Pine Donkey

Congratulations on a beautiful bull! They must not be rutting hard, he is not busted up at all.

I am starting this thread to avoid hijacking a previous one. This is not a place to trash individual officers, but rather discuss their changing mission as dictated by out current administration. I know quite a few Federal LEO's. These are good people who serve their country by their choice of careers. They are part of our communities, their children are in our schools, they live in our neighborhood and many will share our campfires during hunting season. Most every Federal LEO I have met is a good, honest, dedicated person. (I know there are bad ones, and they need to be removed and held accountable for their actions. That is a topic for a different post). Some are arrogant, some are a bit jaded, but the vast majority are top quality individuals. I am happy to call several of them friends. These officers work for many different agencies including Border Patrol, Customs, Forest Service, BLM, U.S. Marshals, and numerous other agencies. In many cases they are the law enforcement arm of an agency that does not have law enforcement as a major part of their mission. This is the case with BLM and Forest Service LEOs. They serve different function than your forest 'rangers'. These individuals are certified peace officers who have graduated from one of the Federal Law enforcement academies. I have spent many hour in discussion with some of these individuals. They are good people. Often they have many frustrations with the political direction and agenda of the upper levels of their agencies. This sentiments have been increasing with our current administration. These officers often feel they are prevented from doing their job due to the policies and directives coming out of Washington. The situation is far worse when they are involved in an incident that draws the attention of the media in politically sensitive issues. More than once, the official released story does not resemble reality, but is a nice PC representation. Not complying with the 'official story' has ended the careers of some officers, and left many others with stress and a lack of job satisfaction. As a parallel to these dedicated LEOs I offer those who fight our forest fires. The individuals on the ground who fight the fires are good people who work their butts off protecting out forests and property. However, they work in a system that has an agenda (no logging, reintroduced wolves, wilderness areas) that prevent them from being as effective as they could be. I appreciate what these fighters do, while I dispise the system they often work in. I have very similar feelings about federal LEOs. This is a group of good people, working at the bottom of a very messed up system of liberal, agenda driven, bureaucracy. To take care of this problem, cut the head off the snake. Vote this November, and talk to others that vote. We need to change the direction of this nation from the top, rather than attacking the bottom.

Wow, serious bottom end on that stud, congratulations!

Way to take care of business, great bull!

Very nice bull, congratulations. I wish I could complain about a solo pack out two years in a row. Lol

Very nice bull!

They are really enforcing this new road closure plan!

Cardiac cats did it again!

Great bull. First or not, I will never be good enough to pass a beast like that!

Nice bulls. We would love to hear the stories once you are done chasing number four. Good luck.

Lots of elk in there. Get far away from the roads and you will find them.

The power, class and ability of this site is limitless! Great story about a bunch of class act people.

Congratulations on a nice bull. Thanks for posting story and pics.

Great goat Hunter! I loved the story...you sure have a special mom.

Bupies. Just do a one leg squat.

My daughter carries the judge and loves it.

Hoped it all worked out. Let us know. Now you have to stories to tell, one of the kill and one of the "caper".

You need to get where they will be. If they are vocal, you can pinpoint them and adjust your position. If they are not vocal, your calls will sound unnatural. Be patient, when elk move through an area it is often in a series of small groups and satellites. If you don't cut off the first group, just hang out and something else may materialize.

Road hunters go home when the rain comes in...it gets their pretty trucks all muddy!

I lived in central Illinois for 5 years (did a 5 year sentence there) when I was in elementary school. Glad to be back in Az for the past 35 years.

Here is a short video my son made yesterday while helping a friend with an Arizona archery tag. Enjoy

Here is a picture of the bigger bull. Nice tine length on the lower end. They bull he fought was also pretty nice. The big guy won and took all the ladies.

My wife thinks I can't see where the toilet is now...that one would just cause more complaints!

Nice bull! Thanks for posting the story. Congratulations to your dad for taking care of business.

Great bull Casey! Now get that story and a few more pictures posted.