Red Rabbit

Gino, You could do a 6.5 Allen Mag, based on the 338 RUM. Kirby Allen is the smith who did my 6.5 WSM (which is similar ballistically to the 264WinMag) Here's a link describing the Allen Mags: http://www.longrangehunting.com/forums/f19...n-magnum-29244/ Doug~RR

Last year, people with 10, 11 and 13 bp applied.

8 of the 10 permits will be up for grabs after the 20% max point set-aside. Yep, it's possible for you with 5 BP. Last year, people with 2 and 4 BP drew 4 of the 5 permits, out of 133 first and second choice applicants.

Here's some info about the 6.5-284 http://www.6mmbr.com/SixFive284.html My 6.5 WSM can spit out the 130 VLD with a BC of .595 @3280 fps If your 168 VLD's a with a BC of .512 are at 3250fps, the 130 from the 6.5WSM will have less drop, more retained velocity and less wind drift. From the 6.5-284, the 140 gr VLD, BC= 0.640, @ 2950fps will drop more at 800 yards, but have equal velocity and less wind drift compared to the 168 VLD @ 3250fps. I have been told that those VLDs have great terminal performance on coues.

April 9th is not "next week".

It's like watching a train wreck (ya can't help it) with all the rumors, speculation, chain yanking and tales of pestering G&F every 20 minutes.

y'all haff sum payshunsh till "next week"

You might look at the Idaho and Oregon regs for OTC/general opportunities.

If you are not actively hunting or fishing, you can get a recreation permit to camp, hike, bike, drive on State trust land. No target shooting allowed though. http://www.land.state.az.us/programs/natur...tion_permit.htm

As a Boy Scout, I was entrenched to "Be Prepared." Maybe that is why I never see the big ones and my pack weighs 80# Doug ~RR

Keith, I was just told by Brian Wakeling that the hunt order/rec should be available on the website about April 7, and that there will public open houses at the regional offices before the Commission meeting on April 19. Doug~RR

CT, IIRC, the main reason for the earlier AZ elk and antelope draw was to allow time for successful permittees to put in for vacation and scout some before the archery antelope hunts began in late Aug and the elk in Sept. RR

You might give Ron Sega in Chandler a call. He was sponsoring our coues buck contest. http://www.azgunsetc.net/home_.html

Hey Scott, Rica and I wish you the best. Enjoy that piece of cake tonight.

"It's a Jeep Thing...You Wouldn't Understand" That was the sticker on the back window of a CJ that decided to drive through a stock tank in 6B several years ago. Of course, they had to get a tow truck to winch em out of the mire. Most of the roads in the Coconino and Kaibab NF are closed. http://www.fs.fed.us/r3/coconino/condition...t-weather.shtml http://www.fs.fed.us/r3/kai/news/releases/...wet_weather.php http://www.fs.fed.us/r3/kai/wetroad/

Pretty face on that buck, with some nice dark antlers to accent it. It should be a great mount to look at.

Scott, Glad you're back. Virgil and Penny will undoubtedly need several scouting trips while the weather is not too hot in order to reaclimate to AZ and the smaller birds.

To send a message to each commissioner, go to azgfd.com on the left-side menu box, click on "inside azdfd" and then "commission" if you click on the name of the commissioner and click on "contact", a box will open to send a message. Doug~RR

With the commission voting unanimously to decline the deadline extension and to deny any issuance of bonus points and loyalty points, I feel they did what was right and just. Many of us emailed the commission before the hearing, now we should email them a note of thanks. I do not hold any ill feelings towards Cabelas for requesting the meeting in that they were trying to represent their TAGS customers. Some of us, in the past, have talked to G&F about mistakes we have made on apps or driving up 5 minutes late in order to get denied permits, BP or admitted into the draw. Cabelas was doing the same, but in a public meeting they requested. I hope they stand by their word and do not file any suit. I also hope Cabelas continues to support the sportsmen of AZ, and the sportsmen continue to support Cabelas. The difficult thing for Cabelas will now be between them and their TAGS applicants. Just as I could not see the G&F accountable/liable to Cabelas, I cannot see them liable to the TAGS applicants. Doug~RR

Keith, Can you elaborate on the discussion that took place? (assuming you were at the meeting) Doug~RR

http://www.wrh.noaa.gov/psr/DroughtPage.php?data= http://www.wrh.noaa.gov/mesowest/mwmap.php...fgz&map=fgz

So the $7.50 is pure profit? I thought the application fee was to pay for transporting the envelope to the center, opening the envelope, entering the draw data, computer time, printing refund checks, envelopes and mailing refunds or printing and mailing tags.

You might consider the small version of the Mathews Genesis, and put a Whisker Biscuit on it to keep the arrow on the rest better than the standard flipper rest that come with the bow. Our club used the Genesis for youth bows. The genesis has no set draw length and poundage can be set real low for a 6 YO. There are some inexpensive carbon arrows also. We have found that the aluminum bends too easily, and the glued on nocks break too easily when the arrow misses the target. The nocks on carbons can be replaced easily in the field or range.

As this past year's contest winds down and prizes are sent to the fortunate winners, it may be time to reflect on the contest. I see that the overall picture quality has improved. I see more people registered each year, and more prizes and better are being donated. Every youth that entered a coues in the contest has received an award each of the three years for the contest. I would like to see more of our kids entered. In my mind, the hunt should not rest a large part on the score even though most of us probably like and target big bucks, myself included. But it is the overall hunt experience that matters most after the close of the season. Personally, I hunted about the whole season in a quest for a large coues. I received contact from many of you and hunted together with a few. In the end, I wounded a nice buck and did not recover it. But I must say that this season has been one of my favorites, due to the overall hunting experience. In these regards, I am thinking of how we can improve the contest so it is the hunt that is measured and rewarded and not just the number of inches of calcium. Perhaps we can have new categories for the best hunt story, the best photo essay of the hunt, best camp photo, prettiest buck, more places for smallest buck and less for biggest, awards for first coues (not you Casey ) , best spot and stalk archery, best venison dinner plate. We can do polls to judge many of these categories. What are yall's thoughts and suggestions? Doug~RR

Mine's too messy for a pic. I also thought there was a recent thread on this. Plans: http://www.somerssportsmen.com/bench.pdf Pics of other benches for ideas http://24hourcampfire.com/ubbthreads/ubbth.../page/0/fpart/1 online data i refer to: http://www.loaddata.com/articles/PDF/Handl...That%20Work.pdf http://data.hodgdon.com/main_menu.asp http://www.ramshot.com/powders/ I like the Nosler manual Nosler reloading manual (#6 is the new one)