Snapshot

Maybe trail markers for the illegals?

Kinda like those guys on the tv commercial where they search for a place with no coverage before they setup camp.LOL

I used to archery hunt 37B years ago, back in the 80's before the decline.The biggest deer I ever saw was in that unit. Maybe with the warm weather the deer have been more nocturnal?

Almst a mirror image of the Large Corporation playbook on "how to screw over consumers"

Sorry to hear that. My Mom is currently dying fom Cancer. I hope someday a cure is found for future generations. Life on earth is just a short stop in a long journey.

Actually AT&T made Number 4 on Wall Streets top 10 most hated companies in America. Poor customer service among other issues. The Feds blocked AT&T's merger with T-Mobile which was a good thing for consumers.

Oops! My bad . I thought youwere looking for TJ.

I currently use a pre=paid Verizon plan. I will never hook into a 2 year contract again. These contracts should be illegal. There have been class action lawsuits against some carriers, and I believe early termination has to be pro-rated. I had t-mobile for years, well beyond my 2 year contract period. I upgraded my phone and plan, and they don't tell you on the phone that it starts a new contract all over again. when I moved to Montana last year, I found out that T-Mobile coverage really sucks up there. Its a Verizon and At&T state mostly. So I switched to Verizon, and T-Mobile tried to stick me with $500 early cancellation fee for my cell phone and mobile broadband account. I told them that they did not make a full disclosure when I upgraded. I told them to stick it. All major cell phone companies charge that stupid cancellation fee. Cable companies have followed that pattern in recent years. I will pay the full price for a phone,and a little more for a monthly pre-paid service package that I can cancel at anytime if I am not happ with it.

I have heard stories of people taking animals at 100 yards.If someone can consistently, and accurately, hit targets at that range, then good for them. I can't. My comfort range is 60 yards on a good day.

The triple fork on that buck is pretty cool. Thanks for sharing the pic

After the salaries,auction, and lobbying costs were deducted, there probably wouldn't be much left.

Very Nice. I worked for Blackhawk up in Bozeman, Montana this last winter for 7 months. I molded many Axiom stocks,as well as thousands of Pistol holsters. I would have stayed at Blackhawk,as it was a good job, but the pay was pathetic. The Navy seal team that went in and took out Osama were all wearing pistol holsters manufactured in our department. I would like to think I took a hand in getting rid of Osama

The Packers sure got their butts handed to them last night. I was pulling for them, but its seems they just didn't show up to play tough football like the Giants did. Hoping the 49'ers beat the giants and Ravens upset the Patriots, but thats a long shot.

tjhunt2

Even though I am back in Arizona, I am still a legal Montana resident. I can get a Montana combo license for Elk,Deer,Bear,Lion,small game, for less money than a Arizona resident elk tag costs. I won't be applying for this years Arizona elk draw,as it would be a waste of time and money as I would not get drawn anyway as a non-resident. Montana has good hunting for elk, but not the quality we see in AZ. A few really big bulls are taken in Montana every year. I almost hit a nice 320 class elk,at night, with my truck a few days before I came back to AZ, thank God he turned and headed back into the ditch. As for Arizona, I think the elk system we have is adequate, so I would not want to pay more.My unit of choice is not a problem as far as overcrowding is concerned, just getting drawn is the problem, But since a third of the unit went up in flames........? I would like to see a reduction of deer tags, and I would not mind paying a little more for deer if we could improve our deer herds.Just a thought!

Happy birthday Doug. Have a great day!

I would say they are from east Phoenix. Just sayin...........

Tony will always get my vote!

That is how the laws work and the courts were right. I am not talking about you buy 100 acres and build a road to your land and continue out the back of the property ... I am talking roads that have long been there and used by many generations getting gates locked keeping people from accessing.... Right of way and easements do not change ( without courts) if someone buys a ranch that is 150 years old 5 years ago and the previous owners gave ingress and egress to public land the right of ingress and egress is expressed and would be upheld in the courts. Again we are talking roads that have given access for many years not private drives ( well some have become that) The courts found a tiny loophole and exploited it to the benefit of the legal system. They were not right, however, they did prevail.Even our attorney told us we got screwed by the court. I am not a sore loser by any means, but the law is not always right. The roads in this area where built by owners of private property, on private property, they were not built by the county, or maintained by the county. I agree that locking gates that has been public access may be wrong, but in some cases, maybe not entirely illegal? There have been many battles over the years of ranchers and landowners locking gates when many they did not have the right to do so. Look at the big fiasco up in Aravaipa canyon? If someone recently purchased a ranch where the previous owner had granted access in the past, the new owner would be well within their legal rights to deny access if it was not a recorded easement. However, allowing public access over time probably creates an access precedent in the eyes of the law, just as it did for us. Like you said, easements and access would have to be researched. Fortunately, I do not have to worry about access where I hunt. But in the past I have found locked gates on forest land that were put there by forest service people, or maybe other hunters, as it was in a very remote place.?

Don't I know it! You were friends with Moses?

I can give yo some firsthand experience with easments,laws,and loopholes. Not many years ago I owned and lived on some property in Sahuarita. A couple of our esteemed CWT members also live in this area, and we have had CWT parties at our homes. In 2004-2005 I was President and secretary of our 300 member property owners association. I have no love for these associations, but I was talked into running for board of directors. This association was private property, and bounded on the east by south Kold road, and Wilmot on the west. All dirt roads, maintained by money from our membership. Some people bought property on the east side of Kolb road, outside of our association. They were using Kolb road as ingress/egress to their properties. We tried to deny them access to our private roads. They sued our association for access rights, even though they were not members or did they contribute anything to the maintenance of these roads. We lost the suit because of questionable wording on the original Platt map, that labeled these roads as private, but with public access. We could have gone on fighting it, but the membership was getting upset with the amount of money being spent on litigation. The Plaintiffs are now using these roads for free, while the association goes on maintaining these roads at considerable cost. The courts used this situation to set up precedent, even though this is clearly private property. Even though questionable law prevailed, it is not right, no matter how you look at it. Thats how it would feel to an private land owner that tried to have access rights forced on them for property that they bought and paid for.

County roads,forest roads, or highways are not the factor,as the legal access easment is already there. I believe that one contiguous chunk of land, without public access through it to other available areas, is the point in question.

Both! The selfishess of our society creates our mindset in many ways. I am no different. If it was my property I would do everything I could to keep everyone else out, except for my friends of course. Most public land is accessible. Its just a matter of how hard a person wants to work to get there. Do I want to hike 5 miles around the outskirts of a ranch to gain access to prime hunting, or do I want to drive there and compete with 50 other guys? A matter of choice I guess? Would a landowner that is an outfitter, want to allow access through his/her land and jeapordize the quality of a hunting area, even if it is public land? Not in today's world. If I was a ranch owner in Arizona, and I was not worried about overcrowding any good hunting grounds, I would certainly consider working with G&F to offer an access easement on the edge of my property, but I would not carve a road through the middle of it.

There are other states where public access is a huge problem. In 1991 I guided archery hunters for an outfitter in the upper Madison valley of Montana.It was right next door to the famous Sun Ranch, and not far away from a ranch owned by the actor Steven Seagal. An area of vast tracts of private property. This particular ranch was at the base of a huge mountain range, and we hunted the mountains right behind the ranch on public land. The only way to access this prime hunting area was through the ranch, or a 10 mile hike across very steep terrain. The hunting was primo for undisturbed animals. As you can imagine, most land owners and outfitters jealously guard their domain from outsiders.

As someone mentioned "Private land is private". If that private land is blcoking access to choice public land hunting,or recreational activity, the G&F, as well as the State of Arizona should come up with a solution if the public need warrants it. If I was a ranch owner scratching out a living, I certainly would not want a bunch of yahoo's driving through my property at all hours of the day and night, and possibly, littering, cutting fence,injuring my cattle,shooting water tanks, and whatever else that could possibly happen. We have all seen the damage done by disrespectful slob hunters. It is the bad apples out there that have created the "no access" mindset of most ranch owners, and I don't blame them. As far as the county maintaining ranch roads, just remember that ranchers are tax payers also. These guy's have paid their dues and many of these ranches have existed long before any of us, as well as our parents, were born. Being a hunter does not entitle us access as we see fit. Would you want all your neighbors walking through your backyard beacuse it offered them better access to the local park.? I doubt it!