CouesPursuit

Very Merry Christmas to you both! Fantastic display! The wife and I will need to take a closer look only being a couple blocks away!

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I use the orange-handled Piranta. My process is to use the existing blade at the time of harvest to skin and debone the animal. I then change to a new blade once all the hair/hide/bone is out of the equation, typically once I'm at home doing final processing, for trimming silver skin etc.. Leaves it razor sharp for the next harvest as long as it doesn't touch hair or bone. I never change blades in the field, scares me. Works excellent on ducks too but is a little short for geese. After a few of these comments I may look into the outdoor edge, baracuda, or alterative 22xt blades. I haven't carried my buck knife in my pack in quite a while.

1- We need to get out and kill more predators. If anyone isn't familiar with the 3-Bar Wildlife Area and study, you should read about it. Before the enclosure was opened up, something like 120 whitetail and mule deer were having a party in a single square mile with no predators, and no significant habitat damage after several years of drought, in the desert. Sure, lack of precip and habitat conditions influence population dynamics, but predators are and always will be #1. The department could implement something to entice that control. 2- I'm also talking about 2 legged predators, more people need to familiarize themselves with the firearm or bow in their hand, and not take every shot they think they can make. We have all heard the stories about wounded animals and that is something we can often control. We need more 'one shot one kills' across the board (or at least more 'only one animal shot at' kills). Also food for thought, many of the animals that are being wounded are often the "trophy" animals whose absence are what many folks are concerned about. We need to stop helping feed the coyotes. 3- Habitat restoration. The reason this is #3 and not #1 is that it is slowly happening. Just recently (and still ongoing), the public came to terms with what smokey the bear did to our forests. There are some big things happening in the Arizona forest industry and some big players getting the word out. Again, it will be a slow battle but it is happening. Tag numbers down and prices up? Sorry, but that's a terrible idea in a realistic world. We need to maintain the recruitment and most of the folks unhappy with the game right now make up a low percentage of the total hunting population.

Get well soon, Ernesto!

They can show up on any of the rivers or reservoirs but there isn't much food to hold them. Roosevelt lake gets a few but they get educated quickly, Colorado River is your best bet.

"Coyote advocates called on the commission to ban prize hunts on grounds they do not reflect good sportsmanship. Arguing there's no proof the hunts prevent livestock losses, they say coyotes play an important role in nature, feeding on rodents and dead animals." Fairytales..

Subjective answer to a subjective question. IMO, it varies between species, geographic region/elevation, and unknown weather patterns. I'd bet the rut has slowly started and will peak sometime between Dec 15 and Jan 15. No reason it will be any earlier or later than average.

bump for a great collar, mine is 3yo and running strong

Muzzy MX3s or other high end fixed blades out of a new rig like that should tune well and simply cannot fail. Mechanicals can come with big holes but also a chance of failure and much debate. Shot placement is everything and makes any quality broadhead do its job.

Simply fantastic!

This is just my opinion based on my observation, but I think the smaller bucks get a little sniffing in before the rut actually kicks in, while they can and before the big boys get what's theirs. I've seen forks and spikes dogging on does this time of year but your nice 3 point, I haven't really seen that much (there are a few exceptions of course). In fact, I've seen forks and larger bucks avoid does completely. In October/November I have had a good portion of my buck finding success come from checking back on does that I had previously glassed, and watching them kick a buck out of his bed because he wanted nothing to with them. This is exactly how my last rifle coues was found and taken. Glass everywhere! haha you never know! Congrats again.

Very nice job! Great buck. So if I recall correctly, you started a thread about where to glass, what would you recommend back to everyone? Where were you finding those bucks in comparison to the terrain?

Blue-winged teal! Cinnamon Teal! Beautiful bird and photo, Wampus!

Back at you 4Falls. One of my deer stands has had 10 different bulls visit in the last 60 days. I'm gonna sit tight 25 high, enjoy the peace, and hope for the best. Good luck all!

Cool video, thanks for sharing. I wonder what this last critter is at 4:50 right before the deer disappears for good..

Arizona or Kansas, Archery or Rifle, Trophy or Meat, This is a great video production of how it's all so similar. Hope you enjoy.

I guess I didn't look that far into it, I noticed a guy that hunts trophy whitetails, passes on bucks I would shoot in an instant, and will take a doe for meat when the bucks don't work out. Then I noticed a guy who has a passion more for hanging with his buddies, having a great time, and getting the job done regardless of the size of the antler. I was multitasking while watching it so maybe I'm way off, just liked the comparison between entirely different hunt strategies from 2 passionate hunters. To me it served the "to each their own" mindset.

Hunt fund got knocked down a digit today, very happy with the way last season's mounts turned out. I'll post another pic or two when I get the band back on the goose and they are in their final resting place. Birds were done by Sven Eberson, http://wildlifewings.com/Studio.html.

Beautiful rifle and family heirloom! My thoughts on your 'what if' go both ways, would a mandate (state or family induced) on iron sights wound more deer? Or would it train one to get closer and be a more fundamental hunter? I don't know the answers to these questions I am just speculating. I'm also not saying anything bad about the long range guys, I understand it's a science of its own. Great thought provoker!

Friends I was helping this weekend had a mule down Saturday evening about 5:00PM. We skinned it as soon as we had it hanging in camp and left it there overnight, boning it out yesterday morning. Temp was roughly 55 degrees overnight and no problem with the meat, but I wouldn't have wanted it to sit out and hang for the day yesterday in 75 degrees. In a cooler with ice, 48 hours no problem. In your case kazpilot, I'd bone it out and let it cool a bit in the shade and breeze before transporting it in an enclosed pack, unless your pack out to ice doesn't take more than an hour or two, then just get it to ice and you're golden. I've never had meat go bad but I've never experimented with how long it takes. I think there is a good thread on this here, http://www.coueswhitetail.com/forums/topic/20407-gettn-em-out/.

I'll absolutely hang a deer in camp if it's possible, which usually transforms into enjoying a few beers and taking my time breaking it down before I head home. I've met one of my best hunting buddies that way too. That's my preference at least. Nowadays, the heat is certainly a huge factor, followed by the distances lots of folks now have to travel off roads in 700 tag hunts and the feasibility of carrying the deer out whole, the new era of bone out and gutless field dressing, and a faster lifestyle many live (get it to the processor and catch the Cardinals game kinda thing). I'm too young (in the hunting game) to remember the good ol' days, but I definitely appreciate driving by a camp and seeing some guys relaxing with deer in a tree.

He definitely has his full tuxedo on but he also has some additional yellow staining over his white chest. It may be an indication he was a Globe bird or from somewhere else with mining ponds. I guess it happens to a lot of birds at the mines, of all species. The redhead was not like that, and those 2 divers were taken the last day of the season simultaneously. For as many gadwall that have made their way down from my steel shot, I still haven't had a full plumage bird, but I've been close. They've always been missing that forward-most portion of the bronze shoulder patch! Good luck to getting you bird this year!

+1 for eliminate their food source.

Thanks guys, other than euros and boiled skulls, this is my first of anything mounted. And those dang bull sprig are my nemesis! A couple more photos.