CouesPursuit

Great habitat! Tough with 10 eyes but looks very stalkable!

I went from being a critic to a believer in one shot. After having trouble tuning the muzzy's with my bow last year, I tried the MX-3 heads again with my new string and tune. They didn't fly quite as straight as my rage or ulmer heads but with a upcoming bull hunt in November, I wanted to shoot fixed. I took this spike on Saturday from 41 yards with a complete pass through, breaking ribs on both the entry and exit. The blood trail was good and the deer folded up about 60 yards from impact. I will use these MX-3 heads on my bull hunt this year.

Couldn't connect with one of the big bucks, but I came home successful. I took this spike at 41 yards on a double lung pass through with a muzzy mx3. This is my first archery deer. I worked him, a big fork, and a doe for an hour and a half within 90 yards before the elements aligned. Will try at these wary WT bucks again come 2014.

I have a feeling the help is going to just start pouring right in after such a request

My cousin turned 12 years old today, he has been saving $ like a mad little man trying to get a shotgun so he can go hunt with me. One of the most exciting things in the hunt world I have experienced to date! If anyone has a lead on a quality, affordable shotgun that he won't grow out of right away, I would greatly appreciate any insight! I'm looking for personal experience with specific models and/or leads on purchasing a used shotgun to fit his needs. My current plan is to see if he can handle my 12 Ga Remington 870 Supermag on the dove opener on Sunday, he has been using my single shot .410 and connected on a few dove last year. The 870 would last him a lifetime, is extremely versatile and he is at a point he could afford one from Wal-mart tomorrow. Thanks!

Lots of support on this thread thanks to all. He is a decent sized 12 year old and he shot my 870 yesterday with a great attitude, but it was a little bit big for him as far as swinging stable with the birds. Next year maybe, but this year a full size 12 ga isn't a good idea, especially with steel loads if he comes out for ducks. We are going to look into some of the other options so thanks for the input!

I am going to be going through the same thing at ASU to become a Wildlife Biologist. Any advice I can get from you would be greatly appreciated pm me if you would like

Hello all and thank you for viewing this post. I am a wildlife biologist in my senior year at Arizona State University. I have been watching coueswhitetail.com closely for 2 years now and finally have something to post about.. I am currently enrolled in various wildlife nutrition classes, one being a “hands on” lab performing a nutrition analysis on a species of choice (I would obviously choose the one and only Coues whitetail). My intention is to harvest a deer myself this weekend and obtain the blood, urine and fecal samples needed to provide solid documentation illustrating deer nutritional status and habitat quality. I share this information with you because I need your help! Not to plan on failure for my personal hunt but archery success is obviously very difficult so please if anyone could help obtain these three samples if they harvest a deer or any game species of interest this weekend we can gather valuable information for your hunting area and much more!! We need 3 ounce samples of both blood (preferably from heart/pure oxygenated blood) and urine (easy to obtain from bladder) A fecal sample as well (from the large intestine near rectum) would also be of essential value I know this is last minute but all help including broadcast of info is greatly appreciated. I look forward to continuing my research on this phenomenal deer species both in the field and the laboratory. Anyone interested in learning more about the nutrition of these animals.. We are all in this learning together!! Shoot over a pm or post to the thread! And good hunting! Any question regarding this study or how you can help please call Shea Meyer @ 480-216-9745 or pm username “CouesPursuit”

Well aware on the 3", I only hunt waterfowl which is the main reason I want him to step up to the 870 and take the kick. With 8 shot and a recoil pad for the first year or 2, it should only be a matter of him holding it up comfortably. I surely do not want him operating a firearm he isn't comfortable with, but it is something is putting his hard saved (not quite earned at 12) money into and growing out of something like that sucks too. We'll see how he operates my 870 this weekend and go from there. I liked the mossburg idea mentioned earlier but man that remington 870 has treated me great since I bought it 12 years ago as my first firearm! That sounds like a good backup plan. Thanks to all!

This is solid advice. Blinds don't give you any advantage when it comes to scent control. This is my opinion based on years of experience and I prefer stands and climber stands are my first choice if the trees in the area will allow them. Sprays that claim they eliminate or even reduce human odor are bogus. There is no way to eliminate human odor, your body is constantly shedding skin and sweating even when your not hot. Breath is another odor you will never be able to control scent wise. Best thing I have found are cover scents which of course are not 100%. I only like a few brands and if you want to know which ones PM me. The biggest issue here is the wind. These bucks didn't get big because they are stupid. They are doing what I have witnessed for years,circling down wind of the salt before they come in. Moving you stands will be a must. Don't handcuff yourself to one spot that they will get used to picking you off in. If both of you can hunt leave one stand in its normal position, then place the second down wind of first stand and down wind of the trail they use to circle down wind of the first stand. If you are by yourself leave the one stand in it's original position and hunt the second stand down wind of both the first stand and the trail they use to circle you. Also if you notice they come in from the same general area and then circle down wind of the salt, then put a stand up about 150 yards from the salt along the trail or area they come in from. One other thing, once you find a cover scent you like to use, I start spraying the area I hunt month in advance. This will get the deer used to the new smell....... Good luck More great advice, thank you very much gentlemen, everyone who posted.

I know I'm not really getting any tree stand love right now! standman is a stone cold coues killa on here was wondering what he thought.... He has mad experience sitting for days on end. lol! I'm a blind guy too, but stands can get it done as well. that wind checker becker was talkin about... 1 I know of is made by primos and is in a can like a can of snuff and it's bright green like fuzzy that you can pinch off a bit and it actually shows the way the current blows... up down left right. I know you can't think about anything else right now... LOL! if you are at work you are not going to be productive til' you stick that buck so just take the rest of the week off! LOL! James I have seen a couple of his posts and with a name like standman I'll gratefully accept his advice as a tree stand guy myself. I like the wind stuff, looks like a good idea, thanks! I 'm not opposed to the blind idea yet but.. Any particular cicrumstance could change and that tree stand could be the place to be too.. A different buck walk by.. funny thing is even with those deer patterned (or so there were) I'll shoot a spike at first light! We shall see. And yea the work thing.. I get stuff done but it isn't easy! Thanks for the advice but I'd pass on that.

I know I'm not really getting any tree stand love right now!

Sound advice, thanks oneshot! Your part about intercepting before they reach the salt is key at this point (or so I believe/agree). To reiterate, scent control for us has been top priority. I would have a hard time thinking we weren't doing everything we could for scent control, especially compared to others who I personally know harvest coues in tree stands. Boots only for in the field, seperate clothes scent washed and in seperate bags for each day of hunting, almost a bottle of scent spray a day, the works. After the first day they winded, there wasn't even a pack brought in, just a bottle of water and what can quietly fit in some cargo pants..

Too thick, glassing and spot and stalk not an option. Thanks, though.

I take no insult whatsoever, I understand wind doesn't travel in a straight line and I appreciate your recommendation on that product I will be doing some investigation on!

This is exactly how I feel, I didn't do such a great job of wording it the first time but this is what I was thinking of doing with the second tree stand. I figure that the bucks ARE going to come back to check things out, they may or may not want the salt at the stand, but if anything, they will be coming on by and may want to take a look as curious as they are.. That curious look upwards toward the stand may be the perfect opportunity..

Thanks, James. Appreciate your feedback. We have salt there and that's it. It is thick, quality habitat but it is almost too thick for a ground blind if we want to stay within 50-60 yards. We aren't going to rule out any possibilities though. I agree its winding. It all goes back to the number one rule, wind is everything, I just didn't know it would still play such a role when you were almost 30 feet up in a thick tree. I understand anything can happen, but based from experience, would anyone suggest just sticking to the existing tree stand and when the wind is right it will happen? Or, is an alternative stand/blind almost a must at this point? Thanks.

Thanks Parrita- The main reason we haven't considered the ground blind is time, I can't imagine bucks of this caliber will just go walking in on such short notice, having a new pop up ground blind in a confined space.. I am wrong?? Any thoughts on how long it takes for mature coues bucks to be active near a brand new ground blind?

Back and reading this post 3 years later, I ended up taking a fox out of four peaks and doing the analysis on it. Thank you to those who responded on this! The only blood measure out of ordinary was high level of creatinine, indicating she was catabolizing muscle protein for energy. But overall she was healthy and it is a common transition for an animal at the end of winter (I harvested her in March)

Nothing but bad experiences at Bear Mountain. I used a popular shop most everyone knows, and they were alright. To be honest I think I caught them on a bad/busy day so I don't want to criticize the business, one time mediocre business deals shouldn't sink ships. But, I wouldn't use him again. I recently was recommended to Daniel at Arizona Archery Club on Deer Valley Rd. What a dude. He made my 8 yo Bear shoot like new and twists one heck of a string. I won't take my bow anywhere else. I also had a gentlemen give me a hand tightening my loop at Usery a couple weeks ago, man I'm drawing a blank but I think he was from Archery HQ, real nice guy. Would use them in a bind because of his kind gestures.

I notice a little noise if i was intentionally shaking it but I did not notice a noise when slinging the arrow.. Thanks for the input though I'm going to shoot a couple more and re-evaulate that noise..

Chewing Gum - ScentLock - Face Paint

Safe and effective - I own a swimming pool company and found out about DE and killing ants by accident - a good accident that is.. Great recommendation, Tony. Also, this stuff is cheap $ (avoiding Leslie's)

Lol, I thought that escalated quickly . Diminished even quicker!

I never judged your opinion AZHUNTER05, nor did I say they're unalike, just happen think schwacker is a funny name. For instance, I didn't mean to offend you and I hope you "schwack" a deer this season! lol - seriously no offense directed out from this keyboard