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Most of my hunting is backpack hunting in the high desert where I live. Dugas road used to be great but the secret is out unfortunately. To answer another one of your questions, you can definitely still have issues with bears in January. 2 years ago it was a really warm winter and nothing really hibernated. I like to hit the same spot multiple times going further into the wilderness each trip. That way you will know the area really well and will also know what springs/rivers are still flowing.

Lol

Precisely what .270 said. A lot of people like to forget that at 300 yards 5.56/.223 is still flying at 2,000+ fps. Which is the same as a .308 at that distance. There are also some really nasty .223 rounds designed for maximum damage. HPR's 62 grain BlackOps OTF comes to mind. Made right here in AZ. Search youtube and you will find several guys that have taken decent size deer with an AR-15. A lot of guys use over sized calibers on deer to make up for poor accuracy.

If you are accurate with .223 and shoot between 0-700 yards it works great. Like others have stated I would go with a heavier bullet like Buffalo Bore's 69 grain. I use my AR-15 for deer and it is all about accuracy and stalking/ambushing. You DO NOT NEED .50 Beowulf to take down a deer! I hope that was a joke.

Honestly I'm surprised it took California this long to ban it. That state does a wonderful job of banning things based on ignorance which is why I left!

Young male or small-average female.

You don't need snow for a bear to hibernate just cold temperatures. Last winter was so warm there wasn't much of a hibernation season for them.

They are definitely in 19A. Seeing one by Cornville is pretty cool.

You can also try calling bears in.

They are over the counter. I am going out into 19A all weekend. Thankfully the limit hasn't been reached as of today.

E-calling has it's place. Most predator hunters I know do both. If e-calling is unethical we all might as well burn our rifles and only hunt with hand made bows and arrows.

Normal coat for the summer time. I saw one up north that looked just like that. Mange usually looks much worse than that.

Set up a camera or try leaving a note. If the hunter never comes around it is abandoned property littering the area. At that point in time you could either use it or trash it. If the hunter does come around every so often then I would just leave him be. He is basically squatting the area year around and probably has little morals/ethics. Those individuals you usually don't want to get into arguments with.

Actually there are weasels and martens up here in Northern AZ. I friend of mine saw a marten on a kaibab deer hunt last year. I believe they photographed it. Also Ermines have been confirmed as others have previously mentioned.

On a more serious note bells is a stupid idea. I had a bear encounter when I was practically unarmed on a hike. I did everything the "experts" tell you to do including making more noise. All it did was call in more predators, no joke!