TLH

Josh, make sure you clean your hands and don't chew your finger nails!! I'll be up tomorrow around 10 am--I'll look for you--should be easy--the guy moving the porta poopers.

I still have not heard of anyone getting charges for Buff or Bighorn have any of you?? I think there is still some drawing to be done--keep the chins up!!

My daughter and Dad were drawn for elk and deer--i had a charge for deer and turkey--so far--someone else out of the other three got a turkey tag too.

We caught some Gardner snakes and tied them into the pillow cases of our fellow hunters. After they went to sleep they would find something wiggling under their little heads and then they would freak out!! One time we were turkey hunting and a guy hit a cow elk on the freeway--the sheriff came and issued a recovery permit, we hung her in camp--we stayed in camp the next morning to see what reaction we would get from the passer byes--these guys rolled up on their quads and started writing down plate numbers and basically were getting ready to do the right thing when i came out and asked them if they thought my turkey would make the record books!! Man, they were real leery of me until we explained what had happened--then they wanted to join us for steaks that night--how could we refuse their request!?

Please come to the AWF Banquet! We have a ton of great rifles, shotguns and handguns to give to a bunch of lucky winners!! Here is the info: http://www.azwildlife.org/TBqReg2006.pdf This year we are partnering with the Bowhunting in Arizona Record Book folks and there are so many big animals that will be displayed that you won't want to miss seeing them! All of the money that is made in this banquet goes right back into wildlife in Arizona and the trophy books--if you can make it you won't be sorry!!

No doubt anyone who knows about the history of fish and wildlife in AZ won't want to step out on that slippery slope. Otherwise, someone might mention the stocking of non-native Rocky Mt. elk in AZ in the early 1900s to replace the extinct Merriam's species, promulgating the spread of desert sheep or the planting of RM sheep and reestablishing a Gould's turkey population. In the great scheme of things, NONE of these helped the "ecological system function better." In fact, some might argue all of the above took place merely to provide hunters with more targets. On the fishy side of things, we might even include bringing back the Apache trout (now working on the Gila!) and planting non-native fish in streams and lakes, such as the rainbow trout at Lee's Ferry. Now, if the wolf does as many believe it will -- keep big-game numbers down -- it's possible to point at that as making the "ecological system function better," because it would be working within the natural scheme of things. To the great dismay of hunters, the wolf would be then filling the same niche in nature where it did before humans mucked up the ecological system by wiping out the wolf here. -TONY It would have been nice if they would have put them where they were in greater numbers and that is closer to the Mexican border. Tony, you missed one species that is on the agenda for AZ and that is the Jaguar--it has been gone from AZ for a long time but now they are spending time and money to allow them to re-establish themselves in AZ--not sure if they have in fact transplanted these big cats but it wouldn't surprise me.

Didn't say if they were killing them or if they were just getting out of the area--i do have to say that these wolves have been bred so close to the line that they are very close to showing inbreeding characteristics. Apparently they do not have more than a couple of wolf blood lines and that is what all of these have been bred into. Another interesting thing the WM said is that they have actually bred with domestic dogs! They had to kill a litter of pups that had a domestic dog for their Daddy!! The WM also said that there are a lot of hybrids being released in that area by people that apparently do not want them any more and that they are doing their best to kill them when they see them--these are the Timber Wolf Bloodlines and can be a lot more aggressive than the Grey's. As you all can see an hour of listening to the WM was a very interesting hour indeed.

Actually these wolves are 100% Mexican Grey Wolves--we had a meeting with the main WM in that unit in charge of this project and they have done DNA checks on all of the wolves in the wild. I thought they were hybrids too until i got to speak to the guy in charge. You don't have to take my word for it but that is the facts. He also said that the wolves are getting rid of the coyote's in the areas they are running in--that is a good thing in my opinion.. Now, all that said, i really am not a fan of the release of any other wolves in any other part of the state and the game and fish aren't either--but, there are groups out there that want to release them on the strip and north of the Colorado River--this is what we need to watch out for. The WM stated that the objective is 100 wolves in those areas and in the White mountain Indian Reservation-The San Carlos Tribe has yet to agree that they let them loose on their land. The count right now is less than 60 wolves in that area. The meeting was very interesting and very informative and i would encourage all of you to attend a meeting if there is one offered--in the mean time, if you want the WM's name and number

It did pass--they originally wanted to give 10.5 million but there were strings attached--this 3.5 has no strings attached and the department can do what they want with it. Better than strings in my opinion.

We were up on our property in Starlight Pines (north of Clint's Well about 15 miles) and it rained and hailed for about 45 minutes--there was a lot of water on the ground when it stopped.

It isn't all doom and gloom buddy, and don't let anyone tell you it is. If we can get all of the groups together and we all agree on the same thing there is no way that things will get worst. Hunting is one of the biggest money making businesses in the USA and that reason alone will make life in the future as good or better than it is today. It wasn't until about 15 years ago that people started noticing that hunting is big business and that they wanted a piece of that money pie--sure, it might get more expensive as time goes on and yes, we might have more people that we will have to compete with for tags but hey, at least we will still have the chance to hunt. Many of these fine folks have given you some great advise and i would also tell you to get involved with some groups--but i would also caution you to not get species specific while getting involved. That doesn't mean that joining the AES or the ADA would make you species specific but just make sure you keep the big picture in your mind. The wildlife habitat in this state needs all the help it can get and if you can get involved with any group that does habitat improvement then i would say you are on the right track. Now, that all said, it might be a great time for the youth of Arizona to get together and get some kind of a youth sportsman group started all on their own--sure, you could ask for help from all of the other groups and i am sure they would all like nothing more than to help a youth group. You seem to be very concerned and all i can say is get involved and don't let others make decisions for you that you are not a part of. Remember, it was very, very bad before Theodore Roosevelt stepped in way back then and i am sure there were youngsters back then that felt that they would never see an animal again but look at where we are now compared to back then and you will see that things are actually getting better--not worst. Keep a positive thought going, get involved and help make the future even better!!

I'll be there!! I love that shoot! Josh, take a look at the muleymadness website and check out the story i wrote about the hunt of a lifetime--same story basically but it is cool to see it on other sites--i sure hope it gets the word out about that group. I guess i will see you in Williams man!

Mark, Will you be at the awards banquet on July 15th?? If so i am sure we will meet. Marvin Zeiser and i are the one's that are responsible for the trophy display and i hope that your buck will be there on the trophy wall to show off.

Behave yourself buddy!! Have fun and take it all in--oh, and watch out for them there Eskimo's--they like the young ones!!

I bet he was surprised when he found out that the blacked eyed virgins were actually camels!! I hope that bastard suffers for all eternity!!

It will be the best thing in your life if you keep the friendship alive--i have had my best friend now for 25 years--married that is, 30 years if you count the 5 years we were going out and engaged. Good luck buddy!!

I am serious! Chris has joined a group that i needed help with and i think a good payback would be to help his (your)ADA. I will PM you in the morning..

What a bull!! Very nice!!

This site and all the others have been hammered with hackers who keep nailing us with viruses and worms. I know AZOD got nailed about three weeks ago and we still are not up to speed.

I think there are a lot more huge animals out there that people will never see--so i say that the Gov tags are a good idea.

Allen, I will give Muley62 a call tomorrow and talk to him about the youth director--or whatever he calls it. Terry

These are my favorite two and my favorite animal that i have harvested. 87 and 2/8ths.

Does anyone know how i can get in contact with Jackie? We are in the process of putting the Arizona Wildlife Trophy award banquet together and i would really like for her to let us display her mount. Please let me know if any of you can help me here.

He looks like an awesome buddy man--i really feel for ya even though you didn't want sympathy. I have a 14 year old GSP and she is failing fast on me--i will not know how to act with out her. I hope you can find a new friend and make new memories with him or her.

Christian, I see you have been doing your math homework!! How are ya buddy?