Heat

That is one cool looking deer! Nice work Jim!

Just a few words about adopting an older dog. I adopted a 6 year old yellow lab male named Sam about 9 months ago. He is my new best friend. I was skeptical about adopting an older dog, but it has turned out wonderful for us and our other dog, who also has a new best friend. No chewing or potty training issues that come with pups. I am positive Sam now has a much better home than where he came from. If you can take him, give him a chance! Nick

Allen, If you want the solids the attack pants and other outerwear pieces (camo excluded) are 25% off. I am tempted to get a pair of pants and a guide jacket at that price. I dig the new green and other solid colors they have. I might hold out to see what the new vias camo might look like for camo. I believe there will be changes someday. Nick

"I bought some Sitka stuff last year--guess the fashion police will be happy --for my Colorado archery elk hunt." Comparing Colorado to Arizona is an Apples to Orange comparison. Trust me I understand the importance in having some quality rain gear when the going gets tough, but that is a very rare situation for this state and I thought it would be better to stear him towards some useful layers. I have some rain gear and rarely use it. When I do, it's usually after I walk back to camp or the truck and put it on. Never really has impacted my hunts much. You guys can pack your rain gear all you want. Not a huge component of a clothing wardrobe for Arizona hunting in my opinion, but to each his own. And just so we are talking the same language when I think of rain gear I'm talking like a Helly Hansen Impertech Suit, or a set of Cabelas MTO50 or similar or Rivers West or something. I'll stand by my statement that a good poncho or light rain suit (army poncho, Frog Togs, Cabelas Space Rain) is probably more than enough for most situations here in AZ on the typical early season elk hunt. Nick

I'm almost game to try that thing! I'm not sure if the shirt will fit though. I'm a skinny guy with long arms. Normally wear a Large Long Sleeve T Shirt but a Medium in button up and just about everything else. Will it shrink?

Please, unless you are freezing to death, save your campfire for the winter! Tell the kids they can have smores or marshmellows some other time. Yes, they might be dissappointed but that's life. The Gila in New Mexico is burning to the ground as we speak, much like the White Mountains did last summer. Please educate those that don't know better, and call the FS if you have to. Please help us prevent our forests from burning to the ground this summer! Don't light a fire in the forest! Just don't do it!

You want to be prepared to hunt and be comfortable under various conditions. Usually people say cotton kills in the backcountry. I usually agree, but sometimes it doesn't rain and people hunt close enough to camp or the truck to get some shelter before they get too cold. Cotton retains moisture for a long time, which is fine when it is hot out, but if it cools down enough, wet cotton clothes could suck the warmth right out of your body and you could end up with hypothermia. I usually wear a lightweight base layer top, a thin fleece layer as an insulator, and some kind of shell on the outside. By noon I'm usually down to my baselayer. Appropriate layers is where it is at. On bottom if it is cool in the morning I might have some bottom base layer on, but usually it is just my pants. A pancho or light rain suit might come in handy to keep you from getting soaked but I don't really think you need "rain gear" for an AZ hunt. I personally like the Outfitter camo clothes available at Cabela's. Most of my stuff is Microtex, but I have a few other pieces made of various other synthetics. I don't leave home without my Microtex pants for sure! You don't need the latest and greatest mountaineering clothing that seems to be all the rage these days. Sure, for a once in a lifetime sheep hunt in the wilderness you might want to look into KUIU or Sitka, but for the typical AZ elk hunt, you are just appeasing the fashion police if you buy that stuff. Another thing that will help you stay comforable whether it is hot or cold is a good pair of wool socks. Just be sure to air out your feet once in a while if they sweat a lot. Moisture on your feet is usually a start to some foot problems, whether blisters or worse. Nick

I don't really understand why the heck people need or want a fire this time of year.

Went to Big Lake towards the end of April. Hooked 4 fish and landed two between four of us. Keep in mind we were all rookies fishing there and 2 were 11 year old kids. All the bites came on half a crawler fished in about 10 to 15 feet of water about 40 feet off the bank. One of the fish we caught was a decent sized holdover cutthroat. I can't wait to get back there for a re-match!

Hey Lance, The hawks will probably keep pestering you until the nestlings fledge or leave the nest. After that, the probably won't have much attachment to that particular tree until next year around nesting season. Wait till they leave and you shouldn't have much of a problem with the hawks. In the meantime, if they are squawking like that they are letting everything in the area know that there is something they don't like near their nest. Nick

Nice catch TJ! I had a blast with the bluegills on Sunday. Caught about 10 6" fish for the pan. They were delicious!

My buddy about bought one of those when we were in college. About $600 then if I remember right. Awesome weapon! "12 Guage Autoloader" "That's Italian, you can go pump or auto" " the .45 Longslide with Laser sighting"... "Phased plasma rifle in 40 watt range?" "hey just what you see pal"

Look for recently burnt areas, but not totally scorched and you should find lupine and lots of deer. Not talking the aspen jungles of regrowth, but areas that burnt through the underbrush. Take serious note of Roy's advice. His advice has helped me a ton over the last couple years. Thanks again Roy! Nick

Fantastic trip report TJ! Thanks for sharing. Looks like a great time was had by all. Nick

Fished at River and Tunnel yesterday afternoon. 4 of us fishing for 3 hours caught nothing. Went to Big Lake today. 4 of us fishing we caught two fish. We lost two at the boat. I caught a rainbow and a cutthroat, had another at the boat that got tangled in another line and got off. Not what I expected for sure. Real bummer when kids don't catch fish. Not sure if all the commotion in the boat messed us up or if we were using the wrong thing, or fishing in the wrong place. We hooked all 4 fish along the same 100 yards of shoreline using half a nightcrawler. I want a rematch! Nick

Donnie, Thank you for putting things in the appropriate perspective IMO. You are a great advocate! Nick

We're headed to Big Lake on Sunday! Can't wait! Looks like we timed this pretty good. Hey Pine Donkey, could you let me know what the fish were biting on? Did you fish from the shore or a boat? I think we are going to rent a boat. Any other pointers would be great! Nick

Pick a different unit!

I drew the same hunt. I killed a pronghorn in 13A with my rifle in 2010, but never hunted them with a bow. That was not the hardest hunt in the world but I am expecting a much greater challenge for this hunt. Maybe we can share notes as the scouting season goes along. I will probably be camping with a buddy who drew the hunt as well. PM me your email address and we'll chat. I'm going up there the weekend of April 21st and you can bet I'll have my binos with me looking for goats and bulls! Nick

How many points did you have for antelope? I had 3 points for antelope and 4 points for elk going into the draw. I drew a 13A rifle tag in 2010 and killed a decent goat. Last archery bull tag was in '06 and killed a raghorn. Nick

Unit 1 Archery Bull and Unit 1 Archery Pronghorn. Nick

Nice bird! Very cool that you had your family along!

Thanks Steve. Didn't take long to be reminded why I "retired". I really don't have much desire to fight about these issues anymore. Thought I might interject some facts and history to the discussion, but I can see that I'm not getting very far. Oh well. Good luck gentlemen, Nick

Townsend was put on the Board by personally applying, having credentials and support, and the Governor's choice. AZSFW had very little if anything to do with it, other than YVRGC being an affiliated organization at the time. How do you keep coming up with AZSFW having so much percieved power and influence?

Allen, Bill Horn, United States Sportsmen's Alliance. Nick