azdave

Good to see kids huntiing, hopefully they're all hooked now

I'm new here, so maybe its not my place to say, but if the "politics" pertain to hunting or just being in the hills of our hunting areas even remotely--then it has a place here, whether someone agrees with the post (politics) or not. I'm a member of several gun forums and another hunting forum, and must say I was thinking this is the most polite and respectful sight i've ever seen. Just shows how opinions differ. I look at it this way--don't like a post, don't read it or go back to it--- take what you can use and leave the rest. Alot of good info. here pertaining to Coues.

Stockton Pass area--interesting thing, hardly anyone hunting the pass, unlike the last 4 years. Stopped at the G&F CWD check station in Bonita Sat. at three--they had only seen 6 deer all day (from 31 and 32). Said it was VERY slow.

Now thats some mass--job well done

Excellent job--bet he's hooked now

Since you're not asking Coues secrets in 31, OK ----Battle Mtn/FS road 672 area is very good for Mulies, its NW of Ft. Grant. Mostly state land, but a few chunks of private. The Van Valor, President and KH Canyon areas off the same road are all good. From I-10 to 266, west of 191, is all good area to check out, as is the Monk Draw/Dial Wash area. From Gillespie Wash east to 191 on 266 (Stockton Pass) use to hold alot of Mulies--right at the Gillespie area is a transition, or crossover area that you may find Mulies and Coues. I'm sure there are alot of good areas to the north in the unit, but I never hunted there. I'm strictly a Coues hunter, so your mileage may vary--but these are areas that I have seen NICE Mulies in the past.

Hope these come out--never posted pics before, these are all from 31

To me its all about being out there, if I get a deer its a bonus-----i've never come back from a hunt mad or stressed, whether I got something or not. They're all successful hunts to me. The older I get (41), the more I challenge myself to get further and further out beyond "where the road ends"---both for my own personal challenge AND it sure produces some big bucks, I have found..........its all good edit to add: didn't realize as I was posting this I was sitting here eating leftover venison fajita pieces mixed with homemade salsa--this certainly helps

Thanks for the compliments everyone, but I must say that I put much more emphasis on the venison in the freezer than rack size(haven't figured out how to cook antlers yet ). Never payed much attention until I started lurking on this site and saw other pic's. Don't get me wrong, I certainly enjoy looking at a big rack as much as the next guy(no pun intended, I think), but the smile on my face at dinner time when I am eating venison is a bigger thing to me. Last year in Nov., I drove all the way back to Michigan to help them with their deer problem, 3 does in 3 days, then came home. Thats about 350-400 pounds of venison including the Coues from here, only a few pounds left !!!

Younghunter, heres a 4th one from 1995 in 31---one of the most symetrical I had ever seen, the pic doesn't do it justice. Rack wasn't huge, but it was the biggest bodied Coues i've ever gotten. ETA: the buck in the second pic weighed 121 field dressed, according to the Willcox Meat Packing Plant scale---this 4th one out weighed him, i'm sure, but we didn't have him weighed.

Never scored them--the first pic is the big one, 16" spread and actually the most symetrical--just can't tell from my crappy pic angle(the gun room is littered with gear for Friday, can't hardly move in there), second one is the non-typical (6x5), has a little kicker on each side thats over an inch each, and has a 14" spread. 3rd. one is only an 11" spread. Just getting antsy for this Friday

My guess is that most of the people that take the time to frequent a board like this ARE true sportsmen that take hunting very serious and personal, like myself. Then there are the kind that just use hunting for an excuse to cruise around on quads and get drunk every night, fine if they don't damage anything or bother everyone else. AND then we come to the complete idiots that have no business around guns, shouldn't have a tag and pride themselves on being obnoxious and potentially dangerous. Everyone i'm sure has seen these guys (morons). Another way to consider the ranchers view point is to picture these guys driving through your front yard to camp in your backyard. Probably would get old pretty quick, I bet. The last time I deer hunted down by the border(many years ago) I got the satisfaction of costing a camp full of so called "hunters" a large sum in fines by the Nat. Forest law en. officers--3 tickets, over $1000 total, and a visit to court. Damage to Federal property(living trees), litter, and another charge I don't recall now. Anyways, we all must remember that the general public looks at US ALL as equal "hunters", thats why policing ourselves is so important. edit to add: I think MOST ranchers understand that its a very small percentage that cause ALL the problems, and don't want to go to these extremes, but its not like they can have a checkpoint at the entrance to profile everyone. And at the same time, i'm sure there are ranchers that think of the public land as their own, and need their attitude adjusted by the .gov concerning this.

Well, I thought I would chime in here even though I don't hunt 32 or know anything about the Mercer fiasco. I do personally know ranchers on the east side of the Galiuro Mtn.'s though, and one in particular is Mike Ware, of the Ware Ranch. In the mid 90's he locked gates on his deeded property, forcing the forest Service to make several miles of access roads around his. I thought it was absolute bullshit that a rancher who owned a couple hundred acres could cut off the public from tens of thousands of acres---and one day I ran into him in Safford and nicely told him this. He ran through a list of things that happened on his property over the last several hunts, with the most recent thing being a group of hunters coming in day before the season, and jumping out of there truck and all peeing right there in front of his wife and child, who were out in front of the house (the road went right in front of their ranch), beer cans fell out of the cab and they didn't even pick them up. He is a Graham Co. sheriffs Deputy, and although the most mild mannered and fair cop I ever met, if he had been home, I would love to have watched. He said that the family welcomed hunters for decades because they were respectful of private property and friendly, but in recent years a small number have gone quite the opposite, and repairing vandalism of windmills and other things right after a hunt was getting old. I lived in that area for about 4 years, but heard the same types of things from several ranchers. The 0-BAR-0 Ranch (unit 31) did something very similar to the above ranch. (the new road is still on private land, but stays far away from the ranch house, and G&F and F.S. paid for it to maintain access) Maybe you guys should get together with G&F and F.S. about a route around the deeded property--I have heard that environmental impact assessments recently have made this not so easy, but its worth a try. I do believe that as long as there is OTHER access to an area, even if it does take you a longer, further route, they can close access. I AM NOT SAYING IT IS ALWAYS DONE LEGALLY OR RIGHTFULLY--AND ACTION SHOULD BE TAKEN IN THOSE CASES!! A rancher should have to show good cause to lock ANYTHING/DENY ACCESS before he does it. Back in the late 80's and early 90's I made several calls to G&F protesting ranchers blocking roads and locking gates--sometimes it worked, sometimes not. I now own acreage in the mtn.'s, and can tell you that ALOT of people, not saying they are all hunters, but some are, have NO respect for for other peoples property--It would help if US HUNTERS helped police the bad ones. anyways, MY 2 CENTS

Last year, opening morning I got a very nice 4x4 while sparring with another nice buck. They started right at dawn, and I waited a few minutes for better light so I could study the two--the slightly bigger one went in the freezer (and became another rack mount). I have done only Oct. hunts for 16 or 17 seasons, and never witnessed this before.

5.8L-- if you would like some more info. about the area, say so here and i'll post my phone #---it's alot easier to talk about this stuff over a phone than thru posts and messages---I know alot about that whole area and can maybe help you have a better first hunt---that can be a tough hunt area for a non-local, and especially a first timer.

There is going to be a bumper crop this year, in my opinion. Everywhere in SE AZ seems to have BIG populations with excellent survival rates, even the low desert mtn.'s around Tucson seem to be filled with large covey's. Last Fri. in the Silverbell Mtn.'s, i'll bet I kicked up 200 birds in a 1 1/2 hour hike in the deep washs and canyons , also saw 2 mule deer and 7 javelina--all within the same time frame. That tells me we have turned the corner in drought recovery (I sure hope, anyway). I was in the Peloncillo's last May or June--lots of water, everything was very green, quail hunting should be great. Alot of Coues, very active area. I even kicked up several coveys in the Pinelano's (Graham) mtn.'s while scouting 2 weeks ago--never before saw them in this particular area, at least in the 5 seasons i've deer hunted there.

I was a few hundred yards below the communication tower, working on our cabin. I noticed a white truck down in the canyon bottom about 600 yards away, and a guy on a hillside looking around. I have a gray truck. Was that you then? I added a few things to my original post without seeing you had responded, so will say again that the area north of Ft. Bowie used to be good with easy access, all BLM land. It may get alot of hunting pressure now though, since alot of private land has been cut off in the last few years. Also, the Camelsback (it is on maps) is suppose to have some big ones, but access can be an issue, not just due to private property, but because of remoteness--in other words, pack in. I have been hunting unit 31 for years, and have had excellent luck---all my areas are Forest Service land, so no tresspassing issues to worry about. 30A has to much checkerboard pattern with state/federal/private land for me. I don't even hunt my own land because 31 is so much better. If I had to hunt 30A, I would go to the Peloncillo mtn.'s---Skeleton Canyon (where Geronimo surrendered) or Outlaw mtn. area----excellent whitetail populations and all forest service, just a little further out, though.

Be very aware of where you are hunting in the Dos Cabezas, alot of the mtn. range is private property and some of the ranchers are VERY protective of their land. The name Klump may ring a bell with some people on this site--they have ranches on both sides of the range. Get some GOOD BLM maps that differentiate between fed., state and private property. Unfortunately, because of a few disrespectful, vandalizing hunters, more and more ranchers are getting unfriendly to hunters. A mtn. called the Camels Back has some trophies, i've been told by a reliable local, but don't know about access. I have land at the north end, and go there just about every weekend to work on a small cabin we're building---and can tell you the deer are thin in this area, there seems to be need of a mtn. lion hunt. I have found 4 cow carcasses in about 2 months in our area, all appeared healthy. Also part of a deer carcass on my property. There's more lion sign than deer sign in my immediate area. Were you in a white truck by chance, like a Ford sport trac/ pick-up Sunday? In the Zeits Canyon area off of Page Ranch road? If that was you I saw down the canyon parked at the dead-end by the old water tanks (dry), thats part of the area i'm describing. Also, the area north of Ft. bowie used to be pretty good with easy access, but don't know for sure now.. good luck

The info I gave above is obviously dated about 34A (should have said that)--I quit the area because of crowds about 6 seasons ago. But I will definately say that the Greaterville area(which I consider the same area as Box Canyon/Melendrez pass/Kentucky Camp) and north WAS overrun---and we ended up in the Salero/Alto area which was much less pressure, but still to much for me. Obviously that area is overrun now too. The last time hunting there a bunch of target shooters were up in Gunsight Pass area blasting away at rocks on a hillside--no idea a deer hunt was even going on until I informed them--thats when we packed up and headed for Salero area. Remember, that typically the easiest access and closest to a town is going to have the most pressure. my 2 cents

Anyone else doing the Oct. hunt in 31? I'm chomping at the bit right about now, hoping to fill my tag there for the 6th year in a row.

Prices can be beat on most items, especially if you have patience in looking---but the beauty is in the variety and choices. Tucson needed this in a bad way.

This looks like a good thread for a first post-- congrats on getting him out there young. I agree with the post above saying to let him be a kid and not to be totally serious--they just don't have the attention span at that age. But at the same time don't let him disturb other peoples hunt. I saw this first hand last year as a guy stomped through the oaks with 3 youngsters in tow, 2 of them were picking up large branches and turning them into little branches on every rock they passed, the 3rd. one was literally dragging the guys rifle (Ruger 77, wood stock) behind him by the sling--totally unsafe and unbelievable--I watched and listened to it for about 20 minutes before I went down the hill and met up with them and talked to the guy about it. Anyways, last I hunted 34A, Box Canyon/ Melendrez Pass/ Kentucky Camp areas were VERY crowded. I had much better luck north of the Salero area, east of Alto---takes a while longer to reach, but less pressure. The 243 sounds like the perfect choice for him next year, my wife loves her Ruger stainless, shoots it very well because of the mild recoil. good luck