Red Rabbit

From Coues n Sheep: I like the photo essay, idea...... There are some people on here that put together amazing photo-recaps of thier hunts it would be tons of fun!

From Elkhunter: I'm down for the best story part, it would make people write up better stories and include more pictures, maybe ya oughta set up a poll and the top 3 categorys or so shall be on the next year's contest? Maybe next year the contest will be big enough like those major hunting magazines and give away some swaros, lieca and zeiss???

Them charging peccaries can be a thrill and a nightmare. Did you get to capture the face of litlte Bill at the moment? Glad she turned into marinated pork loin. Doug~RR

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

The Rem 7 mag action is a good basis for making a 257 WBY. Actions alone are going for $350. This is great deal for a person wanting to build 257 WBY for coues with no mods to the bolt face, rails or follower needed.. (The 7RM aint a bad cartridge either) Doug~RR

Mike/treestandman just put a tripler up for sale in the classifieds.

Trophy Ridge Drop Zone

A friend helped on a recent NM Oryx hunt and told me about the non-taste. He said it was not gamey at all, but also had no flavor. I have not had any oryx meat. What kind of taste/flavour do you associate with it? How is its texture? Doug

Dillon is out by the Scottsdale Air Park. I do not have any of their stuff.

Here are some plans from NRMA for a reloading bench. http://www.somerssportsmen.com/bench.pdf ( I realize this is an old thread, but someone may like to build a new bench.)

So how about some pics of the rick-shaw (or is that Larry-shaw) in action I have been told that oryx has NO taste. How's yours? RR

Stan, Talk to Herb at Ruffs in Flag. I believe he is associated with a GSP rescue. Doug

cbf, Enjoyed a sunny bask on Saturday thawing out from being in Flag. Roads were a slimy mess, so did not venture off the main road so as not to do any road damage on the two tracks. Saw 15 muleys feeding on the fresh greens of an overgrazed slope while I let the 15's do the walking. Didn't see a javie, but that's OK, as I enjoyed the relaxing weekend. RR

Amanda, you're welcome.

Jason, The way I would interpret it is that 60% of the tags go to LO to be sold and not in the draw. If 99% of these go to NR, it would be due to demand by NR over R, and the NR's willingness to pay more for that tag, and outfitters selling the LO tags. The 22% of the remaining 40% go to NR in the draw (or 9% of the total number of permits). 78% of the remaining 40% go to Residents in the draw (or 31% of the total) Doug~RR From your website: Residents from NM need to take the survey and voice there opinions, the number of tags that go to NR is just crazy(81%). The numbers that I am using were given to me during the recent meeting. 60% of all tags given are for private land owners and the Department of Game and Fish estimates that 99% of those tags go to NR. At first look I figured, 60% isn't that bad, the private landowners probably do have more antelope on there properties because they have the water and they are being rewarded for keeping the herds healthy. The problem is that NR also get there 22% from the public pool. So lets do a little number crunching. Lets say there are 100 tags for an area for both private and public hunters. Right off the top NR get there 22%, so that is 22 tags. Now lets factor in the 60% of tags that go to the private land owners. That is 60 tags and 99% of those go to NR. So from the private pool the NR are getting 59 tags. Doing the math; 22(public draw) + 59(private land) = 81. That means NR are getting 81% of ALL Antelope tags. That is a real sack of beans. Maybe I should have done the math earlier.

My folks live near Tatum and Dixieleta. They see yotes, javelina, and the occaisional bobcat also. They have seen a rattler take some baby rabbits from a hutch in hte backyard. When there, Rica usually gets to hunt the numerous Gambels in the neighborhood and in the wash behind the house.

Sounds like a good plan. Hope someone is able to join you. I have a peccary tag in 21 this weekend. Doug~RR

Legislative page: http://www.azleg.gov/DocumentsForBill.asp?Bill_Number=HB2573 The bill itself: http://www.azleg.gov/FormatDocument.asp?in...lls/hb2573p.htm

On another hunting site, this review of spotting scopes by a birding group was given. There is a downloadable pdf file of a chart with the ratings. I don't think the new Zeiss scopes were included. Article: http://www.livingbird.org/NetCommunity/Pag...p;srcid=265#top Chart: http://www.livingbird.org/netcommunity/bbi...peChart2008.pdf

With the sunlight to be reflected from the moon being blocked out, it got cold in N AZ last night. The cow jumping over the moon must have kicked over the milk pail as frozen white stuff covered the scape overnight. I was looking forward to seeing the eclipse too.

I posted a birders review of spotters in this optics section. Looks like the Kowas and the Swaro 80 would be the way to go. Doug~RR

It's snowing here at the moment, and radar shows a long band of precip heading our way. Take some good pics is your sky is clear.

Which model 700?

The Arizona quail season closed yesterday, much to the dismay of many bird hunters and their dogs. My last fling was made with friends Art from Alaska and Jim from Williams, AZ. Camp was set in the tall grasslands south of Sonoita, from which the quail journeys were struck on foot from camp or after a short drive to a different set of draws. The bottom of a typical draw. Conditions were dry, which inhibited a Rica's nose from scenting the birds. The first day, we found a couple small coveys in a draw near camp. We did find a cluster of about a dozen long-eared owls roosted on an Oak tree. And Art did shoot his first Mearns. Some days the coveys consisted of only two or three birds. One day, we found only one covey and missed all shots as the birds flushed up a hundred feet and over the ridge. One option was to climb up and hope to uncover a single. Since we were hunting for five days and Rica was the only dog for four, our hunts were limited to about four hours per day, so not to wear her out. Nonetheless, after three days she was tuckered and we hunted behind Abby, one of Jim's GSPs, as he came down with his wife and a few dogs for the weekend. Jim and Art survey from the top of the ridge which a covey flew up and possibly over. The shorter hours of hunting allowed for photo time in the restful evenings and no requirement to wake before dawn. After a good day of rest, Rica was spry again and ready for the last morning of the season. In a draw we had not hunted before, she located three coveys of 10-15 birds each, to make it our best day of hunting. A lucky double. The sun has set upon another Arizona quail season. Doug~RR

Seems one would need to back off the atv to set up the tent trailer if one decides to "camp" on the side of the road while enroute. A small travel trailer would provide more insulation in cold weather. One could extend the tongue and put a platform in front of the trailer for the atv if necessary.