Red Rabbit

Doug, I noticed that you are now carrying the Zen Ray binoculars. Doug~RR

With 4 PP, my app had units 64 and 93 for antelope. I am guessing about a 75% chance to draw first choice. One always hears about units 57, 60 & 61, but the odds are still long with max points, and are overcome by the desire to hunt sooner. Doug~RR

The Sacrafice and the Blacks Creek Barbarian look to be lighter packs worth looking at. CMC had some comments from the Expo http://www.azsj.org/forums/showthread.php?...ed=1#post146766

Here is a thread by a pack junkie about his preferences and dislikes about various hunting packs. Some good info and some opinions. http://forums.bowsite.com/TF/bgforums/thre...205&forum=5

Ilene, I recall about 40 years ago that Panguitch Lake was one of the top 10 trout lakes in the US. You must have had a blast fishing as a kid. I wonder how it has recovered since they retenoned it a few years ago. I shot my first mule deer about 10 miles north of the lake. Doug

Stoppped at this old home on the drive back to Flag.

Remember Jim Mullin's lion pics from west of Phoenix that found themselves being "taken" just outside of Ogden, Utah? I put little stock in many of the email forwardings.

Ilene, Sunrise at Sunrise, Sunset or Bryce Point is highly recommended. Also be sure to hike one of the easy loop trails down amongst the hoodoos. Have an enjoyable gathering at Panguitch this summer. It was a nipper 1* Friday morning, but it will certainly warm up by the time of your visit Doug

AZGFD has not proposed the change. Some archers are discussing the change to get the season moved back one week so that the tail of the archery hunt will be closer to the middle of the rut for hopefully more rut activity and bugling to make a better hunt experience.

One part of the ad say the lens is 18-135, but another part says 70-300 and is what is pictured. Mike would then need a shorter FL lens, like 18-50 for landscape, family and portraits. Also Mike, be sure the lenses have VR/IS (vibration reduction/image stabilization) for when you hand-hold the camera.

For a point and Shoot under $300, I'd consider the Panasonic ZS1 compared here http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/q209grouplongzoom/ For about $500 you can get the Panasonic FZ 35 which has good reviews. http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/specs/Pana...nic_dmcfz35.asp But for that same $, I would get something like a Canon XSi with 18-55mm and get like a 70-300 lens when more $ arrives. http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/CanonEOS450D/ http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/5421...XSi_a_k_a_.html If you have more $, we'll help you spend it

What's your budget?

The average in the printed regs is the average of the first choice applicants for all bonus point groups together. So that average will be higher than for those with 0 BP, and less than for those applicants with the most BP. If you want to use those regs printed %, be sure to take them with elecshoc's KFC chicken bones to a Sedona vortex

http://huntodds.monstermuleys.com/

If the archery elk were to begin on the 3rd Friday, the season would run from Sep 15-29 at the earliest, and from Sep 21-Oct 4 at the latest. Early Firearms would start dates ranging from Sep 30 to Oct 5, still during the week of peak estrus. I believe that a G&F biologist said the peak estrus occurs during that first week of October. Seems the archers who like calling for silent, lone bulls before the rut starts cranking would still have the early portion of the season, and those that enjoy more bugling would have the latter. Another benefit to a later start would be to be a week later form the end of the monsoons, and have fewer puddles to distract elk (ie-more concentration on permanent water and major wallows), and having evening hunts rained out. Doug~RR

Sounds like a captive herd. Almost like a high-fenced hunt . Is that fair and ethical? But I grant you that it is not a "canned" hunt for "Buck Lites" Doug~RR

Wish I could walk across from the house and find a cold Pale Ale on the ground A matched set of Ales would be a good find.

We received several more inches yesterday and last night. Hopefully this will melt and fill the stock tanks along the rim that have seemed to be low in levels last summer and fall. Not to forget that in the White Mountains for those trout lakes. Half Moon and Ponderosa Blankets Firsickles From the backyard Doug

With another winter storm arriving Saturday night, I figured a quick trip to the Petrified Forest near Holbrook, Arizona and Painted Desert Nationla Park would be a good time to test a new wide angle lens from CameraLand (Tokina 12-24mm) The park just changed their hours, so this would be one of the few times in the year to have sunrise and sunset close to the new opening and closing gate times (7AM and 6PM). The day started with a lot of bands of high clouds which had to be timed for the gaps to let the sunlight through. The best colored rock wood was in the Crystal Forest. These were taken with the other Nikon 18-105mm lens. The evening ended with the storm starting to pass over which made for some nice storm clouds to photograph in the Blue Mesa Badlands. These were taken with the new Tokina lens with polarizing filter. On the drive to the park exit, a quick stop at two viewpoints overlooking the Painted Desert caught the last rays of sun sneaking under the western cloudbank. Other photos have been posted in the Petrified Forest Gallery on my smugmug photo gallery. Doug~RR

Amanda, Think of all the gas I'm saving you Brent, Choosing a scenic spot to go to is easy. Lots of new places to visit- more places than weekends. Hope for a combination of sun and good clouds. It' kind of like hunting- research the area, look at maps, get up early to be in place at dawn, scout and relocate during the mid-day, walk slowly and look around for that nice angle, and stay out till it's dark. Get to do lots of shooting, but no blood to clean up. Should be a fun elk bugling season. Jeremy, Riding in that clay after a rain must have made for some heavy horseshoes. Darren, I have the Nikon D90 and recently the Tokina 12-24 DXII from Cameraland. The lens was $500. Here are a few sites for lens reviews. http://www.photozone.de/all-tests http://www.slrgear.com/reviews/index.php http://www.fredmiranda.com/reviews/ http://dpreview.com/ Thanks for looking and commenting. Doug

Jay, Speaking about turkeys, did you go to the Turkey Banquet in Flag Saturday night? Doug

The good part is that he did not leave ATV tracks all over!

The ABA position statement was posted earlier on TAH.com This was my response: "In my opinion, G&F could move the start back so the break between archery and early firearm seasons is around Oct 1, which is close the estrus peak. Based on calving and gestation period, I have figured that the breeding time is around October 1-5. If moved back, both groups have hunts near the estrus peak. There is not a need to move the firearms ahead of the archery, as ABA has alluded to and has been mentioned as a possibility at a recent commissioner meeting. G&F has demonstrated that there is the week to move the seasons back when they put in the late October rifle elk this year. This late October rifle elk hunt in certain units is said to be temporary until the bull:cow ratio is adjusted. Also to further show a week is available, G&F has admitted that they moved the archery hunts forward a week in 2007; this shift was from the direction of the 2007 Flagstaff commissioner meeting. So no, I do not agree with the ABA directors' position. I feel this is the position of the directors, not necessarily their membership. If there is not a correlation between start date and success, why the opposition? The data ABA shows does show a strong correlation between rainfall and success. This was a prior known. Does this success relate to the number of water hole hunters that have more water to sit in a wet year? Elk tend to be spread out more in a wet year, thus offering more places to sit water also and spread out hunters. Having hunters spread would cause fewer interactions/altercations and lead to a better hunt experience. Moving the seasons back and maintaining the archery first/firearm second will benefit the bowhunters who call since the elk will likely be more vocal as the estrus peak nears, as opposed to during a Sept 10 start. This would be a plus for archers both calling and sitting water as hearing elk bugle during the hunt increases the hunt satisfaction. Doug" You can ask yourself these questions: 1)Would I rather hunt elk from Sept 10-23 (like this year before the rut peak) or one week later from Sept 17-30 (and have the end of the hunt occur during peak estrus)? 2)Would I like to call for silent bulls, or have more bugling response?

Northern Arizona did not get much snow Saturday night, but I figured that it would still be worth the drive to Hopi Point at the Grand Canyon. As I approached the ditch at Mather Point, I could see that it was filled with fog. Well, I continue to drive west out the Hermit Road and hope the clouds move out. Before I left Flagstaff, the weather radar showed that the clouds were clearing from the west, so there was hope. After a few hours of looking at the gloom, some breaks finally did appear. Here are a few of the photos; I have posted more photos from Hopi Point in my smugmug gallery. Doug

Are you referring to the Chicago gun case regarding incorporation? Talked about here on 24hr http://www.24hourcampfire.com/ubbthreads/u..._10_00_E#UNREAD