bullwidgeon

I spent Saturday in 37A and we got into a bunch of quail, found some carp sheds, saw a bruiser carp buck, and saw 8 million hogs. As far as how the quail are in coues country I would assume from the large coveys we found in 37A that the gambels in coues country should be doing well. Bret M.

I do not know the score or who found it or even where other than "Somewhere round Payson, I think" from the email. I would say it scores gross wise at least in the 390 or up range. The bull looks perfect on everything except for the beams look a little shorter than say a perfect unit 9 or 10 gene carrying bull. I posted it, half expecting someone to know about it and post the rest of the details. Maybe they will come along shortly and post the Paul Harvey to this... Bret M.

You should not hunt elk unless there are aspens around. Does 5A have aspen trees? If so, I would look around there. Rembrant is crazy . Pinyons and Junipers are awesome for mule deer and coyotes but unhealthy for elk . Seriously, years back my family always hunted it and could always find bulls in or around Yeager canyon. That was a long time ago though and the bulls were never monsters, mostly 5x5's or small 6x6's if they passed on a bunch of smaller bulls during the hunts. Good luck Bret M.

I saw 2 coues bucks in 2B 6 weeks ago or so, one 80-85 incher and a 70-75 inch deer. I spent 30-35 days or so this Summer and Fall behind glass in that unit and that's the only coues I saw, but I am sure there are several more around that I didn't see. Bret M.

I think I been there one time. . Sooner or later those boys will get a whopper, just a matter of time with them. Bret M.

Scott, Good luck to you and the boys! I hope you guys get a toad! Bret M.

Do bull elk count? Bret M.

if you are frustrated with the El tigre problem in the southern end, then the middle and northern end of the unit 23 is good for carps. Bret M.

Did anyone get video? I would buy whoever has video a case of beer to watch that trainwreck! bwaahahaha!! Bret M.

fatfootdoc, You got it better in NM, especially after 2-3 years of the draw hunts they are going too. It really will be land of the whopper then . I am sure no one really wants higher prices and feel bad for people trying to get their kids into what is becoming and icreasingly expensive sport. lark, I saw the stats, 2 G and F employess were in the meeting they didn't cry foul when the numbers were presented. I know some outfitter or guide will read this with the list, they should be able to clarify it for us. Anyways, good luck with the mowing and the trailer, I hear Sears has riding mowers for a little less than the cost of a good horse, maybe you should sell the horse look into one oldtimer. Bwaaahahahahahaha!!! Bret M.

Lark, I saw the figures in an Arizona Desert Bighorn Sheep Society Board metting. The figures came from Game and Fish. There were 82 sheep tags this year, non residents got 16. That is like 19.5 percent. This was their numbers, they would not revoke the tags and re-issue them back to residents down to the proper amount because they messed up and sent the tags before anyone caught the mistake and were afraid of adverse legal action. It would be pretty simple I figure, to just get in touch with someone in the draw office who has access to the list and ask them how many NR tags they sent out for sheep, opf course be real frindly to them and don't let on you are going to be using the numbers to hammer them in a following letter. Or, if any of you guides or outfitters paid for the draw list to look for clients this year and can look that up for us that would be great. I just saw a spreadsheet and not the peoples actual adresses and such. Anyways, I hope that helps a little bit, the days of us assuming the G&F always looks out for our best interest and are in control should be over. I hate to sound paranoid but never trust a government agency to look out for your best interests. Just imagine how chingered up healthcare is going to get if Kerry wins Bret M.

Lark, They did that because last year they FUBAR'd and did not apply any restrictions to them and they (NR's) drew 20% of our desert sheep tags. I say 15% is better than 20% but the entire deal just stinks especially since tags numbers have gone down for the last 3 years now total in a row. A good time to be a sheep guide but a bad time to have max bonus points and years of time invested in the Sheep Society and habitat projects waiting for a sheep tag that will probably never come ...... Bret M.

Awesome!!! Not even squirrel chewed yet too! Bret M.

Ernesto, I have found it is almost impossible to get things to line up correctly with a 35MM. however, with a digital camera with a LCD viewfinder you can actually see what will turn out. So I just hold it up till I like what I see and then hit the button. Usually with my binos and camera unless an animal is inside 800 or so yards the picture does not turn out that good. Or if wind is creating any shake at all it will be blurry. Anyways, as far as what kind of digital, so long as it has a screen you can see it should work fine. Of course the more MP and zoom you have, likely the better your pictures will turn out, but any one will work to a point. I find the binos zoom work just fine and rarely use my camera's zoom at all. Good luck Bret M.

My dad and uncle had elk tags for this weekend. My dad got this one yesterday and my uncle got a neat little 6x7 Saturday. I don't have any pictures of my uncles bull as I was not in on the kill (or the packout ). Neither of them are much into trophy hunting especially after passing on bulls the first day or two. It drives them nuts to know all those elk burros are walking away from them still on the hoof when they could be in the freezer, but I think I would have held out a little longer (In fact I did 2 weeks ago and it payed off ) These bulls were bugling and chasing cows better than they were on my hunt. We glassed this bull up across a big canyon with a little raghorn and 5 or 6 cows. We watched where they bedded. We snuck in over the top, I glassed up the cows bedded at 230 yards across a draw and below us. Eventually one of them winded us and jumped up and started looking for us, she could not see us but knew something was wrong she started to top out, most of the other cows were still snoozing. Then finally, the bull came up out of the bottom, I cow called and he stopped about midway up the ridge and then my dad started shooting his 7mag with 150 grain Scirroccos. After a few shots the bull fell and starting cartwheeling down the ridge, taking out pinons and junipers along the way. I would like to say that the perfect first shoulder shot flopped the bull right there but that was not the case. The thing was going like the terminator with multiple holes in his lung and lower heart. I can not beleive how these things can go with terminal damage done to them. Anyways, I had never seen a bull cartwheel, roll, flip, get back up try to run and slide down a mountain before. It was neat to say the least , except he broke a few inches of his right horn in the skirmish( That means mine is still bigger ). Anyways he eventually snagged up in a juniper stump and gave up. Good luck to anyone who still has tags Bret M.

285-295, he might even go 300 depending on the mass. I just took general length measurements of the g1, g4 and beam, but he should go around there. That picture makes him look really good, maybe even a little better than he is . Just wait until December when the 72 inch coues deer I kill looks like an honest 105-110, I love camera angles Bret M.

I shoot a .300 Weatherby in Mark V Synthetic. There are too many guns to have only one favorite. I use to use a .270 Win Model 70, it was a good gun, I still have it and use it sometimes for coyotes and jackrabbits. It just had a short barrel and a wood stock. I wanted a longer barrel and a synthetic stock. I sure would like to have anothe lightweight coues gun one day in the future though too. Maybe a Tikka T-3 Lightweight or Small Winchester 70 in .270 WSM or .300 WSM with another plastic stock. For now the Weatherby shoots better than I do and that is all anyone can ask for from a gun. Bret M.

We name bull elk for horn characteristics. Like "No third" , he had no 3rd point on one side or "Old Tree Horn" looked like he had a big dead juniper tree growing out of his head or "That little weener raghorn bull" which was the last bull that Lark killed Other than that, generally we use places they are at or physical traits to describe other animals. I am not really sure how to name an antelope, more than half they time they all look the same to me... Bret M.

I killed this bull Friday morning in a unit that according to the Game and Fish "Has very little elk in it". He had beat up on a poor old big giant 5x5 earlier that morning and took his 39 cows and headed East. I had initially gone in to kill the big 5x5 that I had been watching for 3 days but this one showed up and I decided to take him. This one scores better than the 5x5 but doesn't have the mass or width the 5x5 had. I figure the big 5 pointer was 42-44 inches wide and this one is only 33 inches wide. I waited till the cows all bedded down and stalked over and shot this bull as he was feeding and chasing a few raghorn satellite bulls around. I saw and filmed some bigger bulls while scouting but never saw them during the hunt. Not too bad for a Population Management tag. I am mega happy, maybe in 10 - 15 years or so I might actually draw a 1, 27 or 10 bull tag and better this one, the waiting game begins now. Bret M.

I saw quite a few coues deer in Little Rocky Creek canyon and on that big ridge West of there this summer. Some looked pretty good, but I was in the truck and had no binos. Who knows what I could have seen with tripod and binos. I am pretty sure that is the B-Zone and not the R-100. Good luck. Bret M.

I got him with a rifle. My .300 Weatherby at 639 yards. I didn't want to shoot that far but he had cows bedded all over between him and I and I couldn't see any way through or around them. He went about 75 yards and bedded up in a big cedar patch after my initial volley. I knew I hit him on the first shot and missed the next 3 as he was running through the junipers. After the cows took off and cleared the thicket and he didnt come out of the thicket I snuck over behind where I thought he was, I saw him bedded looking away from me breathing real hard and shot him two more times at less then 10 yards in his bed. I got it on video, if I ever figure out how to get movies on the net I will post clips, that may take quite awhile though. That country is way too open to get one with a bow when you are as clumsy as I am. Lark send the pictures to my email. I would like to know if that 5x5 got killed, we were planning on killing him in October if nothing bigger shows up. I am not an official scorer but I gross scored him out at 330 he probably nets low 320's. Thanks guys. Bret M.

What deer unit do you have there? I have seen some nice deer in A, B and C. Bret M.

Yep, about a mile long pack out, I got everything out by myself except for 1 front quarter my uncle got and a backpack of boned meat my grandfather got. See the post I made for pics. Hauling rear elk quarters is way over rated, thank God for the Cabelas Alaskan Outfitter frame. Thanks guys... Bret M.

I killed a nice 330-340 bull in the White Mountains Friday morning, they were bugling their heads off at 6900 feet. Horn growth was good and the rut seems awesome this year. Good luck. Bret M

I had a buddy get one taken but he found out who did it and got the camera back. I would never leave one anywhere unless it was the complete middle of nowhere without a lock and cable on it. Not that locks and cables will deter everyone but at least it will deter people without saws. Bret M.