mattys281

Everyone's just goofing. I met him at the BBQ & I don't think there's anyway someone would seriously accuse him of being in his 40's.

You guys need to be nice. He could easily pass for 45! Happy b-day. Matt S.

Would love to take you up on that, but 27 is closed for the winter hunt. Guess they figure that with all the added strain the wolves are putting on the deer, they can't let the archers disturb their mating season. I've been workin some bucks around my house in 37b & 24b, so I'm thinkin about just staying home & hammering which ever one of those units I draw a pig tag in. I love that combo hunt in January.

I've posted both of these before, but don't know if you saw them, Bill. These are both 27 bucks from north of the rim in the thick stuff. Look at the sag bellies on both of them. Look like nice old bucks to me. Definetely well fed. This pic was taken on July 5th. That seems like a lot of antler for that early on. I think that this is the buck my girlfriend saw on her first morning. I showed her the first picture of the 4x4 thinking it was him & she said, "ohh no, he had a lot more points than that". From her description, it was a real monster & judging by the kickers this guy has around the base I think he may have ended up a real non-typical brute.

Good luck Christian. Can't wait to see the pics. I'm headin out Wed. night & staying through the 23rd. Hopefully I'll tag my cow early so I can work on a bear!

I've been running trail-cams over there since June & spent 10 days there (in 27 that is) for the archery hunt. The bucks I've seen have been few & far between (as in none at all during our hunt! ), but when you do see 'em they're usually nice ones. Of course, we've been in the thick timber right north of the rim. It may be better out where they've been thinning it. We did see a ton of muley does, and a lot of them were towing fawns around.

Beautiful trophy. Congrats!

I was considering boiling some pine needles & adding the "tea" to give it some scent on my next batch. The hydrogen peroxide kills the bacteria that grow off your sweat, thus eliminating the human odor, but it shouldn't harm the pine scent, as it's not a product of bacteria.

The GF, her boy, & I spent 10 days in unit 27 for the archery deer hunt. She saw a monster opening morning & then the velvet disappeared. I did have many, many does & fawns in at extremely close ranges, however, both from a treestand & while hunting on the ground. Ond doe walked to within 12 yards of me (while on the ground) with a steady breeze in her face & she never seemed to wind me, although she did spot me & grew suspicious. That was a muley doe, but I also had two coues does come from down wind about a half hour apart from each other & pass by me at less than 20 on the last day. After ten days of only bathing via scentless baby-wipes & spraying my clothes with the home brew after each day, I though that was pretty good. If anyone's interested, here's the recipe again: · 1.5 quarts hydrogen peroxide (3 percent) NOTE: Do not use the product contained in brown colored bottles from the supermarket. · 2 quarts distilled water · 0.5 cup baking soda NOTE: I use Arm & Hammer brand baking soda · 1 ounce of unscented laundry detergent NOTE: I use Sport Wash laundry detergent Mix everything together in a large mixing bowl and then pour into a clean, white-colored plastic bleach container. Don’t use a clear plastic milk jug. You will understand why as you read on. Also, let the container sit for a day or two with the cap off. Some oxygen will be released when the ingredients are mixed and the build up of pressure could blow the cap off. The contents must be allowed to equilibrate before tightening the cap. Fill spray bottles that you take into the field when needed. Baquacil brand Shock and Oxidizer is nothing more than 27-percent strength hydrogen peroxide (read the label). It can be found at most swimming pool supply stores. Hydrogen peroxide slowly breaks down to water when exposed to light, so store your home brew in a dark place such as a closet. This is why hydrogen peroxide is often sold in brown colored bottles. This next part is very important: Do not use ordinary hydrogen peroxide that comes in little brown colored plastic bottles. The stuff at the supermarket has stabilizers in it and contains a slight odor. Pure hydrogen peroxide is odorless. I purchase pure hydrogen peroxide from a local swimming pool supply store. Baquacil brand Shock and Oxidizer is the product I use. It comes in a one-gallon size blue colored plastic container. It is pure 27-percent hydrogen peroxide (no additives or stabilizers). You will have to dilute it with distilled water, down to 3 percent strength in order to use it in your home brew recipe. At SW it's about $15 for a quart of Scent Shield. I bought all this stuff for about that & had enough to make almost 2 gallons. I found some different oxidizer at Leslies Pool Supply on McClintock just north from Southern that was 7.5% hydrogen peroxide. It cost $10 for a quart of that stuff & it requires a different dillution measure than the 27% stuff mentioned in the article.

I personally think that laws are to be determined by legislation (or game wardens & cops, depending on how many witnesses are around), and ethics are to be determined by individuals. I've got my bow sighted in out to 50 yards & then one "confidence" pin that is sighted in for 80. I practice more at eighty than any other yardage & hold a decent group at that range. If I was on fairly level terrain & the wind was some what calm & everything felt comfortable, I might take that shot & not feel that it was unethical. I know the arrow will do the job at that range, and I know I can make the shot. On the other hand, someone who can't hold a decent group at thirty yards has no business shooting at living animals at eighty or a hundred, or even fifty for that matter. People should practice enough to know their own limits & than make their ethics calls based on those limits, not on what other people say. If you take a shot thinking, "I might get luck", you very obviously just took an unethical shot, and you know it. As for cameras, I thoroughly enjoy using them as a hobby of their own & find them to be a useful scouting tool, but that's all they are. One of many tools that we employ to get the most out of our limited time in the field. Their no more unethical than are laser range finders, fiber-optic sights, 350 fps bows, scent-lok suits or whatever else people buy.

Guess that's the price of saving a little coin. Might be ugly, but at least I don't stink!

I saw nothin but does during my hunt & it was about half 'n half for those that had fawns & those without. None of the ones flying solo look pregnant though, so I'm sure they had their fawns tucked away some where.

See how fat that guy was?! Looks like Yogi has some competition for those pic-a-nic goodies.

I've only started using the trail cameras this year, but I can tell you for a fact that they're far from being a miracle pill that'll triple everyone's success rates. I ran 3 of 'em in 27 for over two months before season started. I've got over 2000 pics of deer & elk, several dozen of which are bucks & some of those are nice bucks. Yet when season rolled around, I still ended up spending 10 days over there without seeing a single piece of velvet!? Not even a spike! How does that happen?! The one advantage I do think I gleaned from them was that I thoroughly enjoyed collecting those pictures & working those cameras kept me motivated and had me looking for any spare day I could afford to get over there & scout. They kept me in the woods more during the preseason than I've ever been before. At least I've go some nice photos to look at while enjoying my tag soup.

I'm headin out today, too. After all the errands are done & I finish packing, I'll probably reach my spot in 27 just in time to hunt tomorrow morning. BRING IT!!! Good luck everyone.

Congrats. Your biggest adventure just began & we look forward to seeing pics of the newest member.

Tony: I've got a question on this. I've read the same info in several sources, but personally see whitetails well below the 3000 ft. mark, even below the 2000 ft line occasionally. These are not transient deer, they're established in these areas. In fact, all the trail cam pics I've posted of coues bucks have been take between 2000 & 3000 feet. So my question is, do you think this is indicative of coues deer expanding their range or am I just happening to find pockets of good habitat at lower ranges? Also, I've read that mule deer tend to compete very poorly against other species such as whitetails & elk, so if the coues deer are expanding their range to the lower deserts, what do you think this is going to do to the mule deer herds that typically inhabit those areas? Thanks. Matt S.

It went right through the shoulder on the opposite side. Broadhead was just barely protruding through bone & hide. Those shoulder blades & dense muscle mass around the socket really slow things down. That was w/ a 350 grain arrow flying at 275 fps at a range of about 8 yards.

My girlfriend & one of her gal-pals went out last summer & did that. They made a bunch of jams & jellies that were really good. I ate peanut butter & prickly pear jelly sandwichs for months. Been trying to get her to do it again this year, but we've been too busy so far.

I've heard a hundred different people talk about target tests w/ expandables vs. fixed blades for penetration, etc. The problem I have with this is that an animal of thick hide, covered with hair, & muscle tissue underneath standing at a quartering away angle is going to cause much different deflection than shooting at a soft, impressionable foam target that is perpindicular to the arrows flight. My bow makes plenty of KE & I still won't touch expandables. I'm not saying they don't work, I know lots of folks who are real happy with them. I just like to plan for the worst case scenario. My javi I hit this year was standing at such a sharp quartering angle that my arrows entrance wound was an inch tall by about 4 inches long. That fixed blade head (NAP Nitron 100) filleted him on the way in like no expandable could do while still trying to open its blades. Again, just my .02.

They had a Popular's there years ago when the Wal-Mart was still in its original location. It was only there for a couple years, though & closed it's doors long before the rest of the chain folded. The way that town is booming, though, they might be getting in at the right time, where Popular came in a little too early.

Found this one while going back through some trail cam pics from a few weeks ago. Reminded me of this thread & made me laugh. Guess I know what she thinks of my set-up.

See if this works. If we knew what unit, or what town it was close to, you'd probably have better luck finding someone who recognized them.

p.s. didn't hear a peep out of 'em in 27 last weekend. Hopefully they'll be singing next weekend, though when we head out for another scouting trip.

The benefits I like most about treestands are the fact that you have an elevated position that allows a better field of view & you're above an animals line of sight. I've yet to have one look up at me, although I don't doubt that experienced deer scan everywhere for danger. Plus, as stated, it's just fun to climb trees. Since I can't hang one on a saguaro, I will be giving the blinds a try this winter, but for the fall hunt it's all thick timber & treestands.