trphyhntr

its getting so close I can almost smell the estrus. you boys seeing many deer in 1?

You're the guy with the tag - it only matters what YOU think. Lots of guys eat their tags after passing on small bulls and there's nothing wrong with that - that's how they want to spend their tag if they can't hang it on a 360+. I shot my first archery animal last year (a bull smaller than the raggie you posted above) and you couldn't get the smile off my face for... well, still can't. Before my hunt - even after scouting some real nice bulls, including a 7x8 that I got within 20 yards of during the hunt - I decided I just wanted to 'get on the board' and I would be fine with shooting a spike. When the hunt began and I was into big bulls my strategy changed. I passed on bulls bigger than the one I ended up shooting. I had opportunities at big bulls and messed a few of them up and sometimes just had some rotten luck. As the hunt progressed and the elk seemed to be feeling more pressure (so was I!) I ratcheted my expectations back down to any antlers. I was working a small 6 point with about 12 cows and he chased my raggie away from the girls, in the direction of my wind. I figured I would be happy with the first one to offer a shot. It wasn't the 6! Draw, aim... release. Next time I draw a tag, I'll look to improve on my technique and my bull. Good luck with your hunt! that's awesome bro, my first bull ever was a spike (late rifle hunt).

no i didnt, do you have a link to the story? edit: i found some old forum talk about it from other sites. well, i guess it just piss's me off to think i cant hunt down there due to illegal aliens and drug smugglers? i think you could could easily get in trouble down there. but i still go, its exciting. if i get killed maybe ill the one dead guy that makes them do something about how jacked up the border area is. also, if i was archery hunting down there id pack a side arm, i dont care if its not legal. i dont think law down there would either.

Oh ya I know what you mean. Last year, sat a nice water hole. Deer (does) coming in like crazy, coatimundi, but there was so much illegal activity on the top of the hill, could hear them talking the whole time. Checked google earth when I got home, ya I was about 3/4 of a mile into Mexico. There wasn't even a fence.

if it makes you happy then shoot that tastey thing. might make you real proud of yourself. my first bull was a spike on a late rifle hunt. with an archery tag though, id just eat the tag if that was the biggest one i saw personally. the kill isnt everything, its all about the hunt.

that i can see, its a different experience for sure. you got BP doing their thing, illegals doing their thing, and 800 hunters doing theirs. if i had my choice i would hunt down there without that going on but i think its fun in a way since not many people get to experience that kind of stuff while deer hunting lol. plus when i stumble on that 100 kilos of coca ill be the new walter white of mesa az lol.

you dont even consider score when they are that small. pretty much a raghorn

ya, I believe you can get better numbers with a shotgun but I just like shooting them with a rifle so that's typically what I use everytime. unless im really setting up for close quarters like mentioned

what it must feel like to be scared to hunt in your own state? wimps. and ask every person that you know that wont hunt down there, most have never even been there before. so how the heck can they even know what its like? i cant wait to get back down there, beautiful country. like i said in another thread, im far more comfortable in 36b than in the checkerboard of tweaker pads in 3b north. im pissed that i didnt get the 36b leftover tag this year, i got 36a. hoping theres illegal activity there too, its fun to glass them up.

im going to go, wont shoot kill as usual.

ya that is what its all about. glassing and anticipation of an opportunity. im going with 0 expectations, just going to hunt and have fun.

youre a stronger man than I. because i would have traded her in after that.

here is a 3b north archery goat. not huge obviously but any pronghorn with a bow is a trophy. i believe i harvested it 3rd day of the hunt. saw them in the same area they were the day before when i saw them moving to water. i set up a decoy between them and the water and i hid behind a cedar. sure enough they took the same route and he saw my decoy. was really cool, he dropped his head and ears and come trotting in like he was going to fight. shot him head on and it broke one leg, had to track him for 5 hours. got a wicked sun burn, but followed pin heads of blood till he finally laid up, had to finish him at close range.

Yes definitely watch out for meth houses and meth heads. I'd be well armed while up there scouting and hunting. Well now I'm nervous. I've been scouting 3 weekends since starting this topic. Seen some places I wanted to stay away from but nothing this bad. I always have my G20 on me but I would hate to feel like I needed to use it. Thanks for the heads up though. Saw 8 bucks last weekend, headed back up tomorrow after work. ya i dont know why people trip out about 36b and what not, felt way safer there than in parts of 3b north lol.

ya when i had the tag in there in 2003 there was a monster in there. i tried to hunt him but didnt do any good. i ended up with one that scored 72, basically across the street from thunder raceway.

never goat hunted it but when i lived in pinetop we would drive out there to shoot prairie dogs and call coyotes in and around that unit. in my experience theyre spread out all over in there. one of the biggest goats ive seen in my life was right off the 180 in the lowest, driest, most barren part of the whole unit outside of holbrook though.

got my bow stolen out of my house earlier this year. kicked in my front door when i was at work. probably the most pissed off and violated ive ever felt.

holy moly, is that thing from north or south of the big ditch?

got my house broken into earlier this year and my bow was stolen. being stolen from is the worst feeling in the world, want to hurt the person that did it but cant do a thing. sorry the loss of the keep sake guns. sick bastards, theyll get theirs one way or another.

50 cent dipping sauces and buying a $500 bow and be yelled at and thrown out of the store you bought it at are not the same. i was never obnoxious or did anything to provoke his reaction

how do you guys scout around in this heat?

ive been going there off and on for 20+ years, since i was probably 6 years old.

update: i talked to ed who i believe is the owner and he was cool and gave me a refund of my money. see this is the problem. people say to shop local, so i do and this is what happens. should have just gone to BPS or Cabelas I guess.

i was thinking the same thing after looking at the shop, and i had heard stories like youre saying. i guess im a glutton for punishment. i'll be calling hoyt monday for sure to let them know who they have representing them.

yes i belive so, he looked at the bow and it appeared that he didnt think it looked right, and that he would call hoyt. which is essentially all i was asking for at the beginning before tough guy started telling me what kind of person i was and to get out of the store. im telling you it was unbelievable. no apology from the owner, just said "he's having a bad day." it was pathetic. i cant believe this place is business. guess thats what i get for shopping local and not going to the big box stores. never again.