Dodger2

Awesome pics...I used to spend a week working a summer baseball camp in Telluride and stayed right on the San Miguel River. I looked forward to that week of "work" every year.

I'm a fly fisherman by heart and I'm usually wading at Lees Ferry or in my float tube on the white mountain lakes...but I'm taking my 7 year old and my 4 year old fishing to Big Lake/Crescent Lake in two weeks. We have done the powerbait, worms, salmon eggs, etc and had success but the attention span is usually really short so I'm planning on trying trolling...figured could make it a boat ride with a possible incentive if we catch some fish. The kids will be using the old stand-bys until the boredom sets in. I have a boat lined up and have been stocking up on some Panther Martins and Super Dupers, etc. Does anyone have any suggestions on how to troll with these or am I just over thinking this process. I'm also tying up the wooly buggers, Apache Ladys and other white mountain patterns to troll with as well. Do you use weight to get them down into the water column...what about the "cowbells" and "ford fender" things I see people troll with....I've seen them at the store and have no clue on what size to use... Thanks for any info or advice you can provide....

Thanks for the advice. My son has been bugging me to tie some flies so I think that is the plan for tomorrow night. Hopefully the trip will be successful...in terms of catching some fish. I'll post some pictures if it is. Thanks

My wife had a run in with one this morning at the in-laws house. She was dropping off my son before work and she heard a rustle in the bushes behind her. The next thing she knows one of the in-laws cats is zooming past her with bobcat in tow. My son had his karate lesson after school and his equipment was in the back of SUV while she was unloading it. She grabbed the broom stick (I don't know the technical term for it) that he uses in his lesson and squared off with the bobcat. The bobcat stopped dead in its tracks and then just walked away. I would say the house cat got lucky that my wife was there when she was....and the bobcat was lucky that I wasn't dropping him off...

My brother is left handed and his 300WSM is a Browning A-Bolt

We have a Mason John...John is the family name...I also like Shane and Cade...I've got a nephew coming in April...Ethan James (both family names)...Congrats!

I bought a 7mm WSM about 5 years ago and have been fighting with it trying to get consistent groups. This year my wife asked me what I wanted for Christmas. I'm not one to just give up on something so I told her that I wanted some work done on my rifle. Well, she snuck it out of my gun cabinet (I noticed it was gone after one day...but I didn't let her know) and got some work done on it. The barrel was floated, the action was glass bedded, and a Timney trigger (set at just under 2.5lbs) was put on it. I finally went out this weekend and put some rounds through it. After playing with a couple loads I was able to get this group at 200yds. This was with 160gr Nosler Accubonds. Its just over an 1"...best group I've gotten out of the gun and I doubt I can get any better. Let's just say I'm very happy with my Christmas present.

Again, congrats! You did all the hard work, I just pointed you in the right direction.

Kel-Tec .380...its the size of the palm of your hand and its a semi-auto

AZonecam, I feel your pain...what you described to me is exactly how I felt this year.

Congrats! Those are both nice deer. I'm glad to hear that they are from 22. I was looking at those two deer and they look very similar to some of my trailcam pictures that I have been getting in another unit and I was thinking "my" bucks were gone...there's still hope!!!!

This is probably 15-20 years old, been sitting on the mantle of the cabin for a long time....Just thought I'd share

[These cameras are addicting...I'm hoping to find this guy when the season starts...

I shot my first two coues with a .243 and my brother shot his first two with a .243. We both used 100gr bullets. I shot mine between 150-250yds, my brother shot his second at close to 300yds. All four of those deer dropped in their tracks. The last one I shot with my 7mm ran a little ways (10yds) and my brother shot his buck last year with a 300wsm and it ran probably 20yds. So its sufficient...

Finally got myself a camera and set it out for almost 3 weeks. Here's a sample of some of the pictures I got...

I think he is mad at this guy...looks like a different buck to me... Here's another turkey photo... And my camera security guard...

I only got two pictures of him. That one and one of him angling away, both at night. I changed cards and left the camera out there so hopefully I'll get some more pictures of him. I'm hoping I can find him in November for sure and get a close up look of him. I got some pictures of about 5 different bucks total so I'm pretty excited.

This is just my opinion....I have hunted the east side and the west side of the Galiuros...I like the east side....

Well I thought I would share my weekend here since it was a bowhunt....I got a new ground blind for father's day and finally had a weekend that I could go and try it out. I decided to take my 6 year old with me on his first "bowhunt" with dad. I decided that I would take him where my dad took me when I first started hunting with him. We left Saturday afternoon and got to the mountains at about 5:30pm. I decided on a spot that I haven' hunted for probably 15years and planned on getting the blind set up Sat. evening and sitting in it Sunday morning. Once we start getting close to the area I was planning on setting up in I catch some movement in the trees and two coues take off. My son gets his first in the field experience and he is so excited. Sunday morning we get up and make it to the blind, not as early as I want, but hey, its about letting him get a taste of it. We're sitting in the blind and after about 30 min I here, "Can we go now..." I convince him to sit a little longer, but we can only sit still and quiet for about another 30 min and we head back to camp. On the way we spot 4 Gould's jakes...he's always wanted to see a turkey and he spotted them. Sunday afternoon, we head back to the blind and this time we bring his Leapster (educational video game thingy). We set the volume real low...but he still wants to hear the volume. We're sitting there nice and quiet and his Leapster makes a beaping noise and I hear the too familar "snort" from behind the blind. I turn slowly there's a deer (a doe) staring right at us. I point her out to him and we watch her graze away. We didn't stay much longer after that, but he is hooked. I would have loved to have hunted longer, but it was great weekend for me and my other mission was accomplished.

I grew up on Tucson. I remember going with my grandpa near Silver City, NM on a mule deer hunt when I was about 6. I remember the rain, the canned corned beef hash sandwiches, and coffee. We didn't see anything, but I was hooked. Hunted with my dad in 29 for whitetails from our cabin that my other grandfather built in the 1950s. My first big game hunt was for javelinas down near Gleeson. It snowed and snowed and snowed. Didn't see anything. My first deer hunt was a mulie hunt in 30A down in Starvation Canyon when I was 12. Opening morning my dad tells me to go to one set of rocks and he goes to the other. Next thing I know I hear "boom, boom, boom"...I come stumbling out of the rocks and see my dad shooting up the canyon. He looks down at me and yells "shoot". I look up and see probably the biggest 4x4 mule deer that I have ever seen running away from us. I wait until I get a good shot and shoot. Missed of course, but I remember shaking so bad that I could hardly stand on the rocks, first taste of buck fever. That was the same trip I almost got trampled by a herd of javelina. Scared the you know what out of me. I was terrified of junipers for a long time after that. If I ever lose my "buck fever" (of course its not as bad now) I'm hanging up the gun...I'm looking forward to taking my son down to 29/30A soon on his first hunt, that will be 4 generations....

I just got a pop-up blind for father's day and I'm excited about using. I have an issue with heights, and I can sit still long very long in a treestand. What do you guys think about taking a spray bottle with water to keep cool? I figured I could use it as a "misting system" to keep cool during the early hunts, especially at lower elevations.

Yep...its stolen....that's where (near the border) my brother's truck was found after his got stolen and he got a new one. I would be careful fixing it up and driving it out of there...try explaining that one when you get stopped...

Great pix...the "Wonderland of Rocks" is great. My family has a cabin down there and I spent a lot of time down there as a kid. My folks are heading down there this weekend, and I'm thinking about heading down with the kids for a day on Sunday. Your pictures have inspired me....Thanks!

Well...I'm one less 33 hunter you will have to worry about this...at least I'm not putting in for the rifle hunts this year. Last year was a mess with all the other hunters and I'm seeing fewer and fewer of the "nice" bucks that have been seeing in the past. When I saw the 650 permits for the each of the three hunts for whitetail only I went right to another unit. I'll probably still hunt 33 with my bow, but we'll see for now...

Thought this would work best here...My son will be 6 this September and he has expressed his interest in getting a bow with the "pointy arrows." Any suggestions on a youth bow for his age range...I want to get him something that will work, but I also don't want to spend a lot of money on something that he will out grow or can't pull...I can't wait (at the same time I can if you know what I mean) until he hits that 10 year mark!!! Thanks