SDHunter11

I can't wait to take a nice coues with my mzl. Great buck and congrats on using the smoke pole to take care of business!

Great Buck, you will surely be hooked now!

Thanks for the write up, it was quite an enjoyable read. I would like to think I would have stuck it out as you did, but i am not sure. Congrats on a fine buck and a great adventure!

152

Congrats on a fine speed goat! The mass is incredable.

I was fortunate enough to go to Oahu, Hawaii the last few weeks and decided to get some fishing in while I was there. I spent quite awhile searching fishing forums and asking friends for advice on which charter to chose. I ended up going with Magic Sportsfishing after hearing great reviews. My expectations for this trip were relatively high after talking to the captain and learning that this is the peak of their big yellowfin (ahi) tuna run. I had checked previous years catches and it was typical for a single boat to catch 1-2 100+ lb tuna per trip. The boat used on this trip was a 50' fishing vessel equipped with outriggers. There would be four anglers on the boat with two deckhands and the captain. This means if a fish is hooked, it is luck of the draw as to who gets to catch it. This captain had a system of giving each angler a number and drawing cards to see who gets to fight the fish. I would just have to get lucky and have my number drawn. We departed the harbor at 5:15 am on Thursday, June 10th. The first stop was to catch some mackeral for bait. The deckhands did a good job of getting around 15 mackeral for the days trip. The seas were very rough (8 foot swells at one point) so we decided to head to the back side of the island and get out of the wind. We trolled for the 2 hour trip, but did not get any hits. When we got to the other side of the island, we started to see pods of dolphins. The captain explained to me that the tuna liked to hang out undernieth the pods to feed. I was quite surprised that we were so close to shore. The captain swung the boat in front of the pod of dolphins and yelled for the deck hands to throw out a couple mackeral. The deckhands threw out two poles with a mackeral on each and we waited. It took about five minutes and one of the rods was bit! The captain yelled out a number that wasn't mine and a very nice older gentlemen jumped in the fighting chair. After about a 45 minute fight, the fish was galfed and brought on the boat. The captain estimated its weight at 180lbs! At this point I was sure this would be our one fish and I had missed out on getting the lucky call. We went back to find the dolphins and try again. This time when we threw the bait out both rods were bit instantly! My number was called and I was in the fighting chair as fast as I could get there. The other rod was taken by a 14 year old kid on the boat and the captain informed me we would bring his in first since he had the larger real(130). After a quick 20 minute fight, his fish was in. This fish was around 100lbs. I had been holding on to the rod this whole time and now I could bring mine in. 1 hr later, the fish was galfed and brought over the side. It was a nice fish at around 160 lbs. I was pretty tired and very satisfied at this point. I got a quick drink of water as the captain swung the boat around to get back with the dolphins. We got in front of the dolphins again and threw out the bait. Bam! Another double! The small real (50) was screaming as line was being stripped off of it. The captain yells my number again! I grab the small real and realize this fish is much bigger than the first. The large real is taken by the last guy and he fights his fish for about 30 minutes. the deckhand galf it and pull it over the side, a nice 150lber. This whole time I am trying to gain a small part of the line back, but every foot I get the fish gets 2 more. I fight this fish for another hour with little progress when the tension on the line goes slack. After realing in the extra line, a hook that has been broken in half comes out of the water. The giant fish had broken a hook that was as big around as a pencil! I was beyond tired at this point and it was getting into late afternoon. The captain said "lets give it one more shot" so we headed back to the dolphins. Bait was thrown out and both rods screamed again. Another double! The captain yelled two numbers that were not mine, but the young kid did not want to fight another fish, so I jumped at the chance. 1 hour later, and both fish were in the boat. Each around 115 lbs. Literally exhausted, we drove back to teh harbor reflecting on an epic day of fishing. I hope everyone gets a chance to catch one of these monsters one day. I am in the middle of the last picture holding the bigger of the two fish I caught. The weights on the paper do not include the guts and gills. The captain estimated this adds an additional 12-15 lbs to the fish.

U of A all the way!

+1 I love my CRF900. Small, compact, accurate, and easy to use. $429 is a great price for this unit. The 1200 and 1600 would be even better!

119 1/8

I just found out I got drawn for zone 6 in the sheephole mountains for bighorn here in CA! This was my first year putting in out here and I got lucky. I was wondering if anyone had any experience out in this area for bighorn, or knew of any good guides around this area. The zone is near 29 Palms. Thanks in advance for any info on the area/hunt.

Nothing for me, 3 BP for deer now. Oh well, I guess it is just my California Bighorn hunt this year

+1 on the Lieca, I have the 900 and I can get in the field reading out past 1000 consistently. It is very small and compact and the glass is great in it. My buddy uses it instead of his cheap pair of binoculars. I also use it golfing and can hit the flag on a breasy day out to 500+ yards! The values have always matched up really well with the GPS on the carts.

The hunt is Dec 4th through Feb 6th. It should be a very fun and challenging hunt!

We did not have to sign a waiver, but the captain told us before we went out that any fish over 100lbs would be sold whole as sushi grade Ahi. If the fish were under 100lbs, then we would get a share of the fish. So I did not get to keep any of the fish we caught, but I did go eat some fresh Ahi that night!

Nice Buck! Score?

Thank you for the birthday wishes. It was a great day!

I hunted the 12B West muzz hunt with my father in 2005 or 06(can't remember). The deer in my avatar is from that hunt. We had a great time in the unit and saw a ton of deer. I passed up many 4X4 before I ended up taking this deer. When I shot him, the sleet was coming down pretty hard, so be prepared for some rough weather. It was about a 20 yard shot in some very thick timber. He dropped in his tracks and scored roughly 165 gross. There are some serious trophies up there. My father ended up taking a smaller 4X4 the next day. Again, we saw a ton of deer and had a great time. There are only ~50 tags, I think, so the hunting pressure is not too bad. This was 12B West, so it is a little different than 12A, but there are still a bunch of deer up there. Hope this helped, you can PM me if you have any questions on specifics.

The right ear on that thing is awesome, nice deer!

+1 or divorce her.

111 1/8

It will go back to the primary on the app if the money was sent in one check. I apply out of state with friends out of state and they send the money back to me when I don't get drawn. I only get my AZ license back though. They send the licenses to the individuals on the app. If the money was sent with multiple checks, I do not know where it will go. Hope this helped.

Congrats on a great first deer.

We used to pack into the Black River every year and kill the smallmouth. We caught most of our fish on jointed rapalas, but as long as you can place your cast up under some brush you shold be fine. We would camp down there for a couple days and not see a single person. Largest smallmouth we would catch would usually be around a 5lber. You just need to get away from the people and watch out for bears.

That is one beautiful buck. Love the color on him. That lucky shirt needs to be retired next to the mount!

Nice buck, especially for your first one. Good character.