rschaumb

I appologize in advance for the long story... I started the year out with a great bang, or shall I say a fling of an arrow. I got my first bow toward the end of last year. January 1st started with a javelina on the ground at 8 in the morning. Man was I excited. First archery kill on the first day out with my bow. The fall archery deer hunt was very exciting. Seeing deer everyday. Drawing back several times but never feeling comfortable with the shot or distance to let an arrow fly. That hunt ended with mixed emotions as I was so close yet I had seen so many great bucks and even followed a nice 4x4 and an even bigger framed 3x3 on the last day until dark. I wasn't expecting much for the December archery season until my brother was within archery range of 2 different whitetail bucks while scouting for and hunting during the rifle hunt. Then two weeks before the December hunt opened I was within archery range of two nice bucks. I though, This could happen. Friday comes and I can't wait to get out there. The temps were dropping, new moon, and I had high hopes. My brother and I get out there and it is cold, raining, hailing, foggy, and windy. All morning we only jumped one small spike. They next day came with a wedding to go to in the afternoon and I was waiting for Sunday to roll around, forcasted with mostly sunny skies, which would be a relief from the previous day. But that afternoon it was only drizzling out so I decided to run out to a closer spot where I would find some mule deer. Just before arriving to my parking area my truck got stuck in the mud. I called my brother and told him to get me out before dark, I would be out hunting. Not even 5 minutes into walking to the area I wanted to glass I jumped a buck. He ran off and stopped over a hundred yards away and just stared for a little bit before running off again. I followed him around the hill where I jumped 5 does and a fawn, which all ran off across the flats. Just then it started raining. So I got up high to try to glass for that buck, hoping he had bedded down. I finally found a deer bedded across the valley but couldn't tell if it was a buck or not. I decided it was my best shot so I planned my stalk in the hour of light left. As I got close I ranged the closest tree line I could sneak to and also the tree the deer was bedded down under: 50 yrds. I had been practicing out further than that so I was preparing myself for that being the case. I got to the tree line and saw that it was indeed a buck! Only then he started staring at me. It was getting darker by the minute so I figured it was now or never. I got down low and inched my way to the edge of the tree. I ranged him once more before coming to full draw and standing up over the jumping cactus that stood between me and him. I took my aim, made sure of my grip, and let the arrow go. I knew I release a little high and time stood still after the release. But as soon as I released, seeing as he had been watching me, he jumped up to take off running. He ran twenty yards and started walking, looking around. I didn't know if I hit him or if he just got scared from the sound of the bow...until he started catching his balance and fell over right there! I couldn't believe it. My first buck at the end of my first year with a bow. I couldn't have been happier and thanked God for a perfect shot despite my poor release. Thanks for reading. (no picture in the desert due to it being dark and only had my bad phone with me.

We found one similar during the rifle season and just saw him again last week while scouting for archery season. Calling him captain hook.

Got this guy on the trail cam. He's pretty wide but not too thick. Also any thoughts on age. Just wondering. Definitely going to try to put an arrow through him this winter. deer26.wmv

First turkey tag. Early 6B as well as 22 Archery or Ham javelina. A good start to next year

Hi guys, I was wondering if there was a sound/call that would stop mullies in their tracks to give you a good archery shot. I see this all the time watching whitetail hunts on tv. They do a grunt and the deer stops and looks but I've never really seen that with mules. I just want to know if there is some way I can stop a mule deer to give myself a good shot. Thanks for your input.

This is a little late but we had some close encounters with Javelina in December while scouting for our archery and rifle hunts. And this is with the Nikon D40 18-55mm lense so no real zooming here. A little scary being this close to mamma. Hope you enjoyed

I was out yesterday and it started raining on me and I was trying to find a spot to hide from the rain and ran into this guy. [media=] [/media]

Yeah I'm just kidding. That fawn bleat sounds good. Hopefully I won't have to use it but it's good to have something up your sleeve just in case the situation isn't ideal.

Sorry guys, I think i'm going to have to go with STOP!! Sounds good to me.

The night pics are from last year and the day ones are from this year. Pretty sure it's the same buck. A 4x3 last year, a 5x4 this year. Do you guys think it could be the same one. An extra tine/shooter on each side? It's in the same spot. Can't wait for Friday to come!!

As far as the regs go, salt licks are not banned devices. The only device that is banned is the baiting of bear. This comes from R12-4-303 referencing "Device" under A.R.S 17-101 A.6

Well looks like you all know more about turkey's than I do (which isn't much). Seeing how so many were saying it looked sick I went back and sure enough he was lying dead in the same spot I left him. I think it died very soon after I left it. Wonder if it was old age or sickness.

I really don't know about if it was sick or not. I've never seen turkey in the rain before but it looked like he was just trying to stay out of the rain. It was raining pretty hard and noisy and the ground was soft so he didn't know I was there. But who knows. I just can't believe I was able to touch him.

All I have currently in my new house in terms of a freezer is the small one ontop the fridge. Due to space I can really only have a chest freezer in our shed but I'm wondering on what size would work well mainly for deer/elk meat storage. The smaller sized ones around 7 cu ft but I'm not sure if that would be enough. Does anyone have a smaller sized chest freezer and have experience on what can fit in the smaller ones. Thanks

Hey guys, I was thinking of trying the over the counter bear hunt this year since there is one in the area I'll be deer hunting. I don't want to get a mount and don't have room for a bear rug but I don't want the hide to go to waste either since many people like to use them. Is there a market for selling raw bear hides and is that even legal? I looked all through the regs and didn't find anything talking about that directly. I just want to know what to do with it if I get one this year. Thanks

It doesn't just have to be left over tag for the second right? You could get an over the counter tag too? That's how I read it..only one from the draw system and the other from some other method of getting a tag (i.e. left over, over the counter) Is that how you guys understand it?

I like the two deer in the back with the pigs.

That is a good variety of animals. Nice pics!

Thanks for the comments guys. That is it's umbilical cord. They were no more than a day old. The first picture was just a yawn but boy does the picture look scary. The last picture you can see the mom's back behind the tree. I was on the one side and the baby was circling the mom for milk and then saw me and walked right toward me. It was less than a foot from the lens. It was a little scary being that close to mom but the most she did was stand up with hair raised like the second picture.

I love looking at everyone's trail cam photos so I thought I would share one from checking my trail cam yesterday. And the video: https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/QxYcy_WIgYctaQlJH0TPCsyJGkj94ZyIm1Xjsjmsyfw?feat=directlink Sorry for the link. I'm not sure how to imbed a video from picasa.

By the way, This is from the M-80 trail cam. I really love it because it takes a good picture and then a video. Best of both worlds plus crazy battery life. I had it out for a month and it took 270 photos/videos (half photos, half videos) and has 77% battery left. And I believe that. At the end of Javelina season I had it out for over two months and still had 33% battery when I finally went to get it.

I have the M-80. It is pretty similar so I can comment on the brand and style. I really like it. I do mostly videos and I like how this cam takes a picture and then starts the video. That way I get a good MP image and also get to see the animals and how they behave. The battery lasts a really long time. It has a days left estimate on it (assuming like 5 photos a day) but it still lasts a long time. And that's with 30sec videos.They only thing I wish was better for videos is the sound. My Stealth Cam Unit has amazingly loud sound. I can hear deer and elk licking the salt lick or stepping around the cam so I know if they are there even if they aren't on camera.

Yeah I have the M-80 and I love it for the battery life. I use for video mode. 30sec videos. I love how it takes a picture first and then records so you get a good picture and also get to see it recorded. I wish that it had an adjustable time of video at night. It limits night videos to only 10 seconds. And the sound could be a little louder but other than that I love it.

Nope. System is down, phone is busy

The fee for buing a LICENSE online has always been there. It has nothing to do with the draw, or them not getting to cash a check. License fee and application fee are separate. Always has been. Well then they didn't have that License fee when they brought it back in the fall. Cause I was charged 61.50 for my hunt/fish combo ($54) and my application fee for the javelina tag ($7.50). Then this year a buddy at work tried to buy one and it had the $1.50 fee and so double checked with my previous purchase to confirm it was a new fee.