Rembrant

Scottyboy, I'm thinkin you ain't too smart. There are ways to find out what unit you are in. Didn't think of that did you? Then all a guy has got to do is find that grassy flat (thanks for the 'flat' clue). And then finding those two uniquely shaped cacti - no two look alike, you know. Don't be cryin' when someone else shoots your hat rack. I hope you learn from this! Sheeeeeez! Mike

Couple years ago had a late tag and were watching 12 to 20 whitetails a day from the same spot for two weeks. There were 2 days where a really big bear showed up on the same slope and munched cedar berries. On one occasion the bear exited across one bench where some does and fawns were hanging out. The deer were very aware of the bruin and made a wide circle around him and then slowly left the area. Other than that there was no change in any deer behavior. I would say, "out of sight, out of mind." Mike

they look bigger than 118" mike

My best mule deer hunting buddy asked me one time to do him a favor and not evagelize him. I told him I was good for that under one condition - if I found him on his death bed, I would talk to him about Jesus. He agreed, and so we have an agreement. At least he knows where I stand, that I love God, and he can talk to me about it. I invite people to know Jesus. I force no one. Not my job. If people of faith never make an effort to share, then I can only imagine that they can't possibly be grasping even the slightest reality of an all powerful, all knowing, ever present, Creator who dwells in the lives and hearts of His people - this God who made everything from the most vast galaxies to the tiniest components of what things are made of: atoms, molecules, the protiens and amino acids of DNA, and has built wisdom into the fantastic inner workings of all this incredible design, and then to be so powerful and unthreatened as to give His crown of creation - us - free will, to choose His love or to reject it. Then he builds a bridge that closes the gap between His perfect holyness and our imperfect fallen nature, that being the sacrifice of His Son so that all we gotta do is simply accept EVERYTHING he has as hiers to His treasures and to live with Him forever. How can a person NOT share this??!! Mike

Tons of whitetail wisdom is this thread to anyone who may be paying attention. Mike

You are absolutely right desertbull. Yet on a hunting forum a good tactic would be to talk about hunting issues. I like your boldness. The truth is the truth. More than a little bit odd isn't it that Scott Petersen can be tried for double murder in California for killing his pregnant wife, but if SHE terminated the childs' life it would be considered meerly a choice? Doesn't really work does it? Thanks for the pics of your angel. Mike

Having a commission is better than letting the state (or heaven forbid, the Feds) call the shots. You guys are right: the quality of the commission depends on who the Governor is and who he puts in position. Here's a clue: Do we want to keep the governor that dis-allowed the department to kill the problem lions, and instead had them captured to live the rest of their sorry lives in captivity? Mike

Conservation is a good thing, yet conservationists keep taking things way to far. Ain't it just plain weird that the Rodeo Chediski burn on forest and state land didn't get logged, but over on the Apache side it did? So what will happen to the dead standing timber stateside? Well it's starting to fall over because it is rotting. Then it will all become deadfall and slowly return to the nutrient system. Meanwhile the cost of building materials goes up. Why? Because the "conservationists", Sierra Club and others tie up timber contracts in court and the end result is that our natural resources rot. This is not just wasteful; this is sinful. This forest closure thing is similar. A lot of "Conservationists" would really rather have it where animals don't get killed by hunters. And that trees don't get cut and utilized - even if they are already dead. A lot of misguided folks think that if you eliminate people from nature that nature will re-find a pristine state. Pristine is an obsolete word. It no longer applies to this planet. All of our resourses must now be managed. How are people gonna cut firewood if we can't drive down the roads? We recognize that we have too much dead fuel in the forest from 200 years of fire suppression, so we should close roads now and prevent people from harvesting wood and animals? And what would this help? I'll say it again...Weird! Mike

Way to be Lark! But, Dang! You're even uglier than I had imagined! Mike Way to be Lark! But, Dang! You're even uglier than I had imagined! Mike

I think you put a few kinks INTO the samurai!!!!! Mike

As Costello used to say, "You can lead a horse to water, but a pencil must be lead." I prefer, "You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make him do the side stroke." Yep, that javilina huntin' is an absolute blast. Mike

Count your blessings for not having a pig tag conflicting with your deer hunt. It is amazing to me how many Coueswhitetail.comers take one of the best deer hunts the state has to offer and then go Pig hunting instead!?!?!!?? Mike

Guess I'm not the great hunter I thought I was! Mike

AZRDHD, You're talking scripture! Here it is out of the Message version: ...But the basic reality of God is plain enough. Open your eyes and there it is! By taking a long and thoughtful look at what God has created, people have always been able to see, what their eyes as such can't see: eternal power, for instance, and the mystery of His devine being. So nobody has a good excuse. Romans 1: 20

downthebarrel17, It was a GOD thing. We could hardly redeem ourselves. We were on a path of self destruction and were capable of taking other people with us! What we got was God's grace and mercy. Mercy is NOT getting what we deserve, and grace is getting what we don't deserve. After decades of living a destructive life, I finally started seeing how God has been with me, and for me, all along - in spite of myself. What is our purpose? Ain't it great that we would have a purpose? And not just exist because of some random cosmic accident? The Bible has the answer to that question, a lot of answers to that all important question. It is our responsibility to dig and find 'em, and the least we could do for having been given a life. Here's one: "But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asks the reason of the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear." 1 Peter 3:15. Have a great day! Mike

Had a similar experience when I was younger, except I was in the drunk car. 5 of us young, drunk and smoked-up guys were in an LTD with the driver being a guy that had been discharged from the Navy because of 2 on-base drunk driving accidents (shows you how smart we were). We were headed out to the Kendrick Mt. Lava caves. While going around the corner on the other side of Cheshire on Hwy 180, with the double yellow line, the driver decides to pass the vehicle in front of us. Yep, there was a vehicle coming the other way! Both of those vehicles hit their right shoulders as we full throttled right through the middle! Got kinda quiet in the LTD. Anyway, we made it out to the lava cave and halfway back in, we heard cries for help at the back of the cave! A young couple had made their way back in to the full depth of the cave when their flashlight went out. We gave them one of ours so they could get out. They left a note on the LTD thanking us for saving their lives. I believe we did. Wasn't until I was walking with God years later that I realized that HE spares us our lives through the insanity of our youth, so that we can be of use to HIM in HIS work of saving other people! Mike By the way, I hope the Viagra salesman checks back to see how his add is doing. Mike

I sat in America West Arena one day at a Promise Keepers convention and one of the speakers compared reading the Bible to taking a drive or a stroll through the country. He did this because often times we think reading God's Word is a chore or drudgery. Imagine walking through one of your favorite whitetail spots. You don't want to walk too fast because you may miss some details. Isn't it best to take a few extra steps over to that giant alligator juniper and just stand in wonder at its size and age? Then get on your hands and knees to look very closely at the old beds: pick up a hair or two - who's is it? Whitetail? Muley? Elk? Then sit there and think about the creatures that left the sign that you are reading. What were they doing there? Feeding, rest, cover? Isn't it wonderful that this information wes left there for you to discover? Maybe you should go wrestle with that old manzanita grove that you've been walking around all this time. This WILL take some work, but who knows what rewards you will find. Maybe a trophy pick-up? - something you'll want to keep with you the rest of your life. Now take the effort to climb to that summit. It's really not that far, the exersize will be good for you. Break out of that forest, walk around to that open south-facing slope, now sit down - you are not in a hurry - and take it all in: the vastness, the granduer, the majesty. My Lord, my God! You have given this to me?! Wow look at that! I've been through here many times, yet I've never noticed that before. That looks like a whole 'nother area to explore. Is there no end to these blessings? When your walk is done, you feel so refreshed, so satisfied. You thought you knew that area well, but now you realize that you are really only beginning to understand what's going on in there. And you can't wait till you can find the time to go back. And so this is how reading God's Word can be. Take your time. You are not gonna read it once and get it. The depth and wisdom is endless. Go find the cedar trees and the vast landscapes. Look at the details. Explore. The more you take in, the hungrier you will become. Our Creator will write His words on your heart and He will love you and change you from the inside out. Mike

Eat raw garlic. No kidding. A whole lotta years ago at Lake Alamo, I was talkin to an old man who was cookin himself a steak, and slicing a ton of garlic and onions all over it. The skeeters were tearin me up, but not a one was lighting on the old man. I brought this to his attention and he told me that garlic keeps away the women, vampires, and insects. I have found this to be true. Ever since I started eating raw garlic with meals, I aint seent one vampire! And I had really been needing a woman repellant, as good looking as I am. But even more scary than vamps and ladies are them dang bugs! Garlic is great stuff. It thins your blood, dialates your arteries, fights off cancer, kills athletes foot, prevents and kills bacterial infections, and creates a hostile invironment for viruses. Sure does stink though. When people tell me they're startin to get sick, I tell them to eat raw garlic. It'll either ward off the cold or lessen the severity of it. Most people would rather be sick. Personally, I would rather stink than be sick. Raw garlic goes really, REALLY good with greasy food, like pizza, or hamburgers, or Jack-in-the-Box tacos. Just eat it like you would that little chile they give you with your pizza. It's just the same only different, in fact, better. Once you start eating raw garlic with your greasy food, you'll miss it really bad when you don't have some. Again, I'm not kiddin: Permeate your blood with garlic, and there is no bug on earth that'll want to hang with you. And as a hunter, it'll bring playing the wind to a whole new level - where it should be in the first place. Mike

Dang, Take it easy Josh! If I can see my truck I won't get lost! And I like cuttin my wood in sight of the tank - in case a deer comes in. And you don't expect me to miss "Under Western Skys" and Pastor Dorman's "Gospel Road" on KAFF on Sunday mornings do ya? I miss the old days where I could go do some recreating without steppin on somebody else's skidder trail! Mike

That's too bad! I can usually maintain control to all outward appearances, and then use the wrong pin or mis judge the distance. I miss archery elk hunting. Used to put in bull 1st and cow 2nd, and would get drawn every year. Then I decided that I had killed enough cows and started putting in for bull only. Now I can't get drawn. Since then I've been killing muzzy deer in New Mexico and bear hunting. It's been good and I've taken my best animals as of late. But... I miss huntin' them bulls. I hope you have a ton of fun and kill a great big bull. Remember that it is normal to get at least a little shook up. Getting close enough to a screaming bull to put a sharp stick through his chest can put a guy under a bit of pressure! That's why it is so fun! Mike

Maybe PM means, particularly mouthy. Mike

I think this string is full of guys doing the right thing. Is the kid gonna get help? Yep. At least one PM. Bowhunter12, you are a blessed bowhunter to be living in Payson! Take the advice that all these guys have given you - it's all good stuff, and apply it to the area where you live. And then consider the guarded attitude these guys have displayed about not wanting to give away specific spots - at least on an open forum. You should do the same thing because with your desire, you're gonna learn some good areas. You're gonna walk through a couple of pairs of boots and you're gonna know more than a whole bunch of guys can only dream of knowing. And a lot of these guys are gonna try and suck this knowledge right out of your brain - without having to do the work themselves. Is helping people bad? Of course not! By all means help the folks who have a healthy respect for the sport, and the animals and the youngsters like yourself. But be careful that you don't fall into the trap of blabbing information so that you can feel knowledgable and important. Use discernment like these guys have in this string. This is healthy. Go get 'em bowhunter12. And welcome to the forum! Mike

Nothin was aimed at nobody. Muleybull brought up a good point and I reinforced it. In the history of this site many deer pockets have been exposed, and in my opinion it is just plain wrong. Why deprive someone the glorious pleasure of busting their own butt and finding good hunting spots for themselves? Hunting is not about the kill, it's about the hunting. But if you just gotta let someone know how smart you are and how much you know, why not personal e-mail the guy with your knowledge so the whole world isn't instantly educated? Also, a lot of good 'in general' and very helpful information can be shared without exposed specific spots. Common sense, or as a friend of mine says, "come on, sense!" Mike

Excellent point Muleybull! Here Here! I,ve been crying wolf on this forum for years. If you guys wanna help somebody, give them a personal e-mail. That way everybody with a tag for this difficult unit - that reads this forum - won't end up in the same place. Common sense, folks. Mike

Ernesto, Your "Blessing from the Lord" is certainly beautiful and lovely! Did you have to lie to her to get her to marry you? (like I did mine). God bless your marriage and your family! You are a very wealthy man. Mike