Heat

I've seen rut related behavior in December as well, I don't think some of them get the memo! Seriously though some ewe's will come into heat earlier or later than most, depending on weather, age, health and other factors. Nice pics! Love finding them caved up like that!

Crotalus cerberus or Arizona Black Rattlesnake would be my educated guess.

He's a dandy alright!

12x14 Davis Wall Tent with a 3 Dog Wood Stove is what I am running for cold weather camping. I love all the room that the tent gives me. Floorless allows me to take a sponge bath right next to my wood stove so I can stay warm when I'm wet. 3/4 of the Floor is covered in tarps, the other corner is where the wood stove is. Nothing beats having a fire in a stove in your tent when its cold and/or wet! Good sleeping bag is a must any way you slice it.

Very cool! Little ones are the best thing ever!

Sure, you're welcome to borrow some of my gear. Let me know.

Nice pics Dan, thanks for sharing!

Just noticed this. Congrats on your draw success! Hope to see a great story and some pics to go along with it after your hunt. Good Luck!

I'm a sucker for a bargain just like the next guy but just wanted you guys to be aware that the Springbar tent is the original design of this type of tent and they still make their stuff in the USA. Just saying...

Nice! Good Luck to all in the draw! Thanks for sharing that pic, that is an awesome ol bruiser!

Hiker Pro

Upper and Lower Blue River Hunts for Rocky Mtn Sheep

Very cool John! That was the Original Grayling Green right there! Thanks for sharing about Esau! Nick

Never say never guys...every year at the Sheep Clinic they ask if anyone got drawn the first time putting in and pretty much every year at least one person raises their hand. You can't win if you don't play! Seriously though, that license is one of the coolest random things I've ever seen posted here!

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Hey Ike, What is the spine deflection on these? .500? I may be interested! Thanks! Nick

I am pretty much a dedicated archer unless I draw a once in a lifetime tag. I will hunt with a rifle on a family hunt or use my shotgun for birds, but since I've started harvesting big game with my bow there is no turning back! I only apply for archery deer and elk hunts and also buy the OTC deer tag. I only apply for archery only Pronghorn hunts now since I've killed one with my gun. I will apply for the Spring Any Buffalo hunt which is General, but for fall my choices are the Archery hunts. This has an effect on the "Pie Chart" allocation that Game and Fish uses to divide tags amongst weapon types. It really hurts the bowhunters when folks apply for rifle hunts as their first choice, then end up hunting OTC and taking a deer with their bow because they get counted in the overall mix as a "rifle" hunter. I'm not sure if the Department even considers the second choice in this equation. I know at one time they did not, and I'm not sure it has ever changed.

Thanks for sharing here Darr!

I got the traditional bug bad after ruining my compound bow on a hunt and had no backup. Since then I have not had anywhere near this much fun with archery since I was a little kid. I now own 3 recurve bows: a vintage 1960 Bear Kodiak, a new Grayling Green Super Kodiak, and a Whisperstik Kajikastik takedown. Each has it's own flavor but I'd say the Kodiak is my favorite! Welcome aboard!

Let's make one thing absolutely clear, I am NOT advocating an earlier season for archery hunters. Any time within the 2 or 3rd week of September is fine and dandy with me. Many bulls are extremely vulnerable at this time, particularly if you know what the heck is going on! You don't need a bull to bugle to kill him. Many times they are more vulnerable at this time because they don't have a giant harem of cows. My preference is for them to just leave it alone and if anything quit the crap they started last year with other weapons going before archery, period, end of story! One thing is consistent with this proposal...the archery hunters are again taking it in the shorts! First we lose our ability to take a doe in January, which they said we would get back when numbers came up, clearly that hasn't happened. Then we are forced to accept permitted archery hunts. It's clear that has only had limited success due to the shuffling and back and forth on tag numbers and units that this applies to. Then we are given an arbitrary harvest percentage of 20% of the total harvest, anything above that and we lose a season. Haven't seen many if any seasons added for archery when success is low! Then we see that number miraculously got to 15-20% of the total harvest, again out of the blue with nothing to substantiate that number. We constantly fight to keep our tags in September for elk when the Department just wants to sell more tags for November because they know darn well, they can get a bunch of people in the field, sell a ton of permits, and nobody kills jack squat! I'm getting pretty tired of this constant assault! I sure wish Tice Supplee was still the Game Branch Chief. She was a dedicated archery hunter and we never had to deal with any of this nonsense when she was around!

Any proposal of that nature is completely back asswards! I also agree with the point made above that this could be a result of the archery hunters complaining about the season starting too early. Often times their point isn't made well and the Department will use that wishy washyness to do whatever it is they've been trying to accomplish. In this case it seems like the Department has been heck Bent on putting some sort of Premium Hunt out there for elk. Looks like they're going after it through the backdoor! I don't agree with any general elk hunts being held before archery or muzzleloader. Whatever happened to the notion of primitive weapons being at a disadvantage? I'll be sure to make my comments to the Department and Commission when the time comes.

My starting point for all the caliber rifles I have is the Remington Core lokt. It shoots really, really well out of my .270 and I get decent performance out of some others. The terminal performance on a ram, a pronghorn buck, a few elk and a deer have all been excellent. Of course there are much better and more expensive projectiles out there, but this one just plain gets the job done and is an economical place to start. Another round that I hardly ever hear bad things about is the Nosler Partition but those are kinda pricey for some calibers unless you roll your own. Best advice I can give is to get a few boxes of different ammo and see what YOUR gun likes, because each and every rifle barrel is a bit different when it comes to what cartridge works best for it. Good Luck and have fun at the range! Nick

Prayers for a complete and quick recovery. May the Lord be comfort to you through your ordeal.

The best chance for most of us who have taken a desert ram to take a Rocky ram as well is for tag numbers to go up dramatically. Not impossible, but not likely to happen quickly. I just hope I live long enough to have a chance to take a Rocky ram as well. I'm happy to draw whatever tag. Good Luck to all of you guys out there trying to live out your dreams! Great info Dan!

He's a grand daddy alright! Sweet pics! Now if they were only right side up...