Heat

1. God's Word tells us in Genesis that hunting is legit. 2. We evolved to hunt and eat meat (if you believe in evolution). 3. Organic, non-GMO, gluten free, no additives, no hormones, no antibiotics, etc. Some people simply won't listen to reason or facts however. Their ability to understand is clouded by emotion. I have a cousin with a wife like this. She has a PhD so clearly not "dumb". She told me once that all hunting is poaching and that wildlife biology is mostly politically influenced and not based on sound science. Not worth the waste of breath with her and the like.

Since you aren't in the max point pool, ones that have most or all of the tags that move into the 1/2 random pass of the draw. One you know well or are willing to learn a lot about. One you can get around in well if that is important. If you like the backcountry there are certain units that are better than others.

For what its worth, at least he is a sponsor of the site.

How about a story?

Good Luck man, I wish I was doing the same this weekend! Please report back on how it goes.

I do have to come clean about a couple things though. I do get a bit of a chuckle when I see guys dressed head to toe in the latest spendy brand and they won't walk 5 feet from the Polaris or pickup except to get another beer or take a piss! Then there are the guys that are about 5'2" and 3 hundo that complain about the sizing of these garments. That is always worth a laugh.

Camo means very little in the grand scheme of things. One of the best bowhunters in N. America never wears camo (Bob Ameen from Wasilla AK aka Blacktail Bob). Anyone who would make a disparaging remark about someone's camo in seriousness is a total douche. That being said these companies are onto something putting camo patterns on high quality mountain gear. Not sure it makes you a better hunter but if it makes you more comfortable in the field, by all means have at it. There is still plenty of room out there for the white tennis shoe, blue jeans, plaid flannel shirt wearing hunters. To each his own. I have a mix of everything. I have old school wool stuff, cheap cotton stuff from Walmart, mid grade Cabelas stuff and the high priced fancy stuff (not camo though). It all works. For me its all about staying comfortable. If I do my part the camo pattern really is meaningless.

Max hunters but not these. Might be worth a try the next time I fletch some with vanes. Thanks for the heads up.

Really is a great photo! Thanks for sharing that. If you got nothing stirring inside when you heard this song for the first time, I feel sorry for you. I think about my Grandpa Berardi fighting for his life in Russia after his country surrendered, being one of the few guys from his unit that made it home, literally walking home (and hitching a few rides I'm sure) from Russia back to Italy. I think about him and my 16 year old Uncle Joe getting on a ship leaving my Grandma and my Mom and the other 4 kids to fend for themselves in Italy while they came to this country to work for a better life. God Bless Him and God Bless America!

I love the Magnus line, both the Stingers and the Snuffer SS. Haven't tried the Black Hornet but those look excellent as well. What does it for me is their excellent customer service and the Lifetime Replacement Guarantee. If they didn't exist I would probably be using the VPA line. They have two blade and three blade heads all machined out of a solid piece of steel. The most important thing like most others have mentioned is shot placement. Beyond that if the blades are scary sharp your broadhead choice is insignificant. It's when the bad shots occur that makes the difference. For a big critter like an elk I personally like the fixed blade options with a cut on contact point. Good Luck!

Sorry man I guess nobody can ask questions or get opinions on a hunting forum without ridicule. My bad.

The guidelines are based on 15-25% of the class 3 and 4 rams. At some point it changed from 15-20%. Caught me when I wasn't paying attention so not sure when the change occurred.

Thanks for your reply! That gives me some reassurance, although there is no doubt that I would still much prefer a first hunt. I guess now I just need to narrow down a couple units. I think I have that already though.

Things have changed amigo! You need at least 3 to draw now I believe. Might be even worse this year with the further reduction. That being said this is a really cool hunt. No gimme that's for sure. I get to know the area more each year but still haven't got a buck up there yet. I should have last year though, missed a gimme. Didn't see that twig darn it!

Smith2260, If you don't mind me asking how many days did it take for you to locate and kill a ram on your hunt and what hunt area did you draw? Did you hire a guide? How did you know for sure your 1 and 2 were both killed before your hunt? Thanks, Nick

There are approximately 1/10th the Rocky tags as there are desert tags available in the drawing.

First off Congratulations on your tag! What a nice surprise. If you guys want to get technical, it's an American Pronghorn, not an antelope, or analope, or any of that. True antelope live in Africa. They have horns, similar to a goat or cow. A pronghorn is alone in it's family and genus, not represented by any other animal on the planet. It is unique due to the sheath over a bone core that is shed every year. Deer shed entire antlers, pronghorn shed only a sheath, true horned animals like antelope do not shed anything from it's head.

I saw some on the Havasu National Wildlife Refuge near Needles, CA too. There have also been reports over the years at Buenos Aires National Wildlife Refuge in Southern AZ. I think true pigs have a tough time in AZ due to the lack of water in most areas.

A longbow string is usually 3 inches shorter than its AMO length if measured by that standard.

Floorless tents for wood burning stoves is a much safer plan.

2013 there was a guy advertising on Craigslist as the season got closer. I rented his tent and stove for a week for $100 I think. This convinced my wife that we needed a wall tent and wood stove. Best Ben Franklin I ever spent, no doubt. You might keep trying this. Not a bad idea, might get someone to bite.

Well, you could start with the other 6B Archery Elk thread that someone started already this year. Likewise I would look at the Game and Fish Website, Hunting, Where to Hunt for general pointers and then maybe come back and ask some more specific questions that might convince people that you have actually put a little effort into this.

I assumed they would have been done calling by now too! Wow, lots of jacked up cards but with internet fraud and whatnot these days I get it.

If I was going to go and buy a new bow I would go with the one that Fred Bear used and that is the Bear Custom Kodiak Takedown. The design came out almost 50 years ago and these bows still shoot as well or better than other recurves with "modern" designs and materials. Those fellas were on top of their game back in the Grayling days.

All the efforts to get the flock where it is and simply just give tags away because of their mistake, not good. Not exactly. From what I heard and saw at the Commission meeting when this issue was brought up, the Department supposedly offered people who weren't entered a refund and return of their bonus points. The ones that did not accept the offer could petition the Commission for relief. Those that did were given tags by the Commission. Keep in mind that ultimately, 5 people who get appointed by the Governor make these decisions, not someone within the Department. The Department makes recommendations (and the mistakes). The Commission gets the final say. I also should point out that the Commission meetings are Public Meetings. If you were aware that this was an issue and had serious feelings about it, which you clearly do, you should have been there to voice your opinion when the Commission made this decision. Doing it now honestly is educational, but beyond that a waste of energy. All that aside, I totally agree with your points and I would probably feel exactly the same way!