lancetkenyon

I have been typing for an hour...and my laptop died. Starting over.

Saturday, 11-29-14 4:30AM Alarm goes off and out of bed to get headed to our spot we want to hunt. Off go the Three Amigos (or the 3 Stooges if you ask my wife). Get to the hill I almost ALWAYS see elk on by 6:00AM, about 42 minutes before legal shooting light, so we take our time getting loaded up, and hit the hill by 6:20AM. At 6:30, 1/4 up the hill, here comes 3 trucks. Two stop within 100 yards and guys get out and start hiking. Perturbed, I am not paying attention to what I should be, and bump a bull about 50 yards above us. I had been proceeding slowly while glassing at first, but the momentary lack of concentration made me miss this bull, blowing a good chance to have waited him out until shooting light and ending the hunt early. Anyway, we skirted the hill and glasses below us for a couple hours, then headed across the road up into the big canyons to bedding areas we have always found elk in as well. Hiked in about 3 miles of uphill slow moving and glassing without seeing a single elk. Very frustrating and started getting me worried. Taylor glassing canyons while my brother checks his GPS. I got to teach Taylor about landmarks, and use of a compass, a dying art. Made her get us back to the truck all by herself. She came out pretty close, about 100 yards off. Not bad for 3 miles and several canyons that split further down the mountain. Taylor leading the way down. Went back and ate a quick lunch with the women and headed back out to try and cut off any elk between bedding areas and feeding/water. There were only two tanks that had water for miles around in this area, one already had hunters, the other was out in the open. We opted to sit a gas line cut between bedding areas and the water. We had views in both directions for about 650 yards. Right as the sun went down, the road hunters all decided to drive down the cut....of course. We packed it up with about 10 minutes of legal light left after the third truck went by and stopped and decided to talk to us out of his truck window from 30 yards away...... My brother got this cool shot of us as he went to get the truck. We met the wives in Williams for the Light Parade and dinner at the Route 66 Grill. My wife and daughter (she is in there, just good camo) in front of the Williams Christmas Tree Got back to the cabin and played Uno until 11:00PM.....went to bed whooped.

Sorry. Story to continue soon, I promise.

Friday, 11-28-14: 4:00AM.....alarm does not go off.....still sleeping..... 6:00AM My worst nightmare comes true as my second watch alarm goes off....we have overslept on opening morning!!! Jump out of bed with some words I should not say in front of my 12 year old daughter and wake her up and rush to get ready. Didn't even brush our teeth!!! Out the door by 6:15, thank God we got everything ready the night before. Still with high hopes. Plan A is shot, so we head for an area I can glass some big open areas that usually hold elk near bedding areas. Make is there by 6:45AM right at legal shooting light. Hike to the ridge and glass for 4 hours with nothing spotted. I mean NOTHING. No elk, deer, antelope, coyotes, nothing. Head over to another area and put some serious boot leather down to the tune of 7 miles by dark. We jumped a buck, and two unknowns in some thick PJs. Heard definite antlers on branches on one though. About 30' away. We saw a bald eagle, golden eagle, and some amazing country. Got to teach my daughter about the importance of watching landmarks and not relying on GPS. Also showed her how to pick up game trails, and found a lion kill doe buried under a juniper. Good day al around spent with my daughter, Taylor. Head back to the cabin exhausted and starving. My wife, brother and his wife have all come up to spend the weekend with us. So dinner is waiting and dang my sister-in-law can cook! Hit the rack by 8:00 to get some rest for the upcoming day.

Thursday (Thanksgiving Day), 11-27-14: Work up at 4:00AM to a cool (16°F) mountain morning. Off for a day of scouting and squirrel hunting all bundled up. One of 5 squirrels my daughter got on Thursday. From 16° to 66°, big temp swings had the elk holding tight to the beds during any semblance of light in the sky. After not seeing an elk the ENTIRE day of hiking, driving, glassing, we finally saw 3 bulls at end of legal shooting light, which got hopes up a bit. Plus, hard not to appreciate a beautiful sunset at the end of a long, tiring day. We went to bed with high hopes for opening day, alarms set, clothes ready, hot showers taken, and full bellies. In bed by 7:30PM....

Wednesday, 11-26-14: Here is a day-by-day update to this long saga that has filled my time over the past months. Got off work at 10:00AM, get home, load the rest of the expensive stuff in the truck and hit the road by noon for the adventure that would bring laughs, bonding time, utter exhaustion, family get-togethers and eventual tears.... Up to the cabin of a good friend in Williams by 3:00PM, dropped off some of the gear and hit the area in time to hike into a lick we have before sunset.

Check with Youth Outdoors Unlimited. www.youthoutdoorsunlimited.com I know they hold a couple classes a year, near Happy Jack/Clint's Wells area.

Dang. If it was longer, I would take it. I will be going with a 28" finished length on my build. Perfect twist rate, pull-button rifling (I looked it up), good contour. Good luck with the sale.

Length? Contour? Twist rate? Groove count? Button or cut rifling? Air gauged? Uncut chamber?

Great buck, congrats. Some cool character on that buck. Split right G2, and bladed left G3. Nice.

Awesome. Kids are the future for keeping our hunting traditions alive. Thank you for helping show them the ropes. Congrats to the hunters as well.

Well, I am 85% packed in the truck. I have a half day at work, then home by 10:00AM to load the expensive stuff, take a shower, grab some ice and pack the remaining food and hit the road. Should be up in time to unload some stuff and get to some scouting this afternoon. A huge thanks go out to a good friend who is letting me use his cabin up there. And he also might be able to come up early next week to help on the hunt. Plus, my brother just found out he will be able to head up on Friday too. Should be a fantastic time no matter what happens. Good luck to all of the hunters out in the field this week. If you are in 7W, and see a big black F250 crew cab, say "hi". I am hoping to have internet connection up there, so if I get a chance in the evenings, I will keep you posted.

I would not get a set of 15s as my only glass. In my opinion, too much magnification. Closer viewing (under 500 yards) is tough. Limited FOV, and 15s are almost a tripod only use optic. Way too shaky for a hand held optic. The 12s should be fine. I use my 10s for 90% of my glassing out to over 1.5 miles. I can easily identify bucks at that distance with them Then I break out the 15s for a closer look. The only time I use the 15s for a lot of glassing is looking into deep dark canyons over 1/2 mile away, or for glassing long distance hillsides. Also for spotting stationary steel or paper targets at 500+ yards. I can easily call shots (or misses) on steel at over 1500 yards with the 15s.

Great, and I mean AWESOME write-up. Congrats on the deer. A true trophy. I see big things in your future. You are on the road for a great life in all aspects with the attitude you have learned from family and friends. Good to see a stand-up man.

As I have said before, I love seeing the new generation get into the sport. Congrats to both, and good luck to those still in the field or with hunts coming up. Goes to show how tough these animals really are. A 3 legged deer, with one of the three remaining broken, yet still alive and moving, is pretty freaking tenacious.

Love seeing the younger generation getting into the sport.

Infuriating. They would not pull that nonsense here in AZ. Too many gun-toting, law abiding citizens of all races here would not put up with that crap.

The "Crowned" or "Crested" saguaro. I have heard it is from either a hormonal imbalance, bacteria or virus infection, or just a genetic mutation. Whether or not that is true, they are very rare, and amazing to see. I know I have seen three as well. I need to go back to the best one I know of and photograph it with my good camera, with a great sunrise. Thanks for posting this.

That is an amazing pair of bucks. I like the fact that they are quite different in character and shape. I would not have passed either of these bucks. Beautiful mount. Your room looks too empty, you need to add more of these trophies! Congrats.

I am dying here at work. That is all.

Nothing for me or my daughter, but no big deal. We have had a great year so far in 2014, and hoping to add an elk this month. We (I) also have high hopes for antelope and elk next year, with maybe a deer tag thrown in.

Pretty much everything is spoken for, but if someone backs out, who knows.

I have not compared the 12x50s, but have compared the high end 10x42s (Meopta HD vs. Razor HD), and the 15x56s (Meopta HD vs. Kaibab HD). To MY eyes, there is no comparison. The Meoptas are far superior in both magnifications for clarity, color, and contrast. I wound up buying a pair of 10x42 AND 15x56 Meoptas this year. The Meoptas are heavier than the Vortex in the 10X by 6oz., but not the 15X (10X= Meopta-31oz. vs. Razor-24.8oz, 15X= Meopta-40.6oz vs. Kaibab-43.5oz). The 12X are a 9oz. difference, Meopta-37oz. vs. Razor-28.7oz. I think the ergonomics are great on both. Clicks are tactile on the Meopta, but I don't remember on the Razor/Kaibabs. I actually like the Vortex mounting location for use on a tripod better, as the connection point is closer to the center, rather than towards the front like the Meoptas. The other thing I like about the Razors over the Meopta is the front objective lens sits just a bit further back in the housing, possibly offering just a bit more protection in the event you drop them. 12X MSRP pricing, you save $100 on the Meoptas ($1399 Meopta vs. $1499 Razor). You can usually hit a sale for additional savings on both, so take that for what it is worth. Warranty. Both are phenomenal (Vortex & Cabela's/Meopta). I would not worry about either. I have just heard of people using the Vortex warranty a lot more than Meopta, BUT, there are a LOT more people using Vortex too. So, of course, you would hear of more usage due to sheer volume. Just run the numbers. Customer support. Here is the deal. I love the fact that Vortex supports the shooting sports so much. They are, by far, the biggest sponsors at events you will ever see. My hats off to them for the support they give the military, vets, and general population as well.

Is this "pre-math" then?

Comparing the Vipers to the Swaros is like comparing a 2WD Ford Ranger to the King Ranch Edition F250 diesel crew cab 4x4. There is no comparison between a $500 pair of Vortex and a $1700 pair of Swaros. Comparing the Razors to the Swaros is more along the lines of your comparison. $1200 to $1700. I agree the Vortex (Vipers or Razors) are a workhorse, and would serve a lot of people very well who cannot afford a higher end glass. But for those that want exceptional glass, save your pennies for another 6 months to a year and pop for the Swaros. You will be very glad you did. I have never heard of guys selling their Swaros to fund a pair of Vortex. Unless it is the older model non-HD Swaros for sale, but...the guys selling those, 90% of the time are just upgrading to the new HD Swaros.