Red Rabbit

A 6B turkey tag awaits. Other off-season hunts include shed hunting and fish hunting. Not enough weekends to do it all. Appears as Scottyboy will have the best off season and come home from Texas with a lifelong trophy wife. Bonnie must be quite a gal. Congrats on the upcoming wedding and honeymoon! RR

Appears like everyone 'cept the pigs had a great weekend. Those boys look like they were eatin it up and having a ball on the hunt. RR

Congrats on baptizing the new bow . Glad you like it a lot. Today's new bows sure are a sweet shooting lot. Really not much difference between Hoyts, Mathews, AR, and Bowtech among their top lines. Now you got me having a heavy pack this weekend on my javi hunt in 23, between a new Kimber 22-250, S&W 357, and Mathews LX. Won't be nuttin left of that pig after I shoot him multiple times with all weapons. Hope you're rewarded with a nice velvet coues in August. RR

These are the entries I have received, and gleaned from going through the posts seeing the pics posted. There were 102 people signed up. If you entered, were succesful and posted, and your name is not listed, let me know ASAP. Doug~RR Tony Villegas, 107 3/8 Shane Church, 120 6/8 & 78 1/8 S. Sorensen, B_F_E, 97 3/8 Phil Brailsford, Desert Diesel, 75 Ken, Blaserman, 94 3/8 Rich Thompson, Coues Addict, * Ilene Hailey, Lucky2hunt, 72 James Fisher, * Chris Beck, Sun Devil, 113 2/8 Jeff Hough, Arizona Hunter, 106 Jake Lindsey, 90 4/8 Taylor Amos, 41 Michael Butler, Coozfever, 102 Jim Mullins, coosefan, 97 Casey Charter, firstcoues, 11 Ernesto Cibrian, ErnestoC, 90 5/8 & 47 Mike Ornoski, Bowhunter for life, 70 Carl Guilliams, bowhuntcoues, 100 0/8 Scott Adams, sniper, * K. McClendon, AZNativeJr, 87 6/8 Brian Fish, Standman, 62 Amanda Moors, Coues Whitetail, 110 7/8 Bret Mattush, bullwidgeon, 94 Seth Howell, couesnutjr, 85 1/8 Danny Howard, coueselk, 97 Alex Howard, 62 4/8 Terry, 25-06, * Corey Pugliese, cpugsie, 1x2 Scott Kendrix, scottyboy, 83 3/8 Jeff Fell, huntswnm, 85 Andrew Stevens, steelermadman2002, 100 Darren Choate, dds, 90 Houston Davis, white mtn man, 95 * score not submitted

Scott, all you have to do is buy us both tags and I'll tell the boss I need more time off for increased hunting opportunity. RR

Lots of good photos this year . No tongues hanging out of a bloody mouth with the gut slit open, deer hanging off the tailgate, with 3 cases of empty Keystone cans in the background.

Made for a real nicely patterned rug. The dark belly made for a nice border around the cinnamon back. He was rubbed a lot, but not down to the hide. A little over 5 1/2' nose to tail. RR

I had a B tag several springs ago. Great country and lotsa gobblers. While checking for tracks along a creek the last dayof my hunt, this bear ambled up on the opposite side of the creek at 25 yards. The 300 Winnie was back in the truck, and I was unsure of my security, but fortunately he paid me no notice. We all saw several bear. One guy even shot one while standing in his undies in front of the wall tent at sunrise one morning, He didn't believe me when I said there was a bear 30 yards out front. Musta been the one who got our peach pies. Doug~RR

Good chambering. My first rifle was in Remington 7mm Express, aka .280 Remington. Be sure to feed your new girl a steady diet and take her on plenty of walks. You might like her 2.5-8x eyes for elk hunting in the timber. RR

I'd be interested in hearing about the negative results on coues with the Barnes TSX. I toted the 300WSM loaded with TSX's this past coues season, but didn't let one fly. I just received a box of the 180 Scirocco IIs to try in the 300WSM. Have had real good results with the Nosler Accubond on elk, mulies, whitetail and feral hogs. Accubonds have been more accurate than other game bullets in my three 300's. I had difficulty getting the SST, Interbonds and original Sciroccos to group well. The Scirocco IIs are supposed to be more accurate-we'lll see. I'd be leary of the SST at close range. The 180 Ballistic Tips have a heavier jacket than other BT's (the 120gr 7mm BT's are also stouter) RR

I'll make a post with the winners this weekend. RR

There is a smallest buck class in the youth division. Casey has all them youngsters beat out. Too bad he's old enough to have a drivers license, or we'd have a winner...ka-ching

Awesome pig, awesome pics, Awesome Sam!

Congrats to Megan and her crew. Should be tasty and make good memories. RR

Kent, PM sent.

Looks like you passed the test, especially in 04 and 05 and with the carp. Looks like you have a lucky hunting shirt. RR

Thought we could share our thoughts on how new techniques and equipment which we tried this past season fared. I tried the Jim Horn Alaskan pack by Blacks Creek. It's not made of saddlecloth, so it does not get stiff inthe cold. Held all my stuff. Comfortable. The zippered expandable section was great to put a quarter of Kevin's October 36c coues in without having to lash it down on the outside. Use a trash compactor bag to put meat into so the pack stays clean. Also used a water bladder for the first time. Was nice to take small sips to moisten the mouth, rather than take the pack off to bet out the canteen. Negative was when the pack was atop the bite valve while glassing and the packweight emptied the days supply of water out of the bladder at 8 am . Opportunity did not knock to test the Barnes TSX bullet. Resolved to hike/backpack in further to get past most of the hunter pressure and into areas not hunted as much and bucks might survive longer. And be in better shape fot he hike since I'm past the half century mark. 180 grain Accubond on a cow elk did the complete pass-through job. No-gut field dressing method worked neat and well on the elk and a Kevin's coues. RR

The Sunrise Shoot at Sunrise Ski Resort in the White Mountains of eastern Arizona is held over the 4th of July. It usually draws archers from NM. Sunrise Shoot: http://www.3dshoots.com/archery/resultsbys...+Archery+Shoots For NM shoots: http://www.3dshoots.com/archery/resultsbys...+Archery+Shoots

Younghunter, sounds like you had a good season judging from your bird count. I also ended up with only 2 mearns this season on in 3 days of hiking behind a dog. Like you said, next season. Scott, your young dogs are working out great. I agree with Virgil's's sentiment on the rain. Flag has a whopping season snowfall of 1.6" so far. Saw in the paper that the Coconino forest had 12 wildfires in January. RR

http://www.monstermuleys.info/dcforum/DCForumID19/461.html http://www.monstermuleys.info/dcforum/DCForumID19/437.html The above links are to a couple of past threads on Monster Muleys about the King Buck. I'm sure some of you remember them. RR

James, A hardy slap on the back to ya for your archery pig. Way to go! Did that yote stick around for some leftovers? Doug ~RR

Go get um today for a last hoorah. Rica and I got 9 Gambels Saturday in a 3 hour morning hunt. She did the best job sniffing, pointing and retrieving she's done all season . Went back Sunday morning and only one quail flew into the shot pattern. Some days ya just put holes in the air . RR

This is a copy of an e-mail that Leonard Ordway (Game Granch Chief) sent out. All: Attached is the Commission agenda for the upcoming Commission Meeting in Yuma for your reference. Also, attached is the Commission Memo specific to the archery elk hunt guideline item that will be heard on Saturday, Feb. 11th. The memo outlines a trial (3 year period) hunt structure alternative whereby approximately 10% (or roughly 230) of the archery bull elk tags are repositioned from the rut period into a pre-rut and post-rut archery bull elk hunt structure; overall this alternative expands bull elk archery hunting opportunity annually by about 14% (or roughly 350-400 tags) and allows for assessment of a couple different hunt periods. If you will recall the Commission did not accept the elk archery hunt guideline as presented in December, and directed the Department to work with the ABA to come up with another alternative that still moves some archery bull elk tags from the rut period to another period with less hunt success thus allowing for expanded hunt opportunity. Also, as you are probably well aware there has been substantial input from the engaged hunting public since December and throughout the public hunt guideline meeting process indicating that no change should occur from the present archery bull elk hunt structure. There are still three public meetings left before the Commission Meeting on February 11th; any comments taken on the elk hunt guidelines will be shared with the Commission when they review this alternative with the Department at their meeting. The alternative provided in the memo meets the Commission direction given to the Department. We appreciate greatly the input and assistance of the members of the ABA and the bowhunting public who worked with us to derive this alternative. We continue to recognize that public input supports no change and we will share that with the Commission. I apologize to anyone who may have been left off this email distribution and gets it second hand; we searched our email lists here in Game Branch and sent to as many obvious interested parties as possible. Our thought in mind was that those receiving the direct email would email secondarily to others. I encourage you to call me (contact #'s below) or Brian Wakeling (602-789-3385) and discuss any items or issues that that you need additional information on. Thank you for your collaboration with us on our hunt recommendation process. ((REVISED 2-06 Agenda.pdf)) ((Commission Memo on archery elk direction REVISED.pdf)) Leonard L. Ordway Game Branch Chief Ofc. (602) 789-3350 Cell (480) 710-0146 Ofc. E-Mail - lordway@azgfd.gov Phone E-Mail - 4807100146@vtext.com Arizona Game and Fish Department 2221 W. Greenway Rd. Phoenix, AZ 85023 MEMO (Revised) S - 2 Duane L. Shroufe, Director FROM: Bruce D. Taubert, Assistant Director Wildlife Management Division PRESENTER: Leonard L. Ordway, Game Branch Chief TITLE: Consideration of Increased Hunting Opportunities Associated with Archery Bull Elk Hunts for Fall 2006 DESCRIPTION: The Commission will be briefed on progress regarding their prior direction to the Department to investigate resolution with the archery hunting community regarding implementing amended hunting structures that increase archery hunting opportunity by moving a portion of permits away from high hunt success time period. The Commission will be asked to provide the Department with additional direction on preferred structures. The Commission may vote to take action on, or provide the Department direction on, this item. DATE: January 31, 2006 Background: At the December Commission meeting, the Department presented the 2006-2007 hunt guidelines to the Commission for their approval. Part of that presentation included an option whereby additional bull elk hunting opportunity could be provided to archers. Specifically, the Department recommended moving 50% of the archery bull harvest into a late November-early December time frame. During fall 2005, the Commission authorized 2,679 archery bull elk tags. Of these, 2,294 permits were authorized during the traditional rut period in September, whereas 385 permits were authorized during November. During 2005, the early season archers experienced a 49% hunt success while the late season archers had a 21% hunt success. Using last year's permit numbers, hunt success, and weapons allocation, the original proposal that the Department shared with the Commission would have increased the number of permits offered to archers by about 1,300 permits with about 67% of the permit tags offered during a late season structure, probably in November. The bowhunting community voiced negative concerns and issues regarding the proposal at the December Commission meeting, and the Commission directed the Department to work with archers and the Arizona Bowhunter's Association (ABA) to develop an alternative to move a smaller portion ((50%) of the harvest into a time frame with lower hunt success that would facilitate increasing hunter opportunity (i.e. number of tags) available to archers. Coordination with ABA and Bowhunting Public: Subsequent to the December Commission meeting, the Game Branch met with representatives of the ABA Board, Desert Christian Archers, and other bowhunters to: provide support and information Alternatives to Existing Archery Bull Elk Hunt Structures January 31, 2006 2 during the ABA sponsored public meeting regarding this subject in the Department?s Deer Valley North Roadrunner Room on December 19, 2005, and on January 27, 2006, at the Department?s Phoenix Office to discuss proposal for presentation to the Commission at their February 11, 2006 meeting. During the interim, several information exchanges occurred whereby the Game Branch provided feedback and recommendations regarding implementation and contents of the Arizona elk bowhunters? opinion survey. During the December 19 public meeting, an individual recommended an earlier bull elk structure as a possible alternative because New Mexico had a similar "pre-rut" structure. Game Branch contacted New Mexico Department of Game and Fish and determined that they typically hold an archery bull elk hunt during September 1-20, or September 1-15 and 16-20. These hunts typically encompass a portion of the rut and do not truly constitute "pre-rut," although hunt success is typically 20-25% during the early September time frame. The bowhunters assessed the elk hunting public?s opinion of this earlier hunt structure in addition to a later hunt structure with their survey. At the January 27 meeting, the ABA working group (Dick King, Randy Spray, and David Myrick) and Game Branch discussed feedback regarding the proposal to move some of the archery harvest into a time period with reduced hunt success based on comments from Department Public Hunt Guideline Meetings held to date, written correspondence received by the Game Branch, data compiled from the hunter questionnaire program, and feedback from the ZAP internet survey conducted by the bowhunters. Overwhelmingly, the majority of feedback received from the public through meetings, correspondence, and internet surveys indicates that no change to the current structure was the desired outcome. This perspective was not unanimous, but nearly so. Some individuals welcomed the effort to increase opportunity especially for local hunters near affected units. At the meeting on January 27, the ABA working group provided input and came to consensus with Department Staff on a pilot approach that might be used to gauge public acceptance and suitability. The ABA working group did not endorse a change, but if a change were made to the archery bull elk structure, they were in consensus with the proposal arrived at during this meeting. Alternative Archery Elk Structure Proposal: The new alternative is to create 8 new hunts in 8 units to assess the proposed change. In Units 1, 4A, 5A, and 23, an early pre-rut hunt structure for archery bull would occur during August 18-31, 2006, with 125 permits each. In Units 4B, 5B, 10, and 22, a late post-rut season hunt structure for archery bull would occur during November 10-23, 2006. Both of these hunt periods would be 14 days in length for added hunt time incentive, whereas the rut period archery hunt period would be 10 days as originally proposed in December because of continued increasing hunt success. Permits for the out-of-rut hunts would be adjusted to achieve equitable harvest of bull elk to achieve desired bull to cow ratios, with remaining harvest of bull elk staying in the existing September archery elk season structure. Additionally, both Units 22 and 23 would have a September archery elk season established, which neither unit currently has. This provides consistent archery hunt structure Alternatives to Existing Archery Bull Elk Hunt Structures January 31, 2006 3 management across the state. Based on current data, about 50 permits would be removed from the September hunt in each unit to establish the August or November seasons with about 125 tags each. For Units 22 and 23 approximately 125 permits would remain for the out-of-rut period hunts and the remaining permits would be adjusted into the respective rut period hunts for each unit (approx. 60-70 rut hunt tags combined). This proposal would yield about 1000 permits, 500 of which would occur in August, 500 in November, and would allow the evaluation of these hunt periods for future permit management. The overall reduction in rut permit opportunity is about 230 tags (approx. 10% reduction). Whereas this proposal is likely to yield about 350-400 additional archery bull elk permits than are currently offered (approx. 14% increase), and if accepted, should be used for no less than 3 years to be able to adequately evaluate management effectiveness and acceptance. The ABA working group was not supportive of reduction to 10-day rut hunt period or a 3-year evaluation period; they preferred 14-day seasons and no more than 2 years of evaluation. The Department continues to assert that the 10-day period provides ample opportunity and the hunt period reduction will help offset increasing archery hunt success. Further, our concern with the 2- year evaluation period is that adequate data would not be available prior to the December hunt set meeting to effectively evaluate late elk season hunt success. Reference Information: Appended to this memo are the results of the ABA ZAP internet survey as of January 27, 2006 with 4,908 responses. Note that 32% of the respondents characterized themselves as primarily applying for firearms elk seasons, so a reasonable cross section of opinion was obtained. When asked if the respondent would support moving archery bull elk permits out of the rut, almost 76% opposed moving to a November date, whereas just over 66% opposed moving the season to an August date. Of the 2,419 respondents that indicated that they had hunted elk in September, just over 90% indicated that their hunting experience was good or excellent. Ninety-eight percent of these respondents indicated that they would reapply for a September elk hunt. Of the 330 respondents that indicated that they hunted bull elk in November, only about 27% indicated that they had a good or excellent hunting experience. About 41% indicated that they would apply for a November archery bull hunt again. Department data indicates that hunt success has been substantially higher in September than in November archery bull elk hunts. In fact, the following graph indicates the increasing hunt success of September archery bull hunters, which in turn yields a lower number of permits when allocating permits based on hunter demand and hunt success. Alternatives to Existing Archery Bull Elk Hunt Structures January 31, 2006 4 Archery Bull Hunt Sucess 0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100% 1978 1980 1982 1984 1986 1988 1990 1992 1994 1996 1998 2000 2002 2004 Years Hunt Success Nov Bull Sept Bul Despite common concern among archers that hunt quality is lower in November than during September, Department data indicates that the average points per side on bulls harvested by archers and the days hunted in September and November seasons actually differ little. Average Points per Side - Archery Bull 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 Year Average Points Sept Bull Nov Bull Average Days per Hunter - Archery Bull 0.0 2.0 4.0 6.0 8.0 10.0 1978 1980 1982 1984 1986 1988 1990 1992 1994 1996 1998 2000 2002 2004 Year Days per Hunter Sept Bull Nov Bull When comparing demand for the September and the November archery bull elk hunts, it is plain that the September season is the more highly sought after tag. However, the demand for the rut hunts far outstrips the supply. As the supply of tags available during November has increased, the number of applicants for those tags has increased as well. Although the following graphs show only first choice applicants, the demand for these November permits is about 1:2 or 1:3. Alternatives to Existing Archery Bull Elk Hunt Structures January 31, 2006 5 Sept Archery Bull - Application Pressure 0 5000 10000 15000 20000 1978 1980 1982 1984 1986 1988 1990 1992 1994 1996 1998 2000 2002 2004 Year Number 1st Choice Applicants Permits Authorized Nov Archery Bull - Application Pressure 0 100 200 300 400 500 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 Year Number 1st Choice Applicants Permits Authorized Summary: As per the direction of the Commission in December, the proposed alternative moves some archery elk hunt opportunity (~10% or approx. 230 permits) from the high hunt success rut period to lower hunt success periods and increases net overall archery elk hunt opportunity (~14% or approx. 350- 400 permits). It allows for assessment of two hunt periods that differ from the current one and may provide means to further increase hunt opportunity in the future. And finally it incorporates inputs from the public relative to archery elk hunt structure should changes be implemented (e.g., "if change is to occur do it on trial basis," "10% is more acceptable than 50%," "try a pre-rut hunt structure if change is to occur," and "manage bull and antlerless take separately - don't designate tags as ?any elk?"). Recommendation: The Department recommends that the Commission VOTE TO APPROVE THE DEPARTMENT'S RECOMMENDED HUNT STRUCTURE FOR ARCHERY ELK SEASON GUIDELINES FOR UNITS 1, 4A, 4B, 5A, 5B, 10, 22, AND 23 FOR 2006-2008. BDT:BFW:bfw Attachment (note that the graphs did not show but as data in e-mail) Commisioner meeting Saturday Feb 11 (and Friday) is at Shilo Inn, 15510S. Castle Dome Rd. Yuma. Starts at 8am

Regarding the fee increases, then this would be a good year to purchase a lifetime hunting and fishing license, especially if you might move out of state and would otherwise need to purchase a pricey nonresident license to apply in AZ. http://www.azgfd.gov/pdfs/h_f/lifetime_license_app.pdf RR

A good friend (also my taxidermist) and I went north of the Peaks to call some yotes. This guy came into the call on the second stand and watched the V-Max come get him from the 22-250. We had dogs come in behind us on two other stands. We probably saw 150 elk in various herds, 15 antelope, but not one deer. This yote had a great winter coat, thick underfur with nice guard hairs; so he is going to the tannery. RR