CouesWhitetail

Hey All! David Frank (aka azhuntnut) has graciously donated a Rifle Railz/Loc Jaw Combination setup, which is perfect for mounting your rifle to a tripod. This will be the top prize for this Guess the Score contest. If there is a tie for first we will break it by whoever posted that guess first. The 2nd thru 5th place prizes will be CW.com tshirts. Rifle Railz/Loc Jaw is a great product and it's available in the CouesWhitetail.com store for those that are interested. http://www.coueswhitetail.com/bookstore/loc_jaw.htm You can watch a video from Coosefan of this product in action and you can read his review of it. Link to Jim's review . There are more videos on the order page in the CouesWhitetail.com store, so check those out too. Ok, so here is the buck, which was shot by Ralph Harris and I scored it the other day while at the bowhunter event at the range here in Globe. It's an awesome buck and if for some reason you already know the score, please do not enter this contest. To enter, please put your guess for the GROSS score (no deductions and to the nearest 1/8 of an inch) here in this thread before June 5, at 5 pm. Thanks to Ralph for letting us use his fine buck!

If you want to send a check, make it out to: Amanda Moors and then mail to: 1217 Crestwood Drive Globe, AZ 85501 Or if you prefer make it out to Josh Epperson and then mail to me and I will send them all together for him.

ok, guys, I think this thread is done....let's move on to something productive and positive.

We are up to about $380 now. Thanks to all who are donating.

Will do, thank you!! I will pretty much assume that all donation made in the next couple weeks are intended for Josh.

thx for the donations everyone! I am sure Josh will appreciate it.

Amen...

LOL!! Good one!

Thanks Hector and Jim....donations received! Keep em coming and let's let Josh know he has a community here behind him.

Ok, the results are pasted on this page: http://www.coueswhitetail.com/Guess_the_score_May_2011/guess_the_score_may_2011.htm Congratulations to the winners! The buck gross scored 121 3/8 and netted 119 2/8. Thanks to Ralph Harris for sharing his buck with us!

Hey Chef, Good idea on raising some money for Josh. If I remember right, he said the first ER visit and an ambulance transfer to another hospital (which they specifically told them NOT to use an ambulance for a transfer since they didn't have insurance) and all the tests they ran at the hospital totalled like $5,000!! And the doctors didn't come up with any answers during that hospital visit either! So all that money just to find out they don't know what it was at the time. Wow! And today was another ER visit and she was then admitted into the hospital. I can use CouesWhitetail.com to collect the money for Josh and then just send him a check. You can donate using the DONATE button in the lefthand margin of the main page (Main Page Link) under the menu system. Just make a note that you are donating the money for Josh and then I will keep track of it all. Or of course you can PM Grong and get his address and mail him a check. I am sure he would appreciate any support we can show him. She needs all the prayers she can use right now and if we can also help with finances that's great. Amanda

Thanks for the pics....it's nice to see a place that isn't burning!

Attached is a PDF of a letter the AZ Deer Association and some retired AGFD biologists crafted regarding the current hunt guideline recommendations. Please read through this and see if you agree with the AZ Deer Association's position/comments. Feel free to echo some of those comments when you submit comments to the dept regarding the hunt guidelines. 2011 ADA guideline comments 5-24.pdf

+1 on the bias in that question, i get tired of the questions that leave me two options, neither of which represent what or why I prefer something. and plus 1 on your comment: Quality does not mean TROPHY, quality means value & retention! As CEI said, anyone in AZ can go hunting every year given the over the counter archery deer tags, the gobs of left over javelina tags, the plentiful small game and predator hunting, and several whitetail units that have 100% draw odds year after year. Quality hunts are not necessarily about bagging a trophy. There seems to be a large bias within the dept with regard to to the belief that trophy hunting = bad and hunting opportunity = good. Personally I think it does the dept no good to offer lots of opportunity but have hunts with such low success, high crowding, and low buck:doe ratios that some hunters get discouraged/alienated. It just seems like poor customer service. Of course I know they are stuck between a rock and a hard place with this issue because they constantly hear from hunters how they don't get drawn. And I support the dept's current strategy of dealing with this dichotomy by having alternative mgmnt units. But what I get a little tired of is equating quality hunts with purely a trophy hunting motive. I don't think that represents what hunters truly enjoy about these seasons. I think it belittles the extra enjoyment/satisfaction that alternative seasons provide. Wanting to hunt elk in the rut during an archery season is not necessarily about bagging a trophy. I belive for most it's about getting out in the woods at a magical time of year and experiencing that with fewer other hunters around. Getting within a few yards of a bull screaming it's head off is just an amazing experience. Similarly, Dec WT hunters enjoy the Dec season not only because they might get a mature buck, but because it's cooler weather, the rut is starting (ie more deer activity during the day), and it's less crowded. So to me, alternative management is not so much about providing a trophy but providing a different type of hunting experience. A hunting experience where the animals are more active and the hunter density is lower. Whitetail deer hunter satisfaction compared with season is shown in the graph below. This represents the opinion of over 6500 hunters who took the cooperative AGFD/AZ Deer Association survey a few years ago.

That's some good shooting there! Hope you get the deer you want come August.

Pine Donkey....it seems like we are cursed to never meet! How come we end up so close and yet so far? Didn't that happen down at Javelina camp too? Yes, I was at the office in a meeting with the district biologist. I was there probably 1.5 hrs. Thanks for noticing the sticker!

Wow TucsonJohn, that is a gorgeous cabin...I really hope it survives. I just can't imagine the pain of having worked so hard to be able to have a place like that and then within days of inspection having it burn up. I hope your dream doesn't burn.

Awesome trip for the boys! So sad to see all that country burning. Thanks for taking the pics and sharing them. I hadn't realized how dark it was up there. From here the plume of smoke looks like a fluffy white mushroom cloud, no darkness to it.

+1 have a great day with the kids mark!

Probably was my husband on his way to work Saturday.

Thank you to our troops, past and present!

LOL! Good sequence.

+1 You must have a nice camara and spend a lot of time photographing elk. +1 neat collection of pics.

Paul and I are planning to be there. Hopefully we will have time to overnight Friday night.

Wow, great adventure!! I really enjoyed the story and photos! And of course, the sticker looks great! Thanks for advertising the site to a bunch of hunters along the way! Glad you enjoyed your trip...the food must have been great!