bchoitz

Way to go! Any time in the field is better than no time in the field, and you got a buck to show for it as well.. Congratulations on a successful hunt. Bret

Congratulations on a fine buck and a very successful and fun hunt. Again, great pictures and stories Jim. Thanks for sharing with those of us who didn't draw a tag this year. Bret C

Awsome Buck there. Uh, where? oh yeah, I'm sleepin again. So where is the pics????? Congratulations on your biggest AZ buck!

Next buck I shoot... I'm waitin' for Coosfan to come take the picture! How are you with a picture of a two day old buck? Nice buck and very nice pictures! Bret

Ha! Finally! I get to be the first to say congratulations on a fine buck. Hope there is a story that goes with it!

Ha! I've been so busy since I heard you were back I didn't have time to read the story until now! All those teasers weren't very nice! Anyway I'm glad I got the whole story in one read! Those are some awesome bucks, Congrats on a great trip. We should all love our work so much! Bret C

Nice Buck! Certainly something to remember! Thanks for the story. Bret

Great story tellin'. Great job on both animals. Bret

Nice Buck! Congrats. Welcome to the addicted.

I drew blanks, My 17 year old drew blanks. My 12 year old drew blanks, Junior hunts no less Not a good year for Arizona hunting in my house. Now I'll have to look for an opportunity to go with someone else on thier hunt.

I'm a working stiff with 4 kids and a mortgage. Puts me in the same boat as many others on here, with one main rifle for every game species. Ruger M77, .280 Rem topped with 2-7X Burris Fullfield scope. 10x50 Nikkon Bino's and an old Stitz tripod. I shoot 140 Gr. Nosler Ballistic Tips for Deer and smaller game. I Borrowed some other optics etc, but the 20x80 Pentax bino's never seemed quite right, and I spent more time trying to keep them in focus than actually looking for animals. I'd love to do a hunt with Swaro's, Lieca's or Stieners, but so far it hasn't happened. I've only had 2 coues tags and filled one. Bret C

Nice! Time to buy that CWT sticker for the back window! Bret C.

If it's not illegal, whats to stop people here hunting for deer (and elk) the same way they do in Texas, Louisiana etc.. by putting up a feeder that drops a daily dose of corn (or whatever) and then just waiting in a blind by the feeder to kill the deer when they arrive. I did not think it was a legal method of hunting here in Arizona, but I can't find that in the regulations except for bear. The fact that they do not sell deer feeders at Wal-Marts here like they do in Texas leads me to believe there is some law preventing it. I suppose in reality it's not that different than sitting over a waterhole, but it still seems lees sporting to me. Bret C.

Sounds like your in for a busy year! Bret

You guys make my "OFF" season "hobbies" seem pretty boring! I spend many weekends supporting my wife and children in their summer activities of competitive (and not so competitive) swimming. My wife is a swim coach in the summer and through the high school season, my 10 and 12 year old swim on her summer team, and my older son swims on a USS swim team. I am a volunteer swimming official. I also try to get at least one trip to someplace cool (temperature and scenery) for some fishing and relaxation. It seems harder to do as the children get older and busier. Last year I only got 1 day of fishing in on the Conejos river is southern Colorado on my way back from taking my daughter to college in Iowa. I hope to go back this summer for a week with my older son who graduates from high school in May. I hope I don't run out of vacation before then. Bret C.

Sorry for the technical error, that would be INS who should be picking them up. I did not mean to imply that the Border patrol had additional responsibilities they were not fulfilling. Keep up the good work.

Illegal border crossings are frequent, and the majority of the problem is composed of people trying to enter our country to work and provide for their families. There are also drug smugglers, terrorists, and criminals crossing our borders. The government is proposing a ?guest worker? idea to try and slow the tide of crossings that are composed of people looking to work. Unfortunately they are also considering rewarding those who have already committed a crime by breaking our immigration laws. This seems like a bad idea to me, and I would more likely to support a guest worker plan that rewarded those who have tried to enter the country legally, and required any guest workers to apply in person at US consulates outside the country. There are laws already which should punish those who hire illegal workers, but they are largely un-enforced. If they laws that require an employer to hire only those people here legally were enforced and people were willing to turn in those employers who do not, the number of illegal construction workers, janitors etc. would be reduced, but the simple fact is that we like paying less for our services. Just a few examples; How many of you have paid that person with the pick-up and trailer who comes through your neighborhood and offers to trim your palm trees? How many of you have asked your contractor if he is hiring illegal aliens to do the job you hired him for? How many of you have picked up a worker who is standing outside of home depot looking for work on Saturday morning? Did you check on the girl who cleans your house or office? If there was enough Border Patrol to pick-up illegals on the job, how many of you would call when the crew arrived at your house and you suspected them of being illegal? So long as we reward them for coming, we cannot reasonably expect the problem to go away. I wish there was a simple solution, but there isn?t. The minutemen are just trying to do something. If all they accomplish is to spotlight the problem, it will still be a positive result. So long as the bordor Partol is not hampered in their efforts I support what they are doing. I will also do my part to not reward illegal border crossers by hiring them. Bret C.

Looks like a good set-up! I'm sure you will be happy with the .280Rem, it's a great caliber. Nice groups, just remember to let that tapered barrel cool between groups of three. Bret

Get a good "O" frame press, such as the RCBS RL5 or the Rock Chucker, or a similar press. A decent starting "kit" may make aquisition cheaper and easier. You will need: Dies Shell holder Calipers good to .001 inch (A decent dial Caliper or digital if your into that) Case trimmer Case neck chamfer tool Powder scale accurate to .1 grain or better Powder funnel Powder dribbler You will want: Powder measure stuck case removal tool kinetic bullet puller case holder (block with 50-100 holes for holding cases.) Chronograph BE CAREFUL!!! Your safety and those of your family and friends may depend on your ability to reload accurately. Develop a routine and don't let yourself deviate from it. I prep all cases, then clean up the work are and myself, then prime all the cases I am doing at that session, then I set up my scale, test it, set it, measure each charge individually, and seat a bullet on each case immediately after filling. When I am done I recheck my scale zero. I am very careful to not bump the scale during the loading, and I have a set of marks on the bench where I set it up. even a small deviation in position can affect the reading of the balance beam. That said I find reloading to be a very enjoyable way to spend my time, it gives you a sense of pride in your loads, and maybe even saves you a buck or two. It also helps when you are shooting a non-standard or older caliber rifle such as my .300 Savage. So, starting to relaod is not cheap, but in the end it's been worth it to me. Bchoitz

Way to go! Great pictures and great smile! Congratulations Sam!

A Nebraska friend who bow-hunts is between jobs here and has been scouting the area around his trailer. He was checking water holes and playing around with his GPS and just generally killing time doing something he enjoys. He saw several deer, but all the tanks he had tracked down from his maps were dry. He wondered where the animals were getting water. When I asked him if he had visited the G&F built water stations in the area he had not seen them and did not know they existed. Now this got me to thinking. <wisps of smoke issuing from ears> These trick tanks do not show up on any maps I have, and I can?t find a listing of them in Arizona. Is there any decent source of this information? Just how many of these water sources are out there? Bret C.

I like the idea of a Trick tank fix-up day. I just don't know where too many of them are, particularly down south. Sounds like a great idea. Anyone know of tanks that need fixed? Bret

Rembrant, Consider if the shot wounded the buck and he bled out while running from the hill into a neighborhood. "'Scuse me ma'am, I'm not tryin' ta smash all yer petunia's, I'm jes follerin' my blood trail. Soons I find where that dang buck went I'll be outta here." There's that common sense thingy again. Bret C.

Awesome buck! Nice and Symetrical. I can see why you had to have him. Congratulations. Bret C

Worked - Nosler Ballistic Tip bullets (Sorry Deerslam, I like them for Coues deer) Ruger M77 .280 Rem with 2-7X burris scope. Alot of miles and alot of hard knocks on this gun in the past, but it still works well. Water bladder in Cabela's scout? pack - I've used this for three years. The water bladder is quiet unlike bottles, and the ability to get a drink easily makes this a great idea for still hunting. Just get a bladder with a shutoff valve, or remember not to set the pack on the bite valve. Also make sure the fill cap does not leak! Cabela's new bladder was disappointing in this area as it is difficult to get the cap on and sealed properly. Nikon 10x50's on a tripod. I borrowed a pair of Pentax 20x60's but the magnification was too much for me, and they required me to be too close to the eyepieces while glassing that it was difficult to keep it steady, and hence caused a lot of eye strain. Knives of Alaska - I borrowed these as well, and they are awesome! Gutted and skinned my deer and they are still as sharp as new. Patience - This worked again and I will try to bring it on my next hunt as well Didn't work - My wife's Winchester M70 .308 Win. It sat at home the second half of the December hunt while my battled the flu My strategy for the December hunt - Knowing my wife could not go opening weekend I went for my deer and filled my tag before coming home so I would not be distracted from her hunt during the week after Christmas by my desire for a big buck. I wanted to focus on her hunt only during that week, and because of the flu I sat home in a funk the whole week Also didn't work - Modern call products Coues deeer call. I'll try it again if I ever get a rut hunt, but I did not get the opportunity this year. Rangefinder - I borrowed this as well, and it helped me get a better perspective on judging distance to coues deer, but it was a bit too much to carry for the amount of use it got. I stopped carrying it after the first day as I could accurately judge the distances to 300 yds without it. Bret C.