TAM

Everything said so far is right on the money. I set them out mostly over water, salt, or trails. Do whatever you can to secure them to the tree because people will steal them. I have several of the 35mm film type and have used them with great success, they do however get expensive to operate (batteries & film). I will attempt building a digital camera this spring and see if it is more cost & time effective. Go to www.pixcontroller.com if you are interested in building one, they have turnkey kits available at reasonable prices. I also use my cameras all year round and not just right before the hunts. Good Luck!

I know there's been some talk latley about bears and how long they hibernate here in Arizona. I was in unit 22 over the weekend checking on one of my favorite bear hang outs and came across 4-5 piles of fresh bear scat. It was runny and full of grass. It looks like the warm temperatures got a few of them up and moving. I'm pretty sure they'll den back up as soon as another cold front comes through, but it's nice to know they're still in the same area as last fall. I know that someone on here was talking about seeing a couple of bears just last week. Is anyone else seeing any signs of bear activity? I'll probably go back up in a couple of weeks to get my trail cameras up since I've got an archery spring bear tag that opens in March.

I'd like to get some video of that! Bear pokin sounds a lot like cow tippin except if you're not very fast you only get to do it once.

It's kind of a long standing debate on how serious Arizona bears are about hibernating. The way I understand it is that when we get cold spells and snow the boars will sleep for a few days or weeks but when it warms up they will get up and stroll around feeding until another cold spell comes through. I guess it's an on again off again kind of thing. I think the sows that are pregenant or giving birth in their dens will pretty much stay put. It's been warm over the last week or so and there's probably a few bears out stretching their legs.

Treestandman just bought one a few months ago and I helped him get it sighted in. It's a nice gun and shoots very well. I was really impressed with the trigger, it's not nearly as stiff as many other new rifles. I think Scott Adams has one as well, and I'm pretty sure he's happy with it. I thought it came with a 24 inch barrel, but I'm not sure. I shoot the .270 weatherby and it's still a little faster than the WSM, but both are great coues rifles.

I always just use the carbon scent eliminator spray on my Taco Bell burrito's before I eat them if I'm planning on hunting. It really works good too!

When starting a new salt hole or planning a new treestand location scouting the area is very important! Look at topo maps for saddles, bedding, feeding areas and then go take a hike and spend some time in the area. After spending some time in the area choose a location that gets lots of deer traffic and little human traffic. Also consider the proximity to water and feed areas. For coues, I like saddles and ridge lines. When you choose a spot for the salt make sure there is a good tree to hang your stand no more than 30 yards away. When selecting the tree to use make sure to consider where the sun rises and sets so it won't be right in your eyes when you need to shoot. Of course also consider the normal wind directions and which direction the deer will be coming from. When you start a new salt hole the best results I've gotten is using salt pellets (used for water softners, you get them at the grocery store for $3.50 per bag) and then pouring a bag of the powdered deer cocaine over it. Deer will usually find it very fast. In the first year you should replenish the salt every couple of months. In the following years you will only need to replenish the salt a couple of times per year. Also putting out a mineral salt block is a good idea, but keep putting out the salt pellets because they dissolve faster and get absorbed into the ground. Also don't forget to set up a trail camera to get pictures of the deer coming in, and don't be disapointed if you get lots of does and few bucks throughout the year, because during the rut those does are the bait that attracts the big bucks. Also, for me salt seems to work better in the pines than it does in the desert. Good Luck!

Just wanted to make a report on my succussful December hunt in unit 31. After months of scouting and planning Treestandman and myself headed out after work on December 16th. We arrived in camp about 9pm and quickly set up camp and hit the sack. The wind was really blowing and making a lot of noise blowing the tent which made sleep difficult. We were up early ready to hit the trail for our mile long hike to get to our pre determined glassing point. The wind continued to blow pretty hard all morning as we glassed with only a few pigs sighted and a couple of does. As the afternoon rolled around and the wind finally died down, Mike glassed up a decent 3 point that had gotten up to stretch. After a quick evaluation Mike decided that he wanted it so off we went only to find the hillside empty when we got to where the buck was. We never saw him again even though we spent the next several hours trying to relocate him. Day two found us looking at a different ridge in a nearby area. Even though the wind was gone and conditions seemed perfect we saw only a few does in the morning and decided to look at a completly different area for the evening. That afternoon we saw plenty of does but no bucks. It was starting to look like the rut was still a ways off and perhaps our luck would be better when we came back after Christmas. That night Mike left to go back to work so he could come back in a week or so when the rut would be in full swing. For the next three days I would be going solo! Day three and I started seeing quite a few does and even a couple of small bucks right off the bat. After looking at one doe feed out into the open I noticed a bush a few yards off shaking like crazy, I knew it could only mean there was a buck working it over! After a few minutes the buck finally showed himself and proceded to chase the doe for awhile and even chased off another smaller buck. It looked like the rut was finally coming into play. The buck was not quite what I was looking for, but I continued to relocate him every time I looked in that general area over the next three days. On the morning of day five I woke up and decided I would shoot the buck I'd been watching if I saw him. As it turns out no sooner than I sat down and looked through my binoculars I located a doe and then about a minute later here came my buck! I immediatly range found him at 267 yards, fed a round into the chamber of my .270 Weatherby mag, rested the rifle on my shooting sticks, waited for the buck to stop walking, and squeezed the trigger. BANG, he dropped in his tracks! After a short hike and a little work with the knife and saw I had him loaded in my pack and was back at the Jeep. Even though this buck was not as big as the 100 inch goal I had initially set for myself I'm still pretty happy with him. It was a lot of fun and a mental challange on the second half of the hunt being all by myself. I decided he's not quite big enough for a shoulder mount so I'm having a european mount done instead. My wife was thrilled that I wouldn't have to go back for the second half of the hunt and my boys were just happy I shot a buck. I tried to attach photo's but I guess It's not working - Sorry!

Yes, for those of you that noticed I got it right between the eyes from the scope! I also saved the cape and I'm trading it with the taxidermist for the european mount. Scott Adams, did you get my email a few weeks ago? You sent me an email about not talking for about a year or so and just wanted to see how things were going. I did send a response but never heard back from you. Hope all is well. You may want to give me a try at my new email address tmaddock@fordycefloors.com Thanks to Amanda for posting the pic's and for everyone's kind comments!

That won't be a problem as long as you can run to the deer faster than I can!

Treestandman and myself are heading out tonight after work for our hunt as well. Like mentioned above, we've spent a great deal of time and effort working up to this point and now are just crossing our fingers for a little bit of luck to boot. I just hope I can keep Treestandman from shooting the first little weiner buck that runs by! I have 10 days to hunt and will be looking for something to top my best buck to date, which scores 101 inches. I'm sure either Treestandman or myself will be keeping everyone posted. Good luck to everyone!

If you figure an average coues deer's chest is about 15 inches from the top of the back to the bottom of its chest you should be pretty close. For my gun the bullet drops 8 inches at 400 yards, so I can hold the horizontal cross hair right on the deer's back and put the bullet right in the center of the chest.

Go with the .30-06! The .22-250 can kill coues size animals but any .22 caliber is marginal at best when it comes to big game hunting. Because of the light weight of the bullet it will loose energy fast at long ranges and may not provide the kenitic energy to get deep penetration. If you do use it pick your shots, use a heavy constructed bullet, and stay just behind the shoulder. I think the .30-06 would be a much better choice.

I was down scouting over the weekend and the deer were very active. We got a late start in the morning and still saw quite a few deer. There were some small bucks sparring and one was even chasing does, the does weren't into it though. I'd say with all this good cold and wet weather we've been having this fall, the rut should hit pretty hard by the end of December. The small bucks are sure starting to get excited.

The regs say "any substance as bait", I think it's also important to define "bait"? I relate bait to food and not necessarily to smell. If smells are considered bait, then what about sounds? We all know that calling for bear is not considered baiting. In my opinion bait = food, not smells or sounds. I'm sure most of the game cops don't even agree/know the answer to this one. I'd steer clear of anything that could possibly be construed as bait.

We usually leave our cameras out for two weeks. Most of the time the pictures have all been taken within the first week though. We had cameras in two different units and one Saturday we'd go into one area to check the cameras, and the next Saturday we'd go to the other area to check the cameras. We couldn't check every camera every week, they were just too far away. On one tank we would get more bear than coues deer.

Treestandman and myself had a bear that would turn the camera from one side of the tree to the other. That bear did it every time, but it never damaged the camera. I've heard that there is a chemical used in making film that bears like. I also think they can see/hear the flash and gets them curious. We got dozens of pic's of bears this past year and never had any damage. Coues7, I would try finding a thick over grown canyon with some natural springs if you want to get pic's of bear. All of the locations where we get bear on a regular basis match that description. We have one other location that is a little more open that we had a good bear coming into on and off, but that tank was next to a thick nasty canyon full of manzinita, scrup oak and juniper's. It's probably getting too late in the season to get many pic's now, but come next spring they'll be out again!

Hey Bill, Neither Treestandman or myself make our own cameras. We just buy the cheap stealth cams or Moultrie game spy cameras. I also own a Non-typical Deer Cam and a Vision cam. All of them work about the same, and all but the deer cam were under $100. We've bought several of them on ebay. They all have pro's and con's but they all get the job done. Just remember to place them where they won't be easily seen. We both had cameras stolen last spring. We usually take them down during the hunting season because sadly enough it's usually other hunters that steal them. Good luck!

As Treestandman stated we like to find water in thick, steep, nasty bear country and set the cameras out. We got quite a few pic's of bear on 4 different tanks this past spring and summer. I drew a unit 22 archery spring bear tag so I'm hopeful I can tag one this spring. In most cases we would get the same resident bears coming in week after week throughout the summer.

I would also suggest you turn the flash on. If there is a huge buck coming in at night I'm sure you'd like to know about it. Everything changes during the rut and it's possible he comes in during daylight.

I just called the AZ G&F and was able to access my draw results. I got unit 23 turkey, unit 22 archery pig, and a unit 22 archery bear. I was not able to access the results on the website, only the phone # (602) 942-3000. Good luck!

I think the reason they are so stingy about access to unit D has something to do with the Apache cattle ranchers. When I spoke with the gal in the wildlife office she mentioned something about a cattle ranchers association having control over that land. Not sure of all the details, but something along those lines.

The last time the fees were increased was 1998, at least that's what it says on the AZ G&F website. Seven years is a long time for any business to go without an increase in prices. I have vendors that I work with that have raised prices three times so far this year! It also mentions that G&F is dealing with budget short falls as a result of a drop in hunting and fishing license sales over the last decade. (Perhaps Lark is right and they can't budget their money?) Sounds like they are also looking to use the additional money from fee increases to promote wildlife and improve habitat. Allen is right, everyone should be sending emails to their Senators in support of Senate Bill 2978. Follow this link and go to the info page on the AZ G&F website where it provides details on the bill and additional email links to Senators McCain, and Kyle. If we all send them letters like we did the USO sponsors we might just get their attention! http://www.azgfd.com/artman/publish/article_212.shtml Here is the quote from the AZ G&F website, followed by the link: PHOENIX ? The Arizona Game and Fish Department will conduct a series of public meetings on a proposal for an increase to the statutory ceiling for license and tag fees. ?It?s important to remember that this proposal only sets the ceiling for fees. Any increase in fees for our customers would have to go through the rulemaking process, including another public comment period,? says Director Duane Shroufe. ?Sales of hunting and fishing licenses fell 16 percent from 1988 through 2003. Without an increase in statutory fee ceilings, the department will be forced to make service and program reductions.? ?It?s also important to remember that the last statutory fee increase in 1998 only provided for the maintenance of existing department programs. The current proposal, in addition to meeting budget shortfalls, would allow us to increase wildlife surveys, enhance law enforcement presence in the field, and improve our fish hatchery and fish stocking programs, in addition to improving other important services to our customers,? says Shroufe. http://www.azgfd.com/artman/publish/article_209.shtml

If you want to hunt small game in region D you have to use a reservation approved guide. That idea will work in units A,B, & C though. Here is a quote from the San Carlos website: * Procedural Rule for Unit D: 1. Tribal Member licensed guide is required for small game hunters in Unit D. He may accompany up to four (4) hunters at one time. Here is the link: http://www.sancarlosrecreationandwildlife.com/schedule2.htm I spent quite a bit of time doing some research on this same topic a few weeks ago. I finally had to go into the office to get it all figured out.

A buddy of mine is a brand new certified hunter saftey course instructor for AZ G&F. He will be holding his first class the end of January. He lives in Chandler, so I'm sure the class will be in the S.E. valley somewhere. I'll get the details and post his contact information.