stanley

Outstanding Scott! Thanks for sharing the pics. Looks like it's going to be a great year for mearns (and gambels...). I can't wait for my Christmas break, as I'm planning on getting down there to hunt over my buddies vislas! S.

Awesome story! The pics along the way were great. Good luck to your daughter! S.

Awesome Doug! I sure wish I had that tag this year.... Rich & Richard headed back down for their second try this afternoon. They'll be there til Sunday (if necessary...). Good luck! S. PS: Erik (my oldest) scored on his first deer last weekend. A TROPHY doe! One of the grandest experiences of my life!

My son killed his first deer on the Kiabab junior hunt this past weekend. Story to follow, but I can tell you that this was one of the most spectacular moments in my hunting life! Lots of hugs & high-fives.... S.

Hi Everyone: I know it's deer hunting season (for you lucky folks that got tags... ), but I was cleaning-out my files and found this. It's an article that I wrote last spring for the Deer Times, the ADA's quarterly publication. Obviously if you're an ADA member you may have already seen it. I thought I'd share it with the group on here as well though. I know it's a long one (and it's not about deer), but seeing the recently posted deer hunting stories inspired me to post it anyway. I'll be up on the Kiabab with my boy building more memories just like these next week! S. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Do you Have to Harvest an Animal to Have a Successful Hunt? - A Junior Javelina Hunt It was a cold February morning, and my 10 year old son Erik & I were just getting settled in behind the tripod to glass a wide desert ridge & wash area. Erik had been drawn for one of the many ?Youth Hunts? that the Arizona Game & Fish offers to the young hunters of our state. He had drawn a junior tag for the 36A/C javelina hunt. This was to be his first big game hunt, and we were both jumping with excitement that opening morning had finally arrived. A Young Hunter?s Education The road leading up to this hunt had been a long one, which started in October when Erik put his application in for one of the Youth Hunts in the southern part of the state. He was only 9 years old at the time, but would turn 10 prior to the hunt which would make him legal. At this point, we also started researching potential dates for him to take Hunters Education, which would complete the necessary requirements making him eligible to hunt. Well, by December he had his tag in hand, and we were scheduled for a Hunters Education class in January. We were all set?.. In early January, we began the 4 week Hunter Education course. We went to class two nights per week, which added quite a heavy load to Erik?s already busy home-work schedule. Finally the last night of the course arrived and he took the final exam with confidence, knowing that he had prepared himself thoroughly. The test was a success, and he passed with flying colors! One of the questions on the final test however, generated quite a lot of discussion prior to class being dismissed. The question was ?Do you have to harvest an animal to have a successful hunt??. We talked about it in class, with the instructors & participants agreeing that the answer was ?NO?, success should not necessarily depend on killing an animal. Hunting success was much broader than that, and should also be measured by quality time in the field with family & friends. Animals Seen & Un-Seen Now here we were, opening morning, enjoying the chill of the winter morning as the sun rose over the eastern flats behind us. We were glassing a large bowl that looked like prime javelina habitat. By 9:00AM on opening morning, we had glassed-up over 20 deer, a coyote, and numerous birds & other objects of interest, but no pigs. We knew we were in prime javelina habitat though, as evident by the many tracks & diggings in the area. We decided to still hunt our way back towards camp, where we were scheduled to meet my good friends Rich & Bert, who would be joining us for the rest of the weekend. As we slowly worked our way back towards the truck, I heard a ruckus a couple of hundred yards below us in a brush choked draw. Thinking it sounded like feeding/digging javelina, we set-up and I began blowing furiously on a call that I had purchased for the occasion. While I had never called-in a pig myself, I had several friends tell me of success they had using this tactic so we thought we would give it a try. After 45 minutes or so, we didn?t get any pigs to come in so we decided to slowly hunt through the draw. We didn?t see any pigs, but found their fresh diggings which confirmed their presence and gave us a good location to start hunting after lunch. After meeting up with Rich and getting a bit of an early afternoon rest, we headed back up to the area where the pigs were feeding for the evening hunt. We got set-up on a nice vantage point and spent the evening scanning the surrounding hills, ridges, and flats. As in the morning however, the pigs eluded our glasses and we called it a day. The next two days were spent pretty much the same way; Glassing, calling, still-hunting?. We continued to see lots of deer & other sites, but no pig sightings. We had a couple of close calls, hearing & smelling pigs in some of the dense undergrowth we were hunting, but again with no confirmed sightings. We also mixed-in lots of other activities including a little trap shooting, some quail hunting, & plenty of good times around the camp fire. It was a joy to see Erik soak in all that his first big game hunt had to offer. He continued to quiz me throughout the weekend regarding javelina, deer, the desert, and life in general. It was a great weekend?.. Well, Sunday afternoon finally arrived, and it was time to break camp and head for home. Luck would have it however that as we were driving out of our camping area, a group of pigs ran across the road in front of us. I hit the brakes and asked Erik if he felt up to trying a stalk on these guys, and was answered with an enthusiastic YES! Although the pigs had run into a ravine to the side of the road & were already out of sight, looking at the lay of the land we took a gamble on where they would be heading and took-off for a knoll a ? mile away. Fifteen minutes later we were sitting on the hill, watching a flat area where I thought the pigs might cross. Sure enough, here they came. Erik got set-up with his shooting sticks and waited as the pigs came moving by. A big one stopped broad-side at about 40 yards, and Erik started to take a bead on it. The pig moved-off quickly however, and never stood still for a shot again. The rest of the pigs were very spooked at that point, and none of them offered a shot either. In hind-sight, the wind was wrong where we got set-up for the pigs, and they likely smelled us as we were trying to ambush them. It was a tough lesson for a young hunter, and Erik?s spirits were down as we again loaded-up into the truck for the ride home. I could tell he was frustrated at not closing the deal when he had the chance at the one pig that stood still, but I told him that I was very proud of him for not taking a ?low percentage? running shot. A Proud Dad The drive home was a long one, and Erik & I had lots of time to reminisce about the weekend. We talked about all of the sights we saw: Deer feeding in the early morning, numerous birds, coyotes, rabbits, etc. We talked about the good times laughing around the fire with our buddies, and we talked about how great it was to be out in the desert as opposed to back in the city. Towards the end of the ride home Erik said ?Dad, you know what? Now I know what they mean when they say you don?t need to harvest an animal to have a successful hunt. I think this was a very successful hunt?. I knew then that he had learned much more than ?gun safety? during the previous month?s Hunters Education course & subsequent hunt. It was a proud moment for me indeed, and I?m looking forward to many more ?successful? hunts with him and his younger brother & sister.

36 archery javelina for me, 20C junior javelina for my son, and he & I both got unit 23 turkey tags! S. :-)

Good luck Christian! I hope you bag one, but either way I'm sure you'll have a great time. GLASS HARD and squeeze that trigger slowly (I'm trying to break my 10 year old from jerking the trigger..... )! S.

Definitely not wrong to keep shooting at a standing deer! All a matter of opinion Casey. Don't worry about the heat from the other board (or this board for that matter...). Doesn't really matter what other folks say, because they aren't YOU. Hunt in the style you're comfortable with. S. PS: I was brought-up to keep shooting until they are down as well.

Bill, enlightening for sure! I obviously stand corrected. Guess I need to get my facts straight prior to running my mouth.... Thanks for the link; No doubt I'll need to be more careful what I do on trust lands in the future. Hey Casey, is that how a 'ya hoo' dresses? Thanks for the tip, now I'll know one next time I see one. S.

Hey Allen, congrats to Travis on his elk! Erik had a 6A tag, but we couldn't close the deal. Lots of good memories though (kind of like this pig hunt...). Hopefully we'll have some luck up on the Kiabab doe hunt next weekend. Have you been out after deer this fall yet? Colorado? S.

VERY COOL!!!! Sincere congrats on an oustanding hunt. What great memories with the family there... I'll be up there this weekend with my son on his first deer hunt (Jr. doe tag), and I can't wait. Again, congratulations! S. :-)

Hey Tines, NICE buck that your dad took. Sincere congrats to him! I can't say that I agree with you 100%, but I agree with some of what you said. Mainly I guess I try to respect other's use of public land, just as I would expect them to respect my use. If I ever camp close to a group of folks that are shooting-off in the middle of the night, etc., I usually just chalk it up to a bad experience and move on. Usually I'm too tired and sleep like a baby anyway. I've been out a lot (like you and most others on here...), and the times that I've experienced any of what you've mentioned is VERY limited. Seems like you summed-up all of the bad experiences that I've ever had in a single hunt. Must have been frustrating..... As far as not target shooting on state land? Are you kidding? I have to agree with you that you are being anal on that one. I don't know a Forest Service rep or G&F officer that would agree with you on that one (and I know a lot of them...). Where are folks supposed to target practice? Ben Avery only? C'mon, you can't be serious. Unfortunately, that's what PUBLIC land hunting is about. We have to hope that all folks will respect each other, but some don't. I report them when there is a clear violation, but also respect other's right to be out there and just deal with it if they aren't breaking the law. I hope you find more solitude on your December hunt! I suspect you will... Good luck! S.

I'm telling you, I just can't get enough of that smile!!!! THAT'S WHAT IT'S ALL ABOUT FOLKS! I'm going to make sure his picture is published in the next issue of the Deer Times (ADA's quarterly publication...). I'll make sure you get a copy azyoung! S.

Hey TKKNC, the youth camps that have been mentioned here are orgainzed the the Arizona Deer Association. We try to set-up a hospitality & information sharing camp in a central location during the Jr. Hunts that the G&F offer. Here is a link to a thread with some more specifics for the 2005 camps; http://www.coueswhitetail.com/forums/index...?showtopic=2126 We have two more left for this year; 12A (Kiabab), and 20C. Let me know if you want more info (or if you want to volunteer to help out...). S.

I agree Keith! Congrats to those who have tagged-out, and best regards to those who are still taking to the field! I didn't draw a tag this year so I have to live vicariously through all of you (and my son...). Good luck all! S.

Good deal Scott!!! Sounds like you all had a good time. Congrats to all of you on a successful hunt! Nice to see the 'home-town' crowd here at CW.com coming through.... S.

I agree Arizona Guide! It really does my heart good to see these youngsters out & about. My oldest is just coming of hunting age, and it is a joy to see him learning all that the outdoor world has to teach. The excitement in anticipating my boy's Jr. hunts this year rivals anything I've experienced with my own hunts. He didn't get a cow on his Jr. elk hunt a couple of weeks ago, but we'll be up on the Kiabab in a couple of weeks trying for a doe. Keep those kids hunting folks!!! S.

Outstanding picture Jeff!!! I was bummed that I wasn't at the camp when you & your boy came through (I had to zip back down to the valley for a few hours to watch my son's pop-warner game...). Although bummed that I wasn't there to greet you, I was cheered-up greatly when Amanda showed me the picture of your son that she took in camp. Thanks for sharing the field pic! Tell your boy congrats!!! Also, he won the camp drawing so he has a Daisey pellet gun coming his way. Best regards, S.

Thanks for asking Doug, but you can probobly assume that he didn't get one since I didn't post a bragging story. We had a great time though. He got a shot at one on opening morning, but missed. He was shaking like a leaf afterwords, and I can tell he's now got the 'bug' good! We got glimpses of elk throughout the rest of the weekend here & there, but never another decent shot opportunity. He passed on a couple of shots at moving elk, and I was proud of him for showing that restraint. Two of the kids in camp with us got elk, so he got to experience the whole packing/skinning thing. Good experience for him overall, and a special time for me indeed! We're up to the Kiabab for his next junior adventure in two weeks. Hopefully we can trade success stories after that weekend. S.

Hey Amanda: Thanks for posting the pics from last weekend. I always have a good time on the youth hunts! The look on those kids faces when they bring those deer in is VERY cool. Never get tired of that.... Never get tired of those awesome quail either! Nothing like bacon wrapped birds & eggs for breakfast. Just as anticipated, the little ones thoroughly enjoyed the birds I cooked-up for them on Sunday night. Thanks to you to Amanda, for coming out and participating. Best regards all, S. PS: If anyone runs into Jimmy Simmons (WM for 23 south), be sure to salute him! Him and his G&F buddies were a pleasure to hang-out with!

Good luck to all of the hunters that are heading-out this weekend. I'm stuck here in NYC working this week (and week after next...)..... No tag for me this year, as the 'draw gods' didn't smile on me.... Know that I'm wishing I was down in the 36's this fall, sitting on a mountain, staring through the binos. Man, I'm bumming right about now! Scotty, Brian, Doug, Casey, et al; I'll be living vicariously through you all this season. BRING ME SOME STORIES!!!! Best regards all, S.

I'm bummed that I didn't get a tag this year! Sounds like fun!!! Oh well, maybe another time. Have fun and good luck everyone! S.

Greetings Everyone: I wanted to put out the call to advise every one of the planned Arizona Deer Association (ADA) Youth Deer Hunter camps for this fall. As in the past, we will be planning the youth camps in several of the units with junior hunts this year. The camps will provide free hotdogs/hamburgers, chips, sodas, & hot cocoa to all of the junior deer hunters that come through. We also try to staff the camps with locals & G&F WMs who know the area & deer well, and can provide the latest information on scouting reports, deer locations, etc. to the kids. There will also be free raffles for various prizes at the different camps for the kids to participate in. BIG FUN!!!! The units and dates currently confirmed for this fall are as follows: ?Unit1/27 ? Dates are 10/14-10/16. This is a joint effort with the Arizona Elk Society. Location is at Buffalo Crossing on the Black River. Mike Wilson from the AES and Randy Babb from the G&F are spear-heading this one. Should be a good time! ?Unit 23 - Dates are 10/21-10/23. This will be run with the G&F, and will be located at the Indian Point campground on the west end of Roosevelt Lake. Craig McMullen from the G&F is helping to lead the planning, and has lined-up quite a lot of support. ?Unit 12A / KIABAB - Dates are 11/11-11/13. The Buckskin Chapter of the ADA out of Page always does an outstanding job of sponsoring this HUGE event. With the number of tags issued, there is always a good turn-out. These guys do a first class job with this camp every year! I?ll be there with my oldest, as he was drawn for his first deer hunt! ?Unit 20C ? Dates are 11/18-11/20. We?ve developed a good strong partnership with the G&F Wildlife Manager in this unit over the past couple of years through his support of the youth javelina hunts. This year is the first year that they have allocated youth deer tags, and we?re grateful to the G&F for the opportunity for the kids. If a youngster you know was drawn for one of the junior hunts, then he or she will be getting a letter from the G&F and/or ADA with more details for the planned camp in their unit. In the meantime, if you would like more information on the camps, please let me know. If you are going to be in the area, feel free to stop by for a refreshment and a talk. Better yet, if you have some free time then volunteer to help out at one of these camps. (thanks to those who have already volunteered!) Many of you have heard me say it before, but I?ll say it again; The look on these kids? faces as they bring their first deer through to be checked-out by the G&F is truly priceless! Lots of fun to be had at these camps, both during the day while greeting the hunters, and at night while sitting around the fire. Always lots of good food cooked as well!!! Good luck out there everyone, and keep the kids safe!!!! S.

Not certain of the location of the 20C hunt. I'm waiting on a map. As for the success ratio? I can't speak to that. The WM seems to think the kids will have some success this year, but we'll see. We have some local folks with good knowledge that have helped on the javi hunt, so if you need specific info be sure to stop in (once the location is posted...). If I recall, Amanda is going to be at the 23 camp. It will be a good time. S.

Yes, it is going to at Indian Point campground! G&F, as well as some local folks will be available with helpful information & scouting reports. It should be a good time.... Look for details soon, as I'll be posting some information in the next couple of days (just been too swamped at work.... ). S.