Brady Wash Unit 37B - great time

[CouesWhitetail]

This past weekend was the Brady Wash water catchment project in unit 37B. Several volunteers came out to help on this project including many CW.com'ers and RMEF folks. This is the 5th completed project out of 7 that unit manager Ben Brochu has planned in the unit to help wildlife in the area, mule deer in particular. Ben reported to us that the other four projects are full of water and lots of wildlife are using them as documented by trail cameras. Ben also reported that Unit 37B is one of the few units in the state that has an increasing mule deer population.

 

This project uses a new type of design which collects water using a small diversion dam which just slows water flow in a wash but does not stop its flow. It's amazing to me that this type of small dam in a small wash can collect enough water to fill the 11,500 gallon tanks.

 

This is very different than the usual concrete apron or metal collection system used in the past. According to Chris McCotter (aka cmc) this design saves sportsmen about $10,000 per water catchment. This design has been used on many of the Sheep Society projects and it apparently works very well.

 

here is a pic of the water collection part of this project.

 

Once the water enters that small pipe it goes into the siltation box that separates out silt before the water then flows into the holding tanks. The holding tanks for this project are very different than the usual round tanks. Instead they are four 24 inch diameter pipes that can hold as much water as the old design but are long instead of tall and therefore don't have to be buried as deep.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The buried water tanks are level with the drinker so that the there are no pumps or floats necessary to have water enter the drinker. The drinker is a walk in type that is lined with rocks/concrete to make sure all wildlife can climb out.

 

Once the piping and everything is completed, then the site is revegetated and pipe fencing placed around the entire site to exclude cattle. The fence is designed to reduce the possibility of deer getting hung up in it (as happens frequently in barbed wire fences).

 

 

 

AGFD brought enough water to fill the tanks about 1/3 full before we left. This pic shows the truck in the background putting water into the system.

 

 

Group photo!

 

I would like to thank AGFD for their committment to these types of projects. AGFD has a dedicated crew of men that go around building these water catchments year-round. It's hard work and most of the guys on the crew have been doing it for 15+ years. They are fun guys to hang around the campfire with and they are very hard workers dedicated to making sure these projects are done right. These projects are funded with money rasied by sportsmen's groups at their banquets through sale of auction tags.

 

Many thanks to Ben Brochu for inviting us out to help on this and other projects. Ben always cooks a dinner for us and this year it was some amazingly good posole!! Thank you Ben!!

 

We had lots of CouesWhitetail.com forum members (JimmyC and his son, AZtradad, Gr8WhiteJr, TJhunt2, CMC, Elkhunter1, Hunting2gether (husband and wife), Gotcoues...and if I missed any, please help me out by mentioning them in your post) out there helping and it was great to see that!

 

Forum member cmc has posted a ton more photos about this project on his website (AZ Sportsman's Journal) for those that want to see more about the construction phases of the project. CMC dedicates a ton of his time (including using his vacation days for these projects) to these projects and I really appreciate that he does that.

http://www.azsj.org/forums/showthread.php?t=20882

 

 

Finished product:

 

 

 

[Mrs125coues]

Glad to see the result of ya'lls hard work!! Thanks to everyone that helped, wish we could have joined on this one. After Mark recovers we are hoping to do at least on project.

[Elkhunter1]

Glad to see the result of ya'lls hard work!! Thanks to everyone that helped, wish we could have joined on this one. After Mark recovers we are hoping to do at least on project.

 

 

Amanda and the guys and gals of CWT.com I would like to thank all of you who helped on this project. My son Elkhunter1jr and I worked on it Thursday with a great sense of accomplishment with our chests puffed out with pride. Thanks for the opportunity to help our wildlife.

[Jimmyc]

Sure was a good time with some good people out there on Saturday. Game and Fish folks were fun to work around, and the CW.com folks were also. Was a real treat to finally meet the folks I have seen on this site. TJ, Tracy, and Amanda are good people if you've never met them in person. Next time something comes up for CW.com people to volunteer for, I'm in.

[CouesWhitetail]

Thanks for helping on this project Elkhunter1! I am sorry I missed you and your boy on Thurs. For those that want to see pics from Thurs, Elkhunter1 posted them here:

http://forums.coueswhitetail.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=31204&pid=298616&st=0entry298616

[gotcoues]

I really enjoyed helping out Saturday, assisting the welder with the fence project was very rewarding and I had fun too.

 

I was going to bring out the trailer and my two boys and stay a while, but Dillon twisted his ankle Wednesday night and now he's on crutches for a week or two.

 

I'm definitely coming to the next project in my neck of the woods whenever that may be.

[cmc]

Great photos Amanda and it was a pleasure to meet a bunch of the CWT.com folks. Thanks to all that came out and helped on the project.

 

Cheers,

cmc

[tjhunt2]

I want to thank the azgfd along with all the volunteers for making me feel so welcome on this project. For those of you who haven't attended one of these workshops, I highly recommend you take the time and do so. There's an overwhelming feeling at the end of the day that you just have to experience for yourself. Knowing you contributed to a great caus in helping out our wildlife is so satisfying to the soul.

 

It was my pleasure finally meeting and putting some faces with a few cwt members I've only known as their cwt names. Amanda is right on when she said the azgfd guys are a bunch of nice guys who are great to share a campfire with. They are some of the hardest workers I have ever had the pleasure of meeting. Saturday night Ben Brochu cooked up some posole that was to die for. Ben's posole alone would have been worth the trip. I can't say enough about the great group of guys and gals that shared the evening campfire.

 

Do yourself a favor, if you get a chance, and don't miss out on one of these water catchment projects. You won't be sorry you did. Thanks again to everyone that came out and helped this weekend.

 

TJ

[CouesWhitetail]

Oh and I forgot to mention the outstanding bacon/green chile wrapped pheasant breasts that TJ grilled up Friday night for everyone! Wow, was that awesome. Thanks to Jackshoe and TJ for sharing the bounty of their pheasant hunts! TJ also cooked up breakfast burritos Sat and Sun morning and everyone loved those! Thanks again for your generosity TJ!

[tjhunt2]

Oh and I forgot to mention the outstanding bacon/green chile wrapped pheasant breasts that TJ grilled up Friday night for everyone! Wow, was that awesome. Thanks to Jackshoe and TJ for sharing the bounty of their pheasant hunts! TJ also cooked up breakfast burritos Sat and Sun morning and everyone loved those! Thanks again for your generosity TJ!

 

It was my pleasure Amanda. What a great time we had on this project. I love cooking and I was pleased that the guys appreciated the pheasants that Ted & I shot. There's nothing like watching a bunch of hungry guys eating your cooking at the end of the day.

Here's a few pictures I took:

 

[WM U37B]

All,

Amanda and Chris have done a tremendous job summing up the project with pictures and video soon (if it works...cross your fingers). I wanted to thank everyone who helped out as we couldn't have done it without you all. It always amazes me how much a group can accomplish when working together. In a matter of days, a permanent sustainable water source was installed which will benefit many types of wildlife for many decades to come. You all did an amazing job and I really appreciate the help and support. I want to thank the following people for assisting with the project: Wayne Lackner, Stephen Forrest, Mychael Forrest, Doug Dalby, Chris McCotter, Amanda Moors, Tom Joiner, Jeff Yost, Jimmy Ciardulli, Joseph Greene-Kincheloe, Scott and Anita Toot, Joe Sheehey, Dave Brochu, Anthony Trujillo, Tom Carlson, Tracy Boorn Jr., Justin Leitner, Mike and Fred Wiemann, Rick Selting, John Sullivan, and Patrick, Kyle and Cayden Murphree. Kudos to all of and again I really appreciate the help. To summarize, volunteers on the project worked a total of 270 hours, drove a total of 61 hours and covered 2768 miles. Amazing!!! I also must thank TJ for the best pheasant I've ever had...absolutely awesome! Thanks again to everyone. I hope to see you all next year at the next one.

 

Thanks,

Ben Brochu - Wildlife Manager 37B