High Country Sportsman 2015

HIGH COUNTRY

SPORTSMAN Your complete guide to hunting & fishing in the mountains of Arizona

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Preseason scouting Fossil Creek fishery Women on the hunt Turkey calling The bear hunt Smell no evil Glassing

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Why we write, why we hunt

fessions that have made them well-known within the community. A passion for the This is an inaugural publication of a outdoors remains the common denomimagazine designed to serve the needs nator. For some, their roles have changed of people who love to hunt and fish in through the years, as they move through Arizona. We hope you can glean tips from the perspectives of a child, a parent and the numerous articles that will make your even a grandparent when it comes to the legacy and traditions of hunting. fall hunts more successful.

When it comes to knowledge and huntYet, this periodical offers much more than tips to increase the odds you’ll harvest ing strategy of big game Dean Pederson, an animal. In the Rim Country, hunting is Steve Smith, Ernie Meeske, Denny Harger a tradition that has been carried on through and Dave Miller have a combined 240 years of pursuing elk, generations. deer and other game For us, hunting offers animals in Arizona. not only a year’s supply They are as comfortof meat in the freezer, it able in the outdoors as offers a chance to pass they are at home in their on the legacy of families favorite chair. All have bonding. presented numerous Moreover, we celeseminars to share their brate in these pages a knowledge and now true appreciation of the they will share some of outdoors and the big their thoughts with you. game animals that roam Hunting is no longer the wilds of Arizona. In just a guy thing going a society of “hustle and out with the boys for bustle,” the short huntU.S. Fish and Wildlife Service photo a weekend. Trisha Iles ing season is an opporand Heather Stroops, tunity to spend quality time with family and friends away from the two of the authors in this magazine, are daily demands of work schedules and other avid hunters who have harvested numerous trophy animals. They are moms who have responsibilities.

The memories created will be revisited families and successful careers in Payson many times around the dinner table and who also still find time to hunt on their own other family gatherings. Stories of a young or with their husbands and children.

Noah Sarnowski and Clay Goldman are person’s first deer or elk will last a lifetime names familiar to the hunting community. for everyone involved in the hunt.

A true hunter understands and appreci- Noah wants to share some valuable tips on ates these animals more than anyone else. field dressing that elk or deer to ensure a We remain dedicated to protecting the wil- delicious dinner table experience. While, derness on which deer, elk, bighorns, lions, Clay’s artistic talent in taxidermy is award bear and all those other creatures depend. winning and his work is considered some We’re dedicated to the ethics of fair chase of the best in the country.

We hope you enjoy reading this first and a reverence for all things wild.

The authors in this publication have publication and you find the inspiration experienced these events and want to share to get out and make some positive family their expertise. They’ve each spent many memories of your own in the Arizona outyears in Rim Country. They love hunting doors.

Good luck hunting this fall. and fishing and come from an array of proBY DENNIS PIRCH

HIGH COUNTRY SPORTSMAN

John Naughton, publisher • Pete Aleshire, editor 708 N. Beeline Highway • Payson, Arizona 85541 • Phone: (928) 474-5251 • Website: payson.com No portion of the High Country Sportsman may be used in any manner without the expressed written consent of the publisher. High Country Sportsman is published by Roundup Publishing, a division of WorldWest Limited Liability Company. © 2015

CONTENTS Scouting: 6

A good hunt and a strong family.

Get in shape: 10

Don’t let the terrain beat you.

Glassings: 12

You can’t hunt what you can’t see.

Hunt like a girl: 16

Family bonding, freezer filling.

High-tech hunt: 18 Is it even fair anymore?

Smell no evil: 20

Can you de-scent a human?

Seasons: 22

A family finds its footing.

Tree stand: 24

Patience, patience, patience.

Economic impact: 29 A billion-dollar business.

My bear: 30

Matching her father’s stride.

Change: 31

Reflections on relationships.

ATVs: 32

How new rules impact hunters.

Taxidermy: 34 Don’t ruin the trophy.

Processing meat: 36 Some tips from the pros.

Let’s talk turkey: 39 Keep moving, keep calling.

Bear dance: 42

Yes, they do it in the woods.

How it all began: 43 A father, a son, an elk.

Let’s talk fishin’: 44

Records from Apache & Roosevelt.

Fossil Creek: 46 Unique fall fishing.

Fall fishing: 48

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5

Make preseason scouting a family affair

BY DAVE MILLER

Photo courtesy of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

A white-tailed deer checks out the gray-haired hunter who’s checking him out.

OK, the draw has been published and you find out that you have drawn that tag that you were hoping to get. One of the most frustrating things, at least for me, is having the time to get out and pre-scout before the hunt. Working, being a husband, being a father, and a grandfather takes up a lot of a hunter’s time. I believe that time with friends and family is taken for granted way too much. Most of the time we have a tendency to believe that family and friends will always be there. I don’t think that we realize that it is not true, until we have lost a loved one, or they have moved far away from your residence.

One of the most important things about pre-scouting is to always try to include your family and friends. Like my father before me, I’ve taken my son scouting with me since he was about 5.

Pre-scouting can be accomplished in several different manners. For most hunters, spending that time in the field can prove costly. Filling up your ATV, performing repairs and general maintenance on your equipment and taking time off work can cost a small fortune. So turn it into a family activity, with friends and family along in the spring to look for dropped antlers from deer or elk. You can learn a lot from picking up antlers, including key game trails and bedding areas.

Get familiar with the area you plan to hunt. You might just stumble into some previously unknown water sources (springs, tanks, drinkers, etc.) You can also learn the size of

the trophy that you might be looking for by the size of the track, the size of the droppings, or the quality of the sheds.

You can also tune up on your glassing skills, looking for antlers, or the game itself. Consider spring hunts in the same game unit, including spring turkey, javelina, and spring bear hunts. I used to take my son squirrel hunting or quail hunting to explore units for the fall deer and elk hunts.

Make it a point to talk to the local wildlife manager about your unit. They spend more time in that game management unit in one month, than you could probably spend all year.

You can also pay a visit to the regional Game & Fish office and get a map and advice on places to check out. They can point out existing water catchments. You can also go online to the Game & Fish website and study the unit you plan to hunt.

I can remember when I drew a desert sheep tag in a remote area of the state. I contacted both the local wildlife manager and his predecessor for tips. I got a list of hunters from the Game and Fish staff from the previous season and contacted all those hunters also.

Maps are one of the best tools. Forest Service maps are a good place to start, but TOPOs (topographical maps) help hugely. In the past, quality TOPOs were very limited.

Now you can find 3-D maps available, waterproof maps, unit boundary maps, aerial photo maps, private land boundary maps, U.S. Geological Survey maps, Bureau of Land

Learning the lay of the land is the key to a good hunt -- and a close family

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HIGH COUNTRY SPORTSMAN

Fall 2015

Management maps, state maps, Forest Service maps, etc. Most of the TOPO maps come in various scales: 1:24, 1:100, 1:250. I still prefer the big USGS quadrangle maps.

It’s important to learn how to read the map key because the symbols to locate water sources, elevations, old orchards, homesites, roads, trails, and many property boundaries. I’ve invested in software for these maps and have it loaded on my home computer.

Another major source for maps is Google Earth, with free downloads in a user-friendly format.

The younger generation of outdoorsmen depend on the new world of electronic apparatuses, including GPS phone apps to find water sources (springs, lakes, drinkers, water catchments), points of interest, parks, etc. I can remember years ago when GPS was fairly new to the outdoor enthusiasts, not many people had one or could figure them out.

Several years ago a friend of mine called, and relayed the good news that he had harvested a bull elk, but didn’t have a clue where he was. He had marked the spot with his GPS and hiked out three

Photo by Pete Aleshire

A windblown ponderosa pine atop the Mogollon Rim.

miles to get phone service. In that era, a GPS did not have mapping capabilities. I asked him to give me his GPS

coordinates for the location of the elk.

I downloaded the coordinates onto my computer TOPO map and discovered the spot lay within 300 feet of a jeep trail.

But he’d hiked out in the opposite direction. We met up and I headed in on the jeep trail. He insisted we were nowhere near the elk. But we drove our quads to within 100 feet of the elk. That got him hooked on GPS and mapping. I go to him now for help with maps, GPS and apps. I consider him an expert.

Should you use a trail camera?

The next optional tool that is very helpful for scouting are trail cameras.

This is probably one of the most controversial forms of scouting today. Some people feel that they are very unfair and are unethical.

However, trail cameras are very hard to maintain. They are subject to damage, and sometimes theft. I know outfitters that have 150-200 trail cameras that they maintain. As far as I’m concerned, game cameras still get you out into the woods — and give you a much better understanding of the area.

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cameras can cost from $50 to $600 each, plus the cost of lock boxes, SD cards and batteries. Consider trigger speed, sensor distance, photo sensitivity, photo quality, video options, image storage capacity, number and type of batteries, nighttime capabilities, flash or no flash, not to mention weight and size — especially if you are backpacking.

Some trail cameras even have Internet capabilities so you can monitor the images on your computer at home.

Trail cameras can make a big difference, but still offer no guarantee. In one case, I harvested a nice deer. That night, one of the local guides came into camp to take a look at my deer and the expression on his face was priceless. When I revealed where I’d bagged the buck, he all but called me a liar.

Then he showed me some pictures and video taken with a trail camera of this same deer over the course of the past three years — all of them about 12 miles from where I harvested him.

Several outfitters had been seeking this deer diligently — off by about 12 miles.

All they had were nighttime photos on a trail he apparently never used in

Photo courtesy of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

Game cameras can greatly improve odds of filling a tag, but can be expensive and often time-consuming to operate.

daylight.

As you can see, a wealth of options will allow you to pre-scout your next hunt. Some won’t work with your schedule. Sometimes, that means turning to a guide or an outfitter. Granted, guided hunts are expensive, but you’re really paying for the hundreds of hours the guide has spent scouting the area.

Still, for me pre-scouting remains half the fun of the hunt.

So the next time you draw that special tag, use it as an reason to spend even more time with friends and family.

In the end, you cannot put a price on time spent with your family and friends.

Dave Miller has lived in Arizona all his life and hunted here since he was five.

He worked highway construction for 40 years. Retired, he now spends more time with his family and in the woods where he loves to be.

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Improve your odds by getting in shape

Photo courtesy of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

You can’t keep up with big game unless you’re in great shape.

Arizona terrain challenges hunters

BY DENNIS PIRCH The big game hunting permits and tags are in your possession likely in a safe place anxiously awaiting opening day. Most hunters have already checked to see if they got lucky and drew a tag for their favorite unit and species of game. Getting a big game tag is the luck of the draw, now it is your turn to do your part in preparing for the rigors of a fall hunt in the wilds of Arizona.

The Arizona topography of canyons, mountains, and plateaus makes it beneficial for extensive use of optics by hiking to pronounced high points. This is easier said than done in the absence of roads or quad trails. Some rigorous exercise may be needed to reach that high vantage point. Keep in mind that most of these hikes are usually up a steep incline carrying a firearm, a spotting scope with a tripod and a backpack, with various necessities which may add 10

as much as 25 to 40 pounds of additional weight! Here is what I have noticed: With each new season, the pack is getting heavier and the same mountains seem to be growing in elevation. Is that possible?

Modern optics and mountaintop vantage points allow for the seasoned hunter to find animals that may be two or three miles away or further with several canyons in between, each requiring huge elevation changes of climbing and descending. The real challenge is to close the distance before a safe shot can be made. Seeing that trophy deer or elk in the scope with antlers shining in the sun is the adrenalin rush that begins the lengthy stalk that may take an hour or two just to get into position. Many stalks have been abandoned when the tortuous hike and climb have taken their toll on the hunter with total exhaustion as the result.

To be successful on the hunt, the

legs need to be ready for the rigors of traversing multiple canyons in steep terrain, while the heart and lungs need to be conditioned for some high intensity exercise. This can be the deal-breaker after the adrenalin rush and excitement of seeing the animal in the scope wears off. Preparation in the late summer and early fall can make you ready to make that extreme hike later on opening day.

Duke’s head basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski has a great quote, “You just have to keep moving.” The older I get, the more obviously true this statement is.

No doubt, you have heard the television commercial “a body at rest tends to stay at rest” or “if you don’t use it, you will lose it,” which pertains to keeping the body in motion by exercise. Now is the time to get out of that favorite TV chair, put away the bowl of ice cream, and make a change in your daily routine. A simple 20- to 30-minute daily walk or planned exercise can pay big dividends in just a few weeks when

HIGH COUNTRY SPORTSMAN

Fall 2015

your hunt begins.

Walking a prescribed course, where the goal is a 15-minute mile, three to five times per week can do wonders over a two-week period. Within a couple of weeks, the rigors of exercise will become easier and you may want to add an additional mile, which would increase the walking program to 30 minutes. The Payson area has many small hills as well as some steep lung busters that could be added as the body responds favorably to a gradual, safe exercise program. Green Valley Park is perfect for the beginner with one lap being just a little more than a half-mile walk. The extra loop around the bandstand to the north will add a small hill and three-tenths of a mile to the overall walk. Consistency and progress are the key!

After a month of walking a prescribed course, add a daypack with some added weight resistance to create the situation you will have on opening day of your hunt. Rifles, optics and a pack can really drain the energy level when you are trying to gain a few hundred feet in elevation to see into that next canyon.

The added weight and the incline of the hills will cause fatigue in the legs, hips and lower back, which can all be remedied with some form of resistance training. I prefer core strength exercises with some added lunge motions. Any exercise that strengthens the torso is invaluable when it comes to balance and overall strength.

The lunge is a simple exercise that can be accomplished inside or outside the home in a very confined area with no equipment. Start by stepping with the right leg, then lower your level until the left kneecap barely touches the floor.

Repeat this motion on the same leg for a 10 count, then do the other leg without resting. This motion may require some additional balance by grabbing a doorknob or other stationary object. A pad located on the floor will give added protection to the kneecap.

Once the body is accustomed to a consistent walking program, your overall quality of life can improve by making it a part of the daily routine. Payson has many different walking routes, with Green Valley Park being the most popular. The body will respond to a systematic exercise program, so how about sacrificing a 30-minute TV show for a little exercise?

Healthy lifestyle changes can add much to the quality of life, no matter what the age. The result is a stronger heart, improved lung capacity and a few pounds being shed, making

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Shedding a few pounds of body fat will yield all kinds of benefits in addition to putting that tag on the animal of a lifetime during your fall hunt.

No matter what kind of shape I am in, it still seems like I am “huffing and puffing” up the mountain to the next vantage point. Hunting with the younger generation makes it even more challenging to get into good physical shape and maintaining exercise as a lifestyle change. Start this weekend to get into good walking shape so that you can see more of God’s creation, the fabulous Rim Country.

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11

You can’t hunt what you can’t see

BY ERNIE MEESKE

Photo courtesy of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

It was on a late rifle bull elk hunt north of Payson several years ago when my son said, “Dad, I see two bull elk way down the canyon.” I walked over to his position, where he was looking through his 15x binoculars mounted on a lightweight portable tripod. He pointed down the canyon to the elk.

I looked through my 10x binoculars and could barely make out two yellow dots on a brushy hillside. He definitely meant “way down the canyon,” as the elk were three miles away.

I have no doubt that if he had not been glassing with his 15x binoculars mounted on a good tripod, he would not have seen those two bull elk and we would not have harvested one of them later that day.

Tools of the trade A good pair of optics is essential to consistently spotting animals up close or at long distances. Quality optics also prevent painful eye strain and allow you to glass for longer periods of time.

Typical glassing equipment consists of a quality pair of 8x or 10x binoculars and a pair of 15x binoculars for glassing at longer distances. A good quality, lightweight portable tripod, to mount the binoculars on is a valuable piece of equipment.

When glassing, it is helpful to have a lightweight cushion or a small tripod stool. Good quality optics can be expensive, but keep in mind, the term, “You get what you pay for.” That’s painfully true when it comes to optics. However, you may not need a spotting scope, and I seldom carry one in my pack in the field. Several manufacturers make a doubler that attaches to your binoculars, increasing 15x binoculars to 30x magnification.

My family, hunting partners and I use a variety of optics, including Swarovski, Steiner, Vortex and Leopold. These provide clear, crisp images, have good light-gathering ability from dawn to dusk and provide a good field of view (FOV).

A rifle scope is not a glassing tool. A rifle scope is basically a monocular that provides a very small field of view. Mainly, 12

it poses a danger to other hunters. If you are looking through your rifle scope at another hunter, the barrel of the rifle is pointed directly at them. I have had this happen to me several times and it is a very unsettling feeling.

Keep your binoculars readily accessible at all times. One of the best ways to do this is to use a binocular harness.

In combination with a good pair of binoculars, consider using a small, portable tripod you can attach to your binoculars. I have glassed from a standing position or a sitting position, with my elbows braced on my knees and resting my arms on a backpack placed in front of me or leaning against a rock or tree. Once I have located a good glassing position, I now use a tripod for serious, long-term glassing. A tripod allows the binoculars to remain very steady, which makes it easier to see any movement in the field of view.

There are many makes and models of small portable tripods: Cabela’s, Bass Pro Shops and Sportsman’s Warehouse all sell good quality, portable tripods. Most weigh between one and two pounds. Some models fold to 12 inches and extend to 40 or 50 inches. You want a small, lightweight, compact tripod that is sturdy that you can carry with you.

Scanning Upon reaching a good glassing area, I typically scan the entire area first with my 10x Swarovskis. I do a fairly quick, overall scan, sometimes from a standing position. I do this from a standing position only when scanning close distances.

I look for anything that looks interesting or something that my eye tells me to take a closer look at. At times, an animal is standing in the open. Sometimes, you see only a leg, ear, back, an antler etc.

The glassing area Choosing a glassing area plays an important part in a successful hunt. Choose an area that provides a good overall view of the surrounding terrain. Only rarely will you have an

HIGH COUNTRY SPORTSMAN

Fall 2015

ideal 360-degree view. But find something that offers at least a 180-degree view or larger. A knob, a high ridge, an elevated rock pile generally make productive glassing spots. Try not to pick a spot where you’ll have to glass into the early morning or late afternoon. Sometimes, draping a towel or T-shirt over your head and binoculars will help eliminate glare.

When choosing an area to glass, remember the animals come in different sizes. A javelina or a bedded coues or mule deer buck, can be tough to spot. It may require glassing closer country to pick them up. You can see larger animals, such as elk and bear, at longer distances. Do not hesitate to glass longer distances.

When glassing, get as comfortable as possible. Use a cushioned seat pad or a small lightweight stool. The more comfortable you are the longer you can glass.

Glassing in a grid Glassing in a “grid pattern” enables you to completely cover the surrounding terrain and improves your chances of spotting the animal. The following method of gridding an area has worked well for my hunting partners and I over the years.

Use the grid pattern method for glassing out at far distances. (400 to 2,000-plus yards) Starting at the top of the slope, ridge or mountain, make eight to 10 imaginary sections or grids. Glass one grid at a time from left to right starting at the top. Glass thoroughly and slowly, looking at everything in the field of view. Look carefully for any movement; the flick of an ear or tail, an antler flash, an ear in the brush, the leg or rump of an animal, etc. Once you have finished one section of the grid, move your binoculars back to the left and glass the next

section down from left to right. If you do spot an animal, make a careful note of the location. Then identify a reference point such as a tree or rock, before backing off of the binoculars.

Once your eyes have picked apart all sections of the grid you established, glass the grid again in sections from top to bottom starting at the upper left.

What to look for when glassing Game animals are very good at concealing themselves in their home territory. They rely on their camouflage and survival skills. Successful hunters can distinguish the animal’s well-camouflaged body from the terrain. Granted, many animals stand out against a snow-covered landscape, but I have yet to see a fluorescent orange animal while scouting.

The key to glass success lies in concentration. Look through and into things such as thick brush, tall grass, rock piles, shade etc. Study anything that seems out of place. It’s actually fun and addicting. When you do spot an animal that was particularly difficult to glass up, it’s a rush!

The more you scout, hunt and glass, the more familiar you will become familiar with areas that are what I call “gamie” looking — a saddle, a bench, a thicket or a shady or sunny area. At times, you get a gut feeling you should be seeing more animals: pay attention to that feeling.

And while you’re out there, enjoy each and every hunt and hold close the memories made with family, friends and hunting partners.

Ernie Meeske is a veteran hunter with decades of experience in the field. He’s also a retired Department of Public Safety officer.

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Call of the horny

WILD

After a moment of silence, instinct overpowered the bulls and they Daylight slowly floodresponded simultaneoused the rocky clearing on ly. Their wicked, drawnupper Chase Creek. I out song told me their stood watching and lisdirection had changed. tening to the forest wake They sounded closer. I to life. Turkeys pounded waited quietly. Any call air in flight from their I would make might sell roost and squirrels began me out; tell the bulls I to scamper. am not an elk. Better to I gripped my string of plant a seed in their loins, cow calls in one hand and than to send a herd full a small elk bugle in the of manmade bleats and other. A camera hung on bugles into the forest. a strap around my neck.

Like dating, finesse is Morning mist rose key. through canyons below So I waited, hopeful the Mogollon Rim and the “ting” and “clank” of the bugling bull elk elk hooves on the gray gave the forest an eerie, limestone shards would Scottish Highland feel. soon echo through the Their sharp feminine, tree line across the clearwhine seemed ridicuing. lous for such a massive, Instead, the forest powerful creature: One fell all but silent. Only of Mother Nature’s dirty the soft morning breeze tricks I suppose, like the teased my ears. duckbill on a platypus.

Time to talk before They bugled again.

Photo courtesy of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service the bulls lose interest, I Sounding mature and purposeful, with a steady push from deep inside their chests decided after 10 minutes wait. I must choose my words carefully. To sound like a mature herd bull might send my quarries — opera singers with a mind for angry mating.

I found my calf call on the long string, blew it once — crashing away to the next canyon. My bugle must imitate quick, and sharp — then trotted 50 yards to my left and a young, fresh bull, one steaming with overconfidence, yet easily beaten. answered myself with a mature cow bleat.

BY DENNY HARGER

14

HIGH COUNTRY SPORTSMAN

Fall 2015

I trotted 50 yards to my right and Nervous sweat drenched my hat. blew my little elk bugle soft, short If they didn’t clash somewhere in the and clear, with a mild up swing at the clearing, I’d have them in my lap. end. Perfect, I thought, just as I had Two raging, rutting, 800-pound bulls practiced at home when I triggered thinking I am a cow elk ... no thanks. every barking dog in my neighborThey met like a car crash. hood.

Stomping, thrusting and urinating Rushing back, I answered my own wildly on rocks, trees and each other. bugle with a single, cow-in-estrus Antlers locked, they rammed, heaved call. A long fluttering bleat that says and twisted while I clicked, focused “I’m ready, take me now.” and zoomed. Finally, one overpowThe ridge across the grassy clearered the other and they broke free. ing came to life. Limestone clanked, They paused a moment, I could branches snapped, and both bulls count points on their antlers. One, screamed long, psychotic trumpets, a six-by-seven with bulging front as if fiery ghosts rode on their backs. shoulders and a rump like a plow If they kept coming, they would meet horse. each other in the pine trees on the The other, a smaller, five-by-five, other side of the clearing ... perfect. suffered a wound on his neck. Blood The wind shifted into my face and flowed over his chest, down his front brought the musk of rutting bulls. legs and into the dirt. He trembled A large stick lay close; I grabbed like a defeated gladiator on a dirt Photo courtesy of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service arena in Rome. Then he limped away it and smashed it against the nearest tree several times to imitate a bull toward the safety of the manzanita thrashing branches with his antlers. patch on the ridge.

Another quick blow on my bull bugle, followed by estrus Suddenly, cows and calves came from the canyon behind cow chatter, brought the impious, lustful bulls charging from me. The lead cow moaned the long, wanting, estrus call — the ridge. One came from forward right and the other, forward telling the winner that she was ready. The two had their time left. They would meet a hundred yards in front of me. together in the forest as I snuck away ... blushing.

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HIGH COUNTRY SPORTSMAN

15

Women discover hidden joys of hunting

BY HEATHER STROOPS

Photo courtesy of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

Hunting isn’t just for boys anymore; countless women are taking up the sport. A woman can hunt if the desire is there.

My dad always said girls are better shots because they’re more patient and less excitable. They listen more carefully and try to understand instruction.

Women have taken up hunting for many reasons, including finding more healthy food sources, great exercise, conservation, survival, self-fulfillment, strength and empowerment.

That applies even to bow hunting for its added challenge and close proximity with nature. Let’s be honest, coming face to face with a bull elk screaming at you in rut is something you will remember the rest of your life.

My father started taking me hunting and fishing when I was 3 and the outdoors have always been a huge part of my upbringing. I remember my dad pulling up to the house on a cold snowy evening with a nice buck he had shot that afternoon. That’s when I started counting down the days until I was old enough to go with him. Now that I am grown, I have so many wonderful memories of hunts we have been on together.

Dad and I still hunt together and I now enjoy the sport with my husband. You know the old saying, “A couple who plays together stays together.”

For some of you ladies on the fence about hunting, if your husbands are diehard sportsmen, give it a shot. You may find out why your spouse and so many men are passionate about hunting — and you may get hooked as well. If it turns out hunting is not your thing, at least you tried it and your hus16

band will surely enjoy sharing one of his greatest interests with you. There is nothing like spending time in the woods with loved ones, even if it isn’t hunting, it may just be sitting on a mountainside quietly glassing elk in the distance or finding a hidden waterhole that may bring in that big buck during your next hunt. I hope to pass this wonderful tradition on to my boys when they are old enough to hunt with me.

I believe that women who hunt and fish are more mentally stable and suffer from fewer emotional stressors. Spending that time in the woods is calming. It somehow clears your mind of day-to-day worries. The outdoor women I’ve known tend to be more fun because they’re level-headed when it comes to everyday life, well-rounded and much easier going in general. Let’s face it; harvesting your own game is also a much cheaper way to get organic meat than shopping at Trader Joe’s.

Moreover, hunting instills a sense of self-confidence in knowing that you are providing food for your family at the end of the day.

Hunting has also become fashionable these days, with clothing now geared specifically toward women. Girls that hunt are a stereotype-buster as well. There’s nothing “girly” about the stench of doe urine, properly loading and firing a weapon and packing out your game. Show somebody a photo of yourself holding up a turkey and suddenly their judgment of that dress and high heels you’re wearing has become obsolete.

I think the best way to get into hunting is all in the intro-

HIGH COUNTRY SPORTSMAN

Fall 2015

duction, recognizing safety and enjoyment should be first priorities. Watch hunting videos, read articles about hunting, go to the shooting range and learn safe handling techniques.

Take plenty of opportunities to get familiar with guns or bows. Talk with other hunters. Trust me, most men are more than willing to give a pretty girl advice when it comes to hunting.

When you do finally have the chance to go out in the field, make sure you have proper clothing and materials to have the best outdoors experience possible. Don’t wind up miserable as you freeze your butt off or get all the way to your stand before discovering you forgot your release or ammo.

Learn the lay of the land and try to scout areas before your hunt so you can increase your chances for success.

Half the fun of a hunt is preparing for it by getting out into the woods to hike and glass for good game areas.

Another fun way to practice your accuracy with a bow or gun is to make it a challenge by competing with your husband or friend. You can even buy a judo tip for your arrow and walk around the woods shooting at pinecones and stumps, guessing at the yardage to prepare

yourself for when that bull elk is in close proximity on opening morning.

For those with little girls, start them off as early as possible. It doesn’t only have to be about the hunting process but also a love of shooting sports. A gun or bow offer instant gratification when you hit the target. Young girls might forget their first doll, but they will never forget their first deer.

For me, hunting isn’t a word; it’s the last light hitting the treetops and the smell of leaves in the fall, the piercing sound of a bugling elk echoing down the canyon. It’s the solo hike in the predawn darkness as you head to your tree stand with the brisk air kissing your face. It’s the sweet taste of wild blackberries, the fluffy snowflakes falling onto a cold gun barrel, the hummingbird landing on your arrow’s fletch and the smell of damp wool at the end of day’s hunt. It’s the Photo by Pete Aleshire rapid heartbeat as a buck gracefully moves through the woods and the “fuummp” sound of an arrow’s release. It’s the packing out, butchering and getting the game from the woods to your table. In short, hunting is being there, it’s experiencing all that nature has to offer.

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HIGH COUNTRY SPORTSMAN

17

Hunting Technology: Good or bad?

BY DEAN PEDERSON

Photo courtesy of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

It was 1968 in northern Arizona and I’d been bitten by the “big buck” bug after two successful hunts north of the Grand Canyon.

A friend of mine asked me if I’d be interested in a project that would have me scouting the Arizona strip. I had heard of the strip, a large area of uninhabited land north of the Grand Canyon, because of a man named Ted Riggs, a trapper in Kanab, Utah. Ted had killed some monster deer in that area and the heads adorned the walls of establishments on the Arizona/Utah border. Every time I got close to Fredonia and Kanab, I would stop in just to admire the huge mule deer mounts. When I was asked to join in this project, I enthusiastically agreed.

The plan was to fly a small plane to Fredonia, where we would drive to meet up with the pilot bringing extra fuel. This trip was 273 miles and took the better part of a day to travel by land. For two days, we flew the small aircraft along the north edge of the canyon — looking mostly for waterholes that did not have roads leading to them. We found just such a waterhole on the edge of Kanab Creek that had little or no traffic to it because of the grass growing over the road making it a hidden treasure.

Two weeks later, we drove to the tank and were amazed at the sheer number and size of the deer tracks. The next four years we made our annual trek into the tank and surrounding area, harvesting some of the largest deer I have ever seen.

Many of those deer were record book trophies. That was the golden age of hunting in Arizona.

What does this story have to do with technology?

In the “old days,” our technology consisted of a compass, 18

cheap binoculars and rifles with small scopes. The rifles could only shoot 300 yards at best. Regardless, we would venture out before daylight with a tin of Spam and a quart of water.

The Spam was to eat only if we got desperate. During our days of hunting, we would see large numbers of deer. We knew we had the chance to harvest a monster deer. I can’t tell you how excited we were for daybreak each morning. Going to the strip in those days felt like what going to Africa would feel like today. Our 1950s communication with the outside world ended once we left town. Amazingly, this was only 47 years ago.

In the 1960s, I first heard of computers. I can remember reading about a machine as big as a whole room and that would store information as fast as you could put it in. I remember thinking, what good is that? You can’t carry around a whole room. Little did I know how that machine was going to affect my simple, country life.

Fast forward to 2015. Technology has emerged in our work, homes, and even in the outdoors. Remember that trip to Fredonia that took three days to pull off — using trucks and airplanes to cover hundreds of miles on foot? Today, I can do the same thing by pulling up Google Earth on my computer while sitting in my underwear, drinking coffee in my air conditioned and heated home. After I have found a likely spot on Google Earth, I can mark it on my GPS unit.

From my computer, I can look at the tank, and see how to get to the spot within 50 feet. I can also print a map of the area, see the direction of the wind and scroll to see the sun’s rise and fall and how the shade will affect the waterhole. I can tilt the image to see the terrain and determine the highest place to

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Fall 2015

set up my 15-power binoculars, which are capable of seeing a deer at five miles, or to use my 15x60 power spotting scope to look at the minute details of the deer and his antlers.

When I hike into my hidden location to place a trail camera, it’s not uncommon for me to find one or more cameras already on site capturing images. If it’s a place that has cell service I can have the images caught on the camera automatically sent to my phone or home computer. When the big buck comes in to drink, he’s an instant movie star — not only on my camera, but on all those other cameras trained on that area. Instantly, I believe he is exclusively mine since I’ve named him “Big Freaky.” I just have to convince the other hunters that since I named him, he’s mine. These negotiations sometimes become heated.

On the day of the hunt, me and several friends armed with two-way radios and cellphones take our positions at our pre-determined vantage points and look for Big Freaky. As the sun rises, we discover many people have the same goal, with equally good observation points. Obviously, they were not convinced that since I named him, Freaky is mine. I think I still have an edge, since as I have a long-range rifle that can shoot up to 1,000 yards. Sadly, so does everyone else. But I’m counting on my portable ballistics calculator to factor in altitude and wind corrections. Surely, I am the most prepared and have the best technology. Then I hear the sound of a rifle cracking the morning’s silence. My heart sinks.

As you are reading this, someone is creating new and better technology and my investments will soon be outdated.

Some will say that using technology isn’t ethical. The earliest

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cave paintings in France depict early man hunting with sticks and spears. When the first bow and arrow was developed, it must have offered a huge advantage. Hunters no doubt talked about in caves and around waterholes, just as my friends and I discuss new bows and binoculars today.

My story about Big Freaky was about only one deer and the many people hunting and enjoying the experience.

Technology allows many people to hunt in real time, whether they are the hunter, the spotter or family members enjoying each other’s company at deer camp. Watching a hunt through my binoculars or spotting scope, for me, is just as exciting as being the one filling their tag. The advantage of hunting this way is that numerous people can be involved with the hunt from many different aspects. Our draw process for tags exemplifies this as very few people get permits to hunt, so when you or someone you know gets drawn for a particular hunt, you can involve your entire family and friends to be part of the excitement.

We are fortunate to live in a state that has 80 percent public lands. We have to be conscious of the decisions that are made politically and environmentally, so we can meet the needs of all people interested in enjoying the public lands. Be responsible, be respectful, and be thankful for our opportunities to enjoy the great outdoors. We can’t turn back the pages of time. Like everything else in life, it’s hard to keep up with the ever-changing world. Choose your path whether you embrace technology or the past and enjoy our freedom and hunting heritage.

I have to go now. I have elk burgers on the grill.

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19

Smell no evil

Question: Can you really de-scent a human being?

BY DENNY HARGER

November archery elk hunts under the Mogollon Rim are tough. The tags are easy to draw, but most hunters end the hunt baffled, frustrated and unwilling to apply for such a disastrous hunt again. A few of us elkaholics choose emotional abuse at the hand of Mother Nature rather than no hunt at all. We get a tag nearly every year.

While experiencing 17 years of these two-week hunts, I’ve learned secrets about our woods.

November is usually a dry month; our forest is crunchy and loud, making it impossible to sneak up on anything. Post rut elk go mostly nocturnal, lie still, and quiet in thick cover all day. Often the only chance to catch them moving is during the cold dusk and even colder dawn. We must learn where they will be and be there first ... waiting.

There I sat, in my elk blind, texting my sister. Suddenly, elk filed into the cubbyhole-sized canyon where my pile of sticks and length of camouflage cloth barely concealed me.

My phone in my hands and my longbow hanging on a tree, I sat on a bucket expecting to wait until the shadows grew long and the temperature fell. I was wrong.

My thumbs pinned to the touch screen. I couldn’t move, afraid to even breathe for fear they would see my shoulders rise and fall. They kept coming, cows, bulls and calves, one 20

after another. I felt like a bank robber trapped in a vault, eventually they’re going to bust me. If I reached for my bow, the whole forest would erupt into a stampede of tree-crashing giants who would likely suck the wind from my lungs as they left. No, I must sit perfectly still and not breathe.

I could only hope for tomorrow. If I didn’t spook them, they might come back and I wouldn’t be texting.

Some moved to within 15 yards. I thought they should smell me. I had done everything I could to eliminate all human odors, but until that moment doubted you could ever really de-scent a human. Keeping my sterile camouflage clothing in huge Ziploc bags is easy enough. But November mornings are cold and standing in the dark forest in my underwear spraying wet scent elimination spray all over my Photo courtesy of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service body followed by the donning of freshly sprayed camos always seemed nutty to me.

The hunter’s body soaps and scent elimination sprays suck the moisture from our skin. My wife tells me, “No! You’re a lizard.” Bow hunting is a lonely game. I’ve taken several elk with a bow, all under 30 yards distance and all before my boss bought me a phone capable of texting.

Still, they browsed ever closer, crunching, chewing in

HIGH COUNTRY SPORTSMAN

Fall 2015

my ear. I closed my eyes for fear they would recognize the whites or see me blink. One stood broadside at five yards, I expected her hoof to strike and send me sailing through the wall of my blind any second. Instead, she just ate, as if I wasn’t even there, no evil at all. If not for my newfound desire for the keypad, she’d have a broadhead lodged in her chest. Inside myself, where no one could see, I shook my head in disgust.

Pine needles and tiny granite shards crunched outside the front of my blind, just feet away. Then sniffs and awful breath filled the tiny circle of sticks and bark. I couldn’t help myself, I had to peek through a slightly cracked eyelid. I couldn’t see past the two huge nostrils in front of my face. She snorted and sprayed my face with elk yuck. Then walked away and picked oak leaves from a nearby tree. My early morning stink repelling routine seemed slightly saner, but I needed a hankie.

Twenty minutes passed while the herd peacefully grazed, and drank from the waterhole 26 yards away. My muscles cramped from constant tension and super shallow breathing.

The crunching moved away and I opened my eyes. The herd lingered at 50 yards, waiting for one cow still drinking. I took a huge breath and took up my longbow.

I promptly loosed an arrow over the back of the drinking cow, into a pile of boulders. “clang, crang, crack, crash!” the forest exploded into something like a desert bomb tes ... yep, they sucked the air right out of my lungs.

Tips on de-scenting your body • Often, game animals don’t smell humans at all.

They smell our personal hygiene products. Stop using everyday shampoos, soaps and deodorants a week before opening day. Use only scent-free products designed for scent elimination.

•

Wash all clothes in scent eliminating laundry detergent. Use only a scent-free dryer sheet, better yet, no dryer sheet at all. Take them directly from the dryer into a large Ziploc bag. Even then, clothing still isn’t scent free.

Spray all clothing with scent elimination spray when getting dressed in the forest.

•

If you have dogs and you walk through your house dressed in camo, they’re ruined, wash them again. Elk and deer hate dogs. Same goes for truck seats — they smell like people.

• Wearing camos into Walmart or a convenience store ruins them. Wash them again.

• I prefer to smell like nothing at all, rather than a foreign elk, foreign apple, or foreign skunk. Elk and deer know the difference.

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HIGH COUNTRY SPORTSMAN

21

Seasons of Hunting

BY TRISH ILES

Photos courtesy of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

22

HIGH COUNTRY SPORTSMAN

Thirty years of hunting in Arizona has taught me that a hunting lifestyle has seasons of change. Other relationships in our lives develop and adjust over time, and my relationship with the wild has done the same thing.

It’s been love and it’s been hate; it can be a comfort that makes me feel at peace and it can be a struggle that makes me wonder why I even got out of my pajamas that day.

Fall 2015

I started hunting for the same reason I suppose many young women do: my husband was an avid hunter, we were newlyweds and I wanted to impress him. He must have been impressed by how easily he could out-walk me and he was surely impressed by the size of the blisters I got from my ill-fitting boots. Those blisters sure made an impression on me.

The first harvested animal that came into our life was an elk in 1986. We were young and starting out and I was still trying to figure out how to get three dinners out of one chicken, so a freezer full of meat was a godsend. When we could afford to have a game processor take care of our animals, we did that.

When we couldn’t afford it, we packaged our own. That always added an element of surprise to the cooking for the next year, because neither one of us knows anything about processing an animal. Those years, the labels on the packages would have made a butcher laugh: we didn’t know what to call the cuts so we named them things like “good steaks.”

There would be plenty of stew meat and lots of ground meat, but not a proper name on anything else.

When our sons came along, there was a new appreciation for what hunting meant to our family. I wanted my children to understand where their food came from and I wanted them to have open minds about food. That might have worked better than I planned, since neither of them is afraid to eat liver, heart, gizzards: things I won’t touch.

For me, hunting has always been about food procurement, fair chase, primal skills, back to nature and the nearest thing to self-sufficiency a town dweller might find. I know it means other things to other people. At the most basic level for all hunters, I hope, is a profound respect for the animal. There is always that moment for me, when I first walk up to an animal I’ve bagged; it’s a moment of honoring the animal and the tradition of hunting. It is a moment of a uniquely humble kind of pride, and a moment of sorrow ... touched with victory.

It circles back around. I still try always to harvest my animals with one shot, but that is to make the process as Fall 2015

humane as possible, more than making my husband proud.

I still want to make my husband proud, but now I want to do that by not having to rest too many times when I’m trying to drag my middle-aged bottom up the hill. I want to feed my family.

Now I get more pleasure out of wowing friends with my elk chorizo than the size of the antlers.

When work is stressful or life is a struggle, sitting quietly on a hillside with a tag in your pocket can be a wonderful remedy.

It can be meditative and restorative.

Unless, of course, I do happen to fill my tag and then it’s a lot of work ... rewarding work, yes, but a lot of work.

Photo courtesy of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Through the years, our family has harvested and eaten elk, deer, turkey, bison, bear and javelina.

My best guess is that I have cooked somewhere around 4,800 meals out of game meat. In the beginning, I was mildly suspicious of wild meat and cooked it almost beyond recognition.

I tried all kinds of marinades and tenderizers and spent too much time in trying to make game meat into something it would never be. Believe me, no matter what you do, you cannot make elk burger taste like chicken. I finally relaxed and learned to let the wild meat be what it was. It doesn’t have to have a sauce, a soak or a smoke. All those things are good, but not always required. I have corned elk and canned elk and crock-potted it. We’ve made sausage and jerky, and we’ve made enough burgers over the years to shingle the house.

In those many years of eating game meat, I must admit I had a spell where I was just sick of it. I was out of ideas, tired of red meat and daydreaming about finding some kind of a big wild chicken we could hunt. The spell didn’t last for very long, but I still wish there was a big wild chicken we could add to our menu.

The children grew up and moved away. I grew up, too, and I came back. Back to hunting as a way to eat lean, high-quality protein that supports my incredibly-good cholesterol, which I can attribute to 30 years of eating wild. Back to a place of lower stress, a simpler life and an opportunity to sit in the pink morning light and just breathe.

HIGH COUNTRY SPORTSMAN

23

Life looks different from atop a treestand

BY DENNIS PIRCH

Photo courtesy of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

No doubt about it: Life looks different strapped into a treestand 20 feet above the ground.

On one recent archery hunt, my nephew, Jeff, resolved to climb the stand with me so he could learn more about the outdoors and the hunting experience. We found the right location and the perfect tree, so we proceeded to hang the apparatus approximately 15 feet off the ground with a couple of straps that hopefully would hold this aging senior citizen. I climbed onto the stand to make sure everything was just right for viewing, without crippling me after a couple of hours of sitting and waiting.

As I was peering down from my lofty perch, I noticed Jeff’s look of amazement. “Are you really going to sit up there all day? What are you going to do to occupy your time?” he asked.

Guess what — no iPods, MP3 players, cellphones or any other distraction.

That got me thinking: “Why do I sit for hours, far above the ground, cramped and cold?”

Quite honestly, I enjoy the noise of silence in the woods. So much activity in the woods goes completely unnoticed by most folks on a stroll through the timber. The chirp of a bird, the flutter of a wing, the chatter of a squirrel, or the step of a deer or elk on a game trail are just a few of the noises I’ve memorized.

Sitting far above the forest floor creates a different perspective — a “bird’s-eye view” of all the different trees, the landscape, and the many species of animals. I can hardly keep up with all the things to notice, sitting motionless in a treestand — my ultimate MAN-CAVE moment.

When the stillness is broken by the step of an elk in a creek bed or an antler tine breaking a branch, all my senses snap to attention. The excitement of seeing the quarry and the chance of letting an arrow fly raises my adrenalin level to high-alert mode and I remember why I am in this treestand.

The hours of practice and the days of preparation can come to completion with the sound of a bowstring and the release of an arrow. The silence of the woods is broken momentarily, but the silence will return in just a minute or two.

Hunters have savored that moment since our forefathers got off the boat more than 400 years ago. It is not for everyone, and that is OK. However, it is a right and a privilege that should remain constant in our great country.

24

HIGH COUNTRY SPORTSMAN

Fall 2015

The billion-dollar business

BY KURT R. DAVIS

CHAIRMAN ARIZONA GAME AND FISH COMMISSION

Hunting and angling are more than just outdoor sports in Arizona. Their economic impact is downright staggering.

As the new chairman of the Arizona Game and Fish Commission, I want more Arizonans to understand and appreciate the fact that the state’s hunters and anglers represent an economic powerhouse and a job driver, with spending that exceeds $1.2 billion per year. Arizona’s 269,000 hunters and 637,000 anglers — that’s one out of every seven residents-are enough to fill every seat at Wildcat Stadium, the Walkup Skydome, Sun Devil Stadium, Chase Field and University of Phoenix Stadium more than three times.

Plain and simple, it’s a constituency that deserves more credit and recognition for being a major driver of the state’s economy. That $1.2 billion annual figure is almost twice as much as the impressive $719 million economic impact of this year’s Super Bowl, Pro Bowl and related events throughout the Valley. The economic impacts generated by Cactus League spring training baseball ($632 million) and Waste Management Phoenix Open ($222 million) in 2012 pale in comparison. Those events are fantastic, but the point is: outdoorsmen and women are in a league by themselves.

If money talks, here are more reasons to listen. According to the latest report by the Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation: Arizona hunters and anglers support 18,200 jobs, ranking just behind the state’s two largest employers, Banner Health (38,527) and Walmart Stores Inc. (30,000), and ahead of Kroger Co. (16,856).

Those 18,200 jobs generate $699 million in salaries and wages.

As a result, $131 million in state and local taxes, and another $156 million in federal taxes, are collected annually.

The annual spending by hunters and anglers fills small and large business cash registers — and state and local government tax coffers — from one end of the state to the other, particularly in our rural communities. When the big-game Fall 2015

seasons begin in the high country, the words “Welcome Hunters” will be spelled out on small-town motel marquees.

Restaurants will be packed. Businesses will hang banners and signs offering special deals for hunters. The Yuma Visitors Bureau estimates that dove hunting — which will draw thousands of wing-shooters to the Yuma area when the season opens Sept. 1 — generates an economic impact of between $2 million and $5 million annually.

Angling is an even bigger economic driver, generating almost $900 million in retail sales and supporting more than 12,000 jobs. A perfect example: On March 4, 2015, the Arizona Game and Fish Department, in cooperation with Mohave County and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, executed agreements to restore the stocking of rainbow trout at Willow Beach National Fish Hatchery, along the Colorado River south of Hoover Dam. I’m proud to say the hatchery is associated with nearly 1,700 jobs in Mohave County and nearly $75 million in economic output.

This is great news, not only for Arizona’s economy but for our diverse wildlife. This year marks the 78th anniversary of the Wildlife and Sport Fish Restoration programs, which direct excise taxes on the sale of hunting and fishing equipment, as well as fees for licenses and stamps, toward conservation. Bottom line, without the hunters and anglers who support conservation, outdoor recreational opportunities would not be what they are today, our state and local governments couldn’t afford to provide critical services and Arizona’s more than 800 species of wildlife wouldn’t be conserved.

Arizona’s hunters and anglers — and I proudly count myself among them — spend big money on everything from shotguns, fishing tackle and boats to groceries, hotel rooms and gasoline. They deserve credit for creating thousands of jobs and keeping rural Arizona’s cash registers humming and for being the very backbone of conservation.

Money well spent, I say. So thank a hunter or angler today for all they do for our state’s economy.

Kurt R. Davis of Phoenix is chairman of the Arizona Game and Fish Commission.

HIGH COUNTRY SPORTSMAN

29

My bear

BY BECKY SMITH

Photo courtesy of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

The target practices began in late August. I would trudge across the dry, upturned earth of the rifle range, struggling to keep up with Dad’s tremendous stride. We would adjust the targets, walk back, position and then shoot. I stayed grim and focused in the hot, late summer sun, while Dad squinted and told me where I would need to hit the bear.

A week before my hunt, we began reading Faulkner’s “The Bear” in my English class. Like Faulkner’s story, my hunt would be about coming of age; however, more importantly, my hunt was about consecrating a strong bridge of admiration, duty, and communication between me and my father.

The hunt began in early evening at the foot of what Dad called a hill. The terrain was rocky, covered with sparse, dry grass and an occasional patch of prickly pear cactus. The pears were ripe and that, of course, was why we were there. We hiked until sundown. I struggled to keep up with Dad’s furious pace and tried to ignore the weight of the rifle boring into my shoulder. Dad glanced over his shoulder, beaming.

I hadn’t complained once. My strength of character at stake, I wheezed that I was OK. I felt like I was going to die, but I still couldn’t conceal how proud I was just to be with him.

When we reached the mountain top, the bear was across the wash from us. When Dad turned to me, I firmly said, “I’ll take him,” then paled at my words. We crept down the mountainside until we were directly across from the bear, close enough to hear him crunching the prickly pears in his jaws. He was huge. His massive back was turned to me as he hovered over the ripe pears. He deftly tore the fruit from the cactus and ate it standing upright.

My first shot hit the ground under him, and he humped up in anger and confusion. I felt my lips tighten; I didn’t look up. Dad mutely reloaded my gun, handing it back. I shot again, hitting the bear broadside behind his shoulder. In his last conscious minutes, his blurred gaze found mine and our eyes locked. He struggled to drag himself toward me on his front legs. His eyes were narrowed, black and opaque. I froze, not breathing, as he struggled down the hill, wasting his last ebb of life in a futile effort to get to me.

In the cold mountain shadow, we skinned and fleshed the hide. Dad marveled at the size of the hide while I stood removed, dreaming on the mountain side, feeling ancient and wild.

My hands smelled of bear fat, the way an Algonquin’s braids would have smelled. I wiped my hands on my pants. Then I shouldered my gun and headed down the mountain. Stumbling in the dark, I smiled, knowing that this was the stuff of legend. Dad paused to wait for me at the foot of the hill and we walked back to the truck, talking man to man.

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American history is rich with hunting tales, a very part exceeds sustainable take of wildlife, which has led to our of the fabric of our heritage. A pastime we once shared with draw-permit system. pride, is now hidden by those afraid of a loss in record sales State agencies are faced with a myriad of problems with or unkindly reviews. Some seek legitimacy through conser- new management issues as we balance the quantity of game vation in hopes of reconciliation with those who oppose the against the quality of the experience. sport.

Modern mechanization has increased the hunters’ take.

I suspect those that love to But at what point does it become hunt are born. unethical?

I’ve jotted down a few thoughts We face many difficult quesintended to make the reader think. tions, which will define hunting Hope you enjoy. in the near future.

Early Native Americans huntWhat’s the balance between ed to survive. I suspect that subpredator species and the species sistence strongly outweighed any they prey on? What happens sense of sport. One early killing when we must choose between technique was to set fires to drive elk and wolves, between sheep herds of buffalo over cliffs. and lions? And where do hunters After the acquisition of horses fit into that balance? from the Spaniards, many tribes Should federal rules intrude on grew adept at spearing and/or the efforts of the states to manage

BY STEVE SMITH shooting arrows into running buftheir own wildlife? falo from horseback. This might Clearly, we have a lot to talk have been the first crossover about – and some hard decisions in America into sport hunting. to make.

Individuals were exalted and tribMany of us simply grew up al customs rewarded great huntwith hunting, like breathing. ers.

Hunting was a part of my Meriwether Lewis noted in his education. As a child, the huntjournal in 1804, “in all probabilers in my life promoted rugged ity without the hunting skill of individualism and self-reliance.

George Drovillard the expedition I grew up quickly when I began would have failed.” to understand the reality and bruHere again, subsistence drove tality of natural law. The world the hunt. of tooth, fang and claw offer no In contrast, George Washing­ time outs, no do-overs. I learned ton, the father of our country, that persistence and hard work maintained and hunted with a create luck. pack of fox hounds.

I learned there was both beauTeddy Roosevelt stated, “there ty and death in dark canyons. can be no healthier or exciting Historically, hunting has been pastime than that of following big a male-dominated pastime. In game with horse and hound.” the last 10 years, I’ve noticed a In his time, there were no seagrowing number of women have sons or bag limits. But the extincentered the arena. I taught my tion of the passenger pigeon and own daughter to hunt – includnear-extinction of the buffalo ing the hunt she talks about here spawned the conservation movewhen she was 14. We had just ment. moved to Payson to enroll her in Some might argue it started at public schools. Before then, she a dinner party hosted by Teddy had been home schooled on a Roosevelt. George Grinnell remote ranch, so the move was a encouraged the President to form pivotal point in her life. a conservation club of sportsman By the way, Becky Jo Smith’s and the Boone Crockett Club was born. George Grinnell was bear is duly recorded in AZ Record Book: the biggest bear in pivotal in saving the American bison.

Arizona killed by a woman.

Let’s fast forward to today when only 20 percent of the American population participates in hunting as a sport.

Steve Smith is a lifelong outdoorsman and hunting guide.

Although subsistence still has a small place among Rim He has long specialized in hunting bears and mountain lions Country’s pioneer stock, mostly the demand for hunting with hounds. He is the author of “A field study of scent.”

Hunting has changed with the culture

Fall 2015

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Rules of the (off-)road

BY PETE ALESHIRE The long, confusing effort to protect millions of acres of federal lands from the impact of uncontrolled, off-road travel has created many uncertainties for hunters, anglers and other outdoor enthusiasts.

The good news: Most forests allow hunters to drive cross-country with ORVs to retrieve game animals they’ve killed.

The bad news: The rules tend to vary from forest to forest — including how far they’ve come in adopting the new rules and what special exemptions they offer for hunters retrieving game.

The Coconino National Forest stretching from the Grand Canyon to the edge of the Mogollon Rim and Highway 260 seems have done the best job of coming up with a plan – and providing maps in many forms to guide off-roaders to the open roads.

However, the Coconino also has lousy rules when it comes to big game retrieval. The rules allow cross country travel only for elk – and not in all game units. The rules make no provision for driving cross-country to retrieve deer.

On the other hand, the Tonto National Forest has lagged

Effort to limit off-road impacts spawns confusion

32

years behind most of the other forests. It has spent years studying, proposing, reconsidering, restudying and reproposing – and still doesn’t have rules in place. However, on the plus side – the draft rules under consideration would allow cross-country travel to retrieve any game for hunters with a valid permit.

Arizona Game and Fish issued a list of concerns with the confusing chatter of off-roading rules – especially for hunters.

The advisory urged hunters and other outdoor enthusiasts to check with whichever forest they plan to travel through to get maps and a summary of the rules – which vary greatly from one forest to the next.

The statement said: “Because various Travel Management Rules are inconsistent, Game and Fish guidelines encourage its wildlife officers to exercise discretion and promote education when appropriate. Whether a Game and Fish wildlife officer takes enforcement action will depend on the circumstances, and could include providing education, giving a written or verbal warning, or issuing a citation. Some of the situations where travel management rules and restrictions might cause confusion include: Motorized retrieval of big game. The restrictions on motorized retrieval of legally taken big game vary by forest and species.

Dispersed camping. Restrictions on dispersed camping are also inconsistent and confusing, ranging from prohibited in some forests to permissible within 300 feet of a designated travel route in other forests.

HIGH COUNTRY SPORTSMAN

Fall 2015

Road closures, signage and barriers. Road closures and route designations also vary by forest. Some roads remain open unless signed closed, some are closed unless signed open, some are designated “Administrative Use Only,” and some are closed in one forest yet open in an adjacent forest.”

The statement noted that Game and Fish has tried in vain for the past decade to convince the Forest Service to adopt a single, uniform set of rules so hunters and others will know what to do.

“Despite the best efforts of Arizona Game and Fish, the various forests in the state have failed to adopt a consistent approach to travel management,” the statement concluded.

The Tonto National Forest offers a case study in confusion and delay, with the process stretching on for years.

In the most recent proposal on which it’s still seeking comments, the Forest would limit off-road vehicles to roughly 3,700 miles of dirt roads and user-created trails. This proposal overhauled maps first released in 2009.

The new preferred plan would add about 300 miles of trails to the system, but would shut off about 1,300 miles of existing trails. It would bar all other cross-country travel, except for hunters within a certain distance of an established road trying to retrieve game harvested.

Currently, people can drive off-road virtually anywhere in the Payson and Pleasant Valley ranger districts.

Off-road vehicle use has roughly tripled in the past decade and the Tonto National Forest has about one million off-roaders annually, making it the most heavily used forest in the country.

The preferred plan would leave 1,340 miles of dirt roads and 2,230 miles of motorized trails open to public use and another 500 miles open to use by the Forest Service and Arizona Game and Fish Depart­ ment. It would designate 6,790 acres for continued cross-country travel — including about 4,500 acres between the high water line and the shoreline of Roosevelt Lake. Off-roaders could drive freely all around the shore of the lake without staying on trails. The plan would also leave wide open another area in Sycamore Canyon between Phoenix and Payson.

The plan includes another 116,000 acres open to cross-country travel with a permit, most of them on the outskirts of Phoenix and Mesa.

The plan would allow hunters to drive up to a mile off designated roads to retrieve the bodies of elk and deer they have shot. That would open another 1.2 million acres to cross-country travel for hunters.

Campers could drive up to 100 feet off a designated road to find a campsite. People looking for firewood could drive into the forest for 300 feet on either side of a road to gather wood.

The plan would add about 330 miles of currently unauthorized roads and trails to the official system — mostly pathways created by users themselves. This would leave open 4,133 miles of roads and trails.

In one telling section of the report, the Forest Service admits it only budgets about one-quarter of the money it needs to actually maintain the existing road system. While the report concludes closing down some roads will reduce the shortfall.

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Careless handling can make trophy mount nearly impossible

Keep it cool keep it clean

BY CLAY GOLDMAN

OWNER OF MOGOLLON TAXIDERMY

You have drawn a great tag, put in countless hours scouting and before you know it the hunt is over with your trophy on the ground. Here’s where road to a quality taxidermy mount begins.

The hunter’s next few moves can have a big impact. I have been in the taxidermy business for many years and have seen a lot issues that could have been avoided with proper field care.

The number one mistake remains failure to prevent spoilage. The moment the animal is deceased, spoilage begins as bacteria break down the tissues, including the layer of skin that contains the hair follicles. As the bacteria breaks down this layer of skin, the hair will begin to “slip” or fall out. Once this starts, no taxidermist can save that skin.

The warmer the weather, the faster the skin will spoil.

On an early hunt in Arizona, skin the animal immediately. I suggest to hunters to carry a thin piece of plastic to lay the animal on for skinning if they can’t hang it. This will keep the skin and the meat clean. Once the skin or cape is off of the animal, lay it out with the flesh side up in the shade for just a few minutes to let the heat escape. After the heat has left the skin fold it flesh on flesh so 34

it does not air dry. Many hunters fold up the skin without letting the heat out, which causes it to spoil from the inside out. The hair is an excellent insulator and holds the heat inside the hide even in cool or cold weather.

Place smaller animals such as deer and antelope in an ice chest with ice, but keep the skin dry with plastic between the skin and ice, as moisture will facilitate the growth of the bacteria that spoils a hide. Dry Ice works well in an ice chest if it is available. If you place the skin and head in a plastic bag, keep the top of the bag open so the bag does not hold heat inside.

Do not salt a cape or skin unless it has been fully fleshed of all meat and

the ears, eyes, nose and lips have all been turned and fleshed. If the hunter doesn’t have the knowledge to do this, leave it up to your taxidermist. I often see hunters with the entire animal carcass with the skin still on in the back of a pickup in the sun. This will spoil both the skin and the meat.

Once the animal is skinned and you leave the field, deliver it to your taxidermist as soon as possible. If forced to delay delivery, make arrangements to get it into a freezer. The frozen skin will last many weeks, but a cooler or ice chest will only slow down the process.

Many hunters also make a mistake by not leaving enough skin for a mount or making the skinning incisions in the

HIGH COUNTRY SPORTSMAN

Fall 2015

wrong places. A good rule of thumb etc. Each of these different types of is to leave all of the skin from the mounts has its own skinning method. middle of the body forward and from Check with your taxidermist before the front knees up for the taxidermist. leaving for your hunt.

Your taxidermist can trim off the When delivering your animal to the excess, but can’t replace what is not taxidermist, attach your tag in comthere. pliance with the rules of the Arizona Do not cut into the underarm area Game and Fish Department or other of a cape. This can cause damage that regulating agency and also have is difficult to conceal due to the short your hunting license available. Every hair or lack of hair in these areas. licensed taxidermists in Arizona must Don’t make unnecessary holes and have tag and license information for cuts, since they may prove hard to each and every animal that enters his hide on the final mount. Don’t cut the shop. The hunters must know how head off directly behind the ears and to tag their animals and keep their expect to have it mounted. licenses on hand when in the field or Make sure not to drag an animal transporting their animal. across the ground. If you can’t carry Contact your taxidermist before it, skin it on the spot. Even dragging a the hunt to discuss skinning methods heavy animal 10 feet can ruin a skin. I and trophy care. This can prevent a once had a deer delivered to my shop lot of problems that might ruin the whole in the bed of a pickup and it hide or cape or compromise the finlooked OK. But when I rolled it over ished mount. I much prefer to spend Photo courtesy Clay Goldman some time with the hunter before the to remove the skin, I found the hunter had dragged the deer three quarters of hunt discussing field care rather than a mile back to his pickup – ruining the skin. having to let hunter know their cape or hide is ruined due to There are different ways to skin an animal depending on improper care in the field. the type of mount desired. The mount choices with big game So remember – act quickly, make proper cuts, keep it clean animals can be a shoulder mount, lifesize, half lifesize, rug, and keep it cool.

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35

Note to self: Don’t spoil the meat!

Photo courtesy of Dave Walker

Just follow these tips from a professional meat handler

BY NOAH SARNOWSKI One of the great benefits of hunting is enjoying the meat harvested. If properly processed, in the field as well as at home, game meat can offer some of the best eating you’ve ever experienced. On the other hand, if you ignore your responsibilities or if you simply don’t know how to take care of the animal, the meat may prove unpalatable or even unfit to eat.

What to Pack The first step in any successful endeavor is to be prepared and have the tools you need for the job. Make sure your hunting pack includes: Game bags. Invest in high-quality game bags. Avoid the bags that look like cheese cloth; they rip easily and allow dirt and flies to get on the meat. Quality game bags can be washed and reused. (Add a full bottle of peroxide to the washing machine when you wash them, and do not use fabric softener.

Nobody wants Downy-fresh venison.)

The right knives. I am sold on the Havalon knives! This is one knife that never leaves my backpack. The Havalon blades 36

are extremely sharp, be very careful when you are using it and are changing the blades! I pack a small Leatherman tool just to change the blades. I also carry a small fixed blade knife too.

A packable saw. I carry a small hand saw to cut the leg bones. I cut the hind leg bone just above the gambrel and the front leg bone just below the knuckle. This helps reduce the weight and having excess parts sticking out of my pack.

Field Care/Keeping the Meat Cool, Clean and Dry Hunters should know how to field dress and care for the meat before going afield. I use two methods of field dressing, depending on the temperature. The key to success with either method is simple: keep the meat cool, keep it clean and keep it dry.

I use the “gutless” method in mild to cold temperatures.

Check out the informative videos about gutless field dressing on www.youtube.com and other websites, but briefly: Start by skinning the animal on its side. Once the side is skinned, take the quarters off. Do not puncture the entrails; especially on the hind quarter. Then pull all the rib meat, brisket and neck meat.

Roll the animal over and repeat for the other side.

HIGH COUNTRY SPORTSMAN

Fall 2015

After you’re done with both sides, roll the animal on its Don’t get in a big hurry! Take your time and do a clean belly, finish skinning its back and pull the back straps. While job: after all, you’re going to eat the meat you are harvesting. still on the belly, carefully pull the tenderloins. I also use my Keep the meat dry. Wet or damp meat spoils more quickly hand saw to cut through the second and third rib and pull the and grows bacteria. Rinsing meat with water also can quicken heart. the spread of bacteria. If you process the meat yourself, you Since heat is the will appreciate the extra greatest threat to game time spent keeping the meat, if I harvest an animeat clean in the field. mal in warmer weather, If you use a processor I field dress the animal to finish your animal, the old-fashioned way. the cleaner the better!

Remove the entrails Processors will charge as soon as possible. for cleaning dirty aniThis removes any heat mals. Having to clean from the inside of the a carcass also results in body quickly. wastage.

Remove the hide I have been very fornext. It is always nice tunate to learn the skills to have help in this proof a meat processor. I cess. I will have somehave been processing one hold the quarter up since 1997. My wife Photo courtesy Noah Sarnowski and I run a small shop as I skin the hide from the animal. Make sure Invest in high-quality game bags. Remove entrails as soon as possible to that keeps us very busy reduce the heat inside the body and avoid spoilage. to keep hair, leaves and in the fall. I enjoy meetdirt off of the meat as much as possible. ing fellow hunters and hearing their stories.

When quartering the animal, immediately place the quarWe can receive animals at our shop in many conditions: ters in good quality game bags that will hold the weight. Place whole with the hide on, whole skinned, quartered, boned out, the quarters in the shade, preferably in a tree where the air will etc. Depending on the situation in the field, these methods all start the cooling process immediately. work. But whichever method you use, we prefer the animal as

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clean and dry as possible. The and bacteria. cleaner the animal the higher I know it’s tough to get an the yield. animal out whole, but if it’s We process all game meat possible that’s the best way boneless. Typically on a clean to keep the animal in perfect animal you can lose 35 to 40 shape. I have hauled out a percent of the hanging weight couple of elk whole with the when cut boneless: bone size hide on. I have skinned and of the animal determines this quartered them at my shop. outcome. If the animal is not The animals were in perfect clean, we have to re-skin the condition with a high yield animal and this results in less of meat. I also have skinned, yield. quartered and hauled out elk Processors charge by the on my back. Being very carehanging weight of the animal. ful to keep the meat clean, we Some people think by boning have enjoyed a freezer full of out the meat they are saving meat throughout the year. money, but they are actually Deer are more manageable going to lose their yield. Every to pack out whole. Mule deer time you cut into or open up or Coues deer both can be sections of the meat it is subpacked out whole, in the right ject to dirt, hair and bacteria. situation.

All this material must be disIf you are in the wilderness carded, as well as the dried or the bottom of a deep cancrust, or layer, that forms on Photo courtesy Noah Sarnowski yon, you can always quarter the outside. It is easier to clean Keep meat clean and dry in the field to maximize yield. the animal. Just remember to up one large piece of meat take your time and keep the rather than a lot of small pieces. I advise you to leave the animal as clean as possible. bones in to protect the inner part of the quarter from dirt, hair Noah Sarnowski owns Rim Country Processing in Payson.

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HIGH COUNTRY SPORTSMAN

Fall 2015

Let’s talk TURKEY

BY DENNIS PIRCH

Photo courtesy of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

If you were fortunate enough to draw a tag for the fall turkey hunt, no doubt a long weekend campout is part of the package event. The seven-day season in early October usually provides for perfect fall weather conditions for camping. The week-long season is for a gobbler, hen, or this year’s poults, so any turkey that may be within shotgun range is fair game.

This is no easy task for the hunter who wanders the woods on foot or drives some of the back roads hoping to get a shot at these keen-eyed birds with sprinter-like speed.

Some preseason scouting is a must, which offers a good excuse to be in the woods for a few hours of primetime at dawn or dusk. My first step is to check water sources in the area, which includes springs or cattle stock tanks. If the birds are using a water source in the area, they must make tracks.

Like all animals, turkeys are creatures of habit and could return daily. I also check for droppings or feathers near ridges where they may be feeding.

In comparison, the springtime is turkey-talking time. Hens and gobblers make lots of noise, which allows a hunter to be a bit more effective in calling a bird into shotgun range. A preseason scouting trip or on the actual hunt in the fall always includes at least one call and I may take as many as three or four in hopes of getting a bird to respond. The easiest way to make a yelp or cluck is a box call or a post and slate. I prefer to always have a mouth call or diaphragm.

If you use a diaphragm, I would encourage you to “Practice, practice, and more practice.” Yelps and clucks are fairly easy to master, then a kee kee run series is the next step in luring a turkey into range. Check out one of the numerous turkey calling DVDs available at sporting goods stores.

Knowing where turkeys roost can be a distinct advantage for the next day’s hunt. They often will pick a tree on a side hill where a bird can fly to the roost limb and also exit with clear sailing the next morning at the crack of dawn. Hearing Fall 2015

that distinct flap of their large wings as they struggle to gain altitude to get to the roost tree offers a telltale sign that birds are close. Finding a turkey feather on a side hill provides a clue they are in the area. So look for that roost tree, since the violent thrashing of the wings often makes the feathers fly.

If you hear one turkey, others will likely roost in the same or nearby trees. They are gregarious in nature, which prompts the hens and poults to make some yelps or clucks audible in the late afternoon or early morning stillness. Sometimes a fall bearded turkey will respond to a gentle yelp with a loud gobble, but not often.

If you can hear the flap of their enormous wings at dawn, they’re within 300 yards. So set up to call immediately. Full camouflage, including a face mask and gloves, will help you blend into the vegetation. Sitting against a tree that is wider than your shoulders and body is a must and will aid in blending into the surroundings. Establish shooting lanes in front of you.

These birds have extremely keen eyesight, so once you are set up remain completely still. They are low on the food chain in the forest and their eyesight is one of their best defenses against predators. The hunter must find a position so comfortable he can remain still for a long time. The daily routine of going to water and scratching for food can occur any time during the daylight hours.

A gentle morning yelp can get a bird’s attention from as far as 300 yards away. They may respond with a yelp or cluck, which is always a good sign. Often in the fall, the birds may approach with no warning, coming to the call in complete silence. So remain alert.

If nothing happens after an hour’s wait, walk quietly in the direction of the fly down and start using the call. If you hear any turkey noise at all, immediately find a suitable tree and set up again.

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Photo courtesy of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

After opening day, the flocks have often been split up as singles veer off from the main flock after a shotgun blast.

Remember, these birds want companionship and will respond to a lost hen call. This is a gentle yelp while walking slowly in the woods. A series of five or six yelps in succession followed by silence may trigger a single bird to respond. A hunter’s success may rely on covering a lot of territory in turkey habitat. A four or five mile loop walking the ridges may constitute a complete day’s hunt. Always tell someone where you are hunting and carry a light pack with plenty of water, food, flashlight, and simple survival gear. Make sure to bring a cellphone.

If you don’t feel proficient on a call, then try still hunting at a known water or food source. Look for a remote watering

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Fall 2015

spot with lots of turkey tracks. Finding a walk-in water source that has tracks around the water’s edge will likely have turkey visitors from mid-morning throughout the afternoon.

The fall is a tough time to call a turkey into shotgun range, since they’re not nearly as talkative as in the springtime.

Spending time in the woods, walking quietly and calling occasionally will greatly increase the odds of bagging a turkey this season, despite the normally low fall hunt success rate.

Fortunately, the perfect fall weather makes for the kind of camping experience that is perfect. It is a great time to introduce youngsters to hunting and the outdoors. Having one of my grandchildren tagging along looking for feathers, bones and any other treasures makes the hunt successful whether

I bag a turkey or not. Still, a turkey in my gun sight is the frosting on the cake.

A wild turkey can be a very smart bird, as noted by Ben Franklin when he proposed the idea it should be the national bird for our country.

It is interesting to note that they exist in 49 of the 50 states and in far greater number now than when our country was first founded. This was made possible by the reintroduction of these noble birds by the National Wild Turkey Federation, made up of hunters throughout the United States. This is one of the great conservation success stories generated by hunters throughout our country.

Enjoy the beginning of the fall colors in the Rim Country, God’s creation.

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HIGH COUNTRY SPORTSMAN

41

Honey & the Bear Dance

The answer is ‘yes,’ bears do it in the woods.

BY DENNY HARGER

I paddled in the bow of our 16-foot Grumman aluminum until it became a sour mash suitable for the distillation of some canoe as my beloved Honey panicked in the stern. We plum- new booze we could call Wild Canyon Cactus Gin. If only we meted through a trough of abuse called the upper Verde River had brought a distiller.

Canyon. The gushing torrent below Perkinsville splashed high His black bobbed tail stood erect and prickly berry bear on the red and gray limestone walls. White, crusty deposits trots poured toward our canoe as we dashed under at the speed marked the high-water splatters on the cliff above our heads. of rushing water.

I could hear only the hollow grumble of water against stone The line of splattering mash started an inch behind my seat. and the freakish screams of a corporate American woman, It flowed wildly over the ice chest and across our packs. My brand-new to outdoor adventure. I had talked her into braving Marlin lever-action 30-30, which was laying across the packs, the rapids of the Verde by promising a “wilderness day spa.” took a direct hit. Lost was my idea of floating by a bear close But her office chair gripped her fanny far better than the slick enough to shoot. The line of mash continued into Honey’s metal seat of our cigar-shaped boat. She slid side to side while milk crate full of boots — she brought four pair, in case she her feet danced wildly on the canoe stepped in poop. floor. Her hands gripped a wooden Honey tried to hide behind her paddle as if it meant her life. She canoe paddle. She raised it high to paddled the air above her head with block the onslaught, but the mash grace and precision. stream ricocheted off the angled “This is NOTHING like my day paddle directly into her face and spa,” she said, mocking the promise hair. She smacked the big black butt I had made ... “Just so you know!” with her ore as she washed by, her she yelled. face packed with wild river bear I figured I would eventually pay mash. for this outing — but at the moment, The bear turned swiftly and saw I was focused on not capsizing. us. He jumped 10 feet straight up to The swift current shoved us to a tiny rock shelf, grabbed it with his our left and we scraped the gray, front paws, then bound another 10 curving wall. We left a fine silver feet skyward and ran over the cliff line scratched on the side of the top. I will never again think of a trough where other canoes had also bear as a clumsy oaf. scratched their signature, like signI back paddled, trying to land ing a guestbook at the entrance of a our boat — hoping to relieve the high-class party. moaning, groaning and gnashing of That’s when I saw the bear. teeth from the front of the canoe.

He stood on a grassy ledge sevInstead, the slope steepened and the eral feet above the water above our water picked up even more speed. next turn, spinning in circles. His Photo courtesy of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service We slid through three miles of the nose low and his eyes intent on the steep canyon sluice in what seemed ground where he danced, he hunched his spine in the same like 10 minutes. telling arch I have seen from my dachshund every morning for At the bottom, the river widened and the water swallowed. three years. I knew the dance well. I knew why he spun, but I We found our way to a sandbar. Honey’s face had pack-dried couldn’t change the course of the boat. to a hard crust, except for the swath of clean around her mouth The water bounced us off the left cliff and shot us to the precisely the length of her tongue. right. The bear completed his circle dance and ended with his “See, Honey, just like at the day spa!” I said in reference butt hanging over the water. We rocketed straight for it. I heard to her crusty facial as I picked up my lever-action Marlin and the moment Honey saw the bear. began to clean the dried bear mash from the open sights. The “BUTT!” she screamed far too late. fight started right then.

Obviously, the bear had gorged itself on prickly pears and I learned a lesson for lifelong happiness. When wife and juniper berries. The wort fermented along his intestinal track gun suffer a crappy morning, forget the gun.

42

HIGH COUNTRY SPORTSMAN

Fall 2015

The gathering of the tribe

land rescues. I can no longer count on him to suddenly appear at the buzz of a rattler or my crossing of a flooded river. It is a cheerless day when a son realizes his father is only mortal.

My radio died while transmitting coordinates to our tribe.

They would find me. They are men, not suits and ties and gym club memberships, but wrinkled and weathered woodsmen, tough to their marrow and taught by my father. They spend their lives in the canyons of Devils Claw. Their straight thinking and wilderness savvy would lead them to me, sooner than later, for sure. I must have my 800-pound bull elk skinned, quartered, and bagged when they found me. It was my job and mine alone.

BY DENNY HARGER The colors of fall dotted the huge high cliffs. The ruby maple leaves touched my heart as they fell and mixed with the The wilderness in Devils Claw has four seasons. Each one oaks to tile a crisp golden-red medley on the forest floor. carries a special purpose in nature’s cycle of life. Winter scrubs Darkness falls quick in rugged canyons. I built a small fire and cleanses with blowing snow and washing runoff. Spring before the shadows hid the wood, much easier that way. A new starts fresh seedlings and babies. Summer rains offer the ten- moon gives little light. I had a lot to do before help found me. der young a cooling chance. Fall ... well ... fall brings a time In the nose-dripping chill of night, after finally stretching of death in the forest. Flowers wilt and lose their color, hunters game bags around all four skinned quarters, backstraps and shoot and carnivores kill to gain fat against the coming cold loins, I stoked my fire, rolled up in the fresh skin and stared winter. The dying seems tempered only by conception. into the blaze. Seems life’s changes always surprise me.

A rutting bull elk screamed his evening bugle and I folIf the men didn’t find me, I could spit emotions at flames lowed it until my finger’s until dawn ... oh, why did perfect squeeze ended his I call? days.

A shout from the far I shot from a canyon’s distance gathered my ridge and my bull piled attention. They searched up on the floor far below. and needed a sign. I sigNavigating the steep cannaled with three rifle yon slope covered by shots into a fallen log and thorny black locust bushfed my blaze to add light es frustrated me like a to the strict darkness. “final straw.” Reaching How would I hide my the bottom, I felt worthswollen red eyes? These less. My eyes flooded men didn’t cry, not the and released two years men finding me. Not worth of stuffed feelings, even at the death of their fragile strength and the mom or the crash of their long effort to support my father. If they did, no one father, the main caregivsaw them, ever.

Photo courtesy of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service er to his terminally ill Then I dozed. My wife. The matriarch who crew appeared all at once. straightened my crooked path, brought peace to my angry I thought I would see their lanterns. I thought their laughter heart and leveled my tilted head; forever, she will walk the would ring through the forest. It did not. They were upon me, fertile fields of my soul. like a quiet rush of wild Indians. I wasn’t ready. “Don’t look As I approached, my bull appeared huge, like a Clydesdale into their lights,” I told myself. “Don’t let ’um see your face.” with antlers. Cloven hooves outsized my open hand and his But they were there, looking down at me, and I looked up from dark brown neck was swollen by raging hormones. Head-on my elk hide cocoon and they saw my face. collisions with warring rivals had chipped the uncommon padI shook my sleepy head and looked again. There was only dles of his palmately moose-like rack. Now they resembled one. Only one of our tribe found me. medieval Nordic battle-axes. I wondered how many lesser “Nice bull” said a proud voice I thought had left the woods beasts he had diced with his blades. forever. Through the whimsical firelight, I saw my father. He For some reason, my mind returned then to my dad. I car- stood in his long leather coat, hunched over his crooked walkried his grief with me, as much as my shoulders could bear. ing stick like a magician from the dark ages. He had found me That connection remains an unsaid thing between fathers and before the younger men of our tribe. He came like a faithful old hound hunting his forgotten youth. I knew where it hid and sons, the natural order of a lifelong friendship.

In his autumn years, my wilderness superhero father retired gladly helped him find it.

Denny Harger is a hunting guide, Forest Service fire watchto “camp hound.” No more 20-mile walks or trail-made bearskin backpacks filled with meat. Gone are the days of his wild- er, husband, father and lover of the woods.

Coming full circle in Devils Claw

Fall 2015

HIGH COUNTRY SPORTSMAN

43

Record breakers

BY TRACY PURTEE

motel, two boat ramps and a marina.

Fall and winter can be a great time of the year for fishing and catching big fish. Forty-three Arizona Game and Fish state records occurred during fall between Sept. 23 to the end of winter March 20.

For this article, we will be looking at the state records for Apache and Roosevelt lakes.

Apache Lake is home to three state records currently. A black buffalo fish, which is from the ictiobus family, weighing 47 pounds, 2.56 ounces, and measuring 45 inches long was caught at Apache. We also know them as sucker fish, very hard to catch.

The second one was also a black buffalo with no weight, but was 41 inches long and was part of the catch-and-release program.

The third record fish from Apache was a black crappie under the catch-and-release program at 16 inches.

Apache Lake is also known for its smallmouth bass population, some of the best smallmouth comes from this lake. The record largemouth bass from Apache weighed 11.73 pounds.

In the Let’s Talk Fishin’ Team Tournaments (www.letstalkfishin.com), the largest bass caught on Apache Lake was 8.51 pounds caught by Buddy Randall from Payson in 2014.

Rainbow trout are imported in the wintertime to Apache Lake, compliments of the Arizona Game and Fish Department.

They receive three or four stockings to the 240-foot depth, Apache is one of the cooler lakes. Other Apache Lake species include walleye, yellow bass, buffalo catfish, bluegill and carp.

Apache Lake, when full, has 41.5 miles of shoreline and 2,600 acres of water. This lake usually stays at least 90 percent full, with plenty of coves and cliffs to fish. The road to access the lake is mainly dirt and this keeps down the pleasure boater population, making fishing even better. There’s camping at Burnt Corral Campground. If you don’t want to rough it, Apache Lake Resort has a restaurant, small grocery store,

Roosevelt Lake Now let’s move upstream to Roosevelt Lake. When Roosevelt Lake is full, which has happened once since the dam received a facelift in 1996, it would be 17,300 acres of water and 122 miles of shoreline. Roosevelt Lake holds six state records: smallmouth bass record at 7 pounds, .96 ounces in 1988; bigmouth buffalo at 36 pounds, 6 ounces in 1995; smallmouth bass catch-and-release at 23 inches in 2006; yellow bass catch-and-release at 13 inches in 2008; flathead catfish catch-and-release at 53 inches in 2006; and the newest record, archery flathead catfish at 69 pounds and 47 inches in 2015. Other species in Roosevelt Lake include crappie, with Roosevelt ranking as one of the top three lakes in the state for these paper mouths, bluegill, largemouth bass and channel catfish. Every once in a blue moon, a rainbow trout finds its way to Roosevelt by either Tonto Creek or the Salt River, since both Tonto Creek and the Salt River are the main water sources for Roosevelt Lake.

Roosevelt Lake had the state record for largemouth bass back in 1988 at 14 pounds, 8 ounces, surpassing 14 pounds, 2 ounces, caught in 1956. Since then, the record has been broken twice, with both fish taken out of Canyon Lake. The current record of 16 pounds, 7.68 ounces dates back to 1997.

It’s time to bring the record back to Roosevelt.

If you’re ready to go, there are hundreds of campsites on or near the lake, including paved sites with showers nearby.

There are also motels, restaurants and gas stations available in Tonto Basin and Roosevelt.

The lake boasts four boat ramps when the water level is at 37 percent. At 100 percent, you have eight boat ramps to choose from. Don’t forget your Tonto Pass, which is required for camping and parking while fishing. My personal best largemouth bass came from Roosevelt Lake in February of 2013 at 6 pounds. The Let’s Talk Fishin’ Team Tournaments

HOST OF LET’S TALK FISHIN’

44

HIGH COUNTRY SPORTSMAN

Fall 2015

(www.letstalkfishin.com) largest bass caught on Roosevelt Lake is 5.08 pounds in November of 2014.

can find. He uses 65- to 85-pound braid line. Rocky’s personal best is 48 pounds caught on Roosevelt Lake. Rocky says the main thing is to keep the bait alive and moving.

Lake fishing in the fall Yes, crappie can be caught this time of the year. Two of So where and how do you fish these reservoirs in the fall Arizona’s best crappie fishermen, Art Chamberlain and Curt and winter? Clifford Pirch, local Pro Bass Rambo of Tonto Basin, have caught more Master Elite, said the cold months can procrappie in a week than most fishermen catch duce huge fish if you find the right “sweet in a lifetime. Their advice to fish for these spot.” First, look for the bait fish the game “paper mouths” is to us a vertical jig, 2 to 4 fish are chasing. If you have a fish finder on inches long, with a black blue or John Deere your boat, watch for the ball of shad suspendcolor. Minnows can also be used using a ed in anywhere from 5 to 50 feet of water. It’s bobber. like playing hide-and-seek — the fish hide Kurt Russell, another local tournament and we need to go seek. If you do not have a fisherman and owner of Lil Chunk Bait, has fish finder, you can find bait fish by watching had success using brown and green deep the birds or for movement on top of the water. diving crankbaits. When using plastic worms, The bass will push the shad to the surface. lizards or creature baits, he likes dark colors Pirch recommends using shad-colored like black and blue. For pictures of his baits, crankbaits. He also uses plastic worms like go to www.lilchunkbaits.com. the Hologram Shad made by Roboworm. He This time of the year is a great time to likes the natural colors like green, brown and Photo courtesy of Rick Purtee go fishing, so take someone fishing today. crawdad colors, which at this time of year can Kasey Chamberlin from You never know, you could set a new fishing include orange to match their bellies in the Payson, caught this 4.74 record. pounder. cold months.

Tracy Purtee is the radio host of Let’s Talk For pictures of swimbaits, jigs and spider Fishin’ on KRIM 96.3 FM. He has more than rigs that Clifford uses, go to www.cliffordpirchoutdoors.com. 50 years of fishing experience, including tournament fishing If you are fishing for catfish, local “Big Cat Hunter” Rocky since 1998 all over the western United States. He’s director Klabbatz likes to use live bait for flathead catfish like a small for Let’s Talk Fishin’ Tournaments and co-author of “Bass bluegill 2 to 5 inches, waterdogs, or the largest minnow you Basics.”

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HIGH COUNTRY SPORTSMAN

45

Fossil Creek’s secret fishery

Unique chance to catch native fish in a magical world

BY PETE ALESHIRE Fossil Creek offers a fall fishing treat – a catchand-release fishery for species you can catch almost nowhere else.

Moreover, a fall or winter fishing trip to the wildly popular string of summer swimming holes offers a chance to sidestep the crowds to enjoy one of Arizona’s still hidden jewels.

Although the limited parking along the creek prompts the Forest Service to close the road early on summer weekends, few people venture into the canyon in the fall and winter.

Arizona Game and Fish created the catch-and-release fishery for three kinds of chub – including the misnamed Verde Trout.

The Game and Fish Commission ignored objections by environmental groups when it established the unique fishing opportunity involving native fish considered threatened with possible extinction.

Critics argued the state should simply protect booming populations of native fish there, including roundtail and headwater chub, spikefin dace, razorback suckers, gila topminnows, loachminnows and Sonoran suckers. Most of those fish have been wiped out in other streams they once dominated by a combination of introduced fish and the impact of dams, diversions and cattle grazing.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has concluded the roundtail and headwater chub would qualify as endangered species if it had enough money to do the studies needed to put them on the list.

46

Photo by Pete Aleshire

Fossil Creek’s thriving population of native Verde trout and other species offers a unique fall and winter fishing opportunity.

However, Game and Fish biologists maintain the catchand-release fishery will build public interest and affection for the native fish species that fill the niche of trout in warmwater streams. They believe the catch-and-release fishery won’t harm the thriving Fossil Creek population.

The commission approved the fishery on the assumption that people drawn to a catch-and-release fishery would take care of the creek and perhaps even report violations and problems caused by the other users.

The remarkably clear waters of the spring-fed stream have in the past eight years become a bastion for native fish dwindling in almost every other stream in the state. For a century, a Phoenix power company diverted most of the water from the creek to generate electricity. In 2005, Arizona Public Service agreed to return the water to the creekbed.

So the biologists removed as many native fish as they could . Then they built a fish barrier to keep non-native fish like bass, sunfish, bluegills, carp and catfish from swimming upstream from the Verde River. Next, they poisoned out the non-native fish. Finally, they returned the endangered natives to the stream. All told, they removed and then returned to the stream 277 roundtail and headwater chub from the bottom 12

HIGH COUNTRY SPORTSMAN

Fall 2015

miles of the stream.

Since then, the number of chub in the stream has grown to an estimated 15,000.

Biologists had assumed that roundtail chub dominated, but recent studies show that the somewhat more rare headwater chub actually dominates in the upper half of the stream.

Game and Fish will carefully monitor the number of native fish to assess the impact of the catch-and-release fishery.

Twice a year, the biologists will put out about 60 hoop nets in the 4.5-mile stretch of the river now open to catch-andrelease anglers, to monitor the population.

However, environmentalists say the biggest danger lies in the possibility that fishermen will reintroduce non-native fish to the stream above the fish barrier near the junction with the Verde River.

Removing sunfish, catfish, bass, carp or other non-native competitors would prove much more difficult than the last time, when the now-dismantled hydroelectric flume made it possible to virtually shut down the creek to get rid of the non-natives. Game and Fish already got a taste of the difficulties when a flood breeched the fish barrier and for a time allowed the re-invasion by bass in the lower few miles of Fossil Creek. State and federal biologists had to once again capture native fish and poison out the non-native fish in that stretch of creek.

Now, Game and Fish hopes that responsible anglers will actually help protect the creek by visiting in the fall and winter months.

In the meantime, the travertine-saturated creek with its long chain of small waterfalls and deep pools has already started to rebuild the remarkable pools and rock formations.

Composed of dissolved calcium carbonate saturating the water that has seeped through layers of buried limestone, travertine readily coats rocks, roots and sticks in the streambed.

In addition to giving the water a striking blue-green color, the travertine forms the kinds of drip castle dams that have made Havasupai in the Grand Canyon famous.

Researchers reported the appearance of 10-inch travertine dams in some places within the first year water returned to the stream bed.

Environmental groups resisted the catch-and-release fishery, arguing that anglers can’t tell the difference between roundtail and headwater chub, one endangered the other Fall 2015

merely threatened. But the Game and Fish Commission ultimately decided to let the anglers catch either type of chub, so long as they use barbless hooks and return the fish to the water quickly.

The October-April roundtail chub season along 4.5 miles of the 14-mile-long creek remains in effect.

Anglers can keep any of the common desert suckers they catch, but must release the hard-fighting, big-finned chubs.

Environmentalists noted that the original plan called for a season just for roundtail chub, which exist in more than 21 other places. Current regulations allow anglers to take one roundtail chub per trip but to immediately release any headwater chub they catch, which exists in about 18 other places.

Commissioners reasoned that even if 5 to 7 percent of the fish caught and released later died from the stress and injury, it would have no impact on the booming chub population in Fossil Creek.

Photo by Pete Aleshire The debate really came down to a vigorous disagreement about whether luring fly-fishermen and other catch-and-release fishermen down into Fossil Creek will help or hurt the effort to establish a rare, protected population of native fish.

Biologists originally assumed the creek contained only roundtail chub, but a genetic study by researchers from Arizona State University revealed that the somewhat more rare headwater chub dominates except near the junction with the Verde River.

Both chub probably qualify for protection as endangered species. Although they rarely occur in the same stretch of stream, they will freely interbreed when they do. They’re both listed on the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s “warranted but precluded” list — which means biologists think they’re endangered, but don’t have the money to do the studies to put the fish on the official list, with all the protections that result.

ASU fish expert Paul Marsh said the catch-and-release fishing could harm many of the chubs of either sort, noting that studies of related fish suggest they’re sensitive to handling. However, Game and Fish biologists said that their own studies show that the chubs are much hardier than trout, when it comes to handling. Numerous studies suggest that 5 to 7 percent of trout caught and promptly released will die from wounds and the stress of the experience.

HIGH COUNTRY SPORTSMAN

47

When the sunshine fishermen fade away The crowds of fishermen vanish with the end of the summer stocking season — but challenges still abound for the serious fisherman in places like the East Verde River, Tonto Creek and the Rim Lakes.

48

PHOTOS AND STORY BY PETE ALESHIRE Summer gets all the glory when it comes to fishing holes and trout stream riffles.

But fall has its own treasure trove of still waters and memorable moments.

Granted, the Tonto Creek Fish Hatchery has finished stocking 146,000 fish into Rim Country streams and lakes for this year and has turned its attention to growing more trout for next summer.

The last batch of hatchery trout has gone into Woods Canyon Lake on the Rim, which this season received 87,000 rainbows.

That could explain why the store at Woods Canyon Lake sells more fishing licenses than any other place in the state. The second biggest seller of fishing licenses in Arizona is the Payson Walmart, said Tonto Creek Fish Hatchery Manager John Deihl.

However, plenty of fish remain in Rim Country lakes and streams — and fall fishermen are more likely to have a stretch of stream to themselves than the anglers of summer. Woods Canyon Lake remains a good bet right up until snow closes the road — and even then, ice fishermen can do well for themselves.

Without the weekly infusion of hatchery trout, catch rates on Rim streams and lakes will dwindle with the temperatures in stretches of water that have gladdened hearts all summer — with no more fish stocked into the East Verde River or Haigler, Tonto and Christopher creeks.

Fortunately, the competition from the hoards of Valley escapees has also dwindled — so local fishermen can still lower their blood pressure and savor the sound of running water, despite diminished, but inextinguishable hopes of hooking a straggler.

The Tonto Creek Fish Hatchery labored all summer to use the fish raised in the course of two- and three-year cycles to turn Rim Country streams and lakes into the most popular fishing spots in the Southwest.

The state’s roughly 255,000 fishermen spend an estimated $831 million on equipment and travel, according to a study by researchers from Arizona State University, based on figures from 2001. The study found that the state’s 135,000 hunters generate another $127 million. Combined, hunting and fishing generate $314 million in wages and $58 million in tax revenue annually, concluded the study. Fishing accounts for about 80 percent of the total.

In Gila County, fishermen and hunters spent $39 million — which generated another $47 million in related economic activity. Fishing and hunting in the county produced 769 jobs and $1.8 million in taxes.

The twice-weekly Tonto Hatchery stockings turned Tonto Creek and the East Verde

HIGH COUNTRY SPORTSMAN

Fall 2015

and other smaller Rim Country streams into some of the top stream fishing stretches in the state.

Some of those streams have now dwindled to a trickle and even the larger waterways — like Tonto and the East Verde — now harbor only a few wary trout that managed to avoid the thickets of lures, flies and baited hooks flung upon the waters by the summer crowds.

Some lunkers in those creeks actually make it through the winter, to face the gauntlet of summer hooks all over again.

However, the Rim lakes — especially Woods Canyon — still have a lot of trout.

Although the numbers have fallen from the peak stocking period, local anglers who head for the Rim lakes will face less competition for trout much more willing to bite as the cold weather reduces the amount of other food.

Deihl recommended C.C. Cragin Reservoir, Woods Canyon, Knoll and Bear Canyon lakes.

Stream fishermen can also go looking for trout that evaded the summer rush, especially on stream stretches that require a hike to reach. Such streams often have naturally reproducing populations. The upper reaches of Horton Creek has a naturally reproducing population of brown trout — lurking in the tiny pools of a creek that all but dries up before reaching its junction with Tonto Creek.

The lower reaches of Tonto Creek, near Bear Flat, also have a good supply of fish, long after the fair-weather fishermen have given up on the summer-stocked reaches of the creek close by the highway.

But for now, the hatchery workers will start getting ready to grow another 150,000 fish for release next year, while nurturing the eggs that will produce the trout for the season after that.

They’ll also be keeping a wary eye on bald eagles, raccoons and anyone else who might have plans involving the big fish-growing ponds — especially the pond that harbors about 2,000 fish carried over for an extra year.

The hatchery doles out these 3- and sometimes 4-year-old fish, which can grow to 10 to 12 pounds in miserly fashion, but when caught, these monsters make the average angler holler and tremble and buy drinks for the house.

But fishing just ahead of the first snowfall on Rim lakes and the more remote streams with their wild trout populations can yield reliable emotional soothing and the occasional thrill of hooking a big fish.

Fall 2015

The following information on fall fishing in Rim Country lakes has been taken from the Arizona Game and Fish’s online fishing report. Go to http://www.azgfd. gov/artman/ publish/cat_index28. shtml for the latest.

CHEVELON LAKE: In early October, rainbows had started to feed more actively, but brown trout still seemed to be laying low. Anglers may also hook some of the 20,000 sub-catchable rainbows stocked in early September mostly for next summer’s fishermen. This is a hike-in lake on a steep trail without a lot of shore access. Try using a float tube, inflatable or canoe. The lake is open to artificial lures and flies only, trout between 10 and 14 inches may not be possessed, and the bag limit is six trout. The lake is open to electric trolling motors and/or up to 10 hp gas motors.

BEAR CANYON LAKE: Fishing in October was reported good, with recent stocking and little fishing pressure.

This is a hike-in lake, down short, but steep and winding paths. The lake offers good shore access, but also works well from float tubes. The lake is open to electric trolling motors only.

BLACK CANYON LAKE: Fishing was good as of early October, with high water levels and a recent stocking.

Angling pressure has not been great and the catch rate is decent.

C.C. CRAGIN RESERVOIR: No recent angler reports.

This deeper canyon lake should be doing well. This long, narrow lake in a steep canyon has rainbows and browns. It is best fished from a boat, canoe, float tube and the like. There isn’t much viable shore access.

KNOLL LAKE: Not much word from anglers right now, but this lake has been consistently good all season and should get even better as the fish get hungrier as autumn progresses. This is also a great lake to hear bugling bull elk this time of year.

WILLOW SPRINGS LAKE: The catching has slowed a little here, even though the trout seem to be feeding heavily on insects at the surface. Trout have been active at the surface down to 15 feet during early morning and evening hours. The lake is open to electric trolling motors and/or up to 10 hp gas motors.

This is one of the largest lakes along the Mogollon Rim. As the nights get cooler than the water, you will often be treated to a fall mist on the water — bring your camera, especially at sunrise.

HIGH COUNTRY SPORTSMAN

49

The Best of Rim Country

Hospitality Nestled in the pines,

was Majestic Mountain Inn s’ est designed with our gu . nd utmost comfort in mi Unmatched in style and comfort where your every need will be satisfied.

Free WiFi • Restaurants nearby • Near Mazatzal Casino Cable TV • HBO • Corporate, AARP, Senior Rates

811 S. BEELINE HWY. • PAYSON, AZ 85541 www.americasbestvalueinn.com For reservations, call 888•315•2378 PHONE: 928•474•2283 FAX: 928•474•5448

602 E. Hwy. 260 Payson, Arizona

Reservations:

800-408-2442 www.majesticmountaininn.com

MOTEL 6

NEWLY RENOVATED

PAYSON

1005 S. Beeline Hwy. Payson, AZ 85541 (928) 474-2382

• Entirely Non-Smoking/Pet Free

Mini Refrigerator and Microwave in all rooms.

Shuttle to and from Mazatzal Casino

• Indoor Heated Pool & Hot Tub • Free High Speed Internet • Comfort “Your Morning Breakfast”

928.472.7484

Check In 3:00 p.m.

Check Out 11:00 a.m.

206 S Beeline Hwy • Payson, AZ 85541 • choicehotels.com/hotel/az347

WELCOME HUNTERS & FISHERMEN!

Pine Creek Cabins

� 100% Non-Smoking � AAA, AARP, Corp, Govt and Military Extended Stay Discount � Indoor Heated Pool & Hot Tub � High-Speed Internet

� Complimentary “Day Break Breakfast” � Every room has a Refrigerator, Microwave, Iron, Ironing Board & Coffee Maker � Luxury Suites with In-Room Spa & Fireplace � Truck and U-Haul Parking

928-474-9800

“Your Home in the Rim Country” For Reservations, call 928-970-9511 3901 N. Hwy 87, Pine, AZ 85544 www.pinecreekcabinsaz.com

301 S. Beeline Highway, Ste. A (behind Burger King), Payson, AZ 85541 www.daysinn.com/hotel/11099

EVERY KNIGHT. JUST RIGHT

®

PAYSON QUALITY INN

101 W. Phoenix Street Payson, AZ 85541-5439

928.474.4526 Fax 928.474.0263 www.knightsinn.com

BY CHOICE HOTELS

801 North Beeline Hwy (87) Payson, AZ 85541 PH 928.474.3241 FX 928.472.6564 QIPayson@swhm.com www.QualityInnPayson.com

Get Your Money’s Worth 15% OFF WITH PRESENTATION OF THIS AD

50

HIGH COUNTRY SPORTSMAN

Fall 2015

ONE OF THE LARGEST AMMO & RELOADING INVENTORIES IN THE STATE

BUY • SELL • TRADE

OVER 500 GUNS IN STOCK

• New & Used Firearms • Reloading Supplies • Optics • Ammo • Gunsmithing • Accessories •

FULL SERVICE ARCHERY PRO SHOP Help NRA Fight For You

928.474.8000 LOCATED AT

513 S. BEELINE HWY • PAYSON, AZ 85541 www.rimcountryguns.com • email: scott@rimcountryguns.com