azbighornhunter

Thank you very much Ben!!!!!! We'll see if the taxidermist still has the whole cape. I'm afraid he may have already cut it. If not, we'll try again after August 2nd. Thanks again!!!!!

I looked in the AZGFD 2012 -2013 Hunting and Trapping Regulations and did not see ARS 17-371 in there. I wonder why? Perhaps AZGFD needs to add it for next year's printing so nobody makes the mistake by ignorant accident. I'm assuming it's in effect because I found it on the state legislature website. If anybody knows differently please let me know. Here's the link: http://www.azleg.gov/FormatDocument.asp?inDoc=/ars/17/00371.htm&Title=17&DocType=ARS FYI

Thanks to a friend of mine we did not make a terrible mistake! Whew!!!!! According to ARS 17-371 Transportation, possession and sale of wildlife and wildlife parts "E. Heads, horns, antlers, hides, feet, or skin of wildlife lawfully taken, or the treated or mounted specimens thereof, may be possessed, sold and transported at any time, except that:" Here's the important part: "2. It is unlawful to sell the heads, horns, hides, feet or skin of bighorn sheep taken on or after October 1,2005, but the department may sell heads, horns hides, feet or skin of bighorn sheep that were illegally taken and confiscated by or donated to the department" The way I understand it, as long as the animal was legally taken, Deer, Elk, Antelope, etc parts can be sold, but NOT BIGHORN SHEEP!!!! So, please be aware of this law if you need a sheep cape! If you have a tag take very special care with yours and I recommend a lifesize skinning job even if you don't plan on a lifesize mount. It will be hard to replace. FYI

My Dad has a lifesize Desert Sheep cape for sale. This cape is beautiful and was cut using one dorsal cut last December. There are NO accidental cuts in the cape. It was skinned by very knowledgeable outdoorsmen and was taken care of well. The cape has been tanned for a lifesize mount but the hunter only wants a shoulder mount. If you harvested a ram, and made the mistake of cutting off the back half and now regret it, he would like to make a deal. He does not want to sell the cape without a shoulder mount cape to replace it though. Please give him a call to discuss it. XXX-XXX-XXX

I recommend this to all people who successfully draw a sheep tag. GO TO THE ADBSS SHEEP CLINIC!!!!! You will learn a lot about sheep hunting. You will meet lots of good people who know a lot about sheep hunting and would probably love to help you find a good ram. You will also have the opportunity to meet with guides to see if your personalities would sync. Many of the people in the ADBSS have already harvested their Desert sheep, (like me), and since it's a once-in-a-lifetime tag, they would do anything to help you and experience the hunt again. Even if you don't draw a tag, if you want to know more about sheep hunting, go to the clinic. It is free. Sheep hunting is very similar to Coues hunting in many ways.

My wife and I are going. I'm going to RSVP right now.

Thanks Amanda! I'm very proud of the MSA. Thank you for your donations to them. Your donations help us to fund projects like this. It doesn't take much money, but it does take time. I'm just happy to have an excuse to be outside and spend it in God's country helping out our wildlife. Of course, now that theres viable water at these locations I may put a camera on them to see what's coming in. Perhaps a big buck will come strolling in this summer.

How many of you have been wandering out in the forest and discovered one of these guzzlers,drinkers, catchments with no water in them? Often times, it's a result fo a faulty valve. I have seen the valves freeze, be bitten by bears, and tampered with by humans. (unfortunately, human tampering is usually the cause of the issue) To solve this problem, a small group of folks in Payson have been working with the Mogollon Sporting Association (MSA), USFS, and AZGFD to retrofit the system with underground valves. The new valves are buried at the same elevation as the above ground drinker trough.That way the elevation of the water in the valve box underground matches the elevation of the water in the trough. These valves solve the freeze, and tampering problems. This weekend we just fixed a catchment that was dry for several years. Once we got the valve problem solved, we hauled 1400 gallons of water to it with the help of the MSA water hauler trailer. I'm going to try to attach some photos for you to check out. FYI, we have installed this system on several water catchments over the last 10 years and they have worked flawlessly. Here we're digging down, uphill from the trough, to find the feeder line and set the valve box. You can see that someone or something has removed the float ball. Without a functioning valve, all the rainwater that gets caught will just flow out. Here we're cleaning out the old watering trough. Tapping into the feed line for the valve. Here's the valve that will be buried. The MSA donated all the parts for this. THANK YOU MSA!!!!! The valve and the watering trough are starting to fill. Full valve box. Now time to add another 500 gallons. Thanks to MSA for the water hauler trailer. Thanks to the anonymous entity that supplied the water free of charge! You know who you are. Got the hose on top ready to pump. Good Job Well Done!!!! The Elk, Deer, Birds, Rodents, etc. all thank you! If you ever find a pile of rocks above a water trough, you know what's under there. PLEASE DO NOT MESS WITH IT. FYI, we saw tracks of Elk and Deer the following morning. The Elk tracks included a good sized bull track. As dry as it is, they must have smelled it and came running overnight. We had a little extra time so we went to another catchment that we filled with 500 gallons this weekend. This one had a lot of Elk use. Lots of mommas and babies getting a drink. If you want to volunteer in the Tonto National Forest around Payson (Unit 22), please send me a message with your contact information. My Dad and I maintain over seven of these and are looking for more people to volunteer. We're not a formal group and we can't handle too many. We usually do these on the weekends as we find problems. I'm employed so I can only squeeze in time on the weekends. If you would like to adopt a catcment, there's many out there. They all need periodic inspections. If you find problems with a catchment in Unit 22 feel free to let me know, (preferrably with pictures and gps coordinates) and I can forward it to the AZGFD and USFS. Perhaps we can get it fixed. Since the whole HB2072 fiasco, I hope there are more people out there who want to get involved. Thanks for your time in reading this!

My Dad needs some cold weather gear soon. He is interested in a used Cabelas Trans Alaska Elite Trail Suit. He would need an XL. If anybody has one they would let him use or sell please let me know. Thanks!

Thank you for posting this!

I had 15 points stacked up. Of course you know, but that represents 15 years of hoping and praying!

If you look at the bottom of the letter you will see who also signed on. There are 19 groups including the ADBSS. FYI

I've checked the maps and it looks like the elevations will range from 9,000 feet to 12,000 feet. I've been keeping my horses and mules legged up but I guess I'll have to haul them up to Flagstaff this summer and ride around on the San Fransisco Peaks to see how they do at altitude. I've spoken to some friends in Wyoming who have told me that non-residents have to be accompanied by a licensed guide if hunting in a wilderness area. Thankfully, I've spoken to several of them at the Wild Sheep Foundation "Sheep Show" in Reno over the last several years. Next step is working out logistics with one of them. So much to be done, so little time!

Well it finally happened!!!!!! I drew a tag in Wyoming for Rocky Mountain Bighorn!!!!!! This is the last one I need for all four. I've been walking to work to stay in shape in hopes that I'd draw. Now I'll really have to get serious about getting in shape. I'm stoked!!!!!!!!

I shared it on my Facebook page!