yotebuster

Wow! I only stayed in the blind for 150 hours for my hunt in hopes of killing a bull like that! Guess I shoulda sat 10 more!!

I think that's a tooth.

I've got two of them. They used to make a kit to put a new barrel on them and stock to make them into a 17hmr. I always kicked around doing that with one to keep the original stock and barrel cherry. I also have a 77/17 wsm and a 77/17 hornet. They are all worth over a grand now as they quit making all of them. Same with the 96/22 and 96/22 magnum I've got a couple of those as well. I think ruger is doing what Winchester did in the 1964 and retooling to start making junk at a lower price point like all the new "American rifle" series. Don't get me wrong they are good guns at a good price but man are they ugly looking plastic things compared to a 77 series.

Don't forget to buy a lifetime license before you go. It will pay for itself in 4 years.

My guess is they have something up their sleeve for culling cows and yearlings on the park and therefore are making the off park hunts bull only. That July bull hunt is gonna be a stomper! Burn your points now fellas!!!!

Anyone there? Musta got my phone number wrong cuz I haven't gotten my phone call yet. Oh well I'm sure they can email me. Just hoping I don't win antelope deer sheep and elk all in the same year. I'd like them spread out over the next few years.

I think the antelope guy musta been from ND too, he was walleye fishin on devils lake up here. I'm up here in ND not winning jack squat. Im pretty sure he had no idea what he had won! I can't believe how calm those guys all were. They'd have to cut me off the air! I can't imagine the heartbreak of the guy that got the javelina voicemail. "This is the big game super raffle, congrats you were selected for a 365 day season to hunt...... javelina....."

Me too. That movie is painful to watch. Anyone else rooting for that deer more then the hunter and his mouthbreathing flatty wearing buddy? OP- atleast talk to some of the guides about a scouting package. You have the best deer tag in the world, beg steal or borrow some money and get some help on that hunt! Just to put it into perspective if that tag was sold at an auction like Utah does (I'm not saying that's a good idea just using it as an example) the tag would bring $30,000+. You won the lotto by drawing it, make the most of it.

What's blue about that?!? I'd be stoked either way! He mad cuz his son drew it?

Tell me more about these buckeye cams? I googled them and their site was down but found them for sale. Looks like you have to drive within 2 miles and download them on a computer? I'm looking for a cam for my land where I live. The area I have it is only about 1/2 mile from my house so I think this would be ideal, keep the cell company out of it.

I was hesitant to click on that link!!

That could be the easiest archery antelope hunt of all time. took this pic this morningDSCN1651.JPG No such thing as an easy archery antelope hunt!

Depends on what priming system you have. If you have 209 then go with blackhorn 209 without a doubt. 777 is water soluble and cleans up with only water which seams good but what it does is it also takes in water from humidity in the air whether it's in speedloaders, barrel fouling, or in the jug or box. It will make your life miserable. Ask anyone who's shot a muzzy a lot and they'll tell you about how one day it'll shoot lights out and be dead on and another it'll be all over. That's humidity and 777 at play. Black horn is oil soluble like smokeless powder and it's much more consistent but needs a 209 to make it go boom.

Congrats on the bull! Pics or it didn't happen!!! Anyhow I think a lot of people have had the same experience as you. A few have had the experience of Truehunter as well. The people who have not experienced it first hand are the ones who typically seem to recoil at the whole idea but I think all of us that have had the tag will agree that unless you experience it first hand it's hard to form a good opinion.

[quote name="WarrZone" post="735310" timestamp="1499662260 If willing, shoot me a DM and I can share what unit and how I've been struggling to find good vantage point... Thanks all! 4B!?!?

That'd be a mess

Jon killed his bull on H salt. It was from a herd of cows calves and young bulls. There were two or three DIY hunters that killed on days leading up to that off same salt. I was there. I heard one hunter was special needs and had opportunity but hadn't killed as of last few days but I will admit I wasn't there. Maybe it was you!?!? Any other wisdom for us?

I agree with you on the statement that is first come first served on public land but you're missing a very key issue on this hunt that is different then elsewhere. No one should be going into these blinds in the dark. It gets light at 4:15am up there in the summer and the buffalo are almost always on it in the dark and will linger just after light. While I was there all of the 5 buff killed were killed by hunters that snuck in on them on the salt at first light. If Truehunter really was the "first one there" he was massively screwing not only himself but every other hunter with the tag by blowing buff off in the dark. This is the exact thing they are trying to curb through cooperation. If it's a first come first served free for all then people will start coming in a 4:00 then 3:30, then 3:00 and all the buff will be blown back into park in the dark. Again, prime reason why if people work together they kill buffalo. You are very cordial and respectful in saying that if you saw a note saying a hunter was down the road you would back off. That is exactly what the radios and morning huddles do, let everyone know where every hunter is, they even have a marker board to put everyone on to keep it straight. True hunter decided to not do morning huddles and take a radio because he didn't want to know that info. He knew that if he ignored it he could do what he wanted. No different then if you were driving down a road to a tank and saw a note that may say there is a hunter on the tank please be courteous and decided to look the other way and keep driving. That is exactly what he elected to do in this situation. Truehunter didn't kill because he wanted to buck the system out of principle. We get it, it's not his type of hunt, wasn't mine either but I didn't turn into a name caller and start a thread, I sat in the blind for 140 hours to never have a buffalo come in and then went home and started researching other hunts to do in the future. Truehunter had one of the best hunts that will probably ever happen again on the kaibab. The stars aligned for a bull hunt and the success rate proved it. He could have come on and said blind hunting stinks and it wasn't my type of hunt (which he has several times) and moved on but he looked for a scapegoat as to why he was the only able bodied hunter (I heard that the other unsuccessful hunter was special needs) to not kill and he found that in Russ and Brian. I've had many other unsuccessful hunts that I've blamed on poor rut, full moon, fog, or just flat not hunting hard enough, but I've never gotten home and figured I needed to put the entire blame of my lack of success on one person.

A 16ga is an awesome gun to have!!! Google the term "square shotgun load" and read up on it. Essentially your most efficient and best patterning load is going to be the one that is balanced and "square" in the bore. A 16ga 1oz is just that. If you shoot a 20 ga it's a 7/8 I believe and a 12ga is 1 1/8oz. I have several 16ga sxs and love them! I have started moving back from heavy loads and shooting lighter and lighter loads and noticed nondifference in killing power.

Tons of deer and good hunting. No mules needed. If you're looking for somewhere to pack in I'd go to Wyoming or Colorado.

I also heard this. The one hunter who didn't kill? You guessed it! It's the guy who started this thread!!! I'm guessing that 11 out of the 12 hunters who had this last tag would support Russ and his crew if you took a vote and I know after my hunt all 12 were very appreciative of everything and only 6 of us killed. So far in this thread there have been atleast 4-5 hunters who have ACTUALLY hunted up there that were happy about the way things went and 1 (again the OP who was the only one to not kill on the last hunt) who is pissed about the operation. I'd say that's pretty hard evidence that it's as good of a solution as there is for this hunt.

Bedding areas by far. I think they get bored while laying around and kick them off.

I would stop short of "east" and hunt Kansas, Nebraska or the Dakotas. The further east from there you go the more people and harder it will be to find places to hunt. Don't get me wrong there's a ton of deer in the eastern states but there's even more hunters. Lots of public and private that's open to hunting in the west central states. Look into Wyoming as well. Tons of public land and tons of deer.

This whole road blocking discussion really needs to be put out in the light a bit. I'm not sure how many people have been up and seen the small hunt area but it's not like they are or were blocking a road that leads to a general area. The roads are literally 20-200 yards outside the park boundary and in general parralel the boundary. It's not that Russ only lets his guys drive in there, no one should be driving in there if they want themselves or anyone to be successful. The only fathomable reason to drive those roads is to recover a bison or to road hunt. We all can agree that road hunting is in general a shoddy thing to do and thus there's no need to drive those roads. The maintainer was trying to blade one of them as a matter of fact and Brian talked him into holding off on it since it was in good shape and didn't want the activity in there. This isn't like a guide blocking a main access road to an area. This is literally just protecting the one and only chance anyone and everyone has of getting the bison to come off.

We could start a "go fund me" for her to buy a boat?!?