Red Rabbit

Take a close look at the Zeiss Conquest 3.5-10x44mm. Another good choice would be the Leupold VXIII 3.5-10 with the B&C reticle. I'd hesitate to say 4.5-14x, as you may catch an elk or deer up close, and 4.5x is really about 4.8x if you look at the Leupold specs. I have not found the 10x lacking for magnification. RR

AMEN.

I have heard rumors of a Sportsman's Warehouse coming to Flagstaff, but I don't see how our town and surrounding area can support it. Congratulations to you in Tucson on getting a nice outdoor store. RR

Thanks for sharing the pic of your nice bull. Congrats on your success! If you wish, since you have a Dec WT tag, register for the CouesWhitetail.com & MonsterMuleys.com buck contest. http://coueswhitetail.com/buck_contest_05.htm Doug~RR

Your Britttany has got to be smarter, and looks better too .

CNE, Hope you do well in December. Lots of good spots to go. Last November we went to a new canyon. We were prepared to backpack in, but a road got us to where we needed to camp and could hike an hour in from there. This November we are unsure of where we will go. We have a lead from a rancher that needs checking out. Oweing to the number of deer we saw in last year's area, we may return there. I keep hearing of glassing the flats, but seems to me that getting in range and relocating the buck once down in the flats would be difficult. Ernesto de GF, your monthly payment for 36c access is in the mail. RR

432 gross, 415 net http://www.monstermuleys.info/dcforum/DCForumID7/5327.html Those good ol' days are NOW. RR

Bret, Nice job in the lifeless zone. Why do you supppose there are fewer elk in the that country this year? Guess if he's been eat'n chilis, he's preseasoned for the grill. Doug~RR

Bigger than I've ever seen. I recall taking a hatchet to split the back open to get the meat off the back of 3 footers. THis one should have some nasty teeth. RR

Thanks for sharing the pics. I like the cheater points on the racks. Would like to see a nontypical like the sheds you mounted come the November rifle season. Could the white shed be from a mule deer? Kinda small on the brow tines for a whitetail. It looks more similar to the left antler on the left muley in the bottom pic. Hard to tell what was chewed off the two points. Doug~RR

Good luck Stan, I was in 6B last evening and three bulls were bugling around my friend's camp that we had just set up. It's 61* in the house this morning; guess that explains my mood to be hunting. RR

Good luck Stan, I was in 6B last evening and three bulls were bugling around my friend's camp that we had just set up. It's 61* in the house this morning; guess that explains my mood to be hunting. RR

Are you thinking of using a real rack and making a shadow with a light to trace an outline? Typical or nontypical? Full rack or side view of one side? How big of a metal sil when finished? RR

See page 64-65 in the regs under R12-4-319. Cannot locate with aircraft 48 hours befor the opening of a big game season or in a unit with an open big game season. I would interpret this to include units with archery deer hunts. RR

Some of the greatest deer activity that I have observed is when the full moon is rising as the sun is setting. I believe a study showed the deer activity was higher when the sun and moon were 180* apart, IIRC RR

Here's a pic of that feral exotic deer species we encountered on the Kaibab. Unfortunately, we had no archery deer tags. Doug~RR

It was a tough hunt, especially on Casey . When those grouse would flush a few thousand feet below the rim (as seen in the bottom pic) like a chukar, we'd send Casey down to flush em back to the top of the rim. As pointed out by Scott, Penny was afraid of heights and would not go down into the ditch after the birds. We didn't see any turkeys and just a few deer, including one 3 point buck. Doug~RR

From what I saw, deer hunter numbers were about normal or slightly less. I figure that $3+ gas and deisel would keep some at home. About half of the plate I noticed were from California. The wind up there was attrocious. A friend from Prescott called last night to saw he got 130" 4x4. I will try to post pics tonight if/when I set up a Photobucket account. Doug~RR

What store(s) in greater Phoenix have a good selection of rifles for which to trade in some used ones? RR

While in Prescott last weekend for an archery 3D shoot, I stopped at 4 gun shops but did not see anything that really interested me. One shop offered about 50 cents on the dollar for trade-in with the one rifle I had along for trade. RR

Josh, Hope things work out for one of those two bucks; both are nice. Good luck. RR

Scott, Thanks for the photos. Gets the blood flowing in anticipation for that unit 23 hunt. I like those sloping ridges coming off the mesa in the first photo. I just ordered a Panasonic FZ20 digital, so hopefuly I will be able to share some photos with everyone. Doug~RR

Smerky, Welcome to CWT. You might consider entering your son in the coues buck contest. Info is posted/pinned at the top of the Miscellaneous topics. Doug~RR

Archery deer is OTC, but archery javelina has a draw for permits. Applications for spring hunts like javelina and turkey will likely be due Oct. 11. I believe the spring regulations are being set this weekend in Flagstaff at the commissioners' meeting. RR

I have bowhunted the Kaibab a few times, but have not been drawn for the rifle hunts. I wonder how the increase in number of early hunt tags to 1000 this year, compared to 500 last year, will affect the hunt quality and deer herd (i.e. future buck population). RR