Outdoor Writer

Well done, Andrew! That's a good Shiras. And now the work begins. 😲

Beautiful bear for a beautiful young lady. Well done. 👍

Nice. Good job. 👍

"Occupied" doesn't mean a HUMAN -- or anything else such as a horse or a cow in a barn -- has to be in it at the time. Instead, it means the "whatever" is being used. Example: Only 10 stores in the mall are occupied right now. The others do not have tenants yet. Those ten stores are still occupied even when they're closed at night.

Here are the exact rules that apply to archery and firearms: 17-304 h. Discharge any of the following devices while taking wildlife within one-fourth mile (440 yards) of an occupied farmhouse or other residence, cabin, lodge or building without permission of the owner or resident: i. Arrow or bolt, ii. Hybrid device, or iii. Pneumatic weapon .35 caliber or larger. 17-309 4. Discharge a firearm while taking wildlife within one-fourth mile of an occupied farmhouse or other residence, cabin, lodge or building without permission of the owner or resident.

The following is from Arizona Title 17: This from the "definitions" section: 4. "Trophy" means: (a) A mule deer buck with at least four points on one antler, not including the eye-guard point. (b) A whitetail deer buck with at least three points on one antler, not including the eye-guard point. (c) A bull elk with at least six points on one antler, including the eye-guard point and the brow tine point. (d) A pronghorn (antelope) buck with at least one horn exceeding or equal to fourteen inches in total length. (e) Any bighorn sheep. (f) Any bison (buffalo). This from the Civil Liability section: A. The commission or any officer charged with enforcement of the laws relating to game and fish, if so directed by the commission, may bring a civil action in the name of the state against any person unlawfully taking, wounding or killing, or unlawfully in possession of, any of the following wildlife, or part thereof, and seek to recover the following minimum sums as damage: 1. For each turkey or javelina $500.00 2. For each bear, mountain lion, antelope or deer, other than trophy $1,500.00 3. For each elk or eagle, other than trophy or endangered species $2,500.00 4. For each predatory, fur-bearing or nongame animal $ 250.00 5. For each small game or aquatic wildlife animal $ 50.00 6. For each trophy or endangered species animal $8,000.00

From the regs.…. Shoot Too Close To An Occupied Building or Residence (A.R.S. 17-309 A 4) Without the resident’s permission, you may not discharge a firearm within 1/4 mile of any occupied residence while taking wildlife. All structures including barns, sheds and cabins should be assumed occupied. This is one of the most common violations during dove and quail seasons.

It's usually the more egregious incidents that get jail time involved. It's especially so if the USFWS gets involved.

The text below is an excerpt from the Foreword of our book. It happened sometime in the early 1990s on the road to the observatory in 34A. We had vehicles passing alongside of us while we were glassing. "... I don’t recall the exact year, but my oldest son and I drew Coues deer permits in a unit we had never hunted, and we hated going to a new area cold, so to speak. I called Duwane for some suggestions with the idea to head down to the area and scout on my own. Instead, he offered to meet me the weekend before the season opened. My momma didn't raise a dummy. Knowing Duwane’s reputation for finding big deer, I quickly accepted. Long before I talked to him, however, I had heard about his skill with a pair of binoculars. I wasn't too surprised when he asked me during our conversation if I had a pair of decent ones. He laughed when I told him I had 7x50 Nikons. "No, no. I mean REAL binoculars. Something with lots of magnification." I had recently acquired some inexpensive 8x to 24x zooms and mentioned them. Duwane said they would be perfect for our scouting trip and also recommended a tripod. I met him at a rest area, and we drove to a spot he had picked out. We parked the truck on a dirt road before daylight, and waited for sunrise. We hadn’t left the road but instead set our tripod-mounted binoculars high enough to peek over the metal guard rail bordering the edge of a steep canyon. During the first hour we spotted seven deer, and one was a real bruiser buck. By the time we had left, we saw 17 other deer in that canyon. I was shaking my head. Just that single experience convinced me that Duwane Adams knew his stuff."

Over the years, I have reported on quite a few in various states. They have not only been arrested but actually served jail time or had suspended jail sentences with certain conditions.

FISHING REPORT Oct. 4, 2019 Arizona Game and Fish Department TIP OF THE WEEK A few top picks for the weekend: Kaibab Lake near Williams received a bonus stocking of 14-inch rainbow trout; Kinnikinick Lake, southeast of Flagstaff, has been stocked with brown trout and some anglers are catching them on lures; and Community Fishing Program waters have been loaded with catfish. Don't forget Woods Canyon and Willow Springs lakes for some potential tiger trout action. The tiger below was caught recently at Willow Springs. Finally, Tonto Creek on the Mogollon Rim, flowing at a cool 52-57 degrees, has just been stocked with "supercatchable" rainbow trout. This should be the final Rim stream trout stocking of the fall/winter season. Although some steady weather gracing the desert regions could make for some break-out bass fishing this weekend, it's also a great time to bring friends, family and fishing rods to the high country. Our Fall Fishing Forecast is still the most comprehensive source of fishing report information for major water bodies statewide. In the desert regions, fish are again feeding heavily in preparation to the colder months ahead. Both bass and crappie fishing may be the best that it has been all year. As is the case in October, cooler surface temperatures have been bringing bass in shallow. At Lake Pleasant, Scooter Griffith from The Arizona Fishing Guides reported that striper fishing has been getting better with cooler nighttime temperatures and longer nights. He said anglers can catch striper chasing bait in the morning, so make sure you have a top-water lure tied on at all times. Look for largemouth bass just underneath the stripers or on the bank chasing crawdads. We even received a recent report from tournament anglers that fishing at Apache Lake has improved. Fall "flats" frenzy A monster flathead catfish was already caught from Bartlett Lake in August Flathead catfish also feed heavily during October and November. Lake Pleasant, Bartlett Lake, Roosevelt Lake and the Imperial Division of the Colorado River are excellent choices. During our recent survey at Lake Pleasant, our biologists caught flatheads up to around 45 pounds hanging in somewhat shallow water. Many seemed to be milling around near mouths of coves by points. Be sure to check pgs. 10-11 of the Fishing Regulations for legal species, areas and regulations of live baitfish. Catch of the Week Send your fishing reports and photos to BFishing@azgfd.gov -- one will be selected for Catch of the Week Little Colorado River-Greer Mark R.: Beautiful brown, 22.5 inches, 4 pounds, caught Oct. 1 at the Little Colorado River a few miles upstream of Greer. What's been stocked this week ("Catchable" sizes only; water temp in parenthesis if available) Rainbow trout: Silver Creek (60), Elk Tank (63), Middle Tank (65), Frances Short Pond (63), Tonto Creek (52-57). Channel catfish: "Core" Community waters. See the stocking schedules Thank you, anglers! Arizona fishing opportunities wouldn’t be possible without the Sport Fish Restoration Program. It was created through the Dingell-Johnson Act of 1950 (Federal Aid in Sport Fish Restoration Act) and the Wallop-Breaux amendments of 1984. Through a federal excise tax paid by manufacturers on fishing gear and motorboat fuels, it provides grant funds for fishery conservation, boating access, and aquatic education. Save time, buy online Grab a license online (that helps conserve all species of wildlife, not to mention provides funding that goes back into fishing opportunities) and go "Fish AZ". SEE MORE REPORTS

Kudos to Lance. Two fine bulls. 👍

Oh man, don't get me started on rattlesnakes. Over the course of 50 years of wandering around AZ, I've probably seen at least 75-100. Three of my encounters were too-close-for-comfort ones, however, and they were all in daylight. Like a couple others here, I'd rather have a lion encounter regardless if it's dark or not.

Did you check Vandyke? Also, a good taxidermist can take a form and alter it quite a bit. Cris Kreuger had to do that with a bobcat I had him mount.

Walking in the dark has never bothered me, but I did have an incident that was an underwear changing moment. I was hunting deer on a friend's farm in Ohio during the muzzleloader deer hunt. I left the house about a 1/2 hr. before daylight for my stand that was about 400 yds. into the woods. I was on a trail that followed a small creek. About halfway there, a turkey flew down out of its roost and almost knocked my hat off. I came unglued, lost my balance and spun into the creek, winding up ankle deep in the water.

From O'Dell's Facebook posts: Johnathan O'Dell Rory the change actually occurred last year which is where it was historically. It was moved up to that first weekend in October back in 2008. Since that change hunter effort and participation on opening weekend declined drastically. Why? Because it was too hot being 2 weeks earlier.

That's what it's all about! 👍 Good job and nice bull.

WILDLIFE NEWS Oct. 2, 2019 Arizona Game and Fish Department Don’t delay: Apply now for 2020 spring hunts The Arizona Game and Fish Department encourages hunters to submit their 2020 spring hunt applications early and avoid the stress of waiting until the last minute. The deadline to apply for spring turkey, javelina, bison and bear hunts is 11:59 p.m. (Arizona time) Tuesday, Oct. 8. Read more. AZGFD moves to downlist endangered Gila topminnow to threatened Due to the ongoing on-the-ground conservation efforts of the Arizona Game and Fish Department and its partners, data shows the endangered Gila topminnow has battled extinction and is prevalent enough to be downlisted to threatened. Read more. Deadline to apply for Heritage Fund grants Oct. 31 AZGFD is accepting applications for $380,000 in Heritage Fund grants until 5 p.m., Thursday, Oct. 31. Read more. Arizona celebrates National Hunting and Fishing Day Arizona joined other states across the country last Saturday in celebrating National Hunting and Fishing Day, recognizing the role that Arizona’s hunting and angling community has played in contributing to wildlife conservation and serving as an economic driver for our state. Thanks to the request from Arizona Sportsmen for Wildlife Conservation in conjunction with the Congressional Sportsmen's Foundation, Arizona Governor Doug Ducey issued a proclamation recognizing Saturday, Sept. 28, as Hunting and Fishing Day in Arizona. Read more. Information needed in Flagstaff-area water catchment contamination The Arizona Game and Fish Department is seeking information that officers hope will lead to those responsible for contaminating a water catchment with diesel fuel or gasoline northeast of Flagstaff. Read more. Input sought from elk hunters to help guide management of state’s herds The Arizona Game and Fish Department is asking all elk hunters to submit data from their upcoming hunts to assist the department in managing the state’s herds. Read more. AZGFD seeks input on proposed pricing adjustments for BASF The public is encouraged to provide its input on proposed pricing adjustments for the Ben Avery Shooting Facility. A web form has been posted on the department’s website at www.azgfd.gov/basfsurvey. All public input will be accepted through Oct. 15. Read more. Video makes hunt recommendations process easier to understand For those hunters who might find the hunt recommendations process a bit daunting, help has arrived in the form of a short, easy-to-understand video produced by the Arizona Game and Fish Department. Read more. Hunters asked to report any harvest anomalies Nature isn’t perfect. If a hunter spends enough time in the field, there’s a chance he or she, at some point, might harvest an animal that appears to be sick or deformed, or looks suspect during the field-dressing process. While oddities are few and far between, and rarely present any cause for concern — especially when it comes to turning that harvest into delicious table fare — hunters are being encouraged to let a wildlife health specialist at the Arizona Game and Fish Department take a look. Read more. Bull elk poached northwest of Heber AZGFD officers are investigating the poaching of a bull elk that was killed in late August north of Heber in Game Management Unit 4B. The elk was located west of Forest Road 153 near Point and Javelina water catchments. The poacher left the meat to waste. Read more. Elk workshop at Sipe White Mountain Wildlife Area on Saturday, Oct. 5 The Arizona Game and Fish Department is again partnering with the Arizona Elk Society White Mountain Chapter (AES) to offer an elk natural history and viewing workshop Saturday, Oct. 5, at Sipe White Mountain Wildlife Area near Eagar. Workshop presentations will begin at 11 a.m. and are followed by an early dinner served by AES. Maps will be provided to nearby areas with likely elk viewing opportunities. Read more. Bald eagle breeding areas expand, number of nestlings dips in 2019 A record number of bald eagle breeding areas couldn’t guarantee another shattered record of eagle nestlings, which dipped to 71 during the 2019 breeding season from 87 hatched in 2018. Read more. Gearing up for a hunt? Don’t forget the non-lead ammo Hunters drawn for hunts in Game Management Units 12 and 13 (north Kaibab National Forest and Arizona Strip) are eligible to participate in the Arizona Game and Fish Department's non-lead ammunition program and are encouraged to pick up their free ammunition early, while supplies last. Read more. AZGFD Commission meeting highlights Some highlights from the Arizona Game and Fish Commission meeting Sept. 20 in Greer include: The Commission gave the Arizona Game and Fish Department approval to begin working with the Mexican government to improve the genetic variability of Sonoran pronghorn by exporting up to six of the endangered animals over the next two years to support range-wide recovery goals. Approval of a cooperative agreement that will allow the department to partner with New Mexico State University on an elk demographic research project. The Commission voted to amend Commission Order 40: Fish, establishing bag and possession limits within Festival Fields Pond and Graham County Fairgrounds Pond. Note: The Commission also voted to authorize the department to finalize negotiations, execute and amend as necessary Intergovernmental Agreements and any future sub-agreements between the department and Graham County to expand the Community Fishing Program, and to designate Fairgrounds Pond as a Community Fishing Water.

Great write up and a super bull. Way to go.

For about 15 years running in 1980-90s, I always spent 3-6 days in YNP taking photos during the elk rut. So I've seen several incidents like the one in Estes Park. In fact, the bad boy pictured below tried to tear a hunk outta my butt near the campground in Mammoth. When I started shooting, he and his harem of about 20 cows were 30-50 yards away, but the cows kept coming my way. Finally one of them meandered over to me and stood less than 5 feet from me. The bull didn't like that one bit. He pinned his ears back and came at me on the dead run as I scrambled to get a tree in between him and me. I dodged behind a pine with about a 6" trunk, put my hand on it and stood back at arms length as he butted up against it with his antlers on either side just missing me. My legs were literally shaking, and I had to keep control of the two cameras strapped around my neck. We did circles around the tree for about 3-5 minutes until he just turned and meandered off. My buddy was standing on a bridge above us and took quite a few photos. He gave me one, but it's 35mm slide buried in my files somewhere. In another incident in Mammoth, I was sitting in my truck using a window-pod to shoot a herd in the middle of the grassy meadow in front of the hotel. Some gal pulled her SUV up to curb on the opposite side from where I was. A few minutes later two big bulls got into it and wound up fighting their way right next to her SUV. I'm only guessing here, but it seemed like they slammed into it at least six times on one side, then moved to the back end and wound up tearing off the spare tire dealie that was mounted to the rear door. She was sitting inside the entire time and too dumb to start the engine and move. One other time I was taking pix of a bull moose along the shore of Yellowstone Lake. We were on a sloping hill between the main road and the water. It was probably about 25 yds. between them. I had the moose all to myself until a van load of Japanese tourists pulled up and parked. With cameras in hand about six of them proceeded to close in on the moose from behind it. I was on the other side in front of it. At first it didn't seem to bother him, but when he felt pressured, here he came. Fortunately, there was downed tree about six feet behind where the trunk was up off the ground a couple feet. I quickly ducked under and through the opening to the other side as the moose closed in. He stopped coming, reared up and started pawing the air with his front legs. Tired of that, he decided to go down to the water and wade around the tree. That was my opening to get my a$$ outta there and up to the road.

Score one for the ladies! Nice job by all.

FISHING REPORT Sept. 27, 2019 Arizona Game and Fish Department TIP OF THE WEEK On Tuesday, Oct. 1, the catch-and-release season at Silver Creek opens. (Silver Creek is pictured below.) That means the upper section also opens to fishing for the first time since early spring. We stocked trout that averaged 2 pounds into this section Wednesday. This catch-and-release section of Silver Creek requires trout to be immediately released unharmed, and is artificial flies and lures only with single-pointed barbless hooks. No trout may be kept. This segment of Silver Creek is open for fishing from Oct. 1 through March 31 of each year. See more fishing regulations. Top picks for this weekend are Kinnikinick Lake (stocked with brown trout this week), Ashurst Lake, Silver Creek (catch-and-release season begins Saturday), Show Low Creek meadows, Rose Canyon Lake, or other trout-stocked waters. This week's weather seems to have been the ticket to kick off some great fall trout fishing. Now to the high flows earlier this week in the Salt River chain of lakes. The heavy run-off and flows not only left hazardous debris, it likely will make bass fishing difficult for a few days. Please be safe and watch out for debris, especially at Canyon Lake and the Lower Salt River. The Salt River Project reported that significant runoff entered Canyon, resulting in the need to pass storm water through Mormon Flat Dam, Stewart Mountain Dam and into the Salt River. Releases from Stewart Mountain dam peaked around 48,000 cfs at 10 a.m. on Monday, Sept. 23. The good news: water temperatures will take a sharp drop, and once bass become accustomed to these new temps and stable weather that should provide better "living conditions," fall bass fishing should bust loose. See the daily water report from SRP. Remember that the Fall Fishing Forecast is out. Your complete guide of ratings and reports for more than 70 waters statewide is written primarily by our regional fishing experts. See the forecasts. MSA donates $25,000 to Canyon Creek Fish Hatchery A big "thank you" to the Mogollon Sporting Association for its $25,000 donation to our Canyon Creek Fish Hatchery to help bring Gila trout to streams along the Mogollon Rim. Gila trout are one of two native trout found in Arizona and are being raised at the Canyon Creek hatchery. Fossil Creek open to fishing Saturday, Oct. 5-April 30 Remember Fossil Creek is a catch-and-release roundtail chub fishery with a fly and lure single-pointed barbless hook regulation.. See pg. 15 of our Fishing Regulations for details of this Special Regulation fishery. Catch of the Week Send your fishing reports and photos to BFishing@azgfd.gov -- one will be selected for Catch of the Week Pena Blanca Lake Rafael L. said he caught and released this bass at Peña Blanca Lake on Friday, Sept. 13. H said measured more than 20 inches long. "I didn't have a scale to weigh it," he wrote, "but it definitely weighed over 5 pounds." What's been stocked this week (Water temp in parenthesis if available) Rainbow trout: Show Low Creek (meadow), Oak Creek, Silver Creek (61), Frances Short Pond (61), Woods Canyon Lake (58). Brown trout: Kinnikinick Lake (63). Channel catfish: (week of Sept. 16).: "Core" Community waters. See the stocking schedules Thank you, anglers! Arizona fishing opportunities wouldn’t be possible without the Sport Fish Restoration Program. It was created through the Dingell-Johnson Act of 1950 (Federal Aid in Sport Fish Restoration Act) and the Wallop-Breaux amendments of 1984. Through a federal excise tax paid by manufacturers on fishing gear and motorboat fuels, it provides grant funds for fishery conservation, boating access, and aquatic education. Save time, buy online Grab a license online (that helps conserve all species of wildlife, not to mention provides funding that goes back into fishing opportunities) and go "Fish AZ". SEE MORE REPORTS

Get on the Ruby road and head west anywhere past Pena Blanca lake. Then hike in south of the road, find a high spot and start glassing. Easy Peasy. 😉

Was easier to type one word rather than the definition. I believe it goes back to biblical times. Just goes to show how old I am. 🤣