Coach

Without any more to go on, I would say that the bow is not tuned correctly - or the arrows aren't splined properly. I would take the whole setup to a reputable shop in your area to trouble-shoot the issues. Usually, a little tweaking of the rest and/or knock point will resolve most tuning problems. Depending on the bow and it's cams, it could be a timing issue. Once the bow is properly tuned, you should be able to choose from any quality broadhead and hit consistently with your field points. Good luck, and let us know what find out.

Very well said. I agree completely. If I may also add, there are many people out there who never get to experience the joy of hunting, or those who know it but can no longer participate. Some due to illness or financial situations, others due to not having a parent or mentor to get them into the field. It's easy to get caught up in the desire to take trophy animals and the jealousy and competition surrounding that goal. But that's really not what it's all about, in my opinion. Just having the ability and support of family and friends to go hunting makes us very fortunate. Think about all of the amazing things you've seen and done while hunting, that otherwise you would never have gotten to experience. Watching an amazing sunset over the Arizona desert, a meteor shower at night many miles away from the city lights. Seeing your kids take their first game or catch their first fish. Seeing and hearing bull elk fighting for their breeding rights, or watching a herd of Javelina and recognizing the familial aspecs among them. Or even just sitting quietly in nature, looking, listening, smelling and observing how the world works outside of our "normal" world. Money can't buy that, and it isn't measured in inches - it's measured in minutes, even seconds. Those of us lucky enough to have a tag in our pockets, or a family member or friend who does, have an amazing opportunity to get away from the confines and stresses of modern life and enjoy hunting and the outdoors - especially here out west. Let's try not to squander that by getting caught up in the competition of the biggest buck or bull, or how "unfair" it is that someone else has more money, friends, resources. If we're lucky enough to be out hunting, we should count our blessings.

Great job, Jed. That's a magnificent bull.

Well that is one beautiful bull. I hope one of our DIY members can fulfill the tag in their pocket with a bull that matches their dreams. Congrats to the hunter, and the guides.

Seems like an odd comparison at opposite ends of the specturm??? But since you asked... The .257 is a light weight fast bullet with the very best Ballistic Coeficent of about .500 and a pretty mild recoil. On the other hand the 300 RUM is twice the bullet weight launched at speeds over 3,000 FPS with the best BC's being as high as .680 and a pretty stout recoil. I guess it all comes down to what you want to do with the rifle? Shoot up to deer size critters out to 500 or 600 yards with the .257 or shoot Elk size animals out to 1000 yards and beyond with the .300 RUM? The BC is without a doubt much better with the 300 RUM. I'm not sure about the ballistics from 0-500 yards but I'm sure the ballistics on the .300 are much better than the .257 from 500-1000 yards. Not to mention more energy delivered to the target at all ranges. However it all comes at a price... more recoil, more powder, and more money. I still think it's a real wierd compairson... It's like asking which is better a Corvette or a Peterbilt??? I agree with TAM. If you had asked .300 RUM vs .300 WBY or 7MM Mag, something like that it would be more along the expected. .300 RUM is a hard hitting, hard kicking, wind-bucking, powder burning round. Some are very accurate, but others are very picky when it comes to matching the gun to all aspects of the cartridge. .257 Wby is a sweet, fast, light and accurate but more prone to wind drift and far less downrange energy. If I were going to compare those two I'd say a different analogy would be, "Should I buy a Dodge Mega Cab Diesel, or a Toyota Tacoma?"? Both are very good - depending on what you need. There are things the Tacoma won't do, but there are things the Dodge is way overkill for. Honestly, if a buddy of mine came up to me and said, which of these two should I choose, I'd say neither. Go with a .270 WSM, maybe 7MM mag or 7MM-08. You want speed, flatter trajectory, I'm guessing a case smaller than a gunpowder filled hotdog, maybe something you can shoot more than 4 times in a day without visiting your dentist to have your crowns all replaced...There are lots of good bullets out there right "in the middle" that do almost everything very well. But, if I *had* to choose between the two you asked about, it would be the .257 Wby. because I'd rather see you shoot a gun you can learn to shoot accurately without developing a flinch. An accurate shot from that gun can take down any big game you're likely to hunt (as others have pointed out, this was Roy Weatherby's favorite round - even for some tough African game). I have nothing against the big mags, but I will say, not just everyone can go out and make them shoot well. Many guys develop a flinch from the recoil, others are unwilling or unable to find a load that shoots well for them - lots of factors push experienced shooters away from the big 300 mags back to more mainstream loads that may not look as good on paper (ballistics charts) but do way better for them on other paper (a target at 300 - 500 yards).

Hey TJ, better late than never, right? Happy belated birthday. Sorry I missed you last year at the Sunrise shoot.

I always like it when I get checked. Sometimes, maybe more than I like to admit, you have to flag them down. Once you talk with them, they usually do the "check". I've been hunting in AZ for decades now, most of the time, if you actually encounter an AZGF official, they are very busy, and can tell right away if you are following the rules or not. I ran into a "unit manager" for 24A a while back, maybe 5+ years. She was patrolling the horseshoe-bend area between Globe and the Salt. Her truck was full of white bags filled with beer cans. I always look back on that time when GMU were so involved. I actually felt bad that she was out there picking up after drunk kids just to be sure that the private areas would still be accessible to the rest of us. If you don't like G&F policies, join the club, but get to know the guys and gals actually charged with monitoring the activities in the units you hunt. They're good folks, just like us, that want to see the best, but they have to deal with all kinds of crap in their day-to-day routine. I fully support the people in AZ G&F that are out there checking tags, fighting poachers, just doing a thankless, low-paying job that they hope will bring sportsmen and the state a little closer to finally figuring out how to manage this awesome country we all love to hunt.

That is a gorgeous buck! Congrats - he looks fantastic.

Wow - huge congrats to those who drew awesome tags! EBB, can't wait to see the trophy pix posted here!

My boys got skunked this year - no deer, no elk. I got a bonus point.

Here's a Navajo Muley that I took one week later with a muzzy. 55 yard shot bedded, and he sprayed blood all over the place before he expired just 55 yards later...

Here's a coues buck shot with Muzzy 100s. He literally went 10-15 steps and fell over dead.

Muzzy 100 Grain first choice - I've shot a lot of heads, but these are very reliable - they kill what they hit and give you plenty of blood to follow, but from what I've seen, you usually don't have to blood trail long with Muzzys. Slick Tricks are very good, Magnus Stingers and Snuffers, G5 Strikers - so many good heads to choose from, a good hit from any of them will give you the reslults you are after.

Great pictures! I love the spotted fawns. That bull has some darn nice 3rds - hopefully he'll top out to match.

A while back, lots of guys were making their own "scent elimination" sprays. Basically water, hydrogen peroxide and baking soda. Probably helps - especially de-scenting a blind. I agree with the majority that if you don't play the wind right, you're hosed. But if you are sitting in a blind you don't have any control over the wind. I don't put any real trust in the sprays when it comes to spot and stalk, but in a blind I spray everything down, try to wear rubber boots when I can, even try to deodorize my clothes. Fact is, covering body emissions is a tiny part of it. Every time you exhale, your distinct, human odor is getting all over everything close to you. In these situations, probably the best thing you can do is not drink coffee and eat eggs and bacon before heading to your blind. Brush you teeth with baking soda or non-flavored toothpaste, try not to sweat too much, and hope for the best. That said, one year I sat a blind less than 20 yards from a tank in a dry year. 13 bucks came in that day and several does. The young bucks were the dumbest of the bunch, and most walked right in. The does usually hung back until they saw the young bucks drinking. Some OK bucks showed up later, but either caught my smell or just figured something wasn't right, and got within bow range but never came all the way in. Luckily, a nice 3x3 came in late in the afternoon and when he got to the spot where the other bucks decided not to come in, he got a muzzy through the heart.

$450 for both of them???

Here we go, another great fall in Arizona. So what kind of gear is everyone packing this year? What bow, arrows, broadheads, range finders, trail cams? What's your pre-season scouting been like with all the forest closures?

C'mon man, you're not makin' a bear pile, I know that for sure. So what's up?

Wow, keep 'em coming. It's nice to see what the "average joes" are taking to the field this year. Glad to see all the responses so far.

LOL Lawdog - one of my favorite movies...

Wow, what a sweet spot you've got there! Keep us up on that bad boy's growth! AntlerObsession, that's funny right there..

In my opinion, it's important to separate the rules, the people who make those rules, the people charged with enforcing those rules and the underlying intent of the rules in the first place. Like it or not, some "hunters" in this state have engaged in the act of "ground-checking". That means they shoot an animal, decide whether it met their goals and then decided whether to tag it or continue hunting until they shoot one they are more happy with. Often returning later to claim their "culled" kill. This is where the "intent" came about, as I understand it. The guys who make the rules recognized this practice and felt they needed to do something about it - hence the rules. We would have bitched if we knew they knew about it and did nothing. The guys who enforce the rules really aren't empowered to make very broad judgment calls. They can actually be held criminally liable if they knowingly choose not to enforce the laws - not sure that many people understand that. Where it gets a little sticky, is when someone actually follows the rules, then falls into a gray area, and wants G&F to look on it with more of a common sense approach than a letter-of-the-law approach. It's a lose-lose situation for G&F. They created the rules with a certain intent, and even if they know someone was not trying to break the rules, they feel compelled to enforce to the letter, or else the rule becomes meaningless and unenforceable. Sometimes, the rules, because of their technicalities, make it tough to be totally honest - I get that. I've been on the bad side and back, trust me. But in close to 3 decades of hunting in Arizona, I wouldn't trade our "boots on the ground" G&F officers for those of any other state I've hunted. Almost 30 years of hunting all over this state, the actual guys and gals checking your license, etc. are some of the best in the country, in my opinion. My point is, before you take on the "us vs. them" mentality, even if you think "they started it"...keep in mind that pretty much any G&F officer you encounter in the field will actually do whatever they can to be helpful, informative and do just about whatever the law allows them to do, to help you in a sticky situation. Clearly, there are a few who don't share that attitude, but from what I've seen, they are a very small minority compared to other states. We're lucky here. While we might not agree with everything our G&F dept decides, the people you and I are most likely to encounter are overwhelmingly "on our side". Compare that with the abundance of other states where the presumptive attitude of any ward of state or federal fishing and hunting laws assumes everyone is guilty and treats them like poachers and criminals until they can prove their innocence. Just my $.02

My "Go-To" binocs are my Swaro 10x42 SLCs. I wear them with a harness, but they have the Jim White tripod adapter, so I can easily pull them off and stick them on a Slik Sprint tripod. I really like this setup because it's light, simple and very effective. Depending on the hunt, I may also carry my Swaro 15x56s in my pack with the same Jim White tripod adapter. If I need to slow down, glass further out, get more detail, the 15s go on the same light tripod. It's kind of like switching from binoculars to a spotting scope, only I can't look through a spotting scope for very long, and the slik tripod is great for up to 15x binoculars, but a spotting scope requires a lot more tripod. I use a similar setup for my kids. Vortex 10x binocs, a Slik Sprint tripod and a Jim White adapter. It's an extremely efficient, light, inexpensive setup.

We're planning to go hike Fossil Springs this weekend, and need a good place to park our trailer. Doesn't have to be anything fancy or established as long as it's easy to get in and out. We're not looking for RV parks - preferably dry camping in the forest. Any ideas?

So why in the Sam Hill is the area around Green's Peak still closed? I headed up there yesterday to do some scouting and hit the "Area Closed - Fire Hazard" signs at Porter Springs on the 96 road. There were rivers running down the road, standing water everywhere and all of the paper signs were mush due to the daily heavy rains up there for the past couple weeks. Went up to 117 via 260 just to be sure, and it's still closed as well.