stanley

Thirds, browtines, what ever.... AMAZING ELK!!!! LOL.... S.

Nice mess of fish, and great pictures! Thanks for sharing TJ! Nice to meet you the other day as well. S.

Happy birthday Chef! Regards, S.

VERY cool!!!! Congrats to you guys!!!! Good pics as well! I like the "1/2 skinned" picture! Field pics are cool, but I like to see them hanging as well! S.

Sincere congratulations on your bull AZ Ranger!!!! Sounds like you had a GREAT hunt!!! S.

Cheers redneck!!! Sincere agreement on that point! I definitely hope & pray the exact same thing for my family!!! Words of wisdom for sure..... S.

The fall of America as we know it now????? To me, that's funny! I suppose that when women were given the right to vote that many folks figured it was the fall of America as they knew it.... I also suppose that when black people were given the right to sit on any seat, as opposed to the back of the bus, that some folks likely figured that it was the fall of America as they knew it to.... Here's my take; Gay marriage? Do I support it? Well, I haven't been to any gay weddings so I guess I haven't yet. Do I think it's wrong for a couple of guys to get married? Not sure..... Do I care if they say their married? Definitely not... Doesn't affect me personally in the least.... "The fall of America as we know it?" How about the current debt & financial crisis that the government is dealing with? Bailing HUGE companys out of their mess with our tax money (money we don't have, by the way.....)! To me, that is a MUCH MUCH MUCH more pressing issue than if a couple of guys/girls want to get married to each other. How about how our children & grandchildren are going to deal with this debt mess???? How about how strong America is financially in the next 100 years & how we retain our position in the world so our offspring can prosper as we have? Again, to me these are MUCH more pressing issues! Freedom & choice are what has made this country great IMO. Not government control over what folks do in the privacy of their own homes.... My $.02.... S. PS: I sure hope Amanda gets a chance at a big elk!!!! She's been working VERY hard at it!

Got a call from her day before yesterday. Nothing as of then.... S.

I hear your sentiment tjhunt2, but I don't think I completely agree that it has gotten too far out of hand. Last week around the campfire, Amanda, Chef and myself were discussing the topic of moderating on this board. When someone hits the 'report' button, I'm one of the ones (along with Amanda, Allen, and a couple of others...) who gets the notification. Frankly, there are a surprisingly low number of reported posts. Many of them are to report SPAM, etc... When I compare this message board to some of the others that I frequent, I'm continually impressed with the vibe that is present here. Generally a pretty cohesive atmosphere here. Sure there is the occasional flare-up, but in general it's pretty tame around here IMO.... That being said, I would encourage any & all to report anything you feel is inappropriate to post on this public forum. Private messages are kind of a different deal, but if anything gets too crazy there we would like to know about it as well. S.

So I had the pleasure of spending a couple of days south of Flagstaff with Amanda and Chef. She is up there on her archery bull elk hunt and invited us to join. No bull had hit the ground as of yesterday afternoon, but lots of fun has been had for sure.... The bulls in the area we were in have definitely NOT started the rut in earnest yet. VERY quiet & a little 'stand offish'.... No bugling at night, and hardly any bugling during the day. Tough archery hunting to say the least.... Most bugling we heard was in response to Chef's calls! It was just enough to keep us busy however, and Amanda is optimistic that the rut will kick-in at some point during her archery hunt! Highlights of the last couple of days for me; 1) Getting back out in the field with Amanda and meeting Chef. I always like spending time with her, and he is a great guy who was a pleasure to meet & spend time with in the field! 2) Hearing Chef describe how a 4X7 bull walked-up on him (10 yards.....) from behind while he was sitting on a log eating a granola bar!!! Those elk can be quite sneaky when they want to be!!!! (I was off in the woods answering mother nature at the time... ) 3) Eating some great food around the fire with Amanda and Chef (They don't call him 'Chef' for nothin!!!!). I can cook a steak just fine, but there's something about having a bonified 'CHEF' cook your meal for you! 4) Sitting there with Chef while watching a VERY nice 6X6 bull from a couple of hundred yards or so, thinking how nice it would be to be on a rifle hunt at that particular moment! Incidentally, Amanda's standards are WAY higher than mine and I think she would have passed on this 330ish bull. She's holding-out for a BIG ONE! So in summary, they're still up there chasing bulls and I'm here..... Amanda is planning on being there for the next week & a half, and I'm pretty sure she'll get into some good rutting action before it's all said and done! I'm hoping to get up there for a couple of days this weekend! Hopefully she'll call me sometime this week with a report! S.

Outstanding!!!! Congrats on a fine bull! S.

Great bull! Great story! S.

Well, no bull for Amanda yet!! Optimism still VERY high though! It's easy to be optimistic when you've planned on being there for the entire hunt! (talk about dedication..... ) She has had some more excitement, but hasn't drawn on a bull yet. Based on her persistence, I'm thinking it's only a matter of time.... S. PS: Chef, I was thinking about the 6X6 we were watching from that ridge on Saturday morning (can't get him out of my mind...). Maybe that would have been a great time to get that decoy out???? Hind-sight.... live & learn....

I think he's still around, but just doesn't post much (or at all....). I think he's hunting archery bull elk as we speak, so maybe we'll see a report from him sometime in the future.... S.

Too bad for your son's pain, but OUTSTANDING antelope hunt!!!! Congrats to you and he both!!! Both of my sons play Pop-Warner football (talk about a hectic fall schedule.... with hunts & all... ), and I don't often think about the potential consequences..... Once in a while one of their teammates goes down, and I suppose it could happen to them anytime. In the meantime though; they're enjoying it and I'm keeping my fingers crossed that they'll stay safe! Again, best regards to your son on a great hunt!!! S.

BIG congrats to you on your success! Nothing like being amongst a bunch of bugling bulls!!!! S.

Outstanding Dodgerboy! Thanks for sharing, and welcome to the site!!!! S.

VERY cool Doug!!! Thanks so much for sharing, and your eloquent words really put a nice touch on the pictures you shared...... I was with Amanda for a bit this weekend, and we were wondering how you were doing. No surprise you filled your tag! Congrats on making it happen! S.

Hey Scott: I used to run lots. Did three marathons in the early 90s. Of course this was before I had kids, and hence had LOT'S of time!!! LOL Seriously though, it's about 50% mental, and given your like of adventure I'm sure you'll do fine. Don't short yourself on the training. Prior to my first marathon I thought I was ready by running 5-7 miles a day & 10 or so on Saturdays. I was WRONG! 5-7 miles per day is fine for a 1/2 marathon, but you'll want to get used to running 12-15 at least every other day for the few weeks leading up to the race IMO. These days my workouts are limited to Bikram Yoga 2-3 times per week. Don't laugh unless you've done it though. It will kick your _ss!!! Good luck!!! S.

Who, me doc????? :D Like I said, I'm sure that spotNstalk will have a GREAT hunt! S.

So what's the judge's story? Did he elaborate on the sentence???? I haven't heard or seen any press on this..... S.

Yeah, I would put all other hunts/events/interests on hold! Well, if he's anything like me he might have other stuff that is a priority as well. I've got a job that keeps me VERY busy, plus three kids that want, need, and deserve my attention as well (and I'm all to happy to give that attention....). Once you have kids, you realize that pop-warner football & ballet/jazz can be pretty special as well. Putting all other events/interests on hold is not an option that I would choose, even if I had a sheep tag. I live by the motto; "to each their own" and I'm not going to pre-suppose how he should be spending his time or money. I'm sure that spotNstalk will have a fine hunt either way! S.

Sweet pics! Thanks for sharing!!! S. PS: If you see Christian, tell him hello!!!

Liberal media or conservative media? Doesn't matter if it's Fox, CNN, MSNBC, NY Times, Washington Post, AZ Republic, CBS, etc, etc.... None of them is any better than the other..... seems like all sides will slant things to their agenda IMO. No surprise here... S.

Yep, exciting for sure!!! Not tag for me this year, but I'll be creeping around the woods (and tending camp.....) for Amanda next weekend! Good luck all! S.