CouesWhitetail

Here are the pics:

Interesting discussion going on here. I guess it all depends on how you define overgrazing. Personally I think overgrazing is occuring when the native vegetation is being changed in such a way as to lower it's carry capacity for wildlife. I see plenty of areas on USFS land where cattle grazing has led to changes in habitat and it generally is reducing the carrying capacity of the land. I think hunters would be wise to take a closer look at habitat changes. The photo Scottyboy showed shows how obvious some of the impacts of grazing can be. You don't have to be a range scientist to see it happening. I also don't think ranchers should be villified as evil people who don't care about the land. Most ranchers I know are excellent people and I admire their way of life. I have seen some reasonable grazing where there are cows and yet still native grass is making it to seed. I think making money grazing in the desert must be an almost impossible task and with the vagaries of rainfall and cattle prices it's got to be very difficult to adjust stocking rates at just the right time. I was just talking to my neighbor and he says that since the USFS had to pull cows off the land during the drought that it has made it almost impossible for some ranchers to be able to have enough money on hand to restock the land when the time is right. It's an incredibly difficult business..it seems to me. But I am no expert in ranching. I do know that I enjoy talking to ranchers and their families and seeing how amazingly self-reliant they are. Kids that grow up on ranches are so much more interesting than kids that grow up in cities. So I think it's a great way of life. Amanda

Good point Bert. There are many older hunters who have heart problems or joint problems and can't get around. Amanda

Nice pic Josh! Hope you find the coues pic and post it too. I find indian ruins more often than petroglyphs. It sure was fun to see these. Amanda

Thanks for pics and info Bret. It's interesting you mention seeing a coues in terrain you thought was more for a sheep. Just today while glassing I was thinking that it's a good idea to glass some country you think is too steep for coues. My hunting buddy years ago glassed up a buck walking in nothing but one of those rock slides/talus slopes. He said he never would have imagined a coues would walk there. I think it's a good idea to test assumptions sometimes.... Amanda

Thanks for the good news Daryl! And thanks to whoever it was that helped someone out with the CW.com sticker on their truck! Amanda

Wow, nice buck!! And did you add that halographic deer behind him? Looks like a little doll or something. Amanda

Hi All, Mace has sent me his hunt story and I posted it in the hunt story section. Here is a link to his story. Man, what a buck and a good hunt too! Mace Cochran's hunt story Thanks Mace for sharing the story with us. Amanda

Wow, that is a generous offer. I hope someone takes you up on it. Amanda

There are loads of other good Coues units to hunt in. Try 32, 23, 24a and b, 31. They all have large areas of public land that are glassable and all hold good numbers of WT and no immigration problems. Amanda

Hehehe, that's some story Bill. Wow, hardcore stuff. Shoving a horse over a ledge and sleeping in a saddle all night. What fun.... Glad everyone made it out ok. I am surprised the horse even let the owner near it after pushing him off the ledge. Thanks for the story. Good thing your wife finally forgave you... I figure she must have since you are still married. Amanda

Buckhorn sent these into me to post in the forum. He figured you all would get a kick out of them.

Nice job Casey and Dad Amanda

Glad you guys like the pics. Bill, I figured you would know some great spots. Thanks for sharing some of them. Somebody added their name and the date of 1928 to the petroglyphs where I was. Guess it's an antiquity! It was interesting to see that even that mark almost 80 years old looks so much brighter colored than what I assume are real old petroglyphs. Bill, did the horse and your friend make it out of there? Amanda

Very funny Mr. Eppinger. Amanda

Congratulations John! Very nice bull. Amanda

WOW, what a buck!! Thanks for the field photos. Those definitely show the buck better. So when do we get some details on the hunt? Are you waiting for us to all pass out from anticipation? At least give us a little info on the hunt...... Amanda

here is the pic:

Cramer, Yes, I think you understand the pricing correctly. $2500 up front fee, then $1200 more if you kill something. I am going to talk with Alonso about the rifle rental and pickup fee. Seems pretty steep to me. Especially since they are new to this and starting to sell permits so late in the year. As far as the paperwork, Alonso will have to answer that. I don't know the exact details. They have lots of experience with turkey hunters and so I assume they know the best ways to make the paperwork go smoothly. Alonso signed up for an account in the forum yesterday, so I expect he will come today and be able to answer some questions. You can also email him directly using the link in my first post in this thread. Amanda

They don't have photos of the deer or much of an estimate of antler size. I have, of course mentioned to them that it's important information to have and they are working on it. But the ranch owner isn't a coues hunter and so he is not real familiar with estimating scores. So yes, it's a large gap in information. However, I can't imagine any unhunted deer herd not having large bucks. I will be going down there in either Dec or Jan and getting some video/photos and evaluating the ranch, along with trying to kill a big buck down there So those of you that want to be cautious can wait for my report and pics. Those of you willing to take a chance might want to go this year in order to be among the first to hunt the ranch. Amanda

If any of you are looking for a wildlife project to help out on, you might consider the project the AZ Deer Association will be doing Dec 10-11. Visit the ADA website and look under Upcoming events to find out more. Amanda

More D, I don't have any coues pics from that ranch to post. Is that what you are asking? Amanda

Yes, I think it's late to do a gun permit, but they have guns there at the ranch. They also have a landing strip for those of you with private planes. Amanda

Hope you have a great birthday Rembrant!

Nice mess of birds there Scottyboy! And beautiful shotgun! Amanda