5A was a bust, sorta

[PRDATR]

My son and I played cat and mouse with a Tom opening weekend but four times in 3 hours he wouldn't commit and we never got a glimpse of him. I named him Mr No. We tried again this morning for almost 6 hours and walked almost 3 miles but never crossed him. When we set camp yesterday we found this little guy. 

My son took ho 4 Runner and I took my F-250, stopped in Strawberry for some empanadas and had camp setup by about 4pm after the 100 mile drive from Mesa. About 6:30 the two of us were sitting around when we heard a sound almost like a cat screech. I looked in the direction of it and saw movement through the trees about 100 yards down a little two track. I told my son I see something white moving and heard what sounded like a kid. Sure enough now I see a girl running towards us yelling. Help Me, Help Me, I'm Lost. She was about 8-9 years old crying in full panic mode. She was wearing a pair of shorts, tank top undershirt and a hoodie wrapped around her waist.

We told her she was safe and asked her how long she has been lost, two or three hours she said. I asked her if she was cold and she replied no. I had her sit down and asked he if she wanted a bottle of water. She said yes and started to calm down. I asked her if she knew how far from the main road, 87 she was and being a child really didn't know. She said her family had a white truck with a black camper. We were about a 10 minutes south of Clints Well and maybe a 1/4 mile in off the main road. Quick thinking on my son part he asks her if she knows her Mom's phones number. Well she did and my son called the number and after a few rings it went to voicemail. We gave her the phone and she left a message and my son and I added to it. Now we can hear a slow whoop whoop coming from what sounded like an ambulance or police car driving slow on 87. I told her to get into my sons truck and told him when you get to 87 call 911. They leave and  a few minutes later her mother calls him. He says he isn't sure of the exact road he is on but will send her a pin. As he gets to 87 a Sheriff drives past and sees him then hangs a U Turn. He talks to my son looks at his ID and leaves with the child. Seems the girl had an argument with an older sister and ran off getting very lost. It was her lucky day and her mother got an early Mothers Day present.

We broke camp and came back today as he needs to go to NM for work all week and spend some time with his mother tomorrow. His head is in the clouds after helping that little girl. We had a pack of yotes yipping and carrying on for almost two hours just after dark last night about 200 yards away. No place for a child for sure.

 

https://reptilesofaz.org/lizards-subpages/h-p-multivirgatus/

[Shooter McGavin]

In 2022 during my sons archery bull hunt I caught this guy in 6A, love catching critters.

 

[REDTOOTER]

Wow! Thank goodness you and son where there... Definity good karma for future hunt success.

Also at the risk of back lash, i have to say... all mcgavin responds to is the lizard ?  lol 

[yotebuster]

Whoa!  That coulda ended real real bad!

[firstcoueswas80]

The adrenaline dump on something like that would be insane. 

[PRDATR]

17 hours ago, firstcoueswas80 said:

The adrenaline dump on something like that would be insane. 

Well Casey as a father I can think you can relate to staying calm and focusing on the facts at hand and the art of dissuasion. We asked a few questions and let her vent and settle down. Sure she wanted to get back but probably realized she shouldn't have ran off so no need to bring that up, kinda one of the many elephants in the room so to speak. She was probably with us for  at most 10 minutes before I had my son pack her up. He's a gentle giant and kids just naturally take to him. It did them both some good. 

[Ernesto C]

Man thank God that girl was able to see you and you were able help! That was great!

[Viper]

Wow! Thank God for timing and putting you in the right place. Life lesson for that little girl. Good on you guys.

Cool lizard...maybe I should have said that first 😀

I had similar luck with turkeys the first week...in 5a, off 141. Seemed like every tom I setup on had hens and would not come in. I didn't have much trouble finding gobblers. I'm considering going back up for another try, but not sure.

[PRDATR]

1 hour ago, Viper said:

Wow! Thank God for timing and putting you in the right place. Life lesson for that little girl. Good on you guys.

Cool lizard...maybe I should have said that first 😀

I had similar luck with turkeys the first week...in 5a, off 141. Seemed like every tom I setup on had hens and would not come in. I didn't have much trouble finding gobblers. I'm considering going back up for another try, but not sure.

It was really windy that weekend and we concentrated on this Tom. Camped at Kinder Spring and spent the rest of the day hitting tanks looking for sign, put 80 miles on the truck and a lot of time on the 141.

[PRDATR]

Just now, PRDATR said:

It was really windy that weekend and we concentrated on this Tom. Camped at Kinder Spring and spent the rest of the day hitting tanks looking for sign, put 80 miles on the truck and a lot of time on the 141. Best of luck if you get back up there.

 

[Viper]

1 hour ago, PRDATR said:

It was really windy that weekend and we concentrated on this Tom. Camped at Kinder Spring and spent the rest of the day hitting tanks looking for sign, put 80 miles on the truck and a lot of time on the 141.

I'm curious what day this happened, with the lost girl? Later in the first week (first hunt), maybe Wednesday or Thursday, we heard sirens...sounded like they were going down 141. 

[PRDATR]

12 hours ago, Viper said:

I'm curious what day this happened, with the lost girl? Later in the first week (first hunt), maybe Wednesday or Thursday, we heard sirens...sounded like they were going down 141. 

Friday Evening the 9th.