bobbyo

I have some general comments and then some analysis that could help find an animal. 1. Animals that are shot in the heart or double lunged do not go farther than 200 yards. The animal does not die from bleeding to death. It dies from organ failure. 2. IMO there is nothing wrong with 95 yard shots. I was taking accurate 70 yard shots with a bow going 195 FPS with steel cables, brass pins, and crooked aluminum arrows.( Who remembers the arrow straightener?) 3. Broadheads that claim massive entrance wounds do not appeal to me. How much energy does a massive entrance wound require? I like clean pass through's. Two holes are much easier to trail than one( even small ones). I consider a shot at an animal without a complete pass through a miss. 4. Because of the above I feel a bedded animal shot is a poor choice. Even if there could be a pass through the arrow will hit the ground and stay in the animal. With no arrow you will have a harder time determining what type of hit you have and will not know how long to wait. 5. How can a 21 year old already have two Antelope tags? 6. Headache could not agree with you more except for that tree hugging hippie talk.( I'm one according to Lark). Too much scmaltz, nostalgia and over glorification of our quarry. We are trying to kill! Kill! Kill. Yes Archery is not for the faint of heart. My friend and taxidermist says that the only way to respect an animal is to get them mounted $$$$$$$. 7. Adam, you look like you are shooting a speed rig. If so, and especially if you change to a fixed it might benefit you to go to a heavier arrow. At least 50 grains up. What you lose in speed you will makeup for in penetration and stability. You will even get a quieter and smoother bow. If you are already shooting 425 grains ++++ tell me to shut up. Mechanical broadheads work in my opinion, but I like the no fuss with fixed. You will need the small cutting diameter kind if you want to take long shots accurately. 8. I think too many of you critics read the B.S. hunting zines that have nothing to do with western spot and stalk hunting. Lets crawl in some cactus for a while and then tell me how far is too far. Now lets find the deer. You said the arrow penetrated half way and then walked over a mile with out sitting down. Did you lose the blood trail at this point? If so, you have to think that the deer back tracked at this point. You need to flag last blood and then put a flag back 100 yards. Walk parallel 25-50 yards to these flags on both sides. Try to find blood. If nothing repeat a few times back. if the trail he took is an actual deer trail follow all obvious feeder trails, bedding areas blah blah blah. I know you have done a lot of this already, but i am trying to help. Be systematic in your search instead of aimlessly wondering. Need to find a knob in vicinity of last blood and glass area. Change angle glass again. Rinse and repeat. If it has walked a mile it still could be alive. Heck you may find a different buck. I say go for it. You can beat yourself up all you want, but at some point you may have to accept that you will not find him. Give it your best shot finding him and then forgive yourself. Your not a perfect hunter like all these short shooters who like to judge you. In hunting you really only have one person to please. I think some old singer named Ricky Nelson said it best: But it's all right now I learned my lesson well See ya can't please everyone So ya got to please yourself. Archery is not for sissies, Bob ps. CRBN4runner you are a good friend.

I like the eye cups. If you give the price you are getting them for we could probably give you a better idea if we think it is a steal. Because we can compare the Steiners to similar brands and decide if we would rather have the Steiners or the comparable priced Binocs. The overwhelming tint is the biggest issue for me as well. Bob

What an experience. I believe this is the type of thing that can only happen during bow season. Bob

Let's go hunting together some time and I'll show you. If I had a tag to fill! I would take you up on the offer. Bob

I like Tamales. I really like Tamales! Congratulations. Bob

Jamaro, I was wondering being from NM what you think of Richardson. He seemed to be the most qualified Demo, yet the least qualified wins. Bob

I'm slow. What is the other kind of SBD that you are talking about? Bob

Whale look at it this way. You are at the bar you have five chicks that are hot for you. They only want you. They are so hot for you. Then some swinging d--- says" what you looking at." Do you fight the dude and possibly lose your ladies or do you just go to the bar next door? I have never been able to call in a Mature Muley when they had does with them. Same with elk. They are not going to leave their harem to fight. Another thing when calling you have to be completely hidden in heavily hunted areas. You realy freak the deer out when they are staring at sneaky, camo, baseball cap dude and suddenly hear doe bleat number one, they are going to run. Bob

Troy, You have been showing us up with your old bow. It is not going to be fair with that one. I'm happy for you. Bob

Why is everyone bringing sidearms down south? What possible protection is that going to give you. I guess it could be useful for eating some lead, so the banditos will not have the pleasure of cutting your eyelids off and staking you on an anthill. Camping in groups? ha! Makes it easier for that Columbian necktie party. Call the border patrol for help? Guess who monitors all transmissions? Might as well walk into Mexico and slit your own throat. Just day hunt? Sure like there are no spy's on Sasabe road. Can you trust that hippy staring at you on Arivaca road? What about I-19? You really want to make it easy for the killers don't you. Remember the minutemen? Don't hear much from them anymore. For $29.95 I will send you a map to their mass grave. Really, if you value life do not set foot in the 36s. If you choose to go, probably no Catholic funeral for you. Bob

Good point! But I think it was extreme because the penalty is not consistent with what others have been punished with. Many get a ticket. Nobody loses their hunting privleges for five years for the same violation. Find just one example. It was posted on this site before that some do not get license suspended for outright poaching. No license no tag no nothing. Many people are re-posting rumors, innuendos as fact. Read the articles Amanda listed. The basic reason for the extreme prosecution of this hunter is he shot the local pet. Sure it was a 433 inch pet. Still a pet that the hunter shot in the view of many houses. This pissed everyone off. We as hunters even if completely legal need to refrain from this type of harvesting. It gives hunting a bad name. Bob

Agree completely. He got the shaft. I believe G+F thought they had to do it to protect their Gov tags integrity. yada yada. Should of just levied a large fine Tne guy probably was not real anxious to come back to Arizona to hunt, Anyway he sure is going to get real bored going to Mexico, Canada and Africa.

+1. Have I missed some technique to match Field tips with Broadheads. Bgirdler is saying he is taking a tuned bow shooting at 20 yards. Then adjusting his rest to match where his Broadheads are flying and everyone is saying he is doing everything right. Isn't he just adjusting his bow out of tune? If he is doing it right could you guys re-post the link. I have nothing to do for the next 12 days, so i might as well break down my bow. Bob

Since you are in Tucson. I would strongly suggest you take your bow into Saguaro bait and tackle and have Jesse look at it. Jesse is a pse expert and an all around nice guy. He will tell you exactly what you need to do and will not charge you for his great advice. You will thank me later I guarantee it. I am concerned about your rest being maxed to the right. I am wondering about fletching clearance. The rest may be mismatched for the bow. Your arrows under or over spined or you are way out of tune. Saguaro bait and tackle. 5552 East Speedway - Tucson, AZ 85712 745-0003 Bob

Lance have you been hugging that hippie again? The first part of your response could only be understood by a lotus eater if you know what I mean . The second part was so touchy feely (celebrating hunting diversity?) it makes me want to gather all the guides , fat cats, fat hunters, scab hunters, and even a couple of the salt guys for one big group hug. Bob PS I agree with you. Hunters need to stop judging each other over methods. Its not a competition and there is more than one "right way" to hunt.

That's a trophy to me. Congratulations, Bob

Paul brought up something that is important. Fixed blade and Mechanical broadhead shooters need to test shoot their broadheads. Just because they say they will fly like field tips on the box does not mean they will. Also just because they shoot near field tips at 20 yards does not mean they will match field tips at 40, 60 ect. If you have the "They fly good enough attitude" I guarantee you you will miss a semi easy shot at a great animal and you will be sorry. It is hard enough to get a shot at an animal in this state. You might as well be sighted in with the actual heads you will be hunting with. This is why I don't see what the fascination is with getting broadheads to match field points. The deer could give a rats a-- where my field tips are hitting, but I sure do hope he is concerned with where my Muzzys are hitting. I think many people try to match field tips with hunting tips so most practice can be done with field points and then an occasional shot with the hunting tip to see if they "fly good enough". Practice with broadheads is a pain in the butt and expensive. You can't shoot them at ranges, they are hard to pull out of targets. They ruin targets quickly and up to 6 broadheads need to be sacrificed. Yet since I have shot my hunting tips at all pin distances and between pin distances on many occasions under different conditions, I have confidence they will hit where I want them to. Considering all the time waiting, glassing, stalking, driving, salting, rattling, calling and all the monetary expense. I want to make the most out of every opportunity, so i think the extra hassle of only shooting my hunting heads during the season is worth it. Bob

Desertbull? No! Don't give away your honey holes. Just sell them to nimrods from out of state. http://www.desertbull.com/Unitinfopak.htm. Nice site by the way, but I do find it ironical that you would start this thread about free info, e-scouting ect, yet you sell the info. If I am in my secluded honeyhole, I will be just as pissed when Randy California shows up to my spot whether he got the info by e scouting or by paying you $100. By the way how are you fixed for 24B coordinates. Looking for a spot. Bob

Well I'm surprised. I just don't worry about matching field tip flight with broadheads. Close to hunting season I just sight in the broadheads (15-min) and practice with only broadheads until the end of the season. I do tear up a target in one season and I don't go to shooting ranges. The Muzzy's will group past 100 yards and fly real stable, that is why I use them. Oh yea I also have to do a lot of re-fletching. Bob

I know for a fact that the muzzy practice blades do not fly well and do not group with the sharp blades, so they are basically worthless. Before you do anything shoot a regular broadhead. My muzzy's do not group with field points. I would be surprised if anyone's does. If you have a big enough target, at least 4' high, the walk back method that R.R. mentioned is the best method I have ever used. A tuned bow is a must with fixed blades. laser tuning has been hit and miss for me. I usually check tuning before every bow season with paper method and if adj is needed microtune with the walkback method. I have tried the bareshaft method, but never had much luck with that. Bob

DesertBull scouting hhmmm never heard of that guy. Bob

I am shooting gold tip XT 7595's. Arrow weight (with no broadhead) is 310 gr. I was making a mistake in the calculator on draw length. My actual KE is 68.1, which should be plenty for anything I want to hunt in AZ. I think I will stick with the gold tips. I haven't broken one yet, and they don't totally bust my bank. My only complaint is their finish is a little rough. When you put up that 80 something figure I imagined you to be 7' shooting a 120 pound draw. I thought maybe Karl Malone was frequenting the site. Bob

Best thing you and your Dad can do is buy a bow. You don't even need a real expensive one. I had the same trouble filling tags when I first started hunting. Then I bought a bow and a OTC deer tag. Increased the hunting season by two months. More time in the field means seeing more animals and finding more spots where they live. Trust me. I didn't become a decent hunter with a rifle until I bought a bow. Bob

Great opportunity to get outdoors in Coues country for a good cause. Also there is 29 spots for the Jim Shockey Golf tournament at Loews Ventana Canyon. It is $350 a person, you get a free $300 rangefinder, a round of golf and dinner, what a deal. The event benefits SCI Education programs and takes place Jan 31, 2009. Go to this link for all the details. http://www.jimshockey.com/Latest-News/news_detail.aspx?n=48 Bob

Good to hear I was planning on buying the newer version of this camera. I think it has a 18x optical zoom. Did you ever have any problems with the Panasonic?