BowCast Blog

Hmm… Where to start???  Well, the hunt started with rain, and ended with rain…  The area that I am focusing on has a nice tank but right now sitting that tank would just  be a waste of time.  Coues deer barely drink to start with but with this much rain these deer are drinking out of every little dip in the dirt.

Unlike in NM, in AZ it is legal to bait deer.  It is what it is…  Those are just the rules of the game in AZ and believe me, my eyes have really been opened over the last few months.  Just about every ridge that I have seen has some sort of mineral lick.  If the hunters don’t get the deer they are certainly going to die of heart disease. Another thing that is different in AZ is that even though you draw a rifle tag you can still hunt the archery season.  If you happen to kill during the archery season than you forfeit your rifle tag.  I guess the cool thing is that hunters are given more days afield, the bad thing is that you have EVERYBODY hunting during the archery season.  I have never seen soooooo many people cruising the roads looking for deer and coming from NM that means A LOT.

The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources is asking the public to assist in its annual

summer deer count.

 

I started backpacking when I was 11 in the Idaho backcountry and it instantly became one of my favorite outdoor activities.  Add hunting into the mix and a Realtree Max-1 Badlands pack and you can't put a price on the experience of hunting/hiking in God's country.  It gives me perspective on life and is how I can truly relax.

Part 1: Logistics and Saturday

            When you think of 3D archery shoots, a few key items come to mind, foam

inserts, manufacturers like Rinehart and the R-100, field tips, and targets set up for

everyone to take a shot at.

 

Hi BowCasters!

 

Bowcast at the Bird 2010 is in the books and it was a smokin good time!  My hats off to the FMP boys Anthony and Launch for setting up a killer course.  I was able to shoot the smoker round a few times with some fellow BowCasters and we had a blast!  Hanging out and shooting with these guys and gals made my weekend.  Thanks for the good times and I can't wait until next year.

 

What an adventure!!!!  I survived but if I was on “Survivor Southwest” I would have been voted off the island!!!!  As many of you know I didn’t draw any fall hunting tags this year so I need to find other options, for years I have been talking about hunting AZ for velvet Coues deer.  Last year I went but it was kind of a bust. I spent 5 days, 12 hours a day straight in a ground blind that didn’t see any action.  It was poor planning on my part.

SOOOO this year the plan was to put in my own work and if I failed at least I would have a good story to tell.    As a general rule, there are a lot more Coues deer in AZ and they can just about be found everywhere. They aren’t in little pockets like they are in NM. So I want to find a place close to home.  Unit 27 in AZ has some good deer and it is close so I figured that would be a good start.  I started talking to people and looking at a few maps just to get familiar with the area and everybody basically said, “Those are  BIG MOUNTAINS”.

Here is a quick video (http://www.vimeo.com/12887396) on this year's bear hunt in Idaho,if you're ever interested in doing a bear hunt on your own in Idaho, I would be more than happy to give you any tips that I've learned over the years.  

 Yesterday, I paid my $5 and went shot a practice round of 3D targets, cannot wait for bowcast at the bird. 

Well, I plan to keep up with this a lot more than I have been, aside from this past week...keep it updated, so if you aren't out scouting, or aren't seeing bucks, you can live vicariously :)

Checked the ground tonight again...whatta ya know...two new good lookin' bucks! 

This is funny!!!! 

 Follow this link!!!

Gettin' the FMJ rockets prepped for launch!

Later
Cima

Well, it's that time already...scouting starts to heat up (since if never does stop) and bucks are really starting to grow!

Checked out a small property I have for deer; very similar to urban whitetails. It is a small, thin strip of ground that the muleys usually use as a travel route between bed and feed (alfalfa). Sure enough, I found 6 bucks...3 of which were familiar faces: Splits, Tripod and Lefty.


It'll be here before we know it!

I look at the calendar and realize the Bird is only about a month away, I reserved my room at Snowbird a few weeks ago but I have been holding off on booking my flight.  I am a big fan of traveling on a dime and look for the best deals wherever I can.

I have read and heard from several people that they are not attending because it is too for or too expensive.

While I can't see into everyone's checkbook to see if this is the case or if it's a case of thinking you can't afford it.

Well… it is almost game time… The big game results should be out in about 9 days… Hopefully, we will get notified earlier but this is last time I will check my cameras before I get my results.  Once I figure out where I will be hunting then I am switching my cameras to that unit.  In the meantime, I pulled some cameras from a unit that I don’t really hunt…  I got some good pictures, one thing that I did find out is that there are very few mulies in this area… All Coues Deer.. hmm…. except for the Lion, Coyotes,  and Foxes!!!! 

So how about some pictures????

  Two inches and counting - it'slooking like another waterlogged spring here in the Dakotas.

O dark 30 dawned dark and early on Friday, the alarm went off and I eagerly jumped out of bed, Pat was there in the motel parking lot at 4 am to pick me up and we made the quick 15 minute drive to a sprawling cattle farm. 

The wind was whipping and it was a brisk 45 degrees as we made our way across field to a small island of trees.  At which point Pat began cursing as we realized the blind he had set the night before had blown away sometime during the night!  Making the best of it, we set up inside the trees and waited for dawn to break.

Well, tis the season for elk sheds. My buddy and I threw together a plan Thursday night to leave at O-dark thirty Friday morning and hit the hills for two days in search of elk bone.

We met up at 6 and hit it for two days in the high country! 

Sorry for the long delay guys, I have been a road warrior for the last few months.  Everything is great but I really haven’t had a chance to get to some of my cameras.  I tried a few weeks ago and I just ended up burying the Duramax in a huge snow drift…

All I have to say is that there are a ton of nice mulies on this flat… DANG… There are about 16 does cruising the area so I am sure they are just checking out the ladies…

Hi BowCasters, 

A few guys have requested some more pictues of the BowCast Benches.  Here are a few with more to come throughout the year.  I still have to get an arrow saw, press, and vice.  Any suggestions BowCasters on what brand and why??

I have had several requests for the list of materials I used to make my BowCast Benches.  Here is the list and a few more details of how I put it together.  See the pictures in my previous blog.  BowCast Benches