Red Rabbit

Casey, You gotta see this as an opportunity to get that perfect piggie gun. The closest, the 22-250 and 243, are spoken for. Your 270's will cut em in half like that jack rabbit in 5BN . Really could be time for a new Mathews, Hoyt, AR, or Bowtech and expand the hunting seasons. Bows are legal during rifle seasons too . RR

Jim, Thanks for sharing your hunts with us this season. Sounds like Steve is steadfast in the hills. He can probably attest that hard effort puts many inches on a rack and engrains the memories deeper into the cortex. Doug~RR

Josh, With those pics, you'll get me wanting to hunt closer to home. Looks like there are some nice bucks on the wall behind also. Kinda cropped too close to tell;you should go back and take more with a wider zoom . RR

With those troops, I bet packing out was a cinch also. Congrats to you and your friend on some nice coues. The brow tines on yours are catching. RR

Rich, It's not too often that those venison cuts fall right into the lap of the dutch oven. Glad your dad's doing better. Since you were solo, you probably had a lot of time to reflect on the events of the past year. Best wishes to ya on this new year. Doug

Amanda, Thanks for taking all of us along on your hunt. I appreciate your many words told and the supporting pics. Congrats on your success. Doug

*Merry CHRISTmas from Rica Claus and Red Rabbit*

Terry, Have you done any hunting or scouting where the fire went through. Have the deer moved back in? Quail? Doug~RR

Congrats to your buddy Mark on that big bodied buck with lots of fine tablefare. Not bad wallfare also. I notice his rifle has the Sims SVL DeResonator on the barrel. Did Mark notice if it made a difference in his groups? I tried it on one of my rifles and it made no diff. Doug~RR

Amanda, I'll be waitng for the last picture . Till then, thanks for the updates and good luck. The weather should be good for ya till the year's end, according to weather.com. Did you digiscope the deer pics? Doug~RR

Congrats to you and Craig on such a nice buk. Thanks for sharing the pics and story. Good luck after Christmas-maybe you can find one of Santa's reindeer that is resting after the long flight. Doug~RR

Scott, Keep the story and photos coming. Doesn't look like you'll have to contend with any nasty weather throuh your hunt (but any rain/snow is really needed). PM sent. Doug

I would say around 85", but I would like to see you smiley face behind that 4 point in a photo. Good luck. Doug~RR

Lance, I believe G&F is already working on getting the Archery in the Schools program into FUSD. Call Jim David (former science teacher) here in Flag, as he was working w/ G&F. I do not recall the name of the G&F officer. The last I recall was that there was not enough $ for equipment. RR

That is totally cool. Looks like the cape is cut a little short; did your client not want to mount it? RR

Have an enjoyable hunt. Are you packing in with your goats? RR

In the handful of December rifle hunts that I've had, I have only encountered two archers. The first wondered why I was back in so far, and the second had a felony so he could not use a firearm. Can't say that there's been much competition out there from my experience. RR

Surprised that no one has mentioned the 257 Weatherby. Could be about optimum, IMO, for coues. For long range, you want an acurate rifle and one light in recoil. A heavier kicker would require a heavier rifle, and that may not be what you want huffing up the mountains all day. RR

Kristen, Congratulations on your first deer ! The memories of this hunt will be with you for the rest of your life. Enjoy. Hope your next hunts are rewarded also. RR

Mr. "Eppinger" Before you made this post, I was figuring why we saw so many "monsters" in 36c back in Nov. This year, due to the rain and the increase in the number of yearling spikes born last year, there were 725 whitetail tags issued for the approximate 36 miles that the Babos stretch. That's about 20 hunters for every mile of range. Last year there were 675 permits, and figuring the hunt success, there were 230 bucks taken. (I won't estimate the wounded and later dead that may have happened based on the barrages of multiple shots that were repeatedly heard, nor the natural mortality.) Spread out, there were then 6.4 bucks killed per mile of range last year. I have serious doubts about the longevity of quality coues in 36c. If you want a buck to survive 5 years to trophy status, but there are 30 bucks killed per mile in that time span, you can see the basis of my concern. Sir Joshua, If you happen to be driving the back roads of unit 7 or 9, and happen to see two bucks, rejoice in the fact that you may have witnessed the last of the survivors. RR

Mace, Fantastic coues!!! Seeing bucks like yours being taken throws a big pine knot on the hunting fire of desire. Knowing that bruisers like yours are out there helps keep the hope for the rest of us. Sincere congrats on your buck. Doug~RR

Dent & Sayer tank east of Moqui seems to have a lot of elk traffic whenever I look in 9. I'd key on water, as was said earlier. RR

I don't know the story, gut I wish I was the one telling it. Monster for sure. RR

I like to consider the "hunt-ability" of the area/terrain. Is it so thick that 75+% of the time a deer will be behind a tree or brush? Are the canyons so wide there is no way to shoot or hike across? Is it so thick that by the time you make your stalk, the chance of relocating the buck is near nill? Does the terrrain offer routes to make a stalk, or is there no contour to allow you to get close? Wouldn't it be nice if the game, not the hunter, was required to wear blaze orange for easy location? RR

Matt, Glad the experiences you had during the hunt were the greatest rewards. RR