Red Rabbit

Josh, That's a toad of a buck you posted. Judging from the pics, Dan appears to do a great job. But ya gets what ya pays fer, ya know. Does he have a shop in Dewey that one can stop by and look at his work? As a side note, the first thing that I looked at was the antlers and not the work shown in the head itself. I think most hunters don't get down past the antlers and really critique the taxidermists artwork. I have had two coues done by Mark Plunkett, and they are also good. Since moving to Flagstaff, all of my work has been done by Tim Rajsich at TR taxidermy here in Flag. His deer mounts are about the same as Dan's, but again, you get what you pay for. Doug / Red Rabbit

Congrats on a successful hunt. From the day-by-day account and series of pics, the whole experience, aside from the wind. was rewarding. Thanks for sharing your hunt in the detailed way you did. Doug/RedRabbit

That's a wall hanger for sure. Glad all the prep paid off for ya. Doug/RR

Casey, Hodgden powder has some data published on the web. http://www.hodgdon.com/data/rifle/7mmremulmag.php#top IMR data http://www.imrpowder.com/data/rifle/7remultra.php Stevespages.com has data compiled, but no velocities are listed. http://stevespages.com/284_27.html My Nosler#5 manual has no data. Doug/RedRabbit

I think this taken at the deer farm near Williams. You can see the yellow ear tags that the farmer uses. I was told that he has the local boys(could be Bret without his beard and I didn't know Lark looks so young in orange) go out and dart them, load them in the wagon and take em to the barn so they can receive their steroids and growth hormone. The program is reportedly working as evidenced by the larger body and antler size. A couple could become the new B&C world record if the hunters bullet doesn't get deflected by the chain link fence. All of the bucks released will have had coes DNA injections so the will pass scrutiny. It's a guarded secret as to which high-fenced ranches they will be released this fall, provided George Taulman's Ranching Before Wildlife Program is fast-tracked through G&F this spring. Chris, keep up the meds, especially the Claroxin. Doug/RedRabbit

Factory ammo is real limited in choice(what is it-2 different loadings?), and seems like a handloading proposition. I must wonder about the future of this chambering, in addition to Remington's SAUM. A couple of years ago, I considered the 7mm RUM for a coues gun, but decided the 10% more velocity for 40% more powder than the 7 Rem Mag I already had was not worth it. Doug/RedRabbit

TAM, Congrats on a nice buck. That euro mount should look good. Did that 270 WBY bark on both ends (noticed the red spot on the brow)? I have one of those photos too that the double flash couldn't get rid of the red-eye , after shooting uphill in the prone position. Doug/RedRabbit

Welcome to CWT and congratulations on a nice dark-antlered trophy. I wonder how many hunters would have been back in camp out of the rain and missed the opportunity you had. Thanks for sharing. Doug/RedRabbit

And?????? Did Patrick get to air mail Mr. Muy a gift? Again, neat series of photos though the spotter. RR

Pred, It sounds like your hunt will be memorable in many ways good and bad. Sorry to hear about the lost buck and your hand, but glad you had an otherwise good experience in Arizona. Merry Christmas to ya. Doug/RedRabbit

Jason, Congratulations on a fine looking buck. Looks like the browtines have some character. Good luck after Christmas. Doug/RedRabbit

Congratulations, Rugerman! Venison and quail breasts over the Holidays sounds like some good eating in the works. Merry Christmas. Doug/RedRabbit

Some real nice bucks-great mass, droppers, long tines. That country in the background looks thick with brush. Thanks for sharing and getting my blood circulating this morning. Doug/RedRabbit

Interesting comment by Ray Aktinson in this thread about the coues being introduced to the Big Bend region of Texas. Does this infer that the Carmen Mountain Whitetail may actually be coues, or the Carmens may have had their gene pool polluted? I am unsure about the date that the Carmens were first recognized. How does B&C or geneticists recognize the the Carmen sub-species? http://www.huntamerica.com/wwwthreads/show...0&page=0#559159 Doug / Red Rabbit

Tell your son congratulations! Did he enjoy driving the truck as much as shooting the buck? Hope you both get drawn next year also so you can hunt together again. Doug/RedRabbit

Corner of eye to nose tip is about 6", and the ear spread tip to tip about 14" These are averages from 3 of my mounts. Another thing to do is to see the distance covered on a measured target or yardstick at 100 yards by the thickness of the crosshairs, distance between thick parts on a duplex type reticle, and distance between crosshair and thicker post end. Of course, these may change with different magnifications, depending upon what focal plane your scope uses. Doug/RR

What level of activity and times have you noticed at the water holes during the Dec/Jan archery season? I was wondering if it would be worth the waiting, or do the spot/stalk/call method. Combo of both? I came across a good tank during my November hunt and was curious about its opportunity after Christmas. Maybe some of you guys with trail cameras set out year round can shed some light. Thanks. Doug/RedRabbit

What I have done is to equip my scopes with target turrets and adjust the elevation to be zeroed at the lasered distance. Then hold the crosshairs where you want to hit. A ballistic program and range verification will tell you how much to come up with the elevation. I have a chart taped to the stock. Stoney Point makes turrets for the older Leupold Vari-X scopes for about $25 bucks apiece, or Leupold can retrofit the scope with turrets. This system has worked well for me. I have not tried Leupold's B&C plex or Burris' Ballistic Plex. What is the back to brisket on a coues- 14"? Big deer, small buck, uphill, downhill, quartering away, broadside? Lotsa variables for a WAG. Doug/RedRabbit

Handloaded, the 115 BT out of the 257 WBY and the 130 BT out of the 270 WSM should both give 3200-3300 fps. Both bullets have about the same BC and SD, thus will drop and drift about the same, with the edge going to the 257/115 . Using the same weight rifle, the WSM will have about 16% more recoil with these loads. If you're limited to factory ammo, the wider selaction is with the WSM. If you handload, you've eliminated the higher cost and limited selection of WBY ammo. The new 25 WSSM is equivalent to the 25-06 (300-400 fps behind the factory WBY loads). Scott, That Kimber Montana in 270 WSM and Kevlar stock would make a nice, light coues rifle.

I think you will find that just about anywhere you go in the unit, you will find lotsa deer and a good supply of bucks. I would suggest finding a canyon that you can hike in at least 2 miles and leave the majority of hunters behind and have a more enjoyable hunt. Start hiking at 5 am and be in position before first crack o' light. Stay out all day till dark. Wear out that Petzl. Good luck. Doug/RedRabbit

You're killin' me Lark. Too many laughs to start out the morning. Got any gift certificates left over from USO for stocking stuffers? Doug Redrabbit

Using my factory original 1x Bushnell eyeballs and no tripod, I could only see the deer in the first thumbnail. Had to break out the Leicas (I mean click on the pic to enlarge it and put on the reading glasses). Good job Amanda. In the field, I keep looking for that buck standing broadside in the sunlit, wide open right in the center of the field of view. Go figure I never see any deer . This is also good training for "Where's Waldo?" Doug/RedRabbit

Hidden agendas? Is this the same wilderness proposal that incorporates power companies, transmission lines and $$$$ ?

I concur with what Ben said. Remingtons published muzzle velocity and ballistic coefficient may be optimistic. Using their data, to be zeroed at 250, you'd need to be about 2.3" high at 100 and about 22" low at 450 for 7000' elevation and 50* Were you able to shoot out to longer ranges, like even 250 to check the zero, or does the rifle range only have 100 yards? If the local range doesn't have longer distances, try to find a safe spot with backstop in the desert. Two other possibilities. 1)The rifle may impact differently with the bipod than from a bench, and 2) your scope may have unknowingly been knocked out of kilter. What kind of bpod? If yours is portable, and not an attached model likr the Harris, resting the barrel on the bipod, (rather than the stock forearm on the bipod or other surface), will often cause the bullet to fly high. Get back to the range and check it out so you're not haunted at night by missing that great bull. I assume you went across the canyon and looked for blood and hair, or bullets in the dirt. Sometimes those big bulls don't even flinch or appear to be hit. Bret may be right about shooting over him. If he was downhill at a 30* angle, the effective horzontal distance is only 390 yards and your bullet would have dropped only 12-13". So by holding high what appeared to be 8", yes you may have hit the dirt above him. For about the price of three boxes of shells, you can buy an inexpensive chrongraph like the Shooting Chony Alpha $79. Hope you get drawn next year so you can put your tag on him. Doug/ RedRabbit

I started using a yucca staff about two years ago and really liked the extra stability coming downhill or walking sidehill. I wrapped the staff's handle area with some soft, sticky, sweat-absorbing grip tape for tennis racquets. I will try the rubber tip. Yucca has a great strength/weight ratio; I can't believe how sturdy it is for being so light. This past November on the coues hunt, I tried a regular hiking pole (contoured cork grip, wrist strap, shock absorbing, adjustable length, carbide tip, $29) from Popular. It saved me from one slip/fall for sure when a rock rolled underfoot. I missed the extra length of the yucca staff, though. My friend's knees were getting sore, so I offered him my pole, but he declined saying that it would just be one more thing to carry. I never noticed it as a burden, but rather as an aid to stabilility. In fact, I think they save energy rather than consume extra E. Doug/RR