Outdoor Writer

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. 🤣

The phrase "low lifes" is not in my normal lexicon. If it was, however, it would be used in reference to pedophiles, wife abusers, whoremongers, thieves, pimps, etc.

This is a clone of a message I posted a while back in another thread. It relates to the size of the hunting areas and why they bait so much. ******************** Michigan, as well. About 25 years ago when I was into bowhunting, a major manufacturer invited me on a deer hunt near Rogers City, which is on the northeast tip of the lower peninsular, right on Lake Huron. As I normally do because I hate all the strings attached to flying and also wanted to visit a couple friends, I drove. I spent a night with a friend in Ann Arbor and headed north early the next morning while it was still dark. As it got light, I started seeing all these big signs along the highway; they were selling sugar beets and ears of corn. I bet I passed at least 100 of these before I got to RC. Of course, since I'm not a fan of hunting over bait, I did a lot of chuckling at the creativity of some of the signs. One said, "Deer hunters -- beets by the truckload -- you load," others sold bags full of corn. Little did I know what was in store. We stayed at a resort right on the lakeshore. The first thing I noticed was the size of the "surf." Many of the waves were higher than those in the ocean at Mazatlán. There were six of us hunting, so we split into two groups and were transported to two different spots a few miles away. The parcel I was on couldn't have been more than 25 acres. It had several blinds on it. I was put into an elevated RIFLE blind overlooking an automatic corn feeder! In order to shoot out the window so my upper limb didn't hit the ceiling or upper window frame, I had to slouch down and stand back. And then I also had to worry about the arrow hitting the window ledge. Unfortunately, I had no choice but to stay put in it, lest I disturb my two hunting partners by wandering around. I was chuckling at all the signs, but now I was laughing hysterically when the feeder went off at 7 a.m. It was like a dinner bell to every critter big and small on that parcel of land. I have a 35mm slide that has two does, two fawns, a racoon, two turkeys and several BLACK squirrels -- all pigging out on corn for breakfast. The same thing occurred that evening with a possum joining the crowd. One day, I decided to test how they would all react to cigarette smoke when the breeze would take it from the blind to the feeder. Took a few big puffs and blew it out the window. Not one critter picked its head up. It went that way for two days. Finally on the 3rd day, a small buck joined the meal. I did my contortionist act and promptly shot high over its back, as the tip of the arrow put a slice in the window ledge. The arrow winged off into the woods, and while I was looking for it, I got to see a Michigan variety massasauga rattlesnake. It was about 14-16 in. long.

A few weeks ago in some other message thread, the topic of how much a subscription to Sirius cost was discussed. As I had said in that exchange, I have a lifetime on my Durango, but that option wasn't available when we bought my wife's Elantra last year. So we wound up with the lowest package offered at the time -- All Music -- which was abut $160 for my wife to listen to one station -- 50s oldies. It was due for renewal on 9/27. Another member here suggested I should call and threaten to cancel before the renewal and Sirius would offer a deal. He was dead on. I just called and now have the same package for the brandy new cost of $78 total. So thanks to whomever it was that suggested the call. 👍

See the "Pretty Impressed" thread I resurrected.

Rather than reply to Stanley in the doggie for sale thread, I'm resurrecting this one from August, 2007. Yeah, that was 12 years ago when the members on this site were mostly respectful of others and that other site held the distinction of being unruly. BUT...as a member of both since way back, it seems there has been a switch to me, mainly because the owner of the other site now has more "hands on" control. IOW, he's not adverse to send a member into the corner for a time. It's a made a big difference in the "mood" there. Don't get me wrong, though; they still argue and debate things, but the personal attacks are fewer. Here, just the opposite has seemingly occurred. So please read through the WHOLE thread and pay attention to the message about my own experience of operating forums before many members here were even born. 😉 Also note that most of the members that took part in this thread have moved on or no longer post. Coincidence? I don't think so.

Click on UNREAD CONTENT and look for the CONTENT TYPES link in the bar over the messages. Click and set that to read TOPICS. Then click on the GEAR dealie (wheel with cogs) under TOPICS. A Narrow by Forum will appear. Click and put a check mark for only the ones you want to see when you use the UNREAD CONTENT stream. You might also have to change the setting under FOLLOWING to CONTENT POSTED IN AREAS I FOLLOW.

Basically same line I use. So then I get these large "loyalty" credits to my bill each month, along with whatever promotions are on for new customers.

I also mentioned in that other thread that I have been doing that with Cox for years now. When I call, I actually ask for the retention dept. right out of the chute. i'm probably the oldest customer Cox has; our account dates back to 1981 when cable first came to Glendale. This latest Sirius deal I got for $78 will run the full year rather than 6 months.

Turn on your sound

GAME AND FISH NEWS Sept. 10, 2019 Input sought from elk hunters to help guide management of state's herds Harvest a bull in Game Management Units 1, 9, 10 or 23? Send a tooth PHOENIX — The Arizona Game and Fish Department (AZGFD) is asking all elk hunters to submit data from their upcoming hunts to assist the department in managing the state’s herds. AZGFD’s goal is to receive a completed questionnaire from each hunter who was issued a hunt permit-tag, whether or not that hunter harvested an elk or participated in a hunt. AZGFD will use that data to estimate harvest and hunter participation, along with population surveys, to set hunt permit-tag numbers. A questionnaire will be mailed (or emailed) to each elk hunter, to be completed and returned to the department after the hunt.Other options include using a link or scanning a QR code, which are located on the back of the questionnaire. A questionnaire and link also can be found on the reverse side of the hunt permit-tag. Meanwhile, hunters who are successful harvesting a bull elk in Game Management Units 1, 9, 10 or 23 are being asked to submit a tooth from the animal. These units are managed under alternative management guidelines to provide higher hunt success and more abundant, older, age-class elk. In order to manage herds in accordance with these guidelines, it’s important to collect additional data on the age of harvested elk. All successful applicants who received hunt permit-tags in these units will receive a mailing that includes a return envelope in which to send back a tooth. For more information, email AZGFD’s big game management supervisor, Amber Munig, at amunig@azgfd.gov.

Watch until the end!

From Facebook....