bullwidgeon

About time someone around here came to their senses! Good job DB! I would take Gwen Stefani right now though because she makes me b-an-an-as and so does that video ! Bret M.

Fire is good. It will thin out a bunch of stupid pine, fir, catclaw and manzanita trees. The only thing that crap is good for is hiding lions and blocking out my view while I am trying to glass deer up and shoot them. The year unit 33 burned, we killed deer in the burn on the Oct hunt in areas that had not been glassable for 20 years. Bret M.

I woke up today and it looked like a bomb had gone off North of the house. A big plume of smoke was coming from North A.J./Goldfield. They had choppers and tankers cruising around. I am sure they have to have 88 closed down way before Canyon Lake. It sure would be nice if it burned East and took out some of that Manzanita and other undesireable vegetation way up in the Superstitions. Bret M.

I have a pretty bad feeling about my odds of drawing anything both in NM and AZ so am trying to make backup plans. Have any of you NM guys spotted and stalked bears over there on the early August hunt? I know some areas over there that have bears in them and I am pretty confident I could find one or two but wanted to know things like how bad is the hunting pressure and do some of the locked up ranches open their gates for bear/predator hunters? Lately the early bear hunts over here can get down right crowded in areas. I am only considering units 15/23/21, but I guess I could go explore other areas if need be. I don't need, want or expect any specific spots, as I don't mind scouting a bunch and trying to find my own areas, but unit numbers wouldn't hurt . I was thinking about the Burro area of 23, I have never been to the Burros but always been intrigued by the stories I hear about whopper coues, how is the Burro bear population? Do the hound guys hammer the pine covered areas over there as much as they do here? Anyways, thanks for any info you have. Bret M.

That's going to be a great big bull but he won't net near as much as he grosses. One more reason why B&C sucks alot of the times. Depending on how much he has left to go he could easily gross out in the 360 or more range, heck even bigger if he really gets a late growth spurt. Bret M.

I really do not know if they will be in velvet or not. I know they were in velvet last year before 9/20 or so. I do not remember seeing anymore big deer in that area until the second week of October at that point they were hard horned. This was in Round Valley/St. Johns, but the area is pretty much the same. I do know they are usually alot easier for me to find in September than in November, knocking one down with a front stuffer is another matter though. Bret M.

I hunt with my large extended family alot and a buddy from work. The buddy from work rarely questions my stupidity when hunting so it make it easier, we get along pretty good and have weathered alot of times while hunting or fishing in which we were lucky to make it out as well as we did. It is nice when someone does not question an awful lot about why you want to walk off into that big bottomless hole and if your sure you can make it back out of there in the dark OK . Bret M.

The first year (2003) I went to unit 23 in NM. It seemed like there were lots of deer everywhere and we were seeing good ones (100 plus inchers) daily. I missed a good one and helped some buddies kill a 97 incher. I found a truckload of coues sheds and the camp was great. Even going home deerless didn't matter, I had a ton of fun and the bucks were really out for some reason on that November hunt. Bret M.

Doug, I got unit 12. It is huntable from my grandparents place in Eagar which is mostly why I put in for it also it seems alot more glassable than 15 which was another option for hunting from their place. Bret M.

A buddy and I went on our annual fishing trip to the Reservation. Fishing was awesome. We went for 2 days on the river and fished the tanks for 2 days and even tried a few hours at Point of Pines. We got nothing at POP and then found a little tank and caught a bunch of little largemouths at a tank. The next two days we hit the river, and walked by far too many fish looking to get away from other anglers to no avail. Anyways, the river was good to us and gave us quite a few big ones like these and a ton of 6-12 inch fish. On the last day we hit the tank again and I scored a really good largie (around 4 pounds or so) but the camera was in the truck and I released him unharmed. The fish in the river wanted hard jerk baits and soft plastics and the ones in the tank wanted buzzbaits and soft plastics. The river is dropping quick and the water levels in all the tanks and POP was good. Fishing might have been better but I am sure if we would have slowed down and fished instead of hiking all over we might have caught more and maybe bigger. The bears didn't jack with us and we had a good time. We thought these bear signs were funny and very true when camped anywhere near water. On the way into POP Lure just hit the water 30 Seconds later and the standard 10-12 inch smallie flopping around hoping he will be turned loose A very nice fish capping off a long hot day, still a mile to hike back to camp Another pig, Brad really smoked me this day on the bigger fish, he got 5 right around this size and a million smaller ones. My hookset was off and I got a bunch of dinks. Oh well I smoked him the day before on numbers and size. Not that we keep real track anyways Has anyone caught any fish out of POP at all this year? I fished there for a few hours and never managed a solid bite. The indians told me the bite was on there, I must have not been set up right. Any of you guys with SC coues tags should do good this year, there was alot of deer sign along the river and the ridges breaking down into it, more than last year anyways. Also lots of elk, bear and lion sign and we even saw two bald eagles and an osprey and a nice herd of Antelope near the POP turn off with a good buck in the midst of them. Bret M.

Lark, I grabbed the snake and used him as a belt, latched his fangs to his rattle after I strung him him through my beltloops. I forgot my belt that day and my pants kep falling down till he happened along. He was a little angry after I let him go back at the truck. I was just lucky he was long enough to go around my fat belly. I am a professional goofball by trade and an amatuer fisherman and hunter. I work at a bank in a datacenter babysitting computers. I work 3 12 hour shifts a week so I get alot of time off to go bouncing around in the hills. Bret M.

Muzzleloader carp tag 3rd choice in a secret unit in September while the carps are still hopefully velveted up and out in the open. Doug you got my real tag. Congrats and good luck. Bret M.

The river got very crowded on Friday with people rolling in early in the morning. We didn't see a soul on Wed or Thursday though. We have decided to make mid week trips from now on. We saw no snakes on the river, but speaking of snakes, the other day in the Superstitions I was stumbling around and heard this bugger a long time before I found him. Those are the ones that scare me the most, the ones I hear but do not see, I am never sure which way to move at that point. There has been a ton of them out in that rockpile this year. At least this one didn't have a clear shot at me. It made for a crappy picture but I prefer them that way when it comes to live rattlers. Bret M.

My cousin has an archery bear tag for unit 33. Can you set up a treestand in Udall Park? Bret M.

I think they are going to get some of the sheep from the 27/28 herds so they should be conditioned to lions. Everybody knows there is no place on earth with more lions than Greenlee county . Heck I was over there trying to bear hunt one time and almost got carried off and ate several times by the cats, generally a big rifle puts the chinger to them though. I have even heard from a few buddies that they run in big packs over there like wolves in Jellystone Nice cat standman, they should look like they have been shot after they have been shot Bret M.

This year I think it is 16 points including the hunters ed. point. The big odds book you can buy at G&F offices for 6$ has all the bonus point breakdowns for every species. Antelope and sheep is not a very pretty picture for anyone no matter how many points you have. Bret M.

There is only 6 dudes with max elk points left in the pool. I am guessing they will all have their early rifle bull tags this year. Bret M.

Slingshot, ninja outfit, cast iron skillet, olive oil .. Bret M.

3rd choice carp tag in NM for Muzzleloader, I am hoping for rifle coues though . Bret M.

I am not half as wise as either of those two especially that older gent but you should stay away from plastic tipped bullets that are not "bonded" if you do not want a big explosion. They make some plastic tipped bonded bullets that work great, Scirroco's by Swift are one of them and Hornady Interbonds are another. I have seen Scirrocos punch right through coues leaving exits about the size of a 50 cent piece after breaking ribs. I have also seen them pulled from the offside shoulders and spines of bull elk with over 80% weight retention and perfect mushrooming. You might try to see if your gun will shoot either of those as good as Ballistic Tips, either that or try a good old Hornady Spire Point or Sierra Gameking or Winchester Powerpoint, you know, something without the plastic frangible qualities of a ballistic tip. Good luck Bret M.

Nice one! Nice and dark too, around 90 or so net probably. Bret M.

Thanks alot guys. Exactly the kind of info I was looking for. Tommy I will shoot you an email after the draw results if I get skinked and decide to go over there. Thanks again. Bret M.

What was he using for bait? A shetland pony ? Bret M.

Just 2 myself. I have missed a few and passed on alot of them, some I had no business passing on. No matter what anyone tells you, DO NOT PASS ON 100 INCHERS, EVEN ON THE FIRST DAY OF A LATE HUNT, JUST SHOOT THEM AND BE HAPPY THEY WERE THERE TO BE SHOT!!!!! Especially do not pass them up on the first day of an early hunt in October . I have done both and feel bad to this day 5 years after the fact. In fact, the next time I see my uncles I might just body slam all of them for telling me to hold off on those deer . I have been responsible for the death of a big truckload more. Usually, I find them and point them out to my buddies or family members and then they pull the trigger and try to take credit. At least I have alot of pictures and packing experience now. My biggest goes 104 or so, and I have a feeling he will stay my biggest for a long time. I am fed up with passing on deer after my December hunt last year, from now on I have turned over a new leaf and will begin whacking the first branch antlered buck I see. I got a new house and I need a wall filled up with racks, however small they might be, besides deer taste good . After the wall has been filled with racks, I might think about getting snobby and holding out for 105 inchers again or maybe take up carp hunting seriously(Which basically means build bonus points till you draw a good unit tag). Bret M.

Them are nice! Looks like a good scorer. Bret M.