Kevin

Guys and gals, I know alot of you take pictures all the time. I am putting together a Power Point presentation for an upcoming NM hunter education class (I'm an instructor). I'm revamping an old slide presentation on habitat improvements and management but don't have a good picture of a big game animal drinking from a dirt tank or windmill. I would appreciate if any of you could post a picture here that I could copy and use. I'll give credit to the photo if you want. Thanks, Kevin

Looking at lots of deer and practicing will help you to. Look at the pictures Amanda has posted in the photo gallery, most of them have scores posted as well. You can learn a lot by looking at the pictures and figuring out where the score comes from. It won't take you long to learn the difference in a 75" and 95" buck by just looking at these pictures and taking into account what the others here have posted. Kevin

Like longshooter said, you'll have to find something that works well in your gun. I shoot 73.5 grains of IMR 4350 with Federal match grade primers with 150 grain Nosler Partitions for Coues deer. They shoot great out of my gun but not my hunting partners. Start at the bottom end of the reloading data and work your way up in 0.5 grain increments of powder and plan on doing a lot of benchrest shooting to get it figured out. Good luck, Kevin

I spent the summer of 90 living in Young working for the FS. I can remember seing Mearn's one time between Young and Haigler Creek. Most of my time was spent traipsing around at night chasing spotted owls in the timber so my exposure to Mearns country wasn't much, but I know they were there back then. Kevin PS: from your name I'm guessing you live there?

TAM, Get yourself a telescoping spinning rod and reel combo from Walmart or Sportsman's ($15-20). They are about 12" long when collapsed and work great for backpacking or atv's. Salmon eggs are a good bet just about any time. Use them on a "salmon egg" hook, just one or two 'egg's will cover the hook. Then just float the bait downstream into pools or along overhanging banks. Try not to use weight so that the bait will float. Also important on small streams is to not show yourself or your shadow. Use your stalking skills to approach likely looking spots and stay out of sight. Not much more fun than fishing small streams. If you can only use artificial baits (lures) Panter martins (1/16 oz or smaller for small streams) or Rooster tails of similar weight work well for me. Good luck! Kevin

More D, I'm not familiar with the area, but most TA truck stops in New Mexico have a dump station. Maybe the same over there? Kevin

Justin and TAM, thanks for the pictures! I appreciate them. TAM, I know exactly what you mean by leaving cams at tanks. I'm in the process of building another cam myself because I " donated one for the cause". Thanks again for your generosity. Kevin

Mike, thanks for your effort. Although I'd like to see the video (who wouldn't?) I don't need it for my purposes. If you can find a trail cam pic of one I would certainly appreciate it though. Kevin

Scotty, looks like a blast! Just wanted to make a point though, we have Gould's turkey in the "bootheel" of NM. They were transplanted by the G&F and NWTF in the mid 80's and are doing quite well. Just thought I would enlighten you Kevin

Good suggestion Jamaro. I'm not familiar with the brand you bought, but most stands (at least API and Summit) come with instructional DVD's. Putting a stand in a tree can be dangerous, life threatening dangerous. A few rules of thumb: 1. Always wear a harness or vest when climbing, sitting in or decending from your stand. 2. Never climb limbs--always use either climbing steps or ladder. 3. Make sure the tree you pick is sturdy enough that when the wind blows it doesn't make you seasick while sitting in it. 4. Try to place your stand where either the cover of the tree it is in or a tree in front of you will provide cover while drawing your bow. 5. Use a rope to pull your unloaded gun or bow up the tree once you are seated. Never carry equipment up the tree when you are climbing. 6. Always inspect your steps, stand and harness for wear, looseness etc. Don't rely on anything man made, it can and will fail! 7. Did I mention using a harness or vest everytime you climb, sit or decend from your stand? Buy a climbing system that uses a prusic knot that you can slip up but not fall down. The extra time it takes to climb is worth your life and limbs! Good luck and be safe! Kevin

Good job J! Get him involved. Way to use your head and not freeze his butt off too! I wish I could help out but my girls are both younger than you need stuff for. Kevin

She certainly did the intelligent thing by staying put, but backpacking by herself during December wasn't so smart. I've backpacked much of the river at different times and I'll tell you, March is the earliest I want anything to do with crossing that sucker! As Gus from Lonesome Dove would say, "It'l shrivel yer pod!" She got lucky having someone find her. Not many folks go though that country this time of year. Kevin

Tommy, is the buck you killed the same buck you got at 8:53 on December 23 on your trail cam? Looks like it could be? Kevin

I contacted Doug a couple of months ago about buying a new camera. Mine had died on me and was 1 month out of warranty. After discussing cameras a bit, I told Doug how dissapointed I was with the one that had quit and wanted something more reliable. I had contacted the manufacturer about the problem and they wanted $175 just to look at it--without any gaurantee that they could fix it. Doug suggested I send him the camera and they would look it over. Cameraland wasn't able to fix the camera, the main board was bad. However they sent it to the manufacturer and had it fixed, and get this-- they were able to get it warranteed! My camera is fixed at no charge to me! Talk about service, I didn't buy the camera from Cameraland and they treated me like I had been a constant lifelong customer! Anything I need in the optic or camera world in the future will be bought from Cameraland! Kevin

Good shooting Tommy! Congratulations! Kevin

You might try calling the G&F to see about getting them mailed. There in nowhere near Reserve that would be open past 5:00. I'm assuming Walmart in Silver City would have the stamps and is open 24 hours. Thats the closest I can can think of. The G&F number for the sw part of the state is 505-532-2100. Good luck, Kevin Just get it online. I looked at the web page, all the way at the bottom of the main page and they are available. http://www.wildlife.state.nm.us/

I'm thinking of buying an electronic caller to call coyotes with. I've read good things about the FoxPro, but at nearly $500 they are out of my league! Any suggestions or experiences with some of the callers in the $200 range? Kevin

I have mixed feelings about point restrictions. We've had them in effect here in NM for two years; but we've dropped them for next season. Why? Well, according to most folks you talk to, there have been too many fork horned deer left laying in the field after the hunter has discovered his deer is illegal. Others cite the same feeling as mentioned above, spikes and forks are genetically inferior and no matter how old the buck is, he will never be a "trophy" buck. Pensylvania has shown that they have increased trophy quality with point restrictions. Is that your goal? To have more 90" or better bucks in a few years? Why is it important to the rest of us to have more quality deer? Or is it an attempt to just have more bucks? Is the buck to doe ratio out of skew enough to cause damaging results in a particular unit? If not, is there any reason, other than trophy quality, to have antler point restrictions? Obviously there are a lot of questions that should be answered before I'm convinced one way or the other. Maybe Amanda or Deernut can tell us the benefits of restricting hunters to a more stringent bag limit? I'll tell you this: Most of us have our own point restrictions, but mine differ. When I'm lucky enough to draw a rifle tag in AZ, you can bet I'm not blowing my tag on a dink buck. However, if I get a chance at a little buck next week with my recurve, you can bet I'm going to try my best to take him down. Is that wrong? Is that any different than allowing a 12 year old to take any antlered buck or make him hold out for a 3X3? I think all of us need to answer some of these questions before we impose it on others! Kevin

Thanks Tommy. It looks like you might get some more snow! Kevin

Jeff, I've rattled mule deer in in the past and will try next week in AZ for Coues. The horns I've used for muleys are pretty big and make a lot of racket. I'm thinking they may be to loud for Coues. Do you use sheds or a commercial product? If you use sheds, are they coues sheds or muley sheds and how big are they? Also, do you use similar durations etc. for coues? Kevin

Jeff, Thats the wisest thing I've heard in a long time! Since you Grant county boys cleaned house on the Burro WT tags this year and 90% of them will be fighting over the same saddle on the "Big Three" I believe you've got the right idea! I do know two Coues tag holders that have the same idea though. Good luck on your hunt. Kevin PS: I grew up in Silver and hunted the Burros my entire life until the closure. The "Big Three" ain't what they are cracked up to be in my opinion.

I'll be down next week after Christmas, so I would just as soon see it dry I'm getting to be a pansy in my old age and I would like to have it dry enough the deer are still coming to water. Maybe the snow will get them turned on though and hunting saddles and scrape lines will be good. Kevin

There was still a few spots with snow on the ridge road in the Burros last weekend. The family and I drove up and cut a tree. How much snow have you guys had this time? Good luck on your hunt! Kevin

Tommy, I hope you haven't forgot that you live in southern NM and deer season is still almost 2 weeks away? Surely its gonna melt before then! Where is your tag this year? If its the Burros again don't bother answering! Kevin

I haven't been able to get out much lately, and definately not to AZ. I'll be hunting the last week of December in the SE units. I guess I'm curious if any of you that have made time to get out have started seeing scrapes yet. Good luck to you all! Kevin