Antelope Eaters XXII results, Fred Eichler coming in 2012!

[DonMartin]

Last weekend was one of the better Antelope Eaters hunts we have had in a long time as far was weather was concerned.

There were 131 teams, with 313 sportsmen and women, who were entered in this coyote suppression hunt in northern Arizona on Saturday and Sunday.

Despite the better hunting conditions, wily coyote manged to stay out of the cross hairs of a lot of the hunters.

Preliminary data shows that just 40 coyotes were taken during the hunt.

However, that sure didn't stop the hunters from trying to help out the prey species such as antelope fawns, deer fawns, elk calves, turkey poults and javelina found in northern Arizona.

The better news is that biological samples from several coyotes that were taken were able to be used by the Arizona Game & Fish Dept. biologists who are working on the Black-footed ferret project in nearby Aubrey Valley.

Due to the generosity of a number of Arizona's conservation groups lots and lots of hunter incentives were passed out during the two days.

On behalf of the Mohave Sportsman Club, who sponsors this annual hunt, I'd like to thank all the sportsmen and women who participated, and the MSC staff including Bob Shaw and his wife Deanna, for making sure this hunt was as good as it could be.

Now for an announcement.

Noted predator caller and all around good guy Fred Eichler, from Predator Nation is going to be at our 2012 hunt,along with his cameraman.

This well know celebrity is going to come and hunt with a lucky hunter, who has yet to be determined, but if all goes well, the 2012 hunt may well be featured on a segment of Mr. Eichler's television show.

More information will be posted when we get it all complied.

Again thanks to all.

In a sidebar note, as many at the check found out today, I couldn't hunt this weekend due to being in a cast and on crutches and also due to a prior commitment that I had made to the Arizona Game & Fish Dept. This is the only hunt I've ever missed in 22 years and God willing, I'll be back in the field with you all in 2012 (if I can find a partner).

The sportsman won the brand new Savage rifle that the MSC gave away was Kingman resident Mr. Joe Hererro. I had purchased Mr. Hererro 5 tickets as he couldn't make the hunt due to his job, and he won three hunter incentives, including that rifle!

Congratulations to Joe! Couldn't have happened to a nicer and more worthy guy.

Don Martin
Hunt Coordinator Antelope Eaters XXII

 

[unit_master]

Don,

I bet Mr. Hererro was excited to find out he won the rifle. However, I do question why someone who did not participate in the actual event get to buy raffle tickets though. Seems someone who hunted all weekend in effort to do their part in predator management should be the one winning the "hunter incentives".

Also, how come the MSC doesn't at least issue some plaques or some other incentive to the top few teams that do well other than a raffle ticket per coyote? I know a lot more people would hunt Antelope Eaters if they had some bragging rights from the previous year plaque they won.

With gas prices the way the are now, it would also be nice to have an optional phone check in on Saturday night. A team that doesn't plan to stay the night in Seligman would miss the drawing's on Saturday but still be eligible to win something on Sunday.

Nate

 

[DonMartin]

LAST EDITED ON Mar-07-11 AT 09:02PM (MST)[p]Nate:

First of all, let me say right up front that I personally appreciate the fact that you and 311 others took the time out of busy schedules to help out on this important coyote suppression effort.

Now let me address your questions the best I can.

Yes, Mr. Herrero was very happy that he won not only the gun, but two other prize bags also. And he did it with just five tickets that I had purchased for him, since he was driving truck last weekend and was not able to attend the event. By the way, I also purchased $20 in blue tickets for a paramedic friend of mine who was on-duty, and I personally purchased $40 in tickets, even though I didn't get to hunt! By the way Mr. Hoeft--the paramedic-- never won a thing, but as you know I did win two prize bags, neither which contained any high value prizes.

Last weekend, there was $2,600 in CASH ($1,300 each day)that was distributed to ONLY the hunters who checked in, whether they had coyotes or not. Those holding blue tickets, WERE NOT ELIGIBLE FOR THOSE AWARDS! And on Saturday and Sunday (14 each day), there was an additional 28 "Hunter Incentives" prizes with a value of at least $25 and in a number of cases from $50 up to ONLY THOSE HUNTERS WHO PARTICIPATED AND CHECKED IN.

If my addition is right, there were 52 awards of $50 cash, and 28 other hunter incentive awards. That means there were at least 80 prizes that were for the hunters only! I think the top 28 bonus incentive prizes were substantial, and they included the rifle, bow, fishing trip, 10 motel stays at the Marriott Residence Inn. But the remaining 30+ bags were of a value of generally $25 or less.

I feel that we divided the prizes equitably and fairly, and remember again that only those in attendance and hunted were eligible for cash hunter incentive awards and the other hunter incentive awards.

y the way, let me explain to everyone how that system works.

Every person on a team that is entered into the hunt and checks in on Saturday and Sunday, gets a single red ticket. Bring in a coyote taken during the hunt (no road kills-frozen coyotes-etc.) and we'll give you ONE additional ticket. We give no tickets for foxes, bobcats, badgers or Mtn. lions. Yes they are in season and legal to take, but remember OUR STATED PURPOSE OF THIS HUNT! It is to remove coyotes from prime antelope and deer fawning areas, elk calving areas, turkey nesting areas, and of course areas where javelina are living!

This isn't a predator suppression effort; it is and always has been and will be a COYOTE SUPPRESSION EFFORT!

Let me address the plaque awards question. This is one of the things that has been discussed many times over the years. And I've been the hunt coordinator on this hunt for 20 out of the 22 years it has been in existence.

In the beginning we used to have cash awards for teams that brought in the most coyotes.

Then we got some awful and startling information. Some of those in the event had been cheating in order to get a prize and the "honors" that went with it. Cheating ranged from bringing in frozen dogs, to groups who actually combined their efforts in the field to increase the number they checked in and then split the money

We know this was isolated conduct and not indicative of what the vast majority of the winners were doing, but it did happen, and I knew it and told our BOD about it. That's when things changed.

Unfortunately any time you put a lot of money out there, someone is going to cheat and quite frankly we at the Mohave Sportsman Club wanted no part of that.

We have discussed the idea of issuing plaques, and I think that might be a good idea, and doable in the future. We are going to have a post hunt meeting and I'll sure bring this up and see where it goes. Might be time to do it again.

Along those lines, and though Nate didn't mention it, some others have I spoke to said they wanted AE to become a high dollar jackpot hunt. I assure you as long as I am running this event, I will NEVER make this a "jackpot hunt".

Remember, we do the AE hunt to help out the critters, we offer a number of hunter incentives to help out with fuel, room or other hunt related expenses, but we don't do this to put a lot of money in a few hunters pockets. There are other jackpot hunts out there that those who want to hunt for money can do so. I sure don't have a problem with those that want to do this, it is every individuals choice. I don't condemn those who do and neither does the MSC. We at the MSC have simply chosen not to go there with our hunt.

By the way, I am writing a story for the local newspaper (Kingman Daily Miner)like I do every year, and I do include the names of those who checked in the top number of coyotes, and the number they checked in. I also do a cable TV show here in Mohave County (Back At Camp, Channel 57) and the top coyoteros are identified during that show.

Once I get all the data from my hunt registration folks, I'll post it all on here too!

I don't see how we could have a phone check in on Saturday, but if you got an idea on how to do it, I'll sure listen. E-mail me at [email protected] or call me at 928-681-4867 in the evenings.

I am sorry for this long, drawn out answer to your questions. But I am aware that a lot of folks, some hunters and non-hunters alike are going to read this and I just want to make sure that everyone knows how we operate and why we do the things we do.

Remember, if we saved just one fawn, calf, poult or redd this year, then we as concerned sportsmen did what we set out to to do with this effort.

Thank you, and if anyone else has comments or concerns, please free to let me know.

Don Martin
Hunt Chairman
Antelope Eaters XXII

P.S. Did I tell you that next year we will be honored to have Mr. Fred Eichler of Predator Nation here to hunt with us in 2012? The hunt date is being moved to the third weekend in March. And we are going to have a drawing for Fred's hunting partner! Who knows, maybe the lucky hunter will be on Fred's television show! Look for more info on this in the future.

 

[unit_master]

>Yes, Mr. Herrero was very happy
>that he won not only
>the gun, but two other
>prize bags also. And he
>did it with just five
>tickets that I had purchased
>for him, since he was
>driving truck last weekend and
>was not able to attend
>the event.

So what your saying is next year I can save my time and money and just give someone $20 for the raffle and I can win a rifle and two of the prizes that you say are "hunter insentive" prizes.. How are they incentive to the hunter if anyone can win?


>I feel that we divided the
>prizes equitably and fairly, and
>remember again that only those
>in attendance and hunted were
>eligible for cash hunter incentive
>awards and the other hunter
>incentive awards.


We give no tickets
>for foxes, bobcats, badgers or
>Mtn. lions. Yes they are
>in season and legal to
>take, but remember OUR STATED
>PURPOSE OF THIS HUNT! It
>is to remove coyotes from
>prime antelope and deer fawning
>areas, elk calving areas, turkey
>nesting areas, and of course
>areas where javelina are living!

Also, I think a hunter that checks in a bobcat or is lucky enough to take a lion should win a hunter incentive prize. These predator's are harder to kill than a coyote and do just as much damage on the above mentioned big game.


>Let me address the plaque awards
>question. This is one of
>the things that has been
>discussed many times over the
>years. And I've been the
>hunt coordinator on this hunt
>for 20 out of the
>22 years it has been
>in existence.
>
>In the beginning we used to
>have cash awards for teams
>that brought in the most
>coyotes.
>
>Then we got some awful and
>startling information. Some of those
>in the event had been
>cheating in order to get
>a prize and the "honors"
>that went with it. Cheating
>ranged from bringing in frozen
>dogs, to groups who actually
>combined their efforts in the
>field to increase the number
>they checked in and then
>split the money
>
>We know this was isolated conduct
>and not indicative of what
>the vast majority of the
>winners were doing, but it
>did happen, and I knew
>it and told our BOD
>about it. That's when things
>changed.
>
>Unfortunately any time you put a
>lot of money out there,
>someone is going to cheat
>and quite frankly we at
>the Mohave Sportsman Club wanted
>no part of that.
>
>We have discussed the idea of
>issuing plaques, and I think
>that might be a good
>idea, and doable in the
>future. We are going to
>have a post hunt meeting
>and I'll sure bring this
>up and see where it
>goes. Might be time to
>do it again.
>
>Along those lines, and though Nate
>didn't mention it, some others
>have I spoke to said
>they wanted AE to become
>a high dollar jackpot hunt.
>I assure you as long
>as I am running this
>event, I will NEVER make
>this a "jackpot hunt".
>
>Remember, we do the AE hunt
>to help out the critters,
>we offer a number of
>hunter incentives to help out
>with fuel, room or other
>hunt related expenses, but we
>don't do this to put
>a lot of money in
>a few hunters pockets. There
>are other jackpot hunts out
>there that those who want
>to hunt for money can
>do so. I sure don't
>have a problem with those
>that want to do this,
>it is every individuals choice.
>I don't condemn those who
>do and neither does the
>MSC. We at the MSC
>have simply chosen not to
>go there with our hunt.
>

I agree with you here. Unfortunately there will always be cheaters, even in the current format, but I think competing for a plague is a little different than competing for a jackpot.



>I don't see how we could
>have a phone check in
>on Saturday, but if you
>got an idea on how
>to do it, I'll sure
>listen. E-mail me at [email protected]
>or call me at 928-681-4867
>in the evenings.

The Curtis Cauthen Memorial Hunt and Callin' for a Cause both implemented a phone check in on Saturday night. Simply include two phone numbers on the registration form and the teams can call in with their take by 9pm.


>P.S. Did I tell you that
>next year we will be
>honored to have Mr. Fred
>Eichler of Predator Nation here
>to hunt with us in
>2012? The hunt date is
>being moved to the third
>weekend in March. And we
>are going to have a
>drawing for Fred's hunting partner!
>Who knows, maybe the lucky
>hunter will be on Fred's
>television show! Look for more
>info on this in the
>future.

Why is the hunt date being changed next year?

Don,

I am not trying to argue with anything, just opinions and I think a few changes would make this hunt even better.

Nate

 

[DonMartin]

Nate:

The prizes that folks can win who purchase tickets and for what ever reason do not hunt are called bonus drawing prizes. My bad if I referred to them as Hunter incentive, as they are not.

Always open to what we can do to make this a better event.

we don't do tickets for other critters because this is an effort to reduce coyotes only. That is the sole purpose of this hunt..

If you want to set the world as we know it catch on fire, try doing one of these hunts for mtn. lions where money is involved-- even as random hunter incentives, and see where it goes! I don't think you would ever want that..

I know some of the folks involved in the Cauthen hunt, I'll call and ask about the phone check in.

Thanks,

Don Martin
Hunt Chairman
Antelope Eaters XXII

 

[DonMartin]

Ok, here you go. These are the numbers I got from MSC president Steve Bell. Since I don't personally have the paperwork to verify all of this, I'll just put out what I got.

There were 130 teams and 312 hunters in Antelope Eaters.

Of that number, just 28 teams brought in coyotes. There were a total of 45 coyotes brought in, 35 on Saturday and 10 on Sunday. That is due to the fact we only hunt a half day on Sunday and many teams do not bother to check in that day.

There were two teams that checked in four (4) coyotes. They were:
Mark Olivas & Larry Hanson, and Eleazar Santiago and Roy Whitten.

There were four teams that checked in three (3) coyotes. They were:

Bob Casson & Larry Anderson, Ken Holtz & Jim Arthur, Andy and Joel Lunsford, and Thomas DeLeon and David Baldwin.

The vast majority of the coyotes that were taken during the hunt were brought in by hunters from Unit 18A.

The next highest number were taken in Unit 10, and a number were taken in Unit 18B. Coyotes were brought in from Units 17B, 7, 19B and 7 West.

Many thanks to all that help to sponsor this year's hunt.

Those sponsors include: Wildlife Conservation Council, Arizona Bowhunters Association, Arizona Deer Association, Arizona Elk Society, Arizona Antelope Foundation, and the Arizona Desert Bighorn Sheep Foundation. Sportsman Warehouse in Phoenix and the Kingman Wal-Mart also donated gift cards this year to Antelope Eaters. Arizona Predator Callers urged their members to show, and many as usual, did.

Other businesses who donated prizes include Mr. AP Jones of AllPredatorCalls.com, Mr.John Patel of Kingman, AZ who was a major donator to this event, Striper Hunters of Meadview AZ, Tina Smith of Triple T Taxidermy in Lake Havasu City, Jay Menefee, owner of Polywad Inc. who donated 14 boxes of Dead Coyote 3 1/2 inch 12 ga ammo, Calvin Andrews of DAC Ranch, Burnham Bros calls, Friends of The NRA, McKee Foods, Fred Eichler of Predator Nation. Jim Warren from from Tucson, Gary Venable of Kingman,On Target Enterprises and Craig Steele of CEI Outdoors, and Jim Fuller of A&P Pawn all of Kingman. Colorado River Ford of Kingman, Mother Road Harley Davidson and Darryl at Banks Street Guns of Kingman,and Tiger Thompson of Cactuflage of Lake Havasu City. Chris Wagner of The Gun Store in Kingman also handled the paperwork on the rifle and made a nice donation. Rick and Grace Van Horn donated some fur and did a great job taking care of the coyotes that were brought in.

How about a well deserved "Thank You" for the folks in Seligman, specifically the Black Cat Bar, who for the 22nd year in a row, allowed us to use their parking lot as the check in area. George and Cindy Seff did a great job, didn't they? George hooked up a PA system, lights and that tent being put up was awesome, even though this year the weather was almost perfect!I haven't heard any complaints about the food or motel rooms this year,so that apparently went went too. If not let me know.

Of course the new Savage rifle was donated by the Mohave Sportsman Club.

I also want to recognize and thank the AZ G&F Dept. for sending out biologists to gather some much needed data from the coyotes our hunters got to help out on the Black Footed Ferret project in Aubrey Valley, thanks folks for coming out. And to Ben Selby, the Wildlife Manager in Unit 10 for the AZ G&F Dept. who did a lot of patrol work during the hunt.

Did you all know we had hunters from not only Nevada, but California as well, who came over to hunt? Many thanks to all those out of state coyoteros! Bring more of your buddies next year!

I know that sometimes it is a pain to write a short note or letter to sponsors, but believe me, if these folks hear from you, the hunters, about their donation, then next year when I go back with my hat in my hand and ask for donations, they will be a lot more willing to donate cause they know you appreciate what they did.

And face it, without all this support from corporate and private individuals, we sure wouldn't have nearly as much to pass out as we did this year.

If I've left somebody of the list, I apologize. Just let me know, ok?

And to the following people from the Mohave Sportsman Club, Bob Shaw, Deanna Shaw, Dave Nystrom, Terry Nystrom, Steve Bell, Linda Bell, Alan Stevenson, Page McDonald and Ed Wingfield, who donated lots and lots of time and effort to this event to make it as successful as it was. To all of you my personal gratitude and "Thank You" for a job very well done.

Well there you have it! I sure hope I got it all.

Heck of a good time, we did some good I'm sure for the prey species, and next year we will be bigger and better than ever!

Don Martin
Hunt Chairman
Antelope Eaters XXII

 

[massey_muley]

Don,
I grew up in Prescott Valley and studied forestry at NAU for 5 years. It almost brought a tear to my eye when you thanked AZGFD WM Ben Shelby. We endured 4 brutal years of forestry together and shared a couple of hunts as well. There's noone more passionate about hunting than him and from the posts I am always reading by you, its no surprise he was apart of your awesome event!
Warms my heart to know guys like you and him are fighting the good fight for Sportsmen!

 

[DonMartin]

LAST EDITED ON Mar-09-11 AT 05:43PM (MST)[p]Here is a photo of one of the teams from Nevada that came down this year to help out. Hans Frahm (L) and Bruce Hudson, who is the owner of Silver Grand Outfitters in Nevada, gave 'em heck for a day and half.

These guys live in Vegas but helped us out even though Bruce has had a bad back for the past six months.


http://www.monstermuleys.info/photos/user_photos/2955hans_frahm-bruce_hudson_ae_xxii_3-6-2011.jpg

 

[DonMartin]

LAST EDITED ON Mar-09-11 AT 05:44PM (MST)[p]Somebody asked about if the rifle winner was happy, and here he is! Chris Wagner (L), owner of THE GUN SHOP in Kingman and Joe Herrero holds the rifle that he won at the drawing at Antelope Eaters XXII on Sunday.

Yep he is a happy sportsmen.

Herrero made out even more when he traded a 5 pack of 3" Remington 12 ga. #4 buckshot shells he had won in one of two prize bags he got to a guy for one of the 10-packs of the 3 1/2 inch Dead Coyote shells that the other guy had won.

I guess when you get smiled on, you just go with it, right?

Congrats again Joe!

Don Martin
Hunt Chairman
Antelope Eaters XXII

http://www.monstermuleys.info/photo...joe_herrero_rifle_winner_ae_xxii_3-6-2011.jpg

 

[jodog]

Don, I wasn't at the AE hunt just want to say thanks for what you do! We could use more guys like you in hunting/outdoors.

 

[DonMartin]

Thanks....

Just glad to help out.

I think that next year will be my last as the Govt Liaison for the Mohave Sportsman Club. Bob Shaw is one of the "young guns" and did great this year in my absence on Saturday.

Time to move on and let some others take the ball and run with it! I want to actually write a book, just need a little time to think it through.

Don Martin
Govt Liaison
Mohave Sportsman Club

 

[DonMartin]

Oops, it my hurry to get information out to everyone, I inadvertantly failed to recognize one of our members who was also big help in the beginning of this planning process for Antelope Eaters. Mr. Jim Jett was the one responsible for going to Seligman and meeting with the motel and restaurant owners there to confirm prices and what meals were going to be offered to our hunters

I apologize to Mr. Jett for leaving him off the list.

Don Martin
Hunt Chairman
Antelope Eaters XXII