tjhunt2

OK, here it is! Since sheep is the only species left for me and I've put in the draw for over 30 years, so I say let's get it started but I have to be the only one putting in for a sheep tag.

Jason, Welcome to this site. There are alot of good experienced hunters on here that have a great deal of information that can help you. I wish you and Bowhunter12 good luck on your draws and with your hunts. Here's some advise from soon to be an old timer. START A HUNTING JOURNAL!

HOLY #$@&! That's a big fish. I have yet to catch a flathead but hear they are excellent eating. Sounds to me like you got yourself a honey hole. It's a good thing the kids didn't hook on to that one or you would have been holding on to their feet for sure.

Nice cam pics and good luck on your hunts this year.

Now you're talking. Get it done!

Thanks for sharing Lance. It's good to see ya teachin the little ones. Love the pics. TJ

Bowhunter, that was a great question that can be agrued for hours around a camp fire, "which one is better". I have been biting my lip to jump in here but was interested in seeing everyone's replies first. THEY'RE ALL GOOD! I was glad to see someone finally mentioned ladder stands. If not coming from RR I would have said I wrote that reply. I also use a DOUBLE BULL and enjoy the comfort it has to offer. My hunting partners and I still like to brush up around our ground blinds. It does get a little warm in August but those cold, windy, and rainy days make up for it. I have several tree stands, a climber, a ladder stand, along with my blind and have hundreds of hours experience, mostly awake. After all these years I favor the ground blind because of the bumps and bruises I've taken along the way. With the new Bass Pro Store opening soon, you'll have several stores to choice from, to actually set up and take down a blind. I have several friends who own the Ameristep Brickhouse and I have hunted out of them as well. Well worth the money but hard to set up and the windows have velcro which make them impossible to open, when game is near, due to the noise. The best scenerio I believe, if at all possible, would be to borrow from a friend before you purchase. I see you're 16 so you'll have plenty of years to experience them all and you'll end up with one of each before it's all over. Good luck on your hunts. TJ

Hey TJhunt2 You must be out of your pain meds cause you did not miss spell to many things. Nicely said. I wish I was off the meds but to tell you the truth my wife is my spell check and she gets tired of me asking her how to spell this and that. I can't figure out how to make the spell check work on here. I'm lucky to turn the computer on & off.

Amanda, thanks for sharing some of your awesome project work with my wife and I. That's great you have the chance and ability to do something you love. In the short time I have had the privilege of viewing your CWT.com I have come to really appreciate your dedication, determination, and commitment towards preserving our hunting heritage. Thanks Amanda!TJ

Bass, there's no doubt you will seal the deal and overcome your bad luck on these little critters. You seem to know their bedding ground and a pattern so it's just a matter of getting over that buck fever we all get. They can be tough for such little guys. Some say I'm nuts but I would trade 30lbs of elk meat for 15 lbs of pig any day. Your pictures were the closes thing I seen towards a pig the entire season. Thanks again for the pics and camera info.

Elkhunter, I shot one smaller than yours. I don't want to sound like I'm bregging and God forbid I take away from your story but It's a fact. I still get hate mail. I to this day don't know how some of my hunting partners can remember back that far but they always seem to know when to bring it up around a perfectly good camp fire. They seemed to have forgotten how good it tasted as I fed everyone that night. You can't eat the horns and that was a great shot you made at 280 plus. You've got to score it for the books.I hope the deductions don't put it in the minus category. Stay proud!

Bass, you made my day. Everyone who knows me knows I'm a pig man. I just love chasing them more than anything, REALLY. Hunting them are some of my funnier moments in live. If I had a choice of anything, other than a sheep tag, give me a pig tag. I never get tired of watching them. How was your camera set up in the bedding ground to capture the good pictures? I could smell them thru the computer. Mmmmmmmmmmmm Good!

Where were they made? I heard of a guy here in the valley who does a good job of creating antlers. Just kidding, they are some of the nices antlers I've seen. GOOD FIND!

If your battery is more of an issue than anything else then consider what Gamehauler has to say. I went with a cat. heater and found it cured my battery problem. The microwave won't run off the batteries so another genarator isn't the answer in my thinking but if you decide on that direction then really consider quiet. I'm one who hates to shell out the extra bucks but it's like binos, it's worth every penny. You can't put a price on quiet. Gamehauler's in the business and thanks to his advise my friends and I went with cat. heaters and have never looked back.

Doug, thanks for the tips. Everyone should print them out and put them away for future use. I have taken hundreds of photos over the years and take a lttle pride in getting someone a great picture but I have my share of not so good photos. The new digital cameras sure have improved everyones ability to view and retake. Most of my experience, with myself and watching others, is everyone seems to get in a hurry. How many times have you heard " we'll get pictures later". Most of my hunting partners can spend hours glassing and stalking to harvest an animal only to find the most difficult task of all is to move a few feet for me to take better pictures by saying " just take the dang picture". Thanks again for the reminder Doug. TJ

Them are some of the nices bucks I've seen. If I could only find something like that in the wild I'd be one happy camper. Thanks for sharing.

I second that! A good friend of mine took me there fishing about 6 years ago and it is a must see place. My wife enjoyed the museum and actually had Wink show us thru. No disrespect to Wink, she runs it, but I don't know her by anything else. It is a hidden diamond for sure. I have fished it several times and my buddy fishes a contest there every year between the locals from Showlow/Pinetop and those here in the valley. Catch and release only!

Coueser, we all have an opinion and thanks for sharing yours. Also, thanks for the wake-up call. I will do my best to loose some weight and tell all my obese Tom, Dick, and Harry friends to do the same.

You can buy a digital recorder from about $30 on up to $500! I use an Olympus WS-310 that cost me about $100. It will record up to 138 hrs. Do a Google search and also check out eBay and Amazon.com. Prior to going digital, I used a mini-cassette recorder for years. A recorder makes keeping notes on the details of a hunt or a photo expedition a snap, which is crucial to what I do. -TONY Thanks Tony with your info. I appreciate any idea especailly from experience. TJ

It's so easy but I still find it the hardest thing to do."JUST WRITE IT DOWN" Not only will this allow others to share in the hunt but will let you go back years fom now and refesh your memory of what might have been forgotten forever. Believe me when I say it will slip. It's part of life we have been handed. Run your own test on one of your kids and ask them about details of one of thier hunts that happened just a few years ago. What day was it? / What was the weather like? / The time of kill? / Who all participated. / What they wore? You get the idea. I recently found some notes from a late 70's deer hunt. It brought back happy memories that I had completely forgotten. Years from now when the old mounts have decayed, family and friends have left for happy hunting grounds, there will still be this precious little diary that will bring life back in our hearts through a hunter's eyes. "JUST WRITE IT DOWN!"

I might have the answer Mike. He might be thinking of the tree he's going to hang it in before the shot.

They claim the road closures benefit the wildlife and protecting the land for future generation. I agree to a point but once a road is closed they aren't going to open it later down the road for the next generation to enjoy. Not everyone is young and in shape to walk in to these areas. I would like to see more enforcement than closing an area that I can no longer get in to enjoy. I know areas that have been closed from the public because of fires. FS claims it needs to be protected from erosion but a few ranchers have keys and are still running cattle because they are receiving money for cattle lease. It's like the Game&Fish, IT'S ALL ABOUT THE MONEY! Don't get me wrong, I like them both, but they don't shoot from the hip. The one area I'm talking about has more damage from the cattle than I believe any human could have done. I usually don't discuss politics but this doesn't settle good with me.

Sounds like Bill is living a life most of us dream about but I'll bit you he has worked hard at what he has cause nothing comes easy. My wife and I will definitely look for "Memories From Greer" when we visit this year. Channel 3 News did a special on GOOD MORNING ARIZONA this morning. It is a must see place. Good luck on your trip to Namibia Bill.

Greer has been a special place for my wife and I for the past 6 years. We always stay at Hoyer and fish out of there to Big Lake, Reservation, Drift fence, sheep crossing, and the greer lakes as well. We usually go the last of May into June and love the walks out of camp. We always have some friends going along with their kids and I end up being the kid's guide everyday on the lake. Some catch their first fish on these trips and the camp fires can't be beat. A good time had by all. My best part is the fly fishing alone. That's my time to reflect on past and future hunts. If you never been there you are missing some of Arizona's most spectacular high country and wildlife. Shoulder surgery will keep us home this year but will try to make it up before the snow flies. If you get a chance check out the x-Diamond Ranch located half way to Springerville along the Little Colorado River. Fishing is great and there is a museum you most see. You won't be sorry you did.

Hey bass, thanks for sharing that with me. I don't know why I never thought of this before. I'm going to follow up on this one for sure.