Coach

Accuracy-wise, most of my guns like the CT (Winchester/Nosler) ballistic tips. Great for deer - especially coues, but too explosive for elk and maybe even big muleys. Nosler accubonds are probably a better choice for heavier game, and seem to fly really well. As others have mentioned, it really depends on the gun. Some just seem to like certain bullets. Haven't shot the Hornady interbond, but Hornady always makes great bullets, so it's definately one to try. That's why I love reloading so much. You can try out lots of bullet/powder combos until you find the one your gun likes - without breaking the bank.

Duh, a brazillion is someone who live in Brazil

Great goat! Congrats to Art. Man, 30 years to draw a tag - I bet the wait didn't seem that long when he walked up on that brute!

Vortex also offers several scopes in your price range that you might look at. Maybe a Viper 4-12 x 40, Vtex runs around $250 and the BDC reticle around $399. Doug's got 'em and he's great to work with. Plus it comes with the Vortex VIP warranty - which is a real plus. http://www.cameralandny.com/optics/vortex....texviper4-12x40

I just got a picture of a really big bull (msg says 470) that was supposedly taken near camp verde with an OTC tag. I wasn't aware of any seasons or OTC bull tags, so the whole thing sounds a little strange - anyone have the story?

Thanks Amanda. It just didn't seem legit.

arizonaelk, Finding the "hot cow" is pretty much just watching the herd. Some cows and calves will be indifferent to the bulls. They feed, they bed, they just go along. From what I've observed, there are usually one or two cows that come into estrus at any given time and bulls focus on them. They give off the right smells, certain body language - to let the bulls know they are ready to breed. The cows have their own pecking order, and family groups that hang together. A nursing cow might not come into estrus early in the Fall, whereas one of her younger siblings or other cows she dominates will. When the cows separate, it seems that they do so on "family lines" or "packs" for lack of a better term. A bull will come in with intentions of pulling a single cow that is sending breeding signals. If he suceeds at pulling this cow away, others that are part of her group or "clique" will join her. Again, I'm not an elk expert by any means, but I've seen this sort of splintering of cows many times. The cow in heat gets the attention of a certain bull, he does what he can to separate her from the herd, and based on hierarchy, the cows she controls follow her. Identifying the hot cow is pretty simple - even the young spikes will be approaching her with their tounges out (maybe even other cows) sniffing her back side. When a cow goes in heat, she gives off strong pheromones. This is what triggers rutting activity in the bulls, and fights over a cow ready to breed. Each cow, if they aren't nursing, will usually hit that point and during the Fall and become the object of the bulls' attention. As far as I know, nobody has yet figured out what triggers the release of pheromones. Some say it's temperatures, some hours of daylight, others say the moon. Personally, I'm in the "moon" camp - wtih caveats. I think a combination of shorter days, cooler night-time temperatures, and a new moon kick the cows into breeding time. That's assuming there is good feed and plentiful water - which this year, they definately have. I've watched several herds with lots of cows over the past couple of weeks. There are bulls trying to manage them, but the cows seem mostly disinterested in the bulls. They are still getting their cues from the dominant cows. We are currently at 39% full moon, waning. The next new moon will be Wed or Thurs next week. For the lucky archers out there, this corresponds with opening of the archery hunt. Now, I could be wrong, and this will be a good test, but in my thinking, many of the cows will start their estrus cycle in the middle of next week - corresponding to the new moon. Those that don't will probably go into estrus 4 weeks later, at the next new moon. I would LOVE to hear from those of you hunting opening weekend to see how the rut has progressed. Obviously, I'm not interested in honing in on your "secret spot", i just want to hear how the upcoming new moon affects the bulls and cows in the areas you are hunting. My guess is, Friday, the 10th to Monday the 13th of Sept. are going to be super hot for rut activity. I would really like to hear what you guys and gals see in the field, to test this hypothesis.

Great story - man those Slick Tricks mean business when they connect, don't they? Been tethering my rangefinder to me for years since I spent a couple hours backtracking to find it. I like the Nikon retractable tether - kind of a spring-loaded doohickey but I'll never drop my rangefinder again.

As usual, great advice from Jim. I watched a herd early this morning of 60+ elk, mostly cows and fawns with a couple scrubby bulls and 4-5 spikes and other yearling bulls. The herdbull, as it now stands, is a maybe 330ish 6x6. It was encouraging to see the primary bull bugling and chasing off smaller bulls, but these are the kinds of herds that can produce really well later on. The current "herd bull" is way too over-zealous and has more cows than he can possibly contain. In the next couple of weeks, that huge heard will be broken up into several smaller herds, each with its own "herd bull". Now, I'm no elk expert, but I do get out there and watch them when I can, maybe grab some video, or learn something about their behavior. From what I've seen in the past, a herd like this will get broken into groups based on which cows go into heat - and which cows *she* controls. Some will splinter off without a fight, others will be "won" and then splintered off. The bulls that take off groups will not necessarily be big. The herd-bull of one group is usually fighting for a single hot cow, maybe two. Where the really big bulls come into play is kind of away from the main herds. You might see them one day pushing a big herd, and the next day, the same herd is being controlled by a much smaller bull. I think of the bigger bulls as nomads. They don't really stick to any one herd, so much as bounce from group-to-group. It's kind of like they are too old to deal with wrangling cows - they know they can drop in when they want and breed, pretty much unchallenged - so they don't tie themselves to any one group of cows. This is where mid-day hunting comes into focus. The bigger "mid-sized" bulls spend the night and early mornings defending their herd and trying to force them into a pocket that they can control. The really big bulls stick tighter to cover, usually solo, probing the smaller herds for a chance to come in and breed, then move on. As the "herd bulls" go off to wallow or scrape, the nomads slip in and breed, usually without much vocalization, and continue on to the next bedding area. Point being, don't focus as much on "herd bulls" as on hot cows. Don't try to call the biggest in, because they're too smart to key in on a single cow. They are really smart, and will use your calls against you, just to keep tabs on where you are. They're more likely to get duped by their nose than by their ears. They've heard every call and can tell a human from the real thing. If in doubt, they stay away - that's how they get big. Find and play the hot cows. Let them do the talking, and be a ghost to get in between them and the big boys. Just some opintions from a non-expert. I hope something in here will help you on your hunt. Jason

I'd like to see the 'cats do well, but I have to admit, about the only football I care about is played by kids from 6 to 18 years old. Our local Blue Ridge Yellow Jackets are poised for another great year after taking the state championship last year against our arch-rivals, the Show Low Cougars (played in the Dome in Flagstaff). Had a blow-out last weekend against Casa Grande. Friday night football at it's best! My oldest son is playing on our 8th grade team this year, and I got to watch and video his 2nd game so far this year. They played against St. John's this afternoon and won 30-something to 8, with several starters out with injuries. My middle son, Nick, is on our local 5th/6th grade city league, and I am lucky to be one of his coaches. He's looking awesome this year. Our first actual game is this Saturday against Show Low's top team. Should be interesting to say the least! We've got the kids and the talent, so we'll see if we've done our job as coaches. This will probably be our toughest game of the season, and at least 5 of our "stud" players are out with injuries. My youngest son, Joshua, is on the 3rd/4th grade city team also looking forward to his first game on Saturday. I've got a once-in-lifetime elk hunt coming up this fall (unit 1 muzzle-loader), and I can barely even get out to scout - lol. Too involved in the little football players right now I guess! Truth be told, I went out this morning around 3:45 and watched a herd of 40+ cows with 5-6 bulls, but the biggest was a smallish 6x6, maybe in the 130's. Good news is, the bigger boy was bugling and pushing some of the bigger satellites out. The elk will be there when I get around to them. They always are -

A couple years ago, I was getting pretty serious about video for hunting. I did a ton of research on "prosumer" cam corders. The Canon GL2, Panasonic AG-DVC series and Sony HDR models were all the rage. I plopped down around $1800 for the Panasonic AG-DVC30. It's a great CCD camera with a Carl Zeiss lense, all the bells and whistles... I hardly ever take it with me. It's just too big - like packing a spotting scope around everywhere. I consider it an expensive learning experience. It's similar to the high priced Canon DSLR camera I bought for my wife as an anniversary gift. Truth is, the big cameras, big lenses, big prosumer cam-corders have their place. But for most of us, in real-life practical applications they are way overkill. They're too big and too complicated to mess with in field conditions. I'm downsizing my video camera to a Sony DCR-SR68. It fits in the palm of your hand, and can easily fit in a cargo pants pocket. It has an amazing lense ( Zeiss, 60x optical zoom) 80GB internal hard drive, and runs around $350. In addition, I'm buying a tiny Panasonic Lumix camera to take the place of the huge, DSLR we are accostomed to lugging around. What I'm getting at is, keep it small and simple. That $2K "prosumer" camera is worthless if it's too big and bulky to carry around with you when you're on the move. Get a good palm-sized camera that you will actually be inclined to carry around - and a good "shirt pocket" camera for still shots.

Great job, Brian! The cell phone pix sure didn't do him justice. Congrats on an amazing archery coues!

Wow - super nice buck! Congrats!

I haven't worn those boots, but have a pair of the Meindl Perfekt hunters, and they one of the best pairs of boots I've ever owned. Based on these boots, I would recommend anything built by Meindl. BTW, the Perfekt hunters aren't "hot" boots, if you choose good wool socks. Look at SmartWool or Cabela's Ultimate wool socks. Merino wool and nylon blend will make any boot feel better, IMO.

I've been up here for many years, and this year things are greener than I've ever seen them. We had lots of snowfall late in the Spring, followed by Monsoons that are keeping everything wet. The deer and elk are fat and happy. The wildflowers are amazing, and will only get better.

Kind of a one-sided answer. I've never looked through the Leupolds you mentioned, but I have a couple pairs of the Vortex Diamondbacks in 10x42 and, and I think they are great glass for the price. As my boys mature and I have been buying optics for them, I'm all about the Vortex. Good binocs, good rifle-scopes, great warranty. And if they tumble down a hill with them I'm not worrying more about the glass than their bodies.

Nice job on some great looking bucks. Congrats to all the hunters involvled. Nicely done!

Could be scent, but in my experience, deer (elk, bears, etc.) seem to sense pressure. Maybe it's more activity, more human sounds and smells right before the hunt. I've seen trail cams loaded with action in the weeks leading up to the hunt turn cold. Animals that were active during the day go completely nocturnal. Just part of hunting these guys. They aren't dumb, in fact they are so in-tune with their surroundings, they just "sense" the danger and change their habits.

Wow - awesome buck. You've gotta be on cloud nine right about now. Gotta love this time of year seeing all the hard-working hunters scroring big on some awesome coues bucks. Great job! And thanks for taking such nice pictures after the kill. I love those field photos that show such respect for the deer.

Great buck! Congratulations!

+1 for dirty barrell.

Nice!!! I love those vintage photos. Shot some whoppers with open sights!

The sport is changing. We are way more competetive, way more sophisticated, all that. I don't know you, or what motivates you...If I were to push hunting out of my life, something would be missing. I get the feeling that you would feel the same. Yes, we have to deal with all kinds of nonsense from anti-hunters, to slob hunters, to trail-camera theives to fights over water holes to regulations that seem outright stupid. I think you are letting the darker side of things cloud your judgement. Instead, try to think about how you got started hunting in the first place. You've probably spent some early mornings waking up to the sights, smells and sounds of the desert opening up to you. You might have even pondered the old guys on mules who used to live out ther 365 days a year with nothing more than a mule, a rifle, and if they were lucky, some matches. You probably admired those old coots, as you explored deeper into the desert, hunting, exploring, and looking at yourself, why you were out there, instead of sitting on the freeway on your way to somewhere you didn't want to be. Hunting is not a hobby. It's a conscious effort to get away from the world that sometimes makes no sense. I can't speak for you, but I spent years living in the valley, and I felt trapped. I felt like I was torn between providing for my family and actually living. I felt like my life had no meaning. Breaking away from that grind opened my eyes, just enough to see something simple and true. When I take to the woods, I am free. The friends, the campfire, the sounds of laughter, the smells of fresh rain on aspens or a camp fire... It's a special place, and I'd probably not be there nearly as much as if I weren't hunting. How much would I miss of the world happening around me if my hunting didn't force me to shut off the BS for once, and just live for a few days, as a human and a hunter? I think a lot of people lead boring, dull lives. They are devoid of passion, ignorant of the simple pleasures of life, lonely, scared and wandering. I've been there, and sometimes go back to visit - that's part of growing older and dealing with our own demons. To me, hunting brings the world closer. It makes colors brighter, sounds more distinct, my purpose more defined, my role here on this planet, as short as it is, more understandable. I hope you won't lose faith. Hunting is a "source". It's a place where you can lose yourself and find yourself. If hunting has gotten stale because you don't have someone to share it with, PM me. I think one of the main causes of hunters losing interest, is losing the connection with the people who used to make it fun. I know what it feels like to go hunting solo, again and again, and lose the passion. Just something to think about, I have a good friend who was extremely passionate about hunting, and ended up having his business ventures become really profitable. Here's a guy who now has the time and resources to hunt pretty much where and when he wanted to, along with being a skilled hunter. Eventually, he got really lonely on those hunts because his good friends had work and family obligations. The fun had somehow dissappeared. Hunting became work, or a prize to be won, or a hole on the wall left to be filled. While we envied him, he envied us because we had a life full of wives, children, stresses, all that noise that we sometimes take for granted. I don't know exactly where you are coming from, but I would venture to guess that if you are truly considering walking away from hunting, it has more to do with the people who first brought hunting close to you, somehow separating their lives from yours. If that is the case, there is a whole world of new faces, new places, and new adventures out there. If hunting is truly part of your soul, you will never totally walk away from it. I admire your courage to come out here on a public forum and vet your concerns and frustrations. Don't lose faith. Reach out and meet new friends who share your passion. Godspeed to you.

Great looking buck! Awesome job on the stalk - congrats!

Sorry to hear that - sucks when local guys are ripping eachother off. I hope you find out who took them. Good news is, not many secrets stay secrets on this mountain -