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Elton Bingham was born on February 19, 1904 in Milton Wisconsin. The son of hard working dairy and hog farmers, he grew up with a love of the land and the soil and the bounties that it could provide. Today it would be hard to imagine but until the late 1960's very few deer could be found in that part of the state and as a boy and into his adult life he always cherished the annual trips to deer camp in northern Wisconsin. When old enough my father accompanied him and I grew up listening to the stories of deer camp. kangaroo court was held each evening and punishment was dealt out accordingly. If you missed a doe the tail of your hunting shirt was cut off, a buck and you lost a sleeve. Bad shots, forgetting your knife and a myriad of other events were also punishable offenses and it was not uncommon for some participants to be wearing only a collar by the end of the hunt. Elton Bingham carried a model 14, .30 Remington pump gun that he traded farm work for in 1920. Basically a rimless 30-30 that was Remington's answer to the lever guns so common of that time period. In Elton's hands it was the nemesis of many, many deer in the Wisconsin woods. I remember as a grade schooler getting to shoot it once at a fence post with a corn field back drop, admiring the spiral magazine and thinking it was the coolest thing in the world. Eventually it made it's way to Arizona when my father brought it back after a visit. At 9500 feet the air was thin and I stopped on the incline to catch my breath and look for awhile. I thought of my Grandpa rushing into the barn and driving out the cows and horse teams as they succumbed to silo gas. He suffered severe lung damage but men were men and to lose the farm was unacceptable, to claim bankruptcy would be worse. Looking down at his rifle and the worn bluing at it's balance point and knowing that because of him my hands were now where his had been was almost surreal. In the thick aspens I knew that this was as close as I would ever come to hunting whitetails in a Wisconsin cranberry swamp. As close to my Grandpa as I had ever felt. Elton and Constance Bingham 1930

Nice job by AZGFD, ADBSS and volunteers relocating some sheep to an area where they once roamed.

Well short story. Hunted three hard days. One missed shot opportunity. Had to work 2 days. Watching the clock waiting for the time to get back to my glassing spot. Hoping for redemption. Finally Wednesday morning came and 10 minutes into glassing turned up 3 coues bucks feeding with 2 muley bucks. Range 255. One shot later from the Savage 7MM and patiently/impatiently waiting to make my way across the canyon to retrieve him. Not my biggest coues but a tough fun hunt. One heck of a pack out of the canyon. Big thanks to Josh for dropping everything and helping me with the pack out. Well I just bought a new truck and was waiting to get back on the board with my second coues deer. Does anyone on here know where I can get a coueswhitetail window decal. Thanks.

I would first like to start off by thanking everybody for the wealth of knowledge that is shared on this site. I have been a member here for about a year and have just got around to posting my story. I read these forums daily as I have become completely obsessed with chasing the "little ghost" known as Coues Whitetail. I have become so invested in learning about and chasing these deer, sometimes my wife thinks I'm crazy. I have done hours upon hours of research to figure out an advantage, if any, over these sneaky critters. I have many more failures than I have had success in 3 years of hunting in Arizona, but have learned more than I could have ever imagined. I have hunted almost every season since I was 11 years old, only missing seasons for being over seas. When I found out I was coming to Arizona I was thrilled to start a new chapter in my hunting career. I quickly found out that hunting in this state is like nothing I have ever done before in my life. My first season was an OTC hunt in January. My game plan was to sit off of deer travel areas and hunt ambush style with my bow. At the time I was only confident out to 30-40 yards. I can say I busted more deer in that one season than I had ever before in my life. As the season went on, I was finally presented with a shot opportunity. I had a doe pass within 25 yards of me and had no idea I was there, following behind her was a nice 3x3. As the buck came into shooting distance I grunted with my mouth in order to stop him for a shot. Little did I know he wouldn't stop, but run completely out of the area. Completely confused, I searched for any video I could find on deer hunting in Arizona. That is when I learned about "glassing" for deer. I got myself a pair of 10s but lacked a tripod. I learned how to glass for deer by hand pretty quickly. As the season started to end I was presented with another shot this time at 50 yards. Needless to say I wasnt prepared and missed pretty badly. My first season in Arizona ended leaving a burning desire for success. During the off season I shot hundreds of arrows to prepare myself for longer shot opportunities. I became confident out to 65 yards very consistently. My obsession was growing more and more every day leading up to the next OTC hunt in August. I spent days looking for spots to set up and hunt. I stumbled upon a secluded watering hole with very little access. There was tons of deer sign everywhere in the area so I knew it would produce. As the season opened I fully committed myself to sitting the water. I spent countless hours on water without even seeing a single deer. The season ended much quicker than I would have liked, but it only made me work harder. The next season passed with the same outcome as the 2 prior. Fast forward to August/September 2017, I now am confident shooting well past 70 yards, I have a tripod and a pair of 15s, and have scouted and found bucks consistently. Opening day comes and I am not able to hunt because of work. The next day I'm out early and in my spot. Right after first light I glass up a group of bucks I have seen all summer long. I watched them and devised a plan to slip in within shooting range. I was able to stalk within 60 yards of the deer but was never presented a shot opportunity. My confidence is sky high at the point. A week goes by and have blown quite a few stalks. My wife being as great as she is wanted to come out and help me on my hunt. We were set up and in position to glass for the bucks I had seen numerous times at this point in the season. The words I SEE A BUCK!!! Coming out of my wife mouths filled me with excitement. We came up with a plan for her to keep an eye on the deer while I slipped into position. I got to 33 yards from this buck with only a tree separating him from me. As the buck walked out I was at full draw, I settled my pin and let my arrow fly. I heard a lot smack and the deer took off. After a few minutes passed I walked to where he was standing and found my arrow. My heart immediately sank as I didnt see a speck of blood on my arrow. Needless to say I missed. I took a long walk of shame back to where I had left my wife. We talked about what happened and I determined I rushed my shot. We got back on the glass. 15 minutes goes by and we see another group of bucks headed for an area where the wind and cover was in my advantage. I quickly got down and in front of where they were headed, a quick confirmation from my wife let me know they were still headed my way. I started ranging trees and found out the farthest shot I would have was 30 yards. No sooner did I clip my range finder to my harness the first buck stepped out right where I thought he would. He looked in my direction but I dont think he saw me. He put his head down and slowly started feeding, I slowly drew my bow and settled my pin, I verified my bubble was level and my pin was behind his shoulder. I sent my arrow flying hearing the solid thud of making contact. I watched as the buck ran 15 yards and fell over! I just harvested my first Coues, on the ground and with my bow. The amount of relief and pure joy that over came me was undescribable. He isnt the biggest buck in the world but he was my first spot and stalk deer in Arizona. I continued to hunt the following seasons with my bow without firing a single shot. I decided I would try my hand at rifle hunting. I was fortunate enough to pick up a November leftover tag. I got myself a rifle and started practicing every chance I got. I was very confident in my shooting ability leading up to the season opener. Opening day November 2018 has finally come. I found a good vantage point with plenty of deer activity. The canyon I was hunting in was much steeper than what I was used to bow hunting in. As the days of the season started to roll by, putting 15 hours a day in the mountains, a shot opportunity presented itself. A nice 3 point was feeding 400 yards across a small draw from where I was at. I ranged him at 410, and got myself set up for the shot. I plugged the numbers into my ballistic calculator and dialed my turret. I took my time and squeezed off a shot. I thought for sure I hit him good, but at the same time not sure if I had hit him at all. I worked my way to where he was and searched for blood, nothing. Completely beside myself I bailed off the mountain and headed straight to the range. I put paper at 100 yards only to find my zero had shifted 2 inches high and groups larger than an inch. At this point I realized I hadnt cleaned my rifle in a few range sessions, so I headed home, re-torqued all of my mounting screws to spec and cleaned my rifle. I took the afternoon off to let myself reset mentally. The next morning I was right back into the same canyon waiting for daylight. It was very still, with only the slightest breeze. As the sun started to rise I noticed 3 deer feeding. I immediately recognized 2 of the bucks from the morning before, I continued to search and eventually found the buck I had missed the morning before. He was about 300 yards above the other 2 smaller bucks. I ranged the bigger of the 2 smaller bucks at 297, he was slowly feeding on the hillside. I went through all of the same steps I had the morning prior. I watched him through the scope of my rifle waiting for him to stop, sure enough he did exactly that. I squeezed the shot and watched him drop, I racked another shell and kept my cross hairs on him, he stood back up slowly and I shot again, dropping him once more. I continued to watch him until he stopped moving completely. I called my wife to let her know what happened, she was excited and happy for me. I harvested my first rifle buck in Arizona, on day 4 of the season! Again not the biggest in the world but he is my first. Once again I would like to thank everyone for sharing their knowledge and helping me learn and understand what it takes to hunt in this great state!

My dad and I were able to get out for a few days last weekend. After starting off with a couple missed shots by my dad on Friday morning then not being able to keep an eye on a couple bucks we were able to glass up Friday afternoon. We headed to a different area Saturday saw lots of deer but no bucks. Sunday morning we hunted around camp i glasses up a bachelor herd of 7 bucks. We made a plan and started the climb up the mountain. My dad said since i found the deer i could get first shot so we split up thinking the bucks would go over the top after the shot. So i snuck into place when i got over there i couldn’t find the deer thinking i had gone to low. As i was getting ready to grab my stuff to back out and go higher a spike steps out so i stay put and get ready. After 4 spikes and forkies step out my buck presents himself and i shot. I watch him go down the deer stay put i call my dad and tell him to get over the top right away there’s a bigger buck! After what seemed like a hour but more like 5 minutes his buck was getting ready to top over. My dad tops the ridge and shoots his buck at 200 yards! It was awesome watching both bucks drop within 50 yards of each other!

Great rifle, has 300 rounds through it. Comes with full die set and brass. Rifle has a bell and Carlson mountain stock, PTG bolt and Shaw barrel. It has cerakoted burnt bronze, with black bolt. Comes with Talley 30mm 1 piece rings/bases and a vortex hs-lr 4-16x44 looking for $1800. The only reason for the sell is I want 12x50 el’s and have plenty of guns. Located in Tucson.

Hung a tree stand thursday morning in 22S only to return later that afternoon only to hear quad hauling butt cross country from the pond we hung the stand on... we just missed them...took the stand and steps... tracked out the tire sign all the way to cabin in Thompson draw off the 405 road... Dont worry...revenge is a dish best served cold buddy!

Got it done last Fri afternoon on this bull. Made for a late night of packing. Small 5x5. Not the biggest on the mountain, but I'm pleased. Barnes 250 grain T-EZ and 100 grains of Triple 7.

Yes I am going to draw this out on you folks, no single sit down read thru and be done. You will get just enough to pique your interest but leave you wanting more with one post a day for each day of the hunt. I will give the 1st two in one big start post though. Each will be edited as it is easier to post pictures via tapatalk from my phone and text from my laptop... Photo's are not cooperating with my poor internet connection, i will get them added as soon as I have a real connection. Pre hunt Like anyone else that hunts out of their home state, the build up and prep is often longer than the actual hunt. Planning starts months in advance guessing at weather, gear needed, scanning maps for hunt locations and game plans. Working up a reliable accurate hunting load for your rifle. Changing options on the gun and verifying and re-verifying that they are good and how each change affects your point of impact. Making sure that your gun is dialed in and ready for the hunt. Packing, repacking, getting new gear from recommendations of others that have hunted the area and packing again. Realizing that there is no way on earth you are going to fit it into two checked and two carry on bags. Plus the fact that if you did you would have no room or ability to bring meat back without dropping serious coin on shipping meat overnight, or paying baggage fees ($75 with 50# limit). So that means finalizing the gear and shipping it early enough to get to your hunting partner in their hometown at least a week before the hunt begins so that they have time to load in their rigs for the drive to camp. It had everything in it except for one full set of hunting clothing, my primary glass and of course my weapon. Multiple sets of hunting clothes and options for expected weather, sleeping bag and pillow, kill kit, bags, backup bino's, spare rangefinder, radios, solar panel and batteries, etc, etc. With the hunt rapidly approaching I shipped my 45# box of gear down 3 weeks before the hunt. Whew, one thing done. Now on to pack the carry on's. T-2 Days to hunt I wake up at my normal 5am since it is a work day and realize the backpack with laptop and some gear in it is just too big to fit under an airline seat, and my hunting pack is already maxed out. I panic and try some reshuffling but to no avail. The only option is to ditch the second set of boots, I will have to hotlap the one pair on this desert hunt, Ohh goody! I arrive at SEA airport with my hunting pack, laptop backpack and rifle case @ 830am for the 11am flight to Phoenix. I go to the ticketing agent who gives me the proper firearm declaration forms and points me to the TSA area. TSA goes smooth, the agent was a nice guy who actually caught that the ticketing agent had not tagged my rifle case, so I had to boogy back over to get that done. The middle (biggest and busiest) security check point was closed with a line going all thru airport. I jammed down to A gate check point which was open and shorter line but still had a 45min wait to get thru. Waiting in the gate charging my phone and dreaming of Coues deer makes the time waiting to board fly by. We take off a few minutes late, but the flight was shorter than expected, either the pilot had a date tonight or the jetstream was in our favor We landed and I hustled off to baggage claim, then had to wait 30min for them to bring my case up a special elevator. I called Ben (step-dad) and he arrived shortly and we loaded my gear in the truck. I hopped in and we started heading south. After "quick" stops at In-n-out, his buddies house for a tent, and Sportsman's warehouse for my last tag, we left Tucson heading south! We get to camp around 8pm and have the privledge of setting up the tent by truck headlights before rolling out our sleeping bags a crashing out for the night. To be continued...

Woohoo 20A HAM showing today

One Stop Truck Shop, just off the freeway near airport, they are as honest as you get and do good work

When I look at pics of desert bucks from way back it makes me think maybe it’s better to walk and bust them out for a shot rather than glassing all day. Guess it just depends

If 2 hours behind optics hurts your eyes, you need better optics for western hunting. I spend 10+ hours behind glass most days scouting and hunting with no eye fatigue.

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.

T-1 day to hunt There is just nothing like sunrise in the desert, the day broke clear and bright, a good omen for the hunt to come. We started off the morning with a quick tour in the ranger (side by side utv). The first spot we sat in to scout is one that looks way out in "The basin", it is an area the group hunts every year and it always has deer in it. We settled in and at around 10am and saw 3 does out feeding. Def a good sign there were deer in the draw, but our spotting location was not a place we could shoot from (1000yrds) and, we saw no bucks. Weather was nice and clear, but "hot" The Desert rat I was hunting with thought it was perfect, but being a WA guy, the 77* and blazing sun was like walking in an oven and I was glad to sit in the shade of the Side by side for the ride out. We left that spot and ran back past camp and up into another spot much farther back. We spent a few hours there and glassed up more does in the afternoon. Great news they are up and they are moving outside of twilight hours, not so much luck that not a single buck was seen. We made our way back to camp and another member of the group had arrived. We spent the remainder of the afternoon setting up camp, then had dinner and relaxed by the campfire talking about the plans for the next morning. To be continued...

I bought a scope cover and that solved my problems.

I get my gas from the airport. Expensive but works great for all garden tools and 2 stroke stuff. No additive crap and a little lead added so don't use it in something with a catalytic converter. Works great and has a long shelf life!

IMG_0523.MP4 IMG_0524.MP4

The only pic I got. Time was of the essence. I'll have a cool Euro mount done by Authentic and a buffalo rug. That is the entrance wound on this side. See the horn that's broomed off. Not so easy to see, but she is laying in a nest of cats claw. I have a few new scratches.

First off, you are right. There was 10 tags issued for the late hunt and all are cow tags. Russ wasn't up there at the beginning of the hunt because he was helping a client fill a sheep tag and other lousy excuses. (just joking) On the opening day, there were 6 of us hunters and we tried to coordinate as if Russ was there. One of the hunters had a friend who has filled a tag on this hunt in the past and he was helpful in getting us organized for opening day. On opening day, I was designated an area in a pinch point. If buffalo were moving through the area, this area could be hot, but as it turned out, buffalo were not in that area. Nor were there any sightings in any of the areas that the other hunters sat that day, day 1. Others did some scouting on the first day and locations of fresh bison activity was discovered. One hunter tagged out on Saturday morning, day 2, based on information she found scouting the previous day. On the second day, I was recommended to go and sit an area that had a nice dirt tank and a pretty meadow. That is what I asked for. I wanted to make the time sitting the blind very enjoyable with just that type of setting. The problem is, I have never been in the Bab before this hunt and I did not have my GPS with me. I drove past my suggested area. By the time I realized my mistake for sure, I was quite a ways past that location. I decided to educate myself a bit and drive along an area with known recent bison activity. With a little scouting, I found a trick tank that had plenty of fresh bison sign. Russ already had a blind on the tank/ salt lick. I sat that blind for a 3 or 4 hours without anything coming in, but I knew this was the place for me. I decided to set my own blind up next to Russ's. With my own blind set, I can leave some stuff in my blind without having to carry all my stuff to and from the blind each day. One rule of Russ's blinds is that you do not leave anything behind when you leave that set each day. On day 3, I misjudged and parked about 3 miles from my blind sight as opposed to only 3/4 to 1 mile away. Took my old fat butt too long to get to the blind. I sat that blind all day and didn't see anything all day, BUT............BUT I heard bison moving around me. Their hooves sound like horses hooves as the buffalo moved along the gravel road. My blind location gave me a very limited view around me. All I can do is sit and wait. I remember Russ saying the worse thing you can do, is come bounding out of a blind and booger up the buffalo. He says to sit it out and wait for them to come to you. At the end of that day, I walked out while it was still light, because I had a long walk ahead of me. At a puddle, just about 200 yards from the blind, there were signs of mass chaos. The buffalo made big wallows in ash laden silty areas along both sides of the road. Right at the edge of the puddle were signs of some fighting, including some splatters of blood on the ground. Then I saw a horn that apparently was broken off in the fight. All this happened right outside my blind just 200 yards away while I sat in the blind. On day 4, I knew where to park my truck and I was totally set. I sat that blind all day, but it was much quieter than the day before. About an hour before dark, I could hear some noise coming from my left, the park side. Then a couple of bison came running in, fallowed by more and more bison. Soon, there were some 40 or 50 bison jammed together around the salt and trick tank. I was watching the bison trying to pick out a cow that was clear from the rest. I watched and waited for about 10 minutes. One big cow started moving away from the herd. I got a glimpse of utters, so there was no doubt it was a cow. She was big with a horn on one side broomed off about 2/3 gone, so I knew she was old. She didn't have a cow tagging along and her hide on her hump had some gray. She might have even been the lead cow. As she moved to my left, she was in line with the low sun such that I really couldn't make out her front legs. I aimed slightly back, as to avoid her elbow and squeezed off a shot from my 444 Marlin. She ran about 25 yards back towards the park and fell over in a cloud of dust. The herd lingered for a while as I waited in the blind. I did not want to booger them up any more so I waited about 10 minutes before I went to the cow. There was a huge bull that came in about 5 minutes after the first bison came in. This bull literally towered over all the other bison like Shaquile O'Neil. As impressive as he was I was looking for a clear shot at a cow so I didn't watch the bull for long. Two other hunters filled their tags on the same day. As it turned out, I ended up having to break her down by myself. That job beat me up, but I got her done. I was able to drive up to her so that made it easier. THE END

That’s is cool just showed the grandson he was mesmerized .

Very cool thx for sharing

One of the best stories/ write ups on this site in a long time. Thanks

1 species per year and permanent BP makes no sense mathematically or marketability. The draw is already too gimmicky. All but the top tier BP holders will ditch the gimmick after a couple years and the revenue will be very low. 13 bucks is way to low for a permanent BP, 100 bucks is more realistic but then becomes a game for haves and have nots. Back to money buys public resource. 1 BP per species for that year, I apply for deer, elk and antelope, that's 3 purchases as a customer instead of one, others apply for more species. 5 bucks per BP and that would be $15 every year, at 13 bucks it would be $36. I would be good with either or anywhere between, I can afford it to further education, a family may need it to be less and I'm good with that. It's a good idea but the parameters are totally wrong. Kent

Will any of this new revenue increase enforcement from the current one or two leo’s Per unit???