TREESTANDMAN

I have been spotlighting quite a few times in the White Mountains in the Summer and we usually see a lot of Big bulls and quite a few mule deer bucks. Do any of you have any good advise on when and where are some good times of the year and places to go spotlighting?

The trail cam has gotten a few bucks with nubbs up in the pines. Few bucks w/ them still in tact but most have shed I believe.

I apologize to the F&G officer for getting after you for checking out my salt. I've changed my mind. With hunting, everyone is entitled to hunt wherever they want. There is no such thing as claiming a spot weather it be salt or water or whatever.

WOW, I had no idea that that much poaching went on. I am related to a lot of people in that town also and I know a few of the teenagers that were caught poaching in the past. The Fish and game hands out a pretty nice reward for giving info on poachers, I ought to go undercover up there to see if I cant score me some big cash.

Don't quote me on this but I believe that very few of the poaching incidents are from spotlighting. Arizona Guide is right though, In the White Mountains area, there have been a LOT of poaching incidents.

Ernesto, I am a law abiding citizen and do not carry any kind of weapons in my vehicle when I go spotlighting and never have. Yes, you could say that it is disturbing to the wildlife but so is hiking, hunting and camping. Spotlighting them allows you to see nocturnal bucks that would in the daytime be very difficult to spot. Not only that but it is much easier to find them in that as the spotlight hits there eyes, the eyes will stand out and seem as if they are glowing. You ought to try it some time.

I go 5 or 6 times a year and have never been pulled over.

Spotlighting is one of my favorite pastimes. I do it because I enjoy viewing wildlife, nothing more. If I see a monster buck while doing it I may go back and scout the area another day but I just enjoy seeing animals. I have seen bears, bobcats, 3 mountain lions, beavers, badgers, bighorns, you name it.

I just wanted to hear of some of the Mountain Lion experiences some of you have had. I have been an avid hunter for about 14 yrs and I have only seen 5 Lions, 3 of which were together. When I was a boy scout ( about 10 yrs ago), I was at Canyon Lake and watched an adult lion cross my path from about 20 yds away. It stopped and looked at me for a moment and then casually walked into some thick brush. I'm just glad it was not hungry. The next time I saw a lion I was in unit 32 on a January bowhunt. I was watching some whitetail does in a canyon and detected some movement to my left. I looked over and there was a HUGE mountain lion about 120 yds. I tried putting on a stock but it vanished. The last time I was spot lighting in the White mountains and we spot lighted 3 lions together. That was pretty cool. What experiences have you guys had?

Now that is a lion story!!!!!! Holy Cow!!

I agree with the first come first serve with water but this f&g officer knows me and knows that I established this salt. It just seems like common courtesy to keep his human scent off of the salt that he knows I hunt frequently.

Oh, and I got another picture of the fish and game officer that killed a buck from my treestand last year in January. I know that he is on this site a lot so if you are reading this, please try to leave my salt alone. I have two pictures of you at my salt.

From my salt pictures I got several bulls. One was a spike that had not lost his rack yet, the others were bulls that had little nubs. I got some turkey and a bunch of does. No bucks.

Tomarrow is the big day! I get to check my trail cameras after 4 weeks of them being out.

Rembrant, I couldn't agree with you more. The end result of harvesting a good buck will most likely depend on how patient you are and how much time you invest in sitting up in that tree or in the ground blind.

Sounds pretty convincing to me.

http://www.ehoutdoors.com/

I have an uncle in unit 27 that has used salt for years and had some really good success. Once I helped him pack some salt into his honey hole. He was very very careful not to make noise and leave very little scent. We dropped the salt and left quickly. I was a little disappointed cuz I wanted to check the prints and trails coming into the salt. I don't know if his extreme care is really necessary but he has taken a LOT of 100+ bucks from his salt so I think it may have something to do w/ it.

That is pretty cool. How long do the batteries last?

Just curious as to how often all of you get out during the pre season to scout or what not? I personally average about 3 saturdays per month just going out to check my cameras, looking for good areas for treestands, and keeping my eyes split for sheds and animals. I'd be out right now but I am at work.

I am definately tempted to try a trophy block now though.

Put your treestand up on a ridgline with lots of rubs and scrapes during dec/jan. You will have bucks checking the scrapes. Even mock scrapes will work.

I've checked out the website and to tell you the truth, it seems very complicated to me. I'm not very mechanically minded though.

I disagree with that theory. The past 2 years both deer and elk have hit my cheap water softener salt very hard. I have never used a trophy block before but I've shot 5 bucks from this cheap salt and have never had a day where nothing came in. I think that for a deer, salt is salt, whether there are minerals present or not, they enjoy and need salt. I have noticed an increase in deer activity during light rain, or just after a rain which when water reacts w/ salt a scent that attracts deer is created. The same thing should happen w/ a trophy block.

ARE THESE FOR SALE?