naturegirl

I put in this morning - had no issues, but it was early around 6 am or so

I picked up cheap thin camo pants from bass pro shops years ago for about $15 pair. I see the same ones there every year though. They are thin, but still work down south in the cactus okay. I also wear a leafy suit top. It's made out of screen so you can't get much cooler than that. Same goes for me.....I use the wind primarily for scent control. Typically it's cold in August in the morning up north so I'll start off with thin base layers, but as the day goes on they end up in the pack. They help with warmth in the early hours and weigh nothing to pack when it warms up. My fleece jacket weighs less than my other jackets so that is the one I typically start off with in the morning and end up packing it. I

Good luck!

It's what I shoot and is an excellent bow.

As a business owner, I can guarantee no one would force me to service someone I didn't want to. . There are a lot of ways to get out of doing something you don't want to do. You just have to be smarter than your opponent. I agree that this was probably a set up to further their cause. I personally have no issue with who people love and want to spend their life with, but I believe a legal MARRIAGE should be between a man and woman.

To be honest, yes I missed that you were joking because I lost interest with where the post was headed. Sorry but I still don't find the humor, but please continue

I'm assuming the "fluffy" comment must have been made out of jealousy because that is a beautiful girl with no fluff on her whatsoever. Seriously what would possess someone to call another persons family member on here fluffy. That is very rude.

I'm in Queen Creek/Gilbert. PM me if the location is good. We have a few things you mentioned that we need help with.

Go girl! I do believe I hear some jealousy from them boys

I've tried both calling and not calling because I'm new and know not to overcall so if anything I tend to call very very sparingly. I have had success talking to both cows and bulls and have called both into with 5 yards of me. The honest truth is you have to learn somewhere. The first cow I called in about 5 or so years ago was with a hoochie mama. She and her 2 friends came within 5 yards, but couldn't find me. I didn't scare them. They looked for awhile and then went back to the herd they were called from. It is what it is. It was my first step in the world of calling. I don't know if it's beginners luck I have with calling. I buy a call, research it, practice on it at home or in the car, practice it in the field with success, and then use it during a hunt. I've definitely found elk respond better to some calls than others. Could be the call or could be the user - who knows which.

lol

I've seen RV rentals on Craigslist. I'm not sure if they set it up though.

Anyone associated with the VA knows the truth whether you are a patient, family member, employee, etc.. Up until now it was brushed under the rug. I'm hoping there will be some good changes because of the coverage. Our vets deserve better healthcare than an AHCCCS patient would get, which isn't currently the case for most. and Obama knew all about it as has every president.

Edited....national forest not national park. Knew I said that one wrong so I came back for the edit.

I'm planning a trip back east and I'm making the trip what I want it to be. I have options. I can hunt either small private land areas or small public land areas or make the long drive to a national forest, camp, and hunt more like I hunt here. The last is what I've picked. I believe it will require more effort than if I pick option #1 or option #2, but I don't want to hunt like what the original poster was talking about.

Totally doable, but a much better experience if you can do it during the week. I was at Tortilla Flats 2 days ago and had the place just about to myself. I highly recommend their ice cream cones There are many great photo opportunities between Canyon Lake and Apache Lake. it's a beautiful drive.

I found a seep a few months ago. It was an area that I've hiked a lot of times, but in the past it was always the wrong time of the year for me to see it.

Thanks!

I'm still thinking about what Amanda said was on the food menu for this hunt. You guys really know how to do things

I've been marlin fishing (mexico), which ended up being a day of dolphin watching, and I've been fishing a few times off group boats fishing for whatever bites. It was a lot of fun seeing the variety of ocean fish everyone caught. The group trips were my favorite. I'm kinda like a kid though and would rather catch anything than nothing.

No input on Hawaii, but sounds like you are getting yourself a good wife PS - Dramamine.

I'm not there yet. I have doctor permission but must lower my poundage way down and he said to listen to my shoulder. It plain stinks actually because I hardly feel like there is anything wrong so I'm having a hard time lowering my poundage. I thought maybe I'd take it to get a new string first (every 2 years), but I don't know what's worse a new string, lower poundage (not planning on moving sight), or both. I really don't like changing stuff on my bow. I've got work ahead of me since I have plans for August archery season and an archery Illinois whitetail hunt with my cousin that is in the works. I haven't used cameras for awhile now, but have a couple out already. I honestly can't wait to see if a couple bucks made it through last year.

The plans were made months ago for us to go turkey hunting this past weekend. We didn't realize until just a week or so before that it was Mother's Day weekend, which totally worked for me since the plans included taking my mom and youngest daughter with us. The plan was a family camping-hunting trip. We got to the woods around noon on Friday, set up camp, and hung out with the family for the afternoon. Our hunting buddy had arrived a couple days before us and it turns out this man is a major bear magnet! He ended up seeing four different bears in just 2 days right in the area we would be hunting turkeys. One day he was sitting a water hole and had this black bear come running up over the burm and jump right into the tank. The bear then proceeded to take a lengthy 10-minute swim, shake off, and leave. Our buddy always carries his bear mace with him since he has been chased by an angry mama bear during a past spring turkey hunt, but luckily all of his encounters this trip were safe ones including one with a beautiful cinnamon bear who was quite curious about him. Saturday morning we got up early and got to our spot. It was a little before 5 am and the sun was already starting to peak out. We were later than we would've liked, which always seems to happen on the first day of a hunt. We dropped our buddy off at his tank and my husband and I headed on up the road. We parked and just as I was getting my pack out the gobbles started. I had gobblers sounding off in all directions. How exciting! We had lucked out and picked a good spot! My husband headed out one way and me another. I hunkered down until there was more light. Just as I was getting up to start moving, I see movement down below me. It took me a second to ID it, but it was the antelope buck we had seen the day before. I watched this buck stop dead in its track when a truck approached. The truck parked, the buck held it's ground. When the truck backed up and left, only then did the buck move and cross the road. By about 5:30 am the gobbling had stopped. It turns out the birds headed in the direction of my husband and some other hunters. It also turns out that antelope buck was quite "friendly" with my husband. They were within 20-30 yards of each other on more than one occasion and the buck didn't seem too concerned. We ended up questioning his health (the buck...not my husband). Mother's Day morning had arrived. My original plan was to sleep in and make breakfast for my mom, but with all that gobbling the day before I just had to get back out there. We head to the same area as the day before and the wind was a whirling. My husband had a plan to head to a spot he had found the day before along with our hunting buddy. I had zero plans of my own so I head out with them. As we started making our way up, I changed my mind and said "Bye guys. I'm heading down the valley." My new plan was to walk slowly between two tanks and see what happens, but first I needed light to let my eyes do their job so I take a seat under an oak tree and wait. So far there has been no gobbling to hear of so when the light allows I start making my way slowly forward. I come across an old closed two track between the two tanks and walk this slowly. I see the sun making it's way through the trees and the sun glistening off the meadow at the end of the road. I say to myself "Now this is a beautiful morning." No sooner had I gotten the thought out and I see something big and dark brown right at the edge of that meadow. It's not moving so I'm thinking it's a tree stump or maybe a bear so I pull my binos up to see. Well, surprise to me because it was a Tom who was strutting his stuff and then I think I see another Tom, but now I definitely see a bunch of other turkeys feeding at the edge of the meadow. I'm about 200 yards at this point so I find the closest tree to hide behind and make a plan. As I'm trying to come up with a plan, the lead hen starts feeding right down the two track toward me. I'm sitting here thinking to myself "I can't believe this....they are coming right to me. How much better can this get?" Everything that is now happening is a first for me. I've seen turkeys many times over the years, but typically they see me and I'm chasing rear or they are on a mission somewhere and I'm making a plan. This time is different. They are so relaxed, haven't a clue I'm there, and they are close! Within a short time I realize they just feed here, feed there, feed wherever their heart desires. I start making my stalk and I know very well how phenomenal their vision is as they've taught me this again and again. I positioned myself the best I could behind as many trees as I could to cover the 10 sets of eyes that are at the edge of the meadow looking for danger. I inch and inch and inch forward. I'm about 70 yards at this point. I only see one Tom now and he's big, but he seriously never stopped strutting (a jake decoy sure would've been nice). Next thing I know the flock decides to feed up and away from the meadow. Now I'm kicking myself in the butt for at least not trying to call. I do have my slate call and have had limited conversations with gobblers in the past, but I was afraid I would scare them away. Now they have disappeared into the woods and I'm asking myself "Where'd they go?" I head up the hill. Flanking wide always seems to work well for me with turkeys so now I head across the hill parallel to the meadow. I'm glassing out in front and yippee - there they are! That Tom is in full strut right in front of this hen and he wouldn't let her budge. I stalk again and this time I end up getting stuck out in the open as a hen comes within 30 yards of me and she is feeding right toward me. Again, I didn't move one muscle (besides my heart pounding that is). I stood still as a tree. Here she comes along with a couple other hens right behind her. She then turns and heads up the hill. I'm still trying to get closer to the Tom who is still being a road block for this one particular hen. I position a big tree between us and move forward. This goes on until finally the rest of the turkeys start feeding up toward the other turkeys, which brings them in line with me and within shooting range. I sit and wait still as a tree again and out in the open again. Here's a line of turkeys meandering right toward me. I can literally see their feathers ruffling from the wind as they head uphill. I'm guessing they are about 30-40 yards and closing. My gun is out in front of me. All I need to do is shoulder it when that Tom walks in front of me and he does, but the flock was so close together I felt I couldn't take the shot without risking hitting a hen so I did not get a shot. They went up the hill and so did I. I caught a glimpse of them as they crested the top and yet again after I hit the top, but then lost them. I passed and I'm okay with it because I know I wouldn't be okay with taking two birds. Although I must say I'm still patting myself on the back for stalking within 70 yards of 10 turkeys not once, but twice and oh yeah I was the only of our group of hunters to find turkeys every day (hehe). I'm improving for sure. I could've used a portable decoy and can improve on calling. I also could've hunted with someone else and had them guide me in, but nah that's okay too. I liked it just the way it was. Late that afternoon we took my mom and daughter out for a ride. In just a couple hours my little one counted 61 animals and only 10 were birds (not turkey). The rest were deer and elk. My daughter was thrilled to see so many animals and my mom couldn't stop talking about how much she enjoyed herself. It was a very good Mother's Day!

Absolutely amazing seeing all the antlers! It was nice meeting Amanda and Antlerdog (and his wife) too!

I was in a totally different unit last weekend (6a). The one day the wind wasn't blowing they were very vocal, but only for the first half hour. The other 2 days we never heard a single bird, but I saw birds those days.