rclouse79

I have been anxious to hear the stories of all the deer people arrowed opening weekend. . . . . Nothing? I am counting down the days to January 1st.

Last year one of my students let me try some of his delicious elk jalepeno and cheese sausage that was done at Jonathans Meat Processing. I decided to give him a try this year and I was very impressed. I was able to drop my deer off late at night, and he was very friendly. His butcher shop was all stainless steel and was sparkling clean, which was quite a contrast from where I have taken my deer previously. He gave me a lot of options for how I wanted the meat processed and he didn't pressure me to get anything I didn't want. I didn't have to wait around for weeks and weeks to get it back. I was surprised to find the steaks were wrapped in clear wrap and then butcher paper. I feel that he did a much better job than what I was use to, and he did it for around half the price. I also love the fact his shop is just off of I-10. It use to take me an hour to drive all the way to the East side of Tucson to drop my game off and to get it picked up. I am posting this for selfish reasons. I want him to stay in business so I can continue taking my game to him. His phone humber is 349-9635.

I have two Harris bipods in perfect condition. I am asking $50 each. Call Rob at 609-2924 if you would be interested in taking a look at them. Thanks.

no pivoting head

He charges a flat rate of $65 for deer.

When I took the first bite of the Javelina I shot last February I was holding my nose, bracing myself for this aweful taste I had heard so much about. My hunting buddy and I were surprised that the meat was very good. I did not find it to be any more gamey than deer and my buddy actually preferred it to elk and deer. We both shot javi's and had them gutted and skinned immediately, and the meat was in the cooler within an hour. The one thing I will say is the meat is tougher than deer, and I usually cooked it for a day in the crockpot on low.

This was one of the items I "needed" a couple of years ago. Now that I am married I am on a new system where I have to sell my old toys to get new ones. The places I looked on the internet had this model listed just under $400. I am asking $300 and will include the scope and case. This is a very nice gun in like new condition. I took it out in the desert twice and to the range a couple of times. Call Rob at 609-2924 if you have any questions.

Thanks for all of the info. I did end up taking my bow down to Jesse so he could put a new string on for me and tune it up. I bought the limb driver drop away rest and for some reason I have an obsession with a spott hogg sight right now. They seem pretty pricey, so I am trying to sell some of my old junk on craigslist to justify the purchase. I don't get to bow hunt until January, but good luck to all of you heading out in December.

I bought a new mid range PSE bow a few years ago. I plan on doing quite a bit of hunting this January for javalina and deer. My current sepup has a whisker biscuit rest. My sight does not have a level bubble on it, but is the standard fiber optic pin type. I was considering replacing both, but wonder if it is really necessary. My main concern was with the rest. Any opinions on it would be great.

After two years of harvesting fork horns in 36c I told myself I was going to hold out for a nice buck this year. I hiked into the same canyon I shot my deer in the past. After creeping up over the ridge I saw a doe and started to hear some movements further up the canyon. I crept around the bush I was sitting behind and the buck was already running. His rack stood out at 150 yards and I knew that was the buck I was after. I made the mistake of fumbling around with my bipod and by the time I got set up I could not locate the buck. I did find him again through my binoculars around 300 yards, but he was gone by the time I got my gun up. It is amazing how they can disappear before your eyes. I was a little disappointed after feeling like I had blown a great opportunity. I made plans to stake out the same draw the next day. I woke up at five and was settled in before the sun had started to come up. Unfortunately it was super windy and after about an hour I could not hold my binoculars steady because I was shivering. I started to walk around to warm up and ended up back at my tent around 11:00 a.m. After a cat nap I was ready to give it another shot, so I hiked up a steep mountain. Once I got to the top it was absolutely beautiful with great views and glassing spots in every direction. I glassed up three does and four javelinas in an ocotillo patch. It is amazing how much the deer seem to be attracted to those thick ocotillo patches. After walking the ridge I came to a nice flat spot that looked like it dropped off on the edge. I crept up to the lip and without looking for more than 3 seconds I saw a deer looking up at me. I zoomed in on my scope and saw antlers. Before I knew what happened my gun went off and the deer went down. Moments later a really nice three point caught my attention. He had not been 15 yards from the deer I shot. I was kicking myself for not looking around before I pulled the trigger. I was less than 100 yards from the deer, and two bucks I did not shoot just stood looking around for about a minute until I stood up. After that the work began. I had to clean the buck, carry him two miles to the main trail, hike back up and break down camp and then hike everything out two more miles to my truck. It was exhausting but well worth it. Maybe next year I will actually have the patience to hold out for a bigger one. It seems like I have such a hard time finding a buck at all, when I see one it is really hard to pass up the opportunity. Some of it might have been the memory of eating tag soup last year. One thing I know I will do in the future is at least look around if I see a buck that is not spooked. Most of the bucks I have seen have been in groups of two to three. Good luck to everyone that still has hunting time left, I am jealous.

My father in law told me a story that happened in Idaho. The fish and game found a gut pile from a black bear before the season started. They got tipped off on who made the kill and took a sample from his freezer with a search warrant. They compared it to the DNA from the gut pile to make the bust. If stories like that are true hopefully it will make numb skulls think twice before assuming they will get away with poaching. The nice thing about people who poach is they are usually the type of people who brag about it and end up busting themselves.

The worst thing I have seen was on forrest land north of Sedona. We pull into the spot and there was used toilet paper spread out everywhere. It looked like an entire group of people got the hershey squirts and just threw their used TP up into the wind after they were done with it. I was tempted to go to a new spot, but I skewered all of the offensive little bits and burned them. Some people do not deserve to use the outdoors.

I enjoyed reading through this entire thread, although I must admit I sometimes get a kick out of the occasional Jerry Springer episode. Making lame analogies on internet forums is one of my hobbies, so here it is. Finding the big one is like playing the lottery. The people who put in the countless hours are like the people who buy a ton of tickets. They have better odds, but there is still luck involved. The shmuck that bought one ticket has a chance to hit the jackpot, just like the first time hunter has a chance to stumble into your spot, take a nap and wake up to see the world record buck you have been scouting for 3 years at 125 yds in his cross hairs. I don't have a ton of time to scout and know I am not a great hunter, so I am hoping for some pure luck next week!

Winchester 100 grain power point out of my Ruger .243. The bullets are super reasonable ($19.99/box) compared to some, so I was happy to see that they seemed to shoot well.

All of these great buck pictures are getting me fired up for my November hunt. I went to the range yesterday and figured the last three shots I made were going to be as good as I was going to get, so I decided to quit while my confidence was still high. With my .243 sighted in just over 2 inches high at 100 yds, it should be on around 200 and 7 in low at 300. I am planning to go out in the desert to practice at different ranges once my range finder comes in, but for now I was thinking that if I held on the back of a coues at 300 yds I should be in the kill zone. Congrats to everyone that has posted buck pics.

I have seen a few people recommend picking up a lion tag if you are going to be out deer hunting. I would have a hard time pulling the trigger on one and risk spoiling a shot at a deer. I also would have no idea what to do if I did shoot one. Is the meat good to eat? I know my wife would not be down with a lion rug on the wall.

Great story and buck. I sent you a PM.

I was scouting in 36c with my wife today and we came along 12 of them hiking down a trail. When they saw us they all crouched down. I decided it would be better to just keep going since they already saw us. The guy in the lead asked for some food when we passed. When I told him we didn't have any we both went on our way. I agree that most of them are not looking for confrontation or trouble, but it is still a little nerve racking. I called BP when I got cell service but it was probably to late. If the border patrol does catch someone do they just ship them back to Mexico?

I got drawn for the late November WT hunt in Unit 36c and I am trying to decide which of my rifles to take out. The first coues I shot a few years ago was with my 7 mm at about 60 yards. After seeing the size of the hole it left in the poor little deer I went out and bought a .243 rifle. I have since killed coues with the smaller gun, but noticed a lot of people on this awesome site are using 7mms. I am wondering if the knock down power of a .243 was sufficient for longer ranged shots, or if I should just be on the safe side and use a smaller grain bullet with my 7mm. Thanks for any ideas. On another note does anyone know if the area around the Elkhorn ranch was affected by the recent fires down there?

I hope I do not find a similar story in 36C later this month.

I am so glad I found this site; it makes me glad to know I am not the only one out there who obsesses about hunting when I should be doing other things. I think I will stick with the .243 since I originally bought it for coues, and it is more enjoyable to shoot. Thanks for all of the replies.

Nothing too weird, but last December I got drawn for a cow elk hunt in unit 10. We heard gun shots over the ridge, and as I was heading up to investigate I saw a lone cow busting across the horizon. I thought I might be able to cut her off so I hustled up the hill. By the time I got to the top I saw her side hilling across an open field. Within seconds I see a hunter standing in the horizon with the elk running right for him. It was cool to see the smoke from his gun and then hear the shot a second later. He fired three times from about 50 yds and dropped the elk. Luckily I saw the rest of the herd out of the corner of my eye and was able to sneak in to get a cow of my own. While archery hunting in 36c earlier this year I saw 4 illeagals moving down a hill. It was pretty intense because I was glassing from a rock outcropping not 20 yds from the trail they were using. I stayed hidden as they walked by and listened to them talk in espanol. They must have been lost because about 10 minutes later they headed back up the same way they had come.