Red Rabbit

I recall Bill Poole recommending the smith out at the Usery range.

Nice pics, Scott. Glad you have the artistic eye rather than just a point-and-shoot perspective. Any word on when we'll pics from MT? RR

When I lived in South Texas, a friend's shorthair got bit in the head one time and the rear flank another. She would go off for a week after being bit, but return with a nasty, swollen, festering open wound. I have had my GWP snake broke (hopefully), and also shock collar reinforced during an archery shoot when a small rattler was located on the trail. RR

Any suit filed against the store which sold the mind-altering chemical depressant (alcohol) to the supposedly depressed, unstable, mentally incompetent criminal? Instant background checks to purchase alcohol? RR

The bases of the Blazer vanes are chemically treated and Bohning doesn't recommend cleaning them. Might try a different glue. Casey, Use some brown vanes and black nocks. Then Gabe can't use your arrow as an aiming point when you're in the 12 ring, or a reference point to find the 12 ring. You can switch to the bright nocks and vanes when archery deer season opens. You can always buy more arrows at the shoot if you lose or break too many. RR

Gabe, This is from the ABA site under triple crown http://www.arizonabowhunters.org/ May 5 - 6 Apache Bow Hunters 7096 S Russell Rd Globe, Arizona 85501 On-site registration begins Fri. May 4th at 12 noon until Sat May 5 at 11 am There will be both competitive and non-competitive courses. All competitors must shoot both Saturday & Sunday. There will be a morning flight and an afternoon flight on Saturday. Sunday everyone shoots in the morning. There will be no afternoon flight. Free parking and camping at McLachlan Range Food concession available for all 3 meals Also a Novelty Course

El Fuego, I agree with Scottyboy that your coues mount looks nice. Who did the taxidermy work? BTW, happy birthday today. If you can't blow your candles out, just hold your cake outside today. Doug~RR

If you still will apply in AZ after you move to NM, have you considered buying a lifetime license? That way you do not have to buy a NR license every year just to apply, and you will be considered as a resident in the draw, but still would pay NR fees for the permit.

The G&F Department is to recommend to the commission the changes that the youth hunt have 800 permits over two hunts in Nov (700 more than last year), add 400 to the early 12Awest for a total of 900, and add 150 to the early 12Aeast to a total of 300, and moving the season up two weeks to the middle of October. The Kaibab is under an Alternative Deer Management Plan where it is to be managed for a harvest of older age class animals and reduced hunter densities. The objective buck:doe ratio is to be a min of 20:100, and a 60+:100 fawn:doe ratio. Harvest of bucks is to be 55-75% 3+ year old bucks and 20-30% 5+ year old bucks. Concerns by some outfitter/guides is that the increased number of early tags will result in a harvest higher than the department predicts of 30-35%, and killing many of the younger more vulnerable age class bucks still near summer range (more in the open pines), which would severely impact the number of older bucks in a few years. They advise against the increase in tags and the earlier season. Last year the number of youth tags was reduced to 100 through the effots of the ADA. This year, in spite of an ongoing study and mention of keeping the Kaibab "status quo", the number of doe permits is being increased to 800 to occur in two hunts. The department says the westside herd has doubled in the past few years and the reduction in deer and breeding does is needed to protect upcoming habitat projects. A couple years ago, two winter rangeaerial surveys produced a population of 3800-6300 and, G&F reset their models, and now estimate 8000-9000 via the computer model. G&F estimated 4800 in 2002 and 6800 in 2004. No actual/real current population data is available. The fawn:doe ratio has been published as 76, 46, 65, 103, and 86:100 for the years 2001 to 2005 respectively. Buck:doe ratios have been 19, 18, 24, 30 and 23:100 for the years 2001 to 2005. Some ADA members recently surveyed the winter and transition range. They found it to be in better shape than G&F says, with water catchments full, good greenup occurring, and few deer now on the winter range. Some 14-16" leader growth was reported on cliffrose, and less than the 60-70% useage (6-7 out of 10 stems nipped) noted by G&F. G&F just completed a study this week, but no data is available yet. No data was given on how far the cliffrose stems were browsed back, though. As no detrimental impact to the winter range was observed, some recommend that the number of junior permits be reduced. They are in favor of youth hunts, but not at the expense of the Kaibab deer population. Since G&F and ADA are in the middle of a multi-year study, I'd recommend against changes until the results of the study can be evaluated and objective changes implemented as deemed necessary. While current observation shows less need for herd reduction than suggested, no one can predict the weather in the next years. If protective changes are indeed needed, special management hunts can be implemented by the department. As sportsmen and outdoorsmen, become involved and express your views to the department and commission via the website, surveys and at the various meetings (as in Saturday's commisioners meeting) in a polite, informed and persuasive manner. Doug~RR

Keith, Thanks for attending and speaking this morning. Did you go order Russo's book. I'm unqualified also. I would think that the best determination of the habitat might be made with a reasonably constant population, and not add another variable into the study of an increasing population. The moisture fluctuations can be big enough of a factor. Doug~RR

From this morning's portion of the commissioners' meeting, three major hunt items were addressed resulting in the following: 1) The number of youth Kaibab doe tags was set at 400 and one hunt was set from Nov 9-12. 2) The early rifle hunts in 12a and 12b will be moved to Oct 26- Nov 4. 12ae will have 175 permits, 12aw will have 650 permits and 12bw will have 175 permits for the early season. Late hunt permit numbers and dates remained unchanged from the recommendations. 3) The archery deer season is to begin one week earlier and end the Thursday before archery elk opens; Aug 24-Sept 13 for those units with archery elk seasons. 4) The remainder of the the deer recommendations were approved as recommended bt the department. I did not stay for the afternoon session. I surmised that the archery turkey and javelina seasons will be moved to agree with the new archery deer dates. The item of having the lion season closed for 3 months was also to be addressed. I sensed that the commission wants to let the Kaibab herd grow more slowly so as to not dramatically impact the habitat/winter range and to allow for completion of the west side study before any major permit number changes accur. The west side habitat study director was aked if any changes to the permit numbers would invalidate the study data and results, and she said that they would not. They currently estimate there will be about 4000 does, 1700 bucks and 3000 fawns for this fall's hunt on the Kaibab. Doug ~RR

Tony, Your cortex must have a lot of convolutions to hold all those hunting memories associated with each mount. Nice collection. Some remind me of some older mounts that a friend had Sievers do back in the 70's. Doug~RR

I was told by a G&F manager a few years ago that the USFS has regs against placing salt in the national forests (albiet not strictly enforced). I have not checked to see them in print. RR

The hunts are over and time to reflect and plan for next season. What have we learned and will do different next season? Any new techniques and tips that can help others to be more successful? What did you try that didn't work? I used to have a good recipe for pink slip broth, but with the internet rejections the last few years and no draws this last year, I have not come up with a tasty way to make electron stew. The only thing I have learned this year is to realize that a desk job can kill ya, and that one needs to make a commitment to work on conditioning everyday, especially with the aging process working against some of us. Doug~RR

Upon what are they basing the success rates or numbers? Do they actually have any numbers that indicate the number of deer arrowed over salt, versus at a water hole, on a trail, stalked, or called in? What about the use of salt on the Kaibab and by elk hunters and mule deer hunters? RR

Marshall Lake on the 8-9 sounds fine with me. No archery shoots that weekend. Good location for fishing, and close to Flag itself. I have a McKenzie mule deer I can bring. Doug~RR

The clamp is attached to the tripler's lens body with two small Allen head bolts. All that would be needed to align the adapter and bino would be a spacer of appropriate thickness between the clamp and the tripler body, and longer bolts.

A weekday evening would work better for me as there is nary an open weekend between spring turkey, fishing, and archery. Doug~RR

The Jim White Tripler comes in an unpadded camo cordura case with a flap fastened with velcro. There is no belt loop on the case. The flap has a plastic cap in which a lens cloth is stuffed. The cap fits into the clamp when the flap is closed, but is sized large enough that it rests against the end of the lens tube and will not fit down into the recess of the lens tube and rub against the lens. In the case, it weighs 7 oz on my digital fish scale. I tested the tripler using a pair of Leica Duovid 10+15x50 binoculars, and a Cabelas 20-60x60mm spotter which I purchased in the late 1980's and believe them to be Redfield Regal IVs with the Cabelas badge. The optics were tested on a homemade resolution chart of the letters aaeeoocc and 111 of various sizes. This was stapled to a cardboard box and set out down the street at a distance of 65 yards. The tripler attaches easily to one eyepiece of the binoculars by squeezing the two tabs together to enlarge the ring and fit over the eyepiece. Due to the clamp attaching to one side of the tripler tube and the larger size in the binocular eyepiece, the centerline axis of the tripler does not line up with the axis of the bino lens tube/center of the exit pupil. The tripler is slightly off center. This may result in an eclipsed view, but the tripler angle may be adjusted easily by squeezing the clamp so a full field of view is given. I noticed that the tripler is not in the same line as the bino lens tube when so adjusted (i.e. it is clamped on a a slight angle). Different binos may have different eyepiece diameters, so this effect may vary. I compared the Duovids set at 10x with the tripler attached (30x total) against the spotter set at 30x. With the bino/tripler, I could distinguish the e's distinctly in the 4th smallest set of letters. In particular, I keyed on being able to distinguish the horizontal line of the e. The 3rd smallest set of 1's could be distinguished as separate and can detect the top cap and bottom of the 1 clearly. With the spotter at 30x, I could see the 2nd smallest set of e's clearly. The 4th set of letters are 4.0mm tall and the 2nd set are 2.8mm tall, or 40% smaller. With the Douvid set at 15x and the tripler attached (45x total), I could discern the 2nd smallest set of e's and the 1's of the 2nd set. I could see separate 1's in the top, smallest set of letters, but could not tell the top and bottom of the 1 clearly. With the spotter set at a comparable 45X, I could see both the e's and 1's of the smallest set clearly. The 1st set of letters are 2.3mm tall, or 18% smaller than the 2nd set. Using just the Duovids set at 15x, no tripler, I could discern the e's of the 7th set of letters, and the 1's of the 6th set. The 1's in the 5th set appeared to run together. After sunset, I tested how long I could tell the e's on the bottom left, 9th set. Sunset was at 6:58 this evening and the sky was clear. With the Duovids set at 10x and tripler attached, I lost detail of the e's at 7:10pm. At 7:15, I could not distinguish the largest letter on the right side of the chart. The 9th set, bottom left was readable using the spotter set at 30x until 7:15. I noticed that the spotter appeared brighter during daylight than the tripler assembly. The view through the spotter was also noticably sharper. The tripler setup had about 20% less field of view than my spotter when set at comparable powers. Different binos and spotter mey give a different FOV. Also noticed was that the focusing of the bino with the tripler attached was more critical/touchy to the amount of focus dial rotation, than when just using the bino alone. I did not notice any tinting of colors different than the Duovids transmitted. Nor did I see any color fringing when looking at pine needle clusters against the sky. In looking through the spotter and tripler, I held a cupped hand over the off eye rather than squint. I also used a towell draped over my capped head and optics which helped cut ambient light from the side and really helps with seeing more acutely. Doug~RR

Here's a link to Accubond and Barnes MRX bullet performance on my Kodiak hunt last fall. The two Accubonds pictured on page one of the thread are from my 300WSM, and appear to have tumbled. The two Barnes MRX bullets were from another hunter's 300WSM. He shot at close range 20-40 yards. One bullet had no petals, and looks like they broke off early and the remaining bullet still travelled, as evidenced by the worn front. What amazed me is that they did not pass through. http://24hourcampfire.com/ubbthreads/ubbth.../page/0/fpart/1 Doug~RR

Yougbuck, the 180 gr E-tip in the ad in the nosler forum shows a BC of .523. The 180gr Accubond and Ballistic Tip are published at .507 The increase is probably due to the longer bullet length since there is no lead core. Casey, You'll have to trade in that 270WSM and get a 300 since the initial bullet offering is 180gr 30 cal. Winchester should load it for the 30-06 in factory fodder, so you can grin too. RR

Kevin, You can get the bonus point analysis from G&F for $25, which covers the number of applicants in each bonus point group for each individual hunt number, and their draw rates. From 2006 hunt apps, the max # BP of applicants for 36b,c was 7, for 33 was 7, 34A was 8, for the dec hunts. For Oct and Nov hunts, the max bp were less. Doug~RR

A) I was thinking about the late 12AW tag I will draw and was distracted by the increase in tags up there. the junior hunt was printed on a different page C) frankly in all the excitement, I overlooked the obvious D) CRS E) I knew you had me covered. Doug PS Chris-your inbox is full.

Jim, If the guidelines based on buck:doe ratio indicates that the number of permits should remain the same, and the fawn:doe ratio indicates a decrease in permits, and if hunter success was higher than goals, I ask why are the number of permits in unit 33 being increased by 50 or 5.9% ? Did the WM call for the increase? Did the dept override the WM and recommend the increase? If so, is this in the guise of increased hunter opportunity over the biological guidelines, or can the population handle the increase in permits over what the guidelines call for? Doug~RR

Jim, If I recall correctly, the figures given were something like 102 or 105:100 for last year, whereas the normal has been about 50:100 on the Kaibab, and closer to 20-30:100 south of the river. Unasked was why the doe permit numbers were reduced last year, in reponse to ADA recommendations, but upped again this year. (I can suspect the answer would be for hunter recruitment, retention and opportunity) Last year on the first hunt on the Kaibab west side, the hunter success was higher than wanted, like 50%. They hope that moving the season up, success will drop to 35-40% With the increase in tag numbers from 500 to 900, one would estimate another 65-90 deer killed over last year, but less than the 450 of 2005 (45% success of 1000 tags) ABA will most likely address the archery issue at the April 21 meeting, as the ADA will likely speak towards the Kaibab permit numbers and earlier Oct season dates. It was mentioned that the elk season was shifted forward in response to the hunter comments about wanting the archery and early rifle hunts to be closer to the rut. The conflict/overlap was noticed at that time, but nothing corrective was done. Doug~RR