bullwidgeon

Yes, I will be hunting the Southern portion of the unit, but if I can not find any coues deer down low I may go try to find a muley up high though. Bret M.

I found a little 4 point mulie shed while helping some guys out in 36C on Friday. Bret M.

The best strategy for hunting in December is glassing long ocotillo ridges that break down off the sides of main mountains and run all the way out into mesquite flats. Bret M.

According to the pictures on this website, wherever the heck Josh Epperson is stumbling around at seems to be a pretty good place!!! Bret M.

I would gladly take some of those. That is AWESOME!!! Bret Mattausch

I always see lots of carp hunters in those hills and not too many whitetails but good luck, it probably wont be as crowded. Bret M.

The McGee Ranch road sign in area in the Sierritas has alot of deer. There are usually a bunch of other hunters around too. This makes hiking in before opening morning and all the shooting starts key. If you can get up high away from the roads you should see plenty of deer running up to you once the shooting starts and usually there is lots of shooting going on opening day in there. Good luck Bret M.

Thanks Kirk, sounds like the spots in A I know about. I heard Jim got in a wreck of some sort . I hope all is well with him. I will let my uncle know about the flats. Bret M.

I was up on the mountain talking with Quimby on Sunday. He said the logos were shipped last week and he hopes you will be happy with them. He didn't have one to show me but I like talking to that guy about hunting. I can't wait to see what you come up with. Bret M.

They have the muley hunt that starts Oct 31st. I guess I should have said late hunt because that is the second one out of the two hunts, thanks.. Bret M.

Hey Allen, Did you see any carp last year? Any nice ones? All my carp spots are across the road in 36A. One of my uncles might have a carp hunter in that unit on the middle hunt. Bret M.

I know some of you are from Globe. Is the gas shortage affecting Globe/San Carlos or Safford? I am heading out Wednesday to bear hunt and have enough to make it there but not all the way to 27. I really don't want to wait in line around here if they have gas there. Thanks. Bret M.

I don't even think about killing anything until after my 7th or 8th shot. You got to give them a fair chance to get away Bret M.

I thought I saw one one time but I am pretty sure now that it was just a giant dark gray coues buck rutted out of his head. My buddies found the buck chasing mule deer does for a few hours one day, and it actually chased off a little coues buck that was trailing both the does and the toad. They told me about finding a "half-breed" so I told them I would help them try to find it on their hunt. 2 weeks later I was in there helping them hunt and I found and we watched the same buck running and chasing whitetail does with what they say was the same weener buck just across the drainage from where they had first seen it. It was almost twice as big as the does it was with and almost 50 percent bigger body sized than the little 2 or 3 pointer it was with. The rack was perfect Texas looking 4 point rack with eyegaurds and long hooking beams. I figured it would gross 120 easy and net 115-120 after ground shrinkage. We tried to kill it, but as per the usual with toads, it got away. I wish we would have gotten that one or at least had the video camera or digital cameras and taken pictures so we could have pictures of him. This was in an area with alot of mulies and a few coues deer in the northern part of the state. It seems like anytime I see a deer that I think is over 100 I have to stare at it for awhile to make sure my eyes are not fooling me and it is not a carp I have seen a Polaroid picture from a deer camp in Mexico with 2 bucks hanging on a skinning pole both with whitetail racks, one is definately a coues deer and the other looks as much like a half breed as I can imagine, body size is almost the same and the guide who showed me the picture thought it was an actual half breed deer. I think it was taken at one of the Campillo ranches in the 90's Bret M.

Generally speaking is the first rifle hunt or the second rifle hunt more crowded with hunters? I have the oppertunity to hunt either hunt with my vacation. I was thinking coues hunting in units like 23,24 or 26. I like the idea of the first three day hunt just for the fact that I can probably find some deer a day or two before the hunt and watch them before they get shot at. After scouting I figure I am going to rule out muzzleloaders as it all seems to be pretty big canyon country and 100-150 yard shots might not be possible for me but 300 or so might be possible... Thanks. Bret M.

Thanks Danny! The three dayer it will be then. Bret M.

They follow patterns. All the big buck hunters I know try to find them in August hitting water. From what these guys say is a deer will seldom move more than a half mile in August if he has water around and is really easy to find day in and out once he has been found the first time. These guys also say that once the horns harden they tend to move less during the day and become more nocturnal and move farther and farther from the summer home range to the point where they might have moved 5 or 6 miles by the time the rut starts. I know during the late hunts and real cold days in the mornings these guys glass South facing and East facing slopes and rarely even look at North facers until late afternoon. They also work the with wind and never glass a side of the hill that is getting hit hardest by wind. They will always glass cuts and draws and sides of hills that are out of the wind. I never really thought too much about any of this until I hunted with them this year and we saw more deer than I would have normally seen. Usually I just look where I think deer would be up and feeding and don't take into consideration all the little things these guys were showing me. I have yet to find a big buck hitting water in August but maybe this year will be the year for that. One of the guys I was hunting with and was filling me in on some of this had patterned the Ball buck in August before it was shot and has pictures of it in velvet hitting water and feeding, there is no mistaking that thing and the velvet pictures make it look even bigger than it is. He had a late tag that year and the deer was killed on the early or middle hunt so even finding deer in August is not a sure ticket to killing them. Bret M.

I don't know about long term effects but I glassed up alot of deer in both the Bullock and Oracle fire areas on the October hunt last year and we ended up killing a decent 80 or so inch buck in one of the burns on the last day. I saw a few deer that were larger than the deer we killed in the burn and saw more deer in the burn area's last year than the year before they burned (maybe because of increased visibility at long range, we tend to glass more than still hunt or jump shoot them). The buck we killed was stuffed full of new green shoots that were only growing in the burn areas. I think increased erosion and subsequent siltation from burns can seriously damage dirt tanks and water sources but other than that, I would think burns would be, for the most part, beneficial to the deer in the long run in terns of feed and predators. Bret M.

I am kind of curious as to what you guys would pass on during archery season if you drew a rifle tag for that same year? I know some guys kill toads in velvet with their bows, but do you guys pass on 80 and 90 inch bow deer waiting for toads or if you drew a rifle tag or do you guys prefer getting them with bows? The only reason I ask is because I know of 3 or 4 water sources where I am pretty sure I could get shot oppertunities at velvet antlered deer in August and September but I like rifle hunting them in the winter and I pretty much suck with a bow as I haven't shot all that much with one. Do you guys ever think of hunting decent carp (160 inch class carp) with your bows in the early season over water, or just stick to coues? Sorry about all the questions, I am just new to the idea of bowhunting and thinking about my options here.... Thanks Bret M.

23, 27, 29, 33, 35A, and a few others up North like the 6 A&B units I think. Bret M.

Sign me up for a Koozy or six Bret M.

.300 Weatherby magnum pushing 168 grain Matchkings at 3450 FPS. That being said I think it is more about the shooter and a rifles capabilities than the caliber and the load. I know guys that hunt them with everything from .243 Winchesters to .30-.378's and Warbirds. You have to find what shoots best out of your particular gun and get as comfortable as you can with it. My gun will not shoot 180 grain Reminton core-lokts at all. I have never had less than a 4 inch group with them at 100 yards but the gun will shoot the 168gr Matchkings into a group you can cover up with a quarter at 100 yards all day long and alot of the bullets go into the same hole or at least touch each other. I just got a few boxes of some new loads that are 150 grain Swift Sciroccos at 3500+ fps. If these shoot good out of my rifle I plan on hunting with them this year. I got the gun because a few of my buddies have them and I know 3 different guys that extensively handload for the .300 wby that will load me stuff up if I take them hunting birds or help them glass and stuff on their hunts. One day I plan on sitting down with them and learning all the reloading tricks and maybe fooling around with my own loads, until then what they load for me and the $26 a box Wal-Mart Remington Core Lokt stuff I buy to get brass shoots fine. Bret M.

Three of us gathered these up last week in about 6 hours. It looked like no one had been in the area and gotten more than 4 feet from their quads in more than 3 years. Just one more reason why I don't mind folks with quads, they don't usually get off them It was a long hot nasty hike out but worth it in my opinion. I might go back next week and look for freshies and matches after I finish my shift at work and it still stays less than 110* Bret M.

I got this picture via email from the boys down at the SCI office a few days after it was killed. I don't have any clue where it was killed but I was told that he hunted/watched it for more than month. It is a toad! Bret M.

1st choice 27/28 late and 2nd choice unit 33 Novemeber coues. For 3rd choice I put in for 33 early. I would like 1st or 2nd choice so I could try a backpacking adventure depending on snow depth in 27 or 33. With my luck the Game and Fish will mess up and give me a carp tag in 20B or some such unbearable unit Bret M.