BirdDog20

I kid with my hunting buddies here in Texas whether they "culled" or "baited" their deer instead of "got", "harvested", or "killed". Talking to non-hunters around here, I always find myself wanting to explain open-range hunting in Southern AZ versus leased hunting over feeders that is so prevalent in Texas. That's what keeps me coming back home. Hunting here so often isn't hunting. You sit in a blind, the dinner bell goes off and you shoot the one you want / can afford. They do have public land hunting in the National Forest which I'm starting to investigate further. No baiting there. Have to read the terrain ... but your average shot is cut way down due to lack of visibility. Different type of challenge setting up a tree stand in the right area by reading the sign and lay of the land.

Flying out today with my son to help my father in 36B glass and carry. Can't wait. His first trip out to AZ for deer. I'll start to look into youth hunts maybe next year. So looking forward to it.

Having hunted 36A or 36B for several years and even having our truck broke into by illegals, I decided to go ahead and ring the perimeter of our camp with some camp alarms. My dad, being the tinkerer he is had created some alarms he uses for fishing. We had two of those and ran the rest with aluminum cans. We sleep in the back of the truck, but we went ahead and set up the tent as a diversion. Since most all the camps were down in the flats, it was nice to have a little piece of mind to know that we'd be alerted if someone were approaching our camp while we were sleeping. (Let's see if the youtube links / embedded vids work). http://youtu.be/3Te0OJ1D2zw <iframe width="480" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/3Te0OJ1D2zw" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> Camping in Southern AZ - Unit 36B where illegals are rampant and somewhat brazen, we set up the perimeter of our camp with fishing line and alarms. http://youtu.be/Dtfb_7zWGyo <iframe width="480" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Dtfb_7zWGyo" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> My dad was a bit of an over-actor in his demo. Lol.

He used a magnetic switch which triggered an audible alarm and built a slide mechanism with a coat hanger to slide that switch when the arm is raised (by the fishing line).

Loved the write up and the pics.

It makes me wish i had bought a lifetime hunting license before i left the state. But I didn't have the money just getting out of college. Have the funds now ... but I haven't lived in-state for 20 years now. I hate the 10% non-res rule. I come back every year ... pay $384 combined non-res license + tag not including transportation. At least this year, I did pull a 36B Dec hunt. My dad is still in Tucson and I come back to help him glass and carry even if i don't have a tag. Bringing my son back for the first time this year now that he is getting old / strong enough to hike the distance.

I use old gatorade bottles. i always take more than I need because you never know when you'll need that extra reserve especially if you get a huge one or got hurt.

What an impressive buck! Congratulations. I think that you stalked to within 300 yards made it all the better too. Well done.

Good stuff. Loved the story. Sounds like a lot how my dad and I hunt. Cherish those moments!

Thanks all. I will have a GPS on me this year just cuz I want to see exactly how far I hoof it to my glassing spot. So coords won't be a problem when I have a cell signal. About 4 years ago, some illegals broke into our truck. Took my trail running shoes, peanutbutter and bread. dang I liked those shoes. If I had visual on the truck, I would have put a shot across the bow to get them to move off. We do usually leave water out for anyone who has an emergency (just so they don't have to break in).

I've lived out of state for the last 20+ years, but will be making my annual migration back to Southern AZ. Coming in November to help my dad on his hunt, then driving back for my late hunt tag (36b). I never did pick up the border patrol number but i've seen several people say that they've contacted them before. Does anyone have the BP hotline?

Were you camped in the flats (and ATV up)? We usually camp at the end of jeep trails higher up. Even so, we saw a group move through our canyon. Took them 20-30 minutes to get through what I had considered a dead end canyon.

Hiking stick is in the lower picture. Holding it with his right hand. Probably a bad picture of it b/c it only shows the snout. It's actually a yucca stick with the top wrapped in leather cept his has a snout atop his. (I declined to have mine so adorned. ) We've used these same ones for the last 12 years or so. Great to steady your binoculars for a quick glass. Carry the deer out whole, so it helps with balance. He made the knife by boiling out the bone, using a belt sander to create the blade and filling the bone w/ epoxy to hold the blade in place. The handguard and the end piece he fashioned out of silver. Pretty sweet. I want one.

My father basically made this knife from scratch using an broken, old discarded file, and a boiled out leg bone from one of our camp meat kills. I think the results were outstanding. I think he's making another knife from the one we pulled this year. He puts some crazy things together in his spare time. Here he has topped his hiking stick with a javelina snout. Lol. (picture of a decent pickup rack that i found last year).

Haha. Simply awesome. Love the commentary.

Lol. Awesome story. Congrats.

Three years ago, our truck got broken into while we were hunting. They took my trail running shoes, peanut butter and bread. Fine with the pb and bread, but dang it, those were good shoes. This year, I set up an extra tent and ran fishing line around the perimeter of the camp tied to aluminum cans and a couple of trip alarms. Fortunately with the New Moon, i don't think there was much activity this last week ... you can't see to walk at night without a flashlight which these guys are too poor to buy and/or wouldn't want to use for fear of giving away their position. I did see some very interesting things in 36B this trip though. You see the usual trash, backbacks, waterbottles, discarded clothes, etc. We happened across a very well used trail. Heavy plastic and some lean-to shelters built around some low hanging trees, I'd imagine in order to evade the infrared vision from the helicopters. We usually camp high up, at the end of jeep trails. I had heard from some of the camps down low in the flats that the illegals were getting pretty brazen, walking into camp opening coolers, etc. Last year, I saw a group of 8 go through our canyon and over the peak when i was hunting in the afternoon. Straight up what I thought would be impassable cliffs. Funny thing is that the border patrol has sensors set up on a lot of passes which tips them off when these guys goes through. Talked to the BP the next day at the checkpoint and they had caught 6 and were looking for the other 2. I agree. Sidearm is a must.

All jazzed up and ready to go. Flight leaves tomorrow at 8pm. Get into Tucson at 10p. Heading to the mountains to camp on Thursday. For the last 15 years, I've lived out of state. I still regret not getting that lifetime license, but I was a poor college student back then. How much money it would have saved over the course of 15 non-resident hunting trips? Tucson is where I grew up and Southern AZ is where I hope to eventually have my son hunt. My dad is 72 and still gets up those mountains, though not as fast as he used to. I make it a point to get back for this yearly tribute. I live in Texas now, and I still can't bring myself to pay someone to hunt on a lease and over a feeder. That's not hunting, it's culling. I'd rather pay for a plane ticket and non-resident fees for a real hunt. Hoping to add to the trophies, but in the end, the time spent and the whole experience is priceless. Enjoy them while you can.

Lol. One of the reasons it took 6 years to get a 4 year engr degree was because you could find me in the mountains on Tues and Thurs in 36a and 36b. Prioirities i guess. Still hit those old spots. Trouble is finding new ones as hunting pressure and mines encroach on habitat.