CouesWhitetail

Mark, I don't have any specific info about the wildlife management program at NAU. I assume they have it as a major since you have said you are already going to major in WM there. Since you have selected a major, they will advise you of all the classes you are required to take there to receive the major. Classes I would expect any WM major to take at any college include things like Intro to Wildlife Management, Population Dynamics, Zoology, Ornithology, Mammology, Icthyology, Ecology, Soils, lots of botany classes, several Statitics classes, and several forestry classes. I am sure there is more stuff I am not thinking of, but those are the basics. I suggest that if you have optional classes to select that you try and get some from other related fields like fisheries and forestry. If you get to be a wildlife biologist you will need to be able to understand a lot about those fields. Forestry classes will probably include classes on Fire Ecology and that would be a great one to take so you can understand the role of fire in the Southwest. Many of the classes will include a one hour lecture 3 times a week and probably a 3 hour lab once a week or something like that. Those labs can be held out in the field or in an actual lab where you deal with specimens of plants or animals. I highly recommend that you work on whatever wildlife projects you can while you are going to school. Many graduate students hire undergrads to work on their projects during the summer. That will give you great practical experience while you are still going to school. Work on whatever you can even during the semester and even if it isn't paid. The experience is golden when it comes time to compete for a job after you graduate. Also, some work experiences can be used as credit toward your degree. Loads of people drop out of Wildlife management majors during the first two years. Where I went to school they required WMs to take calculus and lots of stats classes and that made a lot of people drop the major. I would meet with your advisor and get them to give you a course list and tentative plan for what you will be taking throughout your four years. That should give you a good idea of what you have to take and what the options are. Good luck! Let us know how you are doing! And if you have any other questions, let me know. Amanda

I have that issue of Trophy Hunter. I will call Rusty Hall (owner of the magazine) and ask him if he minds if I scan the pics and post it here. I doubt he will mind. There are some other great bucks shown in that article too. Congrats on your exciting hunt Bob!! Amanda

I would take the Nontypical. I think they are more interesting to look at. Plus I don't see NT's very often. And it would be absolutely no contest if the NT had a droptine. Always wanted a buck like that. Amanda

Ok guys, I deleted a post by CHD where he made some personal attacks on some members and also edited another of his posts to remove some offensive comments. I left the majority of his post since it presents his opinions without attacking other members. Let's keep the posts civil please. Amanda

Coues deer drop their antlers mostly in April and May. So if you are mostly looking for new sheds, I would wait until May or June. But of course there are sheds from previous years that are still out there lying around. You are more likely to find new sheds if you wait until late spring since more antlers will have dropped and be available to be found. Of course the longer you wait the hotter the temperature! Amanda

Well said Elkmaniac. I hope you get your cat. Pretty amazing that you have glassed up so many and yet not been able to get one! I hope your luck changes soon. Amanda

I have seen lots of lions over the years. Most of them have been on the San Carlos reservation since I spent so much time there and they have so many lions. And most of those lion encounters were with groups of lions. The largest group was 4 and I believe it was a female with two different sets of litters. Two of the young were about the same size as the female and a third young was about 1/2-3/4 her size and still had some spots on the inside of its front legs. I got to watch that group for about 25 mins at less than 100 yards. They were in an area of very high deer density. I have also seen one group of three lions (a female and two almost grown young) and a few singles. And you guys probably already saw the photos of the group of two which I saw on my last rez deer hunt. I still don't know if that was a mating pair or male and female siblings. That was one of the best encounters I have had with lions since I got to watch them for probably more than 30 mins and they were only 300 yards or so from me. I have also handled mountain lions to put radio collars on them for tracking. They are very impressive animals. Solid muscle and pure killing machines. And I have seen them from helicopters during aerial surveys for deer. I agree with Rembrant that predator densities can be maintained at a high level because of the availability of cattle. I think lions and coyotes exist at higher densities than they could if there were no cattle available. That is especially true in areas where cattle are not well managed. And personally I enjoyed reading about the lion story that Josh posted where they were close to the lions and yet didn't kill them. Lions are magnificient animals and such a rare treat to see. I am a hunter and would be glad to get a lion, but I also don't feel the need to shoot at everything out there just because I see it. I value my encounters with wildife with or without a gun. (and suggesting that Josh doesn't kill enough mt. lions is seriously misguided since he and his father hunt lions all the time with their dogs). I don't see how a Coues deer hunter can't respect a mountain lion since a lion is a far better Coues hunter than we will ever be. I am not saying everyone should let lions walk, but I think it's out of line to complain that a hunter decided not to shoot. That's kind of like complaining about someone not killing a spike buck when they are looking for something larger. Or complaining that someone didn't take a shot at a deer when they felt they might wound it. The choice to shoot or not shoot is up to the hunter. It depends on the experience he or she is looking for. Amanda

WOW! Never heard of someone actually stepping on a rattler and not getting bit! That's amazing. I can just picture Duwane leaping off that thing! Thanks for sharing that story Scott. Amanda

Here are some photos of some rattlers. One taken by a friend and the other by me. Both were taken during field work for different projects. The first one is a Mojave rattlesnake which are common in SE AZ, especially in Sulphur Springs Valley where I was working at the time. Almost put my hand on one of these as I went to pick up my GPS unit which I had already unknowingly set down a few inches from a full grown mojave. Luckily he was pretty cold and he didn't even move. That was really creepy. This next photo is of an AZ black rattlesnake which is generally found in Pine country. This one I almost stepped on because I was looking in the trees for some owls we were conducting surveys for. This one was very hot and rattled like crazy. Thank God he did or I definitely would have stepped very close if not on it. Good thing these snakes usually rattle to warn me. I have had tons of close encounters, as I am sure many of you have. Nothing as dramatic as the one that Rembrant told about his friend being face to face with one while antelope hunting! Amanda

I assume you mean links to sites that show the "how to" of building your own camera like the JHO website. That is fine with me. GMM - can you take some photos of your units and post them here or email them to me and I will post them? Would be nice to see what you have come up with? What digital cam did you use? What infrared units? ect... Thanks. Amanda

Yeah, I just don't like the time and cost involved with getting prints made each time you use the camera. I haven't heard of anyone using the digitals yet, and I am really curious how well they perform. That is a huge price difference. Amanda

Is the stealth cam a digital trail camera? Amanda

I once accidentally picked up a small live rattlesnake in the Chiricahuas on a Nov hunt. It was an especially warm hunt, we were in tshirts hiking even before the sun came up. Anyway, there was this small snake, maybe 5-6 inches long on the trail. I didn't recognize the pattern and didn't see a rattle on it. It seemed like it was pretty dead since it wasn't moving. So, thinking it was a harmless snake even if it was alive, I picked it up so I could identify it. (That is what us biologists do...we have to identify everything!) Luckily, I picked it up by holding it behind the head in case it wanted to bite. While I was checking out the pattern on the snake trying to identify it, I noticed a tiny little nub of a rattle on the end of it's tail. And then I noticed that it was indeed alive. So then it dawned on me that I was holding a live rattlesnake in my hand and I wondered how the heck I was gonna put it down without it biting me. But I managed to set it down and back away as it slithered off the trail. WHEW!!! It was a rather tense moment. But it was fun and I got to see a new species for me, the banded rock rattlesnake. When I told this story once to a rattlesnake biologist, he said I was very lucky since they are aggressive and dangerous. So, long story short, yes the rattlers can be out in Oct and November deer season. Amanda

More D, I saw about 7 people come in a few different vehicles to the three points area at 7 am. They are probably some of the people that helped you fill that dumpster. I know the game warden there was sending them to some place that was supposed to be absolutely loaded with trash. Amanda

Hi All, This is a reminder that the cleanup for unit 36 is happening next Sat, March 6. Please try and attend. Show your support of ranchers who are giving us access to hunt. These are ranchers that are near the border and heavily impacted by the illegal immigrant traffic. There is lots of trash to pick up. I have put in the press release about this event below. Please help out if you can. Amanda March 6th, 2004 is the 3rd annual ?Trash pick up Day?. The event will be held in units 36 A, B, & C, at the corner of Hwy 286 and Arivaca road. The event is scheduled to begin at 8:00am, but you are welcome to come the night before and camp out with other Arizona hunters. The trash cleanup will focus on ranches in the unit 36 area that have given hunters access. We will be showing our thanks to the ranchers who open up their land to us, by cleaning up their ranches. This is a great family event. Bring the kids and get them involved in giving back to the sport we love so much. We will begin going to ranches in the morning, then returning to camp for a wild game BBQ at lunchtime (we welcome any wild game meats for the BBQ), and then back into the field in the afternoon. You don?t need to bring anything but yourself. The Arizona G&F department, State Land Department, and the Buenos Aries National Wildlife Refuge are donating all of the trash bags, gloves and related items. Food and drinks will be provided, but feel free to bring your favorite wild game or dish. The Arizona G&F department will have the wildlife officers for the 36 units on hand, as well as the Land Access Coordinator, available for you to ask questions regarding hunting in these units or in Arizona. Come join us for a great day of fun and work. Events like this will help ensure our hunting future in Arizona. Thanks to all who have helped; Arizona Deer Association, Arizona Bowhunters Association, Safari Club Tucson Chapter, The members of the Arizona Bowsite, and the Arizona G&F Department. Any questions, please contact Lance Altherr at (520) 751-8823 or e-mail shedhunter@worldnet.att.net

VML, The Pinals still have snow. They had snow even before this last storm. I haven't been up there to see how deep it is, but it looks good. Amanda

Just wanted to give you guys a report on the trash pick up in 36C. I went down and helped out this past Saturday. We met around Arivaca rd and hwy 286 about 8 am. There were also hunters and AGFD people who met at the the Three Points junction. So the photos I shown below don't include them or the trash they picked up. I imagine they picked up quite a lot also. Most of the trash, though not all, comes from illegal aliens. Lots of empty water bottles, and some backpacks and clothing. Some bicycles, tires, cans, etc. Anyway, we picked trash until noon and then had a nice cookout of hamburgers and even some bacon-wrapped quail (that was great!). Several organizations helped out with this including, AZGFD, SCI, AZ bowhunters assoc, and the AZ Deer Assoc. Volunteers came from all over, but primarily Tucson. It was a really good event and it felt good to be able to do something to help out the ranchers and other landowners (much of it is state land) who provide access for hunters. I hope more of you will consider going next year.

Thanks for the report TAM. Always good to know what is working for people. If you got any interesting photos, send some in, I have a section for trail camera pics. If you need them scanned, you can snail mail them to me and I can scan them and then send them back to you. I am still hoping someone comes out with a good digital camera system for this. Anyone use one? Amanda

Hi Senor Benado, There is a guy doing some research right now on Coues/muley hybrids. He has collected samples from all over for DNA testing and he might be willing to test your friend's deer. Send him an email and ask if he is still taking samples and that you think it may be a hybrid. rglopez@fs.fed.us Also, here is a link to an article on my website about hybrids. It was written by a research biologist from AZGFD. Hybrid Article Amanda

Here in Globe we got a small accumulation of snow, but it's melting fast. Been raining all night and all morning. It's great!!! We have been getting a fair amount of rain during the last two weeks. Nice soaking rains. I was in Phoenix yesterday evening and part of the storm hit there. The hail was marble sized and sounded like it was gonna bust through the roof of my jeep and break the window. It didn't, but it sounded bad. The water accumulated heavy on the roads and there was an area where the hail was so thick on the ground it looked like a 1/4 inch of snow everywhere. There was lightning too! Very impressive storm. Amanda

They scored 263 4/8 (without a spread since they are sheds). They have about 111 inches of Nontypical points. And they should be the new world record sheds. Amanda

Here is a pic of those NT muley sheds I was talking about (in this thread a few posts up). Thought you guys might like to see it. Took forever to score this thing. Tim Parrish is the guy holding it. He found one side and Ryan Hatch found the other.

Welcome Alan! Glad you joined up. And I understand what you mean about some forums getting nasty. I don't want any of that here and I rely on all you guys for help keeping that negative stuff down. If you see a problem post, you can report it to me by just clicking the report this post button. I will delete any post that I feel is a personal attack on someone. Debate and disagreement is fine, but no personal attacks or nasty language. Anyway, in answer to your question. I live in Globe, AZ and am a wildlife biologist. I currently have my own consulting business in which I do wildlife surveys for whatever agency needs the help (US Forest Service, San Carlos Reservation, AZGFD, etc.). I also do this web site which takes a ton of time. And I do web site design for other groups. Amanda

Great photos and story bullwidgeon. Thanks for posting it!! What fun. I had fun pig hunting although I didn't get a javelina. I stalked one herd and got within about 10 yards of the lead javelina. The problem was it was so thick there was no real good shooting lane. So I had to move around a bush. I waited for that pig to have its head behind a bush and I made it almost perfectly, but at the last step another pig came out from behind the one I was gonna get and busted me. The pig I was gonna shoot just stayed there behind the bush for a little while. All it had to do was step forward, but no, it reversed and went out where the other pig went. Well, I don't feel too bad about it since there were only 4 javelina in that herd and I feel guilty when the herd is so darn small. I had fun glassing up lots of WT. And the place I hunted in 36C had so many jackrabbits it was unbelievable. I glassed up about as many jackrabbits as deer. Here is a picture of one jackrabbit with a group of deer. i just had to take the photo, it cracked me up how the rabbit ran over to the deer. And here is a group of three jackrabbits that were on the opposite side of the ridge. I heard only a few coyotes and never glassed one up. Kinda suprised me given all the rabbits everywhere. I already posted my buck photos in another thread. I had a hard time on my javelina hunt trying to ignore all the deer. The area was really dry with very little greenup of anything. The deer were mostly eating cholla and mesquite. I still don't know how they eat cholla without getting stabbed. I guess they just have no choice. But I watch them and they gingerly pick away at the fruit (which was still green) and seem not to even notice all the spines. Pretty amazing given how sensitive their mouths are. Thanks again for the story and photos bullwidgeon! Amanda

I agree with you Allen, that many people were talking and likely missed the announcements for those hunts. I heard the same comments from other people. You could hear what people were saying if you were paying close attention, but most people were involved in conversations at their tables. It's pretty impossible to keep everyone's attention for such a long night. Amanda