IA Born

After 5 years of hem-hawing about it, I finally had Lasik done last July (15). We paid $2790 (after taxes) for both eyes at Barnet-Dulaney-Perkins here in Flagstaff. Its usually about $3500-$4000 for both eyes The cheaper price was because of a great first responder discount they offered for me being a wildland firefighter. Like others have said it was the best money I've ever spent on myself. My eyes burned like Hades on the drive home but, after a 2.5-hour nap, I woke up to perfect vision. At my follow up the next morning, I was 20/20. I had the procedure done on a Thursday, ran a 5K on Saturday, and then got on a plane to a remote little town in West Virginia on Sunday. I was nervous about being 30+ minutes from the nearest medical facility, but it all worked out. Your eyes may adjust a little over time. After almost a year, I'm 20/20 in my right eye, 20/25 in my left eye, and 20/15 with both eyes combined. My eye doctor has discouraged me from fixing my left eye because of the normal shift in eyesight for guys approaching mid-40s. According to him, I'll be able to avoid reading glasses for 10-15 years because of the differential. And like others have said, to not have to worry about packing contacts, extra contacts, contact solution, glasses, etc. on hunting/camping trips, soccer weekends, family trips, etc. is absolutely awesome!

http://www.coueswhitetail.com/forums/topic/63629-wts-diamond-razor-edge/

Hurry up and buy these tickets so I can win those two rangefinders and then make Mike a great deal on the 2nd one!

After my first antelope tag in AZ, yes. Want that first one, though!

More excellent advice, beyond what has been stated by others. In particular, the other brands out there. I have several buddies back in Iowa that shoot nothing but Elite bows and will not touch Matthews, Hoyt, or Bowtech. Elite has GREAT customer service and is a top-notch bow at a fraction of what the others cost. Like others have said, try different brands of bows and see which one feels best to you! And, again, you won't go wrong at BBA. They carry many of those brands. I know the Flagstaff shop carries Elite and Prime (another great brand).

Very nice. I'm hoping that the 19 points I'll have for next spring's draw will finally get me my Goulds!! And don't rub anything in either, Bill!

I can't speak to the PSE shop and Bull Basin wasn't there when I lived in Tucson, but I frequent the Bull Basin store here in Flagstaff. I know they are committed to the same high standards in their Tucson store that they are in their Flagstaff store. The guys up here are the only ones who touch my bow. Guys in the shop up here are constantly running back and forth between the two places when needed. I "know" one guy who works in the Tucson BBA store, assuming he's still there. He helped me get started in archery when he worked in a different shop and I'm pretty sure he was my neighbor when we lived in an apartment complex. You won't go wrong shopping at BBA down there. Based on interactions with BBA up here, how they run their shop down there, and interactions with other bow shops in Arizona, I seriously doubt there's anything the guys at BBA won't tell you.

There was no discernible change with my Nockturnals. I've shot them next to my standard nocks and they hit side by side. The low weight of the Nockturnals was a big selling point for me. I've had solid mixed-nock groups out to 70 yards.

That's great if NM changed the law, but in the early/mid-2000s, it was still legal to shoot them off the roost, as i understood the rules. Glad its been changed!

I can only imagine they lend to a higher recovery percentage and fewer wounded animals, I've seen some folks on a couple other sites I frequent come on and ask for support to allow them in CO and keep them legal in ID. Never saw anyone contend that support. Can anyone shed light on the unfair advantage? I agree that it's a stupid rule for exactly why you support their use. The best explanation I've seen for the rule is that it falls under their "electronic aids" provision. Some of those make sense, but not this one!

I made the jump to lighted nocks about 5 years ago, also. Tracking your shot (hunting or practice) is worth the cost, no doubt about it. After tons of research, I went with Nockturnals, too. Other brands seemed to change the point of impact due to their weight and some of them were unreliable because of the magnet they had to pass by off the rest. All roads pointed to Nockturnals. I had great experiences with them and then they were bought out by Rage. I bought some for my daughter as she was getting ready to start archery hunting and hers were the "Rage" Nokturnals. I have some buddies back in Iowa that had the same experience with the performance. They would die after 2-12 shots. I returned them and got new ones, but more of the same happened. All roads pointed to them dropping in quality after Rage bought Nockturnal. A buddy back in Iowa suggested "Two Guys Bowshop" online out of Wisconsin (I think). They had the "Nockturnal" style, nocks, but you could get 6 for the same price as three Nockturnals. I bought 6 green ones for my daughter and they worked great! Flash forward three years and I forgot to turn one off after shooting my javelina in January. I went to get myself some TGB lighted nocks and they don't carry/make them anymore. I did some more research on the "Rage" issue and asked some questions and it seems that the quality issue has worked itself out, so I bought a new three pack of red Nockturnals for my Eastons. Absolutely no change in POI and, like Couespursuit, I use the dead one for a practice nock. Same with my daughter's dead ones. She uses them for practice. I wish I'd have put one of her Nockturnals on all of her arrows last year when we were practicing. She flinched, skipped her arrow off a rock, and it landed over the fence in the grass of the ROW behind our house. A lighted nock would have made it easy for us to find her arrow. That was last October and I still can't find it, even after the snow melted and matted the grass down! ALWAYS shoot with lighted nocks and, like azpredator, I only use Nockturnals! But remember, if you are going to Colorado, they are illegal (for whatever reason)!

Yep. We often talk about this in Hunter Ed classes with kids. Some states have "...30 minutes before sunrise...30 minutes after sunset..." but Arizona's shooting hours law is more gray, just like it states above. I always print out a NOAA sunrise/sunset table for the area I'm hunting and then plan for about 30 minutes either side of what's listed for when shooting light starts/ends. That's usually a good approximation, but there's usually a few minutes either side of 30 minutes. the GnF could simplify it all by making a law like many other states where it is illegal to shoot a roosted bird. I agree wholeheartedly! I really wish AZ and NM would make that illegal (unless NM already/finally has and I missed it). A few years ago in NM, I know of a hunter in a group (from AZ) who walked in and shot a roosted bird at first shooting light. He walked right past some other hunters' set up and shot the bird right out of the tree as soon as he could see it clearly. I've seen plenty of birds still on roost at first shooting light and I know people that have shot them off their roost as soon as they could see a good beard.

Yep. We often talk about this in Hunter Ed classes with kids. Some states have "...30 minutes before sunrise...30 minutes after sunset..." but Arizona's shooting hours law is more gray, just like it states above. I always print out a NOAA sunrise/sunset table for the area I'm hunting and then plan for about 30 minutes either side of what's listed for when shooting light starts/ends. That's usually a good approximation, but there's usually a few minutes either side of 30 minutes.

Congrats! We saw a couple great bucks in 5B while shed hunting a couple of weeks ago.

Confirmed this morning that the ABGSR is valid for Rios. Game branch will be calling the ABGSR organizers today to have them correct the website. Thanks for bringing this to my attention, Bill! I'll be contacting our other committee member to see how many NWTF Comm Tag cards we have left for the NWTF raffle. Phil and Jim, I received your stuff over the weekend while I was gone at my daughter's soccer tournament. I'll get those squared away in the next day or two.

Congrats Phil and Jaycie! I love that part of Texas! I'm still trying to find the time to head back to Crystal City to chase my Rio from that area!

Finally got a call back from AGFD. The lady I spoke to is going to get final confirmation from the boss on Monday, but Comm Order 29 supersedes what is on the front page and the ABGSR should include Rios! She also suspects its a relict from pre-Rio days that needs to be updated. She wants final word from the head of the Big Game branch, though! Comm Order 29 says "any bearded turkey" and includes 13A and 13B! She'll call me back on Monday with the final word.

Let me know if you need help!

If you get drawn, I'll loan you (maybe sell really cheap) one of the two Leica rangefinders I'm about to win! Sorry, couldn't help myself! I'll go sit in the corner now.

Did you find me a pair of 15x56s by chance?

A trusted buddy at AGFD texted me this morning as I was on my way to a meeting to let me know the draw was happening. My daughter got drawn for elk and it was great to text her at school and let her know. She is EXCITED! Then my buddy and I got a great laugh at the irony of the draw happening on April Fool's Day! How many people cried foul at first? To all of you who have gotten drawn, especially your kids: CONGRATS and GOOD LUCK!!

Me, too! Got the email yesterday and bought the winning ticket. Sorry, Mike! No no 2 winners bud Sorry, meant "...bought the winning tickets!"

I will be at a soccer tournament in Prescott this weekend watching my daughter follow her passion and chase her dreams. I'll take that over worrying about the draw any day!

Me, too! Got the email yesterday and bought the winning ticket. Sorry, Mike!

this could get interesting I hope you are right. Would like the turkey tag (especially if it includes Rio) or optic package they offer. And I'm hoping you'll win that optics package and sell me those 15x56s for the cost of your tickets (maybe a little more)!