Noel Arnold

Congrats on a world class deer.I have a question somebody might be able to answer. I shot a deer with my crossbow and I was in such a hurry to keep the meat good and to get the cape to the taxidermist,that l did not score him.the taxidermist said the freezed dried process will shrink the horns about 2%.so my question is what is the average percentage I need to deduct for the velvet.

Terry, That looks really good.It is a whole lot of hard bone.Seems very fitting for a wedding night. :P

It has been awhile since I have posted.There seems to be a few opinions on wounding animals.My opinion is that I never like wounding a animal, but I would never loose sleep if I spent the time to try and find it.What makes me really sad is when a human kills another human or a adult rapes a kid. or in tonight's case .A.S.U. GETS THERE BUTT KIKED FROM STANFORD. That is what makes me sick.

That is a very good video and a great song.

I am glad they do not look to bad.I guess at my Dad's house they got a inch of rain a couple days ago and 4 or 5 rains in the last 10 days.The area I hunt has very little water sources and I hope during the drought that the lions did not hammer them coming in to the few water spots.I will be down in a couple weeks to scout for my oct. hunt.

Those are some nice pictures.I see that you live in Safford.My Dad has a second house in the farms north of Willcox,We have been hunting the very south end of 32 and I am worried about the condition of the deer.He comes down from Phx. about every three weeks and until the last couple weeks it has looked like the Sahara desert without any winter moisture.I see the first picture you have I can see it's ribs.What is your take on the condition of the deer down south. Noel Arnold

I think there is pro's and con's to these tags.I do not have any emotions good or bad to the people that buy these tag's.To me it is sad that the States even have to sell these tag's.I do not know if there is wasted money in the Game departments or not,but I do know that in Arizona the people that have the final say, have been letting out to many tags for a lot of the animals in Arizona.And the excuse of this is they say that it is what the public wants. This is not helping the population of the animals.One example is years ago the Game and fish said that in order for a herd of Pigs to make it they could not get below around 9.Now they have lowered the number quite a bit just so they can rationlize the slaughter.I have seen coyote's rush pig herds and if they do not have enough adults,then they can not circle the wagons and get the young in the middle.I seen this about 20 years ago on a herd of 25 and the coyotes did not have a chance.I know that the auction tag's go toward helping game.I also know that it was not good when the non hunting public saw on tv when the auction tag elk was shot around houses a few years ago.I like to shoot big animals,but it is more important to bring meat home.I would feel sorry for the guy who had put in for twenty years and finally got a tag and had scouted the animal and a auction tag shot it before they had even got a chance.

This is the first year that I did not put in for rifle coues for first choice.I put in for mule deer first in northern Az and coues second.The whole reason was that in the Willcox area were I hunt is like the Sahara desert right now.They did not get any of the late moisture that the middle to northern part of the state got.I probally will not even hunt archery down there unless we get some early monsoons.

Everybody has different ethics.I personally always try to get as close as I can.If I feel that the animal is in a place that might spook if I try to closer,then I have the gun and ability to shoot 600 yards.I do worry that there is a growing population of people that shoot animals as far as they can to pump up there ego's even though the animal was in a place that could have been shot closer.Even the military snipers shoot as close as they can without being detected.If the most important part of a hunt is pulling the trigger,then the future of our hunting heritage is in trouble.It should be about spending the time with family and friends and putting healthy hormone,antibiotic,steriod free meat on the table.

I eat a lot of the good fat's.Avacados,nut's,fresh coconut ,and flax seed.Also good carbs like beans and sweet potatoes.Both of these have high fiber.I hike mountains that do not have trails because it helps your balance.Probably the best cardio workout that I get is quail hunting were there is mountains.When they fly across the canyon, I run the whole way.By the way I always take the shell out of the chamber when running.I also eat a lot of fish and red meat that I catch or shoot myself.I eat very little domestic meat because of the Hormones,steroids, antibiotics,etc,etc.

270, I never question when somebody gives a score on the internet.I know that you can never tell by pictures alone.Hunting is what it is all about for my family.Record books do not mean anything to me.The only reason we talk gross scores is to get a idea of how much horn a animal has.The only reason I made the comment about giving the score was that he said how much his last years bull scored. Noel

Yeah I think you just want to keep us guessing.It kind of reminds me when I read a hunting article and the writer tells all of the scores of animals that he is scouting and then never tells the score of the one he actually shoots.

What a great bull.But you know you can not tell us you shot a 370 bull last year and not give us a score on this one.Especially since this one looks way over 370.

The more I look at him,I do not think he has the main beams to gross 420.I am going to say between 405 and 410.

Congrats on a awesome bull.I am not as good as guessing elk as I am coues,but that bull looks over 400 to me.Maybe 420 gross.

My brother had the tag about three years ago and went without a guide.He hunted with a bow for most of the hunt and got shots.He finally picked up the rifle and shot a 155.We never had problems finding good rams to stalk.There is a big mesa on the south end of unit that is a big walk,but has big sheep.As long as you are good at glassing,then you do not need a guide on this hunt.

I will pray for his family and also I will pray that our Federal Government and our President opens there eyes to the out of control security of our borders.The rancher in Douglas that was hunted down and killed after turning in the drug smuglers should have been addressed by the fed's a lot more then it probally was.If our border does not get more help from the U.S.A., then I predict in the future that there is going to be some vigilanty killing's of drug runners from family members of the murderd people.

We have a yellow lab/greyhound mix and she is the sweetest dog in the world,but when a ground squirrel get's in our back yard it does not stand a chance.She loves our cat.

What was the medical name for your injury?.It kind of sounds like what I had with my shoulder.Mine was called frozen shoulder syndrome.I had four months of intense phsical therapy.If it would have not worked they would have put me under and phsically ripped the scar tissue in my shoulder.

I do not hunt in the white mountains,but the elk population in units 5/6/7/8/9/10/ etc. are quite a bit smaller then they were 12 to 15 years ago.In 6a the game and fish has lowered the population to much(just my opinion). Pressure from the Ranchers and the almighty dollars to the game and fish have caused this.

I totally agree with Bill.Right now it is just not worth the risk.I have been going to Mexico for about 40 years and this will be the first year that I will not go.In the 70's my family and I spent one month exploring all of Baja.Another time we spent a month driving all the way to Mexico city.We have been going to Santo tomas (1 1/2 hours south of Rocky point ) twice a year to fish for sea trout.Last year was the first time that the Mexican fisherman that we have known for 25 years said do not go to caborca to get gas.He said drive the extra 1/2 to rocky point because it is to dangerous.Besides the drug wars,there are citizen's that are kidnapping people for money.All of the people that were working in the U.S.A. and sending money to family in Mexico are out of work and desperate.

I will guess 128 2/8th.Grat looking buck.

Huntmore, Good post.I agree with what you said.And yes from what I have seen of the posts from the Mullins crew,they seem like good and upstanding guides. I probally should have started a whole new thread about auction tag's so there was no confusion about this guide.

Huntmore, It seem's like every time a debate comes up about the auction tag somebody brings up jealousy.I can not speak for anybody else,but I can assure you that jealousy has nothing to do with my opinion of these tag's.I already said that I have no hard feeling's toward the guides or hunter.(So how could I be jealous ? ). What I do know is when you make something all about money,then it can bring out the worse in people.Look at steroid's in the sport's world. And I will make just one example of hunting.Remember a couple year's ago the auction tag were the bull was shot in the subdivision in the White Mountains.It made all of the Newspapers up North.I would say that was bad publicity for hunters.Now I am not just picking on the Arizona Game and fish,because a lot of the state's have these tag's.And there has been a lot of bad press also (spider bull for one).I have been hunting for 36 years and hunting for me is a way of life.It seem's like hunting has become a sport for a lot of people now.Where the horns are the only reason.For me and a lot of the old timers it is for the meat first and horn's second.This does not mean that I do not like big horn's.It mean's I do not shoot anything that I will not eat.I have no problem with people who do a lot of hunting, giving some of there meat away,but if they never eat any of it then it becomes just killing.I am not saying that this hunter is not going to eat the animal.

Kathi, There is a lot of people that think these tags have a negative effect on the perception of what hunting has become.These tags bring a lot of money to the Guides (Way more then regular hunts because of the huge tips).And because of this you have some real backstabbing between the guides.Also the general public has a lot less problem with hunters if they think they are hunting for the meat and not just for the horns only.Also you have hunters that get hard feelings over the auction tags because the auction tag gets to hunt before anybody else.So som hunters think that the game and fish are selling off what people think as our wildlife not there's. And finally there are a lot of people who think there are better way's of getting the money for the department.