Havasuhunter

Great report and pictures. Thanks for sharing your adventure. I'm hoping to get back to TN in the next year or so. I like AZ better, but I do miss the eastern woods, lakes and streams. It's all different and experiencing variety is what life is all about. Sorry you lost your doe. They are tough animals. I hit a doe back in TN, which are smaller than those Midwest deer just slightly back at 20 yards and never found her. Looked for two days straight. It's heartbreaking, but that is how bowhunting goes sometimes.

Funny thing is, AZ and Mexico Coues is what's so different. All other Whitetail hunting everywhere else is somewhat similar, AZ is the odd ball. It's all hunting, just different.

What species are they? Love those white tails. I've could do some series fly tying with those.

Saw some pics of wahoo breezing around paddies. That's about as cool as it gets. A bucket list fish for me.

One, muzzleloaders rarely dump an animal on the spot. If using a rifle, I can say that I've had more eastern white tails run a distance with perfect shots from a 30-06 with good bullets. I think it's because eastern white tails have about 10 gallons of adrenaline in them so they run a lot even when they are dead, but just don't know it. I shot a doe at 60ish yards double lung and clipped the heart, huge exit hole with chunks of tissue mixed in the blood trail. She ran 75yards! My best buck did the same. Shot at 175 yards, perfect hit. He went a good 150 yards and I barely found him. They also jump the string like crazy when bow hunting. Quiet bow is always important, but especially with a jumpy whitetail. I know Coues are even more jumpy, but the desert absorbs sound much better than eastern woods. Close in woods with no wind, they jump 5' in the air when a squirrel farts. I totally agree with neck shots too. A neck shot with a ballistic tip from either my 6.5 or the 06 was a DRT deer every time. I was in TN 7 years and killed 1-2 bucks and 5-6 does every year so I got to experiment a lot. I killed them with the bow, muzzleloaders, 44 mag super RedHawk and a variety of rifles. Farthest a deer went was about 300 yards. Double lung with the muzzleloader using a sabot and the same 44 caliber 240 gr hornady XTP I use in the 44 mag. Just slightly back in the lungs and she went that far. Tough animals for sure.

That's good stuff. Congratulations

That is awesome! Enough said.

I've been doing Insanity for a week and it's convinced me I'm in worse shape than I thought. I'm all in, I've cut out all soda, alcohol and trying to severely limit the caffeine and sugar. I'd like to drop 20lbs to be lean and mean by Dec archery season.

OK, I'm not scared of snakes at all, but a rattler in a tree even makes me squirm a little.

Zero problems with Barnes bullets for me. 180 triple shock in a 30-06 or 300 win mag is a deer elk killer. I even neck shot a Mulie with one and the bullet slightly expanded judging by exit hole at 200 yards. Deer was instantly dead.

Coach whips are lightning fast but very harmless. I myself have stepped on several rattlesnakes. Luckily early in the morning and they were cold. Only one that wasn't was a sidewinder that was buried in the sand. I was wearing sandals! Luckily I stepped right on his head and as he wiggled out of the sand was only interested in getting away. Pretty sure I jumped at least 6' straight up. The poor little guy was so scared he shot into a cold stream and pretty sure he drown. It was a hot summer day, but that creek was fed by very cold high elevation water. It would turn you blue, so I'm sure a cold blooded snake went into shock when hitting it. Last I saw it was getting washed down stream, I was shaking for quite a while. Funny thing is, I think that's the only sidewinder I've ever seen.

Those are javis I'd say. By far the most feral pigs in AZ are in the Havasu Refuge and you can not hunt them. They even come into town on occasion. Some city worker was charged. They live in the impenetrable salt cedar and Mesquite right along the river and Topoc Marsh. As said above, with all the hunters out, you'd think more would have been killed. Some guys that are killing them, may also be keeping quiet. They can be very hard to locate without dogs in some areas. I'd say the average hunter in AZ has superior glass than the average hunter in any other state too, so if feral hogs were roaming around in any numbers, I think someone would spot them. The pigs along the river will not spread too far because once you get away from the river you have desert so hostile we don't even have Javelina over there. Feral pigs are 20 times more dependent on water than Javis.

I have 30 cal bullets in 125-200 grain.. One thing about 30 cal, the choices are limitless.

Very cool. I almost hit a cow moose near Strawberry reservoir a couple weeks back. Only one I've seen in UT. What a cool tag to draw. Congratulations on a beautiful bull.

Good stuff. Congratulations to you and your son. Good luck in UT. I'm working in UT right now. Weather is perfect.

Very nice.

Kings snakes are welcome in my yard any time. I have enough rats and mice from the wash that borders my place.

Great buck.

Monster. That's awesome.

Good choice, but 7 weatherby is awesome too. Bet that'd be one heck of a long range round.

I wouldn't hunt anything with that Sako finnlight 270. I'll buy it from you cheap so you won't have to make a decision.😀 Either cartridge will easily kill a cow elk, use the one you shoot the best.

Very similar to 6.5x55 which I'm very familiar with. 140 SSTs shoot great with IMR4350 and 120 ballistic tips shoot great with Varget or 4064. Unless your looking for maximum long range potential( ballistic coefficient) don't be afraid to try the 120s. If I remember right the 260 has just slightly less case capacity than the 6.5x55, so I'm sure those powders will serve you well. I've killed several animals with both bullets and they both perform very well on deer sized game from 100-540 yards(ranges I've killed at). Large mule deer was DRT at 325 with the 120 baliistic tips. I love the 6.5s.

I killed 3 today. They were very smart. Stayed low and headed for impenetrable mesquite and salt cedars. I felt pretty good to get 3, going to be sore.

all day

That's awesome. Congratulations to your daughter.