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The Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation is having there banquet on June 11th this year. If anybody is interested in going you can goto the website provided and click on Phx chapter banquet for tickets and information. We will be auctioning off a deer hunt that will be guided by Broken Arrow guide service. It will be a four day hunt located in units 32 or 33. Rolando, the owner of Broken Arrow has told me he can guarantee a 90-100 inch buck on this hunt, but I am sure you will probably see something bigger. The hunt is going to be good for the 2006 and 2007 season, that way you have time to get drawn for a tag. You might have seen him lately on Majestic Outdoors where one of the hunters shot a 102in buck. We are going to have 65 guns this year that will be raffled and auctioned off. There will be around 400 people this year, so your chances of winning something are pretty good. My wife won 5 guns last year and got drawn a total of 9 times. Hope to see you there. David http://azod.org/azrmef/index.html

Hey, theres no animals in 5bn. You are just wasting your time.

I have hunted with Rolando before and he is a great guide. He was just starting out back in the early 90's when I met him and he was already spotting deer with ease. If you are looking for a somebody to guide you on a hunt give him a call. I spoke with him today during the show and he told me that they actually spotted alot more deer then what the camera showed. The last buck on the program scored 102. David

Thanks guys for all the comments. I did get to see alot of great scenery. I also managed to lose 25lbs in the last three months, so it did start getting me ready for elk hunting in the fall. I tried calling with about every call known to man. I am not able to go back for the last weekend due to other plans, so I will have to chase him again next year.

I managed to draw a spring bear hunt this year in unit 31. I hunted this unit two years ago without finding a bear. This did not discourage me much since it was my first time. This time I tried to prepare the best I could by talking to different people who have hunted the area before. Thanks to all the members that gave me there input on where to hunt in this unit. I actually started hiking every other day with my pack on about two months out from opening day. This really helped get me in great shape for walking in the mountains surrounding Mount Graham. I started scouting a little early hoping maybe some bears might be out looking around, but found little sign. I was out opening weekend hiking into different canyons, glassing every finger I could. I hunted almost every weekend after opening day weekend. I did manage to see deer everyday I was in the field, along with my first Kudi Mundi.(spelling?) I didn't see any bears or hear of any being seen until last weekend. A nice fella in Safford named Danny Carascos told me he had seen one, but couldn't get a shot at it. He told me where I could find, but it was quite a walk. He had come in on horses, but I was up to the challenge. Last Sunday I went in after this big bear (350-400Pds) hoping to find him in the same area. It took me almost two and a half hours to get to the canyon, but the bear didn't show himself. I did manage to see some nice coues in several different bowls. So this weekend I was back at it again. I started out a little earlier and with a faster pace hoping to catch him out feeding, but once again he was a ghost. I spent the entire day walking down into canyons checking for sign or caves. I made it back to the truck at 7pm with no bear. I figured that I have spent fifteen days in the field and walked more than 35 miles. I logged about 3200 miles on my truck and owe my wife a barrel of honey do's for sure. Sometimes I wish it was called shooting, not hunting. I honestly think that G&F have this hunt just to make money. I don't think this hunt has ever been closed early. It starts to become frustrating when you spend so much time on a hunt without even seeing the animal you are hunting. Looks like I will be at it again in the fall. Sorry so long and no pictures. David.

No, it was a typical 3x3. Long mainbeams with good thickness all the way through.

I saw a coues on Saturday that a gentleman shot in 31 three or four years ago that was huge. He's not into scoring his deer, so I don't know the score. The eyegaurds alone were 6 inches long and then split at the top like a v-shape and those were an inch long. I should have taken a picture. He had another one there also that came from the same canyon that had the same genetics as the big one. They were almost identical in shape. I am probably going back over there again soon to keep chasing the bears and will try to get a picture. David

While I was scouting for bear this weekend I managed to get some pictures of some Coues through my spotting scope. There are three deer in the pictures at about 1300 yards around 5:30 in the evening. I had the scope set on 60 power and the camera zoomed in on a couple and no zoom on the other. I also spotted something I had never seen before, but couldn't get any pictures due to the time. It had a tail about 2-3 feet long with a small brown body. I think it is called a ringtailed cat or something. I spotted it at about 3/4 of a mile digging in some rocks and bushes. At first all I saw was the tail and thought it was a cat. This is my first time trying this, so if you can give me any advice let me know. David. http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v719/azh...ut/Dsc09046.jpg http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v719/azh...ut/Dsc09047.jpg http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v719/azh...ut/Dsc09050.jpg

Amanda, You are right. I thought it might have been a mundi, but I wasn't for sure. It was a little bigger than the one in the picture.

I was in unit 31 this weekend scouting for my bear hunt and saw two coues. One was a 3x3 in the 90's. I tried to get some pictures through my spotting scope, but there was to many heat waves plus they were about 1500 yards away. I need to get one of those camera adaptors for my scope. Lots of water runnin in all the creeks and saw some bear sign. I set-up my trail camera in an area where there was bear and deer sign, so hopefully I will get some good pictures. David

I talked to a friend of mine Friday that went out on a hunt with another hunter and he said that his buddy had shot a pig with a baby inside. He said it looked like it was probably ready to have the baby anytime. I have never seen this before at this time of the year. Anybody ever had this happen before? David

Has anybody tried using the Winchester 130 grain silver tips in a .270? Did they seem to work well with your gun? I have a bear hunt in March and was thinking about giving these a try. My other option was the Hornady 140 grain light magnum. The Hornys are $8.00 bucks more a box. I like to shoot about 100 times at the range before I go out, so it could get quite expensive. I don't have any time to reload any right now so that isn't an option. Any suggestions would be great.

Have you guys seen what a G&F officer makes these days, not much. The ones that work up in Flagstaff have a hard time just making it. I hope to see some of this money go towards a pay wage for them. David.

Looks like Oregon with cactus and mesquites. Did you get those deer pictures through a spotting scope? Those TC's are nice since you can change out the barrels so easily. I picked one up a while back that was custom built with a .223 barrel lengthened to 16.5in with a muzzle break to be a legal rifle. Added a rifle stock and custom forearm. Nice job on the pig, they are so much fun to chase around the desert. David. http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v719/azh...ut/Dsc08951.jpg

http://www.azgfd.com/artman/publish/article_251.shtml

I am a native also and have slowly watched all of the lakes around Flagstaff going dry. I remember when Mormon Lake was a great place to catch pike and catfish. When I was in gradeschool (middle 80's) we used to sit on the dam between upper and lower Lake Mary and shoot ducks and geese like crazy. The good news is that upper lake is full and lower is almost full. The lakes around Williams are also full. I just hope that the only natural two lakes in AZ (Mormon and Stoneman) fill back up again. I hope it keeps raining right up until around the middle of March and then stops. I have a bear hunt to attend. The horns are gonna be big this year. David.

I don't mind drinking my own pee, but somebody elses.. THAT'S SICK!

I remember a time when they said if we raise the price of cigarettes people would stop smoking. Well everybody I knew then that smoked are still smoking now. We always find a way to overcome the higher prices and fit it into our lifestyle. Look at the price of our trucks now. Four years ago I was driving an 89 blazer with now payment and then decided to buy an extracab that cost me $400.00 a month. I thought man thats alot of money each month, but then four months later I wanted the crewcab HD even more so I traded in the other truck and found a way to spend $625.00 a month. I hate paying it, but I always come up with the money each month. I hate to say this, but this just might help us with draw odds and better deer population. I do know in about five years it will really cost me alot when my two boys are old enough to go with me, but hey I will find a way (blood donation) to pay the fees. David

Thanks for all of the replys. I haven't gotten a chance to go out and shoot the Accubonds or the Hornadys. I am waiting for my new scope. I think that the Accubonds are probably going to be best for my gun. Since the hornys are traveling at about 3150fps I tried loading up some hornady sst's last year pushing over 3100fps and couldn't get my bullits within four inches of each other. I use factory ammo in my .223, .243 barrels and they shoot like darts. I want to be able to shoot out to 400 yards accurately and still have enough punch to knock the stuffing out of a bear. Here is a picture of my .243 tack driver. http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v719/azh...ut/Dsc08925.jpg

With all this talk about game cameras I went out and bought me a Moultrie 35mm from walmart. It seems like a pretty nice set-up. It has the infrared sensor on it along with a place for extra batteries. I am going to use the camera it came with at first, but would like to change over to a digital. Does anybody know which digital camera I can put in place of the 35mm that will plug right in and fit properly? Here is the model that I have.http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/templates/links/link.jhtml;jsessionid=QNYEBCK1EYNR5TQSNOECCO4OCJVYWIWE?id=0026858416640a&type=product&cmCat=smxprod&rid=0180101070502&cm_ven=smx_prod&cm_ite=DDI%20Link&_requestid=101

kwp, Is that bear picture a recent picture? I can't wait to get a camera up and get some pictures like that. What kind of camera are you using? David

I have an H&R single shot in .243 that shoots darts. I bought this gun for $219.00 last year thinking it would be a gun to just throw in the truck and get beat up, but so far this thing can shoot. I have it topped with a burris fulfield II 4.5-14 ballistic plex. I shot a thick soaked phone book with it at 300 yards and the exit hole was about three inches in diameter, plus the bullit went through the three inch mesguite tree behind the book. I never did retreive the bullit. The recoil is so light that you will enjoy shooting the .243 during extended shooting practice. The nice thing about this rifle is that you can send in the reciever and order more barrels for $79.00 a piece. I bought the .223, .243, .270, and a .50cal muzzle loader. And at only five pounds you won't mind hiking those extra miles. David http://www.hr1871.com/

I picked up some winchester 140gr. accubonds along with some of the hornady 140gr. light magnums. I am going to try both of these to see what my gun likes best. By barrel is only 20 inches long and I am worried that maybe the hornadys might not have enough barrel to stabilize. They are pushing about 3100fps and the winchesters are closer to 2850fps. The silver tips will also be getting a chance. I will post my results. David

I am a Phx. charter member of the RMEF. We do raise alot of money at our fundraisers, but you would be surprised at how much is put back into AZ. As a matter of fact there was more money put back into AZ in the year 2004 than what the group raised. So that means that money from other states were transfer to us. There are different chapters that you can join throughout the state, it just depends on where you live and how far you want to drive to the meetings. I have been with them for two years now and really enjoy it. All of seem to want the same thing, save the elk habitat for current and future hunters (our kids). If you haven't been to one of our banquets before, you really need to give it a try. Last year my wife won four guns, two knives, a huge signed painting, and a one year membership to shooter world. She wants to come this year of course. David