You saw it here first

[Non-Typical Solutions]

Thanks.....back to the topic at hand.

 

Matty, those are some respectable photos of deer, were you just not able to get on him like you wanted?

 

One of these days I am going to have to break down and try the trail cam thing. Looks like it could become a whole new sport, I am very impressed with the photos people post on here of the game they are keeping track of.

 

Here is a little different twist on the topic.

 

Bobcats, I have seen more bobcat in the last couple of years. Rarely ever saw them, but seems like they are on the up. One thing I have noticed though with game is what I call the California Effect.....as people move out into habitat...more game is seen and then more game starts to disappear. The only critter with the exception to that rule would be Wyle Coyote....

[billrquimby]

"Bill, have a friend who owns a cabin in Greer. His name is Mike McCormick. His cabin is in that development to the right on the main road coming into town. If I recall the turnoff is just before the campground. Do you know him?-TONY"

 

Tony:

 

It's called Crosby Acres. Everyone considers it a part of Greer, but it's two or more miles from the village limits. I don't know Mike. Actually, we know few people here. Our cabin is on Badger Creek behind Molly Butler's Lodge and we're out of the social scene. http://forums.coueswhitetail.com/forums/st...icon_open.gifWe go to the post office a couple times a week, take our garbage to the Tin Star Trading Post on Wednesdays, and drive to Round Valley for groceries, gasoline and yard sales on weekends. The rest of the week we watch the pines and aspens grow when I'm not driving around, watching critters. About every other season my grandson wants a change from chasing girls and drives up to take me fishing. A retiree's life is really tough!

 

Bill

[Outdoor Writer]

Bill,

 

Yup. Crosby Acres it is. I couldn't remember the name. Mike is an electrician and he spends many hours in the bar at Molly's! He's also an avid fisherman, spending most of his time fishing the Little Colorado for brown trout. He's been up there a long time, too, so I'd bet you have crossed paths a few times. -TONY

[Non-Typical Solutions]

Bill, speaking of taking out the trash. I remember as a kid there at the cabins at Greer hauling off the trash meant there was a good chance of seeing a bear. One night my older brother who had been sleeping out on the front porch came in yelling about a bear and sure enough, his yelling had scared the bear right up into the tree next to the cabin we were renting.....we got alot of laughs out of that one.

[mattys281]

Thanks.....back to the topic at hand.

 

Matty, those are some respectable photos of deer, were you just not able to get on him like you wanted?

 

One of these days I am going to have to break down and try the trail cam thing. Looks like it could become a whole new sport, I am very impressed with the photos people post on here of the game they are keeping track of.

 

Here is a little different twist on the topic.

 

Bobcats, I have seen more bobcat in the last couple of years. Rarely ever saw them, but seems like they are on the up. One thing I have noticed though with game is what I call the California Effect.....as people move out into habitat...more game is seen and then more game starts to disappear. The only critter with the exception to that rule would be Wyle Coyote....

 

There's some nice bucks around there, that much is certain. Unfortunately, I was unable to figure them out. The ethics police who scrutinize baiting have a very strong counter arguement against them after my efforts. In 3 months & over 2000 photos, that buck w/ the kickers only showed up for one day. The 4x4 never touched the stuff, that photo was taken as he walked right past it. I tried 3 or 4 different types of baits (or attractants if you prefer) & could not get any repeat business except for does.

 

Baiting might work better in the lower elevations where deer have to work harder for a living, but up there it did not prove very effective for us at all. I think this is because the habitat is so good, that there isn't any real deficiency in their diets which would prompt them to go out of their way for a supplied supplement. As you can see by the antler mass, sag bellies, & over-all good condition of these guys, the animals you find over there are pretty hearty, to say the least. Better luck next year.

 

As to the cats, I've got a couple bobcats on photo & a few foxes too. Last Sept. my GF saw one (a bobcat) snag a squirrel & then it sat right under her treestand & ate it's "breakfast". I asked her why the heck she didn't shoot it, & she said she didn't know she was allowed to. She has since been corrected.

 

Trail cams are an excellent hobby all of their own. I started w/ a couple cheapies that I bought used off of Treestandman & quickly became addicted. I've got 4 that I'm running right now & plan on adding a couple more to dispense in certain wilderness areas that I'm interested in.

[billrquimby]

"Bill, speaking of taking out the trash. I remember as a kid there at the cabins at Greer hauling off the trash meant there was a good chance of seeing a bear. One night my older brother who had been sleeping out on the front porch came in yelling about a bear and sure enough, his yelling had scared the bear right up into the tree next to the cabin we were renting.....we got alot of laughs out of that one."

 

We had a small bear just outside our kitchen window a couple of weeks ago. It destroyed one of my wife's squirrel feeders as we watched. It was the second bear we've seen in our yard this year.

 

Bill Quimby

[BELLOTABUCKS]

was in alpine july 18th through 21st, saw 19 deer 12 of them bucks. only 2 or 3 worth writing home about but was shocked. also saw about 20 gobblers they looked huge! also saw three of the best bulls i have ever seen in a farm area south of the road between luna lake and town, my god! heart stoppers. drew a fall gobbler tag for 27 this fall. haven't decided on high or low. the unit appears healthy as ever!

[Noel Arnold]

Tony,

That picture of your kid at puerto lobos brings back old memories.I know exactly were that was.You could drive to the beach and then 4whl to the south for miles.We used to go there in the late sixties and early seventies.Then we switched to puerto Libertad.And now for about the last 15 years we go to Santo Thomas.We love fishing for corvina.Do you remember Bill Valentine?He used to write about those areas.

Noel

[Outdoor Writer]

Tony,

That picture of your kid at puerto lobos brings back old memories.I know exactly were that was.You could drive to the beach and then 4whl to the south for miles.We used to go there in the late sixties and early seventies.Then we switched to puerto Libertad.And now for about the last 15 years we go to Santo Thomas.We love fishing for corvina.Do you remember Bill Valentine?He used to write about those areas.

Noel

Noel,

 

Geez, what a very small world. That photo on the beach was taken sometime in the late 1960s over New Year's weekend, and that trip was mostly responsible for getting me into outdoor writing because I met Jim Tallon there that weekend. Both of us knew Valentine quite well. We had gone down there with a guy by the name of Ed Bellows who owned a sporting goods store at 27th Ave. and Camelback.

 

And yes, we also used to camp and surf fish for corvina and triggerfish on the beach at Libertad, as well! That's where I hooked and landed my first seagull. -TONY

[Noel Arnold]

Tony,

When is the article with the picture of the striper coming out.Also I forgot what magazine you told me it was going to be in.I was going to pick up a copy.

Noel

[Outdoor Writer]

Tony,

When is the article with the picture of the striper coming out.Also I forgot what magazine you told me it was going to be in.I was going to pick up a copy.

Noel

 

Actually, I think there will be two photos of you and that monster. The first will be in the Dec. issue of Rocky Mt. Game & Fish with a short recap in my In The Field column. The other will be in a feature article I'm doing on Lake Pleasant for the Feb issue.

 

Are you coming to the party at my place on Sept. 29? If so see the YES RSVP ONLY FOR TONY'S PARTY ON SEPT. 29, 2007 thread.

 

TONY

[Noel Arnold]

Tony,

I wanted to come,but I got a leftover coues tag for 30b oct. hunt and that is the only weekend I have to scout.I am helping my brother on his archery elk tag this weekend.

Noel

[Vbraley]

I grew up in N.M. and it never crossed my feeble mind that Eastern AZ could ever be so beautiful! Through the years, moving, Military and parents divorcing, living as far away as the U.K and Fla I end up in Phx. My frist trip June 1st 1998 was Big Lake by way of Safford, Morenci, Hannagan's Meadow and Big Lake. the first night it snowed about 2" and my girlfriend , now my wife vowed never to come back because it was too cold. This is our, and my family's October destiantion every year since. I put in for Unit 1 every year for archery elk but with 10 years and no luck, had to change my options. My kids love this place and I have a corner set aside for my ashes to be spread when the time comes, so if you ever see a ghost "cruising" the FR 409 rd, I'm friendly.

[Vbraley]

I grew up in N.M. and it never crossed my feeble mind that Eastern AZ could ever be so beautiful! Through the years, moving, Military and parents divorcing, living as far away as the U.K and Fla I end up in Phx. My frist trip June 1st 1998 was Big Lake by way of Safford, Morenci, Hannagan's Meadow and Big Lake. the first night it snowed about 2" and my girlfriend , now my wife vowed never to come back because it was too cold. This is our, and my family's October destiantion every year since. I put in for Unit 1 every year for archery elk but with 10 years and no luck, had to change my options. My kids love this place and I have a corner set aside for my ashes to be spread when the time comes, so if you ever see a ghost "cruising" the FR 409 rd, I'm friendly.

I was reading thru the replys and I have no Idea where 1998 came from.?( must have been a typo?) My first experience with Big Lake and Unit 1 was back in 1990. I remember being able to call in Bulls with a Paper towel holder as a bugle and Huge Brook trout cast after cast with the fly rod. This is My Heaven, I have told my wife that my funeral WILL be held at the intersection of the FR 409 and the "little" road that veers south to the road that goes to Crescent and Big Lake. There has been no place on Earth that has impacted me, like this place, Unit 1................