Red Rabbit

Seems to be a lot of nice bulls this year with extras between the bez and tres points. Those of you who have glassed a lot of bulls this season, has this been more common?

Well done to David and his wife! Seems that the bull finished better than he started on antler growth.

Aside from some band-aids, I have not noticed a first aid kit listed by anyone else, and only Tony has a map and compass and GPS. Hiking sticks are great, especially for sidehilling and going downhill with the deer on your pack. Who uses em? Beer? that would be for the road hunters as the ice chest would be to heavy to carry, 'cept you were Casey.

Does that rattler taste like chicken?

I usually am hunting alone, so will be prepared to spend the night out or ready for some minor injury. I have had the barrel plugged with mud when the rifle slipped of the shoulder, hence the aluminum rod. The raingear is weather dependent. Have had a sharp seed in the eye, hence the mirror. the 2.5 readers are since I cannot see close well; wish i had that 20/15 vision of my youth again. Trash compactor bag is great for putting deer quarters in and keep your gear blood free. Usually do not have the small sharpening stone except on an elk hunt. The electrical tape is good for keeping raim, snow, twigs, etc out of the barrel. Wish I had it taped when it went muzzle first in to the mud on an elk hunt as I lost half a day going back to camp to get to the cleaning kit and recheck the zero. Latex gloves for skinning; good friend got a nasty infection from skinning/gutting a bear once with a small cut on his hand. Must be the Boy Scout in me still: Be Prepared. I do not want to be the hunter you read about who left camp with just a Snickers bar and a knife, and got lost. Doug~RR

Welcome. Enjoy the hike out after dark by the light of the full moon. I once noticed deer to be more active as the sun was setting and the full moon was rising. By the end of the hunt, you may have some moonlight to hike into your spot before sunrise. Keep hydrated, glass from the shade, glass into shady bedding areas during the day, and watch any deer trails to water holes during the midday. Wear one of those "cool ties" around your neck. Doug~RR

Darren, Way to stick with the bull. How far did the bull travel during the day?

Neat antlers. Whats the story on the shot? Looks like the deadly femoral artery.

I would also consider the fabric relative to the climate conditions. Breathable? Wind resistant? Stretches? Dries quickly? Fabric weight for time of year? Quietness? Burr resistant? Not collect odors? Camo may not be necessary for a rifle hunt. An article with a solid color tone to match the terrain and in a good fabric can serve double duty in the field and on the street. That said, I like Cabelas MicroTex in Outfitter camo. It may be too warm for the October hunt though.

Congrats again Shane. The work you, Chad and Jay did this summer sure paid massive dividends.

I sure hope Jim has photos of Ocho's timely demise and that he caught the perps on film .

I talked with Shane after the hunt and he emailed me some pics. He explicitly asked for them not to be posted on the www. Jay showed me the rack as he came through town. Pretty nice. Doug~RR

It seems there is constant pressure throughout the length of the barrel, should I sand the stock the whole length? I would. Use sand paper wrapped around a wooden dowel about the diameter of the barrel. Only relieve the pressure along the barrel channel, not around the action.

Bill, The Barnes TSX are probably the best known non-lead bullet. They are 100% copper. They retain 100% of their weight, giving great penetration. They offer a 53 grain TSX in 22 caliber that would be good on peccaries. http://www.barnesbullets.com/ Barnes also has a more expensive MRX bullet with a polymer tip and tungsten core. http://barnesbullets.com/products/rifle/mrx-bullet/ Nosler is introducing its E-tip bullet which has a polymer tip and is made of copper gilding metal. They just released the first ones in 180 grain 30 caliber. http://nosler.com/index.php?p=3&bullet=20 Here are links to expansion/penetration tests of various bullets. http://www.gunsandhunting.com/bulletshootout.html http://www.seahook.com/bestbullet.jpg Hope this helps. Doug~RR

Devin, Sand out that fore-end pressure point and try again. Clean the barrel well, fire a few foulers and then don't clean for the next 30+ rounds.

Thought maybe I missed a lighter head, but the 390RC2 is listed at 1.6 lbs and the 700RC2 at 1.1 lbs. Both should work well. Sure do like the smoothness of the fluid heads. My Velbon PH 157Q was getting loose in the handle threads and not as smooth anymore.

I like the squiggly snake dropper

A quadra-beamer. cool. reminds me of one of those 4 horned sheep in TX.

Bob, THe legs on the LUXiF are stiffer than those on the Slik Sprint Pro I had. The legs have 3 positions where they may be angled outward more to give a more stable, wider base. By stability, do you mean less prone to tipping over? less vibration in the wind? With a light tripod you can combat these problems by angling the legs out, using a rock bag between the legs, or use a heavy tripod with stiff legs, or extending the center post as little as possible. My first cheap tripods had plastic heads and the head flexed enough you could see the vibration. cpugsie likes a light carbon fiber tripod, slik pro 713 or 613 The 700RC2 was the lightest fluid head that I noticed from Manfrotto.

The extended rings would be better than the longer base regarding access. Good point. Determine the needed position of the scope for proper eye relief, and see if you need the extended front or rear rings.

What fluid head do you have? I just got the Manfrotto 700RC2 which weighs 1.1 lbs. Put it on a Velbon LUXi-F tripod, both from Doug at CameraLand. Whole setup weighs 3lb 2oz. Jim White in Williams set me up with the threaded bushing between the tripod and head. I have not used a pistol grip and panning attachment.

Burris makes a two piece base with a reversible front that fits the Savage 110 both flat or round rear receivers. Try Midwayusa.com http://www.midwayusa.com/ebrowse.exe/brows...4356***14360***

Here are a couple of 2007 archery entries: Coueskiller's archery coues http://forums.coueswhitetail.com/forums/in...c=6725&st=0 Treestandman's archery coues http://forums.coueswhitetail.com/forums/in...ic=6877&hl= If you have not registered for the contest, you have until Oct. 15. If you killed an archery coues this fall, get your registration and pics to me if you wish to enter the contest. Doug~RR

Chris, Sounds like a completely different hunt than last year. Fewer critters, both two and four legged. Way to finally git er dunn. Guessing 335. Doug~RR

Christian, Nice bull to reward your scouting ferver and hunting desire. Thanks to Manny for being able to share and help the entire hunt with you. Regarding the hit bull, did the video show the arrow to be high and forward that you may have been thwarted by the shoulder blade? And did you meet up with the hunter who aimed for tne NT antlers? Congrats. Doug