Coach

LOL, Clay, when you sold your Ally, I had no idea you were saving up for a Destroyer. Great bow. My buddy brought his over a couple days ago. He knew i had a new Hoyt and, well being competitive, wanted to see how it stacked up against his Destroyer. Both were great bows. He shot tight groups with mine, I shot tight groups with his...overall, I found the Destroyer faster, but he thought my CRX35 was quieter, and I agree. The draw cycle was pretty much identical. We both went away with a good respect for both bows. The destroyer is faster, for sure. The Hoyt is much more quiet. I like the handle on the CRX 35 better, but that's personal choice. Glad you've got another bow lined up to slay even more game with than your '07 ally. I hope it produces lots of game for you.

I saw one episode where the guys were being dropped from a crane wearing a harness at 125 feet, shooting at targets on the ground with a Glock 17. Humbling to say the least. One guy *only* hit 3 of ten targets, a couple others hit 4 and one dude, I think a USMC sniper, hit 6 of ten targets. Those guys are pretty amazing. Great show.

Yesterday I took my oldest son Matt out for the Jr. opener. We had a good opportunity at first light as I called a young gobbler in to our decoys. He came in on a string but kind of held up at around 40 yards. I messed up and told Matt he should shoot a little too early, but I've seen him kill a turkey at that range before. Unfortunately, it was miss, and one more young tom has gotten an education. Today was Nick's turn. We got up at 3, ate some breakfast and headed to a spot a buddy of mine had gotten into some birds and left his blind set up. Not knowing for sure if we'd find his blind, or even make it that far before we heard something I packed in my blind as well. After a long hike we finally found his blind and got set up before light. It was a really quiet morning with no wind - perfect for calling. We called, waited and listened for about 1/2 hour and heard no gobbling or even hens. Nick was getting really cold despite lots of layers. I'm guessing he got a little sweaty on the hike in, so we decided to work our way back to the truck and look for a new spot. On the way out, we stopped and called. About half-way back to the truck, hit the slate call and immediately got multiple gobbles. They were close, so we had to set up really fast. Nick put out the decoys while I set up the blind - turkeys gobbling the whole time. We got in the blind and started some light calling. The gobbling had stopped for a short time, but the next response was even closer - we knew they were on their way in. Within a few minutes we could see two toms working their way toward the decoys. Sure enough they kept moving closer. I picked a tree I knew was within shooting distance and told Nick once they got past that point, pick an opportunity and let 'em have it. The bigger of the two was in front and got to that tree and started moving a little off to our right, still approaching the decoys. Nick waited for him to clear a deadfall and BOOOOM! I didn't see the impact because I was trying to cover my ears, but Nick says - "He's dead!". It was a great shot with multiple hits in the neck and head. This was Nick's second turkey. Now it's time to get Matt back out there for another whack at them.

Awesome job, Brian. Thanks for the report.

Wow - that looks amazing!

Awsome job! Congrats Cole! And great job dad, for getting him out there and sticking with it! Gotta love those youth hunts!

The seem to be a little more isolated this year, for lack of a better word. Areas I've always found good sign in had none this year, but go over a ridge or two and there is a lot - but in just a small area. Not sure why - same feed, same water, everthing. I've also not seen large groups this year. A couple jakes or young toms, etc kinda doing the solo/bachelor thing. I think the older birds have the hens and are keeping quiet about it. I'll be back out there with Matt tomorrow. I sure hope we can get his tag filled. This 3 AM thing is for the birds

I took my oldest son out yesterday to check out a couple of spots that have always been good in the past and the sign was scarce to non-existent. We started out from McNary down to Los Burros, checking past "hot spots" along the way, took the 96 across and checked out Pancho Springs, right on down to the low country. Turkey sign was old to non-existent in all the places that usually have great populations in early Spring. I've heard good things about 3C, but that's no longer in the youth OTC hunt. Anybody else finding sign in the higher elevations? Not looking for specific spots, but are they higher/lower maybe more along the black? Wasssup with the birds?

Not trying to start a fight or anything, but those VPA heads look amazingly close to several broadheads already on the market. I've got some of my dad's Howard Hill cedar shafts with heads that look exactly like the green 160 grain in the picture. And the 100 grain heads look almost identical to a G5 Montec SS. Is there something about this company that has taken some good designs and made them better? Or are they just re-marketing some proven designs? Just asking.

When I bought my wife a handgun, I knew it had to be something she was comfortable with. She didn't like the revolvers, and most semi-autos were hard for her to load. I ended up going with a Beretta Tomcat in .32 ACP. Not the most lethal round out there, but it's easy to carry and easy to operate. The thing that makes this gun so attractive is that you don't have to work the slide to chamber the first round round. You push a lever and the back part of the barrel pops up. You drop in a bullet, push the barrel back down until it clicks and you're ready with single or double action.

+1 - Nice post!

It was a double bull Matrix. When things go right, they set up in a minute or two.

+1 on the Zen Ray. Definately worth looking through before you buy something. I looked through a friend's last fall an I was really shocked by the clarity. I'm a little surprised there isn't more buzz about them.

Unit 27 is made for that type of hunting. A local guy here recently passed away, but spent a lot of time in that unit packing in far from roads and he killed some amazing bucks, year-after-year. He found huge bulls and huge sheds, but always had something bigger staked out for next year. The areas he hunted, and his techniques aren't really a secret - he was just willing to work way harder and endure much more cold and isolation than most hunters want to deal with. I don't know of a more "roadless" area in AZ than 27. The Blue River Wilderness Area probably has more game than any other areas in the state. Huge trophy potential, but as mentioned before, the wolves are taking a toll. There are good reasons this area has been considered as a possible site for re-introducing grizzly bears in AZ. Most of it is more-or-less inaccessible to humans except by horseback or pack trails, and let's face it. Aside from the boy scout troop here and there sticking to known trails, and a few die hards, most people don't venture that deep. It's true wilderness, and if you get hurt, you are a long way from anything. For what it's worth, if you want to pack in there with mules and want someone to tag along, shoot me a PM. I've never hunted off horseback or mules but I've always wanted to.

Nice job! I think you were way faster at finding your load than most ML hunters. I had mine all dialed in, and then Hornady changed the plastic they use in their sabots to make them easier to load. I never would have imagined how much that affected my groups. In a panic (had a ML bull tag and a gun shooting all over) I bought everything I could locally and still didn't get my groups back where I had seen them. Ended up killing my bull @ 257 yards, but the bullet performance was terrible to say the least. I'm going to look at the Barnes now, since Hornady's won't shoot well in this gun, and the TC bullets from wally world are total junk. Even if they hit where you aim, they poke little holes, disintegrate and leave all the clean-up work for follow-up shots. Glad you found a winning combination. I'm assuming you are using loose Buckhorn 209 to get 115 grains, but what do you mean 81 "weighed" grains? I'm confused about the 34 grain difference. Where does the 115 number come from? Just curious, because I've got to get my ML shooting again, and this is a gun I've seen shoot 3" groups at 300 yards and now I can't get 3" at 100 yards. I'd like to use your system to get back on track, but I need to understand it first.

Knowing nothing about the trapping laws in AZ, I remember my cousin in Oklahoma used to catch bobcats by digging a hole, putting a dead bird down the hole and placing the trap over the hole (mostly buried in sand in a wash bottom). Smart cats would dig around the trap, but you could put some flat rocks around it. He caught a lot of them.

3.5" #5 for me. They kick like a mule but usually kill whatever is in front of you. Well, except for this morning - he he - but I forgot to tell my son that gun tends to pattern a little high at longer ranges.

Thanks for the replies. This morning I had to stay close to town. On our first setup we had a jake coming right in to the decoys. He strutted and gobbled right at the edge of the opening we were sitting. I messed up and suggested that Matt take the shot but it turned out to be a little far. I sure wish I had just kept calling. I think he would have kept coming right in. Oh well, we'll try again. Might have to go up higher tomorrow.

I also had bad results on an elk with a G5 Montec. It was a killing shot, and the bull was recovered, but the head looked like you had run over it with truck. The steel is just too soft to hold a good edge and seems to disintegrate when it hits anything other than flesh. I really like the idea of a one-piece, 3-blade, cut on contact head, so I bought some of the newer Montec CS. I haven't shot them at anything, but they seem sharper and harder, and should fly just like the Montecs, which have always flown really well for me. The thing that's tough, but at the same time really nice, when picking a broadhead there are so many choices out there that are so far superior to what most of us had availalble when we started archery hunting it's mind boggling. When I first started out, Thunderheads were pretty much the head to beat. But at $30 for 6 they were considered very expensive. The more I've gotten into bow hunting, the more great heads I seem to encounter each year. Yeah, there's also a gimmick head for every solid one. I've made a list of the ones that are well constructed, fly well in most set-ups, and have a following of serious hunters who are real picky about heads. Fixed heads: Wac'Em/G5 Striker/Cabela's Copper Head/Red Head Blackout. Many names, still the same head. This has to be the most "cloned" head anywhere. Even Horton Crossbows have an OEM version of the same head (Horton FX Pro/BF200). Why so many versions of the same head? It's a good design, period. Solid, carbon steel shank, short, high angle, razor sharp, replaceable blades. What's not to like? Muzzy 3-blade. Some people have tuning issues with these heads, according to all the stuff I've read on the Bowsite, Eber's and others. The bottom line from what I've read, is that if you can get them to fly well in your setup, there is no better head. From my personal experience, I killed a nice coues deer a couple years back in August in AZ with a muzzy. He went a few yards and fell over dead. The next week I killed a nice, big-framed 3x3 velvet muley in NM with a muzzy. It wasn't a great hit, but he bled out fast - and that's important. I have not seen Muzzys to fly any differently than any other good broadhead I've shot, and everything I've hit with a Muzzy died close to where it was hit. Don't let the fact that you can buy 3 of them at WalMart for $17 fool you. These are not "el-cheapo" broadheads when it comes to hunting. In a properly tuned bow, they fly great. And when they hit, they kill. I have as much faith in a Muzzy 3 blade as any other head I shoot, and better recovery rate than any. Slick Trick - Man, I remember when these heads first came out. A "normal guy" posted on a popular bow hunting website about his new heads. I helped out a little bit with his new website to promote them. Who could have known then how amazingly popular these heads would be? And for good reason. The design is beautifully simple. You've got a solid, carbon steel shank like a nail, with not 3 but 4 blades made from the best German steel available. They are scary sharp out of the box in 1", 1 1/8" and 1 1/4". Plus if you like the older "bear" style, you can get the razortrick, which has the main cutting head in front of the ferrule for the only short, blade first, 4 blade "bear" style of head I know of. I have shot the slick trick standard and magnum, and I can say for sure that they fly perfectly in a tuned bow. I haven't shot the GrizzTricks or the RazorTricks. If the RazorTricks fly like the standard sliks, I can't think of a better head for any game. The standard and magnum are already field-proven performers and the newer offerings appear to build on the reputation that has taken "Slick Trick" from a one-man "garage" head to a proven favorite amoung a very picky crowd. The Magnus Stinger/Buzzcut. This is the better half of today's version of the old Bear broadhead. Many guys get turned off right off the bat that it is such a long broadhead. It just looks like it will be harder to tune than the shorter heads because it "should" catch more wind, and it's so long it "should" change your FOC. Don't be fooled by appearances. While the Stinger and Buzzcut look old-school, they fly right along with the shorter broadheads in a properly tuned bow. Add in Magnus' warranty, it's basically a lifetime, no-fault warranty...I don't even know how they can do it aside from trusting people not to abuse it. You can shoot one of these heads into a rock quarry and mail it in to them and they'll send you a replacement. I think that's awesome, and I love that spirit of customer service, but I don't think any head can take a shot out of today's bows and hit anything but a target or straight vitals and not be damaged. Enough about the warranty, what do they do when they hit? They cut, and they cut big time. There is a reason old-school longbow and recurve shooters like the Bear style head. They are devastaging. You've got a long, cut-on-impact razor head, followed by a strong ferrule housing bleeder blades. The only difference between the Stinger and Buzzcut is that the Buzzcut has a serrated edge. Something that was once frowned upon, but many bowhunters now prefer. Mechanicals: Well, all I have to say about mech's is I've never shot one at an animal, they seem to do a good job of making up for an improperly tuned bow, you either love them or hate them, and I've heard as many people telling me how great Rage heads are as I've heard of people saying they stink. I bought a pack of Rage 2-blades this year. I don't know what, if anything I'll hunt with them. On the one hand, I keep hearing of great success with them. On the other hand, I'm old school enough to think that moving parts are just a chance for things to go wrong. I'd rather spend more time tuning my bow to shoot fixed blades. Nothing against those of you who shoot mechs. I definately see the appeal. But, at that critical moment, if I had to choose between a solid fixed bland and a mech, and knew I could hit where I were aiming at 40. 50 even 60 yards out, I'd choose the fixed heads.

Nice looking buck for sure. I won't pretend to be able to ground-score a deer like that based on just the photos, but the previous responses all sound about right. High 140's.

I think it follows the same pattern as most skills. You could compare it to long range shooting, even golf. Just buying the best equipment out there won't make you good. However, once you have acquired a certain skill level through hard work and practice, you can reach a point where mediocre equipment can be a hindrance. I can think of several examples of amazing "spots" while glassing where there was so little of the animal visible and/or the range was so long there is no way they would have been visible without really good glass. However, the guys behind the glass in those situations had the patience and skill to pick the details apart carefully enough make the best of the optics.

I'd also check out HuntScout.com. They do unit-specific hunting maps. I know the guy who compiles the information for these maps, and the responses he gets from customers is very positive.

We just got hammered with about a foot of snow in one day. Could be a good thing, lots of moisture, I'm thinking the White Mountain bulls will have good fronts.

Dan, shoot me a PM if you can. I know a spot near Hospital tank that was loaded with horns the last time we were in there. Couldn't pick 'em up - but you can.

Glad you found him a good home. My wife's family raised rotties, and I love seeing those awesome critters with the big, square heads, bulky frame. That's a nice one.