Every spring, thousands of outdoor enthusiasts go to the mountains in search of bull ankles. Most people pick up 2 or 3 each season, spending hours, combing woods and mountains for sheds. I lived in the eastern white mountains of Arizona since the early 1990s, and every spring I hunted antennas. I usually collect 30-50 barns per season and average about every 2 1/2 hours. Here are some tips on how you can increase your chances of finding barn moose sheds.
OUTERWEAR
Mountain weather can be indifferent and vary with very little notice. You will need to prepare in advance by wearing appropriate outerwear. First of all, you need to wear really good boots. The terrain is steep and the base is free. Hiking shoes just won't do the task. Hiking boots are better, but the best choice is a good Gore-Tex leather boot. I prefer Danner Boots, they are comfortable and durable. Next is a regular pair of denim jeans. You constantly pass through the brush, butt slip, kneel and sometimes slip and fall. Nylon pants rise quickly. For the top layer, a wick dry t-shirt with a technical nylon or fleece top will work very well. You want to stay warm, but let the sweat go. It is also a good idea to wear a bright color on top, especially if you are hunting with a partner, you should be able to see each other from a distance. Camo is usually not a good idea. A good baseball hat is also necessary to keep the sun from your eyes. I wear a hat with long linings from my wife's business. This is mainly because you will not wear sunglasses, sunglasses will tint the natural environment, and you will not see how the horns lie on the ground if they do not become old white chalk. Sunglasses also make it difficult to use binoculars effectively.
EQUIPMENT
There are three main items that you should carry with you at any time when you send a hunt. The first is a good pair of binoculars. I use a pair of 12x50, which can be bought for 100-150 dollars. You also want to purchase over shoulder straps for a bean ($ 15). They will keep their glasses next to your chest and not let them hit the rocks and hang a brush. The following is a sidearm, if allowed in your state. You will go to the country of first-class mountain lions. I wear a titanium revolver .45, and he saved my life twice by firing warning shots over charging lions. I never killed him. (Perhaps the future story?) I just will not go deep into the mountains without distortion and will not allow the hunting comrades to do it. Finally, you will need 2000-3000 cubic meters. Inches. backpack with straps that will clamp and unfasten horns on the back of the package. Preferably also a bladder reservoir with a bite tube for hydration.
Remember that glasses are always packed away from you and depending on the size of the horn, the button may point up or down ... try not to let the points dip into your butt or hit your head. I can wear (3-4) horns this way, then one by one in each hand, if I find a real honey hole. Your package should include: extra shell, in case of mild weather, radios if you travel with more than one person (essential), headlights, matches, map, GPS (optional) first aid kit, utilitarian tool such as Leatherman, sunscreen, toilet paper, an extra liter of water and your lunch. In some areas, such as the Blue Desert, I wear light rock climbing, a pair of carbines, a sprint device and a 100 percent static rope with a rope in order to get rid of difficult situations.
RESEARCH OF FOUR EFFICIENCY
Now that you have gathered all your outerwear and equipment, it's almost time to go hunting for moose elk. However, in order to prevent you from wandering from the mountain to the canyon without a goal, you will need a good map of the area. The best available USGS topographic maps are available online - we like to laminate ours. I also like to use Google Maps and Google Earth. National forest maps are also convenient for finding roads for access to remote areas, but most side roads are not marked. The main thing is to have a “search plan” and stick to the plan. Your plan should reflect the four main points mentioned below. Always let someone else know where you are going and when you return. A note on the kitchen counter to my wife usually works for me. You can also carry a GPS and mark the location of your car before you trot to a remote area.
As you plan to hunt moose elk, you need to think about four main subjects: security, access, conditions and terrain. Any successful hunting hunt will require all four of these items to be present. If there is only one essential element missing, you will have very little luck in finding barns and most likely will be bored. All we do is increase the likelihood of finding a canopy on an elk boat in a given area.
SECURITY
I find that moose antlers are painful before they fall. There is no scientific evidence that I know that I support my faith, but, nevertheless, I firmly believe that this is a fact. The level of pain can be different for each bovine elk, from a minor toothache to an abscess tooth. The level of pain can also change with age. So, take a minute and think about how you feel when you have a toothache, say, maybe, the root canal. As a rule, you want to relax as much as possible, stay warm and comfortable, have very little social contact, there is water and food nearby, perhaps you sleep a little more than usual. Most of all, you really don't want to be disturbed. You just want to get it and continue your life. I contend that this is exactly how bovine elk's legs when these big horns begin to weaken. They want to be safe and secure.
So where did the bull-lok feel safe and secure? The question is probably better to ask where they will not feel safe and secure. Well, to be honest, definitely not around their girlfriends, cow elk. If I see loads and loads of fresh moose moose, I probably won't find myself in a good area to look for sheds. Bulls sometimes congregate into smaller groups of 4-8 when they are about to fall, but most of the time it is a systematic event when it actually happens. They also do not want to be cold, they usually love to be as warm and comfortable as possible. I don’t find a moose on the northern slopes at all, not working on a big mountain with deep ridges ... even then the chances are much greater on sunny one-sided slopes. This next one is very important; they also tend to avoid the deep, dense brushes that predominate on the northern mountains. Remember, if you buy my conviction, these horns hurt. They don't want them knocking on trees and bushes ... sort of like toe knocking that you have already become dull. However, areas can be short and clean, like a living oak forest with an oak height of about 5 °. This allows them to move and wear horns above the brush, but be able to lie between them to look for protection.
An insightful deer-hunter would probably say: "Yes, fine, but I found several sheds in wide open meadows." My answer would be "Of course, they are going to and from their water source and feeding area from a safe area." Elk lacks pizza when they are sick. In addition, you usually find only one side of the meadow ... they have already dropped the other in their safe zone. Finally, there is another important point in the issue of security - mountain lions. When a goof elk falls down, it is usually not in a place where it can be easily attacked. They like to have a good visual field, which means that they often like on a mountain. Hanging rock protrusions, which they can hide, are also places that should always be sought. Think about when you were young and going to go to bed, but you have a tooth that loses, you can't sleep. Your parents would enter your bedroom and pull out a loose tooth — I always lingered after the doorknob and string trick! If the bull is elk, and these horns hurt so much that they cannot sleep, they will knock them both off where they lie. The combined set of elk-horn bulls is almost the best find ... next to the winter.
Good examples of safe zones are dramas and just below the crests. Please keep in mind that these areas can be quite large, sometimes square miles.
CONDITIONS
This is the simplest of the basic elements and the one in which I see most of the errors. Environmental conditions have a huge impact on where a bull elk can fall on the strait. The main condition is the weather, and the other is the season. I am going to make another bold assumption based not on scientific fact, but I know that this is true. The bull elk will not drop the horns in the snow. However, they really like to be close to the snow, in particular, the snow line on the mountain. If you can determine where the snow line is on the mountain at the time of the year when the horn fell, you saved yourself a huge hunt in the wrong places (the most common mistake). As a rule, when I find fresh brown horns, the first thing I look at is my altimeter of wrist watches and determine the height at which I raised the barn. (A good reason to carry a GPS is also). In most cases there is no snow, I took the barn. I'm trying to define a snow line on a mountain during a fall. From this point of view, the highest chance of finding another barn is 150 or higher, where you found the first barn. This means that you zigzagiruete up and down the mountain. However, when you find your second barn on the same mountain, you now add knowledge to your knowledge base to further improve your search area in height. In the eastern white mountains of Arizona and western Central New Mexico, almost all my canopies are between 8300-9500. & # 39; You will need to determine the average value in your area according to the snow line.
The other half of the equation is the time of year. Elk bull usually throws its horns for 6-8 weeks. In our region, this is the beginning of March to the end of April. However, there is always 10 days or so when the major throws his horns. Large moose first throw horns. I think the big one is on a 50-foot main beam - usually 6X. Next come the medium, about 36 "main beam, and then the small 3X - the last. Many strait hunters make the mistake of getting out too early. At the beginning of the season our district is staffed with barn hunters, some of them found. , on the sunny line of the ridge with 12x50 binoculars and lunch.I watch migration patterns and, by the way, choose the largest racks.
Try to limit your search to areas a couple of hundred feet below the snow line, using a zigzag pattern for a year when they actually spill their horns.
ACCESS
I have to include access as an important element, as this is a somewhat competitive adventure. If there are a lot of people in the area where you are going to hunt for dividends, you probably will not succeed. This is a serious breach of security. However, it is important enough to guarantee your own category. You can see bull elk in areas inhabited by humans, but they really don’t like to shed their horns if they don’t go to a safe area. Think of it this way ... if an ATV can get into your area, this is not a good place to hunt barns. Bull moose do not like roaring ATV engines or diesel trucks. They like it, comfortable and quiet.
I sometimes use an ATV to get close to the area in which I will hunt canopies. But this quad is usually parked at least a mile away from my target area. You don't want to scare them if they haven't dropped it yet. You really need to walk, bother as little as possible and walk away with your generosity. I witnessed that the main areas were destroyed by careless people.
This is a competitive adventure. If in your area a lot of people. It can be cleaned every year. If the access is simple, the masses will appear to hunt the horns. If access is difficult, you probably have your own private hunting ground. Here is another general rule: if a ranch is grazing in your area, this is probably not a good place to hunt barns. Cowboys ride along the fence line every spring, as soon as the snow is gone, they know their cattle allocation section, like the back of their hand. Basically, for many years you have had experts in your area collecting barns.
The more remote and inaccessible any type of vehicle, including horses, the higher the likelihood of finding moose riders.
TERRAIN
An elk can throw its horns almost anywhere, we are only interested in the areas in which there is the greatest likelihood of a “drop zone”. Quite often moose moose falls here. It can also be a place where they travel also from a safe area. However, it is always an area in which they are familiar. When I move into a new area to “develop”, I look for a specific type of landscape to fit other other elements. I am also looking for fish and elk loch. Hey wait! Bull-lok rubs the velvet from their horns and after shedding them. I agree, but they are also prone to dating areas. So, when I look at the ground and the friction in the trees, I also look through the horizons with my binoculars ... because I'm always looking for a specific type of terrain.
The best possible terrain is oriented and prioritized in this order, to the south, southwest, west, southeast, and east. As mentioned earlier, the slopes facing the north almost always do not go, unless it is a big mountain with steep ridges that have sunny canyons. As one more general rule, grassy slopes are better than rocky slopes. If the slope is all rocks, this is probably not a good area. He should have some kind of grass with a stone ... best of all, a grass with a few stones.
Some of my friends cheat on my legs like T-Rex. This is probably due to the fact that most of the sheds that I find are located on slopes from 30 to 50 degrees. If you are not familiar with the degree of the angle of inclination, the roof is 12/12 height is 45 degrees. Many churches have steep roof lines, similar to the terrain in which canopies are found on elk moose. Obviously, it takes a lot of determination to make your way up the steep prone strait hunt at home. However, this is usually a safe area with a lot of visibility and often near a water source down in the canyon. The good news is that you can stop every 50 or so, take a break and view the area with your binoculars.
A typical search pattern on a steep slope facing south will look something like this: The first pass is the grand route itself, take the time to look down the slope and then return directly to the ridge. The next pass may be 20–40 below the rib line and, as a rule, at least one or two passes are even lower. However, if you just make one pass, you need to use a zigzag pattern to cover as much as possible. All this time, you have been pondering about security problems for the moose, about the environment in the area during the existence of the snow line and about access to the remoteness of the area.
LAST WORDS
Please do not be disappointed if you read all this information and do not immediately find the strait of burdock elk, although all four basic elements are present. This is intended to be an interesting guide to increase your chances of finding discarded horns. From the outside, you should consider your mission to develop areas in which you know they will fall. I found hundreds and hundreds of elks, 70% of which came from a dozen areas that took me many years to explore and develop. I enter these areas three times each — the early, middle, and late season.
I do not sell any of my antlers. These are either gifts for family and friends, or they end up in my workshop, becoming lamps, celebration tables, or candle holders. A hundred or so adorn the gate to our mountain house.
NOTE AUTHORS
Arizona's Eastern White Mountains include the Alpine, Nutrioso, and Greer communities. 538,000 acres of Wallow Fire (Summer 2010) burned more than 850 square miles of this beautiful area. We lost our home for 15 years with two companies due to the irresponsibility and negligence of the Apache National Forest Management Team. We are currently leaving 300 miles on the southern edge of the Grand Canyon.
