catclaw

Message sent- Good luck

I have spent quite a bit of time in them. It's a bitch to drive in there. Wouldn't do it in anything other than a 4x4 quad.

Holy cow Scott- you guys hit the mother load. I didn't put in for anything except antelope in 2A. My son drew a bull tag in Unit 10. We are pretty jazzed up about that.

Here's my take on it- Can you buy a lottery ticket with a credit card??? No- it's against the law- in every state that has a lottery. The big game draw in AZ is a lottery. Period. Apply online so that you can correct any errors. Get a confirmation # and then send in your check. If you can't afford it up front, you can't afford it period. Those who say that they have to put in for a whole bunch of tags just to draw one, use an application service who will fund it for you or borrow the money from the bank. I know a lot of guys who borrow $15K every year to apply all over the west for everything so they can hunt something. This process now is a real nightmare!

Scott, Nor did I, did see some whopper mulies though. Dennis

Well it's Christmas eve as I post this. I am headed back out tommorow night, hopefully for the duration [if needed]. I'll post pics of my big one when I get back. Go back and get that one you missed on Monday. Dennis

Any reports yet as we are in the 4th day of the season. We went one for three and will be back out Christmas day to finish out the season. Saw the two biggest bucks were already rutting. My buddy in 24A saw the same thing, buck chasing does all over- just haven't seen a really big one doing any chasing yet! It is cold but DRY...

Good luck you guys keep at 'em, don't slack off...

Scott, Don't let any more get away! Like I told you, we got one the first day and I won't go back out until next week. I think you were the only tag holder that wasn't on the same mountain with us! I love the set up photo. I'll try and keep my camera handy and take a few myself as I always kick myself for being too lazy to drag it out. Dennis

I much prefer A over B, but have seen the most big bucks in C. I won't do any of them until the Indian tribal leaders go to a lottery and lose the hunter orange requirement. good luck

33/37B Archery javelina 1 Turkey 27 Spring bear My kids all got rejected because they said I didn't put enough funds in???? Baloney

I would have to say mesquite leaves and wait-a-minute bush leaves and pods. I quess it depends on where you hunt!

I had a doe and a fawn come in Saturday in unit 23. They came right in and stayed within 10 feet of the Foxpro for 4-5 minutes before she finally stuck her nose down and touched it to the speaker! They then walked off- I have called in dozens of does with a mouth call- this was the first with the Foxpro. If you can get a doe to come in and work back and forth- you have the world's best decoy for calling lions. Keep em interested!

I don't think anyone is going to give it up just that easy! Unit 22 is one of those units that has pockets of WT instead of widespread like the southern units. It's also VERY brushy in a lot of the good habitat. I saw a 110 class buck feeding along side the highway (87) last December as I was driving north. The buck was literally 10 feet off the pavement and caught me by surprise. It was down in the cactus no less. Good luck

Last weekend I saw quite a few deer in unit 27 but unfortunately, most of them were mule deer. That said, there were several that were very impressive- I would have to agree that antler growth this year is above average. They are still growing too!

Neither of those two stores will last much longer. Sportsman Warehouse is now in the east valley and has everything those stores have times 100. I predict they will be out of business in less than 6 months at this rate. I just went up to Salt Lake to the new Cabelas. If you have never been to a Cabelas store, it is well worth it. If you have, well the one in SLC is ...ho-hum. I was quite disappointed. SW has far better prices and nearly the same selection. I don't know about trading in guns though. Also the Outdoorsman on Cave Creek road will take guns in trade. Saw a guy in there doing just that.

Ballistic tips going that fast will make a mess of meat- If you are interested in saving meat, either limit yourself to head/neck shots or perfect broadside chest cavity shots. If you get into a shoulder or ham, it's gone. Been there, done that. If you want to save meat with the 257 and not worry too much about shot selection, I would stick with Barnes Triple Shocks or something similar. I don't hunt with BTs anymore except for varmints for that reason.

If you want factory ammo for coues deer hunting- the plain vanilla WBY brand 150's using the Hornady bullets as previously mentioned are very good.

I use Thunderhead 85's and they shoot very well. I went to them when buddy had good luck with them and the 75's on ELK! They seem to shoot better than the 100's and on a 90# deer, who needs more penetration!

A number of years ago, I camped near Pena Blanca lake on a deer hunt. During the course of that hunt, we saw soldiers in Mexican uniforms on the US side of the border and witnessed a gun battle involving full-auto weapons with US authorities. This was in early 90's- can't imagine it's much better now- most guys I know who hunt there- go into town each night and stay in a house. The whole border is getting trashed. I have flown it several times and hovered over ridges- every ridgeline near the border is a UDA trail and littered with water bottles and other garbage- it is really appalling.

I'm in 27-28 whitetail

Not only did they raise the tag prices, but they are forcing everyone to wear orange when hunting ANYTHING on the rez- effective immediately. This includes spring turkey, archery elk and coyote calling. I'm done

Any of you hunters out there running around in 23 find pigs, let me know. I have a January tag and saw no pigs during my turkey hunt last spring. I suppose I need to hunt lower. Dennis

A likely food in 24A wil be the various agave plants seeds- especially the seed pods from century plants. Also the Manzanita berries should be starting by then and bears will gorge themselves on those when available. Otherwise keys on the various forbes as they emerge on the north slopes.

$800 for November tag