Jimmer Negamanee

Gorgeous lake and hilarious picture! What great memories! Your post reminds me of the quote by author Madeleine L'Engle "The great thing about getting older is that you don't lose all the other ages you've been." Thanks for posting.

Thirds. If the sale falls through with original buyer and Antler Assassin doesn't buy it, I'll take it for your last asking price of $350.

Happy Thanksgiving! It's my favorite holiday. It makes us focus on what we have and be grateful for it instead of thinking about what we don't have and feeling bad about not having it. Thank you CWT.com for almost 12 years of advice, insight, stories, pictures, and laughs. Tempus fugit. And thank you to Amanda and the moderators for a great site and all your work keeping spammers at bay and keeping topics from going of the rhubarb when we passions flare and negativity slips in. (And Amanda, I ordered my second batch CWT.com calendars. They are big hit as Christmas presents. Darren is a great photographer.)

Lots of extras on the S7W M&P 22LR. Those won't last long. Thanks for posting the link and the CW hook up!

No deer for me in a border unit this year but found my smallest shed yet. (I'm also attaching a pic of several other finds along with the 1933 book The Log of an Arizona Trailblazer by John A. Rockfellow. It was cool to read an eye-witness account of Arizona's formative years with an emphasis on southern AZ.)

I'd hate for it to interfere with our hunt. Maybe can ask to continue the arraignment (or whatever they call it) for the reason that you'll be out of town on the date set (you don't have to say you'll be out hunting). If you do that though, just make sure you are at the new date set. Who knows, maybe the prosecutor has a diversion type program or they may offer to let you plead responsible to some civil violation and pay a fine.

Interesting. I always figured you couldn't put in for the same hunt for your first and second choice so thank you for the information. Is there any benefit to doing putting in for the one hunt for first and second choices versus just putting in for that hunt as your first choice?

^^^ Great footage trphyhntr! Thanks for posting.

Welcome! You're a great writer and we're always in need of a good story around here. Thanks for posting.

The picture proves the "Sulcata" guesses right. It's an African spurred (or spur-thighed) tortoise. The Latin name is Centrochelys sulcata, and it's often called a sulcata tortoise based on the species name. They can live to be 100. They are also notorious for burrowing deep and winding tunnels. They can tunnel out of fenced yards and jiggle gates until the gate pops open and then they make their rather slow-speed escape. They can be very sweet. I hope the owners are looking for him and I hope you find them! His home could be further away than you think. They make slow but steady progress when they decide to go on a walkabout.

Beautiful! I've been wondering how the monsoon was down there. Looks nice and green. Thank you for posting.

I can imagine the post-incident safety briefing. "Honey, if someone sneaks on to the farm and starts doing chores, don't shoot 'em till they finish!" Seriously though, I'm glad you're ok. You've got the story of a lifetime here.

Wow! Could be on a poster or elk calendar. Thanks for posting.

Great bucks! Thanks for posting.

I have a doubler for my old Swaro SLC 15s that came with the binos when I bought them 2nd (maybe 3rd) hand 15 years ago. So I'm talking about almost geriatric binoculars. (They were once top of the line, and are still pretty dang good though. I'm just saying that they're old.) Here's my experience. (And my eyeballs are over 50 years old too. So take that into account. Your mileage may vary.) I'd be glassing a extreme distance, and see that gray shape that looks like a bedded coues deer. I'd stare and stare until my eyes started playing tricks on me. Then I'd search through my pack, find the doubler, unscrew the occular eye-cup on the binos, and screw on the doubler. Then look again. Instead of being doubled, it looked like I increased the size of the image by like 5 or 10% while simultaneously degrading the image quality. So most of the time I wished I just stayed behind the 15s waiting for an ear flick or a head turn instead of wasting time attaching the doubler. BUT, there have been a couple of time where taking out the doubler has resulted in a quick "Nope. That's a stump." an I've found it helpful. I've not had the heart to sell my doubler but I don't pack it anymore either. If you have old swaros and want to borrow it, PM me.

I actually think it's close. My first response was bobcat. Not to be too equivocal but I'll call bobcat with 65% certainty. Both bobcats and lions can have those white facial markings. Also, it seems improbable to get multiple pics of a lion with out its long tail in the frame. If we had a sense of how far away it was, that would help but it's hard to get perspective from a photo. Finally, I'd bet there are more bobcats in that area than lions but guessing bobcat based on that would just be playing the odds. Any tracks? Any more pictures? Thanks for the interesting post.

Welcome! You'll learn a lot on here and a lot on your scouting trips. Good luck and let us know how the hunt goes!

Here's the website for the company makes the "Bino Bandit" ocular bino shade: https://alpineproducts.com/product/bino-bandit-glare-blocker/ They're also available via Amazon. I like mine enough that I bought some for gifts. (Made in USA too!) These Bino Bandits shut out the light very well. I still use a shemagh when the sun is burning hot or if it's cold but I use that in addition to these Bino Bandits.

Agreed. Like Vowell said, either are legal. But, to me, attaching to the antlers is more convenient and cleaner. And it keeps your proof that it was an "antlered deer" with all your tag info for easy inspection if a G&F Wildlife Manager wants to take a look-see. (Plus, if you bone out your deer on the mountain, you won't be packing out the gambrels, much less transporting them home.)

I hate thieves! Those are unique mounts. I hope you get your property back and find the perpetrators.

My prediction is that the average # of BPs required to draw the more desired rifle tags will go down because knowing that left-over tags are (or very soon will be) a thing of the past, many people will abandon the strategy of stockpiling BPs. The choice will no longer between the chance at a “premium” tag and an almost guaranteed leftover but, instead, a choice between the chance at a “premium” tag and not going rifle hunting at all. This may be truer for us older folks though. Now that I’m on the back nine of life, hunting now holds great allure. Waiting 8 years for a “trophy” hunt means I’m hunting with a body that’s 8 years older too. Mind you, I’m still in the fight and try to stay fit but, whether we realize it or not, we’re all fighting the indefensible assault of time. Carpe diem, and all that. Life's short. Hunt hard. Hunt now.

Did you put in for this hunt as one of your first 2 selections or the last 3?

I'm #28 for this hunt. But I made it my 2nd choice because I really wanted to get drawn this year and only had 2 bonus points. I probably would have been drawn if it was my 3rd, 4th, or 5th choice but I didn't want to trade a 100% of getting drawn for even a 90% chance. My brother made this hunt his 3rd choice with 0 BPs and he got skunked in the draw. I wonder if the lack of leftovers will change people's draw strategies going forward and if that will effect the bonus points required to draw various hunts. (Maybe decrease BPs required for the highly desired hunts and increase the BPs required for the less desired hunts? Not sure.) I remember when we could drive to the AZGFD office and buy an OTC tag for this hunt the week of the hunt. Those were the days...

Happy Independence Day! Sure, I’m posting this on the 2nd of July but July 2, 1776 was the day when the Second Continental Congress passed the resolution of independence which severed the legal ties between the U.S. and the monarchy of Great Britain. In fact, John Adams thought July 2nd would be the day recognized and celebrated as our Independence Day. The day we celebrate our independence, however, is the Fourth of July. As we all learned in school, that’s the day the Declaration of Independence was signed. Basically, the Declaration of Independence was a statement of the reasons why the Continental Congress passed the resolution of independence. (Because it was Congress, there was a fair amount of debate, negotiation, and compromise to reach the agreed upon verbiage so it took them a couple days.) The final product was almost poetic. We all remember this part: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” To those of you who have worn the uniform of our Country, I thank you for your service. For those of you how have stood up for human and civil rights in order to make “a more perfect Union”, I thank you for your service. To those who have served in the legislature or answered the call to jury service or willingly paid your taxes (notice I didn’t say “happily”), that’s also important service. Thank you too. I’m amazed that 243 years later, we’ve persisted with this crazy idea that “We, the People” can govern ourselves. One last interesting Founding Father fact. Thomas Jefferson and John Adams both signed the Declaration of Independence and both served as President and both died on the exact same day, the Fourth of July, 1826. Fifty years, to the day, from the day they signed the Declaration of Independence.

One hit for deer here in our house! Congrats to everyone who got hit and to those who didn't, there will be more hits early next week!