oldboy

The game and fish will offer a clinic for all the tag holders. You will get a bunch of information about how to be successful. Your hunt will be somewhat different due to winter on the North Kaibab, but you've got months to get it done. congrats!

I just got back from a hunt up on the North Kaibab. The Game and Fish had a clinic for us. This was the best 4 hours I could have spent in scouting. We got tons of information on the unique nature of the House Rock Herd and how it drifts in and out of the Park. There has been a lot of success this late summer and fall up there. I harvested mine on Saturday after 9 days in the field.

There was a post a year or so about a post before that of a hunter in unit 9 and 10. I tried to access the link and it would not open. Anybody ever drawn that tag? From what I understand it seems like the success of the hunt is all dependent on whether the sheep are in the Rez or not. I guess that is why it is a 3 month hunt instead of just December. After viewing the draw results today, any advice would be helpful before scouting begins

Some us are a bit slower than the rest on learning this posting stuff. The reply I saw was from last year I thought. That is why I re-replied to try to restart the topic. Then I had an error message and thought my new post actually did not post when it did. Sorry for the litter on the page.

There was a post a year or so about a post before that of a hunter in unit 9 and 10. I tried to access the link and it would not open. Anybody ever drawn that tag? From what I understand it seems like the success of the hunt is all dependent on whether the sheep are in the Rez or not. I guess that is why it is a 3 month hunt instead of just December. After viewing the draw results today, any advice would be helpful before scouting begins

I just tried to open that link for unit 9 and 10 info for bighorns and it did not open. Does anybody have any other info on this hunt? After the draw news today it would be real important .

yep, I found my units on the receipt. Thanks Wow, I'm still in shock. This is the year.

Holy Moly! my card got hit for $265.00. I got drawn for sheep. The problem is that with all my statistical research I did, I can't figure out from my notes which units I put in for. Do I have to wait for two weeks for our wonderful Game and Fish to sort through all the cancelled and declined credit cards to post results or is there a way to review my application I did on-line and see what I put in for?

Guys, give the rains a chance. The monsoons will hit at some point. Maybe they'll be late, maybe they'll be on time, but there will be some hope between now and August.

The whole unit holds bulls. Nearly everything said is true with great advice. Don't try to pack in some place though. There are certainly remote areas in Unit 6a but the temperatures can reach nearly 90 degrees in September. I've been on hunts where four of us have worked until one in the morning struggling to get a bull in just a mile or two in. Had we not retrieved it that night, it would certainly have spoiled by noon the next day. I've heard the horror stories by others tracking elk until late at night and not beating the clock the next day as the sun rises and the heat sets in. I've been so tempted to hike deeper into some of the wilderness areas of the unit, but it is just not feasible in September with a big'ol bull you need to cool down. Good Luck on your hunt!

Thank You. That's all I wanted.

I'm sorry to say to anybody still following this but the AZ Game and Fish has given me no reply. No justification for their actions, no "I'm sorry you're right we'll look into it", nothing. It has been a little frustrating to me. It has been two weeks tomorrow since I found the bear. I mailed the letter on Saturday from Flagstaff and they should have recieved it Monday or Tuesday of last week. It seems to me somebody with in the dept. could have made a freindly call or sent a letter by now. I didn't think my letter was too over the top or overly aggressive or angry. Somebody should have respnonded to me. If I ran the customer relations at my business like that I'd be out of business. God Bless, Oldboy

I found the bear. I wrote the letter, and as my correspondence dispalyed, I would like to give our Game and Fish dept. the opportunity to respond. I never intended for this to be made public. There are many issues regarding such a terrible incident. The letter is entirely composed from my experience and perspective. I believe the Game and Fish deserves a right to respond to me on this. I'd just like to respond to all of you passionate hunters as I am, that we must uphold very high standards for our conduct in the field. Our sport depends on it. God bless!

My ten year old son and I were unsuccessfull in the first deer draw but we did pick up a couple tags in the second draw for unit 35a. I'm embarrassed to ask for advice but we live in Flagstaff and Elgin is a long way to travel to scout. My 12 year old daughter has a junior elk hunt the week before my sons hunt and I've got a 6a west archery hunt in two weeks. As you might guess my wife would not be too happy about another weekend of scouting in a place 6-7 hours away. Our family drove through this unit last March over Spring Break and the Huachucas and the Canelo hills looked great! How are they for access? I've hunted the Galiuros many times and my son and I are not afraid to back pack. Actually that would be our preferrence. I'd be glad for any advice. Thanks Old Boy

Thank you for the information. I'll start looking at maps and checking those draws coming up out of Parker Canyon. I drove through there last sping and it all looks like great country. After this morning though we'll only be looking for my sons deer. I killed a small carp before work this morning. It is my first archery kill and I'm pretty Jazzad up right now! Thanks for your response Oldboy

All of my hunts behind Mecers were backpack hunts, I understand as well as anybody the beauty and isolation of a wilderness hunt, and I have shot a few nice ones up there off Maverick Mnt. and Biscut Peak. But HOLY MOLY, to access this country over land from the Mercer Ranch adds another 8-10 miles to the adventure. We have come in from the Four Mile Creek side, but dealing with Lackner makes Mercer seem pretty level headed. He rode his mule with about 8 hounds right through our camp and let it urinate right next to my tent, splatterring pee all over it. The next year he posted every spring along four mile creek with "NO CAMPING WITH IN 1/4 MILE" signs. When we finally ran out of water options we ignored the signs and set up camp. Two days later 'Ol Ed Lackner comes riding in with one of his USFS range officers. One of the "good 'ol boy" types and tells us to leave. No citation given and we refused to leave. They rode out. Upon my return I called the unit manager of AZ G& F. I was told that a private citezen can not hang those signs, and the camping by water law does not apply to creeks, rivers, or natural springs when another water source is available. Heck Four Mile Creek is an intermittent creek with water every 1/4 mile. He hung those signs totaly illegaly and tried to bluff us out'a there with his Range Buddy from the USFS. I sent letters to the Coronado National Forest Safford district and got no reply. So thus, the next time I pull a 32 October whitetail tag, I either need to get real lucky that I'm one of the first 25 folks to contact Mercer, or deal with Mule PEE! You could guess I'm a little frustrated. I'm leaving tonight to start scouting Carp for Friday's hunt. I suppose I'll stop by the Mercers and at least get their phone number for next year.

Talked to my Lawyer friend this morning and he told me the only real option was to work with state and federal land managers and have them force the issue. They are the legal stewards of the public property beyond and they have the only case. I guess I'm blind, or just too busy trying to stay away from other hunters that I just don't see all the vandalism that occurs during hunts. Sure I see shot up water tanks and such, but I never figured a hunter would do that. Only a Vandal with a gun. I'll write a letter to the state land dept., AZ G&F, Coronado National Forest, and probably good 'ol Rick Renzie, and see if something can get worked out. I see why the ranchers do it, I truly respect those men trying to make a living by maintianing the cowboy tradition, but I have never destroyed their property and it sucks they just call us all vandals and lock us out.

Not done yet! Just opened up my second afterwork beer and had an idea. If our wonerfull "environmentalist friends" are capable of bringing most land management agencies to their knees by a flury of frivelous law suits, why can't we? Think of it for a second, if ranchers who deny access to public lands were sued by multiple individuals becuase they were locking gates and prohibiting us access, and stuck paying the legal fees to defend their actions, it would not take long before the lock becomes too expensive. I think we have a strong case. We pay income taxes and a portion of that money goes to the Dept. of Agriculture. We pay taxes and every pair of binoculars, bullets, tent, waders, backpacks, etc. that goes to wildlife management. We buy hunting liscences and tags, we donate to wildlife organizations etc. In dollars and cents, we pay far more in percentage of what we harvest than any Rancher pays in his lease. Access easements should be a "NO BRAINER!" I personally couldn't afford the cost of an attorney to levey a suit, but when I figure the cost of $20.00 a year to drive across Mercers Ranch for 1 mile, in ten years that's $200.00. I'd pitch that in now if others were willing and we talked to lawyers and figured out what we could do. I have a very good friend who is a lawyer and could at least tell me if this could work.

The situation is frustrating. I love hunting the Galluros and only through a fluke this year myself and companions will not be backpacking in behind Mercers for our hunt. I accidently put in for Unit 32 Carp, and will be hunting the lower country instead. My question though is why doesn't the appropriate land management agency excercise eminant domain and force a rancher who denies access to thousands of acres of public lands into granting public accesss easement? Our government infringes apon the rest of our private property rights, why not this? Why can't they re-write their grazing contracts to allow for public access. It is rediculous that a large part of our land is completely off limits except to those who pay a grazing fee. I'm not educated enough on how much money that is and I respect the guys who are trying to make a living out there running cattle. But...... THEY DON'T OWN IT! WE DO, AND THEIR RUNNING CATTLE ON IT AND WE CAN'T HUNT IT AND THAT JUST SEEMS LUDICROUS!

I've got the same time line but I'll be glassing a pear flat below the rim for bear. Good Luck to All!

I feel like such an idiot with my hunting partners. We have hunted the Unit 32 whitetail hunt for the past 6-7 years. We back pack in and just love it. We've had such awesome wilderness hunts and enjoyed pretty good success. However I put in for all of us this year and mistakenly put the hunt numbers for the Oct 28th mule deer hunt on our application. Well we pulled the tag. I' ve never had any interest in cruising around in those low desert foot hills for carp, but it looks like I will be. Does anybody have any suggestions on where to go in unit 32? I don't need specifics, just " foot hills around Klondyke" or "down south by the winchesters". I've killed six whitetails down there but never have seen a mule deer since we always hunt high. I appreceate your help Oldboy

What I think is pretty interesting though is that hunter success rates have remained fairly consistent even with all of the the technology that is available to us hunters. Sure we've been in a drought scenerio for the past decade or so, (save last winter in Northern and Central Az) and this might skew the success numbers a bit. But the only guys who are going to invest the $$$ needed for all of the gadgets and gizmos are passionate hunters. What will probably change with this technology is the quality of animal harvested. Most folks willing to invest the cash necessary for a Lazer Range Finder, Motion sensing cameras, sent proof suits, Swaroski Bino's, tree stands or blinds, are the people who would have filled their tags more times than not. Almost anybody who visits this site is a HUNTER and lives for that pre-dawn one hour hike during the season for 355 +/- every other day of the year. If the technology allows any of us to gain a better animal, is it really that different. Except an older harvest grade animal has been killed versus a smaller imature critter. So with the Sunset Loop closed at this time does anybody know if there is any reliable water in there to back pack too? I was thinking about base camping from a spike camp somewhere between Cassidy spring and Paddy's river. I enjoyed the discussion Old boy

I live in Kachina Village and drive out the 700 road all the time. A great place to camp with a big rig like yours is to take the Kelly Canyon Exit east bound off the freeway. About a mile up the road you will intersect at a "T" with the 700 road. travel south, (right hand turn) until you reach the 236 road, ther is a huge meadow there with alot of room for camping. I don't remember the road number, but just before the 236 road there is a right hand turn which will take you back to a more secluded meadow which is a little farther off the 700 road which is traveled very heavily. You can scout it and decide whether you want to beat your rig driving down it. We've had a few family reunions in there. A-1 Mountain road is still open for camping, just drive right on past the new development which is only about the first mile. Good luck on you hunt! I'd try any of the country back behind Mounaire and over towards Lake Mary Rd. A friend of mine really likes the area between A-1 Mountain and Fort Valley. It is a great tag. Oldboy

thanks for your help, and will appreceate any other help I can get. Oldboy

Man, I'd just say have fun. My best is a 92", but heck! I've shot much less. I have buddy's who hold out for big bucks and sometimes they get one. I like to fill my tag, and have for quite a few years now. Last year I shot a low 80's buck two hours into the hunt. I was a little disapointed. I shot the first the first bolting buck out of the thicket. The 100 class buck I saw the rack on, but not the body was running close behind. I glassed the rest of the 4 days I had to hunt. I saw nothing better. One year I shot a spike that took me four days to find a set of antlers. I'd just say.. " you're young! Have fun and just hunt for what you want!" oldboy