TAM

Maybe them long cold Alaska winters do strange things to a fella's mind? Maybe that's why them pigs live down here in the warm weather?

Get a trail camera. I've learned more about bears in the last year and a half with my trail cameras than ever before. They're out there scouting for you while you're at work.

If you plan on scouting then don't buy a tag in region D. You are not allowed to scout in that unit.

If there's a good acorn crop up high the bears will be in the oaks. This past year in 22 and 24b there wern't many pears and the bears stayed high eating manzinita berries and acorns.

Was told by a top notch bear hunting guide out of payson that the bear cub in distress call works awesome. I tried it twice this year with no luck but plan on using it or the whitetail doe in distress the next time I go out. I've called in bears by squaking on an elk call in the past but only after I've already seen the bear. Good luck!

What areas have you scouted so far?

Most coues hunters don't shoot big magnums (.30 cal's) so they can have more knock down power at 100-300 yards. They shoot the big magnums so they can have enough knock down power at 500-600 yards. It doesn't take a cannon to kill a coues, some hunters just like to shoot them from a long ways off.

Bowsniper, generally speaking I think a lot of the over the counter deer licks are gimmicks and way over priced. Maybe they work for eastern whitetail? For about 3 bucks you can buy a 30 pound bag of rock salt that will work great. The deer cocain can be added to a pre existing salt lick right before the hunt or during the rut to increase activity.

I'm pretty sure that the weatherby vanguard rifle at walmart for $199 is chambered in .270 winchester, not .270 weatherby.

Bowsniper, I'm a little curious what's wrong with deer cocain or salt? The stuff works great for me! I've got pictures of coues deer coming in 5 and 6 at a time for the stuff.

I have some real old hunting video's of Chuck Adams before he sold out to the camo companys. Some of you may remember that many years ago all Chuck would wear for his archery hunts was blue jeans and a flannel shirt. In one of the video's Chuck actually explains that deer are color blind and camo is just a bunch of hype! I guess the checks he received from Realtree helped him change his mind!

I think that's the same little dive we stop at as well. They've got some tasty mexican food!

I will agree with Lark. The first clear day after a couple of rainy/snowy days always seems to make for the best hunting! I think deer are like people in that if they are cooped up for too long they like to get out and stretch their legs.

I've never hunted 24a so I can'g give you much advise on the area. What I can tell you is that the majority of archery hunters that consistently harvest coues deer with there bows will usually do so by hunting over water during the early hunt, or treestand hunting over salt or scrapes during the late hunt. Go scout the area and find some good pockets where deer activity is high and dump some salt in a secluded spot with a good tree. Once the deer start hitting your salt get a trail camera and set it out over the salt and you can see what's coming in. Don't worry if only does are coming in that will usually change once the rut starts. It's awful late in the year to be starting a salt lick that will be productive for this year, but it's never to early to start one for next year. Once you have a good salt lick going keep tending it and you will have a productive area for years to come.

Thanks Scott. A buddy of mine just purchased a Tikka .270 WSM for our December coues hunt in unit 31 and he'll probably be shooting those same rounds. It's good to know you're actually getting higher velocities than Winchester claims on their website. Most of the time the loads seem to under perform compared to what the manufacturer advertises. You'll have to let us all know how they work on your sons hunt. Good luck!

Hey Scott, which factory ammo are you using to get 3300 fps + out of that 270 wsm. I've checked online with Winchester and Federal and neither list their loads breaking the 3300 fps mark? Were you shooting it through your own chrono or are those the numbers published by the manufacturer? Pretty impressive!

I will pretty much agree with what has already been said. I've had trail cameras out for the past year and a half and I've found that the majority of deer come in mid day. The other thing I've found interesting is that very few deer would come in during total darkness and only a few more actually come in at first and last light. If you want to shoot a coues deer over water you better make it an all day affair.

I once heard a humans sense of smell compared to a dog's in the following way. If a guy comes home from work and his wife is making potato soup the guy can smell potato soup. If a dog were to be there while the soup was cooking the dog would be able to smell potatoes, carrots, celary, onions, salt, pepper, herbs, seasoning, bacon, etc. I'm sure a deer's sense of smell is similar to a dogs in that they can smell all of the individual smells within their surroundings. I'm all for taking measures to control your scent, but the only way to be sure a deer doesn't smell you is to stay down wind!

I live in Mesa and spend lots of time in the Montana Mtn area north of Superior. There are generaly quite a few coues up there from Rogers Trough east to Peachville Mtn, but there are usually quite a few hunters as well. If you can go in the middle of the week you'd be better off. Also in my opinion to many tags are issued and lots of small deer get whacked before they can ever get big. If I'm hunting with a rifle I'm usually after something better than 100 inches, but in that area I'd lower my standard to 90 or better. There are also to many lions. I've gotten lots of pictures with my trail cameras over the last year and two of my buddies have recently seen a total of 3 lions. Good luck!

Does anyone have any information regarding coues hunting the San Carlos in the D east or west zones? I'm considering buying a tag and would like to know any information about deer densitys, genetics, access, is the area glassable or thick oak brush & manzanita? Does one side or the other seem to produce better bucks? I'm just trying to see if I can justify spending the cash for one of these tags. Thanks! TAM PS. And yes I've already sent Amanda an email to see what she can tell me:)

Lark is right on with what he said. I will add that a lot of serious coues hunters prefer to use more gun than is necessary to kill them. There is an active discussion on this sight right now about people using .300 mag's for coues. Any of the .300 mags is a lot more gun than a person actually needs to kill a coues. The reason most guys do this is so they can shoot a rifle with a flat trajectory and enough energy left in the bullet for the long shots coues deer are known for. Many of the traditional "deer calibers" do not preform as well at ranges of 350 yards and more. Coues deer aren't real picky about what kind of bullets will kill 'em, most any well constructed bullet will do the trick. That bullet will knock 'em dead!

Hey Lark, I try and save the sneaking for my archery hunts. When I'm out with my rifle I'm usually looking for a trophy. If I see a trophy coues at 400-500 yards I want him dead, I don't want to loose a good buck cuz my sneaking sucked. The funny thing is that most of my shots have been under 200. I did kill a big bodied mule deer in New Mexico a few years ago at 380 and since he was on the move there wasn't much time to get any closer. That gun sure put a hurt on him. Your right about the .270wsm's they look pretty impressive! I've got a buddy that's looking at getting one.

Well I will have to agree on the .270, but I like a little flatter tragectory. My favorite deer cartridge is a .270 Weatherby Magnum. My reloads shoot a 130 grain bullet over 3,500 FPS out the muzzle. Dead on @ 300 yards, 8-9 inches low @ 400, and 20-21 inches low at 500. Best of all it will knock a coues deer off its feet and it'll be dead before it hits the ground!

A little tip I try and use is to never walk the same path twice. Even if it means walking only 10 or 15 feet from the same trail I've walked before. That way you can cover twice as much ground.

I was once out during a January archery deer hunt in unit 22 a few years ago. I was hunting off one of the powerline roads where I had parked my Jeep and hiked probably 1/2 to 3/4 of a mile to a good vantage point where I could glass. A couple of hours after the sun came up I could hear quads and gun shots on the hill side below me. Over a period of 20 minutes or so gradually these 3 yahoo's on quads (I think they were quail hunting) made their way up the side of the hill towards me. I wasn't real concealed but they never saw me and rode within 10 feet of where I was sitting. There was no trail or road within half a mile and I was pissed that these guys were riding off road so when they got to about 10 feet away I jumped up and yelled and scared one of them. The guy was so shocked that he half jumped, half fell off his quad and the quad ran into some brush. He got mad that I would jump out and scare him like that, so I told him that what he was doing was illeagal and I would report him. He and his buddies acted big and tough but in the end they knew I was right and they tucked their tails and left. After they finally left my brother in-law came out from behind some bushes nearby where he had been watching the whole thing. He had been glassing deer from another vantage point about a hundred yards away where he watched as I scared the guy. He said it was the funniest thing he ever saw watching that guy bail off his quad! He had snuck in closer to offer some back up in case the 3 guys got too hot. I wish I could have had a video tape of that guys reaction! A bit later as we were driving out we came across a Game Cop who very professionally checked our tags and licenses. We told him about the guys on the quads and he went to investigate. Quads are great when they are used properly!