Coach

Nicely done, Dewey - where's the HuntScout hat? LOL. That is one cool looking bull and to get it done with a longbow - looks like maybe a self bow - just outstanding!

It's hard to find the starting point for this topic - I guess since I was a kid growing up in the cold war era, being taught by our government that in the case of imminent thermo-nuclear war between Russian and the United States, that I should hide under my desk with my head between my knees when hydrogen bombs start igniting, hitting all major military facilities from well known air force bases to wheat fields known to hide missiles in the grain silos of the Midwest. As I got older, I was fortunate to get a decent education and fly across the country for business, weekly. And on every flight, I was informed that in a case of emergency, I was to once again duck under the chair in front of me with my head between my knees. Just weeks ago, the long-dormant cold war era feelings came back as our Commander In Chief, President Obama almost started the third wold war due to his arrogance and incompetency with the situation in Syria. Now, we are yet the unwitting subjects in the constant struggle of the elitists who rule not just our country but all of "civilized humanity". The "Affordable Health Care Act", also known as Obamacare is the new probervial line in the sand. They control the media, through ownership, they control public schools because all non-private schools are under the watchful eye the federal Department of Education. They own the monetary system, deciding day-to-day whether your dollars still have value, the currency rates, the value of hard currency like silver and gold. They own the forests under the Department of Agriculture, and can tell us under what circumstances, and under what fees we can access our land. Now they own our doctors, our hospitals, our insurers, our entire health care industry - but gave themselves the ability to "opt out" of what is good enough for us, but not good enough for them. I'm not an old guy or a young guy, just somewhere in the middle with enough foresight to see that our country is at a major crossroads. We clearly can't keep raising the debt ceiling - we don't have the intellectual capital to compete on a global scale, and living off the fruits of the generation before us has limits - limits we are currently over-extending. We are a bus heading off the cliff, and instead of hitting the brakes, we're gunning it to full throttle. I don't want to be "Thelma and Louis" crashing into the ground. Guys and gals, with love, start stocking up now - start with the essentials, BBB, Beans bullets and band-aids - excuse the cliché. You HAVE to have water, you then need food, and you have to have the means to protect those things vital to your family. Maybe I'm full of crap, and just another tinfoil hat conspririst. But think about this - 18 months ago, anyone could buy bricks of .22 ammo for around $20. I've seen bricks go for over $160 locally. M855 green tip, 7.62 x 39 mm prices are at all-time highs. Food storage goods at walmart are selling out as fast as they get can get stocked. You guys are all hunters, so I'll end this rant with one closing thought. Every time I get close to an animal I'm hunting, I avoid looking at its eyes, because I believe the can actually "sense" the predator closing in on them. I feel like the prey in this case because I can sense the predator closing in.

That is awesome! Huge congrats to Kyle on a stud buck! Now that's how to get started! And great job Tom and TAM getting that young man out there.

FC, with all due respect, nobody is puting words in anyone else's mouth. All I want is for every father out there, every "coach" to think about the role they play. I would like to get into this dicussion futher, but I'd like to ask that you look at the society of elephants. I took a good friend down to the black river on a fishing trip. While buying our tags, we couldn't help but notice the rewards put out by the tribe (WMFAT) to combat and capture the people responsibe for recent acts of arson. This friend related to me a conversation about, of all things, elephants. I'll do my best to paraphrase. In an area in Africa, where poaching was rampant, and all old matriarchal bull elephants were killed for thier ivory, a new and unexpected occurrence appeared. Young Rhino's were being killed. The guys working this couldn't find out why, but these Rhinos were killed, their tusks left in place. So it wasn't poaching. Turns out, the Rhino deaths were the work of a small band of "rouge" elephants. What is intersting is, the whole living structure of elephants is built around the matriarchal structure. When the big guys who were supposed to teach the the young boys how to live, how to protect their family, got poached out of the equasion, the young bull elephants had nowhere to go, but to exert force, in the only way they knew. This is a living example of why every man out there has an obligation to be the "herd bull". We owe it not only to our own kids, but any young boys we have the opportunity to teach, coach, come into contact with, We have a moral obligation to teach and coach and love them - because so many of them come from a home where they don't have love or support. They need more "bull elephants" to act as a role model, to teach them respect for themselves and those around them.

And you won't?

I've got some for trade - are you local to Show Low/Lakeside area?

Archery javi is my favorite hunt. That said, I've always wanted to do one black powder with a flint-lock or my 1858 navy. Rifle javi is good for kids, or others looking for their first of second...Once you get comfortable, it's a lot of fun to break out the other tools you don't always get to use.

I think Critter brings up a very important point in this discussion - one that I hadn't thought of originally. Being prepared means more than just looking out for yourself and your family. It means you can provide without taking from someone else. That's an important point, IMO. If things went bad and we had to protect our own, would that mean taking food from someone else's children? Would that mean leaving them, or your kids, fatherless if it came to it? If you were well prepared to begin with, would you even have to make that choice?

It seems like we are in a strange transition period now. As I understand it, you have to buy your 2014 licences now in order to even apply for the 2014 hunts. You are still under the old pricing structure, but your license is no longer valid for all of 2014 - just up until the point you bought it in 2013. I like the old "calendar year" system better.

Funny the way this thread has gone. Part of my point was, we've all seen what happens when ammo shelves are bare, but we hardly ever think about what happens when food shelves are bare. If/when it comes to that, everyone will be looking out for themselves and their families. Those who have stockpiled will be under siege by those who have not. Easy to do the math from there.

I've borrowed a buddy's wall tent on several occasions, and I really want to buy a good one, used. But here's the deal, seems like every time one comes up for sale, it's close to what a brand new one would run. I know lotss of people buy these things with one hunt in mind. A couple years later, they are stuck with the gear and not the passion. If anyone is looking to unload a *quality* wall tent or Cabelas Alaknak, I'm looking for a good deal.

This is a great site. I hope we can keep it that way by being postive and avoiding jumping to conclusions every time we hear about a great buck or bull. That has been the downfall of so many sites, and I truly hope it doesn't happen here. It's up to the members here to hold the high ground.

Hey Chef! Happy Birthday! I hope you spent the day with firends and family, and I'm sure you had some great food to celebrate with. Best wishes.

That's a great looking bull. Congrats. I know all about the missed opportunities at bigger ones, and how you are left making the best of your hunt. I think you did really well, and came home with a hard-earned trophy.

It's getting cold here in Lakeside, my outside reading is 37.5 and it's supposed to hit mid to low 20's tonight. Winterized my camper today in preparation for a cold weekend.

Nice job - nothing beats chasing active bulls with a bow. Congrats on a fine trophy bull! Sounds like a great hunt.

Very cool vid - check out the comments.

Thanks so much for all the great advice here - you guys rock. I'm looking into the Davis Tent option.

Dang, Steve - that's a smokin' deal. Talk about being in the right place at the right time!!

I have a travel trailer, but there are times when I'm hunting alone or with just one or two of my sons and don't want to drive the big diesel truck or haul that thing. Most areas I don't want to spend a week driving around on dirt roads with big heavy Excursion, and if the wife doesn't come, that's the only vehicle I'd have if I brought the camper. I've got regular tents but they just aren't as comfortable or roomy as a good wall tent. I've set up wall tents before in under 45 minutes with another guy, and a little over an hour by myself.

We will be out there - getting some bear tags just in case the younger boys get a shot. My boys have been very blessed with tags over the years, and all three of them have made the best of tags available to them. My oldest boys have a couple elk, one deer, a few javis, sevearl turkey between them. Josh is the youngest, and he's got a couple of javi's taken at long range for a kid, a turkey taken days after he was legal. Makes me look back at my experience, growing up with a love for hunting, and how long it took me to stop eating tag soup, and start filling tags. My sons, combined have taken far more game than I have. There is something to be said for dads like yourself who put getting the kids out there, making it fun and passing on the passion for the outdoors, the hunt, the talks around the campfire at night above their own ambitions. Best wishes to you, brother, we'll be out there on the same quest this fall.

Wow - I've been wating for this thread for so long, then got swamped at work and didn't get a chance to reply until now. I just want to congratulate you, and your entire party on the coolest elk hunting thread I've seen yet. For starters, your bull is absolutely gorgeous! And the bulls you, your brothers and Tony took - all amazing bulls. I can't even imagine how cool that was to be hunting with brothers and a close friend and to take so many great bulls. Thanks so much for taking the time to write up a great story so we could all feel like we're tagging along with you on an adventure of a lifetime. Great job, huge congrats! You guys hunted hard, worked your tail off and got it done BIG TIME.

Wisconson was stupid - had it all wrapped up, 20 yard field goal to win. They decided to go for another play with 14 seconds left and no time outs. The refs blew it big time but the coaches are to blame. Doesn't matter too much, Stanford put ASU in place.

I'm not sure if what you are proposing matches what has happened to deer hunting in 24A, but that unit has been ruined, IMO. When I first started learning how to hunt in AZ, unit 24A had one coues hunt - about 475 tags all in late December. Maybe I was just lucky, but I drew that tag 4 out of 5 years applying. It was an awesome hunt. Today, 24A allows 300 Mule deer tags between Nov 15-24, 325 coues tags Oct 25 - Oct 31, 375 more tags Nov 1 - Nov 7, another 375 tags Nov 29- Dec 8, and only 50 in the Dec 13-31 hunt. That equates to 1075 coues tags between October and early December, pre-rut with only 50 tags during the rut. If this is the model for stratifying, I want no part of it. As others have mentioned, unit 1 allowed the biggest allotment of early bull archery tags ever this year, and Cluster **** is an understatement.

I'm interested in the pistol - please PM me.