Red Rabbit

Ditto what Mike said. I have not had an archery tag in 9 since '95, but even then there were conflicts at the water holes that were not on the map. Sure was more fun to chase the bugles than sit for hours up a tree. Probably best not to put a camera on a water hole as it will be visited many times before the season. Try a trail, secure it, camo it, and get a no-flash model. But it is aggrivating when people steal things, locked or not. Not a good statement about the character of our fellow "sportsmen" RR

Looks good Scott. Send the scope into Leupold and have some M1 turrets added. The giraffe camo looks cool. What brand of stock did they use? Total weight?But sorry to see that the woodpeckers got to the end of your barrel already. Are you going to handload for it, or shoot factory fodder? Doug

Seven of my coues have been with 130 & 150 gr BTs from 270Win, 7 rem express, 7RM. All exited. All were behind the shoulder shots. There was usually some bloodshot meat on the offside shoulder. They are a good coues bullet IMO. If you are worried about overexpansion, you might try the Barnes TSX as they are good groupers and offer controlled expansion. The Nosler Partition would be good also. Try the pointblank ballistics program and you can specify a 300 yard zero. Beware of shooting about 4" high at 200 yards though. It's downloadable on the right side of the huntingnut page. http://www.huntingnut.com/ Hope you get the rifle shooting decent groups. RR

On winchester.com and federalammo.com, you can compare the diff ballistics. Nosler Ballistic tips are generally pretty accurate, as are the Accubonds. Between the 150, 165, 168, 180 grainers there is only 2" diff in trajectory at 500 yards with a 200 yd zero. Might try the 180 as it will have a thicker jacket and tend to expand less. Any bullet 150 and above will work on coues. Just choose the one that groups the best. From reading your first post, seems like you are having problems getting good groups. What size groups are you getting with 3 or 5 shots? Are you shooting off a bench? Doug~RR

I have heard that some CCs have been charged. I only put in for deer, so will have to wait till the results are posted in ONLY 2 MORE DAYS RR

Reminder: Phoenix and Mesa meetings are tonight, 6-8 PM Mesa, June 18, Arizona Game and Fish Department Mesa regional office, 7200 E. University Drive. Phoenix, June 18, Wildlife Building at the Arizona State Fairgrounds, 1826 W. McDowell Road.

The pic of boat and bass are still showing for me.

I think Terry has em priced too high. Drop em another 25 bucks and they will sell quicker

BC really tells you how aerodynamic the bullet is, not how accurate. Bullet manufacturers will usually list the BC for their bullets on the web or in their reloading manual. Notice that Sierra lists the BC for different velocity ranges, as it changes with speed. Some BCs are calculated from bullet shape, and some are generated by actual shooting. Often, the actual BC by shooting will be lower than the mathematical ones. A bullet with a higher BC is not necessarily more accurate. A bullet with a higher BC will drop less and drift less in the wind, but it may or may not group better than a bullet with a lower BC. http://www.shootingsoftware.com/coefficients.htm Hope I didn't muddy the water for ya. RR

Jason, Your dealer should have a blue book of gun values. Or look on gunbroker.com and see what they are going for. RR

Check the screws of the rings and base. You may need to take the scope off to get a wrench on the base screws, then replace the scope and tighten the ring screws. Don't forget to check the windage screws on the rear base if you have that type. Check the action screws for tightness. Check for contact between the barrel and forearm. If this does not help, you might try a different scope in case yours went belly up. What is your shooting rest/bench set-up?

Jason, What cartridge are you reloading? Powder choice? I would use a magnum rifle primer with a large charge like in a WSM, Weatherby or Win mag, or with a ball type powder. Try a standard rifle primer with stick powders in a cartridge like a 30-6, 270 or smaller. As you read in Hawks article, changing to a WMR primer may raise pressures a lot, so drop the charge and work back up. I have used the Federal Gold Medal Match and CCI primers the most with no problems. You may notice some brands will seat easier/looser, and/or flatten more when fired. RR

Curious if anyone was able to sample the fishing at Marshall Lake, and what their methods & results were. RR

Bass, Yes, there is a "struggling" photo, but the exposure was not good- too much backlighting and you are dark. RR

It was an UGLY DOG camp with Rica and Gus, Younghunter's compa shown here. Bass suffered with a little separation anxiety when the jag came off the rod while still in the bore. A little Goat Tuff cement works wonders. Waiting to dry: Sigh of relief: (R to L) Lance, Younghunter's mon, and Lance's wife Lance's two daughters sneak a peak out of the trailer door Bowsniper and his two boys One of Bowsniper's boys putting a cap up a ponderosa to be knocked down by throwing sticks. Lance and Traveler flame-kissing some burgers and veggie-kabobs

Dave, For that question, 64/67% said yes (Phone/web responses) and 32/33 said no. (this was actually question #98) This may be the most important question/response G&F is using to validate their new direction away from quality towards quantity. Speaking of quality and countering this direction, on the question #105 about how important is harvesting a trophy animal, the mean was 7.2 on a scale of 10 for th ephone respondents, with 37% rating it a 10 (extremely important). Contrast this to the results of question #104 about harvesting ANY animal (results are 6.45 ave and only 22.5% rating it a 10). RR

What is the draw length and poundage? (edited) OK, I see it in the topic header. DUH

Looking at the guidelines, I see two October hunts, a late November hunt and a December hunt, plus the junior hunt in Nov. Quite unclear as to G&F making 4 general hunts and a junior hunt. RR From the guidelines pertaining to deer: The Department's Deer Management Goal is to maintain deer populations at levels that provide maximum and diverse recreational opportunities, while avoiding adverse impacts to the species and its habitat. Guidelines for both species are grouped into "Standard" or "Alternative" hunt management. Season prescriptions: 1. Hunts will be for "antlered mule deer," "antlered whitetail deer," or "any antlered deer." "Antlerless deer" or "any deer" permits may be recommended for units where the deer population requires reduction or stabilization, or when conflicts with other land management uses exist. 2. Separate hunts for mule deer and white-tailed deer will occur in units having substantial populations of both species of deer. 3. General deer hunts will occur on standard opening dates. When stratified, a series of 7-day hunts may occur throughout October and November with all hunts opening on a specific Friday and closing the following Thursday. A December white-tailed deer hunt will open the Friday of week 50 and continue to the end of the year. The following seasons will be available: Juniors-only (northern Arizona) on Friday of week 41 (October 10, 2008 and October 9, 2009) White-tailed on Friday of week 43 (October 24, 2008 and October 23, 2009) White-tailed or Mule Deer on Friday of week 44 (October 31, 2008 and October 30, 2009) Mule Deer on Friday of week 45 (November 7, 2008 and November 6, 2009) Mule Deer on Friday of week 46 (November 14, 2008 and November 13, 2009) Juniors-only on Friday of week 47 (November 21, 2008 and November 20, 2009) White-tailed on Friday of week 48 (November 28, 2008 and November 27, 2009) White-tailed on Friday of week 50 (December 12, 2008 and December 11, 2009) If only a single early deer season is selected in October or November, the season will run for 10 days. Antlerless elk seasons will not overlap with a deer season in units with hunts for both species. Season dates will be selected to avoid such overlaps. If the unit is managed under Alternative Hunt Management, 10-day seasons may also be used. 4. Archery deer seasons may begin on Friday of week 34 (August 22, 2008 and August 21, 2009) and run for 22 days. Archery deer seasons may also begin on Friday of week 50 (December 12, 2008 and December 11, 2009) and run through end of December or January 31 of the following year. An archery deer season may begin on January 1 and run through January 31. 5 "Alternative Hunt Management" will provide opportunities to harvest older age class animals, for lower hunter densities, and for higher hunt success. Alternative hunt management for mule deer will occur in Units 12A, 12B, 13A, 13B, 45A, 45B, and 45C; hunts will be managed in accordance with the parameters below. Alternative hunt management for white-tailed deer will occur in Units 6A, 23, 30B, 31, and 36C; hunts will be managed in accordance with the parameters below. A limited amount of December white-tailed deer harvest opportunity will be offered in most white-tailed deer units, but up to 30% of the harvest will be allocated with December permits in those units managed under Alternative Hunt Management. A total of up to 5% of all white-tailed deer permits statewide will be offered in December. 6. There will be at least one general juniors-only deer hunt offered in each Region structured to provide a season encompassing a school holiday. At least three percent of all general deer permits will be allocated to juniors-only hunts.

I received this in an e-mail from Rich L: Hello Everyone, Here we go again! The Buckskin Chapter has scheduled another work party....this time on the northern portion of the Buckskins in Unit 12B. We will be putting heavy duty liner's in two (possibly three...if time and materials allow) of the earth tanks/catchments located in Arizona. Jim Smith will meet up with me at Leightner Camp with materials on Tuesday the 12th for project(s) review. We will be joined by Shane Stoller (and front-end loader) of Coyote Ranch on the morning of the 13th and will start preparing the first tank (nick-named Boxed Canyon) just on the Arizona side of the border....we hope to finish it that day and move over to Middle Reservoir/Munchie/Ken's on the road by Green Tank for prep on Thursday. We will be ready to start laying the liner's on Friday and will continue through Saturday. THE MORE PEOPLE THAT SHOW TO HELP....THE SOONER WILL WE BE ABLE TO FINISH. We're not for sure....but it looks like Jay will be able to come up and cook a dutch oven dinner for us on Saturday evening. So come on up and bring a friend....you don't have to be a chapter member to help out or to eat the good cookin Saturday evening! Be sure to bring your personal protection gear and camping set-ups if you want to stay....there's plenty of room. Also any shovels, rakes, digging bar's, atv's with ball-field drags, etc. will be greatly appreciated. For those of you who don't know, Leightner Camp is about 11 miles south of Hwy 89 at mm 40.5 in Utah or about 9 miles south of mm 45. Anyone needing better directions can email a request back to me and I'll set you up with a map. All the major turn-offs will be marked to camp and to the work area with 2 ft by 4 ft sandwich board signs once you turn on to the frontage road south of Hwy 89 (turn right at the first four-way south of the hwy at mile marker 40....and left at the first junction south of the hwy at the mile marker 45 turn-off). Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions....928-645-9669. Hope to see a bunch of you there. By the way, this is a great opportunity to learn a little bit more about the northern end of the Buckskins in Unit 12B. And a chance to enter the special projects "work party" certificate give-away raffle that we kicked-off at the banqueet this spring. Rich L.

What was said in Tucson regarding the Coues hunts? I figured the Tucson meeting would be more focused on the coues situation. No crucifixion of you from me. I would think most of the hunting public has no idea about the proposed guidellines. Most do not peruse the forums or checked no about receiving emails from G&F. I even know of some ardent hunters that were clueless to the USO situation a few years ago. Doug~RR

NM charged me the $6 back when I applied. They must have known I was going to be drawn, so I am waiting for the postings on the 20th to see what deer hunt I need to pay for . . . . THe nice thing about the AZ date being pushed back is that we can apply in AZ according to what we drew, or didn't, in NM. Hope you get your CC charged. RR

I recall a lot of cowboys tried to push a few deer across that creek years ago, but it didn't work. Perhaps Lance can do it with the elk since they are more gregarious. RR

Is anyone from Tucson coming up that would be willing to take a package back down to Tucson? Doug~RR

Here is Saturday's forecast for Flag if anyone needs enticing: Sunny, High76°F Precip:10% Wind: SW 13 mph Max. Humidity: 19% UV Index: 10+ Extreme Sunrise: 5:12 AM MT Avg. High: 77°F Record High: 88°F (1902) SAT NIGHT: Clear Overnight Low: 40°F Precip 10% Wind: W 4 mph Max. Humidity: 24% Sunset: 7:40 PM MT Avg. Low: 39°F Record Low: 24°F (1950)

Geoff, I guess they could say that any unit has potential, but I would have thought they may have chosen units with a better reputation. 30B??? Wonder if they considered access issues. 6a?- wonder if this is due to the low success in the early seasons. I assume you have hunted 6a like I have once. They probably will not get many first choice applicants for those Nov archery elk hunts. I can see this as shifting more tags to rifle seasons due to the pie allocation formula. Archers lose twice on this. Doug