knothead

It helps when you include the entire definition of a hunting bow from Pope & Young: I. Hunting Bow A hunting bow for big game shall be a longbow, flat bow, recurve bow, compound bow or any combination of these designs meeting the following requirements and restrictions: A device for launching an arrow, which derives its propulsive energy solely from the bending and recovery of two limbs. The bow must be hand drawn by a single and direct, uninterrupted pulling action of the shooter. The bowstring must be moved from brace height to the full draw position by the muscle power of the shooter’s body. The energy used to propel the arrow shall not be derived from any other source such as hydraulic, pneumatic, mechanical or similar devices. These limitations shall not exclude the mechanical leverage advantage provided by eccentric wheels or cams so long as the available energy stored in the bent limbs of the bow is the sole result of a single, continuous, and direct pulling effort by the shooter. The bow must be hand-held. One hand shall hold the bow and the other hand draw the bowstring. The bowstring must be moved and/or held at all points in the draw cycle entirely by the muscle power of the shooter until release. The bowstring must be released as a direct and conscious action of the shooter’s either relaxing the tension of the fingers or triggering the release action of a hand-held release aid. Exceptions: Physically handicapped bowhunters shall be excepted from the requirements of holding or shooting the bow with their hands. Exclusions: The following shall not be considered a hunting bow: A crossbow. Any device with a gun-type stock or incorporating any device or mechanism that holds the bowstring at partial or full draw without the shooter’s muscle power. Electronic or battery-powered devices shall not be attached to a hunting bow, with the exception of recording devices that cast no light towards the target and do not aid in rangefinding, sighting or shooting the bow. No portion of the bow’s riser (handle) or any track, trough, channel or other device that attaches directly to the bow’s riser shall contact, support, and/or guide the arrow from a point rearward of the bow’s brace height. Let-Off for Compound Bows: * There is no maximum let-off for a hand-held, hand-released bow. We do gather statistics on this data, therefore we state how let-off should be measured. Definition of let-off: That characteristic of a bow that results in a reduction of the force necessary to increase the draw length after the highest level of draw force has been reached. This is characteristic generally associated with, but not restricted to, compound bows. The maximum let-off on a compound bow shall be measured at a point in the draw cycle after the peak draw weight has been attained. It shall be measured near the end of the draw cycle where the minimum holding force is reached. This point in the draw cycle on a compound bow is known as "the bottom of the valley." Determination of the percent of let-off: The values of the peak draw force and the let-off force shall be used to calculate the percent of let-off. The peak force is the maximum force obtained during the draw cycle. The let-off force is the lowest force reached following the peak force during a single uninterrupted draw cycle. In all cases, both the highest and lowest force shall be read from a scale during a single and continual pull condition, without relaxation. This technique eliminates the introduction of hysteresis, which can distort the reading. % Let-off = 100 X [(Peak Draw Force) - (Minimum Holding Force)] / (Peak Draw Force)

I have one of these. Favorite model and caliber. GLWS

Nice rig. I have a 2018 very similar. GLWS

Looking forward to hearing some suggestions.

If you have a tag you do not need a permit to camp during the dates of the hunt. I feel your pain. Back in November/December over approximately 3 weeks I must have tried to call them 15 times without getting someone to answer. I once got someone to answer, and she said the person I needed to talk to was off that day and she was filling so call back later. About a week or 10 days later I got someone to answer and answer my question. All I wanted to know was what were the spring turkey hunt dates since their website hadn't been updated from the previous year. It also had nothing about going to an online draw for Spring 2025 when it had always been first come first served. I mailed my money and application back in December, and I got it back a few weeks later. That is the only way I knew about the draw. I like to hunt/fish on SC but their communication tools are terrible IMO. Good Luck

I've seen some pretty cool stuff but don't remember much of it anymore. Getting old sucks.

yes, they approved, and I don't recall any changes. Now that they decided to make changes every 5 years or so (I believe we are 2 years away more changes) they pretty much go by what is recommended. I have started making a list of things I would like changed. #1 change for me is no more taking of hen turkey in the fall. From what I have observed, most the birds killed this time of year are hens. For the life of me I don't know why they allow the killing of baby makers. Almost everything walking or flying in the woods kills turkeys/poults. Let the hens have a chance to produce more then we may have more opportunity.

AZGFD meeting live cam: Commission Meeting Webcast - Arizona Game & Fish Department

I could be wrong but if memory serves me correctly based on the game and fish presentations, archery success was around 11%-13% and hunters hunting with crossbows during OTC archery hunts was around 33%. This was part of the argument made for removing crossbows from all the archery hunts. As more archery units go to draw it just forces archers to move to fewer remaining OTC hunts. Thus, you will see more units go to draw. Some units are more conducive to road hunters. I predict you will see 20A go to draw in a year or two as well. I'll admit, once G&F required mandatory reporting then started publishing the actual numbers of deer taken during OTC hunts, I was very surprised. Most the mule deer units get hammered. Call me whatever you want but I have always believed there should be no OTC opportunities for NR's. AZ just doesn't have the numbers of animals to allow this. Human population in this state is growing at 1 million every 8-9 years yet our animal populations are decreasing or staying same. Then throw in uncontrolled wolf numbers, feral horses/burros, drought and loss of habitat. Somethings got to give.

The skull on that thing is Huge. Did you ever send in a tooth, and have it aged?

My wife had that hunt back in 2003 so I don't think my knowledge and info is much good. I can tell you she did not kill on the Boquillas ranch and don't overlook that big wide-open country. This was probably the most stressful hunt I have ever been involved with. I scouted much more for this hunt than any other hunt and the pressure people would put on only shooting a 380 type bull was crazy. My advice to you and your wife is to enjoy the hunt and make it enjoyable for her. Congratulations and good luck!

yes, that is unusual. I always see the forbes such as small flowers or greens in their gullet. Not sure if I know what those are.

All of you who want to raise fees and think things will get better, I have one question for you. When was the last time a government agency raised their fees and things got better? AZGFD leads the way for creative ways to come up with funds, but nothing seems to get better. We have application fees, buy hunting licenses that very few NR's ever use, loyalty point program, pay for an ethical hunting point, ATV/UTV sticker, raffle limited tag, and other things I am probably forgetting. Do we have more habitat, opportunity, wildlife or anything for that matter that benefits hunters/outdoorsmen or wildlife? No. All they do with these additional monies is hire more people (mostly in the non-game branch), fund pensions and pet non-big game species projects. I support our department, but I want them to be a lean department and do more for big game species and hunters/fishers that pay the bulk of their everything. Conservationist such as hunters and fishermen get bent over all the time and now we have people asking to raise our fees?! If you think they need more money, donate to one of the AZ 501c3 organizations that do more for wildlife anyway. Crazy times.

If you like to fish, bring your fishing tackle & get a fishing permit too. Virtually every tank is stocked with bass. From my experience POP is most popular area for hunters and Malay Gap is #2. I have hunter both and prefer GAP area. What is mentioned above is good advice. I would also bring Extra gas.

Good Luck to those of you that have the SC 1st turkey hunt. Report back after your hunt and let us know how things went. I went scouting in a public land unit I have a tag for yesterday and didn't see or hear anything. My buddy who lives in unit 1 says turkeys are very active right now.