CouesWhitetail

This turned out to be a problem camera and I sent him a new one. Apparently it's a bad chip or somethign like that. Amanda

Looks to me like his dad's bird went swimming after the shot.....maybe TJ will fill us in. Amanda

Alright!!! Way to go Peg!!! Must be a great feeling of accomplishment! Looks like a great bird too! I hope you are getting it mounted or at least doing the tail mount. Congratulations to your dad too!! That's some great success for your family! Amanda PS., I am glad my turkey hunt story inspired you to hang in there! I will tell the other ladies and send them the link to your story!

Hey All, I have been doing some owl surveys for the BLM in the east end of Aravaipa canyon. Two trips so far and they have been productive for owls and other wildlife. On one of the trips, I took my neices with me. They are from Maine and I thought they might enjoy camping in that area. On another trip my husband and I did a short backpack trip. Hopefully we will be back in a week or two to explore some new canyons. My neices found the bones of a fawn that had likely been eaten by a mountain lion. There were bones up on a little cliff and then the majority had fallen down into the leaves below. They had fun digging around and they were rewarded with more and more bone peices. We have seen many herps (reptiles and amphibians) on these trips. AZ Black Rattlesnake that luckily rattled to warn my husband before he took another step. My husband was moving the bush aside to walk through it when he heard the rattle. Big, black snake. And here is an example of what NOT to put in the baby crib.......beer and rattlesnakes......this was in an abandoned building that we checked out. It's a very large Blacktail rattlesnake that, when cornered, backed into the crib. Lots of canyon treefrogs calling in the day and the night. And my dog Julie managed to find this lyre snake that was in the process of eating a clark's spiny lizard. Either he decided after awhile that he wouldn't be able to swallow it or he got worried by my presence but he left and hid in a slot in a big hackberry tree. a red racer crossing the road: a madrean alligator lizard: And a centipede that was hunting in little rock crevices. That thing was on a mission and in constant motion. After our backpack trip we came out and had breakfast under this GIANT hackberry tree. It was very impressive. The photos probably don't do it justice. Flowers added color everywhere we went. Columbine: Don't know what flower this is, but it was hot pink (not very good photo). Found a little humming bird nest. And managed to find some owls. They were nesting in cubby holes in the cliff walls. And there was an endless amount of scenery. Can't wait to go back!! Amanda

I thought I had heard that frogg toggs were easily torn....is that not the case? and are they quiet or do they rustle alot? Amanda

Very neat snake...I have never seen one in the field. Nice that they are helping you take care of the termites! Amanda

Great spot you have there! Thanks for sharing the pics! Amanda

I wish! I didn't exactly have any glassing time, but didn't see any sheep or coati's either Amanda

Sorry Snapshot!! At least this time I threw in some pics of some other snakes and lizards. Amanda

That Cobra Ranch looks awesome. When did your family ranch there? Amanda

Wow, that's awesome!! Turkey with a bow is a great accomplishment! Congratulations! Amanda

Beautiful! I have some friends that fish the San Juan often and it always looks like fun. nice job saving that guy TJ, hope your back didn't get hurt too bad! Amanda

You are right, those pics sure make me want to get out there and do some fishing! Seems like a great family outing!! Amanda

Congratulations! I am jealous!! That's a gorgeous bird! So was it the hen that led that tom over to you due to your calling, or did he leave the hen and come over once he got closer? Amanda

Fences sure are a hazard to wildlife. That's really sad. Amanda

Cool snake. I didn't remember patch-nosed snakes having any pinkish color like yours shows, but they are probably pretty variable. Here are a couple pics of a road killed Eastern Patch-nosed snake I found during my WT hunt last year in NM.

Hey All, Just another warning to get your rattlesnake awareness up to speed. I almost had a very bad day yesterday! I was out walking the dogs and looking for a spot to put a new trail cam out. I was hoping to find a coyote den or badger burrow or something like that. I was walking downhill and spotted a badger burrow, so I got close and tried to peer inside to see if it was an active burrow or old. There was some short grass at the front of the burrow and I needed to move it to get a view of inside the burrow. It wasn't until AFTER I reached down and moved a little grass, peered all around and moved my hand back that I noticed a small coiled up rattler just in front of the burrow. YIKES!! My hand had been within a 1/4 inch (yes, I said a quarter inch!) of his head!! Luckily he wasn't warmed up and was feeling mellow. He didn't react at all to my hand. Just stayed there coiled up. Then of course my old dog wanted to go sniff around and see what I was looking at so I had to move her away. It wasn't until after we were leaving that the rattler moved into the burrow and rattled as he moved. WHEW!! I was lucky!! Two things put me in that position.....one is that I am infinitely curious about things and was peering around the burrow without thinking about the fact that it was a perfect place for a snake. Since it's still early in the snake season, I haven't yet gotten my snake alertness up to speed. And secondly I was talking on the cell phone while peering and reaching around in there, so not fully thinking about what I was doing. My husband suggests this was just another example of the evils of cell phones!! hehehe Anyway, just wanted to remind everyone to be cautious and aware of your surroundings out there!! Amanda

That was awesome Lance, thanks so much for taking the time to write it up and post such great photos to go with it. Wow, what an adventure!! Amanda

Awesome!! Great looking gobbler and I am glad that once again that CouesWhitetail.com tshirt served you faithfully!! Amanda

If I remember right, I think it was 50 questions. Maybe someone else can chime in also. Amanda

Outstanding!! Amanda

Wow, this is quite the adventure! I am enjoying the story! Amanda

Thanks for all the replies guys! It was a great hunt. Here are a few more pics of some interesting finds. Bonnie found this very cool peice of pottery. It was a hollow cylinder, capped on one end. Not sure what it would have been a part of, but if anyone knows anything about pottery, let me know what you think. And one afternoon on Kathy's hunt we heard an owl calling, so I sidetracked us on a beeline to go find him before he stopped calling. I imitated his call and he got angry and came over. Cute little northern pygmy owl. Here are some digiscoped pics:

Thanks for sharing such a fine day with us Jim! Great find! Amanda

Outstanding!!! Way to go! Nice job Matt! Amanda