mattys281

Rain gear & bivy. Got the cabelas ultra-light rain gear that stuffs into its own pocket. Check!

The draw gods did not smile on my bull elk application, hence firming my California plans. Figured I'd share all the info I've got so far for those of you who expressed interest: Ca non-res license: $134.95 Deer tag(s): $228.65 (allowed 2) Bear tag(s): $229.50 Season opens Aug 16, 2008 which is a Saturday. I'm leaving on Thursday morning & planning on driving straight through to reach the Trinity alps sometime that night or early the next morning. Friday is for hiking in during the morning & starting to glass in the evening. The following Saturday (8/23) I'm hiking out & aiming to be home sometime Sunday night. If any of you guys are still interested, I'd love to have someone to split gas with, especially considering what it's going for in Ca. these days. OUCH! Matt S.

Cool. I'm sure I'll be able to recognize you by the P&Y monster you'll be dragging down the mountain.

I initially thought there were quite a few, but after all the miles my bro and I covered last weekend, I'm thinking there are just a few small herds here and there. They do some serious damage tearing up bushes and cactus....actually ripping brush and cactus out of the ground! One thing I did notice is that on old sites were they had tore up the ground, the grass was taller, greener and more lush........so maybe they aren't that bad? I still plan on smokin' one o' them darn critters though I don't really know that much about them. From what I've read, they're extremely hard on habitat & put heavy competitive pressure on indeginous species. Our deer herd's got enough trouble w/ constant drought, mountain lions & coyotes, so better safe than sorry. Fire 'em up.

Most of Californias units are first-come basis. I believe you have to draw for the X-zones though. I spoke to their G&F earlier today & the lady said that it wasn't an issue in the B-zones, as they always have left-overs. Matt S.

That's awful, but just imagine all the dried up little old ladies with tatoos who are going to be around in 35-40 years. Yuck! You hit it right on the head! What will be really funny is seeing those wrinkled old petunias with everything else sagging but the implants! KP I always thought the same thing! W/ all the botox, implants, lypo, etc. we're soon going to live in a population of gorgeous people that somehow still manage to have ugly kids! No matter what you do, can't change genetics. At least not yet.....

All of the above, but not for sale. Sorry kid. I could use a grain scale & a chronograph, if reasonably priced. Also, tooling for a Hardinge chucker if there's any machinists on here who feel that their tool boxes are too heavy. Matt S.

Knew there had to be something fishy going on. My application was flawless this year. The 't's crossed precisely, each 'i' dotted meticulously. How could it not get drawn?! This explains it.

Is there a fair population of them or is it just one or two rogue herds out there? I don't think our game animals need a habitat destroying competitor like that running around.... Get out there & shoot 'em up!

I heard they had some new treatment that was just one shot. Not sure on that, though. I saw it on the news. They said that the lion tried to bite the kid, but his teeth were so worn & he was in such poor shape that the kid didn't receive one puncture wound, just the scratches. I'm no lion expert, but it looked like a pretty ragged specimen to me. Matt S.

I would like to see some sort of constitutional amendment that garaunteed the anti's can't pass laws that eliminate our privilege to hunt like they have w/ the mountain lions in Ca. & the bear baiting in numerous states, but at the same time the law has to stipulate that the herds be managed by wildlife & conservation professionals, not a bunch of political a-holes who've never held a fishing pole. I'd vote this down for that reason alone. Matt S.

You can find the guy who makes them on archerytalk.com I believe his username is bucknasty, do a search & you should find him. Thor: Is your Dad noticing a lot of vibration in the handle? The only two things I can think of that would be destroying strings like that is if he is a.) shooting a way too-light arrow & hence is not transfering enough energy to the arrow. The left over energy has to go somewhere & it's going to go into the bow. b.) There may be a damaged component that is abusing the string. Could be anything from a cracked limb, cracked riser, bent cam axle, etc. I'd return it & get a new one if he's shooting over 5 grains per pound of draw weight & still having that trouble. Matt S.

Congrats! Guess you did your part to raise that, "dismally low success rate". Matt S.

Congrats to your son & yourself. Gettin 'em started young - good job! Matt S.

p.s. I looked at those trophy photos from the link in your signature. You've bagged some brutes, congrats. The muley I got this year was my first deer w/ my bow, but it set me on a mission to also get a deer slam.

Still high on my rush of January success, I can't stand the idea of not bowhunting deer for a whole year, so I'm ready to drive. I put in for the bull elk draw here in Az, but knowing what those odds are, I'm already researching the back-up plan, which is a backcountry combo for blacktails & black bears in northern Cali. I've narrowed my prospective areas down to either the Trinity Alps WA or the Yolla Bolly. Both are known to produce trophy BTs & hold almost as many bruins as deer. The deer tags are first-come-first-serve and usually become available in June or July. Bag limit is two bucks. Not sure if you have to draw a bear tag, but I believe it is otc & first-come as well. Anyhow, I'm looking to carpool if someone is interested. Even if you don't want to pack in, I could use some one to share the drive & gas cost. The Oregon Border is quite a haul from here afterall. This is not something I'm considering, it's something that will happen, so please don't get my hopes up if its just a pipe-dream on your end. I'll be buying my CA license early as I'm hog hunting over there in Mar, but will be buying the deer tag as soon as it becomes available. The CA G&F dept told me to check back with them in May & they'd be able to tell me when the tags will be released (spoke to them yesterday). I would like anyone who agrees to go to pony up & buy their license early also as a sign of good faith. Non-res license in Ca is about $150. Thanks. Matt S. Here's the Trinity Alps:

Thanks for the advice Ed, it's really appreciated. I'm going to look into getting a light-weight climbing stand. AFter meeting you & Kirk, I'm re-evaluating some of my stereo-type views on Californians. Just kiddin, I'm from there myself. Grew up in the El Cajon / Santee area.

How deep is deep? Are week talkin the 10-15 mile range, or further? The Trinities are awful big, but escaping hunters is almost as important as finding deer to me. Almost.

Big congrats, that thing is a brute! Matt S.

Yeah. He's a pig-killing machine. Kirk, show off a little. Lets see the pic! I have it, but don't want to post w/out permission.

I've seen to many of you photos to fall for that one! The opener in Aug it is. I'm so fricking pumped up for this hunt that I'm actually going to be disappointed if I draw my bull tag. I'm sure that disappointment will fade a little once I hear the first bugle, but you get the point . I decided that I'm headin to Ca, regardless of the draw here. If I get an elk tag, I go to Ca for one week. No elk tag, I go to Ca for two weeks, as initially planned. Either way, it's a win/win from my point of view. Already got my Ca license. August can't get here soon enough!

elk: 1st: 27 archery bull 2nd: 1 archery bull 3rd: 7w archery bull No speed-goat. You guys can have 'em.

This is a mentallity that I'll never understand. Arizona consistently has the lowest success rate nationwide for archery deerhunters, yet they continue to try to limit the tools that can be used. I know that this issue pertains to all hunters, not just archers, but I don't personally know too many rifle hunters that sit on bait. In fact, all of the baiters I know are archers.

That's a cool looking sight. I might have to get one of those too. Let the 100yd smack talk begin!

I got a coule trail cam pics of one last year & we (the GF & I) glassed up our first one in the first week of Jan in 24B. It was about 800 yards out, but was still awesome to see one in the wild. I know exactly what you mean!