Swivelhead

Nice looking land mines.

This is going to sound borderline insane, but you got me thinking. Maybe I shouldn't waste my points on Goulds and just go straight Rio's. AZ Rios are hybrids. Go for a Goulds here then Texas or Oklahoma for a Rio.

Roads hit high points too .........

Goulds hunts are not over-subscribed like the most spring hunts. Last few times I hunted our national forests for Merriam's, it was a joke, people were everywhere. I like a little serenity when I hunt. I am willing to wait for a great tag.

It would be interesting to drive down & offer to take a couple protesters out to the "slaughter". Call all day and be dang lucky to get a dog in much less take one. It'd also be cool to have one of those really good days too. Point is these people have a problem with their wild side. We are all descended from hunter gatherers. The hunt is in us. It must scare the heck out of them.

I know a few people who were unsuccessful with their Goulds hunt. Not for lack of trying.

Bump for a nice set-up priced right.

The dog did blow out a nice covey.......

Yes, over the phone. Did not know it could be done over the phone. Thx for the tip! Called, got my tag, feeling good! Love that reservation, no quads, the land sees few people except hunting season. I remember when our national forests were like that.

WM stated tag #'s are based on how many class III & IV rams are counted not the overall population. When those numbers rise we should see an additional tag.

I was in unit 21, the sign was there just did not see the quarry. Not getting a javelina is no big deal, I've taken quite a few in my lifetime. I was just surprised I NEVER saw one during all that glassing. Reality is that I was trying to get it done easy (glassing). Needed to get out and beat the weeds to learn their routine in the area. Likely, I'll go back to the same area next year and provided the sign is there I'll do the miles necessary to decipher their core areas. Look forward to doing it.

Here you go: http://www.adbss.org/projects.html

Never did see a javelina this season. Spent 8 days behind the glass. Still a good time.

These are BGAT's?

Purchase pre-owned quality optics and never look back.

I'd recommend you acquire both. No such thing as too many optics. Your questions about spotters: I'd suggest you get a scope with the largest objective you are willing to carry in your pack. Most scopes have variable magnification eyepieces these days so you'll have no issue in that regard. IMO, 65 mm is a minimum for a spotter.

Had a C-130 fly by at low altitude earlier this month in unit 21. What a beautiful sight. C-130 is one the of the finest aircraft ever built. Likely what you saw was a training mission. Always puts a smile on my face when I see my tax dollars spent on something worthwhile.

I've weighed in on the angled/straight debate before. I do agree that a angled scope is easier to look through long term (hours) and have advocated angled scopes for that reason. That being said, all these years I've been using a Swaro AT80 (the old gray version) which is easy to line up on a target as its eyepiece does NOT rise above the barrel of the scope. The AT80 lines up just like a straight scope. The AT80 does not require substantial tripod movement when switching from binoculars to scope. Recently, I acquired a Kowa 663 angled scope. Great scope optically, light and compact, perfect for a ride in the pack. However its eyepiece (ocular) is much higher than the optical tube and I find it difficult to acquire targets. The sight on the side of the scope is useless. Changing from binoculars to scope requires substantial tripod movement. Won't consider another angled scope unless is shares the AT80's "low eyepiece" design. Currently produced angled scopes all seem to have the high eyepiece issue, for that reason I'm switching camps, go straight.

Although I've had a lot of success in the past, this year I've not even seen a pig. I'm in a new area that I have not put the boot leather to. Been relying on glassing. Spent 5 full days scouring a lot of good looking habitat and none seen. Seen some interesting Coues bucks however.

I own and regularly use a Promaster 525 carbon tripod. It is good tripod but not great. I think you'd be happier with the Slik depending on the amount of weight you plan on stacking on the unit. Slik makes a good tripod, I've used them in the past and would buy again. Good value IMO.

Going into the draw with 22 .................... never dreamed it'd take this long.

When using the gutless method, I prefer to hang the quarters and bone them out in a standing position. My back appreciates the break! If the pack out is short, I'll wait till I'm back at camp to bone out the quarters Also, IMO, there is no reason to remove the tenderloins through such a small hole. You are done with the carcass, make a big cut and expose the tenderloin so you can see what you're doing. Thx for posting this link, it's always good to get another take on the gutless method.

I use a carbon Promaster 525. It's a decent tripod and has held up well. More important than the tripod is the quality of the tripod head you choose. A marginal tripod works good with a quality head, the reverse, not so much.

Cats played a good 2nd half. Too bad they had such a sorry 1st half. PAC 12 suffers it's 1st loss in post season play.

Hope we get a few more like this one over the next few weeks. It'd be nice to have a snowpack up north.