ArizonaWildernessHunter

Lowas are the best! Have two pairs currently and have worn out a couple as well. Have a great pair of kenetreks from a couple years ago, but got a pair last year that failed after a couple days. They sent me a brand new pair 1 1/2 months later. They are still sitting in the closet since I don't trust them. So if anyone wants 10.5 mountain extremes will sell them so I can buy another pair of lowas. If Kentreks quality returns to what it used to be I would buy them.

Try looking through the new Swarovski ATX or STX 85mm. Recently got a STX 85mm and it is simply amazing. The 65mm was quite impressive during the day but was concerned about light gathering. Did not want the 95mm since it would decrease the field of view with the min power of 30x. Was able to glass up some mule deer at 11 pm with a 95% light moon at over a mile away from the house the day the spotting scope arrived. I compared this spotting scope with Leica new and old, older Swarovski hd and non-hd, brand new Kowa at Outdoorsman, new Zeiss, and new Leupold. The STX/ATX was way better in every aspect except weight and size. The ocular lenses being larger and the rubber armor makes it a little heavier than some of the other spotting scopes. The field of view is huge with the ATX/STX and the ocular lens is larger so it is easier on your eyes to look through. The large focus ring makes adjustment really nice and the focus stays in place while in your pack if you buy the stay on case to go with the spotting scope.

Decided everyone would enjoy looking at this buck I got the day after Christmas. He scores 107" and would have scored over 110" if not broken. If you look at my pointer finger on the first picture you can see where he broke off maybe a 1/2" long point that was behind his eye guard in addition to the other breaks that are more obvious. Looks like he used his antlers for what they were made for and not for just show. The color on the antlers is excellent and even better in person. Found this buck in at first light almost 4 miles from the closest open road. He was bedded in some thick brush and all I could see at 30x in my spotting scope was part of the tail and a tip of an antler at about 600 yards. I then decided I needed to change angles to get a shot if he was a good buck. Got within about 400 yards and now all I could see was a small patch of fur. I then heard a ton of noise from the bottom of the canyon. Next thing I know there are 4 does running up to the buck at a full run, then come to a stop and starting feeding. The buck gets up and starts doing his thing. They then are going back and fourth in the brush all I can see is antlers flashing every once and awhile. This goes on for what seems forever. I then see one of the does head for a spot in the fence line that a pine tore down in the snow. I get ready since I knew he would follow those does into that little opening. It was exactly 420 yards to the fence and 428 yards to a small bush. The buck crossed the fence and stopped to eat on that bush. Saw he was an old buck but didn't get a good look at his antlers in my 10x scope, but figured he would be over 100" based on age. Shot him with my 30-06 with a 185 gr berger at the 428 mark and he ran up the slope a little into some junipers and cactus looked around and then rolled right through a bunch of prickly pear. After he was down I looked through the spotting scope and I could only see part of the antlers. From my angle and his head in the brush I thought this is the oldest 80" buck I had seen in years. Lets just say I was really pleased when I walked up and he was bigger then I thought. Glad I took the gamble and it turned out great. Would have never got a shot if I would have looked him over more in that opening. Had to pass on a lot of younger bucks to get this old giant. Also found these cool sheds. The white one I glassed up and then the bull elk bedded down next to it while I was walking down to the shed. Got the picture when he stood back up. The brown was in some thick cover. The whitetail shed will be an awesome buck someday. He is really young still and think he will break the 120" mark someday. Going to keep an eye on this buck. Well better go shoot the bow some before tomorrow.

The story on the knife is that I was almost done skinning out the neck when my dad arrived with a better camera for pictures and he wanted me to hold up something next to the antlers that most hunters would know the size of if they had not handled AZ tags much. I was not about to touch my cell phone at this point in game processing Thanks for all the nice feedback everyone

Called in a really old tom the last day of the 2008 season late hunt about a half hour before sunset. We had a big cold front come in across the rim that year. First time I got rained on, hailed on, and snowed on during a turkey hunt. Only mild winds but the lightning got bad about an hour after getting my bird. My dad and I were a long ways from the truck & he found a huge elk shed in the dark on the way back. Was a strange but fun experience.

So somehow I didn’t get draw for turkey this year (and likely not elk either still crossing my fingers though) and was thinking about buying an OTC archery tag for turkey. I was wondering what the pros and cons are to various broadheads for turkey hunting. I have a bunch of the muzzy 3 blade regulars and MX-3s already for deer and javelina. Watched some videos and most people are only shooting out to about 30 yards. I think my average shot distance on turkeys has been about 40-45 yards over the years (like across water holes). I do a little bit of quail hunting with a 55 lbs PSE Silverhawk every year so not worried about hitting a turkey with my 70 lbs PSE Diablo pro series. Thanks in advance for any input.

Where at? I personally saw healthy herds as recent as the November muzzleloader elk hunt and a friend of mine got a nice Javelina during the 6A archery hunt. It would be bad if they were hit again, saw some issues about 4 years ago. I know that some areas including 19A are over run with predators lately. My dad and I both got pigs during our 19A rifle hunt out of a very aggressive herd that had a fair number of coyotes trying to pick off young. They will be getting a visit from my FoxPro soon. Sometimes if a cat is working an area all the local herds will bunch up into a larger herd and they don't get along very well. You end up seeing tons of sign or none depending on where you are at. Saw this in 6A a couple years ago during archery. The next day we were out hunting and we started hearing hounds. Apparently the cat went right by us possibly twice in one day since we kept bumping into dogs, lion track, and running javelina.

That is awesome! Never actually had that happen but thought about it a million times

My wishful thinking is maybe someone's card info was bad and I am next in line

Not sure why some of the people joined but I joined a couple weeks ago so I could look at photos of the 3 horned elk post. Was checking for CC hits info to see if I had any chance of still getting a tag. Saw this thread and decided I could give some constructive feedback and add a really good option incase some of the higher profile guides got booked up quick. Looks like way too much negative feedback has been posted (some a little extreme). I am really glad to see that the guides on here are trying to keep these posts away from the negative side and give practical advice. Jim aka COOSEFAN I think you did a very nice job on your last post and can see why so many people are recommending you.

You might want to give Randy Elmer a call as well. http://www.elmerguideservice.com/ Went to school with his older son Chad and still share hunting photos. His younger son Colton got a 402" bull in one of the most difficult areas in the whole state with an OTC tag. Randy will give you a straight forward answer about hunt availability and what type of bull to expect. My top 2 choices would be Randy or McClendon based on what I have seen them do over the years. I might be biased though since they are both from where I live Seriously though any of the guides recommended so far are great. I would call them and try to get a feel for their personalities and styles; this is going to play more of a role in getting a nice bull than you might think. By the way this site is awesome, glad I made an account finally.