catclaw

Everything Lark says is true except I don't think most guys go home now like they used to. A bull elk tag during the rut is become so glamorous that most guys stick around most of the hunt- maybe taking off a day here and there. Last year there really wasn't much of a rut. That is evidenced by far fewer calves than I normally see. I have no explanation or even guesses as to why it happened. Two years ago, I had a tag in unit 10. I hunted a couple of days in unit 9 during my hunt (my buddy had a tag) and talked to a few hunters. EVERY elk that I saw dead and every elk that someone told me about was killed on water. Not one guy out of about 10 dead bulls I saw successfully called one in and killed it! In 10, we called in quite a few that we could have killed, a few that were missed and a few that weren't big enough. That wasn't the case for us in 9. Different areas call for different strategies- you can hunt water anytime.

I do believe the lithium batteries are better- I use them in my camera and rangefinder. When I am setting trail cameras though, I can't see a reason to use 4 lithiums that cost $10 in lieu of 8 alkalines that are only $2-$3. I guess if you are backpacking 7 or 8 cameras in and are trying to save every ounce, you might notice it. I just buy 40 packs of AA alkalines and replace them every time I pull a card if it has bee more than a couple of weeks. If you are putting a camera out and know you can't check it for 6 months ( can't imagine why I would do that) and you can somehow set the camera so it doesn't fill up so fast, the lithiums might well serve a good purpose. I really like the lithium batteries for my cordless drill- they are less than half the weight! It gets heavy packing that thing!

If you are going to shoot off a tripod that is rated a 6.6 lbs, you are going to have considerable flex in the legs. You can do it, but you will have to learn how to "load" the legs so that they don't wobble too much. You won't break the tripod. I think it has to do with that amount of movement that is allowed and what the locks will support. I tripod rated at 6.6 lbs is pretty light duty. Even the Manfrotto 190 series are 8 lb tripods. I thought they were a little too flimsy. BUT- it will still be a lot better than not using it!

If you spent much time with your Swarovskis, you are going to regret buying the Minox. They are $1500 cheaper for a reason. Your original post was asking about the Geovids, another $2000+ binocular. My point is this, if you want to glass from a tripod, get glass withOUT a laser as you are handicapping yourself. This is fact. If you want binoculars with a rangefinder in them, get a small enough binocular that you can hang around your neck or harness. The Leica Ultravids are great glass. The Geovids are pretty handy when you get the 8x42s or possibly the 10x42s. The Zeiss Victory RF are really good too. I am scratching my head as to how this went from Swaro/Leica to Minox?? Good luck dude.

If you are willing to shoot any reasonable bull, the second week is fine, if you have a big one picked out, you better go the first day and stick with it or someone else will shoot him. Just saying...

Some type of scarab anyway. I can't imagine a swarm of bees on 4 Bar Mesa, there's not enough pollen and nectar to keep two hummingbirds fat!!

VOILA!

How come they didn't goof mine up and give me one???

You lucky sucker! What a great tag!

IMHO the 15 power Geovids are useless! Anytime you add a laser element to a binocular you cut down on light transmission dramatically. This means that for glassing purposes, you are giving up something just to have a feature you will probably never need. I can't imagine having to range something off my tripod and I am sure as heck NOT gonna hand those 15s around my neck. I spoke at length to a Zeiss engineer about this very thing. He told me that their new range finding binoculars give up several percentage points in light transmission to the regular Victory models. If you are going to buy 15X binoculars, get ones that are good for glassing ( I don't think there is anything out there as good as the 15x56 Swaros) I have compared them to the Leica Duovids (Red Rabbits), the Geovids (no contest) the Ultravids (still no contest) and the less expensive stuff out there like the Kaibabs and Minox. IF the Geovids were as good as the Ultravids for glassing, then I can see the range finding feature might be fun to play with to see how far away stuff is while you are glassing, but they are NOT as good as the Ultravids. If you have to use them as your ONLY range finder, you would be severely handicapped. The little hand-held range finders are far easier to use and just as accurate. I have thought this out quite a bit. The regular powered Geovids are great for guiding, not so great for hunting. I prefer the 8x binocs and the CRF range finder for my hunting and I have tried about everything.

That is a guy that doesn't really want to sell that stuff but is just testing the waters methinks. Prices are too high.

HORNOGRAPHY

You guys gave me so much grief over teasing Cowboy Hunter that I thought I would go ahead and post a cow photo myself. You never know what's gonna show up, do ya? Be careful- Rated PG-13

I am not convinced that the lithiums are a good value in the camera except maybe in exceptionally cold weather. I easily fill up the stupid 2Gb cards before the batteries ever go dead. This is using Costco brand alkalines. I have taken 4000+ pics on one set of batteries and they were still working. The cards are the limiting factor. The new ones that are 16 Gb compatible are a different story. I will need to test one of them out and see. I also got 3800+ pics out of a moultrie recently but it uses 6- D cell batteries. They were still 88% according to the display! I went ahead and put it back out with a fresh card. I will see how many more I get from it. Down side is that it is HUGE. I really like the concealability of the Coverts. Nice pics by the way...

And he's color blind. Now we don't know what color the calf gonna be? Poor guy will be without identity...

That has to be the same bull we saw a few weeks ago,looking at that top he has. He's definitely a 300 class bull (300-399)

No to the green prickly pear, in fact, I watched a big boar eating on some pears one year and he tested each one before he bit them off- I went to the bush he was eating on before he got himself shot and there were several pears with puncture marks that weren't quite ripe enough- Kinda like me picking out a water melon at Superstition Ranch Market- thumping them to test for ripeness...

I recognize that spot- it's on the east side of Broke-back mountain Where else would you find those inbred, bubba bulls... Pretty cool pics

I had the opportunity to guide a wildlife management hunt Friday in the Round Valley unit. We (Rod Miskin and I) guided Kent to a nice bull that morning. First 6x6 I have seen on the ground with velvet still intact. There were two other bulls that were quite a bit bigger but this one was just fine. Kent was really stoked about this bull. Kent's friend Curtis helped out too and glassed up bulls. It was an awesome sight to see 20+ bulls single file headed across a pasture with a couple of 390" monsters in there! Here is a closer one to show the great G1s and 2s this bull had.

I heard now that someone may have shot one earlier than either of us way up the highway by the green gate- who knows. Good to meet you too!

Shane, he shot once and then caught up with the bull about 30 minutes later and shot twice more in short succession. You guys may well have shot first but I asked Rod and he said that Kent's first shot was the first shot he heard. It was OUR first bull of the the season that we expect to have many more nice bulls taken in! Dennis

That sounds interesting, I have found some discrepancies between Delorme and Topo, maybe a third source would provide some confirmation.

I know I spend as much time out as anyone and I have stepped on snakes, walked over them, stood next to them and have never been bitten. I have never worn snake boots or gaiters nor do I know anyone who has. I have never heard of anyone in AZ being bitten by a snake while hunting except on the hands when they were messing with them. I don't know if I am lucky or just not paranoid. Maybe if I chased antelope more I would feel differently. I have had a twin-spot crawl into my sleeping bag in the Chiricahuas and not bite me- I'm with Lark, I guess they must be afraid of getting a bad taste in their mouth. Only time I have been bitten is when I was 18 and teasing one in the highway. Gaiters just look way to uncomfortable for me.

Say Hi to Art for me

His first shot didn't get much in the way of vitals- just the liver near as I could tell. He went about 1/4 mile and ended up in the bottom of a draw where he caught up with him and applied the finishing touches. We were able to get a 4-wheeler to within 8 yards of him! When he fell in those rocks. He dinged up his velvet unfortunately. The bull did us a favor when he didn't die in his bed and walked over a ridge to where there was an old road.