Norteno

The 256 was obviously a joke at how bad I was at a quick scoring try. I just entered the numbers in the boxes as I taped them off. I didn't mess with it too long, but knew I was way off. I would be happy with 156. The buck is the one in my signature pic.

You are going to find the biggest selection in 10x42. Now is a great time to get a good deal on some binos if you shop around at Bass, Cabelas and Sportsmans. Bass and Cabelas will match each others sale price too. I just picked up a pair of Nikon Monarch 12x42's for a great deal at Bass when Cabelas had them on sale.

I know it's illegal to keep a skull and antlers if found in NM. Must not have the same laws here in AZ. Can anyone verify that for me? Not trying to take away from a nice fund. Good job!

Saw some bucks by themselves and a bachelor group of 3 bucks up in 24a. Not rutting yet. Had to come back to work. Wish I was still up there

Congrats, heard about your success yesterday.

Congrats on getting it done. Great looking deet

People put in for these hunts because hunting and not harvesting is better than not hunting at all. Are you really a hunter if you don't draw for 3 years.

Looking at high of 72 and low of 39 for Friday. It's more like 1st hunt weather but I'll take it. Going to try to take some video so hopefully we'll get some action. Good luck everyone!

Wow, how did that guy hide in that brush with that tall rack! Congrats.

A coworker sent me this pic of a bear killed around Nutrioso, AZ. Thing is huge. Can it be part Grizzly, or just brown bear?

After getting my truck stuck once and needing to get pulled out and having to leave one of our best spots early due to rain I told myself that I was going to either get a 4x4 truck or quad by the following year. Well, the time has come and I wasn't able to financially do either. After a few scouting trips this year already in 24a I have finally decided that I am sick of beating up my PreRunner and having to hike for miles on jeep trails when if I only had a quad or Ranger I could get deeper into the areas I needed to with half the effort, in half the time. I'm not planning on being a road hunter but simply using it to get in deeper where I want, park it and hike in the rest of the way. Can anyone recommend a business or person who rents 4x4 quads or rangers. Preferably in the East Valley or up towards Superior/Globe. I'll need it the week of Nov30-Dec9, give or take a few days when I'm needed at work.

Thanks, but I was looking for something closer to the East side of town. I'll give them a call anyway see if I can work something out.

Great bucks and good write-up. Thanks for the story

Nice buck and great shed collection!

I would second the Alka Seltzer. Used to do that as a kid for fun. All the birds might eat it though.

You wouldn't mind sharing where this Big Buck was would you? Nov30 is right around the corner for some of us. Although I already took a monstery muley this year I am still going out with my cousin to give him first shot at his first coues.

Congratulations! Great looking first buck. Sometimes you just have to be in the right place at the right time. What unit were you in?

Added a couple more pics. Still can't believe how lucky I was to find this guy. Looking back on it wish I would have made the decision on the spot to mount him. Working on my European mount now.

Had previously posted story, but decided to just sum it down to basics: Savage 111 30-06 200 yd zero Nikon Buckmaster 4.5-14 BDC Winchester Ballistic Silvertip 168gr Primos Trigger Stick Tri-pod 235yd shot at dusk Recovered the following morning Will be changing my set-up slightly for Nov30 Coues hunt in 24a

His neck was huge and swollen. Looked like one of those rutting eastern whitetails. The guy had about an inch of fat over most of his body. He has been eating well. Now I will be eating well

Was at the range Sunday and felt I could have done better. Will be back Wednesday to sharpen up. After that it is a 9 hr drive Friday to NM unit 51 for private land mule deer hunt. Will have to wait till Dec for AZ Coues.

Great buck! What unit of San Carlos was that in? Just curious

How did the hunt go?

Got a great deal on this scope and just had it bore sighted at Sportmans. I used the Nikon SpotOn online ap to set up my BDC for my current load. Can't wait to see how it does. I usually zero at 100, but having a Couse hunt this year I'll set my zero at 200. Anything beats the scope my Savage 111 came with although it is 1 for 1 on muleys. I am going to start at Usery, then I'll need to find a spot in the desert to try out longer distances. I'll keep this thread updates on how it goes. If anyone has any recommendations for working up to being a long range shooter please fill me in.

So I've been on travel for work in NM for the last 7 weeks and have been dying to get out to go scouting since I found out I got drawn for a 24a late season Coues. Got back in town on Saturday and decided to skip work Monday to head up to Globe. I only got one night of studying my maps before I picked out a few areas me and my cousin were going to check out. I got a text on Monday morning 3am from cousin saying he couldn't make it up. I decided to head up alone which means no serious off roading and no hiking far from the truck. Still worth the trip for me. I started at an area I knew held good Mule deer and thought might hold Coues. I had just rolled into one of the spots I wanted to start looking and BAM, two nice mule deer bucks. Both 4x4 and maybe 5x5. They were gone before I could snap a pic. Next turn I run into some friendly mule does who were very photogenic. I just love seeing deer, so I snapped a few photos and then moved on before I used up my prime scouting time. By the time I get to the first hillside I wanted to glass I didn't even have to glass. There is a large group of mule deer. I put my binos on them and to my amazement they were all bucks. 9 bucks on a hillside 275 yds away. I got several pics, but it is hard to make out antlers in the pics. None of them were monsters, but the smallest was a very tall forky. Pic was with 10x optical zoom from point and shoot By the time I got to the area I was hoping was Coues habitat I realized the road to too risky to take any further. The hillside was also very thick and if there was anything in there I was not going to see it by glassing. I glassed a nearby hill for about 15 minutes and found a muley doe and that was it. I'll keep it as a back up plan. I left this area and did some exploring in the Timber Camp area. I didn't see any deer there, but found some trails that connected me to another area I know really well where I saw some Coues running with Muleys last years so I am excited about that. I then tried the Pinal Mountains which I have avoided in the past due to the crowds. To me the only areas that look good for glassing are the lower elevations. Once you get into the forest area it gets really thick. When you are up on top it is great country, but unless I was hoping to jump something I think it would be a tough hunt. The only thing I jumped was a couple kids in a car smoking pot. I was back in Chandler by 3pm. If there is anyone willing to give me some hints into where the Coues are in 24a I would gladly exchange some Mule deer information. I'll be hitting up the suggestions from azgfd, but so will 400 other hunters. Hopefully I'll be out at least every other week. Some other pics from the day http://s188.photobuc.../2012 Scouting/