standman

Latest reports heard was fire has reach Big Lake and has burned down Big Lake Lookout tower. Sad day. My stomping grounds where I learned to hunt from my dad now burned. Sad time indeed. Brian

What I worry about with this fire is that is burning the areas that I have hunted goulds turkeys two out of the last three years, and I wonder how the survival rate of the turkeys will be especially since they are nesting now. How much of the new hatch has been decimated? Brian

Those are some great pics! Way to make the best out of a bad situation. That is a trip the family will never forget. Oh, and congrats on the nice tom. Brian

Great job TJ! That is a beautiful bird! Brian

I was very fortunate this year, as the draw gods blessed me with my second Arizona goulds turkey tag in three years . The plan from the beginning was I was going to shoot one with my bow. Well as most good intentions, the plan didn't go that way. My brother and I got to my unit Thursday afternoon. We got camp all set up around three o'clock and headed out to do some scouting and to try to roost a bird at dark. We found fresh turkey sign everywhere we checked and also drove up on two big toms with 5 hens. Finally right at dark we were able to get one to gobble out of his roost so we had a plan of attack for the morning. Opening morning we arrived at our spot well before daylight with windy conditions. Not good. As a matter of fact the forcast for the weekend was not good at all wind wise. We finally got the tom to shock gobble. We set up on him, me carrying both gun and bow, and started giving him our best impression of a love sick hen. However, with the increasing winds he did not want to talk much at all. He would basically only gobble when my brother would cackle at him. We heard him fly out of his roost and the last two gobbles we heard were of him going up and over the mountain he was on. We decided to go hit some other spots where we knew birds were but with the increasing howling winds getting a tom to talk was not going to be easy. For the next 3 1/2 hours we were running and gunning trying to get any kind of noise out of a gobbler. Nothing. The wind now blowing so hard that hearing one was going to be a chore. We kept at it when finally around 9:15 we got a tom to answer. Problem was he was probably only 125 yards away. He was down off in a creek bottom and the next time he gobbled we could tell he was getting closer and moving down the creek. So I decided that with the weather conditions and the high wind forcast the best thing was to just take my shotgun and ease down to the side of the creek. Just as I got set down I could see a hen coming right to me, and then another, and then the gobbler. I have yet to call once at the turkeys and they were coming right to me. As they were getting closer the one hen and the tom vered off to my left into some really thick stuff. As a matter of fact all I could see is pieces of them walking through the brush. As the one hen walked through the tinyest of holes I knew the tom would be right behind her. So I eased my gun up, scrunched down and leaned over as far as I could to be able to shoot the hole. The tom stepped into the hole at 12 yards and all I could see was his head which was enough and I rolled him right there. I was tickled pink with my second goulds turkey. I was also glad that I had my shotgun because where he was going through I would have never had a shot at him with my bow. It's not everyday you kill a goulds turkey with a shotgun and a release on your wrist . He is a big mature tom, quite a bit bigger than my first one. He has a heavy, 10.5" beard and spurs that measure 7/8" and 1". It was a great, fun, exciting hunt with my brother. The only thing that could have been better was the wind. Did I mention it was bad. Here are a few pictures. Brian

Thanks everyone. I feel very lucky and blessed to get one goulds tag let alone a second one. Brian

Great story and pics (except for the snake. Pics of them even freak me out)! Looks like a lot of fun by all. I was just north of there, Pinery Canyon, hunting turkeys Friday. Chiricahuas are one of my favorite places in Arizona to visit and hunt. They need a little moisture down there or it just might blow away in a cloud of dust. Oh, did you find any turkeys? (My E-scouting moment ) Brian

Great story and congrats on your bird! Brian

Now that is just awesome! Looks like a great time. Brian

Awesome job Brian! Way to get it done! Glad everything worked out for you. I will be down Thursday and hope to have as much success as you. Great bird. Congrats. Brian

My dad and I hit Apache Lake this morning. I turned out to be a great morning. We ended up catching 18 nice bass (1 Smallie). Largest going a little over three pounds. All bass were caught on dropshot and roboworms. Water temps were around 65. Beautiful day on the water with no wind this morning. Brian

Great job Nick! Great bird! Brian

Had two friends yesterday fish nearly all day looking for nothing but crappies in the shallows and they just ended up with three for the day. Brian

I still haven't found them on the banks yet. Brian

Saw six good bucks in 3b Thursday morning and they were all packing. Know a guy in southern Utah that is picking up fresh drops though. Brian

Brian, I never caught a crappie on Roosevelt and after 4 days of fishing only boated 12 fish. It was a nice time but the catching was awful. Everyone I talked to, and that was many, said the same thing. TJ TJ, I only caught bass at Roosey. Don't think I have caught but a handfull of crappie out of Roosey since the lake filled. So I don't hardly try anymore. San Carlos this past week has been pretty dismal for everyone I know that went. The water is falling way, way too fast. Temps are good for the crappie spawn but I think the falling water is got them confused. Looking at my past notebooks on my fishing trips over the years, I noticed where we caught spawning crappies when the water was this low and falling fast. So this weekend I have got a hunch where they are going to be. Going to hit it hard. Oh and congrats on another elk tag! Brian

I really like the "YUM" type of senko. They are called dingers. Fished side by side with my dad and his yamamoto senko they do just as good. You can get these at Walmart. Brian

Fished Sat. and Mon. at roosey and it was pretty slow for us. Caught a few but not the numbers I was hoping for. Fished the Salt End. Know some people who fished the Tonto end that did fairly well. Sun. went to San Carlos and it was extremely slow. Searched and searched for spawning crappies and couldn't find any. Brian

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Unit 10 and unit 8 late bull. Brian That's Unit 10 early right? yes

Unit 10 and unit 8 late bull. Brian

I drew my second choice which I thought I would. 3A/3C Archery Bull in November. Brian

Well you did better than I did. I didn't even get to go. I ended up going to the renaissance festival this past weekend. Brian

A friend (Mark) and I went to SC Lake today to chase some crappies. We got on the water around 7:45am. The bite was pretty good early but as the morning went along the bite kept getting slower and slower until about noon when it pretty much quit. We ended up catching 22 nice crappie on many diffent colors of kalin grub tipped with a minnow. We caught them in 16-20ft of water. Water temps ranged from 54 in the morning to 60 in the afternoon. After the bite died we went and did a little bass fishing and ended up with two nice bass. Should of had a few more but luck wasn't on our side. We did do a little looking for some crappies in the shallows in the afternoon but none were to be found. We figured as much but we had to check. Water is still a little cool for them to start moving in. Won't be long though. Nice day on the water. A little breezy at times but nothing we couldn't handle. Brian Mark and a nice crappie.

Not sure what time Killmers in Globe opens up. Here is their number to call to see what time 928-425-0700. Unless there is somewhere in the valley that opens up that early, I don't know. You might try to find some minnows the night before and put an aerator and some ice in them to keep them alive. Good luck. Are you headed to San Carlos.? Brian