.270

what great smiles. good on all o' ya. good on you for takin' them kids huntin'. good on them kids for goin'. dang, i like to hunt and i like folks that like to hunt. the pictures i have of my boys with their first bucks are real special things to me. this one will be always be real special to you. Lark.

fatdoc, they're using it as an excuse to raise revenue. the azgfd ain't too good at managing a budget. never have been. they ain't too good at anything other than looking nice at meetings. they don't take the advice of those trained people that they've hired to give em advice. they don't listen to sound biology. scientifically collected data takes a back seat to politics. they're using this as a way to raise fees without the resident population attacking with torches and pitchforks. don't get me wrong either. i ain't got a problem one with nonresidents. i'm real happy new mex is so close so's i can hunt there when i take fancy too and i want all you boys that can, to hunt here in Az. what we don't want is nonresidents making our rules for us. but the big problem is that us residents don't get to make the rules either. the commission does. if you raise enough heck, like was done these past months over the uso issue, they will listen some and they may install some of what the public feels would help, but don't be fooled, they are gonna do what is best for shroufe and the commission. if what is best for them helps out the hunters, then that's ok. but if what's best for them screws the hunters, they're gonna do that everytime. shroufe came here from maine, it seems like. lotta difference between Az. and maine. and the azgfd has been in a slow nosedive ever since. until we can get rid of him and every one of the commissioners, we're screwed. and we have to replace them with a real game biologist who has some real management skill and some guys on the commission that have real outdoor concerns at heart. not their politcal ambitions. shroufe is just a pretty boy lifetime bureaucrat. he's about as connected to the land as gucci shoes. anyway, he's gotta go and so do his sucklings, like farrel (sp?). and to do that, we gotta get a new governor. that's why i keep saying that as a group, hunters, anglers........outdoor people if you will, can swing an election. we can get this hog we have now outta here if we're smart about it. i hope romley runs for governor. i'll support the heck outta him. JD may be another good candidate. someone that will repay us for voting for them. look what the NRA has done the past 2 elections. our votes count. i agree somewhat with raising the fees but it's gonna eliminate a lot of folks from applying and thus disenfranchise them from supporting the guys that can afford it. and other states are gonna do the same thing. it's gonna get real expensive for us Az. boys to hunt elsewhere, too. i still don't see taulman losing too much here. he's gonna get more money in his "hunter pool" because of the increased fees. his rich clients don't care how much it costs. man, i'm feelin' groin kicked again. but we gotta try something. looks like federal legislation is about the only thing that might stop this runaway train. Lark.

i don't have a problem with jacking up the early bull hunt, even for residents. but the ceiling for cow and general bull hunts and pronghorn seems pretty high. it will price a lot of resident folks out of it. don't want to see that. the increased fees for nonresidents will have very little impact. they'll still apply. taulman probly loves it. the amount he gets from his "hunter pool" will increase dramatically. he'll have all kindsa money to play with. appears to me that the azgfd is using this as a sprinboard to really increase fees. but for everyone. i can see 10 to 15% for residents, and jack the heck outta nonresident fees. but some of these seem pretty high. i imagine what they're proposing is the most it can be and what it ends up will be something less, with the option to go up to the max at a later date. and, the nonresident fee is driven by what the resident fee is. oh well, we'll see. main thing is to beat uso. hope it works. Lark.

i've called in several bears over the years. a couple while i was actually trying to call a bear too. couple others while calling other animals, like coyotes and elk. the ones i called while actually bear hunting i used a circe jackrabbit mouth call. find a place with at least some bear sign. get in a place where the sound will carry a long way, like on the edge of a canyon, and call your butt off. seem to come in real slow. i think an electric call would be best. you have to call so long your lips get numb, with a mouth call. don't know what a cub in distress call sounds like, but to me, almost all the different call tones sound so much alike that i don't think it makes much difference. main thing is to be where there are bears and take the time to do it right. Lark.

a duck?! now that'd be a rough story to try and embellish to tell you're grandkids. "grampa, did you ever have to fight a bear or a lion?" "well no, but i got beat up by a duck once". i shot a buck last friday. my youngest son found it layin' dead, or so it seemed. when i walked up it came to life, stood up, turned and started hooking at me with it's antlers. he was hurt pretty bad, but he scared the heck outta me. had to push him away with my rifle barrel, cycled the bolt to put a fresh one in the chamber and shot him in the neck. my heart was thumpin' pretty good from the excitement of jumping and shooting him and the sprint (ok, more like a liesurely stroll) to the downed deer, but dang it thumped harder when that buck took a bead on my groin with them pointy horns. Lark.

ok, ok, i was just jokin'. i'm an ol' pig hunter from way back. rifle, pistol, muzzleloader, bow. even speared one onced. i was just jokin' about needin' a guide. i have a buddy that smells pretty bad and he's sorta handy to take along to bait em in with. but he shore messes up a tent after a day or 2. oh yeah, alaska dan, ain't butt strokin' a javelina sort of a crime against nature or some deal? that just sounds real bad. real bad. Lark.

Amanda, what's a HAM javelina? are they differnt than a reg'lar javelina? do they taste any better? like HAM maybe? anybody know any good javelina outfitters? maybe griz'll guide me. he looks a lot like a javelina so he oughta make a good decoy. Lark.

i gotta pig tag, so woohoo, i think. now i gotta find me an outfitter. wonder if uso guides for javelinas? Lark.

when're we gonna know about the spring permits? i actually put in for pigs this year. usually just wait and get a leftover permit, but got skunked out of it last year. hey bullwidgeon, if i git drood will ya come and be the decoy? Lark.

yeehaw, W gets to keep his address fer fo' mo'. tom dashole lost. the good guys got a clear majority in both houses. and my horse trailer is hooked up, i gotta tag in my pocket and i'm just waitin' for somethin' close to quittin' time so's i can slide outta here for 3 weeks and chase the wily bucks and the woolly bulls. OH WHAT A BEAUTIFUL MORNIN', OH WHAT A BEAUTIFUL DAY.............Lark.

as Elvis would say, "Thank ya, thank ya vury much". Lark.

sureshot, if you're in Az., you're in lion country. the state has a lot of em. as far as looking for one, that's hit and miss, with a lot more misses. best thing to do is to have a tag in your pocket so if the opportunity does arise, you're ready. all you fellers, buy a tag. the money goes to a good cause and if ol' tom lion happens to appear in your scope, you'll be ready and have a neat rug to look at and a cool story to tell yer grandkids. you know the one, where it was just you, the lion and a dull knife. and you wuz young and built like the terminator and still had hair. anyway, you'll get the hang of it. Lark.

while the predator deal ain't really what this line was about, i gotta agree with your feeling. the game and fish is scared of "offending" anyone who may complain. that's why they lined up with the anti's to outlaw trapping and to try and outlaw predator calling contests and why they gave in on sabino canyon and let the strip deer all be eaten. they're a buncha puds. when i was younger there were a lot more deer and a lot less lions and coyotes. every once in awhile someone would shoot a lion in deer season. now folks see them all the time. and there wasn't a permit required and there was a bounty on em too. so when someone shot one they dang sure brought it in because it was worth a weeks pay. and lions weren't anywhere near being "endangered' either. there were a lot of them. they were just a lot sneakier. they don't have to be now. Lark.

there are lions everywhere in Az. if you wanna legally take one, buy a permit. i'd recomend everyone to buy a permit when they buy their license and to shoot every lion they can. but that's just me. Lark.

the way i look at it, i ain't gonna judge anyone for filling a tag with a legal buck. do i wanna shoot a spike? no. won't do it. but that's me. what i like to see is folks hunting. get out there and enjoy the wilderness. take your kids. tromp all over what the maker made us and if a spike will fullfill ya, shoot him. then pack him home, take good care of his carcass and every time you partake of a fryin' pan of his meat, remember the good time you had taking him and be thankfull for the opportunity. we're all hunters, to different degrees. some are diehard trophy shooters. some just like to get out a few weekends a year and are tickled with about any buck. i'm somewhere in between. next time ya see someone with a spike, especially a kid, tell him good job and squeeze his shoulder and tell him to keep it up. i know it's a pain to deal with all the hunters, but we need em. the more the better. i think there are plenty of little bucks that escape their first season and become big bucks. and the ones that don't probly made someones day. Lark.

what a neat buck. good job fellers. Lark.

aw man, my mistake. i was thinkin' in the last picture that there was a carp in it. only it turned out to be you. do you have an appetite for doughballs? hahahaha. i am just too funny. that is a very nice buck. wonder if the drought has anything to do with it having small points, like the bulls all have small 5th's this year? good luck in new mex. you're lucky, because this year it's spike only over there. Lark.

on an elk hunt in colorado once, we ended up hunting a little with some okies. roy dale, larry floyd and john. john wore blaze orange coveralls and a blaze orange felt cowboy hat. it hurt your eyes to look at the guy he was so bright. i mean colorwise. he wernt none to bright the other way. Lark.

i got a unit where both are legal. and will shoot either. Lark.

cal coziah, the best bowhunter ever and my personal hero and mentor, always wore red and black plaid wool pants, jacket and hat. Lark.

nice bucks for sure. that nontypical looks like he had some identity problems. looks like maybe he broke a pedical at one time. nice bucks. i think i reckonize that canyon. Lark.

my oldest son has one with the synthetic stock. it's a very light rifle and it barks pretty hard with reloads. i have a real bad right shoulder and it hurt me sufficiently. sighting it in got him to flinching some, and he's real tough on recoil. he installed a simms pad and calmed it way down. doesn't bump too hard now. he used some 130 gr. handloads on a wyoming muley hunt in early oct. took a 180+ muley and his friend used the same rifle to shoot a 27" muley on the same hunt. same friend shot a nice coues friday with it. but used some 100 gr reloads. the simms pad seemed to help reduce the recoil a bunch. Lark.

have to agree with the breeze here. camo, scent cover up crap, goretex, etc. are all over rated. if a deer sees you, it doesn't matter what you're wearing. deer are colorblind, so plaid oughta be about as good as anything else. i prefer all dark clothes. dark blue or black. when you're still, you look like a shadow. nothing wrong with camo, but it doesn't give much advantage. and i'm sick of not being able to find decent boots without that stinkin' foot oven, goretex in em. i hate that stuff. this is the stinkin' desert. when was the last time it rained enough that you needed to keep your feet dry? if the snow is deep then i wear my snowshoes. Lark.

i dunno bullwidgeon, looks sorta like a carp to me. them big eyeguards are a dead giveaway. Lark.

a .270 o'course. a friend bought a weatherby vanguard '06 at walmart the other day for $199. can't get much cheaper than that. but it wernt no .270. Lark.