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Fun hunts this year, we did about 10 days in the field. My arrow found it’s mark yesterday at sunset after spotting a herd 2.2 miles out earlier in the day. Pops was able to harvest his 18th consecutive archery pig this morning. 43rd and 44th pigs killed in this father/son duo team.

Got lucky and drew one of the 22 trophy lion tags in my unit. A friend of mine had the dogs. Hunting in 3 ft of snow made it a real challenge but super fun. Big Tom weighed in at 157 lbs and was 8 ft 5 inches long. Super excited to take a cat like this.

Had a great trip to Mexico and killed some great bucks. I should have killed this buck. I found him bedded in the shade tending a doe and had my brother shoot his biggest buck. I'm happy for him I made a great stalk on a cool buck and literally missed him 2 times at 20 yards. My plan was if I didn't find a good buck than I wanted to shoot one with my bow. Last morning I actually found a buck that I wanted. After a little rodeo and him soaking up 3 bullets he was done. Killed a good Tom as bonus One of my favorite things about Mexico

Met my son Thursday morning around 10 to start our Javelina hunt, my 4th hunt for them and his first time. We set up camp and managed to squeeze in an afternoon glassing session but didn't turn anything up. Friday we spent the whole day glassing and moving locations from higher to lower elevations, finally turning a few up late in the afternoon within stocking distance, we got in front of where we thought they were headed and sure enough 3 of them come by us at 35 yards, i range it for my son and tell him to take him if he can he draws back and releases missing to the left, they take off but not in a big hurry so we watch them move off into a different valley as the sun is starting to set. We decide to leave them alone and go back in the morning to see if they are out feeding in the sunshine, sure enough Saturday morning i glass up not 3 but 9 of them out feeding, we make a plan to get on the ridge above them and drop over the top. It worked perfectly as the wind was in our favor and they had no idea we were there, the first one comes walking by and my son puts an arrow through it at probably 16-18 yards, i sneak about 20 yards farther down the hill and peek over to see the rest of the herd standing at 20-30 yards, i pick out one broadside at 22 yards and put an arrow through both shoulders. We found my son's right away but could not find my arrow or any blood, after about a 30 minute search my son yells out "i know why we cant find your arrow....its still stuck in him" he was laying probably 10 feet from my sons javelina in the brush. It was an awesome hunt and no one i would rather do it with than my son. Thanks jim for giving me a few places to try, although we didn't make it to any of his recommended spots its nice to know people are willing to help others out.

Couple more pictures

Went out with some friends to help hunt javalinas and this guy shows himself at 2 hours before sundown. Put on the decoy and made a stalk around a mountain. Came around a corner and was face to face with the buck at 50 yards. I believe he never ran because I had the decoy on. Perfect hit on a beautiful 4x3 and he didn't go more than 80 yards. Another awesome hunt with my friends. #nobusiness

I tagged my first javelina in February of 2011. It took me four years just to see a javelina, and five years to finally get one. At that time, I set a goal to tag 20 by my 40th birthday, which will be in February of 2022. I figured I would have to rely on reservation tags to reach it, but when the Department increased the annual bag limit to two, the goal became a whole lot easier. With a mix of leftover and reservation tags, the goal looks to be in sight (hope I don't jinx it). Since that first pig in 2011, I have been a part of 48 javelina harvests...either helping others or tagging them myself. 17 of those have been mine. This is the story of number 17. I picked up a leftover archery tag in one of the central block units thinking that I would have plenty of time to get out in January. As it turns out, I only had one day to hunt. January 10th. Unfortunately, none of my usual hunting partners were available to accompany me. My wife has a rule against me hunting alone (which has saved me at least once), so I called her cousin's husband who had once told me that he would like to observe a hunt some time just to see what it is like. He was free that day and jumped at that chance. So, I picked up my babysitter at 5am and we hit the road. I was a little slower to get moving that morning. It was clear, but very very cold. A somewhat dry front had moved through the night before and left us with a stiff north wind. In the past, that has made for very productive javelina glassing, usually all day. There had been a bright full moon all night, but with it being so cold I didn't think it would factor into our day much. In my estimation we would have a lot of time to find them, so there was no use in putting ourselves through a cold and dark ranger ride when a cold ranger ride at sunrise would give us the same result. The destination was a drainage that I had glassed from several miles away three or four years ago. It looked good from afar, and I have always wanted to get in there and look around some. It seemed to have everything I was looking for, including plenty of south facing, succulent-covered hillsides. We crested into the basin at about 745 and I got the feeling that I need to stop and look at the hill in front of us before moving on to the high point I had in mind. Within 30 seconds I caught two javelina slowly feeding their way near the very top of the ridge. I called my babysitter over to have a look (his first time ever seeing javelina in the wild), and while he watched them they topped out and disappeared. I wasn't sure if we had been looking at a satellite group of boars, or if we had caught the tail end of a larger herd, but it was certainly worth investigating. As we made our way up the ridge, there was fresh sign everywhere, which suggested to me that we were on the trail of more than just two pigs. After some huffing and puffing we made it to the top, where there was a secluded bowl that I was certain would be full of pigs, but it was empty. The ground doesn't lie. It was clear that they had been there recently, but now all was still. I decided to walk slowly up the side of the bowl in the general direction our two tail end Charlies had been headed, and within a few minutes I caught sight of a large herd walking along the spine of the next ridge over. They were not in a hurry, but they certainly had a destination in mind. After some quick adjustments to make sure we could keep the wind in our favor, we hurried off in pursuit. It only took us about 15-20 minutes to get to where we last saw the herd top out for the second time. Again, I approached a secluded bowl, arrow ready, expecting to be in the middle of a herd. Once again, there was nothing to be seen. Stumped, I started searching the ground for sign, hoping to see evidence of where they had gone, but the ground was frozen solid and wasn't telling the story. I started up the new ridge, but for some reason turned and looked to the left. Across the canyon about 300 yards away I could see a herd of pigs, some feeding, and some sound asleep in the sun. I still can't say with 100% certainty that this was the herd we had been trailing, but it sure seems like it was. They had managed to cover about 600 yards as the pig walks from where we had last seen them, down a nasty hill and half way up another. Not only that, they had done so with enough time to allow half of their crew to start their nap. Where they were now bedded was about a mile where we had caught sight of the first two. If it weren't for the fact that the herd was the same size with the same ratio of young pigs to big pigs, I would have guessed that I was looking at a new herd. Even if it was a new herd though, what surprised me is that after an ice cold and windy night, we had a herd of pigs that was down and sleeping by 9am. Where they were laid up, it was easily 15 degrees warmer and completely out of the wind. It was strategic. All of my previous experience told me that this was the time for them to be up and about doing their feeding in the sun, but it looks like this particular herd filled their bellies under the cold full moon. At a time I expected movement, all they wanted was sleep. With the wind the way it was, there was only one approach for me to get to the herd. I had to down the nasty slope, completely exposed to them and then right back up at them. I left my babysitter to watch the show and started slowly down the slope. One by one the rest of the herd made its way to the growing pig pile until only one individual was left out in the open. When I was 80 yards away from the herd, but still on the wrong side of the canyon, that single pig caught my movement and locked in on me. I held perfectly still, half in the catclaw and one foot on uneven ground for a good 10 minutes before she turned her head to feed again. No sooner had I started to move than I rolled a rock and she flipped back around to investigate. This time she stared my way for even longer...however long it takes for my thigh to cramp up. About the time I thought I couldn't take any more she turned and started feeding again. A few minutes later I was in the bottom and out of her field of view. I checked in with my babysitter and he reported that she had moved over towards the rest of the herd to join the group nap. It had taken me over an hour to move 100 yards and to drop about 200 feet. This was the babysitter's view as I finally made my way up the hill. The formerly alert pig is in the pile of two on the left, and there are 10 or so pigs in the pile on the right. I slowly made my way up the hill, and eventually found myself 20 yards to the left of where you see the smaller group of pigs in the photo, but I couldn't see them through the grass. I sat down on a flat rock and just waited. Every five minutes or so a pig would stand up and shift, and more than once I started to draw back, only to have my target lay back down and out of sight. I passed the time ranging various rocks and bushes while I waited, and prayed that the wind would remain constant. After about 20 mintues on my rock, and several balking draws, something tipped off the herd and they suddenly blew out from their tree in all directions. I can only assume that my scent somehow found its way to one of them. In any event, one of the pigs in the closer group (I believe it was the same one that gave me the cramping stare down) suddenly appeared in front of a cactus that I had previously ranged at 18 yards. I drew back and hit her a bit high on the shoulder, but it was enough to put her down and she tumbled down the hill. Her reaction to the arrow brought some of her herd mates, and I was soon surrounded on three sides by woofing pigs, some no more than two or three yards from me. My babysitter had never seen that before, and thought for sure that I was about to be attacked. Here I am approaching the sow after she had stopped rolling down the hill. And here is a close up of javelina number 17: It was a memorable day, and I learned a lot. Each time I think I know what they are going to do, they surprise me. Nearly four hours passed from the first sighting to when I let an arrow fly. They covered a ton of ground and weren't doing what I thought they'd do, but that's what makes it "hunting."

are we living in the same state?

My brothers should be high teens and mine 105ish+ Due to the exaggeration of most scores I really have tried to get away from scoring them.

A buddy of mine and me got the fishin withdrawals and had to try Rosy Sunday. FROZE our butt off till around 11 LOL. We strictly fished for bass, and it was tough. Picked up two on drop shot. tried cranks and carolina rigs and other stuff but nothin. Turned out to be a nice warm afternoon , even got sunburned a bit. There were a few crappie fisherman around , but didnt see any action. Water level is still way up and clear. Should be good after a week or so of good sunny weather for all species. See ya at the lake

My kids use a 7mm08. I have a Savage Axis Compact and AR10 in 7mm08 that they both shoot comfortably in the field. For practice I load a reduced recoil round that they both enjoy shooting. Most of their shooting is done with a suppressor, which also helps keep them comfortable. Last week I bought a new Tikka T3X Lite in the compact size and also chambered in 7mm08. It has a 12.5" LOP and 20" barrel, and comes with a 1" spacer to increase LOP when they grow. If you're in the east valley I'd be happy to have you swing by and take a look at it if you can't find one at a gun counter somewhere. The complaints against buying a rifle that they will grow out of are pretty unfounded, in my opinion. When the kid is done you can sell a youth sized rifle for darn near what you paid for it if you originally purchased it on sale. Watch the youth rifles that get posted on here, they never last long. As for the posts complaining about catering to kids, that's some of the stupidest stuff I have ever seen posted on CWT. Keep your kids comfortable. Do whatever it takes to make their first hunting experiences as positive as possible. My first rifle didn't fit me and kicked like a mule. I hated shooting it and I shot like crap. Thank goodness I shot so poorly that I always straight up missed instead of gut or a$$ shooting everything. It took me a long time to overcome my flinching. If I didn't love being outdoors and the thrill of the hunt so much, I wouldn't have stuck with it. With kids who might be on the fence about hunting, you can really win them over for good with a little bit of extra effort and equipment tailored to their needs.

Well I came, I saw, and I did not conquer 🤣 Had a really good time, saw some nice bucks, only went after a couple, and it just didn't come together. Saw a little bit of everything rut wise. Saw does without bucks, does with little bucks that weren't even sniffing around, mixed groups of does and multiple bucks of different ages, big bucks locked down on a single doe, mature bucks cruising, and mature bucks alone just being deer. I think I'd have preferred to be a little earlier but I'm not disappointed by any means. Gonna have to try getting back down in December I really appreciate all the feedback and I'm grateful to get to come spend time in your beautiful state.

Finally found one after Many days of searching.

Hey guys! Been a while since I’ve been on the forums, but I wanted to share my 2019 buck this year! This is a buck I found in the summer of 2018. Saw him in July scouting and got 160yd of him opening weekend of early archery. I didn’t see him again the next two weekends, didn’t see him scouting this year when I found out I drew the late tag, and didn’t get him on camera at all. This years hunt comes around and I packed in enough food and water and winter clothing for a 4 night backpack hunt. Get camp set up early Saturday morning, top the ridge to my area and the hillside is covered in deer. A couple good bucks, a couple small bucks, and a few does are milling about and this guy I dubbed Mr. Eyeguards from 2018 is in with them pushing everyone around! Spotted them at 500yd, moved in to 350yd and then had to wait him out a few times as he was either behind a tree, skylined, and once he even topped over and I thought I would lose him. He finally came back over and stopped quartering to me and I put one shot through his front shoulder. My 2019 hunt was done in just a couple hours! Velvet pics are from 2018, he lost an extra on his right side. He’s my first rifle buck, first time filling a tag on day 1, first time getting a “target” buck, and my biggest buck so far!

with extra chokes , very nice wood, located in mesa ,2900.00 firm. 480-392-9210 5.2 lbs

1.6l VW Diesel with 120hp "Giles" built injection pump Toyota W56 5 speed transmission Acme Adapter kit to mate engine to transmission dual toyota transfercases (main case has 4.7 gears, 2nd case has 2.28 gears) main case converted to twin stick Toyota axles with toyota e-lockers (front is electric, rear converted to cable) 4.88 gears Jeep YJ springs 96 inch wheelbase 33x12.5 tires with aluminum rims Jeep 4.0 radiator with Ford Taurus electric fan 1 wire GM alternator 1 ton Scout power steering gear box Kong high steer kit 15 gallon fuel tank new windshield new battery new fuel pump Flexes awesome great mileage offroad stupid low gears for offroad (both tcases in low and tranny in 1st gets you 228:1) but still able to run on highway. 2600 lbs Will throw in a bunch of extra VW diesel parts to include a 1.6l long block and injection pumps. Also an adapter to allow you to run a variable geometry turbo from a VW TDI motor.

Remington 700 7mm mag Excellent condition $600obo or trade for binos and I'll add cash on my end Queen Creek

Ruger 10/22 lr rifle, Simmons 2.5-10x40 scope, adjustable synthetic Tapco butt stock, 1-10 rd rotary mag, shoots all types of 22 ammo, upper/lower rails for all types of attachments, muzzle break $325.00 Located in Tucson

Hey how come Del hasn't been here to tell us all about this one time and a deer he shot and what he did and how we need to do it from now on? Hope you find him. Good luck.

Doubled up on crossmembers, 12" on center now. Welded strakes on the center toon before I put it under the boat to help getting on plane (oxymoron with a pontoon boat). Pushed the motor back like the newer boats are. Much more stable in the water. picked up 3mph. turning diameter decreased by 50%. Need to build furniture now. Can't wait for flathead season now.

What a beautiful Mad-Max-Frankenstein-sonofabitch.

Man, this topic went south fast! Love it! I am a horse owner and grew up in a ranching family and I HATE the feral horse plague. Cattle are regulated. When a cow escapes, the rancher loses money. Does it still happen? Yes. There are a lot of people that make money rounding up rogue cattle and selling them because the have monetary value. Horses are not native, plain and simple. AZBH88, do you shed a tear when you see people mowing down herds of FERAL hogs? If horses looked like hogs, nobody would blink an eye if they were shot

You're honestly ridiculous. Horses were not in the Americas until the Spaniards brought them over. They are 100% feral and have no place on the landscape whether you like it or not.

I usually just roll window down 6 inches and keep heat on. Fingers don’t get too cold.