catclaw

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

I saw two troupes of them in unit 24A this year. One had 24 and the other I only saw bits and pieces. I hunted the same spot several days later for several days and did not see them again so I wouldn't send you there. I saw hundreds off them in NM in Nov 2002. This was in the Mtns south of Mule Creek. I also saw them in every side canyon off Aravaipa.

Ernesto, very well said. I pretty much ignore the coyotes on the reservation these days as it is not good enough to justify a trip there just to hunt them. I agree with self managing strategy but I'm afraid that many don't feel the same way. One thing we have to do is police our own. I was really discusted with what I found in 24A this year during my deer hunt. I found the messes left by 2 elk hunters and one bear hunter - all three which would have been very negative reflections on "hunters". I cleaned up two of them and the other one was turned over to G&F for citations. I got after a number of people for riding quads all over creation. It seems that we are creating a generation of very LAZY and unskilled hunters. I wore a pair of boots out on this trip - yet one tank of fuel in my ATV lasted 3-4 outings. Maybe I'm just too old fashioned. God bless YOU Ernesto Dennis

Bob, They tried to go to a guide only system 3 years ago in Unit "D". They had a mutiny on their hands and couldn't get rid of the tags. They won't go to a guided-only system any time in the forseeable future, at least not for deer. I have seen some really good mule deer on the res as well but they are reserved for tribal members. The reservation is still good, but except for elk, I'm afraid the glory days are over. Black river is only a memory of what it used to be. San Carlos lake is nearly dry. The river is always so low that the waterfowl hunting is very sporatic. The drought of the past 15 years has taken it's toll on the reservation as well as it has on the rest of the state. Elk are a lot like cattle and can be managed via artificial water. Deer CANNOT. Deer will spontaneously about their fetus if the browse conditions are not sufficient. This is probably the single biggest reason for the terrible recruitment that we have seen statewide in the past 8-9 years. Elk seem to avoid this and are spreading over the state like ragweed. I see more turkeys on the reservation that anywhere else in the state. I cannot remember a time when I have traveled across "C" and not seen a flock of turkeys. I have seen then flocked up in the winter months to bunches in excess of 300 birds! I once jumped about 300-500 of them in one mass migration off a stock tank as I drove to an elk hunting spot in the pre-dawn hours. It was like ducks taking off from a refuge. The coyote calling on the res is not near what it used to be either. It was nothing to get 8-10 a day. Now I'm lucky to get 3. The long term forcast for the climate changes does not look good. The 20th century was the wettest century in two millenia. The 1980's were the wettest of the 20th century. If history is to be trusted, things won't likely change for the better for another 30 years. Many foresters think that we will eventually lose the pondorosa pine forests and anything below 7000 feet will be replaced by an oak savana habitat. I guess time will tell. I am going to continue to enjoy things as I cannot control them.

BH, I have not had a tag there before but I have spent a lot of time on the reservation hunting other things and scouting it and fishing in many of the stock tanks. I have hunted unit 27 via the reservation for the past 20+ years. My old hunting partner has hunted bear as have some friends. The glory days are over. There are still good bears, but the only advantage is they have a season that allows hunting the prickley pears where some of the AZ units do not at this time. ( specifically 24A) I have seen a couple of tremendous bucks in Unit C and my buddy, who hunts bear and quail in "A" has seen some very nice bucks. It is not easy country to hunt like the 34-36 units in AZ. I saw some decent bucks in A while hunting in 24A this past December. I have lion hunted in C quite a few times and usually that is when I see the bucks. Dennis

I did not buy a San Carlos tag. I got there at 4:00 am this morning and it was all for naught. They are going to have to go to a lottery system. They claim it's first come first serve and then they let the tribal guides buy as many of the few tags as they need. If you wanted the Jan "A" tag you would have needed to be there 24 hours prior- camped out. It was ridiculous. I'm sure all the tags were sold by noon. Dennis

I, like Scott, swore that I would hold out for a big one. I saw about 15 bucks during the hunt but only one would go 100 inches or bigger. I didnt have a chance to move on him as he moved into the trees when the quail hunters started banging away in the distance and I never found him again. I ended up hunting by myself most every day except the opening weekend. The hunting is OK but the frigid weather in camp was a drag alone! I finally went down near the Salt river the last two days and found does and lots of Mule deer but no big ones. I saw 2-points chasing tail! I saw lots of pig herds this year but they were all very small herds which disturbs me. There were more quail than I have seen in many years as well. The country looked to be in good shape overall but the deer numbers and amount of brush made for a very humbling hunt. It was the coldest whitetail hunt I can remember (at times) although I did get snowed out of 27 one year when we got about 10inches of snow one day! Time to concentrate on pigs! I have a tag in 23 and the two youngsters have general tags in 35A. I guess I will go to San Carlos tomorrow and buy a tag for next year so I can hunt