nateNAU

Here is the bull we were able to shoot the last day of the first 11m hunt.

Take a drive around SP crater. Couple nice bucks between it and 89. Still about 6 or so years from drawing the tag so I don't mind giving the info.

With the big game hunts winding down I have begun to shift gears in yo predator hunting and trapping. Was able to shoot a young dog last weekend with my 204 savage. I set my trap line about two weeks ago and it has been very in eventful until today. On the last trap I had this monster bobcat. This is a location that pretty consistently produces at least one cat a year. It was so big I didn't even worry about sexing it and wasn't until I was skinning it that I realized it was a female. By far the biggest female I've ever seen.

I have camtrip, briarpatch and a whole bunch of homemade traps that I've picked up over the years. My personal preference is the camtrip cages. Sturdy, light weight and simple.

Was able to fill my tag yesterday morning on this goofy buck. 55 yard shot.

That whole antler was loose and you could move it. When I took it to the taxidermist he said the pedicle was broken, probably from injury, not genetics. Still able to grow and antler though and the weight pulled it down as it grew since it wasn't connected to the skull.

Thank you. I also have a unit 7 tag I need to donate now. Can some one please direct me to who I should donate it to?

Holy smokes! What a beast of an impala! Stud warthog too! So when do we get the pics of the other 7 animals so we can drool some more? I'm dying to try up in the limpopo or the eastern cape.

Just got hit today! BOA MasterCard and a buddy got hit today also with a different card. So there is still a chance!

What unit?

come on 20 days your no fun. 20 mins was ok cause I was just hitting the sack. so now I had another thought that came up. if both deer were taken then it would probably look awsum in a dual mount up on a custom pedestal mount with 2 hanging evidence tags on it, turn the fan on so it shows the tags moving around a little bit and it would look more of a live mount that he liked but couldnt afford to get. well if you use your imagination they would simulate a live mount off topic would that be a hoot to go into G&F's evidence room and set them mounts up like a display in Cabelas, having Name tags on plaques in front of the animal with the stats of the PERP who killed it what charges they scored. maybe a small story behind it. maybe some before and after trailcam pics of the PERP going in and carrying it out. People would pay good money for that. I would go see that exhibit. I know at the G&F Outdoor Expo a few years ago, and maybe at the AZ State Fair too, they had a poaching exhibit with names and photos.That might be the new state record mule deer taken by poacher. Can someone fill me in on what all this talk about?

Yup. Unfortunately the peaks are completely closed.

I appreciate your input, Nate. I was just bored looking up elk stuff and got super curious about these hunts. So are they going to keep the wilderness hunts around now that they are here or are they eventually just going to be 7E tags that have a wllderness in the unit? You can already hunt the wilderness with any 7e tag but I think these hunts are here to stay. Haven't talked to anyone who knows for sure but the are kind of like the late archery hunts. More opportunity for hunters without too many extra elk being harvested. I am excited about these hunts and am also kind of waiting to see what kind of draw odds these hunt stabilize with. Thats another reason I started this thread. Looks like the next few years will be busy for me (military) and I'll have a few points saved up. I have to use my point guard this year for my 4B late archery tag so I'm kinda seeing if these are worth the points after I get through the next three years. I really hope they stick around myself. If you are willing and have the time to put into these wilderness tags, I think these hunts are worth it. With these new boundaries these hunts will be absolutely brutal. Nearly all tag holders will probably hunt out of locket medow or off snow bowl road. The kicker is It's illegal to camp or even be in the inner basin before sun up outside of the campground in the inner basin. My plan for these hunts is apply for the second hunt, which is rifle and starts right after archery, firts choice, and the early archery second choice. Bivy into a saddle above the inner basin towards the back and hunt. I would almost garentee you would never see another person and hunt elk that have been rarely hunted, period. 7e is not your typical monster elk unit, but as everyone knows, any elk unit in arizona can hold some studs. As far as points to draw the tag, I typically draw mid quality early archery tags such as 7e every 3-4 years in the 1-2 pass. The rifle tag is up in the air. Many will apply just because it's a rifle elk tag that starts in September without realizing how difficult the hunt is. I would say the archery tag would take mabey 1 point less than the early 7e early archery tag for the bonus pass and probably + 3 points than the early archery 7e tag for the rifle hunt. These are purely my educated guess and I have been wrong before, just ask my wife.

I appreciate your input, Nate. I was just bored looking up elk stuff and got super curious about these hunts. So are they going to keep the wilderness hunts around now that they are here or are they eventually just going to be 7E tags that have a wllderness in the unit? You can already hunt the wilderness with any 7e tag but I think these hunts are here to stay. Haven't talked to anyone who knows for sure but the are kind of like the late archery hunts. More opportunity for hunters without too many extra elk being harvested. I am excited about these hunts and am also kind of waiting to see what kind of draw odds these hunt stabilize with.

Well the peaks hunts are gone. They were limited opportunity hunts after the Schultz burn until last year, as you stated to give the new aspens a break. This year they are now the Kachina peaks wilderness hunts. I believe there are only two now, one early archery followed by a rifle hunt. The hunt boundaries are very different that the previous peaks hunts. Because the number of these hunts decreased, tag numbers decreased, the were pulled from the LO section and put into the general (this effects nr caps), there is no real draw or bonus point data for these hunts.

A 222 rem mag is ballisticly almost identical to a .223. If Im not mistaken it may be even a little faster. It was Remingtons answer to the popularity of the .223. It didnt catch on. Sweet gun and awesome caliber though ! My mistake. Didn't read the magnum part. Was thinking of the 222 remington which I think also came in the 722.

For any coyote hunters who want to save the pelts, this would be an awsome gun. Huge difference between 222 and 223 as far as fur damage goes. Drops coyotes in their tracks and rarely has an exit hole.

Nail on the head. I use it in some of my handgun wildcat cartridges and it's next to impossible to find.

If you can't find them there are ways around using the gauges. Any factory round will serve as a go gauge and a no go is pretty simple to make. After over 15 years as a gunsmith and thousands of rifles built I've never touched go/ no go gauges except for one or two of the Ackley improved cartridges, which have some special rules when chambering.

Where are you located?

The OP has some very valid questions. The kachina peaks hunt now has new boundaries that are not well defined or explained. I think more than a few elk will get shot outside of the new bouundries this year because of this confusion. I would want to talk to someone who knows at the game and fish as well. Kind of bold calling someone a wannabe who drew a tag for probably the most physically demanding elk hunt in the state. Anyone who tags an elk in these new boundaries is no wannabe.

Wow. I didn't realize that the peaks hunt had shrunk to just the wilderness zone. Kind of confusing in the regs and the link to the website has the old peaks boundaries. Hope they clarify and send the hunters an updated map. I don't have experiences with any other offices bit I will say that the flag one is pretty terrible as far as customer service. They used to be a lot worse and have seemed to be better as of late. My first year trapping I walked in to get cites tags for bobcats. I left my cats in the truck and went in to see how and what I needed to do. The woman, almost yelling at me, was very rude and said how she can't just give me cites tags and wasn't about to walk out side. I said I didn't expect her to, that I was just trying to be curtious before bring animal carcasses into their building. Ever since then I've been waiting for the day I get a lion or a bear so I can drag it into the lobby for its inspection.

Seeing how it's mounted I'm gonna guess no.

Congrats on a great tag! 11m is great because these elk never see a rifle hunt. All 11m is elk country. A1 mountain, walnut canyon, cosnino, around Forrest highlands, timberline are all good starting points.

Who in the G&F would risk criminal consequences and open the department up to a massive lawsuit so the department can have a few extra bucks. More likely another in the long list of G&F screw ups.