Old Buck

I think Mulepacker hit the the score right on. Left horn looks to be 37 7/8 and the right about 38. Both bases look to be 13 4/8. I would guess the ram is about 13 years old. From the background in the photo, I would guess unit 45A.

If you are interested in becoming a game warden in Arizona, you can go to the Game and Fish web page and you will find a link that will explain the requirements. I worked for Arizona Game and Fish for 20 years as a Wildlife Manager(Game Ranger) and really enjoyed it! I retired to run my family business. Some days I sure wish I was back out patrolling a hunt or doing a deer survey. Those were fun times!

It was my pleasure to help out, yotebuster. I hope you have a great hunt and your dad kills a big bull!

I too have hearing loss from years of shooting. A few years back I had a physical sat the Mayo Clinic in Scottsdale. They decided that I was in good shape, but noticed that I was missing parts of conversations. So I ended up in their hearing clinic. At the end of the test, the Doctor said that I had significant hearing loss, but congratulated me on my comprehension. He said hearing aids would not really help me. Then he stood directly in front of me and asked, "Does your wife mumble?". My first thought was, how does this guy know my wife? I finally responded yes. He told me there was help and gave me a book entitled Living With a Hearing Impaired Person. It had helpful advise like stand directly in front of the impaired person when you speak and make sure you let the person see your lips move. The book really didn't help. My wife still tries to carry on a conversation from 3 rooms away and tells me of conversations that we have had that I have no recall of! My only response is Honey please read the book again. Remember, if you have trouble hearing others, it may not be your fault. They may just need to read the book!

I have a few 200 gr accubonds. Send me an address.

Mr Ugly, this can't be right, they haven't charged me for sheep yet!

$90 charge showed up this morning from AZG+F that was from yesterday. Sure hope my $135 charge shows up next week!

I have hunted unit 15 New Mexico muzzleloader elk 8 times. I have had 6 cow tags, an October bull tag and a November bull tag. I have killed an elk each time, but have spent lots of time scouting and hunting. The unit has a good elk population, but nice bulls 320+ are not easy to find on the late hunts. Nonresident quotas have made it more difficult for us out of staters to draw bull tags and impossible for cow tags. I guess that it is a good deal for NM hunters, but not for the rest of us! I would rather hunt unit 1 or 27 in Arizona, but unit 15 is much better than staying home!

When I was growing up, the women in my family didn't hunt. I invited my daughter to hunt with me once she turned 10. She didn't take me up on the offer until she was 11. I didn't think she wanted to shoot a deer, but she quickly proved me wrong. Since that day, 23 years ago, she has gone on many hunts. I quickly learned that girls are a blast to hunt with! I even had fun this past December packing out a hindquarter of her late season bull up a steep hill in deep snow! I have already bought a pink .22 for my 8 month old granddaughter. I can't wait to take her hunting. I may even invite her dad to come along!

There was a period of time from the mid80's through the early 90's when a leftover tag could be purchased for taking a second deer. Most leftover tags were for whitetail in SE AZ. This may explain some individuals kill numbers. I recall taking 5 bonus bucks during this time period.

I hunted 26DE in January of 2011 and 26DE+W this past January. You might be better to hunt with a guide a few days. If you decide to hunt without a guide I can give you some basic information.

Looks like I am not the only one not out hunting today! As I reread my post, I see some of my bias coming out. My bias is based on 51 years of hunting in Arizona including 20 years enforcing the states game laws. I found while working for AZG+F that sometimes people who said that they were hunting coyotes or mountain lions during deer season were actually out attempting to shoot a deer for another! This was sometimes, not always, but I must admit, it has biased me. From a practical stand point, I don't like my helpers to pack a rifle while glassing with me. I have found that their attention often gets diverted from my goal of finding a big whitetail buck to looking for a lion, bear, coyote or bobcat. I like to eat whitetail deer more than the other creatures I mentioned so this does cause conflict. I do remember a morning that I relented and let my son , who was properly licensed, use my rifle to shoot a lion that I had glassed up. This was after I had given up all hope of finding a nice buck that morning. I would like to rephrase my recommendation on this subject to: Learn the law and do what is best for the situation that you are in.

Years ago there was a law that limited those who could be in the field with a rifle during a permitted hunt to those with a valid permit. So if I had drawn a deer permit and you hadn't, I was the only one who could carry a rifle. After multiple revisions, this law is now gone. Now days the answer is yes you can carry a rifle if you have a valid license while out with a friends on their deer hunt. However, this looks like you are buddy hunting to a Game Ranger. In addition you are not helping your friend find a deer if you are shooting at coyotes. My recommendation is to leave the rifle in the truck or at home until your friend gets a deer.

Desert sheep were released at the Mule Shoe Ranch and Redfield Canyon in the Galiuro Mountains in November of 1981. The mortality by lions was significant over the first few months and then declined. This population has had its ups and downs, but has persisted for 32 years and has provided some hunting opportunity. I hope that we see the same with the Catalina release.

6a, the question you have asked does not have a clear cut answer. It is a gray area of the law. I think that you need to look at the intent of the law to decide what to do. The law is intended to stop or at least make it more difficult for you or me to go out and shoot an animal for another. The transportation portion of the tag is usually filled out when the animal is transported to a residence or processor by someone other than the permit holder. If dad does not want to stay and help with the processing and packing of his elk, a photo of him with his elk would sure be a good thing to have.

Good story and a nice elk. Looks like it was Hart shot!

Nice bear and a great story! If you want a great rug mount, you might want to check out Lippert/Doyle Taxidermy in Tucson. Dean has done 8 bear rug mounts for my son and me.

I have had lots of close encounters with bears. It can be exciting when they pop their teeth and woof! One of the most exciting encounters that I have watched was when my son shot his first bear with a bow. After the shot it decided to exit the area by way of the trail he was standing on. He got off the trail and it passed by at a few feet. For a second it looked like it was going for him, but it was just trying to get away. In reality you have a greater risk of injury driving to and from your hunting location than when you are out bear hunting.

I started hunting in 1963 with a model 94 Winchester that I borrowed from my granddad. I laugh when I think of my first antelope hunt in 1966 in northern Arizona. My dad and I both had tags. We had one set of cheap 7x50 binoculars that we took turns with. We were both successful. After the hunt we decided that next time we went, it would really be great if we both could have a set of binoculars! Over the years I have slowly purchased or gotten as gifts, bows, rifles, muzzleloaders, rangefinders, big binoculars, smaller binoculars, spotting scopes, tripods, big backpacks, smaller day packs and 101 really cool hunting accessories. It has been a slow process that has taken a long time without going into debt. Sometimes I feel a little guilty when I look at all the hunting equipment that I have. Then I think of other family members that spend more that I do on their recreation, hitting a little white ball with a stick on a grassy field and I don't feel so bad. I know that they can't be have as much fun as me and they don't end up with a freezer full of "free" game meat!

Archery antelope in 31/32 is a very hard hunt. I have spent 30 days over 3 seasons hunting this hunt. You did great! Thanks for posting the photos.

I have butchered my own game meat since the 70's. I do it with a minimum of extra equipment. I take the scrap meat to a local butcher to be ground or made into sausage. The meat tastes better and it is much cheaper than when I have used a commercial processor. As has been stated proper field care is a important. Skinning and cutting the meat off the bones ASAP is a must. This past spring my hunting partner showed me a new trick on my Kaibab buffalo hunt. We skinned and boned the animal and place the clean meat in meat sacks. After hanging the meat overnight we trimmed it and place it in one gallon ziplock freezer bags. We placed the bags in an ice chest during the day and set them out on tables at night. For the trip home, snow was added to the ice chests. It arrived in SE AZ dry and cold. This would be an excellent method of processing an elk on an early hunt. By adding ice rather than snow ,which usually isn't available, to the ice chest, you could cool the meat and keep it for a week in camp. I just need an early archery elk tag to give it try!

I reviewed the bonus point analysis for the 20 percent pass and the first and second pass for bighorn sheep. I found that there were 171 applicants with max bonus points that they drew all 21 permits available in the 20 percent pass. In addition our max bonus point group drew an additional 4 permits in the first and second pass, for a total of 25. This leaves a total of 146 of us that we're unsuccessful in the draw. If permit numbers stay about the same and the draw rules don't change, I would guess that in 5 or 6 years there could be successful applicants in the 20 percent pass with one point less than max. I spend lots of time going over these reports every year. It is a great passtime while others are sheep hunting!

The same report in 2012 showed 177 of us with max bonus points for sheep. There should have been 21 tags issued in the 20 percent pass plus a few in the random draw. The numbers don't work out to end up at 157. The only possible explanation is that some applicants got the hunter education point which brought them up to max.

It is a fun hike to Powers Garden from the Rattlesnake Mesa Rd. As has been stated the drive in is exciting. If you are looking for deer, you actually drive through better deer country on the way in than you will encounter in the interior of the Galiuros. Hope you have a fun hunt!

I grew up in Phoenix and spent lots of time floating the Salt River. No rivers like that in SE Arizona. Your post brought back lots of great memories. Thanks!