kazpilot25

Any idea what they'd be doing on public land? I used the parcel viewer for the county to verify that it's forest service land.

I just found another one about a mile away.

I completely agree. I'd drop the swaros for a 15x56 Razor in a heartbeat. I have the Razor HD 65 spotter and it's unreal clear.

I agree with this to a point. I had the Kaibabs and was getting frustrated with the edge clarity. After getting the Swaros in the field for a while, you really notice that the edge clarity is far superior to the Kaibabs. To me, it was worth it.

Firstblood - PM Sent

7

If I were you I'd be looking for some old Swaros. For the price you can get them for now, they are far superior to the Kaibabs. Just my 2 cents.

Thanks guys. I saw some elk in the area while scouting, so that's encouraging. I'm talking about for the archery hunt. Hopefully the smoke will help work as a cover scent. We will see.

Anyone?

I'm heading up to either unit 7 or 6a (not sure yet which) for the archery opener next week and was looking for some pointers. This is going to be my first real archery hunt and I'm looking for some pointers. I don't have any tree stands and I was planning on hunting either spot and stalk or still hunting through some areas. I have a couple areas I know hold some nice deer, but what's the best way to hunt them using a stick and string?

I sent mine in yesterday for 11/7 36b. Yesterday the list said 270 tags, today 70. I'm getting a bit nervous.

As a lot of you already know, I took the family up to Yellowstone National Park for our family vacation this year. We went the week of Memorial day, which was the opening weekend for some of the fly fishing waters in the park (notably the Firehole River). We had a great time and saw all the sites. We did a lot of back country hiking (which was tough with a 3 year old that didn't want to hike more than a half a mile and a 6 month old strapped to my chest). All in all it was a great time and I learned a ton about the park. I highly recommend that trip to everyone! I can't wait to go back. As for fishing, it was my first time fly fishing and I had my struggles in the beginning. I went in to West Yellowstone after a couple days and talked with a couple of the guys at some of the fly shops. They all pretty much recommended the same flies, so I got a couple of each and went out again. Between the 3 of us that were fishing, we would catch one here and there but nothing major or like I was expecting. There were no hatches going on so we were using nymphs. Finally on the last day we were there I decided to try this other part of the river, and man did it pay off. In the 7 hours we were on the water, we each caught at least 20 fish. I personally caught 32 in that span, most of them coming within a 1-2 hour period just before sunset. It was a BLAST! I can definitely say I'm hooked on fly fishing. The fish we caught averaged 11-12 inches, so nothing worth noting, but it was fun. There are a couple pictures here of a grizzly and one of a wolf. I have a couple others but these were the best. I took them with my olympus tough camera through my Razor HD spotter.

We were there for a full week. We rented a 27' travel trailer in Idaho Falls and towed it in from there. We stayed at Madison campground the entire week and it was perfect.

Ya I'm sure. I thought the same thing at first, but the ranger and a couple of the professional wildlife photographer guys explained the differences and why it was a grizzly. Very interesting and informative trip. The wildlife photographers were actually great people and very friendly. Although I'm not sure I share their enthusiasm about the wolves. They seemed to freak out whenever I spotted one and soon a crowd of them would come to where I would find them. It was crazy.

I've hunted down in 36B a couple different times. Oddly enough I've never seen any illegals either. I've seen their trails, and lots of their trash, but never have I seen them. I've even hiked way back in to areas that are 1 mile this side of the border… nothing. They don't want to be seen as much as you don't want to see them. You should be safe if you use any amount of common sense. Also, I always bring a side arm just in case. Good luck, I'll be down there for the same hunt.

Also, sorry for the delay guys. I know some of you were waiting for these

I'm taking the family up to Yellowstone National Park next weekend and will be trying my hand at fly fishing for the first time. It will be the opening week of the Firehole River and I couldn't be more excited. That being said, I know nothing about fly fishing and even less about fishing the Firehole. Does anybody have some experience they can share with me? Maybe some flies that may be useful this time of year? I went out and got a nice rod/reel setup from Cabelas yesterday, but the guys in the fly shop there had no tips for me when it comes to Yellowstone.

I also had very good groupings with the Barnes LRX and Varget powder but for some reason I can't find the exact data in my notes.

I've used a combo of 45.5gr of 4350 with a sierra 130gr in my Tikka 7-08 with average 5 shot groups of 0.714 in.

It looks cool. I looked up pricing and it's about $50 per quart of the top and the same for the bottom.

I have a slumberjack big timber -20 and it's GREAT! It's definitely not for backpacking, but extremely comfortable and warm.

Thanks for all the pointers everybody. Great advice. I was down sick all weekend, but I'm going out to the park today to practice some casts and get it figured out. I bought a ton of flies that have been mentioned in this thread (BWO, Copper Johns, Pheasant Tail, etc.) in multiple different sizes. We're camping at Madison for the week so we'll be right inside the West entrance, which will make running to the fly shop in West Yellowstone an easy task. How should I be choosing the size of the flies I'm using? Should I typically be casing upstream and letting it float back toward me? Any characteristics in the water I should be looking for? Thanks again for all the help everyone, it's been awesome! PS. I will post pictures upon my return.

Ok, so after tossing around the idea of getting a spotting scope, I think I will be better served by upgrading my binoculars with that money instead. I currently have the Viper HD 15x50 and love them, but I'm ready to upgrade. Is the jump to the Kaibab worth the $600 difference? What is the difference between the 2 other than the larger objective. I understand it's a different housing, but it appears to be the same glass. I need some input here before I go spend the $1200 on these bad boys.

I use a Slumberjack Big cot and love it. It's quiet, solid, and the rubber feet give me comfort that my Kodiak floor won't get ripped. Once my girls get a bit older, I'm thinking of getting the bunk cots or upgrading to a trailer of sorts.

So looking at the forecast for the weekend up in the area I'll be hunting, it calls for "Heavy Snow/Wind" 100% chance Saturday fore pretty much most of the day. How is this going to affect the Turkey movement, vocalization, breeding?