SunDevil

so is the verdict out on last years elk antler growth. it has been mentioned that winter rain is more important for elk than deer. so was last year better, worse or average. what could one look forward too this year if they were lucky enough to drawn an elk tag? CB

more than likely you will have to lower your tripod head when you move from your binos to an angled spotter.

one other thing to throw into the mix is that the 82ED Nikon has an eyepiece that goes up to 75X. I think the most the rest of the bigger scopes go up to is either 60X or 65X. On a scouting trip in the fall of 2005, I glassed up a buck that was a long way away. In the 15s, we could tell he was a buck but didnt think he was anything special. I threw the spotter up on him and zoomed it in at 75X. I was floored. Talk about being up close and personal. He looked like he was 25 yards away. We estimated the 3X4 buck to be between 100 and 105. We were glassing from a very distinct point and the buck was on a very distinct point, so when I got home I measured the distance on a topo map and was amazed to find we were 8/10ths of a mile from that buck. Bigger scopes are that, bigger, and heavier but they have their advantages. My pack probably weighs twice as much as what some guys carry around because of my scope, cameras, tripod, binos, etc but hey, I'm a big guy and it serves as a reminder as to my need to get into shape. Later. Chris.

I am not positive but I am pretty sure you could get into a Nikon 65 ED scope, eye piece, bracket and camera for under $1K. Their ED scopes are very good. I have the 82 ED and other than being pretty big and heavy I love it. You can get a Nikon P2 camera which is a very good camera for $150. The brackets are camera specific. I used straight eye pieces for years but have an angled one now and prefer it. Scout'm just bought a swaro scope and got the angled eyepiece as well. There are pictures in the photo section that I have taken with my 82 with the digiscope setup I described. Let me know if you have any other questions. Chris.

Does anyone have any experience with this call? I know Sportsmans Warehouse had them on sale last year around Thanksgiving right before Christmas and they sold out in a day. Thanks for any feedback. Chris. http://www.sportsmansguide.com/cb/cb.asp?a=331735

oh, one more, when it is twilight, dial the magnification down on your rifle scope, the image might not be as big but it is going to be a lot brighter and may actually help you distinguish between the big buck you are trying to shoot and the little one that is with him! Chris.

oh, also, when another hunter you know calls you in the middle of your hunt. CALL THEM BACK. they may have tagged out and know where a 97 incher is that has your name on it. happened this year - no lie. Chris.

a few things I learned: 1) always trust your gut instinct. one occasion last season I did and I was right. another occasion I did not and I should have. 2) do not leave camp without your spotter - you might need them to keep an eye on a couple of bucks while you are putting a stalk on. 3) do not let your buddies put in for 30A.

hopefully it is true (from a draw odds perspective). 40% is a big number though. unfortunately, if it is true, it will just mean less revenue for the department which will probably then put them in a hole. that will result in even more knuckleheaded ideas to increase revenue - OH - I mean OPPORTUNITY. sorry for the slipup there, dont know what I was thinking. lets see what kind of unbiased ( ) survey questions they can come up with for next time. I did talk to two residents yesterday that missed the elk/antelope app deadline and then one more today. the first two thought it was also for deer and were pleasantly suprised to find out it wasnt. later. CB

here are a couple of still pics of the wide buck taken from my video of him.

here is one i found a couple of years ago. CB

and here is a pic of the smaller twin. you cant really see it but he also had a small crab clawed 3rd on his right antler. later. CB

here is a pic of the bigger of the two twins. if you look close you can see his crab clawed 3rd on his right beam. CB

we went back and ranged these spots. the bigger buck was 850 yards away and the smaller buck was 500.

come on scout'm tell them the rest of the story! we called the first bucks the twins because they had very similar antler genetics. 2X3 with the 3rd on both being on the right antler and being very crab clawd. don't know if they were twins or just brothers. the one was bigger than the other so it is possible he was a year older. we found the bigger buck at 4:45. we left at 6:00 and he ate pretty much non stop the whole time we were there watching him and keeping an eye one him. as you can see he was very wide but he only lifted his head up in our direction a couple of times and unfortunately we were not able to get any pics. we do not know if he was recovering from the rut or if he knew a storm was rolling in. either way he was chowing hard core. I will probably have some video of him up next weekend because I am going to be out of town this week for work. later. CB

for video, I have a panasonic tape camcorder that I use through my Nikon spotting scope. the camera has a 30X optical zoom which is good if animals are close. Scout'm also recently found a doubler that gets attached externally to a camcorder and would make mine 60X. still need to try it out. I also use a Nikon digital camera that is attached to my Nikon spotting scope. This really is what you need to look into. There is an adaptor you can get for your swaro spotter. I think it allows you to attach most digital cameras. YoungHunter has one and posted a pic of the whole setup. If you get a 2gig card, you should be able to video about 12 minutes. I think you get about 3 minutes per 500K. To get the tape to photobucket, I use the software that came with my camcorder to download the footage to my computer. than it is just a matter of uploading it to photobucket. hope I was able to answer your questions. chris.

heading out again tomorrow for the weekend. hopefully we will find a big one for next year. chris.

http://forums.coueswhitetail.com/forums/in...amp;#entry55623

now that pic is HILARIOUS - laughed so hard I cried!!!

finally - a scouting trip pecary

first one - sunset over javelina camp (a little fuzzy - almost not enough light to capture the picture) second one - turkey camp snow - brrrrr

Thanks Amanda. I will remember that the next time I accidentally shoot a spike.

thanks for the edification. man that third buck sure has got a big ole fat neck - looks like something from saskatchewan. NICE. Thanks for posting. Chris.

here is the best pic of him facing us. chris.