BirdDog20

We've had our truck broken into in 36a. They stole peanut butter, bread, and my good trail running shoes. We always leave extra water out for people in need. I'm still pissed about the shoes. We also used to see illegals often when camping off 684 / Chaves Siding in 36b. They'd go through the canyon that we were camped in. I tore down a staging area pulling out their heavy plastic and gave the Border Patrol the coords. The staging area was on a peak that overlooked the whole valley and they could see the BP coming from miles away.

My bad - I had seen so many background pics of this setup where the rifles are still horizontal and rigid ... I figured the tripod was holding it there. (Lol - it is, isn't it?) I shoot off my tripod as well. Just slip a styrofoam pad over my swavorski adapter to create a makeshift shooting platform. It'll do in a pinch, but I usually only shoot 300 - 400 max. Hats off to those that can confidently shoot further (if it's all you)

The only thing that really guts me is long shot shooting with the rifle attached to a tripod. If it's just the shooter and his trusty bipod, kudos to him/her, but if you have to lock it down because you can't hold it on target, I just have to snicker and groan. It's just like my Texas buddies who call hunting over a feeder hunting.

Thanks all. He always says if you don't use it, you lose it and at his age if he doesn't do something physical, he feels a big difference in a few days. I do this and bowl Nationals with him every year. I like to think that it gives him incentive to stay healthy and fit while we enjoy the things we've always enjoyed together.

Love the shape of his rack. Beautiful buck!

Those are some super nice bucks.

Great story. I've always wanted to do a backpack hunt. Out of curiosity, do you use a hiking stick? We've found them to be invaluable to stabilize. When I'm still hunting, I use it to quickly glass too. But on a hike like that, it saves a lot of wear and tear your legs.

Last year I had a late hunt permit. Unfortunately, living in Texas, I don't get a chance to scout and so I have to blow the first few days checking old spots and finding new ones. I did finally find a spot that had 12 bucks with 3 in the 100 pt range. I had a stalk on one, but he snuck out, but I ran out of time as I had to get back to Texas. However, I kept the GPS track which proved to be invaluable this year. Friday, we hunted together and saw two smaller bucks ... A forkie and a spike. We went back to Tucson to watch the UofA v UCLA volleyball game and formulate a plan for the next day. I generally like to trophy hunt holding out for 90+. (If my only goal was just too kill one, I'd just hunt over a feeder in Texas, but i love the challenge of taking a mature buck). My dad doesn't mind taking the first thing he sees, so we decided to split up the next day. My guess was that the bigger bucks were at the top in the early hunts where it's cooler. On Saturday, we woke up at 2:45a, left town at 3:15a. Started our hike at 5:10a by flashlight and GPS. My dad is 79, so we took an easy pace. I left him a little further down the canyon to hunt anything that the camps below may push up. Normally we sit about a half hour before daylight. It took me 2 hours to get over the top. By that time, there was already enough light to see, so I was working really slow, glassing as I went. I quietly reached my spot and set up. Got everything ranged. It was pretty breezy that morning. I had my tripod set up and was about to settle in to start glassing, when I heard rocks clattering. The buck must've winded me and while he couldn't pinpoint me, he was getting the heck out of there. He went right by one of the rocky bluffs that I had ranged. I set my styrofoam pad up on my tripod for a stable shooting platform and followed him with the rifle. At 290ish yards, he stopped and gave me a clean shot broadside. I took one shot that went through both front shoulders. He lunged forward then started rolling down the hill. I lost the g-3 time on the right side when he rolled down the hill ... Or he might've lost it earlier. Because he was running, I couldn't determine if he was one of the big ones from last year. I could see he was pretty decent, so i let fly. Too bad about the missing tine and I was sort of hoping he'd have some more mass, but it was a pretty clean hunt. Shot him at 7:15, but didn't get him back to the truck until 5:30p. It was hot out there. I was quite a ways back. Tough footing. I hunt with a decent amount of weight. Drug him off the really bad part of the canyon, but the the rest, I had to make two trips with pack and rifle then go back and get the deer. When I got to my father's level, I was out of water. My dad took my pack and headed back to the truck. I didn't realize how gassed I was. I was still about a half mile away when I had him bring me another water and a sandwich. We eventually split the deer in half and he took the hind quarter. Still impressed that my father at 79 can still do these things with me. Saved my bacon that day. Next time, that big and that far back, I think I'll just de-bone.

Prefer 36b, but grew up hunting both 36a/b. Been hunting them for 25 years now.

I got 36a (non-Res) with no bonus points. Still come back every year.

Thanks. My dad had early November 36a. Out of vacation, so I can't make it back though normally, is be glassing and playing the pack mule. I won't be able to scout this year, so I'll be hitting old tried and true.

It's been a while since I've been on the boards. I logged into G&F on judgement day expecting to see an increment to my bonus points, but I was surprised to not only see that I had gotten drawn, but it was for a late hunt as well. I would have preferred it to have been 36b, but I like 36a as well. 2nd choice if I recall. I think I remember reading that only 10% are reserved for non-Res, so that means I got 1 of 4 permits available for that hunt. Blew a lot of my vacation on cruises (19 days at sea in '15). I only have 5 days left, so I'm leveraging the holidays to get 10 days in AZ for 5 vacation days I have left. Although I would like to, I don't think I'll be able to go out Christmas day with the family overlapping. Miss living in AZ.

Population growth also a possible reason for tougher draw. Arizona is a growing state.

I wrote about it in the ASU thread. I was rooting for ASU in that game just like I rooted for Stanford and will root for USC. It makes our conference look that much better to win those non-conference games. However given how ND has slid since that game, perhaps they weren't as good as the pollsters thought having gone on to lose against Northwestern and Louisville. ASU got the prestige for beating a top 10 team at the time, but they weren't really top 10. If you happened to play them after the other 2 losses they may be 23-25 or completely unranked as USC gets them now. Man I was hoping Stanford wouldn't have blown their coverage. ND may end up with 5 losses after they finish playing USC.

Great time to be a Wildcat fan. Football exceeding expectations, going in the right direction with a RS Fr quarterback and Fr running back leading the way. We will have some pieces to replace on the O-line and on D, but we are ahead of schedule. Basketball is rolling. Top 5, reloading instead of rebuilding. Another huge recruiting class signed for 2015 and already a 5 star recruit signed for 2016. I'm pretty realistic about our chances in the title game. On the one hand having beat them twice, we match up well with them. But they still have better athletes and it's awfully tough to beat a team twice in the same year. They'll be gunning for us with a lot on the line and the last 2 games of tape to reference.