Coach

Cool sequence. My money's on the cat.

Who dat?

My wife always wanted a daughter she could name Isabelle ( or Isabel ) " Izzy or Belle" for short. Seems only boy swimmers survive in my boxers. Oh well - that's how it goes. Might be an appropriate name as in "The Belle has rung" or "Izzy has spoken".

Yowzer, I just googled the Axcel sight...maybe I have that much cash invested in my Spot Hogg, but doesn't $200 seem like a serious chunk of cash to lay down on an accessory??? I guess in retrospect my 5-pin Hogg-it was around $150 and I think I paid another $50 or more for the 7-pin head... just when you thought bows were expensive... However, I love shooting my SDP out to 80, if for nothing else, to see where my form is bad. Gino, I'll find you at the Sunrise shoot (probably at camp), mind if I put a couple arrows through yor setup?

I bought the Spot Hogg "Hogg It" and upgraded the ring to the Seven Deadly Pins. Really like this site and while pricey, I can't imagine a more adjustable sight.

That is AWESOME!!! Congrats on a very nice buck!

Awesome trip - gotta do that some day. I really want to catch a sail on spinning tackle too. Thanks for sharing your awesome adventure with us! I think I'd have tried to wrangle at least a coupla steaks off one of those bad boys

Wow - just re-read. You guys like your '05s HOT!!!

115 grain CT ballistic tips on 50.0 grains of IMR 4350. Shoots very tight. My gun likes longer bullets at 3.25 OAL. Good luck and remember to tell us what worked for you!

You might be doing things better than I am, but I've been setting out salt licks since I was a teenager (long time ago), checking tracks, etc. When the first trail cams came out, I had them set, spent every weekend checking them... I've never yet had an easy deer hunt, and I've employed every device, every supplement, every tactic out there. Not trying to be confrontational, but when you post up pix of huge bucks taken year after year and can attribute it to technology, you might have something. I know a few guys who year-after-year kill good bucks, some years great bucks. But it's not because they have the latest and greatest techno-do-it-all. They do it by jeeping, hiking and horse-packing in further, learning more about the bucks in their area, sleeping on snow, eating whatever they can pack in or kill (in season), and working harder for it than most of us are willing to work. Technology does not make great hunters IMO. Simple guys working the hardest, dedicated to learning the habits and territory of trophy bucks, are the guys who post up the most pix of truly awesome bucks on this forum and others. With all due respect, show me some evidence of hunters leaning too hard on technology for their success, and I'll post pics of guys who have hunted hard, slept in snow, done their homework, and did what other hunters could have done, but weren't willing to do - to earn some of the best archery coues taken in this state.

Nice! Good luck on that 3C hunt!

I'm gonna hold off a year to see how this thing shakes down. If Bowtech come out with a Destroyer in a 35" ATA, I'll probably go that route. I like a little taller bow. Otherwise, we'll see what Hoyt changes on their Maxxis for 2011, or if Mathews can put out a "new and improved" Switchback - not sure if the Z7 is their best concept yet. It still seem like '05 was a great year for bows with the Allegiance from Bowtech and the Switchback from Mathews. Both companies have put out a lot of bows in the past few years, but have yet to improve on those two. Gotta look closer at the Maxxis also. When Gino and Coosefan jump ship, it's something to consider anyway.

Awesome trip - how big were those flatheads?

Great article. I had no idea that elk were extinct in AZ. Pretty amazing given the number of animals we have now. I have often wondered why we don't do more pronghorn transplants in Eastern AZ. It always seemed odd to me how we could have so few, while, just across the border in New Mexico they are flourishing. I've heard many stories about pronghorn here, and why our herds are struggling. One was that many winters ago, we had a lot of snow and G&F dumped hay bales out to keep them from starving to death, but somehow they were unable to digest the hay and died. The few remaining had such heavy predation that fawn recruitment from year-to-year was only enough to sustain the numbers. Another explanation I heard from a biologist was that our Eastern pronghorn country has too many Junipers, giving predators more cover to stalk them - whereas the open ranches of New Mexico removed most or all of the junipers in favor or vast stretches of grass-only land that gives them a much higher fawn recruitment rate. I sure would like to see the pronghorn herds in AZ grow to what it seems to me we could easily support. Imagine the additional hunting opportunity we could enjoy if pronghorn tags were plentiful, instead of being nearly impossible to draw. This is one thing I would like to see AZGFD address, and get a little more agressive with. It just seems odd to drive through huge expanses of grasslands and see so few pronhorn compared to similar country in neighboring states.

That's awseome - very creative FDay present!

I'd pay 40-50 bucks for the bare bow. It would make a nice bowfishing rig.

Sorry, those things are getting harder and harder to sell. I took a beating on mine on Ebay a while back. The general consensus is, well, let's go with "not all that useful" to keep it G-rated.

I'm looking for some good P-Dog towns in the Eastern part of the state. Looks like there are lots NE of St. Johns around Zion Well, but it's hard to tell what's public or private out there. Shoot me a PM if you know where to find good populations and don't mind sharing. I'll tell you about the ones I know, but most of them are pretty small - almost too small to hunt. I used to go N. of Vernon, but that's all turning into housing developments. I'd love to hear about some colonies around Snow Flake, St. Johns, Vernon or Concho.

I agree with the previous posters - With a good bullet, and perfect shot placement, should be no problem. On the other hand, if the shot is just a little off, you could be looking at a bad situation. Personally, I like the .223 for Javelina and smaller sized game. For deer, I would recommend a 25-06 or larger. My coues rifle of choice is a .270 WSM or .300 WSM, so a .223 seems like a little too light. Coues tend to be longer shots and you need a bullet that can buck the wind and maintain kenetic energy. A typical .223 bullet is around 55-75 grains. That's not much downrange energy compared to a 25-06 shooting 117 grains or more with a lot more powder (30-06 casing necked down to .25) I guess if you were shooting from a treestand or blind where you knew your shot would be under 200 yds with perfect conditions, I could endorse a .223 as the "bare minimum" - again assuming you are using premium, bonded bullets with a heavy charge. If you are talking about glassing and taking cross-canyon shots, I think the .223 is way too underpowered. A 25-06, 7mm-08, 30-06, plain old .270 is going to be a far better choice, and all of those listed can be loaded down to low recoil, while still achieving good downrange energy. Bottom line, I think there are a lot better choices out there than a .223 for coues.

Bump - c'mon, somebody knows where to find some dogs. PM me if you don't want to make it public.

+1 for "Don't Go". I used to love Rocky Point and San Carlos, and would dream about bass fishing, coues and goulds hunting the Mexican ranches down there. I wouldn't dream of taking my family down there right now, and wouldn't even do a solo trip for fear of not returning - or worse yet, being held for ransom - then killed after my entire family was destitute. The Mexican gov't or the drug cartels that own it won't see a penny from me. There's plenty of fun to be had right here in AZ.

Wow! Some awesome bucks on this thread for sure!

Good seeing you the other day Gino. I'm sure we'll be in touch soon about the driveway after the roofing debacle is out of the way. I'll be up there for sure. Always have a big camp out there with some good folks for a few days shooting, cooking "Mexican Barbeque", trail riding, BS'ing by the fire with a beer and cigar. Good times. When you know where you'll be camped, let me know. We'll probably be camped at the S. end of Pole Knoll assuming we get to our "regular spot" early enough, right in your neighborhood.

That really does suck, and I feel for you. I won't put anything out where I know other hunters are active that I will get too mad if it's stolen. I have come across numerous $200+ cameras attached to a skinny tree with nothing but a nylon strap - I just hang my hat over them while I'm in the area, because WHEN they do get taken, I don't want my pictures on them. When I put out my cheaper cameras, they are chained to the tree, but that is only a deterrent. When I put my Covert out, it's in a steel box lag bolted to a large oak or pine. They might be able to take it, but they're gonna have to cut down the tree and haul out a good chunk of it with them. So far, all the people pix on my Covert spot have been cowboys, and they always come up closer for a look then move along. I still think a little C4 triggered via cell-phone embedded in a camera would make people a little more civil when they came across someone else's property. As for not feeling bad because it's "abondoned property" - I don't agree. That's almost like saying when you leave your truck parked in the woods while out hunting, it's fair game to theives. IMO.

If you are near the White Mountains, Jed Larson builds AMAZING strings. He's located in Show Low. When I bought my Bowtech Allegiance from him years ago, he installed one of his strings. I've shot literally thousands of arrows since then on the same string and the peep has always turned exactly right - no rubber tubing - just lines up right. I'm sure I'm due for a new string as much as I've shot this one - but year after year, I can pull my bow out in early Spring, knock an arrow and draw back knowing my peep will line up perfectly. All bow strings stretch over time with use. A quality string has to be pre-stretched prior to installation, and it takes a serious piece of equipment and a LOT of knowledge to produce a string that from the first arrow to the n-thousandth, returns to the same spot every time. Jed has a string-building jig that is huge - and does exactly that - by simulating years of use through pressure and stretching - before it is installed. If you really want a quality, pre-stretched string, I highly recommend you get in touch with him. I would be happy to provide contact info if you like.