CouesWhitetail

You're right diamondback, it was a 2 to 3 core change. I can see why you would try the thermostat first! I hope it works for you. AZ guide - I carry a bunch of stuff with me, but haven't bought one of those jumper packs yet. Anyone know what brand is best? Or all they pretty much the same? AZ4life - good info, I don't mind you hijacking the thread for that. It's applicable. Amanda

Yeah, my old cherokee would overheat sometimes going up steep rough roads in the summer. I ended up getting a better radiator put in. I think they said it had more fins and would be more efficient at cooling the engine. That did seem to take care of the problem. Have you already gotten a better radiator put in yours diamondback? Amanda

Terry, I have a whole section written up with photos on how to score. Check it out. How to Score info Of course since they are sheds, you get no inside spread measurement. Or you can just guess what you think measurement might be if it were still attached to the skull. There is a spreadsheet on that link that you can use to calculate the score. Amanda

Terry did you take any measurements on them? Amanda

Yes, that is where I was parked. I had gone up to glass around Chrome Butte the other day and since some other friends had been asking for pics of my new jeep, I figured I would snap some. I feel like I just entered the new century with all the power door locks and windows and such. I know everyone in the world has had them forever, but I am so used to rolling down all the windows and locking all the doors manually. It's pretty darn nice to just hit a button and be done with it. Will make it especially easy to roll the windows down when my dogs are riding in the back. What do you guys think about automatic vs standard? My old one was a standard and my new one is automatic. Couldn't hardly find a standard anymore. There have been a few times when i needed to push start my old jeep and it makes me wonder what you do if your battery/alternator fails in an automatic and your out in the hills somewhere? I guess auto is nice in that I don't have to worry about missing big boulders and shift at the same time when I am on some rough road. But I don't know. Seems weird to me to have an auto. But it drives just fine. Amanda

I like all the non-typical points though. Looks pretty awesome albeit a bit freakish. Amanda

I hope you have a great hunt! Take pictures and fill us in when you get back. Amanda

Not sure what you are asking. Do I think Texas whitetail and Coues can interbreed? yes. But for the most part their populations are seperated. There is an area in West Texas where there is a Whitetail (WT) that is intermediate in form between the two. A little bigger than our Coues and smaller than the Texas WT. Many people call them Carmen Mt. WT. Here is some info from Jim Heffelfinger from his upcoming book about deer in the southwest. Maybe this will give you some of the info you want. Looks like in Mexico there may be more mixing of texas and coues WT. I put his contact info after the information so you can contact him if you want. Coues whitetails in southwestern New Mexico are found primarily in the Animas, San Luis, and Peloncillo mountains extending up to the Mogollon Mountains and Black Range. These whitetails are geographically separated from, and do not interbreed with, the population found in the Sacramento Mountains in south central New Mexico and in scattered, isolated pockets in the eastern half of New Mexico and west Texas (Findley et al. 1975; J. Nelson, personnel communication, NM Department of Game and Fish, 2000; TPWD Files). All white-tailed deer east of the Rio Grande in New Mexico are more similar to those in South Texas (O. v. texanus), which are measurably larger in body and antler size (Bailey 1931, Raught 1967). Although the smaller Coues form and the Texas form of whitetail are separated in the U.S., they blend together across a series of populations south of the border (Findley et al. 1975). Whitetails gradually becomes larger as one moves north and east out of Chihuahua through west Texas, Coahuila, Nuevo Leon and then into South Texas (Krausman et al. 1978). Whitetails in northern Coahuila, Mexico and the Chisos Mountains of west Texas have been described as a different subspecies, the Carmen Mountains white-tailed deer (O. v. carminis). These deer are isolated somewhat from both the Coues and the Texas whitetail at the extreme northern portion of their range in west Texas. Krausmen et al. (1978) supported the recognition of Carmen Mountain whitetails as a distinct subspecies based on skull and body measurements of Coues, Texas, and Carmen Mountain whitetails. However, there is no geographical separation of Carmen Mountain whitetails in the central and southern part of their range. In fact, Coues whitetails from western Chihuahua gradually become larger in size throughout their continuous distribution in Coahuila and into South Texas. Farther south in Mexico, the Coues whitetail intergrades imperceptibly into populations of whitetails that have been described as a number of different subspecies. No analysis has ever been conducted on how these whitetails differ from Coues whitetails, or from each other. These deer probably represent a gradient of characteristics throughout the range of this species. Jim Heffelfinger Tucson Regional Game Specialist Arizona Game and Fish Department 555 N. Greasewood Road Tucson, AZ 85745 (520) 628-5376, Ext. 530 (office) (520) 975-6322 (Cell) (520) 628-5080 (FAX) jheffelfinger@azgfd.gov

In addition to the measurements that Red Rabbit gave, Ear length is generally about 6 inches. But beware of variances. I have heard several experienced Coues deer hunters and guides talk about deer that have smaller bodies and heads than average and it makes their antlers look huge in relation. So they end up shooting a buck they think will score well, but ends up being say 85 inches or something. So the same thing can be true when using generalized body measurements for estimating hold over. hey, on a lighter note, does anyone here but me think that Chef looks like he's smoking a joint in his avatar? I always thought so until I looked closer and noticed he is kissing a fish. What do you guys think? Amanda

Oh my!! That is awesome Amanda

These ones? And is the guy's name Bindley or Bradley? His taxidermist sent me the photos and said it was Bindley. But you guys are saying Bradley. Maybe Vincent frequents this site and will let us all know....

I have seen bucks go back to feeding right after I killed one of their buddies. They go up and smell the dead buck and then just wait around wondering what to do and eventually get back to feeding. So sometimes they go back to normal right away. I think it depends on how much pressure they have seen. And I think it's age dependent too. A buck that has been through many hunting seasons will probably spook more easily than a young one. I think the bigger bucks learn to hold tighter and hide more than the younger ones do. Amanda

I agree with Lark and MoreD. The WT spends his time learning the details of an area. That knowledge gives him a survival advantage. The other bucks might get spooked and hide more, which will make you think they left because you won't see them as easily, if at all. They will go where they feel safest, which will generally be a thick area that they are already familiar with. Amanda

That was great Lark!! When you gonna write a book that I can sell on this site? You already have a devoted fan base that would buy it. You are too funny. Thanks for the good humor. Amanda

I don't know how many of you guys have checked out the latest Find the Deer game on this site, but I wanted to get some feedback on it. I know the photos are kinda low quality because most were taken through my scope and so the focus is poor. But what I am wondering is are they good enough for the game? Can you guys see the deer? I can see them on my screen, but I have a high end computer, so I started thinking maybe others can't see them as well. Maybe you can tell me which photos work or don't work for you. Or which ones you like the best in terms of a challenge to find the deer. Here is the link to the page in case you haven't seen it yet. Find the Deer Game Amanda

is this the one you guys are talking about? It's in AZ Coues rifle page 33 Amanda

I am glad you guys like the game. Dan, most of the photos are taken with my digital camera held up to my spotting scope (15-45x). Some are held up to my Zeiss 10x40's. And some are just handheld pics of deer I walked up on. None are trail cams. If anyone has any photos they think would be good for this game, you can email them to me. There is a find the shed game too, so if you have photos like that, let me know. Amanda

That's terrible. My prayers go out to those families. I can't imagine the heartache they are going through..... Amanda

Each user selects their own time zone. When you are logged in, go to My Controls (near top right of forum). Click on that and then look on left hand margin for Options and Board Settings. Click on that. Then set time zone. For myself, I had to choose GMT -7 Mountain Time to get it to read right. AZ is kinda of strange in that we don't do daylight savings. Amanda

Thought you guys might be interested in seeing the new deer hunting book I am selling in the bookstore. It's Deer Quest by Lance Stapleton. Lance attempted something no one had done before. He tried, in one year, to take exceptional bucks of each of the six varieties of deer in North America. He is a great writer and this book is just a pleasure to read. Go to this link to read more about the book: Books This book would make a great Christmas gift for a huntin' buddy! Amanda

I don't use one. I know several people who like to use them and swear by them, but I just can't get comfortable with one. Makes me feel more unsteady and more likely to trip. But I guess that's just me.... I do like the idea of using them to steady your binos if you are quickly looking over an area before moving on. Amanda

Wow, those are some scary stories. I am glad you guys all made it through ok! Amanda

Daniel, I appreciate the suggestion, but I already have pretty much the same thing in the scoring section. You can download a spreadsheet with has all the formulas for you. You can also use it without downloading, but it's easy enough to download then you have it on your computer whenever you want. Check it out by going to this link: How to Score info I have the scoresheet posted there in PDF format also, but if you want to enter numbers and get a score, look for the excel spreadsheets. Click on the excel spreadsheet link which is about 1/2 way down that page and it will pull up a score sheet for either a typical buck or a non-typical. Also, if you want info on how to make correct measurements, it's there also. Try it out and tell me if it works ok for you. I haven't had anyone comment one way or another about it. Thanks again for your input and interest. Amanda

I need to set a few guidelines for posting your photos in the forum. I realize people enjoy this way of sharing photos. However, if you have a coues deer photo you want to post, it would be better if you email it to me to post in the photogallery of the main website along with the hunt information. There are two reasons I am asking this: 1. That way the photo is not posted twice on the server and it is not taking up double the space (which costs me money). You can still make a post in the forum that shows your picture after I put it in the photogallery. What I will do is email you the URLs for the photos and you can insert them into your post using the IMG button. That way you are linking to where it is on the server, not actually double posting. It's simple and will show the photos well. 2. The other reason is that the pictures in the forum tend to get lost to the general viewer because of the new posts that essentially "push down" the old posts. The posts are still there, but not listed high up on the viewing list so they won't be seen much after a week or so. With the photogallery we are creating a more permanent record of whitetail bucks that anyone can look through regardless of how long ago the picture was posted. So I am asking everyone's help with this. If you have a photo of a coues deer then email it to me with all the interesting info about it (score, date shot, unit, shot distance, other bucks with it, etc). After I get it posted in the photogallery, I will send the URL and you can link to it for posting in the forum. If you have other images you would like to post, like a mule deer or other animal you got, then go ahead and post it here in the forum since I don't have a section for that in the photogallery. If anyone has any questions about this policy, let me know. Thanks. Amanda

From what I have seen the does keep the same routines. it's the bucks behavior and movements that changes dramatically. Although I have seen doe groups during the rut running around chasing each other and I couldn't find a buck with them. So I think they get frisky too, but they don't have to alter their movements to find bucks. Amanda