monstercoues

Yeah it's tough for these guys in the field. They do all the work and then have the office guys tell him what happens in the books. I do know that if numbers were truly low, then permits would be decreased. There are hunt guidelines where if certain buck/doe -- fawn/doe ratios are met than that is where the permit numbers are derived from. I don't see sheep anytime soon either, but it would be awesome to see them up there again. They have to have all the paper work in and then wait for there to be some extra sheep to transplant when ready. It is a possibility, but probably not anytime really soon. Does anyone know who 300untramag is? It's been a week now and he hasn't called my buddy yet or replied to the posts. That ram is probably back in 32 by now.

Has anyone heard anything in AZ unit 27?

Haha Becker, I wish he would tell me any secret spots. I have seen your taxidermy work. You do a great job. I will try to talk him into sharing some info with you, but your hunt starts before his does. HAHAHA

I just got off the phone with my best friend, who is one of the WM's for unit 33. He said he would really appreciate you calling him and getting the information on that sheep. He is actually working on a proposal to bring them back into the Catalinas. Please call him. 520-577-7055. His name is Martin.

I was lucky enough to glass up a lion Friday morning. Had a tag in my pocket and a rifle back in my truck. I watched it for over an hour. Man was I upset that I couldn't do anything but watch. Oh well, thats what I get for obeying the law.

Definitely a Canine track. Don't be fooled about the claws showing part because a lion can in mud or snow sometimes show claw marks in a track. The best way to tell is the back or bottom of the pad will show three marks like a W shape. Another way to tell the defference is to draw a vertical line directly in the middle of the track. If both sides mirror each other its a canine, if both sides don't mirror each other its a cat track. A cat track will look like your hand in a sense, you should be able to see a thumb side,. If you cut your hand in half, both sides will not mirror each other.

Depending on where you are looking is whether or not you should bring the quads or not. If you bring them you better make sure they are street legal or they might as well just stay at home. 33 is a great unit and I would do as much scouting as you can because where you find the deer now, is where they should be when your hunt starts. The juniors have the first crack at them. Check the game and fish website again and check those places out. I don't think it gets any better than those spots, unless someone wants to give up there GPS coordinates to there hot spots. Good Luck. Thanks for getting your son out there. Try to get him to introduce his friends in the sport. We need more youngsters out there for the future of the sport.

For $500 more dollars I would definitely go with a guide. Unless you know for sure the quality of the ranch and have the opportunity to scout it. If you are just going off of what people are telling you down there, than you better go with an outfitter or your just wasting your time.

Ok, Here is the deal. How about we do two clean ups. One on the 9th and then one on the 29th. I have spoken to game and fish and the forest service. They are both fine with that. How many people can we get out there on these days to make it worth while?

The AZGFD is having a clean up from the flooding of the monsoons. Rose Canyon Lake was destroyed last week and is closed at this point. Any volunteers, such as myself will be greatly appreciated to help clean up the lake. Come join us for a day away from the heat. The lake clean-up is scheduled for Monday August 20th. We will meet at the gate at 10:00 am. The plan is to remove as much debris as possible from the lake, and to restore the walking path around the lake. Please bring gloves, shovels, and wheelbarrows if you have them. Please let me know if you can help out, and bring friends, the more hands we have, the easier it will be!

I don't even know why I bother to waste my time posting stuff anymore. Theres always someone who has to make a stupid comment like this guy. Just for your information, I bow hunt just as much as I rifle hunt. Theres is no way in heck that we can allow archery hunters to harvest as many deer as rifle hunters and still support a healthy huntable population year after year. Thats what I am getting at when I say there won't be any deer left for our kids if we kill em all. Hasn't anyone heard of the North American Model? We wouldn't have what we have now, if it wasn't for game laws and restrictions to harvest. The units I am talking about aren't even near the Kiabab. Try units 23 and 22. Yeah they are recieving harvest rates from archers that are equal to the rifle hunters. Plus who said that archers don't get survey cards needs to check the regulations some time. There is a mandatory reporting for successful archery deer hunters. Go ahead and bash my comments. I am done with this post. This comment is bizarre, completely false, and irresponsible. It sounds like it came from a jealous, frustrated rifle hunter. In all the units that G&F identified (except for unit 1) the archery harvest was less than 30% of the rifle harvest. The average overall archery success in these units was less than 4.4% (Dick King number) How many guys would still go rifle hunting if the rifle success were less that 5%? Archery success might be a threat to some rifle hunters, but I doubt that it will kill all the deer so our kids can't hunt. Mark

Wow! It seems like everyone is missing the big picture here. I guess I am one of the few who seem to back the AZGFD. It makes me sick when everyone brings up money when anything new changes with the AZGFD. I volunteer alot of time and effort helping wildlife and working with some of the wildlife managers in southern AZ. I just want to say that if something doesn't change with the archery harvest, theres not going to be any deer left for our kids to hunt. It's about wildlife management. There are several units in the state where archery harvest is at or greater than rifle harvest in this state. I am not going to mention them, but if anyone wants the info they can call there local AZGFD office and get that info. I don't know what the solution is, but I know there will be happy and unhappy people with the outcome. Bottom line is, something needs to change to limit the amount of harvest during the archery hunts. It has nothing to do with money. Just ask any wildlife manager what he makes a year. If he or she even replies I bet you your jaw would drop to the ground in amazement. They don't get paid half as much as they should for the jobs they do. Just my 2cents.

I called the AZGFD and asked about the clean up. They said they would help, but contact needed to be cleared through the Forest Service first, because it is a project on the forest. Geez, the steps you gotta go through to help clean up trash these days.

We did a clean up out there earlier this year with great help from the AZGFD and the Forest Service as well as other user groups such as the OHV clubs. I am sick and tired of seeing that place go to heck as well as everyone else is. That place looks 3times as bad as it did before we cleaned it up the first time. AZGFD put up signs right after the clean up and they are already shot up. I am gonna call the AZGFD and do all I can to help out with this.

I called AZGFD and got all this information for anyone who is interested because there seems to be a lot of confusion about when the age data from bear and lion teeth is available. So, here is the process. Game Branch sends all bear and lion teeth to Matson’s Laboratory once a year in mid-December. Matson’s typically sends AZGFD a report of ages by late March. Game Branch, then, updates their database and attempts to send the hunters a letter with the age of their animal listed on it by early May. So, a hunter who kills a lion in January 2007 will not receive a letter with the age of their lion until May 2008.

I have decided to go with a rug instead of a lifesize mount for my Mt. Lion. Does anyone have any pics of their rugs they would like to share. I am trying to decide what colors to have on the outside border of the rug. Black and Tan or White and Tan? There aren't many pics online, well not that I can find anyways. If anyone has any pics to share or any advice to share, I would really appreciate it.

I harvested him in Oct of 2006. I just got the tooth back about 2 weeks ago. Because of the cost of doing the tooth analysis for aging, they send a bunch at a time. If you don't get it soon, it will probably be awhile until you get it. The reason I know this is because I was growing impatient as well and called the AZGFD. This is what they told me. Where did you get your Kitty? And How? What are you going to do with it? Hey monstercoues just out of curiosity when did you kill your lion? The reason I ask is because I got one a few months ago and still have not found out any info on my lion. Just wondering thanks Josh

I am glad someone posted this. The reason for the proposal is because there are units out there where hunters are harvesting just as many deer with a bow than the rifle hunters are with a rifle. As far as wildlife management is concerned, something needs to be done here. This is why I was so against baiting. There has been a significant increase in archery harvest over the last few years due to increased baiting, salt, corn, whatever. I expressed this opinion in another thread and someone asked which units and how do I know, I just went down to the Game and Fish office here in Tucson and bought the Hunt AZ book and it has all this info. Everything from hunt harvest to draw results for each unit. There are too many for me to scan and post on this site.

Thats great to see. Get those kids out there in the field, they are this sports future. Thanks for sharing.

If you are going to spend that much money on a pair of binos, you might as well get the 10X42's.

I would contact the wildlife managers for those two areas and see what they have to say. I am sure with an antelope tag they will be more than glad to point you and your friend in the right direction.

Nice buck man! Chuck does one of the best coues deer mounts I have ever seen. He just takes forever unless you pay extra. Congrats on a great buck.

Thanks Everyone for your comments. I got my tooth back for AZGFD and my kitty is only 2yrs old, eventhough he field dressed 85lbs. I have some good friends with hounds and its just a matter of time before I get a chance at a bigger one. Plus I can't really afford a lifesize right now on my salary.

The bull is at a taxidermist, a good friend of mine. Thats how I know. The Game warden was there during the shooting, didn't know from the hunters, but heard from the home owner that they would be there and were going to try to take the elk. This won't go to trial overnight, it will prob take a few weeks or so. The elk was seized for evidence and is the property of the AZGFD. The guy who shot it is filthy rich and has the Governors tag again this year. Poor Sapp. I hope all the rumors seize. These are the facts and I don't know the hunter or the guides, other than seeing there hunting videos haha, but they will have to live with what they have done and see what the judge has to say. Not all the home owners in the area were in agreance to let them shoot the elk within 1/4 mile of there residence. Thats what the violation was, shooting that bull within 1/4 mile of a residence, building- home presumed to be occupied.

It is very sad to see that monster bull go to waste. Well I guess it won't go completely to waste. It is now property of the AZGFD and will be auctioned off I am sure. And the rich guy who shot it can just buy it back. It was taken illegally and the elk is at a Taxidermist in town. I think you guys are right, money can make even the best of guides do stupid things. That why alot of people don't like guides. The whole thing is really too bad. My hats off to the Game Warden who caught these guys in the act. I feel sorry for the home owners who had to witness this monster go down like this.