Hmm… Where to start???  Well, the hunt started with rain, and ended with rain…  The area that I am focusing on has a nice tank but right now sitting that tank would just  be a waste of time.  Coues deer barely drink to start with but with this much rain these deer are drinking out of every little dip in the dirt.

Unlike in NM, in AZ it is legal to bait deer.  It is what it is…  Those are just the rules of the game in AZ and believe me, my eyes have really been opened over the last few months.  Just about every ridge that I have seen has some sort of mineral lick.  If the hunters don’t get the deer they are certainly going to die of heart disease. Another thing that is different in AZ is that even though you draw a rifle tag you can still hunt the archery season.  If you happen to kill during the archery season than you forfeit your rifle tag.  I guess the cool thing is that hunters are given more days afield, the bad thing is that you have EVERYBODY hunting during the archery season.  I have never seen soooooo many people cruising the roads looking for deer and coming from NM that means A LOT.

So the plan was to sit in a travel corridor and and get a shot a buck. Pretty easy right.  Well the problem is that with this much feed and water these deer don’t need to move.  I am hoping that the pressure from other  hunters will get these deer moving.

So… Who is on the hit list?   I have picked up a few different deer in the area but nothing exciting..  But if this guys comes thru we are gonna have some words…

He probably goes mid-80′s.  Nothing to wild but he is definitely a mature buck.

Oh yah… I am still being chased by bears… Man, I have seen more bears this year than I have EVER seen…

Anyway, stay tuned… I am going to try and make it out again next week.

Oh yah, in a day and a half of hunting…. Two Does…

I guess there is no other way of saying it…  My camera was stolen in AZ, I have had cameras all over NM for years and I have never had a camera stolen.  I leave one out for 3 weeks in AZ and someone steals it.  If it isn’t yours keep your dang hands off of it.  From what I can tell it is acceptable behavior to steal cameras in AZ.  I just don’t understand!!!!  It does drive me that much harder… I will kill a deer in AZ…

SOOO on our trip Cisco and I were planning on finding a spring that I had found on one map…  This little spring was only on one of the software packages that I use so it was going be a little honey hole that nobody knew about or it was going to be DRY!!!  The spring was about 3 miles in the backcountry. We would have to bushwhack thru a lot of country but it might be worth the hike.

Once we got to the spring we would find a high-point were we could glass the area for game, setup camp and enjoy the the wilderness.  Well that didn’t happen, when we got to the spring we found a WHOLE LOT OF NOTHING… It was dry as a bone.  Here is a picture of the area where the spring should be coming out of the hill.

So we had two options; stick around and glass some not so promising country or “Let’er Buck” and head back to the truck and do some more scouting in a different area.   Well, the determining factor was that we were LOW on water…. I mean LOW LOW..  We wouldn’t have enough water to drink and make dinner… So we bailed.

But we took this cool little picture first…

SOOO… I loaded my 70lb pack and off went…

Here is a picture of some of the scenery…

BIG COUNTRY!!!!

How about a fried Cisco Kid???

Well we made it back…. Thank God I always carry 7 gallons of water in the diesel.  It made life a lot easier…  So we setup camp and crashed.

The night was pretty uneventful, Cisco didn’t even run around all night… It start raining so Cisco crawled in the tent and crashed out.

SOOOO the next morning we were off to find another little saddle and tank.  Now this is where things got strange, we came across a cage or serious corral of some sort.  Look at these pictures. This cage was really meant to keep something in… Wolves maybe????

Swinging Gate????

This thing is no joke!

After exploring this little area for awhile we took off to find our little spring… Well we found a wet spot…  I bet this will hold some water after a few rain showers.

So that was our 2nd scouting trip in AZ.   I always try to not dwell on the negative so I will just chalk up the camera getting stolen to some dirt bag that is going to be cursed on there next hunting trip.    I am not sure when I will be able to get back into this area but the season starts in a few weeks.  I want to hunt the later part of the hunt so I dont have to deal with the monsoons and the antlers will hopefully not be balled up so much.  We will see….

Take Care.

Jason

Okay by now you guys know that I pretty much don’t care what people think… I call it like I see it… Well, Game and Fish tried to pull a fast one.. Seriously…  The original idea was that G and F was going to have several options for us to look at.. We started with 6 but then last night only 2 showed up… Option 2 – Do Nothing Option 1- make A-Plus like E-Plus.  This wouldn’t do ANYTHING to help resolve the issues of NR getting 73% of the tags…  It looked like we were in a no-win situation….  I WAS PISSED.. I was wondering why we went thru all of this drama….

So this morning I started calling people trying to figure out what happened, I called everybody I could think of and everybody had seen the same thing…  Well, as the morning progressed NMWF called and said…”Guess what, we have a third option”  it is a full draw…  I would love to dig to the bottom of all of this and I have some ideas but it isn’t my place to let the cat out of the bag.

STUFF LIKE THIS IS EXACTLY WHY NOBODY TRUST’S GAME AND FISH….

So follow this LINK to get the summary!!!!

SO… If you ask me OPTION 3 is the only option… FULL DRAW!!!!!

Hey Guys… I love it when people send me stories like this… Vinny and I met about 10 years ago.  I was leaving the office one day and some dude was showing off some deer he had killed, it was Vinny…  Ever since then we have been buds..

Anyway, He recently was telling me about a fishing trip he took wit the family and I asked him to have the boys write something up for me.. sooo here it is…

Jason

===========================================================

My name is Elijah, I just turned 8 on July 16. My parents, my brother Zachary and I went to Red River for the 4th of July . I love to go because the parade, and playing on the playground near the convention center is fun. The fireworks at Eagle Nest Lake is loud and bright! We like to fish at Red River city pond. My grandparents stayed in a rental cabin that we visited, and they have a cool small pond. My grandpa asked us if we want go fishing and we said yes, so we went over. My dad fixed the hook for me, with a sinker and a bobber. I know how to put bait on the hook. I can cast the line into pond and I used the red fireballs. I waited till I saw the bobber go down, then up, then down again. I pulled my rod up hard and there is a fish on the hook, so I reeled it in real fast. It’s hard to reel because it’s a big fish so my dad helped me hold the rod and I reeled it in. My dad pulled rod up, and pulled the fish out of the pond. It’s big! My fish was 17 inches. We were all happy. We caught 5 fish all together. My dad didn’t fish because he is happy to watch me and my brother catch the big fish.

My name is Zachary. I am 6 years old. I love to go fishing with my brother Elijah, my dad and mom. We go to Red River every year for the 4th of July and camp for 4 days. I like to run and get candy at the parade, play on the playground, especially climb the rock wall and slide. We go to Eagle Nest Lake at night to watch fireworks. There are cool colors. My dad helped me put a hook, a sinker and a small yellow/orange bobber so I can watch if it goes down under water to let me know the that fish bit my bait. My grandparents stayed at a cabin that has a pond where there are big fish. I told my dad I saw a big fish. I told my dad to hurry up so I can catch the fish. I put worms on it that my dad dug from our backyard. The bobber went under the water and it didn’t come up so I reeled it fast but it was hard to reel, so I told my dad to help me and my dad held the rod while I reeled, and my dad pulled out the line with a big fish. I grabbed the fish, and yelled “big fish”. I was so happy. My dad measured it and it was 18 inch fish. We had fun fishing at that pond. My brother caught 3 and I caught 2. I love to go fishing with my dad.

Our family always makes a 4th of July trip to Red River, NM, our 8th annual trip. We got married on 4th of July 1998. it is our 12th anniversary. Hopefully we’ll keep our traditional trip every year. We stay at different places and make reservations ahead of time, even a year ahead. We do like to stay in River Ranch Rv park. They have full hook ups, (TV and Microwave) haha, which is good for us.. I pull a 21 Ft travel trailer. Red River is an awesome place to kick back, watch the boys play around the playground, walk the town, let my wife do some shopping, whatever, because we guys always go fishing in different places like their city pond, and Fawn Lakes. It is not far to walk to fish or do something in town. Only 30 miles from Red River to Eagle Nest Lake to watch the fireworks. The parade is always good. Lots of candies & goodies. They have a few different activities for the kids to participate in. See you in Hill, Vinny

The Martinez MEN!!!!!

Wow…

This is interesting… I pulled this from NMWF… GOOD STUFF GUYS… Keep the pressure on..

Listen to what McClintic says about the money issue..

————————————————————————————————————-

Click here to listen to the seven-minute exchange between Silver City hunter Larry McDaniel and Commission Chairman Jim McClintic (also on the recording are Commissioner Tom Arvas and Assistant Director Pat Block.)  Click here to read the transcript.

Please note that McDaniel is correct. Department figures show that E-PLUS landowners received more than 40 percent of the elk allocation each of the last three years. For the 2009-10 license year, the department gave E-PLUS landowners 18,846 authorizations (45.8 percent) while putting 22,294 licenses (54.2 percent) in the Big Game Draw.

Also for clarification, Chairman McClintic says 150,000 people applied for 47,000 licenses. There were 150,000 applications: Several hunters apply for multiple species, resulting in multiple applications per applicant. The number of applicants is close to 91,000.

Chairman McClintic also tells McDaniel that Montana has “137 times more antelope” than New Mexico. It isn’t clear where that information is from, but it does not appear to be correct. The NM Department of Game and Fish web site does not have information about New Mexico’s antelope population. But Montana, according to recent antelope population data on the Montana web site, has about 216,000 animals. If that’s 137 times more than New Mexico, New Mexico would have fewer than 1,600 antelope. Currently NMDGF offers some 6,000 antelope hunting licenses a year.

Hmmm.. There are some cool tags left.. Burro Mountains and Elk in 13 and 15…

Sweet…

———————————————————————————————————

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE, JULY 15, 2010:

YOUTH ELK, LEFTOVER DEER, JAVELINA LICENSES GO ON SALE IN AUGUST
OFF-HIGHWAY VEHICLE PROGRAM ACCEPTING GRANT PROPOSALS
COMMENTS SOUGHT ON STATE ENDANGERED AND THREATENED SPECIES LIST

YOUTH ELK, LEFTOVER DEER, JAVELINA LICENSES GO ON SALE IN AUGUST

SANTA FE — Youth and adult hunters who missed a shot at a big-game hunting license during this year’s annual drawing will have another chance this August when the Department of Game and Fish puts more than 5,000 deer, elk and javelina licenses up for sale on the agency Web site.

The online sales will be first-come, first-served and will be conducted in two parts on different days. The first sale will be Aug. 4 for elk licenses reserved only for youths younger than age 18. The second sale will be Aug. 11 for deer and javelina hunts available to youth and adults. Both sales will begin at 10 a.m. Mountain Daylight Time.

Here are some details about the sales:

Youth Encouragement Hunts

• On sale: 10 a.m. Aug. 4 at www.wildlife.state.nm.us.
• Licenses available: Approximately 1,900 elk licenses, including about 1,700 for any legal sporting arm and 200 for muzzleloaders. All of the muzzleloader hunts are for elk of either sex. All but 100 of the any legal sporting arm hunts are for cow elk. A complete list of available hunts, including dates and unit numbers, will be announced soon on the Department Web site.
• Eligibility: Only hunters younger than 18 who were unsuccessful in the regular drawing and whose applications were not rejected for reasons such as lack of funds, incorrect forms or failure to file a harvest report are eligible to purchase a youth encouragement license. Youth also must have successfully completed an approved hunter safety course before purchasing a license.

Available hunts

Any legal sporting arm:

• Unit 5B, Nov. 26-30, 20 antlerless licenses.
• Unit 6A, Nov. 26-30, 50 antlerless licenses.
• Unit 6A, Dec. 26-30, 50 antlerless licenses.
• Unit 6C, Nov. 26-30, 50 antlerless licenses.
• Unit 6C, Dec. 26-30, 50 antlerless licenses.
• Unit 10, Nov. 26-30, 35 antlerless licenses.
• Unit 13, Nov. 26-30, 60 antlerless licenses.
• Unit 13, Dec. 26-30, 60 antlerless licenses.
• Unit 15, Nov. 26-30, 60 antlerless licenses.
• Unit 15, Dec. 26-30, 60 antlerless licenses.
• Unit 16-A, Nov. 26-30, 60 antlerless licenses.
• Unit 16-A, Dec. 26-30, 60 antlerless licenses.
• Unit 16-C, Nov. 26-30, 60 antlerless licenses.
• Unit 16-C, Dec. 26-30, 60 antlerless licenses.
• Unit 16-D, Nov. 26-30, 60 antlerless licenses.
• Unit 16-D, Dec. 26-30, 60 antlerless licenses.
• Unit 16-E, Nov. 26-30, 60 antlerless licenses.
• Unit 16-E, Dec. 26-30, 60 antlerless licenses.
• Unit 17, Nov. 26-30, 60 antlerless licenses.
• Unit 17, Dec. 26-30, 60 antlerless licenses.
• Unit 34, Dec. 26-30, 80 antlerless licenses.
• Unit 36, Nov. 26-30, 60 antlerless licenses.
• Unit 36, Dec. 26-30, 60 antlerless licenses.
• Unit 49, Nov. 26-30, 50 either-sex licenses.
• Unit 50, Dec. 26-30, 80 antlerless licenses.
• Unit 51, Nov. 26-30, 90 antlerless licenses.
• Unit 51, Dec. 26-30, 90 antlerless licenses.
• Unit 52, Nov. 26-30, 50 antlerless licenses.
• Unit 53, Nov. 26-30, 40 either-sex licenses.
• Unit 53, Dec. 26-30, 100 either-sex licenses.

Muzzleloader and bow:

• Unit 9, Nov. 26-30, 150 either-sex licenses.
• Unit 9, Dec. 26-30, 50 either-sex licenses.

Leftover deer, javelina licenses

• On sale: 10 a.m. Aug. 11 at www.wildlife.state.nm.us.
• Licenses available: Approximately 430 javelina licenses and 2,760 deer licenses. Available deer licenses include about 259 hunts for any legal weapon, 1,668 archery hunts and 838 muzzleloader hunts. A complete list of available hunts, including dates and unit numbers, will be announced soon on the Department Web site.
• Eligibility: Residents and nonresidents of any age who meet youth hunter safety requirements and filed a mandatory harvest report if they held a deer or elk license for the 2009-2010 seasons.

Deer licenses available

Youth-only, any legal sporting arm:

• Unit 30, Oct. 30-Nov. 3, 61 licenses.
• Unit 30, Nov. 13-17, 179 licenses.
• Unit 58, Dec. 4-8, 3 licenses.
• Unit 59, Nov. 25-28, 1 license.
• Unit 59, Dec. 4-8, 15 licenses.

Archery only:

• Unit 13, Sept. 1-24, 70 licenses.
• Unit 13, Jan. 1-15, 65 licenses.
• Unit 15, Jan. 1-15, 46 licenses.
• Unit 16, Jan 1-15, 74 licenses.
• Unit 17, Sept. 1-24, 64 licenses.
• Unit 18, Sept. 1-24, 37 licenses.
• Unit 18, Jan. 1-15, 9 licenses.
• Unit 20, Sept. 1-24, 25 licenses.
• Unit 21, Sept. 1-24, 128 licenses.
• Unit 22, Sept. 1-24, 15 licenses.
• Unit 23, except Burro Mountains, mule deer, Sept. 1-24, 65 licenses.
• Unit 23, except Burro Mountains, white-tailed deer, Sept. 1-24, 72 licenses.
• Unit 23, except Burro Mountains, white-tailed deer, Jan. 1-15, 15 licenses.
• Unit 24, white-tailed deer, Sept. 1-24, 48 licenses.
• Unit 24, white-tailed deer, Jan. 1-15, 21 licenses.
• Unit 25, Sept. 1-24, 47 licenses.
• Unit 25, Jan 1-15, 20 licenses.
• Unit 26, except Big Hatchets, Sept. 1-24, 24 licenses.
• Unit 26, except Big Hatchets, Jan. 1-15, 13 licenses.
• Unit 27, white-tailed deer, Jan. 1-15, 3 licenses.
• Unit 29, Sept. 1-22 and Jan. 1-15, 93 licenses.
• Unit 32, Sept. 1-22 and Jan. 1-15, 18 licenses.
• Unit 39, Sept. 1-22 and Jan. 1-15, 12 licenses.
• Unit 40, Sept. 1-22 and Jan. 1-15, 38 licenses.
• Unit 47, Sept. 1-22, 8 licenses.
• Unit 48, Sept. 1-22, 5 licenses.
• Unit 50, Sept. 1-22, 1 license.
• Unit 56, Sept. 1-22, 5 licenses.
• Unit 58, Sept. 1-22, 13 licenses.
• Unit 59, Sept. 1-22, 10 licenses.

Muzzleloader and archery:

• Unit 13, Oct. 30-Nov. 3, 131 licenses.
• Unit 15, Sept. 25-Oct. 3, 51 licenses.
• Unit 18, Oct. 30-Nov. 3, 31 licenses.
• Unit 20, Oct. 30-Nov. 3, 64 licenses.
• Unit 21, Oct. 30-Nov. 3, 288 licenses.
• Unit 22, Oct. 30-Nov. 3, 50 licenses.
• Unit 23, except Burro Mountains, mule deer, Oct. 30-Nov. 3, 204 licenses.
• Unit 23, except Burro Mountains, white-tailed deer, Oct. 30-Nov. 3, 38 licenses.
• Unit 23, Burro Mountains, white-tailed deer, Oct. 30-Nov. 3, 2 licenses.
• Unit 24, Oct. 30-Nov. 3, mule deer, 103 licenses.
• Unit 24, Oct. 30-Nov. 3, white-tailed deer, 42 licenses.
• Unit 25, Oct. 30-Nov. 3, 43 licenses.
• Unit 26, except Big Hatchets, Oct. 30-Nov. 3, 59 licenses.
• Unit 30, Oct. 23-27, restricted muzzleloader, 200 licenses.
• Unit 33, Oct. 23-27, restricted muzzleloader, 4 licenses.
• Unit 37, Oct. 23-27, restricted muzzleloader, 24 licenses.
• Unit 40, Oct. 23-27, 15 licenses.

Javelina licenses available

Any legal sporting arm:

• Statewide, except Units 19 and 23-27, Jan. 16-March 31, 141 licenses.

Archery:

• Units 19 and 23-27, Jan. 16-31, 52 licenses.
• Statewide, except Units 19 and 23-27, Jan. 1-15, 241 licenses.

Hunters are strongly advised to obtain or review an online customer account, including a Customer Identification Number, user name and password before the sales begin. Popular hunts sell out minutes, sometimes seconds after the sales begin.

For more information and updates about the leftover license and Youth Encouragement license sales, please check the Department Web site, www.wildlife.state.nm.us.

I pulled this from the Silver City News…. It looks like the Commision is starting to feel the heat..

——————————————————————————————————-

State Game Commission approves new rules

What an adventure!!!!  I survived but if I was on “Survivor Southwest” I would have been voted off the island!!!!  As many of you know I didn’t draw any fall hunting tags this year so I need to find other options, for years I have been talking about hunting AZ for velvet Coues deer.  Last year I went but it was kind of a bust. I spent 5 days, 12 hours a day straight in a ground blind that didn’t see any action.  It was poor planning on my part.

SOOOO this year the plan was to put in my own work and if I failed at least I would have a good story to tell.    As a general rule, there are a lot more Coues deer in AZ and they can just about be found everywhere. They aren’t in little pockets like they are in NM. So I want to find a place close to home.  Unit 27 in AZ has some good deer and it is close so I figured that would be a good start.  I started talking to people and looking at a few maps just to get familiar with the area and everybody basically said, “Those are  BIG MOUNTAINS”.

If you have hunted the early season before you know that the key is WATER…  This time of year the deer are fattening up and getting ready for the rut.  Also, if they can find a place that has food, shelter and water they really don’t move much.   So with the help of some insiders I picked a few out of the way tanks, springs and tricklers to hang a few cameras.

I selected a path that would let me hang two different cameras.  From the comfort of my nice air conditioned office the route seemed EASY CHEESY!!!   Before you ask, I usually don’t weigh my overnight packs because all I can think of is that I am usually carrying a third grader on my back or about 50lbs and that drives me nuts.  This trip was going to be a little heavier because I was also going to be packing two trail cams, two lock boxes and two Python locks. Oh yah… I needed to pack in extra food for Cisco.

So Cisco and I loaded in the Duramax and headed to AZ.

The forecast for the weekend was dry and hot.

We stopped in Alpine for diesel and a coke before we headed into the backcountry and the lady at the cash register mentioned  that there were a few fires in the area and that we would need to be ready to evacuate very quickly.  If you live are familiar with the SW the fear of fire is always present so we just said “thanks” and headed out.

After finding a safe place to park we loaded up and headed to the first tank.  Are route took us thru a 3 year old burn and it was tough going because of all the downed trees and the “chingonita’s”… Chingonita’s are those little softball size rocks that make it very difficult to just put pin your ears back and cover country.  Below is a picture of the mine field that I needed to cross.

SOOO We got to the tank!!!!  Sweet JESUS!!!!  It had water, it didn’t have a camera on it, it didn’t have a huge salt pile on it and and it had a few game trails leading into it.

Here is a picture of the tank…

So we hung the camera and continued on our route.  This is where things got a little western.  So, Cisco and I bailed off some rim-rock. At first, no big deal this stuff couldn’t go on forever but guess what it did.  I just looked at my GPS and we lost 900 ft of elevation in less than 1/4 of a mile. It was steep and thick.  Here is a picture.

Okay well, we eventually got down…  Even Cisco was tired…

Once we got to the bottom of canyon we headed to our second waypoint.  To make a long story short once we got to the waypoint it was obvious that I was going to run out of time to get to the second tank.  The distance was the issue it was the route, it was just too steep and I didn’t want to get caught on the side of the mountain in the dark.   So Cisco and I started looking for a place to crash for the night.  We found a little flat that was on the bottom of the canyon and that would stay dry if we got one of those freaky monsoon’s.

Below is a picture of our little homestead.

Yeah I know the tent is huge, but my logic was that I will forget about the weight before I forget about the comfort.  I have been stuck in a tent for a few days in Alaska and it is NO FUN….  We we were set for the night.

Our next task was to find a little water for dinner and to stay hydrated.  Our map showed that there was supposed to be an intermittent stream running in a nearby canyon.  So off we went.  After about 30 min of turning rocks and digging in sand I found a nice little pool that held enough water to filter some water.

WATER SWEET WATER!!!!!!!

Now that we had enough water for dinner and the hike out, we need to make GRUB.  Okay I must admit, food is always better in the backcountry.  I am not sure if it is because the food is acutally better or if that I am usually ravenous and will wolf down just about anything.  So what was on the menu?  Well Cisco and I shared some Chicken Stew… MMM GOOOODDD  STUFFF!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

After dinner Cisco and I just chilled and watched the world pass us by.  Once the lights went out I crashed out pretty hard but Cisco stayed out a little later and partook in some of the nightlife.  He ran around until 3:00 am then he crashed in the tent.

For breakfast we had some milk and granola…    I couldn’t find a bowl for Cisco so I just poured a little food on a rock…. He didn’t seem to mind.

Now that all the housekeeping was done Cisco and I needed to get out of the mountains.

This is the where the “Tough” part comes in, “we” decided to take a different route back to the rig.  The only issue is that we would need to crawl straight up a mountain.  Of course looking at the map it was no big deal, but once we hit the point of NO RETURN it looked like we might need to be TOUGHER than usual.

We gained about 1000 feet in elevation in a 1/4 of a mile… It was rough…. But we did it…

Cisco was pretty much GASSED… I am just glad I didn’t have to carry him out…

After we got up the mountain it was just a matter of putting one foot in front of the other for three miles….  No Big Deal…

Here is a picture of Cisco waiting to get on the road.

Needless to say it was a great trip… I just hope my camera picks something.

See you on the trail!!!

Jason