Please Welcome All Your New Friends

The Colorado numbers are out. In 2018, applications for sheep and goat are way, way up and your future draw odds will drop dramatically for bighorn sheep and goats.

If you applied for Colorado Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep as a nonresident in 2017, you were 1 of 3,728 applicants going after 28 licenses. For 2018, you are now 1 in 14,134 applicants. That is not a misprint. That is 504 applicants for every license. If they cut off all new applications forever, it would take 504 years for everyone to get a license. Not planning on hunting that long? Bummer.

If you put in as a nonresident for Colorado mountain goat in 2017 you were 1 of 1,951 nonresidents going after 20 tags. Man, those are steep odds! Well, in 2018 you became 1 of 11,054. Cut off applications forever and you’re looking at 550 years.

 

Step 2 For The Trophy Of A Lifetime – The MRS: Using Your Tools

The first step in getting started hunting the West is a subscription to Eastmans’ Hunting Journal and or Eastmans’ Bowhunting Journal. This enables you to learn from and be entertained by hunters just like you and their stories of success. But, your subscription also has the added benefit of bringing you a hunting magazine jam packed with expert knowledge, hunting tips and tactics and reviews on the latest gear that will help you be the best you can be when your adventure materializes.

The MRS sections in each subscriber issue also help you formulate a “4 year plan” for your hunts just like the system for drawing tags and hunting the West every year that Mike Eastman pioneered over twenty years ago and details in his book Elk Hunting the West Revisited.

Want to get started now? The Eastmans’ Hunting Journals are your gateway to being the most effective western big game hunter you can be and the MRS will help you break down your target states and get you hunting the West next year and every year after that into the foreseeable future.

 

Step 1 – For Your Trophy of a Lifetime

Getting started in hunting western big game can be a daunting process and is certainly one where breaking it down into manageable parts, much like breaking down an elk in the field, will make the daunting task of where, when and how, much less intimidating.

This is where subscribing to Eastmans’ Hunting Journals and using the included benefit of our Member’s Research Section (MRS) in the back of every subscriber issue makes the process of hunting “out West” much more simple. We do the leg work for you and provide draw, tag and trophy information on a State by State basis to our subscribers.

What this means for you is that Step 1 of the western big game chess match is to get ALL the latest information on hunting the 11 western states by subscribing to both Eastmans’ Hunting Journal and Eastmans’ Bowhunting Journal. The MRS, Tips & Tactics, and Gearin’ Up For The Backcountry sections in the Journals are also available in a digital format so you can have complete control of your interface and user experience.

Do Convicted Poachers Pay Enough to Deter Others?

All of us get frustrated when we hear about poachers violating the public trust and illegally taking the wildlife that we pay to see flourish and that every citizen has the right to enjoy. Law-abiding hunters that wait years to hunt that species grit their teeth as they see trophy animals wantonly wasted. For loss of this public resource, courts in 42 states have restitution in addition to other available measures such as fines, community service, forfeiture of equipment and animal, in rare cases imprisonment or even felony charges. Sometimes, the restitution is pursued as part of a separate civil case.

Restitution Varies a Lot State to State.

If you poach a cow elk in Colorado, there is no restitution, though you may have a fine. Next door in Wyoming, restitution on that cow runs $6,000. In Utah, the restitution is only a recommendation and the same cow elk runs $750.

Most states don’t set restitution very high for non-trophy animals but set a steep price if it is a trophy animal. Again, it varies by species and state. Montana figures a buck antelope with less than 4” horns is worth $300, but a trophy buck is $2,000 and a trophy mule deer is $8,000. Poach a trophy bighorn in Oregon and you’re looking at $50,000.

Mathews once again has stuck to the Halon era style bow for 2018, introducing the Triax. Coming off 2017 with the Halon 32, the Triax is essentially a shortened version of the Halon, with a 28” ATA. Now this short ATA scares a lot of shooters off because it is such a compact bow and allegedly tough to shoot, right? I beg to differ. The Halon series of bows have always shot and felt like a longer ATA bow, mostly due to the tall oversized cams.

The Triax has some mild changes to the riser (it’s shorter) this year which have to do with the dampening system. You will see the protruding EHS dampener just in front of the bottom limb pocket. You may also notice, that the limbs, cams, and AVS system appear the same, which is excellent. Why change something so good?

The draw cycle of the Triax is noticeably stiffer when compared to Halons of the past, but that’s too be expected because of the shorter ATA. As you first put pressure into the draw, you’ll feel that stiffness into the first third of the cycle, but it exponentially smooths out well before you approach the valley and finishes just like the Halon that we know and love. The Triax does have a slightly steeper string angle at full draw than the Halon, but it’s still easy to shoot and be consistent with. I sure haven’t had any shootability issues. In addition, the Triax is a compact bow. I see the Triax being popular with tree stand and ground blind hunters, but I know I will enjoy it as a Western hunting bow as well. I feel like I can put it in my back pocket and take off for a backcountry hunt hardly noticing it being on my pack.

Guy Eastman mounts and reviews a cutting edge scope mount. The Triad ZL and Nomad ZL scope mounts by iota Outdoors is the new standard for durability and stability for precisions shooters and big game hunters. Aluminum construction and under-angled screws make these rings and bases almost indestructible. These lightweight mounts also feature Zerolight technology for turret visibility in low-light shooting conditions.

 

Photo taken by Mike Eastman

After a very rough winter last year- it will go down in history as one of the toughest winters in nearly half a century, this winter has come as some welcome relief for our wildlife and big game herds. The long and short of the situation is that this winter has been relatively mild, with good snow pack at the higher elevations where it belongs.

Most of the state is currently sitting on a snowpack of 115% of normal levels. The biggest snow averages seem to be in the Snake River and Shoshone River drainages followed by the Wind River and Green River drainages. This bodes well for our high-country deer and elk herds to the West. The further south we go, the less snowpack there is. The I-80 corridor has seen less than 90% of normal this year which would be the Platte, Lower Green, Bear River and Little Snake River drainages. After last year, this is also a sign of good things to come. The Bighorn Mountains are right about normal or just a touch shy of normal, but that is not out of the ordinary considering April is generally a huge month for snowfall in the Horns’.

The preliminary data shows that our deer went into the winter months with some of the highest fat reserves ever recorded, mostly due to a very green and lush summer and early fall. The early fall weather was very mild but the state did get hit with some very significant snow storms during the mid-fall months of late September and early October. The late fall weather turned out to be a very nice and comfortable Indian summer which further increased the health and fat reserves of our deer, elk and antelope.

As for the spring so far, March was relatively mild but cold. We have yet to see much spring rain as most of the spring moisture is falling in the form of snow still, due to the cooler than normal temperatures seen nearly statewide, even at the state’s lower elevations. The extended forecast is for a nice and even spring warm up with ample rain and moisture through the month of April. May can be a wildcard month for the wildlife of Wyoming as the calves and fawns begin to drop, and the critters lose their warmer winter hair. A nice warm May and early part of June would be a very nice way to finish off a relatively good weather year on an already battered deer herd.

Guy Eastman reviews the new release from Zeiss optics, the Conquest V4 rifle scope. With an updated 33 mm tube to maximize light transmission, this could be the ultimate hunting rifle scope. Its functional zoom and focus rings plus a zero-stop turret make the Conquest V4 a powerful option for the all-around big game hunter. This durable low light scope is available in 3-12×56, 4-16×44 and 6-24×50 to suit any hunter’s needs.

The post The Zeiss Conquest V4 Rifle Scope appeared first on Eastmans' Official Blog | Mule Deer, Antelope, Elk Hunting and Bowhunting Magazine | Eastmans' Hunting Journals.

Our story begins with our grandfather Gordon Eastman and his adventure films that started in the 1950’s and showcased the wildlife of the North, the country they lived in and the grit it took to hunt them. From there, his son and our father, Mike Eastman created Eastmans’ Hunting Journals,  publications where hunters could share their success stories and promote the passion that is western big game hunting. Mike’s goal, which remains the core principle of Eastmans’ still, was to promote the ethics of fair chase hunting, while expanding knowledge and skills, appreciation and awareness of the outdoors and the wildlife of the West.

A lot has changed since Grandpa and Dad went on their adventures and brought back tales of their rugged and wild experiences but some things haven’t – the Eastman passion for the outdoors and sharing it with you will forever be the roots of what we do and who we are.

To that end, Eastmans’ Hunting Journal and Eastmans’ Bowhunting Journal remain the number one resource for western big game hunting and hunters to share their stories, learn the latest and greatest tactics, review the hottest gear and, with our  Members Research Section in the back of every subscriber magazine, be loaded with the best what, where, when, how for drawing those coveted western big game tags.

We invite you to join the Eastman family of subscribers as we, much like our father and grandfather before us, blaze new trails into what lies ahead. For example, be sure not to miss a single issue of Eastmans’ Hunting and Bowhunting Journals by subscribing to the take anywhere, always with you, zoom it in and scroll down efficiency of the digital version of our incredibly popular Hunting and Bowhunting Journals.  

Arizona Airbows – Yay or Nay?

Just recently the Arizona Game and Fish Department set to reexamining rules, wording and definitions across a broad spectrum of topics but one that caught our eye was the proposed amendment to the department’s crossbow permit rule, see below.

R12-4-216. Crossbow Permit

The objective of the rule is to establish eligibility requirements, conditions, and restrictions for the crossbow permit. The permit allows a person, who cannot draw and hold a bow, to use a crossbow during an archery-only hunt. The Commission proposes to amend the rule to allow a Crossbow Permit holder to use a pre-charged pneumatic weapon, as defined under R12-4-301, using bolts or arrows for the take of wildlife. This change is proposed as a result of customer comments received by the Department. (http://s3.amazonaws.com/azgfd-portal…le-3-NPRM1.pdf)

Now, “pre-charged pneumatic weapons,” aka “airguns” or “airbows” in this case, have been around since Lewis and Clark set out to explore the West, so this is not new technology. What is new are the advancements that allow “airbows” to fire bolts at incredibly high velocities with very little effort and pinpoint accuracy on the part of the shooter. Understanding that a hunter must qualify for a permit to hunt with a crossbow in Arizona certainly limits the pool of folks who are even eligible to carry an “airbow” but there is a buzz surrounding this decision nonetheless.

Tips For Writing A Great Story

So you have some great pictures of  your trophy and it is now time to sit down and put words to the story. Here are some tips that will help you get the fingers moving on the keyboard and put together a written story that will help you get our editor’s attention!

1.    Try to avoid the format of – “I couldn’t believe I was drawn for…” followed by a completely chronological story, ending with “thanks to.” This is an overly used format and takes too much time to edit for uniqueness.

2.    Tell a story that is unique or engaging in some way. Reflect on what made the hunt memorable for you. Personalize it with your struggles, fears, joys and surprises. Share a few tips and tricks that helped you.

3.    Put your personality into the writing. It’s a story – your story, not a dry report.

4.    Transport the reader into the scene by being creatively descriptive (though not overly so) of the sights, sounds, smells, discomforts, etc. of the hunt.

Photo tips to help you share your hunt!

Poor photo quality, insufficient file size of the accompanying pictures or not submitting pictures at all, are the three most common reasons a good story doesn’t get published. Here are some tips to help you capture the quality photos necessary for publication. Here are some tips to help you take the best pictures possible to share your story with the hunting world!

1.    Always make sure the sun is behind the photographer/camera.

2.    Make sure the foreground in front of your trophy in clear of obstructions, twigs, blades of grass etc.

3.    Backgrounds are very important. Try to get the best background scenery possible, even if it means moving the trophy.  Take time to clear away obstacles; avoid obstructed or cluttered backgrounds.

4.    Use a tripod or rest of some kind for as many of your pictures as practical, even if the lighting is good. It is hard to overstate the importance of pictures being sharp once they are enlarged. You can’t just go by the camera’s LED screen.

Eastmans’ Hunting and Bowhunting Journals are dedicated to you – our members. Part of our purpose is to give hunters the chance to share their success stories and tips with other hunters, as they make up a significant part of each issue. We strive to help our audience become more skilled, ethical hunters and expand their knowledge, appreciation and awareness of the outdoors and its wildlife.

Every year, nearly 1.5 million western, big game hunters take to the field in pursuit of a trophy and every year we receive hundreds of stories vying for the opportunity to be read by our 225,000-plus readers in a limited space. Read the following guidelines carefully to improve your chances of being selected for one of those coveted spots. Also keep in mind; if you’re chosen for publication, you’ll get some great gear too.

 I want to thank you for taking the time to share your hunting experiences and possibly the crowning achievement of your hunting career with Eastmans’ members. Hunt hard, hunt often and remember fair chase is the only way to hunt and take big game.

Wishing You Continued Success,

Guy Eastman

Every state has a unique draw system for unique reasons. Nevada has built their system around the idea that you should have a chance, albeit slim in many cases, year in and year out while awarding applicants for their loyalty every year with bonus points. Want to play the game in Nevada? Here is what you need to know to have the best hunt possible!

Every year you apply in Nevada and aren’t successful, turns into a bonus point or you can simply buy a point outright every year. When the draw happens your number of points will be squared plus one for the application year. So, if you have 10 points that means your name will have 101 entries into the draw. Every point is assigned a random number that is associated with your application. The computer will then take the lowest number you were assigned and look at that application. It will then pull your first choice to see if there are tags left from the lower random number assignments before you. If you are unsuccessful with your first choice the system will see if there are any second choice tags available and so on.

What is the best strategy? That depends on your goals. If you simply want to hunt regularly then start looking at opportunity hunts to place in your second through fifth choices. Shoot for the moon on your first choice! Because of Nevada’s random element you never know what place in line you will have. However, the odds are such that if you shoot for the moon across the board with a low number of points you will be waiting a very long time to hunt.

Who should shoot for the moon across the board? If you are sitting on 10 plus points in Nevada’s system that means you are one of two types of people. Either you don’t have enough luck to win ten cents in the lottery or you are the patient kind looking for that once in a lifetime type of hunt. With point totals like this it just makes sense to pick the top five units based on trophy potential and fill out your application accordingly.

If you are looking for some details on what units have the kind of trophy potential that is worth burning 10 plus bonus points on then make sure you have subscribed to the Journals or the digital edition of the MRS Annual. The Nevada deadline is only a few days away!

Wyoming Grizzly Hunt – The Details

“There is a grizzly bear population robust and healthy enough to sustain a conservative and regulated hunting season.” -Wyoming Game and Fish Dept.

Would you pay $50 Million to hunt a grizzly bear? Me neither, but the sportsmen of Wyoming have spent that, according to the Wyoming Game and Fish since they started managing grizzly bears. The sportsmen of Wyoming are all of us, anyone who has bought or applied for a Wyoming hunting tag, or fishing license in the past four decades.

The grizzly bear population in Wyoming hit the predetermined objective of 500 bears in the summer of 2001 based on the Wyoming Game and Fish Department’s own, excessively conservative estimates. Over the nearly 18 years since, the department and commission have been working tirelessly with the US Fish and Wildlife Service to get all the chess pieces in place to finally delist the bears from the ESA, which did in fact happen nearly eight months ago.

Now it’s up to the Game and Fish Commission to approve the details of which have yet to be completely agreed upon for an upcoming grizzly bear hunting season which could take place as soon as this coming fall. The tentative details of these “draft” regulations are as follows:

A max of 24 bears will be harvested in a total of 8 hunt areas. A total of 12 bears (10 males and 2 females) will be taken in 6 areas bordering Yellowstone and Teton National Parks, and another 12 bears will be taken in two areas outside the bordered parks area. The season will run from September 15th to November 15th.The grizzly tags will be issued on a random draw process with no preference points. The cost to apply for a grizzly bear hunt will be $5 (resident) and $15 (nonresident)The cost of a grizzly bear tag will be $600 (resident) and $6,000 (nonresident).Baiting will be allowed outside the 6 park bordering areas, in Area-7. Only 2 hunters at a time will be licensed to hunt grizzly bears in 6 of the 8 areas. Once those 2 hunters are successful, 2 more hunters will be allowed afield. There will be a mandatory bear education program for all grizzly bear hunters. No bear shall be taken within 1/2 mile of a designated highway.

Most of us probably agree that the time has come to hunt the grizzly bear in Wyoming. Sound wildlife management under the North American Management Model, the only conservation model proven to actually work in the modern world by the way, clearly proves over and over again that hunting is by far the best tool to generate much needed funds and value for wildlife, which is critical to the long-term survival of big game including but not limited to the grizzly bear.

The Member’s Research Section, in the back of every subscriber issue of Eastmans’ Hunting Journals or available digitally, breaks down 11 western states by explaining their draw processes, big game units, trends, tag allocations, draw odds, and unit quality. Each state is unpacked by experts who dedicate over 2000 man hours of research each year to bring you the latest and best intel. We speak with state game agencies, biologists, outfitters and, of course, the everyday hunter so that we are sure you are getting the best possible information out there.

For example, say a historical powerhouse of a mule deer unit in Arizona is currently experiencing a bit of a downturn. Would you want to burn years worth of preference points on a hunt that isn’t what it was in years past? Without our up to date trend evaluation found in your copy of the Arizona MRS you might do just that and it would be a shame.

Or… say you’ve never hunted “out west” and decide it’s time to get off the bench and into the game. The only problem is decoding the vast amount of information from each state is like drinking from a fire hose! The Eastmans’ MRS will not only help you understand the application and draw processes of each state it will help you pick a starting point. Making a DIY adventure of your very own not only possible but realistic. We receive correspondence on a weekly basis from folks who have used our MRS to get them started in western big game hunting and experienced success that they had only dreamt of.

The options for unlocking access to the MRS have never been greater and using this tool has never been easier. The first way to get the MRS is to subscribe to both the Hunting and Bowhunting Journals, with this you are guaranteed to get 12 issues per year of the original and best western big game hunting magazines and a thorough breakdown of all the 11 key western big game states.

MYSTERY RANCH has long been a name associated with top tier packs that can haul weight and take a beating. Their Overload Carriage system makes hauling meat, bone, or other awkward loads out of the backcountry a major strong point. With the load hauling day hunter’s needs in mind the Pop-Up 18 and 28 were born for the hunter who plans to day hunt from the trailhead but still carry a heavy load out on the first trip in relative comfort.

The durability of MYSTERY RANCH packs are well known and both Pop Up pack models fit into that mold with 500D Cordura fabric as well as functional shoulder lift that many of the day packs of yesteryear never had.

MYSTERY RANCH’s motto is to make load hauling “Suck Less.” And daypacks with plenty of pocket space, the ability to haul heavy loads, and carry plenty of weight with a proven belt system and functional shoulder lift will definitely make load hauling suck, less! If you are in the market for a new day pack give the Pop Up series from MYSTERY RANCH a look.

Wyoming Adds New Antler Restrictions

By Todd Helms:

It is no secret that mule deer numbers in the Cowboy State are not what they used to be. Hard winters, predation, loss of habitat, disease, the speculative reasons are many and varied but the truth is, nobody can say exactly what the culprit is or what the remedy may be. However, something needed to be done and in the effort to stem the dismal tide of the Wyoming mule deer saga the Wyoming Game and Fish Department has placed a four-point antler restriction on deer areas 110-115 in northwestern Wyoming.

This was done in response to lower than objective overall mule deer numbers for the Shoshone herd which has dropped to an estimated 8600 animals. The objective for this herd is between 9000 to 15,000 deer.

Another reason for concern has to do with the extreme winter of 2016/17 and the effect it had on fawn survival. While the effects of that brutal winter were not felt equally across the state certain areas were hit very hard, the northwest corner being one of those. The department is seeing a dearth of young deer in the corresponding age class and the 4-point restriction is aimed at giving young bucks that did manage to escape the clutches of old man winter every chance to reach maturity.

So, if you draw a tag for this region or any of these areas please be aware that not just any buck will do; count twice, shoot once.

Want more information like this? SUBSCRIBE HERE!

By now most of you know the Wyoming Game and Fish Commission increased the cost of an elk tag by 20% for the 2018 draw. Based on many conversations this winter with nonresident applicants there was an inherent hope that the price increase would taper off the demand for such tags in the draw thus making the odds at drawing a tag better. Many might ask, did this work? The answer is no. Proving yet again that price increases do NOT correlate to increases in draw odds and to think otherwise is nothing more than wishful thinking.

So how did we get here? In 2017 the legislature of Wyoming was forced to make major budget cuts to nearly every single state agency, and the Game and Fish was not immune. The state chose to remove all “general funding” for the Department, and in turn chose to approve a license fee increase to compensate-lucky us.

When the dust of the nonresident draw settled and all the money was counted the state was able to increase the price of an elk tag by a whopping 20% and in return saw a 10% increase in elk applications in the process versus 2016. Yet again proving the fact that Wyoming has some of the most valued elk hunting in the entire country.

In January, nonresident elk applicants placed 23,080 applications for a mere 7,250 full price available elk tags. This equates to a generalized gross drawing odd of more than 31%, and a whole lot of money, something to the tune of more than $7,000,000. Not a bad boost to the Game and Fish budget. The 20% price increase accounts for nearly $1.5 million worth of that revenue alone-and that’s just the elk draw.

Here is your chance to win the Ridgetop Binocular harness from Outdoor Vision Gear! Fill out the form below for your chance to win!
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