Coach

Anyone watching the Jackets vs. Seton Catholic? Show Low advanced today against Florence - looks like a repeat for State Champs, Jackets vs. Cougars. Unless Seton changes thing dramatically in the 2nd half it's another small town rivalry for the State title. Man, does it get any better than this???

Very nice indeed! That is one world class buck. I hope the hunter really gets what a truly rare giant he has. Congrats to the hunter and guides. What a magnificent coues buck!

Wow, very nice bucks indeed! Especially for left over tags. Great job.

Wow SirRoyal - love the mass! LOL azslim - you're right. I've seen these munching down on prickly pear like it was lettuce. Even cholla, with their whole face covered in it...I think they've evolved to not have nerve endings above the neck.

3B is practically in my back yard...Man that's a tough one. There are lots of elk in 3B, and at times there are some very good elk in 3B. I always seem to keep it on tap as a second choice, but it's not what I would consider a "highly desired" unit, by AZ standards. I'll put it this way, I know a few guys that are locals and grew up here. They know the unit like the back of their hand and are very good hunters. Some of them have had the early tag multiple times, but I haven't seen them take very big bulls. I drew it a long time ago and ate my tag, but that was primarily because I had just started bow hunting knew less than nothing - I was utterly clueless. On the other hand, it was 3B that just a couple of years ago had so much controversy about the hunter who had the "governor's tag" or auction tag or whatever they're calling it now. He paid a lot of money for the statewide year-round tag, hired a very well respected guide that specializes in other areas, and they ended up shooting a very big bull in 3B. Shot too close to houses it was alleged (and I *think* proven in court). Point being, there are some real toads in there some years. I just think on average, smaller bulls than surrounding units like 1 and 3C.

I've got the game on DVR, haven't watched it yet, but when I read about it this morning I got a big smile. Not so much that the Cat's won or the devils lost, but because of all the smug devil fans and their borderline sociopathic hatred for the UofA. I mentioned on another thread, I graduated from UofA, but I actually root for ASU when they're playing anyone but UofA. I would much rather see any AZ team come out on top, especially against USC, CA, and Oregon. Call it state pride, whatever. My kids could end up at any of theses schools. The strange thing is you never hear that from ASU fans - they cheer when UofA loses no matter who they lose to. That seems a little strange to me. What makes someone get so riled up about that rivalry? What's even stranger, a good chunk of the rabid ASU superfan cat haters didn't even go to ASU... go figure.

BTW, the game is on live now at http://www.aia365.com/. We're watching it on the big screen through the PS3. Freaking awesome.

Wish I could - that's a sweet truck.

I tend to agree with DesertBull on this one. Savage actions aren't as good as Rem, but their triggers and barrels are very good. I own a couple Savages and no Remingtons. I think Savage is way underrated, in general. To the original question, Boyd's makes some really good stocks for Savage rifles. You might look at a laminate thumbhole stock, put an inexpensive, but quality (Vortex) scope on it and prove that you can have a comfortable sub-moa rifle that costs well under a grand to set up.

Funny question for you - did you find a lot of body fat on your deer? The reason I ask is, my NM buck had a huge layer of fat on his back-end especially. I always am amazed with coues deer in relatively dry conditions without a lot of obvious forage, always seem to be very well fed and even have built up fat reserves like that. You would think a little desert deer like that would have little to no fat... Anyway, not trying to derail your thread - just found that kind of interesting. Glad you guys are enjoying the "fruits" of the hunt. We ate up all our backstrap right away and it was phenomenal. Gave some bottom round to my inlaws and they were floored by how good it was. They cut it thin and wrapped it with bacon. Hard to go wrong with that approach.

Well, I graduated from UofA so I should be all "go cats..." Their sports teams are usually disappointing. Used to like watching them at basketball but now it just looks like bunch of thugs and gansters. I think I'll watch the ice-cats play some hockey and buy a big old beer... Since the only game I've seen UofA play this year looked more chaotic and clueless than usual, if I had to put money on the game, it would be on ASU, but I sure would love to see UofA win just to shut up the crass devil fans. Now that would put a smile on my face.

I'm thinking that re-instating the online application process with a new vendor (which I hate to say, seems a little buggy so far) combined with paper apps is causing more than a little chaos. I'm anxiously awaiting the results to see what my boys drew. My youngest might get his first tag. He wants so much to finally go hunting like his big brothers...fingers crossed.

LOL - those are halarious and spot on. Thanks for a good belly laugh!

Nice job Brian! That's too cool. Shooting a yote with a bow is a pretty big accomplishment in my opinion. Good luck on the rest of your elk hunt, and give me a call when it comes time to pack him out.

Nice job! That's a great shot too! Congrats.

Nice! Now that's a great practical joke!

The last time I took game to a local butcher I lost all of it to foul tasting garbage that I paid a lot of money for. Since that day, every single ounce of meat consumed in my house is processed by me. I can't do summer sausage, because I don't have a big enough smoker to hang the chubs, so the guy I use gets nothing but cleanly cut meat I have processed. Everything else is 100% self processed from field to table. It takes me about 8-10 hours for an elk and maybe 6 for a deer, but when I'm done, I know my wife won't chomp down on a pine needle, hair or even a leftover chunk of sinew or fat. Game animals aren't like beef - their fat and sinew does not break down and flavor the meat like beef. Any fat or sinew will give game meat an undesirable "gamey" flavor. I've got a family of picky eaters when it comes to game meat, and I can't stand game going to waste. Out of necessity, I have found that proper care in the field and meticulous care in the boning and packaging of game meat lead to unbeatable table fare, and the slightest overlooked detail leads to wasted game meat. There is no way I could pay anyone worth their time to process my game the way I do. But, when it comes down to it, every bit of every animal my family kills gets eaten, either as jerky or steaks. And we've had some Javelina steaks that I would defy anyone to discern from quality deer or antelope backstrap. I recently gave some coues bottom round to my father-in-law, who hasn't been able to hunt for years and wanted some venison. He raved about how tasty that meat was - and the conditions to get that meat out of the field and home were not favorable. If you like hunting, and you enjoy sharing the fruits of your hunt, you really owe it to yourself to learn how to process the meat yourself. There is definately an art to it, but once you get it, you will never take your meat to a processor again.

I'm really glad your situation is turning around. We obviously don't know eachother, but your situation really resonated with me. Your dedication to family and adherence to what is really important is admirable. My best hopes and wishes go out to you and your family.

As a follow-up, I wouldn't pay one dollar for a deer that someone else killed - no matter the score. I don't understand the mentality of people who buy and display mounts that they didn't kill.

For real??? Bah HaHaHa.... Yeah that is what I'd do... Pick up a world class coues head, pay to have it mounted, and then give it to one of potentially many hunters that were after this deer but were beaten to the punch by Mother Nature?? What- tever... LOL. Would love to see this buck in a world class collection... hope he gets a mint for it, but if I'da found it it would never leave my house unless it was replaced by a replica mount.... Good luck with the sale. +1!!! Seems there is a story behind this magnificent buck. Anyone care to fill in the lost details? With all due respect, Gino, "beaten to the punch by Mother Nature"...what does that mean? Lots of guys get a good deer patterned every year. Sometimes the guy who is there when he slips up isn't the guy who has dedicated his life to following that buck. I remember something similar with a buck taken in Utah last year - maybe the biggest velvet muley I have ever seen, taken by a guy who is affiliated with some of the Western rags. Lots of internet bashing and stories of how he was taken out from under his cousin...blah blah blah... As it turned out, the hunter with the perseverance to stay with that buck through storms and other obstacles ended up being the one hunter with a shot opportunity when it finally arose. I’ll be the first to admit that I don’t know the full story behind this buck. But when the rubber hits the road, the guy who killed it was in the right place at the right time and made the shot. For me, that’s enough to give kudos to the lucky hunter.

What would be $10?? I got hit for $18, turkey is all I put in for. So it's either 5a or 5b. I'm assuming it is for a youth turkey tag, since those are $17.50 and I paid the $7.50 at the time of application. We'll see...shouln't be long now.

Seems most like the angled eye-piece for longer viewing times (birders, gun range, etc). Less fatigue on the neck. The straight configuration, IMO is easier to line up quickly and find what you are looking at through binos. This is one of those things that comes down to personal preference.

Awesome story - great write up too! Congrats on a very nice first buck, and the memories you two will have.

Looks like binocular suspension has come a long way. It used to be a narrow strip of nylon around your neck, then, some optics makers like Swaro started providing neoprene neck straps. Next, Crooked Horn came in and totally changed things with thier system, which I've been using for years now. But I know there are a lot of better systems out there now than what I'm using. Mine flop around, stretch out, have to be turned upside down when stalking... So I've been looking at a couple of newer designs. The S4 gear lockdown and Badlands Bino case both look good. What have you guys found that works well?

I had a hit for $10