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bigbuckclub

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Posts posted by bigbuckclub

  1. Posted · Report reply

    On 6/25/2023 at 8:08 AM, Coues247 said:

    heck I know literally nothing about computer programming and I think I could watch some YouTube videos and set up a system that works. I'd imagine some guys that actually know how to program could make a pretty solid system if they were paid enough to do it. Don't know why every state doesn't just hire kalkomey like Nevada and Utah and know everything will run smoothly. 

    I could probably build a model to do it in excel after a minor refresher. Lol

  2. Posted · Report reply

    6 hours ago, verdehunter said:

    I'd say it's over, based on past experiences, except the elk draw. I've never had a charge after the first posts of the morning saying cards were being hit. If I didn't get hit at that time, it's never happened. This past elk draw was the only exception and my card was hit later in the afternoon. However, I see that as a fluke and not something that will happen with this draw as well. I hope I'm wrong. 

    I didn't get hit for my elk tag until the Wednesday after cards started getting hit on Tuesday morning. It's possible. 

    • Like 2

  5. Posted · Report reply

    1 hour ago, jbone said:

    Go have fun, don't worry about cameras on your truck or camp or anti hunters trashing stuff. I spend 45-55 days a year on the strip, never seen or heard of any of that. We leave our camps alone, unlocked, 100 gallons plus of gas/water and never have had anything happen in fact never ran into anyone up there that wouldn't stop and help if stuck, broke down, lost or drive you back to your truck or town. 

    Most 13A is not that remote and you can be to a paved road/gas in an hour. Bring some extra fuel, water and a spare.

    The archery hunt was awesome, reminds me of how it used to be in pre camera days. We killed an amazing buck and only saw one other hunter drive by our camp. The rifle hunt will be good but don't expect giant bucks everywhere, antler growth is well below average and age class because of cameras is even worse. Give it 2-3 years and expect that place to be off the charts again. Next year should be great with 2 wet summers in a row, if we get a decent winter it'll be the tag to have. Best thing to happen for the Strip is the elimination of cameras, expect a fun hunt, tags reduced, hunters will be more spread out than the last 15 years, there are a couple true giants in 13A this year so best of luck. If you hit that true 190" mark as a DIY guy this year you did amazing.  

    Good Luck

    Thanks! Appreciate it!

  6. Posted · Report reply

    1 minute ago, CatfishKev said:

    I wouldn't worry about camp as much but I'd have cams nearby watching traffic near your truck. Especially if you find a big one. I would just be overly cautious. Not trying crap in your Cheerios but if you find a real big buck you never know what someone might do to impede your success.

    It's a dang shame that you'd even have to think about something like that happening. FFS. Frankly, that issue never really crossed my mind. But, I also don't draw good tags... until this year at least. Lol

  7. Posted · Report reply

    23 hours ago, Sneaker said:

    Yeah everyone told me the archery hunt was pretty rough this year. Feed and water everywhere spreads everything out, which makes it so that even on a camera year the hunting is still tough. At least you have the rut getting closer for the rifle hunt that will help you out. The historic areas that hold does during the rut will still hold does, so people with that legacy knowledge will still benefit from it. Not having cameras this year will make it so that 5 outfitters should not be hunting one big buck living in a less popular area, theoretically. If they aren't starting to rut yet though, it can get tough quick.

    Maybe you are an all-in doesn't-get-hunt-fatigue type of guy, but I would be careful about going 5-6 days early and staying straight through, it can be brutal on you mentally and physically, especially on the strip where you might not see a mature buck for a couple days depending on where you are hunting and the rut. By the time you have been up there for 8 or 9 days, that 175" 4x4 can start looking mighty fine... I personally could probably only do 2 or 3 days of scouting before the hunt if I was staying continuous straight through by myself, but some guys can do it no problem. Maybe some of mine is tied to home/fam situation that always play a factor.

    I hear what you are saying on the fatigue, but a hunt like this one I think I'll be just fine being focused. It's just too good of a tag to not really get after it, especially because I feel a little guilty for not making a scouting trip up there. I thought about heading up Tuesday, but figured a couple extra days wouldn't hurt. I've got work squared away (famous last words for a small biz owner) and luckily the wife is understanding of this tag and how lucky I am to have it.  

    • Like 4

  8. Posted · Report reply

    21 hours ago, CatfishKev said:

    Bring spare tires and a couple cams to set on your camp and truck.  This year will be interesting to see how things play out with the cam ban. Hopefully there won't be 20 guys glassing per hunter.

    Are you saying to put cams at camp because people will stop by to take things that are not theirs? I've never had to do that before. I'll keep stuff locked up in the truck for sure... I'm taking my side by side to get me around the unit. 

    • Like 1

  10. Posted · Report reply

    Well... I got lucky and drew a 13A tag this year. I'm getting pretty excited. 

    I am curious to people's thoughts on how the camera ban will play out for strip hunts. I know there are guides that are there anyway and will just spend more time behind the glass instead. 

    I've heard from a few people that the archery hunts were pretty tough because of all the rain. Anyone else hear similar? 

    I'm doing it DIY and have been in the unit before - but for a sheep hunt. Due to work and an archery elk tag I haven't been up there this year. My plan is to just get up there 5-6 days before the opener to look for deer and then get after it. 

    I'm also open to general advice from anyone who has had the tag before... or pics of success to get the juices flowing! Lol

    • Like 2

  11. Posted · Report reply

    I had some good luck on the early archery tag. Killed this bull opening morning at around 11am. He was the main bull we heard bugling and that turned out to be his downfall. My cousin - who also had a tag - was able to get a good chunk of time off work so he was out scouting 4 days before the hunt started. He saw this bull every single day prior to the hunt. I made it up late Wednesday and scouted with him on Thursday... and again, saw this bull and his cows in the morning and in the evening. Bugling as well. We saw another 10 bulls or so in this same drainage so we figured we'd start there opening day and give them heck. 

    We hiked into the area in the morning and we were able to chase some bugles, but they weren't as vocal as they had been the couple of days prior. We ran into a good group of elk, but they spooked and we thought we might have boogered everything up too bad for the afternoon. My dad and uncle were on a ridge glassing above us and could hear elk below them bugling every so often - even after the bigger group spooked. For some reason - even though we were pretty close - we couldn't hear the bugles. The ridge we needed to climb was pretty steep and thick with overgrowth so I wasn't thrilled about the hike to get up it, but we sucked it up and made the short, but steep, hike. We finally got up to the same elevation as the elk and spotted them about 250 yards away. I saw a group of cows and had a feeling we were on the same bull we had seen all week prior. Sure enough it was him. We watched from a distance as he ran off a couple of raghorns that were nearby. He was one of the few bulls that seemed to be ready to rut. We continued working in closer, but didn't feel like we would have the shooting lanes available if we kept stalking straight at them. We were in some thick cover. At this point, the elk had been milling around in the same small area for more than an hour. We backed out and looped around to get on top of them. For the most part, the wind cooperated. It started to swirl a bit as we got close to the elk. They were in a thick stand of aspens and the cows knew something was up. They weren't quite sure where we were though, because the vegetation was so thick. They first trotted one way and then back another way. We could see them in the aspens less than 20 yards from us. The bull let's out a bugle to corral his cows and get everyone going the same direction. At that point my cousin gave a quick cow call and the elk stopped. I side stepped to an opening to my left and could see the cows going one by one up a trail into a small shooting window. Naturally, the bull was last. My cousin ranged the cows at 65 yards and I drew back. Right when the bull stepped out and showed his vitals, I shoot. Downhill, quartering away. I hit the spine and into his cavity. He was paralyzed. I quickly moved in closer and finished him off from 20 yards. (I would love to say that my first and only shot was the arrow shown in the picture - I'll be honest with you guys, but probably not my drinking buddies :))

    Needless to say, I am thrilled with this bull. Good mass, lots of character. It's also pretty cool that we were able to watch him for a few days in a row and put a plan together that got it done. This early archery elk stuff is awesome. Can't wait to do it again...... in twelve years. 

    Archery Bull.jpg

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  12. Posted · Report reply

    Thanks for sharing. At least you were in the mix every day. That's all you can really ask for. 

    I had a buddy tell me to never ever leave your pack anywhere. It's almost always a giant inconvenience to go back and get it. I practiced with mine on and I was really comfortable. I killed my bull this year with my pack on my back. Didn't even notice it. 

    • Like 5

  16. Posted · Report reply

    On 7/29/2022 at 8:23 PM, Norteno said:

    I’m no videographer but here is my 23N archery hunt.  There are a ton of bulls in the unit.  If you want a 375+ you’ll need some good scouting but it’s easily achievable.  My only regret is shooting the first bull I had in range on day 2.  Wish I would have hunted longer, but I was happy getting my bull DIY with my Dad by my side.  Saw some monsters in there.  
    I ran into A3 on day 2 of my pack out.  Tried to wave them down to chat and give some help and they instead almost ran me off the road in their Ranger.  I later found out 4 of their group of 5 hunters tagged out.  The female who was in the Ranger with them did not.  
     

     

    Man! You have some speed on those stalks. Lol, awesome bull!

  20. Posted · Report reply

    9 hours ago, geoffsl said:

    Like I said and the whole point of my post was to say I don’t agree with the way we handle the distribution of tags…like I also said, there probably isn’t a perfect system…you charts really highlight the problem…and it really is depressing.

    I have never tried to hold out for only trophy hunts (for example turkey, deer and javelina)  and I have only put in for archery bull…I have my reasons for putting in for the unit I do…it’s not the primo unit in the state but yes it is a good unit. 
    I appreciate you sending the charts.  That helps visually explain the dilemma. 

    You have 14 points for deer... You can literally draw any deer hunt you want - guaranteed - besides 3A/3C late rifle, 12AE late rifle, 12AW late rifle, 12B/12BW late rifle, 13A and 13B. These are all of the premier mule deer rut hunts in the state. You could even argue these are many of the best mule deer hunts in the world. You made this decision. There are 7 hunts TOTAL that you are not in the bonus pass. You can have ANY coues deer tag you want next year and go hunting. You have decided that you don't want to. That's on you. You can also archery hunt every year and put in for 12AW late rifle every year until you draw. You decided not to do that. 

    If you really think you only have a 3% chance to draw with the points you have and that there are no guaranteed tags, next year put 12AW late rifle first choice and any of the hunts not listed above as your second choice and you will draw a tag... guaranteed. 

    The truth is... you ARE putting in for a trophy hunt. 12AW late IS a trophy hunt. 

    • Like 4

  21. Posted · Report reply

    28 minutes ago, codyhuntsaz said:

    This is not true. You can be in the bonus pass round for a hunt for many years before you draw it. Say an antelope tag…maybe 2 tags go to the bonus pass round, but 30 guys with max points apply, could technically take you 15 years to draw that tag all while being at max points. 

    That's kind of splitting hairs. Does that problem really exist for deer? You can also get drawn in the bonus pass if you have less than max points. For example, 20 tags go in max, only 5 people with 20 points put in for it and the remaining 15 go to guys with 19. Those are one off cases IMO. The statement that nobody is guaranteed a tag is wrong. Particularly for most deer hunts. It's not perfect though, which is why point creep exists.  

    The broader point is the guy in this thread doesn't understand how the draw works. That much is clear. 

    • Like 1

  22. Posted · Report reply

    2 minutes ago, geoffsl said:

    here it is "How do Bonus Points work in the Big Game Drawing?
    There are 3 phases to the Big Game Drawing – the Bonus Point Pass, the First-Second Choice Pass, and the Third-Fourth-Fifth Choice Pass. For each phase of the drawing, a random number is generated for each application plus additional random numbers for each group bonus point (which includes the Hunter Education and Loyalty bonus points) credited to the application. The lowest random number generated for an application is used in the drawing process.

     

    again, as they say...yes your points increase your odds. . .with the cavet of (NO MATTER HOW SMALL).  They couldnt be more right.  

    Regardless. . .doesn't change the fact that people get tags out of order. 

    Now I know you are trolling. Those are bonus points. I was asking about the bonus pass. I provided the link you need:

    https://www.azgfd.com/hunting/draw/process/

  24. Posted · Report reply

    1 minute ago, geoffsl said:

    I am sorry you don't

    straight from their website "What is a Bonus Point?
    An accumulated credit (or point) that authorizes the Department to issue a Big Game Drawing applicant additional computer-generated random numbers during a draw. The bonus point system grants an applicant one random number entry for each bonus point that has been accumulated into the drawing for that species. Each bonus point random number entry is in addition to the application random number entry itself. This system provides applicants with an added chance of receiving a low random number in the draw, hence improving their draw odds, while still providing a chance (no matter how small) for any applicant to get drawn."  

     

    and now re read the last line. . .(no matter how small) and compare it with their own publication. . .about bonus pool draw odds.   the sum total of odds for my to draw that tag (3a/3c archery bull) was less than 1%--that number is from their own website. . .so tell my how I am supposed to get  a tag from that?  it will never be guaranteed.  

    eed tag from that?  it will never be guaranteed.  

    Now do the bonus pass. 

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