mattys281

January 2015 my daughter and I packed into our area in our winter unit for a 4 day hunt, with the anticipation of meeting my buddy out there the following day. We hunted the first day and saw squat. That night, we were tucked into a saddle sleeping out under the stars when about 10:30 or so a storm came running in on us. My daughter woke me up from a sound sleep to a world that was being ripped up by 30+mph windgusts and pelting rain. I'd been sleeping through it. The weather forecast had called for clear skies, so I left the tents at home. There was no way to pack out in the dark, the canyons are too steep and rocky, so we made the decision to hall butt into a smaller saddle that had a good juniper to hole up under, it's a good hunting hide. We spent the night with my sleeping bag strung up in the tree to keep most of the rain off of us, her sleeping bag draped over our feet and my 14 year-old baby curled up against my side under my arm. It was a good night. The next day we met up with my hunting partner and hunted, but again didn't see anything. The next day he had to hike out, but my kid & I went to another spot to sit ambushes. About an hour into it we hear whimpering behind us and turn around to see this guy staring at us: I don't know how long he'd been wandering around out there, but he was starved almost to death, all skin & bones. He wolfed down 2-1/2 peanut butter sandwiches in about 10 seconds and was working hard to clean out our water supply too. Needless to say, we called the hunt early and packed him out. Spent the rest of the day driving home & then getting him fed & flea-bathed so the next day he could go to the humane society. That was one heck of a trip that I can't think about without smiling.

Nice! Sounds like a great trip.

I have a lightweight one man and a two man tent, but rarely carry either unless the forecast calls for a lot of water. Usually just sleep under a juniper or mesquite tree and have a bivy and a large black trash bag in case it starts coming down.

I usually carry a roll of cord, a foldable saw and some camo clothe. Much lighter to pack around than a blind and you can string something up to hide behind virtually anywhere. Nothing compares to a fully enclosed tent type blind for hiding your movement and offering full concealment though. The big down side to them is their weight and they can get pretty dang hot if they're in full sunlight for any part of the day.

I didn't see grayghost throwing GPS cords around, so I think your honeyholes are safe for the moment. I've yet to see any in 27, but as has been adamantly pointed out, I saw a bunch of them on the kaibab during the hunt I had up there a couple years ago. I'm not much of a bird hunter, but I'd like to head up there and give them a go. They look tasty!

I've got a black gold on one of my bows too. Great sight, and light weight. Spot Hogs are good, but they're expensive & heavy! They don't do anything for you that a million other sights won't do, except lighten your wallet and weigh down your bow.

Awesome! I think that's great that you turned that beast loose. Sounds like an amazing trip. Congrats!

10??? I'll be in 27 for one weekend. Might see a hiker or two, but I'm pretty certain I won't see another hunter. Rarely do.

Sometimes you have to stop and change directions. Its noble and admirable to put your family ahead of 'dream job' that just sucks up too much of your time. Good luck to you in your future endeavors.

Nature does put on a pretty entertaining show. Problem is theres a loooong intermission around midday when all the little squirrels and birdies hole up to wait out the heat. If I didnt have a book with me, I'd be spending those couple hours snoring in my treestand. That aint good for being sneaky.

Ive owned a few beagles and have seen purebred beagles with those kind of markings before. Its hard to say from pics, but size looks about right too. I dont think hes a mix.

I bet you were all sprayed down and had a few ozonics going... or did you just have the wind in your favor....lol. Ive yet to try the ozonics, but am a believer in scent killer products. It seems like no matter where I hunt in this state, im constantly plagued by swirling wind that cant make up its mind. I use the laundry soap, body wash, unscented deodorant and the clothing spray and often am less than 10 yards from deer thathave no idea youre there. I think the trick more than anything is to use stuff that is not perfumed, try not to sweat as much as possible and layer good clothing that wicks sweat away. Scent is primarily carried on chunks of dead skin (scent rafts) that your body is constantly shedding, so I try to keep those as contained as possible by wearing long sleeves and gloves eveb in the summer time.

Right on! I love those velvet mulies!

https://m.youtube.com/results?q=coues%20fawns%205%20yards&sm=3 I had these fawns dang near crawl into my lap a couple summers ago. Probably the best hunting memory I have so far. Never been that close to a live deer that had no idea I was there. Momma was 10 yards away and also oblivious and I was sitting on the ground under a juniper. Good times!

Yeah, all day sits would be completely unbearable without a nice comfy butt pad and a paperback book.

I was able to explain away the ar I brought home last week by rambling about clintons and assault rifle bans, riots, home protection etc etc.... Not sure I could get away with it on these though, especially not two weeks in a row.... WOULD SOMEBODY PLEASE BUY THESE FOR THE SAKE OF MY MARRIAGE???

This. I've always been told that you see more glassing (and I do) and tough chance for a shot, but if you sit long enough you'll get a better shot opportunity. I've never sat long enough for deer myself. Grew up hunting out of treestands and got my fill of sitting. I'd much rather spot n stalk. But I haven't had many shot opportunities in August either. To spot & stalk coues deer isn't like jumping into the big leagues of hunting, it's more like skipping the big leagues all together and jumping straight into the World Series for your first at bat. It's not impossible by any means, some guys are very good at it. It took them a lot of mistakes to get good at it. If this is going to be your method, spend some serious time working on your long range shooting, at least out to 80 yards, and don't try to get too close. I'd rather shoot a deer at 50 yards than 20 all day long. Much less likely to string jump, and your not inside that 'eminent danger, BOLT NOW!' red zone they seem to have around them. If you make a noise, they may just look at you instead of fleeing. Make the same mistake at 30 yards or less and they're gone with zero hesitation. I also think stalking is much easier during the rut than it is in August, plus August is too dang hot for me in open stalking country. I prefer my treestand in the tall cool pines. Do you glass an area early on to locate used water sources or rely on trail cams? I almost get nervous sitting purely for the fact that I feel like I am doing nothing. I know it is the more productive method and being that I personally blown a majority of my stalks on rutting mule deer, I will most likely lean towards sitting. Its a test of mental toughness for sure and I do have a legitimate worry of not sitting long enough. All too soon the thought of "am I sitting in the right spot?" will set in. Any suggestions on helping sit there longer? When I glass, I quietly listen to a downloaded podcast with a single ear bud in. I found that increases my willingness to sit for hours on end without just sitting there watching the clock tick by. Especially helpful on slow glassing days. I just haven't done much sit and wait type of hunting. I think you nailed it with mental toughness. Humans are restless control freaks by nature. We always think that we can do something, anything!, to turn the odds in our favor. The worst part about ambush hunting is the feeling that you're wasting your precious limited time. But, if you understand how deer move, you'll see that doing nothing is actually tipping the odds in your favor. First of all, get it out of your head that there's some magical spot that's loaded with buck and nobody else knows about it and if you just hike further and look longer you'll find it and then you just have to sit for 20 minutes and you'll shoot a booner every year. That place is right next to the lost city of El dorado in the story books. It doesn't exist. Even a really good spot doesn't have deer in it every day. It's not uncommon to sit 2-3 days and not see much. I've sat 2 days in a row and not seen a thing other than birds & squirrels. But what happens is that at some point the deer move back into the area and things heat up, then you get one of those magic days that it seems like you can't dare to move to stretch or even yawn, because they're everywhere and you'll get busted. Basically, the more fruitless days you have the better the odds are you'll see something tomorrow. In 2013, I sat 3 days in a row without seeing much. A couple does, that was it. I got my buck on the 4th morning. 2014, I lucked out and dropped a nice one on the second morning. In 2011 I missed a nice 3x3 at 9:00 am & shot a spike buck at 11:00 the same morning. The day before that I didn't see anything. You never know exactly when they're going to be there, you just have to find a good spot and stick to it until they show up. I sit all day from before dawn until after dusk and I like to sit a minimum of 2 days straight before I think about switching spots. It'd be better to sit 3-5 days straight, but I get restless too and sometimes make the wrong decisions because of it. As for scouting, to be perfectly honest I do very little of it. I've been hunting the same areas so long that I know the spots where they like to hang out and I know some good places to sit. Dont' get me wrong, I love scouting and running trail cams, but I almost never have the time for it, so I just go when it's time to hunt. I got a spot that I've killed two deer in already and missed 2 others from sitting on the same boulder. It's been good for the last 7 years, I'm sure it'll still be good this year.

This. I've always been told that you see more glassing (and I do) and tough chance for a shot, but if you sit long enough you'll get a better shot opportunity. I've never sat long enough for deer myself. Grew up hunting out of treestands and got my fill of sitting. I'd much rather spot n stalk. But I haven't had many shot opportunities in August either. To spot & stalk coues deer isn't like jumping into the big leagues of hunting, it's more like skipping the big leagues all together and jumping straight into the World Series for your first at bat. It's not impossible by any means, some guys are very good at it. It took them a lot of mistakes to get good at it. If this is going to be your method, spend some serious time working on your long range shooting, at least out to 80 yards, and don't try to get too close. I'd rather shoot a deer at 50 yards than 20 all day long. Much less likely to string jump, and your not inside that 'eminent danger, BOLT NOW!' red zone they seem to have around them. If you make a noise, they may just look at you instead of fleeing. Make the same mistake at 30 yards or less and they're gone with zero hesitation. I also think stalking is much easier during the rut than it is in August, plus August is too dang hot for me in open stalking country. I prefer my treestand in the tall cool pines.

Good luck on your first archery season. Dont be picky, just keep things simple and get that first one under your belt. Spikes and forkies taste better anyway. Have fun!

Came out real nice. Good job. Who did he get the rifle from, is there some family history behind it?

Awesome pics! You've got some nice ones showing up.

Nice pics!

Looks amazing! Good for you DB.

Im not overly familiar with gunsmithing rates but it sounds to me like the guy charges $50/hr and figures its a 2 to 2-1/2 hour job. Thats a good rate for a guy that owns his own machine tools and is talented with them. Ive fixed enough sloppy machine work to know Its not uncommon for bargain hunters to end up paying twice.

Ive been eyeballing new bows for a couple years now, but after having a bad experience with the last one I bought and losing that 40-50% trying to sell it a couple months later I just cant bring myself to do it again. My 08 black ice has several deer under its belt already, and I think its got plenty more in it. Now whenever I find myself with the extra $1-2k it would take to buy one, I dump the cash in my kids' college fund and stick with my old school gear.