Flatlander

A lot of things to consider. Many of which have been touched on. 1. The advantage of hunting mostly unpressured elk on opening day is very attractive and often is the paramount advantage on the first hunt of a season for a species. Advantage first week. 2. Rut activity. My experience is that the closer you get to Sept 28 the better the rutting. For whatever reason that’s just the date that seems to be near the peak most of the years I have hunted elk. Advantage second week. 3. Pressure. It’s not as true as it used to be but there is still inherently more people hunting the first week than the second just due to attrition and tags being filled. Advantage second week. 4. Moon phase. This year the full moon is on 9/20. My experience has been that elk may increase rutting activity during a full moon but that a lot of that occurs at night. Especially with the full moon coming near the end of September I would expect a lot of bugling during the dark. This is generally a disadvantage, but can be used to locate elk by bugling and spotlighting in the dark and then hunting them the next day. But it’s likely that there will be less day time rutting. Advantage first week. D. Weather. If it’s dry and still hot it’s likely the rut will suck any away. But sitting water may be very effective early in the hunt. As things cool off the elk may be less predictable on water. Advantage first week. Unit 7E doesn’t have the highest elk densities and therefore less reliable rutting activity. If circumstances allow, it might be good if you can go prepared for the first week and if it’s a bust (too hot, too many people, no rut, etc.) pull the plug and come back later. If not, then there are advantages and disadvantages either way. Best of luck and let us know what you decide.

That’s a neat design you did with the magazines 😎 If you’re from Joe City you probably know my buddy TC. Good price on a good gun, bet it goes fast. I really like mine.

We will definitely pray for you. I wish I had better words, but if you need anything don’t hesitate to make the call. 4802664811

I’ll take the accubond.

Man this was an awesome thread. Miss these days.

These donated tags mean a tremendous amount to the folks who receive them. Thanks for putting it to use.

I am in the process of re-equipping the camp supplies for my sons’ youth group. Some time after they stopped chartering as an official Boy Scout troop someone got rid of all the camp gear. Now that I am leading we are going back to the woods. So if anyone has gear in decent shape available at garage sale prices or wants to donate something they have laying around I am in the market. We need most everything a typical troop would need: cookware, stoves, tents, lanterns, table. Packs, sleeping bags, etc. I will drive around to meet up it just may take me some time to make it to you. Disclaimer: We are not an officially chartered BSA troop, just a church youth group doing many similar activities to what BSA did. Thanks for thinking of us.

Thanks @maximus for the donations. And thanks to Kev and Houston I have an excuse to head to Sierra Vista and Show Low.

I would bet that population estimate is light.

I witnessed a lot of really bad shooting yo there last year. If a hunter is there for 5 days I suspect they intend to have him kill as many Buffalo as he can in 5 days. The required supply list includes field dressing supplies. I wonder if the “volunteer lethal remover” will not only be required to shoot the Buffalo but also retrieve and process it.

Cleared my PM’s. I will be in Tucson in the next few weeks if you can wait that long. If I decide to go social media blast I will let you know. For now I wanted to keep it to the CWT faithful just cause I don’t want to deal with Facebook and Craigslist people.

Thank you for a generous offer. I think we are going to stick with propane just to keep the gear to one fuel system since that gets stored at my house. Again, very generous I don’t mean to be picky. Thank you for the offer.

They were last year. There’s just a ton of people.

15 yds?! Nice work dad!

Thanks guys I appreciate the input and support. We have funds available to purchase gear with. I just thought before we went and paid retail for scout gear that we would try to repurpose some gear first. Appreciate everyone thinking of us. We have an awesome group of 13 boys who are excited to tackle the world. It’s awesome to be with a group who doesn’t complain and is eager to hike or camp every month.

Last time I shot out the passenger window my limb hit the cup holder.

Dang, you are like some kind of magic bird whisperer. Congratulations to both of you!

Nice trailer. You shouldn’t have any trouble getting that price.

Yeah, try ammoseek. They have had a good supply of 300WM. But haven’t found any accubonds yet. You may want to consider a more solid bullet than the core lokt. I haven’t had the best performance out of those. I prefer a bonded bullet for large thick hided game. Good luck, welcome to the site and post up some pics and a story after your hunt.

What a great post. Congrats to all involved! Sounds like one heck of a weekend. Beautiful pictures.

I just spent 3 nights in my 6 man for youth turkey. Great tent. Wish I had grabbed this one for a replacement when my current finally wears out. We’ve had it 12 years and still going strong.

I’m fat and sloppy and hate lifting. But I have been upping my mileage. Today I slogged through 4.5 miles in 39:52. Since I am going to be fat I at least have to keep my legs strong enough to carry me.

HamboneAZ is a solid seller.

Wind was rough all weekend in 23. We got on one vocal Tom but couldn’t get him away from his hens to come into range. Most people we talked to were having a similar experience. One family did manage to road bomb one in canyon creek.

Unless you care about wheel base or belts. I will agree that for seating 4 or more adults the crew is more comfortable. There are a number of other considerations for someone buying new or otherwise. OP should weigh them all.