Red Rabbit

Ah, heck. Back in Texas, we useta use those fish for bait! Lotsa good eatin there. I can taste it now, hushpuppies and all. Nice catfish!

Like my friends son who plays basketball, you might consider the October hunt which is before BB starts. You also stand a real good chance of being drawn, as opposed to the 15-20% draw for the December hunt.

A coues hunt with Kirk Kelso will be shown on an episode of Primos Truth About Hunting. It will air Today, Friday 5/21 at 12am and again Sunday 5/23 at 7:30 am. Check the times to be sure if it as AZ time or Mountain Daylight-savings time. I caught the tail end of the coues hunt last night and almost didn't pay attention as the on-screen program guide only listed the first two hunts in Alabama and Texas. Doug/RedRabbit

I got up early to watch and tape the show, and it lasted what seemed to be only 5 minutes. Basically, they crested a ridge to start the show, spotted a buck, missed a shot, then made a shot. Kirk Kelso then described the coues. End of hunt. Hope there is more footage for a longer show. Anyone else get to see the show? Doug/RedRabbit

I saw on the Dish Network guie that the show is on at 4:30 am Sunday morning, AZ time.

Should I get drawn for 36c again, I am considering backpacking into a canyon and leaving the truck behind. Have you, or do you know of someone, had camp or vehicle being victimized while out hunting the past few years in unit 36c or b? While I have not had any problems during the last several hunts, I am becoming increasingly leary. Doug/RedRabbit

Standman, That's not a good thing to hear. I can relate to having things stolen, and say more about the low-rent scum(s), but I'm not prone to cussing out loud. Did you hit the button on the built-in detonation device yet? Doug/RedRabbit

Stan, That position is open. I turned in my letter of resignation two weeks ago. I've grown tired of classfulls of students who don't pay attention, don't do homework, don't study for tests, have vulgar mouths, and administrations, parents and students who think its my fault. I refuse to give em a grade and pass em along to become the next guys problem. I'm going to be a headhunter instead. Doug/RedRabbit

On the northern fringe, I have picked up a nice coues shed north of Marshall Lake (by Lake Mary south of Flagstaff), and a skull east of Marshall lake in the PJ. Mount Elden on the north side of Flagstaff has a good coues population. I once stopped while driving over Cedar Hill to put a stalk with my bow on a nice buck. Doug/RedRabbit

Each application is assigned a random number for the draw. If you put in singly, you receive one random number for the application and another random number for each of your bonus points. For example, if you have 3 bonus points, you will be assigned 4 random numbers(1 for the app and 3 for the BP's). If you put in as a group, the group is assigned a random number(not a random number for each individual in the group) and a random number for each of the average number of bonus points for the group(rounded up to the nearest whole number). For example, if you put in with three other hunters, each having 0, 1, 2, &2 bonus points=1.25 average, then the application will be assigned two random numbers(1 for the app and 1 for the BP). So, putting in as a group only increases your chances if the other members of the group have more bonus points than you . One limitation to applying as a group is that if there are only 3 tags left, and an application with 4 hunters is drawn, it will not be selected and another application will be drawn . The 10% nonresident cap apllies to deer hunts north of the Colorado River(12's and 13's) and does not effect deer hunt south of the river, So, having a nonresident put in for a coues hunt with you does not help or hurt your chances. Doug/RedRabbit

In looking at the draw odds in the HUNT ARIZONA book from G&F that gives data for the last 5 years, many of the October hunts filled in the first draw as shown by the less than 100% draw odds. With this years reduction in tags, the odds will be worse, but still a lot better than for elk, antelope, sheep, or muleys. Ernesto- We'll keep knocking on heaven's door to unit 12,13- and hope that G&F doesn't give us the snake, aka pink slip. I do not have a problem with hunters of lesser zeal putting in for quality tags. They probably enjoy the total hunt experience as much as we do. If one decides to mow the grass instead of hunting, then it is a waste of a tag and a crime against other hunters. While they may not harvest as many deer, this just means that G&F is able to issue more tags to meet any harvest objective. If tags were only issued to die-hard hunters that succeed more, fewer tags would be issued. In regards to being able to use a credit card to apply, I am for it. We all dream of being drawn for sheep and elk hunts. With the low draw odds, we are sometimes forced to put in out of state with the exorbantly high nonresident fees. If I had to put thousands up front to still have a slim hope of drawing, I couldn't do this financially. I think that the high price of nr tags is limiting a lot of hunters from the chance of hunting. We should have an affordable chance at a dream hunt and not kill the dream with the high fees. Is hunting becoming a sport for the rich at the exspence of the less wealthy who have the same passion? I keep recalling an editorial written by Dwight Shuh in Bowhunter mag a few years ago about killing the dream. Doug/RedRabbit

One of these years, I would like to be blessed with a late Kaibab or strip tag, so I put that #1. I could put a December hunt second and have a 20% chance of hunting, or skip Dec. and put in for a Nov hunt second choice. I like the Nov hunt since it encompasses two weekends and is not quite as hot. Don't we wish that there were more than two choices for the first round of the draw? Sumthin bout having a cake. Doug/RedRabbit

Shiras, There is an old thread about hunting in unit 23 in the "hunting in New Mexico" section. Doug/RedRabbit

Creed, My first coues hunt was south of Apache. Didn't know much about the coues, but the friend I was hunting with said that if you can see antlers, it's a good one. First morning after 5" of rain two days before, I shot a 97" buck at the head of a swollen creek. My friend and I then started to hunt the southern end of the Chiricauhas, where we got bucks of 72, 82, 83 95, & 95" over a period of 5 years. The last year I hunted there, I had the crosshairs all over a buck, told to be about 115", but got the adrenalin fever so bad they're still mining for lead in the hillside. All of these hunts were in the late 80's and early 90's. Doug/RedRabbit

Ernesto- Paranoia? Isn't that a r&r song? I have been hunting alone the past few years as I have put in individually and my friends have other unit choices. I posted the same Q? on MM where Kirk Kelso and a BP agent had some enlightening info about the traffic. Doug/RedRabbit

The hunt "recommendation" will go before the commission for approval before the "regulations" are published. Usually, there are not any major changes. The regs should be online after the commission meeting(1 week?) and are available in print in early May. You can ask G&F to be put on the mailing list to receive the recommendations.

Until I am in Bob's fortunate situation, I would send the bullet towards the nontypical. I like the character of the trash sticking out all over the place. Doug/RedRabbit

I noticed on the schedule that the Northwest Hunter show on the Outdoor Channel will be airing a Mexico coues hunt early this Friday morning 2/27 at 4:30 am. (mountain time). Just a heads up for those interested in setting the VCR. Will double check the guide tonight to see if it's changed. Anybody know if Eastmans will be reshowing their coues hunt anytime soon? Doug/RedRabbit

Last fall, my friend couldn't get to the Potholes area north of Mule Creek, because the rancher had the road blocked with his horse trailer. This was during the first rifle hunt. Is there another way to get there without crossing his ranch, that I don't see on the map? Doug/Red Rabbit

I noticed that the Northwest Hunter will also air this Saturday @ 7pm. Jason. Thanks for the info. Sounds like a reason for me to buy a DVD player. I can't remember the last movie I rented. Somehow, I don't want to patronize Hollywierd. Doug/RedRabbit

Bret- I considered the route down and up through the SF river canyon, but very briefly. Last year my friend had talked to the rancher at the gate and he had expressed some problems with some hunters. I'd hate to have his permission to drive through, and then have him block the road behind me to keep others out. Trying to meet him this summer(as opposed to the day of the hunt) could be beneficial. If the Nature Cons does take over, things might improve as I think hunting is still allowed on some of their properties. Maybe access depends on the type and sensitivity of the habitat. Doug/RedRabbit

Glad you're joining in, Alan. I too am living in Flagstaff and teaching at Sinagua High School. I moved back to AZ from south Texas in 1990. Since then, G&F has sent me about 11 coues tags, for units 29, 36c, and 6a. Sure are fun to hunt. Doug/RedRabbit

Amanda, Sounds like a few days of great hunting, especially seeing all those mountain kitties. It's nice that the San Carlos allows one to transfer tags. I wish AZ G&F had some way to allow it when the tagholder cannot hunt after he/she's been drawn. Thanks for sharing the pics and story. Doug

Stan, Just goes to show that you need to hunt those quaily birds with your bow. Doug

Thanks for the info, gentlemen. I wonder why the limit is one per year if they are increasing their range and cause depredation problems. A long weekend of hunting could be like a southern Arizona safari- archery deer, coati, and mearns quail, and maybe coyote and bobcat if the coati respond to varmint calls. I'll let you know how it goes at the end of January. Good luck on your archery coues hunting. Doug/RedRabbit