mattys281

That'd be more useful in alluding wifes than terrorists. Does the couch come with it?

Seems like I usually see more elk during deer season & more deer during elk season... Maybe w/ the overlap I'll finally be able to fling an arrow at something since they'll both be legal?! Sounds like fun to me, to have a combo hunt opportunity. I saw so few people (as in none at all) during the last two years of deer hunting that I'm kind of thinking the elk hunters are more likely to impact the deer hunters than vice versa, at least in my area. Hope it works out for the rest of you.

Sounds to me like some programmers having fun & then forgetting to delete their jokes before going live w/ the system. I've written a few excel based programs for our production control guys & used to leave them love notes like that once in a while, but we work in a factory, so that kind sh.. stuff is s.o.p.

Good one!

This is pretty old. Think it was about two years ago when I got it in my e-mail. What I think is really sad about it is that it was done by a bunch of chicanos who had probably never been to Mexico. Into all that "brown-pride", lowrider crap. At least that was what the e-mail I got had implied.

What is her draw length? I've got a PSE Spyder that goes 40-50 lbs, & I'm confident it'll whip 'em out there a bit quicker than that. If you're interested, I'll let it go for my wholesale price to get ride of it. Send a pm. If she's going to hunt w/ what she's got, set her up with two blade heads. I think that what you'll gain in penetration will outway what you'll lose in blood trail, for a low energy set-up. Good luck.

I've read that desired rations for trophy management were something like 1:5 ish. If it gets lower than that, there's too many bucks for the dominants to fight off, & if it gets higher than that, there's too many does for them to tend, without the forkies sneaking some action in. What I read was based on eastern whitetails though, so I don't know how applicable it would be to us out here. This is a great one for Amanda & some of our other resident biologists to field.

Glad to see I'm not the only one living by that motto. Great pic!

I spotted my first pack in 27 this last November. They ran by at about 60 yards or so, I tried to call 'em back & they sat there howling at me for a few minutes & then took off. Didn't see any bears that weekend, but didn't consider that a bad consolation prize.

I got that & was just returning sarcasm for sarcasm on the popcorn thing. I don't know a think about how pure or mixed their blood line is, but the ones I saw were awesome looking animals. I still wouldn't trade an occasional wolf siting for good deer hunting, though. That first document that kevin posted stated right at the front that they expected those wolves to reduce the deer population in the Blue Range area by up to 10,000 animals. Can't believe AZG&F went along with that! Guess I'm too nieve & trusting in the gov. I don't know what it's like in NM, but the signs posted around the Wolf Recovery Area here say that if one comes near your campsite, you're supposed to throw rocks, make noise, and do whatever you can to chase 'em away. Next time I'm there, I'll snap a picture of the sign.

Sorry your kids had to see that. Personally, I would've set the popcorn down & tried throwing some rocks or something. In Az. the signs say that you are allowed to "harass" the animals in order to scare them away to protect you pets or property. If you really want to save the deer, elk, antelope, etc., forget the predators and start shooting developers and town planners. The best part of that hunt is that all you have to do to call them in is rattle some lose change in your pocket & they come-a-runnin. You'd probably get a few lawyers & politicians mixed in as well, but I don't think anyone would notice.

You guys get 22 north or 22 south? Curious as to in anyone'll be heading into the Mazatzaal for a back country hunt.

Better save his brother for yourself. AFter all, there's always next season.

Do a little research on the Kaibab Plateau before you get set to run off all the predators. A few decades ago those deer were dying by the thousands because people had systematically eliminated all wolves, lions, & bears, leaving behind a population of prey with no predators to keep them in check. Obviously, fawn mortality rose to nearly 100%, thus causing a massive and quick population explosion that resulted in the over browsing & rampant disease. That lesson in predator extirpation is a model that's the backbone of some of the predator reintroduction programs you see. I'm not saying that's the case with the wolves. The numbers I've read so far seem to indicate that our state is being compromised to meet a federal agenda, but who can say for sure. A healthy predator population is absolutely vital to a healthy prey population, and I don't think for a minute that people are adept enough to step up & fill the role of lions & other large predators.

Here's a list of responses they put out to common concerns voiced by the public. It's interesting that in on document they say the long term impact will be a reduction in the elk population by fewer than 2000 animals and a possible reduction of deer by up to 10,000 animals, yet at the time of this document (July, 06) they've documented only 101 elk kills & 5 deer kills from the wolves (comment #8). If that's all they've taken in 10 years, what the heck are they eating?! Now that I think about it, I never did see any stray kitties or dogs runnin around Alpine. http://www.azgfd.com/w_c/es/documents/MWCo...ns.20060719.pdf I hardly see how any one could find it acceptable to allow our deer herd, which only consists of 150k or so to begin with, to be reduced by 10,000 animals, particularly in one area. There wouldn't be any deer left in 27!

This past year was the first time I ventured into Az's White Mountains, but I made about 6 or 7 trips during the year. In all that time, I only encountered one pack of wolves & it consisted of 3 or 4 animals. I've heard lots of other people gripe about what the wolves are doing to the elk & deer populations in that area, but have yet to see anyone offer an independent research paper, from a university or other source, that cited wolves as being a major contributor to the deterioration of our game herds. Most of the text I've read points to drought, development, & other environmental issues. If you have something to support this point of view, please supply us with a link to it. I'm not trying to be combative, I'd just really like to know more about it. I personally enjoying running into predators out in the mountains and would like to see a balanced population.

Managed to fill 2 of the 3 javi tags I've gotten so far. This was a "left-over" tag I bought years ago down in 34B. That trip was also my first run in w/ coues deer. I've never seen anything as spooky as those little critters were. This is from this year, 37B. Finally drew my first elk tag this year too, so hopefully I'll have another pic to add to this real soon.

While buying a tripod adapter for my new glasses this weekend, I discussed my upcoming wild pig hunt in Ca. w/ the guy at the gun shop. He informed me that there was a feral hog population right here in Az & claimed to know someone who had shot them here. He explained that since they're not a game animal, all one needs is a hunting license & you can blaze away. I'd never hear anything about this in Az. before, so I'm naturally skeptical. Called game & fish to make sure that it was legal, if they were here. They told me that since they're a non-native species and not classified as a game animal, they're controlled by who ever owns the land they're on, so they passed my off to the Tonto National Forest, who in turn passed me off to the Payson Ranger District. These folks told me that they were not in charge of regulating any type of hunting for anything, and their biologist stated that he had never even heard of a feral hog population in Arizona. I did, however, find mention of Feral hogs in Arizona's Comprehensive Wildlife Conservation Strategy. They mention feral horses, burros, goats, domestic sheep, and hogs, stating that they are severly impacting wildlife by overgrazing, compacting soil (trails), and polluting aquatic systems through waste accumulation. I also found a website that listed Arizona as one of 23 states w/ feral hog populations. This is news to me. Anyone on here ever spot these guys? I never have, but I also haven't spent much time around Bloody Basin, which is where I was told to look.

Congrats on that one Keith, Ive hunted that unit 5 straight years - You won't be disappointed! (0 for me- guess it was someone elses turn) AzP&Y The GF & I've got two tags to fill. Come out & lend a hand. Give you a chance to check out 27. Beautiful country & full of bears too, so maybe you'll put a tag on something anyhow. Take care, Doug.

Haven't tried one yet, but from what I've been told, the sows & smaller boars are good & the bigger boars are good for sausage.

UNIT 27 COW! This'll be my first elk hunt! Thanks for the tip.

Got an e-mail from my bro in the corp with a slide show titled the Best of 2006. Most of the picture, while hilarious, aren't appropriate to post, but I thought I'd share two of my favorites. Enjoy The years best before & after photo: The years best hair product ad:

Great thread younghunter. That sure is some beautiful country. CnS: Let me know when you want to organize one of those affordable "bum around" trips. It's be a dream come true just to see Alaska, not to mention getting to shoot something while there.

Those heads have been around a long time for a reason. They work. As long as she shoots a decent weight arrow you should be fine. Just keep in mind when selecting arrows that light arrows shed energy faster than heavier ones do, which is a lot more important the further down range you shoot. This is an important consideration in choosing arrows for everybody, but even more so with women & youth who tend to shoot lighter draw weights w/ shorter draw lengths. What is her draw length anyway? I've heard that given the same draw weight, you'll lose around 10 fps for each inch of draw length. Haven't tested that though & I'm sure it varies on different models. The principle is that the longer the arrow is on the string, the more energy is transferred, which is on reason why "speed" bows usually have shorter brace heights (ex. X-force at 6"). Also, you'll find that the muscles used to pull her bow will strengthen very quickly. Even if she's starting at the low end of the weight range, as long as she at least pulls the bow a few times everyday she should be able to add a 1/2 turn or so every other week, which'll have her at that 50# mark well before early archery deer. At that weight it should shove a 300 grain arrow w/ some decent speed. The Carbon Force 100's I mentioned before are 6.6 grains/in. At 25" with the insert, nock, fletchings & a 100grn. point head would tip the scale at right around 300 grains.