Coach

I've been wondering this a long time, and just thought I'd throw it out there. I'll start with Mule deer. Of course, the North part of AZ, along the strip is the home of giant bucks. The Navajo Nation on the N/ NE portions of Az, the Jicarila in NW NM, Southern Utah, SW Colorado, extreme Southern AZ and into Mexico are all destinations for monster mule deer. Even unit 27 in AZ, at one time was loaded with big mulies, and huge numbers of deer. I remember one of my first hunts in AZ ever, I went to Alma NM, then back into AZ, and there were deer everywhere, and some really nice bucks. I had no glass, and no idea what I was doing but I still saw huge mule deer and had opportunities at some bucks I would love to see again, with a little more knowledge to go on. Maybe it's just me, but it seems like whenever I travel to Southern Utah, SW Colorado, West New Mexico, even NE AZ, there are tons of mule deer, and great genetics, that spread down into Mexico, but the central portions of AZ seem to have low-to-medium density, and modest trophy quality. It seems like much of AZ is almost a void compared to all of the areas around us. Same habitat, same feed from what I can tell, just lower numbers and smaller bucks. And to Antelope/Pronghorn. Yeah, we've got some, and sometimes a monster shows up, but the same kind of country you see in central/eastern AZ that is rolling hills and grasslands that has some decent herds of antelope pale in comparison to what you seen in the exact same country in neighboring states. It seems every time time drive to NM or CO, I know I've crossed the border when I start seeing antelope everywhere. It's the same country - but something is clearly different. Anyone else notice the same thing?

Lots of valid points raised here. I spent today looking for Grouse up around Green's Peak. My brother-in-law and I walked miles up and down the hills and saw not a single grouse. The habitat is perfect for them, and I know they are there because he has taken a few this year. I think this is key to my original question. When we have the habitat, the feed, in most cases a minor predator impact, why don't we have more success in recuperation of the species that could and should prosper here? Clearly, it's somewhere between habitat and management - I'm leaning toward management. I think this state has the ability to host healthy coues, mule deer, elk, turkey, grouse, predators like fox and bobcat - and it does - no question about it, these are all things that hard working hunters can achieve. But they all can be managed better and made more abundant with some more insight into the way laws are written, quotas established, by the people who actually are out there day-to-day and really understand the land and the animals.

It's always fun to read all the great hunting stories out there, and follow along like you are rigtht there with the hunter. There's been a lot of great stories out here lately that are documented with some amazing video to go along. Clearly, part of this has to do with just being very aware of the little things - the dew drop here, the sun setting, the tired hunters, the worm munching on a leaf, the way water flows through rocks. It's all the stuff I love about a hunt - all the types of things I notice, but have no clue where to start to incorporate into documenting a hunt on film with all the subtle camera work and music. It's something I would really like to learn how to do, but I don't even know where to start. There is no shortage of these vids - I recall one from Utah last year (backpack trip), another on a youth deer and javi hunt recently posted, of course, Addict's Ibex hunt. Any steps in the right direction are greatly appreciated.

Neat - never seen that before.

That's pretty neat! Thanks for sharing!

Nice job! Glad to see you guys were able to get them both on deer. Congrats to your boys.

Happy belated birthday to Peg. I hope you and TJ had a great day.

I'll get this started... When... Everyone has an old "football" injury. Everyone confirms that whiskey and whatever will give you less of a hangover than beer. Everyone remembers the old days when things were "WAAAAY Better". Everyone has a crude joke that is a little too close to home. The younger cats, you know, fresh out of school, newly married, some with kids have some advice they feel it is their duty to share with YOU, Everyone has a recipe for everything. Enough garlic and red pepper, a piece of rubber off a tire is edible. We used to talk about girls, and how to attract them, and now we talk about weird hair and how to stop it. Belly fat is no longer about beer, it's about what we eat after 7 PM. We start to tell you something really important, then remember we need to take a wiz, then come back and realize, it wasn't that big of deal afterall. You guys willl figure it out.

IMO, Cabela's today is nothing at all like the company it used to be. You used to get really good prices, cheap shipping, customer service that was second to none. Since they went public and started putting up stores everywhere I think their prices have gone through the roof, and their shipping is expensive because they don't even try to be efficient. Some of the last things I ever bought from Cabelas were small but shipped in a huge box stuffed with packing. Their customer service has also gone way down hill. For almost 20 years, close to 90% of my hunting and fishing purchases were from Cabela's. Now, the only things I'll buy there are things I can't get somewhere else. I love their boots (Perfekt hunter) but there are enough great products out there with the same quaility, better customer service, and as others have mentioned, buying from the smaller guys whenever possible helps keep the smaller shops with families to provide for afloat.

You guys did GREAT! Huge congrats. Some really great bucks right there!

Awesome buck - he is absolutely gorgeous! Huge congrats on working hard and achieving your goal.

Definately turn him in. Since you actually talked to him, I'm assuming you could give a pretty good description. It's things like this that make me think it would be a good idea for G&F to stop by all the camps in heavily hunted hunted areas and get an idea who is out there. Then if someone like yourself comes forward, they have something to go on. Sure am sorry to hear about your hunt being ruined, and glad you got out of there safely.

+1 on contacting G&F. If someone is poaching them or poisoning them it needs to be looked into, IMO.

Not sure if these are stil made but the Under Armour Speed Freaks are really a great boot for light hunting. I've put mine through countless turkey hunts, bull in unit 1, etc. They aren't great for really rocky terrian, but they fit the bill for places where you need a light boot.

Looking like leftover soup for my boys.

I doubt the kind of low-life who would steal a trail cam would visit this site. But if you are out there, and you are the kind of scumbag that would steal from a fellow hunter, you are lower than dirt. I honestly don't know where this mentality comes from. Surely these dirt-bags have a home, even a car to move around. How would you feel if someone broke into your home and started taking whatever they wanted? Is it just bad upbringing that makes certain people OK with stealing something? Man, I could go on a tirade about how low you have to sink, how morally bankrupt you have to be, to take what isn't yours.

Here's a little twist to consider. Like just about everything from glass, to bullets to campers or tents, the perfect gun for this animal, the best broadhead for that, the best glass - the best glass on a budget.. What you are asking for is the very best tripod out there. In hunting there's no perfect anything - everything has a trade-off. I've spent way more money than I should have experimenting with equipment. To be honest, the absolute best tripod I have found for hunting in AZ and NM under almost all conditions is the Slik Sprint Pro. I've got the big Bogen 3225G which is necessary for a Spotting scope, or standing up with big optics. I'd say 95% of the time I'm sitting, and the $100 slik tripod weighs in at around 2 pounds and can handle 15x56 swaros very well. If I need to glass standing up or use a spotter, the Bogen fills that need. My point is, there probably isn't one tripod that does everything perfectly. When I go out with my boys, each of them has a Slik Sprint Pro and the Jim White adapter. Between thier 8x42 glass, my Swaros in 10x42 and 15x56, these little cheap tripods are the work horses we rely on. When there is no need to carry a heavy or bulky tripod they seem to do it all.

I live in Lakeside and grew up here. IMO, if you are looking for a really high quality hunt, 3B is very iffy. I know of and have seen some great bulls taken in 3B, but the consistency just isn't there. Unit 1 is much bigger, has a much larger herd and has a lot more diversity in hunting opportunites. Given the choice, I'd take Unit 1 over 3B 100% of the time.

Barnes 62 grain TTSX or 70 grain TSX. I agree with your comment about it being like archery placement. I've never shot a deer with a .223 but I don't see why it wouldn't do the job with good placement, and reasonable yardage.

Guys, let's all set our beer down. It isn't global warming or global cooling, it's about strange weather patterns we've seen that could not be predicted. Massive droughts in the midwest. Massive flooding in the NE. Yeah this kind of stuff happens every few years, old farmers are used to it. When it's time to sweat the ME farmers, they will sweat - when it's time to let them harvest, they will harvest. Nature provides and government takes.

Congrats on drawing the "dream tag". I hope you make it a really fun hunt, and enjoy your time out there. Sometimes these tags come with a lot of pressure. My hope is that you can push that aside and just enjoy the little things that make a hunt fun, but still focus on the goal. Did I mention, keep it fun??? I can't wait to see the stories and pictures of your hunt.

I think azffhunter did a great job of answering the question about hunting in and around the suburbs. I, for one, am guilty of arrowing many, many rabbits on Tucson golf courses when I was going to college there. In my defense, by late afternoon most of the golfers were in the clubhouse drinking, and the groundskeepers were usually really cool - they let us keep shooting rabbits, but not while the ladies were still playing. This reminds me of a thread here, and on other forums a couple years back where there was the incredible, non-typical mule deer buck hanging around town in Colorado Springs. There were pictures of it lounging and bedding near an industrial park, walking through nieghborhoods in the middle of the afternoon. It also brings to mind a video that was wide-spread about elk right in town up in Calgary or Vancouver - some freaking awesome bulls just walking down main street - in some cases actually charging tourists. For me, hunting game that has been drawn into town and gotten accustomed to people would not satisfy what I want to learn and achieve through hunting, no matter how big the rack. If shooting a big buck is the motivation that drives you as a hunter, then who cares if it is in town, half tame, fully tame, in a pen, tied down, etc? On the other hand, if you think hunting has a spiritual quality, you take this "sport" as a personal challenge to be closer to the animals you persue, learn more about the land they live on, their habits and want to grow as a hunter, then the whole idea of killing a deer that has been conditioned not to see you as a threat goes against your core ideas of what hunting really is.

I'm going with photoshop - no expertise here, but it just doesn't look right. The snow being gone around the carcass could be explained by crows and such. I really don't know anything about moose so my guess is just that.

Great looking buck! Nice mass, love the square frame. Big congrats!

I'm guessing a really muddy, smallish bear. But whatever it is, it needs to be taken out of the gene pool!