trufletch

I am glad that USO got slammed and put in their place. I don't mind giving up 10% of the tags to the NR's because I too am allowed to hunt in the other states as a NR and I accept their policies and procedures. Fact is, there are more applicants than hunt opportunities. It has been this way for quite awhile. There are things you can do to increase your odds, areas and times of year that will increase your odds. We all can't hunt the late whitetail. Use that as a first choice, but after that, pick units and times of year that give you better odds. If that doesn't work, you can still buy the archery deer tag over the counter. You can always find a way to hunt. Blaming the NR's and lumping them all together is wrong Trufletch

Now its time to really hunker down on the scouting. My brother and I drew early 36A tags and Unit 27 Archery Bull tags. Time to sharpen the broadheads. Good luck to all Trufletch

I have a 1998 Chevy 3/4ton xcab w/longbed. big rat 454 motor. I put on a Gibson CatBack exhaust, K&N FIPK (fuel injection performance kit) and used a HyperTech programmer. Got more power, better shifting, adjusted the speedo for larger tires. this thing won't take a power chip- it required a reprogrammer. Good luck Trufletch

$1,000 in gas for a month? That's alot of scouting or long trips-. I don't like the fees going up anymore than anyone else, and I definately hope to have my little ones behind the scope one day, but in the grand scheme of things, my hunting trips are still affordable. I setup a budget, take my lunch to work, and try to save a little where I can. Like many of you, I have a choice where to spend my money, high end optics, camp items to make us comfortable and good whiskey. I am willing to shell out a coupla extra bucks if it will help the cause. Look at what it takes to take a family of four to a movie or to a professional ball game. talk about outrageous. I truely feel for the average hunter (because I am one), but we all make decisions on how to spend our hard earned dollars. Whitetails are a passion of mine and I choose to skimp in other areas so I can spend them on my passions.

Nice Buck!! good palmation. i like the horns with character. Did you fight the hordes in the Reddington area or were you elsewhere? Your buck's palmation looks similar to the 108" coues my brother took several years ago in the Happy Valley area. We backpacked in a ways and found some really nice bucks- congrats on that one- a real keeper. trufletch

unit 33 archery pig tag- remember the days when you could buy the archery ones over the counter? man, them were the good old days trufletch

thanks-not looking for sympathy-just utterly amazed at the actions of some of the hunters. I should have known due to the amount of trails and easy access, still we were able to find some areas that were overlooked by other hunters. If I weren't so dang picky on the size of the horns, I would have had a freezer of meat by now. Enjoyed the hunt though, got to see some new country and stretch the legs, besides, the dance ain't over yet- still have a few more days. will let everyone know how it goes-still have an ace up the sleeve. trufletch

Just finished the 1st part of the Nov unit 33 hunt for Coues. Hunted the Reddington area for the 1st time- me and about a billion others. I don't mind a few hunters in the field, but it seemed that the areas I had scouted earlier that had good bucks was overrun with quads/jeeps etc. We were able to find some pockets that others had overlooked and found some bucks, but none that I wanted to make a play for. Time and time again, I had hunters arrive in an area after 7:00am, park next to my vehicle, walk a coupla hundred yards through the area that I was glassing into, talking loud and then leaving. After all these years of hunting, I am still amazed by the lack of etiquettes by others. Some of the other threads seem to support my observations. Just needed to vent. We will hunt later in the week and thru the weekend and find some of the shooters that I found during preseason scouting. Congrats to all that have filled a tag/ I'm hoping that I will have some pics to post by the weeks end. trufletch

Ask away- Roberto! This is a great website, very helpful, tho we can, at times be a little rough around the edges. Trufletch

Funny thing that you mentioned guys on mules- on sunday my brother and I were in 33 glassing for our November hunt. ran across a guy that said he was in the area on his mule- had been at Manning Camp and got thrown from the mule- he was back in there on foot, looking for a lost spur- guess he hiked in instead of taking the mules, couldn't trust em i imagine. like you said- lots of camps the size of a city. We didn't see any hunters in the areas that we glassed tho. Congrats on your buck trufletch

My longest was 2 years ago at a coues, 362 yards with a 270 Remington action, laid into a composite stock with a Leupold VXIII 3.5X10 and handloads. I felt comfortable with the shot and dropped where he stood. Don't know that I would want to take a shot any further than that though. the deer looked about the size of a groundhog. Shoot the distances you are comfortable with and can be reasonably assured of a quick, clean kill. Say what you want about the 308, but several years ago I had the opportunity to train with US Army Ranger snipers at Fort Bening(?) and man can they make those 308's sing. I got to see them shoot at 1000 yards and watched them routinely shoot shirt buttons on mannequins at over 750 yards. Most of those guys have been operational al over the world and know their weapons and equipment inside out. You can have the best equipment in the world, fastest, flat shooting cartridge the world has ever seen, and if you don't practice, practice, practice, you will never do it justice. Practice with your chosen weapon, be intimately familiar with your equipment and know everythings limitations(especially your own) and the hunt will go fine. I feel the hunt starts at 500 yards. I always try to get as close as I can, minimizes those bad shots and keeps me from wounding an animal. Once again, just my 2 cents. trufletch

I have hunted that unit on and off for the last 25 years, lots of great places to hunt.Get off the beaten track, find a high spot and glass your tail off, literally for hours at a whack from the same position. Just becasue you don't see something, doesn't mean it's not there, lots of little draws and coulees for them to hunker in. They will get up and feed all day long-so stay out there. As for the human traffic (illegal and otherwise), my experience is that it affects the animals. The illegals move mostly at nite, hunker down during the day. Human presence will make the animals move to areas that they feel safer in. You won't find a patch of ground down there that isn't littered with clothing, food packages, water bottles etc. from the illegal aliens. Just stay frosty, hunt in tandem, lockup anything that you don't want stolen(sometimes that won't even help). I still love to hunt the area, lots of nice bucks and beautiful country. I would not hesitate to hunt it. Glass, Glass, Glass. Some of the country looks like mulie country, but it will hold whitetails. We have glassed up some great whitetails in the lower elevations bedded in the mesquite bosques. Just be sure of your target, wouldn't want you to shoot an old mulie. Good Luck trufletch

Not to stir the pot- But I doubt we've heard the last of USO and their toady, bottom-feeder lawyers. These lawyers will look for every loophole for the sole purpose of exploiting the system. No doubt they are probably huddling in the sewer as we speak, coming up with a new game plan. We need to continue to show the backbone and guts to fight the good fight. trufletch

Just in time- just got the refund checks from everything I did not draw, so might as well burn the cash up on some equipment that i don't need. Just more junk to lug around the hills. trufletch

Sage advice from .270. We all need to stick together. I too have an old PSE crossbow that I have had for twenty years. It's a blast to shoot, but would not carry it during the bow season even if I could. I have used it during rifle javelina season and bustin yotes. I don't begrudge anyone using their chosen weapon as long as it is capable of a humane kill and they are proficient with it. My personal belief is that the crossbows should only be used during rifle season or by someone with a handicap that would preclude them from using a stick or compound bow. Whoever said that the crossbow has the same limitations as a regular bow is right on. You still need to judge yardage and I would not shoot mine at an animal out past around 60 yards. The ony difference being that you don't have to hold the bow at full draw and worry as much about your release. (though those are the 2 biggies in compound/stickaccuracy in my book). Once again, just my 2 cents trufletch

I have hunted the area for the last 20+ years and yes, it has gotten worse. There is not an area down there that is not littered with garbage, old clothing and water jugs. The minutemen are there occasionally as are the No More Deaths church groups and water station attendants. The area still holds lors of deer, you just have to stay frosty. Last years hunt we saw groups of 35+ illegal aliens making their way North. Good advice to have camps near one another, but the camp is at risk when noone is there during the day. Be ready for the BP presence as well as lots of law enforcement helicoptors, especially around the Arivaca lake area. Good luck- be safe trufletch

Haven't been on in a while- congrats to those who drew- condolensces to those that have to try for the few leftover ones. My brother and I drew November 33-skunked on everything else. If i could eat bonus points, I could feast for life trufletch

We talk all the time about flat shooting calibers, bullet trajectory, knock-down power and the like, but equally or more important to some is the rifle scope. If you can't see em thru the scope, you can't make a good swift kill. I know guys that spend alot more on scopes than they do on the rifle. Large lens and clear optics for better light gathering and hi power so you can settle the crosshairs on the specific point you want. Some of the smaller scopes with crosshairs, dots or whatever your using will completely blot out a deer at long range. Can't shoot accurately a long ways off like that, at least I can't. If I can't hold the crosshairs and see the exact spot I am shooting for , I don't take the shot. Personally, i don't like the hail mary and hope it hits something. As always, just my 2 cents. I will probably get bashed by a shooter that uses open sights with claims that he/she/it routinely shoots coues at 400 yards with deadly accuracy, with a 22 rimfire, low light conditions, hurricane winds and the like. Trufletch

36b general tag for me. Probably use the bow and give those pigs a sportin chance. Trufletch

fatfootdoc- an elephant can injun up on a carp. I think the coues are a much warier animal, plus they normally don't stop at the rise when spooked like a carp, they keep going to the next county!. I have shot coues at anywhere from about 100 yards out to around 375 yards. Thats with .270's and .243's. I don't think your rifle is overkill. The job of the gun is to kill the animal as quickly and humanely as possible. Sometimes you can't get any closer than 300 yards because of lack of cover and other intangibles. If you shoot the rifle well at distant and are able to harvest the animal in an efficient manner, more power to you. I have hunted carp and enjoy the hunt, but the ones i have shot were all under 100 yards away and thats not because I am any great stalker, i think as a species, they just tend to sit tighter than coues. Not trying to start a fight here with all the carp hunters, but hunters of any type that think its unsporting to shoot an animal at 200 or 300 yards should stick to recurve bows and flintlocks and put away their hi-powered rifles, compound bows, binos and spotting scopes. Once again, just my 2 cents. Trufletch

Best of luck to all with the November hunt. Shoot straight and be safe. Trufletch

I bet 270 has a story about a being attacked by a marauding herd of rabid Mearns and having only a pocket knife and his wily ways to bring him home safe. I love his stories. think he missed his true calling-oughta be writing novels- i know that i would buy them. Trufletch

Not only that, but Sopori had a habit of locking gates so you had to do an end run to get to certain parts of their leased land. It should still be wide open for hunting but with the deeded stuff going to a bunch of different land owners, access to the leased stuff will still be the ned around thing. Maybe Arivaca Ranch will pickup those leases. They share some of the same wells and the guy who bought the Arivaca Ranch a few years ago seems to me to be a pretty good guy. Time will tell for this area. Trufletch

The AZ G&F telephone hotline said they are still processing the apps- my guess, about a week before they are posted on the website. Good Luck trufletch

Good luck 270- give em a fighten chance and use your Bowie knife like you do on the lions and bears -oh my! Take good photos of the toads. trufletch