Coach

ctafoya - really great response. This is a strange and difficult topic. There's plenty of young men in that age group that are incredibly responsible - plenty of others who quite frankly aren't very developed yet.

The absolute last person in the world I would want to infringe on is our men and women in the military. I talked a little about exemptions for those with parental backing and the training to be competent. I hope it goes beyond saying, that any member of the armed forces far exceed that. What I'm talking about are these deranged young men raised with no father, already have a history of dangerous behavior. To BeardownAZ, I really get where you are coming from. I've fought this fight for thirty years now. I understand that it feels like giving an inch will be a mile down the road. And you are right - it will if not done right. On the other hand, being the ones who proposed the inch, when it makes sense, creates future political clout that can't be achieved by just fighting everything. I think about Lewis and Clark, and their small team, pulling that giant boat up river into uncharted country. They suffered very few losses. Part of that was mile by mile making friends along the way rather than enemies. I know, a little off tangent, but the point I'm coming back around to is, like it or not, we're going to have to bend. We can choose how we bend, even propose it, if we're smart. If we choose not to bend, we'll get into areas we didn't want to go. Upping the age to buy a rifle without parental consent is a very small bend, IMO, and one we can say WE proposed. That creates political leverage down the road. The kind that makes anti-gunners lose their power and momentum, because they didn't propose it or make it happen. Just try and look at it from a perspective other than your own, and I hope you'll see what I"m getting at.

Never say you're pro gun again. You don't believe adults should be able to protect themselves. You're pro gun control. Huge difference You have your opinion, I have mine. I've studied this issue, have been in lots of debates. You want to put out the one-side-or-the-other argument, that's fine. You said "I don't believe adults should be able to protect themselves". That's a lie. You know it and so do I. Re-read what I said, I want guns in the hands of every responsible adult who should have them. I don't want over-testosterone-idiots in the prime of their criminal potential having access to take their natural stupidity to the next level. If you really want to take this 100% one way, you had better be prepared to defend putting guns in the hands of felons, addicts, mentally unfit, deranged a-holes with histories of violence. If you want to keep guns out of those people's hands, you are pro gun control, per your argument, right?

I'd bet you and I would agree on just about everythingm but I'm going to have to respectfully disagree on this one. I've always thought 18 was too young for kids to buy guns without some type of parental co-signing. And while it's politically impossible, I'm only concerned about the males between 18 and 21 - the girls are far more mature. I'm not opposed to raising the minimum wage from 18 to 21, and I'm not opposed to enforcing background checks for P2P sales. This coming from someone with enough guns and ammo to be called an "arsenal" if someone ever raided my "compound" - I have a separate office from the house and some sheds. Threw that in there so you know I get the rhetoric and stupid, uninformed labeling that usually accompanies these discussions. I'm very pro-gun, but these are tough times. The smart move is those who proactively went right to the 21 legislation. It's proactive, it's very logical - if you look at FBI crime stats is almost all 18-21 year old males causing all the havoc, and done right it doesn't have to infringe. Say you have an 18 year old daughter going off to college. Think of a program like the CCL program where she gets proper firearms training and has mom & dad's blessing to carry for protection, so she has an exemption from the 21 rule. The idea is not just every 18 year old dumb-butt boy who can't see past 10 seconds down the road (we all know them) and has limited understanding of consequences (most of them) are able to get their hands on a gun without their parents' approval. I could cite lots of other stuff but we all have short attention spans, so that's plenty for now.

My son bought one of those harbor freight belt sanders, but the key was that he bought a set of belts specifically for sharpening - really high grit to get a nice polish. I think it even has a leather strop. I'll have to ask him where he got it. I can tell you that thing puts a razor edge on any knife in a fraction of the time my KME ever did - and much easier. I think the Work Sharp is a great idea and more portable, but everything I've ever heard and read about them has lead me to believe they are good for getting dull knives sharp, but not so great for getting sharp knives razor sharp. Keep in mind, that's not from experience, just what I've heard.

Seemed like a pretty legit question - and azcouesandelk did a good job of answering it logically. Just my $.02

Here's my theory coming from a software engineer's perspective. Given that there was 1 leftover tag in several high demand hunts, the first place my mind goes is: Some programmer has to test that any non-issued tags get put in the "left-over bin". So, for testing purposes, he/she puts a little tweak in the code to stop issuing tags at the allotment minus 1, and verifies that the left-overs show 1 tag for that hunt. Then maybe they get side-tracked and forget to remove that little "test" and it makes it to production. You know like maybe they're in a big hurry and overlook it. Just sayin'. Just a theory, but I've seen similar things many times over the years.

2A General. 3 points. Got 19 two years ago. Good luck to everyone with a tag, and best of luck next year to those waiting a long time.

I agree on the leftovers - those are first and second choices most years. You guys are gonna hate me. 2A General Pronghorn (with 3 bonus points) and Unit 1 archery Bull. Somehow I have to take off the whole month of September.

Man, those are some primo tags - I'm thinking computer glitch.

Got either 2A general or 2B muzzle loader with like 2-3 bonus points - sorry man.

Yee Haw. An antelope tag for me, and a bull elk tag for me or one of my sons.

Nice! I love it. Way to make the best of this hunt. My oldest and I doubled up, but not before a lot of hard hunting turning up nothing.

I was just wondering if there is a way to find topics we've started here over the years. It currently seems to be limited to about a year. Thanks, Coach

Classic chupacabra, hiding his shoulders like a stump. That's how they fool ya, then dropping a bag of corn - WHAM, you're done.

Congrats to your son! Very fine moment right there.

Super cool. Love the skinning picture under the mesquite. Congrats on a fun hunt.

I've got the general hunt, but I have yet to take a javelina with a muzzle loader. I've tried several times with my Hawkins flint lock, but haven't been able to close the deal with it. Something about that flash pan blowing up in your face while holding steady - one day I'll get it. I'm going to take my grandfather's Thompson .50 cal and my Remington 1858 New Army stainless. If I can't get it done with those, I'll be happy to come home empty handed.

Yeah, I just went in an deleted a lot of old messages, so it should be OK now.

Had one of the coolest hunts ever with my youngest son, Joshua this season. We were in an area we'd never been before but had guidance from a fellow CWT member here who got us started out very well. 8:00 AM opening morning we were getting our first look at some country we'd never seen. Right off the bat we had a nice group of mule deer does and fawns to watch. Within minutes we had three groups of deer just milling around. Before long I spotted a single javelina about 1000 yards off and by 9 we were starting our stalk. The terrain was broken and very open, the "half-way" point was around 560 yards. Josh really wanted to test his long range skills but this was still a little further than we wanted. He's never really wanted to do the archery route so for him, the challenge was extending his range with a rifle. He was lugging around my 25-06 heavy barrel gun that drives tacks, but we were thinking more like 300 yards to be safe. In order to close the distance, we had to circle around to get above the lone boar. As we got into position above where we had last seen him, a doe and fawn bolted below us. I was wondering how we could have bumped them given our quiet stalk and using the wind - and even more puzzling was why they were headed towards and just below us. Josh says, "Dad, there's a mountain lion chasing those deer". I looked behind them for movement, and sure enough, a lion comes trotting up behind them. It's only about 100 yards away and totally oblivious to us. Josh is taking pix with his phone as the lion just walks out to a rock and sits down. I've been hunting AZ & NM for 30 years now, and I've seen a few lions but usually just a glimpse, maybe a few seconds. We sat and watched this lion for at least 3 minutes sitting there trying to figure out his next move. He wanted so bad to be able to shoot it, but he didn't have a tag, so we just kept watching. Eventually, the big herd of deer we had been watching earlier ran behind us making noise and the cat turned to see what was going on. It saw us and slinked off the rock and out of sight. That was definitely one of the high lights of all the years I've been hunting. We worked our way back in a big circle to where we had parked the ranger, still hoping to find either the lone boar we were after or another group, but saw only more deer. From there, we drove back the way we had come in and took a little side road that we could tell went up to a water tank at the top of a ridge that looked to have some good glassing opportunities. As we started getting out the tripods and set up for a short hike, I looked up along the hillside we were on and there was another lone boar, just eating cactus. Quick range - he was 297 yards right in the open. Where we were was an area that had been cleared out for the big water tank, so it was perfect to set up prone. Josh put out the bipod and set up for the shot. The darn pig just kept facing straight away and we didn't want to ruin the meat. We were about to move in closer, but he turned perfectly broadside. Josh got back on the rifle in prone and I watched through the binocs as the shot rang out and he fell, literally right where he stood - no motion whatsoever. It was boom, fall, then the report of the "whack". Josh's 5'th Javelina just days before his 16th birthday. Couldn't have been a more perfect day. His shot placement was perfect, and I know 300 yards isn't exactly "long range" these days but center-punching a target about the size of an apple at 300 yards in field conditions is pretty cool. We took really good care of the meat, and even though he's a big old boar, he'll taste great. Congrats to all the youth hunters this year, and thanks for checking out this hunt.

Sorry - I've now cleaned out my inbox.

Javelina meat, when handled properly is very good - jerky, backstrap cooked just like deer, etc. As others have said, the biggest issue is cross contamination by getting the oily, musky scent from their hide on your hands, then handling the meat. Best of luck. Another shout out for the J13 call. If you break up a herd and blow this thing, more often than not they come back to investigate. I don't think they work well at all on an undisturbed herd - sends them running for the hills in my experience.

Hey, it's all good. My other two boys and I have the same hunt in a couple weeks, and you can bet I'll have a lion tag in my pocket this time. Just in case

Dude, that is awesome. Hit me up on PM - my family loves canyoneering and have found some really amazing places you have to check out.

“The true test of a man’s character is what he does when no one is watching.” - John Wooden I would never teach my son that poaching is subjective, a whim to whatever circumstance arises. I'm proud of his choice.