Red Rabbit

That is a real pretty buck you took for sure. He will look mighty fine on their brochure. The hillside in the background of the second photo looks somewhat open. Do you have any other pictures of the ranch and countryside that you can share? How did the other client fare? RR

I just came back inside from trying digiscoping the mailbox down the street. Was using the 10x binos on the tripod and Panasonic FZ20. Using the autofocus on the camera was not working well, so I manually focused the camera, then placed it against the bino eyepiece lens and tried to fine focus with the bino, as opposed to using the camera's manual focus. Still got some blur, but ISO was set at 100, (f/2.8 for fastest shutter speed). Will try a higher ISO setting another day. First time that I have messed around with it since trying and failing in NM last Nov. Nice thing about the digital camera is that you get instant feedback and can delete the mistakes. Ernesto-You're not hunting one of those ear-tagged bucks behind a high fence that has been bred by semen injection and fed a steady diet of protein pellets? RR

Casey, aka Firstcoues, and I went calling dogs this morning north of Flag. Yep, we had to escape all those hairy-legged, Subaru driving, left winged, rainbow-stickered hippies. This is Casey's first coyote. It was seduced by my mouth call to about 80 yards before we tag teamed him with a 95 grain V-Max from my 260 and a 140 grain Accubond from his 270 WSM. Serious pelt damage. RR

I'm just glad you didn't cut off my "gut gluk" foot to stick in your pocket. I noticed you were sharpening that knife back at camp. In all seriousness, I can say that the dutch oven worked extremely well for upside-down cherry chocolate cake . RR

Those California quail sure are beautiful, as is that Beretta. Rica says "I want to go." Congrats on a great hunt. Doug~RR

http://www.boston.com/news/local/connectic...nchester_plant/

Just a reminder that if you kill a deer with your bow, you need to report it to AZG&F 866-903-3337 or in person w/in 10 days. See page 2 of the regs.

Muley, Is this Cookie Willett's contest?

Keith, I see a dim glow on the horizon....oh wait, that's your candles. Hope your having a good one. RR

Desert Bull, That is a great point. Many October hunts are still 100% draws. If hunters are not drawing for whitetail, it is because they choose to not be drawn by not selecting an October hunt. Increasing the number of October hunts would not make a difference to them, and decreasing the December hunts will only upset all of us who apply for them. Nobody is gaining. This fact should be e-mailed and faxed to G&F by all of us. RR

Just in case you think you may never draw a December coues tag again (or sheep, antelope, strip muley, unit 10 wapiti, etc.) http://www.arizonabiggamesuperraffle.com

When I first heard of the contest, I originally thought that the winner would get a tag for each of the big ten and have a year round hunt. Then I read the contest guidelines . But wouldn't all 10 tags in the pocket be cool? RR

Hey Rich, Welcome to the over the hill gang! PM sent. Doug~RR

At last night's G&F meeting in Flagstaff, the publications handed out said G&F wants 5-10% of the WT tags in the late season( alternative deer management plan handout, and stated in Guidelines and Recommendations handout), up to 10% of the permits offered during December(in letter from Leonard Ordway, Game Branch Chief, ) Brian Wakeling (sp?) of G&F stated they would like to see the December tag numbers around 10%, and those units with 6% now could (note: not would) see an increase. For 2005, the % of December tags ran from 0% to 10.3% (my calculations) Unit 29=5.3%, 30A=8.3%, 30B=0%, 31=4.8%, 32=6.4%, 33=6.75%, 34A=1.4%, 34B=4.3%, 35A=8.3%, 35B=5.9%, 36A=5.5%, 36B=7%, 36C=10.3% If they hold to 5-10%, some units should see an increase. If they want to increase opportunity in the south, some could see an decrease in the December tags and still be in the 5-10% range. The big shift in tags from December will be for the central AZ units. In the Hunt Guidelines, units 6A, 21, 24A, 24B are proposed to have Nov 10-19 and Dec 22-31 whitetail hunts. Units 22, 23, 27, 28 have proposed Oct 27-Nov 5 and Dec 22-31 hunts. Unit 6B has Nov 3-9 and Dec 22-31 listed. No units have four WT hunts listed (as some have said). 95% plus of the attendees at last nights meeting in Flag were opposed to the restructuring of the WT tags and of the Archery elk tags. Email address to send your comments to G&F is azgamebranch@azgfd.gov You can fax your comments to 602-789-3929

I have read on other boards where USRAC might/could move production to their facility in South Carolina, and that New Haven is dead. Also, a company would need to buy the Winchester name from Olin and start production from scratch. Seem to be rumors at this point, but the situation does not sound promising. RR

Another showing a Remington 700: http://www.ranchtrippin.com/bedding/ I have bedded 4 rifles in the past with no problems. I used the release agent that comes in the Accraglas Gel kit. RR

Here's a link that shows the bedding being done on a Howa/Vanguard action. http://www.24hourcampfire.com/ubbthreads/s...t/all/vc/1/nt/2

Cubed ice in the field is good to completely surround the quarters in a large chest(s). Keep the drain plug open. If you don't want to get the meat wet and water in the muscle fibers, come with lots of frozen 2L bottles of water. Dry ice can be used over the meat in a sealed chest till you get it processed at home (even can picked up at the grocery store on the drive home). On an elk, skin it rather all than just having an open body cavity to air cool it. The neck meat in the elk spoils real quick since the hide and hair are thicker, so skin to the jaw/back of skull. The no-gutting field dressing method works great on an elk. I cringe seeing an elk hanging in a tree for days during the September archery season. If the hung game cools out at night, you can cover the game with a sleeping bag during the warmer day and keep it in the shade. I figure it takes me about 12 hours to muscle out, trim, cut steaks and package an elk by myself. Then I take the poorer cuts and meaty trimmings to the butcher and have them make the sausage and salamis. Doug ~RR

Yep, the closer he gets, the better he looks, even has a little sticker. upper 80's? RR

Casey, I have always seen them behind the Elkhorn, but I know your dad's hip won't let him walk too far. Try glassing the foothills from the raod along the base. I have maps you can look at. I did not see any pigs this past November on my hunt. Doug~RR

Amanda and Scott, I enjoyed your pics and daily accounts of your hunts. Can you share with us how you put the text and arrows on your photos? Thanks. Doug~RR

Lots of nice bucks taken this year, these included. Congrats to all the successful hunters this year. I still have a tag with the adhesive backing unused: wonder if anyone would mind if there was a mid January rut-hunt ? RR

If you note the times for best hunting, you may hunt harder during those times, so the tables may be psychologiacally advantageous. RR

270 Winchester (or 25-06 or 7mm-08). The 7-08 is based on the 308 win case, as are the 243 and 260, but uses a 7mm bullet. The 7-08 has enough velocity and energy to be used at 400+ yards. A friend's son and daughter have used a 7mm-08 to take some cow elk. Remington makes a "managed recoil" load in 270 that would be good to practice with or his wife/son to hunt at shorter ranges. Inexpensive rifles=Savage, Weatherby Vanguard, Rem SPS. Light weight rifles are going the opposite direction from lower recoil. Definitely replace the recoil pad with a Pachmeyer Decellerator or Sims SVL Sounds like your friend wants more range and energy than his 243, without more recoil. Pie in the sky. He can reduce the felt recoil with a heavier rifle, good recoil pad, good fitting stock (one that fits him may be too long for wife and/or son), Past shoulder pad, or a muzzlebrake. Sure the brakes reduce recoil substantially, but the increased muzzle blast also induces flinch. Be sure to wear both ear plugs and muffs when shooting at the range, and have plugs handy when hunting. One of my friends shot a braked 300 win mag three times without hearing protection while hunting, and his ears rang for a month (spell that hearing damage). Doug ~RR