stanley

AWSOME Doug!!!!!! Congrats!! Thanks for sharing the story and pics! S.

AMAZING Doug!! S. PS: Congrats on your bird!

I think that's a COOL idea!!! I killed my first big game animal with an old 1894 Winchester 30-30, and I still have that rifle! LOVE that gun!!! Why not kill a coues with it??? What the heck man, I say go for it!! Archers get close all the time!!! S.

Well if you can't scout, at least you can take the entire 14 days for the hunt!!! With a little 'pre-scouting' type of effort such as this site, Google Earth, AZGF Site, and others, you should be just fine! Stay tuned into this site! Listen to Doug and other Flag locals.... S.

+1!!!!!

Welcome to the site Sam!! I'll be across the street in 6AN. Sounds like you've already reached-out to some good contacts!! LONG way from SD! Are you going to try to do a scouting trip? Good luck to you! Stay in touch with the folks on this site as your hunt approaches, and you'll likely make some friends.... S.

LOL on the escort comment!!!! Thanks for the run-down on your experience ruthunter!! I've never had buffalo meat, but I've heard that it is delicious!! This is an interesting and obiously potentially a 'hot' topic! I don't think that I would ever do a 'high fence' hunt, but I can't say for sure. At least this place calls it what it is, and makes no bones about it. If someone wants to get some buffalo or othe exotic meat and this is the way they want to, then No shame there, IMO!! Go get it!! S.

Heading-up for the junior hunt with my boys tonight! Can't wait!!! We're heading-up to join the Junior Hunter camp for the unit 1 & 27 hunt. We have historically hunted 23, so being up higher will be a change! The camp is in the Alpine area, and I'm assuming there will still be lots of snow!! Anyone from the White Mountains been out listening for Gobblers lately??? Any action?? Good luck to any of the kids going this weekend!! S.

The junior hunt was great thanks Cade, though no turkeys were shot off of The Claw (or by any other means with my kids.... )!! Due to work & other busy 'kid' stuff, we couldn't leave until early Friday AM so we missed the opening morning. By the time we arrived at the Youth Camp late Friday AM there had been several turkeys already checked-in. It seemed like the gobblers were responding well to calls the opening morning! On Friday afternoon and Saturday AM it was raining throughout much of the area (Alpine, Esquidilla, Hannagen Meadow, etc..). That had the birds quiet, but we still had a little action. Finally on Sunday AM we had a great 'blue bird' morning, and the gobblers were sounding off EARLY!!! This was going to be the best chance for my kids, and I blew it though!!!! I shock located a gobbler in the dark, and we snuck in to get set-up. I thought we were about 200 yards from him and waited. Well as light came, he gobbled once and was MUCH closer than I thought! Next thing I know, he jumps from his roost about 50 yards in front of us and hits the ground running the other way!!! Turns-out that we were MUCH closer than I thought, and I'm sure he sat their in his roost watching us set-up the decoy the whole time!!! WAY to close to him! We never had a chance! Oh well, we had a great time with lots of excitement. OTC tags for the kids are great! Always next year... S.

Here's how I'm reading it: The parent or guardian who transfers the tag MUST be in the field. However, if a grandparent transfers the tag to a grandchild, the grandparent doesn't have to be the one who is with the child. A parent or guardian will do in that case. Yes?? I don't really see what is posted here as contradictory to what Mr. Elms posted..... Just seems to go into a bit more detail as to the 'field supervision' necessary in the case of a minor child getting a tag from parent/guardian/grandparent.... Am I missing something? S.

You are SUCH a 'nature nerd' Amanda!!!!!! Seriously though; AMAZING!!!! If it wasn't for folks like Doug and yourself, I would never 'get out'!! Nice pics! S.

Thanks for the heads-up Doug!!! Leave it to the 'government' though to publish an article that says "three of two hunting camp locations have moved..." That being said, I'll be up there with my kids this weekend! We've historically gone in unit 23, but we're heading all the way up to Alpine this year! Hoping one or more of my kids can score on their first turkey!! (We'll of course also be testing-out the new Alaknak! ) Good luck to all the kids this weekend!!!! S.

Thanks to all for the information. I know the elevation is high, and therefore am not too surprised of the reports! Kevin, thanks for the detailed confirmation!! I was hoping that you would chime-in on this thread..... Hmm.... Based on this, I'm not sure if I'll try there or lower on the 23rd, or if I'll wait til later in the season. Maybe two relatively warm weeks will melt enough snow?? Maybe I'm dreaming?? lol Available weekend time becomes an issue with busy kid stuff in May though! Thanks again all! S.

I have never been turkey hunting in NM, but was thinking of taking advantage of the OTC tags and do a long weekend hunt. I'm a little familiar with unit 34, as my son had a Youth elk tag there a few years ago. We hunted the area just south of Cloudcroft, and it looked pretty good for turkeys in there. That's the general area that I was thinking of trying.... Question is; Is anyone familiar with the snow levels up in that area, and how the access will be? I was thinking of hunting the weekend of 4/22-4/24. Thanks in advance for any replies! S.

Nice that they're already stocking! LLM can be VERY fun in these wet years indeed..... Nice growth rates! I've had fun catching lots of small/medium pike in LLM in some years as well! Canoe helps there! S.

OMG!!! Antler growth?? Are you kidding me??? I've got my first archery bull tag ever this year! I myself am NOT worried about antler growth! I'm worried about only three things: 1) Have I learned enough over the years to get close enough? 2) Can I pass on enough spikes/rags if possible to even hope to have a chance at a nice 5X5 or larger? 3) Can I keep the arrow from shaking off the rest if/when the time comes?? In all seriousness though, I'm VERY glad that we're getting a great winter of rain/snow!! S.

Welcome! Obviously, lots of good info (and stories/pics....) here!!! S.

Awesome news on the Unit 1 muzz hunt AZOnecam!!! That could be a fun one!! Congrats on your tag to TJ!!! (and all others who got drawn!) I got a 6A-N archery bull tag! This will be my first archery bull hunt!! Can't wait! S.

6A Archery bull for me!!!!!!!! No tags for my kids though.... S.

6A archery bull for me!!!!!! S.

Hit the nail on the head with this one. I enjoy all cuts of meat. Quality of the meat is what's important. Kobe beef and USDA Prime are tough to beat. Especially aged cuts. If I were to choose just one, my staple is the rib-eye. Seasoned exactly like Coues79 described, which is exactly how I prepared them last night. (think I'm gettin hungry again) Bingo!! Salt and fresh pepper!!! Med-rare... Perfect!!! YUM!!!! Also, BowNut brought-up the blue cheese.... For me, maybe not so much directly on my steak but I LOVE a nice fresh salad on the side smothered in fresh blue cheese dressing (home-made...)! Of course it never hurts if they're on the same plate so the meat gets mixed just a bit with some of the dressing!! S.

Never heard of that before!! Pretty cool!!!! I know that there are a few 36A 'regulars' who browse here, so maybe someone with chime-in.... S.

Now THAT'S funny Amanda!!!! S.

Sure you have the right number???? S.

I usually don't get too caught-up in the 'tag drawing' drama, but today I'm sitting here at work and my cell phone rings. I look down at it and the number on the caller ID is 602-942-3000!!!! Now you KNOW that I have that number memorised!! I answer the call fully expecting someone to congratulate me on drawing the toughest tag in the state (because why in the heck else would they be calling me during 'draw week'??)!! Instead of anything to do with the draw however, it was simply someone from their office trying to verifiy my name, etc. from a volunteer sheet I filled-out at a ranch clean-up a few months ago!! Nothing to do with the draw what so ever!!! After I clarified the info he wanted, I asked if he could take a peek in the back room to see how the draw was coming. He didn't seem too amused though.... Must have been a busy day! So I continue to wait like the rest.... S.