GWHunter

Last year I shot a Winchester Model 70 Coyote Lite 300 WSM. It was stolen about 4 months ago. I replaced it with a Savage 116 7mm REM MAG. I love them both, but if I had to my choice, I'd take the 7mm REM MAG. That round with 168 Berger VLD Hunting seated .06 OAL and pushed with 65.3 of IMR 7828 is a very mean and deadly round.

I know where a few of them are around here... what are the pelts going for these days?

I have a friend who has a Kawasaki Teryx 4.... This thing is a beast. You put it in 4x4 low and there isn't a mountain it will not climb. If you are planning to take it up hills than it is the best you can get. Great back seats supports 4 people. With room in the back for your extra gear.

Family (Wife Evelyn, Son Devin and Daughter Elani) each had tags for the 22 Nov - 1 Dec 35A (Huachuca) hunt. Day 1 of Family's Deer season. Weather was horrible. Raining and 40mph winds. Even with that, we did see a few bucks that morning. The weather broke a little in the afternoon. We went to the area where Elani was hunting with a friend of mine. They had a buck bedded on the side of a hill. We decided to help glass him up. We spotted 5-6 bucks on the downwind side of a hill. The got spooked and headed up the ridge. Evelyn, Elani and friend Chucky followed them up a hill and around 3 pm caught them at 118 yards. Evelyn made a great shot. This was Evelyn's very first deer hunt. Have been trying to get her to deer hunt with me for 27 years and she smokes it...... Awesome!!!! Super proud of her. Day two of hunting season was another tough day. Steady rain, driving winds off and on all day. The bucks were up and moving all day. Saw 13 bucks and 14+ does. Had a chance at a nice 4x4 early, but a couple of other hunters spooked them. Had a second chance early afternoon at a 2x3 and a 2x2, but passed on them. Had a third chance late afternoon up high on the ridges. Clouds parted and gave us a chance, then came back in and obscured the buck. Just before dark, had fourth chance. Buck busted when another hunter drove by and spooked him. No kill.... argg!!!! (Evelyn, Devin and Chucky stalking 4th buck.) Day three... The weather broke. Morning was cool and clear. Spotted a buck early. Devin had a shot at a nice, tall 4x4 at 395 yards. We decided to move in, got to 350 yds. The deer got spooked and went up and over ridge before Devin could get set up for a shot. Followed the buck up the ridge and lost him. Spotted the 2x3 and 2x2 from day two bedded at 350 yards. Moved in to 305 yards. The bucks bedded for 2 hours. At 1:30pm, they stood up. Devin took him with a couple of shots. Great time with my son. As Devin and I were finishing up on his deer, Elani with friend Chucky was glassing another ridge. Elani found a nice little 3x3 at 318 yards (across the canyon) and took him with single shot. This was Elani's first hunt ever!!! She dealth with the cold weather and rain better then many seasoned hunters. Awesome, awesome, awesome job. I am beyond proud of her.

Blade, Hunter4life and Brian, I live in Sierra Vista, AZ. 520-266-7799. During the Thanksgiving weekend, I will most likely be up in Tucson. Where are you guys located. Either PM me, or text me. We can make arrangements from there. Appreciate the response. GW

Scooter, Call and talk to Stacy in St David. He is not a bird guy, but he works with a guy in Tucson who is. Work a deal through him. 520-955-1277

Great shot... 500 yard shot is no joke in the wind. Much respect to her. Many seasoned shooters would not make that shot. Hats off to her.

Nice little buck I have been watching for a couple of months... Caught him bedded down at 0650 this past sunday and watched him until 0930.... Two more weeks before my wife, daughter and son's hunt starts. bedded buck.wmv

He was bedded about 40 yards from the top of the little ridge.... A guy was coming down the road and it was more than this fella could handle. Earlier a lady and two dogs walked up the road and he stayed put.

Interested in the IMR 4350

Are you stuck on a left handed rifle? I have a wheatherby Vangaurd 7mm-08 with an extra adult stock. Was my son's for the last few years, but he decided he wanted to upgrade to a 25-06.

To add another option, I just had an ACC Blackout put on my Savage 116, 7mm MAG. Really nice. To gauge how much it reduced the recoil, I took my son (13 y/o) to the range. Had him shoot his 25-06 (No MB) then shoot the 7mm MAG (w/MB)... according to him, the 7mm MAG had just a little bit more recoil. Significant reduction.

Where is AZ you hang your hat? I will check tonight on exactly what I have and get back with you. Don't know what gr bullet you are firing, but the 185 bergers buck AZ winds well, and have a really nice BC....

Yes, 63 gr of RL 19.... 185 Berger More importantly, I seated it .05 OTL. Was stacking rounds after that. BUT!!!!! that was for my rifle. Every rifle is different. Also, I had my 300 WSM stolen a couple of months ago, if you are in the market for some brass, bullets and reloading dies, let me know. I switched to a 7mm MAG, so I have no use for them anymore.

Fellow Hunters... Some of you may be aware that recently someone broke into my home and stole all my guns. I was able to replace the essential guns that I need to hunt this year, but was not able, due to an unexpected expense, to secure scopes for my rifles. I am not looking for top of the line scopes. A friend of mine let me borrow a Nikon Monarch 5-20 BDC scope. This will be good on my 7mm Mag. I need scopes for my son's 25-06 and my wife's 7mm-08. Really appreciate it.

PRDATR..... I am down in Sierra Vista, area 35A

Thought I would share some photos of previous hunts with my sons.... No monsters, but nice deer and fun hunts.

Here are two really good ways... 1. In seasoned water, boil your doves for about 10-15 minutes. Just until the breast meat is easy to pull off the breast bone. Take breast half, a sliver of Jalapeno and Slice of Pepper Jack Cheese and roll them up in a slice of bacon. grill on mesquite smoked BBQ until bacon is cooked..... Bam!!!! Ready to serve dove bits. Serve with a cold beer. 2. Dove Gumbo.... Replace Chicken with Dove in your favorite Gumbo recipe.

I'd be very careful using any vehicle to stand on while looking for deer.... There is a fine line on what constitutes hunting from a vehicle. Below I will post what the AZ Hunting reg states. The fine line that differintiates observing and hunting is whether the individual has the means to take the animal. If you have no means to take the animal, then I'd attribute that to bird watching. If you have a means to take the animal. Even if there is no way you can actually take it, you are still technically hunting. From AZ Hunting Reg... Hunting from a Vehicle Includes: using a vehicle to hunt while traveling on or off road; and/or chasing wildlife with a vehicle, both of which are illegal. A vehicle is any device designed to carry a person: all terrain vehicles, utility terrain vehicles, all terrain cycle, pickup, automobile, motorcycle, aircraft, train, powerboat, sailboat, a boat under sail, or a floating object towed by a powerboat or sailboat. It is also illegal under state law to shoot from, across, or onto a roadway or railway. See A.R.S. 17-301B on page 110. It is illegal to use an aircraft to pursue, shoot, hunt or otherwise take wildlife. See R12-4-319 on page 129. No person may take wildlife from a motor vehicle (including watercraft and aircraft), except as permitted by Commission Order, and under the provisions of the Challenged Hunter Access Mobility Permit Commission Rule (R12-4-217). “Take,” as defined by law, includes pursuing, shooting, hunting and killing wildlife. You are unlawfully using a vehicle to take wildlife if you intentionally drive around until you see the animal you wish to harvest and then make an attempt to take. “Road hunting” is illegal; so is pursuing wildlife with a vehicle, chasing or heading off moving wildlife with a vehicle, and driving off-road to get closer to wildlife. You do not have to shoot from the vehicle to be in violation. Hope this helps.

Danny, If you go to the optic shop in Cabelas, they can point you to the right tripod adapter.... they are not that expensive. Less than $50. As for shooting rest. There are several styles that work will and all are designed to fit standard tripods. You just have to get an extra tripod plate (the part that connects to the bottom of your camera or bino adapter. Check out http://www.triclawps.com/ This little rest is fantstic. easily adapts to you rifle and with an extra adapter place, you can switch between your binos and rifle within seconds. Watch the video... it really is that easy. I have used them for years.

Welcome to Coues Hunting. You are welcome to buy the recommended books, but I really don't think you need to. One thing I have learned about AZ hunters... they love to help each other. They may not tell you their secret hunting grounds, but they don't mind sharing tips and techniques. There is a tremendous amount of hunting experience within this forum. Just ask your questions. You will most likely receive far more information than what you can get from any book. With that said, here's my two cents worth...... I agree with getting you a tripod for your binos.... Coues deer are difficult enough to detect. Sometimes, the only thing you pick up while glassing for them is a twitch of an ear/tail or turn of head/antlers. If your binos are shaking, you could miss this. As for your binos.... Personally, I can emphasis the importance of good optics. Over the years, I have gone from the inexpensive junk at Wal-Mart, up through my own set of Vortex Kibabs to my Swarovski 10x42 & 15x/56s... these are super expensive, but for hunting Coues, they are invaluable. I am not saying to spend a small fortune on glass. Get the best glass you can afford. I have gone to our sportsman’s center after a day of glassing to hear guys who were near me saying they didn't see anything all day. I look at the $50 dollar pair of Wal-Mart specials (optics) they have around their necks and think, should I tell them that I saw over 25 deer all around the area that they were hunting? Last year, I actually watched a guy for over any hour glass with a beautiful 4x5 100 yards below him. He eventually gave up, got on his quad and left. I took the buck 20 minutes later. Unless you’re still hunting you will need to glass. Coues live at varying altitudes. If you are hunting near a mountain range, a lot of Coues have a tendency to spend their evenings and nights grazing the flats and at first light they start making their ways back to the safety of the slopes. They feed up the slopes towards the ocotillo lines, bed down for a couple of hours, standing to stretch every so often and then around 1600, maybe earlier, maybe a little later, they start slowly feeding their ways back towards the flats. The bigger smarter bucks tend not to move so much. These sly devils will find a niche area with good access to water and food and stay still during the day and become mostly nocturnal... at least until the rut. Then like all WT, they go stupid. Rut happens in late Dec or early jan, so your October hunt will miss the rut. There are some Coues that stay exclusively in the rolling hills or flats all day/night. There are also some that stay exclusively on the upper slopes and rarely come down into the flats. I like this... It allows you to hunt them your own ways. I know some guys who head to the top of the ridges and they don't come down until dark... I see the lights of their quads coming down in the evening. Some guys hunt the rivers and stream beds. They find water and know that soon or later the deer are going to get thirsty. Personally, I like to hunt the transitioning bucks. I like trying to catch the sneaky devils as they head back to the hills. The bigger smart bucks that do this start their transition before the crack of dawn.... some are already at the base of the slopes at dawn. That is where the Swarovski’s come in handy.... they collect enough light that you can catch them moving early. As for your gun and optics..... I good friend of mine told me years ago... zero your rifle at 300-350 yards. Know your ballistics. You may get shots under 200 yards and most likely will get shots out to 500 yards, but most shots will be pretty close to that zero range. His advice had always served me well. I have killed Coues at 165, 275, 300, 350 and missed a 110+ inch buck at 435 yards. Good luck and please ask more questions.

Brother, There are some very unethical people out these days. It is well worth the extra few bucks to buy the metal security boxes for your cam. This allows you to bold the cam directly into the tree. If they want it, they will have to cut down the tree.

Besides a family and truck, what is the one thing you should never steal from a redneck? If you are thinking "Guns"..... BINGO Four days ago, someone or someones broke into my home and stole all of my guns. I am absolutely disgusted right now, and am at a loss as to how I am going to pull off this years hunts. On top of the guns, these ##@#$ stole my Swarovski 10x42s, GPS and Leupold range finder. I have already taken steps to secure my residence, filed the required police reports, and contacted my insurance company. Replacing the firearms will not be difficult, but there is no way I can replace my grandfathers, Remington 1100 and my dad's Ithica 12 gauge semi-auto. Was the only two things I have of theirs. From my hunter comrades out there, I ask for your prayers as I deal with all this. Thank you GWHunter

I know our forum mainly focuses on elk hunting here in AZ. I thought there may be a few member who may have informaiton on Area 55 (Gunnison) in Colorado. Thinking about taking my son (age 12) on a colorado hunt.

http://www.promotive.com/ Has anyone ever used Promotive.com? Being retired Army, I was able to register on the site. Great, Great prices on hunting and outdoors gear on this sight. Moutrie 880 cams... normaly around $160, sell for $108 on this sight. All items are 40-60% off MRSP. Rage Broadheads... normally $40+ for a set of 3... sell for $27