Heat

I'll be headed to the Kaibab this time next week. I'll let all you yahoos clear out first! J/K, I've got a banquet to attend tomorrow night and a dentist appointment on Monday morning. Good Luck everybody! Nick

Although I'm not sure it ever got it's official treatment in the Rules or ever got changed in the regs, you are allowed to carry a defensive handgun while archery hunting in AZ. The Department issued an Enforcement Directive at the Casa Grande Commission meeting about 3 years ago, stating such. Again, if you are so inclined, you can go back to Commission Meeting minutes and get the word for word, but the bottom line is I personally guarantee that no Game and Fish Officer in this state is going to cite you for carrying a defensive piece while you're archery hunting. Good Luck, Nick

Hey Jake, Do you have anybody around to watch you shoot. Could be a form issue, but my opinion is that Kent is on to something. You haven't told us what your Draw Length is, or how many pounds you are shooting, but did tell us you're using the 5575 gold tips. My opinion is that you could be underspined. I shoot about 66 lbs with 28 inch arrows, and when I shot gold tip I used the 7595's. With draw forces from the cams these days, and release aids, I think it's pretty hard to be overspined. If you're on the edge of the two arrow sizes, my advice is to always err on the heavy side, not the light side. Try shooting one of your buddies arrows if they have something heavier, or turn your bow's draw weight down and see if that helps. It takes a lot of patience to get things right with archery. It's not a quick fix, instant gratification type of deal. I've been at it for 20 years and I learn new stuff constantly. Keep your head up and you'll figure it out. PS - I'm local so if you ever want to get together and shoot I'm game...shoot me a PM. Nick

I can't wait to watch these fights! I really think it depends on which Frank Mir shows up. Is it going to be the one that out boxed Nogiera and really made him look bad, the Mir that snapped Sylvia's arm, or the fat POS head case that tried to comeback after his motorcycle accident. There's no doubt Frank Mir has way more technical skill than Brock. I also think he's a much more intelligent fighter. Finally, he already knows that Brock can be beat, cause he about broke the big boys leg once already. I love how Lesnar whined about Mazzagatti not stopping it fast enough last time. What a big ol baby huey wuss! If Frank tries to stand with him, it's going to be over quick in the first round with a Lesnar KO, but if it goes to the later rounds and a fair amount of it is fought on the ground, I'll give it to Mir. My prediction: Mir in 4 by TKO. Not a huge fan of the French Canadian, but he has certainly earned my respect with his wins over BJ Penn, Matt Hughes, etc. I think Alves is going to have the fight of his life on his hands and he better be ready! My prediction: GSP in 2 with a KO! Dan Henderson is going to destroy Bisbing! at least I hope so! I hate that arrogant Brit!

Try a Bucknasty. A bit of a wait, but an excellent product and service. http://www.odproshops.com/bucknasty.htm Nick

Adam Congratulations on sticking with it and finding your deer! That is dedication my friend and something you should be proud of. I'm not going to comment on your original shot. I think there are plenty of comments already and I'm sure you beat yourself up enough between the time you first shot him and the time you finally put your tag on him. One thing I will comment on, is the choice of broadheads. I honestly believe that a COC fixed blade broadhead is the best choice. I personally like the 3 blade design of the Snuffer SS. The Montec and Hellrazor are also very similar style broadheads. They are extremely tough, shoot very well out of well tuned gear, and when razor sharp will cut plenty. That is a great buck man, enjoy! Nick

Congratulations on a great looking deer Matt! Too bad we don't have a Coues contest for the Club. There were at least 3 really nice ones killed by Club members. I think yours would have won if we did! Sound like you all had a great time up there. Oh and Awesome photos Amanda! Nick

Right on Kenny!

Sweet! Thanks Man!

I would love to see a pic of a 09 Dream Season GX in Digital Camo. Better yet I would love to shoot one and see how it feels. I'm afraid to do that though, because I'd probably want to buy one! Can anyone give us a real life price on one of these? Nice looking bow with the black with camo limbs! Nick

Right on man! That's a really nice bull. Congratulations. Nick

I'll probably take a beating for this, but here goes: I think a guy who scouted, hunted, and harvested a spike or a cow on his own, deserves much more accolades than the person who shot this bull. If a kid out hunting with grandpa for the first time killed this bull, I would be wildly ecstatic. If Dan Sozzi would have killed this bull, I would have been on cloud 9. In this situation, I'm kinda bummed out. Think about it, would you use the story of this kill as an example of anything in a Hunter Ed Class? Is this a story you will tell your kids? How about trying to justify all of this to someone who doesn't hunt? In the end, it's all about antlers, and not about the pursuit in this situation, bottom line. When situations like this happen it brings our passion further away from our heritage as hunters and outdoorsmen and makes it much more about commerce. That makes me sick. In this situation the bull was the underdog. I like to root for the underdog. I would have loved to see this bull show Mr. Fatwallet who was boss, and send him packing back to where ever he came from with nothing but a bunch of receipts from "Team Mossback". Oh yeah, and if you have to hire "Team" anyone to get it done, I think you've lost sight of what the heck we're doing in the woods in the first place. Dont' get me wrong, the use of a guide or outfitter has it's place, but I'm of the opinion that this was a bit over the top. Just my $.02, Nick

Only two things a plumber really has to remember: 1. Crap rolls downhill. 2. Don't chew your fingernails after work.

That's an awesome looking bull with lots of character. I see it the same as RR. If I had to guess at score I'd say about 330. Nick

Another vote for the Magnus Stingers! Those broadheads can be easily resharpened, are tough as heck, shoot right with field points, penetrate like nobody's business, and best of all LIFETIME GUARANTEE! Nick

Been lurking here for way too long! Figured now is as good as any time to register and post! Anyways, I was up on the Kaibab during the Labor Day weekend. Let me start by saying that I'm used to hunting in the desert for deer, so this experience was a new one for me. I had never been there and didn't do the scouting like I should have, but with the price of gas and about 500 miles to get there, I couldn't. I saw very few bucks. The ones I did see were while driving the roads from camp to the area I wanted to hunt. It was extremely thick vegetation where I was hunting and I'm almost positive that I was moving the deer before I could even see them. With all the talk about competition for waterholes up there, I chose to ignore them for the most part and tried to still hunt on the tops of ridges with good forage. That turned out to be very unsuccessful for me. I didn't see any bucks while I was out walking. I walked up on one doe practically back at the truck one evening. This was by far the most humbling experience I've had while hunting. I've never gone deer or elk hunting and not seen anything out walking until this trip. I'm not sure if that was due to being there after the opener, with all the tourists, because it was too thick, or because I am a poor woodsman. I don't think my woodsmanship skills are that bad, after all I have done pretty well on elk hunts over the years, always seeing elk and deer when I go out. Next year I will put in there again for sure. I will go about things a bit different next time. First off, I'm going to scout next year for sure. Also, I'm going to try as hard as I can to find a water source that is not getting any competition from hunters, but still being used by deer and hang my treestand. I'm also going to try a couple of other things to try to attact some deer. Finally, I am going to get some more pointers from experienced and successful hunters on the Kaibab. I don't want anyones honey hole, just some advice on how to find the bachelor groups of bucks without being noticed first. Without really being able to glass from a tripod like I'm used to, I really felt like a fish out of water there. Hopefully next year will be different. Positive notes: The number of hunters did not seem to be a factor. I didn't see a soul while I was out walking. I hardly saw any vehicles parked while hunters were out in the woods. Most if not all of the other deer hunters I saw were crusing the roads or just driving back and forth. There were also plenty of places to camp, even with all the weekend tourists for Labor Day. The scenery was absolutely breathtaking and the weather sure beats the heck out of Yuma. Nick