Xman2000

you put in for the entire amount 42.25 if you are not drawn they mail the check back to you with out cashing it, This is what has happened to me in the past

+1 one for lem brand grinder really it all comes down to how fast to want to process your meat bigger the HP the faster it can get done I have the small one and the big one and both will do a complete elk last year with my small one I did 3 mule deer from the Kaibab and did almost 2 deer in summer sausage and brats was able to get it all done in one weekend

Hey all just wanted to share are fishing excursion to Canyon Lake last Sat night .we have been planning this trip for a couple of weeks since some of our catfishing trips haven't bore much fruit, and not sure about any one else on here that does fishing float tubes in Arizona for Bass but I have for a couple of years now and man to me ,and now I can say us! Its a very comfy way to fish all night in 100+ deg weather in AZ. Any ways for the past couple of years when I have been going out tube fishing and Lil X sees me getting all my gear ready to go wet a line and is always a heart break seeing the tears roll off his face knowing his older brother and I are going tube fishing while he has to stay home with Mom . ( if you know my youngest he lives and breathes fishing its all he talks about ) so this time I told him you are old enough Son its time. He's been practicing in our pool with an old browning tube of mine that is now his. I tie him to my float tube with 40 foot line and put a life jacket on and drag him around the no motor area of the lake .So all day he was reminding me of the trip and when are we going to go well we finally got the around 12 and put all our gear together lil x his brother Jay and me.We met some friends in the parking lot that we fish with and started for the water got our gear snacks poles and tackle on the tubes put our fins on and headed for open water. Being it was Lil x's first time I decided to get away from every one else and head to a different spot than I would normally fish mainly to work out the logistics of pulling my kid ,setting up lures lures and teaching him how and wear to cast last thing I wanted was my 6 year old to hook a friend ,me or a fishing tube .So it seemed like a long night with out any action so Lil X switched to crawlers and started to target blue gills and it was not long before he could detect a gill on his line and set the hook all in the dark! It is really funny watching his instincts work naturally while fishing we got to just hang shoot the breeze and talk about the morning bite .He told me he loved listening to the frogs croaking and the crickets chirp and the birds flying from one spot to the next. Well he must have caught half a dozen or so gills and put em back because there were no size to them and finally the morning crest started to show and the fish started to bust in the area we were in I put on a popper and bang my first bass of the day so little X said to me Dad I want to catch one on top water I putt on a mini spook for him and he gave it a couple of twitches and bang a feisty little Bass nailed his lure it was a fist for him on top water and just to see the excitement in his eyes and the hi fives that's what it is all about. His brother was with his friends catching bass as well down the ways so it was just little X and I trying to get more explosions to happen but it soon stopped as fast as it started so we began to make are way back to our buddy and my son Jay when Lil X said hey I want to change back to crawlers I know there are Bass around that point so I pulled him next to me rigged him up and we started for the big point he was talking about .All the gang was around the corner and I wanted to get to my other kid because he had the cooler on his boat and I was dying for a drink of water since I was my kids trolling motor all night But lil X told me Dad slow down I want to hit this point I know there is a bass here stop so I stopped let him cast perfectly next to a stump he gave it a couple of gentle twitches and said I got a bite then he reared back with a giant hook set and said Dad its a toad!!! lol we sure enough the bass busted out of the water trying to shake the hook and poor Bass he was in my kids wheelhouse now he played that thing till the bass tapped out and he had everyone's attention in our party and on the shore I got close enough to him I was able to lip him for him and every one cheered He was happiest kids on the lake it was the big fish of the day 4 pounder!!!! like he likes to say so we took lot of pics and of course my boys smoked me again hope u enjoy are excusion!!!!

thanks Guys he all ramped up u can guess where will be this weekend lol

well comfort is really the most important to me and then next would be storage how much your boat can safely hold and how compact you want it to be as far as breaking it down and setting it up. like most things they have improved a great deal and you don't have to break the bank but I wouldn't go with the cheapest one u can find either. pontoons are ok but you sit up higher the seats are mostly hard plastic so long durations are painfull unless you have a cushion witch is ok the other thing about big pontoon is the frame is big and takes up a lot of room if these are not an issue and you have a pickup you should be good .I have gone through a few tubes and sold the ones that were not practical for my use ,I have really tweeked my set up and have gone with a a double bladder tube that sits in the water so when I'm fishing these southern lakes I can fish in trunks water shoes and flippers over them it even has a mesh storage in the back to hold all kinds of stuff and made rod holders that attach to the side of my tube it has a holder for my humming bird fish finder and even just completed building a live well for my fish( I got my mother in law so sew the mesh for me) :Dwhen I hit the rim lakes I put on waders . so you can really get as crazy as you want my tube only set me back I belive $200.00 give or take a few bucks. It's called a Cumberland real comfy, had great reviews before I got it and I can break it down and store it in a rubber maid storage container with all my fins , tackle, pump, ect make s it real easy to grab and go and I can put it in my car and not worry about it taking to much space here is a similar set up from tube fishing that I have. my buddy teamjesus on this site makes these rod holders for tubes in his spare time here is an example of are set up and some of the best night fishing we have had because on a tube your real stealth in the summer time even tough I have a Bass boat its a lot cooler in the water even at night .it is a total blast and just another form of Fishing for me if I can wet a line and catch a fish in AZ that's how I roll Cheers -X-

well little wanted me to add some more photos as of late lol he love this site too

Well had a chance to go to Tucson a few weeks back and since I stayed the weekend I got a chance to hit Lil ABners and man oh man still the best steak in Tucson

Man I love that picture of the Kudu always wanted one and the boons look like there hand puppets lol you could pull off your a venventriloquist on the side

I love it!! my list is growing cant wait to try em all now

Lol here is an other nice smallmouth he is proud of and loves going on plane to get to our spots lol

Saw the burban parked but didnt get a chance to say hi

love the bedded deer around him nice!

awesome I was worried about the keg because only women from my wifes work were Giving the thumbs up to that steakhouse figured it was a place only women like.and Lil' Abners glad to see is still alive and well next time I get to Tucson I have a mesquite Steak with my name on it LOL

All I can say is Dito to all the great comments hard work pays off. Awesome to see such an old bear in that unit!!!

Awesome to see a 12 year old take such an impressive tom the paws are huge next to him lol

The mass and those back crab claws are awesome congrats!!

ProwlerMan LOL

bowfishAz wish I would have seen your post before the kids and I went out last Sunday I believe I saw your boat at Windy hill headed to the boat ramp as we were going oput to fish.I some times tip the jigs with minows as the bite changes depending on the conditions and how many minowos have left

Hey just wanted to give a Rosey Report today we just got back put up the boat and finished cutting last bits of crappie and yellow bass fillets :PIt was a great windy and sunny day.My wife Nadia suggested we do some fishing this weekend and being the romantic I am made a date out of it Got my motherinlaw to watch are kids lastnight and got the boat prept and ready to roll so we could hit the road as soon as we woke up.That was all well and good but Nadia decided to sleep in a little and not wanting to rush her I waited till she woke up made her coffee and finally hit the road by 8:00ish got to Globe and we had to stop at walmart and stock up on goodies and last minute tackle, since we already blew the morning bite.After all that Id say we launched the boat at Windy hill around 11:00am and decided to try the Tonto end since all the rummors were it was clear and possible slabs there.Also the Tonto end I really don't know all that well and wanted to force myself to learn that end of the lake and hopefully find some new honey holes! To our surprise there was hardly anyone out lots of campers on the beach but all day only a handfull of boats that we saw and got to talk to every one had the same report nothing biteing and the water was really stained mixed with the wind and decided to use a little bit heavier jig heads than 1/16 with john deer green grubs and white power grubs hopeing they would cut through the stained water and about 20 min into a spot we started trolling Nadia hit her first bass,then another and another.got to admit she was kicking my butt the first good hour we were there. ( making me rethink all my tackle) I switched to drop shot robo worm (bluegill color) and bang my first dink bass of the day since I finally got the monkey off my back I was able to slip into cruise control and pull in 3 more bass. and then as we strated drifting deeper into the sticks weaving in and out Nadia started pegging decent sized yellow bass witch at that point i picked up my jigging pole and pulled a few myself from the sicks.Then it happend after the yellow school we found some crappies not huge but not small just good decent sized crappies .It was a great time to enjoy a good Cigar and work on exploring new territory.Alot of little Bass were far more aggressive than the crappie after a while and we finally moved because the bass would not let are jigs alone lol (what a problems to have ) after that we decided to work the shallows and edges and look for decent bass if we were going to finish off the day so back to drop shot and a cool looking bass nailed my line I called him bolt because on both sides of him his marking in the middle looked like a lightnig bolt (see him in the pic),I managed to get some better bites on cranks tried popper and buzz baits at the end but didnt get it to happen on top water. The best bass of the day was about a 3pounder and her undercarriage was really red and full of eggs still( back in the drink she went).Nadia had her fun and said it was time to pack it in so we got off the lake around 4:30ish and Stopped for dinner at Guayos's on the way back We ended up with 5 Crappies 6 yellows Nadia caught and released 6 Bass and I stopped counting after my 12th Bass .All in all it was a fantastic trip spending time with my best friend and better half.After taking the cappie and yellows home and explaining to my kids that they get to go next time had them help with the filletts and then off to bed. The cappie bite I belive is still not there yet but the Bass bite is good just not on fire.So just cant wait till the end of April early May then Holy Smokes should be awesome

Hey all as stated last week I told my kids last week I would take them to Rosie and have a boys trip out since it was just the Wife and I the week before last.All I can can say is my youngest Son who is 6 lilttle X talked about this trip all week and my 11 year old was pretty excited to go Bass fishing also .The reason is my 6 year old last year around March caught a 4pounder Bass while sight fishing he did erverything text book and asked begged and pleaded for me to take it to our friend and taxidermist Terry from T&A Taxidermy since his grandpa just dropped a fish off to him a week before .His reasoning was Dad I caught a fish just as big as Grandpa and he mounted it. So the softee that I am I caved and had it mounted ( who could resist shuch a cute funny claim)since my 11 year old wasn't there for that trip and ever since this is his quest to out do his younger brother. I will have to now do a seperate write up on little X's fish complete with pics on an other post. Any how this week was really tough we had pavers installed at our house and it turned out beautyfull they finished on Sat. The draw back was the grout from the new pavers and sand got in our pool and I was up till 1 in the morning backwashing and cleaning the water all the while my kids reminding me we have a fishing date in the morning so I told them you guys hit the sack and if you get up and prep the boat move all the stuff out of the way for me to get it out of the garage will hit the lake .Mom was kind enough to pack food and goodies the night before and all there tackle and rods were on the boat ready for action.Well my alarm came and went and before I knew it the kids were at my bed dragging me out with everything out of the way and even my clothes ready to go lol.I feel so blessed there that excited about getting outdoors they made it easy for me to hook up the boat hit the gas station and off we went. The bad part is we got a late start again!!!!! got to Windy hill about 11:30ish and finally launched as soon as we were about to get started there was a guy who lost his boat and asked if we could get it for him,he was by himself and the boat drifted while he was putting his trailer back in the water ,we had a chance to talk to lots of people at the ramp and every one told us that the crappie bite was on at the Tonto end but it was a Zoo (with good numbers of 20 to 30 crappie per boat ) with all the boats so we decided to try the salt end and check out old familair spots. We were surprised with the lake level and how much the lake changed but it gave us an chance to log all the structure that is out of the water now and put it on some maps we have.So it started out pretty slow till my oldest Jay started to wacky worm and he pegged the first Bass of the day .Needless to say he was stoked and that broke the ice for us since brother had one my littlest one had me put a wacky worm on for him too and bang!!! He pulled one in and now the war was on who was going to catch the most bass This was and awesome time with my boys and we had one funny episoded after an other on the boat this one was really my fault not makeing sure the proper life vest were on the boat. You see my live well valve went out and I replaced it also this weekend along with new LED lights for night time running light so I took alot of thing s off the boat and then put things back on or so I thought when I was about to leave the house we ran down the check list and said ok Jay did you make sure we have all the life vest on he said oh yes,bait, tackle ,snacks ,food and even your cigars dad .so I said man they are awesome but I didnt check so when I got the kids to the ramp we find out the right number of vest are there but only adult sized one were there so I have the ones that you can were all daywith the c02 cartrige and put it on my 6 year old explained to him how it worked and not to pull the string (so quick short lession) well somewhere in the trip he decieds to count how many bass he had VS> his big brother he opens up the livewell and is looking at the fish little did he realized the cord to the c02 got tocked in the cracks of the boat seat with his knee and when he went to close the lid of the live well and step away we herd this load hissing niose and poof the life vest inflated and blew up like a huge Daisey flower plus we was stuck in the seat and could not get free .He freaked and I had to clam him down and get him free from the blow up vest put an other one on as you can see from the pics over sized to max .No one said a word for like 10 min then Jay burst in to laughter for like 30 min we all had a laughed over it but I promised lil X I would not post the vest pics lol. Jay really did awesome this trip he wanted to get more practice learning the foot trolling motor and flipping witch get me time to work on all my new and old tackle reorganize clean up ect and also tie and retie knots for the kids plus they were makeing me look bad I hadnt pulled in a single fish till dusk and since we got there late they made me stay till the absolute last min we had a blast and was a complete blessing to be out there with my kids all fish were caught on wacky worming in the shallows and 15 feet of water the toatal for the day was 11 bass for the day( its all we were targeting since some one wants one on the wall).Jay came in first with 5 bass for the day followed by Lil X with 4 bass and Dad way behind with 2 All in all it was an awesome time and was really cool to see that a number of these fish had been caught before plenty of hook marks in the mouth .Good to see catch and release is alive and well at Rosie. After we made sure my livewell was working properly at the end of the day we did the kids favorite parts the photo shoot and then let em go back home in the water,and the good new was I didnt have to worry about cleaning fish LOL and the kids iceing on the cake was having a late night dinner at Jerrys on the way home from Globe not to mention Mom would have my hide if they came home with out any supper.

Ha ha thanks every one the kids were so happy thats all they talked about replaying the day while they had brealfast/dinner that night it was there choice on a well deserved day and place to eat.And they were completely out before we hit miami lol

The lakes not bad if you can stand the wind forgot to mention the water temp was 67 and now my kids are demanding I take them this weekend so might have a better report soon

Toatal toad!!!! awesome and congrats You have any more pics of him the mass is spectacular!!

Well I can only thank the good Lord for his tender Mercys and Favor!!!!! My wife and I drew #3001 september hunt in unit 1, 2b ,2c .The way I found out is I wanted to get the boat ready for the spawn so I went to Game and Fish today to renew my boat tags after getting off work and asked the sweet lady at the counter say? when do you think the elk results will be out she frowned a little and said we are hoping Monday or Tuesday after Easter.She said many people have come in saying there credit cards have been hit and I told her I always pay by money order and play it safe so I guess I"ll have to wait till Monday. She looked at me and said is this information on your boat regestration correct I said yes. So she looked up something on the computer smiled then wrote my hunt number down on a piece of paper #3001 and said congrats and Happy Easter!!!!!! when I looked up in the regs to make sure I realized it was our first choice in September!!! My wife had been putting in by herself and racking up points for about 7 years now and I said its time we put in together this year! I am so looking forward to spending this time with my my better half and best friend this year chaseing those heavy horned monsters!!!!! Any one else know for sure what unit?and congrats to all that are getting drawn on Monday!!!LOL!!

Ha ha Thanks TJ i love it nothing gets by you! We are very excited about this oppertunity!And now that most lakes are on fire all I can think about is Elk so I belive the Bass will be safe this season But possibly the trout might be in danger since it looks like I will be hitting unit 1 alot this season. Will try and sneek some sideline trout trips as well .Havent been to the plant since Dec I belive but was looking hard for your Chevy with that famous CW Sticker on it .We should hook up and go trout fishing In unit one between now and Sept and bring your glass those trout are hard to spot