bugleward

got your money's worth Sad as it may be in today's market for mounts the amount you paid is about right for a slap-happy job from a commercial taxidermist like you obviously used. How many mounts is she doing in a year? Holy cow. No wonder it looks kinda crappy. All of our quality taxidermists out west here are $500 plus for deer with an average of probably $550. At $325 I would have to say you got what you paid for. I try to tell all my clients the Taxidermist is not a good place to skimp on a once in a lifetime trophy. Just like using a $100 scope on a rifle you intend to take on a $25,000 sheep hunt. You may get lucky a time or two but for sure -- unhappiness is in your future. If you want good quality you need to do your research and then tell the Taxidermist you want a competition quality mount and ask how much he/she charges for that. Good luck with it. Maybe you can hang it in a corner with subtle lighting and it will still look OK then.

macbook Mine is awesome. My old Imac lasted 7 years and then the ethernet card went out. at least 6 hours a day running for 7 years or so. then I got an emac its about 5 years old still going strong. Then I got my macbook pro about 3 years now had a bus die on me. 1 week for a complete rebuild - no lost information only $170 including shipping to repair. Just bought the kids a super smoker Imac 27 its unbelievable. Wife has a Dell and that sucker is about once a month getting in the shop. So for the most part I've been on macs since the 70s. Only two needed repair and the one didn't need it until it was 7 years old. My wife's dell averages more repair per month than all my 9 or so macs and thirty plus years put together. There used to be a lot of problems with compatibility with macs. that really seems to no longer be a problem. Only time I see issues is with AOL. They still are hooked on the PC world and don't realize that the real smart people fix PCs for a living and go home to use their macs.

thanks x Hey X thanks for the plug bud. Yes we do guide for the deer and antelope part of that. I will also follow that with a bit of advice for you John. For the most part an elk hunt is pretty rough. Unless you are hunting a game ranch, an elk hunt may not be the best choice for a first time out west for someone who is not a fairly strong outdoors person. They can be very tough emotionally and physically on a less experienced hunter. We are a REALTREE recommended outfitter and do quite well at it. You can take a look at our site and probably answer a bunch of your questions. There is quite a bit of information in there. I also have a DVD/brochure pack available. Even if you do not choose to hunt with us I would be happy to answer your questions. One very important piece of advice you should always adhere to; always check as many references as you possibly can before you book with any outfitter. If you end up on a bad outfitted hunt and did not check references -- it's your fault not the outfitter's. Generally any outfitter that produces bad results sinks his business in a short time. But there are some out there that shouldn't be and checking references is a pretty good way to eliminate the bad luck with outfitters.

Game ears Hey guys: I use the digital game ears. Fantastic - I love them. I use two of them and can detect direction. I also can hear tons of elk bugles and turkey gobbles that the guys without them can't hear at all. I am a professional hunter and got them in the first place to be able to hear my clients and still not suffer hearing damage when I happen to be close to the muzzle when the gun goes off. I ended up loving them because I can hear so well. I have heard folks say they are too noisy in the wind. Wheat they don't realize is the darn things are made to amplify that frequency range on purpose. Also if you really think about it and concentrate... your ears hear the wind noise too, most just don't realize it until they use a Game ear or something like it. I hate having muffs on my head but I am sure if you can stand them they are a very good item. Oh ya and by the way -- they are each adjustable so you can balance the sound to your own ears. Just remember to turn them off when you turn the key on the truck. The fasten seat belt beeper will drive you nuts with them on. lol

Hey Bud: I will be in Gillette from time to time. I have a bunch of ranches leased around Gillette. Pop in and say hi. You can get ahold of me through my web page listed here. I would love to get together with you sometime. Congrats on the new job.

thanks Steve Thanks a bunch Steve. I appreciate that. We will be having another TV show filmed just about 3 weeks ago... airing next week (supposedly) on The Sportsman Channel. It will be on FAMILY TRADITIONS TV show. He took a nice buck and they say its a good show as well. Check it out if you have the channel. Thanks again Steve.

thanks Hey guys thanks a bunch. They are really great people. One thing I will tell you though, they are very busy and are not real good at getting back to ya when you contact them. Even their lifelong friends have trouble hearing back from them. They are really busy. I will tell you though, they are as good of folks as you could ever meet. I sure like them. There should be a full episode of the hunt coming up sometime soon on BEYOND THE HUNT. They sure did a good job for me in that short segment. Thanks for the good words guys. I liked it too.

Hey guys Realtree recommended outfitter ANTELOPE OUTFITTERS is on BOWMADNESS tonight. Rick and Julie Kreuter from BEYOND THE HUNT are hunting with me for antelope in Wyoming. Check it out and let me know what you think. I have not seen it yet either but have been told its a good one.

lopes Hey bud: Our property is around Boise City. Not even sure what direction from Boise City yet. My partner just got it leased last weekend. Tons of lopes there though. If that will work for you -- let me know. Being the first year we might want to get into it a bit and just be sure of what we have. My best guess is you would be with my partner Brodey Davis. He is a very sharp hunter and will be a good guide. Please feel free to call me in the evening. I would be happy to help out.

oklahoma lope hunts Hey bud: We have some great lope hunting property in Oklahoma. We just leased somewhere around 17,000 acres with lots of lopes. My partner is running that for the time being. It's very new to us. I do know there are a lot of good bucks. We are also a Realtree Recommended outfitter. Please feel free to visit our web site and give us a call if you are interested. http://www.antelopeoutfitters.com/ If you choose to go it on your own, best of luck to you buddy. Lopes are great fun. Be sure to post pictures of your hunt as well. Again, good luck and have fun.

emberassed Geez you guys; I took a $27,000 a year pay cut to move out of Colorado. Now I am less than $40,000 a year. I have 3 jobs, the second and third really do not make any money but momma works and we get by. I am just as broke as I have ever been but I / we are happy here in Wyoming. However, I am working in the hunting industry for my second job. In 11 years the best profit has been $7,000 / year. It's truly a labor of love cause we really don't make any money at it. So I guess it depends on where you are coming from and where you want to go. And I don't mean exactly what state, more like state of mind.

Check out the Big game forum. Take advantage of the bad economy and maybe you can be hunting for some great hunting in Colorado and Wyoming this fall.

Hey fellow Realtree dwellers: I am offering a chance to join us for a free Colorado mule deer hunt. To qualify you need to book a hunt with ANTELOPE OUTFITTERS ( a Realtree recommended outfitter) before the end of the day Aug. 10, 2010. We are offering $200 off any hunt booked by then and you could also be drawn to join us for a Colorado mule deer hunt. We are not guides in Colorado so you will just be joining us in a wall tent camp with all the trimmings. We will see as many as 30 bucks on a good day. You can check out our site at http://www.antelopeoutfitters.com/ Hope to hear from you soon. I will be in the field all weekend so call me on my cell and lets get your Wyoming adventure booked. 307-401-0718. You could be joining us for a great Colorado mule deer hunt as well!

Hey all I got good news and bad news. the bad first. I did not draw any trophy tags in Wyoming. The good news is -- my baby girl did. She drew and area 3 sheep tag. OK now, I have three kids. Oldest drew her sheep tag first try at age 12, my son drew his at age 13 second try, baby girl drew hers age 13 second try. For those of you who are trying to figure the math on this. My kids are 60% success on sheep tags. That's five applications for sheep and three tags. While that is very exciting and fun for me cuz I get to go, why the heck can't I draw a tag? I honestly have 47 unsuccessful sheep apps. I guess the good lord is wise and has a reason why I can't get one. On the bright side WOO HOO I get to go sheep hunting again. WOO HOO i do love to hunt sheep.

good to see you Chris Hey My friend: Its really good to see you back my friend. Now its time to start planning a hunt out west.