As fate would have it, “BB” decided to meet with me closer to Big Lake this time rather than the Show Low area. He decided to contact me using his new wildlife social media account called Tinebook. I was amused to get the notice on my elkhabitat@gmail account and I perused some of the photos that Tinebook had to offer. “BB” is “friends” with a lot of different bulls and boys being boys, there were a few photos that showed how unique the male of all species are. Since the bachelor bulls are all gathered together, and since this is a new venture that “BB” had put together, Tinebook is almost predominantly about bulls for now. The typical chatter about “who’s got a bigger set of antlers” was prevalent, but I did copy one picture that caught my eye. It was from a distant nephew of “BB” that lives way over in the Tusayan area. His Tinebook name is “Dennis the Menace” and I have included a photo that was posted on Tinebook. I was very interested in talking with “BB” about this nephew, so armed with water and a backpack, I headed towards Big Lake. Continue reading →

“BB” finally gave me a call about a week ago and I agreed to meet with him on the outskirts of Show Low. The meeting took place just before daylight in one of the areas where we had met before. I arrived in the dark and worked my way up over a small hillside that was covered with junipers and all kinds of thick scrub trees and Manzanita. After hacking my way to the top of the hill, I moved down to a natural bench that was perfectly positioned halfway down the back side. I looked for “BB”, but there was no sign of my long-time friend. As the gray light began to filter through the trees, I heard the light tread of something working up from the drainage below. In the half light I made out the unmistakable body of “BB”. He had obviously lost his antlers some time ago because his new growth had already started. He grunted a greeting and said, “Damn boy, I could smell you a long way off this morning; glad to see I haven’t lost my touch. There is no way that you could sneak up on me today.” I tried to give the impression that I could care less, but I had to get in a few digs. “BB” I said, “if I wanted to sneak up on you, I would have come around the other side and worked my way upwind of you. Besides, this is not even close to a hunting season, and you my friend hardly qualify as a bull based on that salad on top of your head.” “BB” tried to look offended for a moment and then started that darn chuckle of his. “Yep, I lost those bad boys about a month ago and I doubt any shed hunter will find them this year. I tossed both of them off on a steep hillside coming up from a nasty canyon. Each one landed in a clump of Manzanita trees and even I could hardly see them after they fell off. I do think that this year will be my best ever for antler growth though. Look how many different nubs I have already.” I was a bit impressed. His tops were coming in just fine and the mass was certainly incredible. I had seen a few bulls the previous week in the Payson area and they still had on last years’ headgear. They were of course, smaller than “BB” by far, but still, he was so far ahead of them that I had to agree. This could be his year for record growth. Continue reading →