Swivelhead

It's up to us (outdoorsmen & women) to fund modern wildlife management. Unfortunately, everything is expensive in this economy. Whoever thought a 4X4 pickup would EVER cost 40K. As far as government agencies go, I think our G&F runs fairly lean.

No pictures, ram was about two miles away, the mirage was terrible. That and we were scrambling to get after him.

I had written an essay about my GF Tammy's 45B sheep hunt, then it all went away. So this time I'll keep it short. Tammy got her sheep on the 20th day of hunting, Monday 12/30. She made a perfect 230 yard shot on a real nice ram. G&F aged "Romeo" at 7 years and measured him at 157." Tammy worked really hard for this sheep and I am very proud of her. Everyone involved was ecstatic with her success. We saw a lot of sheep and Tammy got to turn down a number of rams. Her hunt was an absolute blast start to finish. We had assistance from our friends Joey, Valerie and Rick. They all busted butt to help make Tammy's hunt a success. In the end, they made the difference. Especially "sheep magnet" Joe Nochta. Tom Saad and Eric Hunt mentored Tammy and I on how to hunt sheep in the KOFA's. Both of these men know what they are talking about, Tammy and I are thankful for their advice. The largest ram seen during Tammy's hunt was a direct result of their advice. Unfortunately, for no apparent reason, this ram changed zip codes while we watched. We were unable to relocate the ram, I call him the apparition ram. He will forever haunt me. And then there's HEAT. I've never laid eyes on Nick but he's got to be a great guy. He always offers to help. Nick helped me when I had a sheep tag and offered again for Tammy's hunt. Nick has some photos of Romeo and will hopefully post them as I'm not very proficient at those tasks.

Feed the birds ....... Feed the birds ............ Part of growing up in Phx back in the day. A great memory.

Apparently the marketing team at Zeiss moved quickly to fill a niche that Swarovski has abandoned. Depending on the IPD range of the new Zeiss I'd say Vortex will take a hit too. Nice to have another choice in the 15X category.

Sounds like an awesome hunt to me. You did pass on a ram and spent the whole season giving it your all. Congratulations to you! The upside is you may get to do it again some day, for that I am envious.

Thx for the kind words. Opening morning at first light, Tammy spots a ram in the first 10 minutes of glassing. The ram is about a mile away right next to the road. We drive over and watch the ram for a couple hours. He'd bed, get up feed a little bed again. All within 200 yards of the road. We age the ram, likely a 7 year old. Seems short horned and we have aspirations for a class IV sheep. We figure we can do better, Tammy passes the opportunity. This sheep was broomed on both sides. His left horn was broomed to a very sharp point which we thought was cool. Never saw him again. Later in the hunt we had a ram drought and were second guessing the decision to pass on this ram.

G&F is in a tough spot, there is no pleasing us ....... or them, the non-consumptives. It's ok to be critical of any government agency if you've got evidence to back up your claims. Everybody screws up now and then. Unfortunately, it's not ok to admit you screwed up in this litigating society we live in. G&F, Forest Service, etc. are constantly facing that reality. Personally, I've found G&F personnel to be professionals. I appreciate G & F's mission. I believe they are my ally.

I've got one with fiberglass poles, no issues. Great tent. I have heard nice things about the aluminum poles however.

Somewhere between tractor trailer & railcar.

A pack that has the gear to handle bad weather, an unexpected overnight, etc.

Well done!

As I recall, in the 2013 draw 6 tags went to applicants with 6 points or less. You just never know. I drew with 14 points and my girlfriend drew with 12 points. It CAN happen.

There are a number of issues with spotting scope bracket setups. Collimation and inter-pupillary distance are the primary issues. Most good brackets are adjustable to get things right. Angled scopes won't work with a bracket. Straight scopes are rotated together to get the right IPD. Once locked down they work great, however the setup is personal. The setup usually won't work for another user without going through the collimation, IPD procedure. Likely, you'll need fixed power eyepieces. Dialing two zoom eyepieces to the proper magnification for both eyes can be a real headache, literally.

Congrats on a perfect ram. 10+ years on the mountain, awesome!

Wins by ASU and UA against very good opponents today. Territorial cup should be especially interesting this year. I'll be out of town when the game is played, hopefully I can catch it via radio. Go Devils!!!!!

No doubt Oregon is a fine team. Apparently the Cats have in em' to beat anybody. Figured the Ducks would come roaring back in the 2nd half. Congrats to the Cats for getting it done. Should make next weeks matchup even better.

Eventually most popular public shooting areas end up looking like landfills. Organized shooting groups and private individuals clean the areas periodically but still .......................... it is ugly. Public land managers are looking for a way to make the problem go away. Likely, the complaints from other user groups is really about the trashing of our public lands. Sycamore creek, the Rolls and Sugarloaf on the Tonto forest are prime examples. It really is embarrassing. As a group, recreational shooters are slobs.

WOW! Thanks for sharing the story.

Congrats on your success. Thx for posting.

All else being equal, there is no substitute for aperture AND magnification assuming the atmosphere will allow it. Spotters bridge the gap between 15's and a big eye setup. I would love to have a high quality pair of "big eyes" but they would be a bear to pack and pricey too. Spotter is light and does not require a massive tripod and head (more weight). Personally, I owned a Swaro spotter for 10 years before I learned to use it. A spotter comes into it's own at about a mile, at a mile 15's begin to lose out. I find myself using a spotter more often than not when going long. Although I've got some 15 X swaro's that are really nice, I still usually end up carrying 10 X 50 SLC's with and old AT scope using newer eyepieces. BTW, my AT 80 with the newer eyepieces is fabulous! I am always amazed how sharp this scope is, even with my uncorrected astigmatism issues. It is superior to my SLC's optically IMO.

ASU needs good linemen on both sides of the ball. Sutton gained weight and lost a step. Notre Dame had Kelly running for his life all night. Wisconsin, Stanford and Notre Dame all have better line play than lesser programs. USC has athletes but apparently no direction. Grahams recruiting classes will begin to show up next year. We'll see. Meantime it is fun to watch but disappointing at times. Come 11/30 we'll find out who owns the cup for another year. Look forward to grinding on cat lovers whenever possible.

Great looking sheep, a real bruiser. It was nice to share a table with you & your wife at the banquet. Again, congratulations on a really nice ram.

Devil defense does give up too many big plays. Fortunately they also scooped up 4 turnovers. Good enough tonight.

Although I detest U of A fans, still root for the cats when playing out of state teams. Sooooo for all you cat fans: too bad, so sad. lol