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Coues deer hunting is my passion, love it! That's what I breathe. Located a shooter buck, disappeared in the thickness of the desert floor. While glassing for him for about 3 hrs. a BIG BUCK walked into my field of view. My heart skipped a beat! My eyes wide open and my jaw dropped to the floor, what a buck!! Looked for him frantically in the brush and mesquite packed desert floor.. just before dark I saw him again, waling behind some trees and then stopped on a opening to show me his majestic rack, wow! I immediately got up with the intention to grab my rifle and got into position for a shot; as I lifted my tripod to put them by my side some how my swaros got detach or disconnected and fell hard on the rock below me. It was a hard hit I knew that while I was aiming my rifle where I just saw the buck... the buck wasn't there anymore. I looked around that opening with my rifle scope and with my naked eye to see if I can see him again and shoot but nothing...looked again and then some more and notrhing. Immediately after I grabed my binoculars put them back on my tripod to find him again and guess what? they were broken!! My binos broke when fell onto the boulder below me! I could not see through them!! and somewhere below me therea was a huge buck! Looked for him with my naked eyes and through my rifle scope but with no success! 😩 Now I had no binos and it was only the 2nd day of my hunt. I was frustraded, devastated and traumatized...how I was going to look foor that giant on an area that is very thick full of brush and trees with no binoculars? To make a long story short, hunted for him for 4 more days never to see him or the other buck I originally saw before him. On the last day of my hunt I moved to a totally different area. Right at 7:00 am located this buck at 473 yards. I said to my self hey, last day, lets do it! One shot and this buck was mine! It was a long 3 hrs haul to my truck but a very happy camper 😋 Next year, Lord willing...I will go back and look for that big buck and with binos of course. P. S. Sucks to hunt with no swaros.

And I'm not talking about the current state of the nation. I knew the odds of me drawing a sheep tag were slim to none, but it happened in 2019. The odds of what happened on my deer hunt this past weekend however, had to be far slimmer and certainly unbelievable without proof. Whether the destination of the day or the particular part of a ridge or canyon, I have told myself a hundred times "that is where you're going to find a lion." With an abundance of hunting pressure on opening day of the third coues hunt in the unit, I went 2.5 miles to the deepest and darkest canyon available from my hunt party's area before sunrise on Saturday. The drainage of the canyon was surprisingly void of deer at first light, so my partner and I kept on the last several hundred yards up a shale face that crested into one of the steepest and biggest Google Earth tricks that I've ever played on myself. I immediately thought, "crap it is going to be tough to find a buck in here, but this HAS to be lion country." One tucked in doe and 5 minutes later, and I had finally found what I'd been dreaming of every day on the mountain for the last 18 years. There sunning sideways on a large boulder along a steep draw, stretched out my first glassed lion with no idea we had slipped into its lair. Unbelievable. The excitement nearly doubled when my rangefinder read a number starting with one of a few magical digits, 4. With the state of cat and a series of boulders and rock faces to navigate through, I closed the number to 400 yards even and set up prone. I waited for an hour and a half as it roll occasionally from side to side. I tried to guess how everything would play out including when, how and for how long it would get up for a stretch, but I was in no mans land. I knew nothing first hand about their daytime behavior and came to the conclusion it could be hours before anything changed. With a solid rest, no kittens joining the party and a forecast of high winds picking up well before noon, it was time to put all the load and range work to use. Timed to a break in the early morning gusts, 2 quick reports and a cloud of dust rising from the rock pile beneath is all that could be seen. For the first time ever, the deer tag in my pocket didn't matter anymore. We found 3 kills all within a few hundred yards. Upon arrival, I feared the lion had crawled its way into a hole that I was going to have to dig out similar to several javelina over the years. But luck continued on my side. My first lion, a 2-3 year-old female. Another first was my young cousin's buck on Friday, his first day ever hunting. Obvious first timer with his headlamp still on his head at noon. I hadn't noticed all day or when taking the photos either! Haha. It was also my first weekend with a new pack and I couldn't have carried the lion out like I did for camp to appreciate without it. A buck on Friday and a 80-90 pound lion on Saturday - what a way to break it in. The Savage LWH has also taken a sheep, coues and lion all within the last year with the 6.5 ELD-X doing its job 3/3, dead right there. And the most unbelievable part? After 18 years behind binoculars across the state with zero lions spotted, a second lion on Sunday after creeping into just 380 yards. It didn't have a care in the world, like it knew none of us had another tag in our pocket. We watched it along with deer a couple hundred yards to both sides for an hour before we let it lay and moved along. I've always heard "anything can happen" when it comes to hunting, and after the last 2 years, it isn't so unbelievable anymore.

I shared my photo last night of a buck I was able to take but the highlight of my weekend was seeing this big ol buck my nephew Deagan was able to take. He just turned 10 earlier this year and was able to do the hunter’s safety online. We had a waterhole being used pretty regularly and had a solid 3x3 buck that was coming in consistently every other morning, even with the cooler weather. I told my brother in law, the best opportunity to get Deagan a shot would be to sit a trail on this drinker and have him get that 3x3. He agreed. Friday morning, they got up at 4:30 and drove to the waterhole. They parked 700 yards south of the waterhole and walked in slowly. First light came and nothing showed to the drinker. At first light, Deagan told his dad “hey I think I can hear something coming.” My brother in law Joe told him he didn’t hear anything but to keep his eyes open and try to stay quiet. 30 seconds later, this buck stepped out. Joe ranged him at 150 yards and Deagan said he had him in the scope. Deagan shot the first time and shot over his back. Being in a small canyon, the echo caused some confusion for the buck and he just stood there looking around. Deagan jacked another shell in and dropped the buck on his next shot, never needing to shoot again. Joe said Deagan jumped up and started fist pumping the air and was going crazy. What a great father/son moment they were able to experience. Best part is, they thought he had shot the nice 3x3 and instead it was a beautiful 4x4 that just happened to be the biggest buck using this waterhole. Deagan is hooked for life. I’ve attached a photo and video of this buck from before the hunt. FullSizeRender.mov

here you go, thats a cool looking buck really tall

drive around till you see one, shoot it.

Well I got my buck. It's dry as a bone up there. We didn't see much green for them to eat and thought they may have moved out the juniper. Didn't see many bucks other than a spindly little guy on private land. Saw a buck two mornings in a row near a tank but couldn't get a shot one morning and it was too dark the next to put horns on him. The third morning I went in early in the dark where I figured he was moving to bed. I waited. I started hearing a clack in the dark. Just one. Then again, one. As light came up I spotted a buck, then another and another. I look around and there are 5 bucks. I watch them all for a few minutes identifying the biggest one. I shoot, I miss or think I miss. They come running right at me. As they come by me less than 7 yards away I pick my target and shoot. Down he goes. I look around as walk toward the truck to meet up with my dad wh was waiting and see blood, ends up I gut shot him. We really thought with it being so dry the animals would be hurting. He had a ton of fat on him as we skinned him. He had good mass in the antlers too. Would have been a nice 4X4 if wasn't broken but I'm pleased. We saw 25 Antelope, 2 bulls a cow and calf, and about 63 does. All the animals looked really good and healthy. I hunted the north side of Sitgreives mnt. This hunt has changed my ideas of how the deer handle the dry and lack of food or our ideas about what they eat. Always learning.

I have a near new Tikka action for sale. It started life as a 300 WSM, so it has the magnum bolt face with the medium length action. As most of you know, this same action can be converted to long or a short action by simply changing the magazine and the bolt stop. Since I intended to keep this action for a second custom build, I did a few extras such as the bolt fluting ($60 cost), plus the upgraded trigger spring kit. If I can't recoup the cost I have in it, then I will just hang onto it for a second build. It comes with everything you see in the pictures: the action, fluted bolt, factory bottom metal and medium magazine. One of the pictures also shows the clean/perfect action face for those who are wanting to do a shoulder pre-fit barrel. I am firm on price of $600. This may seem like a lot to some of you, but you need to consider the initial cost of the rifle, the shipping and FFL fees, the cost of the extras and the cost of having the barrel removed from the action. Not looking for any trades at this time. Low-ballers - please ignore ad. The first "I'll take it" posted in the thread trumps any PMs, or text messages. Send a PM or call/text Karl at 602-361-7191 with any questions or comments you have.

Oh man..ive done that before, it's difficult! Nicely done

The old timers told me that there was a 100 club at one time. From what I understand around the Tucson area there was a club where you had to take a Coues over a 100 inches to be in the club, and whoever took the largest buck over 100 was the president for that year. Anyone else hear of it?

Wow, that is one neat tall buck. Congrats. 👍

Just sold it. Malcolm, the pleasure was mine sir.

Had a heck of a time on this hunt. Missed opening morning, friday night nothing showed up and the rest of the weekend was brutally windy. Member forepaw (Steve) had been coming out to help glass which was a huge help, thanks Steve! Last night looking for a little spike that disappeared into a thicket another one popped out as light was starting to fade. Called steve over to keep an eye on him while we moved into position. Got into position and bumped a doe who ran up right by where the bucks were hanging out. Got the rifle set up and this little dude came into an opening to see what the doe was running from. He stood perfectly broadside staring at us. Eenie made a perfect 200 yard shot. He immediately was upset and said "oh no i think i injured him", no buddy you got him. As he shot i saw him jump like he should have and bolt, with an audible crash in the brush. Went back to get Steve and headed up the hill. Had just enough light to take a couple decent pics. Super proud of Eeenie, he was a trooper. Mom came out to meet us and congratulate him on his first deer. Sissy wanted to get in the pic too.

Glass rough country. If it’s cold look in the sun. If it’s warm look in the shade. Glass, glass, glass.

You done been trolled yo!!

It was blowing wind bad when we got up this morning so decided to drive some properties and just look at new deer that have moved in during this rut. Nothing special on a few until we hit one of our cut corn fields with CRP grass along the edges. I was glassing a few hundred yards off and seen a deer with head down moving like a vacuum. Thought it was a doe feeding until his head came up and told wife get your chit ready cause you need to kill this deer. We walked along the tall CRP grass until we were 100 yards from him. We waited and he kept feeding towards us getting closer and closer getting 40 yards away. I asked if she was on him and she said yes but he then kept coming our way just sniffing the ground hard. Finally the buck stopped at 8 yards and when I looked over at her all I heard was a swack and that buck took off. Went 30 yards and stood there looking at us for a few seconds then tipped over deader than dead. She tucked it right behind his shoulder and got a perfect heart shot. More pics to come as it’s freezing here and we were trying to hurry.

That’s awesome man! Congrats to both of you. We glassed up a lion sitting on top of a rock a few weeks ago on my buddy’s coues hunt, but it was a loooong shot and missed.

You could always go to mark miller in queen creek.

And I can guarantee you know how this person voted in the Presidential election last week. I mean no fcuking doubt. Eddie

OK. I'll share with you my favorite family recipe Hi Mountain Pepper & Garlic. Sweet & Spicy is not bad either. You can purchase at your local Sportsman's😀

I owned a Browning A-bolt in the 1980s. Got it specifically for a grizzly hunt in BC. Never saw a boar grizz but did shoot two black bears with the .338, using 225-gr Winchester factory loads; both DRT. Farthest was about 100 yds, however. One (r.) was over 7' from nose to tail. It was the only time I used anything but my .264 WM for a BC bear. I eventually sold the rifle and some ammo to a local Phoenix dude who later used it in a stand off with the Phx police. Fortunately, no one was injured in that fiasco. When I saw the news article, I called the police because the original sale would show me as the buyer, but I had a signed bill of sale showing the transfer to the dingaling. Nothing ever came of it.

Up here on the muzzleloader (12AE) right now. Getting hammered with snow tonight. Been seeing tons of does and small bucks, but did get a quick glimpse of a toad on opening day. Seems like the deer are grouped up and bailing off the top, so we're headed down to the low country in the morning. Looking at hitting the Cocks Comb area.

Been licensed since the late 80's early 90's. Run an HT and a mobile in the truck. HAM works way better than FRS/GMRS, but when not when with HAMs, I hand out MURS freq radios. MURS doesnt need a license and is open use. Most of the FRS/GMRS say 25 miles etc. that is optimal test conditions ie., flat land/water peak to peak, etc... Those radios are good for very short distance line of site. The problem with all these bubble pack radios is the antenna is garbage. This is why you see HAM radios with longer antennas, but also, we can vary power as needed and use repeaters to get longer range even with HTs. I would get a set of preprogarmmed business radios/murs using the motorola "Black Box" radios. Contact a company and ask them for help / guidance - these aren't cheap but are 100 times better than the bubble packs. Aircomm, creative communications/solutions, action communications.

And save a ton of money!!!

Eric is OK.....😄 I guess if he ever built me a bad rifle, I would quit going back again....and again....and again....