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In the end we opted for the 243 which resulted in a cow down within 30 yards of the shot. It was an amazing hunt with aggressive bugles and lots of elk. We got her out in front of the herd and they all came in 40 yards away. Tons of elk and it was awesome. My buddy put together this video - it gets really good at the 2:00 mark. Enjoy! https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=eaB1k1kLkZk

So, I didn't post my sons success last year but figured now would be a good time. He's the only one that seems to be putting meat in the freezer these days. Last year with 2 points, he was lucky enough to draw an antelope tag in 30A. My wife who had 16 points was ready to kick him out of the house at that point. It took us til the last day of the hunt for him to be successful with that hunt at 200 yards away. Then the following month he took his first cow on opening day with about 30 minutes of hunting light left in the day. This years elk hunt I could see the change in him and how much he matured with this hunt over last year. We only had 2 hours in our hunting schedule left, but he was successful again. Him and I never hunted a day in our lives until I met my wife and father-in-law 8 years ago who hunted all the time. They are very big into giving thanks and respecting the animals when they're harvested which is awesome and has taught me and my son a lot. Last week when my son took his second elk of his hunting career we were walking up to her and I said make sure you give thanks. He says, "I already did before I took the shot". Made me proud. Any way, just thought I'd share the pics.

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.

Opening day my son got it done. It was about 0725 when Seth spotted 4 elk about 600yards out. And would you know it we were right in the middle of a clearing totally exposed. We both took a knee and wait to see when they were going to do. Luck must have been on our side as the 4 elk (3cows 1bull ) started to run toward us. They were closing the gap fast. In about 4 minutes they were right on top of us. My son asked if I could make them stop so I tried a cow call; they took 3 more steps and stopped. As soon as she stopped my boy let the 140gr fly and it hit its spot. After she fell I ranged her to see just how far of a shot it was lol it was a whole 27yards .

Not sure on the conviction. Last I heard that guy kinda spiraled off the deep end though. Guess he started doing budget dude on dude adult films. I think he still uses the name “Bonecollector” now but it has a significantly different meaning. Edit: This is just a joke. I don’t have any idea what happened. Just figured you were the same guy!! Am I right or am I right?

Aurora will be after her 2nd deer this year. Wants to hold out for a nice muley most likely. Caliche will be on his first big game hunt this year. Just passed his Hunter ed course and had his first hunt 2 weeks ago killing doves. He's a natural, I'm expecting a cow down on opening morning. Got a silencer through member "Rancillio" (Matt, quiet time sports) and it has really tamed down the kids rifles. Today caliche shot a great group with his sister's 6.5 CM. Here's a few pics. The one pic of Caliche holding grass was at the field day when the instructor said "pick up the BRASS"!

After my little Kembria drew tag number 100 of 100 tags for her first choice deer hunt this fall, I felt that luck was on our side. We, her big brother Draysen and I, spent a fair amount of time with her over the past few months working on target acquisition in the scope, trigger control, etc. But I would be lying if I didn't admit to being a little nervous about her first big game hunt. Desire wasn't an issue, she has been chomping at the bit for years. But unlike her big brother, I just wasn't sure how she would do. Well, yesterday we loaded up the truck and headed up north. We had a good opening morning plan to head into an area where I have consistently found bucks over the years. For her first hunt I wasn't looking for a big buck, just a decent one that would be within her range. As we rolled into camp (actually my brother-in-law’s family cabin), I got a message from a new buddy letting me know he and a friend were on a tank of a buck, but with no tag themselves, they wanted a kid to shoot it. He sent me some pictures, and my jaw dropped! We made plans to meet up very early this morning to see if we could relocate him. Within the first minutes of glassable light, we got a glimps of him just as he and his buddies were topping out and disappearing over the ridge across from us. Draysen was the first to see why they were fleeing. A group of hunters were walking up the same ridge the bucks were on right in their direction. We made a quick plan to try and get ahead of the bucks, as they were still unaware of our presence. Within 30 minutes we were ahead of them and had them feeding out in front of us at 350 yards. I got Kembria set up on the Claw/Ruger Precision 6.5 Creedmoor combo (the Claw is the original version of the Triclawps) and we continued to watch them feeding in and out of the trees waiting for a good shot. There were five bucks in the group, all well above our original expectations for the hunt. The second biggest buck in the group stepped into the opening broadside, and all of a sudden a group of deer (estimate maybe ten) busted out of the thick trees about 30 yards to our right and bolted. This caught the attention of our bachelor group of deer and I quickly became concerned they were likewise going to bolt. I said to Kembria "See that big buck in the open?" She replied "Yes!" I said, "Shoot him!" Maybe one second later, BOOM!!! Perfect 350 yard lung shot. He wasn't the biggest boy of the group (the bigger one was similar in length to the one she shot, but more mass). Nonetheless, the five of us were beside ourselves with excitement. Not a half bad opening morning buck for a little girl who just turned 10 years old two weeks ago. Pretty great day for this proud pappa! Can't thank our friends G.R. and Tanner enough for the huge assist!

Unfortunately I do not frequent this site as much as I use to and some of you are not on social media so I thought I would share my daughters youth buck from this year with you. It is an amazing deer. If any of you are ever considering an AZ or MX outfitter I would highly recommend Steven Ward with Ward's Outfitters. This buck was the largest in a herd of 14 he put us on. It was an incredible day for a very deserving young lady. Thanks Steven!!!

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.

Just picked one up. Thanks for all the input from everyone. I'll let you know how it works out.

Tag soup, no elk cheeseburger no coke. Had what I feel was a challenging hunt on the Hopi reservation. There were only 25 tags, and I think 23 of them were on the east sunset mtn valleys judging by the vehicles. I only hunted thru tuesday due to a Wed. appt. Great weather except for tuesday with pounding rain and reports of a tornado touching down about 19 miles to the north. I varied my approach to stalking tracks, sitting water sitting bluffs etc. Saw a bull the second morning about 450-500yds off, then a cow the following two mornings, about the same distance running away from me. One sitting and glassing, the other two stalking. The wind was mild for the first 3 days, really picked up on Monday, Also scared up a couple of deer and some truly huge jack rabbits. There is a lot of water in the section I hunted, 2 tanks, a pond about 1-2acres and plenty of water catched from recent rains. I chose this area from a previous scout trip, primarily due to the amount of tracks (fresh as the ground was soft) and a natural barrier, "jacks canyon" running about 1-2 miles inland towards west sunset. As far as other hunters, I only heard one gunshot friday morning frm the east sunset mtn. Do not know if he tagged or if there were other shots taken wed and thursday. I'll try to attach a few piic's below. Hunting the pinyons is quite challenging, and those successful have my respect. regards, goma

No worries, the best thing to do is to check with your Outfitter, he should answer all your questions. Now, let me tell you something and again, don't take my word for it ok? About the 223...The way the Federal Law of Firearms and Explosive of The Republic of Mexico is writen..it talks about self loading or repeating firearms in 223 caliber....a bolt action rifle in 223 is not a semi auto or automatic rifle....but to avoid any discussion with them, I always tell my hunters do not bring any 223's ok? I have friends in Mexico that they own 5.56 rifles, but they can't own a 223

Drew another Goulds tag! And a javi tag. Cool to be on a hunt and find out you've drawn for more hunts. Good luck everyone!

Teaser...

Stud buck! That young lady is fortunate to have a dad in her life that is willing to get her expsosed to a life in the outdoors. Congrats again!

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!

So I gathered up some buddies and we jumped on the Wyoming bandwagon this year! 5 tags between 4 guys-- we filled 4 in 24 hours and then I opted out of filling my doe tag because I wasn't going to be able to get the meat home. Originally I was supposed to drive up from Texas (12+ hours), link up with our Denver dude and then get the NC boys who were flying in. Unfortunately for me I couldn't break of the 5-6 days I had hoped from work. So I had Fri afternoon to Sunday afternoon and I booked a hasty ticket and as a group we split a rental car (truck- more on that later). Here's how things went down: Thursday had some things come up at work that resulted in a much later than preferred ride to the airport to fly from Dallas to Denver. Still made the flight, guns arrived with no issues and had plenty of time to go pick up the rental car and drive to my buddy's house in Denver to spend the night before driving up to WY on Friday. Until I got to the Budget rental car center at DIA... 60+ people at 11pm and only 3 folks checking cars out. So when I got to the window at 2am... they no longer had full size trucks... but they did have a 2018 Tacoma TRD so I snagged it, which ended up being a great vehicle on and off road. Get to Dave's at 3am and we drink beers and BS until who knows when. He has to work Friday and I have to get the other two from the airport. Friday: I pick up our NC boys from the airport and we head north towards the promised land of WY!! Except it is raining, foggy and generally crap weather, not the 50-60 degrees and sun that were forecast. But we make it into our hunting unit and head towards a chunk of public land to check our zero since we all were now 6,000+ ft above where we confirmed our data. Upon arriving at said chunk of land... there is a chunky pronghorn buck standing off the road about 500 yards and he dips over a rise. I had compared my actual data from Texas (hot, low altitude) to the WY forecasted data (cold, high altitude) and the ballistic calc had told me there wasn't going much difference (less than 1/4 moa out to 600y). Since this was for sure a shooter buck and I had a short hunt we bailed out and made the stalk. I got up to the rise and over the top, bedded down, was the buck and a group of does. I ranged at 289 yards, my rifle is zero'd at 250. I keep inching up to get my bipod up and rear rest set. The does saw me and they slowly stood and began to walk down and away from me. The buck stood, slightly quartered too and looking at the does that were now trotting. I held just a hair high and into the cross wind. The 7RUM barked and the 145gr LRX buried itself just in front of his shoulder and exited just behind his offside shoulder. He ran maybe 25 yards and expired!! We were on the board having been in the state of Wyoming for about an hour! We got him gutted and back to the truck and proceeded to get the other two rifles double checked for zero and then we headed off to some other spots we had google earth'd. At last light Dave texted and said he was headed up from Denver. We checked a last spot and found a nice herd on the border of public/private. We marked them and headed back towards camp... until we saw a really great buck dip into a small draw off the road. We bailed out again and began a several hundred yard stalk up to the draw. As the terrain thinned out we knew he was going to be just beneath us. Boom- horns! There he was- the next man up got settled as we saw the buck turn broadside and trot off. We heard him alarm wheeze or whistle (whatever you want to call it) and we knew the gig was up. He made a brief stop and got flattened by my friend, shooting a family heirloom .270. We admired his buck which, to us uninitiated pronghorn hunters seemed to be a good bit larger than the ones we had seen and definitely bigger than my buck. Well, he just got scored and before drying he netted 80 6/8"!!! Saturday picked up where Friday left off- We got on several bucks early but couldn't get good stalks set up. Finally, I glassed up a super tall buck who was narrow and unmistakeable. After a great (and long stalk) Dave connected on this superb goat. The length on this goat was awesome and he grossed out in the mid 70s! We were feeling good about ourselves but we knew we needed another buck. We were having a great time but we all wanted the guys who had traveled across country to fill their tags!! I headed out with my buddy while Dave skinned his buck. We found a great wide, forward leaning buck but he spooked across onto private before we could make a play. Then- as we drove over a crest, tucked behind a hillside, almost invisible from the road was a buck bedded with does. Knowing that this had been a recipe for success so far we stopped. Checked our topo and made a plan. I got to crawl in with my buddy as he navigated to this unseen herd. I expected us to pop up about 300 yards off... but he got to within 80 yards before cresting the hill!! The antelope were now milling around feeding and headed off to our right. At 156 yards my buddy got the shot profile he was looking for and absolutely stoned the buck. Making us 4/4 in less than 24 hours of hunting!! Just an amazing trip overall and something that I think we see ourselves doing again the future!!

Droptine buck I was fortunate to take in 2015!

2015 buck from Montana. 35 wide with a 12.5 in drop.

Good news good news! 11 years ago I started this thread and I'm happy to say that it has come to an end. 2 weeks ago while buying some antlers off a man from Cottonwood I immediately recognized a set of muley antlers in the pile. I pulled them out and recognized them within seconds. I looked at him and said where in the heck did you get these?! He told me about buying them off a man from Camp Verde about 5 or 6 years ago. I then told him how they were stolen from my friends cabin and how the cabin had been vandalized so bad. I called my friend Ed immediately and told him that I had his Utah muley. He couldn't believe it!! Yesterday I met him and gave them back to him. Needless to say he was very very happy! Josh

Sorry I haven't gotten back to you, those spots still open next weekend? Looks taste, must be one of them deals where you tong kicks the shxt out of your forehead getting all the flavor off your lips.. Old saying

Cheers!!!

So many underestimate a well placed 243. Nice shooting!I wonder if that shot would be different exactly the same but at 200 yards. Pretty impressive to see a cow drop like that with a 243. Makes me think it was the perfect distance for proper expansion for that bullet. I have killed muleys at many different distances with a 243 either 100 or 80 grain bullet. Usually just 1 bullet hole.

Haven't kept up with the thread lately but here is the buck I killed in November with a small drop tine

Killed this guy last year. Not the biggest buck I have killed but definitely the coolest one. He ended up scoring 168 but only because of his 8 inch drop tine. Earlier that year while scouting I saw another buck in velvet with a drop tine but only saw him once. I am pretty sure it could be that same buck koury just posted a picture of. The drop was angled like that and I know they hunt that same area.