COOSEFAN

Well, the hunt started around 10:30 and it was dark. I hiked up to a small knob, took off my pack and set up my tripod and glasses. The faint light started filtering down through the many drainages that were filled with mesquite and ocotillo. The air was cool and the wind was non-existent as I took my first look through my EL's. I could now see well enough to pick apart the shadows and horizontal lines with my EL's and I soon had a small buck spotted. I immediately slapped on the 15's and focused on the 70" class buck that stood motionless beside an ocotillo. This is the early hunt so I know there may be other bucks with this critter. I scan slowly through all the likely hiding places around this buck. My adrenaline is already pumpin', I can feel the tag in my pocket and I just know there has to be another buck close by! There.....I see something flicker through the ocotillo.........I strain harder and again it flickers. I know it could be just a bird, but it's just gotta be........OH YEAH.....There he is, I just saw tines swing through the small vertical openings in the ocotillo! They looked long but I don't know for sure.....I strain harder and again I see the same tines swing through the opening and I can now make out the buck is bedded and looking around, but he's almost completely hidden. I scan back to my 70" class buck and notice he is still motionless and staring in the same direction as before.......I wonder.....what has his attention.......I scan over further............LION! I see it lying in the grass not 80 yrds from the small buck, tail low and slightly curled up and flipping side to side.......his body low and ears and head focused intently through the grass looking at the small buck! I quickly remembered the Lion tag folded neatly beside my Coues tag in my wallet and my adrenaline hits overdrive! I quickly scan back to the mystery buck and he is now up and staring in the direction of the Lion.......HE'S HUGE! In no less than a fraction of a second I know this buck is well over 100" and with the matching droptines that I can now see.....I know he's a buck of a lifetime! In another fraction of a second, while slamming my 15's off the tripod and reaching for my rifle I notice the distance is no more than 250 yrds! As the rifle slowly falls down onto the tripod head I jack a 130gr .270 round into the chamber and settle in behind my scope with the crosshairs resting on the slowly advancing Lion........BOOM! THUMP! Regaining from the recoil, I slam another round in the chamber, scan back to the right.....There he is, running fast in and out of the ocotillo.....he's slowing.....he stops looking for his smaller companion.....BOOM! THUMP! He drops and rolls once coming to rest with all fours in the air and not a twitch! I load again and swing back to the left and there in the grass is the white underside of the "other" predator that was on this hill today....and he lays motionless........and all is quiet......except for my pounding heart and heavy breathing........ BEEP BEEP BEEP "What the heck is that?" BEEP BEEP BEEP "I hear it again......." BEEP BE... "GET YER BUTT UP.......YER LATE FOR WORK!" As I jumped out of bed this morning, I yelled back at my wife....."Don't ever wake me up in the middle of a hunt!!!!" I get all looney this time of year.......It's less than a week away and I'm going insane......I eat, sleep, drink, and breathe Coues hunting and it can't get here soon enough!!! I hope my dream got your adrenaline pumping and hope all you guys tag dream bucks yourselves next week! Best of luck to ya all! JIM>

If that country don't look Couesy, than I don't know what does! I wish the country I will be hunting looked like that! Best of luck, thanks for the pic's! JIM>

Yeah I really like this scope and I'm also gonna put one on my 300WM as well. From prior experience, if I'm shooting under 2" at 100, 200, and 300 yards, then I will be right in there out to my 500 yard mark as well! All the conditions you are faced with on any given day in the feild come into play though, so you just have to take those into consideration when shooting those farther distances, but the scope is set to make the shots! This scope and this rifle have killed 7 Coues bucks in the last 2 years! (5 were mine) There hasn't been one Coues to escape yet!!! ( now that I said that, my fingers are crossed ) BTW........I shot the Lion first because I had already killed a 120" "triple dropper" the night before, so I really didn't need another one

I've been using Federal Vital-shok 130gr Ballistic Tips, but have never been really happy with how those do out to and past 300yrds, so I've been trying several different bullets, brands and wieght. Believe it or not, the cheapest bullet I've used is the Federal Power-shok 130gr Soft Points and at $11.00 a box, my .270 AND my wallet LOVE em! So that's what I'm using now. I've also found that the barrel HAS to be dirty, the shooting forks HAVE to be in the same spot on the forearm, I HAVE to grab the rifle the same way, let out the same amount of breath, AND calculate the shot between heart beats! I aint jokin' here! Is it just my gun, or are most guns this tempermental? My gun is the Winchester Classic Featherweight so it has a very light and thin barrel and is overall very light in build. I do have to cool the rifle down after every third shot 'cause the barrel heats up too fast and it's noticeable how the bullets travel off center as it heats up!

ALRIGHTYTHEN........I just figured this pix thingy out! Here it is, sorry but my camera phone sucks. I have the B+C reticle in my VX-III and it has to be zeroed at 200 yrds in order for the additional crosshairs to be accurate. I got 'er zeroed at 200 and then shot my 300yrd target and this was my first 3 shot group! Again, I'm not that much of a rifle hunter, so this was a big deal for me, I was pretty excited to get the ol' .270 to shoot this good! Poor little Couesies are in trouble! JIM>

Well I am ready to shoot my computer........ I figured out how to send the pix to my email, I did that, but I can't figure out how to change the file so I can get photobucket to load it. It keeps telling me it's the wrong file format? Oh well. Here are the only pic's I have right now showing my shooting set-up. Nothing fancy, just apply shooting sticks to the rear of your gun while supported on the front by a more stable tripod. If I have time, I pull out the center tube with my tripod head, and replace it with my shooting fork tube.......if not, I just loosen and drop the tripod head so the binos are facing up and down and my rifle sits nicely in the cradle between the binos and the arm on the pan-head. This creates a very solid rest in normal hunting situations. Both the tripod adapted forks and my shooting sticks were custom made by a friend. The forks have a short tube so with the Outdoorsmans tripod legs spread out, you can lay prone, and the shooting sticks have break down points every 3 inches so they can be more finely adjusted for shooting prone or if you are on a sidehill. I'm surprised not many people have tried this but I bet it will catch on. I'll get better pic's next week with my monster "double-dropper" Coues in the background! JIM>

Glad you guys enjoyed that! I have read back through my story several times and i get excited each time! It's kinda wierd how you start reading faster as the excitement builds! I seriously have a problem. This problem is exactly why every year I apply for an October Coues hunt first choice! I HAVE to hunt Coues every year so doing that I'm almost guaranteed a tag.....at least for now. It doesn't matter if it's Oct. or Dec..........It's Coues hunting all the same and I can't get enough! To add to my excitement, I went out today and put up my best 300 yrd. group EVER! My 'ol .270 punched a 3 shot group at 300 yrds that was just less than 2 inches! That's really good for me and that was also off my huntin' set-up! I use a custom built fork that adapts to my Outdoorsman tripod and I use shooting sticks under the butt of the gun. You guys need to try this set-up.....like shootin' off a bench! I took pic's but they are on my phone, so I don't know how to post em'. Anyways.......them Couesies better hide, 'cause Jimbo's on his way and he's got a tag in his pocket!!!

Congrats!!! I'm a sucker for character....I would have shot em'! Great bull! JIM>

That's hilarious with him wearing the "sierra club" shirt!

There aint' no problem......just get photobucket like the rest of us and you'll have no complaints Seriously, i've never figured out how to upload photos to the site. I've always used photobucket and it's a cake-walk once ya learn it!

Dang AZP.Horns................. You need to scare that buck and push him East about 30 miles or so! Please! JIM>

Doug can be the BOSS..... BUT.......i'm still the one with the power of the "hall monitor" badge! so you better watch out T.Rouble and Dirkie

If you don't go at all.....then your tag IS wasted. If I were you, I would go, even if I only had 1 hour to hunt I would still go!!! The last time I had a 36B tag I was in your position. I had only one day to hunt and I really couldn't even do that, but I did. I went by myself the night before opening day, followed the parade of trucks into the hills before daylight, then hiked past all those same guys and soon found myself sitting in a glassing spot just as it got light. I remembered at that moment that I almost didn't go on this hunt thinkin' it wasn't worth it, and I realized that just sittin' behind my glasses in Coues country with a tag in my pocket, even if it were for only an hour, it was all worth it! I ended up glassing, stalking, killing, and packing out a nice buck that day and was home by dinner time! Tags are only getting harder to come by......use em' when you can! JIM>

Delete topic FirstGirl has just been sold DONE DEAL Congrats on your new GSP Mike!

Congrats on the Ranger! Did you sell the Sammi? I've been out a few times and can't believe the amount of ATV'ers runnin' around! The areas close to Phx are covered with people and usually a bunch of careless idiots this time of year! I would reccomend staying away from anything that has a destination at the end and just go ride around some backroads/trails somwhere. You ought to go out west of my place in those mountains. Lots of trails going forever out there, just make sure to have your GPS or before you know it, you'll end up in the "Land of Fruits and Nuts" ( California )! Good luck, JIM>

What's his name?

HA HA HA ....... That's hilarious! That just goes to show where our priorities are! Hey mike, I hope FirstGirl goes easy on ya.....

I bet my LAB would absolutely LOVE to have him as a new friend as well as my GSP!!!! I swear, I was goin' to show my wife the photos of him.....but I better not.....I'm having a hard enough time myself not takin' him!!!!!

HA HA HA...I was thinkin' about you when I saw that squirrel!!! Does somebody have a soft spot for those tasty little tree-rats! At least the ones that Amanda and her friends ate never drank out of a toilet! Now THAT is funny right there! Hey Amanda, that is awesome you put in the time and effort to that program, fantastic job!!! Also, I think that is incredible about that lady doing all that so she can teach her boys and get them involved! AWESOME! Thanks again for all you do Amanda! JIM>

BahHaHaHaHa....... I'll be right there with you my friend!!! I was thinking....... if they were to come out with a 20x...... do you suppose it would have an Objective lens that was as big as 70 mm????? Just imagine...........EL 20x70's......OMG.....that's what dreams are made of folks! Them poor little Couesies wouldn't stand a chance! Whew....that gets me excited just thinkin' about em'!

That pup is awesome! My GSP would absolutely LOVE a new friend! If I only had more time and room that pup would be mine!!! I really hope he goes to a good home! JIM>

Dam........I actually hope they DON'T come out with an EL 15x56!!! AND if they come out with something bigger????? OMG! THAT will put me in the "poor house" for sure!!!! I can see it now.......I'll be livin' in a cardboard box, divorced, no vehicle, and I'd be sittin there in my box with my collection of Swarovski binos!!! The trade off would amost be worth it! JIM>

That was a good one cmc! I forgot about reveiwing the video. I had to do just that with a buddy after he shot his huge bull.....remember that Jnoble?......We were unsure of the hit and gave the bull an hour to give up the ghost and when we made it to where the animal was we could not find blood. The ground was so rocky we couldn't even find tracks to pin point where the bull was standing. We were on the edge of a clearing and wanted to enter the treeline exactly where the bull had, but all the vegetation looked the same and we had no sign to use. I remembered about the camera, rewound it, played it back and could see the exact tree we needed to go past into the treeline. As soon as we got to that spot we could see the bull up under a tree less than a 100 yrds in the trees! If you have it, the video is priceless for reviewing shot placement and position of the critter! JIM>

Happy Birthday Amanda! Thanks for all you do!!! JIM>