Coach

Predator fall gray. No better camo on the market. The HD stuff from Realtree is the next best runner up.

That's awesome, Brian. I'm taking the fam down to Roosie next weekend for my birthday. Might miss a couple of baseball games, but I hope to chase some big flatheads up in the river. I'd love to see one of them hook into a big cat.

Yeah, it's that bad...If this were happening in New York, it wold be on the front page of every so-called newspaper in the country. Because it is happening down here, in the forgotten corner of America, it is being totally ignored. I'm glad Jan Brewer and Sarah Palin have had the courage to at least try to wake up the sleeping masses to the border problems down here.

Classic! I haven't seen that one in years!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yGqPo5ofk0s...player_embedded I'm sure this site has a better way to embed a youtube vid, but at the very least, cut and paste the link above and listen carefully to what is being said. There is a huge revolutionary movment happening right now in America that is unprecedented. If you aren't yet aware, there are several strong groups operating within our borders that truly believe that NM, AZ and CA are, and always have been, a part of Mexico. They are fighting hard to retake "their" territory. And they are doing it through schools and neighborhoods - one at a time. To reclaim the Southwest states of the United States - as part of their soveriegn territory. Think it sounds silly or without momentum? Consider that last week American students in an American High School in California were sent home for wearing articles of clothing bearing the American flag - because it was considered "incindiary" and might ellicit violence on campus. The strongest opponenents of America throughout the cold war (Russia, Communist China, North Korea, Cuba, etc.) all said that the fall of America was not going to come from a forceful takeover, but an internal conflict - that we would bring ourselves down. Guys and gals, we are doing EXACTLY what was predicted. If you think for a moment that we can maintain our world status as leaders of the free world when we kill our own culture in the name of diversity, you are sorely misled. Out - Coach.

Went out this morning and didn't hear a single gobble. Saw one solo hen I assume had already been bred. I think it's a little late in there.

I LOVE the History Channel. If you ever get a chance to watch the series on bootleggers, it's a real eye opener. Much of what our country is today was forged in the war against, of all things, BOOZE. I think I'll crack a cold one and watch it again on TEVO.

AZ4life, I like you a ton. I hope to some day share a hunting camp with you.

I consider Janet Napalitano an enemy of the state, and Janet Brewer a true patriot.

If you look at some of the stud shed-finders on this site, you might think it's almost easy to go snag a backpack full of antler sheds. Every Spring I go out looking for horns, walking miles day after day, finding bulls still wearing their headgear and trying to get them to run through thick enough stuff to make them drop. It always amazes me how these guys set out to find sheds and actually do it. Almost every shed I've found has been purely accidental - during a turkey hunt or some such nonesense, and usually close to a road. The funny part is, I've hiked an amazing amount of country while shed hunting, scouting, or just trying to get to know an area and I have NEVER walked up on or glassed a good shed - save for the San Carlos rez where I didn't dare pick any up. The small ones I've found have been purely coincidence. The guys that find good horns, and lots of them are right here on this site. They put serious miles on their boots. They do their homework and follow herds all through the year. Hunting sheds is a great way to get to know the habits of deer and elk, and every hour you spend out there looking for sheds will eventually pay off. You'll have a better understanding of their habits and patterns. Keep up the good work but try not to be discouraged when you aren't finding any. It will come - at least that's what I keep telling myself - LOL.

If it were just one thing, coues hunting would be easy. LOL. The most successful hunters I know are the ones who spend LOTS of time in the field, and get to know the deer in an area and their habits. There's no formula, save for hard work. Scents, yeah, if applied right, licks, yeah, if applied right. You get the picture - they can all help, but there are no guarantees. I know a guy who regularly takes good to GREAT coues bucks with a bow - by this I mean an OK shooter is in the low 100s and a great buck is in the high 120s or better. He also does well in bass tournaments, shed hunting, etc. His method - "Work your butt off". Get out there before the other guy, hike further than the other guy, be willing to sleep cold, hike long and thirsty, and sit for hours. Don't expect anything, but be ready when it arrives, persevere hard conditions, fight bordom, and most importantly don't choke when it all finally comes together. The truth is, even knowing this, we all don't have the luxury of spending countless hours dedicated to coues hunting - something of a topic all it's own. Coues hunting, from what I've seen over the years is a labor of love. You get out of it what you put into it. Sure every year some schmuck gets lucky, but if you ever meet someone who gets "lucky" year after year, you know they put their blood, sweat, money, time and mental energy into it from January to December.

Well said. Sure there are many forums out there that we can bicker about politics without dragging that trash-can into this forum. That said, a good portion of our state is ground-zero of the illegal immigrant/illegal drug trafficing issue. Just last year I posted on here about doing a pack-in coues hunt in the SW corner of New Mexico. Frankly, I was concerned that I might be putting my life at risk to hunt coues deer. This issue affects all of us, and it's not just a political topic - it truly is a coues whitetail hunting topic. Some of the best coues deer hunting in our state and neighboring states, is turning into a war zone. We're less worried about how we'll hunt and nourish ourselves than we area about dealing with potential run-ins with armed illegals, whether they are trafficing people or drugs. Let's keep this debate open, cordial and respectful.

Already sent them an email when I saw the article on fox.com. I'm glad I'm not the only one ready to tell them to move "Los Suns" to Mexico City.

Great pictures and story - I have to agree that the pose is a great way to photograph turkeys - absolutely beautiful. Nicely done!

Very cool write-up. Congrats on some great turkey hunting! Thanks for posting the pix and story.

Those were a couple of the best vids I've seen in a long time. Great job! Thanks for sharing them here. You guys definately have a good plan for finding sheds. I don't know how many hours I've spent looking for horns, but for some reason, the only time I find any is when I'm out turkey hunting and just stumble on to them. Thx again for the great videos of your horn hunts. Jason

That was some really cool footage - and that tom is definately haggard! Great vid, thanks for sharing.

Thanks to all of you for your positive responses. I'll keep trying to get Nick out there, but man, the weather has been nasty up here. Super windy, and even snow the last couple days. Good luck to all you youth hunters. I hope you get a turkey. Be sure to carry a camera and take some pictures to post on CWT!

Been a little tricky of a Jr. hunt this year. Got close once last weekend in 1 with a jake hanging around some hens, but generally hearing a few gobbles on the roost then nothing. I took my oldest boy, Matt out again this morning to an area we heard a lot of birds in opening weekend but couldn't get them to come to us. This morning it was looking really good. Several birds were gobbling very aggressively on the roost and well into the morning. I thought for sure they were going to come right in. No such luck, they actually started moving away as the morning wore on, so we left the blind and started going after them. We were able to get a glimpse of the birds higher up toward where they were roosting working up a little knoll, so the race was on. If we couldn't get them to come to us, we'd have to get in front of them. We looped around them and crested over the hilltop we had seen them heading toward. Inching forward, Matt caught a movement ahead and saw that big red head and beard. He clicked the safety off and took a couple steps to his right and as the bird stepped out only 15 yards away he let the old Mossberg loose and it was all over for the gobbler. Thanks to all the CWT members who have been really supportive with suggestions for the youth hunt - still have one more to go. Nick was just too tired after a full day of baseball to go out this morning, but we've got until May 20, so I'm sure we'll get him a good crack at a bird. Up on top of the hill, minutes after the shot (taken with a cell phone) Down the hill where I left my camera when we went after them: Here's a cool snake we found on the S. side of 3c right in the road. Played with him a little and moved him to a safer spot. I think it's a gopher snake - (bull snake??, corn snake???) Anyway it was a really good tempered snake, and seemed a little glad we kept him from getting squished on the Pinedale road.

Do you reload? If so, you might consider a .270 WSM. You can handload some very low recoil rounds for practice, moderate ones for deer/antelope and hot ones for elk. That's what my boys will be using for their cow elk hunts this fall.

LOL - good one.

Outstanding!!! Congrats!

"I bet I dont get one member to apply. MY POINT EXACTLY." Exactly why your point is so stupid. You come on here bragging that you are a criminal and directly responsible for not only the destruction of coues habitat along the border, but our safety - so YOU can "earn a very nice living" and have more time to hunt than us. Are you so stupid that you can't see that the reason you are swimming in the gravy boat is because those of us living and working WITHIN the law are paying for YOUR cheap labor. Are you supplying them with medical insurance, of course not - they just use the emergency room and their costs are passed on to all of us. And when your labor pool bankrupts our state, destroys the effectiveness of our schools, we're somehow supposed to think you are a good guy because you make money off of it. You really need your head checked. And you think that because nobody on here would respond to your "offer for work" that you are somehow right? For starters, I would guess that the majority of folks on here are already gainfully, legally employed. The rest don't want to work for a criminal who puts his own needs above his neighbors. You may as well have come on here and bragged that you were making a really good living reselling the marijuana that comes across the border to our schoolkids.

Awesome job, Doug and an excellent write-up/photo essay. My wife was passing by as I was reading it and she commented, "Whoever that guy is, he is one heck of a photographer!" Thanks again for sharing here.

Thanks Brian, Matt is really good with animals, and very "hands-on". Somehow they know to trust him. This snake barely missed getting run over by a car coming from the opposite direction. Matt cooled him down really well and pulled him up by the tail giving him support (snakes hate to dangle), and the snake went from being agressive/defensive to really docile and almost "clingy". It was a really cool break at a point when the hunting got slow. Thanks again for your pointers. With some luck we'll get Nick on a bird in the next couple of weeks. He's definately spoiled since last year we went out one afternoon after school and within 15 minutes of his first ever turkey setup, he had a strutting tom 25 yards away from the blind, and made a good shot on his first turkey. He likes to hunt, but is more focused on sports - especially baseball. For some reason all of his hunts so far have been, well, easier than normal. Not sure what it is about that kid, but it seems whenever we go out looking for something it just shows up and makes his old man sound silly talking about how hard it "can be". LOL. I sure do hope I can get him on a bird this spring just to keep it fun for him.