Healy Arms

Really appreciate the feedback guys. As always - we know you have other shopping choices - so thank you for doing business with us.

Just got a delivery - we have a decent amount back in stock. On the shelf right now: FED-100 CCI-500 Win-WSP Win-WSPM Rem-1 1/2

Last weekend in October, nighttime hunt under a full moon, Dave calls and kills this mature AZ tom:

It varies - but typically Dave is going out right after dark. As the full moon comes up later & later - we correspondingly go out later. Some lions get called around 8-9pm and others at 2-3am

And the javelina population - this lion had a young javelina leg folded over in it's stomach. And a boat load of javelina hair.

Good Morning Coues Whitetail Members, After a nearly 2 years selling guns & ammo and Wildlife Tech Mighty Atom callers online, we've opened a retail location in Mesa, AZ. We're inviting CW members & readers to stop by and say hello, take a look around, and tell us what you're looking for in a local shop. We've already been open for 6 very busy weeks in an industry that's getting loads of attention - but it's time to make it official and meet some new friends. Were located at 3164 S Country Club Dr #10, in Mesa - Pollack Sunset Plaza, just down from Sprinkler World I'm working with Amanda to have a Coues Whitetail day at the shop in early December (after the Nov hunts and before the rut hunts). Stay tuned for info. All the best, Mark Healy

Thanks for the business - much appreciated.

Hey Chef - Thanks for stopping in and thanks for the biz

He prefers to call by himself - he was alone on this hunt - shot the lion at 30 yards (about 18 inches from the call)

36 minutes

There - managed to get the photo fixed -

Rifleman, Here's a pic of the latest lion Dave called - called at night - 36 minutes. I will do a more thorough write-up and post more pics soon. Big cat - I think Dave is around 6'2" to 6'3"

I could atempt to educate you about the pitfalls of posting hearsay that begins with "I met this other guy", but... Knowing what I know about the hunt, the check in with AZ G&F and having talked to the biologist at the AZ G&F aftgerward, I will instead ask that you provide some factual and physical evidence of this allegation. The burden of accusation is yours sir. Begin.

This is a guest entry by Mike Healy from his home in Idaho. Carl, his son and hunting partner, is thirteen. The following video was created by merging still photos and actual footage from a two-day coyote hunt in the summer of 2011. We called, and shot, 5 coyotes. In this video you’ll see one coyote taken on the run and another dropped by a head shot at approximately 140 yards. Regards and good calling, Mike Healy View the full article

Hi Bill - don't count on it unless you get some bighorn in the area you'd like to hunt. This whole change is about saving them.

This is a guest entry by Mike Healy from his home in Idaho. Carl, his son and hunting partner, is thirteen. When Mark and Adam Grinstead invited Carl and I to a recent duck hunt, we jumped at the opportunity to go. The Grinsteads have hunted ducks for many years and are happy to share their knowledge with others. I’ve never called anything other than predators, so I was looking forward to seeing ducks respond to the call and trying to film the action. Earlier in the week, Mark and Adam each took their limit of ducks. They spent two hours breaking a large hole in the ice so they could place decoys on open water. Once the decoys were floating on the water, they waited patiently for the sun to come up. Here is Mark with the harvested ducks. Mark Grinstead with ducks -- 2011-11-21 Here is Adam with the harvested ducks. Adam Grinstead with ducks -- 2011-11-21 Zeus is Adam’s duck dog. He’s eight months old and retrieving very well for his young age. With maturity, experience and additional training he’s going to be a fantastic duck retriever. Carl and I met the Grinsteads at the hunting area at 6 a.m. on Black Friday (no Christmas shopping for us!). We walked to the blind and got situated. Due to warm weather, the pond wasn’t frozen and Adam had an easy time dispersing 30 decoys. Here are the video highlights from our hunt. Thanks for reading. Regards and good calling, Mike Healy View the full article

You were always allowed to use a shotgun, prior regs limited the ammo to slugs only. New regs allow the use of shotguns shooting shot. I think it was a good move- especially for fur salvage. Here's a link that explains the new regulations - AZ Nighttime Mountain Lion Hunting Regulations for 2012

Just give me a call and we'll try to work something out for you - they typically don't make any changes because of the depth 120 WT sounds gives you. It really is a generous list of WT's greatest hits.

Agreed - that caller's volume will part your hair and do it with clean & crisp sound. We just had a gentleman from Chandler walk out the door with a Mighty Atom 15 - he listened for 15-30 seconds handed Marc R. a credit card and said "box it up". Once you hear one...

No - the dog (Deuce is her name) is Dan's right hand callin' partner - despite her self-perception of lion dog , she's just another set of eyes in the field.

Finally – night hunting for lions is here and is referred to in the G&F Regulations as “Daylong Hours”. I believe this will make calling them more productive and we should see more photos from successful hunts posted here. After studying the Dec 2, 2011 amended AZGF regulations and conducting a phone interview with AZ G&F officer & biologist Ron Day, here’s a summary of what I’ve learned about the rule changes: A Pair of Cougars Just After Dark Shotguns Shooting Shot: It’s now legal in AZ to use a shotgun shooting shot (slugs are still okay too) to kill a mountain lion. I called the AZ G&F and asked if there were any restrictions on shot size and was told no. The intent behind the law revision was to allow the predator callers who call lions while armed only with a shotgun to legally take the lion. Mr. Day said that most predator hunters were going to be hunting with shells that would be appropriate for killing coyotes (T-shot & larger) and that those same loads should be sufficient for killing lions. Centerfire Rifles After Dark: It’s legal to use a rifle for hunting lions after dark. Don’t confuse the AZ nighttime coyote regulations with the new lion regulations – the AZ G&F doesn’t restrict the weapon for lion hunting, they actually added one (shotguns shooting shot). The safety concerns with shooting a rifle across an antelope flat in the dark were greatly reduced in the hilly/mountainous terrain most lion hunts would be conducted in, so centerfire rifles were kept as a legal after-hours method of take. Hunting After Dark / Artificial Light: Mountain lion regulation note 27 provides for using battery powered lights. Your light can be handheld or mounted on your gun (or a combo of both). It CANNOT be affixed to or plugged into a motor vehicle in any way. Hunting After Dark / Locations: Night hunting for lions was designed to give relief to bighorn populations, thus the units/areas where hunting lions at night is allowed are limited. At this time the areas are: Units 6A South, 13B, 15B (west of Temple Bar Rd) 15C, 15D, 16A South, 18B South, 22 (south of Hwy 87 and FR 143 and west of Hwy 188), 31, 32, 37B (north of the Gila River), 40A, 42 (south of the Buckeye-Aguila Rd and west of 335th Ave), and 44A (east of Cunningham Wash). Click this link for more details: Amended/Updated AZGF Regs Hunting After Dark / Seasons: Hunting in the units/locations listed in the Daylong section is year round – July 1, 2011 to June 30, 2011. Lots of opportunities here – especially during the hot Arizona summer. Arizona Mountain Lions Travelling Together Hunting After Dark / Multiple Bag Limits: This rule is exactly the same night/day. If you are fortunate enough to have already bagged a lion and want to keep hunting in one of the multiple bag units, it is your responsibility to make sure the unit hasn’t closed and reverted back to one-per-calendar-year. Refer to the AZGF regs for details. VERY IMPORTANT! The Game & Fish asked we recognize that nighttime hunting is designed to help meet certain predation objectives. Taking bobcats and fox during the nighttime hours is always prohibited and the department will seek hunting privilege revocation for folks caught taking them after legal shooting hours. Mr. Day said calling bobcat and fox in the daylight is sufficiently easy to accomplish and they should be given a break in the dark. As always, if you need a Wildlife Tech Mighty Atom E-caller with cougar sounds on it to chase these big cats, just visit us online or call us toll-free at 1-877-734-1010 and we’ll help you out. I think this covers it – please post if you have any questions and I’ll answer it or track it down. All the best, Mark Healy – Wildlife Callers mark@wildlifecallers.com View the full article

Thanks TJ & Peg - we had a great time!

A big thanks to TJ & Peg for the outstanding Coues WT Christmas party. As was discussed at the party, here's the nighttime and new legal take mountain lion hunting information I've gathered thus far from AZ G&F regulations and AZ game officer & dept biologist Ron Day. Finally - night hunting for lions is here and is referred to in the G&F Regulations as "Daylong Hours". I believe this will make calling them more productive and we should see more photos from successful hunts posted here. Here's what I've learned about the December 2, 2011 rule changes: Shotguns Shooting Shot: It's now legal in AZ to use a shotgun shooting shot (slugs are still okay too) to kill a mountain lion. I called the AZ G&F and asked if there were any restrictions on shot size and was told no. The intent behind the law revision was to allow the predator callers who call lions while armed only with a shotgun to legally take the lion. Mr. Day said that most predator hunters were going to be hunting with shells that would be appropriate for killing coyotes (T-shot & larger) and that those same loads should be sufficient for killing lions. Centerfire Rifles After Dark: It's legal to use a rifle for hunting lions after dark. Don't confuse the nighttime coyote regulations with the lion regs - the AZ G&F doesn't restrict the weapon for lion hunting, they actually added one (shotguns). The safety concerns with shooting a rifle across an antelope flat in the dark were greatly reduced in the hilly/mountainous terrain most lion hunts would be conducted in, so centerfire rifles were kept as a legal after-hours method of take. Hunting After Dark / Artificial Light: Mountain lion regulation note 27 provides for using battery powered lights. Your light can be handheld or mounted on your gun (or a combo of both). It CANNOT be affixed to or plugged into a motor vehicle in any way. Hunting After Dark / Locations: Night hunting for lions was designed to give relief to bighorn populations, thus the units/areas where hunting lions at night is allowed are limited. At this time the Daylong areas are: Units 6A South, 13B, 15B (west of Temple Bar Rd) 15C, 15D, 16A South, 18B South, 22 (south of Hwy 87 and FR 143 and west of Hwy 188), 31, 32, 37B (north of the Gila River), 40A, 42 (south of the Buckeye-Aguila Rd and west of 335th Ave), and 44A (east of Cunningham Wash). Click this link for more details: Updated AZGF Regs Hunting After Dark / Seasons: Hunting in the units/locations listed in the Daylong section is year round - July 1, 2011 to June 30, 2012. Lots of opportunity here. Hunting After Dark / Multiple Bag Limits: This rule is exactly the same night/day. If you're fortunate enough to have already bagged a lion and want to buy another tag & keep hunting in one of the multiple bag units, it's your responsibility to make sure the unit hasn't closed and reverted back to one-per-calendar-year. Refer to the AZGF regs for details. VERY IMPORTANT! The Game & Fish asked we recognize that nighttime hunting is designed to help meet certain predation objectives. Taking bobcats and fox during the nighttime hours is always prohibited and the department will seek hunting privilege revocation for folks caught taking them after legal shooting hours. Mr. Day said calling bobcat and fox in the daylight is sufficiently easy to accomplish and they should be given a break in the dark. I think this covers it - please post if you have any questions and I'll answer it or track it down. Obviously my research on the topic is from a predator caller's perspective, so if you hound hunters have anything to add regarding night hunting, that would be great too.

This is a guest entry by Mike Healy from his home in Idaho. Carl, his son and hunting partner, is thirteen. Carl and I were on stand and had been calling for approximately 15 minutes with no results. Suddenly, I spotted a single coyote cresting the low hill across from us. From 350 yards out, it proceeded to run straight into our setup. My Wildlife Technologies electronic caller was situated well below us on the hillside and we had good cover against some large boulders. The wind was also in our favor. Glancing to my left, I could see Carl’s rifle leveled out and he was leaning into the scope. Good — he had seen it also. While easing my rifle into position for a shot at the incoming coyote, Carl fired his rifle. Hearing the shot, the coyote I was watching pivoted and ran sideways at full speed. Carl fired at it a couple of times and missed as it ran away. I fired once and also missed. When the dust settled, I stood up and said, “It got away. Why didn’t you wait for it to come closer and stop moving before firing?” Carl got a funny look on his face and calmly replied, “Dad, this stand was a double! There’s a coyote on the ground out there. My first shot took it out. Didn’t you see it?” Oops! I hadn’t even seen the other coyote. Better get my eyes checked. We walked out and searched the brush for a few minutes. Sure enough, a coyote was down. I laser ranged back to the rock pile where we were sitting to be certain of the distance — 252 yards. Nice shot Carl! Idaho Coyote, September 2011, Remington R-15 VTR Carbine with AR Gold trigger Thanks for reading. Regards and good calling, Mike Healy View the full article

This is a guest blog entry by Mike Healy from his home in Idaho. My son, Carl, is thirteen and we enjoy coyote calling as often as we are able to make time to get into the field. Carl didn’t have school on Friday so I took the day off and we went coyote calling. The window of opportunity was excellent as it was a weekday and Idaho’s rifle season for deer hadn’t opened yet. In the early afternoon we were calling on a small parcel of state land surrounded by private property and had a very energizing experience with several nearby coyotes. Our truck was well concealed behind a small hill with a headwind in our favor. Seated on a hillside with adequate cover and a good view, I placed my Wildlife Technologies electronic caller downhill about 30 paces in front of us. Instead of hiding the caller in a bush, I placed it in the bottom of a waist-deep sinkhole. I started the stand with two loud female coyote howls and then paused to listen for a response. Within 30 seconds a couple of coyotes responded by howling back at us. They were to our left and just beyond a low hill. I waited another 30 seconds and played a few red tail hawk screams. The coyotes to our left responded again. I then paused for a few seconds of silence to let everything soak in and another coyote started howling directly in front of us. Scanning the land directly in front of us, I couldn’t see the coyote that was howling. Carl was seated to my right and I didn’t want to miss any movement on our left flank made by the coyotes that were howling over there. I shifted my focus to the left and let Carl sort out what was likely unfolding in front of us. Manipulating the remote control below the level of the sage brush to avoid detection, I lowered the volume and played a squeaky mouse vole distress sound. The coyotes to the left continued to howl and were obviously upset by the intrusion that my original howl represented. After a minute of the mouse vole, I silenced the caller. The coyotes to our left were still howling sporadically. Struggling to pick out any movement at all, I finally spotted a coyote running from center stage to our left at 500 yards out. Carl then clicked his safety off. I figured there was something else going on that I couldn’t see so I went back to watching our left flank. As we sat motionless with Carl’s safety off, I ran through the following sound sequence two or three times: red tail hawk screams pause crows mobbing a meat pile pause coyote pup distress pause Amazingly, the coyotes to our left continued to howl during the above sequence. I then reverted to the mouse vole distress sound on low volume to wait it out and see what was going to happen. We were in the range of 10 to 12 minutes into the stand when suddenly… BANG! I shifted my eyes back to the center just in time to see a coyote fall to the ground. Carl had been monitoring its approach and fired when it stopped at 121 yards from where we were sitting. He first spotted the coyote at 450 yards and observed its deliberately slow advance for many minutes before taking the shot. Idaho Coyote, October 2011 Having the caller in the sink hole probably helped us out on this stand. Coyotes have that amazing ability to pinpoint the precise location on the surface of the earth where a sound is coming from. In this case, I suspect the coyote felt compelled to get close enough to see into the bottom of the sink hole to conclusively determine the source of the sound. Regards and thanks for reading, Mike Healy View the full article