DubTee
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Posts posted by DubTee
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33/37B archery pig, bonus point for turks.
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I know eastern whitetails aren't coues, but they sure are fun to hunt with a bow. I grew up in the midwest, go back every year to my buddy's farm in WI to hunt big bucks during the rut. We chose the first week of November this year, a lot of management and QDM has been efforted by us over the past 8 years, and it seems like it is really taking a hold. We had more sightings and trail cam pics of mature bucks (4 1/2 year old+) this year than ever before. The farm consists of big wooded ridges with big agricultural fields in between. Food is everywhere, lots of corn this year, bumper acorn crop as well. The trick during the rut is get into travel corridors where bucks are cruising looking for available does. This area of WI is an "earn a buck" area, kill a doe, check her in, and then they authorize your buck tag. They went to this program several years ago to help get deer numbers down, it seems that it is working, although not very popular with the locals up there. I harvested a doe the first evening, 25 yard shot, about a 50 yard recovery, so I was good to go for the week. Ended up passing several 3 1/2 year olds and numerous smaller bucks, watched a nice 9 point (as we call them back there) breed a doe one morning, and ended up taking an nice 8 point on the morning of Nov. 5th. Buck came in cruising a ridge line, worked a scrape, and ended up walking right underneath me. When he got broadside at 8 yards, I gave a mouth bleat to stop him, and he totally freaked out. Almost spooked, but turned and faced me, looking right up at me. I was at full draw, decided to take the face on shot, shooting for the jugular, but at least burying the arrow deep into the vitals from the front. I hit him perfect, never seen so much blood come out of an animal, he went about 75 yards and piled up. We caught this buck on trail cam a few days before I killed him, we estimated him at 4 1/2 years old and he must have been a warrior. Scars all over his back, ears tore up, and his left eye was poked out. I think the eye problem caused him to freak out when I mouth bleated (I was on his blind side). Good mass, has a little kicker off his left G2, he scores about 128.
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I elk hunted in the Zuni's this year on private land, I know Oso Ridge holds some good bucks. There is quite a bit of forest service land on the south side of Oso ridge, be careful of the private though. The sage flats and lower country down by highway 53 also holds some good deer, I don't know how much is public down there though. Maybe getting a hold of some landowners could help, I think more people would be willing to help out a youngster.
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I was asked to help out a landowner in NM, actually the guy lives in Mesa and owns some beautiful property in the Zuni Mountains. He had some guys hunting, asked me to help them and also help him during muzzleloader season, part of our agreement is I got a bow tag from him, so I got to hunt elk this year after all. The first guy came in for early archery season, elk were really concentrated on the ranch in the days leading up to the hunt (plenty of water), but a huge rain storm came in the day before and it seemed to scatter the elk out, there was standing water everywhere now. The first few days were slow, chased a few distant bugles, finally when we parked the truck on the third morning we could hear several bulls sounding off in a ditch. After following a chuckler for a 1/2 mile or so, we did a set up and I started cow calling, the chuckler seemed to ignore us and continue off, but another good sounding bull lit up above us. After a brief standoff, I started moving away from the bull trying to sound like a small group of cows and calves, the bull couldn't take it, he came in perfectly, 27 yard shot, the hunter hit him a bit back and after backing out all day, we came in later that day and found him. A perfect 6x6, I taped him right at 340.
It was now second archery season, I had a buddy who bought a tag coming in, I was to be hunting along side of him. My plan was to call for him in the mornings, maybe we'd split up in the evenings. He did tell me if I'm calling and I happen to be able to shoot a bull, to go ahead, he didn't have to tell me twice. The first morning we went out and after a brief walk, the bulls were lighting up again below us. The wind wasn't cooperating much, so my plan was to follow the elk, once they came out of the ditch and we got the wind right, I would start my calling. Well, the plan came together, the elk were getting up the hill, I started my calling. A small 5x5 satellite immediately came running in silent, darn near ran over my buddy who was about 80 yards in front of me. The bigger sounding bull was still going off, and we could tell he was coming. The bigger bull came in pushing a cow along with another smaller bull. The elk went by my buddy out of range, came by me at 20 yards and I couldn't get the bull to stop because he was in mid-bugle when he entered my lane. They went past me into some thick stuff, ended up turning around and coming right back at me. The cow got to about 5 yards before she knew something was up, the bull was behind her, bugling, glunking, and carrying on. I knew he was going to be close when he entered my one and only shooting lane, I drew and told myself even if he is moving a bit, tuck it forward and take the shot. He entered at about 15 yards, he was moving so I put it on his shoulder and let it go, my arrow went right through him, but I wasn't sure where the hit was. The bull stopped about 30 yards away, I don't think he was quite sure what happened either, after standing there for a minute or two, he ran up the hill, but I could tell he was hurting pretty bad. I followed him up the hill, watched him lay down and expire, my shot ended up hitting him perfect. A solid 6x6, scores right at 300. My buddy ended up missing a 300 bull on the second to last morning, passed many smaller bulls.
After a brief break for 10 days, I was back in NM for the landowner's muzzleloader hunt. We got into elk right away on his hunt, we saw 10 different little bulls before legal shooting light. It was quiet until about 15 minutes after first shooting light, then the hillside lit up. There must have been 7 different bulls going, I just tried to pick the biggest sounding one that the wind would allow us to go after. We stayed silent, just trying to get looks at the bulls. We heard only one growly bugle, and when the wind stabilized we got above him and started our stalk. The bulls were still bugling very good, I found the herd, and when we got to about 100 yards of them, all I could see were satellites walking around the herd, and they were causing all the racket. After watching them for a minute or two, I spotted the herd bull in the thick stuff, I set the landowner up in the only shooting lane we had and told him to watch the lane, I would tell him when the big bull is coming. We set up, the bull was just moving around checking cows, but he was headed to our lane. When he entered it, I cow called, and the bull stopped hard quartering away and looked at us, the landowner let him have it, I saw the bull pile up in the aspen grove. The bull ended up being a 7x7, with his G6's broke on each side. Bull taped out at 330, weak fronts, but incredible top ends, probably missing 10 inches or so.
Well with the landowner tagged out in three hours, I headed back to AZ until the final rifle hunter showed up on the 9th of Oct. A lot changed in those 6 days. The bulls completely shut up, many had left the herds as well. The first morning we got into elk, but nothing big. A herd came down to a meadow the first evening, there was a decent bull in the group, but the hunter just couldn't see through his scope, I could see the bull easily through my swaro's, I believe his cheaper scope cost him a good bull. The next couple of days were very slow, a lot of still hunting, very little elk activity. On the fourth morning we came across a decent bull, I told him he was a 6x probably mid 200's, he told me there was no doubt he was shooting. When the bull fed out behind a pine, I cow called, and he folded him up with the 300 win mag. Bull ended up being a 6x5 (never grew his G2 on one side), a satellite for this area, but under the tough conditions a fine bull, and most importantly the hunter's biggest and he was very happy, and that's all that matters.
All in all, a good year, lots of elk hunting, some good success, a little time off and then it's off to the midwest for rutting easterns with a bow, can't wait!
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Saw this on another site.....crazy this goes on with all the people around. The guy at 1:47 trying to take a pic on his phone is hilarious. Some big bulls to boot.
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Great post, congrats guys, sounds like this year's hunt in AZ was a tough one.
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Nice write up and nice bulls!
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Last year I had the late archery bull hunt and was scouting in early October and the elk were out in the middle of mormon lake. I talked to some of the locals they said its pretty hilarious watching people trying to put stalks on these elk. They try to belly crawl all the way out there it doesn't look that far but it is and most of the time it gets pretty muddy out there. I would llove to watch someone try it.I had a bull tag in 5BN last year, I was camping in 5BS with a bunch of friends who had tags there. I drove past Morman every day, elk everywhere in that lake, some nice bulls too, I stopped one afternoon and thought about how someone would go about a stalk, I pretty much deemed it impossible with a bow unless you use a snorkel and fins
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Elk are pretty much all over 6AN. Lots of roads though. You should not have any difficulty locating elk. You might consider driving some backroads with a spotlight before archery deer season starts. A lot of cow elk around Mormon Lake now.Had a buddy drive up early on day last week to scout 5B for antelope, he said there were about 500-600 elk in and around Morman lake. He said there were a few hefty bulls out there as well, upper 300's and he usually underestimates them.
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I would highly recommend the Leica CRF, as big as a pack of smokes, ranges anything and everything instantly, the readout is red and very easy to read, low light is not a problem, and great 7X glass. I have the 900 version, I can get readings out to about 1100 yards with that one. Leica discontinued the 900, they now make an 800 and a 1200 version. I bet you could still find some deals online for the 900. IMO, buy the best once and be done with it. Hope this helps.
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I agree with 308, if it's a whitetail count em all, more than likely the browtines/eyeguards are going to significantly affect a final score on a whitetail, therefore in my book they should be given credit when one talks about their buck. I can see why a muley isn't really credited it's eyeguards when talking about them, they usually don't amount to much, with some not having them at all. I am probably biased a little bit though, I grew up in the midwest hunting whitetails, it's easy for me on muleys to say 4x4, I hate saying that for a 10 point whitetail. You know what else, I'd had never heard the term "toad" to describe a good buck until I got out here. Also, I hear some people out here refer to fork horns as fork-ed horns, I don't know why but that bothers the crap out of me when I hear that.
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I would take a stab that the San Carlos wouldnt be too hard to fathom......monster sheds have been found that are pretty scary and 130's are killed by the natives there almost every season with rifle..I know a full time guide there, they were chasing a coues last year that he said would crush the world record, he first thought is was a nice muley and then they realized it was a coues.........
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Great pictures!!I like how your camera tells you the
temperature, have you found it to be accurate?
What kind of camera is it and do you like them (all 7)
Thanks for sharing
Jeff
My buddies and I have 11 cams between us and they are all Moultrie I'40's. I do find all the information that the camera gives you to be accurate. The "40" stands for 4.0 megapixels, they do make an I-60 which I'm sure are very nice, the pictures are taken by infrared at night (no flash). I have not had a problem with them and the battery life is great.
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We had 7 cams running for the last month up on the Bab. Buddies have the tags, I was really hoping there was going to be leftovers again this year, but oh well. Here are some pics of the better bucks we got. Everything is looking good up there, weather was great!. We did glass the fields one evening, deer were everywhere at dusk with that quarter moon high in the sky. Saw some real good bachelor groups, a perfect 5x5 that probably will be around 185, and a HUGE 3x3 that I bet would go 175-180. I would have shot that 3x3 in an instant, outrageous mass, and some serious tine length! Enjoy the trail cam pics!
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TC would also be my first choice, but I know those can get pricey. I just helped a buddy sight in his CVA optima last week, nice gun and very accurate. I would recommend the CVA as well.
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Do you loose your bonus points when you apply for a leftover tagNo
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Nada para me.
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Extremely sorry about your loss Kent. With our first child on the way, I am starting to realize the love that comes along with a child, even though the sonograms make our child look like an alien (thought a little humor might help). I am keeping you and yours in our thoughts and prayers.
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Thanks guys, it is a beautiful spot, problem is the other three cams were on water holes that are just as good if not better, so I thought. Seems like plenty of elk on the property, I think the big bulls summer in a little different area as all the locals tell me I probably won't see big bulls until mid to late August, but once the time is right, I guess plenty of nice bulls show up. I guess as long as they are there during hunting season, that is all that matters. Looking forward to see how this property pans out.
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I am running 4 cams on a ranch in NM I will be hunting in September for elk. I checked them a few days ago and three were knocked off of the trees by trespassers, looks like they just yanked them off and broke the strap, saw their quad tracks and footprints near the cams, kind of shocked they didn't take them. To say I was pizzed would be an understatement. One cam did survive, got a couple of good shots. Others are fixed and cleaned, they are back out but this time in more secretive spots. Here are a couple shots from the lone survivor.
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i sure hope so!!! i really feel sorry for the archery deer hunters who will only have a few weeks to prepare for their hunt!! good luck everyone!!No kidding, last year we had to stop by the darn office to pick up my buddies leftover 12A archery tag on the way to the Bab. We go a few days early to secure camping and put up stands, they need to start doing this a bit earlier in my opinion
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O.K., about 3-4 weeks ago I was on my way to NM, I'm driving my buddies truck, he is in the passenger seat. I get zapped on the 260 in Payson (that darn camouflaged brown one along the rock wall). I see it flash, to my knowledge, my buddy hasn't received anything yet. My question is, since it wasn't him driving his truck, should we ignore it if/when it comes? After reading all these posts, it sounds like we should, but my other buddy said he recently got one while driving his wife's car, they sent her the ticket and said if she didn't identify the driver, somehow she was responsible. If anybody knows for sure (not just hearsay please), what are our rights in this situation? Thanks.
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I called the very nice lady Patricia at Cabelas. Since I am a member of the RMEF, I wanted to know if the discounts are good for the RMEF and/or other conservation groups and she said it was. She also said that all you do is sign up when you come in either at customer service or the greeter's desk and they give you a coupon for the discount. Good deal, I will be shopping amongst some of you on Saturday.
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I haven't a whole lot of experience with the Nikon and Bushnells that have been mentioned, I do own a cheapy Bushnell for bowhunting the midwest, but once I tried to use it out west I immediately knew it was time to upgrade. After searching and checking reviews, I went with the Leica CRF 900, this thing is unbelievable. Compact, great 7X glass, simple, and the red read out really stands out when trying to range in low light. It will range anything (reflective or not) very quickly and in about any light, getting readings well past 1000 yards and mine is only supposed to be good to 900. I do know the 900 was discontinued (only the 1200 is being manufactured), I think you can find some really good deals out there on the 900, just got to locate one. My .02
Southwest Processing
in Coues Deer Hunting in Arizona
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Not sure about a deer, but I've had my last two elk done by them, took 2-3 weeks or so. Just give them a call.