Jump to content

gotcoues

Members
 View Profile  See their activity

  • Content Count

    1,334

  • Joined

  • Last visited

  • Days Won

    14

Posts posted by gotcoues

  1. Posted · Report reply

    I purchased 4 of the MP6, between freinds and I, we went in on 12 total to get a good deal. So far I not near as happy as I was with the covert assassin cameras. These seem to be way too sensitive and even on a low setting can take unlimited falsies. We have had to cover the sensor almost completely with electrical tape and do superior landscaping to prevent this problem. Night pics are as Shelvin said, not very good. Daytime pics are fine and cameras seem to be very reliable and batts last forever as expected. I would recommend trying something else IMO

  4. Posted · Report reply

    I do believe this has much more to do with putting you out of business or putting a hurt on your business, than actual decisions made on factual data. I believe that the G&F should start a program that aggressively promotes return of that annual survey cards. If you were awarded a bonus point for returning the card, I would suggest, data would double in one yr. Or, even a more aggressive approach of mandatory reporting to apply the next yr. The bottom line is wildlife management decisions need to be made based on factual data and not some vendetta against an outfitter with a very high rate of success for his clients. IMO, you played by the rules, were very successful and they simply changed the rules. They, through out all their talking points, created the big smoke screens and rammed it through.

     

    I wish you the best of luck in the future, but I believe you are fighting an uphill battle based on decisions made for the wrong reasons.

     

    Apparently, the new rule change was not enough, so the punishment continues.

     

    I would also post your thread on the FB coues group as it has been getting lots of traffic as of late.

    • Like 4

  6. Posted · Report reply

    I'm hoping Becky has made a full recovery from such an awful event. I hope justice was served on these monsters.

     

    Reading other members posts over the years, well it gives a small sense of knowing someone even if we have have not met. I did not see this post last yr and I'm shocked as I read it tonight.

     

    God bless and I will pray she did in fact make a full recovery.

  7. Posted · Report reply

    It is my understanding that the success ratio for hunters in a "general" rifle deer hunt (non-trophy) is managed for about 20%. Is that information correct? I certainly think the questions applies to this thread and helps explain "too many seasons/too much opportunity".

     

    I find it hard to believe the success formula is at 20%, could you imagine if new hunters were only successful once in five years? Doesn't seem like a good formula for retention or recruitment to me.

     

    When my kids first started hunting the jrs hunt, it would seem we could chase a mediocre buck any day of the week. Now after many yrs of the extra adult rifle hunt, you'd be luck to find bigger than a spike in the very same areas we used to glass. We have since moved on from the old stomping ground and found out the hard way with the new hunts structures that have been in place for some time now, the only way to overcome it is A LOT of hard work.

    • Like 1

  10. Posted · Report reply

    I do believe they travel quite a bit further if they're looking for does during the rut. His neck does not seem to be swollen, so my guess is he will be in the general area. Once you have their pattern pinned down a bit, I would say that they are not too difficult to relocate as longer as conditions remain the same (hunting pressure, water availability etc.)

     

    Did you hunt with a rifle for Javelina? The rut would have been over or certainly almost over by then.

     

    How about some pictures of the bucks in your avatar. Talk about a freeky deeky, very cool buck you have there!

  12. Posted · Report reply

    I doubt it is G & F who came to the table refusing to cull out lions, but maybe I'm wrong. I'm not sure I blamed anyone for anything. Just frustrated that we, as a community are using every death to pile on. I didn't say the reintroduction was a great idea either. Perhaps I tried to put my concerns down and I didn't do as well as I hoped. It is no secret that a lot of us issues with the department.

     

    Call it naive or stupid, whatever you choose. Sheep have been reintroduced successfully in other places and I'm sure it included lion removal to do so and my assumptions are this project could have/ could still be successful. I heard several theories on why the sheep died out, we are all sure on why the project is failing at an alarming rate and I wish we could put the politics aside and cull lions to see the project through as a success story. Areas with sheep are being managed aggressively to keep lions in check, the Catalina's should be no different.

    • Like 1

  13. Posted · Report reply

    I'm not blaming us as hunters, but your point is well taken if it feels like I implied it. I'm not a fan of G & F for the record, I was just really frustrated with this ordeal playing right into the hands of people who are against us.

     

    We can all assume the Sheep Society has the Sheeps best interest at heart and I have faith they got the best deal they could. There are so many fine details that are left untold due to the politics of the situation. I would love for nothing more than some top dogs from the sheep society to come on here or evening news for that matter and tell us "how they really feel" but are required to hold their tongues in the public arena do to the upside down politics of this situation.

     

    I realize every single sheep is valuable, and it pains us all to loose these treasures. I can imagine a viable, sustainable herd in the Catalina's and would assume if that could/would happen that these sheep would have died for a greater cause.

     

    I would have thought the general public would realize maybe we really do have a "lion problem" and would be more open to the sometimes harsh reality of wildlife management.

     

    A bit off topic, but can we imagine a state where predator hunting is banned. Where lions, wolves, bears, coyotes and bobcats were aloud to go unchecked in a protected class. How many years would it take to notice the deer, elk, antelope and other big game are just flat out disappearing....

    • Like 3

  14. Posted · Report reply

    I am sad to report that I have unconfirmed information that once again collars are reporting a mortality signal and it may be from the last viable breeding ram as well.

     

    I wanted to move my post from the other thread because it seems the bashing starts all over again with the new deaths are made public.

     

    Here is my post from the other sheep thread that I posted earlier out of frustration of reading a lot post from other members of the forum.

     

     

     

     

     

    I know we all have "our issues" with game and fish but I'm pretty surprised we as hunters have played right into the anti's arms on this sheep deal.

     

    Did the sheep society and G & F know the lions were dense in the Catalina's, yes they did. Unfortunately, apparently they have less control over this operation than the other major players in this "unholy alliance" to get the sheep reintroduced into the Catalina's.

     

    The original proposal was to go in and remove lions before hand which was strongly opposed and the absolute best deal they could strike was attempt to remove "offending lions" only to appease people who have no clue how to manage wildlife. The very same pro wolf crowd already hurting our wildlife with their massive wolf push! Only two lions were tracked and killed by houndsman and one by G & F. Others were tracked unsuccessfully or the houndsman had to pull of due to "rules of engagement".

     

    I believe the real question we as the hunting community should be asking is why the heck is this reintroduction is being run by ANYONE else other than the sheep society and G & F!

     

    This project is failing because of the ridiculous rules put in by be the other groups who shouldn't have been at the table in the first place!!!

     

    There is a commission meeting in Oro Valley and the anti's will be in full force no doubt! I'm finding a hard time believing we as hunters and so called conservationists have a problem with decreasing the lion population in a given area to relieve predation on sheep and/or other wildlife. Isn't that a part of wildlife management?

     

    I believe we have played the part of the fool on this one and we have given huge points to the other side. Imagine if failure was part of their plan to begin with. Do you really think the anti's care about sheep or wildlife in general the way you and I do. I would compare that notion to PETA and the % of killing vs. adopting they do in their very only shelters. They are seated at the discussion/slash rule making for agenda reasons IMO. Failure and bad publicity helps feed their narrative for more California like legislation to be sent down the pipe which could be why they want EVERY lion to be head line news and wanted it from the get go.

     

    I really think we as a community should be sticking together on this issue no different than baiting, running hounds, trapping or any other hunting related issue. These idiots are pushing false narratives and skewing facts like nobody's business.

     

    I personally would rather buy into the narrative that culling lions in areas densely populated with lions can be a benefit for all wildlife including the lions themselves. I'm all for sheep living and doing well in the great state of AZ and I know the chances to ever get to hunt one are slim to none. Although the anti's love to make people believe they only reason we hunters would like to see them in the Catalina's is so we can kill them which is absurd and unfortunately here we sit fighting among ourselves rather than preaching the gospel of wildlife conservation to the same crowds the antis preach loud and clear there deranged way of thinking and skewed facts.

    • Like 8

  15. Posted · Report reply

    I know we all have "our issues" with game and fish but I'm pretty surprised we as hunters have played right into the anti's arms on this sheep deal.

     

    Did the sheep society and G & F know the lions were dense in the Catalina's, yes they did. Unfortunately, apparently they have less control over this operation than the other major players in this "unholy alliance" to get the sheep reintroduced into the Catalina's.

     

    The original proposal was to go in and remove lions before hand which was strongly opposed and the absolute best deal they could strike was attempt to remove "offending lions" only to appease people who have no clue how to manage wildlife. The very same pro wolf crowd already hurting our wildlife with their massive wolf push! Only two lions were tracked and killed by houndsman and one by G & F. Others were tracked unsuccessfully or the houndsman had to pull of due to "rules of engagement".

     

    I believe the real question we as the hunting community should be asking is why the heck is this reintroduction is being run by ANYONE else other than the sheep society and G & F!

     

    This project is "failing" because of the ridiculous rules put in by be the other groups who shouldn't have been at the table in the first place!!!

     

    There is a commission meeting tonight in Oro Valley and the anti's will be in full force no doubt! I'm finding a hard time believing we as hunters and so called conservationists have a problem with decreasing the lion population in a given area to relieve predation on sheep and/or other wildlife. Isn't that a part of wildlife management?

     

    I believe we have played the part of the fool on this one and we have given huge points to the other side. Imagine if failure was part of their plan to begin with. Do you really think the anti's care about sheep or wildlife in general the way you and I do. I would compare that notion to PETA and the % of killing vs. adopting they do in their very only shelters. They are seated at the discussion/slash rule making for agenda reasons IMO. Failure and bad publicity helps feed their narrative for more California like legislation to be sent down the pipe which could be why they want EVERY lion to be head line news and wanted it from the get go.

     

    I really think we as a community should be sticking together on this issue no different than baiting, running hounds, trapping or any other hunting related issue. These idiots are pushing false narratives and skewing facts like nobody's business.

     

    I personally would rather buy into the narrative that culling lions in areas densely populated with lions can be a benefit for all wildlife including the lions themselves. I'm all for sheep living and doing well in the great state of AZ and I know the chances to ever get to hunt one are slim to none. Although the anti's love to make people believe they only reason we hunters would like to see them in the Catalina's is so we can kill them which is absurd and unfortunately here we sit fighting amongst ourselves rather than preaching the gospel of wildlife conservation to the same crowds the antis preach loud and clear there deranged way of thinking and skewed facts.

    • Like 2

  18. Posted · Report reply

    Thanks guys,

     

    Andrew and I really had a blast this year hunting pigs, we've been doing most of our hunting/scouting together now for a few seasons. Andrew had the pig hunting pretty well dialed up when we met and I've learned a lot from us hanging out. I used to hunt areas with lower pig density making it much more difficult to fill tags. There is no doubt, we make a team that is going to be rough on big coues bucks and javelina for many years to come! Now that javi season is over, we plan on starting to scout/video as many good bucks as we can before they drop so we can have a good idea of bucks we would like to hunt later this year.

  19. Posted · Report reply

    Thanks Mike, haven't seen you on the forum much as of late.

     

     

    Kidso, one full body pig mount in this house. Boiled skulls is about all we can afford now!

     

     

    Redman, Erika is Andrew's wife. The youngster clowning around a bit is my son D. He's a great kid, packed with more than his fair share of personality. Thank you for the kind words.

     

     

    I will also agree a lot of hunters hunt the same herd over and over. We actually wanted to try and take every pig out of a different herd (minus a double I guess) and almost pulled it off. We hunted at least 8 different herds and managed to kill out of 5 of them. Biggest herd we hunted was over 20 an we took 3 out of that herd.

  21. Posted · Report reply

    My son Dillon and I with our December Archery Metro Double; Hunting party was my son and I

    Both pigs were called back after we got busted at less than 10 yards sneeking into a "pig pile"

    Both pigs were taken at less than 20 yards

    post-754-0-24340300-1393288368_thumb.jpg

     

    Jan Archery Metro; Hunting party was my wife Colleen and I

    We positioned ourselves in front of the feeding herd, shot was 20 yards

    post-754-0-25803900-1393288515_thumb.jpg

     

    Andrew's Jan Archery; Hunting Party was Andrew and I

    We positioned ourselves in front of the feeding herd, shot was 30 yards

    post-754-0-19058100-1393288747_thumb.jpg

     

    Jan Archery; Hunting Party was Andrew and I

    After we took care of his pig, we were able to track the herd a ways and we got extremely lucky to find where they bedded. I was able to take mine about 4 hours after he took his.

    Pig was taken at 35 yards

    post-754-0-72930000-1393288803_thumb.jpg

     

    Steve's Pistol Pig (Ham Hunt); Hunting party was Steve, Andrew, Colleen and I

    Steve shot his pig at about 12 yards after a long stalk into a bedded herd of pigs

    post-754-0-89178600-1393289148_thumb.jpg

     

    Colleen's Muzzy Javelina (Ham Hunt); Hunting party was Andrew, Colleen and I

    Colleen spotted the pigs as they crossed under her at about 40 yards. She quickly text us both as we were spread out on the top of the knoll glassing in different directions. Colleen and I moved about 40 yards and she took the shot from 94 yards with her new CVA muzzleloader.

    post-754-0-58875300-1393290315_thumb.jpg

     

    My son Dillon & Andrew's (bowfishAZ) wife Erika's Rifle Javelina Double; Hunting party was Erika, Andrew, Dillon and I

    Erika glassed these pigs within 5 minutes of us setting up opening morning. We stalked to within 200 yards and had trouble relocating the pigs because they had bedded down while we were moving closer. After another hour of glassing, Andrew picked up the pigs bedded under a mesquite and the wait began for them to stand up. Pigs were taken at 190 yards

    post-754-0-90673100-1393290613_thumb.jpg

     

     

    Video of Erika (Andrew's wife, bowfishAZ) and Dillon's pigs with kill shots. The camera zoom was maxed out and is not the best quality because I didn't have my spotter with us, but a cool video none the less.

     

    All but one pig was a one shot kill and most expiring within 10 yards or less. Only two pigs made it past twenty yards, but less than thirty on their death run. It has been a successful season packed with awesome memories with family and friends. My daughter, although she wasn't able to take a pig, was able to fling two arrows at pigs that were called back to us after they busted (Both clean misses). She has been archery hunting on and off since she was twelve without even drawing her bow until now at age 20. 3 tags went unfilled, two of which were metro tags and we will seek redemption in December.

     

    Congrats to all the successful pig slayers and a hearty good luck to the ones who ate tag soup for next time around!

    • Like 5

  22. Posted · Report reply

    I've been hunting for a little over 16 years and I have never heard anyone say something like that. Might be an "old school" thing? My daughter is the oldest of my three children and she was up to bat first as far as hunting. 11 years later, she works at Sportsmans and still hunts. Took a few yrs, but I was able to convince my wife Colleen to give it a try and now she's HOOKED!

     

    Colleen and her Javi from last Saturday

    post-754-0-33397100-1393102150_thumb.jpg

    • Like 5
×