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New | August 2005 | |
Gerhard Schroeder |   | |
Drawing results are out for 2005 Arizona hunts!
Did you get what you wanted? Let’s hope you’ve at least got
some tag(s). For me, can’t complain, cow elk in unit 3B.
I’ve always said that I’ll be a happy hunter as long as they
let me chase elk. Even though there was no deer tag for me,
something that hasn’t happened for what must be over a decade.
Unit 3B is my personal favorite. All elk action in the last
ten plus years has taken place there. I know that country
well now, know where I’ll go first on opening morning, where
to stir them out of their beds after lunch. Familiarity
enhances success, for sure. It also takes something away
though, an element of adventure. Lucky you, if your tag is
for your 4th choice, possibly a hunt unit you’ve never even
been to. That sort of thing mostly happens for deer, of course.
But that’s not the point. Whatever critter your tag may be for,
be happy for country that is new.
It was the drawing lottery that introduced me to most of
Arizona’s vast outdoors. High on the list is my one-and-only
buffalo hunt – unsuccessful as it turned out. However, that
term only applies to meat in the freezer. I will never forget
that hunt! Front seal failure on my ’81 Toyota pickup at the
time did in my scouting trip. Plenty of smoke forced a hasty
return at the Stoneman Lake exit.
Therefore I arrived at the House Rock Ranch cold turkey two
weeks later. Every rise, every hill became an adventure,
because all was new. And the Grand Canyon was lurking near
by. Should you ever have the desire to drive your rig straight
into that awesome hole, I found a dirt road to accommodate such
a stunt!
The buffs also have access to ‘wilderness’, a human designation,
seemingly randomly selected. The land itself might as well all
be wilderness. It does not require some government clerk to
highlight something on a map. I found a herd of buffalo, alright.
They were safe on the other side of an impossible-to-cross canyon,
and no lead flew. David Stimens must have heard the call of the
wild as well. He came along on opening weekend, he won’t forget,
either. Just ask him about those monster muleys.
Going in order of adventure, of excitement, of inspiration, Unit
32 would be next. Just a few years ago, on one of those early
whitetail hunts at the end of October, the rugged mountains were
simply calling. I did not resist, and began my climb at dark
thirty. As the sun began to climb higher, wild, spacious, rugged
beauty awaited everywhere. I kept hiking. Until a buck, for
which I had come after all, stopped me by being too cooperative.
I may forget exactly what kind of buck it was – being a meat
hunter, antler size doesn’t matter to me anyway – but I will
never forget the mountains, and that the de-boned deer resided
in my pack all the way back to camp.
By the way, I’ve always done fairly well in new hunt units. Maybe
it was my desire to see what's over the next horizon, I don’t know.
Diana has been smiling on me in new country. I’m never disappointed
with the G&F lottery if it sends me to unknown grounds.
It does not require a new hunting unit to seek out adventures.
Even if I return time and again to unit 3B, it seems that there
is plenty of country left in it that hasn’t felt my boots. By
the way, you’ve got to walk! There’s little adventure in driving,
and you will miss all the small things along the way. Unless you
experience mechanical ‘issues’ at the end of the mostly beaten
path, your memory bank will not be impressed for long. And such
adventures seldom leave a positive taste.
So, go for ‘new’ on your next hunt. Give your heart a little nudge,
leave the familiar trail for some cross-country stomping. Not
coming out where you think you ought to is but one ingredient to be
wild for a weekend, to be alive. At least choose a new trail or
chunk of real estate. That’s how I stumbled onto the elks’ bedrooms,
and the way they move around in their kingdom. Want more? If your
hunt is during full moon, leave camp hours before sun up. I covered
a few miles through man-designated wilderness on that buffalo hunt
only by the moon’s light. Sorry, can’t find the right words to
describe that hike.
Hope to not see you out there!
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