NativeRat

That's a great bull !

That pic might become my screensaver come Halloween!

Thanks a million! I'll let you know how it goes!

Yesterday, I drew on a nice three-point and a two point, and each time, I had to let them go because they saw me move. (That was the end of my fall archery hunt). I really wished I had humped in a blind or tree stand. What I have found is that full camo works great and makes you nearly invisible even without a blind ... until you move! Sure, you can start to draw, but then the head comes up and the buck will be waiting for any little sound or movement to jump. If you release, you might hit a moving target in the gut. This seems to be even more true with flighty Coues and older bucks then with Mulies and does, and I seem to get away with more early in the morning and at dusk when the shadows help my camo work. So, if I am going to sit a hole instead of spot and stalk, I prefer a tree stand first, a brushed-in natural blind second, and a synthetic ground blind last. The problem is, where I hunt, there are only a few places with good trees to hang a stand. So you end up on the ground. I have had coues deer freak out over synthetic ground blinds -- they don't like the way they shine or smell or something. I was in a blind one time watching a doe walk by a few feet away, right when the sun came over the hill -- it lit up the blind and she freaked out and jumped sideways away from me and ran up the hill snorting all the way. And I have had bucks come in out of the trees, spot the blind, and turn right around. (Again, the older bucks more than the spikes). What I like is a bit of brush, dead branches, or high weeds -- tumbleweeds and pig weed are great -- and use that to make a little brush blind and hide in there in Mossy Oak Brush or something like that with a shooting window to the water. You can see enough through the weeds, and move all around. But by far the best is to be above it all in the trees, watching them come, pause, look around, counting the points through your field glass, watching them come in closer, closer...

Game and Fish says the north side of the mountain. Definitely more tanks on that side. I spents some time on the other side in some canyons and saw some deer sign, does, no bucks, the main problem being the cover is real think and with running streams, they are dispersed. Pack a lunch and spend time on a hill glassing.

Congrats on that buck of a lifetime. What a dream! Makes me wonder what the "small" bucks at your honey hole looked like.

Also, this is what AGFD give us: To report UDAs, call the Border Patrol at 1-877-872-7435, or in the case of an emergency, dial 911. But I think the other number is probably better.

Killing snakes is my one politcally incorrect and un-enviromentalist-like habit. I know they eat rats and have a place in the ecosystem and all that, but I just can't control my urge to blast them to shreds. Other than that, I'm a regular animal lover and a boy scout.

I know where I will be -- I keep dreaming about it. And I plan to hump in 2x as much water to drink as I did last year. I nearly died of thirst coming off the mountain last year. These early hunts are hot.

Please order a medium for me in black. I checked it out on the web site, and the black showed up ok, but I'm cool with it if the black is kind of stealthy on the t-shirt.

I am trying out Grim Reaper mechanicals this year, pulling just 60 pounds. I am nervous about it, but everyone assures me they work. So -- for those guys that have used mechanicals -- are you pulling just a little weight, or shooting super fast bows? Does that make a difference with mechanicals?

Found this limited discussion of african lions possibly interbreeding with puma: http://www.messybeast.com/genetics/anomalous-bigcats.html Hope this turns out to be mythical. I came close to a lion while bowhunting solo this fall, and don't really want to get real close to a pack of lions while I'm out there alone. I've only got one tag . . .

I work, hunt, and spend a lot of time along the border, and its is FINE with me if none of y'all want to hunt in Mexico or in 36ABC and the others along the border! I'll keep all those deer and turkey to my bad-A non-sissy pistol-packing self. I get down to Rocky Point regularly, and I have hunted a few times in N. Mexico. I don't speak much Espanol, and get along just fine. You can run into drug runners on a hunt in 36C -- but odd are you probably won't. And you can get carjacked in South Phoenix -- but on any given day, you probably won't. Just as long as you stay aware of your surroundings and are prepared like any good boy scout, you'll probably survive. That said, you can never prevent a random act of violence 100%, and I agree with Writer in a way on that point: I feel less concerned about random violence in Mexico than in the good ol' USA. Baseline killers, Amish-school killer, D.C. Snipers, Muslim terrorists, or any freakin' crack-head, etc... those guys can kill me for no logical, foreseeable reason. At least in Mexico, I know they just want my money, so I don't flaunt it. Seems like the kidnapping was about money, only. So was the murder Truman Capote wrote about in Cold Blood, and bajillions of other crimes that happen in this country. So, its not "shocking," but it does suck. But, ya' -- we DO need border control and IMO the trashing of the water holes and blazing of wildcat roads out there is what I think is really out of control and the main reason I support tough enforcement. I don't really care too much if good people come here to work, as they always have and always will. I just want our government to make it neat and organized instead of the chaotic cluster f- the gov't has let happen.

Re: money. About a year ago, I found $750 bucks out where illegals dump their backpacks and stuff. It was 100-dollar bills mostly, and very messed up. Two banks would not take it -- they said it was "dilapidated." It turns out, as long as they can read the serial numbers, the money is "tarnished" but not "dilapidated." Bank # 3 took the money and gave me fresh bills. I bought a new bow. BTW if it is dilapidated, you mail it in to the treasury, and they are supposed to replace it . .. so where's this $80,000 now??? Oh-and IMO -- lions are the king of spooky. They scratch up illegals and legals just the same, and they are harder to detect. Illegals usually run like quail through the desert, away from me. So whado I care? Drug runners may be scariest, but I've not encountered them yet. Knock on serious wood.