BASS

Went for a little hike on Saturday up by Jones Crossing to get away from camp for a while. Heres what caught my attention first... He was walking around the mountain and would mew once in a while. Just a young guy who was acting like any kid would. He would sprint in a direction, drop his head like he was fighting something and then would walk away before running towards another invisible enemy in another direction. Watched him for a while and tried to get closer, but with his game it was hard to judge where he was going. Right before I headed back to camp a couple cow calls sent both of us towards the other ridge looking for who made it. Then a bugle. I laid down in the grass and the little bull I was chasing did a couple quick circles and headed back up the mountain where I first saw him. So there I laid as about six cows and a smaller bull came down to feed about fifty yards from me. It was getting dark and not wanting to use my flash I opted for leaving the aperture open to gather more light, unfortunately I was shooting off hand and the slight shaking transfered to the photos. So Look at them cross eyed and they may look alright. Sunday nothing was talking at all. I did a couple calf/cow calls after I stepped on a larger stick with a loud *crack!* Sat quiet for a couple minutes, and then had two calves and two cows walked directly in front of me by about thirty yards or so. I was more leary about getting trampled if I startled them being so close that I didn't take many photos and instead had my hand on my pistol, "just in case."

Very true, that was a very dedicated group of people who got a TON of stuff done in a very shot amount of time.

I'mma gonna have'ta 'member that tobacca can ninja star!

They should all be on their fifth or sixth beer and crawling into those sleeping bags by now! Good luck guys.

There were a couple smaller herds maybe five to eight cow (and a couple smaller spikes that better stay outta the way! ) up around the southern part of the unit last weekend.

was reading about jags on he net and it said that solid black jags are only found in south america not even southern mexico that photo could turn that theory upside down. I recall reading articles that there is a gentic posibility of black cougars although getting everything right is near impossible. "Black panthers" are spotted in Cali every once in a while near the Las Trampas Regional Wilderness. Who knows.

Where do you live again? Looks nice man

RIP

Hmm, maybe I will give the Rhinos one more go. I really like the features of the 530, but I want to go hands on with one before I commit that kind of green to it. I know we bought a cheap set for a javilina hunt, and they didn't work from one ridge to another. Pissed me off as I could see the pigs just below my dad, but he couldn't see them. When he finally jumped them and got a shot off his pig ran straight towards me. I wanted to tell him to look for another one and I was going to put his down for my tag, but again we couldn't get a message across. I have a couple hunts coming up that I've been invited to come be a glasser for. If I spot a nice buck I want to be able to get a message across to the hunters to get over there! Thanks guy. Any more input is appricated

Whats everyone using for two way radios now? I had a set of the original Rhinos, I think they're the 110s. Since they were from the first year they launched they've since died. Are the newer ones still okay to use? Of course I know if I dropped the cash I could get a small HAM type radio with much better reception. I was looking at the Rhino 500 series (520 and 530) anyone familiar with these? I like the fact of the SD card slot with the map source programs.

I was afraid of that, maybe I can get one of those giant chilie roasters for the day and do all three buckets at once!

How else are you going to be on CWT while sitting in your blind!?!

I'll tell you what, over the weekend I think I tripped three or four different cameras up where we were staying. None of them more than sixty yards from a road. I'm curious to see if anyone here owns those cameras and gets my goofy butt on the web. Trying to move as quickly and as quietly as possible, then *click* and the wrring noise of the film being wound. I should be a jerk and go get a monkey suit and CWT shirt and go hunting for cameras from now on to get my picture taken. When I put my cameras out they were a good distance from the roads and water. None of mine got stolen thankfully, but I did get plenty of people walking by them.

Amanda, how does he get the stickers off of the fruit? I tried to make jelly last year during quail seaon and ended up just skinning all the fruit I had. The jelly didn't turn out right at all, it never set up thick and stayed runny but was still pretty good! My dad wanted to try to make some wine out of the fruit this year and I thought I'd surprise him with a bucket or two.

If i would known that I would have went in with camo face paint and bow in hand and pack on my back! Geez... I might have even nocked a arrow... That would have been a great call to respond to! "We have reports of a man with a weapon inside of the starbucks taking photos... be advised, he has a bow!" And even harder to explain.

I wouldn't go to Guns Etc in Chandler. They did my Rem700 for me. It was light enough that a drop from a couple inches dropped the hammer. I wanted a lighter trigger, not a hair trigger. They didn't seem to see what the problem was when I took it back.

Last year at country thunder I blew out my shock hoop on my truck. Seems that full size trucks don't jump train tracks too well. I had to ziptie them (the BIG ones, 1/2" wide) in order to keep the hoop somewhat upright to get me from Florence back to Chandler, then to Mesa and finnally to Phoenix where I fixed it. I was surprised to find that none of the eight or nine I put on there broke or slipped. I like to try to plan our meals out so that the one icechest for the last few days isn't opened until the day it's needed, I'll also run a couple strips of duct tape around the seal to make sure nothing gets in or out.

I can't believe Skoal didn't make Larks "kit." Extra box of ammo, 10x42 binos, license, tag, rope, knives, saw, two headlamps, small plastic tarp (rain cover, ground cover for cleaning), zip ties, first aid kit, duct tape, pistol with extra mag, water bladder, rain coat, beanie, snacks, gloves, truck/quad keys, GPS, batteries, Radio, map, note book, and pencils, fire starter kit, scents (that like to spill out of the bottle and baggie. My 2200 pack smells like a hot cow right now ) I know I'm forgetting something in there though. Camp, either the wall tent or the trailer. Bedding, cot, pad, canvas bedroll with a couple wool blankets and two pillows. Food, is ussually something quick like canned soup, but steaks or stew that slowly makes all day is great too. Breakfast is skipped for me a lot of the time or else I'm nausiated most of the day. Lunch, lunchables, or sandwich of some kind. If we're hunting down in 32 we snag a few burritos from the mexican food place in town. and of course, my cell phone which might as well be glued to my hand.

Those are pretty badass idea I think. Have you seen any of them in person? I saw Cabelas was one of their sellers so a trip over there may be in order. I have an old, old muley set from the late 70s I think that my great great grandfather shot. The skull cap broke off leaving me with a problem set to mount. I may give them a try also.

ALWAYS time for a Starbucks! I would have sent a $50 gift card had you taken your pack and bow in for the photo! Love the photo of the tank for some reason, I made it my background here at work for the day.

Hahaha ouch!

DIY now I know why there are so many "monster" hunters up on the rim. All these "bigfoot" tracks around the tanks are just you guys putting on stalks. I bought a pair of the fleece slip on stalking boot covers from sportsmans warehouse a couple years back. I didn't like them. They got covered in pine needles and cactus every time I used them. It was like a magnetic current everything sharp was drawn to them and held tight. The one time I tried to go along side a slight slope I had no traction and ended up rolling my ankle when they slipped. I'll stick to bare boot from now on I think.

Did I ever tell you the one about Casey when he was just starting out? He actually manage to kill a monster buck and understandably was having a lot of trouble dragging it out of the woods. He suddenly remembers someone on CWT saying that its easier to carry nice bucks out of the woods if you drag them by the horns. Since all them good ole boys were so smart, he decided to give it a try. After several hundred yards he thinks to himself "this is SO much easier!" But didn't realize he was getting farther from the truck. Just ribbing ya Casey, good luck this year.

Hit your cap locks button. And no, AZGFD does not need to host a class on archery. They don't host one on rifles and many people don't understand how to sight a scope in, choose a bullet weight, understand bullet drop, or how a bullet flys compared to the scope/sights. So are they out slinging lead with no clue? You have to learn some how, and I highly doubt going and sitting through a "death by power-point" will teach anyone anything. They need to get out there and actually do it like WHALE here was doing. He tried everything he knew and had to ask for another opinion on the problem. Getting a new set of eyes on the problem always seems to help either get your mind thinking a different way, or let someone else see what you have been over looking. Certain rests don't work the same with all the bows, the timing is different, the arrows are different, the releases are different etc. Can you image having to try to tune fifteen different bow for one class!?! There is no way that could be done in a reasonable time frame. The last thing we need is another mandatory something or other in our lives.

That had to have been a heck of a ride! Looks like he missed most of the large rocks though.