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Thomas was able to take his 3rd cow in as many years on opening morning. We were able to spot a group of elk within just a few minutes of glassing about 800 yards away. After closing the distance to 333 yards, crawling the last 10 yards, we were able to get into a shooting position. We couldn't lay prone or use a pack. Our only option was to take a standing shot because we were in some thick Manzanita. We set up the 6.5 Creedmore on a tripod using a triclaps and shooting sticks to get rock solid. Boom cow down at 7am opening morning. Big thanks to Thomas's uncle Adam aka BigBrowns for helping out with this hunt. Very blessed to have some great hunting buddies.

So when it came time to put in, my oldest son told me he wanted to put in for archery bull this year. I was not surprised after being successful during his archery antelope hunt last year. Results came out and sure enough his luck continued with his first ever archery bull tag! And to top it off he was issued the last tag in the unit. After a few scouting trips, plans were made. My cousin was able to provide me with sightings of some elk, as well as some sightings by a couple friends. Things started off very slow with no rut activity being seen. As the hunt went on, we had a close call with a great bull, but it just did not seem to be in the cards that day. As the hunt went on I was truly inspired by his dedication and never quit attitude. With every missed opportunity, he just seemed to be that much more driven to get it done. We went several days with not so much as a sighting of an elk. After his last weekend, his mom and I agreed to let him miss two days of school, so he could finish off his hunt, with the understanding that he would make arrangements to get his assignments he would miss ahead of time. His reply, “done”. We headed out for the last two days. The morning of day one, 10 minutes into glassing a bull was spotted with a single cow. We made the move. Swing and a miss! Back to glassing. Found another bull with two cows, off we went! With a little help from the wind, we were able to get to within 62 yards of the bull as he was bedded down with his cows. Then the waiting game. We could not go any further due to the position of the cows. After about 45 minutes, we were busted by one of the cows. The bull stood up, and he let the arrow fly, as the arrow impacted, elk exploded in every direction! The two cows we originally saw turned into twenty in an instant. Gage told me he thought he had shot over the bull. I was able to get a quick look through my 10’s as the bull was leaving. I could make out blood coming from his mouth. I reassured him it was a hit, and what I believed to be a good one. We walked back to where we had dropped our packs, a quick scan showed the bull was down in a flat. After some phone calls to some very close friends for help, we took some quick pictures. We started on field dressing and breaking the bull down to get him out of the sun as fast as we could. Great ending to an even greater hunt!

thanks eddie. Chapter 2. so the reason i am on this hunt is my father in law is doing work for the guy that owns this big ranch and has landowner tags. we did this same hunt last year and my father in law never even had a chance at an elk. going into day 4 of this year it was the same story. last night we went out fir the evening hunt and I was able to call a bull into 80 yds right before dark. he took what he said qas a good shot but there was zero sign. we went back this morning and after a thorough search were confident he missed. after searching we heard a few clise by bugles at decided to give chase. we got between 2 bulls and set up. i called fie not more than 2 minutes and one bull came in hard. our guide stopped him with a chirp and father in law dropped him in his tracks with one shot at 53 yds. first elk for him and solid redemption for blanking last year. i was so happy to be a part of it. very cool looking elk. wild jacked up genetics up here.

Sucks that it happened but that’s pretty cool to hear you got it knocked out. Those boys learned some stuff that night, not just how to change out an inter cooler in a Walmart parking lot, but that giving up when life gives you a little crap isn’t the answer. They learned to figure out what the problem is, how to fix it quick and keep on going. I’d say honestly 90% of the guys in here, myself included would have punted on a day or so of the trip and turned around and waited for the next day and headed up a couple days later. Kudos to you for pushing on and teaching your boys to do the same!

we got a call Yesterday from her 1st time we talked since the initial Hostage call they make when they arrive at boot camp. she completed the Crucible sat. in 11 weeks Ive seen a chin a nose or forhead in pictures and wasnt sure it was her. today this was sent to me via txt. we go to her graduation next week and bring her home for 10 days. Final Drill picture this afternoon. went from this to this.

It's been a lot of years trying in NM and a couple in AZ and I finally managed an archery coues. my first velvet buck as well. I went In for a few days opening weekend and saw a lot of bucks, even had a few spikes and does in range but nothing I could justify shooting. When I got a few days off my girlfriend encouraged me to go back in. I saw a lot of deer but still got my but kicked for about 3 days in the back country. The last day I decided to take it easy, slept in, dried my gear out by the fire for a few hours, struck camp and started hiking out around 9 or 10. I wanted to stop and do a little glassing on the way out but before I could even get to my ridge I spotted a nice buck across the canyon from me. I tried to slide off of a steep hill to cut him off in the bottom but before I made it far a train of about 8 horse riders came down the trail between him and I. Naturally he ghosted, a few does ran out the far side and I gave up. I decided to drop down under cover of their commotion, hit the bottom and slowly worked my way up canyon expecting nothing but still moving slow and quiet just in case. Sure enough despite the riders he had kept right along his line and I spotted him in the bottom. I was able to connect a shot at 33 and had him out in a few hours. beat the heck out of packing an elk out! looks like it wont let me upload a file. I'll try to get a pic in a follow up

I was very lucky to be able to get this awesome buck. Got lots of good pictures of him as he grew. Scored 130 0/8 with the 2% velvet deduction he was 127 3/8.

All day in a treestand is tough.. thankfully this guy and a buddy showed up around 3 on Saturday. Came into water at 32 yards, 100 grain montec to the heart and he was dead 50 yards later. He needed about two weeks to finish off and he might’ve broke the 100” mark but I’m happy nonetheless.

Splendid, , don't worry Adam. I have a couple grand kids coming of age. Did he get her in the old go to spot?

You can read 10 articles and get half and half opinions. Just stating what my research and method is.

Agreed it will be a sad day when he can't do this hunt anymore.

We had a great time yesterday. Gret job Thomas!! I'm gonna be really sad when Thomas turns 18, because I really look forward to this hunt. These Jr cow hunts have become my favorite hunt of the year!

Brass dissipates heat so fast, there is no need to quench. Just adds time to your prep to dry it thoroughly inside and out afterwards. Quenching is for hardening/tempering, and brass doesn't temper. I use the MAP gas torch and deep socket method as well. Done about 30k rounds that way. Depending on brass and cartridge, anywhere from 3-6 seconds per case. There is not set amount of time for every case. I am north central Phoenix area, but if you need help, let me know. I can knock them out for you fairly quickly.

100 miles back roads?? That means your spending to much time on the road. Get out and listen, and hike away from roads.

Missed the hooves, had to go back.

Spent shell casings and some ELK HOOVES in the second pic!! 🤣 Now let's see it!!!

So eating at the “flying V” isn’t a code for something.......?

I have to send out a special THANK YOU to Explorer! We had been hunting for a few days on the youth hunt and having a hard time finding a buck. We were hiking the hills hard, glassing, and seeing a few does here and there, but struggling in an a hunt area that we were very unfamiliar with. We went to town for gas and I happened to take a look a the Coueswhitetail.com youth posts and saw Explorer's post. He mentioned contacting him if we were having a tough time, so I did. Wow! I can't tell you how glad we were to hear from him. He told us to try out an area where he saw quite a few deer. Our hunt went from famon to feast in one afternoon! Thanks Explorer for helping us out on this hunt. My boy turns 12 today and we couldn't ask for a better birthday present! Thanks Coueswhitetail.com for providing a platform for hunters to help each other out!

your barrel will last longer if you don't let it get hot. I would probably shoot the gun and wait a bit before the next shot. .....or maybe shoot a round of 3 and let the gun cool completely. My top secret method is to bring so many guns to shoot that you always have something to shoot while your barrel burner rifle is cooling down. Here is my advice. Shoot the gun. Find your load and just have fun with the gun. So after awhile your gun starts to loose some accuracy. So what, get another barrel (that is probably an upgrade) and do it all over again. You will honestly spend more money on ammo than you will on the cost of the barrel.......but nobody ever talks about the $1,500.00 - $2,000.00 they are going to spend on ammo to burn a barrel out. Barrel replacement is just another part of the cost of busting primers. BURN IT DOWN!!!!!!!!!!

My friend Steven drew an archery antelope tag in New Mexico so we spent the whole summer shooting and getting prepared for the fall, his focus on goats and mine on coues. His hunt went very well and he killed a buck opening day at 10:30am, which left me a few weeks to get ready for the early archery deer here in AZ. Opening morning came and I had two forks at 38 yards when I stood up from my glassing spot, but it was only an hour into the hunt and I wanted to keep glassing. Ended up putting one stalk on a bedded buck that morning but he caught my wind once I got within 40, from there it was sitting water. That evening was short on bucks at the water but I was happy to at least have seen a handful of deer, this was also the first time I've sat water for any longer than an hour. Next day I hiked into a new basin and was glassing above a tank that was 500 yards below me. After seeing a few groups of small bucks I found a 3x3 leaving the water hole below me and another heading towards the water. My buddy John and I gathered our stuff and ran down to the tank. We set up our stools between some bushes and sat for 20 min, and in that time had a 2 point and some does come drink. we quickly began building a brush blind and does were coming in while we were doing so. John Decided to go sit a different water for the rest of the day and left. Not long after he'd gone, I look to my far left at 52 yards away were the 3x3 I saw coming down and his buddy. I draw and realize I didn't trim the blind out well enough on this far left side. At full draw I begin to stand and lean out of the brush to get a clear shot. I shot and the buck turned away from the shot and I watched the arrow skip off the dirt behind where his shoulder was, all I could do was laugh. Ending up seeing over 30 deer that day on water but no bucks bigger than what I missed that morning. The next weekend we went to check out a spring we used to hunt around a lot. Had some deer come in but the most excitement came from my first run in with chiggers. Next day we stayed low enough to evade the chiggers and ending up finding a big 3x2 crabclaw coues with a fork muley buck and 6 mule deer does, the stalk was on. I got to some rocks and cut the deer off moving up the drainage. watched as they filed through, coues buck at the back. Ranged a barrel cactus they all walked by at 88, set my sight for 85 and when the buck walked into the gap I was already drawn back and gave him a grunt. Shot felt good and I watched the arrow impact his shoulder (sounded like i shot a wet brick wall) and he did a mule kick before running off. I watched him run for a ways and pulled back to watch him in the glass from the original glassing spot. Went to the last spot we saw him after waiting an hour and tracked blood for over a half mile before we lost it. I saw that my arrow didn't get much penetration, I had pushed the shot just a touch right and hit bone just an inch or two forward from a heart shot. Spent the next day looking for him and watching for birds but found nothing. My hopes were that he recovered and is still out hustling muley does from the muley bucks. Now the final weekend of the early season and I had returned to the hill I started the season on while John was nearby sitting. I glassed 4-3x3s a ways out before the sun had come up, the bucks were determined to not let the sun hit them directly. I watched as they worked down into a canyon as the shade line chased them. One buck was 90+ and other others not much smaller. John wanted to get up and move around so we could maybe see them but I told him to stay sitting while I glassed another hour, hoping to find a bigger buck. Didn't find anything bigger so I circled around to the north, hoping I would have a good perspective of the canyon and possibly catch the bucks feeding on the north slope. I made a rookie mistake and peaked over the hill then quickly set my glasses up, only to find the largest of the bucks 250 yards straight across and hes already got eyes on me. He slowly worked over the hill and I thought he had gone over for good. I continued glassing while John made his way over, and found another one of the 3x3s I had seen earlier. Once john got there, i acted quickly because I liked where the buck was located and felt confident I could make something happen. I dropped into the wash and followed it down until I was able to peek around the corner to see the tree the buck had bedded under. I ranged at 150 yards. I backed up and began crawling up the side hill, hoping to get to some rocks above me. I get to the top of the hill and to my surprise the buck is up and next to him is another 3x3 that appeared from thin air. I realize I had busted a doe and she got the bucks up from their slumber. I look at the two bucks and decide the new buck is bigger. I get to a good shooting position and range him at 88, with no way of getting closer without exposing myself I set my sight and start judging the wind. I sat on my knees and began to calm myself down. After a minute or so I felt focused and relaxed. Shot broke cleanly and arrow went right where I intended it and he was down in seconds and went 20 yards. Right after I shot, that bigger 3x3 that ran over the hill must have come back over and he spooked less than 50 yards from me, I never even bothered looking that direction during the stalk, figured he was gone! Oh well hahaha John got to watch it all go down from a few hundred yards away. He's been my archery mentor so it felt good to show him how much he's taught me. I reminded him that I likely wouldn't be out there sweating my butt off, dodging snakes and dodging lightning strikes just to be chasing coues with a bow if it weren't for him taking me under his wing. He's a beautiful buck and I couldn't have dreamed of a better coues to take with a bow. And to kill him by spot and stalk made it even that much sweeter. Archery coues has been my goal for the past few years and it felt awesome to get it done after all the work that was put in over those years. I was blessed to get him on my 7th day of early season deer hunting and couldn't be happier with the outcome. Yes this was long winded but that's just how I do it on here, thanks for reading This is the buck that busted me then came back over just to do it again My buck Trusty Outdoorsmans pack going on year 7 loaded up with my bucks head and boned meat

When I first got this buck on camera early in July I knew he had a messed up right side. I really didn’t think he would be much of a buck. Didn’t really give him much thought. Beginning of August he was starting to look better but still not interested in hunting him. By the end of August I decided he was the buck I wanted. Problem was he was in low mesquite county and no real place to glass him up. I knew I would have to sit a blind on water. Opening morning I went to my blind at daylight at 10:15 I was standing up stretching and he walked in 20 yards away. As I sat down and grabbed my bow he winded me and left. 2nd and 3rd day sat all day he never came in . I was burned out sitting in that heat in a blind. I decided to let him sit and check my camera in a few days to see if he returned. He finally returned 7 days after he winded me. I sat day 8-9 with no luck. On Labor Day I decided to hang out with the family and sit the blind the next 2 days. That evening on Labor Day I went in to adjust my seat in my blind. That way everything would be ready for the next 2 days. As I was walking into the blind as soon as I saw the water tank I was shocked he was getting water. A small buck with him heard me and ran a few yards then stopped. I ranged the big buck he was 62 yards. I sat down in the grass and he went back to drinking. I drew back stood up I knew this would probably be my last chance since last time I spooked him he disappeared 7 days. I put my 60 high and let it go. Arrow hit a little high but hit the spine and he dropped. I guessed him to be 115-118 but was very happy once I walked up on him he was bigger than I thought. Hardest part was sitting in a blind daylight tell dark in 105 temperatures.

Hi folks, and I wanted to share my first hunt with you all. I’m in Phoenix Arizona, and on Friday I took my first deer on opening day., and it was a Coues Deer. My buddy Jason who was my guide and really knowledgeable with hunting with a bow and a gun. We sat in a blind from 4:30am until 7:15 pm when I took my shot at 40 yards with my PSE Evolve bow, after the hit it walked 50 yards and laid down under a tree. We were in Unit 22 hunting over water, and if your in Phx, you know we have had very little water this summer. It was a long day with temperatures at 103’ and even hotter in the ground blind. I’m 59 in age and it was a long day, but oh my was it worth it. I couldn’t be happier

My wife has a lot of patience. There have been seasons logging over 60 hours in a stand, and she usually gets lucky. This season, she did it in 1. Hopefully some of that luck rubs off on me next week.

God is good!!! The first few trips out this hunting season were less than stellar in productivity, but I was able to enjoy the country I was in and the company I had on every trip out. Yesterday evening after getting off work at 2:15pm my buddy Brad and I hit the sticks for an evening hunt. God blessed me with great company and very good help as well as a nice archery coues deer. Thank you brad for all of your help it is very appreciated!!! Hadn’t chased coues in over 10 years since I had moved away from Tucson and couldn’t be happier with getting this buck my first few months back.