idgaf

A friend of mine won the raffle tag a couple of years ago. he hunted every month of the year, I specifically asked him which month was the best. His response surprised me a bit, he said February. Bucks were looking for Does.

A few years ago on one jump shot pond, I took a wood duck, two pintail, a canvasback, and a drake mallard. I did not know what I accomplish and mesquite grilled them all. I also took a rossi goose the next year and it suffered the same fate. A friend of mind who is ardent duck hunter told me I am not allowed to skin a duck until i get his permission

I was about an hour or so early for a meeting in Safford so I decided to stop by and see how it looked. I stopped by the store and saw a couple of snow birds getting gas for their boat. I asked how the fishing was and I got "shhhh we are catching 16" crappie." Back to topic, if you want truly large browns, go to reservation or Hawley with the largest swim bait you are prepared to throw. More than once I have seen 10-12" trout jump on shore to get away from these predators. Of course that would defeat the elitism of fly fishing. Imo I get more pleasure out of a pink/red meated salmonoid fillet than I do watching it swim away. Although I have done both depending on circumstance.

Ha ha!!! Guys if i had the choice tomorrow i would trade any 105 to 110 buck with a rifle for a 25 inch type brown from a creek in az tomorrow. There isnt a 110 buck walking that could rattle my nerves like a 25 inch type brown from a creek. I like fishing that much, and a giant trout from az is much much much harder to find than any 110 buck. There's so many 110 bucks in this state it's not even funny, but there's so so few really big trout. 25 inch trout are about as rare as a 130 buck in my mind. I live in the White Mountains. I grew up catching trout. I've caught a bunch of big trout. Caught some good ones out of Sunrise this past year. However, I can't hardly stand to go trout fishing anymore. I'd rather catch a 2lb crappie than a 20+" trout, but that's just me. I've been trying to to catch a 3lb+ crappie most of my life and can't get it done. That's what gets my motor running. Its just interesting (sometimes funny) to see everyone's views and opinions on different things and what they are passionate about. Brian really, fish san carlos much? i feel like ive caught dozens of 3lbers. i only weighed one on an electric berkley scale 3.14oz. I fished it more than probably anyone on this site. Breaks my heart with the fish kill off. I constantly came across people on the lake that say they have crappie that weigh over three pounds till you break out the scale. I can't remember a single one that made it over 2.5. I have family that have caught 3 total. Until the scale goes on them I take their word with a grain of salt. Brian Ha ha!!! Guys if i had the choice tomorrow i would trade any 105 to 110 buck with a rifle for a 25 inch type brown from a creek in az tomorrow. There isnt a 110 buck walking that could rattle my nerves like a 25 inch type brown from a creek. I like fishing that much, and a giant trout from az is much much much harder to find than any 110 buck. There's so many 110 bucks in this state it's not even funny, but there's so so few really big trout. 25 inch trout are about as rare as a 130 buck in my mind. I live in the White Mountains. I grew up catching trout. I've caught a bunch of big trout. Caught some good ones out of Sunrise this past year. However, I can't hardly stand to go trout fishing anymore. I'd rather catch a 2lb crappie than a 20+" trout, but that's just me. I've been trying to to catch a 3lb+ crappie most of my life and can't get it done. That's what gets my motor running. Its just interesting (sometimes funny) to see everyone's views and opinions on different things and what they are passionate about. Brian really, fish san carlos much? i feel like ive caught dozens of 3lbers. i only weighed one on an electric berkley scale 3.14oz. I fished it more than probably anyone on this site. Breaks my heart with the fish kill off. I constantly came across people on the lake that say they have crappie that weigh over three pounds till you break out the scale. I can't remember a single one that made it over 2.5. I have family that have caught 3 total. Until the scale goes on them I take their word with a grain of salt. Brian You may want to try SC again. I stopped by last year it was full and the snowbirds were cleaning up on crappie.

Please keep in mind ranchers do not create waterholes, roads, infrastructure for elk. They create it for livestock and to make money selling livestock. The benefit to wildlife is an ancillary one.

More irony, the state of Arizona owns Arizona's elk herd which means the people of the state own the elk. The land at least in part is state trust land which means its owned by the people of the state. So with this fee you are paying an extra 500 to hunt your elk on your land. Can we rename this piece of property Ponzi Ranch?

Sometimes hunting/tracking a wounded animal is like playing a twenty inning baseball game and losing. What I thought was a perfect shot, I quickly learned was a little far back with no blood. Two days of dry tracking and many miles walked we finally gave in. This would have been my largest buck score wise. Still hurts.

It may have been just coincidence but the birds were in the area alot looking for something. They could not pinpoint either. It was one of my better stalks, closing a couple hundred yards on flat ground on moving animals (4 sets of eyes)

I have taken elk, bear, coues, turkey and muley with a three blade rage the blood trails were very significant. The issue I have with them is they are high maintenance. They often opened in my quiver

I spent friday and saturday in 2c. A couple of largish bucks were rutting and showing the signs of dominance. I went to 27 on sunday saw 15 bucks only the little ones were rutting and the only shooter we saw was with two other bucks.

Just did a 2 mile stalk on a 160ish buck. When I got to a hundred yards a predator hunter started his calling sequence pushing the deer off the hill

After my coffee break I have to walk back. It's a bit brisk Edit. I just found a batch of deer in a different direction than I parked. Oh well coffee break is over

May i suggest the 27 junior hunt

In my experience they are easier to see in the snow.

Congrats, IMO this is the greatest accomplishment I have read about on this website for the year. You have inspired me to put some of my tech down and go with one of my recurves at least a few times in January.

I love the irony in this. The draw system has to fail in epic proportions in order for me to get the tag I want.

can anyone point me to an area around i17 and the 101 where i can put a target down and shoot?

Tried I kept running into houses. I will try table mesa, thanks for the help

Archery (recurve and compound), I was hoping to find a wash or undeveloped hill side somewhere to get in some natural situation practice

Me too!

I think you asking yourself the wrong question. The question you should ask your self is will you be happy with him. My middle brother and my cousin could not be happier with any size deer, my youngest brother can only be happy with the largest. This year I took a 150" 8 or 9 year old buck and could not be happier. A couple of years ago I passed on a 165-170ish buck at 15 steps and could not be happier. It really is up to you. A pic of the buck that some people said I was crazy

I can put you in touch with the WMs up there if you need help. I've worked with the former 13B WM (now Sector Supervisor) for 8+ years on various conservation projects. He'll help you get on birds! Sounds good if you could PM his email address I will send him a note. Thanks Fred

It's official I'm hunting Rios in April. I am the worlds worst turkey hunter, so this will be interesting.

My brother had the after thanksgiving deer hunt in 24a, he did not see anything of quality in a reachable distance the first weekend and he only had Friday to hunt of the final weekend. I let my boss know that I had some sales calls to do and left my office in scottsdale around 1100. meeting my necessary work requirement and then meeting up with my brother around 245. We head out to my secret spot making it around 400 and within a few minutes we see two does and the smallest spike in history. i try to talk him into shooting it but no dice. We glass from the left nipple of the mountain seeing a distant deer on the reservation. I tell him lets go to the other nipple for the final minutes of his hunt getting there about 445 or so. I'm looking for a spot to set up my tripod when i hear him say theres two does. I walk over to where he is and set up. I set my glasses up and see antlers on the smaller buck and he starts setting up for a shot. We glass the other buck and both say shooter. He takes his time sets up, the sun starts its decline past the horizon. The larger buck goes by a large prickly pear and then beds as he was getting sight acquisition. I can feel the clock ticking to darkness. With me spending my work week in the valley and hunting stuff at my home in show low I had very limited hunting resources with me. My brother had borrowed a set of binos and allowed me to use them, swaro's el range. I was considering selling my kids for a set after using them. I range the cactus next to where the buck is bedded and it reads 468. He settles in the prone position and shoots, the deer have no reaction. He aims shoots aqain and the bedded buck kicks hard runs twenty yards or so and stops. He is having a hard time getting on the target (many minutes) and i tell him do you want me to do it and I see him almost hand me the gun. he goes back and forth from another set of binos i have on a tripod back to his prone position. Three more shots and the buck is down with minutes to spare from darkness. Unknown to us due to the cover was the bucks final death run, taking it into a giant hole and prolonging recovery for an hour or so The eight point is a bit of an exaggeration, I was counting the eyeguard. I was wearing the wrong shoes for where we were. The buck in the daytime without the fat guys behind it

I use to be somewhat secretive about my spots, but a few years ago I let a friend hunt my favorite lifelong hunting spot. The following week he gave my spot to a couple of his friends. At first I was aggravated but it turns the guys were really cool and I have hunted with them many times since. If you know 24a at all, I have given enough info to go to the exact spot. I bet Amanda and Bonecollector both know exactly where I was.