Coach

$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.

+2. I would go with the assumption that it was forgotten or just never retrieved from last year. If you get there on opening day, and someone's sitting there, back out and let them have it.

If you guys aren't watching the latest on "Project Gunrunner" a.k.a. "Fast and Furious", you really should be. This would make one heck of a hollywood movie, aside from the fact that it is real. Arizona gun stores cooperated with the Federal B.A.T.F.E to conduct a "sting" operation to observe and intercept the illegal trafficking of assault weapons to Mexican drug cartels. Under surveillance, gun stores were instructed by the BATFE to allow the sales of thousands of assault weapons to straw buyers in the United States knowing the intention was to pass those arms into Mexico and into the hands of the cartels. The supposed intent was to follow the weapons and track them, so that arrests could be made. According to news reports, the Mexican government now claims they had no involvement in the operation. As we all know now, hundreds of Mexican citizens lost their lives to these weapons, and at least two U.S. border patrol agents were killed by guns that our fed let "walk" into the hands of violent drug gangs. Here's where it gets really dicey for the current administration. I'm sure some of you remember the Iran/Contra situation, where the US supplied guns to Iran, who was already the subject of arms embargo. Our own treaties prevent us from aiding, militarily, groups hoping to overthrow their own governments. Since Mexico has declared war on the cartels, and we have intentionally armed those cartels, some people are now saying that we have actively supplied weapons to an unauthorized insurgency. I'm sure it will not gain any traction, but the current position of the Mexican government is that heads of the BATFE, and Department of Justice who authorized these actions, including Eric Holder, should be tried in Mexican courts. Any way you look at it, operation "Fast and Furious" or "Project Gunrunner" eclipse Watergate, Katrina, Lewinsky, as an example of just how corrupt the federal government has become. And to make matters worse, you'll hardly find a journalist willing to even discuss it. Now ask yourself, what would the coverage of this monumental disaster have been if Obama and his clowns weren't the ones in charge right now. That just illuminates the power of the paid-for media in this country. If you think for one minute you get a fair shake when the rubber hits the road, you're wrong. This country's political future has been bought and paid for, with your money - and mine. BMB (Buy More Bullets).

I'll start... I'm shooting a Hoyt CRX 35 this year with a QAD drop away and Axcel Armortech sight, with some Easton ACC 340's probably tipped with Muzzys or Rage or VPA Terminators. My first hunt will be pronghorns in NM near Roswell. I might try out some G5 Tekan 2s. That hunt overlaps our deer hunt, so I'm trying to get some bucks close to home I can put my boys on. I'm really not looking for any deer hunt for myself until December when they are hard-horned. In September, I'll be chasing screaming bulls in Unit 1, same setup minus the Rage. I'll shoot fixed heads most likely for that or a G5 T3. My rangefinder is probably older than any of my kids, well, maybe not my first, but its a trusty old Nikon that is unreal. I've probably replaced the batteries twice in 12+ years, not because they ever died, I just felt like I had better change them. October will put me down in SW New Mexico looking for coues with a muzzle loader in an area that has TONS of coues, huge bodies, and some really good trophy potential. I'll be shooting a Knight Long Range Hunter with a Luepold Ultimate Slam scope, Barnes TMZ 250 grain sabots over 120 grains of Triple 7. When December comes, I hope to chase some desert muleys and coues with archery gear. So, you gettin' pumped up yet? Let's hear about everyone's hunts this year!!!

To be honest, all of the news reports I've read have been really defensive of the actual agents involved. The real beef is with higher-ups in the organization, and could go all the way to Holder. A major theme in the almost non-existent reporting on this story given its gravity, is how the ATF is now trying to go after the agents that became vocal when they were told to do things they knew were very dangerous and very much against the stated goals of the operation (not to mention, highly illegal).

A buddy of mine had a similar experience to TAM's. The rancher tried to tell each hunter what area they could hunt, and which ones they couldn't. Turns out he had a big buck picked out for his wife that was in an area that should have been allowed to hunters. My buddy's hunting partner ended up shooting the "saved" buck in a part of the ranch they were told they weren't allowed to hunt. It got pretty dicey from what I heard, and they had to high-tail it out to avoid a fist fight - or worse. Personally, I don't know what legal rights the landowners have to tell you where you can and can't hunt, but just know they might push the limits of the law there and expect to supercede the agreements they have with NM Fish and Game. The best tool you can have is knowledge. Really research what your rights on that land are, and be prepared to defend your hunting choices with documentation and detailed maps. I've seen first-hand NM ranchers trying to close off state lands. If you go by what they say, versus what is actually legal, they can and will bully hunters out of areas that are legal to hunt. Be informed, courteous and, if necessary, willing to defend your rights to hunt a particular area if it is legal for you to do so.

Good call. I wouldn't have even minded seeing them eliminate the turkey hunt this fall. On the plus side, the turkey and deer populations will explode in the next few years in those areas.

Has anyone heard anything about the North half of the unit? It's still closed up tight but it's been raining up there daily.

Yeah, I'm gonna have to check that out. I got a kick out of "Off the Grid" about the guys who live out in a shanty-town in NM.

I'm really considering trying one out in NM this year...They are funny, but my kids would get a kick out of watching dad dress up as a speed goat and try to sneak within bow range.

AZpredator and Mason, thank you. Unfortunately, we can build some tough boxes out of steel, but ultimately they're attached to a chunk of wood. Even the toughest boxes can't stand up to a good 4" grinder with a cut-off wheel, or a chainsaw for that matter. My hopes were to make a box tough enough to deter the casual thief. With the right lag bolts on a big enough tree, I don't see this getting taken - but with good tools and some motivation, there is no box strong enough to guarantee it won't be taken. What stinks is that we have to go to these extremes. I've come across some pretty high-dollar cameras attached to a 2 - 4 inch tree with nothing but a strap of nylon holding them. In a million years, I can't fathom taking them, as easy as it would be. I would like to believe that most people would just leave these cameras alone and hike a ridge or 2 over and start their own salt lick, or whatever. But that's just not how people are, apparently. We hear of cameras being stolen, wrecked, cards taken out of them (that one actually happened to me, and I know who did it). Guys packing heavy enough tools to steal a camera locked in a steel box - staggering, but predictable. I guess the key is to find a place where nobody else feels like they own it and can do whatever they want. Get a little deeper, be a little more creative, and hope for the best. I've never had a camera stolen, but I'm sure I will at some point. When that happens, I guess I'll look for a spot further from roads, harder to hike in, etc. It might just force me to be a better hunter. Always look for the positive side of any negative encounter. There's a really smart guy named Franklin Covey, and his book called 'The 7 habits of Highly Effective People' should be required reading for all school kids. One of the key concepts of this book is that every "bad" situation you encounter is an opportunity to do something good.

I've been reading topics about people losing their trail cameras. I spent the last couple of days digging through some scap metal in the hopes of building a pretty tough camera box for a DLC Covert CA 3.0 camera I bought here from Amananda. We all know, if some thief wants it bad enough, they're gonna steal it, but I just wanted to see how strong a box I could come up with using the scraps I had at hand, a welder, etc. to make the strongest box I could come up with. I think the only way to steal a camera in this box is to chainsaw the tree and lug out the box connected to a big log and still, probably ruin the camera. So here's my recipe for a tough trail cam box... I started with some 2x6 tubular steel from my wife's old treadmill... I cut out a section (this stuff is about 1/8" thick, maybe more, I think 4 or 5 guage). Next was cutting out the area that the camera, sensor and IR bulbs could do their work. This would have been much easier with a plasma cutter, but all I had were a jigsaw and die grinder... Next, I had to figure out how to hold the box shut. I planned on a mechanism that slid the 2 halves together (we'll get to that) but the locking mechanism had to keep the lock inside the box. So I built in two opposite-facing pillars... More in the next post...

Hate to say it, but NM appears to be in reaction mode. Only allowing 2% of tags to non-guided non-residents...Seems to be all about land owners and outfitters. Best of luck to you guys. I'll get to hunt antelope and coues deer this year in NM, but 2011 will probably be the last time I'll ever get to hunt the state I was born in.

The Shuttle T's are one head I have not tried out, but I constantly hear great things about them. On this forum, the Bowsite, Eders, overall, these heads have a lot of die-hard fans.

I like to go light on day hunts, so my go-to pack is the Cabela's Hybrid 2-in-1. I like a big fanny pack with a shoulder harness. I can carry 15x56 binos (10s around my torso on a harness), a slik sprint tripod, a stool, all my field-dressing equipment, food, water, flashlights, layering clothes, emergency gear and even some basic things like electrical tape, knife sharpener, wet wipes, and still not have a big, hot pack on my shoulders. Totally loaded, it's still almost like not having a backpack on at all. I've got a J105, and think it's a good pack, but usually I only go to that pack if I'm turkey hunting and hauling around a double bull blind. When I bought it, I thought it would become my "go-to" pack, but the way I hunt, it's overkill. If I get something down way back in, I'll bone it out and hang it and go in with my J105 to get it. I'm doing a pack-in hunt in NM this year that will require a real backpack. The last time I did it, my "decent" full sized backpack almost broke trying to carry out a deer plus all my backpack hunting stuff - a tent, sleeping bag, stove, ground pad, clothes, food, muzzle-loading stuff, a very heavy muzzle loader, water, etc. So I just bought a Lowe Alpine Saracen pack from Sierra Trading Post. This is a military-grade pack (Dutch Special forces if I remember correctly) that is similar in construction to a Kifaru or Kuiu pack. It's heavy at 9 pounds empty, but tough as nails. When I bought mine, it was marked down from $460 to $249, but now they're $199. For a super-duty pack (5,492 cubic inches) capable of handling really big loads in excess of 100 pounds if needed, this thing is a steal. http://www.sierratradingpost.com/p/311,2154N_Lowe-Alpine-Saracen-Military-Backpack-Internal-Frame.html

The Black is loaded with bears. I've had several encounters there, but nothing as serious as .270. It is really kind of scary when they start following you around. I've had to toss off a fish before to give them something to work on while I back out. The worst area seems to be at the Black River Crossing. Lots of trash, lots of fish "remnants". I've seen some huge bears in there. A couple years back I was hunting coues on the San Carlos and was glassing a canyon just South of the crossing and glassed up 2 bears within 15 minutes up in trees eating the juniper berries. A year later I was fishing near the crossing and there was a bear going from car-to-car looking for food. He peeled off at least one car door and the owners came back to find him in the back seat of their Honda. My father-in-law later had to shoot at one trying to get into his pickup where he was sleeping. Those guys are so unpredictable. Usually, they are so afraid of people, they're almost uncanny in their ability to slip away and hide. But when they get used to food sources produced by humans, they seem to loose their fear of people really quickly.