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Call it in! If they were clearly working elk with a helicopter then game and fish needs to know. Otherwise, they will continue to do it if they're not legitimate.

Had to make room in a freezer so I boiled this Javelina and coues I shot last September. I had read that some people had luck with leaving velvet in a freezer for 6-12 months and that essentially would freeze dry the velvet. Didn’t work for me so I had to strip it and of course it was just bone white. I had tried staining antlers before with just wood stain but I wasn’t satisfied with the results. Tried to do something a little different with this to get a more natural look and am pretty happy with it. I first put on some mud then used motor oil then some darker stain.

We recently moved to the Gila Valley and I started a new job so things have been a little crazy lately but I made it out the other day for a scouting trip. It was meant to be a 2 day trip but a nice monsoon decided to roll in and I cut it short. I managed to find a nice one though! I’m thinking he will put on a few more inches before going hard horned. He may be a buck I saw last year, but hard to say. What are your guesses on what he will end up at score wise? Not that it matters all that much but I suck at scoring them and would love to hear what y’all think. And I hope you can laugh at the title a little... not sure he really is a “giant” but he is a dandy. @bbendallaz

This season continues to be great 🕊️

Not as big of waste as the money they spend for designs on the side of the freeways.

Keep up the good fight, Tony. We need a sane person around these parts. 😄

Found this guy while archery deer hunting. Would have been nice to find him alive...

Animas is a pretty small place in the middle of no where and we always rely on those special people that help us and support us! Coach Charlie Richardson passed away yesterday, I stole this memory from one of his many that he influenced! Whether you called Coach Richardson, Mr. Richardson, Charlie, Charles, Chuckie, or just Rich. He touched everyone of us that played for him. The greatest Animas Panther coach that ever lived-my mentor, my hero, my friend. I was a 13 year old maybe 4’5” when I started playing for this great man-he instilled my love for the game of basketball to which I never lost. So many memories as a player at AHS but also came and watched me play at WNMU. My 1st job interview they said for you played at Animas for Charles Richardson then you know to WIN! I believe he had a hand in me getting my first coaching job in 1984. I finally made it back home 1991 and got to coach with the man I had always admired. I was his assistant he was my assistant. I coached his kids he coached mine. We taught school together even shared a classroom. We even came out of retirement together. I was refing a volleyball game in 2016 he was in the stands I went and sit by him told I thought I was going back to coaching. I told him I wanted him for jr high and he said yes. We spent 3 more years together. Charles was the most unselfish, honorable man I know. It was never about his accomplishments but always about the kids. True coaching to the core I learned so much from him. I guess my greatest accomplishment was not the state titles we won together but just knowing he was proud of me and thought that I was a good coach too. What a legacy we lost in our valley yesterday no one will ever replace. Thanks for the 30+ years you spent in my life and all the other years you put in to all of the student/athletes at AHS, including my boys, my nephew, my nieces, and coming back to coach my Laikyn so she would know my hero too! To all the Richardson’s thank you for sharing your husband and dad with all of us. I love you all. Goodbye my ole friend I will never forget you. The family brought me a pile of old bleacher material, some old hardwood flooring, some horse shoe welding that Charlie Coach had welded, a bucket of collected junk and said, can you make him a casket!!! Charlie Coach coached in the Animas Valley for 40 years, lost his mom when he was 5 and his dad when he was 16. His first wife passed after 25 years of marriage and lost her life to cancer! One of the great characteristics Charlie Coach had was he never once used his losses as an excuse for trying every day to be a great example for the kids he taught and coached! I hope he can see from above that love and appreciation put his scraps together for what hopefully does the man the respect he deserves!!! I appreciate the opportunity to serve him this one last time!!!

I picked up this uppper from DUG last month. It is now a fun toy. Shoots great. 1 hour of angle.

Regardless of cost this is great news for fisherman, hunters, and the residents of Tonto Basin.

I cannot help with 22N, but I'd like to extend to you a laurel (virtual, of course), and hardy handshake (again, virtual) and say welcome to CWT. Eddie

Hope you get well. Illness sucks all the way around. I'll share my thoughts on Covid and going to the hospital. During the beginning of the serious Covid maddness a couple months ago, my wife had to go to the ER twice. She was admitted to Banner Desert, which at the time was being converted to handle all the Covid positive cases. She was in the Covid unknown floor with Covid positive patients on it for a couple days. She was moved three times as the Covid wards expanded. She didn't get Covid there, and she has serious immune issues herself. The second trip, we went to a different hospital that didn't have Covid patients on the floors like Banner Desert. She didn't get it there either. The Covid hysteria is a serious problem, IMO. I read a report that more people died at home from heart attacks in a Colorado county than died from Covid over a couple of months. And, the number of visits for heart issues was down in that county, so it looks like they weren't getting treatment from fear of Covid. Personally, I have heard of more people who died at home because they didn't go to the hospital than I have heard of dying from Covid in my circle. I can't tell the future, you might catch all sorts of stuff at the hospital including stuff like RSV, mersa, infections, etc. But, I can't see how the risk of infection from Covid is any different. If you would otherwise go to the hospital for possibly life saving treatment, then I think it is a serious mistake to stay at home instead of going to the hospital because you fear Covid. The risk of the actual stuff you have now seems like all the justification I would need to go.

Hey guys, I appreciate all the well wishes. I'm having some problems, but as Mark Twain once said, "The reports of my death are greatly exaggerated." 🤣 It's just tough to get old. I just wish it had taken longer.

Well, my AZ rifle hunt was successful! I had some great tips on bucks in 5B sent to me by a couple individuals here on CWT in private messages and other tips sent to me by Curtis in Mormon Lake. However, tips are no good unless you put your boots on the ground to verify them and learn the area and behaviors of the target you're after. I had a perfect field crew who came together on this hunt (Keaton, Jared, John, and Mike) and I owe them my thanks and gratitude for their help and support. Likewise, there were others who were willing and ready to help out as well. This hunt was incredible, and truly was a once in a lifetime opportunity, so I am writing it up for publication. However, John put together a YouTube video of our journey to success and that link can hopefully be found here... https://youtu.be/QR0x5hY_70U

So how many of you guys are going to be getting the new 115mm Swaro?

Would be nice to cross with a boat early spring

This is not a BDC Reticle. Pending Sale

Curious why you are going away from the hard case?

I think he is 95"ish. Shooter for me if I had a tag.

What year is your Tundra and did you or the "lot lizard" look for oil dripping by the oil filter? Tundras, Tacomas, and 4Runners with a canister style filter instead of the old spin-on style are notorious for O-ring failures and it doesn't take long to dump several quarts of oil when it happens. When I was an area manager for Valvoline Instant Oil Change I dealt with several cases where they lost almost all the oil shortly after an oil change. If it makes you feel any better we never had one destroy a motor but dang it made everyone nervous. The lab is always going to find metal shavings in an oil sample so I wouldn't put too much importance on that, but if something does go wrong having lab results will strengthen your case if it goes to court. Get the letter saying they accept responsibility, pay attention to the truck and see how it goes. I had to laugh at the comment about getting new wipers and then the AC not working is your fault - I had things like that happen all the time. One person we had never seen before came in for a free windshield washer refill and a month later tried to blame a 10 year old bad battery on us. Some people just have to try I guess.

That’s pretty whack.

Lots of good action in 1 this morning. Then a helicopter started flying down all the canyons. It saw the elk i was watching and they literally rounded them up and drove them out of the canyon then they flew away. Game and fish aerial survey? Maybe driving them to 27 to lower success rates in 1? I have the numbers from the helicopter. I'm tempted to call it in.

Well, at first...

Like many of you, I have spent almost a lifetime of applying for an antelope tag. I think I started in 1980, before bonus points even existed. I skipped a few years in college and finally drew a tag this year with 25 points. I had great plans to do tons of scouting, but with trying to figure out how to open up a high school in the midst of Covid, almost every waking hour these last 5 months was dedicated to meetings, planning and tons of stress. On Thursday, as I drove through Seligman, it was 95 degrees. This was going to be one hot, dry hunt. This has been a heck of a drought. I had patterned the antelope pretty well and knew where to be opening morning. I did not see an antelope until 9am. Very unusual and discouraging. The herd I spotted was working toward me so I stayed put and watched as they got closer. They ended up angling a little behind me and I shifted to get a better shot at the buck when it got in range. Well, cactus is not the best cover and one of the does busted me and off they went. Drove back to camp, cut some wood and waited for the evening hunt. At around 4pm I spotted a herd roughly 2 miles away. I knew this herd had a good buck. I started working towards them and thought there was no way I would get close enough for a shot, but it was opening day and I had 5 days left to hunt, so I tried. I had my frame pack and stool with me and was having a heck of a time staying low. Between the pack, my gun and binoculars, it was a juggling act. I am not sure I should say what I did, but maybe someone can learn from it. For the first time ever, I dropped my pack to make the stalk easier. My water, knife and saw where in there. Big mistake, don´t ever do it. I thought I could find it easily later.......I crawled for a bit and then realized I could get to a little drainage and cut off the antelope. They kept feeding and had no idea I was there. I made good time when a herd of cattle got between me and the herd. I walked parallel to the cows and they hid me from the antelope, it worked perfectly. There were also some horses in the area and a coyote. So, plenty of activity. There was one buck and 19 does. They continued to feed and ended up among the cattle. I got within 280 yards and set my scope at 300. So, very steadily, I pulled the trigger. I hit high and broke his back. Ran up and shot him quickly one last time. It was 6:30pm and I was a good 3 miles from the truck. This when I realized I left my knife in my pack. Forty years of hunting big game and I felt like a lost puppy. I went back to look for my pack and could´t find it. I am embarrassed to admit what happened, but like I said, maybe someone will learn from my stupidity. So, it is getting dark and after seeing the coyote, I thought, I need to drag it back to the truck. Right, with the guts, I made very slow progress. I am in decent shape, but this was the most exhausting thing I have ever done. Packing out an elk and moose is far easier. At midnight, I gave up. My ribbon was also in my pack so I left a trail of toilet paper every 40 yards or so. Got to camp at 1:30am, slept a few hours and prayed the coyotes did not get the buck. At daybreak, I found my pack, found the trail of toilet paper and found the buck untouched. Talk about relief, anxiety, thankfulness and every emotion in between. It got down to 50 at night and the hole in the spine allowed the internal gasses to escape. The sun did not hit the animal. The meat was 100% fine. I used the skinless method, packed out the quarters, the head and the rest of the meat in one trip. The buck has a 7 inch prong and great mass. The broken prong still measured about 4 and half inches. Rough score was just under 80 inches. Great hunt and I learned a valuable lesson.......hoping for one more tag before I am really old.... I included a picture of my daughter´s antelope 4 years ago to show just how dry it is up there.......The West is in a heck of a drought.

I am really shocked at some of the responses here. The dad is the one that decided to cross. He made a horrible mistake and 3 kids died. He will live with that choice every day of his life. Why would we punish him more? Lets spend our efforts putting away the people that abuse kids.