Doesn’t snow in Arizona

[nakneker]

We went out to go calling yesterday. It snowed the night before, heavy and wet. The trip turned into running roads and looking for wildlife instead of calling. There was a stiff wind that cut down on how far the call was going to reach and the Jeep was warm, company was good too. Me and the wife usually take a week and head to Nevada or New Mexico this time to of year to call but my Father’s failing health has kept us close, it’s hard to get out together like we are used to doing. I work a lot in Hawaii, spend about half my time on all the islands and I get asked where I’m from quite a bit. It’s funny how many people I meet that don’t know Arizona has some high country too, we do get snow. Several trees were down due to the wind, I always have two chainsaws in the back, a Stihl 261 and 440, they came in handy yesterday. We did see a big Couses buck rutted up, you don’t see them often where we were at but they are there, the rut is a good time to run into one. No vermin were taken, no shots were fired but we had a great time just being out.

 

[JB10]

Im down in the valley. Went out calling yesterday in the rain storm. Got this big guy to come in. My buddy got it. He has been wanting a bobcat for awhile now. Every time i get them in he is not with me. Never got a coyote to come in yesterday.

 

[nakneker]

Im down in the valley. Went out calling yesterday in the rain storm. Got this big guy to come in. My buddy got it. He has been wanting a bobcat for awhile now. Every time i get them in he is not with me. Never got a coyote to come in yesterday.

Nice! Congrats! We head to the San Carlos when we are trying for cats, had good luck there. We always hang a feather in a tree if we can when calling for cats, those bobcats show theirselves better when their curiosity gets the better of them.

 

[JB10]

Only called up there once back in 2020 for their coyote competition. Saw some nice areas, but was way too hot that year for much activity in march. I call alot in the desert areas and some up north. Been a good year so far.

 

[Gary in MD]

Looks like a winter wonderland!
Just rain and mud here, I would rather have the snow.
Gary

 

[wedgy]

That's a good amount of snow... good to have those locking differentials in bad conditions.

 

[357Mag]

Nice! Congrats! We head to the San Carlos when we are trying for cats, had good luck there. We always hang a feather in a tree if we can when alling for cats, bobcats show theirselves bewhen their curiosity gets the better of them

Nakneker-

Howdy !

My first trip to AZ was with the 122nd Fighter Wing, Indiana Air National Guard.
A " Snowbird " CONUS deployment to Davis-Monthan AFB.
Got snowed on, on the ramp; while working on an F-100. It was early March 1972.

Also learned the hard way, about AZ sunshine, on the same deployment.
Sunburned my left ear completely through.
Went to remove some skin that was floating on the all-ear blister. When ALL of the left ear covering skin started to come off like some sort of skin pita pocket, I tried my best to put it back in place. Didn't really wanna see what was underneath.

Although a little late to help, I thought I'd try spraying on some " Unguentine ".

I hit notes a dog couldn't hear.

But.... I digress.


With regards,
357Mag

 

[357Mag]

Correction to previous.....

Early March 1976.


Regards,
357Mag

 

[nakneker]

Nakneker-

Howdy !

My first trip to AZ was with the 122nd Fighter Wing, Indiana Air National Guard.
A " Snowbird " CONUS deployment to Davis-Monthan AFB.
Got snowed on, on the ramp; while working on an F-100. It was early March 1972.

Also learned the hard way, about AZ sunshine, on the same deployment.
Sunburned my left ear completely through.
Went to remove some skin that was floating on the all-ear blister. When ALL of the left ear covering skin started to come off like some sort of skin pita pocket, I tried my best to put it back in place. Didn't really wanna see what was underneath.

Although a little late to help, I thought I'd try spraying on some " Unguentine ".

I hit notes a dog couldn't hear.

But.... I digress.


With regards,
357Mag

We can get some serious storms although it’s not often. The year I was born my home town got a little over 6 feet of snow in two days. Grandpa had to get the bulldozer and cut paths for the cows, the pics were crazy, that was 1967. There are times Phoenix and Tucson will see snow although it’s not often and that Arizona sun can get you if you spend any amount of time outdoors. As a kid I didn’t take the sun too seriously, grow up on a ranch, something I’m paying for now.

Btw the way, thanks for your service! I have all the respect in the world for those willing to serve.

Sean

 

[357Mag]

We can get some serious storms although it’s not often. The year I was born my home town got a little over 6 feet of snow in two days. Grandpa had to get the bulldozer and cut paths for the cows, the pics were crazy, that was 1967. There are times Phoenix and Tucson will see snow although it’s not often and that Arizona sun can get you if you spend any amount of time outdoors. As a kid I didn’t take the sun too seriously, grow up on a ranch, something I’m paying for now.

Btw the way, thanks for your service! I have all the respect in the world for those willing to serve.

Sean

Nakneker- -

Howdy, again !

We also deployed to Luke AFB, just a couple of days after severe flooding had taken out all but 2 of Phoenix' bridges. There were still parts of aircraft parking ramps that were covered w/ water.

On-balance though, all of our trips to AZ over the years have been delightful !


With regards,
357Mag

 

[KMart]

In Feb of 84 I flew out to Phoenix for the Spring Grand trapshoot. Got snowed on then. Wasn't prepared for snow in the desert.

 

[Tommie]

First and only visit to the Grand Canyon in AZ was during a light snow. No words can express that beauty.

 

[Kurz]

The very first time I got drawn for elk in AZ, four of us had put in for Unit 9 up on the Coconino Plateau. Varied terrain with a couple of nice flat spots for tents and cooking out of the way.

It was dry and cold, big blue sky and quiet. Set up the tents and got the cooking area fixed up. Ate some dinner and told a few stories and toddled off to sleep for a few hours.

I woke up early as usual and figured I'd start the coffee and wait for the others. Surprise! I had to dig my way out of the tent then find my taller hunting boots to get to the fire pit. 18" overnight and some drifting!

We had a powwow to refigure our plans since the original ones didn't include snow. Actually the snow made tracking easier and we found some bachelor bulls grazing not too far off. One bull was harvested on top of the tallest craggy mountain nearby. He took all four of us and all day to carry him back to camp. Two others came off of a sort of creek bed they used as a trail. Mine came from a small meadow right next to a tiny pine woods, lonesome bull standing broadside. Not any kind of big rack but a meat bull for sure!

That hunt will always stay with me as it was my first in AZ. Boy did we eat good! Elk steaks, potatoes and onions with corn on the cob done in the husks with spicy butter.

 

[nakneker]

The very first time I got drawn for elk in AZ, four of us had put in for Unit 9 up on the Coconino Plateau. Varied terrain with a couple of nice flat spots for tents and cooking out of the way.

It was dry and cold, big blue sky and quiet. Set up the tents and got the cooking area fixed up. Ate some dinner and told a few stories and toddled off to sleep for a few hours.

I woke up early as usual and figured I'd start the coffee and wait for the others. Surprise! I had to dig my way out of the tent then find my taller hunting boots to get to the fire pit. 18" overnight and some drifting!

We had a powwow to refigure our plans since the original ones didn't include snow. Actually the snow made tracking easier and we found some bachelor bulls grazing not too far off. One bull was harvested on top of the tallest craggy mountain nearby. He took all four of us and all day to carry him back to camp. Two others came off of a sort of creek bed they used as a trail. Mine came from a small meadow right next to a tiny pine woods, lonesome bull standing broadside. Not any kind of big rack but a meat bull for sure!

That hunt will always stay with me as it was my first in AZ. Boy did we eat good! Elk steaks, potatoes and onions with corn on the cob done in the husks with spicy butter.

Sounds like good memories and a great hunt!

Unit 9 is one of the hardest units to draw in Arizona and holds some of the biggest bulls on state land. Years ago I use to hunt the Navajo Reservation that borders unit 9 on the east side. At the time you could get an elk and muley archery tag and hunt both species at the same time. After looking at the state regs and the Navajo regs I realized that state would hold their hunt two weeks earlier than Navajo Reservation. The tag was good for 3-4 or four weeks and we planned our hunt to be there during prime time a week after the state opened the unit 9 archery season. We were hoping the pressure would push the some elk onto the Navajo side.

It was one of those cases where assumptions and guesses paid off and the hunters on the state land pushed some big bulls on the Navajo side. Long story short I ended up with a nice bull that was 6x7 with a long cheater on his left sword. Unfortunately there was a bigger bull that me and my buddy couldn’t connect with, we tried for a solid week and couldn’t get it done, a big 8x7 that was 390+ conservatively. After making the shot we went back to camp, got everything we needed to retrieve him and headed back to get the bull, when we got there one of the biggest tom lions I have ever seen was laying besides my bull. We had no firearm, no bow and had to scare him off, luckily he left.We spent the rest of the day and into the night packing meat, the cape and the skull back to camp. That dang lion was on my mind the whole time, especially after dark. I’ll add a pic later today.

The Navajo Fish and Game dept make you do a survey at the end of the hunt, when I reported the bull they came to the house to check it out. The following year the hunt became an elk only hunt and the fee went up north of 4K. We were basically hunting Grey Mountain which is a small area full of low land canyons and fingers that drain off the mountain. We were the only ones there, most everybody hunts elk on the Navajo in the Lucachuki Mountains or down low around I-40. I’m sure that’s changed now, that was 20+ years ago. We haven’t hunted that area since but still hunt muleys up in the Lucachukis when we are lucky enough to draw.

I added the pic.

 

[Kurz]

It was interesting because we had no expectations of getting drawn into Unit 9. But the 4 of us all put in together as a group and we think that's what made the difference. We have hunted together for quite a few years here in AZ. Mostly Mulies because we only get drawn for elk about every 7 years or so. All of us are gunsmiths so the rifles and cartridges are always interesting!

 

[nakneker]

It was interesting because we had no expectations of getting drawn into Unit 9. But the 4 of us all put in together as a group and we think that's what made the difference. We have hunted together for quite a few years here in AZ. Mostly Mulies because we only get drawn for elk about every 7 years or so. All of us are gunsmiths so the rifles and cartridges are always interesting!

Sounds like a good group to be part of! I’ve always wanted to hunt unit 9, never have even put in for it because of the draw odds. We typically try and pull tags in 27, 1, 3c but they are also hard units to draw. We have a couple units we use for second choice and seem to draw them every 2-4 years between all of us. Great state to hunt elk in if you can get a tag, getting a tag can be frustrating.

I’m jealous about the rifle building, fun!