Idahocoueshunter

We had a weird experience hunting in 30A this year. My father was in camp with a sore ankle, when he heard a rock roll. Looking out from camp, on a small finger ridge about 30 yards away, he saw a small fawn standing. He thought it must be with its mother, and sure enough he saw movement a few yards ahead of the fawn. Thinking this was the doe; he was astonished to see that the "doe" had antlers. They were pencil thin, and protruded forward much like a horn would on a milk cow. The antlers had no hint of a brow time or fork. The deer with antlers was not a big bodied deer, and was similar build to the does we had been seeing. The fawn and "doe" seemed attached as my dad watched them work their way down the ridge, through the draw and up the other side. No other deer were with them. So, either this fawn had mothered up to a small buck, or its mother had gender issues. Anyone come across anything similar? Craig.

Fantastic!!! I love this time of year with hellatious storms like those. Great pictures! Craig.

I think as long as it is wood smoke it does not bother them. After all of the fires around the country, they would get used to it. Now if you start burning paper, plastic spoons, styrofoam and other garbage, those are "unnatural" smells, and you'ld be in trouble. I've seen elk and mule deer in an active forest fire situation, just feeding as normal, when it was so smokey, you could barely breathe your self. I don't know if it is historicly accurate, but I've read where some native americans used smoke for scent control and cover. Craig.

My dad and I both drew this year. Hope the deer numbers are up. Does anyone know how the 30A area fared for moisture this year? Craig.

I was born in Springerville, raised in Bowie and Tucson. We move to Idaho after my mother was attacked in our front yard in Tucson. We moved to Idaho in the mid 70's, but I always thought about the hunting I did as a kid in Arizona. We were lucky enough to draw Coues tags in the late 80's and have been lucky on both the draw and harvest ever since. My dad has "COUES" license plate here and everyone asks him about it. Craig.

Any word on snow in Cochise County? Did the Dos Cabazes get any snow? Seemed in need of it in November. Craig.

Did anyone with a 30A tag notice fewer deer? Normally I can glass up at least 20 deer a day, but this year I was lucky to find 5-8 a day. One day we found only a doe and fawn. I think the limited access keeps the lion population up. I've read posts of 30 deer sightings in other units, but that was sure not the case for us. We killed bucks, but they were few and far between and not the calibre we were used to. Craig.

In 2002, I killed a big bull elk here in Idaho. I had taken off my watch to dress and quarter the animal. I put my watch on a rock along side the elk. We cut, quartered, bagged and packed the elk for the better part of two days, each time walking around the watch. Consequently I did not go back down for the watch when I noticed it was missing. The next year, while bow hunting the same area, I decided to go look for the watch. Three inches from the rock I located my watch. It was still running despite a hard winter. Timex claimes to take a licking, but my Casio passed the test. Craig.

What a beauitful buck. I have longed to find one like that. You must get us photos after it's mounted. Hope I can find one half that good in November. Congratulations! Craig.

They are scary stuff, marijuana is big money. My dad and I stumbled onto one in Idaho several years ago. We saw the people before we got too close. I was familiar with the the local trend of marijuana growers in the area, and we backed out. I had been involved with several investigations earlier in the year. We called the ISP detectives with the information. About 1500 plants were seized. By the way, if you discover a grow and report it, there may be a MEPP (marijuana eratication program) reward for you. Even though turning it in is the ethical thing to do, the money may come in handy for future hunts. Craig.

I carry my grandfathers Marbles knife. It is a good knife that holds an edge, but I carry it to bring my grandfather along on all my hunts. He was a coues deer hunter who hunted primarily for meat. In his wildest dreams he would not have imagined his knife skinning elk or caribou. I do carry a steel and stone with me to sharpen the knife occasionally. Craig.

Nice job!!! Gets my blood going. Can't wait til my November hunt. Congratulations Craig.

I haven't had to deal with e-scouters much, but I have had some run ins with road hunters. I am an avid archery hunter for elk. I killed a nice bull and took it to our local October Fest, which includes a big horn contest. I took third. Both bulls were taken on the last day of the rifle season, both from the road. These folks were bragging on the fact that they didn't have to work for the bulls and loaded them whole. Road hunting is fine for the ones who can't hike the hills anymore, for reasons beyond their control. But road hunting because you're too lazy or ingested too many twinkies over the years is a whole different story. I'm trying to teach my son that ethics used in killing an animal if far greater than the animial itself. Good luck to all the tag holders in October and November, I'm waiting to hear some stories. Craig.

The way I understand it is that the road was built in the 20's to the Mascot Mine, a pattented mining claim that the Klumps own today. The rest of the road, used to go acorss the Mascot Saddle into the Alma mine in Buckeye Canyon, that I believe the Klumps now own as well. The road from the saddle to the towers was built by a private company who installed the radio towers, and uses the road to maintain them. I too have run into people who have a key to the gate that were neither Klumps or radio techs. I have spoken with the Cochise County Under Sheriff hunting up there. I would think if it were a county road, he would not have had to walk from the bottom. The bottom line is that a Judge said the road can and will be locked, end of story until that decision is overturned. My grandfather and father have hunted those mountains for decades. This is my understanding from what they have told me, and may or not be accurate. Craig.

I had two licneses in one envelope once. The other belonged to a lady in Tucson. I mailed it back to her and she sent me a nice thank you card. Craig.

FANTASTIC pictures, and good stories too. I guess we have all tempted fate with snakes, but for the grace of god, have not been bitten. I picked one up the other day, in front of my son, which was a mistake. I had to give him the speech, "Do as I say, not as I do". Great information on the snake identification. Craig.

Ear. Craig.

Bored or not, its nice work. F.S. probably dosen't have a sense of humor though. Craig.

Very nice, thats a dandy. Did you ever hear of anyone killing him? Craig.

Dad and I got November tags for 30A Coues. Skunked for Javelina. Cramerhunts, how did Cochise County do for rain this year? Quail? Good scouting, wish I could be down to do that. Craig.

Ghost Hunter: I grew up in Bowie. Is Willcox getting any rain? My dad graduated from HS in Bowie, and has hunted all over 30A and 29. Hopefully we'll be down in the fall for deer, but quail anyway. Good luck in the draw. Craig.

I tried using the online application, but it screwed it up and I had to apply on paper, so I can't even look for credit card hits. Knowing something is better than not knowing anything. Guess I'll have to wait until next week. Craig.

My dad and I had split up just before lunch, him staying high and I dropped into the canyon. While in the canyon, I located some old dehydrated bear scat, complete with cedar berries. It was broken into small "bite size pieces", looking like some "nut roll cookies". I gathered the scat up in a baggie and went off to meet up with my dad. When we met, we had lunch and I set out the "Nut Roll Cookies" while I ate my sandwich. Dad finally looked at the baggie and asked what they were? I said that I thought our hunting partners wife had made them and they were on the table this morning while we were making lunch. Dad pulled one out, held it in front of him and studied the "nut roll". I finally had to break out in laughter just before he popped one into his mouth. We laughed, and then he had me take them back to camp to share with the other hunters. Craig.

Glad to hear it's raining. Any word on rain in Cochise County? Last I heard, it was pretty dry yet.

So, this Title 17 makes it illegal to pickup skulls? heck even Boone and Crockett lets you enter pick ups.