Red Rabbit

I went down south of Sonoita and Patagonia Fri-Sun. Got to the usual spot about 2 pm Fri and made a quick 1 hour swing down a draw and up the next. Rica pointed a covey of about 6 birds only 30 yards from the truck. The rest of the hunt was a walk. Saturday, Hunt'm/Larry came down. We hit a draw that had a few good coveys end of season two years ago year, but it was empty in front of Rica and Maggy. We did find a nice 10 bird covey where it joined the main canyon. Only covey that morning. That afternoon we went further south and hunted 4 hours and located 4 coveys, all with 6-10 birds. It rained and grappeled a little Sat night, but a new draw which I had not hunted before was barren Sunday morning. Hunted down one side and back up the other and Rica never got birdy. I figured the rain would help with her scenting, but guess one has to have birds to smell them. Sure was dry otherwise. Tanks were empty and was surprised to see no water crossing the road at Canelo. I ended up with 8 males and 1 female. 7 of the 8 males were immature with brown mottled heads. Only one had the white clown face. Seemed to be lots of bird hunters, with about 3/4 being from out of state. Heard some shooting, but not a lot to indicate a good season/bird population. Larry found 5 bales of pot stashed under a tree Sat afternoon, gave BP the GPS coordinates, but they did not find them Sat night. The bales were still there Sun morn (and so were the mearns) so I gave the Lat/Long to USBP again via phone and at the check station. I was told they also picked up 5 bales Sun morning just a few miles from where we saw ours.

Lunch is usually turkey and cheese on a bagel, some chips/doritos/cheetos, an apple, and a few cookies for the sweet tooth. Sometimes I'll pack a soda. Snax include Clif bars, jerky, cheese sticks, Powerade.

Ouch! Larry told me you received back a take-down stock Was the original a Harry Lawson stock? Doug

Units 36A, B& C. BASE CAMP will be off of the ARIVACA ROAD (milepost 17.6)! WHEN: December 5th and 6th, 2009, 8:00 AM start. Lunch will be at Base Camp from 11am-1pm. Please RSVP so we can provide enough food. WHO: Hunters Who Care Volunteers and any other dedicated outdoorsman who want to clean up our desert. WHAT: Our goal for this clean up is to pick up trash on 3 ranches in Game Management Units 36A, B & C: the Marley Ranch, the Rancho Seco, and the Sopori Ranch (off of Chavez Siding). However, we are not limited to those areas and volunteers can clean up wherever they like. WHERE: The Hunters Who Care Camp will be off of the Batamote Road on the Marley Ranch. Mile post 17.6 off of the Arivaca Road. N 31º43.655, W 111º09.588 DIRECTIONS: Take 1-19 South to Arivaca Junction (Amado) and exit west. Take the Arivaca Road to Mile Post 17.6 and go right (Northwest) 8 tenths of a mile to the Camp. Trash Bags and Dumpsters will be available at the campsite. HOW: Volunteers are encouraged to look for trash anywhere they want. If anyone needs any additional accommodations, dumpsters or trailers in different areas, trash bags before the event, of if you are looking for a group to help please contact Mark Frieberg in advance. FOR MORE INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT: Officer Mark Frieberg 1-520-762-8172 or mfrieberg@azgfd.gov Officer Gabriel Paz (AZGFD) 520-388-4443 or gpaz@azgfd.gov (C&P from AZSJ)

In the spirit of the hunting checklist post, what one item would you miss the most if you got to the mountain and found that you became a victim of your CRS ? (aside from gun, ammo and binos)

Larry, Nice thing about those mearns is that they hold and let me shoot with the lens before the scattergun, provided Rica doesn't get antsy, creep and flush them. Those Devil Bird Gambels are not so accommodating. Lugnuts, I noticed your choice in O/U also. Amanda, That is the plan, after spending Thanksgiving Day with the folks and sisters, to drive down Friday. Don't know where I am going yet, but I will get somewhere. Where I went last Christmas will likely be loaded with coues hunters.

Thanks, Yes, give thanks for our blessings, drive safe, and good luck to those coues and mearns hunters also.

You might consider the Nikon Buckmaster as Mike mentions, and also the Bushnell Elite 3200 and Vortex. Possibly pick one that has a ballistic reticle, but to keep it under $300 will likely keep you in the 3-9x magnification range. I would go with a 40mm objective. Good coatings on a 40mm scope will be just as effective in low light as poor coatings on a 50mm lens. Talk to Doug at CameraLand about the Vortex scopes he carries and some of his demo scopes.

Yours should make a nice mount. The first time you see one, it leave you wondering what they are, kinda like a cross between a monkey and a coon. Very interesting to watch. Everyone remember that there is a limit of one Coati per calendar year.

One thing I have heard from a butcher is to not be in a hurry to debone the meat. It is good to have the muscle ends attached to bone for when the mucle fibers contract during rigor mortis. I they are not attached, the fibers tend to shorten and produce a tougher meat. After rigor mortis and the fibers relax again, then the meat can safely be cut from the bone. I had a cow elk a few years ago that I cut the backstraps off right after the kill, and they were rather tough. But maybe I had the lead cow also.

I believe this past summer that USFS closed to camping the bottom of FR538 to Fry Park just above the Oak Creek switchbacks on 89, and also FR237 to the east at the bottom of Pumphouse Wash, for the very reason of excessive human feces. FR 538 above the switchbacks was a trash dump caused by "campers".

The number of rifle/archery/muzz tags is based on the pie allotment formula using 5 years of application data and harvest data. Demand is based on first choices only (not first and second choices, which in my mind would be more accurate since the first choice is often a dream/hope hunt and the second choice is more realistic) From page 3 of the recommendations: The Department is recommending continued allocation of pem1its by weapon type using the Commission approved weapons allocation fonnula. Bull and antlerless elk harvests are aIIocated by sex and weapon type using five-year averages of first-choice application demand and fiveyear averages of hunt success by weapon type; limited opportunity hunts are excluded from this aIIocation deteffi1ination. The Commission directed the Department to aIIocate at least 5% of the total available elk peffi1its as antlerless elk pennits to juniors-only seasons to address hunter recruitment goals. The pemit allocation in this package for juniors-only antlerless elk pemnts represents 5.4% of the total recommended elk pennits. Not including limited opportunity or juniors-only hunts, the targeted and reconm1ended allocations for bull and antlerless elk peffi1its are as foIIows: Bull Elk: 65% general 30% archery 5% muzzleloader Recommended 65% general 30% archery 5% muzzle loader The department agreed to not shift the number of Sept archery bull tags to the Nov archery hunt for 3 years. Thus you do not see any changes to the Nov hunt numbers...yet. This is the second year of the Nov hunt. As you know, the Nov archery elk hunt is a way to get more hunters in the field at a reduced success rate (at the probable expense of the Sept hunt permit numbers in the future).

ElkDeer's $200 price is a fair one. Walmart is showing this model at $229. $250 at REI $240 at thegpsstore http://www.walmart.com/Garmin-Etrex-Vista-...265290486777208 http://www.thegpsstore.com/Garmin-eTrex-Vi...PS-P1599C2.aspx

You made good use of your PP. Bet ya got a kick out of that no trespassing sign. RR

Stan, When Rica was a pup, we went to a turkey camp on the north Kaibab. Ten minutes after letting her out of the truck, she comes back having found a pile of human feces to rub her back onto. Sounds like you have had a similar unpleasant experience. Doug

June, What you saw is what can help get gates locked by ranchers and gives a black eye for hunters in the public's view. I do not think pictures are necessary, as your description is enough, at least for me. I was always taught to leave a spot cleaner than you found it. Hopefully hunters with a conscience can agree with your disgust and note future behavior. Unfortunately, some slobs are incorrigible, and there seem to be a too great percentage of them among our ranks. As a side rant, taking a crap behind camp and leaving the TP to blow around the camp area is pretty disgusting . There are shovels or boot heals to dig a hole, and rocks to pile atop the covering dirt mound. Doug

Perhaps you or a friend have a cabin, busines or man cave needing decoration. Taxidermy-Shoulder Mounts Professionally mounted, capes processed by tannery (not pickled) Mule Deer from Mexico 4x4 with double eye guards 184 B&C gross $600 Eastern Whitetail Deer Taken in eastern Colorado $500 Merriams Turkey Gobbling from roost Freeze-dried head $400 Pick up in Flagstaff 928-525-9804

Jeremy, Sounds like a good day for you- birthday cake, frosty pops and elk hunting Doug~RR

Still needing a canoeist to take this boat down the river or on the lake

Mad River Freedom Canoe 16’ Royalex tandem river-tripping canoe Vinyl gunwales 35” gunwale width 14.5” depth at center Weight 73 lbs. Includes 2 small floatation end bags, 1 large end bag, and 1 center floatation bag. 3 paddles: Werner WW recreational paddle ($105 new), Ainsworth C100 WW paddle, Redtail Paddle w/ ash shaft. Keel/Stem pads have been added. This canoe has just enough rocker to let it turn easily. Well suited for the San Juan, Dolores, Chama, Lower Salt and Verde class II Rivers. $900 Flagstaff

Have you chronographed the factory load to check if you are indeed getting 3325 fps from your gun? I would not rely on the factory figures. Choose a slow powder like IMR 7828, H1000, RL25 and work up to the desired velocity using a chronograph. No guarantees that the load will be the most accurate at the desired velocity. You may have to try more than one powder and bullet seating depth to get the accuracy you want for a given velocity.

HS Precision Pro-Series SA 2000 300 WSM 26" 1-10" barrel Teflon coated Tan Stock Detachable magazine fits 3 Approximately 8 lbs 6 oz w/ rings bases. 13.5 LOP Limbsaver recoil pad has been installed. Action has been skim bedded. Bedding visible at rear tang. Includes rings and bases, reloading data and targets. $1800 shipped I have found the rifle to be a ¾ to1 1/4 moa shooter. Chosen hunting handloads: 180 Scirocco handload 180 Accubond handload 200 Accubond handload 180 Sierra SPBT. This with the test load HS used for its 1/2" accuracy. Doug~RR

Brian, Hope you get treated well today. Doug

Still for sale. Would make a proven elk rifle for the hunts after Thanksgiving.

The hunt number was correct on my deer survey card which I received yesterday in the mail. Consider doing the survey online to save G&F postage and expense of data entry. www.azgfd.gov/huntersurvey