CouesPursuit

Turbity from the storm event a couple weeks ago warmed the water into spawn temps (I had 64 at Roosevelt already) and the murkiness is now subsiding. I personally have caught a few males in the last few weeks and their black color phase is setting in, females were staging in deeper water but it shouldn't be long until spawn is in full swing at all the major crappie reservoirs. The only concern could be overnight winds varying the water temps, looks like good winds in the forecast for tomorrow with a small front coming through then steady weather ahead. My bet is after this next weekend crappie anglers really have something to talk about. Good luck out there!

Get to Lees Ferry, if you have fly fished CO there is not a lot comparable here in AZ. Small black midges are a year round ticket. I hit the cicada hatch last year in July and it was an amazing 3 days. Lees Ferry Anglers ( http://www.leesferry.com/main/ ) have lots of additional info. Good Luck!

I have taken a few years off since the wallow fire but I know the smallmouth portions of the river were producing quantity last May, not the quality it was known for though. I cannot speak on the trout fishing. Good Luck!

San Carlos is likely needing some time to recover as it was near empty last year. It does have water now. Roosevelt has had decent catch rates and will only get better as the water warms. Many are blaming below average catch rates on a gizzard shad invasion but I do know some folks who are still having great fishing days. I spend a lot of time at Roosevelt in the spring-summer, crappie fishing 95% of the time or more, but here is the last time I targeted largemouth at Roosevelt last June 2013. Bass.bmp My opinion is the gizzard shad haven't hurt the population of larger bass but the crappie fishing has been generally tough. Still having some great trips out, but they are becoming less consistent. Good Luck!

You might be talking about Sun Devil? www.sundevilmfg.com

Pretty darn clear. I had one huge carp come up near the boat while I was trolling in 50 foot of water and I watched him for what looked like 4 feet or so after he went back under. Spent a little time trolling in the sticks near the salt inlet buoy line (running N/S between Grapevine and Schoolhouse) and water clarity wasn't near as good but still carp noticeable, everywhere. The biggins were out with the grebes in the middle of the lake between Windy Hill and Grapevine, that 40-50 foot depth range.

I fished several hours Saturday and Sunday (yesterday) in and around the Salt inlet of Roosevelt. Lots of carp, some big ones too, starting to surface all over the place.

I would potentially trade my Savage Model 24 .22lr/.410 for the 24D .22lr/20 gauge - if there is any interest there please PM. Condition would need to be equal or similar of course.

You spent at least 4 weekends with your Dad in the woods. You had "the fever" with symptoms including lack of sleep, increased blood pressure, etc. You were on both bulls and cows, in multiple areas You are generous in offering to help others You young man, are the man! Great job bud! And Dad, too.

Round 2: Used a good portion of the season's duck harvest (possesion limits of 3 hunters), about 25-30 lbs of breast and some big duck legs - And a decent portion of deer ground from January's Coues, cut with some cubed pork butt - Processed meat through the grinder, about 80% game 20% pork butt (prospecting a ~10% fat content)- After mixing in seasonings with cold water and cure, in 5lb batches, loaded up the sausage stuffer with collagen 17mm smoked snack stick casings, they work much better after spending a night in the fridge, gives them a little moisture - Creating several batches of filled snack stick casings - I smoked most but tried baking some as well, tried several recipes including some homemade and some premade packages from Backwoods (LEM), also tried several snack sticks with no casing at all (baking only) - Baked at 180F and smoked at 200F until internal temps reached 165F. Cut long links into snack sticks and packaged in varieties. Some for short term consumption in zip locks, most for long term consumption, vacuum sealed then frozen - Baked - Smoked - This was a long but worthwhile process. I have lots of boat, hiking and healthy snack foods for months to come. Hope this gives folks a better idea of the process as a whole. More time than difficulty!

I was hoping to get some advice on how others DIY process. As usual, everyone's input is greatly appreciated. I have recently purchased an LEM 1/3HP meat processor and 5lb vertical sausage stuffer. I have researched enough to begin my first batch of sausages and snack sticks, but I had a few questions on how others get the job done. By the end of the week, I would like to process deer, javelina, geese, and ducks into ground where some of which will ultimately be dehydrated into snack sticks (slim jim style jerky). Considering something like the front shoulders of a deer, how important is it to get off ALL of the sinew? Can you just get the exterior silver skin and send the rest through the grinder? (Of course you can, but where is a decent threshold for time processing vs. gamey taste) Does anyone have any lessons learned, specific do's or do not's they would be willing to share? Other information of interest: Specific recipes or seasoning mixes types of casing to use percentage of pork fat to cut in stuff like that Thanks for sharing.

Great stuff thanks for sharing!

Aldo Leopold, A Sand County Almanac http://www.amazon.com/County-Almanac-Outdoor-Essays-Reflections/dp/0345345053

Fantastic write up and first Coues! Great job!

Best of luck, EagleEye.

That was good advice from deserthntr, getting the dog snake trained is a must. Because I wanted to be sure and use live rattlesnakes on my dog, I elected to use a professional for this. I know you said $ is a factor but I used a professional for $60 or so, which came with a free follow up session to verify the dog learned 100% avoidance. If you choose to get some help and not do it yourself, Roger May is member here on CWT, and I know he does snake training. He goes by "maydayretrievers." I'm sure he would help you out. You can preview those books on amazon, I thought Game Dog would be more suitable for you as you seem to hunt both quail and waterfowl but I could be wrong. Best of luck!

I was lucky enough to find this large ram skull while working with the BLM a few years back. It is in rough shape from the sun, any recommendations on anything others have done in the past to keep it intact? It is currently inside on display in the living room, so sun and heat are no longer a problem. Current plan is to leave it as is. I hesitate to do anything to this trophy animal, but I would at least like any opinions if others had luck with something for preservation that wouldn't be invasive to the character of this ram. Appreciate any advice - thanks in advance.

My hunt choices didn't warrant your FREE service but I have to chime in and mention that what you did here was truly awesome man, best of luck and I hope some folks find a way to repay you. The only thing that could make this thread better would be to see or hear of you drinking some free beers out of the deal.

Hunter, when I got started with my lab's waterfowl retrieving I read a few books oriented to hunting waterfowl specifically. I would recommend reading at least 2 gun dog books because one author's/trainer's methods may be more realistic for your contraints (time / $ / etc.) or in general for what you want out of your pup and experience. The first book I read, Water Dog, by Richard Wolters. http://www.amazon.com/Water-Dog-Revolutionary-Training-Method/dp/0525247343/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1392129968&sr=8-1&keywords=waterdog Had great info but his methods weren't realistic for me, especially for a first timer. This book's approach is to essentially "finish" a dog in two years, and have that dog be dedicated far more to hunting/retrieving than a member of the family. I did get a TON of valuable information though that I use in combination with the more realistic approach I chose for me and my dog. The second book I read, Training the Hunting Retriever, by Jerome Robinson. http://www.amazon.com/Training-Hunting-Retriever-Jerome-Robinson/dp/1558219366/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1392130170&sr=8-1&keywords=training+the+hunting+retriever Way better approach for me, it was easier to follow and I felt like I wasn't under some looming deadline if my dog, or more often ME, wasn't getting it. These 2 books probably aren't what your looking for, but the idea is there. Richard Wolters makes a couple others you may want to look into, such as Game Dog - This is written for both waterfowl and upland game birds, sounds like a good fit for you maybe? http://www.amazon.com/Game-Dog-Retriever-Waterfowl-Training/dp/0525939423/ref=sr_1_sc_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1392130657&sr=8-2-spell&keywords=richard+wotlers I know some folks on here should be able to step in and give you great direction, but I found reading these older books gives a comprehensive look at the whole deal and it's way better than searching and organizing articles on the internet! Youtube videos are great too, but better once you know what you and your dog need to do next or exactly how to go about doing it. Spending time with my dog in the field is one of the most amazing feelings I will never be able to explain. Good luck, Hunter!

A natural oil application of some sort is the kind of info/possibility I was looking for in case I need it down the road. Thanks, wildwoody. Unless it continues to flake badly after being indoors, chances are he sits as is, eventually on a habitat mount. Thanks, Jimmer and all with the leave as-is recommendation.

I will add I have written permission from the WM. It is a legal find. Thanks.

Something like that.. Those Vulture 10x50's give me a noticable headache by mid morning if relentlessly glassing, they start to blend the homogenous country side together after a few hours making it tougher to pick out critters, and sometimes they would strain my eyes enough to make my entire body tired. I often wanted quick power naps to snap out of the funk. Everyone's eyes are different, though this seems to be the trend with friends joining on hunts and using the same pair of glass. And I would rule out it's just my pair because one of my warranties was a full replacement. Hope this helps.

The Vortex Vulture 10x50's were the first pair of binoculars that I purchased for hunting. http://www.cameralandny.com/optics/vortex.pl?page=vortexvulture10x50 I could not look through them for prolonged periods of time and clarity was decent at best. I still have the Vulture 10x50's, as a backup to a backup and they have been broken and warranteed twice by Vortex. One tripod incident and one eye cup slipping incident. Huge +1 to the Vortex warranty. I have a Vortex Diamondback riflescope and my brother has Viper 15x50's, both GREAT products for the money. But wasn't a fan of the Vulture line.

Last Saturday morning, I found my truck broken into and a few valuable items missing. The theif just posted one of my valuable items on craigslist. I have notified Mesa police, and I hope they take action. But, if anyone has been in a similar experience, will they actually help? And how long should I wait before calling them back or taking action myself? My first reaction was to try to something about it myself, because relying on others isn't the way to get stuff done. But, the police getting involved could help get more than just the one item back and put the theif to justice. I would prefer the latter. Any honest help is appreciated, Thanks.

Yup. migr82az. But man that site went to crap. Keep in touch if you stick around the CWT forum!