huntlines

Unit 29 is closed to archery hunting in December again this year. I was told it was due to a high harvest ratio during the Aug/Sep hunt of last year. I'm not happy about this as I love hunting unit 29 in December which has been the best rut in the past. 30A, 34A and 35 A&B are all good units as well during this time of year.

My son got this nice tom Saturday afternoon in unit 1. He didn't gobble until he was right on top of us. He is one of the biggest birds we have ever taken with an 11 inch beard and nearly 1 3/4 spurs! Seems like they were just getting starting this weekend so the second hunt should be the better hunt this year.

Just got back Sunday. My daughter took her tom opening morning of the junior hunt. No talk but we found a tom with five hens and slipped in on them. Hen seen us and started to leave but the tom stood there in full strut until my daughter got close enough to shoot him. My son got his big tom saturday late in the day. Not much talking in the mornings or in the evenings. Were able to call my sons bird in but he didn't gobble at all until he was right ontop of us. Will post pictures later. I think they have not started breeding yet due to the cold spring. Lots of hens still grouped up........

Final step(juniper for elk hunts) cover scents work well. Like all cover scents you must make sure you are as scent free as possible before you use them.

This is a great unit and should be lots of fun. If it is her first elk hunt I'd be letting her shoot at anything over 300. Lots of nice bulls in this unit but don't have her hold out for 350 bull for her first time. The rut could be hit or miss and can change overnight!

Love the videos to keep me all worked up waiting for September..........

So I want to know how the 7595 worked for you? I'm also shooting a PSE xforce at 72lbs 29 inch arrows and am looking to go to a heavier arrow. Would like to know what you thought of them.

Great job on the video. Congrats to the hunter on a very nice coues buck. Loved watching the deer rut activity, great time of the year to be after coues deer.

That may be the rule of thumb but my son drew the early rifle bull tag in 27 last year with only 4 points..........

Been putting in since 1988. 1990 Archery any elk NM 1993 Archery Bull Az 1995 Archery cow Az 1997 Archery Bull Az 2001 Archery Bull Az 2006 Archery Bull Az 2006 Archery Bull Nm 2010 Archery Bull Az 2011 Archery Bull Az 2013 Archery Bull Az So since 1988 I've had 7 Az archery bull tags, one archery cow and two NM archery tags. Never put in for a rifle tag. So 25 years and 8 Az tags, seems like a lot but of course would rather go every year. :-)

Well, it still needs to dry and do touch ups with paint but I didn't do to bad for my first try at taxidermy. Fingers are sore and cut up but I think it was worth it. Lots of little things I learned that I will do differently on the next one but I'm learning.

Thanks, I wanted to practice on a few before I do my son's 116 buck he killed last year. Don't want to screw that big boy up! Another picture from the side.

My dad, brother and I got archery bull tag unit 1! 3 tags in 4 years and no I don't know how we do it....... Don't care either just can't wait for opening day.

I personally hope G&F goes to a draw on all deer tags and mandatory reporting on all hunts. This will take care of a lot of problems previously discussed here. Otherwise G&F will continue to make restricting laws and closing units. What is wrong with a draw where out of state hunters are limited, hunters must choose their weapon, hunts stay open in December and most importantly all harvest are reported? This is the only way to properly manage the game. I know out of state people won’t like it nor the outfitters but I for one am all for it!

????? I wish what you posted was actually funny but it's not. Just plain ignorant... If baiting is SSSSOOOO BAD to cause the animal to become a pet, then why didn't you guys ban salt and put wording in the law that would make it illegal even if cattle were what the food was put out for? It could have been worded that if a hunter knowingly harvested over any bait then it was illegal. BUT NO you guys just singled out some of the guiding outfits who are using bait. Great Job! You actually did nothing to fix the problem as usual and actually made a loop hole for these exact guiding outfits to continue doing what they were doing. Then your brilliant reaction will be to close the unit to December archery hunting which again only hurts the average(archery) joes out there. Also I see there is a loop hole for game and fish to bait for game management. Funny, I thought this whole thing was over the spread of disease? Brilliant minds at their finest

Figures...... All G&F did was take away baiting to the average Joe. The guides are still going to get around this due to the poor wording by the use of land owners with cattle or by placing a single cow on the land. Like I said before I have never used a feeder but I don't like it that if I found a spot I wanted to I now can't. Big money is always the winner in todays hunting.....SAD!

I just read on the G&F web site they will be supplemental feeding the Bison to keep them in the Raymond Ranch area??? I thought they wanted to ban baiting because of the threat of spreading diseases? Can anyone explain this one to me because I am very confused......

Congrats on your first! He wont be your last I'm sure cuz from the smile in the pictures you are now hooked for life.

Well earned buck. He is one heck of a buck and one I would not have passed on. Packing in is the only way to go these days. Good job.

Well earned buck. He is one heck of a buck and one I would not have passed on. Packing in is the only way to go these days. Good job.

I wanted to post this for a few reasons, First I wanted to make sure everyone is aware of this closure and your not out hunting in one of these units. This is a first for unit 29 that I can remember and it is sad because I love hunting this unit. Unit 34 A is another unit i have enjoyed hunting and most of all in December during the rut. You can be chasing rut crazed mulies one minute and then find yourself in the middle of couse deer rutting. Sad to see this happening. Second I think by posting this and advising all the hunters why it is being done, it is going to lead to people not being truthful about the unit they harvested in. I have already heard people talking about telling G and F they harvested in a different unit so this will not get their unit closed. I have been a big supporter of mandatory reporting of archery harvest for the management of the deer. Now I see where this might backfire or at least lead to misleading information. Here is the link for more information. http://azgfd.net/art...-December.shtml Good luck to everyone out there, I can't wait for January 1St so I can start hunting again.....

Comments like this really get my blood pressure up. Maybe this is why you made the comment just to stir things up or maybe it is an honest question from from a very small mind. First of all I will state the obvious, no matter what weapon you choose to hunt with there will be animals you will not recover. Wounding animals and not being able to recover them isn't just an archery issue. There are just as many rifle hunters who wound deer and don't recover them and if you think differently you are as naive as the question you posted. You honestly think people who get their voluntarty card in the mail for their draw hunt actually are truthful with them when asked if they wounded a deer they didn't recover during a rifle hunt? So you think archery hunters are the only ones who are not truthful? Please... spare me your ignorance. However I will humor you on this one to prove a point about most TRUE archery hunters. I have been hunting using archery gear for well over twenty years and in that time I can honestly tell you/everyone I have lost five total animals in that time. As for deer, in the twenty years I have harvested twelve deer over this time frame and lost one in 1996. Thats right I still remember the date, the day and all the details because it bothered me so much. My son lost one last year and because of it wouldn't hunt the rest of the year because he felt he had killed his deer and wouldn't shoot another. I believe the information you are getting from somewhere is probably what I call "opportunity archery hunters". Game and Fish created them and now they want to take away archery hunts because of a problem they created. First let me start by defining an opportunity archery hunter. They are people who either get tired of not getting drawn for their rifle hunt or can't find a deer during their rifle hunt due to poor hunting from all the hunt pressure. So they say, "well I will just buy a bow(or borrow their buddies) and buy a tag over the counter". They see guys/gals harvesting deer on TV all the time with bows and it can't be that hard right? They are used to hunting with a rifle and therefore have no idea how to get close for a quality bow shot nor do they have any idea how to hunt with archery equipment. They usually only pick up a bow when it is hunting season and don't put in the hours of practice during the off season. These are the people who wound animals and most of the time never even look for them because the deer didn't just drop like it usually does when they shoot it with their 300 mag from 300 yards. Don't get me wrong, I'm not a rifle hunter hater. I still hunt with a rifle from time to time. I am just TIRED of archery hunters catching the blame for poor deer numbers when there are ten times(at least) more rifle hunters and deer killed by rifles. Look at the new hunt structure, literally there is a rifle hunt in most units going on from the beginning of October through the end of December! People wonder why they don't see deer while they are out hunting? REALLY? I know my next statement will upset most of you but I strongly feel we need all hunts to go to the draw and MANDITORY reporting on ALL hunts!!!!!! I would have never said this ten years ago but Game and Fish has created this problem and it will only be fixed by making the playing field fair for both archery and general hunts. I know it will never happen because if mandatory reporting for general hunts was put into place the numbers would force them into a corner of their own making. They would be forced to admit their policies of the past were wrong and general hunt tags would be greatly decreased, thus lowering hunter opportunity(code word for money).

When an archery deer hunter is successful he/she MUST within ten days call the number listed in the regs to report the deer harvest. G and F ask for the license number, tag number, unit of kill, days hunted, if any deer were shot they didn't recover, type of bow used, if it was a white tail or mule deer and how many points on each side of the antlers. YES all of that is required and if you forget to answer any of these questions they ask for a call back n8umber so they can get the missing information. This is mandatory and if your found to have harvested and don't report, like posting pictures of your kill on a site like this one, then an officer will show up at your door with a citation. The first year or two of this mandatory reporting they were issuing warnings to people but I am told now they are citing. I also believe if the draw hunts were mandatory they would be surprised to learn how many deer are harvested and not reported via the cards they send out in the mail. No one I know ever filled them out and sent them in or if they did they lied and said they didn't harvest. People are not stupid and know that if the harvest numbers were low more tags would be given out. With the amount of draw tags given now a days and the amount of hunts now being offered, it is no wonder the quality of the deer is so low........ Very SAD.

MANDATORTY REPORTAING means you don't have a choice to not report. If an archery hunter refuses to report he will get cited. I agree with Traveler, mandatory reporting for everyone is needed. Rifle hunters don't understand this issue but when they have to report and then their hunts get taken away because of it they will.......

I don't know where you got your information about G&F lifting bans on magazine capacities? The state law makers changed this not G&F. G&F opposed this idea. As for them opening night hunting for varmits, well this was something people fought for a long time. Years ago I remember sitting in a meeting with G&F arguing this very idea and G&F was against it! The reason they were against it was because it put their officers at risk?!? I hope now there will be enough pressure from hunters on state law makers to over ride the baiting law just like they were forced to do with the magazine capacity issue......