesired.com/ (although recent reviews seem to be scant) http://www.optics4birding.com/reviews.aspx#binocs1 http://www.livingbird.org/NetCommunity/Page.aspx?pid=272 Doug~RR

From the AP: By MARK SHERMAN, Associated Press Writer WASHINGTON - The Supreme Court ruled Thursday that Americans have a right to own guns for self-defense in their homes, the justices' first major pronouncement on gun rights in U.S. history. The court's 5-4 ruling struck down the District of Columbia's 32-year-old ban on handguns as incompatible with gun rights under the Second Amendment. The decision went further than even the Bush administration wanted, but probably leaves most firearms restrictions intact. The court had not conclusively interpreted the Second Amendment since its ratification in 1791. The amendment reads: "A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed." The basic issue for the justices was whether the amendment protects an individual's right to own guns no matter what, or whether that right is somehow tied to service in a state militia. Writing for the majority, Justice Antonin Scalia said that an individual right to bear arms is supported by "the historical narrative" both before and after the Second Amendment was adopted. The Constitution does not permit "the absolute prohibition of handguns held and used for self-defense in the home," Scalia said. The court also struck down Washington's requirement that firearms be equipped with trigger locks or kept disassembled, but left intact the licensing of guns. Scalia noted that the handgun is Americans' preferred weapon of self-defense in part because "it can be pointed at a burglar with one hand while the other hand dials the police." In a dissent he summarized from the bench, Justice John Paul Stevens wrote that the majority "would have us believe that over 200 years ago, the Framers made a choice to limit the tools available to elected officials wishing to regulate civilian uses of weapons." He said such evidence "is nowhere to be found." Justice Stephen Breyer wrote a separate dissent in which he said, "In my view, there simply is no untouchable constitutional right guaranteed by the Second Amendment to keep loaded handguns in the house in crime-ridden urban areas." Joining Scalia were Chief Justice John Roberts and Justices Samuel Alito, Anthony Kennedy and Clarence Thomas. The other dissenters were Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg and David Souter. Gun rights supporters hailed the decision. "I consider this the opening salvo in a step-by-step process of providing relief for law-abiding Americans everywhere that have been deprived of this freedom," said Wayne LaPierre, executive vice president of the National Rifle Association. The NRA will file lawsuits in San Francisco, Chicago and several of its suburbs challenging handgun restrictions there based on Thursday's outcome. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., a leading gun control advocate in Congress, criticized the ruling. "I believe the people of this great country will be less safe because of it," she said. The capital's gun law was among the nation's strictest. Dick Anthony Heller, 66, an armed security guard, sued the District after it rejected his application to keep a handgun at his home for protection in the same Capitol Hill neighborhood as the court. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia ruled in Heller's favor and struck down Washington's handgun ban, saying the Constitution guarantees Americans the right to own guns and that a total prohibition on handguns is not compatible with that right. The issue caused a split within the Bush administration. Vice President Dick Cheney supported the appeals court ruling, but others in the administration feared it could lead to the undoing of other gun regulations, including a federal law restricting sales of machine guns. Other laws keep felons from buying guns and provide for an instant background check. White House reaction was restrained. "We're pleased that the Supreme Court affirmed that the Second Amendment protects the right of Americans to keep and bear arms," White House spokesman Tony Fratto said. Scalia said nothing in Thursday's ruling should "cast doubt on long-standing prohibitions on the possession of firearms by felons or the mentally ill, or laws forbidding the carrying of firearms in sensitive places such as schools and government buildings." In a concluding paragraph to the his 64-page opinion, Scalia said the justices in the majority "are aware of the problem of handgun violence in this country" and believe the Constitution "leaves the District of Columbia a variety of tools for combating that problem, including some measures regulating handguns." The law adopted by Washington's city council in 1976 bars residents from owning handguns unless they had one before the law took effect. Shotguns and rifles may be kept in homes, if they are registered, kept unloaded and either disassembled or equipped with trigger locks. Opponents of the law have said it prevents residents from defending themselves. The Washington government says no one would be prosecuted for a gun law violation in cases of self-defense. The last Supreme Court ruling on the topic came in 1939 in U.S. v. Miller, which involved a sawed-off shotgun. Constitutional scholars disagree over what that case means but agree it did not squarely answer the question of individual versus collective rights. Forty-four state constitutions contain some form of gun rights, which are not affected by the court's consideration of Washington's restrictions. The case is District of Columbia v. Heller, 07-290.

A youth hunter, who was entered in the coues contest a few years ago, took his coues with a classy Ruger #1 RSI.

Supreme Court Ruling SCOTUS Blog

There should be lots of camping off FR117 north towards Greens Peak and Carnero Lake. It's a great shoot. Enjoy.

Where Are You Going to be Opening Morning? Sitting looking west on the first sunlit eastern slopes following the sun-line downward? Glassing the southern slopes for feeding bucks? Looking at a saddle waiting for the deer to move through? Peering into the bedding areas on the north slopes? On a knob looking onto the flats below? Looking down on a water hole? Still in the sleeping bag? What makes you choose your position for opening morning?

Now these might be pics worthy of a prize.

In a recent issue of Western Hunter, Chris Denham had a review of the Kowa High Lander Prominar binoculars. If one is a polygamist, one might have to sell all of the wives, but could be darn well worth it. At $4500, I don't see one in my future. (but I will let Rica guide your quail hunt for $5Gs per weekend ) Kowa High Lander BB, you should really enjoy those new Swaros! Hope you draw a tag and get to go on many others' hunts with the new optics. RR

Eighteen Boyz stayed aroud the meadow for this evening's audition, so here are some reasonable closeups of them to show the miscreants. They are cauliflower heads, devil tined, missing bezes, extra daggered nontypical mutants. Those of you with 11M and 6A&B tags, sharpen your broadheads and beware. I'll try to get some night pics to see if their eyes have alien glows. Doug~RR

Clay, Weather Radar is showing red and orange over 36A and some favorite mearns country, also. The 20% chance for Flagstaff never materialized today.

Pic #2 Let's try another coues location in AZ.

From an archery peccary hunt in Unit 21 (before the Cave Creek fire). It's time to start dancing again. RR