Outdoor Writer Report post Posted August 20, 2006 I have no idea how old you are , but I was a member of the 'bowhunting community' way back in the 1960s with a recurve. Then I quit in 1975 or so before getting back into it with a compound in the early 1980s. i just recently sold my three bows and all my other archery gear to help finance my trip to Africa. Think I killed my first hog with a bow in 1964 or so. Also killed them with handguns and a crossbow. Been there, done that. That said, while I did enjoy bowhunting, I prefer the gun now at my age. But as far as javelina go, I quit hunting them quite a few years ago after killing maybe two dozen or more over the years. In fact, I ran a neat little javelina hunt for about 10 years for out-of-state friends on either the San Carlo or WM reservations (1st come permits and cost no different than the state for NRs) and I never bought a permit for myself. Instead, I either helped glass or just stayed in camp doing the chores and cooking meals. Generally anywhere from 10 to 14 guys in camp at any one time. We called it the Steenkin' Peeg Hunt and even had shirts and hats with each year on them. Corky Richardson, his dad George and the late Norm Pike helped me out each year with the guiding chores. We quit about four years ago, but a bunch of the same guys hunted the SC last year and "camped" at the casino. Here are some old pix of our camp kitchen: Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dave Report post Posted August 20, 2006 I am only 50 Toni. I have heard some of those guys talk about that hunt. I didn't know you were part of it. Looks like you guys know how to make the best of a Steenkin' Peeg Hunt. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Outdoor Writer Report post Posted August 20, 2006 I wasn't only part of it, I started it and organized the whole thing each year! It took me a month to get everything ready to go. We used two big pickup bed trailers with caps on them and other vehicles to haul all the camp gear. Over the years. we hosted guys from as far away as FL, CT, RI and NYC. Several of the guys attended every one of the SPHs. And to think, it all started in an internet forum similar to this one. They tried to talk me in to doing one last one last year, but I was too snowed under with projects. One year, we had the crew from Northwest Hunter in camp to film the hunt for the TV show. They made two 1/2 hr. segments out of it. And it's ironic it comes up here now because just yesterday I finished up a javelina article for Rocky MT. G&F magazine where I mentioned the SPH. And the article itself was about hunting on the two reservations. We always had a lot of fun and some great poker games, too. Normally, we ran about 75% on tagging hogs, but there were a couple years where we had 100% success. Here's one of our sample menus for the last SPH in 2000: Menu for Y2K SPH Feb. 15 - Tues. Veggie and shrimp appetizers, grilled NY steaks, baked potatoes, salad, veggies, wine (my house) Weds. Breakfast - on the road in Globe Lunch - Sandwiches &..... Dinner - BBQ Spectacular- sliced beef, pulled pork and baby back ribs, corn-on-the-cob, potato salad, cole slaw, bisquits, dessert. Thurs. Breakfast - Scrambled eggs with green chiles/cheese, breakfast steaks, hash browns, BB muffins Lunch - Beef Barley Soup/sandwiches Dinner - Salad, Ravioli, sauage and meatballs with eggplant parmigiana, Ital. bread, dessert. Fri. Breakfast - Pancakes & Canadian bacon, muffins Lunch - Chicken w/rice soup, hotdogs Dinner ? Stuffed potato skins, salad, roast beef/gravy, wide egg noodles, string beans/asparagus, bisquits, dessert. Sat. Breakfast - French toast, sliced sauage/bacon Lunch - Turkey noodle soup, sandwiches Dinner - Turkey breast/gravy, mashed sweet potatoes baked with marshmallows, reg. mashed potatoes, corn, craneberry sauce, bisquits Sun. Breakfast - Scrambled eggs w/ham & cheese, sliced ham, home fries, muffins Lunch - Ham, Bean & Potato soup, sandwiches Dinner - Mexican Fiesta -- Fish Vera Cruz, encliladas, tamales, burritos, refried beans, rice chips & salsa and flan. (my house) *** All evening dinners will include the usual array of appetizers, such as my home-grown smoked salmon; pickled Mazatlan shrimp; deep-fried, breaded elk; hot chicken wings;chips/salsa; black/green olives; cheese/crackers; celery, carrots, summer sauage, chicken fingers, pepper poppers (breaded, whole green chilies stuffed with cheese), etc. etc. Orange, grapefruit, apple and V8 juice for breakfasts, and an assortment of beer, red wine and the usual jug of Country Time lemonade in addition to the pop. Desserts will include cakes, pies and pudding. There also will be plenty of chocolate chip cookies, candy bars and crackers for daytime snacks in the field. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dave Report post Posted August 20, 2006 WOW, Im getting hungry now! Probably a good thing I never got involved in that, I am enough of a porker already. I would have turned into a Steenkin' Peeg myself. Sounds like a lot of great memories were made by all. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Outdoor Writer Report post Posted August 21, 2006 And I'm going in just the opposite direction -- getting too skinny! Maybe we can compromise some. Anyway, I'm outta here early in the a.m. for a drive to Springfield. MO to attend the Professional Outdoor Media Assoc. conference. Once I get there Tues., I'll be back online until I leave next weekend. Later. -TONY Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
muskrat Report post Posted August 21, 2006 Enjoy the conference Tony. Maybe someday I'll get to one Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bmf1321 Report post Posted August 21, 2006 CouesKrazy: DustyB0: AZ4life: bowhunter4life: Couesdiehard: AZonecam: bmf1321 AZyoung Cochise: muleybull KGaines: I have trouble deciding what you guys are angry about. Is it that Game and Fish might allow more people to compete with you, or that you might have to work harder to take a buck or a bull? What?s wrong with decreasing rut tags to allow more people to go hunting without increasing the deer kill? Have you forgotten that record-class bucks are out there in October and November, too? Is it that you believe you?re not good enough to find them except when the rut has them running around like crazed idiots? I would like to think you guys are better than the average hunter, and that ?a lower quality hunt? should be no handicap for you, even with a greater quantity of hunters afield. Something must be done to stop the trend of hunter numbers declining statewide and nationally if our hunting traditions are to continue. We need numbers to give us the political clout needed to save hunting. Bill Quimby - Good points, what is most upsetting to me is that I, as a resident od Arizona, can only draw a tag once every three years. While I enjoy getting out there and hunting harder than the average joe, not having the oppertunity to do that every year is upsetting to me. BTW, I have put in for the early WT hunts the past 3 years, the ones with the highest draw odds and have only gotten 1 tag out 3 attempts. I do have great respect for the GF and their management success. With the drought conditions we've had lately the size of the az herds is pretty good. However, since az residents pay taxes here I believe we should have more oppertunities to hunt our home state. The way i see this being made possible is to reduce the amount of out of state applications. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
audsley Report post Posted August 21, 2006 BMF, you must not be putting Oct. WT as one of your first two choices. I don't believe any of the Oct WT hunts expend all tags in the first pass. The first pass is when everyone's 1st & 2nd choices get looked at. I suggest you either make sure one of your 1st choices is Oct WT or else look for an application error as the source of the problem. I can't imagine you not getting drawn for Oct WT 3 out of 3 times if you named an Oct WT as a 1st or 2nd choice and sent in a compliant application and payment. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
KGAINES Report post Posted August 22, 2006 That is what I think is very funny, if you put in for oct. coues down south you are almost assured a tag. So the azgfd want to make more of those tags, well if I can put one of them tags as my fifth choice and get drawn than they can make as many of those as they want and then I can put my first two for sure dec, hunts and my third and fourth can be nov. tags and my fifth choice can still be that oct. coues tag and I can get it for sure, heck if they keep making more oct. tags I can just wait and get it over the counter. My point in all that is that the people that are complaining about not getting drawn are not putting in for those hunts, they are putting in for the harder to get hunts on all five choices, and they don't understand the way the draw works, they think when their app is pulled it goes through all the choices one through five and gives them a tag or rejects them, no matter what the system is there is going to be whiners. They could sell deer tags over the counter for rifle hunts and there would be people out there whining about something. The azgfd has done a pretty good job over the years for the most part and they don't need to start copying other states that should be copying us, money shouldn't be the number one factor for how and when hunts are structured. Last and not least is that most companies listen to their best customers while trying to get new customers, they don't kick the regulars off to the side and allow the walk ins to dictate how the company does business. I think everyone should have a chance and at this point everyone does, and it is a good chance if you don't mind hunting the oct. hunts. One last thing to remember is that archery deer hunters are required to call in and notify azgfd if you are succesful, if we don't they will start to change the archery hunts, and I doubt anyone would want that. Good Luck to all and God Bless Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Ernesto C Report post Posted August 22, 2006 I did not get drawn and I'm not complaining...................just will like to let you know that my 2nd,4th and 5th choices were October hunts. My 1st and 3rd choice combined together had a 90+ % chance of getting drawn................so you can figure out that they were not December hunts. No problem.......the Lord will give me an opportunity to redeem my self and let me tell you something........I will take it.God bless. Ernesto C Aim for the vitals Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
billrquimby Report post Posted August 22, 2006 "Bill Q, Some interesting comments in this thread for sure. I wonder how we all got along in the woods during the "good ol' days" of the ealy 1980s when more than 90,000 folks had deer permits. Maybe AZ was much bigger back then, eh? As for the current and VERY random AGFD survey, it appears every question has an optional answer at one extreme or the other or somewhere in between. So the only way the results can lead to more hunters/permits/opportunities will be if those answering the questions swing toward that end. Obviously those who DON'T want to see more permits have the option to answer the survey questions so they reflect THEIR opinions. For those who weren't around way back when or didn't pay attention, the following is a list of the general season permits going back to the record high number in 1986. The total was also above 85,000 for a couple years prior to and after 1986. The reason for the high # of permits is simple: AZ experienced TWO years of massive rainfall -- 100-yr. flood types -- in the early 1980s and the deer herd growth reflected that. I don't recall anyone complaining about overcrowding back then. In fact, most folks were happy for the chance to go hunting. Heck, some guys even got two permits. What a concept, huh? Today, there are a 1/3 the number of deer hunters in the woods. Historical Deer Permit Totals The downward trend for the number of deer permits issued annually began in the early 1990s when the ?drought? began in the West. 2006 37,975 2005 37,695 2004 36,325 (Record Low) 2003 37.025 2002 42,295 2001 44.695 2000 45,850 1999 46,820 1998 47,505 1997 51,815 1996 58,260 1995 63,900 1986 95,821 (Record High)" Tony: I have been afield either hunting or helping others during deer season in Arizona every year since 1948, including 1969, the last year we could buy tags over the counter. Close to 107,000 tags were sold that year. I wish that drought were the only reason for the downward trend in permit numbers, but there were other things at play, including the significant loss of access leading to what I call the "parking space factor." Bill Quimby Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bmf1321 Report post Posted August 22, 2006 on my last 3 apps my hunt choices were #1- DEC WT #2- NOV WT #3- OCT WT, maybe I should bump my #3 up to #2, I still feel that AZ residents are being hosed with the online application process. the only year I drew a WT tag was the year they had paper apps only. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
az4life Report post Posted August 22, 2006 Looking at the tag#s maybe we have a "band of brothers" from PETA on the AGFD commission. Conspiracy theories aside, with the urban sprawl and increase in population, and therefore hunters, the state resources are being pulled in many different directions by often opposing viewpoints. The AGFD still has one of the best potential situations to grow all aspects of hunting. Quality and Quantity of Game, Hunter retention, Hunter increase, Quality and quantity of days afield. It appears to me that they are too shortsighted in their management and should really look toward a long term plan more-so. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
