standman

Here are a few that got away this past January.

Congrats on a tremendous deer!!

elmergoo, the time the pics were taken is in the bottom right corner of the pics, and there hasn't been any sign of any rutting in this area yet.

Here are a few pics I got on a couple cameras recently. Hope you enjoy. Brian

For me, being an archery hunter, I prefer the higher thicker elevations. Pines, spruce trees, douglas fir trees with a few junipers mixed in is what works best for me. Most places I hunt I can't see past 40-50 yards max. I figure if in the thick stuff if I find one he is in range. I don't see as many deer this way as I do glassing open ridges and mountains. However, those open ridges make it extremely difficult to get into archery range of a buck. We have done it before, but it takes too many failures before a success. That is why I choose the higher, thicker areas. Much more success compared to the failures. As for the question of "What do you look for in that area to hold bucks? I don't have to see bucks in an area to know that they are in an area. The sign will tell me that. Rubs, scrapes (new and old), trails etc, etc. When looking for an area to hunt during the rut the number one thing I look for in an area is does. If does are there, the bucks will be there. The areas I hunt, the deer are there whether it is summer or winter, so if I find any area with lots of does, then that will be the number one spot I look at come the rut. I also depend alot on water. Not necessarily to hunt over, but to be in the area of the water. I will study topo maps of the elevations I like to hunt and find the water in that area, then go check that water to see if I want to elimimate that spot or to continue looking in the area. Now to the question of how I will hunt this terrain or area? I will stalk or still hunt the higher ridges, which I think will have the most deer crossing over from bedding to feeding areas and vice verca, being careful to move extremely slow and always have the wind in my favor. I have found in my experience in hunting these thicker areas deer seem to hold very close without running as if they think they are hid and that you will just pass them by. While hunting like this if I find a good saddle or trail that looks like it is getting well used then I may proceed to set up a ground blind on that spot. That worked for me with my Aug. 2005 buck. This is getting long winded so I will stop. I hope some of this is related to the subject at hand and not to far off topic. These are some of the things we use to be successful. Still learning though, there is always a curveball somewhere. Brian

Unit 1 Turkey and 23 HAM for me Brian

Here is a pic of a buck I just got off my camera. He has great mass and a droptine. Hopefully we can get a couple more pics of him in the next few weeks. Brian

What a great year of hunting so far. Congrats.

Well, after years of applying I finally got to go on my first antelope hunt. I was having a little bit of a hard time finding a good antelope during my scouting until last weekend when I finally found the one I wanted. I found him again the night before the season so this morning I was ready to roll. I found him at the crack of dawn and the stalk was on. I eased up over the ridge and I spotted him at 150 yards. As I was preparing to shoot the wind changed directions and off to another county he went. I spent the next 5 hours looking for him but to no avail. So I headed to another area where my brother had spotted another pretty good buck a few weeks before. After searching a while, I found a buck with three does. He seemed to be a pretty good buck. So the stalk was on. After a lot a belly crawling, I was finally within 156 yards of the buck. He was bedded down and the grass was to high so I was going to have to wait for him to stand before I could take the shot. After twenty minutes of waiting he finally stood up and allowed me a broadside shot at my first antelope. Here are a couple of pics. Hope you enjoy. Brian

That is a great buck!!! He even looks more impressive in person when I saw him at Richard's. That was one happy boy. Congrats again to both of you. Brian

He is a unit 3C buck.

Thanks everyone for the kind remarks. I'm still stoked over the whole experience. Now I have to work on getting one with my bow. missedagain- Yeah I am going to have a shoulder mount done with him. I think he will make a beautiful mount. Doug- When I bought this gun I decided to give the Simms Deresonator a try to see if it actually work. I'm a sucker for new gadgets. After playing with it and testing it, too my suprise it really worked well, just like they advertised. Brian

Thanks everyone. I appreciate all the great advice. I'm going to have lots of time to find a good buck since I will have the whole season off to hunt. I'll keep searching and maybe that buck that stands out will show himself. I appreciate everyone who took the time to respond. Thank You.

Hello everyone. I know this is a coues site but I have an antelope question for all of you. I drew a rifle antelope tag in an area that is not known for many trophy bucks. The area really isnt all that big either. What would you guys consider a shooter buck on a hunt like this? I have found a lot of bucks but all but one would be 13 inches or less. The one bigger is probably a 15 incher with average mass and after archery season he may not be in the same unit since he can be seen by everyone that drives the highway. I scout 4-5 times a week and have looked nearly everywhere i can look. I am going to keep searching as much as I can, but I just can't find one that has "shoot me" written all over him. So I am just wondering what you guys consider a good solid buck to shoot? As far as I can tell there isn't any 80+ bucks and very few that will even go low to mid 70s. Just wondering what your opinions are. By the way the unit is 3C. Thanks

Thanks for your replies guys. I am having a ton of fun know matter what happens. I don't have a problem even having tag soup. I just keep plugging away and enjoying myself. I know one thing, in this unit these antelope love hanging around in the trees which makes it that much tougher. Thanks again for your replies.

Maybe Luna Lake

I drew a 3C rifle antelope tag. My first antelope tag. Cant hardly wait. Brian

Drew a unit 3C rifle antelope

Check out this thread from another forum. I use this method with my blazer vanes and gold tip arrows and it has worked great. No problems what so ever with vanes sticking. I am also using the bohning platnium glue. http://www.archerytalk.com/vb/showthread.p...ght=spray+video Brian

I get to go antelope hunting for the first time ever. Woo hoo!!! Brian

These are my favorite photos that i have taken. The first is an 11 year old and his first javelina that I was honored to be apart of, and the second is a spring gobbler that my brother harvested this year. I just love the colors that showed up in the bird.

Here is my best trophy animal, a 92" archery coues deer.

Deer: 3 points Antelope: 10 points Elk: 4 points Sheep: 13 points

If anyone knows, I have a bonus point question. I killed an archery deer in January. I know that I can't put in for deer, but can I still buy a bonus point to keep my loyalty point? I have called the game and fish on this and nobody knows for sure the answer. Brian

Thanks everyone for your responses. It's amazing how much of a runaround i got from the G&F today. It looks like applying for a bonus point is ok. I wouldn't have put in for a tag just to keep a loyalty point. I've got my deer for the year, I wouldn't want to take someone else's tag. Bonus points what a mess . I hate the dang things. Thanks again .