azslim

If you plan to just sit water then sit it whenever you can, I've seen deer drink all times of the day - just depends on when they get thirsty.

Lots of illegal traffic, I would gypsy camp - sleep in the back of the rig and not leave a lot of stuff scattered around if I was solo hunting.

pillow cases and a boning knife, cut the weight you have to pack back to the truck when you tag out.

make yourself comfortable, I pack an old throw pillow and 5$ fleece blanket - cold rocks get old fast - along with a scarf that I can cover my head with and block out the sun depending on the direction I am glassing. If I pick up deer I will remember the general area and keep going back to check on it/them, occasionally a new one will pop up. Same if I THINK I see something but not sure I will move on then keep going back to see any position changes. Give your eyes breaks! And concerning where to glass, if you are hot in the sun and need to shade up to glass then that is where you look for game, same if you're cold and want to sit in the sun.

Or how about the guy that parks 20 yds from your camp in the back country on a coues hunt where the hunters are 3 kids, boy & 2 girls and the oldest is 14. I was not nice............ Was it my tag I would suck it up, when kids are involved I can be a touch belligerent..........

+1 - Haven't had to use it but from 1st hand stories their service is tops. I suggest 15x50 Vipers to people all the time that don't have the cash for Swaro's. Excellent glass for the money and the customer service pushes them over the top. Had a Hunter with the Kaibabs last year and they are neck & neck with my Swaro's. If I didn't own Swaro's I would get the Kaibab's. What bums me out are the turds here in Az that screwed up the Guide Program for the rest of us.

WT - got a head with same antler configuration, next year it would look different when he gets a little age.

This has happened the last few years. I have a couple of friends that will never, EVER put in for there again....

Tough hunt, these storms have the deer scattered all over. I have a friend that has hunted this unit for over 40 years and scouting for his family has really had to work to find deer - and he is the deer whisperer, he gets on monsters every year. I will be helping a young man on this hunt too and my plan based on feedback from the other friend is to cover as much terrain as possible, glassing when the opportunity arises. One of the problems with this hunt is the general hunt runs first, so when the kids get in the unit the deer have been pressured pretty hard. This is, or used to be, a good unit. Both of my daughters had chances at 180+ bucks over the years I had them out there on this hunt. The bucks were big enough I wanted to grab the gun from them. The big bucks will feed on the slopes and bed down out in the creosote flats - good luck getting them out of there.

+1 on the Outdoorsman adapter, that is what I have on my Vipers

Invest in one of the Water Catchment books that G&F sells and use it find some guzzlers. From there either build a blind and cross your fingers, usually have to have them up about 2 weeks before use or set it back 40 to 50 yds from water in/under a tree. If your wife is hunting also she can sit the water and you can hit the mtn tops and glass for spot & stalk. This is provided we don't get rain, once it rains the deer will scatter and the guzzlers shut down for a month or 3 till the little water pockets scattered through the desert dry up. The maps in the book aren't that great but they are fairly accurate, I've found a bunch of them with it. As you know water is the achilles heel of desert game and the book will put you on it.

If you want a big one find the dirtiest, nastiest stretch of country and go look there. They will be in spots you really don't want to pack them out of.

Great job! Nothing like hunting with kids.........except I used to got through a bunch of hard candy, gave my daughters' mouths something to do besides talk.

He's hiding..........

Good for her. My daughters were my hunting partners for several years until they got married. Hunting camp was special father/daughter time for us, wife never came along. They sure are glad Dad became a better cook over time.

Gary, look at the 15x50 Vortex Vipers. No they aren't Swaro class optics but they are good glass for the money.

Good for you Ryan! I see you have added some new optics & tripod mount to the tool bag.

Sad day for all involved........ My last Hunter Ed class in Mar/April there was a kid shot by either hisself, his dad or grandad, never did get the whole story. They landed the chopper by the G&F Hdqtrs bld to fly him out. No he was not at the range, the family was out in the desert, just used G&F as a landing zone - wasn't how it was portrayed on the news tho. It was a teachable moment for the kids I would just as soon not have had.

I've had luck with the coues call from Modern Call Products, put the o-ring between the B & U on the reed. Never used it to call in deer but it has stopped a bunch so they could be shot (or shot at). They make a Mule deer call also, exhale is buck and inhale is doe. Have had good results stopping deer with the doe call. A few years back one of my hunters got to miss a buck 4 times before he finally got him. He'd miss, the deer would turn to run and I would hit the call and the deer would turn back and wait for the next shot. Have your calls handy on scouts, like on the dashboard, and when you see something turn the rig off and play with the calls, the animals will let you know when you are making the right noise.

nope, use it or loose it......... You can donate it to an org like HOAL or OE4A so a sick kid can go hunting.

Buy her a mouth guard and tell her to grit her teeth before she touches off........

I got mine from "The Safe Store" on Indian School. It was a "last year's model" so I got a couple hundred off the price. They had some that were in your price range, but this was about 10 years ago.

Since they've started auctioning antlers they are pretty stingy about letting people take them...........

KE=mass x velocity x velocity divided by 450240

Have to check the regs on Wildlife Refuges also, Buenos Aires down by Arivaca it's illegal to have a loaded rifle in the rig.