mr.smith

What about scents? If there is nothing for the bear to consume is it still considerd baiting? i.e. I heard bears are VERY attracted to the smell of Vanilla extract. Would that constitute baiting though?

OK perhaps I over generalized. For the most part we approach them, whether we know it or not. Some (sidewinders in particular) are a bit more aggressive and occasionally approach us. In that case I agree with the "Uncle Jimbo" approach. "They're coming right for us!"

"If they get too close..." Generally it isn't them getting close to you or your family, it is you getting close to them and not knowing it until they warn you.

Did you know that there is an annual bag limit of four (aggregate) rattlesnakes? And several of our AZ species are protected. http://www.azgfd.gov/pdfs/h_f/regulations/...Regulations.pdf (page 8) It's wasteful, unethical, and irresponsible to kill a snake just because it is a snake. Without them we would all get hantavirus or plague and die.

WooHoo! Back to back December Whitetail tags. Last year 33 this year 21. Last year my wife and I both tagged out on smallish bucks. (first deer for both) This year maybe something a little bigger.

Trout tend to be line shy. I would bet if you scaled down to 6lb test(4 is even better) and got rid of the 10 you would catch more fish. Or use a lighter line on your leader, however you will be able to cast A LOT further with the lighter line. Personally I would fish spinners (black/gold) in the early mornng and mid-morning I would switch to a small jig like a trout magnet or tiny sassy shad. Kastmasters also work for fishing a little deeper. If fishing bait, yeah powerbait works, but I prefer worms. Put a small sliding sinker on your line,tie on a swivel and tie on an 18 inch leader with a size 6 baitholder hook. Thread the worm onto the hook head first and inflate it's butt. (get a worm blower at the lake store) To thread the worm onto the hook imagine your hook is a little foot and the worm is a little sock. Put the sock onto the foot and slide it up past the hook eye. Good luck and have fun.

Both have that little crab claw on the right and a good fork on the left. Look the same to me.

Colorado Pikeminnow formerly known as the Squawfish.

I had three of five under .2 and still got bobcat. I cant imagine being quicker

I see it. You kinda gave it away with the picture name. But the thing is; it does belong.

What a joke. Scientists don't refute things with; "The Facts". Clearly a politically biased site citing old papers and telling half truths.This global warming test was created in 1990. Unfortunately I don't belive that one could find a truly objective source for info on Global Warming. There is some truth to both sides of the argument. It is a natural cyclic occurence, human activities since the industrial revolution have contributed to its acceleration but, did not cause it, it is certainly not as bad as Al Gore lets on. However the polar bears really are screwed. I find it really amusing that the same people who will claim to know the consensus of scientist are also quite adamantly anti-evolution. It seems science is only good when it meets your agenda.

It has pros and cons. Pro: the arrow will never fall off the rest. Con: I had an elk hear me draw and stop behind a tree and then never offer me a shot. probably could have happened with any rest I was shooting though.

Casey, that whopper trout was Felicia's first flyfishing all by herself trout. It's a little brookie from a secret creek in AZ, caught on a foam post Parachute Adams

Now if I could only get her into archery.

64.24 sec On my first try. Maybe I should be a pilot.

Well as for a clue I supose we could look at the gila monster. If it is a banded gila monster then the hogs are north of the valley, if it is a reticulated gila monster then the hogs are south of the valley. If I had to guess I would say it was a banded gila monster thus those hogs are likely to be in unit @@ or @# in the *&^%$$&% mountains. Thats kinda where I heard they were at anyways. Just been too lazy to go look.

113,800 level 12 first try.

I doubt any made it to Guyana but, the Army bases in Panama imported eastern whitetails for the soldiers and they adapted pretty well from what I hear.

A bunch of idiots carelessly driving around in the woods. You don't need to go to YouTube to see that, just wait til the elk drop their antlers. And check your local elk woods.

They just started popping out from under a mesquite tree, looked like a small army scouring the hillside when they were all out.

Saw about ten of those on my December hunt in 33. It was early and I had hopes of shooting a deer that day so I let them pass.

FYI, there are a number of reasons for the move the biggest being: 1. To save the BASF AZGFD took control of it. The cry babies in Anthem were pushing hard to shut it down. 2. The lease was up on the old property. AZGFD did not own that piece of land and were essentially being booted. Since they own the land at BASF it was a logical location for the new facilty

I usually end up hunting deer with my bow since I have only ever drawn one rifle tag. So this weekend I am out hunting with my wife who also has a tag and some friends who are helping glass. This weekend was about gettingh her deer since she won't have much time off to hunt later. Opening day we watch a buck all morning, when he beds down we go to set up. Get to our expected shooting spot to find no deer and a group of archers doing a deer drive across the hill face. Day two, same thing 5 miles away. Day three, my wife connects and we come home. It burns my butt that I wait six years to get a Dec WT tag and some shmoe with an otc tag can walk up and blow my stalk. As an archer it pains me to suggest AZGFD take away opportunities but I think that there should be no archery hunts in a unit during a rifle hunt. It isn't like the rut gets into full swing until January anyway. In both instances the bucks got away from the bowhunter, in these cases I'm sure the guys were clueless as they were walking with the wind right into the bedding thicket.(idiots) What are your opinions on this?

Sorry for the delay in getting the story up. After Felicias success last Sunday I took a couple days off to relax and do a little butchering. I had planned to get out on Tuesday but Joshy said he was off Wednesday and would like to go so I postponed my trip. Wednesday was a beautiful day in the field, Joshy and I got to try out his new spotting scope and we saw a great diversity of critters. I believe the final count was ~25 deer, 11 javelina, 8 coati-mundi, 3 Goulds turkey and a number of rabbits and skunks. We spent the whole day down there and found a couple good vantage points, just coulnd't find any bucks. Josh, thanks for hanging out with me, your glassing has improved. Can't wait til the pig hunt. The next time I got out was Friday morning. Christian and I headed down to the same spot that we have been hunting to check out a new vantage point a little higher up the hill. Unfortunately the weather decided to not cooperate and we got hit with wind, rain, sleet, snow, and some pea sized hail. This was the slowest morning yet and we only glassed up about 9 deer. Christian saw the javelina and one small buck but I was still holding out at that point. That evening we moved down to the south end of the unit to try an area Christians buddy had recommended. We drove around a bit and found a couple places to glass from and saw several deer on the way in. We found a good glassing spot and hiked up there right around dusk. As we got to the top I saw a buck bust out from a mesquite tree. It was too dim and he was running so we decided we would find him in the morning. Expecting to have 5 pairs of eyes the next day I was sure that I would get my buck. After dark we drove back out to the freeway(an hour on dirt) to get cell signal to call the friends who were to be joining us the next day. I got bad news from JohnSWA who was stuck at work, and I was unable to get ahold of Brandon(darn work parties). Christian was able to get ahold of CMC who said he would make it. Saturday morning, the alarm was set for 5:15 with the intention of getting up, turning on the tent heater and then sleeping 15 more minutes. That was ruined by some guy in a big diesel truck who pulled into camp at 5:00. Thanks for the wake up Chris. So we got up and got dressed, sat around til 6:00 waiting to see if Brandon got my message. At 6:00 we rolled out to the spot and were sitting in the dark for a little waiting on sunrise. About ten minutes later Chris says "I got a buck". Christian and I get over to where he was glassing and look, Christian finds him in the spotter and it is a nice 3x3 with a real tall rack but not very wide. Super pretty though. Christian and I boogie over to get set up and close the distance some. The closest we could get was around 325yds, right as I get prone to find the buck in the scope he drops off over the edge of the ridge never to be seen again. This really put me in the frame of mind that I WAS going to kill a deer that day. Christian and I rejoined Chris and as the sun comes up the hills just come alive with deer. There we at least three deer on every finger of this ridge we were glassing. A number of small bucks and a ton of does. This goes on for a while and around 10:30 the deer start disappearing as they bed down. Standing there glassing I was reflecting on the hunt and on hunts past, I realized that I was tired and I realized that I really had nothing to prove. I strated to get discouraged that all the deer were disappearing into the thick stuff in the bottoms. Looking at the now empty hill I said outloud, "Darn I really want to shoot my buck today." Christian says "well there always that little fork over on that hill". I told him that if he could refind it I would shoot it. I figured it had descended the hill and bedded down. Two minutes later Christian say, "I got it!" We all went to look and discovered that it wasn't the little forky but a small 3pt. We started over there and at about 300yds the little buck dropped into the bottom and he was gone. Watching the area I spotted some deer on the next finger over and pointed them out to Christian and Chris. We watched and saw that there was a buck with them. We had already climbed off the hill in pursuit so I decided this little guy was good enough for my tag and Christian and I struck off after him. We closed the distance and got upon a hill adjacent to where the buck was last seen but we couldnt find him. We looked back at Chris whom we had forgotten to give a walkie talkie before departing and he was signaling us where to look. He used some creative hand signals to tell us that the buck was bedded on the fourth finger from where we last saw the small 3pt. Christian then scanned the hill and found the buck. All we could see was his face and rack. Christian said that his body was poiting towards us and that if I took the shot I should aim just under his chin and slightly right. The range was 205yds. I got in the prone and found the buck. My rifle was slightly canted to the right as I was on a slope and didn't think to adjust the bipod legs. I aimed for a spot just under his chin and let fly. The next thing I heard was Chris Wooing from across the canyon. Christian told me he was down, then he got up and fell down again. The buck was still laying there with his head up so we moved in to get a better view for a finisher shot. We moved in to 125yds still only able to clearly see his head. Christian again told me where his body was in relation. I couldnt get a good rest for a sitting shot or prone. There was a small barrel cactus there so I rested my rifle on that and it made a darn good rest. This time with a level rifle and a comfortable shot I found the spot I wanted and hit it. This time the buck was down for good. After a couple high fives we all regrouped and went to my buck. Thank You Christian and Chris. I really appreciate your help. Christian I honestly don't believe Felicia and I would have been able to take either of these deer without your help. You are fine hunter and friend. I would also like to thank JLG, John, Dave, Josh, Brandon and anyone else who helped or offered to help. Whether you made it out or not the encouragement and support meant a lot.

Thatnks again guys. Houston, if you want to come down and play you are more than welcome. I'll take all the help I can get.