Red Rabbit

Christian, by looking at the top chum, appears you went to the Amazon, not AK, for some of those peacock bassalmon. Nice catches. Did you volunteer for another tour of duty next summer? RR

Amanda, the camera is a Panasonic FZ-20. It's 12x optical zoom (38-432 equivalent w/ 35mm), Zeiss lense, 5 megapixel and image stabilizer. I forget the tripod, so used the t-posts from the fenceline for a support for most of the shots. It's nice to be blessed with great scenery to capture. I came back down to the cliffs Sat evening, for a repeat, but it twurnt to be. Scott, that mesa with the powerlines could be a good spot to meet some weekend during mearns season. I'll hafta get sick some weekend with forecasted good weather. RR

Both of those coues should give some motivation to stay on the stand. At what time of day were those coues posing for the camera? RR

I just came back from a quick, one day trip to see the Warm Fire burn area on the North Kaibab. A lot was like a controlled burn, with the lower needles or the smaller trees browned. Grass and lupine were growing back. Saw a few does and a forky in the lightly burned areas. Some other areas, like the denser fir stands near the highway, were pretty well scorched. RR

To choose a powder, I look for the slowest powder that gives close to max velocity with a load density of about 95%. I like the shell filled with room to seat the bullet, but don't want a compressed load. H4350, H4831sc, RL 19&22 would be good choices. Use a magnum primer, like the Fed 215M. Ramshot Magnum is a powder I would definitely try. It meters well and is temperature insensitive. My shortmags do well with the Ramshot Hunter. Sportsmans Warehouse has Ramshot powders. The Nosler 180 Ballistic tip should be accurate and work well on coues. It has a little thicker jacket than the other smaller calibered Ballistic Tips. I have had real good success with the Nosler Accubonds for accuracy. The Hornady Interbonds have been disappointing to my rifles. My 300 Win Mag likes 180 Accubonds and 69.0 gr of H4350 with Fed 215M primers Doug~RR

I have had three easy and smooth purchases with Doug@CameraLand. He will be able to give you some good advice. RR

Is the Bushnell rangefinder the ARC model? Doug~RR

#1 Prone over the daypack seems steadiest to me. #2 Stoney Point tripod with rear support arm for the rifle butt (the rear supprt really makes a diff) #3 Steady Stix (Add-on tripod leg is better than w/ 2 legs) #4 Harris Bipod, 27" swivel model (heavy and digs in the shoulder) RR

I generally shoot 3-shot groups in developing a load. I choose the bullet I want to use and try a few different powders. Starting below max, I work up in 0.5 grain increments. Let the barrel cool between each set of groups. Rubbing the outside of the barrel with an ice cube is faster than air cooling. Once I find a load that looks promising, then I load three sets of five rounds, +/- 0.3 gr apart. I try to seat 0.020" off the lands, if it fits in the magazine. Keep your ammo out of the sun; a small ice chest in the shade works well to keep the cartridges insulated from the heat. Go back and check all your action and scope screws, and check for foreend contact. If you clean between groups, you should fire a couple foulers as the first shot or two from a clean bore may not be with the others. I usually clean every 25 rounds. Some people like the ladder method to develop loads. I have not tried it. You might use your full lenght sizing die to partially resize. Doug~RR

Welcome back from AK. I trust the experience was awesome. Waiting for the pics and tales. Doug~RR

The 4.5-14 range is nice for the southern AZ mountains. The Zeiss Conquest are sharper and brighter than the Leupolds to my eyes. The Leupolds VX-III's are no slouches though. Compare their eye reliefs. Another very useful range is the 3.5-10. I would prefer using target turrets to the B&C/ Ballistic Plex reticles though. RR

Allen, I am just a guy who likes to take photos, and sometimes takes the time to squeeze the shutter. Have never been a professional photographer. Back in the 80's, I would go to Glacier and Jellystone, mainly to flyfish, and took lots of slides on hikes. Read a few how-to books. Just try to keep an open eye. Tony Mandile has posted some photos that make mine pale. Amanda had asked me to write something up about how to take trophy photos for the contest. Doug~RR

Mike/Treestandman, well said. RR

Looks like velvet heaven for now. Have a good season, and would be neat to have one of those velvet buck in hardhorn on the ground in the upcoming video. Doug~RR

I was asked to write a guide to taking photos of your trophies, so I put it down in the Photo/Video forum. Doug~RR

Doug @ Camera Land had advertised a demo pair of Minox 15x58 ED asphericals for $724.99 He is a CWT.com site sponsor and might be able to help your friend. Sample list (SWFA) also sells used/demo optics. http://samplelist.com/ Doug~RR

I have been using Accuweather.com http://wwwa.accuweather.com/forecast-climo...01&metric=0

I am with Bownut on the Winners Choice strings. Replaced the Zebra Twist on my Mathews with a Winners Choice two years ago, and have not experienced any problem. The peep (using no tubing) hardly rotates, unlike the original zebra string. Doug~RR

Wade, I am not set up for PayPal. Amanda is, if you would like to donate to the general operation of the website. Sent you a pm that gives contact info if you want to donate to th econtest. You can archery hunt in Dec-Jan for coues if your muley tag goes unfilled. Forkhorn, He can enter ONE division/category per deer. Everyone is also in the best photo category, so a person could win big buck and photo, like last year. A person could also win typical and nontypical in the US and Mexico and archery, if he has enough tags and is a fortunate hunter. Doug~RR

1, 11M, 27, 29, 31, 45

One could set the various camo patterns together on the grassy hillsides, against trees, against rocky slopes, and take black and white photos of how they disappear (or don't) from a distance. Camo can help, but I think it is the movement and noise that gets hunters detected more than than the wrong camo pattern/color. Be stealthy and plan your movements and paths. How about that shiny gunstock, polished barrel or watch crystal? RR

The recent summer rains brought these colorful fungi up from a stump in the front yard, along with a few ponderosa pine seedlings. Doug~RR

That didn't take long.

68 resident tags at $24.50 plus 7 nonresident tags at $130.50 equals $25,795 for 75 unit 13b tags. Not even close to the 6 figures that one auction tag raises for wildlife. I had a good friend that bought two of the Gov tags, hunted with Ryan's crew, and did not shoot a buck. He also bought a rez tag and personnally spent over 28 days hiking on the ground with his guide for one particular buck, and did not get a chance. He spent many months pursuing his goal of a 200" typical and never got one. It's not always as simple as receiving a phone call and popping a buck "tied to a tree" the next day. Money may buy the tag, but it doesn't buy the buck. I seriously doubt that a regular tag holder has spent the time in the field to repeatedly locate a buck enough to pattern him and then have the auction tag holder shoot him a couple of months before the season. If he was out there enough, he would have bumped into other guides before the season. RR

Deerslam's method sounds typical. Don't use a brass brush with the Sweets or other copper remover, as the brass has copper and you will get a false blue reading. Regarding step three, I would run a dry patch or two through the bore to remove any excess oil before firing. If the barrel seems rough and fouls a lot after breaking in, or doesn't give acceptable accuracy, then I'd use TFF. It helped my 260 a little. I think the break-in and TFF may help a factory barrel more than a custom barrel that has been lapped and polished. RR