Coach

Thanks Frank! I'll definately be giving you a call.

Hi all, I was fortunate enough to draw a unit 16 muzzle-loader mule deer tag. I'm from Lakeside, AZ and this will be my first time hunting unit 16. I'll definately be making several scouting trips but it's one heck of a big unit, so I was hoping to get some ideas to help focus my scouting efforts. Thanks, Jason

Neither my son or I got any tags

Is this a joke? I just went to the website and it said they are not available yet. Wassup?

I've been using it for years and I really like it. While I have, on occasion found some things that weren't 100% accurate I'm usually blown away at how amazingly accurate it is. I don't usually use the 3D and fly-through stuff - you're right about the slowness of that feature. Overall, I think it has a lot of great features - not quite as good as Maptech, but much cheaper. One of my favorite ways to use it is in a laptop connected to a GPS when exploring some new country. You always know exactly where you are and what is coming up. One of the probably less-used features that is also pretty cool IMO is the ability to download maps to a PDA/Pocket PC and connect to that with your GPS - pretty cool but sometimes you lose a little bit of the "big picture" when using that small of a screen. I hope you like it more as you use it more. Here is a link to a site you can download all of the hunt unit boudaries. http://www.trailsillustrated.com/topo/search.cfm

I've got a Cabela's Alaskan Guide in 4.5-14 on my Savage 25-06 and I really like the combo. I think the scope was around $350. J

Sorry, try this link - you'll have to select Arizona from the dropdown but then you'll see all of the overlays available for AZ. The first 2 are the hunt units. http://www.trailsillustrated.com/topo/search.cfm

Great job and thanks for sharing the pictures. You can tell those kids are having the time of their life - just beaming! So, with those steenbok, do you just put the whole thing between two peices of bread and eat it like a soft-shelled crab sandwich, or do you skin 'em out like a squirrel?

BTW, the hunt unit overlays as well as some others can be loaded here: http://www.trailsillustrated.com/topo/searchlist.cfm Have you guys noticed with 4.0 that at level 4 it doesn't pan smoothly anymore?

I'm not sure if you are asking me or RoughCut, but I put in solo - I don't know anyone named Chris that has the hunt (or anyone at all for that matter).

Yeah - Vince from ShamWow! - "...you following me camera guy?" RoughCut, my hunt is at the very end of October so I may overlap with you.

Looks like they're packing too much weight to haul out the camera.

Hmmm - that's a pricey blind. I think you need to take me in to each of those water holes so I can help you determine which one might be too risky to leave such an investment sitting unattended. JK - Enjoy that hunt and post pix of that huge bull (or sasquatch) that you arrow!

Desertbull - that's what I was wondering! I'm sure by now the guy has already gotten his insurance check. Time to go pull it out - I'm your huckleberry!

Here's a picture from last week of the only other fisherman I saw down there.

So is it too late to buy Spring turkey tags for next year?

Like most things, there are both good and bad outcomes here. For the most part, limiting the number of bowhunters in some of these units was inevitable - I've you've ever been up around Big Lake during archery season, you know it's like a parade of camo'd knuckleheads driving around bumper-to-bumper looking for anything with horns. Heck, if a deer did appear it would look like a pocupine faster than you can say "Dude, there's one - hold my beer!". On the other hand, some areas affected (3B in particular) already have more deer killed by cars than bow hunters, so the unit selection seems a little bit arbitrary. Also, specifically with Unit 1, I can only imagine what unit 27 will look like this year with all of the knuckleheads from Unit 1 getting puhsed into the Blue, Eagle Creek and Sprucedale areas which were already at pretty high knucklehead densities. I think my biggest complaint with the drawing is that it is combined with the drawing for general season. I can see a first come- first served permit allotment for the areas that get overrun each fall to keep the numbers in check, but it shouldn't affect the general deer season application process, IMO.

That GPS transponder I hid in your truck is the best investment I've made in years!

Let's try this...

Congrats, Josh! If I had known you were hunting solo I would've come over and kept you company. Shoot me the pix if you want and I'll try to repost them. J

Was at San Carlos a few weeks ago and caught a bunch, but from what I've heard it really slowed down after that. Figured with this warmer weather they would get going again. I want to take the kids down there if the action is fast. Any reports?

Yeah, In my experience San Carlos usually gets started quite a bit earlier than Roosevelt. I have no idea why, though.

Great Job, and congrats to Sam! Thanks for posting the story and pix, Brian. Jason

Great Job, Gino! Some really nice pictures too!

Check out the link.