JVS

Got my camp staked out, for the third time, and I'm now on my fourth first morning spot. I can't make up my mind!!! I haven't seen herds of deer, but decent numbers. At least it's not a question of "I wonder where the deer are this year?" Anyway, firstcoueswas80, where is your cow hunt? My father-in-law has the 5bn hunt starting tomorrow. If you have unit 5bn, look for a 4-door f-250 in blue and silver with an elk in the back . We should shoot the bull.

Are y'all talkin bout that Mercer ranch owned by Roy D. Mercer. Don't let him catch ya in thar without payin up. He'll put a pop knot on yer head big enough to go 4-wheelin' on . Actually, I'm not familiar with the ranch or rancher, but I don't really like the idea of locked gates and payin up to get access. Those are public lands they are locking up. Not sure if we need to grouch at the ranchers for locking everything up or the public land managers for not finding alternate access. Probably need to grouch at the rntire situation to everyone we see. This can be a rough topic. I feel it is going to escalate in the future and turn into a huge fiasco. Just my 2 cents.

I wouldn't do it even if it was legal. Those pigs are thick boned. If you get a front leg, you will most likely not recover the animal. Javy's are as tough as a cowboy boot. I have had an arrow bounce off a front shoulder of a pig before. Unless you are 100% sure you can get that 17 grain bullet behind the shoulder and put in in a PERFECT spot, I don't recommend it. I will recommend a 223. Sweet shooting gun. Ammo can be found for cheap, and it has the punch to get dogs and other varmits out to 3-4 hundred yards. Just my 2 cents .

Yep, I can relate...I went to NAU a few years back. Had to drop a few classes because of the distractions. Never worried much about the blonde though, I had already hung myself (already married). I did get an elk hunt while I was there in Flag. Killed on Monday morning ~7:00am, and was back in time for my 11:00am statistics class. My pops dropped me off at class with that elk and rack hanging out the back of the truck. You should have seen the hippies freakin' out!!! It was great.

The only thing worse is when someone pitches camp right in the middle of a two track. I've seen that more than once. Makes me feel like lighting some tents on fire . Many of the best meadows we have here in AZ have roads running to them or across them, etc, so it is hard not to have high traffic on meadows. I agree. Try to stay away from meadows while camping during a hunt. Also, something to mention while speaking of spooking game...G&F passed the law that restricts using a spotlight (I think 48 hours) prior to or during a big game hunt. Keep that in mind if you get that urge to spotlight during or just before your hunt. Take it easy guys (and ladies).

Law and regulation are made to create a safe environment for society. When the safe environment is taken away, common sense should make our decisions for us, not law. Common sense tells me that if my life is in danger, I'm packin'. If some punk vato esse guarding a stash wants to put my life in danger, he'll get some .44 lead wizzin by his head. Grizzly said it well. If the Judge wants to lay the hammer down on a good ol boy trying to protecting his own life, so be it. Oh, unit 1 a trouble spot? Did I miss an important meeting or something?

If you're looking for topography only, google has a free download that lets you see 3-d. Similar feature as the autocad 3-d. You can actually walk up canyons, tilt, pan, etc. Some areas have better aerials that others. The areas I was most interested in had poor aerial resolution . Hope this helps anyone.

OK, OK. Since we're all clear here and I know you are after jacks and cottonbutts, I'd say the .17hmr. I hear some gun manufacturers (especially the savage) have a few bad apples in the batch. If you get a bad apple that won't give you an absolute great group, I'd send it back. That's just what I have heard. I haven't bought the things in bulk to know by experience . You should be able to make head shots on jacks up to 100 yards if you shoot off a pod. Hey, seriously, how do you cook those jacks? That's worse than eatin' a carp, or crap, whatever (no offense intended). I've tried them a few times, and each time I promise myself it's the last! I think it's great you can stomache those things.

If you are going to be hunting coyotes much, I recommend a 223. Got one and I love it. 22 hornet won't be a bad choice either. The new 204 is freakin sweet. Look into the .17 rem as well. Puts that 17 grain v-max at ~4000 fps. I know that is not what you want, but a .22 mag and .17 don't get the job done very well at 100 plus yards. My buddy shot a fox at 30 yards (lung shot) with a .17hmr and the thing went 350 yards before it died. I know it should have put it right down, but for some reason it didn't. If you are dead set on a 22 mag or .17, please don't let me rain on the parade . Don't get me wrong, those are two great calibers for smaller game and close distance varmints. Just my two cents and some advise from experience. Take it or leave it.

I tell ya what. Those granola rollin, stinkin, messy haired, teva wearin, irrational ludacrous hippies are up to no good. They base their efforts to save the earth on emotional biases that have absolutely no scientific proof. As a matter of fact, most of them are after $$$ so they can buy up state lands and lock it up and post it "no hunting". They sue BLM, forest circus, etc for supposed environmental impacts and use the endangered species act as leverage. They do not understand the concept of common sense and conservation. It makes me sick every time I think about what they believe and what they get away with in the court system. Anyway, I think we can all agree we are all conservationists here on the forum. A conservationist uses resources but at the same time finds ways to create a sustainable resource and or minimizes the impact. An environmentalist says it can't be used, killed or disturbed...period. Like Lark said, it is unfortunate that the extremists were able to adopt the name environmentalist for themselves. They should be referred to as the whiny little stinky long-haired tree-huggers.

Yep. I've definitely been seeing predators. As a matter of fact, saw a lion on Saturday. Couldn't hammer down with my stick flinger though. I whacked a coyote the saturday before. 40 grain nosler ballistic tips do their job nicely. We ought to organize a predator hunt or a series of hunts for this next year. Anyone interested? I'll be going in a few weeks when it cools off a bit. I can't drive too far or I'll have to take out a loan. I think most of us are staying close by to save on gas. Freakin' ridiculous.

There's a good spot right up the canyon. You might ask the nice lady with the locked gate. She might even give you a good deal on a bed and breakfast stay . No, seriously, you cant go wrong in unit 32. Most canyons in 32 hold nice coues. Some better than others. My bro in law had a 32 dec tag last year and we had no problem at all finding bucks.

I also think it looks like deer creek in unit 32. I thought that the first time I saw the background a couple of years ago. Although, there are hundreds of spots in units 22&23 that look just like that. No matter where it is, I want a blown up version to put up as wall paper in my office!

Well, this one is kinda good. I was out hunting with a few buddies and it was cold and rainy. There were 3 of us, and only one small pickup in the field. (not sure why we left the other vehicle at camp?) Anyway, instead of riding biyatch, my buddy says he'll ride in back. He has some kind of water suit or something, so I think, well, OK, whatever suits your fancy I tell him. (is that enough commas for ya Lark) So we're cruisin along to our glassin point, and I look back and he's gone. Me and the other buddy think he's playing some stupid joke on us like usual and is lying down under something, or hiding in the bushes. So, we stop, search in the back, and sure enough no Joe. So we head back to find him, thinking he just jumped out of the back of the truck to glass a while or something. Anyway, just up the road we see a lump on a curve in the road where a tree branch overhangs. Yeah, he got thumped and is laying in the middle of the road. Anyway, he gets up with a big 'ol grin and a dumbfounded look and jumps in...the back of the truck! What a freakin hard head.

Good hellamighty. If I think that is a dumb idea, wait till the hippies get ahold of it! That's just what we need is for some stinkin' hyenas, cheetahs and lions to get loose and roam our country and reproduce like rabbits and eat every last deer and elk on the continent. Gazelles are fast and agile for a reason! Way to go smarty pants.

Sounds like we've all had similar experiences. I have seen some whopper elk in unit 1. Holy crap. Went out last saturday for the morning and didn't see much for deer though. I had to get back to the headquarters before mid-morning. I could hear the wife crackin' the whip down in the valley from all the way up in the hills. WHOOOTTSSSHHH!!! Not worried though. I was looking at the calendar and I have nearly every weekend booked with hunts for the next few months

Looks like a good time to jump in the fun. I also work at Phelps Dodge Morenci. I am an Environmental Engineer here at Morenci. Job responsibilities include making sure we are in compliance with Federal, State, County and Local regulations. My dad is a consultant in the same field, so if you need some help let us know.

The long-hand apps allow us better draw odds. Although it may not seem like it to some of you this year, I was talking to a G&F officer a while back and he said the odds went up "significantly" because of the suspension of internet apps. Like BASS said, the internet was nice, but too easy for EVERYONE to put in. That of course lowers your draw odds. I'd give up convinience any day if that meant giving me a sliver of an advantage to draw a Dec coues tag or an archery bull tag. But that's just me. I thought is was a great idea to make us pay upfront and make a license mandatory. Ya gotta pay to play. I know, that part can become real controversial, but the bottom line is this: when you require $$$ upfront, we will see a decrease in "weekend warriors", and the true hunters will get more tags. Oh, that's us! There were alot of people putting in with internet apps because it was so easy and only costed $5! Good luck next year in the draw!

didn't know we had moose in AZ??? That is a cool set.

I second that motion. Watch out for those Klumps!

I like anything with Character. Like the corkscrew drop tine shed someone posted recently. If a buck went 70 inches with that corkscrew drop, that is a trophy rack just for the uniqueness. I would shoot a cactus buck, regardless of size. Typicals need to be 90+ in my book. That's my 2 cents.

Good job everyone. Got my gobbler the first 15 minutes of the hunt in April. Holy crap was it awesome. The hunt will be featured in a video that is anticipated to be released in July or August. Can't release the name of the video just yet...It's not complete. I took the wife, and she is now hooked on hunting. She even said we could go hunting on our anniversary this year! I'm a lucky man. We hit Big Lake that afternoon. We were able to connect with a limit pretty quick. Lotsa snow aroud the area. The next morning we made a few stops on the way home to call some dogs. We got four to respond, but only got three. The one I missed came in from behind and spotted us before I could get positioned in his direction. It was quite a trip. The gobbler weighed 18.5 lbs, and had a 9" beard. I'll email the pics to Amanda. They'll be posted soon. Take care of yourselves, and take care of a dog or two...it's fawning season.

I'm sure you have all heard this but here it is again. "This year will go down in history! For the first time, a civilized nation has full gun registration! Our streets will be safer, our police more efficient, and the world will follow our lead into the future!" A quote from the one and only Adolf Hitler. Need I say more?

Wow the ideas are flowing. I'm glad it's the game and fish that has to make all the decisions and not me! You guys sound like a hard-to-please crowd. Of course, if we lived in a perfect world we could get a December rifle coues tag OTC. Oh man what hunting opportunites used to be! I know the populations have bounced back in a few areas this year. We have had decent rains for a few years now...at least 18-24 months anyway. I saw quite a few more fawns last year than in recent past, and lots of yearlings and fawns this year. I'm not saying the increase of tags we are seeing should be instigated, but it seems to me there are a few more animals out there. I do agree with the idea of the G&F running the show like a business. It should be ran like a non-profit and they should cut all the stinkin' studies on endangered species, etc, and charge that to another fund...charge the FWS, charge the sierra club, then they couldn't buy elk tags! I know it doesn't work that way, but we can wish. Why do hunters pay for non-game studies?!! And yeah, you'd be surprised at the price tag attached! We need to give the state flack about that. Anyway, How about that 103:100 fawn to doe ration on the kiabab this year!!! Holy crap. I wanna see that state wide. All we gosta do is a state wide cat-n-dog whack and the game population will explode. Easier said that done. Go whack a dog.

Let's get 'er done! Hey...I believe this lady has a website. She guides and does horseback tours, etc. Does anyone have the link? Seems like I have seen it in the past. Anyway, I'm sure it has a "contact us" link on the homepage. Let's send her our love and appreciation in regards to that freakin' locked gate. I'm not condoning any threats, but let's give'er heck boys. Josh, if you mean political correctness when you say PC, AMEN! Political correctness is nothing more than an idea to make the bad look good and the good look bad.