ScottAdams

That is a gorgeous buck Amanda. Great photos!! Scott

Well, the rifle hunt may be over but the archery hunt is not. The boys and I went out on Monday to chase javelina and deer, and we found both. We hunted an area where I've found javelina and deer in the past. As a matter of fact the last pig I took with a bow was in this area. In all we spotted about 10 javelina, 2 muley bucks and 1 Coues buck. One of the muley bucks was pretty good, the other was just a dink. But it was the Coues buck (as usual) that really got me worked up. Unfortunately I wasn't able to get a photo of him. I had plenty of time but he was over 3 1/2 miles out and once I get out past 1/2 a mile my digiscoping capabilities really drop off. I could see a really nice rack on this buck at that distance but couldn't tell anything else. This buck was on a doe and ran her around a while and stayed right with her. There were some nasty canyons between us and it took us about 2 hours and 25 miles to get over there to them. Oh yea, there was also a herd of pigs on the same ridge as the Coues deer. When we finally got over to them, all we were able to find were the javelina, the deer were no where to be found. The boys were able to take one javelina out of the group. There was also a coyote shadowing the herd and every now and then a big boar hog would run him off a little ways. It was a great day to be out! Here's some photos. Here's the coyote that was looking for an easy meal. Wait a minute...he's looking at me! A few more. James Ryan with his first bow kill. Both the boys. James Ryan and Austin I may go back in on Friday and try for a closer look at that Coues buck and see just how big he really is. It's killin' me!! Scott

I know what you mean Keith. One can talk all they want about the monster buck they saw or the one that got away and I think a lot of us over estimate the size of a buck, I know I do. However, it's hard to argue when there's a photo as proof. Let me know if I can help you out. Scott

Glad you decided to come out of the closet and join the group. Welcome to the site. I'm glad you liked my post but for crying out loud don't kill yourself getting home to read it. I didn't see a picture if you tried to attach one. Would love to see the buck you took last month. Scott

Man, what a hunt Tommy! I would have to say it was a successful hunt also. Just knowing how close you came to taking a world class buck gets my blood pumping. Next season can't get here fast enough, can it? Scott

Wow! Neat story! There's just nothing quite like the thrill of the chase. I would be tempted to hold out for that 108 incher also. However it does appear that he's a bit more nocturnal than your average joe. These coues deer are a little more like their Eastern cousins than I previously thought. You know that big buck that Mace took this year was almost totally nocturnal. I think Mace only saw him twice in the daylight over a 2 year period, and when he finally killed him it was only after kicking him out of his bed. The big one I was after this year was tough to find. Once I spotted him in the velvet, in Sept. I spent 9 trips back in there looking for him in 3 months and only saw him one other time for sure and maybe once more but I'm not sure it was him. They are tough to hunt. Your saving grace may be the rut. That may get that big rascal out and about in the daylight in spite of his misgivings over daylight movement. Good luck. Scott

John, welcome to the site!! Yes you did stumble upon a jewel of a site. Lot's of good folks on the boards and you should get some answers to your question. If you love coues whitetail and the country they inhabit then you'll love CouesWhitetail.com. Glad to have you. Scott

Ok, here ya go Desertsheep. Your very own photo of the 5 mile shed. If you get back over to this part of the country, give me a call. It's only a 50 cent charge to look at the shed in person. Scott

Tommy, it's time for an update!!! Now I know how you guys feel when I do this. Scott

Glad to have you on board. A very nice buck. The closet gets dark and lonely sometimes. Welcome. Congratulations. Scott

Neat story Josh! Hang in there, your time will come. Scott

When you're writing your post and come to the spot you want to place the photo, you click on the button above that says IMG. It will bring up another box where you copy and paste the URL of the photo you want from Photobucket. It's pretty simple once you figure it out. Scott

Yes you are right Grim. The digiscope pictures were taken through my 30's and I use a Leica Digilux 2 digital camera. It has a lot of settings on it, but I usually have everything on auto and use the spot autofocus and generally just hold it as still as possible. I may work on building an adapter to hold the camera, since my biggest problem is holding the camera still enough with a 1/20 sec. exposure. I can't wait till next December either!! Scott

Terry the 30's weigh in at 11 lbs. and my pack generally runs around 40 lbs...glad you like the photos. Scott

Thanks Josh. When I post photos I use another website to host the photos. Photobucket.com. The shed wasn't as big as I had hoped but it was still worth the hike! Scott

Ok guys the wait is over. I finally got the photos uploaded. I'll start with Wed. the 28th. We glassed an area where I took Craig (270wsm) to kill his buck last year. We spent a good bit of time behind the glass yet were only able to find one buck and he was a small one. He was chasing some does around. Other than that we only saw more does. Finally on Thursday on we went back to where the big un got away. We glassed most of the morning and spotted 4 bucks, one of which would go in the mid eighties. Here's his photo. Austin decided to wait and see if he could find a better one, but we didn't see anything bigger that morning. We did have a couple of bucks rutting right under our glassing point but they were pretty small. Here's where they were. After everything was bedded I decided to hike down and pick up that shed antler I glassed up the previous week. Wow! What a hike that was. pretty fer piece down there and back and I was pretty well done in when I returned to our glassing point. Here's the shed where I found it. Here's a view from where I found the shed looking back to where I glassed it from. This is where the mid eighties buck was found and where the shed was found. On Friday the 30th we went back into the same area hoping to relocate the big buck. Again we saw 4 bucks, 3 of them different from the ones we had seen the day before but not the big one. We located 3 deer right under us and one was a little fawn buck. We were close enough to see the little nubbins on his head. Here he is bedded with his mamma. You can almost touch em uh? We did see 3 different bucks chasing does but they were all small bucks. Then just about the time we thought everything had bedded, it was 9:30, Austin using my 30's, picks up a buck. He's not the big one but is the buck that was running with the big one when I shot at him. I see him for just a few minutes before he beds in a grove of trees. I didn't have enough time to get the camera on him. Now I'm wondering if the big buck is already in the trees bedded or if this smaller buck is alone. Since this was almost the end of the hunt, Austin decides to try to take this buck. I wanted to watch the trees while Austin hiked into place for the shot then I was going to hike down and push the buck or maybe two bucks out to Austin. However Austin wasn't comfortable with going into that big canyon by himself so I went with him and got him all set up for the shot. To make a long story short, when I finally made my push the buck was gone. I think we may have bumped him when we became bogged down in a stinkin' manzanita thicket while trying to get into place for a shot. I'll probably never know if the big buck was in there. In the 3 days we spent hunting this area we found 8 different bucks running this country. The last day of the hunt I was too wiped out from 2 days of hiking them nasty canyons to go back for a third day, so we hunted some different areas but never saw a buck only does. I did however glass up my first skunk, pretty proud of that. It was a great hunt and I finally had the oportunity to take a really nice buck this year. The thrill of the chase and the ruggedly beautiful country is what really drives me to pursue these great little animals. I can't wait till next year!!

Great story Amanda. A very nice buck on a pretty tough hunt. I had problems finding good bucks also. Lots of small ones though. Way to go. Scott

Guys I'm sorry I haven't posted anything but my home computer is barely running and on it's last breath. I may have to reformat it. Anyway, I haven't been able to post any photos or anything like that. I have some to post but may have to do it from a different computer. I'm back to work now so maybe I can find the time to post some. Sorry about that. As for all the high dollar gear, you're right the internet service comes last. Jerry I sent you a personal message. Scott

Hey guys, I lost my internet connection last week and will not be able to get it fixed until Tuesday. I will tell you I didn't get the big one but do have some non-dead-deer photos and others to post. I had go to another computer to post this. Scott

Here's a couple photos of nice 100 inch buck Scott Ross, a friend of mine, took in unit 32 last month. There were 8 tags in their camp and all 8 were "tagged out" in 4 days! Scott's being the biggest. Sweet buck Scott, congratulations! Scott

Sorry guys. I took an extra day with the family in Las Cruces, so I didn't get back until last night. I did go out today and although I didn't get any animal photos. I did glass up some rutting Coues deer. I had a buck chasing a doe all over the hillside. I'm sure they were both wore out by the time they finally bedded. Unfortunately the deer weren't right there in front of me, nor were they a "little ways" out there. These deer were a "fer piece" lets say. As a matter of fact when I checked on my topo program at home the deer were 3.6 miles out!! I couldn't even tell how big the buck was and I was looking through the 30x80's. Anyhow, the deer bedded in some think junipers and we left them alone. We'll head back out tomorrow and see what we find. The rut is starting to pick up somewhat. Another friend of mine with a tag has seen some activity also. Fill ya in tomorrow! It's looking good!!! Scott

Thank you Bill, I appreciate that. You have a Merry Christmas. All of y'all have a good Christams. Scott

Jeff, sorry your hunting had to stop early. It's a great time of year to be out in the field. Jason, you have to remember I'm using the 30 power binoculars. However, even with them you figure any Coues shed you glass up is probably a good one. The hunt went well this morning although I didn't find anything big enough to pull the trigger on. I saw 5 Coues fawns, 7 Coues does and 1 Coues buck. He was just a littler feller though. I also saw some mule deer, at least 3 does and 2 bucks. The bucks were pretty nice albeit a little spindly racked. They were rutting. The coues deer didn't show any signs of the rut. Here's one of the muley bucks. Here's a couple of the Coues does. I wasn't able to get a photo of the buck. Here's where they were. Oh yea, I also glassed up a Mountain Lion! He was about a 1/2 mile up the ridge from the muleys and working toward them. I do have a lion tag but he was way too far to hike over there with him on the move. Here he is. Where the lion was. I guess that's about all until Monday. Scott

I changed the photos so as not to hurt anyone's feelings.

Very nice buck Mr. Deisel. Sorry you didn't have more time to hunt. I had the same problem with my NM buck when we tried to take the photos. Amanda and I shoved Kleenexes up his nose to stifle the blood flow. It worked pretty well. Desertsheep, that shed I glassed up was tines up, I assume that means something.? I didn't do too hot today. I left the house this morning and it was only 47 degrees. I went to yet another area that I haven't hunted yet and totally struck out. I didn't see a deer one, doe or buck. Oh well, that's hunting. I'm back home at noon again, my wife has the flu and I'm trying to just hunt mornings. I guess I didn't totally strike out, I did glass up a bear; a pretty brown one. I'm thinking it might be ole pumpkin head which I last saw 2 years ago. He was just a mile or so from that location. I watched this bear going through some bluffs, watched him go into a small cave then come back out and continue on. The hunt in 27 is still open I think but I never bought a tag this year. Here's the bear. Where the bear was hanging out. I'll head out in the morning for yet another "new" location. I'm not hunting this weekend but headed to my Aunt and Uncles in Las Cruces for Christmas. I'll be back at again on Monday. Scott