DryHeat

Why does McDonalds offer braille menus at the drive -thru ?

Had this hunt last November, it was just the Flat Top area. Only water I found was Nutrioso Creek which is the eastern unit boundary. Saw one cow with two calves on day 3. I was up on the rimrock above the creek and she was working her way up, about 400 yards away. We lost sight of her and after about 30 minutes my buddy got up to stretch and kicked a rock, next sound we heard was scrambling hooves. Looked over the edge and she was 200 yards below us, running flat out with her calves, headed east out of the unit. They ran up the other side of the draw, through a section of rimrock a human would have found difficult to scale, and when they topped out on the flat they continued running until they were out of sight. That was the last elk we saw in the unit, although there were lots of elk out to the east in the juniper flats, groups of 15, 20 and the first day I saw two really nice bulls out there. I found no fresh sign around or on top of Flat Top. Absolutely no motor vehicle access is allowed in the area around Flat Top, only foot, bicycle or four legged critters allowed, even to retrieve downed game. On the eastern portion there is a road that takes you almost all the way to the northern edge of the unit, on top of the plateau, and there is an old two track down in the bottom, but it was inaccessible for my truck. There is a lot more water in Nutrioso creek than it looks like from above, even with the long warm fall we had last year. What we surmised was that due to the abundance of forage and mild weather, the elk hadn't been pushed from their summer areas in Unit 1. Good luck to you and have fun.

The way this case plays out will undoubtedly be quite different from the how the Ft. Hood massacre is being handled. If we are to believe early analysis of the FB postings and family comments, they appear to have similar motivations. What I find curious is that there has been no headlines about the types of weapons used during the shootout and carjacking. From the sounds I have heard on the video clips, somebody was shooting a semi-auto. I read one report of there being over 200 rounds fired during the shoot-out where the older brother was killed, but that doesn't give any information on what the brother bombers were shooting.

It will just show your first choice if you were not drawn. If you drew your second choice it would come up. Check, thanks for the info. Next year is sooooooo far away!!! Congrats to all who pulled tags.

Just got through on the website and found that I was not drawn for my first choices, but no info on the rest of the choices, both antelope and elk. Same thing I heard from a buddy who got through around 2:00 p.m. this afternoon. Has anybody whose gotten in on the phone line had the similar 1st choice info but nothing else?

After pondering my choice to post a partial plate number, I have edited the post and removed it. I'll take the hits on that issue, it was a poor choice. For those who haven't tried duck hunting, your missing out on a great activity. It's a lot more frustrating than golf (before I get nailed for that, I haven't played at golf in at least 15 years), but you get to take your dog! Thanks for the post Amanda. It seems you and a few others understood that this wasn't a rant on bowhunters, a community I unapologetically belong to. Ironically, I changed my plans for New Years day from deer and javi hunting because there wasn't going to be very many more chances this season for the three of us to get after the ducks. We had fun, as usual.

To clarify several questions posed- The tank is next to a narrow, rocky dirt road, not a paved main road. It is about a mile from the main road. It was the first on the list, because it is one of the regular producers. We hit several others but only found two more ducks, that's the way it is in that part of the state. We accept that. If I was looking for sympathy, I would've gone to the Websters Online dictionary. I was simply hoping to educate a fellow hunter on common courtesy. Hopefully next time he approaches an area he intends to hunt and encounters other hunters he considers how his plan may impact those who were there first. If any body else reading this gains some awareness of their fellow hunters, that's a bonus. When I started this thread, I had no illusions that I held the superior opinion, so those who disagree with my assessment are equally viewed. I will consider each comment and weigh it's value to my own personal standards. For every challenge we face when hunting public land, there is most often an amicable solution. I wouldn't want to trade for private land in any way, shape or form. Have a great year everyone and enjoy every opportunity you get to experience the field, forest, desert or water.

Call me old school, I go with the first on the tank gets the hunt for that spot that day rule. Although we've had someone drive past us before, and really have no issue with other hunters going to their spots, this was the first time for stopping and parking at the tank. Late to their spot? as was so eloquently stated, S**t happens! They didn't have to park where they did to get up the hill.

First, let me take the opportunity to wish all a very Happy New Year. I'm posting this on the Bowhunt for Coues deer thread because I believe that was what the subject of my post was doing, however he could have been hunting javelina. Let me share an unfortunate experience with you and it is my sincere hope that the young man reads this and learns some sportsmanlike behavior, before he ruins another hunters opportunity to participate in their hunt of choice. Two friends invited me to go duck hunting with them today, sort of our New Years tradition. I gladly accepted and along with their three labs we headed south of Tucson along the Sonoita Hwy. Right at first light we got to the our first tank , which I'll not name, (however it's about one mile east of the hwy for those that know the area) we did our usual routine of stopping before the last little rise, glassing into the tank for ducks and upon seeing some, backed up to a spot where we could park off the road. We got out, grabbed our shotguns, discussed our approach plan and started off. About then one friend and I noticed a vehicle coming down the road, the same way we had just come in. The friend decided to wait by the truck, so he could talk to the truck occupants and let them know we were hunting the tank. They didn't even bother to slow down, just waved and drove on by. Well, that was a bummer but then it got worse. For those not familiar with the tank, it sits below the roadway and at one point it is only about 100-150 feet from the roadway, so anything on the tank gets buggered by vehicles coming down the road past it. This is maybe the second or third time this has happened to us over the years on this particular tank and up to this point we were disappointed that someone would just drive on past our obvious intentions to hunt the tank, but then it got worse. The truck drove down to the road to a section that was as close as the road gets to the tank, jumped seven ducks off the tank, pulled off the road and parked. Two occupants got out, one grabbed a pack and a bow and they headed off up the hill on the north side of the tank. We believe it was a guy and a girl, doesn't really matter. What really matters is that they just ruined the tank for the entire duration of their stay. The ducks did circle back several times but wouldn't set down. About 45 minutes later when we came back to it watched a single duck come in circle three times and then head out. The real irritating part for us was the fact that there was no good reason for them to do what they did. The hill they hiked up was accessible from where we had parked, at the same distance and actually even a slightly less steep rise, or they could have driven past the tank and accessed the hill from just beyond the tank where their truck would not have been right next to the water. I think what they did was very unsportsmanlike, and as a bowhunter myself, a poor display of hunter ethics. So to the young man in the late model silver Toyota, four door, lifted 4x4, with the "COUESWHITETAIL.COM" sticker in the right side back window, you might consider your actions a little bit more carefully when hunting on public land. There's plenty of space for all of us, and with just a little bit of consideration for each other we can all enjoy our hunts and share the comraderie and respect that naturally develops among hunters of strong character.

Tag soup for me brotha.. Stuck one Saturday quartered away, 50 yards, hit right where I wanted, but barely any penetration. Blood stopped after a few hundred yards, bumped him 3 times after that, finally gave up... Never gonna use those broadheads again.. Had quite a few chances after that, but some VERY bad luck left me with nothin to show for. Sorry To hear! You still have another week though. Can you now go out because of school!? Nah ends Thursday, gotta work the rest of the week First off, Congratulations on an awesome, successful hunt HD55 and thanks for sharing it with us. If either of you don't mind, I'd be interested to find out what your choices of broadhead were. At least whether fixed or mechanical if you don't want to mention specific brand. For the record it's also tag soup with my 4b late archery hunt. Got lots of bulls on game camera, from 9 pm thru 3 am, but absolutely zilch during shooting light. My hunting partner had a 7X7 at 20 yds from his blind but was prevented from taking the shot due to a twig (from his brushing in efforts) that covered the vitals. He had to letdown and something during that buggered the bull and he watched it trot off. That was one of only two bulls we saw in the late evening. I walked up on the other as I was leaving my blind one evening after I called it too dark to shoot.

Just a note of caution, something that I have learned from this years late archery bull hunt. When shooting thru your mesh windows make sure that the entire arrow will pass thru the either the mesh or the port hole. I had the unfortunate experience of just catching the rim of the port hole on my Bone Collector blind with the top blade and fletching of my arrow and it sent the arrow high, ultimately resulting in a a lost spike. I feel certain that with only the one blade and one fletching being interfered with by the fabric it caused the arrow to be canted upwards, away from the vitals shot I took at 31 yards. If all blades and fletchings would have passed thru the fabric, they would have been affected equally, thus holding true to the original point of aim.

Seems to me that Game and Fish is 'GAMIN' hunters! Last year I was helping a buddy who had a cow tag in Unit 1, dec. hunt. We found a bull that had been shot and not recovered during what we believed would have been the rifle hunt. With the snow drifted up on it, and the animal feeding that had taken place, it was obvious that it had been there a while. It had a decent 5x5 rack that my buddy wanted but we thought it was best to notify G&F and ask them if he could take it. We ran into a fish cop that day and spoke to him, told him where it was and where we were camped and he said he'd check it out and let us know. When we got back to camp that evening he had been by and left a note saying that he had found a bullet in the carcass, so he 'had' to take the bullet and antlers and keep them for 'evidence'. So, since he had no idea who had shot the bull, maybe it makes sense that he needed 'evidence', but in your case where there is no question about what happened and who shot the critter, it makes no sense that you cannot keep your trophy. Regardless of the outcome, you did the right thing and are to be commended for that.

Kudos to you EagleEye. If the owner wouldn't mind sharing it, I'd be interested in reading about the specifics (shot placerment, type of BH, follow up, etc.), without starting an e-fight. I lost an archery bull (5x5) 4 years ago in 7W due to poor shot placement and inexperience. I should have left and came back the next day, but I was too worried about the heat spoiling the meat and buggered him out. I was shooting a Thunderhead 125gr. but hit too far back for a vitals shot, so I really can't blame the BH.