Hucker

Go ahead and post up the coordinates so someone can harvest that elk so he stops spooking the deer and bear in that area. JK

Yup, last night it showed I had preference points and I could see my elk tag. This morning, it says I have no preference points and the tags section is inaccessible. Something is in the works!

Huachucas?

Oh no, not the hunters vs snipers topic...ugh. Let's talk about something a little less controversial like politics and/or religion!

^^^ yup, love my CZ 452. It is what I started both my boys on.

I have shot many whitetails with 180 gr bullets..shot placement is key. They do not expand nearly as much as smaller bullets unless they hit bone. I agree with less meat disturbance with the round. However, once I shoot up all the 180 gr bullets I have, I am switching to 165s for longer range shots. I hope to be hunting a lot of antelope, Mulies, etc. in Wyoming in the near future, and might need the extra distance I can squeeze out of the 165s.

That's what I don't agree with. If there's a gate and you don't want me on the road then lock the gate that's already their. With that said- I try to obey the road closures except the ones I just don't agree with. I believe the road closure excuse was to prevent further destruction of the habitat and yet they just graded a closed road. On the camping side of it I would probably follow the rules just because I don't want to spend all the time it takes to set up the wall tent to be told to take it down and move. Last archery season, we had just finished setting the tent up when forest service pulled in and pulled out her map and said good news, you're in a designated camping spot so I don't have to make you move. When did they start with designated camping spots? I thought that camping was allowed throughout the forest. It was motorized travel or parking within 30 feet of the road that was the issue. I think it is 300', not 30'.

I got hit...not to see what unit...hmmmm.

Setup is no problem, if you have a buddy who can help. We can setup the frame and canvas in less than 30 min, including staking it out as shown. Takedown is similar, if not a few minutes longer to roll the canvas right. Install of the stove is another 20 min or so. We use a canvas tarp for flooring to keep the dust down too. It also allows for an overlap of the ground skirt, which removes any drafts around the outside/bottom. If only my buddy can find a way to install a pee-tube so he doesn't have to get up in the middle of the night...I have an iron bladder, so he has to feed the stove.

Showing off my kill plus the sheds I found while packing it out...

Last season, a buddy and I had the late hunt in Unit 23. We stayed in a 14x16 canvas tent with a homemade wood stove (made from a 40 gal hot water tank). The key, we found, was to have a pot of water on the stove at all times. The humidity seemed to hold the heat much better than without. It would get so hot in the tent that you barely needed a sleeping bag. However, it was 8 degrees the coldest morning, with the high morning temp of 23 degrees. 8 degrees in a canvas tent was pretty cold. We stayed two weeks: one scouting, the other hunting. I made a homemade shower from a 5 gal bucket and 1" EMT conduit. My buddy laughed at me when I put it up. I told him to not knock it 'til he tried it. I took a shower every other day up there. Nothing like having a clean nether-region every couple of days. This year, I am modifying the thing to slide into the 2" receiver on my truck or quad and be a little more rigid. We simply warmed the water on a turkey-fryer stove. It's a little cold getting out of it, but well worth the effort.

Yup.

Didn't that dude Dianne Feinstein call it a "black, scary thing," or some such nonsense?!? Maybe it was after she "stuck her finger in a [bullet] hole to get a pulse" after one of her co-workers was shot in the 70s... Nice knife. I have one and one blade did quite a number on skinning/quartering my elk this past year. I like this knife way more than my Havalon.

Step one in the process of becoming an instructor: take the hunter education class. So, you need credit to get credit sort of thing. I did a bunch of research, and it is a five step process including taking the class, filling out some volunteer forms and DPS checks. There is an instructor class and you need to volunteer as helper during classroom and field day events. If you do well, and can get a Chief or Master instructor to endorse you, you can become a certified instructor and host your own trainings. It actually did not sound bad, just time consuming. My kids will be 13 before I could complete the process. Sorry boys, you'll have to stick to squirrels and birds 'til your thirteenth birthdays. Looks like I get to have the big game fun 'til then!

I do not think it is realistic for the state to make it easy for every single person, but it should create equal opportunities for youth to receive training across the state. I concur with Str8Shot -- most likely an oversight issue. I do not think the current system fosters an environment where the youth of today, in my area, can join the ranks of today's hunters because the state mandates a requirement that it cannot service. It "should" host more trainings to meet the demands across the state. It is unreasonable for families from Cochise County to have to travel to Havasu/Camp Verde/Prescott/et al to attend training (for both scheduling and financial reasons). If the state does not have enough volunteers to meet the demand its regulations created, it "should" provide paid employees to host trainings. Hypothetically: if all volunteers left the state, does that mean no one under 13 would ever be able to hunt big game? That is unreasonable on the part of the state. We need more youth afield. The state should provide more training opportunities to satisfy the demand its regulations created. I completely agree with the need for safety training. I work with several dads in the same position as me -- sons who want to hunt but cannot find training opportunities that would not create a significant financial/scheduling hardship. We are all trying to find a way to get our sons into the program, and all find the same obstacles -- mainly the lack of local training opportunities. It seems like the good-old-boy network is in play locally (within 2 hours or so) because as soon as a field training day in close proximity to us is announced, it is immediately full. We cannot reasonably do the online training as we are not guaranteed a spot in a field training day class, and the online certificate is only valid for 90 days. We risk having to continuously complete the online course every 90 days in hope of finding a field training day class we can attend. Once is acceptable and very manageable. More than once, per child, per family, is more difficult and bordering unrealistic. We have been toying with the idea of getting certified to teach the course with the intent of hosting 1-2 classes locally, to fill the immediate demand, then calling it quits. Once my sons attend and pass, I could not care less about the lack of training opportunities, I guess (I say this disingenuously).

I am in the same boat as Adam, with two eligible sons who both want to attend the classes. My question is, since it is mandatory to take and pass Hunter Ed (which I completely agree with), should G&F make it easier to attend these classes? I am not sure the online method is best for my kids. They learn MUCH better through personal interactions with professionals, not online. But, I cannot find a class close to me (Sierra Vista) for them to take. The closest was Thatcher, approximately 2.5 hours away. When the classes end at 9:30 pm (the posted time per the website), the boys aren't getting to bed until midnight. And they need to do this multiple nights per week. That is not an option for us as a family. As for the online method, there is still no guarantee of getting into a Field Day class, and you cannot even sign up for one until you have passed the online course and obtain your passing number...kind of the cart before the horse. I understand why they do this, but it makes it difficult to schedule. So my question: should G&F make it easier (I.e. more classes in more locations) to make it easier for families to attend and satisfy the requirement?

PM sent.

it's a town down in se az I thought? Right next to Paradise, right?!?