CouesWhitetail

Wonderful to see your kids having so much fun outdoors!

I know it's hard to believe, but this stuff has been shown to stop charging grizzlies. And it has advantages over a gun in that in that split second of an attack you don't have to aim as well as with a weapon. here is an newspaper article about a guy who used this spray to stop a charging grizzly sow.... http://www.adn.com/outdoors/story/3258528p-3288277c.html Amanda

Hi All, Thought you might enjoy watching this 4 min video I put together of the owls that I work with on Mt Lemmon. I use mice to find an owl's mate and young and decided it would be interesting to make a video of the owls swooping in on the mice. I think it's pretty cool. Check it out! Amanda

Yes, it was the bigger 8.1 oz can of counter assualt bear spray. You don't want to have to use something that has a small spray. This has a great shotgun pattern. They make an even larger 10 oz can of spray too. This stuff stops charging grizzlies! Amanda

Deadeye, That bogen tripod head you recommended has really made it easier to get good, smooth video. Thanks for the help! Amanda

Wow, you got the computer to work again? Awesome! You will have to let me know how you fixed it. Amanda

Amazing! WOW, that is one lucky buff calf. I hope he survived. I can't believe his leg didn't break off and disappear with the croc. Amanda

Cochranj, If you think you can use it in the classroom, I can send it to you on DVD. I made it fullsize (not the small internet size I posted here), so it looks good on a TV or projector. Just PM me if you want a copy. Amanda

Kevin --- you are right, it's a great way to get in coues shape! I get to hike the steepest country in the catalinas. Most of my friends think I am nuts, but it sure makes for strong legs.... Thanks TJ for the very kind comments. And I am glad you guys enjoy the video. Those owls are truly amazing at what they do. I was thrilled to get some excellent video of them. Normally I just take my still camera. Downthebarrel.....I did get that strutting tom pic while doing some owl work. But it wasn't the same day I got the video. here is the strutting tom pic that you mentioned. I was sure pleased to see my first strutting Gould's turkey!! Thanks to AGFD for reintroducing those turkeys. On a different outing a couple days ago I was hiking into an owl place and heard three gobblers going nuts. So I grabbed the camera and tripod and went after them. I used my voice to imitate a hen yelp and managed to get a male (which I think was a jake) to come within a couple feet of me. But he got nervous when he saw the camera and me and he left. He sure was shocked when he came around the tree expecting to see a hen! I wasn't camo'd or anything, in fact I was in white tshirt and pants so I think I must have stuck out like a sore thumb.

Brian, Did you let a game warden know in case they need to investigate it? From the pics that hole in the forehead doesn't look like it goes through the skull. Did it look like a bullet hole to you? Amanda

Casey, I compared the swaro 15s and the leica 10-15xs before I bought my swaro's. Like others have posted here, I had trouble making them fit my eyes well. I think it was the smaller exit pupil. Your head has to be in just the right position for the leicas to work well. I just didn't like them and by using both I was able to make a hard decision much easier. So make sure you try out the duovids first before deciding on them. I rented a pair for ross outdoors or I am sure you can go to outdoorsmans and try them out there. Amanda

Great pics Scottyboy!!! Congrats on all your finds! Amanda

I am really curious as to what they quoted me saying? I haven't been interviewed by Outdoor Life, so I am guessing they just grabbed some info off the website. But I don't think I have ever referred to Coues hunting as dangerous? Amanda

Congrats!! I got to hear some nice gobblers the other day. What would spring be without the sound of whipped up gobblers?? Amanda

I think carpooling is a great way to effectively reduce fuel consumption and as my husband says to "stick it to the Saudis". He has been carpooling from Globe to Superior for the last 5 years. Hey Matty, he says he might be able to find a carpool ride for your superior to tempe trip. He will ask around and if he gets a bite, he will send the info your way. Amanda

Hey Jim, Found this tonight and of course thought of you! Unlike yours, this one was rattling up a storm! He was about 4 ft long. Glad I didn't step too close to him! Amanda

Tech support has removed the hacked site and is reloading a backup of my entire site (excluding the forum). It should be back up in about 20 mins. The main page is safe again, it's just not fully reloaded with all the photos and such yet. They are still going to look into how it happened and let me know. Guess I am glad now that I host the forum with a different company than the main page, otherwise both would have gone down. I think it's interesting that it's almost a year to the date of when my forum got hacked. I wonder what motivates hackers? What a waste of talent and intelligence... Amanda

Just got home from a couple days in the field. Thanks for the heads-up. I will be working on it. Amanda

Great pics and descriptions! Love those closeups on the quail and the dog pics. And those "heaven on earth" oak woodlands are great not only for Mearns but also our beloved Coues deer! I love oak/grass habitat! Amanda

I agree Bowsniper that influencing the commissioners to see things your way is the route to take. On another controversial issue that I haven't seen debated very strongly around here is that there is a proposal put forth by many respected lion hunters in the state to ban lion hunting during the summer (with the exception of units that have lion harvest objectives established, which are primarily in areas where lion harvest is focused to help sheep populations). They are recommending this because they feel it will help preserve lion hunting into the future. They are responding to and being sensitive to those who might feel lion hunting during the summer causes the orphaning of cubs. This is a political move based on public perception. Biologically the lion population is minimally impacted by hunting and this was stressed by Leonard at our meeting. Age data from the lion harvest shows a population that is not heavily eploited. So is this something that should be promoted if it's not biologically necessary? Those who are proposing it feel it is very important to the continued existence of lion hunting in the state. Who wants to see a ballot initiative with a photo of some cute orphaned cubs on it? This issue will be voted at this weekends commission meeting. Last year it was voted down because several lion hunters spoke up against it. This year, I assume there will be lion hunters there speaking on both sides of the issue. here is a letter from Floyd Green about the lion closure. To all concerned sportsmen, I am responding to comments about the proposed lion season closure: This is an effort to preserve lion hunting and the use of hounds. Many houndsmen simply do not want Arizona to become the next state targeted by anti hunting groups. Overall, I feel our lion management practices are sound; however I remember the trapping initiative very well and today we can all see the disastrous results of not being able to manage coyotes. We do not want Arizona to lose its ability to manage lions. Under this new proposal, the lion season does not close statewide. The units with established hunt objectives remain open year round. This will focus the few lion hunters who hunt during these months and make them a more effective tool for lion management and prey protection. This season change is supported by over one hundred lion hunters, me included. Other notable individuals such as Steve Smith, Warner Glenn, Fred Peters, along with Karen and Richard Holcomb to name only a few are within this group. We are the same group of individuals who have worked with the department over the last ten years to improve and focus our lion management for the benefit of sheep and deer. Please feel free to call me concerning this issue my home phone number is 602-953-3906 and my E-mail address is ffgreen@cox.net Thanks, and we would appreciate your support on this issue Floyd Green

WOW! I want to go to Tony's house! Amanda

There were several reasons that Leonard mentioned at our ADA meeting regarding the dept looking into the salt as bait issue. Those reasons included high hunt success by WT hunters using salt, public perception of the ethics of using bait, and also the potential for disease (deer are concentrated at a salt lick and increase risk of disease transmission) or nutritional problems caused by salt. This is just an issue that the dept is looking into and people will have the opportunity to provide comments about it. Hawkeye, I think it's unfair to say Leonard is an anti-hunter because he has received comments from the public about the ethics of using baits when hunting. Anti-hunters show up regularly at the commission meetings and pressure the commission to hear their side of the story. Being sensitive to and dealing with public perception of hunting methods is important if you want to maintain hunting. We all need to be improving our relations with the non-hunting public. How many of you actively take non-hunters with you when you go hunting in order to show them what it's all about and help keep non-hunters from becoming anti-hunters? I know Leonard does..... Amanda

Congrats! I am jealous...no turkey hunting for me this spring.. Amanda

Looks excellent Foundry Man! Amanda

Doug, Leonard said they were basing the increased success rate on info from field personnel. He didn't mention having data on the diff success rates on sitting a water hole vs salt. I don't think they have hard data on it, but I doubt any of us would argue that hunting over salt isn't effective. I don't think the use of bait issue is based solely on hunter success. One of the issues that Leonard mentioned was that there is an ethical or public perception issue with the use of baits. Baits are banned for many other species, so the public is wondering why not deer? Of course I asked him if sitting a waterhole would constitute sitting over bait since I can't imagine a better bait than life-giving water. But he said no, that wouldn't be considered bait because it's not put there by the hunter. Amanda