Rocky Mtn. sheep poaching

 The Arizona Game and Fish Department is asking for the public’s help in finding the individual or individuals responsible for the illegal killing of a Rocky Mountain bighorn ram in the Black River area, west of Alpine, during the July 4 weekend.

The wild sheep was illegally shot and killed in Game Management Unit 1 in eastern Arizona, adjacent to Forest Road 249.

“This mature ram was commonly seen, photographed and enjoyed by many visitors to the area,” says Tyler Richins, wildlife manager in Unit 1. “It was needlessly killed and left to waste with nothing removed from the carcass.”

“This isn’t the action of a hunter,” says Richins. “This is a criminal act of stealing wildlife assets and resources from the people of Arizona.”

This crime is further compounded by the fact that this ram was part of the Black River bighorn herd, which, although having a stable population, has not been increasing in number for the last several years.

“Removing this older age-class ram from the population may influence the department’s recommendations for future bighorn sheep hunting permits in this area. Bighorn sheep permits are highly sought after by sportsmen, who are a primary funding source for wildlife conservation,” notes Richins.

The department received more than 300 applications for the single permit that was authorized in this area last spring.

The department’s Operation Game Thief Program is offering a reward of up to $4,000 for information leading to the arrest of the subject or subjects who committed this crime. The Arizona Desert Bighorn Sheep Society and Arizona Bowhunters Association are each offering an additional reward of up to $1,000 for a criminal conviction in this case.  To report information on this incident, or any wildlife law violation, call the department’s Operation Game Thief hotline toll-free at (800) 352-0700, or report online at www.azgfd.gov/thief. Caller identities may remain confidential upon request.

We as hunters and conservationists need to keep a sharp eye out for the dirtbags that are doing this kind of thing and help bring them to justice.  This gives hunters a bad rap in the eye of the general public because they think that hunters are the people doing this when in fact they are not hunters, but pieces of trash.

Montana Trip

I just returned a few days ago from trip to Montana. My friend Gary has a place on Noxon Reservoir in western Montana and I went to see it. There is water everywhere and everything is super green. We saw sheep, deer, and bear from the road.

Gary built a very nice home on 15 acres with part of it bordering a finger of the lake.  It was only a short walk to go fishing.

We also visited the Boone and Crockett Club's headquarters in Missoula, Montana.  They had a display that included many of the current world records of each species.

We also visited a place that has these giant cedar trees.  The two in the photo aren't even the largest that we saw.  It was a great trip, but now back to the daily grind which I was reminded of when I got off the plane in Mesa and it was 108 degrees.  Let's hope the Arizona monsoons get in full gear soon.

Velvet Coues

Here is the finished mount of a coues deer harvested by Dan R. last fall on his archery Arizona deer hunt. The skull is of the coues deer that he then harvested with his bow in January. Dan had a pretty good season last year. His velvet buck grossed 121" and he had trail camera photos of the buck from the past couple of years. This mount is an example of something different that can be done with a shoulder mount of almost any animal.

Strip Buck

Here is a buck killed on the strip by the son of my friend Mike Dewees. His name is Ty Dewees and he was also hunting with their friend Danny Prock. They happened on this deer a few days into the hunt and Ty was able to harvest him. They brought it into the shop a couple of days later and that afternoon Ryan Hatch called me quizzing me about the antler configuration of the buck. It turned out to be a buck that Ryan was hunting with his client. His words were something like, "I guess I wasted the past three days hunting a dead buck". Ty's buck was featured in a recent Muley Crazy Magazine. This deer was a 35 inch wide 9 X 10 that grosses 259 5/8 and nets 252 6/8. It was the largest buck taken in Arizona in 2008 by a hunter on a regular draw tag.

Early Bull

Here is customer Brandon Peddie with a bull he killed on an early rifle hunt in Arizona a few years ago that grossed over 405 inches and made the all time Boone and Crockett record book. It is bulls like this that have people from all corners of the U.S. applying for Arizona's coveted elk tags. I think with all of the moisture we had this winter and spring, the bull will be extra big this year. I am hearing reports of bulls with five and six points already with almost three months of growing time left.

Sheep Capture

Here are some photos I took while working as an intern during the summer of 1995 with the AZ Game and Fish. I spent the summer living at Callville Bay on the Nevada side of Lake Mead baiting the sheep for a capture. I would go across the lake at first light every morning with buckets of apple mash for the sheep. After a couple of weeks the sheep would come to the bait site when they heard me pull up and would come quite close to me while I was putting the mash out. After about two months of this, the nets were dropped on them and a number were translocated to another area. I remember one drop that had three class IV rams under the net. It took three grown men to subdue one ram so that it could be untangled from the net. It is amazing how strong these animals are. Anyway, it was a great experience that I will never forget.

4X4 Coues

Here is a trail cam photo and mount photo of a great buck a friend, Willie, killed a couple of years ago with his bow. He hunted him in velvet but never had an opportunity for a shot. Persistence paid off in the late season and he was finally able to harvest this buck. He grossed around 116" and had huge bases. Willie had photos of this buck from the prior year as well. He talked for two years about how he wanted to lifesize the buck if he was ever lucky enough to harvest him.

Kofa Water Hole

This is looking from the dam into the pothole which is 12-13 feet deep

This is looking at the dam and the silt pile that was moved with buckets and more than 50 volunteers

Above is another view looking at the dam side of the catchment. Below is the crew that went with us. We had my two kids Hannah and Cole, My nieces Madeline and Megan, and my nephews Gage and John. My dad Bill and Brother Garrett were also along.

We just returned Sunday from a waterhole project in unit 45B in the Kofa Mountains. This project consisted of cleaning out all of the silt and sealing the catchment. This project was first completed in 1982 and has since developed some leaks so that it wouldn't hold its full capacity. Prior to the dam being built in 1982, the hole held about 6000 gallons of water and after the dam about 40,000 gallons. The catchment got very low on water last summer and had to have water flown into it by helicopter. This becomes very expensive so the project became a priority. This project was funded by the Arizona Desert Bighorn Sheep Society and the labor was provide with mostly volunteers. These projects are a great way to give back to our game populations and volunteers are always needed.

Years Gone By

Here is a photo of my grandpa with me on the right and my brother Garrett on the left. I believe this photo was taken in about 1976, so I was five years old. This was on a ranch we called "the Float" which was the ORO ranch northwest of Prescott. It is a huge chunk of private land that my dad, grandpa, and cousin hunted every year. It was open to the public until somewhere around 1980 when it was closed off. It had some great mule deer as this photo shows. When our family hunted there, it had no elk. Now there is a healthy herd of elk and some huge bulls are killed there each year with an outfitter who has the lease rights to hunt the ranch. I think the private land encompasses about 150 square miles, and controls access to more checkerboarded land. Some of my fondest memories as a young boy took place there while I tried to keep up with my grandpa or dad each day. I actually killed my first deer there. If anyone has any old time photos and stories they would like to share, they can email them to me and maybe I can post them. Enjoy!

Gonzalez Buck

We did the official score on the Dale Gonzalez buck this past weekend. He grosses 128 2/8 and his net score is 123 6/8 non-typical, which should put him in the top five in the world with a bow. His score will probably have to be verified at the Pope and Young panel for this scoring period. Congratulations to Dale on the buck of a lifetime!

Strip Buck

Here is photo of a buck that a friend of mine, Clifford Pirch, killed this past November on the Strip. Clifford hunted hard and found this buck a couple of days into the hunt but couldn't get on him. He continued hunting but couldn't find the buck again. A few days later his friend, Chris Harold, who was accompanying Clifford, had to return home. The day after Chris left, Clifford relocated the big buck and harvested him. Clifford was by himself and didn't have anyone to share in the excitement until he got home and word spread. The buck is an 8X9 with a gross mainframe score of 185 with over 35 inches of extras for a gross of about 220". Clifford is a professional bass fisherman on the National Guard team and fishes the FLW tour. We will post a photo later this summer when the mount is finished.

San Carlos Bull

Here is a bull taken by Duane Chapman on the San Carlos Apache Reservation a couple of years ago. My son Cole is standing with it. This bull was taken on a late tribal member hunt and ended up grossing 411 5/8 and netting 404 1/8. What a huge bull for a late hunt. He didn't have any broken points and was very symmetrical. San Carlos tribal members have taken some great bulls over the years on their reservation. We did a pedestal mount with Duane's bull that displayed his trophy very well.

Shoot for the Heart

Mountain Bible Church here in Payson that started a monthly get-together this year for outdoorsmen and women. Last month featured pro bass fisherman Clifford Pirch talking about bass fishing and how to become a better fisherman. February's event, last Thursday, had well known mule deer hunter Dean Pederson speaking about mule deer and mule deer hunting. It was attended by more than 150 adults and 20+ kids. Everyone is invited, whether from Payson, or out of town. The mule deer event had a great display of some giant mule deer bucks. There will be seminar on Coues deer in the future and this one should have numerous huge bucks on display. I will post the dates for these gatherings as they come available for anyone who would like to attend. The next one will feature renowned lion hunter Steve Smith talking about lion biology and habits. Hopefully Steve will share some exciting stories of his experiences chasing lions around the Southwest.

Waterhole project

Here is a photo of a water catchment project I took the kids on a couple of weeks ago. It was on Black mesa in the Sierra Ancha mountains. This area has a resident herd of Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep that moved into the area more than 20 years ago. It is believed that the sheep came from the Ft. Apache Reservation to the east. This is some beautiful and rugged country, just what the sheep like. If you have never volunteered on a conservation project, these water catchment projects are quite the deal. A good group of dedicated sportsmen and women dedicate a weekend and get their hands dirty for the good of our wildlife populations. It is amazing how much work gets completed in just a couple of days. This project was funded by the Arizona Desert Bighorn Sheep Society and the Arizona Deer association. They are both great organizations. For more info on how you can volunteer, check out their websites, www.adbss.org for the Sheep Society and www.azdeer.org for the deer association.

Archery Coues

Here is a buck taken by Dale Gonzales of Payson during the January archery hunt. The buck's green gross score is just over 130". Depending on how Pope and Young rules on the way it should be scored, it may end up very high in the nontypical category. Dale says he was hunting for meat and this buck showed up. That is a lot of meat on top of that buck's head.