mattys281

And as a side note, I've been hunting right in the heart of one of the white mountain packs' home territory for about ten years now. Only seen them once. The notion of wolf safaris, photographers 'patterning' them, campers coming to hear them ho at night etc. is stupid. Wolves aren't rabbits, they don't hang out in the same 10 acre meadow night after night. They have huge ranges and will never be seen or heard by the people that love them so much. We also talked to a couple of g&f biologists on our last scouting trip that were trying to trap them to collar some of the cubs. After four or five days of running a baited trap line they still had not caught a single wolf. But yeah, I guess campers and hippie hikers are going to hear/see them every weekend and spend all kinds of money to come back to the area.... I do have to say that in spite of the wolves the deer and elk herds look really good over there. When I talked to the biologist he also said the coues and elk were doing great and the mulies were holding steady. This is attributed to the wallow fire clearing so much timber and creating great feed, not to the wolves.

Spoke to a gentleman this last weekend over in the white mountains who claims his friend, who is a rancher, had lost seventeen head of cattle last year to the wolves. The wolf people who are supposed to reimburse them have only paid for seven, claiming the other kills could not be confirmed as being from wolves. Apparently this is a common problem for people in the area, or so I was told.

I don't have much experience hunting elk early or late, but..... I do know about hunting in the cold. I almost fell out of a tree in Nebraska a couple years ago because my hands got so dang cold I couldn't feel them well enough to grip the ladder. Bring the chemical hand warmers and a hand muff, good gloves, warmest socks you can find, quality boots, etc. The same problem could just as well effect your feet. Bring/do whatever you have to to stay warm! Whether can change fast, and you don't want anything chasing you back to camp to warm up.

If my arms were 48" long, it still wouldn't be enough to make them look big! Gonna taste good though.

I did one of those kinda "hunts" on the big horn canyon ranch in Cali many years ago. It was fun! The comparison to hunting, I would say is like comparing a day a the batting cages to an actual baseball game. It's definitely not the same as chasing wild animals on public land, but it's still fun and the meat was really good too.

Truly amazing buck. Congrats!

Congrats to him. Very cool!

Amazing animal! Congrats to him.

Awesome buck! Congrats! Man you know how to get it done.

11 yards! You are the man!

No tag for me but I've been fortunate enough to be able to get out on three scouting trips for deer over in the alpine area which is pretty much unheard of in my life for the past several years. Spent some great time with my 16 yo daughter and my good hunting buddy so it's already been a great year for me. We've seen some great bulls and lots of them over there. I think you guys with eastern unit tags are in for a good year. Good luck tag holders!

Congrats on an awesome buck!

Dang sneaker! Awesome buck! Seems like every year I'm saying that to you... nice work!

I love getting cat pics. I've only seen maybe three or four in person, so it's just kind of cool knowing the mysterious buggers are around.

Just keep in mind when blind/treestand hunting it's not at all uncommon to have a really slow day or two. You have to give a spot at least 3 full days. Minimum. Something with antlers will amble by. Longest I've had to sit before killing something is four days so far. I know some people that have gone longer, but they were waiting for something special and kept letting little ones walk.

It's amazing how just getting a little ways off the ground totally changes your perspective and more than doubles the amount of ground you can cover with the bow. We're going to have a good august, but I keep finding myself already daydreaming about January! I have two hunts between now and then.... just love that time of year I guess.

Nice! Too bad I don't have as many Pine trees to put stands in. I am making some climbing sticks for myself! I do have a couple mountain ranges close enough to place them once i get a spot established! 20689818_872723269560371_2102819789408962041_o.jpg My hunting partner and I were out a couple months ago poking around in our winter area looking for shed and setting up some cameras and I got to looking at a couple of big junipers in a couple spots I usually hunt off the ground. The dang things are big enough to put a fixed position stand in. You can only get 5-8 feet off the ground but there is plenty of cover to conceal you and enough branches you don't even need a ladder. I'm gonna give it a try this January.

Treestands. We have a couple decent ones poking around....

I had to buy a new vehicle a few months ago after I was tee-boned on the way to work and they totaled out my jeep, so I ended up buying a Ram 1500 express, crew cab 4x4. I know it's not the big tough thing like the power wagon, but it has the 5.7 hemi, an 8-speed tranny, and a 10,400 pound towing capacity and that thing will fly up the hill to payson like a frickin rocket. I've been to Alpine & back 4 times with it so far this summer, averages 22mpg roung trip. As strong as my 5.7 is, that 6.2 has to be an absolute beast. Those big shiny ones with the offroad packages were awful tempting, but I just couldn't stomach paying an extra $25k. I put a leveling kit and some 34's on the 1500, it'll go wherever I need it to go.

I know exactly where you are: someplace I wish I was right now!

Awesome buck an great addition to your collection. Congrats.

Man you sure get some good shots. Thanks for sharing

Wow looks like a great season in front of you! Good luck and thanks for sharing

Getting some pretty good bulls on camera this summer, including a 6x8. Good luck to you tag holders!

I knew I had an 8x on camera. Different bull with a couple little extras. Haven't got a more recent look at this guy yet, but maybe he'll turn up again before the summer is over.