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Last year, Bubba was skunked for both deer and Javlina. Because his sister has take a few animals, he really wanted to enjoy some success this year. We started glassing at 6:20 AM and almost immediately, he spotted a group of 4 bucks. We watched them work their way closer to us for almost an hour. It looked like 528 yards was as close as they were going to get. I had the boy get prone, We dialed the scope on his heavy barreled .243 up to 525. First shot was a miss (high). Second was a hit, but the deer was still up. It took two more shots and the deer went down for good. We had to cross a steep and thick wash to get to the animal. I was really wishing I had another person to keep an eye on the spot that the deer went down and guide us to it. When we got to where I though we should be, nothing. We spent 90 minutes searching for the deer. It was Bubba that found the first sign of blood. Once we were on the blood trail, we found the buck 15 yards up the hill. The original spot where i thought we should be looking was over 150 yards away. We managed to get the boned out meat and head back to the truck by 1:00. I am so proud of my son, for keeping calm while shooting at a live animal. He has practiced on milk jugs out that far, but never an animal. I am also proud of how he did not show any frustration when searching all over for a downed deer that seemed to disappear (at least not as much frustration as I was showing!) And finally, I realize that I need to get my plump fanny into better shape If I want to continue to hunt with him as he gets older.... I am exhausted!

Yes, diplomacy would definitely stop 2 groups that have been fighting for a thousand years.

Hey All, Forum member Darren Freestone has put together another great Coues Buck Calendar for us! The calendars feature excellent photos of Coues Bucks for each month. And they have moon phases as well as the date that hunt applications are due for Arizona. If you are interested in getting one, they are available in the CWT store. I only have a limited quantity, so if you want one, better jump on it soon. Calendars are $20 plus shipping. My cell phone pics of the calendar pages are a little fuzzy, but the calendar looks great and is well printed. http://store.coueswhitetail.com/coues-bucks-of-arizona-calendar-by-darren-freestone/

What planet r u on? His approval ratings are going up even with this fake impeachment crap. He's keeping campaign promises and could do a lot more were it not for Rinos and a communist Congress. Conservative judges are being appointed. Tax reform has led to the hottest economy in your lifetime. Industries are moving back to the USA. I heard yesterday there is more industrial space under construction than ever in AZ history. The EPA has been hamstrung. Trade deals that favor the US for a change are being signed and China will be forced to play fair. The usmca is ready to be ratified but the Dems don't want to bring it to a vote. They'd rather have the US lose than Trump win.

My wife and I took our two oldest girls out this weekend for their deer hunt. My oldest is 13 now and in the past has had some very unfortunate luck when it comes to deer hunts. Thankfully this year it all came together for her and she was able to take this awesome buck at 348 yards. The weekend before I set up our steel target at 350 yards for them because to me that's about the distance most coues hunts come together, and wouldn't you know that would be the distance that this buck stood up and was feeding in front of us. Mama and I were pretty stoked for her and she was about as excited as a 13 year old gets over things these days! Those smiles say it all.

Cow down last night! Hopefully another tonight.

This was my son's second youth tag in SE Arizona. Last year was a 34A tag and he fell in love with chasing Coues. He opted for 35A this year because a good friend of ours who took us out last year knows 35A much better and Jacob really likes our friend. Learning from last year, we practiced out to 300 yards with his new scope on his Savage 111 youth in 7mm-08. With my supervision, Jacob has put together all of his own loads for this rifle, using Barnes 140 gr TTSX. We hunted hard Friday in the heat. We saw 36 does, 12 fawns, and four bucks, including an absolute monster Coues buck. It didn't work for that buck due to distance from us with a ton of open ground between us, private property nearby, and then busting him out of an unexpected area on our way to another distant buck. That second buck didn't work out either, and Jacob learned why they are called "The Grey Ghost". I earned "Dad of the Year" award during our lunch break when we realized the fuel canister for my Jet Boil had about 10 seconds of fuel in it. I offered him my semi-warm MRE to be fair, but Jacob opted to eat his Mountain House spaghetti cold, and ended up liking it. We hiked a little over four miles in the heat and not so rolling hills of SE Arizona yesterday. Jacob carried all of his own gear this year and switched with me when I carried his rifle to give him a needed break. He carried the heaviest pack he's ever carried and never once complained. He's the type of kid that has to dance around in the shower to get wet, but he's tough as nails. Proud is an understatement. Saturday morning was harder to get up, but we did it because you can't fill a tag laying in bed. We switched gears and went to a spot known to hold bigger bucks, but not as many overall deer. I've been sworn to secrecy, so I can't say where we went. As we were approaching our first glassing spot, we noticed two white tails flagging up and over the ridge across from us. The lead buck was another brute. We quickly set up and started glassing while Jacob got his rifle set in the Triclawps. Within 10 minutes, we had two bucks feeding across from us at 315 yards. We were as close as we could get, so I looked at Jacob and asked him how comfortable he was. The calm confidence he responded with told me everything I needed to hear. Of course, the bucks went behind the treea dns started feeding away from us and down into the next ravine. We watched them come back out and started ranging them. Jacob was waiting patiently behind his rifle. When the bucks finally presented a shot, they were closer to 375 yards. I gave him the shooting solution, he adjusted his turret like a pro, and he settled in to wait for the opportunity for a clean, clear shot. I'm extremely thankful for Lance talking me into downloading and setting up the Shooter app. You rock, Lance! As the bucks were moving, our good friend and mentor took over coaching Jacob and I knew instantly he was in good hands and didn't need me beyond calling turret corrections and spotting the shot. Through his Taekwondo journey, I've learned to let go as a dad and trust in him and others to keep him on track. As soon as the bigger buck opened up and presented a broadside shot, Jacob hit him hard, but not hard enough. Our friend coached him on what to do when the buck stood back up. When the follow up shot presented itself, he remained extremely calm and sent the finishing round back out to 375 yards before we were ready. I was fumbling with my range finder to see if Jacob needed to change his turrets. He knew what was needed and didn't hesitate. Fortunately, I was able to jump back behind my 15s at the shot and watch the buck roll down the slope perfectly into a tree. If not for that, I'm not sure we would have found the buck. Jacob showed amazing control, composure, and (most importantly), confidence. My friend and I are impressed and proud beyond words. It took forever for the buck to finally die. We'd watch it twitch its tail and kick its leg and then be still for 5 minutes. Every time we thought it was dead, it would twitch its tail! After 12 minutes of not moving, we figured it was dead and formed our recovery plan. We had to hike across to the point where the buck was down, which was no easy task, either. Our friend stayed put and kept eyes on the deer while we got above it to see if another shot was necessary. Five minutes of staring at the spot with no movement told me everything we needed. The steepness of that slope is not justified in the pictures, but I'm thankful the hike back to the truck was downhill. After pictures and gutless field dressing, my friend and I split the deer between the two of us, and Jacob carried the head. Going out heavy is an amazing feeling and Jacob, although tired and sore, showed the world and, most importantly, himself exactly what he is made of at 11 years old. And, yes, we should have had orange on Jacob, but he forgot his hat and was walking between us, so we were comfortable that nobody would do anything stupid. On top of that, this area really only has one ingress/egress, so we weren't worried about other hunters in the area. Jacob says now he's only hunting Coues in SE Arizona, although he may try a carp deer once just to say he's done it! What have we created?? And, of course, we had to hit the DQ in Eloy on our way home after an unplanned potty stop! We also need to give a HUGE shout out to azlinetrash769. He helped us with the Triclawps that Jacob used, which helped him extend his range and keep steady. Jeff, you are truly a wonderful person and we are blessed! Now for his 24-hour black belt test this Friday/Saturday. I hope to see some of you there if you're in Flagstaff! Jacob watched so many parallels from this hunt as they apply to his upcoming black belt test. He's stronger than he realizes and integrity and perseverance are everything! And sorry for the upside down pics. I don't know why some come out that way and the others are right how they're supposed to be.

I’m as much of a republican as the next guy, I just can’t believe the blinders some guys have about Trump. He hasn’t done a single thing he’s promised to do, he’s the only president in history to ever flat out ban a gun part and require it to be destroyed, and yet he seems infallible to a lot of people. I’d love to not have to vote third party this coming year but unless he gets impeached and we get a different candidate to vote for I don’t think a lot of right leaners will have a choice.

We had such a great time on my son's first big game hunt. The youth camp was AMAZING. Everyone was so nice. They were so willing to donate their time to help all the youth have a successful hunt and the food was delicious. My dad was able to go with us on this hunt but he is used to hunting near Flagstaff in the pines so this was very different for him. Opening day we went out by ourselves just to see what we could do. We got a few pointers from the people at camp on where to start. My dad was not used to glassing he is used to hiking with little glassing. In 22 it was all about glassing and little hiking. We saw a couple white tail doe but nothing else. Day 2 we decided to have a mentor go with us. (He was amazing!) We were able to get on a couple bucks in the morning but they were already being stocked by two other hunters but we waited to see if they would come our way. The two othere hunters missed 6-7 times before the deer even ran the opposite way. Others are missing left and right. My son was getting discouraged because he couldn't even get a shot. I gave him a pep talk and he was ready again. Sunday was the last day we had our mentor. Same thing happened we glasses a buck and by the time we were ready to stock someone was already shooting at him and missed. We went back to camp dropped our mentor off ( he had to get back home) and grabbed a quick bite. We went back out by this time it was HOT we knew they would not be moving around so our best bet was to hike and jump one. We walked a couple miles up and down ridges and were heading back to the truck when a velvet spike jumped out of nowhere. We got my son set up on his shooting sticks by this time the buck was on the other side a ridge and moving fast my dad whistled and it stopped and looked. My son said "I have a shot" we told him to take it. 300 yards away, 1 shot dropped him where he stood. I was so proud of him. I am grateful my dad was able to be there and to pack that deer out a mile back to the truck 😜. I am grateful to our mentor and wish he could have been there to see it and i thankful for everone at camp that helped with whatever they needed. Now we are in Flagstaff helping my other son fill his cow tag.

Like I said crazy is a deep hole to slide into but if Jeffrey Dahmer was my next door neighbor I sure as heal hope the law steps in and knocks his doors down, takes his methodology away and then prosecutes the life right out of him!!! I hated Trump before he was elected, never have cared for his personality or demeanor, but I have liked him as a president compared to Bush or Bummer! The economy that has gotten hot is his strongest positive.............

i know the feeling im trying to get rid of a bunch of stuff so it easyer to moove and i keep runing across stuff i want

this will age well.

What is funny....if he sends troops off to war he's a war monger.....if he calls them off he doesn't care about the people getting bombed......

Either of these Docter's are some great glass for the money. My hunting buddy would still be using his if he hadn't decided to put them on a yard-sale tri-pod. Good luck.

Hoghntr, It’s actually nice! I like it but I have two 9mm and a 40 that are a bit lighter. theres a guy that responded yesterday almost immediately so I’d have to post SPF thanks though stud

good good, more perpetual war. thats what we need....

Sweet. Congrats. Thx for the early text. Hes hooked now

Pond jumping is fun! I like to quail hunt and bring some 3” ducks loads too! I hunt with no tox for quail when I’m going for mixed bag, so there is no potential for a ticket!

Opening morning, I had a great hunt. Saturday, I had to deal with ameatuer hour across the lake. A guy in a silver john boat cut the bird flight path off my spot and was skyblasting. The joys of public land hunting 😫

We had a good day considering we are not real duck hunters. We got 9 ducks and 2 geese. Took a lot of walking and a lot of paddling the canoe, but it was fun how did everyone else do?

Excellent! Congratulations!

I've been watching lots quail "families" over the last couple of months. Definitely way more than last year. I'm in the far southeast valley in farm areas, might be different elsewhere.

Thanks to azbirdhunter88 and his girlfriend Annie for taking me down south for my first experience in that beautiful country. It was awesome to see snow on the mountains and all that grass! We ended up seeing coyotes, a fox, coues and mulies, speed goats, and a javi during the trip. Saturday we met up with a couple other forum members (Will and his dog Colt, Bruce and his son Liam) who were also 1st timers with the Montezuma quail. We put in a full day of hiking but only scratched out two birds pretty early in the morning. The crusty snow early in the morning opened up some healing wounds on my shorthairs feet at it really slowed him down during the weekend. We ditched the original the idea of camping and grabbed rooms in Patagonia, which helped us recharge. I was also able to get ahold of a friend who guides for quail down there. He GENEROUSLY pointed us to one of his honey holes so the game plan for Sunday was set. We got to the steep draw on Sunday and on the way down toward the bottom the dogs put up the first covey of birds. We ended up covering only a couple miles-mind you it was some brutal terrain, and by 10:30am we were on our way out with enough birds to be very happy. We could've easily scratched a limit, but that's not what its about. We had some unbelievable points on the hard-holding birds that ended with explosive in-your-face covey rises. Kenny's shorthair Maggie did a outstanding job, whereas even though my shorthair JJ got a couple points and retrieves, it didn't seem like he could smell the birds very well for some reason. Hopefully will get to chase them once more before the season ends, and after my ankles stop screaming. Simmered the breasts and thighs+legs in butter, garlic, lemon and seasonings with some morel mushrooms I had in the freezer, then made that into an alfredo sauce. Simmered for another half hour and served over al dente fettuccine. The older birds' legs were tendony like a pheasant, but the younger birds' were very tender!

Too hot for me and the dogs this time of year. I don't know why the season starts so early. That being said I have shot quite a few AZ. CHUKARS through the years. They are my favorite bird to hunt but I usually go out of state.