Apache7mm

nice looking picture you got there Josh! this is the only Triplets i've ever seen... DAN

hey everyone, well i see the forums are back up again, me and my crew finally got a chance to hit up the hills over the weekend so we decided to try an area we scored good on last year, came across a couple of bears too, nothing big but was cool to see them running around out there with us, we ended up with 4 sets and 3 singles altogether, hope everyone's scouting trips are going good and hope to see plenty of nice bucks again this year in the coues contest, enjoy!!!.........for the rest of the trip look to the part 2 post. DAN

Thought i'd post up a few sunset pictures i took not too long ago, i know somebody else has some nice pictures to show the rest of us, doesn't have to be sunsets specifically but some nice scenery would be cool to see. Apache Peaks after shed hunting San Carlos Lake chollas and a magaashii DAN

getting closer and closer to everyone's seasons, hopefully we all bag some big ones and share the stories and photos.....here's a few more pics to pass the time, elk sheds had some really nice main beams and pretty even all the way, coues skull was nice and tall with some sweet kickers....not the best background for the skull though, sorry bout that.......ignore the date, it's wrong... DAN

just thought i'd post a few pics of some of the action going on here on the rez, nice and green all over the place, some big big bull elk running around but no luck on any close pictures, should be a pretty good season all the way around.....enjoy... DAN

well yea the rainfalls hit us pretty hard these last couple of months and now its nice and green up in the hills all over, the rains came a little late and will probably have little effect on antler growth, but we're all crossing our fingers, some places have been green for a bit so i suppose in those areas the antler growth will be better......them antleope were pretty close, the one out on the prairie is out about 50yrds or so and the one by the fence is well, by the fence right off the highway, our antelope here on the rez are pretty tame and are definately not camera shy, hope to keep snapping more pictures. here's a couple of shots of the green stuff up in the hills right now, first one is up on Bee Flat, some antelope in the slash there you can barely see them, man the buck was a killer and i wish i had gotten a good shot of him because his horns were very very tall! second pic is down on Ash flat below Nantac, ignore the date its wrong. DAN

just a little something to keep the summer rolling by until all the hunting starts up again, never got a chance to hit the hills hard for racks this year, there's still plenty of time to head out and rack up though... check out this guy had lazy fronts....haha. here's one we left across the canyon... ......... never spotted the other side, probably behind the bushes close by though. close up close up DAN

thx everybody, just trying to keep us all looking at something new.... on elevation, here's a pic of the highest point in the area, down on the bottom is about a little over 4,000 ft and the tip of that point reaches to about 6,800 ft so not too high up and the habitat is mostly oak, juniper, and cedar trees, kind of right past the edge of the ponderosas, even on top, just all thick with oak and junipers, and its plenty rocky too, just a big volcano, rocks anywhere and everywhere. DAN

I definately agree with Rembrant about the getting permission to use someones buck for advertisement, i really had no intent on using the drawing for the shirts, it was just a drawing of my own i had from back in the days, just wanted to put something up to maybe get the ball rolling more and to get more of us into the idea and reality of CW shirts. I personally thought it would be nice if anything else to put Amanda's killer Mexico buck on the shirt, if not then i guess a generic monster would do fine for us. anymore suggestions on the subject would be nice and i'd be honored to help with a drawing for the shirts. DAN

Just thought that i would start up a fresh post on the whole T-shirt stuff, i remember we were all talking about it awhile back and i said i would do some kind of drawing but i still havn't, i did however dig out a drawing i did back in the HS days, the quality of the drawing is good still and just thought i'd post a pic for everyone to see and maybe get the ball rolling a little more on some shirts because i know i definately would like to have one, anyway here it is... DAN

Those are some nice looking elk right there!!! DAN

i wish i seen a buck this big before but not any this big yet, treestand is right i did the drawing off the king buck with the double main beam, nice looking rack, this drawing just been laying around for a bit, anyone interested in it hit me up and we can work something out, measures 9" x 12", lead pencil. DAN

man pretty good looking sheds right there, and the as they lay pics are very nice fo sho! can't wait to get back out again and find some like that. DAN

Nice Couch....and awesome racks too. DAN

finally made it out for the first trip of the season for racks but didn't go as planned, took an extra person with us who cut the trip pretty short but you know anytime out in the hills is a good time, we still picked up 8 racks anyway, plan to head back up again SAT, this time no one to hold us back! DAN

Thx for the Bday wishes and stuff, hopefully i'll get a bday wish this weekend of some brown horns! any of you guys remember what things were like when you were 24? DAN

nice pictures everyone, i think once most of this snow melts everyone will be out for a big rush and pick up some nice racks, still good to know that there are some people who won't let the snow stop them though, good job guys! DAN

incase anyone is wondering how San Carlos Lake is doing right about now here's some info for you...fishing is really starting to pick up very well right now for Crappie and Bass, especially Crappie! everyone's been out around the Old San Carlos Point and Mohave Point areas catching plenty of fish, i think everyone is doing much better from the boat out in the little deeper areas but i've also heard from a few guys that they're doing just fine from the shore as well, was out yesterday and there were about 40-50 boats in the one area so i'm sure fishing was very good, here's a few pictures of what the water levels are looking like as of right now....if you got the time get out there and do some fishing! DAN

most of the guys i talked with were using minnows and some jig baits and rubber worms on the bass, there's the Lake store there where you can purchase pretty much everything you need for the day out, minnows are also available there, here's the fees on the fishing... $5.00 boat fee $3.00 second pole fee $7.00 daily fishing Persons under 12 may fish without license if accompanied by adult with license. DAN

some fine coues there, you and your family got some nice trophies for sure! good job on them all. DAN

well i think the bragging rights thing will work out better than an actual contest, started off with some good buzz but quickly died down, it would be nice to see some killer racks and have some sort of challenge and find out where the biggest and baddest coues and elk are dropping their racks, but yea i think for bragging rights sounds good to me. DAN

Any thoughts on a Shed Contest? maybe something along the lines of what the Whitetail contest was with categories related to shed hunting? seems all the sheds posted here on CW are Coues and Elk, it'd be nice to see how big the biggest sheds in AZ and surrounding areas are this year, seems a contest would bring more pictures and knowledge of whats lurking out there in the woods, just a thought, anyone else with any thoughts? DAN

man i really needed that today, some good laughs...i'm with josh on the finding giant sheds, i usually find one good set maybe every 3 yrs, the rest are either busted up or only the single side, i think the biggest set i've ever found would have been about a 380 bull, hoping to find a 400 class set one of these days to get mounted, and i have yet to pick up a good coues set, anyway seems this could be something to look forward to for everyone, i'd really like to see alot of the big racks that go under the radar each year around the diff areas cuz i know some guys pick up some monster sheds all over. categories i'd like to see are... COUES *highest scoring single (typical) *highest scoring set (typical) *highest scoring single (non-typical) *highest scoring set (non-typical) *heaviest (lb wise) *most deformed/unusual *smallest in size (ie. spikes, buttons, etc.) ELK *highest scoring single (typical) *highest scoring set (typical) *highest scoring single (non-typical) *highest scoring set (non-typical) *heaviest (lb wise) *most deformed/unusual *longest main beam thats what i've come up with so far, if someone would like to add throw in your .02 cents, another thing that would have to be a rule i guess would have to be all the antlers entered would have to be from 2006, meaning picked up between now and the contest end.....older sheds would count so long as you actually hauled them out during this contest run. thats all i have so far, more input and thoughts would be nice to hear though, and as far as someone maintaining entries and such, if anyone who has tons of time on their hands would like to take the lead that would be awesome. DAN

HAHAHA! man i know i got a good kick outta that one, thanks KEVIN, really needed that right about now, actually everyone gets to see or hear of big sheds each year here all over in AZ but i'm more interested to see some HUGE sheds from other places, especially NM, i know they have some monsters out there and to see them sheds would be awesome, as far as rules go, i think maybe brainstorming it first and getting more and more ideas from diff members will help, a few of the things i was thinking of would be... well first off the obvious Highest scoring single, matched, typical and non typical racks. heaviest (lb wise or cir. wise) longest main beam (elk) most # of points ...just to name a few things off the top, any other ideas would be great to hear. DAN

this set was dropped in 2005, havn't heard of anyone picking up any brown antlers yet but then again i don't think anyone has been out looking just yet, but i'm sure a few are starting to drop their racks already, last year i found my first brown one right at this time (end of FEB) but i was able to go out a lot more last year compared to this year, work got me pretty tied up this time around but i'll still get out there though, good luck to everyone and lets see some monster sheds! DAN