Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Alaska .35 Whelen Rifle Question

You're welcome HN.

Just made it back from Armijo Springs. A good time was had by all.

I suspected you'd say it was worth the quick turn around!

I sure wished I had extra time off to be able to make that one!

Yes, it was fun, but I'm not sure it was worth it - mainly due to the two speeding tickets I received. The first was just S. of Silver City. I was doing a whopping 7 MPH over the speed limit - you should have seen this A.H. do his power-slide turn, with sirens and lights blaring as he came after me - you would have thought I just bombed the U.N. - absolutely ridiculous - and although I was respectful to the officer, he still felt it necessary to call in back-up. I had no less than 5 cruisers surrounding me - this with my 6 year old daughter in the back seat. I'm sure being white, driving a Mercedes and having TX plates was all the justification he needed.

The second was when I was returning to EP - the Fuzz nabbed me for 9 MPH over the limit.

Let's just say I don't have a very high opinion of the NM State Police, but they gotta' generate that revenue don't they?

It amazes me that I can drive all the way to Alaska without getting a single ticket, but as soon as I cross the border into NM - watch out! SO a nice little trip with my daughter turned out to be very expensive and a huge hassle.

Say what you will, but traveling 7-9 MPH over the limit does not justify these two tickets.

Slow learner????

Try traveling a different route next time. Sounds like you're traveling along a drug corridor. Yep, a white boy traveling alone or what looks alone in a german or other high end built european car will get stopped. And you can thank the lawyers for the ticket. I can and will explain via PM if you want to know more. But, you fit the bill for a drug trafficker to a passing interdiction officer.

As far as the rifle choice; go with SS/synthetic stock version and load a stout 225 grain something or other in it. Wood is nice for heirlooms but you are looking for an effective TOOL. Any gunsmith can install a set of quality irons for $100 or so.

When we go to Armijio Springs,we head up to Soccoro and head to Quemado that way. It's a 4 hour drive for us.

Sorry to hear the hassle. But I'd still bet it was worth it with the fine folks and all.

Ulvejager: Perhaps, but I’ve always traveled up to 10 MPH over the speed limit on road trips and I’ve never had a problem.

Ken: I was initially going to take that route, but I thought the I-10/180/12/32 route would be more scenic, which it was, but it sure turned out to be expensive! Next year I’ll take your route.

Jeff: Yep, it was great to meet everyone

Aught6: PM sent

We got pulled over not even speeding that I can recall, if so not much, many years ago. Heck I was even CHL and carrying IIRC.

It was Redondo? S Texas. We'd never been there before. We went in one weekend to scout a place for a hog hunt the next weekend.

Stopped at the local joint for a sandwich and a beer or such. Not many would even look at us there.

Less than 5 miles out were pulled over. The difference was we didn't get a ticket. He even admitted we were out of place, could have been a mule, just checked that out. Wanted to look in the back of the camper on the truck, I laughed and said we had just fed out, if he wanted to dig through the corn bags to watch out there was a bow case in there somewhere too and the 45 I had under my jacket. He laughed, went and looked and waved as he walked back to the car.

That kind of stop I can deal with, and actually appreciate them paying attention that we were out of place.

Writing a ticket for 5-10 over, nah, thats kinda chickenshit. I get it and all, but it is what it is.

It is chickenshit and I resent being treated like a second class citizen in my own country by some cop with an attitude, who thinks it's ok to lie to citizens and abuse their power. I also resent his 'probing' questions, especially since I had my 6 year old daughter with me, which are obviously designed to escalate the traffic stop into an arrest and he had no probably cause: "where you coming from? where you headed? do you have any weapons? what's in your trunk? who is the young lady?" all of which received the same courteous reply from me through the 4" opening in my driver's side window: "that's my business."

I know there's some good law enforcement officers out there, but they are few and far between now-a-days.

From here to Soccoro,it's not very scenic. From Soccoro to Armijio Springs it is scenic,not as good as the route you took but good. We almost always see antelope between Soccoro and Quemado and if we are late enough in the day,elk between Quemado and Armijio Springs.

Stayed in Socorro on my oryx hunt, what a Schitt hole...

Didja get a whelen yet??

Here are some pics of antelope in the Very Large Array.











And what is found in the VLA.




http://www.vla.nrao.edu

If the answers were thats my business, then it was your right to answer that way, but also why it escalated IMHO.

I've no issue telling em where I've been and where I"m going. Others do.

The daughter IE children are used to throw off cops from them thinking they'd not haul drugs with a kid in the car all the time, in fact I'd bet by today, its normal to think the child might well be an indicator.

I guess we are lucky, we really don't have much in the way of bad officers locally. Have one wrote a ticket to one of our fireman responding to a CPR in progress page, for speeding. He was goign a bit fast, but honestly on those types of serious calls I do to. Its life.

We had one trigger happy game warden, but he really wasn't that bad, just overly gung ho to find things. And we found when we baited him, it made it worse for us.

Finally got over those issues of having to answer none of your business and life has been smooth.

Don't take any of my comments wrong though, I'm just rambling like I generally do... its after 5, I'm home and de stressing from work at the moment.

Jeff

PS at this point in your gun quest... find a used but good shape Whelen the year Rem made them on an annual run and go with it. As you can, put a good stock on it, in the meantime seal the wood one and bed it. Then add the stock. then ad a top line barrel.

Food for thought.

CRF in my books is over rated, but its my choice....

Ken: Once we were a fair piece past Silver City on 180, it began to get scenic. While I was at Armijo Spgs. John took me and my daughter Julia for a ride in his Honda ATV and we spotted several nice Mule deer bucks. I would have been proud to shoot one of them. I didn’t have any glass, but I bet he had a 22+” spread and was probably a 10-12 pointer. Didn’t see any Elk. I have seen a bunch pronghorn on the way to Carlsbad, but that’s the other direction.

Judman: There’s a lot of towns in NM like that – in TX as well. EP is only slightly better IMO. Coming back to the oppressive heat in El Paso after the nice cool weather in Armijo Spgs., was depressing. I’ve come to loathe it and I cannot wait to finish my degree and GTF out of here.

I haven’t purchased a .35W yet, but I have my eye on a good one – built on a 1909 Argentine.

Jeff: The officer called for backup before he even approached my vehicle. 5 cruisers surrounded me before I said a word to him.

Like I said, I know there are good cops out there, but I don’t trust them. Regarding traffic stops, their sole purpose is to get the citizen talking so as to generate probable cause so that an arrest can be made thereby generating revenue for the county and justification for their existence. Traveling 10 MPH over the speed limit is not justification for the treatment afforded to the average citizen. The average officer’s mindset is that everyone is guilty and no one can tell me differently – I can see it in their eyes, I can hear it in the tone of their voice, I can tell by their body language – they are ready to pull their pistol and shoot to kill. Now I will say that the officer involved with the second citation I received was a good guy. He asked one probing question, which I answered with my customary “that’s my business” response, which he apparently appreciated and understood. From that point forward, he was very respectful, as was I, but he did not lie and threaten as the other officer did.

Part of the problem is that not enough Americans are even aware of their rights. I simply will not play their game and I will exercise my rights as an American citizen. You said that you have no problem with answering their probing questions, and while I respect your opinion, I will not waive my rights to help them justify an arrest.

I refuse to self identify at these asinine Border Patrol Checkpoints 70 or 80 miles inland. When they ask if I’m an American citizen they get my customary reply, and I’ve not had any issues with this up to this point in time and I’ve traveled through a great many of these checkpoints since I’ve been in EP.

Americans in general are far too willing to trade their rights for the progressive promise of “security.” What many don’t understand is that these rights were paid for in blood, by great Americans who sacrificed everything so we could enjoy liberty. They don't understand that trading freedom and liberty for security results in neither, which is what we’re beginning to see today in this country.

I have yet to see any deer in that area,elk,antelope and a few coyotes is all I've seen there.

Ken,

One of your prairie goats wanted to run into the side of my truck Sunday morning at the VLA!