CouesPursuit

Completely agree. Just because you want to sit in the climber doesn't mean you have to use the climber to get up the tree. My climber is so much more comfortable than my hang on's. Comfort = Time @ 20' high = Opportunity I like to be at least 20' as stated above, guy's back east think we're nuts, I think we (kinda) have to be. Lots of topics on this site about controlling scent and how to deal with swirling wind - I am convinced there are just times when things will not work out to sit a particular tree at a particular time. That's why I like a climber, takes just a couple minutes to relocate and keep hunting. I pick out and prepare at least 2 trees opposite of each other around the proverbial 'x.' After learning more since my last post in this thread, now when I am fully committed to a spot, I spend the time to put a hang on stand in my favorite tree - then you can go up and down 100% silent, but if the wind or situation dictates the tree just isn't right, I keep my climber nearby and ready to go to the next best tree option, hunting again in minutes. Specifically for but likely not limited to Coues deer, you can't just climb higher and think the scent will then go over them if the wind isn't right. I've gone way higher than I feel comfortable trying just that, to no avail, and I won't do so anymore. Keep the wind right, be patient, good things will come.

Similar situation at my house except my neighbor removed the pile of crap that the dog was using to try to get over the wall, now he can only get his snout over and he doesn't do it as much.

Just saying on the blood on the hands part, dog could needlessly hurt someone or something else.

Definitely agree. May be an interesting discussion, home protection firearm details and why. My point was there are better options than a pistol. Anyway, I hope Josh, me or anyone I know, ever have to euthanize a dog in defense with a gun, period. Animal control sounds like another good idea. Hopefully the hill just gets shoveled soon and he can stay cool with his neighbor.

Beautiful dogs, longshooter. Josh, if I were you, first thing's first. Get the hill removed. Conflicts with neighbors stink and I would avoid them at all cost, but this cannot wait. Show up with a pair of gloves on and ask him to put down the pipe and xbox controller, and shovel the hill quick. If he doesn't comply tell him in a nice manner that you will be out enjoying your yard with your firearm until the hill is removed, and that at this point you will be sharing the issue of liability with the homeowner. I also thought video was a good idea, and document the dates, times and notices of the issue with the renter just to be prepared. Lastly, if you don't have a 12 gauge, borrow one until the situation is resolved. Bird shot out of a shotgun won't go through walls and significantly reduces the chance of innocent bystander injury. Not to mention it's difficult to miss. 357, can't say the same. Good luck this is a stupid situation you shouldn't have to be in the first place. Breed of dog is irrelevant.

So who's doing the taxidermy work for you?? j/k - stud bucks, congratulations!

Here are 2 good options if you have an entire weekend. 1- In February, one of my favorite trips used to be to Hawley lake in the White Mountains for Brown trout. For whatever reason IMO in Feb they are most susceptible to bite and there is opportunity at catching 20+" fish. I've heard they may be spawning but most literature says they spawn in the fall. At any rate, I've had success bait fishing with a couple split shots and a 20" leader tipped with a meal worm and a kernel of corn, yes both. Check the legality of using a treble hook on the reservation but best way to rig this is meal worm across 2/3 of the treble hook and 2 kernels of corn over 1/3 of the treble hook. My favorite Brown trout casting lures are Blue Fox spinners. This is my favorite pattern but most any would work. Several kids could stay entertained in the highlighted north shore area. 2- In March-April, crappie and bass start firing up with the warmer temps. If I was leading a trip with a few boys, looking for a good hang out and potential at catching a lot of fish, consider an overnight trip to Roosevelt, Alamo, or Bartlett Lakes. This is where I was asking if you had access to small watercraft. But, I would get set up with a 12v deep cycle battery and a couple 'crappie' lights. They have both submersible (often green) and floating (mostly white) lights, I use both but the floating white lights work just fine and are cheap. I still use a couple of these $10 night blasters that are literally as old as me. Setting it up right as it gets dark, get those lights connected to a battery in the kayak/small watercraft, and use some ingenuity to anchor it a casting distance away from the shoreline. Ideally the water should be at least 10' deep and less than 25' but the max doesn't really matter. Here is a screen shot of a place on the Tonto end of Roosevelt lake I caught several last year, something like this is good. Within an hour or so, hopefully you start to witness a food chain - Lights attract plankton, which attract balls of threadfin shad, finally attracting crappie, largemouth, yellow bass, and catfish. You should be able to witness predator fish darting in and out of the light. You can cast just about any lure that resembles a baitfish, in but especially just outside the lights. The best bait is a minnow on a small aberdeen hook with a split shot and a slip bobber. You can go through several dozen minnows on a good night or you can waste a dozen watching the constellations move. I've really only touched the surface so let me know if you are interested and have any questions. I do several "night stalks" a year in my boat, especially in May/June. Something to be said about beating the heat and being under the stars this time of year. Some nights are unbelievable with the fishing. I'll document my process one night this spring and make a thread.

I'll be able to type a good recommendation tomorrow but last question, access to a small watercraft?

I understand but dang man, hate!? haha That's a strong word for wetting a line in one of the 7 world wonders! I would go to Lee's with a group, amazing place.

for the day, overnight, full weekend? this weekend or in the next couple months? can they cast well? is success measured in inches or quantity? access to a small boat or kayak?

Very cool plaque, great bull!

Harvest success hasn't changed you're right. But I was talking draw success to be reduced based significantly on the point you stated.

I have a feeling we are going to see a significant reduction in draw success for the late archery hunts this year.

Good post.

CWT is hands down the most photo-friendly site I frequent. Thank you, Amanda. I don't understand exactly how running a forum works but I imagine you optionally pay more for more space on a server, or maybe it's standard in the forum design, not sure. However, 64 MB's for a single file AND you can upload multiple files.. This is the only place I've seen that. Also agree with the browser situation, IE sucks for just about every application that wasn't designed specifically for it.

For me, backstrap and tenderloins get marinated, wrapped in bacon, and grilled. Everything else is processed into chorizo/sausage. Javelina is nothing short of excellent. Cut well beneath all the flank to avoid any scent glands and don't let the hide come in contact with the meat. I haven't shared Javelina with a single person that didn't enjoy it. And on topic, I can't resist.. To each their own but I have trouble respecting people that hunt game just to give/throw away the meat. Sharing whatever portion of it with people that need and/or appreciate it is another story. But go predator hunting if you just want to kill, and leave the game for harvesting.

Not any different than those for other big game. If it has soft tissue/hair, you're liable to call it in. I found a young ram sheath and a trophy ram skull while working in Bighorn habitat several years ago now, and the WM gave me permission to keep it on the spot after sending him some photos and describing the location/encounter. OP, nice find!

Great stuff, Adam! Photos don't even look real!

Great post thanks for sharing.

http://www.coueswhitetail.com/forums/topic/55088-turkey-taxidermist/?do=findComment&comment=531315 A week old..

bump for a stand up seller - good luck with the sale

If you're a hevi-shot shell user, please read this urgent notice to consumers. http://www.hevishot.com/media/Letter_to_our_consumers_11-20-14.pdf

Very nice photos and congratulations on an impressive and successful year. Looks like we share two of the same Arizona-favorite fisheries.

After waiting a long 11 months, January archery OTC had finally come. I and my best hunting buddy Frank (campmeat), headed up the fresh snow covered mountain on January 1st after bringing in the New Year with friends and family. We slowly and safely pushed through the few obstacles in our way; Arizona drivers, highway accidents, upwards of a foot of snow atop primitive forest roads - and before we knew it, we were at buck camp 2015 without a hiccup. We quickly set up camp in excitement, soaked up what was nothing short of magic surrounding us, and decided we had time to head to our stands for an evening hunt. Snow had only been on the ground for 24 hours, and both of our stands were covered in tracks. The first evening was quiet at both stands, at dark we backed out of our areas in the same tracks we came in on, and never went in close to check cams. The second day, I sat an alternative stand that had a nice 4x3 coming in from recent weeks. It appeared his (tough-to-see-here) tracks were beneath my tree when I settled in, as they seemed to "swing" through the area in the same fashion we caught him on camera. Unfortunately, he did not come in and check for does on day 2. Frank had 3 whitetail does come into his stand but nothing with antlers checking them out, just a coyote that wouldn't come into shooting distance. Saturday, January 3rd we wake up to a beautiful 8 degree day and we get in our stands early. On my way to my day 1 stand, I noticed there are both new deer and elk tracks on top mine from the first evening hunt. Feeling good, I get up 25 feet high in my climber and Frank and I send each other a text to confirm we are safe in the tree as we normally check on each other every couple hours on the hour. It felt like 10am and any warmth I had accumulated from the hike in was long gone, I stand up, hang up the bow and turn on my phone to read the following. Nobody can tell the story better than Frank himself, so here is the short and sweet of it after I ask him for the details! I couldn't believe this guy grunted the buck in with nothing more than his mouth! The feeling that the rut was in full swing would not leave my mind, and I was hoping at a chance myself. My blood was pumping for him, I could feel his energy after reading his hundred text messages about how it went down. He asked if I was going to come back for lunch, I replied "I'd rather wait a bit and get 2 bucks down!" He then agreed and told me, "Yea stay in your stand man they're moving today." Not more than 35 minutes later while texting him how about and when to track his buck. I just arrowed my 3rd consecutive buck with a bow. I was so excited for Frank, texting back and forth with him, slightly envious of him of course, and here quickly through the snow comes this floppy eared doe with a forkie pushing her every move. All within 20 seconds, I throw the phone down on the seat of my climber, grab my bow silently off the hook, range their only escape route if they wind me at 42 yards, and watch the doe come plowing down the same horizontal tracks from the first photo above, not more than 15 yards away. The doe quickly escapes out of my view and as I am drawing my bow back, I make the slightest sound to stop the buck in his tracks, only his back 2/3rds are showing from behind the ponderosa and oak. I released the arrow to the sound of a thwack and the sight of the buck coming out on the far side. No arrow to be seen, but a big red entry wound. I recovered this buck after tracking him 1,000 yards through some gnarly brush and bedding areas, and after he showed me where 30-40 sets of deer tracks were present in one little 100 yard draw. I believe the buck pushed so far because of his chasing the doe, otherwise he may have bedded at a reasonable distance. I ended up shooting him a little bit back, as this was my only opportunity, but my 450 gr. VAP tipped with an Ulmer Edge met it's mark and brought down this beautiful little buck without him stopping to bed. I knew that Frank had just drilled a much higher caliber of deer than I did, but I was every bit satisfied with my trophy. For the record, I said before this hunt I would not shoot a spike, and for the future, I have graduated to no longer shoot forks unless it is a December archery fill-the-freezer kind of deal. I am now considering myself something between a 'meat' hunter and a 'I want to up the ante a bit' hunter. By 1pm, I recovered the deer, my cameras, and climber - and made it back to camp to help Frank retrieve his buck. After waiting 3 hours and while I was retrieving my deer, Frank had jumped his buck out of his bed at 60 yards in thick cover 350 yards from his stand. We waited until 4pm, now 7 hours after the shot, and tracked the deer for over a mile in treacherous terrain and brush. The ups and downs of this tracking experience were unreal. I would go from 100% confident "this buck is dead and will be around the corner" to "wtf, how did he make it this far." For all of the research I've done on tracking animals (great one here on CWT btw @ http://www.coueswhitetail.com/forums/topic/12229-being-patient-after-the-shot/) this was an experience to remember. This blood trail was this consistent for most of the mile. Only in the end it did it start to dry up to nothing. I have to assume it's because he had no more blood to bleed. With minutes of light, we shared our excitement 2 miles from the nearest road, took photos, and began our cold journey back to camp. This buck was a documented member of our hitlist as well. I am crazy about coues deer, but it was pretty cool seeing the two buck species side by side. And - we were lucky enough to get out for a bonus duck hunt yesterday before and after processing our deer. I hope you all had a great New Year, add a little time with my wife, dog, friends and family and this was one for the record books. Thanks for reading. Good luck to all in 2015.

Big +1. He did 3 ducks and 1 goose for me, all excellent work, great guy. http://www.coueswhitetail.com/forums/topic/53269-last-years-mounted-waterfowl/ Many turkeys in his studio as well but unfortunately don't have a pic of them.