CouesWhitetail

here are his photos:

We do have a poll feature on this forum. I made a poll for you, is this about what you wanted?

Wow, that is a heck of a first coues buck with a bow!! Amanda

Wow, 380 yard shot on his first antelope is impressive!! Nice antelope, sounds like you guys had some fun scouting and hunting him up. Amanda

I just co-bought a quad in the last year with a rancher friend. If you have a friend you can co-own it with, it will save you a ton of money. Works best with a non-hunting friend so you don't have conflicting times you want to use it....or a hunting friend that you tend to hunt with would work ok. I got a used Honda Rancher. The Honda Rancher has a GREAT reputation for lasting forever and not having mechanical problems and being tough in the field. If you want an absolutely top of the line smooth riding quad, talk to Scott Adams. His quad is so darn comfortable it's amazing. I can't think of the model at the moment. I think it's a honda rincon? It's a step-up from the rancher and I think it's the independent suspension that makes it so comfortable. But of course, it's more expensive.... Amanda

yea, your profile says your bday is Jan 30. You can edit that yourself, or I can do it for you if you want. Amanda

Lee Brownson lsbrownson@cox.net September 5 Subject: Cactus Rescue at Verrado - September 9 - Saturday - 6 -10:30 YES...we are going to have a cactus rescue this weekend. The rescue will be this Saturday, September 9, and will begin at 6 am. The location is at the Verrado construction yard on the Northwest corner of Indian School Road and 195th Avenue. The easiest way to get there is to go West on I-10 to the Jackrabbit Road exit (Jackrabbit is 195th Ave.). Go North two miles to Indian School. You can't miss the Verrado office site. Enter the property, go over the small embankment, go behind the buildings to the nursery area. You will see the sign-in area. This rescue location will be unlike most areas where rescues are held. Rather than walking around the desert seeking to find that special plant or getting your truck stuck in soft dirt trying to get close to them, this will be more like shooting fish in a barrel. There are literally thousands of plants lined up in rows, waiting to find a good home. I estimate there are well over 6,000 Ferocactus cylindraceus (Compass Barrels) available. They run from six inches to six feet tall. There are fat ones and thin ones. Even some multi-headed ones. The cost per plant is $1 if it is less than 8 inch tall or $5 for anything larger. We will have lots of pincushion tags available, this time. There are two kinds of native cholla available: Cylindropuntia bigelovii and C. acanthocarpa in many sizes. All of these are priced the same as the barrels. There are Saguaros available but you must arrange for them to be moved off the property, on the day of the rescue. Cliff, CACSS member who helped us move some Saguaros last year, will not be available for this rescue. However, he is willing to move the plants at future rescues. He charges $20 per linear foot, adding main trunk and all arms together. A plant with many arms may cost more, depending on the time and effort to secure every arm. My suggestion is that, if you are interested in a Saguaro, come to this rescue and pick one out. We can tag it and have it moved during the next rescue. All plants must be paid for before they leave the property. Rules of the rescue: • Everyone who works at the rescue in any capacity MUST be a member of the Central Arizona Cactus and Succulent Society. If someone is not currently a member, he or she can join when signing in. • Everyone must sign two forms before going out on the property; a release form for the CACSS and one for the landowner, Verrado. • Everyone must wait for instructions from the Rescue Coordinator before beginning to dig plants. • Everyone must wear a name tag. What to bring: • Plenty of water, sunscreen, hat, gloves, checkbook or cash • Tools - shovel, wheelbarrow, boxes to put your plants in, bottle of white-out to mark the South side of the plant The rescue will conclude by 10:30 am. That means all plants have to be dug and tagged by then. This will give us three full hours to pick out the plants we want and get them ready to be moved. There will be other rescues at this location so, if you can't make it this time, there will be other opportunities and plenty of plants left To speed things up at registration and at check-out, I need volunteers who are willing to help out. There will be plenty of time to harvest plants between check-in and check-out so volunteering won't stop you from getting great plants. Please give me a call if you are willing to help out. There will be a TV producer and camera person on site taking pictures and talking to some of the volunteers. If you don't want them to film you or talk with you, no problem, just tell them that. If you are photographed or interviewed, you are likely to have to sign a release form for them. After the rescue at the Salvage yard, they may want a few people to stay around and do some filming doing a "rescue" in the desert, i.e. we will look like we are rescuing plants but really just going through the motions. If you are bring new people to the rescue, please give them a copy of this email.

hey Bill, can you email or pm me your postal address? I wanted to send you something. Hope you have a great bday! Amanda

Awesome buck and great story! Wow, spot and stalk on a monster coues like that! Fantastic!!!! Thanks for posting the pics and story! Amanda

They wanted to go to Alaska and cool off! Amanda

You checked the forum before you kissed your wife and kids???? Congratulations on your excellent success Mike!! Amanda

I was out on the San Carlos in the Malay area doing owl surveys a few days ago and it was just amazing how green everything has become since the rains have hit so heavy. It's like springtime out there. I know all you guys are tough he-men and probably don't look at the small plants out there, but I was really impressed with the amount of wildflowers I saw. Some I don't think I had seen before. Of course I also saw lots of deer and turkeys and antelope. Saw several very large whitetail bucks just crossing roads, but didn't get any to stay still long enough for pics. Some of the roads were pure mud and the tiniest drainages were running like rivers on some parts of the rez. I was a little worried I wouldn't be able to cross some of them. And Bee Flat is always a joy when muddy. I know many of you guys probably know exactly what I mean. My driveway is now covered in piles of rez mud that fell off my car during the rains in Globe last night. Fall is here, the elk are rubbing and bugling and the sumac is turning colors. Hope you guys with elk tags are having a great time out there. This photo is blurry because it's digiscoped. These two WT does were bedded in such an open area that when we first saw them I thought they were probably mule deer. But they were just gorgeous WT does enjoying the afternoon in a beautiful spot. One of the does looked really scruffy: here are some flower pics: And with this one, it's hard to see but there is a rainbow near the upper left side of the photo. It was real faint and hard to capture with a camera. And here is a photo of a bear skull that I found several years ago. This year it had some veg growing through it's eyesocket. And these are some very tiny bear tracks from up by the black river. They were only an inch and a half wide or so. The marks in the mud on the upper part of the photo are tire tread tracks. And here are couple antelope. I have seen one really monster buck on Big Prairie but haven't gotten photos of him.

Rebuild Water Catchments in Unit 9 When: The following weekends: July 29-30, August 12-13, August 19-20, August 26-27, September 9-10, October 7-8 and October 14-15. If volunteers can work during the week, we may be able to arrange a work schedule. Where: Game Management Unit 9 Description: Volunteers are needed to help rebuild a number of water catchments in Game Management Unit 9 to raise the storage capacity from 2,000 gallons to 20,000 gallons. Work will include lots of manual labor plus some welding and fiberglass work. Department employees will oversee the projects. We will camp near the work site. If you have a Unit 9 tag scout while you are working-for-Wildlife. Contact: John Goodwin at the Flagstaff Regional Office. Phone: (928) 774-5045 or email jgoodwin@azgfd.gov, Clair Harris of the RMEF. Phone (928) 773-0443 or e-mail clair-linda@att.net or Greg Stainton of the AES, Phone: 602-999-5855 or email gstainton3@cox.net.

I think you can see Jim's buck on his website. Jim is a sponsor for Coueswhitetail.com and there is a link to his website on the right hand side of every page on the main CW.com site. Here is the link as well: Reynolds Coues Connection Amanda

Terry, I checked out your website and noticed you have a "donate a tag" button. Is it really possible to donate a tag? I have a Unit 32 javelina tag for this fall that I can't use (due to my deer tag in another unit) and have been wishing I could give it to someone, but as far as I knew you could only give your tags to your children. I would be glad to donate my tag to HOAL if you think it would be helpful. Amanda

I just wonder how you keep breathing while you are looking at that buck alive!! that took some strong nerves to hunt that buck no doubt. Amanda

It is a great idea Allen. I won't be able to attend the next ADA meeting (going to Alaska!) and I don't think Kevin will be there either (he will be in Africa I think), but perhaps you could ask Don to come to the meeting and check with the board. Or just have him ask Pete to bring it up. Sounds like we have enough guides willing to donate time. Amanda

Wow, those are some great pics guys. Glad to see many of you share my excitement at all the color in the world. Butterflies can be really tough to photograph since they never seem to stay still very long! Here is some more color:

Who can ever know the truth but the parties involved? FYI - for those that want to see a fullsize mount of the King buck, go to the wildlife museum in Tucson. The museum is great and the mount is awesome. Believe me, you will be awestruck.....it's well worth a trip and they have tons of mounts of other big game. http://www.thewildlifemuseum.org/ Amanda

Spread doesn't count in the calculation of the score of an antelope. But in addition B&C has this rule to eliminate those kinds of bucks from the recordbook: "In order to be eligible for entry, both horns, when viewed from the front, should angle upward approximately 15 degrees or more from a horizontal plane projected across both horn bases. This eliminates heads with horns that project straight out or downard from inclusion in the records." That sure is a cool looking buck though. Amanda

Nice pics Jack! Amanda

WOW, that is a stunning buck! dang!! Great photos, thanks for posting. And yes, antelope shed their horns. They are kind of the exception to the rule that antlers shed and horns don't. Normally horned game don't shed, but antelope do every year. That's quite a antelope shed collection. I haven't even every found one, but then I haven't really walked through the grasslands for them. Amanda

It's prickly pear season again and my husband and I have been collecting fruit and juicing them. The juice is a gorgeous magenta color and full of nutrition. You can use the juice in smoothies, or in magaritas, or just straight as a fresh drink for the morning. You can even use it as a glaze on chicken or pork or even lamb. Here is a link to a little write-up we did on how to juice the fruit. It's a great family activity! You can glass for wildlife in the morning and pick fruit in the middle of the day Prickly_Pear_Juice.doc

I don't sweeten it and it is not real sweet, and it's not a real strong flavor. The closest I can think of is like a very colorful watermelon juice. But it's fun way to get some nutritious juice. FYI - I think it's legal to pick the fruit on private property (with permission, of course) and if you want to do it on USFS land, call the ranger in the district where you are going to go and ask them. If it's for home use (rather than commercial) they will probably let you. But I guess each district is different. Around Tucson and PHX I think there are lots of areas that are slated for development that probably no one would care if you picked fruit on. But of course, you want to make sure it's ok. Oh, and by the way, although the juice looks like it would stain your hands and clothing, it doesn't. It washes right out with just water. Amanda I forgot to mention that Boyce Thompson Arboretum (where my husband works) is holding a "how to juice prickly pear" class this Sat Sept 2. here is the link to info about it: http://arboretum.ag.arizona.edu/events/pricklypears.html The arboretum is in Superior, which is East of Phx about 50 miles. Amanda

Allen, You might try the white mtn reservation. I don't know what their cow tags cost currently, but might be worth a call. I think the San Carlos cow tags go for like $600 but I think they are sold out. Amanda