couesmagnet

I think there's been a huge and very rash rush to judgement from most on here. Seeing that none of us were probably there when it happened it's surprising to see such a lynch mob mentality so quickly. What if there's a chance that they were really just herding cattle and chose the worst time to do it. Even witnesses could have ulterior motives and it's been know that even direct witnesses of an event can be off on their own testimony of what really happened cause Of their own human error alone. Heck look at all the Bigfoot sightings still and they don't exist!!! Factors such as distance can obscure true positioning of helicopters in relation to fence lines or antelope for that matter. I have lots of respect for the arizona game and fish overall but even they make big mistakes themselves sometimes, everyone makes mistakes, everyone!!! No one has even heard the other side of the story but yet stand ready to tar and feather a guy without his due process. I don't know chad and have met him only twice, but after hearing the story from the other side there's an awful lot of grey area here and sounds like quite a misunderstanding from all sides. This event has nothing to do with a hunting incident and at worst involves possible animal harassment indirectly. Has anyone ever drove the their truck down a road and had antelope run off from seeing the truck?? That could also be spun into hunter harassment. Just saying give the guy his due process. Witch hunts were for the old days.

I've always thought that ranches that have state trust land trapped within their boundaries, should have to purchase said trust land from the state. It's really lame that they treat it like their private land access wise, but don't have to pay for it. Basically it's everyone's land but no one can use it but the landowner. In many instances, a road is locked going to state trust land just cause it goes through a small sliver of private. If you want to control the land then pay for it!!!! I wish some non landowner with a helicopter would fly in and land on the state trust land within the boundaries and hunt right in the middle of some of these places. You could have a hay day on some of these 2 mile by 2 mile sections of state trust land within the ranch itself. Just an idea for anyone out there with the means to try it. I would be glad to tag along!!

The haze your referring to was probably caused by the angle of the sun at certain times of the day when looking into the shadow. I've seen this haze before also, and it always has to do with the angle of the sun relative to the shadow. If you would have looked back at the same spot a couple hours later i would bet the haze was gone. This haze isn't noticeable when looking at hills with direct sunlight on them.

I would be glad to help ya out. Sent you my number via pm.

Well said becker. People should know their own limits with their own gear. I feel that range is all in the eye of the beholder. The problem most have with distance is they watched someone else pull off a long range shot somewhere and assume cause one guy pulled off the long shot that they should be able to also. This debate will go on and on every year and boils down to an honest self assessment of one's skills and not comparing yourself to others and doing it just cause someone else did it (ie, 900 shots). Every year i'm humbled by my own mistakes which are many. I thought i was a competent bow shot until this year, when not once but twice i grazed my 120 inch plus dream buck with a bow at less than 25 yards, less than 6 days apart. Even with a ton of practice with any form of weapon, the one thing that's always up in the air is one's ability to control his nerves with a giant standing there. Very few have a lot of practice with this, and you can never get enough in my opinion. A 30 yard shot was to long for me last year cause of my nerves, and i practiced shooting way longer than that all year!! On the last day i shot a consolation prize 108 buck at 40 yards, and the shot was perfect, go figure. Even our own skills with a weapon will vary from day to day, and situation to situation. Staying calm in the situation is more critical than ones skills overall, at least that's my opinion from watching guys while guiding for years, including myself melt away their own skills with a couple short breaths before the shot.

My longest is 760. I like them under 300 though!!!

The nikon's are nice, but seem to require more focussing than the swaro's at diff distances when glassing. For instance, when glassing at 300 yards and switching to looking at something at 700 yards requires a focussing while the swaros don't. Just my opinion. You will have fun with both regardless though.

Wow!!! Awesome bucks indeed. Great job. Were both of those from this year?

It's all my fault guys and gals. I crashed the server last night with the 10 apps for my immediate family at the last minute. I love having those lazy tags stacked like cordwood in my families pocket. I was getting nervous there wasn't going to be an extension toward the end, and like clockwork, it came. Whammo bammo. Reminded an ultra lazy friend this morning of the extension, and he slid into home with his kids and several other of his family apps. Now all i need is another lazy 380 bull to come in around 1030 so i can sleep in till 10, and roll into the blind after only 15 minutes of being there and a solid nights sleep. Thanks to the g and f for honoring their word of being able to put in till last night, and the ensuing extension to honor that promise.

Is it really that big of deal? Lots of other things in this world to get upset over it seems. I expect a extension every year, and the fall out from this happening from some is hilarious. Some must have very simple lives if this is that big of a deal. I don't care if they extend it 3 weeks as long as i get a tag. I hope out of the extension that a few more father's had time to apply their kids. We can all predict the next battery of drama on the draw date when it's late also. That's when the real complainers come out of the woodwork in groves over an extra week. Holy smokes batman what's the world coming too!!!

It's all good bro, i do the same thing every year. Wait till the last second of the last day. I do this because it's been a good luck charm for getting drawn a whole bunch. I wouldn't put in early if you paid me to do it. this dandy little superstition of mine has payed off many times. Good luck to your kids and an extension!!!

Real nice bulls!! Congrats!

I've messed up way to many times to count. Mess ups are fun and usually end up with the same elevated heart rate we are all after anyways regardless of a shot or not. Mess ups are what i learn from the most!!!

Old 15s are non hd glass. New ones just came out in the last year. The yellowish color I was referring too had to due with the general hue of the old ones when looked thru not the specific color of a specific set of binos. New ones which r hd glass have a slightly diff body also.

There's a def diff between the old and new. If I had to quantify the diff it would be 15 to 20 percent in brightness and clarity. Also when compared there is a very noticeable reduction in the appearance of the yellow hue that can be seen looking they the old 15s. The new ones have way less if the yellow look and are much brighter. Under low light conditions the diff is amazing. I put this to the test over the last 4 weeks after purchasing the new ones in every situation imaginable. For a look at the diff go to the outdoorsman's and have Cody set the 2 up side by side at the shop and look at the mountain near there. I am very surprised that anyone wouldn't notice a sizable diff between the 2. I would feel handicapped if I was forced to go back to the old ones.

I rarely give kudos to retail shops, but when one stands out in such a manor that it almost seems rude not to let everyone else know, i figured i better say something. I've been shopping at the outdoorsman's in phoenix for several years now. Over those years i've had some mishaps with my gear that i purchased there that was always my fault from binos to backpacks and everything else under the sun. It always seems to work out exceptionally well for me and at very little or no cost to me when i make a mistake. I walk in the shop and ask for cody nelson or any of the other extremely nice guys that work there, and stuff magically works out for the best for me regardless. I've dealt with almost everyone over the years and it would be very very difficult to beat the treatment i've received at the outdoorsman from timely bino repairs to everything else. If you haven't been to the outdoorsman's before, i would highly refer them to you for your next bino purchase or repair, and anything else you might need for your hunting adventures. Thank you cody nelson and the rest of the team for being so cool and helpful!!!!!!!!!

What a great mistake that was made here, with an exceptional outcome. Hope there are many more mistakes made and the outcome is the same.

Very nice bull jim, must have been nice for it to be your turn. Excellent job!!

Excellent find indeed. Seems quite a bit bigger than 108, but pics like that are hard to judge. I better start making more pottie stops now, cause i've never found anything over a 100!!

Sorry 79 I should have been more specific. I meant the white mountain tribe tags. Not the white mountains.

The only reason the white mountain is so good is because of the limited number of tags they make available on an annual basis. Whether they have cow tags, rag horn, or cow tags makes no diff. It has to so with the overall numbers of tag issued regardless of antler size or sex. If they had the same amount of bull or cow tags per 1000 elk that state land has in any unit in az , it wouldn't be any better. If we want something like they have then we need to cut every units elk tags by 50 percent. I'm a fan of the game and fish but as of lately for some reason there never enough tags issued and more is always better. I wish they would raise the price of all tags and cut the numbers of tags down at the same time.

The front bumper of my dodge diesel going 80 miles an hour always does the trick.

Jim dandy bull regardless of weapon used. Good job!!!

Under a 100 inches, but nice buck. Way to narrow, light in the mass, almost no g3 on the one side. 99 incher. Shooting him is in the eye of the beholder, and would be personal decision.

I would go scouting every chance you can get. Heck if your going down south all your presence would equal is 1 extra illegal making a run for phoenix, and what diff would that really make. Your being way to nice in thinking of staying away from the woods at anytime during the year. It's a dog eat dog world out there now with what huntings morphed into. Look for trucks near water and the normal stuff that any polite person would do during any hunt to another, but get out there at will and pound anything and everything that interests you. Over the years when we've been scouting during other people's hunts we always seemed to find the game that they were hunting while we are scouting. You can help others in the field far more than you can hurt their hunts when your scouting if your willing to share what you saw with them. I can't tell you how many times we've handed animals off that we found scouting to others during their own respective hunt. Be just a little careful out there around water and hit the ground running where ever and when ever you want.