Coach

Awesome - can't wait to see what his horns look like this year with your tag wrapped around one!

I'm helping out a good friend on a 3A/3C archery bull hunt. I'm not a licensed guide and I don't get anything from helping out a buddy besides the extra experience in the field and the hopes that I can be a part in helping a VERY deserving guy get a good bull. So, my main "job" lately has been to sit up high and glass certain areas and let my buddies know if anything good is going on in a particular area. Like most of AZ, this basin has a few 2-track roads. I don't stand to gain a penny if my friend kills, but I'm out there on work days at 4:30 AM listening for bugles and looking for good bulls. What I don't understand is how many "Elmer Fudd" types show up 20 minutes after first light driving through prime elk locations. Just when the area starts getting fired up, some numb-nutz inevitably shows up driving and calling - usually without even turning off the engine. It's crazy. I've seen some really AMAZING bulls from my vantage point prior to the season and almost always find a few 340-350 class bulls looking to clean up any straggling cows. This year, the great bulls are completey gone and the satellites are heading for the thick stuff before shooting light, because so many guys wait until the last minute to drive through, shooting bugles out the truck window. Anyone else seeing this? How can we get the word out that you need to be out of the truck and getting in position AT LEAST a half hour BEFORE light - not cruising the backroads hoping for a window-shot at 6:00 AM? It's infuriating!

It's the 4 cylinder 22RE (EFI). Thanks for looking.

AZ Antlerhead - thanks for the response. But, being a local and all, where in 3A/3C can you find a roadless "primitive area" 5-10 miles from any roads? I'm not trying to be a smart-alec. I'd love to find a place like that in this area. We all know it's criss-crossed with roads, some major and some minor, but in reality, I think you would have a heck of a time finding an area in those units that doesn't have at least one fire road going right through the middle of it. I agree with the idea behind your response - getting away from the roads and digging in is what elk hunting is all about. But let's face the facts - anywhere along the rim and the burn beyond into the grasslands is a labyrinth of fire roads, ranch roads and two-tracks that any of us can legally drive on any time we want. I guess I just don't understand the mentality of guys who wait years for a tag then drive around with the heater on jamming tunes and throwing out the occasional bugle, like some 400" bull is going to come sit in the bed asking for headphones to hear the latest country hit. The guy I'm trying to help out has been behind more true AZ throphy bulls than he'd ever admit. He's one of the real "elk gurus" of this state and has some extremely hard-core help at his back - simply because if anyone deserves a great elk harvest due to the decades of helping others filll their tags, he does. OK, sidetracked. The point is, guys, if you're in the field unsure of your next move, please - please, don't just start driving around the backroads. And if you know someone who is inexperienced, try to let them know that giving up and hitting the two-tracks through prime habitat just won't get them what they're looking for, and more importantly might hose someone's setup who was out there long before you ate breakfast. Main roads are obviously going to be full of "plan-B" guys getting from place-to-place because their first setup didn't pan out. That's a given. But for crying out loud, smaller back-roads that happen to skirt or bypass burns and cienegas are not the place to be driving around at first light. With some luck, I'll post pix of a nice bull for this guy. He's already passed on several bulls that make most elk hunters drool. He's a great guy and gives a TON to his community and fellow hunters. Just venting about the road-situation. We'll get 'er done. Great luck to all on their Fall hunts!

Thanks for the update Brian. I've always been a Spring fisherman, but obviously you've found out how to make the best of the Summer and Fall months too - hat's off to you bro.

bump

Welcome Ed. I bought my first bow from a pawn shop and second from a garage sale When I finally started to figure out what was going on, I went to Bear Mtn. and was treated very well by your guys. They were very knowledgeable and helped me out a lot. I hope you get a lot of new CWT traffic by sponsoring Amanda's awesome site.

I'm so glad to hear that he is OK. Godspeed to his family. I can only imagine how relieved they are that he is safe.

PM sent. If you need my wife's email address I'll send it to you

Nicely done! Congrats on a really nice bull!

Absolutely sickening.

One last tidbit while you are making your decision. I have swaro 10x42 slc and 15x56 slc binocs. Plus I have the Pentax PF80 ED, and have owned the Swaro STS 80, Nikon Fieldscope 25-75x82 and my dad has the swaro STS 65 that I have used on several hunts. There are a "rare few" hunters that actually glass through a spotting scope for extended periods. Looking through one eye for hours is BRUTAL - I've done it. Most of us glass with binocs and the scope is a means only to get a little more detail. I've personally lugged too much glass and too much tripod over too many miles to find a spotter as a "necessary" piece of equipment. I now use my PF80-ED for rifle sighting in (bullet holes as you mentioned) and digiscoping. When it's time for a hunt I have found spotting scopes to be less useful than the added bulk and weight warrants. To really get the advantage that a spotting scope offers over high power binocs, you have to go full size. That means a 77+ scope and a full sized tripod. Add 12 pounds to your pack right off the bat. No day packs or "hefty" fannies - you'll need a pack that can handle 6 pounds of spotting scope and another 5-6 pounds of tripod. That's just too much in my opinion. The smaller, 65 mm scopes don't offer anything substantial over a quality pair of high powered binocs like the swaro 15x56, or even the Minox and Vortex 15 power binos - and are a heck of a lot harder to sit behind for extended periods because you are closing one eye and glassing through the other. The human brain (and eye) just doesn't like to do that for long periods of time. Just for comparison, I can stick my 15x56's in the back pocket of a Cabela's hybrid 2-in-1 pack - which is just a good fanny pack with shoulder straps, outfitted with the Jim White tripod adapter, set them on a Slik Sprint Pro tripod that straps right under my fanny pack with a 1lb stool. The tripod is under 2 pounds and is plenty stable for that weight of binocular. In all honesty, more often than not, I don't even carry the big 15's. I just carry my swaro 10x42s around my neck with the afore mentioned Jim White adapter and use them on-the-fly and then as long-range, long-day glassing binos on the Slik Sprint Pro tripod. So you get the binocs on a good harness at under 3 pounds on your shoulders and ready for use, the tripod at under 2 pounds and a 3 legged stool strapped under the fanny pack. I've found this ultra-lightweight setup more than sufficient to get a VERY good idea of whether a buck is worth pursuing or not. Now, a high dollar outfitter that has to be able to judge the difference between a 110" and 117" buck - under client pressure - from a mile away might need that extra magnification. But in typical hunting use, I've found that great binoculars that can sit on a light-weight tripod are all I need to locate deer and get a VERY good idea of their rack size. To put it simply, mobility and simplicity trump magnification in my experience. Small spotting scopes buy you nothing over good binoculars and large spotting scopes require too much tripod to be viable in the field. A Swarovski ATS80 is going to put you out over 2 grand plus the 12 pounds of extra weight, which will more likely than not sit in the back of your truck and will NOT make it easier to locate deer or glass for extended periods. If you want the very best "coues setup", in my humble opinion, but based on looking through pretty much everything out there, go light. Forget the spotter and get a GREAT pair of binoculars - Swarovski, Lieca, Zeiss, either 10x or 15x that you can sit behind ALL DAY. Two comfortable eyes behind clear glass and the right, patient mind set will find you locating and judging deer better than any spotting scope can. I know I'm probably cutting against the grain here, but if you've already got great binoculars, I think investing in a tack-driving rifle is more important than a spotting scope. You can find and judge the buck without a spotting scope, but if you can't make the shot when it counts, all those pricey optics become nothing more than pack-weight on the way out. Once again - just my opinion. Good luck in your selection.

Another one you might look at if you are thinking about a full sized spotter is the Pentax PF80 ED. It's been the "Reference Standard" in Better View Desired (birding optics site) for years. http://www.betterviewdesired.com/Pentax-80...tting-Scope.php I bought one of these from Doug at Camera Land and it is a very good scope. It's also significantly less expensive than full sized Swaro, Leica and Zeiss ED/HD glass. Of course, it's big. I don't carry it very far. Primarily I'm learning to use it for digiscoping.

Great pictures Brian! Thanks for posting them.

While those are both good scopes, the most comfortable spotter I've looked through is the Leica Televid 77. I guess it comes down to personal preference. The micro-focus IS a very useful feature BTW.

WOW! What an amazing buck!

Congrats to Angie! That is awesome!

Great looking buck! Congratulations!

What an incredible fall archery season this has been! Just last week I was fortunate enough to take my first ever archery deer, which was a great coues buck. Here I was also fortunate enough this year to draw a Navajo reservation archery hunt. On the heels of my previous AZ success, I had high hopes. Unfortunately, the Navajo was really hit hard this year between light snow and light summer rains, so hunting was tough. I’ve been dreaming about this hunt for a long time and I knew there were good bucks around. I got to the traditional camping spot and was met by a buddy from Texas shortly after arriving the day before the season opened. We set up the “big camp” for the rest of our party – 5 tag holders in all – and set out. This was obviously going to be an entirely different hunt from what we were expecting. There was little grass and the areas that had always been productive in the past were dead compared to previous years. We were seeing lots of does and small bucks but no mature bucks. After covering hundreds of miles – literally - and shifting our tactics a bit, we finally hit on a bachelor group of good bucks. I was able to get a 55 yard shot on a good bedded buck and, frankly due to luck, made a vital hit. After years of archery hunting, losing a good buck a couple years back and passing many small bucks, my dream of a “perfect season” are finally coming true. Here are some pix of my Navajo buck. Next stop is a NM Muzzleloader coues hunt in late October that has the potential to turn a great Fall into a phenomenal Fall. Already this year my two oldest boys took their first turkeys, and my middle son took his first Javalina. I got my first and second archery deer – a great coues and a very nice muley. I thank God every day to be living out West and living the dream of being able to hunt, fish and live in the last true frontier. I’m also very lucky to have fantastic, enthusiastic hunting buddies and an extremely supportive wife to share these very best of times with – not to mention the extended CWT family to share each new hunting adventure with. God bless, Jason

Wow! What a story! One in a million for sure - great job and thanks for sharing it with us.

Congratulations! What a great looking buck!

Here are some more pictures from the hunt. It was amazing. Every morning, we woke to this... Big Bry glassing.. Chad's Buck Bryan got a good buck late in the evening, so he backed off and waited until morning. During the night, a bear found his buck and buried it. Here's Bryan with his buck.

So my buddy and I had this tank all scoped out - obviously, it's AZ, it's dry and hot so any water hole is gonna have competition. I've had a camera on the tank for weeks with some OK bucks on it, but one, in particular had me going - here's a picture on the hoof. I took off Thursday and Friday to set up my blind and sit the tank. I had considered getting my blind out there earlier but I was afraid it would get stolen - who wants to go find their $400 blind missing? So, Thursday morning I go to set up my blind, but there's already one set up. Bummer for sure, so I leave the guy a note letting him know I am planning to hunt there also, we should coordinate. Let's face it, he took the risk I wasn't willing to take by setting up a little earlier than me. The guy ended up being cool and thanking me for backing out, and they were plannig to sit it through Monday. Friday night he leaves me a voice mail - turns out his buddy sitting with him got the buck in the picture. I'm not 100% it's the same buck, but the way he described it, I'm pretty positive. He's pretty easy to identify. Anyway, dang, I feel that backing out when I saw their blind was the "right thing" to do, but I have to admit, I was hoping they'd take a different buck and I'd eventually get a crack at the big boy after the opening weekend rush subsided. Hopefully, karma will catch up and I'll see a silver lining to all this, but for now all I could do is congratulate the other hunters and swallow that jagged pill. What would you guys have done in the same situation?

Ditto - they are great. The only trouble is other "mingling" hunters. They really elevate into a whole sport of their own. Nothing better than going to check your cam and see what new developments are awaiting. On the other hand, there is nothing worse than getting out there to find one jacked by some low-life. One thing they will help with - for fear of getting it stolen, you'll find more remote country - get away from the obvious and locate those places few people will be willing to travel. Good luck to you. I highly recommend the DCL Covert cameras. They are amazing!

Congratulations Tyler! That is a fantastic buck!!! I hope you don't mind, but I embedded the picture here so it's easier to see without following an external link. What a great buck! Thanks for sharing with us.