COOSEFAN

That gave me chills reading about your trip! THAT IS AWESOME you were able to MAKE the trip happen now and not WISH you had later! Really makes you stop and think about all we take for granted! I had a close call several years ago with my dad and am thankful everyday since that he still around! I just received this short video email yesterday and fits exactly into this topic, if it works, please watch it.........very touching! Thanks for your story Garth! JIM http://www.parentswish.com/

Allen.........your da' man!........thanks for the kind words.......and.........NO..........I can do the lead throwin' just fine by myself............but thanks anyways for the offer! Sorry AZGUIDE, but if it makes you feel better, THIS TENT IS AWESOME! I'm just messin around, sorry the deal didn't work out for ya Thanks again Allen, I look forward to meeting up with ya again soon! JIM

I'll take it if it is still available?

I had made up my mind on the Arctic Cat Prowler and bought it, not thinking about the height of it. It didn't fit into our enclosed trailers, not even close. My goal was to have one that I hauled in my scouting trailer. I use an enclosed utility trailer for scouting because I just keep all my gear in it and can set up cots and tables and turn it into a camping trailer easily. My Prowler was way too tall and I didn't wanna get stuck always taking the open trailer and sleeping in a tent. My dad wanted the Prowler so I sold it to him and bought plan B, the Rhino. A friend of a friend buys and sells them and had the Explorer edition ready to sell and I jumped on it. The Rhino comes with stock 2 ply tires and steel wheels which I don't like so I bought some new 6 ply Terracross tires and 14" ITP wheels, which are 2 inches taller and a wider footprint for traction as opposed to the stock set. They look cool too, which is actually the real reason I bought them! I don't know which I like better, they all do the same thing and they are all amazingly unstoppable, the best thing is that the Rhino fits in my trailer! Thanks, JIM

THats awesome! Great job finding those, i'm jealous

Hey Allen, I'll buy it if AZGUIDE doesn't. He's got first dibs though. Keep me posted. Thanks, JIM>

I am born and raised Arizonan! I will never move out of this state BUT plan on moving out of this dang city! It is growing WAY fast and the freeways get worse every day! This growth is making me money on my house though, and in 2 years the wife will be out of college, we'll move up north, and she can support ME! That's my plan. I love this state, the diversity is second to none, the quality of animals, and the opportunities are countless. I have seen this state from one corner to the other and back in my 30 years and there is still so much more I haven't seen and done here yet. Gotta love it! JIM

Just curious if anybody from this site is going to the banquet tomorrow night? It's our 20th year and should be the best banquet yet! The band "Mogollon" will actually be playing there as well. Thanks, JIM.

Looks great! I love the bumper, you said the bolts are the lights for the plate? Where can I get some of those? I can't find a good plate light (for street legal) that wasn't too big, those would be perfect! FYI, when you go to buy a winch, check out ebay, I just bought the Venom V3500X winch and it comes with model specific mounting hardware and warranties for $165.00. That was alot cheaper than the $500.00 Warn I bought for the Prowler, so I jumped on it! Ride safe up there, JIM.

I bet that was the best tasting "Javalina" ever! Very cool though, definitely a keeper! JIM

There's no way you could ever get a Chupacabra, they only come out at night and it's illegal to hunt them at night! My dream and ultimate goal in my hunting life is to harvest a 110"+ Coues buck, spot-n-stalk, with a BOW! I could quit right then and there and die a happy guy, there is nothing else that would compare for me. JIM

Yeah, thankfully no one got crazy with the bidding and I got it for a good price, can't wait to get it though. I will post better pics. JIM

Best of luck to ya and enjoy every last minute! Look forward to hearing about and seein pics of your adventure! JIM.

Just a thought..... I have experienced tanks farther away from bedding areas getting hit more at night, and tanks closer or in bedding areas more active in the day, especially summer time. That looks like awesome country behind that tank! JIM

I have been wondering if it is safer to be closer to the border? I usually hunt very close to it, and all the illegals i've seen have been in good shape and just starting fresh on their journey north. They almost always avoid confrontation and stay away from us. I was thinking that they get more desperate as they get worn out and run out of their rations usually as they are farther away from the border. It makes sense at least but you never know! There is always the central part of the state, you'll have no problems there. JIM BTW: You can camp close to us anytime! There is safety in numbers, and it would be great to see your daughter with her first Coues!

Thanks Keith, I hope everyone checks out the new Extreme Bulls 3 video, just to see the look on the hunters face and hear the emotion in his voice. That moment made it all worth it, because it's just an average joe hunter experiencing something we all dream about. The video should be out soon. Thanks again, JIM.

I second this. We have 5 in the family and 4 owned by friends, everyone loves it. I DON'T agree with the CRAZY part and the HIT IN THE HEAD part, but the 2200 is a good one. I have heard nothing but good things about the Eberlestock. We have the 2800 also but I tend to carry WAAYYY too much stuff with me when I take it. It is great for over-nighters though! My $.02

Sorry to hear about your incidents there, I never met him but he had come into my camp a few years ago and scored some bulls we had for some survey they were doing. He over scored one of my clients bulls and had him all excited by the time I got back. The clients bull net scored 377" and this guy told him we scored it wrong and it was a 390" bull. It was a big bull regardless but my client questioned MY abilities and was set up for a let down when he found out I scored it right to begin with. It was nothing major, BUT I didn't appreciate it. I DO think he was a better WM than his replacement!!!!!! She is gone now but not before telling every tag holder for several years, exactly where my spots were at in that unit!!! She had no regard for overcrowding one location with hunters. Every single hunter that called her asking where to hunt was told exactly the same spots. I know this because I talked to alot of them as I bumped into them and they all said the same thing. She told them where to hunt and CAMP! What once used to have just a few camps and hunters now looks like a small city at night during the elk hunts. I don't own any of my spots, but it just happened to be my spots she told everyone about, and I think it was wrong to tell everyone to hunt the same spot. I'm sorry for carryin' on, it still gets me fired up, oh well. Thanks, JIM.

That's awesome! Watch out for the snakes!

Wetmule, I personally know the individuals responsible for how successful the Raffle tags have been for the AES, and your are right, very few people know what goes into that grueling task of pulling it off and especially as successfully as they have! They are the ones behind the scenes, altering their personal lives in exchange for helping wildlife, they deserve everyones respect for what they do!!! ["WOW, that sounds like a great guy who understands what the hunt is really all about. I am glad he won the raffle and not some ego maniac with a calculator and a B&C form. When I get a bull that caliber, I won't let anyone come within 50 yards of it with a tape."]

I think this state needs to keep the "Special" tags right were they are, no more no less. It works and generates alot of wildlife and habitat dollars! If they added more, they wouldn't be as valuable. Just my $.02. That Raffle tag hunt last year was an experience to say the least. It is a LOOONG story. I'll try to sum it up. The hunter is from Colorado, a 300" bull is a monster where he's from. He tells me he wants the big one and to do what it takes. I have the entire crew, spending their own money and time, scouting and helping with the hunt. We had a 400+ bull patterned and videotaped and several back-up 380-390 class bulls patterned and taped as well. The client shows up a few days early, I show him what we got and he wants the big one. I took him out to look at some of Arizona's best elk country and showed him some smaller bulls and he states he wants to go for the big one. Opening day we call in and pass on three 350-370class bulls on tape! That evening we finally get on the big one and I had him pass because the bull was walking in thick cedars and it was almost too dark. That night everyone is excited and confident we were going to have the monster on the ground the next day. Everyone was talking about which magazines we were going to be on the cover of and how fast we could get the video on the shelves at the Warehouse. The next day we wake up and the client is gone! Packed up and headed home without sayin' goodbye!!! We scrambled for a reason, worried if he was OK, and packed up camp and headed home to do "Damage Control"! We finally got a hold of him later and he said that there was too much pressure on him and on me to get the 400" bull, and he didn't really care how much bigger than 350" it was, he just wanted to kill a nice bull!! I still can't figure out why he didn't tell me that earlier! I got him back out here 5 days before the archery season started and told him it would be my brother, him and I alone and we would just hunt elk and enjoy the experience with no pressure and he could shoot the first bull he wanted. I just wanted it over at that point. He came out and brought his father and he gave me a day to try and find the Big bull but he had moved out or changed pattern so we just went and hunted elk. We called in several nice bulls and on the third day we had this bull come in to 15 yrds bugling all on tape, and it was the bull he wanted, and he took him. The client didn't want to score him and wanted everyone to know he took this bull NOT because of score, but because of the experience. The whole thing is just hard to understand or fathom for most guys because of what THEIR expectations would be if THEY had the tag, myself included! But it was his tag to do with what he wanted, I just wish he had told me what he really wanted before we collectively spent thousands of dollars in scouting and expenses. While taking the measurements for the taxi, i ran the tape on the beams and the width, the left MB is a tad over 60", the right MB is almost 57", and 41" wide. He would be a hard one to guess score on. An Outfitter once said, and it sums it all up, "Raffle Tags Are Like A Box of Chocolates......You Never Know What Yer Gonna Get!". Thanks, Jim

I agree with Deerslam, that isn't hunting. The outfitter is doing all the hunting, everything but pull the trigger! I don't know if you can fault the outfitter for that, he is trying to scratch out a living. BUT the good that comes out of the money raised from an auction tag is definitely worth letting some rich guy pretend like he is a superior trophy hunter for a day. I will probably never take on an Auction tag client, mainly because of the headache of having to produce a bull worthy of every last penny he SPENT. We DONATED our services to the RAFFLE tag last year to hopefully increase ticket sales. Most of the people that bought tickets probably couldn't afford to hire a guide, and that crosses thier mind at the thought of winning a once-in-a-lifetime tag. My buddy donated a free shoulder mount as well, and I think creating a package deal like that helped bring in a little more money. We always try to help the client get everything out of a hunt, not just the killing part, but the whole experience. I'll have them help me glass, teach them some tricks, hike them in a little farther so they feel like they hunted hard and in the end they are leaving with more than just the rack. I think some of those Auction tag holders never experienced any of that and most don't even care to. I even try to have clients come out a day or two early to scout with me and to hike around without the pressure of a valid tag in their pocket, I feel they have a chance then to soak it all in, making the experience that much richer. Running an outfitting business the way we do, will probably never make me much money, BUT, I will feel better about what I do!

This is the '05 Commisioner Raffle Tag Bull. The tag was issued to the R.M.E.F last year and we donated a 5 day fully outfitted hunt to go along with the tag. The opportunity to harvest this bull raised $177,000.00!!! That is the current record for an elk tag in Arizona, and that money stayed here in Arizona to help our Elk and wildlife. THAT IS A GOOD THING, no matter how you look at it! This hunt will be on "Extreme Bulls 3", due out soon. Thanks, JIM P.S. This lucky C.O. hunter paid $40.00 for this tag, he only bought two tickets!

"SARCASM...............one of the fine services I offer." CHD, Your signature suits you well! Allen, your post is admirable and is the TRUTH! Hopefully there are people who have the time and ability to step up, it's hard in this day and age to pull away from family and work and those that do contribute their time and money should be applauded for all they do! To make an honest effort to give back to this sport and especially to the wildlife, in any form, constitutes being a REAL sportsman in my mind. Thanks to all the REAL sportsmen out there! Jim

I just noticed that also?! I think we lost ALL the posts that occured between the 24th of May thru today! I can't find anything from the 25th or 26th etc.????