Coach

I've got the days off, the trailer is packed up and we're headed to San Carlos Lake for some Spring Break fishing. I've been down twice this year and have yet to get into a good bite. This last cold front won't do us any favors, but the crappie should be heading to the shore to spawn. When the bite is slow, we'll chum carp or do some bow-fishing. I'll hopefully be posting some pictures of the boys catching or shooting whatever we can find down there over the next few days. Wish us luck!

Man, now you have me second-guessing. We're headed down Wednesday for 5 days on the lake, but have been torn between Roosevelt and San Carlos. I really want the boys to get on a good crappie bite, and when it's hot on San Carlos, it's really hot, and this weekend should be the time they hit the banks. Water is getting into the mid-to-high 60s. But with a bass-bite like that, maybe Roosevelt is the place to be. Any way you slice it, we're gonna have pictures of some crappie, bass, cats, and some arrowed carp just to keep it fun. Thanks for the late update!

Absolutely love the video, but one thing I would have liked, would be less "accelerated" footage, especially in the beginning. That is some great footage, so why double the speed? Great bulls on camera, there's no reason to rush it. Far from bashing, but I would rather see all those great bulls in "real time". Just my opinion. Great job, but slow it down.

Nice video, Jed. I think I know those genetics!

If that were California, Washington or Oregon, I wouldn't be the slightest bit surprised, but Utah??? I would have thought Utah was a lot more politically conservative than that.

That's Kilmers Yup, my bad. Hey, despite what the timestamp on that post says, it was made around 4 something AM this morning, and I hadn't had my coffee. The fishing was way slower today than it has been. Most poeople I talked to were catching single digits. We bailed about noon and started shooting carp to salvage the day. Might try again Sunday before the next front rolls in.

Yes, that's what I've heard too about the minnows, which is really good news because the only other place I know that sells them is Kippler's (sp?) between Globe and Roosevelt.

Nice - can't wait to get down there! Thanks for the report. DesertBull, as far as I know, there are no boat rentals there. The marina at Soda Canyon was closed last year, but from what I hear, they're open this year, but it's not a very sophisticated operation.

Happy Birthday, Scott!

Wow that looks and sounds amazing!

That is super cool! Thanks for posting the pix.

Wow - that is really cool footage. I just can't get enough of those piggies.

Yes, Optic Nerd, I was typing another response when you added this, but that's basically what the prosecutor said. Not the road hunting part - there was never any mention of road-hunting or hunting from a vehicle at all by the officer or the prosecutor.

Joey, I can certainly understand your skepticism. I couldn't believe it either, nor could any of the people I hunt with. All I can tell you that it is absolutely true. The warden who wrote the ticket used to frequent this site, maybe still does. I would invite him to chime in as well. I fully expected that when I gave my statement to the prosecutor, and she verified that it and warden's version of the events matched, she would toss it out complelely. I even printed out the definition of "Take" from the G&F rules, and pointed out that with the broadest interpretation of that definition, which includes the word "persuit" I didn't see how they say that I was actively persuing game, let alone "taking" game. Her response was, (parphrasing) the general rule, is that you are hunting, just by being out there with the intention to hunt. Her reasoning was that if you happened to see an animal you could/would persue it. You could tell she really didn't want to persue the case after knowing the full story, but my sense was she felt obligated to. I might have been able to fight it in court and win, but the stakes would have been a lot higher, i.e. losing hunting rights for 5 years, big fines. And if I couldn't convince her that I wasn't in violation, how could I be sure I could convince a jury? One last thing - I still have the incident report, and the way it is written leaves out key components. Here is an example (this is verbatim except for the officer's name) from the last paragraph: "Officer XXXX observed Jones in the field with his compount bow, arrows and broadheads. Field photographs were taken of Jones holding his archery equipment." What this doesn't say is that I was in my vehicle - driving when he "observed" me, or that after our conversation he asked me to get out of the vehicle and hold my bow so he could take a picture of it, which I did, in an effort to be as compliant as possible. When asked about it by the prosecuter he verified that I was in fact driving at the time, just didn't put that in the report.

Sick to say the least. If I ever draw a sheep tag, there aren't many people I would trust enough. My first call would be Gino. I'd also trust the Koury brothers.

Thanks for the update Brian.

That is just awesome. Showing restraint with a bull like that just outside of her comfortable range epitomizes putting ethics above legality. Great video BTW.

I'll probably be camped out at Cholla on Roosevelt the week starting the 21st for my kids' Spring Break. If any other CWT'ers are gonna be on the lake that week for bass or crappie, let's hook up.

Yeah, the vid from San Carlos that Chef talked about was a similar hit. At first you're just thinking, wow, that's way far forward, but that bull, a HUGE bull, literally walks to the edge of the clearing with blood spewing out like a faucet, and dies. I had no idea there was such a huge aterty on the front side of the shoulder, but clearly, there is. Not my first choice shot, but these guys did well with it. I agree, great vid, awesome bow-kill.

You truly are amazing with a camera, Doug. As my wife and I were sharing breakfast this morning I was perusing your many photo journals. We love the slots in Southern Utah, but we've yet to do Antelope Canyon or the waves. Two summers ago we did "Peek-a-boo" in Coytote Gulch and another connecting slot, "Spooky". They were a blast, but given it was over July 4th weekend, it was hot as all getup in the gulch. This year we are determined to hike "The Wave" and whatever other slots we can hit between Page and Kanab. If you know of any other really cool hikes that are off the beaten path in that area, I would love to hear about them. We normally try to hike and camp our way up to Panguitch Lake, and last year were bound and determined to get up to Fish Lake, but found ourselves heading back to Lake Powell for the final days of our annual vacation. Here's a picture of the "elusive" tiger trout from Panguitch Lake, 2010. The guy we've rented boats from for the past 2 years has yet to hook one. And here are a couple of Kanarra Creek, just outside of Cedar City. If you haven't done this hike, it is a MUST. Just bring old shoes. You will get wet from head-to-toe. Sure didn't mean to hijack your thread...Guys if you haven't seen Doug's photo gallery at you have to check it out. The photos are fantastic, and as always, Doug brings some of our most treasured landscapes out in a way that only he can.

I love the Giants Salt and Pepper. I'll have to try the Spitz cracked pepper.

The .300 WSM is a very good platform, IMO. The .308 bullet is good at bucking the wind, etc. Lots of bullet options, lots of reloading information and it's a non-belted cartridge which is a good fit for someone just getting started with reloading. There are a lot of good powders out there for that offering too. You just have to find the right combination for your rifle. I think you're on the right track, as long as you have time to practice hard are willing to experiment a lot with bullets, cases, primers and powder.

+1, and +1 for Gino's comment. Archery hunters using salt/corn/alfalfa aren't the problem. Over-allocating tags is the problem.

FFD, I agree, but that's not how it's playing out. Pure and simple, a handful of tags will go to residents that may have previously been allocated to out of state hunters, but not many. The out-of-state, non-guided hunters will be totally cut out of the mix. I have no problem with any state trying to allocate more tags to residents. For many of us, hunting is a big factor on where and how we choose to live. I really get how NM hunters see this as a good thing. As a guy living right across the border, who loves NM, was born in NM, and appreciates the opportunity to hunt in NM, the way this is worderd means, either I hire a guide or buy a land-owner permit, or "kiss off" and stay out of NM. It's really that simple. I'm not about to hire a guide to hunt NM, and would rather eat a week old dead rat than buy a land-owner tag. So, now I'm in the 2% who might just be lucky enough to draw a tag? Not to mention that the Catron Boys have just about wiped out anything worth crossing the border for by poaching everthing they see for the last 20 years. Sad to say it, but, you guys can have it. If your G&F dept was more interested in preserving what you have than catoring to the guides and ranchers that literally own your resources, NM would be a world-class hunting destination, as it should be. Unfortunately, too many are too short-sighted to see that.

If NM says the only way I can hunt there is via landowner tags or hiring a guide, I guess that just means I won't ever get to hunt there again. Thanks.