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I'm not as active as I used to be on CWT. But I still linger and have always had a tremendous amount of respect for what Amanda built from the beginning. So if I can contribute to her and the rest of you Coues deer fanatics I will! I finally caught up with this buck after he eluded me last year. He's an old buck (and I'm not very smart) so I honestly couldn't be happier. It's always special when you can follow an animal this long. And for those who've done it, it can be very bitter/sweet also. I especially feel that way as I feel like I linger closer to my Coues deer hunting days being numbered. Enjoy.

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I just wanted to see if anyone is interested in going on a DIY hunt in Sonora. I have access to 6 tags. Price would include someone meeting you at the border and taking you to the ranch, gun permit and tag. They will show you around the ranch and the cowboy will be able to give you tips on where they typically see deer. There is a house on the ranch that you can stay in. If you would like a cook or other helpers on the ranch it can be arranged but there will be an extra cost associated with that. The ranch is about 3-3.5 hours from the Nogales/Mariposa POE. It's about 2 hours east of Magdalena De Kino. There is a locked gate at the entrance to the ranch and there is no other access to the property. The ranch hasn't been hunted in a couple of years so I don't have any super recent pictures. All the pictures that I have posted are from previous hunts. Terrain varys from Ocotillos/high desert to oaks and some pines. We have been trying to get this ranch for the last couple of years and haven't been able to get a hold of the owner. By the time we were able to get this ranch, we were already committed to another one. We want to keep this ranch so we are trying to sell the tags this year. If you have any questions please feel free to message me. If you would rather talk to me on the phone, message me and I will give you my number. Brian Still have 4 tags available Here are some questions that I have been ask, just to help with any that anyone else has. Size of the ranch and elevation? 20,000 acres Elevation of the ranch ranges from around 3500'-almost 6000'. Will the people that take us to the ranch speak english? There will be two guys that meet the hunters at the border. One of them speaks english, the other does not. How hard is it to get a gun permit? When does the paperwork need to be filled out and who will do it? Gun permits are fairly easy to obtain and I will be the one doing all the paperwork. I only need basic info from you (Name , Address, Phone #, Email, Rifle make, model and caliber) The gun permits need to be filled out soon as it can take 3-weeks or so to get them back. How is the access to the ranch? Can I bring a side x side? Access to the ranch is on a well maintained dirt road that leads back to a mine. Because the mine is active the road is always in good shape. If you want to bring a side x side or quad, you can certainly do that. How are the accommodations at the house? Can we bring out own tents/gear? The house is not the greatest place but it is a decent house. I am in the process of getting pictures of it and I will hopefully have them posted very soon. If hunters would like to bring tents they are more than welcome to do so. How many days will the hunt be? What are the dates that are open? The hunt will consist of 6 days of hunting with a day on either end for travel, for a total of 8 days. The day that you travel to the ranch, you will probably get there in time to hunt that evening. There are a lot of variables in the travel back and forth across the border so sometimes it happens but not guaranteed. On the morning that you leave the ranch to come home, you can get a morning hunt in, if needed. As of right now the whole month of December is open. As for January, there are only 2 weeks that the ranch will be available, Jan 2nd-10th and 22nd-30th. Are there other tags on this ranch? Anyone else hunting on the ranch during the 2018-2019 season? There are a total of 8 tags for this ranch, but only 6 tags will be filled/sold. There are no other hunters that will be hunting this ranch during this season. Lion Kill that was found during the hunt Here is one picture of the terrain. Not really a fair representation of what the entire property looks like though.

Bugle and cow call at first light. Find the bulls, you will find cows. It has worked for us numerous times.

I actually just had a terrific experience with Leica and my Geovid HDB's. One of the eye-cups had a crack in it, I have a hunt on friday. I made one phone call earlier today and the new pair of eye-cups will be here in the morning...If that isnt great customer service I dont know what is. On the other hand, I ordered Swaro 15HDs straight from them, took them out and couldn't get them focused correctly. Swaro kind of gave me crap about them being perfect and its just my eyes until I about yelled at them. Turns out something was wrong and they sent another pair. It wasnt easy. I think everyone has a different experience but I have had nothing but fantastic support from Leica. I still own both.

I grew up hunting whitetails in TN...probably very similar. It took a little getting used to when I first moved out west, but I love a good spot n stalk in the desert now. Don’t worry about knowing what you’re doing...just get out there and have fun. Nothing like spot n stalk on rutting bucks. Great experience.

Western hunting is awesome! Unit 23 has plenty of mule deer and coues. You can do your thing and lots of people do it. But the bow rut hunters live for more open spot and stalk hunting. I love getting to a vantage point and glass and glass looking for moving deer rutting. All the big guys come out and you make your move. Your moving around more, your seeing more and you get plenty opportunity to put on stalks. You can bed them, you can cut them off and wait while they are pushing deer towards you. Or you can just try to sneak up on them. Its common out west to shoot at 45-60 yards at deer because of lack of vegetation. Just practice at 70 yards all the time and your 45-50 yard shots will be easier. Good luck and tell us what your going to do and keep us updated on your hunts. You can tell people about your units but keep your location to yourself or you will find 10 people in your spot the following week.

A little delayed in posting this but I've been busy since getting back. Just spend a week hunting northern Wyoming with a general deer tag and any antelope tag. Having ran out of last year's Wyoming whitetail doe, this hunt was more about filling the freezer than finding a monster, but I was still aiming at taking a personal best mule deer and my first antelope buck. I drove from Colorado Springs through the night of October 4th-5th after working my three night shifts at the hospital, and on my way encountered unseasonably cold weather and a snowstorm that actually deposited a few inches on the Wyoming landscape. My first afternoon was a short one, taking time to sight in the 25-06 while getting covered in heavy, wet snow flakes before getting my hunt underway. I was expecting a friend and excellent hunter to come up and join me in a few days who had the same antelope tag that I did. Though our antelope unit was within my region for hunting mule deer, my friend did not have a deer tag and the antelope terrain was not the best for mule deer, so I focused my attention on finding a deer. Hundreds of deer filled the private fields as the shadows grew long, including a few nice whitetail bucks I would have gladly taken had they been on public land, but no mature deer showed itself on public land. I did spot two small 3 pointers on public land but decided to pass in hopes of a more mature deer. The next day was the last warm, sunny day before rain and snow were forecast to move back in. I began the day working small chunks of overlooked BLM, finding relative solitude as others road hunted and crowded into the very front of the larger sections of public land. I saw plenty of does but no bucks. I decided to walk into a chunk of public land that had two creek bottoms, one shallow and covered in cottonwoods, the other screaming buck habitat with steep hill sides covered sparsely in juniper. The original plan was to walk up the steeper bottom first, but the wind was not favorable so I opted for a long loop up the shallow creek bottom and then into and down the steeper section. After seeing seven does in the first drainage but nothing with antlers, I couldn't resist a short nap on top of the rim as it was a beautiful, mid 50 to 60 degree bluebird day. I begrudgingly awoke from my slumber, suddenly remembering I had two big game tags to fill. As I walked down the creek, I began to contemplate what my next move would be when I did a double take, seeing a deer's outline on the opposite slope of the creek bottom. Bingo. He had antlers I could identify from around 150 yards away, and a closer look through the binos told me all I needed to know- he was a shooter, monster or not. I dropped to a sitting position and touched off a shot. The buck dropped in his tracks, twitching momentarily but becoming completely still in a matter of seconds. As I walked up on my buck I was immediately thankful for the opportunity to fill my tag in good weather on a mature, healthy deer. The layer of fat on this buck was unreal. He was no monster, lacking width and depth of forks, but he was beautiful, a personal best, and would eat nicely. Two trips back to the jeep and I headed back to the motel. Our first day hunting antelope was tough. One to two inches of snow overnight left the Wyoming landscape blanketed in white- hardly ideal for spotting antelope. The high was in the mid 30s, so just enough snow melted to leave the prairie a sea of white pockets against brown. The melting snow turned the dust into a thick mud that stuck to our boots and weighed them down further with each step. Complete removal was impossible as the dead grass intertwined in our boot tread to form an adobe-like mixture of mud that might as well have been a brick on each foot. By the time we were back to the trucks, my hips hurt from carrying around cement slippers all day long and I was discouraged from the paucity of antelope on public land. The next day brought more snow, but little stuck where we chose to hunt. We consistently saw hundreds of antelope on private land, but being the second week in the season they had been shot at and pressured enough to be pushed off public parcels. Our game plan was to hoof it back into a huge chunk of BLM and state trust, hoping to find unpressed antelope in the back. Just as we crested the first major ridge away from the road and the parked trucks, Andy turned to me and said "Antelope. Crossing the road forty feet from our trucks onto public land from the private bottom." I rolled my eyes. Typical goats. A fast dip into the bottom and attempt to close the distance didnt work as two other bucks crossed the fence onto public and had us pegged. As we attempted to stay out of sight, we looked back up on the ridge we had just came from to see the first group of antelope had circled around and were now just a hundred yards from where we stood as we spotted them. They were moving but not spooked. Cutting the distance, I snuck up on the bank and rested my bipod. "330 yards" Andy whispered. I waited for the buck to clear the does. Rock steady, I squeezed the trigger and saw the buck kick as he began his run. I was confident in the shot, and he fell over less than fifty yards later. cu My first antelope was a fine, representative specimen of a mature Wyoming public land goat. I was thrilled to have punched both of my big game tags in five days and taken my first antelope, despite their contrary nature and the constant game of tag. The snow capped mountains served as a magnificent backdrop to a wonderful hunting trip and vacation from the stresses of working in an ICU. Most importantly, I had secured some prime game meat to share with family and friends and to eat over the coming months. A personal best deer and first antelope on hard pressured public land all in five days, with two well placed, clean shots. Not too shabby. Next up, a return to Arizona to chase coues deer in November. Hope you all are having an awesome hunting season!

Anyone interested in signing up for the Hush/First lite gear giveaway click on link. Good luck. https://upvir.al/ref/jH16846454

And I thought Danners were expensive. I guess if you use them a lot the price would be worth it though.

Stop stressing over it. Take what you have left and go hunt. Buy something close and if you run out resightin. A different lot won't hit the same spot anyway. Good Luck on your hunt BTW.

I like these. They are very nice game bags, and are 100% reusable. They come in a nice carrying bag with orange marking tape, and latex gloves. I'm guessing these bags should last at least 10 years or more. They are super lightweight, and don't take up much room in your bag. https://www.blackovis.com/ovis-sacks-lightweight-game-bags

I may be mistaken but bison are not considered wildlife in the state of Arizona. They are livestock owned by whatever entity owns the ground they are standing on. Hence the reason you can sell bison meat from a buffalo killed on the kaibab or Raymond ranch, also the reason you can legally shoot one on bait in the Raymond ranch.

My brother had the 10 cow hunt a few years back. We never saw an elk. He also had the deer tag that started the day after the cow hunt. First day of the deer hunt we had 3 cows and a bull walk right by us at 30 yrds ! It was like they knew.

I always carry one additional 16 ounce can of Budweiser with the twist off cap so it can give you an extra boost at numerous rest stops. Popeye has is spinach........... but us geezers need our hydraulic sandwiches to make it back to the truck!

Thanks guys for the feedback...I guess im gonna stick with what Im familiar with this year and hopefully by next season ill be able to swing a good pair of binos and try the spot and stalk.

Amen for great perspective!!!

Dang, you guys almost got trampled! Congrats to your boy!

Yes, they will rut where they are. If you have good sign you will start seeing scrapes up and down the creeks in your area. If you were looking at big rubs you were probably looking at elk rubs. Coues don't usually make the big tree rubs like the eastern deer. You will see the scrapes and small trees will get beat up along their rutting corridors. Most of the guys hunting the open are spot and stalking and is a blast when the bucks really get to chasing does. .

G & F always told me, might as well shoot them because population will rise and they will disease and die off anyway.

I don't go on a pack trip without a gallon per day. Especially on the hike in or out. You get to sweating and you will need even more. Some people get by with less. But I have gone a day without water and a heavy pack and it is not fun or safe. Good luck on your hunt.

The other thing to throw in is make sure you have good sunscreen, high SPF rating. Had a buddy from back east come hunting here in NM in November and it was shirtsleeve weather. He started getting sunburned in the "thin" air of 6500 feet and I let him dope up with my sunscreen. It was a good thing I had aloe vera gel for aftercare the rest of the trip.

Game Planner Maps map viewer is free and can show you where the roads, trails,and public land are. They can make you a map for that unit too.

www.azgfd ... unit 30A

If you own a garmin gps there are also free options for topo and ownership maps that are very good.