COOSEFAN

Nice bulls guys! I love the dark antlers! Great job with the story and making the backup bow work for ya! Congrats! JIM>

Great job on the bull and thanks for the great write up! JIM>

That's a beautiful bull, love the mass! If I had known Lance was there I would've stopped and said Hi! With that truck wrap it was pretty easy to tell which truck Richard was driving! LOL! Huge congrats to all involved and to Richard on 2 outstanding trophies! JIM>

Great story and congrats on a great bull! JIM>

Outstanding job on the hunt and the video!!! Congrats to Debbie and all involved, gorgeous buck! JIM>

Fricken awesome video!!! You captured the feeling and spirit of the hunt better than any other video ever posted on here! I loved it! Congrats on the great hunt! Jim

I've seen similar shots like you described many times in the past and the outcome is never predictable. High, low or back, a shot can appear to be in the lungs when in actuality it just missed them or barely caught one. You just never know for sure unless you see him crash or tip over. Also, just like Tines said, you have to be honest with yourself about what the shot placement and angle actually was, especially when relaying the event to the person/s helping you. WAY too many times in the past I've tracked bulls that were supposedly "Double Lunged" when in actuality they weren't, and there are some that I unfortunately never found out where the hit was! When your adrenaline is flowing and you replay the event in your mind, it's easy for the facts to get jumbled up or you are afraid to admit to yourself the shot was bad. Stay focused and truthful on exactly what you saw and heard. The split second when your arrow or bullet takes flight is when you become a "detective"! Try your hardest to remember exactly how the animal was standing and where you actually saw the impact if possible. Mark exactly where you were sitting/standing and also mark the tracks the bull left on impact. One big thing to always remember is to use your ears immediately following the impact. Listen for direction of travel, if the bull stops or keeps going, for heavy breathing, for an arrow slapping trees (easier back in the aluminum days)or for other elk running that you know aren't the bull you hit. After being patient and waiting the appropriate time, get on the track and pay close attention to his stride, direction of travel, any irregular identifying marks to his hooves, if one hoof is hitting harder or favoring a side, is blood on both sides of the track, is there bubbles in the blood, dark red, light red, clear etc.. Like I said earlier, take your time, mark the last blood, and make note of every last detail. Couple scenarios that come to mind: We once had a client that shot a bull, said it was double lunged perfectly, and almost tipped over in sight. Was right at dark and to be safe (because I rarely believe shot placement is actually where I'm told unless I see it first hand) we waited till first light the next day. We found very little blood and spent 2 days looking for that bull with several guys doing circles the entire time. We killed that same exact bull the next year, alive and healthy, with a different client and the previous clients broadhead with several inches of shaft were still embedded in his spine! Another instance, I had a client shoot a bull and I couldn't see the shot, but she said it was perfect. Waited 5 hours and got on the track with very little blood. The bull was drooling and the spit had bubbles in it which when dry was still visible on the rocks. My friend and I crawled around for 3/4 of a mile following dried spit and tracks and very luckily found the gut shot bull! Another, Last year, you all remember the big thread about the bull that was shot and lost because another guide ran in on the bull after our client shot him. That bull was supposedly hit with a high double lung and everyone thought the bull was lost because the other outfitter pushed the bull. The bull was pushed but was never going to die. The shot was actually above the spine in the straps and had completely healed up 2 weeks later. My rifle hunter and I got to inspect that one up close ;-) I can go on and on with past experiences. Elk are typically hard to kill. Even solid double lung hits can be long and tricky track jobs. Just pay attention to every last detail and don't rush it! JIM>

I personally do not like the G5 Montecs at all, and only because I've seen a lot of critters shot and lost with them. I'm sure the issue was the lack of sharpness and was before they came out with the "Improved Sharpness" versions. I'm sure they realized early on that the heads weren't sharp enough. I think having confidence in both the Shwackers and the Montecs and having both with you is a smart idea. Use the Montecs if you are shooting thru a screen, use the Shwackers everwhere else. Best of luck!

I've never heard of that! I was gonna guess somebody was playing a joke and threw a live shotgun round in a campfire, that's the only way i figured that could happen. I'm not accusing you or your friends of being that stupid, but I know myself and my friends were that stupid many years ago!

HA, look who it is! Awesome job Wes! I know my archery bear is one of my most valued trophies, just something about hunting them with a bow, you'll never forget the experience! That's a beautiful bear, congrats! JIM>

Dangit! I had heard they were out there, it's probably true. That would be 1 less big buck in Unit 9, and there weren't many to begin with!

Yep, any scouting before hand would be to just familliarize yourself with roads and terrain...and to enjoy that warm fuzzy feeling knowing the tag is in your pocket! For the first or second hunts, scouting for certain bucks is much more worthwhile.

Now that doesn't happen everyday! Way to go Brian, congrats to you and your dad! JIM>

I recently just bought those same boots in the Bargain Cave at Cabelas. They looked brand new, not sure why they were returned but I got them for $90! I have worn them quite a bit since, even in wet conditions and they have been awesome. My buddy swears by them and he puts more backcountry miles on than me. At his reccomendation, I also went to WalMart and did that Dr. Scholls computer thing to find out which specialized inserts to buy and have been wearing those insert with these boots. Not sure if it's just because of the inserts, but I can hike all day in these and never get sore feet, and that's a first for me! JIM>

Howdy guys and gals, I've been sittin' on this since last January but now decided to post it up. This is a buck that was found on one of our ranches in Mexico. It was several years ago that I aquired it and and I've kept it in my friends ranch house ever since. I had put an old archery tag on it which had my name and address so just in case somebody visited the ranch they wouldn't take it. It was great to take hunters every year to this ranch and show them the rack, but then it disappeared!!! My friend had let another outfitter hunt his ranch early last season for Mule Deer while we were hunting Coues on a different ranch nearby. After that hunt was over and that outfitter had left, we showed up to find this skull missing and the tag I had on it cut off and in the trash! My friend has been trying to track this guy and this skull down and get it back but hasn't been able to. I know who this outfitter is and he's always at the big shows in the states. I've recently been told by several of his past clients that he uses racks and pictures at his booths of bucks that weren't killed on his ranches or he had nothing to do with, but he claims they're his and books hunts using them. Because I have no hard facts, I won't say his name, not even in PM's so please don't ask. He is NOT a sponsor of CWT.com either! I have heard that he may have already got the rack across the border and is intending to use it in his booth at the shows and may have already displayed it this past show season. I'm posting this in hopes that if any of you see this rack you'll please let me know! The guy that took it knew exactly what he was doing and by cutting my tag off and taking it he blatently stole it, and that just pisses me off! If it is on this side of the border I won't be able to get it back, but I can definitely make sure this dude regrets cutting my tag off and taking it! Thanks! JIM>

That's awesome! LOVE the flyer too! JIM>

+1!!! Very nice! Thanks for sharing

I've been hoping it's still in Mexico and a friend or family member of the guy would return it or make him feel guilty enough to return it himself. My Mexican friend has been putting the word out in the hunting community surrounding the guys involved and have been hoping the peer pressure may help. I'm sure even in Mexico it's a bad thing to be known as a thief.

Huge congrats to you guys and thanks for the story and pic!!! JIM>

The guilty parties were made aware recently that we had an idea who has the rack so I figured now it won't be at any upcoming shows. If they did get it across last January, then there is a chance they had it at the early spring shows because that would've been before they caught wind we were hunting them down! Hopefully it's still in Mexico, then there's still a chance that it'll magically show back up, not likely tho. JIM>

I have been watching ebay and haven't seen it but I also don't check it constantly so it's possible

Thanks for the reply's all! I haven't said anything about this until now because I was hoping to get it back and figured if it wasn't publicly announced I would have a better chance. I've since learned that the guilty parties involved are aware that we have a good idea who has it but they aren't willing to give it back so now I'm figuring it's a loss. There's also a possibility that it's here in the U.S. and if so it wasn't brought here legally. They could've tagged it and got it across which is possible, still not legal but legal enough they wouldn't be afraid to show it off here. I don't know if it's here for sure and I also don't expect to get it back now so that's why I'm finally posting it. I'm hoping that by sharing the pics, whoever has it can't claim it as a buck they found or killed and benefit from it. It was an awesome buck to see in person and definitely a one-of-a-kind so I'm sure somebody will see it somewhere eventually! Thanks, JIM>

http://forums.coueswhitetail.com/forums/topic/34516-stolen-giant-144-mexico-coues/

Here's a few bulls that we are watching right now. You'll notice that most of these are also in our "Hit List" video as well from last season and unfortunately because of the drought conditions in the areas we hunt, these bulls will be smaller this year. They also have changed in antler configuration a bit, but they are still great bulls! Stay tuned as I'll have more updates soon with pics illustrating how these bull finished out! Thanks! View the full article

The only time I track immediately is if I see or hear the bull crash. I've walked up on and pushed way too many wounded bulls and almost every time that happens the chances of finding him again are drastically reduced. A wounded bull with a marginal hit usually won't go very far before laying down the first time, especially if he wasn't spooked bad prior to the shot. This first time he lays down is right where you want him to stay!!! Once a marginal hit bull get's up from his first bed he can and will go for a long time before bedding again which greatly increases your chances of loosing him. I see it happen every year! David, I would guarantee that Casey didn't automatically assume the meat was bad just because the guy left it out overnight, UNLESS it was a Late hunt, in that case I would assume the same. On the early hunts, if you leave a bull out overnight and find him right away the next morning and cut and hang him right away, you'll have very minimal meat loss and sometimes none at all. I would guess Casey assumed the meat was bad because the bull was probably not boned out and just laying exposed to the sun in back of the truck? Especially if he went straight for the neck with a knife, that's the first meat that will go bad if you don't bone it out asap! I'm sure you all can tell I don't take wounding and losing bulls lightly, it's the worst thing ever, but how you treat the situation immediately after the shot is what will determine the outcome. Sometimes a loss just happens regardless of what you do and it's out of your control, but usually it has everything to do with how you handle the situation right after the arrow or bullet hits the bull!