catclaw

A recent event hammered something home to me. I have mistakenly thought that wolves were pretty much limited to unit 27 and 1 with maybe an occasional trespasser on 25 and 26. Wow was I wrong! Three buddies of mine were hunting elk in 3C near Forest Lakes when they watched four grey wolves attack and kill a mule deer buck opening morning of the late elk hunt. The wolves toyed with the deer, killed it and ate the entrails and the rear end. They then left on their own. My buddies went down and looked at the deer and took the photograph posted below. They said that it sounded like someone had their E-caller turned on super loud with a deer distress sound! Wolves have ruined the elk herd in Yellowstone and now are well on their way to ruining the herd in Idaho. I hope they don't do the same thing here. Maybe a little S-S-S is in order! Be careful out there!

Elkhunter- you guys sure like those head shots don't you?

I have seen a couple of really old bucks that still had some velvet on when killed. I think that they just let it mostly fall off and didn't waste any time thrashing trees. They were "retired" I guess. Maybe same story with this old warrior.

I feel the same way about the butcher shop I used in Springerville... Couldn't have been worse!

My shovel is freshly sharpened! The era for wolves is over. Man has been trying to eradicate them since the beginning of time. They are in direct conflict with everything we do. If you like hunting deer and elk, then forget about liking wolves. We will reach a point where they will be pretty much replacing us as the main consumers of these big game animals. They are way better at breeding than lions and kill more animals for sport than lions. They are pretty much the kiss of death to our lifestyle if they get a real good foot-hold. No more deer and elk tags, few hunting licenses = AGFD out of money. They will either have to become a taxpayer burden (that will go over great) or be absorbed by some other department with a lesser role in life. Wolves are worse than bark beetles, zebra mussels, CWD and droughts all at the same time!

All the people I have seen actively doing wolf stuff have been USFW or USDA. All Feds or college students.

I'm not sure that 100 votes is enough to really endorse a business. I saw one meat processor touted as the best in the area and they totally suck, in fact, there was a discussion about it on this website a few months ago. You should have better vetting before you put your name on something- when I saw that processor was #1, I totally disregarded everything else in the whole directory. I mean this place SUCKS!!! I hope you get 500 voters so that you can get some meaningful data. Less than 30-40 votes for one business is pretty meaningless unless you really know the voters. Just my 2 cents. good luck though

That's the contradiction of the week! If you can't hold right to shoot 700 yds, it makes no difference the cartridge.

Ft. Huachuca is one of the premier communication centers in the whole world, they can pretty much listen to anything. There is a good chance that they are scanning all that stuff- say enough key words and they will probably tune in and pass the word. DHS is NOT going to give you access to their communications. period! Maybe you have had better luck getting a hold of them than me. I have never successfully talked to an operator or real person there. If that concerned, I would call 911 on your cell and just get the sheriff's office and they can pass it on if needed. I get cell coverage pretty much everywhere down there I can get my truck to.

A hard-core thief will get it but we are mostly dealing with the opportunistic thieves.

Give him two more years! I promise not to shoot him until then...

I can't believe that the bigger bulls are still tending cows. Wow, talk about a strong rut and a lasting one! Found a few bulls that weren't busted up too bad either. another Curious little buck

That's a really nice buck. You did well!!

I notice that those bulls are busted up just like about all the other bulls in 10. Too bad for those of you who have late rifle tags in 10 this year.

I was at a rancher's house a while back and he showed me a camera that he found on one of his tanks (on private property) he was genuinely surprised when I told him that people put them out for months at a time. He felt bad for taking it and said he knew who the guy was but that he should have asked FIRST. Turned out to be an outfitter's camera and too bad he lost all those photos. I think it happens a lot. Lock em on!

It was a great time. We saw bigger bucks, just not when the boys were hunting! Football season sure gets in the way of deer hunting!! Way to go Mitch and Sully

Good luck with that rangefinder- I am holding out for a Vectronix unit. Nothing else that I have found will cut it. They will range past 1000 yds on good targets but try an antelope in the flats at 1000. None will do it. Have not tried the Leica 1600 but they are more of a mythical creation than anything. I have yet to find someone who has one!

Let's start a contest to see who can be the first one to catch a camera thief on camera. After what we did to Cornbagger last year, I can't imagine the level of persecution we could heap on someone who actually gets caught "in the act". What do you guys think?? I am getting tired of supplying donor cameras to this fraternity!

I pulled a tape across the front paws last night when I finished caping it. About 6'2" across the width measurement without stretching. Probably square 5'11" or so. Looking at the teeth and face, I would say at least 10 years old. I wonder if they still send a report on the age like they used to? Stopped at region 6 and Jon Hanna took a DNA sample and tooth. He couldn't get to the back teeth so he couldn't venture an age other than to say it was not a young bear. I would guess the weight at 250#-275#

Way to go!!

I have had several repaired by them. I have no complaints. I have tried Mystery Ranch, Kifaru and Eberlestock. I prefer my 2200 to any of those I have tried. I can wear it all day with 30# in it and not get sore. I can strap a 100# load of meat on it and come out if needed. I wish it had a few more external pocket for the stuff I need to get to more often but other than that, it is an excellent pack. I have thousands of miles on it now. I finally learned how to lube the zippers as they would get dusty and stick. My buckles have not broken. Not sure what you guys are doing??? I wear mine 4-5 days a week, almost all year long.

I have had good luck making my own mineral licks. Plain salt is not as good for WT as for elk. It took about a month for the bucks to start hitting this spot. I have a 50# trace mineral block to keep it going over time but they mostly eat the ground. The elk will lick the block itself! Salt works a lot better in June and July than it does in Aug and Sept. I don't count on it after they are hard-horned but out of habit, they will still come by. This spot is on a natural route to water so it helps. Your spot might not be any good until next May or so depending. I think you just started a little late is all. Here is the same lick with hard-horned bucks. I guess this guy wanted in on the action too!!! Cows, on the other hand, will flat camp on your licks and just about eat them up!!!

There used to be a guy in Elfrida or Hereford who made barrels too. Danny Pederson in Prescott makes excellent barrels but has a long waiting list.

Hey, there's an antelope where the guns are supposed to be!!!

WOW- that is intense. I spent Tues night in a back-pack tent in Tonto nat forest at about 6000'. I though I was going to get washed away! Glad I didn't have hail like that!!!