CouesWhitetail

Jim said you guys are welcome anytime. Scottyboy, the date is set and it's based on Jim's schedule. But just come on by before the SCI banquet. There is no set start time yet, but when I asked he said it didn't matter to him, just come on by when you can. So if you get there at 7 am, it's fine, or if you can't make it until 5 pm, that's fine also. I am guessing most people will show up in the afternoon sometime? Amanda

You can also see a list of the auction items on the ADA website. We could really use some more people attending this banquet, so if you are thinking about it, just go online and buy some tix quick!! http://www.azdeer.org/2009_banquet/2009_banquet.htm Amanda

I believe that is correct info you have there Bill. I think this we mentioned at one of the ADA board meetings. I think they might intend to auction it off as a photo safari type hunt rather than a a real lion hunt. Amanda

We missed you Josh!! would have been great to see your family too!! Amanda

Enjoy the White Mtns!! Amanda

I will let you all know. Amanda

Hey All, The deadline is almost here for the end of the Great American Deer Raffle. Buy tickets today online and help support deer management in Arizona!!! You can buy raffle tickets for the Special Commissioner's Coues tag!!!! http://www.azdeer.org/great_american_deer_...deer_raffle.htm Amanda

Can't wait to see what you get at the spot where that GIANT lives!! Shoot me an email when your new case arrives so I know it's taken care of. Amanda

Hey All, Thought you might enjoy a few of my latest trail cam pics. I have been having a hard time the last couple months because the bears keep messing with my cameras. So I moved one cam to a spot I thought the bears wouldn't mess with it. But then this time I had a pair of ravens push the cam so it was tilted up. Oh well, got a few pics before that happened. The elk have only recently moved into the area this past month. They have been in there feasting on a certain plant growing along the edges of the creek. I wasn't expecting the elk, had the cam set for bear, coues, lion sized animals. So the elk pics are too close to see the antlers well. Look at the gut on this elk! I tried to put the cam in some boulders that I thought nothing would mess with, but I had doves, rabbits and ravens come right up to the cam. At least the bear didn't mess with it. Not sure why this pic looks like this, maybe it was raining? an artistic rabbit pic...

I really like the one of the bear's nose just showing up. Amanda

You guys are funny!! Thanks for buying tix! Keep it up! Good luck to all! Amanda

Those of you wanting to help and not travel can buy raffle tickets for the Great American Deer Raffle, which is ending soon and has some outstanding hunts available to win! Money goes to help deer in AZ through the AZ Deer Association. What could be easier? check it out: http://www.azdeer.org/great_american_deer_...deer_raffle.htm

Thanks for all the kind comments! I passed them on to Paul. He has been busy doing ever more PR for BOW during the last week.... Amanda

Hey All, My husband and I were at the annual meeting and awards dinner for the Arizona Wildlife Federation up in the Flagstaff area last weekend. AWF is the oldest sportsmen's group in Arizona and this was there 86th annual meeting. They did it as a weekend campout with a Sunday work project to remove fencing and facilitate wildlife movement. Anyway, my husband won the Conservation Volunteer of the Year award at the banquet for all the years of promoting the AWF's Becoming an Outdoorswoman (BOW) program. BOW aims to teach women outdoor skills such as camping, hunting, fishing, kayaking, etc. He has worked as a publicity guy for years and has used his skills to help get the word out about the BOW program. About 5 years ago, the BOW program was considering stopping the workshops because of low attendance. However, after Paul got involved with the PR for the workshops, attendance soared and we even went from holding two weekend workshops a year to having 3. Of course there are many other people who helped the program grow, but Paul was able to get BOW featured in all the major papers as well as getting big articles in magazines like Arizona Highways. He also does some non-traditional promotion aimed at reaching out to the many women's clubs and organizations throughout the state. Thanks husband for all your help with BOW!! For more info on the BOW and AWF, visit the AWF website: http://www.azwildlife.org/bow.html here is a pic of him receiving his award from my friend Linda Dightmon who coordinates the BOW program.

Oh, and here are the pics of the ravens approaching the cam before pushing it over. It was a Covert 1 set on the ground. I thought it was secure enough to not get pushed over, but they were curious about it and couldn't resist messing with it.

Good post for a discussion John, thanks for starting it. Seems to me Doug summed it up perfectly. In almost all things, 10% of the people do 90% of the work. Why that is the case is beyond me. But for those of you that haven't helped on a water project or a fence project or research project, I sure would like to let you all know that it's a ton of fun and very rewarding. It's a great way to get the family out and involved also. Everyone is busy, but just try picking one project to do this year and see if you don't enjoy it. I try and post projects in the Calendar section of this forum, but you should also sign up with the AGFD volunteer email list. AGFD sends out emails that list many of the projects going on in the state. http://www.azgfd.gov/inside_azgfd/volunteer.shtml If you don't want to sign up for those emails, just go visit the website of your favorite conservation group and see what projects they have going on. Also, as others have mentioned, there are lots of ways to help that don't involve donating a Saturday's worth of time. Donate to a conservation group, help with a banquet, become a member, send emails to politicians/AGFD, etc. I would love to see more hunters involved in projects. Amanda

etrex is probably the smallest, easiest and cheapest. Seems like it would be a fine unit for you.

I too was very impressed with the Kaibab's and those Zenray's Doug brought. It was great to be able to check out these binos side by side. Thanks to all who got their optics out! I spoke with Jim White about Vortex and he says they have shown him amazing customer service. So really, I can't see how you can go wrong saving some money and still getting some great glass and customer service. I am one of those people with narrow eyes and I have always had a little trouble getting the swaros close together enough...not so with the Kaibabs. Amanda

I had a great time up there visiting with everyone!! And I really enjoyed all the great cooking up there! We did some serious feasting this weekend! Lance and family cooked up som great elk cheese burgers and brats for Friday night dinner. Thanks to Lance's son Ty for sharing his elk with us!! I loved those. Gino and Tina made smoked bacon-wrapped jalapeno poppers stuffed with cream cheese and a mix of mexican cheese. Gino brought up his propane smoker and smoked everything with apple wood. And Brian Marshall and others (not sure if Jeremy and his wife were in on this dish, too?) made up some killer potatoes to go with it all. Saturday morning featured great bisquits and gravy (with elk sausage in it). Excellent! Saturday night found us dining on a perfectly smoked prime rib and ribs provided by Gino and his wife. That was great and then Jeremy and his wife provided perfectly baked potatoes, salad and cheesecake! YUM! Oh, and I added to the mix by making prickly pear margaritas on Fri and Sat night. I didn't expect to eat so well up there! Thanks for such great food. We had fun throughout the weekend with the archery shoot, playing a variety of games around camp, having a raffle and several great guess the score bucks. Thanks to those that brought up there deer heads and sheds. It was great to visit with everyone that came up. Hard to beat time spent around a campfire! Thanks so much to Lance and his family for always making this an excellent campout. It's a real pleasure spending time with your family. I know he took several photos (and I didn't take any!), so I am hoping he will post some. Sorry Carrie had to be on crutches all weekend with her sprained ankle. Amanda

Glad you noticed the shirt. No one commented, I figured no one noticed. And yes, it does look good on him!!! Amanda

I know two people who have received heart and lung transplants. It's not an easy road for them to recovery, but it definitely gives them more time with their loved ones. Amanda

You guys notice what shirt he is wearing?? He always sportin' the colors!! Amanda

How come everyone always sees this stuff before I do??!! Glad you thought it was good and thanks for letting me know you saw it. I hope it helps boost traffic to this site. Chris (editor of Western Hunter) and I are talking about doing a CouesWhitetail.com article in each issue to help promote the site. Next issue is likely to be a summary of the Coues Buck contest from this year and the many great bucks that were taken. For those who aren't familiar with Western Hunter magazine, it's a great one and you can order it from his website: http://web.mac.com/western_hunter/Western_...r_Magazine.html Amanda

LOL! Wow, that's a lot of advice all balled-up in one post! Maybe I need to make it a pinned topic so all the newbies can read it while you are out fishing and hunting and living the good life...... Congrats Lark, and send us a few pics of your adventures when you get a chance! Nice job retiring at 55! Amanda

Buffalo Burgers!! Great idea Doug! Maybe Lance has some to spare.... Thanks so much Lance for posting so much of the details and pics. It takes a lot of dedication and time to do that, and I appreciate it! Loved the story. I don't mind the waits in between posts. I thought you did a great job, thanks! Amanda