elkaholik13

Any ideas on where to go? Me and my dad drew this tag this is our first whitetail hunt we have glassed up a lot of does and seen some muleys but no whitetail bucks. Were having a good time though beautifull unit

We have the same tag haven't seen any bucks we have seen a few does and muley bucks though. This is our first time hunting whitetails but won't be our last for sure. Hopefully we can find the bucks before Thursday night. Any ideas?

Yea I'm just glad its all over its been a long 3 months.

Well let me start by saying I got my deer antlers back for the minimum bid of $200. When they started the auction there was a 6x6 bull elk europeian mount with a plaque that he was going to stat for 100 and some change but he looked up and saw us watchin and changed that to $220 when we asked why my deer was so much he stated that elk racks were a dime a dozen and deer racks were going for a pretty penny. But acording to the commission and the guys at the ASSet program its not about the money. Wile waiting for the auction to end commissioner Jack Huestead walked by and made a smart a$$ remark saying " your being hard on them to day huh" and walked away laughing. One of the ASSet guys kept pointing out my deer to people interested in the elk and then looking over twards us like he was trying to piss us off. I believe the G$F needs to look at the way their handleing these situations or there will be no one contacting them for anything anymore.

Well no luck at the commission hearing. They Denied my petition. but the put it in this years Game & Fish outdoor expo, on March 26th i would greatly appreciate it if word got out and nobody bids against me. I will be there all Saturday informing people also thanks for all your support on this.

My meeting with the commission is on Friday March 11. hopefully i will be posting good news when i get back from Phoenix on Saturday.

The way i understood it the officer had no choice. this is a new policy that the commission set up. I dont agree with this because the officer hired are not idiots they can tell right from wrong. i believe the officer should have a say in what happens. I would have gladly thrown my 2011 tag on it but i did not have one at the time and the officer stated that even if i did i would not be able to tag the animal.

On December 29th of 2010 i shot a 180 class mule deer in unit 10. I had been hunting extremely hard for this deer for most of the season. When i shot my arrow hit a tree branch and hit the deer a little far back. We had around 12" of snow on the ground when i made the shot and it was snowing steady. we decided we better try to stay on his blood trail so the snow would not cover it. After about 5 or 6 miles and jumping him from his bed a few times we decided to back off until morning and hope for the best. Well that night we got 26" of snow on top of the 12" we had. it was very difficult to get in and look for my deer. We walked in knee deep snow searching for him and even brought out snow machines. On January 8th 2011 i found the deer and called the Arizona Game & Fish. The officer came out and looked over the area i showed him the arrow i recovered after the shot. The officer stated he had no doubt it was my deer but had to take the antlers anyway. I have a hearing set up with the commission in March or April to try to get it back (haha!) but i will probably end up having to buy it at auction. I will be at the ISE show in 2012 and would greatly appreciate it in no one else would bid on my deer rack. Thanks

Same Story as Steve's I shot a 180 class mule deer during the archery deer hunt in 2010 i shot the deer on December 29th. I mad a bad shot due to my arrow deflecting off of a tree branch, we tracked the deer for 5 miles afraid that if we backed off the snow would cover the tracks and blood trail. Finally at dark we decided to back off and hope for the best that night we got 26" of snow on top of the 12" we already had. It made it very difficult to recover my deer we walked in knee deep snow looking for him and even brought out snow machines to look for him. On January 8th 2011 i found him and called the G&F. The officer came out and looked over the area and stated he had no doubt it was my deer. He took the antlers regardless, now i have to go through the commission, hopefully they will give the antlers back, but I doubt it. I will probably end up buying them at auction in 2012. I will be at that ISE show and would greatly appreciate it if no one else would bid on my deer thanks.

Nice buck Congrats! Im glad the G&F gave the deer to you, i had a similar situation at the start of the year. I shot a nice 4x4 mule deer in on the 29th of December. i was unable to find in until the 8th of January due to a big snow storm that dropped 26" of snow on top of the 12" we already had. When i called G&F the officer came out, did his investigation and stated he believed it was my deer, but had to take the antlers anyways. now i have to go through commission to try and get it back. If the decide to not give me the antlers i have to buy them in auction in 2012. Im glad you don't have to go through the same.