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We switched mountain ranges and are doing better the last couple of days. We had bulls screaming below us last night and they were still there when we got back today. We have chase for 1.25 miles but blew it right as we were closing the distance. Then we had a giant tank of a bull walk within 120 yds of us while glassing tonight. Then right at dark two spikes came in to a wallow we were sitting. I called one to 49 yds but he caught Jon drawing and there was no shot. It was a great day chasing elk in a beautiful place.

Saved him when he was tied to a fence in the heat at 6 months. Gave the guy money to take him home. 7.5 years only. Died of cancer. He had a great life.

I got the opportunity to help out my good buddy Dan for his archery 3a/3c bull tag this year. After 10 years of applying he was lucky enough to get one of the last tags available. Opening morning we went in to an area we have hunted in the past and as the sun came up we were greeted to a few bugles but nothing to really get your blood pumping. We tried a few intermittent cow calls and bulges but the bulls just were not ready to cooperate. Finally about 8am we got a bull fired up and were able to work into bow range of him and his 10 cows. Being the first day of the hunt we decided to pass on the bull and hold out. it was way to early to fill the tag with a smaller 5x6 bull and end the fun. That evening we moved to another spot and did some looking around and glassed a few canyons. Found a few waterholes that had water still and pretty good sign. We made the decision to hunt this area in the morning. The second morning we parked and started our hike into the area we checked out the evening of the first day. With no road traffic we figured the elk should be more vocal and receptive to calling. We were right about the bulls being vocal, we had 5 bulls going crazy bugling all around us. As the sun came up they continued to bulge and could hear one group splashing around in the waterhole near us. We called with no luck, they bulls were not ready to commit and come in to our set ups. we decided to circle around to get the wind in our favor and make a play on the 2 bulls we thought might be worth shooting. After an hour we worked our way down into the draw we thought they would bed in and got in front of a decent 6x6 bull (think this is the bull he ended up taking on day 7). That afternoon we decided to sit on a waterhole that was in the area the elk were in and had a good amount of sign on it, we had a bunch of deer and elk come in but no bulls that peaked out interest on day 2 of the hunt. the most excitement came in the form of a sow with cubs coming in for a drink The 3rd morning of the hunt was much like the previous morning, lots of screaming bulls all around us but could not seem to get them to interested on our calling. not sure if it was our calling or set up but we could not get them to commit. We again decided to just play the wind and move in quietly and try and get in front of them as they headed to their bedding area. With the wind in our face we slowly moved in to where we thought we could get a chance and everything worked out perfectly. Unfortunately this bull too was not quite what my buddy was looking for and he made the decision to pass, in a year or so he should be a pretty good bull. Days 4-6 were much of the same, the only day we really did not get much bugling action was day 5, not sure why but they decided to stay quite. made the decision that morning to call it a little early and head back toward the cabin making a detour over to Three Bears Cafe for a good breakfast to recharge the body. we did quite a lot of glassing as well as sitting water just trying to figure out if there was any type of pattern we could put together. Day 7 of the hunt we hiked in to our area to find the bulls screaming, we were able to get our eyes on three of the bulls and watched them all morning until they headed into their bedding areas. We could not make a play on them due to where they were bedded and the wind direction. We decided to hike back out and head back to the cabin for some breakfast and cat nap. We got to our parking spot and made the hike to our area. we set up on a finger leading down the canyon to where the elk were bedded. I glassed up the bull my buddy Dan ultimately ending up tagging bedded across the draw from us. We talked back and forth for a couple hours trying to decide if he wanted to make a play on him or not. He decided not to and wait it out, that is when things got a little haywire. About 4pm a bull down the ridge starting piping off pretty good. that is when the hole canyon became a bugle fest. we did some quiet subtle cow calls and had a bull coming running in from behind us. The bull stopped broadside at 43 yards but decided to pass as he was smaller than the bull across from us we did not go after. Dan and I continued to call and made the decision to get a little bit more aggressive. After a few minutes of calling the bull we had been watching across the draw made a bee line down the hill to the bottom and started up the ridge we were on. We could hear him crashing through the thick scrub oak, I told Dan to move around the other side of the jack pine we were sitting by and get ready just in case he changed his mind and wanted to take this bull. The bull kept screaming as he worked his way up toward our position. I got my camera out to record just as the bull crested the top of the ridge and stopped broadside at 32 yards. Dan told me he was going to take him and let the arrow fly, The shot was a little bit back but looked fatal. we called called and got him to stop at 57 yards and Dan was able to put a second arrow in him. The bull got wobbly and fell over just 10 yards from the second shot, we were thankful we would not have to track him. Unfortunately during this whole turn of event my phone did not record, i was bummed to not have it on video. I can only figure I forgot to hit record with all the excitement. When we got to the bull we paid our respects and looked back at the fun we had for 7 straight days. He was not the biggest bull by any means on the mountain but one Dan could be proud to have harvested. We got him taken care of and packed out, we were thankful to have some friends show up for the pack out. I am sitting on 13 bonus points and will hopefully be able to draw this tag next year and do it all over. for some reason the pics are turned and I cannot turn them

My little brother got it done!

Just checked a couple of cameras. i think one of the bulls has an arrow in his skull.

In the fall of 1873, the US Army adopted the 45-70 Govt round and a new generation of the Springfield Trapdoor rifle. Made with the Allin conversion of the Civil War era M1861 musket, it was a fairly reliable breech loading rifle. The Trapdoor model like the calvary carbine model above, would undergo a few more changes over it's two and a half decades in service. Improvements like a serrated trigger, a ramrod that doubled as a bayonet and the Buffington rear sight; a flip up ladder sight system, calibrated out to 2000 yards. The 45-70 was conceived by the army brass as a volley gun, capable of raining down 405 grain lead projectiles from up to a 6000' distance. But the Buffington sight proved difficult for troopers to master, add to this ammo shortages and an anemic post war Defense budget and you had troops sent into the Indian Wars woefully un-prepaired for accurate rifle engagements. The Trapdoor carbine was heavy, it's ammo; heavy. The rifle rounds trajectory was much like a brick and it's rate of fire was less than stellar, specially when compared to the repeating rifles often used by the late 19th century soldier's adversaries. But that's our history. And I thought a quick comparison to today's Army assault rifle might give one pause to think what carrying a Trapdoor into an engagement might have been like and how far we've come. Weight: An 1873 Trapdoor and 100 rounds of ammo (60 rounds of 45-55-405 was standard issue for the horse soldier) weighed in at about 18.5 pounds. Today's M4 with 500 rounds weighed about the same. Rate of Fire: An army trooper with an M1873 was expected to put 6 rounds of 45-70 downrange per minute. The M4 has a sustained rate of fire of 700-950 rounds per minute. Not a bad improvement over less than a century. But what will the next century bring?

Hey Lee, how did your boy do? We had a rough and slow day On 9-20-20. The whole week prior was pretty slow on the reports as well. We brought back 17 fish total and 11 were Dorado. We had 1 skipjack tuna also, which I will post also. I was lucky enough to get 1 decent Dorado On our very last stop. Alot of people told me that the color leaves the dodo's fast, which I believed you guys. But man were talking by time you take 2 pictures turn phone sideways and two more. Color was almost completely gone. I'll post the first and the last picture for those that would like to see the difference. Have that camera ready if you want the Yellow still, we walked 5 feet and I took my phone out of my pocket and that's all the yellow that was left ..... over all we had a good time even though the bite was slow. There's the skipjack tuna next to my dodo. Thanks again for all questions answered by some of you on this thread that I was probably bothering more and more as my trip neared. I did learn alot from you guys and on the trip itself, again I'm thankful for your guys help... it was much appreciated.

Remington 700 stainless action, Shaw stainless fluted barrel, 26”, GMP muzzle break, Bell and Carlson stock. 20 rounds fired for break in. SOLD In Peoria Greg 602-826-7517

Really good morning. The big bulls squared off again. Almost got in on the one I wanted. I hate cows. Hate em. I'm getting a cow tag next year so I can get revenge. Followed them all around the mountain as they were fighting and screaming. The bull i really wanted should be safe the rest of the year. He broke off two thirds of his right side, but he won the fight this time. During all of this I re aggravated my left hip. Had trouble just getting back to the truck. Hunts over for me. Good luck to everyone still trying to close the deal today.

I got offered to take my friends spot on a 2 day I think he said it was leaving tomorrow, for free.

Those rough trips are the ones that make those wide open bites and limits seem that much better when they do happen. Fishing is fun, catching is better! Glad you still enjoyed the trip and were able to check a dodo off your list..

still getting pussy though.

Best part was 1 vet who really wanted to just be heard stayed after the hunt for a few hours and we talked about just life. Found that horses help him heal and made plans to have him come out and ride with me anytime he wants. It’s a really cool program that helps these guys out more than you know.

Pistol Parlour in mesa has 2 lb of H1000 left @ $39.99 each

My Archery bull .Unit 18A,public land. So I hired James Fleming to do this hunt with. I have been talking to him since before the draw.A few thought I was crazy burning 9pts on a marginal limited opportunity area. I went with a gut feeling and it paid off.James knows the area like no one else.Day 1 was slow with only a few elk spotted and no shooters. sat water for 8 hours in middle of day till evening with only javelinas coming in. Day 2 up at 4 and into another blind for barely an hour when I received text bull spotted. James picked him up at 4 miles away and it appeared he wasn't moving to another zip code. He then disappeared into a sea of junies . we estimated where he might be and made the trek. About noon we lucked out and he bugled. We had to assume it was him as they weren't active calling at all. we estimated him to be around 500 yards away so we moved in a couple of hundred yards where we would remain on the ground for 4 plus hours. Around 5 he bugled once and on went the sneekee feet and we closed to about a hundred yards. we hung the cow decoy in a cliff rose, I set up and James got behind me about 20 yards. 2 cow calls set him off tearing up a tree(sounded like a train breaking limbs).he did this for 15 minutes without bugling and stopped. I was shaking like a leaf. More mews and I could hear him coming in on a rope. Still having not seen him his swords appeared( knew it was him at that second )above a juniper in front of me. he turned to get around the juniper and downwind and as he was walking in to a 3 foot shooting lane I was drawn and calm. I was preparing to shoot him walking but he froze with vitals exposed to look at the decoy . I released arrow and center punched him at 30 yards. At this point I practically collapsed.It was very warm and I guess years of frustration and missed opportunity were coming into into my thoughts.The arrow was complete pass through 4 blade wacem. we waited about 20 minutes to start the recovery. quite a bit of blood at first...but it tapered off.Fortunately his tracks were easy to follow in the dirt. This beast made it 500 yards and expired. James was as excited as I was. after lots of hugs and high fives we set about the work. we carried what we could.hung the rest and got back to camp at 430 Am. we slept for a couple of hours then made the 3 mile trek to pack out the rest.

I just want the table..... Oh. Nice rifle too

Usually like to read a good F!!! You thread! But yeah, Wade has been around for years. I trust him.

I just shipped a whole, assembled firearm via UPS, no problems.

Gone! Funny story, I tossed the stove and dishwasher at the dump. Next morning I show up at my kitchen remodel. Dude walks out and is like "what happened to our dishwasher?" Ummmmmm....... uh, it's at the dump Bob.

Sold

Given my current condition with COPD, etc., I'm sure this will shock some of you, but I'd like you all to know that I volunteered for the vaccine trials for Covid-19, held here in the Glendale area. The vaccine was created in a Russian lab. I received my first shot today at 9:00 am, and it’s completely safe, with иo side effects whatsoeveя. I feelshκι χoρoshό я чувствую себя немного странно и я думаю, что вытащил ослиные уtr.

I see the wound, could be an injury from dueling with the competition. Anybody see and arrow shaft or broadhead?

Exclusive! Lol DAN

Never understood why so many dislike them. They are good optics with a great warranty. No they may not be the Leica. Swarovski, etc but they aren't priced like them either so I wouldn't expect the same. For the money they really are pretty good.

You did tour homework though. Thats a good find.