TAM

Between myself and a friend we have about 5 or 6 trail cameras and they are all inexpensive ones except for one. The cheap ones all work just fine if placed properly. The key to good placement is aim them away from the sun. I actually prefer to buy the cheap cameras because I can sleep better at night knowing that if it's stolen it's not a huge financial loss. My buddy and I both had cameras stolen off a water tank in a very remote area this past spring, and it really pissed me off! Both cameras were pad locked to the tree with a cable. I believe the majority of trail cameras that are stolen are stolen by other hunters. To me it's sad to think that hunters have so little respect for each other. I personally think that trail cameras can be an extremly effective tool for scouting and locating game animals when you can't physically be in the field. If I had to guess I would say that in the last 6-8 months we have gotten pictures of literally hundreds of coues deer, lots of elk, some javelina, 10 mountain lions, dozens of bear, coyotes, fox, ringtail, turkey, hawk. To me trail cameras are money and time well spent!

Normaly I like mine set for 2-5 minutes on water holes and salt licks. There is one water hole that I had to set my camera for 10 minutes because the deer would play around for awhile and use the entire roll of film in two days.

Check out the AZ G&F website. They have unit by unit hunting reports and I know the information they have for 24b is right on the money. You may want to use the areas they list as starting points since there will be a lot of other hunters in those spots as well.

Just thought I'd chime in and vouch for Treestandman. I'm the friend who showed him the tank where this all took place and I'm actually the one who first looked at the picture and noticed the lion in the back ground. If you didn't know there was a lion sitting there you would never notice it, but the picture is real. I also have another friend who was within a couple miles of this same spot earlier in the week and witnessed two lions together. He shot at one and missed. Also in this same general area last summer I got a picture with three lions at the same time with one of my trail cameras. It was likley a mother with a couple of one year old kittens. Most people would be surprised how many lions are actually out there roaming the mountains.

I would go and pay the $100 it costs for the "National Geographic" topo map software for the state of Arizona. It costs a little more up front but will save you time and money in the long run. It will allow you to zoom in on ANY area you wish in the entire state and also has features where you can import/export waypoints with your GPS. You can print all the maps you please over and over again. If you get drawn for a different area next year you can use the software to look at it to. Don't waste your money on paper maps the software is much better! You can purchase it at Wide World of Maps. I'm not sure, but if there is a forrest service map for your area you may want to buy it just to show you where any private land is located. Good luck!

Bret, use 400 speed film. If you use 200 you won't get as much range or detail at night.

If you are electronicly challenged like myself, try going to ebay for the best deals. My friend and I have bought 7 or 8 from there and had great success. Most of the cameras we buy are under a $100 and have performed very well. I have used the Deer Cam DC100, Vision, Stealth Cam, and Moultrie's all with very good success. All of mine have been 35mm film and have some draw backs like the cost of film and developing, and being limited to 24 pictures at a time. But they cost half as much as the digital cameras and I can afford to buy more of them and have several working for me at once. They are a lot of fun and a huge help for scouting!

Shiras, I've hunted in New Mexio's unit 23 for the last 3 years straight and only seen a handful of coues. In fact I've only seen a handful of deer period. The first year I went I ended up shooting a fat 3x3 carp in the bottom of a nasty canyon about a half hour before dark. It sure made for a fun hike bringing him out in the dark, especially after my only flashlight broke. Unit 23 has been mis managed and over hunted for many years and the deer population is hurting pretty bad. The good news is that NM is finally going to start managing the deer a little better and will be going to a draw in 2005. I also believe they will be managing for coues and carp seperatly. There are some good genetics there and hopefully after a few years of management the deer herds will rebound. The coues deer there will usually live in small pockets and it generally takes some scouting to figure out which canyon they're in or which ridgeline they're on. This can take time, so don't hesitate to shoot a carp if you get the chance! It might be the only chance you get.

I think they're smoking CRACK!

I shot one with my bow on some guys ranch a few years ago with my bow. The ranch was off the San Pedro down by San Manuel somewhere. It sure made good breakfast sausage.

I personally don't think anyone, including the AZ G&F, should discount any idea. Many people are speculating that certain ideas or solutions are already discriminatory to NR's and therefor we can't use them. AZ G&F could go ahead and impliment just about any new rule they want as long as it does not impose on the current ruling. At that point if NR's or USO doesn't like the new rule they would have to go and start the legal process all over again. It could be tied up in court for several more years. In fact it is very reasonable to think that no matter what new rules AZ G&F puts in place we will be sued by USO or anyone else that is not happy with the end result. You can be sued for just about anything these days!

As mentioned above, buy the best pair of high power bino's you can afford. Use them to glass for hours at a time and your eyes won't strain as bad as trying to keep one eye closed while looking through a spotter. Many of us actually carry both a high power set if bino's for glassing, then we get out the spotter (40-60 power) when we find a buck we want to take a closer look at. Get the bino's and tripod first, then buy the spotter down the road.

Here is my list of ideas that I also posted on another website. I think we all need to remember that it may take several different ideas being put into action to resolve the issue. There is probably not going to be just one single change that will straighten everything out. AZ G&F will more than likley need to impliment several different new rules in order to make things right. The best ideas I've heard so far are: 1) Charge full price up front. No more $5 just to apply. 2) Eliminate non resident bonus points. (they all just gripe about our BP system anyway) 3) Raise NR tag prices to a competive level with other states. $750-$1000 for an elk tag. Deer tags should be $450-$600 4) Allow residents the opportunity to earn additional BP's by getting involved in G&F approved projects. 5) We MUST make it illegal to sell or purchase horns and hides of AZ harvested animals. (let Georgy & company come look for sheds if they want to sell antlers) 6) We must require that ALL hunters pass an Arizona certified hunting saftey course. 7) We could require that ALL guides be AZ residents or at least make it more difficult to get a guide's license in Arizona. There should be ongoing training, testing, and saftey instruction and certification for all guides. (USO hires a lot of 20 year old kids with little or no experience to act as guides) 8) We need to require that tags be mailed to the individual applying for the hunt and not to third party application services like USO. 9) Why not make it illegal to use airplane's for any scouting purposes? (how would ole Georgy Boy find any good bulls if he can't fly his airplane?) 10) We could implement NR bag limits to one bull/deer in a lifetime. 11) We could implement NR waiting periods. (NR's can't apply again for 3-5 years once they've been drawn) 12) Restrict the NR hunting dates/seasons. I'm sure there are other ideas in addition to these. There is no way that all of these ideas will get any consideration by the G&F, and not one of them by itself will solve the problem. If we can work with the G&F commission to consider several of the best options and move forward quickly, we can create more favorable circumstances for the Arizona residents.

I've noticed that they will move down, but it usually takes a lot of snow to push them. In most units with coues there is usually not enough snow to get them into the lower country. If you find a good buck in the summer chances are he'll be around all year long. He may move a little during the rut to find the ladies but he'll at least be in the vacinity.

Hey Zia, I got your email but I need you to send me another with your return email address and I will get back with you. Thanks, Tim

Zia, I also have a unit 31 December tag and know the area pretty well. In fact, the picture of the buck on all my posts is a buck from a unit 31 December hunt in 2001. How big of a buck does your son want to take? If your not looking for anything too big it wouldn't be hard to find a decent buck on your own. If your'e set on a guide then send me an email. A buddy of mine lives and guides down there and could help you shoot a wall hanger.

I have a few photos where the flash has spooked the deer. But the same deer will come right back and get its picture taken again. The truth is that not many coues deer come into water at night and that's where most of my cameras are set up. They will come into salt at night a little more often.

I just got a photo back from one of my trail cameras on Saturday. The picture was stamped with July 10th as the date. The buck has 3 very defined points (not including eye gaurd) on his right side and at least two points on his left (I can't see any more from the angle). I don't think this will be a very large buck but as of July 10th he was at least a 3x2. The buck also came into the tank at about 11am.

Couesnewbie, Your .30-06 will work just fine. I shot my first coues with one and it tipped him right over. Take a look at the Hornady 150 grain light magnum ammo. It shoots 100 yard groups at under one inch in my gun and also adds about 100-200 feet per second in muzzel velocity. Many people like to shoot magnum's for coues because the magnum calibers offer flatter trajectory. Most of them are overkill but people still like to have the additional 100-200 yards of effective shooting range just in case. You'll be just fine with your .30-06! Good luck!

Just went and checked one of my trail cameras on a water hole this past Saturday morning and wanted to share some interesting facts. There were 24 pictures taken of which 18 were deer (4 bucks), 1 bear, and one lion, and the other 4 pictures were blank. There are a couple of interesting facts that I would like to point out. All 24 pictures were taken within a four day period (all pic's are stamped with day and time). Of the 18 deer pic's, 13 of them were taken between 10:52 am and 2:58 pm. I think this really demonstrates the point that coues deer like to water at mid day. Also there were only 2 pic's of deer coming in at night which demonstrates that coues don't like to water at night. I've been using these trail cameras for about a year now and this most recent roll of pictures is not much different from every other roll I have got. Only about 10% of the coues deer water at night and about 65-75% of coues deer will water at mid day. I guess the moral of the story is that if you want to bag a coues deer over water, you may as well sleep in and hunt at high noon. Also don't let anyone mis lead you about coues being noctournal and only coming to water at night, it's simply not true!

Muskrat, your 7mm Mag will work just fine on Foxes, coyotes, bobcats, and lions if you just want 'em dead! If you're keeping the hides you may want to use a light weight bullet with rapid expansion like a Nosler Ballistic Tip or Hornady SST (super shock tip). But if your primary target will be a bear I would use a heavier constructed bullet that will provide better penetration for the bear and still do a number on the smaller critters.

It looks like Arizona lost the battle with USO and it will affect this years draw results. Check out this link. This is not good news! http://www.azgfd.com/artman/publish/article_121.shtml

Drew a unit 31 December coues tag. Hoping for another buck for the wall!

I just got back from the Az G&F meeting. The good news is that we should all know tomorrow what we drew for all big game animals. G&F decided to keep the results from the initial draw and they will add permits to allow any non residents who would have drawn a tag if it weren't for the 10% cap. All I can say is there are a few lucky non residents this year who will get tags that don't deserve them! I hope the non residents enjoy it while they can because things are changing for next year!

I was there and also plan on attending today. I will let everyone know what happens.