Coach

Thank you all once again for the positive responses. I'm truly humbled by the feedback you guys have given.

Congrats to your dad on a very nice bull! And way to help him out - I'm sure those are memories you can share for a lifetime.

I think you'll find that either can work out great. I used to be of the mindset that the further you get from roads the better. After many years of hunting coues, I don't retain that mindset. Sometimes, great bucks can be found in easily accessible ares. Sometimes, great bucks are going to be way back in the hills. You will get a feel for it. Just hiking way back in won't guarantee more and bigger bucks. I've learned that after spending days backpacking into remote areas without finding deer, then glassing up nice ones from just yards off a decent road. That said, I know of several guys who hike into some crazy, nasty country and find some monsters. Others shoot big bucks with constant road noise from the highway just a few hundred yards away. If I've learned anything about coues deer over the years, it is this. They will be where THEY want to be, not where I think they should be.

Scott Little Goose for me. Great release. The Little-bitty goose is good too.

I also saw this bull in a text but not the field photos until now. That bull is what dreams are made of. Maybe the best looking 6x6 I've ever seen - live, in videos, in pictures, anywhere. Congrats to the hunter and all who helped make it happen. I would LOVE to hear the whole story behind the hunt. Great job guys, what an amazing bull.

Muzzy 100's did an amazing job on my elk this year... I watched this bull drop less than 50 yards from where he was hit - lots of blood. Total time from impact to the last "wheeze" was under 15 seconds. I didn't know an arrow could kill a bull elk that fast - it was unreal. One blade is bent, but this arrow went in through the crease on the right side of the neck and shoulder and exited out the ribs just behind the opposite shoulder. That's full penetration on a frontal shot on a heavy bodied bull elk, with all 3 blades still attached and intact. With all the great heads out there, I have seen proven results from Muzzy 100s time and again.

Wow - great write up, and I'm so sorry for your loss. I can't imagine why anyone would ever steal someone else's bull. I've found lost bulls before and always call G&F and give them the coordinates in hopes that the hunters might bump into them as well while looking for the bull. There is no worse feeling than losing one, and you guys did all you could to find them, just too late it seems. I mean, what satisfaction is there in finding someone else's bull and claiming it as your own? I'm glad you guys ended up taking some really great bulls despite all the problems. As for lost trail cams, in one area I was hunting (unit 1) I found 3 different trail cameras that all belonged to the same hunter/hunters. They weren't locked down or anything, and I was surprised, given the number of other hunters in that area that no one had taken them. One had been turned around to face the tree it was attached to, so I turned it back to their salt lick. I don't like touching anyone else's stuff but I figured this was an OK thing to do. I'm glad you had success on your hunt despite all the problems you guys ran into.

Great story, and what a beautiful bull! Congrats, and nice job on the hunt and the write-up. I can't wait for "the movie".

Wow, that is some awesome footage - great job to all of those involved. What a great bull and a great hunt. Congrats to Stevi on a wonderful bull!

Thank you all for your kind words - I really appreciate it.

Nice bull! Congrats!

It obviously wouldn't be an essay contest, as only one of you knows how to use punctuation. :lol:

Fantastic job tracking and staying with that bull! Actions like that mean a lot for all of us bowhunters - not everyone would have been so persistent. Thank you - sincerely.

Great job Josh, one incredible bull. It couldn't happen to a more deserving hunter. I'm sure glad you were able to get in on him and make it happen.

Truly awesome! What a great buck and a very well written story to go along with it! Nicely done!

Nice bull!!!! Way to go, Colton.

Grong, you're looking good as always. I'd recommend some Propecia for that back and shoulder hair if you want it to rival your goatee.

Started this spot a few weeks back and it's proven to be a good location. In the past 10 days I got over 970 pictures. Mostly it's the same 10 or so cow/calf/spike elk but I've gotten some good pictures of the local bears. I knew I had one "strange" colored bear on there but didn't have any good pix of him. He's got a cinnimon body and a very black face. Finally, I got pix of his mom, so I know where he gets it. Enjoy...Here's the young bear. Now, his mom, with 2 new charcoal black cubs...one is right under the camera. Getting cozy on the salt - the indention holds water so they like to lay in it... Here's a sequence I really like. Check out the time stamps on the photos...

Awesome Jed, you sure have a knack for getting right on top of them. Thanks for posting that - it's getting my blood all pumped up. Just a few more days!

Nice spot - lots of great deer, bear and elk. Gotta love that.

Unit 1 heading up this week. I'm very exited, but things have been so crazy with coaching football and major house renovations...I'm weeks behind where I would like to be, but come Friday morning all that will fade into the background - just chasing bugles, and looking for the big guy.

Nice job! I think antelope with a bow is one of the hardest challenges out there, especially spot and stalk - nicely done.

I am so far behind - just a couple of days left and I haven't prepped the trailer, cooked all my food - nada...At this point I'm wishing the hunt started a week later.

I'm backpacking into that area at the end of October for a ML coues hunt. Shoot me a PM. The access is limited, but available, you just have to be ready to do a backpack trip. It's only a few miles into Skeleton canyon but when you get back in there, you know you're in the "wild west". There's not a lot of water, plenty of illegals and even the hardened "mules". I did it a couple years back solo and by the second night I decided I would take the first 3x I saw just because I was so on-edge the whole time I was there. I just wanted to come home to my family, but not burn my tag. Shot a decent 3x4, knowing there were much bigger bucks in there. I can tell you this, when you get back in that area, all alone, with no cell coverage, a hunt takes on a whole different perspective. The country is pretty open and when you've got a bivy pack and a full moon, you feel very isolated. I was 15 yards or so from a major trail and had coatis in my camp all night. I literally slept with a 9MM Beretta in my hand all night wishing it was a pump 12 guage. My "camp" was a lightly sheltered draw several miles from the closest road. One-two-three days draw on forever out there if you are alone and it can get flat-out creepy. That said, I wouldn't trade that experience for anything. There might be no better coues hunting anywhere. If you can handle the danger, the isolation, the lack of water and communication with the "outside world", it's an amazing place to hunt. Luckily, this time I am going in with a good friend who knows the area and has hunted it multiple times and taken a couple bucks over 100 inches and has seen some well over the 'twenties' even some 130+ class bucks. I think it will be a lot different this time, not being completely alone. Just having that second person along makes it so different in your whole mental attitude. Here's hoping this time I won't settle for a 90's buck when there are so many in there in the upper teens and beyond. I hope you find one like that too. For sure, send a PM, there is public land that leads to where you are tyring to get. I'll show you the maps to get in there.

Just the three. I've got quite a few pics of that group and she's got just the two cubs. The other bear in the area is clearly hers from last year - cinnamon body with a black head. On Thursday when I pulled the card and replaced it with a new one there was no salt left at all, so today my oldest son, Matt and I refreshed it with 80 lbs of salt and 40 lbs of corn. The new addition in the past 2 days is a group of turkey (8, young birds from this Spring). Still had some elk, but they were discouraged by the lack of salt and resorted to licking my camera. The young boar was also there 1/2 hour before we replenished the salt and corn. I tried out my new backpack (Lowe Alpine Saracen) carrying 2 40 pound bags of salt, and it was great - looking forward to my NM coues backpack trip. Got a new bull in there, but he's just a 5x5. Hopefully the big boys will be coming in this week. I've heard that the bigger bulls are starting to show up in 3C, so I'm thinking they won't be far behind here. I did hear my first bugles on Thursday night so it's definitely starting.