monstercoues

Thanks guys for all the pics so far. I can't wait for my cape to come back from the tannery!

If the bucks usually disappear after they shed their velvet, then why did you have your camera out there so long? Did you have a later hunt in the year for the area?

True there is no law in AZ that pertains to having a loaded firearm in the vehicle, but it could be construed as hunting with the aide of a vehicle. Depends on the totality of the circumstances of'course. It's just not safe and not smart. Why would you want a loaded gun in the truck if your not road hunting? Good luck on your hunt and stay safe!

My Rem. Model 700 .270 WSM is shooting great groups with the 130 grain winchester ballistic silvertips. I would buy them at Sportsmans warehouse, believe it or not they are cheaper than wal-mart. I am shooting half inch groups at 500 yards. Can't get any better than that with a factory bullet.

Lark, he had 4 more days to hunt and the season ended on the 12th, not the 9th. My2cats, I had a tag this year in another unit and hiked on average 10 miles a day. I hunted 7 days before I decided to go back to some of the bucks I passed on in an area the first day. I easily saw 10 or more people a day, but they were all on the roads. It's amazing what you can find away from the roads. I happen to know some people who know some people who said you were at your truck when the plane was over head and that the buck was only a mid 70's inch buck at best. I also heard that they circled because there was a herd behind the ones you saw and there was a few fawns in the group they were making sure were fawns when they did the classification on the herd. No buck with that group and No Hunters in sight of either group, except for a guy at his truck! I also know that they fly surveys for the upcoming years population estimates and not for last years, so that is why the supervisor told you he knows what the population estimate is at the time. No doubt it sucks that they did surveys during a hunt, but with 2 planes and everything else they have going on they have to do what they have to do to fit everything in. Plus you had 4 days left to hunt and probably 90% of the hunters were done and you had the whole unit to yourself darn near. I noticed you haven't said whether you harvested an antelope or not. I can tell you that if you were sitting in your truck at the time that is truly sad that you are making this such a huge ordeal. It is even sadder that you have gotten so many people to hate the game and fish and if it wasn't for them doing such a good job managing and protecting our wildlife, you wouldn't have been able to hunt antelope in the first place.

How do I get a copy of that print?

Whats your last name so I can look ya up HAHA! I understand your frustration man, but you have to realize they have alot of units to survey and little time with only 2 planes. Everyone wants to complain about the G&F every chance they get. Most of the complaints are they don't patrol enough or we don't see them on the weekends. Well most people are out on the weekends and thats why they flew on during the week. I completly agree with you that they should have waited until the hunt was over or flew it before the archery hunt like they did the unit I was drawn for. I waited 15 years for a tag and would have been upset too if this happenned to me, but I do understand they have a job to do and they certainly should have waited til the hunt was over. I read alot of your posts and you seem to always put down the Game and Fish. I think alot of people don't realize that without them, we wouldn't be hunting anything in this state.

WOW X2 haha. Lark have you been in trouble with the G&F before? You are sure quick to bash them, when I feel Brian did a great job explaining their survey methodology. There certainly was no intent to mess up anyones hunt. Unfortunately someone was in the wrong place at the wrong time. I am sure they didn't run that buck out of the unit and antelope aren't hard to find again. I have been buzzed by G&F in January archery deer hunting and they blew a stock for me. I was upset, but I understand they have a job to do and it's not surveying antelope in the winter time when they have been known to migrate up to 100 miles away. Bet nobody thought about that one huh?

HAHA If you look closer you will see the holes covered up are bigger than mine. Those would be from my buddies .300 ultra mag. We like to save money and targets as you can tell haha.

Great Mount! Just curious what that cost? You can PM me if you don't want everyone to know. Thanks!

I had a Ruger M77 .270 Win before I switched over to my .270 WSM. I was shooting 130 grain reloads, Hornaday Spirepoint Interlocks. I harvested elk, md deer, COUES deer, pronghorn, black bear, javelina, coyotes, and almost a mt. lion, haha. Got too excited. When I got my short mag, I bought all the stuff to reload and a buddy convinced me to try the Win Ballistic Silvertips. I wouldn't have believed a factory bullet could shoot so well. I am shooting 130 grain WBST bullets and I am shooting a 1/2 inch group at 500 yards.

Only one way to find out and be legal is to pick up the phone and call. If they don't come out, than you can take your chances on whether you get caught or not. And the GW doesn't get to keep it for his or her personal collection, it belongs to the state of AZ, just like all of our wildlife does. It can be sold at action and all money goes back to wildlife. Isn't that what we are all here to support?

This was the nicest buck I saw on my scouting trip last week. What do you guys think he would score?

Yep you did read it right. Whether it has hair on it or not, if it's not a shed you cannot legally possess it. Call the local Game Warden and have him hike into the area and look at it with you. Chances are that unless they can determine that it was a poached animal they will let you keep what you have found. You cannot possess any wildlife or parts without evidence of legality. I found a nice mule deer buck when I was elk hunting, head and antlers still attached. Called the local GW and he came out the next day to hike into the area. We couldn't determine if it was poached or not, but he let me keep it. Very nice guy. Hope this helps. It's always best to call the Game and Fish directly if you are unsure of anything. Always get a name from who you talk to, that way if they give you bad info you can put it back on them. HAHA

Here is a back view of him. I never got a good front shot at him. The pic is blurry. Lots of heat waves. I am guessing him in the mid 70's. I don't think he is quite 15 inches and doesn't have the mass above the prong.

I have heard good things from people and ok things from people about the size of the bucks I am expected to find. Has anyone hunted 18B recently? What are my chances of taking a Booner?

Well at least you can say you mounted them all! Nice Work!

The reason I chose 18B is because there were alot of tags and I had 14 bonus points. The units I usually put in for got alot of snow this year and I am sure they experienced a die off. I have a freind who knows 18B, but he moved out of state and can't make it on the hunt with me. I was just curious what to expect as far as quality bucks, since it took me so long to get a tag. I guess we can't all be as lucky as yout uncle haha.

Awesome kitty cat! What taxidermist do you use? Are you going to do a rug or life-size? Pedestal mounts are cool on cats also. Congrats!

Congrats on a great buck. I recieved an email from a friend of mine with the score of this buck. If you are right on the score; the pics don't do it justice at all. It looks like its 107-109 to me. Again Congrats.

Really Nice Ram. Congrats to all. You talk alot about how hard that unit is to hunt and it not having quality sheep. What unit were you guys in?

I am not by any means assuming WMs are equally knowledgeable about their units and with all the turn over in the agency lately, my buddy said there were something like 15 new guys and gals in the last few years hitting the field. I will definitely say that alot of the older guys and even guys who have been on for 2-4 years darn sure know there areas more than the office guys, that is unless the office guys held those units before they went to the office. I hear you on one of your last sentences " Most guys in entry level positions do not know more than their bosses". In many cases that is true, but there is no way that anyone other thant the WM will know what is going on in there units unless the office guys have been in the field with them. Numbers don't mean everything, you still have to factor in all the other issues the wildlife face out there and thats why I think if a WM wants to lower or raise permits based off of other things than just numbers, than they should be able to do that without anyone else telling them what to do. I don't agree with this comment you made-"The longer they are in the same post the more they forget nearly every supervisor started as a WM". I am not talking about supervisors making these change4s, It's the guys even higher up, and yes they may have started as WM's but they have been out of the field for so long and they have no idea what every unit has issues with as compared to the WM's. I don't want to fight about this anymore, it seems like everytime I make a post or comment about the dept. someone wants to argue or start a pissing match on here. Thats why my buddy doesn't get on here, he gets disgusted with the stuff I tell him about people on here bashing the dept. all the time.

Hey 300Ultramag, My buddy said you finally called him, but he was out in the field working. He said you left him a message, but no phone number for him to call u back on. Thanks for calling him, please call him back and leave him a number to call u back on. Thanks

My dad and bro just got back from 27. They said the bulls were going nuts and some had cows and some were just hanging out. This weekend should be awsome. Can't wait.

Well that may be true in most instances, but in these cases I would say the wildlife managers know more about there units than the guys in the office who never step foot in them. It's sad that the wildlife managers do all the field work and paperwork only to have the higher ups set the permit numbers for them. I wouldn't say that wildlife managers aka field guys are in entry level positions, I know some that have been WM's for over 20 years. My opinion is the guys in the field should make the decisions, since they are the ones doing the surveys and know there units and whats going on in them. Just my two cents. It's like in the real world. The guys in entry level positions always think they know more than their bosses. Sometimes they do, sometimes they don't They forget that the guys in the offices usually have been there and done that. Bill Quimby