daryl_s

Thank you for posting the link, Tony. I clicked on the link and was done applying less than five minutes later. Very easy to use.

Anthem Merrill Ranch, just a tad further southeast.

I always really enjoy your write ups. All the details make it play out like a movie in my head. It takes a lot to stick it out like that when things are going tough. Way to hang in there and get it done. I couldn't help but think of your story from last year and what you went through to recover your buck. Must have been nice to find him so quickly this time. Congrats on a beautiful deer.

In my limited experience, most of the coues I have hunted stay in a very tight pattern. I can go to certain spots I have spent a lot of time in and year after year find deer, bucks included, in almost the exact same spots. I got my deer first thing opening morning last October and the other bucks were back in the exact same spot 3 days later. IMO the only time that this will change is during the rut or if food or water becomes scarce.

+1 They did an excellent job with my deer last year. Snack sticks and summer sausage w/jalapenos and cheese were the best I've had.

Andy, this lion has been in the area for a few months now. There are a LOT of deer in this spot, too. Earlier in August we got him on the same camera 3 days in a row. I have been in contact with Jake and emailed him a lot of the pictures. I talked to him specifically because I know you are good friends with him. If he hasn't already, ask him to forward the pictures to you.

I have never bear hunted before and I have been looking through the regulations to make sure I follow the rules. I am planning on hunting Friday in 24A. It mentions that when the annual female harvest limit is met for the calendar year then that unit is closed for the current season and the future season in that calendar year. It says that we are supposed to call the day before we plan on hunting to make sure that the unit is open. Do we have to call before the opener this Friday??? The reason I ask is because of what it says in note 10: The Annual Female Harvest Limit is comprised of any female bear killed by a hunter or the Department. I just want to make sure that I follow the rules and do it right. Thanks in advance for your help.

Congratulations and great job on the write up, too. I really enjoyed reading the story.

We just went and checked the cameras yesterday and it seems that the deer are quite a ways behind other years as far as antler growth at this date. Is anybody else noticing this in the areas they hunt? I have seen some of your trail cam pictures and noticed the same thing in some areas but not in others. I am not a trophy hunter but it would seem it would be weird to harvest a deer that is still far from done growing. Is this going to change opening day/weekend plans for any of you??? It is for me. I am going to spend opening weekend trying to call in a mountain lion that has been hanging around a lot in this area the last few months.

I'm going to stay in this weekend, but not because of antler growth. Unless you are in the pines, it's just too d@mn hot to be out hiking around in the desert this week. Labor day weekend probably won't be too much cooler, but it will be my last chance before the Fall archery season closes. I have never shot a deer with a bow, not for lack of trying, and would be happy to shoot any buck. Congrats to those who have filled their tags and good luck to those who are still working on it.

Congratulations on a beautiful velvet coues. That buck is going to look great on the wall.

Congrats on a great bear. Next to the truck makes it all the better. I"m guessing 24A is going to close. I guess it's back to focusing on deer for the rest of the year for me. We got rained on when we tried last Friday and didn't have any luck.

Thanks for the replies. I will be out there very early until probably mid day. It's just too dang hot to do any more than that. Plus I have 2 softball games tomorrow evening Good luck to everyone out there.

A given bear hunt always closes on the Wednesday following the reaching of a female harvest objective. Being that is is now past Wednesday, if the hunt has not been closed yet today, it will make it at least until next Wednesday. Game and Fish does this in case hunters are still in the field over the weekend and even perhaps taking a Monday off as well to hunt in an area where they may not have cell service to check the hunt status of a given unit. I did read the part about it closing the following Wednesday. The reason I'm asking if I need to call before the season opens is because even though the season hasn't opened yet for this calendar year, the objective could have been possibly met by department employees having killed females and filling the female harvest objective. You know, maybe in the form of a problem bear(s). I know that is very highly unlikely, and that's why I thought it might be a kind of odd question to ask.

I grew up in that zip code. You must live very close to my parents. They are a few houses down from the Poston baseball field. Now that you have a sticker on your vehicle I might see you when I am in the area. I drive a white S-10 style Blazer with a CWT sticker.

If gas wasn't over $3/gallon I'd be out every weekend either scouting, camping, fishing, checking trail cams, etc. It's a 150 mile drive one way for me to get to the spot I like in my southern unit that I've hunted the last four years. I think $ is the biggest factor in apps being down, but I also agree with all of the previously mentioned factors. As far as hunter recruitment compared to population growth goes, I know a lot of people who have mentioned having an interest in hunting but just don't know how or where to get started. A few years ago my brother in law started going hunting with us and absolutely loves it. Last year he got his first buck, a little forkie and you would've thought he shot a 110" buck, he was so stoked. That's when hunting is the most fun. I am taking a friend from work on his first anything hunt in early November for deer and he's so excited to go. It was sometime last year at work that he approached me with questions about hunting. He spent the next few hours asking me every question you could imagine about hunting. He mentioned that he had always wanted to go, but didn't know anybody that hunted or anything about it.

pobresito el cabron, nadie lo pela y tiene que buscar atencion en un foro del internet.

I'm not too far from their shop and had always wondered about that place. Given all the good recommendations on here I will give them a shot this year, provided I have the good fortune of filling my deer tag.

So I bought a camera and also talked my dad into buying a camera when Amanda had the older Covert's on sale. We had been wanting to get started using trail cams, this was just a good reason to start. Here is just a small sampling of some of the pictures we've gotten so far over the summer. If you happen to know the spot or are smart enough to figure it out from the pictures, please don't announce it to the whole world. And don't worry, we have seen a good number of bucks in this area, but the biggest from January would maybe go 90" We are not trophy hunters but enjoy getting to know new areas and find new spots. Enjoy I just really liked how this picture turned out. The coloring, the sunlight hitting the deer and the water dripping from her mouth. Thought it was pretty cool This bear has been around since we started putting cameras up beginning of June. Nice blonde male. We have TONS of pictures of him over the last 2 months. Didn't figure this for bear country. This was the big shocker for us. He has been coming around pretty often the last few weeks. Cool pictures, hope he doesn't eat all the deer before the season. Momma grey fox and her young'n Young buck wanted to cool down while taking a drink. Some piggies The biggest buck in the area. Last year he was probably about 85" or so. He had a buddy that hung around with him all summer and then strangely disappeared about 3 weeks ago. Lion food???? So this being our first time using cameras we have been having a lot of fun and found it to be a great scouting tool.

Brad, it's the Covert 2. I finally decided to give in and get one when Amanda had them discounted until they sold out. I talked my dad into getting one also. The first pics are from his cam and the javelina and bigger buck are from mine. The cameras are a few ridges apart. They are small, take great pictures, and battery life is great. I am still new at this but it's a lot of fun and a great scouting tool. I should have started a long time ago.

That is a beautiful buck and the mount turned out great.

Wow, this was a long time ago. I finished the apprenticeship just over two years ago. I have worked on different jobs, both big and small, across the valley. Since October of '09 I have been back at Intel and I am currently a foreman for Rosendin Electric. Over 27,000 views for this thread, very cool.

Thanks for the kind words everyone. This is my first mount-worthy deer and my first piece of taxidermy work. The pictures just don't do it justice. Wellers did such a good job, as I knew they would, and it looks great on the wall. I can't wait to get some more critters to fill up the other spaces. Now if only I could get my wife to feel that same enthusiasm

As I expected, Wellers did an outstanding job on my 2010 early rifle buck. I'm obviously not the greatest photographer, but the final product looks amazing in person. Absolutely everything in their shop looks great.

Overall a very strong looking box. As I read through all these posts all I can think is how sad it is that we even have to take these measures and still hope that our camera is still there. Right now my camera is out and not even in a lock box. All that is holding it is the strap that it came with. I checked it after week 1 and that was 2 weeks ago. Going to check it in 1 more week. I hope it's still there.