Ingo

Just measured him up. Right where I thought it would be. Not that it matters, he's a beauty.

This was our first time hunting 36B but we had decent intel as we have friends in Rio Rico/Nogales and talked to a bunch of guys who were successful from elsewhere. I scouted all day Thursday before the hunt and found the areas I wanted to focus on. My son was pretty discouraged after not seeing anything Thursday and all of Friday until we found his buck in late afternoon. There were two bucks and they may have just briefly hit water and were walking back to bed down. My dad caught them up and then lost them but I found the one my son shot bedded and then my dad found the other. According to my dad the buck we didn't shoot was bigger. He was watching from about 700 yards away. My son and I snuck into 300 yards and he anchored the buck with the first shot but had to finish it off. I have him shooting my push-feed Winchester M70 in 7mag with 150gr Sierra Gamechangers at around 3100fps. It's a nice, light recoil load and they actually performed excellent and both exited. This buck was just a tough customer and still tried to crawl away after taking that second bullet through both lungs. The fat on him was like nothing I've ever seen and we had to shave off an inch just to pull the backstraps. Definitely eating good and living the relaxed life in a hidey-hole. I really love the area and have been waiting for an opportunity to hunt there. Hopefully many more hunts down there in the future.

It was shocking not to see a bunch of animals, for us. I literally didn't see a single doe. I scouted all day on Thursday before the hunt opened and Friday we hunted 2/3 of the day before we found the buck my son shot and another (likely bigger) buck and that's all the deer we saw. We were hunting near Pena Blanca/Rio Rico. I will say, the bucks were certainly not up high where I expected them to be.

Thank you everyone. As pretty as he was he tastes even better!

Only two deer we saw were trophy bucks. We were very fortunate to take this one.

Hope we get some of your luck. Congratulations! Sitting out in 22 hoping to get lucky. Only does so far.

Yeah, I know. If we're looking at 400 yards we'll set up the .260. I just thought the .223 with a good bullet would be plenty for a Coues at 200. It's just such an accurate gun I know she could easily put one in the heart with it at 200 and wouldn't have to even think about recoil.

I'd always thought this way to until people had told me that they do ok with modern hunting bullets with .223. I'm probably going to set her up with my .243 and a low-fireball load. I like shooting slower powders with almost every bullet I load for .243 but usually there's a huge muzzle blast because of that. That'll give someone a flinch real quick. Probably do an 85-95gr bullet.

Thanks. Good real world experience. That deer you shot at 300 was with the 55 tsx?

I'm one, self-masochistic SOB. Yeah... For the right rifle anything's possible. I know they are durable. Put an arrow through a nice one in a bad spot a few years ago and I'm pretty sure he lived to see another season.

My wife and I have Coues tags for the Nov 6-12 season and it will be her first deer hunt. She has shot rifles many times, is proficient, and I DO have a youth model .243 M70 that she can use BUT... I have a Savage .223 1:9 twist 20" barrel that is a dam laser beam. Taking any recoil or flinch impulse out of the equation sounds attractive to me. With a bullet like the Barnes 55gr TTSX I'm thinking she's golden to 200 yards and may be good for a careful shot at 300? Otherwise, I'll probably be carrying a heavy .260Rem so she'll have no problem shooting that if we have anything further. What you guys think?

Thanks everyone for the suggestions. I'm probably going to try either the Hornady 100gr Interlock BTSP or the Sierra GK 100gr BTSP. Looking at the numbers I think these bullets will work well inside of 500 yards. Now I just have to find some time to load and shoot. Have a new baby at home and spare time is nonexistent. I have about 20lbs of assorted powders to try with RL-17, A4350, IMR-4831, being the best fits in my war chest. Wish I had some slower burners but I'm going to try what I have first. Thanks again, everyone.

I'm not much of a rifle hunter but I drew a coues tag this year in unit 24a. I have a 7RemMag and a .243 Win as options to take with me. The .243 just shoots a lot better so I figured it would be fine. I've really only loaded coyote ammo for it in the past and with 70gr Nosler BTs or 87gr Hornady V-Max I have achieved sub-MOA in the .7-.8" average range at 100 yards. The rifle is a 1:10" twist Winchester M70 with a 22" barrel. The 7Mag is a 2MOA gun no matter what I load for it. I'm really kicking myself because I've had a project gun in .260Rem that has been in need of a bit of gunsmith work for the past several years but life has been in the way. It's got a 26" Shilen Select-Match barrel 1:8" twist. I was going to have it done before this hunt but it's too late at this point. The old standbys like the Sierra 85gr HPBT, the Sierra 100 grain GK and such might be where I start but I know there are a ton of newer bullets that I have no experience with. Anyone have any suggestions?

Or if you really hate your arrows, Eurasian doves.

He did shoot them. They're very similar and whatever is chosen will be a winner. They're both great bows. Can't beat a former TOTL bow with a new-bow warranty for $450. I would get the Hammer even though I like the HD cams a little more.