Coach

I have some photos of my buddy Mark's awesome 4x4 from this year. He took it after about a 2 1/2 to 3 hour stalk that started about 12:30. I was fortunate enough to watch the whole thing unfold and it was one of the most exiting coues hunts I've ever seen. Congrats, Mark.

Thank you all for your responses. A couple of you have asked about the location of the hunt. Out of respect for Mark, I decline on giving more details about the hunt or where it took place. To be honest, we have been hunting this area since neither of us could legally drive. A combination of decades of experience plus good map work put us right on top of him. I?ve attached another picture of our friend Doug, who was also instrumental in this hunt. On a very serious note, if we want to see more hunts of this caliber we have to stand strong between now and the time that the 2006-07 regulations are devised. If the current proposals are passed, 90% of the prime coues rut hunts will be eliminated in exchange for ?non-rut? hunts in the name of ?increased opportunity?. Please, if you ever want to have the opportunity to hunt great coues deer during the rut, attend your local G&F meeting to state your opposition to the proposed changes. This is the time to get involved! Do it!!! And enjoy our special resource, the elusive coues deer. Jason

Yeah, he mentioned that it did help his groups. I haven't tried one but plan to.

One more picture - this one is closer.

Great buck and great story! Nothing like bagging a 108 while the "big one" is still out there

I think the best message any of us can send to the commission is that we absolutely do NOT want to trade high quality hunts for higher draw odds (for inevitably lower quality hunts). They seem to be under the assumption that this is not the position of the majority of hunters, but if you look at posts here as well as the Arizona regional forums on www.bowsite.com and I'm sure many others, the sentiment is overwhelmingly against this. Most of us think it's the worst thing we've ever heard wrt hunting in Arizona - even worse than last year's nonresident debacle. Now it sounds as if the commission only wants to hear alternatives, but from what I've heard, the alternative everyone wants is to leave it just like it is. Audsley. If you have the ear of commissioners, you have an opportunity many of us do not. If the Arizona G&F and its commissioners really want to act in the best interest of the sportsmen here, the best thing they can do is drop this for 2006 and use this year's application process as a voting tool. They can include on every application an array of choices ranging from leaving it as it is to the current proposals. They could even restrict voting to those who actually apply for the hunts that will be affected to make sure they are hearing from the people who stand to gain or lose the most as a result of their decision. There has to be a way to convince them that these proposals are not what Arizona hunters want. Please, everyone who feels strongly about this - send emails to the commission, send letters, and get a fire lit under everyone you know who also does not want to see 50-90% of the best hunting opportunities in our state traded for higher draw odds in poor quality hunts.

I just wanted to share a couple of experiences I had this year that I haven't encountered much in the past, and see if anyone else is noticing a trend in the wrong direction. Also, what do you do in these situations? I make a big deal of getting to the spots I want to hunt well before sunup. On numerous occasions this year (almost daily, in fact) my buddy and I had people pull up right next to our truck 30 minutes to two hours after sunup, park and walk right through us. Now, I know that no one "owns" a spot just because they got there first, but who in their right mind walks right up to where you are glassing, sees you looking over a particular area, then proceeds to walk right through the area they *know* you are glassing? I would think that once you find you've stumbled onto an area someone is already actively hunting, the polite thing to do is gracefully back out the way you came, and move on to a spot that doesn't appear to have someone already hunting there. What are your thoughts and experiences? Jason

The same thing happened to me two years ago. I was sitting up high on a rocky outcropping watching some hunters moving up the draw below me. Decided they looked a little "green" so I put a blaze orange vest up in the dead tree above me. Watched as the kid in the group put his crosshairs on me and says "Hey, what's that???" I hit the dirt, obviously, but the next time I looked that way he was being "sternly lectured" by dad. Scary stuff to be sure!

What an awesome buck! Enjoy the view from up there on cloud-9!

All I shoot in my guns are the CT (Winchester/Nosler) ballistic silver tips. I handload, so I can't render an opinion about the Winchester factory loads, but I know these bullets group more consistently for me than their close cousin the Nosler ballistic tips. My hunting partner also switched this year when his groups shrank considerably. They stay together well - not as well as partitions or other bonded bullets - but definately well enough for any deer-sized game.

Thanks Brian, I appreciate the info.

Well, this is neither about coues deer or archery, but I figured this was about the best place to ask. I'm planning on hunting pigs with my boys (6 & 8) the weekend of Feb 11th, and I haven't spent a whole lot of time in 27. I'm pretty familiar with the Eagle Creek and Juan Miller areas, but aside from those, I'm at a loss. I'm not sure what areas are snow covered right now, etc. We will probably be limited to pretty decent roads since I'll bring the "big truck" and won't have my trusty mule (old 4runner). I'm not looking for anyone's hotspot, but any advice to help get us in the right general area would be much appreciated. Thanks in advance, Jason

I've heard really good things about the new Axis shafts from Easton, but I too still shoot my trusty old telephone poles (xx78 2317). Thinking of switching this spring when I dust off my bow

Excellent Buck! Mark called me last night and told me about him - was hoping there would be a pic out here! Tell your brother congrats for me, and good luck with the rest of the season!

Awesome buck! Congratulations!

Nice Buck! Great job!!!!

Excellent buck! Pass on the congratulations to your uncle.

Congratulations! Great job!

Well, this year's hunt started about 11 months ago when I came home with an unfilled tag. Not that I didn't have opportunities to take bucks, I was after a real bruiser. I spent days scouting, hours pouring over maps, you know the drill. Packed in far away from all other hunters, saw tons of deer, a mating pair of bald eagles, a young lion (which didn't present a shot before taking off on a stalk of a pair of young does I was watching). All in all, it was a great hunt, but the trophy eluded me. As luck would have it, I'm going back in for another tour in the same unit. Hopefully all the retrospective second guessing, weekends of scouting and hours of rifle practice will pay off with. The camper is parked, time-off from work secured, ballistic charts taped to both rifles. It feels really good. Here's wishing all of you coues addicts lucky enough to draw a December tag good luck, and a hope for hunt as fulfilling and enjoyable as last year's! Take Care, Jason - AKA AZOnecam

Well, thanks to all you well-wishers out there! It turned out to be a tough hunt. My partner and I were finding only a few small bucks in the first couple days of the hunt. One of the guys in our camp who was helping my buddy's brothers spotted a big buck but they weren't able to get a shot and ended up taking a smaller buck. They told us where they had seen the big guy and after a couple of days of hunting him hard, I got lucky and was in the right place at the right time. This buck is a 3x4 and rough scores around 106 5/8 gross, and just over 100 net non-typical (unofficial). A special thanks to Steve who found the buck. We still have 2 tags in our group to fill, so we'll be going out after Christmas. Hopefully our luck will continue.

Went out Sunday and saw lots of does and one small buck. Kept expecting to see some bucks hanging around all those does, but never did. Don't think it's quite started in the central part of the state, anyway.

That's what I love about mil-dots

I long considered the .257 wby as the ultimate coues gun. As many above have pointed out cost of shooting it may be a major factor. I've found Weatherby rifles/ammo to be accurate, but since they are generally overbored, tend to be much more finnicky than std. cartridges, and take more practice to get consistently accuate - both shooting and reloading. If you are going to reload and put a lot of time into getting it just right, I think this would make an excellent coues calliber. As for being "too much gun" I respectfully disagree. With long shots the norm, you need to look at the downrange energy. According to Weatherby's ballistics pages you'll see that the .257 wby has just under 1400 foot pounds at 400 yards and 1138 at 500 with a 100 grain bullet, and 1656/1419 with the 115 gr. bullet at the same ranges. Compare this with 917/745 with a 100gr bullet from a .243 and there is no doubt it has a LOT more punch when a long range shot is required. I personally shoot a .300 Wby, and think it's the ultimate all around rifle, even for little coues deer, so if a .257 is too much gun, I'm definately overgunned A great site to get lots of good information about just about any caliber is accuratereloading.com. You'll find a wealth of information there about just about every caliber. When I posted regarding the .257 wby, I got a "split decision". About half of the folks out there who had owned them absolutely loved them. The other half considered them too finnicky and generally significanly less accurate than the other quarter bores. However, everyone pretty much agreed that the ballistics and energy of that cartridge set it apart from the other .25s Jason

A couple of years ago my buddy and I were hunting unit 23. We glassed up a decent buck on a little shelf and he chased a couple of does over the ridge. When we got to that ridge, he spooked out of tall grass and my friend with the tag shot at and missed him. The next morning we found him again on the same bench. This time he didn't get away.

azpackhorse, can you give me a link to the toad on Monster Muleys? I can't seem to find it. Thanks Jason