trophyhntr

megahunter6969, We hunted 12A west, south towards the Nat park boundary. I like to glass mostly so that is what we did. In some of the areas we found the bucks in during our scouting, you could not glass very far. We hunted at about 7500 feet of elevation. We tried the lower stuff during one scouting trip and one day of hunting but didn't find anything. They had not moved into the lower stuff which makes the glassing easier. We had to work so we couldn't the entire hunt. Any tips you can through my way would help for next time or for this weekend becasue we are going back up for the Saturday and Sunday hunt. By the way, I did see a buffalo in the back of a truck opening moring. He said he got from the West side and I talked to forestry service about it and he said he saw some on the westside that same morning. That was pretty cool. Eddie elweazel@yahoo.com

Scottyboy, Great story and sweet looking bucks!! The pictures are awesome. That some beautiful country you are hunting. Do you ever go into 35B north of Nog. airport in February will patrolling?

Great story. Awesome bucks! So are you showing off your buck or your "guns" or both? Just kidding. Thanks for sharing.

megahunter6969 That is one heck of a buck. Awesome job! We were up there and could not "the spot" holding the big buck. We scouted two weeks before the opener and they had some control burns near the area that we hunted. We saw some big bucks during that scout but did not find anthing during the hunt. It was a tough hunt. We saw small forks and a few small 3x's but nothing like the pig your brother shot. What elevation did you find them at? Did you still hunt or glass? Congrats again.

Those are some great deer. Hopefully they are hooked for life on hunting. Scott, is that caliber of buck uncommon for the area? I looks like a Bab. type muley and even those don't grown on trees.

What did you say the GPS coridinate were? Just kidding. Great pics. Is your trail cam set up over salt or water or trail? Thanks for sharing.

Great job, nice bull. There should be a number (like 50 or 100) added to all the scores if you get a bull/buck with a bow. I get "buck fever" when I'm within archery range of anything and necessarily with a rifle. Thanks for sharing.

Great job Josh. All that scouting really pays off.

That's definately a shooter buck. Cool pics. I have to look into getting a trail camera.

Those are some awesome pics. That's one heck of honey hole you found. What did you say the GPS coordinates were? Jusk kidding. Hopefully we can find some hogs like that in Unit 22 during the December hunt for my girlfriend and little bro. Thanks for sharing.

Great pics. Thanks for sharing. Good luck on your hunt. On a side note, how do you decide where to put the salt licks? Is there a trail nearby?

I know this is a couse deer site but I couldn?t resist. My father, older brother, friend and I were drawn for this 12A W October rifle hunt. I have never hunted the rifle hunt. I usually hunt the archery hunt but the family wanted to try this. Anyways, I am not asking for hunting spots. I just wanted bounce some ideas around based on knowledge of an area I've hunted for many years during the archery hunt, what to expect with the other hunters, weather, and hunting methods. I assume it is not more of a problem with other hunters as it is during the archery season. PS. My little brother has the 22 Dec. whitetail hunt and hopefully he can improve on the one I harvested a few years ago . Here is the link to the story. http://www.coueswhitetail.com/hunt_stories..._with_eddie.htm I don?t post much but I enjoy reading all the post here. Keep it up everyone. Thanks elweazel@yahoo.com Eddie

Cool pics. I never hunted behind a bird dog. Must be a blast. Thanks for sharing.

quailchaser, We took two small bucks opening day two years ago in the Superstition Wilderness Area because we did not have a lot time to hunt. It is rough but we didn't see any other hunters. I feel that there has to be big deer in there. As a matter of fact, that same year someone posted a pic of a very nice deer that was taken in the Wilderness on the last day of the season with rifle. I believe it is in the photo gallery somewhere. We hunted at 6000 feet and it snowed. Hope for snow because it make finding them while glassing a lot easier. We were about 1 to 1.5 miles in and it seemed like we climbed that high to get to our glassing point. It was dense Manzanita bush so mobility was that much harder. Long story short, anywhere in the Wilderness would be great, just have patience, dress in layers because the wind at that elevations is brutal, and glass glass glass. I will see deer for sure. I love the place and hope to hunt in 24B or 22 next year. Eddie

For the sake of this discussion and information that may be helpful to others, let assume some situations. 1. Assume that the weather is cold but no to very little snow has fallen and melts that day. The freeze at this point has not killed all the browse. Would elevations between 6500 and 7000 feet still be a place to start? (That where I been hunting during the archery season). The area is mixed conifers where you cannot get on a high point and glass (like I like to hunt). 2. Assume nasty weather in which there is snow on the ground and it doesn't melt off during the hunt. Most of the browse is brown and appears dead. Would elevations between 5500 and 6500 feet be a place to start looking? Should I be looking in and around canyon? I assume that waterholes are visited less frequently and only at night during this hunt. There will be three to four scouting trips before the hunt. Should we scout in the month of October or start in the middle of September. I would think that the closer to the hunt the better. Right? By the way, I do not expect that we will get a bruiser like what you guys are describing but it would be nice to able to see buck(s) while we are out. coueshunter, I sent you an email.

BASS, I'm not sure what G&F regs say but the Forestry Service frowns on that. Screwing or nailing and cutting anything in live trees is a big NO NO. In addition, leaving items in the forest (platform not nailed or screwed in) longer than 14 days is considered littering. I asked about construction of a temporary platform is a flat area for the duration of the hunt. F S stated, things not being used everyday need to be taken down. So I asked about tree stands and tents. He did not have an answer for me but stuck to his original statement. He also said that he would probably site a person for doing that.

WOW! Wow! Do you guys have those big deer tried up just for yourselves. Kidding. How many days on average do you and your brother spent hunting during the rut. You guys must put in your time in some good areas. Good luck to you for the rest of the season. Hopefully, you'll get one in january like last year.