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COOSEFAN

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Posts posted by COOSEFAN

  1. Posted · Report reply

    Leica is the best and if you can find a used one in your price range jump on it. I made the huge mistake of giving my Leica CRF away as a tip last year and been struggling with a backup Bushnell I have and couldn't stand it any longer but didn't have the cash to replace the Leica. Yesterday I went and bought the Vortex Ranger 1000 to use as an archery rangefinder. I didn't research it but figured it most likely wouldn't range much past 500 anyway like most cheaper rangefinders. Contrary to what was previously stated, I bought the Vortex because of how bright the display is and how clear the optics are. It is very well built, very compact and surprisingly ranges and scans faster than I expected. I used it today for the first time and it did a great job ranging a fat broadside piggie in the wide open at 27 yards! LOL! I didn't test it to see how far it would range but it worked great anytime I used it so far. Jim-

  4. Posted · Report reply

    Also, my hand is on my knee propping up the deer so my hand is actually farther back than the deer as well! Again, wish I had gotten a pic of me holding him up with 1 hand like an average Javi saying "What the ****!" while the rancher laughed at me and said "I told you so"!!! Still, longest 1 shot kill I've ever made and great story for the memory bank. Jim-

  5. Posted · Report reply

    Trying to do this via phone, hope works!

     

    Here's the "dwarf" I killed. To this day I kick myself in the butt for not getting better pics illustrating how small he is. Truth is, I was trying to make him look bigger because all night I was on SAT phone calling friends and family telling them I just killed the biggest buck of my life and what a shock it was to hike up the next morning to find out it was just an illusion! I killed him at last light at 756 yards on top of the highest mountian around so had to wait till daylight to go get him. I just knew, rack compared to body size, it looked like a giant and we had seen a 120+ (if normal body size) and a 135" (killed a week later) running together on same mountain the day before so I figured it was one of those!

     

    Most interesting thing is ranch owner warned me previously about a different "type" of whitetail living in the higher elevations of the ranch, I dismissed his warning as just "myth", until had the proof in my hand! We've killed a handful of bucks out of there, never again on top of that mountain tho, and all have been normal sized.

     

    Compare my hand to the body of the deer to get perspective, I'm sitting behind him at almost arms length which makes him look bigger. This buck was old and very worn down teeth.

     

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  6. Posted · Report reply

    So every one that believes in them has hear of them and seen them in AZ and Mexico. But some how in the largest group of whitetail hunters in the south west, no one as a photo?.

    I believe I killed one and have a photo but no time right now to dig it up, it's on here buried in archives. I don't believe the size or shape of the rack has anything to do with determining if it's a "Fan Tail", but more so the size of the body. I also don't believe it's a different specie, just dwarfism but who knows! I killed a big racked buck that I doubt even weighed 50lbs and was the size of a javelina. Because of the antler size compared to his body at distance on the hoof, I thought I had just killed a 120"+ deer! What was interesting is the ranch owner warned me previously about a different specie of Coues that were much smaller and lived higher on the ranch… He laughed at me and said "I told you so" when we walked up to what I was sure going to be a 120" but instead it was more like a large jack rabbit with antlers! Roller coaster of emotions that day for sure! JIM>

  7. Posted · Report reply

    I just wanted to give a shout out to Josh Epperson and the crew at Rimrock Outfitters here and not have it get buried in the replies on his recent post.

     

    A friend of mine had purchased one of the statewide auction Coues tags this year and with some major changes in my life I wasnt able to put much time in to help him. Fortunately Josh found an amazing buck very early on and selflessly and professionally he committed to staying on the buck and helping my friend with his hunt! I can't explain how impressive and amazing it was to watch for 10 months and thru the changes in seasons that Josh was able to stay on this buck! When the time came that the buck was finally in a huntable pattern there was no doubt Josh would be successful in helping my friend take the once in a lifetime buck!

     

    Josh and his dad Randy are two of the nicest, most respectful, down to earth, no B.S. guys you'll ever meet and add the fact that they are huntin' machines you end up with one of the best outfits anybody could hunt with! Thanks so much for all the hard work, amazing talent and care you put into my friends hunt! You guys rock!!! Jim-

    • Like 14

  9. Posted · Report reply

    Thanks again for the awesome reply's all! A lot of my emotion came from the build up of knowing I didn't put the arrows where I wanted them and the fear of wounding and losing the animal. I had practiced hard pre season and was shooting better than I've ever shot before but I still messed up in the heat of the moment, fortunately I got lucky and the arrows penetrated better than expected. I'll always remember looking over that bush and seeing that hoof way up in the air!!! I didn't even see the bull, just the hoof and that's when the flood of emotions hit me, awesome stuff and an incredible experience! It's not often I get to be in front of the camera but to have that all on tape to re-live over and over again is an amazing bonus to the experience. Thanks again everyone and congrats to all of you that had successful Elk hunts this past season! JIM>

  13. Posted · Report reply

    Great bull Jimmy, and I love the video. Those fronts look the same as my bull. What are wearin? Uuuuuhhhhh khaki's. David

     

    I've gotten quite a few comments about my "khaki's"! :rolleyes: For the record they are 5.11 Taclite pants, I think for the money they are the best hunting pant you can buy! Camo pants are overrated, your legs are usually covered up in brush or grass, just need to match the terrain color and don't wear tan. Most predators are tan and that'll catch a critters' eye fast. Also, there was a lot of cat claw where I was at and a $50 pair of 5.11's handle cat claw better than my $200 Sitka's, and they actually aren't loud like you would think. I still wear straps around the ankles to minimize any rubbing noise or unwanted critters crawling up my pant leg! HA!

    • Like 3

  14. Posted · Report reply

    Thanks all for checking it out and the great reply's!

     

    I obviously would love to kill a 400" class bull but you gotta keep your expectations in check with reality and this wasn't the year to be that picky in most units. I never saw or got cam pics of any bull exceeding 360" during my scouting! I had set my goal at 360"+ but I guarantee if any solid 340-350" class bull came in bugling he was gonna be wearing my tag! I waited too long for this tag and wasn't willing to go home empty handed and no matter who you are, there's nothing to be ashamed about with any 340+ type bull!

     

    Now, if I had actually seen bigger bulls I would have set a higher goal but still would not have passed up my bull! I usually don't like the short top bulls with all the length at the bottom but the way his tines curl up he just looks really cool! I'm still super stoked about the whole experience!

    • Like 1

  15. Posted · Report reply

    So awesome man, congrats to you! It was nice meeting you up there, I could tell you were "in it to win it" and not surprised to see you with a biggin'! We passed you on our way out to get my dad's bull and saw your beautiful bull sticking up out of the bed of your truck. Congrats again, that's a great bull for that hunt this year! JIM>

  16. Posted · Report reply

    Howdy all, I finally got some time to sit down and slap a video together. There's no fancy footage and because it happened during our "dress rehearsal" for the hunt the video wasn't over the shoulder and not the best, but I think it's awesome…for obvious reasons! Ha!

     

     

    I called it a "dress rehearsal" because my buddy and I had to pull an all-nighter because of a broken Rhino and last minute shopping. We didn't' even have enough time to make it to Plan A before light so we opted to hit the Plan B spot. We arrived 2 hours before light with still a 1 hour Rhino ride to the spot. Our trucks were loaded for the full hunt and had intentions of doing a "backpack" hunt into Plan A but with no sleep at all we figured we would hit Plan B first, take a nap mid day and then attack our backpack hunt that afternoon. We left the trucks loaded and just grabbed the essentials, jumped in the Rhino and off we went.

     

    We made it to the parking spot for the Rhino and started our walk in with several bugles up ahead to keep us awake! I had not seen a shooter class bull in this area but I loved it because it had potential for one to show up. You'll see on the video that my buddy hung back and let me sneak in to the bugles and go "shopping". The first bull was a cookie cutter 6x6 and exciting but not what I wanted. I waited for him to move off and then moved up to look down at the other bugling bull in the next draw. When I first located him he had his head back bugling and I could see his insanely long G2's and G3's and turned to my buddy and said "I'll shoot that one"!

     

    The video shows what all happened next. What you don't see is the whole time leading up to the shot, I kept questioning what I was doing because I had waited so long for a tag of my own! I had dreamt for many years about all the call-ins, close calls, pass ups, and just the overall experiences I would hopefully get on my own hunt, but there I was getting ready to end my hunt in less than an hour! Once I was where I felt I needed to be and the bull started stepping into my shooting lane all that questioning and hesitation went away. He was indeed the biggest bull I had seen during my scouting and although his top end was shorter than I had hoped, his bottom end made up for it and I knew he would at least hit my predetermined mark of 360" class or better.

     

    As you'll see, both my shots hit left which I'm sure was my bad habit of gripping the bow hard when excited, but fortunately with the slight quarter to angle and good penetration this story had a happy ending. Surprisingly, even the second arrow penetrated the chest cavity but wasn't needed as the first arrow did the job. I was using the cut on contact Grave Diggers for the first time and after seeing that penetration through an elk shoulder at 55 yards I swear by em'! They were also the best flying broad head I found.…I just need to remember to relax my grip when the adrenaline's flowing! :unsure: This was the biggest bodied bull I've ever walked up on and even his head was huge which all made his rack look smaller, so as I walked up to him I realized he definitely surpassed my goal of 360"! As he is he's mid 370's and if his right G1 was intact he would be closer to the 380" mark!

     

    You'll hear me say in the video, "Ever since I was a kid", and it's been ever since I went on my first bull hunt at 10 yrs old that I dreamt of walking up to a big bull with my arrow in em! I've killed bulls since but nothing like I had always dreamt about, until that morning!

     

    Thanks everyone for all the awesome reply's on that previous thread and for any you post here. I have very little free time nowadays and what little time I have I spend with my daughter so even tho I read new posts here daily on my phone I just haven't had time to log in and post anything up till now, so i'm sorry for that delay and take care, JIM>

     

     

     

     

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    • Like 15

  19. Posted · Report reply

    Where i've been i've had better luck bugling and raking a tree with a shed antler. There are still lots of bulls checking out the competition and they'll come in to size you up. If the bull already has cows it's more likely he'll grab his cows and move off to put distance between you and his girlfriends. In that case you have to run in and challenge him to take a stand but that's hard to do and more likely ends up in a desperate race you won't win. It's been a weird year for sure where I've been. JIM>

  22. Posted · Report reply

    I tried the "raking" once. I was less than 50 from a big bull and about 7 cows that were laying down.

     

    It scared the crap out of them! They exploded out of there. I'll never do that again.

     

    LOL! Not sure if you did or not, but you gotta first let them know that you are a bull coming in before raking a tree less than 50 yards from them!

     

    While sneaking in to do that, I'll let out some lazy short bugles to sound like a bull wondering in to find a bed next to the herd bull and his cows. That way the herd bull is already thinking you are a bull and is intently listening to how close you may come to his girlfriends. When you get in his comfort zone and start raking that usually is the trigger that upsets him and makes him come in to push you away.

     

    This also is usually best done when the herd is calm and stationary in the bulls bedroom.

     

    Disclaimer…this doesn't always work, but if you play it right it can make for some seriously intense and close action!

    • Like 3

  23. Posted · Report reply

    Incredible bull. Don't you kind of feel robbed only getting to hunt for 45 minutes? :)

    I do have mixed emotions about how fast it happened. I had an elaborate backpack hunt planned and was super excited about the adventure to come. Because of a late start out of town the night before we ended up hitting Plan B just for the morning and that's where it all happened. I never even unloaded my truck or set up camp!

     

    I never saw a bull in person or on camera bigger than this bull throughout my scouting and I never knew about this bull, so with that I had no problems tagging out early on him! JIM>

  24. Posted · Report reply

    Keep an eye over your shoulder, I think you took Bigfoot's horse and he's going to be mad! LOL

     

    What a beast!!!

    LOL! Seriously, when I walked up to that thing It reminded me of when I walked up to my Yukon Moose! I've never seen a bigger bodied bull or a larger head on an elk! If Bigfoot rode one, this was it! Ha! More to come, thanks again all! JIM>

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