CouesWhitetail

Wow! I was thinking of you when I watched an episode of "I Shouldn't Be Alive" last night. it was about some hunters in Kyrgyzstan that did a hunt like yours only their vehicle got stuck in a giant blizzard and they nearly froze to death in 40 below zero temps before a helicopter came in and rescued them. Funny thing is some guys on snowmobiles came to rescue them too and they said it was guys from American Border Patrol. The hunters opted to fly out in the helicopter rather than ride snowmobiles but the helicopter crashed and they had to get rescued again! I am glad your hunt wasn't so adventurous! Thanks so much for sharing your pictures! I love seeing our members who get a chance to hunt exotic places. Congrats on your animals. I bet it was crazy cold there!

Just rattling in an area without knowing where the bucks are is less productive than if you have already glassed up some bucks and have moved within 100 yards of them before starting to rattle. I have tried it a few times and had limited success. Sometimes they seem to just ignore the grunts and rattles. Other times they have come running in. Most of the time that it has worked has been down in Mexico where buck:doe ratios are higher and the bucks were all whipped up over some does in the area. it sure is fun when it works, especially if you can see the buck the whole time they are heading your way. I once filmed a buck that a guide called across a small canyon to us. It was a smaller buck and we were just trying out the grunt call. Not sure he rattled much in that sequence.

LOL! I think you are right!

I like the fog in the background on your trophy shot...nice setup. Congrats on your buck. Don't forget to enter in the Coues buck contest...even though it's not a huge buck, you can win best story, best photo, or even the random winner we will pick from those who don't win in a particular category. http://www.coueswhitetail.com/Coues_Buck_Contest_2011/coues_buck_contest_2011-12.htm

How "funny" do the first three shots act? I mean how far off are you talking..in general. Less than 1/2 inch difference at 200 yds? Or are you talking way off to right or left? I haven't noticed any difference in my gun with it cleaned or uncleaned.

Mexico just released some Mexican wolves south of the border. I dont' know exactly where, but I think it was in northeast sonora. I don't know how close they are to the AZ border. But other than that possibility, I dont' think you have much to worry about with wolves in southern AZ. During my elk hunt in Sept I found a dead wolf on the highway south of Alpine.

Thanks for your post...I am sure some other guys new to AZ hunting will appreciate your tips. One suggestion I have if you are hunting alone a lot is to get a SPOT unit. These are sattelite messenger units that you can carry that have a button on them that will send emergency personnel to your location if you ever need serious help. Check with Santana Outdoors (CW sponsor and where I got my spot unit) for prices and such. They are a bit of money, but I used them quite a bit last summer during fieldwork to simply do daily checkins with the USFS people I was doing the work for. http://www.santanaoutdoors.com/servlet/StoreFront?affiliate_no=1 Also, do you have a good GPS unit? That can help you navigate and get more comfortable venturing away from the truck. Hopefully you will find a great hunting partner. Another good idea is to get to know the wildlife manager in the unit you hunt so you can get advice on hunting areas and safety. You could also volunteer on some wildlife habitat improvement projects in your unit...that's a great way to meet other dedicated hunters.

Wildlife Callers (a CW.com sponsor) has just branched out into selling firearms. Their new business is called Healy Arms and you can email Mark Healy to see what he can do for you. sales@healyarms.com

That is awesome!

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Last day to vote is Nov 27! Please go vote and help Eddy Corona win National Mentor of the Year.

Great pics! thanks for sharing them!

Very nice....I think I like the pose on the first buck best, with the slight downward tilt to the head.

Way to go Allen!! Congratulations on your buck and sorry to hear about the palsy...that's a bummer, but from what I hear, that type clears up fairly quick...I hope you are back to your old smiling self in no time!

Stickers are free, but donation are very much appreciated. We currently have three different styles. There is the regular white one (which you an actually get in most any color), and there is the orange camo one and then there is the yellow/orange gradient sticker with the nosebleed font. Just email me and let me know which style you want and where to mail them. amanda@coueswhitetail.com

I wanted to kill some goats and some of the wild turkeys that are pretty much unprotected out there. There were gobblers just feeding in the grasslands along side the roads. Sounded like you could shot alot of stuff out there that wasn't native to Hawaii.

My husband works at Boyce Thompson Arboretum and organizes the events they have there. He thought you all might be interested in this class...there is a lecture at 10:30 but a photo field trip later in afternoon. It's all happening today, so if you want to go, you better make a move quick. here is the link to BTA website: http://ag.arizona.edu/bta/ Wildlife Photography Presentation With Stan Cunningham Nov. 19; Saturday - slideshow and lecture at 10:30 am fall foliage photo walk 1:30-3:00pm For 25 years Stan Cunningham lived an adventurous life you'd expect to see depicted on film: crawling into black bear dens during wintertime as a wildlife biologist for the Arizona Game & Fish Department, and spending a summer month every year in Alaska as a professional photographer shooting vivid pictures of Brown and Kodiak bears for tourist lodges, and also leading Alaskan photo safaris and ecotourism trips. A professor of wildlife biology at Arizona State University since 2006, Cunningham is known for his decades of research about bears, mountain lions, and the ecological effects of wildfire. Nov. 19 (Saturday) he will show some of his most breathtaking wildlife photography during a slide show and presentation in the lecture room here at Boyce Thompson Arboretum from 10:30 a.m. til noon. "I plan to talk about wildlife, primarily bears, and photographing them -- and some of the experiences I've had and what I've learned," said Cunningham. The talk and slideshow of his photography is open to all visitors that day; then following a lunch break he will guide a Fall Foliage photo walk for 10 pre-registered participants seeking just-before-peak color in BTA's famous grove of Chinese Pistachio trees."I have been taking pictures throughout my career," said Cunningham, "but only in the past five years have become serious about it. Now I shoot with any of three different Canon camera bodies and with lenses ranging from a 500 mm lens, to a 70-to-200, 17-40 wide angle." Sign up for the photo walking tour and shoot with a call to 520-689-2723; the fee is $30 for BTA annual members, $39 for nonmembers. See more of Stan's award-winning photography at Cunninghamoutdoors.com

Save that Arboretum website I posted and check it periodically. They do a lot of camera classes. I think there are more coming up...but probably with other instructors.

As Steve said, there are tons of groups that are looking for volunteers to mentor kids. Just about every conservation group in AZ hosts youth camps and they are always in need of people to help take kids out. In addition there are other groups like Outdoor Experience 4 All and Hunt of a Lifetime that need volunteers to take kids hunting. Sometimes these kids have parents who hunt and sometimes they don't. if you are only interested in helping those whose parents don't hunt, then you can specify that when you contact any of the groups. here is a link to the AGFD web page that lists the mentored hunting camps being held in AZ....contact any of those groups to help out. http://www.azgfd.gov/h_f/MentoredHuntingCamps.shtml

I've killed 3 is all out of all of them. My wife has seen a total of 4 but not able to shoot any. I have been blessed to have seen so many. No guides on any of the sightings. Just beeing at the right place at the right time. LUCK! TJ I have seen about as many as TJ but most have been while working or hunting on San Carlos. never had a tag at the time. Got to watch a group of four years ago. Looked like a female with young from two different years. It's easier to get up to seeing 14 lions if they are in big groups like that! I saw two napping together one year while whitetail hunting on San Carlos years ago...no lion tag though! And you guys might remember the video of that one I walked up on that was caught in a leghold trap on San Carlos just a couple years ago. There have been many other lion sightings as well. The only lions I have killed are two that we were capturing and collaring on San Carlos and things went badly. One of those we tried to collar a half-drugged lion by using ropes to secure it. That didn't go well and was a pretty crazy experience of trying to hold onto the tail and ropes on its legs and head. That got a little Western for sure.... here is a link to some video of that encounter with the lion caught in the leghold trap:

LOL!! Good thing Lark can't figure out how to post to YouTube!

Jim, Have you guys already sold all those tickets for this hunt or can people still get them?

Nice job and I great video!! I somehow missed this post back when you originally posted it a couple weeks ago....but love all the pics and video and story. Congrats to you both!

Awesome!! thx for sharing the score! look forward to the article in Trophy Hunter.

LOL!! I really enjoyed these! Funny stuff...easy to picture it happening for sure!