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I have debated about what to say about this as I know some have mixed feelings about these highly sought after tags being donated. But after thinking about it I hope that if we are able to share the story that more people might enjoy the experience this increasing the good that has come The selfless decision someone made to donate the tag. A little background. In April of last year my son Hunter (9 at the time) was diagnosed with Charcot-Marie-Toothe. CMT is a degenerative neuro-muscular condition that causes muscle atrophy and reduced sensitivity in the extremities. As a result of this condition Hunter also had hip dysplasia in both legs which led to two separate reconstructive surgeries last year. He turned 10 in August and we squeezed in a youth Kaibab hunt as well as a cow elk hunt (from a donated tag) between surgeries. I was proud of his effort as he did whatever he had to and filled his deer tag and stuck with it through three cold days for his elk hunt but that tag went unfilled. He goes to PT twice every week and probably will do PT//OT until he is skeletally mature. We are blessed that his lifespan is not impacted and for now he can walk and ride a bike likE his friends, other than limited strength and the unknown of when and how fast the degeneration of his nerves will occur. Well a couple week’s ago Eddie Corona from OE4A called and asked if Hunter would be interested in an antelope hunt. This has been an aspiration of his for several years since accompanying me on scouting trips for my antelope hunt in 2014. So the next day, after going to PT, and the dr and getting x Rays we met Eddie Corona and picked up the tag. It’s been his top choice every year since so of course we were in. Then to find out it was Unit 10 tag, well, we were over the moon. I hope to share this experience with as many as possible and want to make sure that those involved know how much this means to a kid who has not had an easy past 12 months. Thanks to Eddie and everyone who helps OE4A in anyway and also to Darren Couturier who donated the tag. We can hardly wait to share the journey with everyone.

Some people look up to sports stars or political figures. With those bonus point numbers, you are officially my new hero!!! I think you’re on to something. I’ve spent a little time on the kaibab but never on the strip. I think you can kill every bit as good of a buck on the late kaibab and have a lot more fun doing it. I think the biggest reason most people kill on average smaller deer in there then the strip is because more people put mega time into a strip hunt because they know they need to. A second thing is I think most people don’t know the difference/ can’t pass up a high 170’s buck so they run across one a lot quicker on the kaibab then on the strip. That’s just my uneducated 2 cents

Traeger show at Costco Tempe today. I just picked up a Traeger Junior 20 and they have a few other models if anyone is interested. I paid $369 including a cover, cookbook, and bag of pellets.

No matter what coarse of action any of those agencies take it will end up tied up in lawsuits and courts for years.

By John Kolesza In Arizona, a small parcel of land in the Heber area was designated a wild horse territory in 1974 as prescribed in the Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act of 1971. At the time of designation, there were seven horses present and the area was designated as being roughly 19,000 acres. During the 1980s and early 1990s, the horses in this area died out. By 1995, the Forest Service could not find a single horse living in the wild horse territory. In 2002, the Rodeo-Chedeski fire destroyed over 500,000 acres of forests in areas surrounding Heber. With fences down, tribal horses streamed onto forest lands. By 2005, there were over 250 horses when the Forest Service announced intentions of rounding up these trespass horses. Lawsuits by horse advocates followed. The federal court issued its ruling in 2007 and directed the Forest Service to develop a management plan for the horses. Conservationists across Arizona have seen the dramatic changes in the forest areas of Heber and the horse numbers are estimated at between 500 and 1,000 head. If there is a culprit in this, it sits in the total lack of accountability with all of the forest supervisors and staff that have allowed the situation to fester over the past decade. A reasonable number of horses and a plan needed to be developed. The Apache Sitgreaves National Forests has created a climate of hostility and resentment, as well as an entitlement attitude by the horse advocates. The 19,000 acres that were designated as the horse territory has been expanded. The total land that feral horses now inhabit is over 400,000 acres. The “wild” horses are no longer wild, they graze with impunity at campsites. They are often referred to as the “bullies” of the range as they hoard water holes and drinkers to the exclusion of other wildlife. It is simply unacceptable that feral horses are managed differently than resident wildlife, lawful grazing, and at levels that clearly cannot be considered to exist within a “thriving ecological balance” as prescribed by law. This summer, public comments should occur (if the Forest Service can find the time) and that a plan will be put together. The wild horse advocates will scream in protest and file lawsuits so that the plan is on hold indefinitely. Sadly, these advocates do not care at all about any other wildlife. Last, but not least, illegal activity by frustrated people who do not share the passion that horse advocates do is reprehensible. Frustration at the inept forest management is the cause. The Apache Sitgreaves National Forest employees allowed this mess to fester for over 10 years with no action. The forest in another four years will be decidedly worse off and the number of horses will double by that time. Shame on the horse advocates for not being reasonable. They want the whole forest and the way things are going they will soon have it. I pity all of the other wildlife that is being forced out by the bullies of the range.

+1 on the Cy-kick and Suspend.

Go shoot a bigger buck than your dad Hunter!

Good Luck Hunter!!! Have fun!

Well the tag came in the mail today. IDFG also included a nice letter outlining the requirements for reporting, all moose must be checked in with F&G, and suggesting hunting methods and explaining moose behavior. Also got the camp situation figured out today. Picked up a new-to-me 2006 Nomad camper. Should keep us dry and warm. Should start testing moose loads next week while also setting the bow up with heavy arrows/heads.

For those of you who contacted me concerning this bear, he's still available. A week ago Thursday I placed a game cam in a tree.and according to the date stamp it only took a few hours for him to find it. I have about 4 pics of him yanking it out of the tree.

Thanks Will!

That would be. I have a big tag in August this year.

Curtis25 is a standup guy.

Go with a bow and hunt 13B......you’ll have a fun hunt as well!

Looks well fed too.

Yep, I'm from Oregon. Just some thoughts. Today, I spent a couple hours drafting a letter to my home state of Oregon about a proposed change, that went up on their website yesterday. They are making a proposal that will basically nullify 22 points that I've built for a top 3 mule deer tag that I should draw in the next few years. The proposal came out two weeks after the application deadline and indicates it may go into effect next year. Moves like these that make me super leery on tags where I can draw a great tag now, but may still have a 15 year wait for the best tag. The 13B rifle tag is in that category. There is a large backlog of max point applicants and quite a few with one less than max that just need to travel out to Arizona to get their hunter's safety point. Earlier this year AZGFD was proposing a Super Point idea where one point could be bought for one specie. I have 30 for antelope, 30 for sheep (after this year's draw), max for deer, and 21 for elk. Which tag would I buy the Super Point for if that happened? Probably sheep. I would start falling behind on the other species as other applicants bought Super points for those species. Proposals like that are devastating when you have nearly 2 to 3 decades and license fees invested in a tag. It was just a few years ago the AZ nonresident tag allocation changed where only 1/2 of the tags could go in the Bonus Pass. That moved a 13B tag from something in the foreseeable future to double that time. That's why I'm seriously thinking a Kaibab rut deer hunt (12A or 12B) this year could be a pile of fun!

I second that..

I've talked to several outfitters including Duwane. Some strongly recommend 12A West, some strongly recommend 12B West, and one says it is a toss-up. Some say nearly all of the bucks that are hunted in 12B West migrate in off the Kaibab, others say nearly all the bucks come off the Paunsagunt if it snows.

It was still running a little higher than normal but was not much of a hindrance. It has subsided a LOT since the last trip i made. The clarity was pretty good but still not as clear as it usually is. There was a strange gray colored "slime" that was starting to develop on some of the plants that was a bit of a concern. it wasn't the usual moss/slime that develops in the river when water temperature starts to rise. Not sure what it is but i hope it isn't some strange type of algae bloom that kills off fish

I went again this weekend and did pretty well. Probably landed 30 small mouth on Saturday. Not as many as some days but the quality was better than usual. I caught 10-12 that were 16”+ a couple were 20” or a little better.

The problem needs to be dealt with sooner or later. It is only getting worse. I will admit, when I first read this title, I thought it was going to be about the Ben Avery range masters.

Since this tag is once-in-a-lifetime and I will likely never experience this again, I want to share my experience with those who might be interested in following along. For those who do not know, Idaho is a pretty well kept secret when it comes to trophy species. What I mean by that is not that they have a lot of trophy caliber animals, but when it comes to their once-in-a-lifetime species, they have a unique combination of circumstances that keep their draw odds curiously reasonable in a time when point creep, draw strategies and ever-slimming odds are the norm. There are three factors at work here that keep this phenomena intact: First; although Idaho is growing rapidly it is still one of the least densely populated states in the west. Second; There are no bonus points, your odds today are very likely going to be your odds a few years from now. In the ten years since I left Rexburg, the resident draw percentage for this hunt has only reduced from 20% to 18% despite a consistent success rate above 90% and maintaining an average bull spread near 40". Third; Idaho requires applicants to choose to either apply for any one of the three O-I-L species (Moose, Mt Goat, Sheep) or to apply for a limited entry for deer, elk and antelope. Because deer and elk both have OTC general seasons in much of the state residents can be guaranteed plenty of hunting without a special draw, but Idaho is as much mule deer country as it is potato country. So many residents are reluctant to pass up a chance at a rut/migration carp tag to apply for other tags many residents consider a novelty. Just as impressive as the draw odds are the resources that ID has available on their website. Along with harvest data and draw odds there are also interactive unit maps with surface management layers and boundaries. They do a top notch job of making it super easy to research and explore your options, even if you aren't previously acquainted with their regulations and systems. After calling some family and friends, I wasted no time in reaching out to an old friend who was the wildlife manager for this unit when I lived there. It didn't take long to find our that he was still in the area and happy to help get me pointed in the right direction. He even gave me the address of a bull he knew of in the unit. With that connection made its time now to start the process of figuring out gear, times, methods and locations for the hunt. I will likely only get one scouting trip in July, other than that I will be running off of what I can remember from a decade ago and a few dropped pins from my game warden buddy. So if you are interested in seeing how this turns out, check back and I will update the thread with gear prep, e-scouting, and other updates along the way. I look forward to hearing your thoughts and experience if you have any. Thanks for checking in.

Lark. Good to go. Doesn’t talk a whole lot. But i sense he’s always lurking.

CROWHUNTER is good to go. 👍 nice guy. Easy smooth transaction.

bought some f250 wheels off of Hawkruiz69 's dad, max 2 of the 4 were cracked and max would not give me my money back.