flcoues

Killed quite a few deer (never a Coues).....but my favorite deer hunt was with my daughter when she killed her first deer. Won't ever top that feeling.

Nice deer. Definitely like the photo. Cool!

That'll work!

Great buck. Got to love the experience with your dad. Hope to share similar success with my dad in our Florida opener on the 13th.

That is cool! Congrats on a beautiful deer.

Plan to possibly mix in the use of scents on upcoming January trip. I've read and been told that urine-based scents are not legal in AZ. I've used the Wildlife Research Golden Estrus Trophy Leaf product here in FL with mixed success. Not sure if they are legal there or not. Also looking at maybe the Code Blue synthetic scents. Thoughts or experience on using either? Legality of Trophy Leaf? Thanks for input! Don

Scooter: I'm in North Florida (Tallahassee). The rut is just getting started in Northwest FL in some areas away from the coast, but finished near the Gulf of Mexico and further south and east. Hopefully going to be out in AZ the first full week of January. Maybe the rut will be cranking then. If not, like you said, food and travel should be good. May not try the scents there anyway cause I have had some negative reactions to it before along with the positive ones. Don

I like to make scrapes for my cams... don't really hunt over em. as far as the wafers I remember the guy gettn whipped... had some elk fire on or somethin I'll pass on wearing any sexy deer scents... my friends would most certainly youtube that for sure! LOL! James Yeah, don't want to be a Youtube star at the expense of a horny elk....or any other critter for that matter.

James, Had forgot HS made deer scent wafers too. Got a rut bow hunt coming up here this coming weekend. May get some of those and see how the deer react, if at all. Don

Thanks to all for the input. I guess I need to check with the company to see if the Trophy Leaf uses urine. can't find anything on their website or anywhere else that says for sure. PRDATR: I use the earth scent wafers here too. They seem to work well.

That'll definitely work! Awesome deer. Great to be able to share with family too!

Congrats! Great pics and writeup. I liked the parts about the homemade stuff too. I'm a fan of that.

Good luck! Hopefully he'll make just a little slip and open the door.

Sounds like Chris got you fixed up. He probably had you go through walk back tuning too by the looks of the 20 yd. vs 30 yd. shots. If not...Get a piece of paper and mark a target/dot at the top. Shoot the dot with the 20 yard pin. Walk back to 30 yds. and shoot the 20 yd. pin again at the same spot. Same thing at 40 yds. If the arrows are in a straight line up and down, you are good to go. If not maybe you're not holding the bow level, or the rest may need a little adjustment left or right. With those last groups posted don't shoot more than one broadhead at the same spot. May need some more quick-fletch if you do. Good luck!

Are any of the trees usable with a climber? If the buck smelled you where you where, he probably has that spot pegged. If you have a climber and there are trees there that will work for one (away from the initial stand site), I'd let the site cool down....then go in with the climber and set up so you have the wind in your favor. I'd try to get downwind of where he'll come in downwind. That way he hopefully won't still get downwind of you. The more educated he gets, the more he'll avoid you. Sometimes cameras can tip them off too. If you don't have a climber or it won't work nearby, you might move the original stand slightly and maybe add the second for a different wind. Then don't hunt till the wind is right for one or the other. I'd use the "windicator" things like others have mentioned. If you are there hunting and the wind turns bad you may just have to pack it in for the day. If it's thick enough you may be able to just make a small natural blind. Won't contain scent like an enclosed blind, but it might be a backup to one of the stands if the winds goes bad on you. Similar stuff to what others have said and probably a lot you've considered. Maybe some of it sparks an idea to try. Good luck and post pics.

Wow! DeWalt battery, wire, and a Leatherman. If only duct tape was involved. Great job getting out of a jam. Hopefully your second third day will be better. The folks you dealt with the next day better be glad the BP got to them first instead of a man that can start a truck with a drill battery.

Congrats! That's getting it done.

Good luck to all in AZ. Save a little one till January for a Florida guy who's bit bad by the Coues bug. I'm fired up for our season, and we still have a little over a month here before I can go after a swamp deer.

James: I guess AZ & FL early archery season isn't that different. Chiggers, rattlers, and yes sleeping "junk" (hilarious!). Can't wait! Are the chiggers (and ticks if you have them) a problem in January? Don

Congrats on a great buck and video. Come on January!

Our archery season starts mid-September in the Florida panhandle. Can't wait for it to get here, but I am most looking forward to January in Arizona. It will be my first coues try. Gonna be a long 6 months.

Plan to come out the first week of January to try my luck on a Coues DIY archery hunt. I'm from Florida, so this will be a completely new experience. Have been through AZ on vacation a few times, so I am a little familair with the terrain. I bought and read Duwane's book. Also have been reading info on this great website and at AZ Game and Fish. Done some "Google" scouting too. Think of hunting either Unit 31 or 32. Some questions I have.... - Which is better for a chance at any small-to-fair-sized buck, or at least seeing deer? - Is staying in a hotel in Safford and driving out each morning for the day reasonable? - Can you do that, make a day hike, and not be too crowded by other hunters? - Does an overnight camp offer a big improvement in chances of getting into the deer? - Will an overnight camp get you away from the "crowd", or is there enough access so that doesn't make a big difference? - Looks like there may be some thicker areas in some places that may be conducive to treestand hunting. Opinions? - Are the roads and campgrounds in the higher elevations of the Pinaleno's closed in January? (Deer may be lower anyway.) Snake boots needed? I'm guessing it's cold enough by then that they aren't. - Do scents work given it's the rut? Getting ready to get maps and such, but I wanted to see if the experienced folks on here could knock holes in any of my thoughts to this point before I did that. Thanks in advance.

Really appreciate the input! ccran: Good to know there's a bow shop there just in case. I may PM you, huntlines, or Justin. I have an idea where I think I want to start, but I won't pass up advice from folks who already know what they're doing. gotcoues: I had read that calling/rattling works (Spot-stalk-call/rattle?). May give that a try. I may pick up a javelina tag too. I thought I remembered that the tag was good for either muleys or coues. huntlines: Glad you mentioned the scent compostion. Hadn't ran across that in my reading. We aren't restricted in Florida, yet. Thought that might be the case for water during that timeframe. Coues79: I'll need to remember the thermals...we don't have that issue in FL. We do have a shift due in winds with the seabreeze in the afternoon near the gulf coast during our archery season. Justin: Sounds like 31 is my best bet, if nothing else due to distance/time to get to Unit 32 as Coues79 said. I guess overnight in 32 might work. Plan to devote probably the whole first day to scouting while hunting. Thanks again to all, Don