huntlines

A little in 1/27 but they shut up just after light. It's coming but they are not real fired up yet.........

I was up in 27/1 this last weekend also. Heard a few bugles but they shut up shortly after first light. One bull bugled and he sounded like a small rag horn but when I got close he was a 360 class bull! My daughter has a 1 and other family members have 1 or 27 tags. I will be busy helping them and am counting the days. Have some really nice bulls on trail camera from both units. Horn growth looks just fine to me this year!

johnnie blaze, I have a few spots with trail cameras in them. These areas have nice to big bucks in them during the August/September deer season. I don't get many bears on camera during this time, however the end of September and early October when the acorns ripen guess what happens. The bears move in and are thick due to the acorn crop. During this time the big bucks seem to disappear even though there are acorns on the ground and the does and young bucks are feeding on them. Now this is just my observation and not scientific by any means but I theorize the big bucks move out due to the pressure and presence of the bears. The big bucks may be moving out for another reason like browse of more favorable plants are better somewhere else or whatever. All I know is when the bears move in the big bucks seem to move out.

The big bucks wont tolerate bears. Now before I get people calling "BS" and stating the obvious that bears are all over, let me explain. Yes bears and big bucks will be captured on trail cameras on the same day. Usually this is when food/water is limited and big bucks have no choice. With the rains we have been getting big bucks have the choice to move wherever they are less pestered.

Yes they do

This is what I have learned over the years and you can take it and use it or disregard it. Over the years I have found some interesting things about Coues deer. I'm sure you have heard about moon phases and how they affect deer movement. There are lots of theories on why which I'm not going to get into here. However I have found the bigger bucks this time of year move/feed heavily during new moons(night time) and bed moving very little during full moons(night time). This goes against some of what you may have heard or have read but it is my observations. Looking at your pictures(thanks for sharing by the way, I thought you would only give the times) I see the bucks are in front of the camera in the middle of the night and into the twilight of the morning. If you look at the moon phase during the time frames of the pictures, the moon is starting its progression towards a new moon. By the way I like the feature of the moon phase on my camera as well but don't rely on it. Go to any search engine and find a true moon phase. Starting on the 18th the moon really started into it's new moon phase. I bet you probably had pictures of these bucks or others in the early morning and evening from the 7th through the 14th. You will start to get them back on camera in daylight hours around the 5th of September. It sounds like you know where these bucks are bedding and this is the only thing I worry about during my scouting. Sure water is a good thing to know about too but it is unreliable during heavy monsoons seasons like some of use are experiencing now. Bedding areas are the key. Now that you know where this is, next season move your setup closer to this bedding area but not too close. This increases your chances no matter what the moon phase is. When I place a setup near a bedding area I will get the bucks on camera at first light up to about 630 to 7am during new moons. During full moons I get them coming through as late as 930 to 10am! Don't move anything now. Doing so during the hunt will only run the chance of pushing these bucks out. You are just going to have to be patient and wait until about the 5th of September. I'm not telling you not to hunt until then because anything can happen and the bucks could get spooked out of their normal routine by a lion or other critter and cause them to be running a little late for their bed time. Just my 2cents

Unless you can make it look as natural as possible you will cause any mature whitetail to be on high alert/or not come in. I would go with the tree stand if at all possible! Again this depends on the maturity of the bucks in question. If they are young bucks you will be able to get away with a ground blind that isn't well hidden. If the bucks are older then you better make the blind look as natural as possible. Tree stand if at all possible!

What time at night are they going through your spot?

Big surprise. Told ya so.

Cramerhunts- I understand what you are saying. However if getting control from the feds means expanding the population and range of these half bred wild dogs then I can't see how they are not supporting wolves? If they think once they get control from the feds they can slowly do away with the wolf program they are sadly mistaken. The feds will just step back in and retake control with more wolves and expanded territory. Chef- Ok you may be right that I am confused. I know these groups have been against wolves, however they are listed in the news release by the Game and Fish Department supporting the proposal G&F is submitting. The proposal is to increase wolf numbers and their territory. I don't see where I'm confused..... I know this proposal is an attempted step in the right direction in trying to get control away from the feds and give it to the state but we all know that will never happen. I see this as a game of give and take to try to have a bigger voice but all it is going to do is backfire. The only way to truly stop this is to get representatives in congress who will put an end to it.

Rattle snakes give me the creeps. There are so many different kinds it is crazy. Years ago I found a small rattle snake dead in the road. I couldn't figure out what it was and was intrigued. I was at about 8,000 feet and knew rattle snakes are not common at this altitude. While looking at it some wildlife biologist came by and they were all excited. They said it was a twin spotted or something like that rattle snake. They collected it and said it would be studied because they are so rare. A few years ago I was out deer hunting and was at about 9,000 feet when I came across another one of these snakes. It had two reddish dots near it's rattles and was only about sixteen inches long. I was very upset because I didn't have my camera with me and my cell phone was in my truck so I couldn't get any pictures. I was glad I had the experience to see it but was even happier to walk away as well.

As I read I felt like I was right there with you guys. I have three kids and have been on several successful hunts with them. The emotions are so powerful during those moments and are something we never forget. Congrats to the young lady, her confidence telling you "I got this dad" is special. Hunting with kids is the best thing in the world!

Early rifle bull in unit 9!

The following are groups which are currently supporting the expansion of wolves. I for the life of me dont understand it and have communicated with some of the groups representatives. After looking into this it appears they are giving concessions in order to have greater local control including removing wolves which are causing problems. It seems, in my opinion, they are giving up on ever getting rid of the wolves and are trying to seem like they are helping so they can gain some local control. In theory this may seem intellectual to some but I see it as weakness and will just allow these animal rights activist to gain momentum. I have told them I am in utter disbelief they would support anything regarding more wolves and will never support them or their groups/clubs again. In my opinion if you disagree with this you should let these people know and stop supporting their organizations until they do. Anglers United Arizona Antelope Foundation Arizona BASS Arizona Big Game Super Raffle Arizona Cattle Growers Association Arizona Chapter of the National Wild Turkey Federation Arizona Deer Association Arizona Desert Bighorn Sheep Society Arizona Elk Society Arizona Houndsmen Arizona Sportsmen for Wildlife Conservation Arizona Trappers Association Arizona Wildlife Federation Big Game Forever ES Advisement, LLC (AZ) Coconino Sportsmen Outdoor Experience 4 All Phoenix Varmint Callers, Inc. Sportsmens Constituent Group The BASS Federation The Mule Deer Foundation Yuma Valley Rod & Gun Club 1-2-3-Go

I really hate lazy people. People who don't work and live off my tax dollars, people who have a job but sit around while co-workers do all their work and people who use other peoples hunting gear. I have no problem with someone beating me to a spot and putting up their own stand or ground blind but to be so lazy as to sit in someone else's setup is LAZY. It is a lot of work to scout, pack in gear and find the best spot due to wind to set up. I've heard of people who just go around looking for spots so they can use them. This is disgusting to me. If someone moves in on your spot the best way to handle it is to communicate like adults. Most of the time something can be worked out.

I think he turned out really good. I'm going to try my hand at elk next.

took me about three weeks. The total cost is hard to total because I bought a lot of equipment so I can continue doing taxidermy work.

Just checked the site and there is an error message! Think they are getting ready to open the on line but obviously they have not ironed out all the problems yet........

I am wondering the same thing. Don't know if the issues they had during the elk applications has caused so many issues. They need to hurry up or we will be crashing the site trying to get put in before the deadline. Yes we can put in with paper....... yada yada yada. The online system either needs to be up and working or do away with it!

Another Perversion, I know someone who is not happy that a neighbor constantly uses their drone to fly over their backyard while they have their kids swimming in the pool......... my advise to them is to shoot it down.

Hunter4life, I have always been told by game and fish people they like to see the harvest success rate at or below 20% on most hunts. Therefore if the success rate goes up then they increase tags. This is what is causing the hunting to be a bad experience for me. Too many tags and people running all over each other in the field. I would prefer less tags and a better hunting experience. This is why even though it took me 8 years to get a December white tail tag I signed it over to my 13 year old daughter, too many tags in this hunt. As for the use of drones, I don't like it. I knew when these started being made for the public they would be a tool for scouting. I know a guy who built one 12 years ago and has been using it but he is not a hunter. When he showed it to me I knew then this would eventually become an issue for game and fish. I don't like to see new laws limiting hunting but we don't ever stick together as a group and fight them. I see a law restricting trail cams in the future too and I bet there wont be but a mild moan from the hunting community. I have got tired of even trying because we seem to fight against each other more than band together...........

So are any of you on the board of any of these groups listed as stake holders who support? If so I would like to know what was proposed to the stake holders to agree to be a part of this? I have donated money to several of these groups in the past figuring these groups were supportive of hunters. I'm wanting to believe there is something we are not being told about this which is causing these groups to support this. Like for example if this is adopted it would give the state control of the wolf project and get the US fish and wildlife out of the picture. Maybe it would take the wolf off of the endangered list so it wouldn't be a federal crime if one gets shot therefore giving ranchers more elbow room to protect their stock. There just has to be a reason these stakeholders would support this and I would like to have more details............... If not I will not be supporting any of these groups in the future.

Nothing for me but my daughter and nephew drew early archery bull tags.

Every time I call it rings and rings and then disconnects........what the #$!%#!@!

Monday 330 pm