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It was a tough year to be a coues hunter... managed to scrape out a decent buck, thought I would share.

Had a good December hunt! After a couple years of tag soup we were overdue. Between work, travel, and family schedules our time was pretty limited to get out. Had a few good days with some good bucks spotted that didn’t present any shot opportunities and the warm weather didn’t help. These two had read the script and showed up at first light exactly where we had hoped to find deer. After we figured out our play and were moving closer, the herd of at least 12-15 topped out and moved onto the next ridge. Sneaking to the top to begin searching for the bucks, the herd had really spread out and all we could find were does everywhere. Finally spotted one of the bucks way down low and started setting up for the 260yd shot. My buddy spotted the other buck and we decided which one looked better and presented the best shot. Boom…dropped right there. The second buck didn’t even move after the shot and gave us time to get set up for another shot. Boom…dropped right there within about 25 yards of each other. Radioed our friends who had been helping spot for us to bring the packs and knives! They even brought a couple of cold brews from the truck to help celebrate. Nice having a youngster in the group with a strong back to help pack out too! The two of us have been hunting together for over 10 years and have had some great times and quite a few misses and servings of tag soup. First time we’ve ever even had a chance for a double together so it was really special.

If you apply on the same app, you will both fall under the non-resident cap. You would be handicapping him severely by putting in on the same application.

Agree, a tasty tasty petting zoo.

Guess what, if you hunt long enough, in enough places, you’re gonna make a mistake. And when you do, you’ll realize we are all human. All you guys care about is crucifying anyone you can.

I was in a situation where I had 36 points. I knew we were moving out of State and wanted a bison. I also wanted the whole family to participate. Raymond Ranch was perfect for that. I also had the pressure of a Commissioner and two higher-level G$F Supervisors as spectators for my hunt. I had to shoot a steel target at 100 yds and then onto the hunt. Shot a nice cow at 100 yds. in the magic triangle. Heart shot to be exact!

dang! That sucks! I am at the point with buffalo that I only care about the meat. One of these years I will draw Raymond ranch and let one of my kids do the executing.

Pretty good answer. You've been reading about it and or peaking as you pass by. My answer is that the plants growing on my 4 feet high chainlink fence at times reach 7 to 8 feet high,and are about 4 feet wide, as I can pick on both sides. They are about 16 years old. I gave a bunch to St Vincent's near Broadway and Center in Mesa for their Garden and in two years the main garden lady had them about 7 feet high and 2 feet wide off of their 8 feet high block wall! She is an exceptional gardener and does everything pretty much organically! A good person to talk to! I have about 500 feet of 8 feet high chainlink at the Orange Grove that I planted just about two years ago and I've got parts as high as 1 foot above the fence but only about 3 Feet wide with both sides accessable. I planted mine with 75% manure and 25% dirt mix and only about 1 foot wide by 1 foot deep hole, two feet apart, over the roughly 500 feet of 8 feet high fence. The bushes are very thorny and should help keep the vagrants from cutting through my fence and "camping" . I support St Vincent's but not the druggie bums whom refuse to go live in the shelters where drugs aren't allowed and destroy my property and leave lots of trash and literal crap around! ANYONE or ANYTHING that destroys my property obviously is NOT welcome EVER. Pests get destroyed and eventually the humans get arrested and charged! I'm patient.🤣 Right now, for the most part, the fence and black berries are working at the Grove and at my main house. Hidden cameras are working there and at other places, as a couple of people recently found out! Just a different type of hunting!🤣 So you good and great people on Coues, yes even those that may not like me, are welcome to come and I'll even let you pick the berries for free in May when they ripen. Maybe we should have a CouesWhitetail get together then? All others that are not on Coues, or that I don't know, and obviously the bad people (and there are a couple on Coues that I know), are not and will not be welcome, unless specifically granted permission.

Do you know how many assholes now live in this state ?? Especially the Phx metro area. Explaines alot

The screen shot thing worked. Here’s the pics.

What tf do I have to do with this?

My daughter had the tag a couple years ago, and that's what we did. After checking in we left on foot from the ranch house. I took most of the day to make a good stock and use terrain to sneak in. My daughter being young, 14 at the time had no idea it was a "canned high fence hunt". Fun experience.

I drew it again last year on accident (scrolled down when buying points to see what hunts were offered and must have accidentally clicked the July bull hunt) and ended up donating the tag an eating a $5k tag over it 🤦🏻‍♂️. I’d rather that then sit in a blind for two weeks again 😂

That’s super gay. Anybody that thinks you should get in trouble for shooting with your foot in the road is gay as well.

This was the place that got me started with western big game hunting and online hunting forums. I had dropped off of CWT for awhile as AZ became a 'build points and wait' state for me as I spent more time in CO/WY, which were also a bit more accessible to me for where I was living. I'm aching to get back and hunt AZ again and I've always enjoyed reading along with hunts and successes that other members have had. I fully believe that CWT is still one of, if not the best forum in terms of practical knowledge, helpful folks and general camaraderie. Lots has happened in the last 10 almost 11 years since I became a member-- moved three times, had three kids, left active duty for the guard, spent 8 wild years in LE, changed careers again, broke my back, hunted TX, OK, CO, WY, UT, AK, and finally we have settled in western PA on 25 acres of our own and have been able to harvest a buck and turkey here in our first year of owning it! Just wanted to drop by and say hello again to the team here at CWT!

Turkey, buck, backyard!

Coues tag started Dec 15 on Ft. Huachuca and I hadn’t had much time to hunt, so I broke away on 30th for a quick day trip. Hit the road at 3:30 AM, buck down by 8:30, and back home by noon. Glassed all morning, only picking up does and no sign of bucks. I was just about ready to pack up and move when I gave it one last look. Caught a flick of movement that gave him away. He was tucked in perfectly—never saw his head or antlers—but his body size told me he was a buck. He was about 400 yards out with no shot, so I ditched my gear and closed the distance to 225. At first I couldn’t find him and thought he might’ve slipped out, but after slowing down I picked up his legs in the same spot—standing now, still no shot. If he dipped, I was done. Instead, he turned in place and bedded back down, opening up a small 12-inch window through the brush. That was all I needed. He never made it out of his bed. Shout out to all the guys on here that gave me some knowledge and pointers! Thanks a ton! Tried adding more pics, but wouldn’t let me got some reason.

We drew the early Nov tag in southern AZ and were very fortunate to get perfect weather. Opening morning was supposed to be 25*. We made a plan to hike up and in to an area we have wanted to explore before. Without knowing how ruff this hike would be we finally made it 2 miles into where we wanted to be. We found a few deer but we were still 700+ yards from how high deer were feeding. We decided to make that climb too and get to the elevation we needed. All that work and no shooters. After considering staying put for the evening hunt we finally agreed to back out and not risk a very hard hike out in the dark that night. Turned out to be 5+ miles round trip and a ton of elevation. Sucked. Our legs were cooked for the day so for the evening hunt we decided to “take it easy” and glass closer to the truck. Go figure….That worked. My son found a decent buck at 1200 yards and we made a move to go get a closer look. That hike turned out to be just as nasty as the morning. We got to 525 yards and sat and watched him and decided I would try to take a shot. Getting settled in on the rifle my son said “wait!” There’s a better buck right there too. I located that buck and got another “wait!” Dad there’s a giant right there. I was not able to find that deer and wasted no time turning the rifle over to him. Ranged him at 535, dialed to that, Perfect shot! Unreal. So happy for him. He deserves it. He found that buck and found my buck on Sunday too. Mine went 91” and is my best buck, 715 yards. Super fun hunt. We ended up hiking 10 miles opening day. So worth it. We’ve never had an opportunity on a buck like his before. Any score guesses?

Ya,this was back in 1989,I didn't realize they would let people go out on their own now

you can make it as easy or hard as you want. Most hunters are successful quickly and most hunters want it that way, but if you want to find and stalk them all by yourself thats allowed now. I'm assuming this was back when you had to be "guided"/accompanied by GFD employees.

Check with Magnum Mike. I17 and Dunlap

Looks better than decent to me!

$750obo FTF in Chandler near Ray and AZ Ave Catch and release for me. Bull Barrel has been cut to 20" and threaded 5/8-24 and is threaded into the flutes. Excellent shooter, accurate, likes 142gr SMK and Staball65. Some minor scuffs on the stock. Includes one Mag and picatinny scope bases. I'm 2nd owner, I estimate round count 200-250 range. Need $$ for grail gun, no trades. Priority goes to first "I'll take it" followed by PM

I'd rather shove bamboo shoots under my fingernails. That "hunt" is such cluster.

They are not taking over. The runners are very good for transplanting at this time of year. Thus the offer. I don't need to do it, but if a member wants some they may have some. It's actually a time sink for me. Doesn't help me in any way. One member just picked some up. Nearly all of mine I've transplanted from an original source on my property. I now have over 900 to 1,000 linear feet of blackberry bushes. Best fresh blackberries that ripen the second week in May. So, if someone would like to grow some, they take a lot of water, I will give them some. Just get a hold of me, bring a shovel and the work begins, but the reward is sweet!