Coach

Nice bull, can you share the story?

I've shot wisker biscuit for a long time, but still have trouble tuning my Allegiance to group field points with fixed blades. I think I'll try a drop-away rest this year, but haven't decided between the QAD and Rip Cord. I just can't go to anything that doesn't have full containment or at least good partial containment. There's nothing like the security of a wisker biscuit when you have to move with a nocked arrow. That said, I have GOT to find a way to keep my BH's from hitting left and low at longer ranges - I've even considered using mech's - grimmace - Good luck and let us know what you discover.

Looks like nice work. Congrats on a nice goat!

I would love to get down there with the kids just once before the spawn is over. Unfortunately, this weekend was the final baseball tryouts and the draft for teams. Next weekend we'll be focused on the Youth Turkey hunt. Maybe we'll get lucky and bag out both boys opening day. If not, Roosevelt usually turns on after SC, so there's still a chance to get the kids into a decent bite. Thanks for the updates, Standman.

Many states are postponing refunds this year to maximize their return on YOUR borrowed money due to nation-wide budget shortages. Thank a Dem by punching them sqare in the face.

I agree with you Rembrant, if they are posing a threat, they die. I had to kill a blacktail on my property a couple years back because I didn't want to risk it with the kids and I couldn't move him without risking him getting away and becoming a threat - little sucker lived right under my office and gave one tiny rattle after I stepped right over him. I guess my point was, I don't like to see them killed indiscriminately - especially the bigger, older diamondbacks that generally tend to be non aggressive. If they're in the wild, away from homes and make an effort to alert you to their presence - and move away, I prefer to give them their space and let them be.

Can't top youngbuck, but here's one that got away in '09.

I'm a big fan of Yokohama Geolanders.

I could very well have mistaken blackails in the Blue range for Mohave. Most of the blacktails we have around Lakeside have very dark bodies and little pattern or coloration. The snakes I've encountered around the Blue, and there have been quite a few, were quite green and very aggressive so I assumed they were Mojaves. Thanks for clearing that up.

Enjoy every minute of it Gino, and show us some pix when you get back!

Awesome pix - don't mean to preach or anything, but these snakes are an integral part of the little chunk of land we call home. If they're not an immdiate threat, let's just let them go about their business. I've got some snake skins hanging over 6' across from my younger, more careless days. But in the spirit of concientous outdoorsmen and outdoorswomen, if we cross paths with a mature western diamondback, let's let them carry on. The mojave's on the other hand, are nastly little buggers - especially along the Blue range, but that's another story.

I'm glad Red Rabbit posted that link. I've heard for a long time that there is no evidence whatsoever that barrel break-in does anything but shorten the barrel's life. Still some shooters swear by the process. Great looking gun - when you get settled on a load, post up some pix.

Very cool! Thanks for sharing the pix.

Just an FYI, I've asked Amanda to change my handle from AZOnecam to Coach. The old handle was one I came up with for the Bowsite many years ago when I got my first single cam bow. Well, I don't shoot a single cam bow anymore, and duh, of course I'm from AZ. Seems I'm always coaching one of my boys' baseball, football or basketball teams so I figured that handle was more appropriate. Besides, the older I get the more I remind myself of Coach Ernie Pantusso from Cheers Jason

Ya know what blows? Every shed hunt I've been on, I've gotten skunked minus a little 2 year old spike shed from last week. Seems I only find the sheds on a turkey hunt, but I can scour miles of country looking for one good shed and come back empty time and again. Congrats on those awesome finds. Just once I wanna see a big old brown laying out somewhere that I know they are dopping - sorry for the "sour grapes" but I've put some serious miles on my boots in the past couple years trying to get a good brownie and all I find are bulls still wearing their headgear. I'm a little jealous - but hey, that's how shed hunting goes.

Ouch! I heard of ATV'rs getting wrapped up in cholla and stumbling out looking like a teddy bear, but wow - that poor gal had to be in some serious pain. One of those nasty cactus heads is incredibly painful and hard to get out. Not to hijack the thread, but I've chased quail into some cholla that look like stag's head- kinda spindly, low-to-the-ground and unassuming and have little red berries or fruits on them. I STILL have scars on my hands and wrists 15 years later from those things. You get poked and it seems like any other cactus, but they turn into these burning little sores that scar up something horrible like mini snake bites - anybody know what those lilttle suckers are?

Yep, we difinately "bumped" as you were leaving. Some brain-donor pitched a dome tent dead center in the middle of the West boat ramp. LOL. In years past, that main ramp was good, I'm glad I've seen it in shallow water so I knew to avoid it - that's why I always launch in one of the other "natural" ramps on that peninsula. In Spring Breaks past, we've camped out on that peninsula and when the fishing is slow you can chum carp in to the little inlets there with corn and have a ball all afternoon watching the kids reel in 10-15 pound goldfish on ultralight tackle for hours on end. They don't care what the crappie or bass are doing if they're reeling something in. We had a real nice family from Mexico the last couple of years that gave us a recipe for "shrimp coctail" that basically entailed soaking carp fillets in orange soda and onions at room temperature for a couple days and adding pico de gallo....I'll take her word for it, but I just end up chopping 'em up for cut bait for the cats

Obviously meant as a joke, but it's a bit of a fine line to call out a member by name like that. I know your intentions were not malicious, .270 and you preface most of your posts as humor, but I can see how Bill might have percieved that as a little below the belt.

Might well have passed you heading out - yeah we launched at Mojave (I think), so the time was right. I was surprised to see the number of camps inside the SC arm. I don't have any marked maps of the lake, and I used to launch at Soda. We took the first access point past the tribal farm that follows the SC arm. If you stay left, you would be right out on SC point. Is that the Mohave ramp site? You can either use the main ramp or head out on the penensula with 2 unmaintained ramps on the West and South ends? We were in a blue ford Excursion with a teeeny little aluminum boat.

Ran down last night for a *really* quick trip hoping to get the kids onto some fish under the lantern. We had baseball tryouts 'till 2:00 PM, an hour to get everthing together and 3 hours from Lakeside to the water including stops for minnows and permits. We hit the white point on the NE side of where the San Carlos Arm hits the main lake with about 40 minutes of light left. After rigging up poles for 3 kids it wasn't long before the first bite so I figured it would be a good night - we missed a few good bites before light dwindled and didn't put our first fish into the boat until almost 8 - thankfully it was my youngest son, Joshua who got to land the first crappie. He's the only one that went fishless over Spring Break at Roosevelt. Unfortunately, it kinda went from light bite, to really slow, to pretty much no action and the fish just got smaller as the night wore on - opposite of what I was hoping for. The good news is, everyone got to pull in at least one crappie, and I got a little "eater" catfish, but overall a pretty disappointing trip - at least as far as the bite went. It was pretty cold for this time of year with the constant breeze and low pressure system flowing in. The water was way warmer than the air temp, but even in the warmer coves, we just couldn't find a good bite. Pulled the boat out at 11:05 PM and made the haul back. The kids slept the whole way back and at about 1:30 this morning we home. Fun, but I sure would have liked to see the kids get into a good crappie bite. We'll keep trying, but if last year was any indication, a Spring like this with cold front after cold front, it may not turn into one of those years that you can get the kids on to fast biting fish - hopefully we'll get another crack at it but according to the weather we've got yet another front moving in this week. Here's some pix... The mighty fishermen Rigging up Sunset Josh - first crappie Carrie Nick's first Matt One more for Joshie Enjoy, and let's get down there when the bite really kicks IN!!!

Happy Easter!

Anyone else tried out the Meindl Perfekt Hunters? Man, have I torn through the boots in my time, but I'd stack these against anything out there. The 10" feel like you're in running shoes - even on our volcanic rock mixed in mud up here. I have light weight Danners that I use as "utility boots", and let me just say, their customer service is second to NONE. I've sent back Danners twice and each time got a brand new, upgraded pair. That said, I did have to send them back after the stitching tore loose or the gore-tex failed. It's great that they treat their customers so well, but I'd prefer NOT to have to send my boots back. And I'm not one of those guys who beats the heck out them and then expects a new pair 3 years later. IMO, the Meindl Perfekt Hunters are the real deal. Pricey, but when you already KNOW what your next pair of boots will be, well, that says something. When I get back from a hunt or scouting trip, I might leave some mud on my truck, and maybe let the oiling down of my gun wait, but my Meindl boots will get scrubbed down and treated to preserve them as long as possible. They take care of me and my legs, so I take really good care of them. I put their importance right up there along side good optics. If your boots fail you way back in, you are hosed. NEVER compromise on boots. Not to say ASOLO or Danner or a number of other manufacturers aren't good, and I may not jump up and down about Toyota or Swarovski or Bowtech or any number of products I truly count on - BUT I will go ape-nuts over Meindl boots - I just believe they live up to the expectations and needs of hunters - And nothing can wreck a tough hunt faster than boots that fail. Just my humble $.02

Thanks Brian, I think I'll try to get down there late Saturday with the boys and a bunch of minnows for some night fishing under the lantern. We have to endure a full day of baseball try-outs before we can get out of town. I'll try to get a report out a.s.a.p.

I'm really glad to see these roads still closed. I know it's an inconvenience for some, but let's face it. The ground up here is totally saturated. It simply can't support heavy travel yet. We'll all be out chasing turkeys or looking for sheds soon, but if the roads get rutted up it will make it that much harder for all of us to access the land. Let's be patient. The forest service is really looking at the big picture by trying to maintain the access to some of the most sought-after resources in our state. If those roads get rutted badly, it's just that much harder to bring the kids up for a fall cow hunt.

Nice!!! Every time I go out all the horns I find are still stuck to a bull.