Coues 'n' Sheep

My wife is loving this thread so I am post a couple more for her..... Nelson was here pet so she took most of the pics that we have..... This one was when he was still really young. And here he is closer to full grown and checking out the smells of the forest after Colton came home from hunting one day. Yeah, Jim..... he ate with us all the time. I have a pic of him on the kitchen table eating bread with my wife as she was eating soup and butter bread....

I agree!!!!

Things that make you go BaaaaH...... .... I got the chills just lookin' at the pics..... Almost stepped on one in unit 28 a couple of years ago....... trotting off of a rocky mountain side and it was curled up ready to strike right where my foot was headed.... .... I managed to push off a little harder at the last second and vault right over him...... and kept right on runnin'!!!!! That one scared the "soft serve" right out o' me!!!

I found it! I have been searching for the pics of my Boy's first archery coues. I am sooooo very proud of this deer.... Colton was 12 yrs old and it was his first January archery deer hunt. It was also the first hunt inwhich he hunted alone..... He shot this 79 0/8 net P&Y buck at 15 yds and then hiked out of the woods to get me. That day a DIEHARD archery hunter was born! Here is Colton's 3rd archery coues (age 14).... He and Justin had over 70 hours each of deer hunting in before he shot this buck and Justin filled his tag the next moring in the same spot with his first buck. Hey TREESTANDMAN...... this is the double I told you about that was very close to your old "stompin' grounds"......

Man that is PERFECT!!! I want one just like it of X-mas.....Ok.

Guess I'm goin' after all..... .... C-ya there.

Holy Buckets!! That is a big ol' coues deer for such a little guy!! Congrats!! Those belong in the Youth Forum as well....

Colton with his 2nd archery Coues deer (age 13) with his hunting partner Justin Scarbrough (age 12). Justin is my buddy, Jason's son.

Boy, Howdy!! That second one is a nice pick-up indeed! Congrats.

No.... there just a LOT easier to find when you are not actually looking for them..... At least that is what I have found......

A few years back I gave a copy of scouting footage to a ranch owner that was allowing me to access forest land through his ranch. The next year I was told not to come near the place because they were turning into a hunting operation. They took my video and sold to an outfitter who in turn told his clients he shot the video and could get them a shot at the buck of a lifetime. they brought in there clients and in 3 years of trying never killed a deer that would score over 65''. I even had a guy from Utah call my house asking about the video? I don't know who he was or how he got my #. There was some very well known names involved in this fiasco but I won't drop names. At the same time some so called friends of my hunting partner kept hounding him to tell them where we were seeing all the great bucks we had video taped. Other than showing them the video they were given no info at all. They even took my partner to lunch one day and the harrassment got so bad my friend got up and left. A couple weeks later I received a phone call from the ranch hand asking if I sent a couple of guys down there. They showed up dropping our names but the ranch hand knows me better and sent them packing. That same weekend his fence ended up cut. Since we could no longer access through the ranch do to the big ''operation'' they were running we came in the long way. Well guess who showed up and camped right next to us. None other than those so called friends of my partners. The ''operation'' killed one 2pt. muley and 2 coues, a spike and a 1x2. The so called friends killed one spike between 3 tags. I passed on the same 85'' buck every day just to kill a 80'' on the last eve. My friend passed many bucks and ate his tag. I can relate to your story, Shorty. I have had the same kind of problems with guys hyjackin' places that I have archery hunted coues deer for 8 - 10 yrs. I even had one "friend" that needed info on a bull for a client he had on an upcoming hunt so he "traded" info I had shared with him to a guy for a bull elk! The guy later aproached me and told me that he found out that I hunt there..... other wise I would have never known about that sorry SOB had betrayed my trust! Anyhow.... I run into that guy and his friends in there all the time now days and it kind bugs me, but it is public land.... what is a guy too do??? I share very little info about coues hunting with anyone, anymore. Everyone wants to capitalize on the efforts of the few........ ..... That is why I can't hardly drive my pickup when I go archery deer huntin'...... And often times we even lie about what part of a unit we are huntin', rifle or archery. Seems wrong to have to BS people, but ya just can't be too careful.... You would be surprised how word gets around in the hunting world..... We harvested a 120 inch buck in the October hunt last year.... and of course had to make everyone think we killed it somewhere we didn't... ... Then like 4-5 monthes later a guy I don't even know comes up to me and asks me if we ever found the "dbl mainbeam buck" again that I had taken some family mambers after in the days following us harvesting that toad...... there was only about 6 people that new of that buck! And I though I could trust all of them.... but, somebody said something without thinking..... fortunately the wires are all crossed as to where that buck is located at and he is still alive (unless a lion got him ). I say..... Git your a$$ out there and find your own dang "Honey Holes", you Frickin' Lazy, no good Squatters!! Ahhh... I feel much better now......

Me either.....

Sweet! Hurry up and get out there....... I am dying to see some of the Monster Brownies you will find.

????? That is pretty optimistic for that hunt.... ....IMO. I think any 5 or 6 point that presents an opportunity should get an arrow in the ribs.

Now, where did you say that hillside was??? They should be in the same general area, but not necessarily the same hill. Good luck.

Well..... finally found some brown bone!!! I walked about a 2-3 hour loop on Friday and came up empty.... ..... My allergies were eating me up!!! Woke up Saturday morning with allergies and a cough..... fired up the truck and headed out. I unloaded my wheeler and headed up an ol' 2 track at about warp speed. After about 30 minutes of hard riding I parked the quad and started up a canyon.... busted brush for a couple hours and finally reached the point of no return..... loop back to the quad the easy way (about a mile dn hill) or spend the whole day busting the other canyons below me. By this point I could hardly catch my breath, cough was painfull and my joints felt like they were taking abuse from a ballpeen hammer.... so I wussed out and headed back. I got about 300-400 yards from the wheeler and picked up a nice brown with a couple of "crown" points coming off of the top end. I circled a bit for the other side but was running out of gas so I left it for another day. Got back on the quad and headed out...... This is the "Lesson Learned" part of the day...... I get about half way back to my truck and as I round a bend in the road I see a brown laying right beside the road! (If I would not have ridden so fast on the way in I might have seen it the first time past!) I parked the quad and began to circle....flat ground this time! After about thirty minutes of backtracking the bulls and and then following the direction they went, I found a second side 30 yds off of the road. I covered all the easy stuff to make sure that I did not leave any other "freebee's".... and left the other sides for the next trip in.... Anyhow, 3 brown made the day worth it, to me and I was back to the truck by 1pm. And as soon as I can get an allergy shot I'll get back in there! Here are the pics as I saw the horns..... and one of all three.

I will tell you this...... you drew the toughest archery tag in the state if you are looking to harvest a big bull. If you look at the regs. you will see that hunter success is very low. Mostly due to the time of year. Your best scouting can be done now...... looking for horns. If you pass up any bull on that hunt it might be the only chance you get. This is a hunting opportunity not a trophy hunt.... I've had your tag before and have the same hunt in 23 this year. I will shoot the the first bull I see most likely and I do consider myself a trophy hunter. But in the Nov. archery hunts ANY bull is a trophy. Best of Luck. Oh yeah.... and butter up to ol' GameHauler..... .... He has had very good success on that hunt over the years!

I have been looking for Colton's first archery deer pictures and can't seem to find them.... still lookin' though..... In the mean time...... Colton was lucky enough to have drawn archery antelope tags at age 12 and 16! I made him sit the blind on a water hole the entire hunt at age 12 he passed up a few and missed a pretty good goat @ 50yds, before he shot this buck at 35 yds. At age 16 he drew again... ... now being able to drive and feeling the need to "do it on his own"..... he hunted hard for 2 weekends..... many close calls and blown stalks, but had not shot a buck. He came home that second Saturday night and asked for my help!!! WhoooHooo! Off we went the next morning.... Two and a half hours of hunting and he nailed this buck at 50 yds spot and stalk.

Holy buckets! Those are some Great Bears!!!! Jim, that one your bro-in-law took is a Frickin' GRUNT!!! Gotta get me a big ol' bear....one of these days. I did pass one up at 10 yds once with my bow.... that was fun! But, I gotta ground check one sooooon! Congrats to all.....Great pics and Trophies!!

I agree..... I shoot 387 and I think it is the heaviest arrow I have ever shot.... I like it, though and it works well. I think it is all part of a balance... not too heavy or light..... not too much draw weight, but as much as you can handle..... fast enough, but not too fast..... Just do one thing right and none of that will really matter..... ..... "Aim Small, Miss Small". Pretty simple. Best of luck on your hunt.

My favorite "camping" spot when I am in unit 23 is The Antler...... :lol: ... Good food, good drink, and good folks..... Young, AZ. You can catch me there on a weekend night from time to time. However, you might end up hunting a long way from there, depending on what your scouting turns up.... so that might be out of the question. Good Luck, anyhow.

Abuddy of mine and his Dad, Brother, & Brother-in-law all drew archery bull unit 8 tags and I have another buddy who's wife drew it, too. Lucky SOB's!!!!!!

I was digging through the wife's picture boxes looking for more of Colton's childhood hunting pics when I came across these pics of a very young Gunner and thought I would share them as well. Thanks, Dogman. Yes, good genetics, on the dog that is. I'm wondering where the genetics went wrong with Grong!!!

Buzzards Roost is in 23S..... Might not try hunting there with a 23N tag in your pocket..... .... Ahhh.... talk of the Legendary Monster...... You guys are in for a Great hunt!!!! Congrats!! There are good bulls all over the unit....However, it is said that some really great bulls cross into unit 23 from the Res. each year for the rut.... .... But make sure you know where that line is...... or you might be sorry. Good Luck.

Here are a few of pics of critters that my wife has harvested in the last few years. She was lucky enough to draw rifle bull tags in '04 & '06 and a Dec. Whitetail tag in '04 as well. I sure am proud to have a wife that not only supports my addiction to hunting, but also gets out there and wants to harvest big critters, too!