PRDATR

I picked up few maps of the area and will be going further back on that road this weekend. Thanks for the info. I saw the Wilderness area on the map but also know that just because it is wilderness does not always mean that there are not two tracks into it.

This is a new Hunt Unit for me and yesterday was my first opportunity to get out and begin scouting.I went in off of 93 across from the turnoff to Bagdad and went back a mile of so to where there was an old mine. I did not see any pigs but found a few tracks here and there in the few canyon bottons I walked. Spent quite a bit of time glassing and spent some time chasing a few quail. I pretty much had the are to myself, wonder why LOL. I did see another hunter drive past in one of those Rhino thingy's (sorry for leaving my truck in the middle of the wash) and some pilot flying low at stall speed (probably scouting too) and hope to get back out next weekend too and go in a little further. Just wish there wern't so many roads.

The University of Wyoming had a paper on their website a few years ago where they tested deer and elk for tenderness using a gauge after ageing and it showed no difference. Presumeably due to the lack of fat. It was a PDF and anyone can view it, just takes some work to find it. I have Denmark Foods make brats and italian sausage and just bone out the meat in the field. In the past I have made chilli and also smoked a shoulder after marinating it for a day with cloves of garlic added into the meat and it was great. I might add that soaking the meat overnight in a bucket of salt water and ice will pull out most of the blood adn 99% of the odor.

I took a TC to Dave many years (25) ago and he replaced the bushing while I waited in his shop. A year later he custom made a barrel for a friend that took almost a year. Phone calls went unanswered and it was highly frustrating (imagine). Still, he is a very sought out smith.

NO.Plastic tip bullets have a lot less penetration. (Think Hollow Point).

Sorry but I callin BS on that. Although the .270 is a fine Antelope round.

YUP . Good to meet you and am glad I didn't have to drive too far.

If COUESAZ passes I'd like to take a look at it. 602-four-nine-nine -0610 (Chris)

That is a great pic TAM and reminds me of when my son was younger. I always gave him a pack to wear so he could "help out" and carry stuff like food, water first aid etc. When he was about 11 I got him his first knife to carry whic was a big deal for him. I have found that after taking a few pigs and have my trophies I now just bone them out on the spot. I take the meat and put it in a 5 gallon bucket with two cups of salt and a bag or two of ice, add water. I leave it in there over night and change it in the morning, then soak it again all day. It pulls out all of the blood and 99% of the smell. I have been very fortunate to take them with rifle, pistol and bow over the last 25 years and am looking forward to hunting 16A after picking up a leftover tag for the General Javi hunt. I will probably go up and scout this weekend and maybe next too as this is a new unit for me and work has kept me super busy the last six weeks going to and from Kingman and it is killing me watching that area at 60mph. LOL

WHile it is a very accurate round you really want a heavy bullet for Elk that will retain enough energy out to 300 yards, especially if shot placement is less than perfect. Will it work? Yes. But there are many more better choices for Elk.

120 Barnes X over 69gr of RL-22 or 160 Partitions in Federal factory loads.Remington 700 ADL, 1st year Stainless/Synthetic. This rifle has shot anything well I put in it. I have some Barnes 160gr Vortex to use on my 12B Mulie hunt and will shoot a few at the range this morning to see how they do.

Stinks. Not much of a change for the rest of the week either so the deer may not move down into 12B for a while. I proably won't hunt the first half of the hunt.

I have a 12B tag so maybe if the plateau gets some more snow in a week or so maybe a few deer will move down lower into 12B (fingers crossed).

http://www.longislandexchange.com/towns/hicksville.html

My son started hunting with me when he was 5. As a junior he shot two Cows, one at 7am the other at 5pm. When he got older we would stay out all day and by 10am we would pull up some shade and take a snooze. If it is hot expect them to be up and moving, looking for water between 11 and 1, as most animals will do. Sitting for hours can be boring, or you can gain a lot of knowledge about animal activity. I have found that a kids excitement for the hunt is very high the first day and diminishes a bit each day as the hunt progresses so I would try to stay out all day for the first few days. There is always something to do and see like challenging him to hike one more ridge and the look on his face when he gets up there because he did not think he could do it. Last year on a hunt he and I were sitting up on a ridge just before noon when he saw a small heard but was not able to get off a shot before they disappeared below us about 150 yds away. He went down after them but did not find them. 15 minutes later they came up the hill and passed within 5 feet of me on their way to a tank.

I have food stamps, on the back of my AZ Combo Hunt N Fish License.

Breast them out. Take a paring knife and following the bone and remove the meat from each side. Rinse off the blood clots if there are any and remove any pellets. Put them in a bowl of ice water and salt for a couple of hours to remove some of the blood. Drain and slice each piece lengthwise into four pieces. In a small bowl mix chili powder, granulated garlic, ground cumin and pepper (no salt). Mix this with the dove and let sit for a few hours to overnight. Chop up some fresh garlic, serrano or jalapeno and put in a skillet with oil. I use a hot cast iron skillet and then add olive oil and put in the dove and veggies and add some oregano. If you want salt you can add it after the dove begins to turn brown on one side (about 2 minutes. With a spatula turn the dove over an dlet it cook for another couple of minutes as the peppers cook and the garlic begins to carmelize. Don't overcook. You want the dove to be tender to the touch. You want to flip them while there is still a tiny bit of pink and juice on the top but they are browned on the botton. Most people don't like dove because the first time they ate it the cook over did them giving it that "dry liver taste". I serve it with either flour or fresh corn tortillas with sides of chopped green onion tops, cilantro and diced plum tomato. I have never met anyone who didn't come back for seconds. Of course if you don't like mex then your SOL. I have also chopped up some bacon for added flavor once or twice. I'll serve this with Mango Salsa and some rice and maybe some black beans. I like Mahatma Yellow rice and add some tomato sauce and chili power and some serrano pepper a bit of corn sliced off the cobb. Mango Salsa is made using the yellow mango's (not the green/red ones, more serrano (seeds optional)diced red onion, cilantro and some poblano pepper. You can get by with about 5 mangos and it serves about 5 people. Add a bit of salt 1/2tsp and let it sit overnight or 24hrs for best taste.

Hello and Welcome. This will give you a place to start for hunting unit info. http://www.azgfd.gov/h_f/hunting_units.shtml With that said, there is no better teacher than spending time out in the woods and observing wildlife. This will also give you a starting place. http://www.azgfd.gov/h_f/hf_resources.shtml There is almost always something to hunt in AZ including rabbits and predators whuch can be done inexpensively with a single shot shotgun. G&F also has a few books for sale and one I believe has pictures of animal tracks. One way to observe tracks is to walk a stream bed and look along the bank for tracks. Sandy washes are another place and if you walk them during the first half hour after sunrise while the sun is low the light will cast a shadow across the track making them a bit easier to detect. Tracking an animal which has been shot and bleeding requires locating the initial blood trail and marking the spots with something like tissue paper so you can get a general direction of where it is going as well as being able to backtrack to the last know blood spot if the trail disappears. Call G&F or go into the local office and see what info they have or see if you can do a ride along with one of their field people. Taking a Hunter Ed course will also get you a bunch of knowledge and you'll meet others with a like interest. Just remember, you are going to see something cool and learn something new everytime you venture into the field. If you didn't then you weren't paying attention. LOL. WHen you are in the forest don't just look ahead or down. Look up too. Thats where you'll see porcupines and owls sitting up on the branches of Ponderosa Pines. Flip over rocks and roll logs too, theres plenty to see there too. Tell us about your hunt. Good Luck.

Did you contact the range? Did it have your name and Phone Number on it?

I have a Garmin 12XL I bought new maybe 15 years ago but wanted something I could load topo maps on so I upgraded last month to the 60csx when REI had them on clearence. I am looking forward to using it this year.

Oh yeah, way too many cameras. I'd like to see the National Forest make it mandatory that in order to even be able to set out a camera the owner must first have a valid tag (Not OTC) and the camera has to be removed 30 days before the season opener and an engraved ID Tag with the owners info on the camera.

Go to Wide World of Maps and get a topo or BLM Maps. Look for water and get high and glass and do a lot of walking.

30-50#'s

It took me about 15 seconds to figure out what was going on (so I not the sharpest broadhead in the quiver)but though it was very hunter oriented.

I never considered it, or heard of doing so. The way I look at it is, the price is set for a service and a quality job is expected. If it is not performed then we talk about why and whether some of the money is returned. This of course goes without saying that I give the taxidermist an animal that was prepped correctly and taken care of. I always give 50% of the money upfront and pay the rest usually before the mount is done. I don't expect museum quality mounts from the average taxidermist but if that is what I want then I research the taxidermists out there and choose accordingly. Going this route you can expect to pay more and have a longer wait.