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remberant, at one time Az. had condors and ferrets. but they weren't california condors or black footed ferrets. they found some prehistoric condor bones in the grand canyon and someone supposedly saw a condor around williams in the early part of the past century. california condors never made Az. their home. the black footed ferret deal was something that was planted here because Az. wanted the money for the program. and mexican gray wolves are extinct. the things they've released are all part dog. every stinkin' one of em. and that's in the usfws info. it's buried, but it's in there. i've read it. they aren't "re-introducing" anything. they're turning loose penraised crossbred curs. and at a great cost to the folks that try to make a living on the land. there is also a great groundswell to "re-introduce" grizzlies. capture alaskan grizzlies and turn em loose here. can you imagine what that will do? the sonoran grizzly was a species of brown bear, but he ain't an alaskan grizzly. they've reintroduced timber wolves in montana with great success. so much success that they're thriving. the numbers are high enough that the local game and fish wants to lift the protection and make them game animals and control them with seasons. they can't because the endangered species folks won't admit their own success. look at this wolf/dog cross mess we have here. when one of em turns into a true wild animal, they kill it, because it won't stay put and just eat game. it's a joke. you're right, we need to protect wildlife. what we still have. we don't need to make more problems. the entire top of mt graham is off limits because of the mythical "mt graham red squirrell". an animal that most real biologists think is just our common tree squirrel, that has changed a little because of the "sky island" effect. it wasn't even recognized as a seperate species until it became a tool of huggers and the usfws. there are some things about renzi that bother me. he's basically a carpetbagger, but he's doing real things for Az., especially rural Az. if i lived in that district i'd surely vote for him. especially when is opponent is a #@$!%& babbit. Lark.

i've heard rumblings about the same thing. hope it happens. we don't need to be in the same court as california and oregon and all them huggers. renzi seems to be a fighter. he's done some good things for veterans and he's also spearheading an attempt to rein in the endangered species act. which i feel is completely out of control. no sense in letting animals become extinct, but there has to be some sound biologic reason for things. like, why do we have "california" condors in Az.? or blackfooted ferrets, from wyoming and montana. or these stinkin' wolf/dog crosses that the usfws is trying to sell as wild animals. hope he's successfull in this appeals court deal. hope he's successfull in getting re-elected. i think Az. has had all the babbit politicians it ever needs. Lark.

yep, i always tell the truth, as i remember it. plus, i'm a fisherman. Lark.

bullwidgeon been out cullin' the desert herd again. good. shoot all them stinkin' desert elk so the deer will come back. nice bull, for a computer geek. probly was a cow or a spike before widge imaged some antlers on to it. all kiddin' aside, that's a good bull. real uniform and clean. we got one this weekend that'd been livin' in the forest fire up on the mt. sucker was black all over. antlers looked spray painted. tell your dad congratulations. Lark.

ernesto, funny you should comment about the lion. who told on me? as far as makin' stuff up? now why would anyone ever accuse me o' that? i've just had a lot of life experiences. Lark.

this is an interesting discussion. lotta theories, probly all of em right. the rut is a wierd deal to try and outguess. like everything else in nature, daylight hours and gestation periods are the driving factor. the fawns and calves, etc. need to be born when the feed is at it's best. therefore, count backwards whatever the gestation period of whatever you're hunting from when the best feed is going to be available, and you can sorta guess. most young of all kinds, in nature are all born in the same few weeks each summer. even tho their gestation periods vary drastically. but then the rut can always be off a couple weeks too. seems like the desert is a lot more difficult to guess than above the rim. elk, mt muleys and pronghorns, all go in the rut at the same time every year. elk and pronghorns in the fall and muleys in the last of december. below the rim, there ain't no tellin'. usually the last of december is great for coues, like it seemed to be last year. the year before, it stunk. desert muleys seem to me to have a real long rut, at least longer than the mt. deer. usually in late january or feb. when a guy gets to hit it right, it is great tho. hope them u1 bulls are in the middle of it this weekend. Lark.

just read first coues' last post again. bet them deer are thinkin', "dang, them guys smell like a cow crapped on em and then they fell in a cedar bush". hey first coues' does your mom make you guys change outside? now that's funny, i don't care who ya are..... Lark.

i got bit by some endangered rattler once. something like a mexican jumpin' rattler or some deal. anyway, he broke both fangs off on my rockhard massive bicep, finally broke the skin a little and then died from whatever he got from me. then the stinkin' fed's charged me with killin' and endangered species. i hate snakes! Lark.

sound only travels so far, stink goes forever. but you best be cognizant (aware) of both. cover scents, activated charcoal clothes and boots, scent eliminator are all just a buncha junk that eastern dudes use cuz they seen jackie bushman use it. there is no way anything like that will do a dang bit of good after you sweat up a lather. it's a fallacy. the only thing that works is to keep the wind in your favor. if you're hunting in a way that requires real stealth, i.e. bowhunting or tracking, etc., you best keep the wind in a way that don't bust ya. all that scent killer crap is just like camo. camo is worthless if they ever see you move. the trick is to use it to conceal yourself when you're not moving and move when they ain't lookin'. cracks me up to see guys sneaking on a deer on the side of the road, all camo'd out, thinking it can't see em. don't get to where you rely on all the stuff on the commercials, because none of it will cover up bad hunting. be as quiet, nonstinky and sneaky as you can be. sometime while tracking a buck, if i think i'm getting close, i'll purposely get the wind in his favor, so he'll spook and i can get a shot when he gets up. sometimes, not always. depends on the situation. there's a circle with 360 degrees around every animal. about 320 of those degrees is an area you can keep your scent away from em in. learn how to use it. you miss a lot of bucks that you never see because they wind ya first. Lark.

it's a gift. 'sides, i dint wancha to look igernut. Lark.

what's the deal with all the nicknames for animals? i see the new record pronghorn has been dubbed "joeboo". what the heck is that about? joeboo? is that a name? what's it mean? other day i saw some buck some dummy named "bubba gump"? man i don't get it. why'd ya name a buck after a couple o' retards? the "buck of justice"? what's that supposed to mean? seems like every nice animal taken in the past few years has some stupid name attached to it. our buddy adhd, or cwd or whatever his name is, said he's gonna name his elk this year, an elk he ain't even shot yet, after me? i mean, if it's like the biggest, meanest, gnarliest, studliest, best lookin' bull in the woods, maybe that might apply. but i'm sure he'll be lucky to get a fuzzy horned spike. man, that just won't work. anyway, just wondering what the deal is about all the stupid (in my opinion now, not talkin' for everybody else) nicknames hung on stuff lately. maybe it's a magazine deal. but it sure seems goofy to me. but then again i like headcheese samwiches and spam and black licorice too. of the hundreds of bucks me and my bunch have taken, i don't recall ever namin' one. there's a few that are refered to as "that buck we got over in such and such canyon" or whatever. but names? especially these stupid names. and namin' one before ya shoot it? wierd, real wierd. Lark.

cool, i'm sposeta leave wed. afternoon for u1. gonna meet some friends there who have early rifle bull tags. oughta be fun. last time i was up was 2 weeks ago and things were gettin' interesting then. hopefully this weekend they'll be really rockin'. trees 'r gonna be turnin' yeller, full moon, weather's sposta cool off a bunch before then....... elk oughta be whistlin' like steam whistles. red eyed, stinkin', beat up, mud covered, gnarly bulls. cain't wait. wonder what kinda nicknames they're gonna come up with? hunt on dudes, Lark.

i think i've seen it. it surfaced after he said he was never at any rallies with her. there was one fake one floating around, but another one was found to be the real deal. kerry really keeps some great company. it sure gets me hot when folks act like she's ok now, after what she did. you ever hear about the POW's that slipped her a piece o' paper with their SS#'s on it? some of em put their SS#'s on a small slip of paper because they knew they were going to meet her for propoganda photos and slipped it to her when they were forced to shake hands. they hoped she would contact their families just so that they would know they were alive. instead she turned it over to the gooks. all of em the list died in the hanoi hilton. they died hard too. to me, kerry is in the same boat as her. to come home and claim that everyone over there was a criminal. then want to be president. seems like about the ultimate in hypocrisy. the ultimate was when a literal draft dodger was elected, in clinton. enough politics now. quit gettin' me riled. lets talk huntin'. Lark.

hey rambrent, it's barbarella. lurn two spill. and yes, it's a bad time and place. i call no more jane fonda references. man, i thought cwd was mean. only jane fonda movie i ever saw was catballou. and i was young and needed the money. actually, it was 'afore that pig become hanoi jane. always wanted to see it again, because i like lee marvin, stubby kaye and nat king cole. and that horse shoulda got an academy award. but i've stayed the course and never bent to the tempation. remember, real hunters don't watch hanoi jane movies or allow thur frin's to niether. cwd can, cuz he ain't got no frin's to keep him straight. Lark.

as i read these new regs, i'm starting to realize we got screwed even worse than we thought. anyone spend any time pondering what these jerks did with the bighorn permits? used to be no more than 10% could go to non residents. didn't say that even 10% had to go to em. depended on the luck o' the draw. well now, 15% go to nonresidents and it's a seperate drawing for non residents only. and this wasn't part of the uso crap. i think mr shroufe and commission are going to hear from me personally over this. why even change it? and why give em more permits? man, i'm gonna be sick. Lark.

aw man, cwd, just when i got the stink outta my nose from the last buncha crap you smeared around here. look dummy, i'll spain it one more time. I-DON'T-CARE. really. you believe whatever you want. i'll believe whatever i want. if cal coziah is a convicted poacher, fine. I-DON'T-CARE. bad on him. hope he got hammered to the max. but until you injected that here, i'd never heard of it. sorry i don't keep up on current events. trackin' poachers ain't one o' my pastimes. i've never even heard of this lewis guy. guess i don't run in the right crowds to keep up on all the trophy poachers out there. and again, I-DON'T-CARE. glad he got caught. glad he got hammered. to bad it wasn't worse. but I-DON'T-CARE. it's over with. and it was over with before i ever even knew it happened. and as far as Kirt's deal. I-DON'T-CARE. it's done with. he payed a huge price and in my opinion, that's my opinion now, not yours, not mule lopers, mine, it was a bogus setup from the beginning, started by a convicted pervert. you believe what you wanna believe, i'll believe what i wanna believe. I-DON'T-CARE what you think, about anything. really. your as insignificant to me as the weather or the penguins at the north pole or unicorns or bigfoot, etc. for some reason you've decided that i'm some cause worth pursuing. some fraud that needs exposing. all because i sorta know one guy, one guy, that i think got a raw deal. believe what you want. I-DON'T-CARE. i'm just a beat up ol' desert cowboy who's best days were a long time ago and who likes to listen to these whippersnappers on this site, because they remind me o' me, 20 years ago. gungho, full o' piss n' vinegar and ready to rock n' roll. guys that like to hunt, because they like to hunt. guys who like to see the dawn explode over neat places and then watch that same sun burn out in the evening. guys who like to smell the gunsmoke when they open the bolt after crackin' one off across a canyon at a big one. not "educated scientists" (see-surveyor) who like to brag about their kills and fantasize about crap. you hunt for the wrong reasons. you hunt to brag. to validate your existence. to show off. you don't hunt for the whole experience. probably look at the birds and chipmunks and brush and trees as just something that gets in your way or bothers you while you're after the big one. you've insulted and threatened me on this site. and from what i've gathered, insulted about everyone else here too. whatever. over the years i've been shot, stabbed, snakebit and lightning struck. been bucked off everyway you can think of. been drug, kicked and stomped. fought a bear hand to hand and won, choked a lion to death with a belt. if you think some loser with a computer scares or intimidates me, best think it over again. get a life punk. and remember, when it comes to you or any opinion you have, I-DON'T-CARE. i also wanna apologize to the good folks and Amanda for havin' to endure this junk. oh yeah, i'm done with ya too, cwd. don't bother tryin' to get me to even read anything you write. sincerely, with much thought and care, Lark Hubbard, Queen Creek, Az.

we all have our preferences for things. like all the different opinions about "premium" hunts and stuff. but one thing that we all have to keep in mind is that hunting is a privelege that all should be able to enjoy. the fees need to stay low enough that everyone can at least afford a deer tag. deer hunting needs to be a rite (not right) like it was in the past. kids need to be brought up hunting. folks that have never hunted need to become hunters. and anglers and campers, etc. the more people that enjoy the sport, the more support it gets. there in lies a problem, especially in Az., where primo habitat is sorta skinny and the number of folks wanting the tags increases yearly. we have some areas with huge numbers per acre with wildlife, but the areas ain't that big. i know i ain't a big practicer of this preaching, but we gotta have patience in drawing permits and then make the best of it when ya get a tag. when i was a kid, deer season was something that everyone looked forward too. our little town was a ghost town the first weekend. all the moms and daughters got together for little parties and stuff, because all the men folk were off shootin' bucks. really. there was never any school the first day of deer season. the highschool football games that week were all played on thursday night. you got 2 days excused to go deer hunting, plus the first day that we always had off. the next monday at school was big stuff, because the teachers always wanted to know who got a buck and how big it was. i still remember the smiles on the faces of the kids that got a deer. this is what we need to get back to. tradition and rite. get away from all the fighting and arguing and all line up together for the betterment of the whole cause. the casual hunters and the diehard groundpounders. the trophy chasers and the meat hunters. and everyone in between, man, i'm gettin' nostalgic now. but dangit, i like to hunt. hope this all works out for the best for all of us. Lark.

ok Az. guide, if you were only 8, then i guess maybe you can overcome it. but you're gonna have to pay some kinda penance. what's a good punishment for watchin' a fonda movie? i mean there needs to be a little pain here so's ya won't backslide and do it again. Lark.

i don't know if cabela's even knows what a coues is. i was at the new KC store a few weeks ago and they didn't have even one coues in the whole place. they had everything else you could imagine. no coues. not one stinkin' one. ok bullwidgeon. the next javelina i shoot is gonna get called brett. hope it's a sow. a real ugly sow. i mean even ugly for a javelina. like a nontypical javelina. hey Az. guide, whatter you doin' watchin' jane fonda movies? didja go to rent steel magnolias and it was out? on golden pond? i was channel surfin' once and just caught a glimpse of it and hurt my eyes a little. if i ever shoot a million dollar animal, i'll name it. all the way to the bank. few years ago a good friend shot a 280" nontypical muley and a guy offered him 15 grand for it. he turned it down. my pal, Kirt Darner, the guy that mule loper and cwd argued with me about so much, told me, "there is the 2 dumbest guys in the world. the first guy for offerin' him 15k for it and the second guy for turnin' it down". oh yeah, bullwidgeon, i gotta buddy named spike and he says he's tired o' you namin' all your kills after him. later dudes, Lark.

my grandad once told me, "if it's wet, and fallin' outta the sky in Arizona, don't complain about". it never rains too much here. sometimes it might mess up a birthday party in the backyard or something, but rain is always a good thing in this state. learn to deal with the few times it does make a guy alter his plans a little. folks that pull out of an elk hunt over a little rain ain't hunters anyway. wait for years to get permit and the go home because it rains a little? them kinda folks probly whined when they got a pony for xmas and it had a used saddle. in 1983 it rained so much that it almost got to me. almost. still hunted every day in it. places where there was never water, were flooding. little creeks you normally could step across had so much water in em that you might have to walk a couple miles to find a way across. i had water in every case and differential on my ol' truck when it was over. the guy i was guiding shot a bull along black river, below big lake. we took a 12' aluminum boat up the next day and floated it out to crosby crossing. what a trip! that creek is usually so low the fish get sunburned in it. we did some whitewater that day! shinin' times for sure. lett'er rain. Lark.

i would rather bowhunt elk in the rain. nothing covers scent and sound like rain. seems to calm the elk down too. having to wear glasses, it is sort of a pain to keep glasses defogged, but i like the rain. Lark.

why do you need a range finder for shootin' at toads? better notta been one o' them endangered mexican staring toads.

more d is right, jackin' up the prices ain't gonna keep millionaires from applying. it may keep some folks, but very few. jackin' up the resident fees seems like a double slap in the face. although i've always felt that early rifle bull tags and sheep permits oughta be higher. but then i'm sorta wierd too. at least they're gonna do away with this internet application crap, for a year. they have to do something to bust up the "hunter pools". one of the posts said something about the governor having control over the azgfd. actually, that ain't really the case. the governor appoints the commission. the commission hires and fires the director and makes decisions about how the wildlife is managed. case in point, sabino canyon lions. the governor was pissed because she had no authority over what was done there. the azgfd coulda shot every lion in the a 100 mile radius and she couldn't stop it. but the commission bowed to politically correct pressure and called it off. she/it couldn't stop it through her own authority. only real control the governor has is in appointing the commission. they're appointed to 5 year terms. golightly is in his second 5 year term. can't remember for sure how he pulled it off, but he did. supposed to be the senior person is the chairman. but the "madam" they have now ain't senior. even tho she is old as hogan's goat. if she (napalitano) gets another term, she will get some real huggers on the commission and then things will really get bad. right now, we're better off having the same folks on the commission, until she/it gets voted outta office. what we need is a new governor who will appoint folks with backbone and who aren't swayed by whiners and huggers and birdwatchers and nonresidents and taulman, etc. we need a commission that will use sound, proven science to make decisions, and not stick a wet finger in the air and see which way the politcal breeze is blowing. we gotta get a governor who will appoint folks with spine, intelligence and some real knowledge about the state and wildlife. when the next election comes around, the hunters can swing the vote. if there is a candidate who will make a couple simple promises and keep em, we need to vote for whoever that is. i'm thinking romley is gonna run. hope so. he seems to be able to make the tough decision and stand up to the BS. Lark.

639 yards?!?! couldn't ya find one any closer than that to the pavement? was the rock solid rest the hood o' the truck? one thing tho, how d'ya get a spotlight to shine that far? guess with them infrared deals you don't need one. good job kid. fine lookin' bull, no matter what unit. Lark.

that will bullet will open up the size of a 50 cent piece and will kill the heck outta any coues walking. is it too much bullet? depends on your preference. to me, you can only kill something so dead. anything from a .22/.250 to a .460 weatherby will work fine for a coues deer, as long as you are a marksman. the .460 might be the best if you're a chronic gut shooter. if you can find ribs, anything will work. really. you're talking about an animal that is about the same size as a good sized lab retriever. everyonce in awhile one will get to maybe 150 lbs. live weight. and i mean real seldom. i've never seen any animal get away from a lung shot with a high power rifle. it is just simply impossible for them to live more than a few seconds. maybe a couple minutes tops. they can only travel about as far as they can hold their breath. hit the heart, and it's even less. even if the 165 didn't expand an iota, in a good lung shot it'd still be so devastating to a coues that he wouldn't go more than a few yards. when folks say they hit an animal good and it got away, they're one of 2 things, a liar or a real crappy tracker. maybe both. punch any animal in the lungs with a high power, and it dies. if you're hunting big mean stuff, better have a rifle with enough nuts to get into the lungs. coues ain't a big mean animal. Lark.