rabidApache

Same here.......42-44 lbs tops for me with a gallon and a half of water. No tent, but a good 10'x10' tarp which I make a Plow point shelter. 15degree down bag with a fleece liner or wool blankie if I need it and a light weight foam pad I shortened just past the knee. A 42oz stainless steel pot w/ lid. I also carry my favorite Tomahawk (3 lbs). I may carry at times a MSR ceramic filter but I rarely used it so now I don't carry if I know where I'm going. I know quite a few spots exactly where to get water straight outta the ground throughout my land. I fill straight up since it travels about 1' from source. But unfamiliar area I bring a filter. I'm a "minimalist" when backpacking especially in familiar settings. I have a spot four miles "in" I cached dry goods and emergency items in two big ammo cans hidden in my fav. deer and antler hunting area. I started with one ammo can then two which I leave for the following years. In one ammo can dry food, other can a pot & utes, flint & steel, tarp, Wyoming saw, 50-80'p-cord, and a cheapy first aid kit. If ya find the cache, your welcome to use it, just replenish the food.

Good luck on the draw. There maybe more lions about but there's also more deer , can't have one without the other. One thing about predator and prey relationship is they keep each other in check. A Tommy lion is the ultimate deer, elk, coyote, feral horse, dog, cattle and the best lion killing machine on the planet.

I make my own "pemmican" food/energy bars. Its easy to make and lasts for weeks. My Apache "powerbar" is deer jerky minced/hammered into fine powdered jerky. Its then mixed with ground acorn and roasted pinion nuts and hand formed into cakes. I dry'em and wrap in paper towel. Awesome stuff for the back country....high calories packed into a small package and tastes great. There's plenty of info on the web if your interested in making your "pemmican". Carry a good Titanium or stainless pot w/ lid. When back at camp boil water to purify should anything happen to your Water purifier.

Patients and choosing only stalkable quarry. I choose to hunt in windy conditions, slight precip or moisture. Not all bucks are stalkable into my bow range (under 35yds).I know archers capable of slinging arrows over 70yds but in real hunt situation I think accuracy suffers.The bows of today is capable no doubt about that.. but human error increases at longer distance. Plus I hunt with primitive gear so my hunt begins at 70yds! I attempted four stalks and finally felt comfortable with a shot and I took a nice eater coues buck at 32yds this past hunt. Patients and confidence...good luck.

Used to be? It still is.....Unit D is my "backyard". Most hunters I've witnessed in unit D seem to pass some excellent country. Its rough as heck on your truck and legs but they're there. The roads are bad...I've been archery hunting in D this past few weeks. Alotta WT movement, rut seems to be getting into high gear. Within three days we found 6 different bucks. No teeners but some nice'uns. Long story short........there's one less buck in unit D this year. He's now in my freezer.

There's simply no fooling a deer nose. If a deer can smell a ripe acorn in the leaf litter at a couple feet or man at 300yds what's the point of no-scent solutions or scent gear. Animals "smell like we see". Instead of looking in a pot of stew to see what's all cooking, they simply take a big whiff. lol Wind kills or fills your freezer. A deer or elk may hear ya three times, see ya twice but it only needs to smells ya once.

Scent lock or scent eliminator= snake oil. lol

Last year I stalked four coues bucks all under 40yds, missed shots of course. When in the rut look for travel corridors, WAIT for stalkable conditions, can't stress this enough. In the rut I try to intercept bucks checking for hot does. They seemed more intent from going to A to B even in the wide open. I don't wear camo but too me the wind is everything.

I currently use a external pack with a removable pack. I also attached a small canvas bag containing saw, rice bag (meat bag), and 20'coil of P-cord and buckle straps aside from main gear pack. PROS- externals have excellent points to attach additional gear and lashing points. Less zippers to blow-out and generally a pretty rugged design. With a good heavy duty frame, it can/you can haul elk quarters. Easier to maintenance/clean. CONS- Noisy, a bit cumbersome in tight areas (low hanging brush). Proper Fitment is a must. Loads tend to shift left/right if not properly secured, unlike internals were load is secured tightly. Less pockets/compartments.

I find that if you start from the POI whether gun or archery and watch an animal expire. Don't waste a great opportunity to learn. I've learned tracking through experiences just like these. Look and learn on the tracks, don't just follow the blood. Blood is just the second insurance. Another thing is treat the immediate area almost like a crime scene. Don't let your buddies trample the area and disturb sign. Nothing worse than trying to track through people trash (disturbance). This goes especially at night, you (hunter) should be in front since you have first hand knowledge of what happened. Fresh gut matter on arrow usually will not have an odor until its dried completely if heavy blood is present. Blood smell tends to cover. Its these little attention to detail that makes the difference as a tracker.

Common on Dan, you're just messing with us. You duct taped an extra set of sheds on its head.!?Right. Lol Awesome buck! Instead of two ball sacs, I bet it had four.

heck yeah. My bro took his biggest coues 116" with this very same model gun. 300 Savage at 250yds! I love this rifle. We've killed a ton of venison with this gun.As I write this...we're getting ready to head out for SC tribal deer this AM!!!

heck yeah. My bro took his biggest coues 116" with this very same model gun. 300 Savage at 250yds! I love this rifle. We've killed a ton of venison with this gun.As I write this...we're getting ready to head out for SC tribal deer this AM!!!

Terrain is from rolling juniper hills into steep rugged canyon country. Also there's the drainages of the Black river area (Malay border to Apache NF and FAIR). Other areas of mix woodlands of pondi forest and thick oak and juniper flats. Hunter pressure consists of 5 tribal and 5 nonmembers per hunt. There's two hunts. Sept 1-15 second hunt from 16-end of sept. Excellent hunts which ever you choose IMO. I rarely encountered other hunters. Elk activity? It just depends....hit or miss. First hunt this year the bulls weren't active til the last week. Other years first hunt was awesome. Sometimes limited water sources or other times ponds everywhere. I personally like the first hunt. Still somewhat dry and water sitting can be productive. Bulls encountered this year....280-320" common. Grind it out 340-400+"! A few years back 402" Malay archery bull taken by nonmember. Most likely a Dry lake transient bull crossing the boundary. Which is very common when rut activity is high. Either way excellent hunts.

It just goes to show it's not equipment, not the "newest" calls on the market or any of that BS being aired. Just hunt. Develop tracking stalking skills know your quarry and especially the area and how they use it. 800# animal leaves alotta sign. Early in the season bulls weren't bugling so I was cutting tracks and following them. One thing I've come to know about hunting with a limited range equipment is I rely on ALL those skills all the time.

First off....it was a dead head after 3 days of search/recovery. Also my 5 rez mutts got to the head in my backyard and nawed the nose off. I shot the bull at 7 yds. Bull went approximately 1200yds before dying. At 7 yds the arrow penetrated 18-20". I figure a single lung hit since I could hear it gurgling with labored breathing at 40yds. I found 3/4 of a 32" P.O.C. arrow. Bull was slightly quartering towards when I released a cedar arrow into his vitals behind right shoulder. After the shot it got "hairy", rain thunder lightening. We came back 2-3hrs (9pm) later with 5 helpers. We left at 1am since we crossed 4 creek crossings.Roads became water canals. Next day swollen road crossings until 2pm. 8 apaches searched high and low all the next day no elk. Second day Nada. Finally on the fourth day while bulls still bugling nearby I found it. Well my great great great grandpa pointed the way. Found bear tracks crossing road with yotes nearby. Watched raves soaring and that's where I found it. I shot twice and drew four times through the entire hunt. Four bulls at less than 42yds.I missed a gimme shot at 25yds on the 3rd day, pin was off!!!haha I just shot high and missed nothing else to it. Well After that it was all a foot race. Too much people traffic and random calling.Myself haha. So the last five days no calling, ambush Indian style it was from there on. The Good luck.....that I happened on two bulls locked in combat. Bad luck there was storm front that day! Severe rain washed my chance to recover any meat. I can track....I love it...but I still have trouble tracking in water. Maybe I need to develop my nose instead. I'm still PO'ed no venison in the ref'er.

I usually keep hide on for pack outs until camp or find a nice skinning tree on the way out if its cool and you have time. If its in the field and its hot......skin and hang in shade until cool to the touch,then pack. If leaving any meat over night I move all the meat a good distance away from gut pile and hung up in a tree. Fresh meat doesn't stink and most scavengers would go to the gut pile anyway .Heavy solid meats like elk and deer hindquarters, I filet back the meat off the bone to cool. Heavy muscle and bone holds heat. When extended packing I usually separate meat cuts with fresh green juniper/cedar boas sandwiched between cuts in game bag. Helps air flow and prevents spoils. Venison usually does good even in hot conditions.....as long as its cooled immediately and hide is removed. I've never had meat go bad, most of the times I heard of meat spoilage is due to careless "killers" and not hunters.

I know there's easier ways to bring deer outta of the woods but I like my style. Hunting is hard and it should be... like my Pop's taught me from generations before him. Respect any animal "you've" killed. I like to not leave a single scrap for the rave's, or yotes except blood and gut pile. Hide is brain tanned and bucked, sinew for bows/arrows and mocc's, ribs neck spine cut up for stews or broth. Heart, liver, ribs are usually grilled at camp over coals the same night. Good times with the apache hunting party at camp with the butchering. Butchering and packing out with good buddies taking part is the whole experience IMO. Good hunting Dec 2011.

Thats what apache bears do. Raid whitemen. lol

They may not be razorsharp now but a skilled "knapper" could take them found Arrowheads and turn'em into the deadliest hunting head that is man-made. Even sharper than commercial BH, down to the molecule. I've found arrowheads and put back an edge or point on them like they were just "made" back then. So sharp you'd see the blood running before you knew you had cut yourself. I've been there done that. I can't tell from the pics, but them points look like chert or maybe flint. I use alotta obsidian and basalt to make points and tools. Last year I used a quarter sized flake of obi to fleshout a deer cape. Excellent for surgical work around the eyes, ears and nostrils. I now keep a small chunk of obi in my hunting pack just for that purpose. If I need a scapel, flake off a piece of obi. Kinda like them diposable knife blades I hear about, except its free and could be found by the truck loads .

Its like tracking. Most folks I guide/hunt with when they come across deer tracks they instantly assume a big deer track is made by a buck. Zero. Its not the track itself or the size but its the behavior of the track. Usually after following it for a few hundred yards is when I determine if its made by a buck. It takes years to learn tracking which I also apply to finding kills. I never assume skull, bones or feathers I find is a particular predators kill until I find futher evidence/behavior to determine its "demise". Fresher the better, Bleached bones is just bleached bones IMO. Yotes,wolves and feral dogs love to grab muzzles, hocks,armpits, flanks, hamstring and tails for the takedown. Lions they're like "ninjas" quick clean kills very little trauma. Bears like to brawl and wrestle. Apaches they're stealthy critters and secretive .

My personal favorite call is my own vocals. Clucks, purrs, gobble, kee kee runs and cackles no probs!! Practiced so my calls can be quiet and soft for a roosted bird to loud aggressive cutting after the fly down. I also locate call with my own vocals for yote howl and sometimes owl hoot. Last year I even cow elk chirped once to get a "tight lipped" bird to shock gobble during a hot mid day hunt. He ended up dead at 2pm. Turkeys are crazy almost stupid during the spring. I have numerous times called in toms strutting while sitting in a vehicle. Sometimes to within 30 yds. But of course, I also keep a box call for cutting the wind (Lynch's) a beat up slate (Lohman) I first bought when "Johnny's Trading post" was still open in downtown Globe back in the day. And somewhere in my turkey vest is a wingbone bone caller a hunter I guided gave to me and a ole' favorite snuff can caller.

Here's my take on spot and stalk. Slow dowwwwwwwwwwnnnnnn and take your time.Its movement that deer pickup on everytime. Even then if they spot ya remain still and be patient and wait it out. As long as the winds right you still have a chance. Watch the wind not only near you but sometimes ahead you or across a wash/canyon or even above you (ie birds). I like to not only scan with binos for the deer but look at the brush or grass movements. Picking the best times to stalk IMO ranks up there with wind direction. A bright clear calm day the worst for stalking. Everything seems to make noise and carries a long ways out. I like slightly gusty winds that create just enough movement in leaves, causing swaying branches and rustling of the ground cover. Moisture after a light rain is excellent. But whatever you decide have confidence and patience. I hunt with primitive equipment, my effective range is less than 35yds with an arrow blasting at a whooping 160fps (w/ a tailwind). I stalked to within 12yds of a bedded coues buck and doe in sparse cover this past year just by following these few steps. I missed that nice WT buck twice at less than 30yds but that was my hunt and I couldn't have been happier. Of course killing that buck what have been "icing on the cake". Good luck.

Hey hoss.......I think in November the deer are still denned up.

My bro and I have been doing excellent this year on San Carlos. I've shot 15 times with my longbow to various ducks in mid-flight (less than 20yds with wings cupped) and have a few feathers to show for it. We had a blast.... Although he/bro was my back-up with the 12ga. "shotty" he downed 11 this past weekend. Mixed bag of teal and mallards. Easy decoying. All I want is one duck with bent stick and string.