Tines

To many of us, that's on oxymoron. But I'll continue to send in my "comment" on where I think improvments can be made. Thanks for posting this. Everyone should share their thoughts.....

Cole at CMC Skull Works finished the skull on the lion I shot last year with Andy (Rimrock Outfitters). Cole also finished my WY Antelope buck as well but I'll post that later. Thanks again to Andy for the unforgettable hunt and to Cole on the exceptional work. Both skulls turned out fantastic and Cole's about as easy to work with as anyone!

My sister is moving soon and will need to rent out her place. She's Cortaro/Thornydale. If you're interested, I can let her know. It's a 3bdr, 2 bath with a "den". Which is basically another room.

That sucks. Sorry. But how do you know was a father and his son? Seems there are plenty of shed hunters roaming the field this time of year that could have done it. Either way, hope you catch them

As always, nice going! You know the old saying, "what doesn't kill you makes you stronger"? Levi's got to be the toughest dog around! Ha!

If you like what Wellers did to the Dan King buck, talk with them about what you want (like mentioned already). They'll work with you. They might have to cutomize an already existing form but hey, it's custom! Which also might mean you pay a little more but in the end you'll be happy. Here's a buck from Wellers site that reminded me of the pose you described... On a side note, you won't be sorry if you go with Wellers either...

:blink: :blink: Pretty sure I lost track of points and screwed this one up. Congrats to Mr. Ruiz on a FREAK!!! 135 4/8

Maybe it is to benefit some rancher and outfitter. We'll find out eventually. Sad deal, if so. The G & F must have had similar reasons to implement the OTC elk tags. Basically telling landowners "if the elk are that much of a problem, you'll let hunters on your land to take care of them." I'll stick to my assumption from the beginning. The game and fish didn't respect Mr. Geare and his ranch.

You're right, at about the 7 minute mark there was no question that the refs tried to do SOMETHING..... And it definitely wasn't in favor of the cats . It was pretty obvious at that point that the game was getting away from Duke and the refs needed to slow it down. Typical. Like mentioned before, (by an ASU fan, I might add) nobody, not even the refs, could have beaten AZ on that court in the 2nd half. Like I told my brother before the game "If this game is anywhere close to their first two, AZ will 'lose'". Not because they couldn't, only because it's against Duke. I've never seen a team so completely lost as I did Duke in the 2nd half. The only answer they (Duke, the refs, and every other analyst in bed with coach k) had was "well, if the ball touches our hands, a foul can be called on AZ and we'll try to get back into it at the line..." HAHAHAHAHAHAH!!!!!! You guys who are still hating on the Cats' run are about as creative as Dukes playbook.... Then again, I'm sure another win against UCONN would be a fluke too...

I dont have much time to read through all of the posts so if I repeat someone, forgive me. I hunted much of the ranch and other portions of 19B last year. I got to see 3 antelope bucks taken. One archery and two rifle bucks. This has little, if anything, to do with a couple of boneheads that "ruined it for the rest of us". This has everything to do with the Game and Fish issuing more tags than what they SHOULD have last year. Sound familiar to your unit next door? Probably..... The Game and Fish knew that they were dealing with "normal" 19B issues (i.e. access, huntable animals, etc...) but THEY chose to ignore many of them. Resulting in what might become a pretty sad deal to those who applied to 19B this year or those who planned on it in the future. It's simple: Don't take advantage of landowners. Especially if you're the Game and Fish and you offer more tags than what you originally agreed upon. Opening morning there were 6 other trucks parked on a buck that I helped a guy shoot. We had to resort to plan "F" because it was such a zoo. Having watched this buck for a few days before the hunt started and knowing that this buck and his does USUALLY hung out in a certain area, we snuck into what I thought was within "range" of where the herd might be. It was a gamble but I knew this buck had no chance as soon as it got light. As soon as it was light enough to glass, I found the herd right where I thought they'd be. We only had to sneak another 100yds closer to make the shot. At the time, I thought it was pretty cool knowing that the rest of the hunters were just getting out of their truck as we shot. It didn't take long for me to realize how poor quality the hunt was about to become. We then drove over to help another buddy try to kill a buck found during the pre-season. It wasn't much different than where we hunted as there were 4 other trucks/hunters hunting that buck. Persistance paid off as we were able to kill that buck too. This hunt was an absolute disaster as soon as daybreak came. I've never seen so many hunters in my life. And, unlike coues deer, the mass majority of huntable antelope were in just a few square miles. I realize that there are lots of rifle antelope hunts "similar" to this one. You're dealing with many hunters who've waited a long time for a tag and want to take a good buck. And because there aren't 80"+ bucks behind every juniper, you can't get around multiple hunters camped on a good buck... Lets compare three units: 10, 19B and 7 for rifle antelope. Last year they offered more tags in these units than any other. I assume that sheer numbers of animals are why G and F issue so many of these tags (40-60 permits). But to compare 19b to units 7 and 10 is a complete JOKE!!! Bottom line is this. There are many units out there with comparable number of animals. But very few offer the same amount of HUNTABLE numbers. Game and Fish dropped the ball on 19b, not any of us or some rancher......

+1

Amanda did an amazing job throwing this together. A HUGE thanks to her and all involved. Like mentioned before, the food was fantastic and the people were great. If you've got a woman (or women ) in your life that might be interested in hunting, you should really consider this. They'll REALLY appreciate the port-o-jons, if anything. Thanks again, Amanda!! I hunted with my sister and my wife. We had some childcare issues so I wasn't able to take both of them out at the same time (as one would watch the kids while the other hunted). So first up was my sister, Trina. Unfortunately for my wife back at home, we found some pigs first thing in the morning. We made a good stalk to 62yds and she made a perfect shot right off of the top of my tripod. The funny part about the stalk was just before we got up to the top where the pigs were, I realized I made a big mistake. Like many hunts, I took my pack off within 150yds or so or so to lighten the load and make things easier. I realized that I left all the powder, primers and sabot's in my pack! I've got to get used to this "1 bullet at a time, thing!" So I told my sister that she'd better make the first shot count otherwise she'd have to follow up with a .45 Colt. No need as the pig dropped in it's tracks. The following day was my wife, Maia, and her turn. This was Maia's first hunt EVER. She said that if she were to shoot anything, it would have to be something ugly. Since there are no tags for her husband, javelina seemed the most appropriate. She also thought it would be a cool idea to be around other first-time, women hunters. She had a great time. So since it had to be a "big, nasty, ugly, old, stinky, boar that had lived a long life and REALLY just wants to die....." I had my work cut out for me. Well, I did my best but all I found were 2 pigs that day. And the combination being neither that she'd shoot- a sow and her young. She felt bad knowing that we worked pretty hard getting her ready at the range and stuff and while there's a legal animal in front of her, she wasn't going to shoot it. I was proud of her for sticking to her guns! After many comments from me joking that I was "tired of hunting with a trophy hunter and wanted someone else", we laughed and had a great time. She cant wait to do it again next year... Here she is, gleaming with excitement at 5am on her first day to the field.... I was literally shocked at how well she could glass! She was finding deer all over the place. And she glassed up several bedded! It was pretty cool. She thought this little Coues deer buck chasing a doe was pretty neat.. Most of the time, she spent just as much time behind the glass as I did. I was impressed that she stuck with it that long. Then there were other times that she got a little distracted..... The one thing she noticed while being out there was how "quiet and relaxing" it was. No kids, no need to talk. And that's a lot for a woman to feel like there's no "need to talk"! ;) Anyway, thanks again to Amanda for throwing this together. It was a really good time.....

Man! Congrats on a great buck! "Illegal to hunt with a dog"? Never heard of that one. I have heard that its illegal to hunt deer with the AID if dogs. But hey, I've been wrong before and don't have a dog to worry about it. Congrats again!

Chris, You're always so positive...... Just a correction, The Hotline # is 1-800-352-0700.

I don't agree with this logic at all, should we just make it illegal to drive at night to take away temptation of doing something that is already illegal? Hunters need to support anything that increases hunter opportunity! I don't hunt rabbits but I shouldn't be able to stop you if you want to do it. If someone knows the best way to show support for this, please let us know I agree with you....except this comment. We all see where "more opportunity" gets us. As for night hunting certain critters, I'm for it. Seems that with a few stipulations enforced, they could make this pretty effective.

Well, it took me almost 8 yrs but I convinced my wonderful wife to go hunting. She thought that the HAM hunt that Amanda puts on in Feb would be a fun start. I can't wait! I'm trying to make this a fun experience for her. I've been really impressed with her so far in wanting to do it the "right way". She doesn't want to step into the field and have me hand her a rifle and say "there you go!". She wants to practice and scout. It's been really cool so far... To keep this simple, I need some info ASAP from all of you experts. We almost decided to go with my .357 but she just doesn't feel "lethal" enough with it. And the last thing I want to happen is my wife feeling forced to hunt with it and it's a bad experience for her. So she gave me the okay to buy a muzzeloader! I know I've probably narrowed it down to the CVA. In what little I know, they seem to have a decent reputation for what they retail for. I also like the idea of the 209 primer mzldr's. Here are a couple of questions: What are the advantages/disadvantages of .50 cal vs .45 cal? Can I reduce the charge for her and not lose accuracy? She shoots my 25-06 pretty well but really likes to shoot the .22, if you catch my drift? Ha! I'm not looking for anything fancy but definitely something I might consider hunting with in the future. If any of you are looking to sell one I might be interested too! Thanks for your help.... Jake

Wow!! I'll bet you are a fisherman too!! :lol:

I agree. I've also been told that they're working on how they could implement this. I'm sure there was no smoke being blown either :unsure: It's a whole "permit" as opposed to a "non-permit" tag issue, right now.

Here's my update. Thank you for all of the help to everyone. HaYen, GREAT info, thanks! A friend from HS stopped by my house the other day and after we got to talking, I realized that he had 2 mzldrs sitting in his safe collecting dust. He said I was more than welcome to use them so I jumped all over that deal! He let me borrow his T/C Encore and his Knight (I believe it's an MK-85 if I remember correctly???). Both are topped with Leupold mzldr scopes. Very fortunate to have a friend with these. Off we went to the range. I was a little concerned about the recoil so I shot first. I shot the T/C and it shot well. Both rifles are shooting 250gr Sabot's and 2 pellets of Pyrodex. He told me the Knight shot really well but he hasn't had much time to work with the T/C's load. Anyway, I was happy with putting a couple within 2.5" @ 100yds of eachother with the T/C. And this was with a semi-stable rest. After finding that the T/C's recoil wasn't too bad, I had my wife get behind it and she let her rip. She didn't complain about the recoil at all, just all of the smoke. Ha! More importantly, she shot it well too. On a side note, she seems to shoot everything I put in her hands really well. She's calm, and slowly squeezes the trigger like shes told. She's right handed but left-eye dominant. Although sometimes it's easier for her to shoot right handed, she's pretty set on doing everything left-handed if it'll make her a better shot. That's been really nice. I then took out the Knight and shot it. I must say, it was REALLY nice! It had a much better trigger and shoots fantastic groups. She shot it as well with the same results. I really like the T/C's simplicity of loading but the Knight's accuracy was noticeably better. I'm in NO WAY stating that Knight is more accurate than T/C in mzldrs. This has been my ONLY experience with the two and this one load. This is just what I found with these set-ups. My wife is much more excited now that she feels more "lethal". I don't think she was very eager to chase them around with a .357. I think this will work fine. After a few more trips to the range, that will be the deciding factor in which one we take. Maybe we'll take both so we'll be able to "reload" MUCH faster...... Thanks again for the info, everyone. I'll let you know how it goes.

Sad. Steve, sorry to hear the G&F is dropping the ball on this one. ACDC's "Moneytalks" is playing in my head......

I've found that using what appears to be "too light" of a color actually works better. You can always go darker but not sure how to go lighter after its already applied....

TJ, I'm pretty sure they are legal. As long as they're licensed and insured like your truck or car. At least that was the case when we got stopped on the refuge a couple of yrs ago by the US Fish and Wildlife. I'll be down there with my wife and possibly my sister....

Thanks for the info, Doug! IF I'm understanding this correctly... Why would someone apply for the same hunt for their 1st and 2nd choice but actually consider a 3rd, 4th and 5th in seperate units? Sort of defeats the purpose of it all, right? Doug, how about the next time I'm in Flagstaff you teach a farm boy how this all works so I can finally draw an elk tag??

Usually body heat. It helps to wipe your forehead off and keep your hat off. If it's too cold to keep the hat off, just turn it around so the bill doesn't keep the heat from rising away. This helps me, anyway.

I do know people, however, who have gotten tags beyond the allotted amount because there was a screw up by the G&F on their application/draw. Doesn't sound like this was the case, though.