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Thanks everyone - I'm not sure when I'll find out but I'll let you know.

Not sure how many of you get the NRA publication American Hunter but I find it has some interesting articles. After winning the Best Story contest this year in the RT forums I figured I'd submit a pic and short write up for the American Hunter's summer Members Best issue. They emailed me a few days ago requesting additional information and informed me it is being considered for their summer issue. As a professor I'm published in several journals but I've never been in a hunting related one. How cool would that be! Anyway, as I rise to celebrity status I want you all to know I'll never forget the RT people that helped me get here. LOL

Got my codes and placed my order yesterday!

Same thing when I sold my truck a couple years ago. I did end up selling it on Craigslist though - got 3K more than the dealer would give me.

Outstanding! I hate it when they come in unexpected. We have a few more weeks here in IL.

Got the email a couple days ago - thanks RT!

Thanks Martin - Can't wait till I get mine!

Me this morning! LOL

I have used the Buck Alaskan Guide Crosslock for many years. Best knife I've ever owned. Worth 110.00 all day long!

From Martin: (LOL) Posted February 5 · Report post Tell ya what,; Patriots win, team 2 wins it; Falcons win Team 3 wins it

Hunting with Jim Shockey would be pretty cool. Back in 2010 (Idaho) I had a nice black bear within 20 yards of my ground blind looking at me through the window. He stood up on a tree and started clawing it. That was a rush. He might have walked my way but he didn't get the chance (see below). After checking with several outfitters and references we've decided to go with Tim's recommendation. Thanks everyone.

Alaskan brown bear is at the top followed by the Griz and white ram. These are not financially feasible for at least a decade and likely never will be. A red stag hunt from New Zealand is next on the list and will likely happen in 4 or 5 years. Argentina is great and cheaper to hunt the red stag, but I would combine the hunt with a vacation and New Zealand is number one on my bucket list of places to visit. Question on the red stag hunt would be going for the smaller public ground stags or a managed private ranch hunt with giant stags??? Mountain lion also falls in there somewhere within the next decade.

Love the look on her face!

Thanks for the recommendation Tim. I just called Gage and got some more information. As far as I'm concerned this would be exactly what we are looking for. Have you ever hunted bear with Gage in the spring? If so do you remember which week you went and on average how many bears did you see each evening? Gage told me he filmed your deer hunt when you shot a 13 point buck for Monsterbucks. Do you remember what year that was or which MB? I'll have to go back a watch it. Bob, alright - I'll go. LOL

It's nice to have a bucket list...other than the leopard - Africa hasn't been of interest to me. I'd love a big cat - the mountain lion is at the top of my "realistic" bucket list. The other is a Red Stag from New Zealand (but that's years down the road).

That's awesome Bob! Can't wait to see how it goes. Jake actually took some time off from guiding and got back into a year ago. That's a lot different than the fly in spot and stalk hunt he was setting up for me. I hope it goes well - looking forward to hearing how it goes for you. Also, tell Jake Frank from IL says hello and maybe one day I'll get to head up there and hunt Griz with him.

From my research interior Grizzly were about 16-20K (all inclusive with taxidermy). Coastal brown bears and Kodiak would be 24-30K and the rare Glacier black bears (blue in color) cost even more! William, the three bears I took were from OTC DIY hunts. Very difficult hunts (mentally and physically). The first 2 week trip I basically learned how to hunt them and never saw a black bear the entire trip. The second trip I took two bears and the third I took a color phase. These three bears will mean more to me than any bear (regardless of size or color) that I take with an outfitter because of the planning, time and effort I put in. I will tell you that a black bear DIY hunt has a low success rate unless you know how to hunt them in the area you are in and have at least 2 weeks and a solid game plan to hunt them. If you only had a week your best bet is to go with an outfitter. I'm not really that interested in another bear hunt, but the guy I hunt with is so I'm going to go. I will say I sure do like black bear meat and it's been a while.

Yea Bob, I would sure love to hunt with Steve and you on POW but failed to draw a black bear tag twice now. In addition the deadline to submit is way too early. I think it's already too late to apply for a spring 2018 hunt anyway. I looked all around for a grizzly hunts in AK. Was going to go with a guy named Jake Jefferson. Had several conversations with him. He was going to work a deal for me - a fly in week long 1 on 1 interior grizzly hunt for 10K. Add the flight, tags, taxidermy, and other expenses and it was right at 16K for the hunt (and that was at bargain rates a few years ago). As best I could figure the odds were pretty good - maybe 60-70% of harvesting one but in Alaska you never know. The weather is very unpredictable. When it came time to pay up I really just couldn't justify paying that kind of money at this time in my life so had to give up on that too. I think the only way I could really do some big game AK hunting would be in a few years when I have my 20 in at work here in IL. Get a teaching job in AK for a few years at a university and hunt there as a resident. My hunting buddy is the one that wants to go to Canada and he asked me to go so I said sure. He asked me to look around for recommendations. Planning to drive in (about 20 hours) hunt 5 or 6 days - dive home. Pack coolers in the truck and bring the hides and meat home and have them made into rugs locally. No flights, no shipping, and no draw. Keeping it simple and something to plan my work schedule around. Keep us posted on your griz hunt - will be amazing I'm sure.

Thinking about a spring Canadian Bear hunt in 2018. Anyone have a recommendation? I'm check AT as well.

Ha! Yea, Tim - while my buck this past season scored a little higher my sons deer has more mass and a more impressive frame. Given the choice in the field I would have shot his over mine all day.

Measured the antlers a couple days ago and the gross score was right at 125 inches. Gotta say that's a pretty good deer for a 13 year old kid.

I got the rack back and green scored him at 131 inches and change. I was really excited to see him hit the 130 mark and looking forward to scoring my IL buck - thinking he'll be in the mid to high 140's.

A real honest to goodness vote! I just want to point out that the FBI is still investigating the email communications for team three.

Thanks everyone.

Isn't this years deer contest over yet? Is anyone still hunting? I think some interesting points have been made regarding hashing out the winner. Age, camo, travel, how about... most posts in the teams thread??? Yea, that's the ticket! LOL