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3 pointsL.O.L. that is Casey for ya, implications and finger pointing is what he does. I don't know Eddy very well at all actually. Have met him i believe 3 or 4 times in person to get tags and once at banquet. If i had physically been able to hunt the strip i really doubt this bull tag would have come to me. But again for the folks who can't get it threw their skulls thousands of vets don't qualify for these tags or have not filled out applications with organizations participating or they are not hunters. Out of the vets that do qualify and are registered in participating program how many can travel the day after a tag is handed to them? Physically many are unable at the time of the hunt as i have been unable multiple times. OE4A i would say is geared way more towards kiddos and i see plenty of them with some awesome critters posted on f.b. if you follow the oe4a organization you would know this rather than talking favortism on here. I happen to be the only 1 who gets donated tags that is stupid enough to try and share the experience and pictures with this obnoxious, disresoectdul, jealous crowd. I do wish it were possible to switch places with a few of you physically for a year or so and let you experience life from my physical perspective.. I would live to see someone like Casey at Physical Therapy 3x a week dor hour or 2 each visit, or at the pain clinic every 2 weeks dor injections of lidocaine-steroid-torradol, or getting infusions when he gets back from a hunt because he pushed it to much trying to have some what of a normal life doing what he loves, i would love to see him or any of the like button pushers on the favortism post to have to use prednisone to walk then suffer the consequences of 5 hip surgeries because of necrosis (dead, collapsed bone) from the only drug that helped him walk to hunt or even be able to visit Disneyland with his family.. Would love to see Casey or any of you crap talkers have to go lay down and drop your pants and get a nerve block in his hip on opening morning of his early rifle bull elk hunt because he wants to be able to do it without falling all day long.. Let us not forget the knee braces, compression stockings, back braces, canes, crutches you take just incase. If any of you would be willing to accept this for a premium tag you happen to get because you are eligible and available well then i also suggest a good psychiatrist cuz something is seriously wrong with you. Since the same few as always decide to talk crap and try and tarnish the name of a man who does great things for disabled hunters of Arizona i will go ahead and keep my future hunt success to myself. Really some of you just flat out disgust me. I do hope none of you actually find yourself in this situation trust me the hopes of a good tag do not outweigh the struggles of being sick.
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1 pointHe goes by many names .. We English speaking folks know him as the Alpine ibex. In Latin, he’s known as the grandfather of all of the goats; Capra Ibex. In his native ranges he goes by several monikers; le Bouquetin the French speaking regions of the Alps of southeast France and western Switzerland, lo Stambecco in the Italian Alps, der AlpenSteinböck in the German, Austrian and eastern Swiss Alps, and Kozerog in Slovenia where he lives in the Julian Alps, the southern arm of Alps proper. To many hunters, he’s regarded as the King of the Alps; Der König der Alpen. I am in this crowd of hunters. He’s a special animal that most hunters are afforded just one chance at, if ever at all, in their lifetime. Permits are extremely limited and very hard to come by. He’s been immortalized in his native range in statues, sculptures, paintings, and writings. Hunters for millennia have looked up from the valley floors on clear days at the highest snow and glacier capped haunts the Alps have and pondered the chance to have just one opportunity to chase the long horned goats that live in those absolute vertical reaches of the incredible range they’d gaze upwards at. I had my opportunity in western Switzerland this past week. I’m humbled to have had the opportunity to receive this rare permit at a time that coincided with my chance to finish my Capra Super 20 (20 different goat species from around the world) I’m thankful, humbled and grateful. It was a hunt I’ll never forget. The Alps gifted me one of its Kings and he’ll forever hold a spot of the highest regard in my life and in my memories from here on out. Having finished my Capra Super 20, I have so many people to thank. Each of you all know who you are. Know that you’re all incredibly gracious good people and I’m a better man for having had the pleasure of you in my life. Thank you all.
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1 pointHere’s a couple archery bulls I helped with in New Mexico I know nobody likes the tramp stamp, but that’s the way things are now unfortunately.
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1 pointMan tough hunt! Pre rut activity in end of dang September. Rifle hunt. Was getting nerve block in hip openeing morn cuz pain so,bad,night before i couldn't sleep. I had high hopes this procedure would help me get around a bit better so 1 day wasted and rain was coming soon. All night bulls screaming and the moon was bright. Sat morn bulls talking but not coming to calls. I managed to hobble into a couple bulls that were chatty and dang they were in thick stuff and maybe 50 yards.. I see a nice tall 6x6 with short points but tall so i get scope on him in small opening and wait to make sure all is clear but when he dropped his head to eat a rump was at his neck line... Then up out of brush comes a giant whale tail bulls head (350ish) he was standing perfectly beside the 6. 😕 My buddy whispered something to me and when i moved my head i think the sun behind me caused flicker cuz the 6 just spun head and looked at me. I got back in the scope and the toad bull was standing straight away only presenting Texas heart shot and sorry but i'd rather have good meat then the big rack. Sat. night i sat water and 1 fox visited & a G&F guy who politely backed out but i heard same guy walked right in on aquaitence in same unit opening morn of archery. 😡 Sun morn i fully expected to shoot 1 of those bulls from Saturday.. We saw 2 monsters driving in but juat not enough light for,my aging eyes then silence fell upon the woods. Sunday night sat water and thundering bull bugles echoed out 30min before dark but not in the kind of country i could try and pursue them in with bad leg and it was clear nobody was coming to water. Monday morning after a sleepless night from sorta warm weather and a annoying loud bull we set out to try and chase bugles. Unfortunately my leg was super bad, the block helped till anathesia wore off tjen back to pain so walking was super slow and every time we got to bugles they had moved 500 yards. I told buddy (bowhunter4life) i was done and i think it's time to go home cuz pain was too bad so he asked if he should go grab the truck.. I was frustrated, how can 1 go to unit 👉9👈 with a rifle and get no bull? so i said let me take some medicine and rest foot 30 minutes and he kinda backed off and gave me room to vent my frustrations a bit. Well while venting i chose to continue a conversation with i believe the bull who kept me awake the night before. we had just spoke with him and i had even raked his rub a bit while screaming at him and he wasn't so happy. I continued screaming the bugle loud directly at him and buddy hit cow call here and there 30 yards behind me and son of a gun suddenly the screamer was 100 yards off and on same level as i so i figured this bull was in play! My buddy came over and said he is close and i was like YUP! He says can ya do it and i said meds worked lets do it. Well we walked straight at bugle which was now in a draw 150 yards or so off. I screamed loud on bugle everytime he spoke and you could tell he was not very happy with me. Suddenly after a different squeaky bull spoke we saw a spindly bull (which i would have shot) suddenly dart from thick cover and just vanish we hit bugle and the bigger bull screamed back from dead ahead maybe 60-80 yards. I got down on ground and scanned with binocs then scope and could see what sure looked like legs, belly and lower shoulders of elk. I got super low and put scope on shoulder/chest cuz facing me slighly quartering left and i asked buddy to hit bugle.. Well as soon as Mike bugled the bull buggled and his belly and balls bounced confirming target and the 300wm barked!! He ran out with leg flying all over the place. We got on his trail and found 2 tiny blood drops of blood in 40 or 50 yards.. I was frustrated and was like what the heck man i just smacked him with a 200 grain bullet at point blank kinda range and i get 2 drops of blood? Just then buddy slapped me and was like right there he is!!! Maybe 10 yards to my left. L.O.L. When Mike went for his truck to see if he could get in to us i rolled the bull over and found a busted arrow shaft and broadhead that was festering out of upper shoulder. So he is not the biggest bull but i am dang proud of him. I absolutely love this bull and the fact that i received the tag the day before the hunt started and have never hunted elk in 9, i had a nerve block the morning the hunt started, i still have post op foot! I'm way blessed to have a friend willing to drop everything and go help and a wife willing to let me drop everything and go hunt. Blessed Blessed Blessed and so very thankful. i know many people that donated tags this year were just wanting better antler/horn growth but in this case i believe it was illness so please pray for the donor. Thanks As you can tell by the boiling pot i am playing catch up with my own personal harvests so i can make room for meat, heck i even did my bison after these and it was from 2016 :]
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1 pointSo we are 1600 miles in to the trip so far four for four with Wyoming goats. Have two more tags to fill hopefully Saturday in Montana. Just at camp here in Montana weather is gorgeous today looks like we’re gonna have some changes coming forward looking at 48 and rain next couple days. We are just east of Broadus on some BLM land, have four groups of goats glassed up
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1 pointZeiss Conquest 6.5-20x50 with the target turrets MOA - 1/4 1" tube #43 mil-dot reticle Never an issue, no scratches on the glass, and never dropped or banged on anything. There are wear marks from rubbing on my clothes or pack. Have used it to 1000 yards and it's pretty lucky! I'll include the Warne rings. I'm selling because I upgraded. $600 and prefer not to ship. Located in Flagstaff. I also have a Warne 20 moa rail for a Remington 700 - $80
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1 pointYes!!!! VERY excited for some January archery hunting! We are SO fortunate here in AZ! Also, my two college age kids (son & daughter) were lucky enough to get late Dec rifle tags. Can't wait for them to come home for Christmas break from school, so we can spend some time looking for some nice coues bucks for them! S.
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1 pointI certainly did. I had a great hunt where I backpacked somewhat "deep" into 33. Didn't a punch a tag but found plenty of deer. Ended up getting ROCKED by a wicked and unexpected storm. I packed out, regrouped, had a some good hunts off Redington Rd and up in Unit 23. My one legit opportunity where a buck bedded 25 yards from me I, of course blew. Long story short I didn't have my bow with me at that moment so I watched and snapped photos as a consolation prize. Probably my biggest take away was backpack hunting coues certainly doesn't seem as efficient as it may be for other species. I found that staying increasingly mobile (i.e. truck camping) and hiking in the dark 0.5-2 miles up some nasty feature will get you away from 99.9% of the hunting pressure and allow you to switch locations every day therefore finding more deer, more opportunities.
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1 pointGood luck to all the youth hunters. Hope they are successful and most of all have a great time. They are the future and we need them. Dan
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1 pointWhen backpack hunting I always camp very near my glassing spots and have never had any issues of spooking game (at least that I'm aware of). Many times I've sat down to glass and within minutes I've seen game within 200, 100 even 50 yards of me and often on the same hillsides. Just be sure not to camp on a peak or top of a ridge line, try to find a spot where you're not so exposed and visible and of course try and keep noise to a minimum.
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1 pointMan bunch of trolls afraid to give the guy an idea lol 21,22,23,24,27,6a,34’s,35’s,36’s hard to go wrong in any of those
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1 pointFinished up 6 for 6, 22 hour drive home thru snow and rain, flash last night into today killed us but well worth it
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1 pointCorrect, when my son was in treatment and doing chemo and radiation for his cancer. He qualified for a tag donation, and received three tags before turning 18. He is now healthy and doing amazing now, for Gods glory! I will tell you this, my question for all of those questioning the tag donations.... Would you give up your health and ability to do as you please to become highly disabled through the military or have your son or daughter to have a terminal disease? Of course not, in the big scheme of life, hunting is just a by product of our enjoyment! So amazing to me, how personal people get when someone they do not know, donates their tag to a worthy cause. Please see the following link for qualifications. http://www.outdoorexperienceforall.org/
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1 point22, 23, and 27 typically have the biggest bucks and you dont have to worry about your camp being raided by drug runners or illegals👍
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1 pointDave is as good of a resource as you will find and is a big wig with the AZ Deer Association. I would jump on his offer. You are also welcome to send me a PM. There are a lot of really good Coues units in the state. But a lot goes into a what is a good Coues unit for you. What some might find great, others might struggle in. Likewise a lot depends on your own ability to travel to certain areas, hike, shoot long distance, etc. Are you willing to hunt the Mexico border? Do you know what the significance of hunting the border is? These are all import questions. Like I said shoot me a message if you like and I will do my best to help you out.
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1 pointWhen I was 11 the only things that had brakes were vehicles and sheetmetal shops.
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1 pointMy 2017 central Az buck is all finished and home. Love it. Can’t wait to find another. 131 gross 127 net and all officially scored and submitted. Waiting for the 2018 season to end to see if this typical will receive any awards from B&C.
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1 pointThankfully my wife of 18 years also spends some time with me. Her birthday was yesterday this is what we did since Wed. My tag, her birthday. I'm a lucky guy
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1 pointIf it was me I would have a reputable AZ taxidermist do the work as they are familiar with coues deer characteristics. All taxidermist that sponsor this forum are trustworthy.
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1 pointI may use that to photoshop in lieu of what I'll end up shooting next weekend. Nice find!!!!
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1 pointThere is one more main option. Ship to Nafa. My averages were $200 a cat higher at Nafa than what was offered to me at Kingman last year.
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1 pointroninflag- The fur market is a commodity like many other goods and is impacted at many levels from several variables. Current indicators shows a continued decline of general fur prices, both ranch and wild fur. That being said, here in AZ we primarily focus on lynx cat and grey fox. High end bobcats (perfect coloring and heavy pelt) will still be snatched up by fur buyers for good prices $400-700, but mid-grade, poorly handled desert bobcats will see lower prices ($300-$100). Grey fox has shown less of a price fall as bobcats. Last year I believe the ATA average was $20-23 a grey pelt. Contrary to what others might say AZ Coyotes will be nowhere close to the industry quality coyote. Genetically we don't have the color the garment industry wants. The heavy pale coyotes are the ones seeing the $75/pelt prices we get excited about. The typical Arizona coyote will see a $10-15 price tag. Hardly worth the effort. Last year a fella went and got his fur buyers license from AZ G&F and bought up all those cheap coyotes for $5-15 each from the ATA fur sale and sold them elsewhere for significantly more. Lots of the artsy fartsy stores in Sedona and Jerome sell a typical desert coyote tanned hide for $60. Wall hanging decor snowbirds want. The variables that are impacting sales this year are the terrible economy Russia is having due in part to the economic sanctions the US put on them for their invasion into Ukraine. Our last recession will pale in comparison to what they are seeing now and will for the next few years. Also China caught and sent to prison a few more mink fur buyers who failed to pay import taxes on the millions of mink they bring into the country. Word went around quickly that China was a no show to the early fur sale. Prices on muskrat and coon are dismal. The silver lining is bobcats, if handled properly, can still make you a small bit of coin in you are not investing tons of time getting them. If your fur handling skills are average, do not expect to make more than $150 a bobcat. Last year fur buyers said lots of Arizona fur was not put up well. Greasy fur, goofball stretching techniques, poorly sewn up pelts, and general mishandling resulted in dozens of trappers ticked off and 'no sale' their fur at the ATA and Kingman sale. Also we have a habit as new trappers to take small and sow bellied females because we have no self restrain when something is in our cage. You are not going to get hardly anything for a 12 pound female bobcat that stretches 30 inches so why harvest it? Late season female bobcats oftentimes have kittens. Their belly fur will develop damaged fur around the teets. Off color and missing fur is the result and buyers do not want it. 'Owl's eyes' comes from a female who has a late litter of kittens last year and her fur has not yet recuperated. The belly fur around the teets, when fluffed up and blow on, will show less growth and often be slightly off color than the surrounding snow white belly fur. Ideally, you only want to take full grown female bobcats with no fur damage in Late December to last of Feb or early March. That is when fur is prime and worth the most to the seller. Badgers in this market will get you a $20 bill if you know what you're doing. Worth more as a keepsake in my opinion. Fur sellers (trappers & hunters) have 3 main options to sell fur: Arizona Trappers Association Fur Sale Briarpatch Fur Sale NAFA Fur Sale All have their pros and cons. My philosophy, which I have practices for many years, is sell quality fur early. Buyers have quotas on top quality bobcats (15-20% of our AZ market) they are trying to fill. They don't want mid-grade bobcats (80-85% of our AZ market). I wont do your fur for you but I will help any trapper who needs help putting up fur. I will loan stretchers, stand next to and coach you as you flesh, sew, skin, and stretch bobcats and foxes. I do it each and every season and have already had several trappers show up to my home these past 2 months to stretch bobcats. There are resources out there to insure you get the most money for your fur. Use them.