gonhunting247

Thanks, that makes things a lot clearer. I really appreciate the help

Just added the third general Tom in OR this year. Turkey hunting is one of the real bright spots here!

Well another year slipped by without me getting to hunt AZ, hopefully I'll get lucky in 2016. I did grab a javelina point so I should at least get to try that soon, I hope. I thought I'd share some of my out of state and home state of OR success pics. OR Fall Black Bear UT MZ Elk OR Black Tail MT Mule Deer I was lucky enough to get a spring bear and two spring turkeys in OR this year also. I'm thankful for another great year hunting with family and friends. Can't wait for the chance at hunting AZ. Thanks to all the folks on here who have shared there knowledge of hunting AZ with me so far. It is really appreciated.

NWhunter: Those big old black Tail bucks, sure do get in your blood. I'm guessing it has to do with where we grew up, because it sounds like those Coues deer can be just as addictive. I can't wait to give Coues and Javelina a try.

Thanks everyone, I can't wait to have a chance to get some critters to post from AZ. Maybe I'll get lucky and draw an elk tag for late rifle. I'm never sure if the units I choose are a good choice, but I figure if I draw I'll make it work

Some are harder than others of course, but there is a lot of opportunities to draw with 0-3 points. The units I hunt can be drawn fairly easy for sure. I can recommend some pretty decent spots if you'd like.

Nice work!

Good work, looks like you do a great job of putting your fur up! Congrats on a great season.

We eat at least one bear a year, sometimes two. I cut my meat myself and bone it out. I separate all muscle groups and remove all the fat and connecting tissue so I'm left with just lean meat. When bear is cut this way, in my experience it has never been greasy (spring or fall). It makes great roast in the crock pot, ground meat for sauces, tacos and chili, but my favorite is to make breakfast sausage for burritos and patties. Here again I do not add any kind of fat, just seasoning. ( I am going to try adding a package of pepper bacon ends and pieces to my next 15# batch just for fun though!) I prefer breakfast style sausage over summer sausage and pepperoni due to the fact that I control the cooking temp and it's easily made at home. I've heard of people using the bear fat, but I prefer just the lean meat, as that's how I cut the rest of my game meat. It seems to me that most of the taste influence from an animals diet is carried in the fat and the lean meat is much more mild and consistent when trimmed this way. ( Just my preference though!) A side benefit being that it's great tasting protein without extra fat. I've won over many a skeptic with the bear meat I've cooked and served. Besides great meat you get another critter to hunt and in some cases twice, both spring and fall! Have a blast it's addictive! Good luck

That's cool, good work

Great looking critters, good work!

I'm lucky to have relatives in AK, that allows me to afford trips like Sheep and Goat (No guide required/Next of kin). With out them being willing to tag along with me it wouldn't happen! Thanks, It was a fun year! Thanks, I love seeing all the AZ critters on here, it's cool that people share their pics! Wasn't sure whether to put them on here, but I don't have any AZ pics to show Ha, Thanks, I really hope to have a pic of some AZ critters soon. All new to me though! Thanks, hope I draw soon!

Wasn't sure where to post this or even if I should post other state pics on here, but I know I enjoy looking at pics so here goes. I really enjoy following this forum, but live in OR and haven't made it to hunt AZ yet (haven't drawn a tag yet!) I did get to take a vacation/scouting trip to the Tucson area this year though! I still hope to get down there and at least try out the Javelina hunting while waiting on a Elk tag. I also plan on trying my hand at Coues Deer once I get a chance to check out a few more areas. I have a friend who hunted Coues this year with no success (passed up a few younger deer) and a buddy that's hunting elk as I write, so I'm starting to get some good in-sight. I wanted to thank all the folks on here that have offered their thoughts and advice on Javelina, it is very much appreciated. AK Mtn. Goat Silvers on Kodiak Chrome Bright Silver MT Antelope OR Fall Black Bear OR Blacktail I posted my two Spring Turkeys in that forum earlier so I won't post them here. I also had a chance to assist a buddy on a once in a lifetime bighorn sheep hunt here in OR and we were successful on a awesome ram (saving those pics and story for a magazine article). All in all it's been an awesome season with family and friends. I feel pretty blessed! Hopefully, I'll get to meet some folks when I get the opportunity to hunt AZ. I can't hardly wait to get down there! Thanks to all the folks that share their stories and pics on here. It's awesome to hear cool stories and see all the great critters AZ produces. My daughter Shelby's OR Blacktail My son Dylan's OR Antelope

Nice work on some awesome rams. I really like the wall pedestal ram!

Great work!

That's a great looking Deer and they did a great job on the mount. Impressive!

Looks great!

Those are really nice, Having the velvet really adds an element of difficulty. Good job!

I will be making a trip to Tucson, June 18th. I will be there a week. I was wondering if any of you guys with Javelina and Coues experience would be willing to point me the right direction or suggest some areas to check out while I'm down there! I'm not asking for specifics, just wanted to at least get a feel for the area while I was there. I plan on trying to get a Javelina tag for one of those units for Feb. of 2015. Feel free to PM me if that's better or my e-mail address is gonhunting247@hotmail.com . Thanks in advance for any thoughts and advice. I have never even seen a Javelina or a Coues Deer, so I need all the help I can get! Bob E.

Are schedule and rental car were pretty limited, but we did the trip to Oracle and up to Pepper sauce canyon. We visited with some nice folks in that area. We didn't spend too much time walking that day. We spent one day just messing around Saguoro National Park. Hiking a little, checking out petroglyghs etc. Then we decided to go to Tucson and up the Catalina Hwy. towards Summer Haven, We stopped about every thousand feet of elevation to walk around and glass a little. That was an interesting trip to get to see the habitat change as we went up! Up on top I saw what I'm guessing is the other end of the dirt road that goes up Pepper Sauce. Didn't get out much the last 2 days! I caught a bug somewhere and had a high temp and sinus problems. 103 temp isn't all that great in 104 degree outside temp All and all it was a good first trip. My wife had fun too, and were both looking forward to the next trip. Thanks again for the starting points, Bob E.

I just wanted to thank everyone for the suggestions. We just returned from AZ and now I have a much better feel for the country. I wasn't too successful seeing game, but we didn't spend time in good locations at the right time of day.(HOT). I will say I probably have more new questions than I answered. Hopefully, with some more research I'll start to check some of them off my list. Thanks again for all of those that offered advice and suggestions It helped a ton! Bob E.

IMO that cougar is one of the most life-like that I've seen. Those are nice mounts.

That's a great tactic. Your hammering the ones that have figured out how to earn a living on them. Great job!

That's an awesome cat and a great Kudo!

Well I finally broke my second Tom curse! I was thinking I was gonna come up short on #2 again after a few close calls and mistakes. But, I got it done with a little over a week to spare Thank goodness I said my prayers that morning! I got my bird, took pictures and made it to work on time. What a great morning!