TAM

Chute planes CAN NOT fly around at 5mph! Most fly at speeds of 20-25 mph.

Mulie hunter, sounds like your real gripe is road hunters? I agree with that. It's illegal, they should be cited and punished. But when you say - "How about banning atv use during hunting season!!!! Nothing worse than these clowns that ride up and down the roads all day long, They definetly need a IQ check!!!" It sounds like you want to ban everyone, including those that follow the laws. I would disagree with that. I'm not one of these left wingers that likes to creat a new law to govern every detail of ones life. If we simply enforced the laws we have we wouldn't need all the new laws!!!! For example: If we enforced the no road hunting laws then nobody would care about banning ATV use during the season because there wouldn't be a problem with it. The problem is we don't have the means to enforce the laws that are already on the books. And there are a lot of slob hunters that know they can get away with it.

Why is it that nobody complains about the way things work in Alaska? After all there rules are even less strict than Arizona. Just mention a chute plane and hunting in the same breath in the southwest and you are a dirty, no good, poaching, scum bag!!! In Alaska I believe the law is that you can't hunt within 24 hours of flying. In Alaska it's regular practice by the outfiters and bush pilots to fly out and find the migrating caribou herds from the air then drop the hunters off in the path of the herds. The hunters will wait the 24 hours then go hunt. In Arizona you can't scout from the air with in 48 hours of the hunt or at any time during the hunt. Seems like Arizona has a more strict law than Alaska where scouting from the air is common practice and widely accepted. Why do people make such a stink about chute planes in Arizona, but it's no big deal to scout from the air in Alaska?

I agree with Coues. Bears in the spring can be active all day long! Especially at water sources. Over the last few years I've gotten many pictures of bears coming in to water in the middle of the day, even in March and April. If there is water in a thick shaded canyon I'd pay real close attention. Bears are slaves to their stomache's.

Muley Hunter, I got to agree with Bass on this one. Who cares if the ATV's are driving up and down the roads during the hunt??? That's what the roads are there for. Get away from the roads and you won't have this problem. Now if the ATV's are driving off the roads then that's a different story. I am a responsible ATV rider and use them during the hunt on the roads. Once I get to the end of the road I get off and hike. What's wrong with that?

Many of the bears, especially boars, are active year round in unit 22. I have used trail cameras in unit 22 for several years now and will get pictures of bears year round. I've seen very fresh bear sign in the months of December, January, and February. The bears in Arizona don't hibernate in the same way that bears in other colder states do. So far this year the warm weather has kept the bears pretty active and I'm still getting pictures on my trail cameras. Usually they will bed down for a week or two when it gets cold, but as soon as the temps warm up they'll get back up untill the next weather system comes through. If you know where the bears are this time of the year, they will be in the same areas as soon as the spring hunts open. Do your scouting now so you can be right on top of them when the hunt opens. In the spring they'll usually be up high and will be eating mostly grass, so focus on shady areas near water sources with fresh grass. Bears are usually near water year round.

Thanks Bill, you just had to bring up another sore point with me, minimum wage!!! Why is it that some people think it's ok to beg for higher wages by pressing the emotions of our liberal bleeding heart society??? What ever happed to to good old fashioned hard work? Seems like like the burger flippers and grocery baggers don't want to work for their pay raise, they'll just complain to the liberals that it's too hard to raise a family on minimum wage! The scary part is that the liberals keep listening and pushing for higher minimum wages! One of my first jobs was bagging groceries. I think I made $3.20 an hour (probably a lot more that Bill made at his first job, but I'm only 33). It didn't take me very long to realize that those wages were never going to be good enough. I worked hard and acquired skills that would benefit me in the working world and eventually developed a career path that would get me the goals that I desired. I don't come from money. I barely passed high school. I have almost zero college, and the credits I have earned have letters like c's, d's, and f's right next to them. If I can do it so can anyone else! Well that's if they can find the time to stop crying about how little they make and how hard it is to raise a family on minimum wage...................... the cycle just goes on and on and on................!!! Why would we want to give anyone a pay raise that hasn't earned it?

I wouldn't go out and buy a new rifle just to go pig hunting. Just use your deer rifle. I've only killed them with arrows, but I've been with guys that have shot them with a .223 and a .30-06 and both bullets just went right through without destroying much meat. If you have a handgun that's fun too. Stalking like archery with the bang of a gun!

Lets be honest here and call them what they really are. Illegal Aliens!!! UDA's or Undocumented Aliens is an attempt by the liberals to be politicaly correct and make them sound like they are not criminals. The simple truth is they are not here legally and they are aliens to this country = Illegal Alien. Trying to candy coat things just makes the problem worse. I'm not picking at you AZP&Y, just making a point.

Desertbull, I agree with you 100%. In my opinion they should charge different prices for cow versus bull elk.

I believe that this is one of the reasons that AZ G&F is keeping the $5 to apply and don't pay the balance unless you draw approach. It helps to ease some of the financial burden for folks in the lower income brackets while still giving them the opportunity to apply for everythig without paying for it all up front. The $5 applications allow a family of four to apply for Deer, Elk, Antelope, Javelina, Turkey, Bighorn, and Buffalo for $140 up front, not over $1,800 as mentioned in a previous post. Not to mention that we now have three different draws. Elk and Antelope in January, Javelina and turkey in October, and Deer and Bighorn in May so it splits up the costs throughout the entire year, not one lump sum. Of course you still have to pay if you get drawn, but what are the chances of drawing everything? I'll bet most of the time youd be lucky to draw 2-3 species. The bottom line is that it costs money to maintain our wildlife populations. Alot of money! Even though I personally don't like the $5 up front application, I believe it helps to allow those families who struggle financially to still apply for everything without breaking the bank. I think it goes right in line with the G&F's goal to create more hunter opportunity. In my opinion even a working class family with a plan and a budget can still afford to apply for everything in Arizona!

I've always had Southwestern game processing grind mine up into sausage with good results. They have several different styles available. Breakfast sausage, Italian susage, Polish sausage, Brautwaurst, etc.

Don't forget the Sasquatch's they're very scary!!! Lions don't really scare me and neither do illegal's, it's the drug smugglers. However, since I don't really do much hunting down south it's not a big concern for me. Up in some of the northern parts of the state where I do spend a lot of time there is a growing problem with the drug farmers. Those guys scare me! I don't think they'll hesitate to shoot someone for stumbling into their pot farms. I've heard that many of the major Mexican and South American drug cartels are the ones funding them because it's becoming more and more difficult to smuggle drugs across the boarder. These guys are bad news!

I just spoke with the owner of JJ trailers this evening. They have started to build the tandems and have already sold their first three. The tandems will have a 17 foot bed of which 12 feet will be tent with the other 5 feet being open like a front porch with an awning. They will be able to hold 4 quads. If you want one they are available now, you just have to wait while they build it. If anyone's interested send me an email and I'll put you in touch with the owner.

Mike, you hit on another issue for me......... meal time. During hunts, even if I'm tail gate camping I still eat out of a can and make it a point to make as little mess as possible. For me camping is the time for camp fires and BBQ'd steak, but not while hunting. During the hunt I don't like to deal with the mess of fancy meals and the chores that go along with them. Same thing with fires, I'd rather go to bed and get the extra sleep than sit around a smokey fire.

Great story and nice buck! Congratulations and thanks for sharing.

For the most part I never have campfires in hunting camp. I don't like smelling like one.

I think I probably own every coues deer hunting video ever made and this one is by far the best yet!!! Treestandman let me barrow his copy last night and I loved it!!! There are some real good bucks taken in both Arizona and Mexico. The video quality is really good and I think pretty much every shot is captured in detail. I liked it so much I just placed my order with Amanda for my own copy! It was good to Jimmy Vincent is still punching holes in some good bucks as well. I haven't seen him in awhile now, but he used to be one of my clients down in Tucson.

Just what we all need!!! More laws + more government programs = BIGGER GOVERNMENT = HIGHER TAXES!!!! Lets do it! Seriously, sometimes less is better!

I've got a 2002 Sportsman 500 which has been real good to me. I've never had any trouble with it except for torn boots on the CV joints. I agree that they do seem to be cold blooded. In the winter I just let it warm up for about 5-10 minutes before I leave.

Hey Scott, sorry to get off topic here, but can you tell me if there's a gas station at Three Way? I seem to recall a gas station or convience store there at the SE corner but I can't remember. Thanks.

I shot a mule deer in New Mexico a few years ago at 380. Dropped him on the spot.

Every time the topic of proficiency testing comes up everyone automaticly starts thinking archery. What about all the rifle and muzzleloader hunters out there that can't hit what they're aiming at either. Why do the archery hunters always get singled out?

Nice work Scott!!! Did you see any other deer during the trip? I'll be out there next week looking for one myself.

Great buck! Another fine example of how a little pre season scouting pays off bigtime! Thanks for sharing.