pahncho2121

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haha well crap is right ! That's pretty much how I feel. But either way, I figured if I just keep pushing myself to walk, hike, lift weights, something will always be better than nothing. I think once I lose about 20 pounds I may start to attempt to jog.. for the sake of getting some cardio in. Once you drop some weight you will gain your knees back. Someone correct me if I am wrong but I once read that for every pound of weight loss it unloads four pounds of joint stress.

My gravity works is a similar setup to the sawyer mini and I have been in areas where I couldn't fill my dirty bag so I resorted to "scooping" or "pushing" water in. Took a little longer but I had 8L's of water and still finished 15 mins faster than a guy who had the Ketadyne pump and a 6L bag. Definitely pro's and cons to both but I have ran about 40L through my gravity works and love it. And the carbon element to improve taste was a big help.

Reavis Ranch Sour Apples from 07/16/16. Not really ripe but still tasted good

Sometimes I wish I lived in a more central location rather than the southwestern part of the state. Sure would make hunting the eastern and northern units easier.

Came across this Saturday while doing some scouting. Looks like one jug was out from under the tarp and half gone.

I had considered all those options except I was north of Superior so I figured it had to belong to a hunter.

I saw a '16 at the dealership that was a 6 speed. It was a dually though

As far as I know Dodge is the last manufacturer offering a manual. I didn't go that route but I did switch to Coors Light, just seemed fitting.

Picked up a '16 2500 myself, dang does it run good.

Heading out to do some scouting but it's only at 4000 ft. Still hot as balls but looking at something other than work makes it worthwhile.

I bought a $50 pair off Amazon with the plastic in them and they're ok. The buckles kept loosening but a little electrical tape fixed that. It's comforting to push through and be less worried.

Coordinates? Just Kidding!

I'm curious to hear how many guys build a natural ground blind vs a commercially offered ground blind. I know the norm is to place your ground blind early so the deer get use to it but then you run the risk of loosing it or having it destroyed. My gut is telling me for this upcoming season to use what is available instead of buying a blind. Any thoughts or recommendations?

Just came from scouting an area for deer and saw a little bit of scat (few different piles here and there) and they were packed full of berries of the Manzanita. Looked like they couldn't have been more than a week old.

Prescott has a Sportsman's Warehouse? Where is it?

This is a great thread with a lot of good information. It is great to see people wanting to get healthier. Goes to show how subjective some of this stuff can be though. I was in need of a life style change myself and realized it last August. I didn't follow a diet or go to a gym as I am 40 miles one way to the closest one. Instead my wife and I switched to fresh fruits and home grown vegetables, lots of wild meat and chicken, forced myself to like avocados (now I love them) and exercise 6 days a week with dumbells, and elliptical, step climber, mow the yard with a 68lb pack on, and running 4 miles on the farm roads. Even ran into the heard of mule deer in my avatar running before work one day. I have dropped 72lbs since I started and feel awesome. Just recently started with supplements. I have an Iso Pure protein shake with a banana and a handful of blueberries for breakfast along with coffee and it holds me over till lunch. Just came back from a scouting trip and was shocked at how much more fun it is heading to the "back country" with that much less weight and increasing overall health.

I have it as a backup to my gravity works system. I have used it to see how it works, seems ok for an emergency. I was getting four or five good pulls then it would plug up. Just had to blow through it to clear it out but I wouldn't rely on it as a main source of filtration personally.

I have been in the market and eyeballing the bushnell binos with range capability but this is really tempting....

That's awesome!

This. I've always been told that you see more glassing (and I do) and tough chance for a shot, but if you sit long enough you'll get a better shot opportunity. I've never sat long enough for deer myself. Grew up hunting out of treestands and got my fill of sitting. I'd much rather spot n stalk. But I haven't had many shot opportunities in August either. To spot & stalk coues deer isn't like jumping into the big leagues of hunting, it's more like skipping the big leagues all together and jumping straight into the World Series for your first at bat. It's not impossible by any means, some guys are very good at it. It took them a lot of mistakes to get good at it. If this is going to be your method, spend some serious time working on your long range shooting, at least out to 80 yards, and don't try to get too close. I'd rather shoot a deer at 50 yards than 20 all day long. Much less likely to string jump, and your not inside that 'eminent danger, BOLT NOW!' red zone they seem to have around them. If you make a noise, they may just look at you instead of fleeing. Make the same mistake at 30 yards or less and they're gone with zero hesitation. I also think stalking is much easier during the rut than it is in August, plus August is too dang hot for me in open stalking country. I prefer my treestand in the tall cool pines. Do you glass an area early on to locate used water sources or rely on trail cams? I almost get nervous sitting purely for the fact that I feel like I am doing nothing. I know it is the more productive method and being that I personally blown a majority of my stalks on rutting mule deer, I will most likely lean towards sitting. Its a test of mental toughness for sure and I do have a legitimate worry of not sitting long enough. All too soon the thought of "am I sitting in the right spot?" will set in. Any suggestions on helping sit there longer? When I glass, I quietly listen to a downloaded podcast with a single ear bud in. I found that increases my willingness to sit for hours on end without just sitting there watching the clock tick by. Especially helpful on slow glassing days. I just haven't done much sit and wait type of hunting. I think you nailed it with mental toughness. Humans are restless control freaks by nature. We always think that we can do something, anything!, to turn the odds in our favor. The worst part about ambush hunting is the feeling that you're wasting your precious limited time. But, if you understand how deer move, you'll see that doing nothing is actually tipping the odds in your favor. First of all, get it out of your head that there's some magical spot that's loaded with buck and nobody else knows about it and if you just hike further and look longer you'll find it and then you just have to sit for 20 minutes and you'll shoot a booner every year. That place is right next to the lost city of El dorado in the story books. It doesn't exist. Even a really good spot doesn't have deer in it every day. It's not uncommon to sit 2-3 days and not see much. I've sat 2 days in a row and not seen a thing other than birds & squirrels. But what happens is that at some point the deer move back into the area and things heat up, then you get one of those magic days that it seems like you can't dare to move to stretch or even yawn, because they're everywhere and you'll get busted. Basically, the more fruitless days you have the better the odds are you'll see something tomorrow. In 2013, I sat 3 days in a row without seeing much. A couple does, that was it. I got my buck on the 4th morning. 2014, I lucked out and dropped a nice one on the second morning. In 2011 I missed a nice 3x3 at 9:00 am & shot a spike buck at 11:00 the same morning. The day before that I didn't see anything. You never know exactly when they're going to be there, you just have to find a good spot and stick to it until they show up. I sit all day from before dawn until after dusk and I like to sit a minimum of 2 days straight before I think about switching spots. It'd be better to sit 3-5 days straight, but I get restless too and sometimes make the wrong decisions because of it. As for scouting, to be perfectly honest I do very little of it. I've been hunting the same areas so long that I know the spots where they like to hang out and I know some good places to sit. Dont' get me wrong, I love scouting and running trail cams, but I almost never have the time for it, so I just go when it's time to hunt. I got a spot that I've killed two deer in already and missed 2 others from sitting on the same boulder. It's been good for the last 7 years, I'm sure it'll still be good this year. This is why I love this forum. So much information here. Reading this calmed my nerves a lot. Not saying it is going to make sitting easier but I feel what you said makes it justifiable. And that magic spot in my head is playing mind tricks on me. I like the book idea GreyGhost.

This. I've always been told that you see more glassing (and I do) and tough chance for a shot, but if you sit long enough you'll get a better shot opportunity. I've never sat long enough for deer myself. Grew up hunting out of treestands and got my fill of sitting. I'd much rather spot n stalk. But I haven't had many shot opportunities in August either. To spot & stalk coues deer isn't like jumping into the big leagues of hunting, it's more like skipping the big leagues all together and jumping straight into the World Series for your first at bat. It's not impossible by any means, some guys are very good at it. It took them a lot of mistakes to get good at it. If this is going to be your method, spend some serious time working on your long range shooting, at least out to 80 yards, and don't try to get too close. I'd rather shoot a deer at 50 yards than 20 all day long. Much less likely to string jump, and your not inside that 'eminent danger, BOLT NOW!' red zone they seem to have around them. If you make a noise, they may just look at you instead of fleeing. Make the same mistake at 30 yards or less and they're gone with zero hesitation. I also think stalking is much easier during the rut than it is in August, plus August is too dang hot for me in open stalking country. I prefer my treestand in the tall cool pines. Do you glass an area early on to locate used water sources or rely on trail cams? I almost get nervous sitting purely for the fact that I feel like I am doing nothing. I know it is the more productive method and being that I personally blown a majority of my stalks on rutting mule deer, I will most likely lean towards sitting. Its a test of mental toughness for sure and I do have a legitimate worry of not sitting long enough. All too soon the thought of "am I sitting in the right spot?" will set in. Any suggestions on helping sit there longer? When I glass, I quietly listen to a downloaded podcast with a single ear bud in. I found that increases my willingness to sit for hours on end without just sitting there watching the clock tick by. Especially helpful on slow glassing days. I just haven't done much sit and wait type of hunting.

I have been racking my brain going over this as well. First time archery coues hunt for myself and the area I am looking at has lots of natural water pockets and creeks. I think I will try glassing in the am and sitting in the afternoon. There is just so many spots I could sit with all that water and monsoon season is upon us. I am hoping if I can locate some through my binos then perhaps it will shrink down the area I need to sit. I really don't know but that is what my gut is telling me anyways. Good luck on your hunt

Attached is a gofundme account to some dear friends of our who just lost the backbone to their family, their 25 year old mother. It happened in a vehicle roll over near Parker. They have 3 young children and it breaks my heart to think about what they are going though. If you can't donate monetarily, please send a thought or prayer. Thank you for taking the time to read this. https://www.gofundme.com/OurFriendMegan

I used my chase ink business card and had to call to check pending charges. One posted from the azgfd for $52.50 last night, odd amount but I did put in for the 24B third hunt and a pheasant tag so maybe I got both.