mr.smith

I'll be hunting New Mexico as well. Staying for the first week. Hopefully I can find some cooperative birds.

11M first hunt for the wife and I.

I can't believe it. My wife and I got drawn for elk again! We had early archery bull tags last year. Put the same choices this year and got the same result. Maybe we'll get lucky and an antelope charge will show up too. She has 16 points.

Hello everyone, well 36B hunters anyway. Just wanted to let you all know about a road closure on the Buenos Aires National Wildlife Refuge. We'll be doing road work on the Pronghorn Drive auto tour loop From December 2, 2019 to February 12, 2020. This will affect access to other parts of the refuge and the adjacent Forest Service lands. See the attached Public Notice for further details. This may affect December tag holders and javelina hunters. You'll still be able to get to most places, just have to take a less direct route. Sorry for the inconvenience. It will be a much better road when the project is done.

I tried to open the page on my laptop and it says I'm banned. I can login on my phone. I haven't actually posted anything in like 2 years so I don't think I ticked anybody off. Anybody else suddenly banned?

Seems like it's the IP associated with the tablet I use for a hotspot. I switched to a hotspot from my phone and now I can get on with the laptop. SO how do I get the tablet unbanned?

I don't think there's been 15 drawn tags between the wife and I yet. We're not very lucky in the draw... Well, maybe javelina tags...

But I came right back... And now live in coues central.

Does this meet your requirements for a post lancetkenyon?

I can't believe I didn't win. Sheesh, first the AZ draw and now the super raffle. Another big fat Not Drawn. Come on archery deer! I know I can get that tag

Post GPS coordinates on the internet with pictures of a big buck. He'll have all the company he can handle. You were not wrong to put a camera where there was not one. He was wrong for touching something that does not belong to him.

I'm on the Big Island. When I bought my licence I just went into the DLNR office and showed them my hunter ed card for the exemption. They did it right there. The license for a NR is $115 and that includes everything. It's $10 cheaper if you don't intend to hunt birds. You do not need to register your bow with the PD only firearms. The link to the regs has already been posted. Here is a link to the hunting page at DLNR: http://dlnr.hawaii.gov/recreation/hunting/mammal/ Most hunting areas are only open Saturday, Sunday and Holidays. Year round Bird hunting is Saturday, Sunday, and Holidays from the first weekend in November til MLK day. Spring turkey is the whole month of March. Let me know if you have any questions and I'll see if I can dig up an answer.

I own one of these and can attest to how sweet it is. The kick with the muzzle break is akin to a .243 and I'm not bs'ing, mine has a heavy varminter stock and good pad and my tiny wife shoots it with ease. The asking price is super fair too. The only place this rifle hurts is the sound(never shoot without hearing protection(no, really)) and the ammo. 30-378 will shoot absolutely flat to 300yds and with practice it will hit 1000+ consistently. Bump for a great rifle.

Are you coming up here or headed to the Whites? I've heard of more ducks over there but, I live in Flagstaff so I'll hunt around here. Just gotta find 'the' spot. Gonna scout a couple more places today.

I'll be out there. Haven't decide where yet. Despite all the rain a lot of the marshes are dry. Not sure where all that water went.

I was pretty stoked when AZGFD charged me for two elk and an antelope tag. When the official results came out I was glad to have drawn a tag but I had hoped that it was Felicia who had drawn it. I didn't get much of a chance to explore the unit early on after the draw results came out due to river trips and then Cuda's passing. I made several scouting trips in July and a couple in August. I had seen some good bucks and some serious beasties. Then the archery hunt happened and they knocked the heck out of them. Every big goat I had seen was dead. My later scouting trips revealed few bucks and fewer big bucks. I headed down to the unit two days before the hunt. Wednesday (9/10) I hiked in to the fain ranch from Sallie Jane rd. That morning I saw 6 bucks and 100+ does. One of those bucks was a stud. I knew if I wanted I could hunt him and have a really good chance. Wednesday afternoon Danny and David joined me and we glassed from camp off the 643 rd on the east side of the ranch. We saw several bucks and a couple really good ones. We also saw that most of them were really inconsistent in where they hung out. As of that evening the tentative plan was to walk in from camp to a tree out in the middle and wait/ take directions from my glassers in camp. Thursday morning (9/11) we glassed from camp early and saw most of the same bucks including the bigger one I had seen Wednesday morning. We discussed it and all figured the Fain ranch would be a total war zone zoo opening morning with trucks lining the boundaries and people walking in and shooting from all directions. I was a bit nervous about sitting in the middle of the fray. Danny wanted to go get some breakfast so we decided to go explore more of the unit and to see if there was something we were missing or if we could find a buck in a place that wasn't going to be a war zone opening morning. We first went and looked at the Deep Well ranch and only saw one buck that was way out there. We couldn't get a real good look at him and we moved on. As we were entering Chino Valley we saw some antelope on the side of the road and stopped to check them out. These were town goats and in the wrong unit so naturally it was a giant buck with 5 satellite bucks 3 of which were also big. Conveniently we saw them right across from a breakfast joint so we ate and discussed where to look next. From there we headed in on the Perkinsville rd, checked out the area northeast of the Haystack subdivision and then took the 318a rd through the Perkins ranch. At one point we stopped to look at some antelope and Danny noticed that they were on a state trust land inholding and suggested that they were legal to shoot if they were there during the hunt. We debated this a bit so I called the game warden and was told that if it is public land with a public rd touching it I could hunt it regardless of it being inside a private ranch. But, if I got there on a private rd it was not legal. The 318A is a public rd so Danny was right and if that buck was there during the hunt would be legal. Good to know. From there we went to the power station and didn't see anything back there. Next we headed south and while looking for a way back to the highway we saw a single lone buck in the middle of a field surrounded by development/private property. But, the buck was on public land. It was just big enough a piece of land that one could get far enough from houses/structures to legally shoot. We watched him for a bit and he seemed pretty unconcerned. He looked pretty good out there but we didn't get out the spotting scopes to see how big or pretty he really was. We just saw that he looked somewhat tall. We saw a couple other vehicles moving in there area and we didn't want to draw attention to him so we left. Back at camp we glassed Fain some more and had lunch. Around 5:45 Danny and I headed back to the buck to see if he was still there and if it would be a good plan for opening morning. He was there but now he was a mile and a half out and we couldn't get a great look. We were sure he'd be in the area in the morning and decided to try for him. We still really had no idea how big he was, just that he was a pretty buck and looked to be tall. I'd pretty much decided that if the buck was there in the morning I was going to shoot him. We had found him, relocated him and bedded him. If we found him in the morning and got him it would be a text book hunt. And I do love it when a plan comes together. Plus it seemed nobody knew he was there and we wouldn't have any competition. Opening morning. We get up at 3:00am get ready and head over to the meadow where the buck was. I hike in from the northwest corner of the prairie and Felicia, Danny, and David drive over to the opposite corner. I hiked in to the middle of the mile+ square prairie and sit down. Glassing around I can't find the buck. I saw three coyotes and a fox. Around 5:45 right at gray light a pickup truck drives the rd that borders the prairie drives past our trucks and turns up a road that cuts right through the prairie. We are thinking this spot is a bust and the buck is gone. Around 6:15 Danny texts me that he has found the buck on private land to the south. I figure the hunt in this spot is done and hike out of the meadow. As soon as I get to the road Danny texts me that the buck is moving towards the meadow and was about to cross the fence on to public land, headed right for where I came from. At that point I was standing right next to a house. I boogied back out into the meadow using terrain to hide from the buck periodically turning and ranging the houses to make sure I was outside the legally required quarter mile. Right at 420 yds from the house I see the buck and he sees me. I drop down and start crawling to make the rest of the distance away from the houses. I turn and range the house and am now 450yds. Now I'm legal. I find the buck and try to get a range on him. 356 yds. I get prone and the grass is too tall. I crawl to try and find a spot that I can see the buck over the grass and he keeps moving. He is just circling me at that 350-ish yards range. I sit up to range him again and he takes off running. I keep crawling looking for a spot to shoot from finally I get to a spot where the grass is low and the buck has moved far enough to the north that I am no longer looking into the sun. I range him again and he is still in that 350 range. He moves a little more and I range him at 365 yards. I get behind the gun and set up for the shot. The buck moves a little more to the left. I adjust and reset. The buck seems to relax and starts feeding so I take my time. I aim for his shoulder assuming the 365 yard range. He disappears at the shot. Then I see him flailing. I stand up and rerange him he is now at 350. He must have fed towards me. I put another shot in him and he is done. The first shot hit high and hit his spine, that is why he dropped immediately. It was 6:45am. As I walk up on him I see he is a little smaller than I expected, "ground shrinkage", but he is pretty. To be disappointed would dishonor the animal so I appreciate what he is instead of what he is not. He has good length and a nice curl. He has scars all over his neck and throat as well as his rump. Clear signs that he was taken down by a lion and in it's death grip but somehow got loose. It seems the lion grabbed his neck just a little too outside and didn't get his throat, Maybe the lion tried to adjust his grip and the antelope got away? Regardless, he is mine now. Everybody hikes out to the kill site and we take some pictures. I gutted him on site and we dragged him the 1/3rd of a mile to the road. Brent showed up right after I shot and helped drag him out. Right as we are getting to the Jeep I step by a cactus and right over a snake. I shout out watch out there's a snake but we are all moving so quick that me, Felicia and Copper step right over the snake. I go back to see what we just stepped over and it was two prairie rattlers who were still cold from the morning dew. One starts to rattle and moves off an the other just slithers away. That was lucky that none of us, especially our new pup, got bit. Thank goodness it was still really cool and they were lethargic. We took the buck back to camp to cut it up. We wanted it whole so George could see it and get some pictures. There are mixed feeling about killing an animal so early on opening day. Your hunt is over and some would say you didn't fully experience it or get to enjoy it. Others will be disappointed that you shot a "small" buck on opening day when you could have held out and maybe shot a bigger one. I figure my scouting is part of the hunt. The two days of scouting right before the opening is part of the hunt. Hanging out with good friends is part of the hunt. Making a plan and following through to success is part of the hunt. I feel like I hunted this buck and I was able to include my friends and wife in the process. A lot of antelope are simple shot from the side of the road or guys hike in and go solo only involving others for the pack out if at all. For me, opening day, albeit short, had highs, lows, uncertainty, and success. I consider this a very successful hunt and I enjoyed it. That is what is important to me. I earned it. Edit:Clarification on characters. I wrote this story for my friends and family on Facebook but decided to share it here. Danny is Danny Martinez, David is his brother, Brent posts here as BrentP. Felicia is my wife. Cuda is our old dog who we lost to cancer mid-July. Copper is our new pup we got last week. George is George Cordova, Felicia's uncle.

Thanks all! I know it was a long read. It was fun. I just hope I don't have to wait 10 more years to do it again.

Great buck! Congrats!

From my observations and experience the elk rut in the meadows/flats/parks at night, evening and early morning then move into the canyons or up the hills to bed. At some point they'll go get water. After the major talking is done you can still get a bull to bugle from his bed if the rut is going strong. I was on a rut muzzy hunt two years ago with a friend. At first light we called in a broke up bull and his cows and passed. We followed them up a hill to a ridge top. Sat down and had a snack and after things had been quiet for 1/2 an hour I let out a bugle and got 5 different responses. The unit/terrain we were in allowed us to glass up these bedded bulls and watch their behavior. We found the one we wanted and moved to a small canyon edge about 800yds away from him. By this time the bull was up and working a cow, lifting her backside with his nose and pushing her hard. I started cow calling and this bull came running. He hung up about 250yds across a small canyon lost interest and went straight back to that cow. We moved across the canyon to where the bull had hung up and glassed him up again. This time he saw us so we just melted back into the trees and glassed him through a juniper. Soon he bedded down and took a nap. We did the same. Sat on him for 2 hours til he stood up. When he did I called once and he bugled. I then set up the decoy and my buddy moved a little down hill towards where the bull would be coming from. I started to cow call and his response was immediate. Soon all of his cows started talking to me too so I switched tactics and called them in. I reeled the whole herd in and when my buddy shot the bull at 200yds there was a cow less than 10yds from us. It was about 1pm. I tell you this story to give you an idea of elk behavior. Just because the majority of the talking has ceased doesn't necessarily mean the activity has. DO TAKE A NAP. The last archery elk hunt I helped on we walked over 130 miles over the course of the hunt chasing bugles. If you dont rest you will burn out. Or you could get lucky and arrow a bull right away but you never know. Good luck!

What a stud buck! Congrats! Getting pretty stoked for my hunt. Starts on Friday!

Awesome! Congrats to the young lady!

What a freak buck! Congrats!

sold out

Well it looks like there are a couple bucks left. I didn't see any real big ones but I found one that has the look I want just not real tall hopefully he makes it a coupe more days. Saw a couple bruisers on the private ranches and there were a mess of goats between Roberts and Fain, so, most of the ones I saw were where I can't hunt them.... One more scouting trip next weekend and then I head down for the hunt a couple days before opening day. Hopefully I can find a big one that has eluded the 75 hunters that have already been through there. Good luck to anyone who is still holding a tag.

Good luck to your daughter. I hope she finds one she likes.