AZDirtyTaco

I would have a tuff time sleeping with my rifle alone in a bush somewhere. I figure my son will be my guide/mule soon enough and he needs one more year before I throw the rifle on his pack. He's right at his pack limit for the distance we'll need to cover. Gotta keep it painfully fun...

That's a nice piece! While it certainly would be nice to shed that 13 pounds, it's not necessarily the driver for my second guessing the plan. I'll actually be humping my lightest pack of this season. This hunt will be a little more on the casual side since I'll be bringing my 9yr old son in with me. He's turning into a great little glasser, but I'm not putting a ton of weight on pushing long hard days like I normally would if I were on my own. So my plan and thinking has been to spend some time doing a little still hunting for deer and then also some time sitting a few familiar spots to glass for bear.. thats cool your kid will have a blast, if you got a .223 take it and try to call in yotes and vamits also, your kid will love it breaking up the hunt like that. Thanks man! He's grown up a backpacker and is stoked that we will be hunting on top of it. We've always brought along a .22 over the years for small game. Heck... I started him off carrying a nerf gun in his pack when he was 3. It's just been these past 3 going on 4 years that we've been after anything more than rabbit, squirrel, etc...

I just needed that little extra push to make a decision. THANK YOU to each of you that took the time to reply!!! I owe several of you a huge show of appreciation for consistently sharing your hard earned knowledge with anyone searching. I've only been a member on here since last year, but have been lurking a couple of more, and since I first started this journey of hunting. I have a great deal of respect for each of you and treat your opinions like gold. I didn't grow up hunting and would not have advanced the hard learning curve to the point I have without the generosity of others sharing their knowledge. The learning never stops and I truly appreciate you all.

Mostly just inexperience honestly. This will be my 1st real (if only half) effort to fill a bear tag. I've done well in these first 2 season of archery getting good and close to a bunch of animals, but never yet a bear....

That's a nice piece! While it certainly would be nice to shed that 13 pounds, it's not necessarily the driver for my second guessing the plan. I'll actually be humping my lightest pack of this season. This hunt will be a little more on the casual side since I'll be bringing my 9yr old son in with me. He's turning into a great little glasser, but I'm not putting a ton of weight on pushing long hard days like I normally would if I were on my own. So my plan and thinking has been to spend some time doing a little still hunting for deer and then also some time sitting a few familiar spots to glass for bear.

Good call, and yes, the unit is still open. I figure my best chance will be a cross canyon shot and it is a smallerish sized canyon. Best guess at range will be 200-400yrds and I'm just not confident enough that I'll be able to put the stalk on a bear in that terrain, because it is steep stuff. I don't have the big pistol for that job in the tool box just yet. It is moving up the list though!

Word! Good luck All!!!

Really cool compilation of pictures and video! Oh... and crazy cool buck as well. :-)

Actually we were having a normal conversation. Which immediately ended by them declaring they were going "that way"... meaning where I was glassing. They immediately started walking and I was for lack of any other description dumb struck, watching them hike off. I think we all get your point and don't disagree with some aspects of what you're saying. Was there another way that those guys could have hiked that was within reason, say a 15-20min detour... that would have taken them around the hillside you were glassing? Realizing of course 'reasonable' is relative to each individual. But I wouldn't think twice about finding another relatively short route a bit out of my way and didn't take me through wicked scrub oak, wait-a-minute, or manzanita

Didn't they already make movie about that a few years back - in a strickly dude kinda way... Broke Back Mountain That's messed up. Don't make me self-conscious and feel like I need to delete/edit my post.

I was a backpacker long before I started hunting (4th season) and I used to nearly lose my cool and sometimes did, when hunters would block me from passing them on a trail. It didn't happen often, but those times still stand out to me. The culture hasn't changed for a percentage of hunters unfortunately. Boneheads assumed I was a hunter and just couldn't stand the thought that we were going to get 'their' animal. Just silly. More so now that I hunt even. What does it say about you as a hunter if you can't hack a couple people with the same interests as you, thinks the way you do, and enjoys the same country as you, from beating you to 'your' single spot? Fact of the matter; is that you BOTH actually have a lot in common and would very likely have a great conversation and have a wealth of knowledge to share with each other - IF you didn't let your ego get in the way, thereby turning you in to a 1st class, A1A butthead. I know a couple folks have pointed out that this thread is carrying on and is somewhat silly in nature. I agree. But there are few folks that could use the perspective and will maybe open to looking at things a little differently. If any of you see a lifted 2012 magnetic grey Tacoma with a Tule rack on top in your rear-view. Please let me through. Trust me. We're not going to be in the same spot unless you've got an overnight pack in your back seat. And if you do, we'll swap stories over whatever 80 proof liquid has made it into my Nalgene bottle. Meeting a fellow backpack hunter on the trail in or at the TH is the equivalent of the hunter's version of Match.com - in a strictly dude kinda way! lol

That shirt is money! Great story and thank you for sharing!

Man... that hurt my eyes to read. ;-)

This is funny! I normally dont let people pass either but I got passed on a dirt road this year that didnt turn out so good. I was on a really Rough and dusty road when I seen someone up ahead. I kept my distance from the truck ahead of me since it was a long rough road and the chances were we werent going to the same place. I look back and someone has caught up to me somehow and is riding my tailgate. I keep watching the truck tailgating me when he decides hes going to try and pass me. He hits the gas and starts to go around so I floored it and wouldnt let him back on the road. This dudes truck was bouncing like crazy, his truck bed cover went in the air, came down and smashed into pieces Landing in his bed. Then he threw a boulder that smashed my front bumper. I had my wifes dad along to experience his first hunt. (Not his tag) he started getting nervous so I backed down and let him on the road. He got to the truck ahead of us and did the same thing to him. Maybe some will think I was in the wrong. Maybe I shouldnt of got heated when he tried to pass but I think its pretty disrespectful to try and pass someone that isnt offering to let you pass. Not saying the op did anything wrong by passing since they waved you on. I actually am really loving this conversation we're all having, because it's speaking to our back country etiquette and how we are treating each other. These roads and these 'spots' our not ours to dictate and forcibly prevent others from treading on what we call ours - that is petty entitlement, and none of us should be thinking this way. I'm sorry to pick on you here man... but this is just flat wrong for you to do. It's a total jerk move to block someone that is traveling at faster pace than you because of your ego. I have grown up here in AZ and have been traveling the back roads since I was a kid. It's not the same anymore like most things in life, but why does it have to be for the worse? There are a lot of people now with this type of thinking and it sucks. I hope this thread will perhaps make at least 1 person be a little more courteous to one and other out there. There have been some awesome stories of outdoorsmanship, kinship, and unselfishness that have also been shared in this thread. Please continue to share them and perhaps those stories can lead to an improvement in some corners of our hunting culture.

Were you hunting along a hiking trail? I don't want to assume as much, but it sounds a lot like you were by your description. The other week there was a thread about a guy that parked his truck to block access on a FSR. I'm not seeing the difference between that situation and yours. Metaphorically, you're saying that it's your right to be the truck that prevents anyone from gaining deeper access. If that logic goes over with anyone here... how far do we take this entitlement to "our spots"??? If these guys were polite and considerate about how they proceeded though the area you were glassing, that's as much as you can ask, and as much as they should do. Sorry man... but thinking that you have the right to stop someone else from getting to their spot that is deeper in to an area is not cool in my opinion.

Man... I can't believe you shared this story. Kudo's to you for being able to reflect on that day as you have.

Great point!

I picked up the Vipers in August and am not happy with them. The area of focus is very narrow and they require a lot of adjusting while you glass. I'd ballpark and say that only 50% of the field of view is in focus and that's being kind. 1st time I've been disappointing in a Vortex product and I have roughly a dozen different optics of that line. I don't know what other products are like to look through in that price point, but the Vortex 15's don't cut it for me, and don't compare to any of the other Viper line products in my opinion. My only other experience looking through 15x56's was my buddies Swaro's and they were what you would expect them to be. Edge to edge of crystal clear. Phenomenal in comparison. For the 1st time, I felt like I was looking through something cheap and inferior in quality with my own 15's. They will be the only Vortex product that I can't wait to upgrade or unload.

Crazy cat people countered - sent!

Really cool buck! Congrats!

Helluva battle you had on your hands just to be out there hunting! I would have marked your 2017 hunt up as a success regardless of the outcome. Solo hunting is tough in the 1st place and even more so when faced with challenges. It's you and only you out there to work it all out. The reward is not equaled however, and even though I still do prefer to hunt with company, the personal satisfaction and true independence of doing it solo... is hard to top. Clearly, you worked your butt of for that deer and it paid off. Congrats man! And thank you for sharing a great story!

Nice work! Congrats on a great buck!

Very true and can't argue that sound logic a lick. Trouble for me would be; is that I would have already invested a REAL good chunk of time in to that location and am headed down that road for a good reason. This chucklehead had no right to dictate access and it is pretty darn unlikely I could walk away so easily, and just go look for a new spot to hunt. He was banking on people doing just exactly what you've suggested. I do admire your take on it and great job sharing added perspective.

Resurrecting the dead here... but am just getting in to my first season of hunting bear and am devouring the threads. This one was just too cool to not comment. Gotta say that this is one seriously rad community! For a a member to be able to post out of the blue and have help at a moments notice, from several people, is just incredible! Very very cool Gents!!!

I'm in the camp of - hook up tow strap > take a couple pics > engage 4L > place truck in D > drag douche truck 15 yards > take a couple more pics > be on my way with a phat grin and the sun shining on my face. I wouldn't miss a beat!