coues addict

Hey Ernesto! I am glad you are back Senior!. I told the guys they just had to have a little faith!!!!!!!!!!! So, come on Ernesto , tell us about your archery elk hunt. Pleeeease! You know we all want to hear all the details. And speaking of 36c, do you have any maps I might borrow? Catch Ya later, Ernesto P.S. I told you guys he would show up again, you can`t keep a good man down!

Guys,Guys Have a little faith! Ernesto is still around and I am sure he will be back in time. I talked to him Saturday and,maybe we can get him to tell us about his archery elk hunt. Huh! I hope so anyway. Thats the problem with you young guys," Ya got no patience!''. I have not spent much time around here in the last few years either, but I watch and am amazed at all the new members. I think its great! I just don`t have as much to say as some of you guys. Besides, if you just sit back and listen sometimes even us old guys pick up a few hot tips!!!!!!!! Talk to Ya Later , Rich T.

Amanda That was really nice! Your selection of stills, music and video were awesome! I really enjoyed the intro with the awesome sunsets and sunrises. Really Really nice!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Thank You, Rich Thompson

Tim Nice deer, Congratulations! Sounds like the hunt was pretty laid back and maybe thats a good thing for a change. If you had not done so much preperation the opposite may have occured! Nice pictures too! Have a nice Christmas and holiday season! Rich Thompson

Me and my brother in law and a friend watched a Desert Bighorn ewe and a Coues whitetail doe touch noses last year during the early october whitetail hunt.Then they proceeded to feed right next to each other.They were only about sixty yards from us and the wind was right so they didn`t seem to mind our presence.We thought it was kinda cool! I didn`t know that they ever interacted! Coues Addict

112 6/8'' is my guess nice buck! Coues addict

Dan What constitutes a prime spot? Well, to me it all depends on several factors. Are you just trying to fill your tag or are you truly trophy hunting? Lets say you are really wanting a trophy animay,say 95'' and over for the sake of arguement. I personally love to see lots of animals,but some of the best deer that I have ever taken were in areas that I just had a hunch about.I try to look more for signs,tracks,sheds,water,cover,lion sine, food sourses,escape routes,lack of roads,etc. A good shed is a huge plus in my book!So is available water and cover.When I scout an area I try to cover tons of ground to get to know its features and usually I will seem some deer. I really love rough areas that have that(Holy Shi_t) look to them. That generally eliminate about 90% of the general competition. I don`t mind going in those places even if it it takes me all day if I plan for it! Backpack hunting, and huge day loops that take from 4.00 am until 8.00p.m are pretty normal in our camp. No one has ever accused me of being extremly smart either ''By the way''. Glassing is by far the best way to cover a lot of ground with your eyes, so glass, glass, glass, then if you start seeing some deer and it looks like the area has some great potential, get off your butt and go to the next step and plan a backpack trip or a long day hike into the area to see whats really out there! If you want a true trophy its usually takes alot of work or a crapload of money. I don`t have unlimited money, so I just do things the hard way I guess! Good luck and I hope you find that spot! Coues Addict

Hello All I am selling my Zeiss 15x45 conquest bino`s if anybody is interested please PM me or e mail me. They have been used one season and I have a custom machined tripod adapter for them that will be included in the sale as well. The glasses are in very good condition and I have the lifetime transferrable warranty card, box case etc. These glasses are pretty nice, but not in the same league as the 15x56 Swarovski`s. They are very liteweight and pack easy, just not a big enough objective for the ultimate glassing! I am not asking a fortune for them but want to get what I feel is fair if possible. Thanks for looking Rich Thompson aka Coues Addict

Casey I am not sure you completely understood my point about a backup rifle. First of all I have always had one in camp for over thirty years. I am very confident in both my old faithful .270 and my backup rifle.I am extremely fortunate to have a rifle range at my place here at home . I shoot all the time, I hand load and have worked up loads for all my guns. Confidence is not a problem for me. I am not the best shot that I know , but, I feel I can make fairly difficult shots when needed. I cannot however seem to hunt deer, especially Coues deer without falling down several times during a hunt. Last season we were in so far that we never got back to camp during daylight hours.I really did not think that my scope had moved during my first three falls in four days. So, I never checked the dang thing and on my first shot attempt on day four I got a huge surprise! I should have just taken out my backup rifle after I fell the third or fourth time and I believe the outcome would have been different. If in doubt use the Backup!That was my lesson learned last season. I know Doug and I know he is very knowledgable about guns and loads. I feel he can only be a good influence on any one that he hunts and camps with.My biggest problem is that the older I get the more stubborn I get and I just hate to change things that have worked for many years. lesson no 7. Don`t be so stubborn, Rich Good luck Casey , and I hope this clears things up

Hey Everyone I really like these kind of topic`s. Thank You Red Rabbit. Well here are a few things I have learned over the years that have really helped me. 1. I finally made a custom (tailered to my needs) hunting gear checklist and camping gear checklist! They work really nice and they eliminate some anxiety wondering if I packed all my gear or not, since all my Coues`s deer hunting is out of state. They help me and I love crossing off all the items once they are packed in my Bronco. Eh ha! 2. Hunting to me should not be competitive with other hunters! It took me a while to realize that statement! To me, it is competitive between me and the animal that I am pursuing. Trying to outsmart a smart big old buck is very difficult! thats why they are big and old! I would much rather try my best to kill an older class animal than just killing to fill my tag! 3. Don`t worry about ( not filling your tag) As previously stated, It is hard to kill big animals if your always shooting small ones just to fill your tag! I could fill a huge garbage can with all the tags I have had over the years that have gone unfilled. But it wasn`t because of a lack of effort on my part. 4. Don`t get hungup on antler/horn size. Some of the best hunts I have ever had are from years that I did the best I could and worked really hard to find a really big animal, but I either couldn`t get it done or just missed my opportunity. Or maybe even ,just missed the shot! It happens, to everyone, we are only human! If you have done the best you can and a forked horn or some other type deer is available and it gets you really excited, then I don`t see anything wrong with that. Only you will know if it`s right for you , not what someone else tells you to shoot! Big deer and nice horns will probably come with the more time and the more work you put into your hunting! 5. Have fun! That sounds really easy , but some guys I know are so hung up on filling their tag and getting a boone and crockett type deer that they are miserable.They are missing the whole point. hunting and camping should be a lot of fun if you work hard and hunt ethically! A true trophy is in the eyes of the beholder. 6. Last but not least! Check you gun every year. Take a backup that you trust! Sounds simple, but I neglected to do that last season , and it cost me two opportunities on two different animals. You would have thought by now (30+ hunting seasons)I would have figured that one ot a long time ago! I even had a backup but I thought my gun was shooting right on and that I was at fault. Trust your backup! thats why you brought it you dummy! I hope these things help. They have helped me quite a bit! later Rich T. P.S. Whew! I haven`t said that much in ten years! Sorry about that!

All right I will give you guys and gals just one guess! P.S. Pretty tough one there! Later Rich Thompson

Doug I hope you have a great birthday and good luck to you in this years draws. Man you are about five days older than me. Go figure. Us old guys get it done though!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Rich Thompson

Mike Happy birthday. I am sorry I missed the big day , but better late than never. Hey, I hit the big 50 last January and I am here to tell ya , you are only as old as you feel. trust me Mike I am really getting old!!!!!!!!!. Not really just kidding! These kids nowadays can`t hang like us old timers! Why some of my closest freinds don`t even get up till after the sun gets up!!!!!!!. whats up with that anyway, don`t they know there "Burnin Daylight'', jeez. Hope you had a great day and ''God Bless You''. Rich Thompson

ndaniel Congeats, Thats a really nice deer! It looks like you guys had a great time from the pics. I would bet you you got the "fever" for next year too! Great job. P.S. Oh, really nice pics by the way! later Rich T.

I have hunted all the seasons and I like the Oct. hunt almost as much as the Dec. hunt. In some ways more! I definitely hang closer to water and have glassed bucks at all hours of the day. I also, am usually plenty far enough from the nearest road to not have had any problems with other hunters. the bucks are usually still running together and the weather is totally unpredictable.I have had hotter then he_ l, to snow on these hunts. I love to backpack in and it is a little easier during Oct. compared to the Dec. hunts. The break between the Archery hunt and the Rifle hunt seems to calm the deer down a bit. Good luck to everyone on these early hunts! I will be out there in one week from today! Whoo Hoo!!!!!!!!!!!!!! later Rich T.

Amanda I hope you have a great birthday and thanks for all you do for this awesome website!!!!!!!!!! Happy birthday and may God bless You Rich Thompson

Scottyboy Good luck on your trasfer. I hunted deer up around Jordan, Mt. Awesome country around the missouri river breaks. I love it up there. My brother in law is B.P. and he used to be in El Paso and tranfered over to northeastern Wa. He loves it up there. Bought a place out in the country around 33 acres, he`s got deer, mountain lion, bear, turkey, moose etc. Sounds awesome to me. I hope you stay on the website, i really like reading your posts and a lot of good pic`s. too!!!!!!!! Later Rich Thompson

Amanda The video is really nice work and I really enjoyed watching it! Thank you for all your hard work and for this website all together! you really do a nice job of it all. P. S. I think everybody really appreciates it, I know I do! Thanks again, Rich Thompson

az coues addict Very cool story and and awesome trophy! that smile pretty much says it all too. congratulations Rich T.

Wow Austin Thats a real nice Bull and it sounds like you made a heck of a shot. Thats awesome! Congrats. I really like the pics too. Good luck in Az. Rich

coues7 Redbeard is exactly right! Spread credit is only the widest inside point of the main beams perpindicular to the skull! If the longer main beam is longer than that measurement(inside spread) than you only get the lessor length.The outside spread is just extra info that doesn`t count by the Boone and Crockett system. Allthough it is the measurement that most guys Bragg about!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Look at the diagrams on the score sheet they are fairly self explanetory! P. S. I hope you get one that all you buddies thinks needs to be measured! good luck Coues Addict

Dave I really like the sound of your total dedication! Its to bad more people don`t try so hard to become proficient and even really good with their hunting wepon. I think its a lot of todays world though. Everybody wants to get somewhere fast!!!!!!!!! I have been shooting archery since 1975. Some years a lot and other years not as much. I shoot a compound and I really like shooting at fairly long distance. I practice at fifty yards all the time. I have found for me the key is very much like Redbeard. I don`t try and push it if I start shooting poorly. I do though like to end every shooting session on a high note. If I am grouping poorly or just tired I will usually step back up to twenty yards and shoot at least three arrows. This works as a great confidence builder for me! I have also found that depending on my attitude and state of conditioning I will usually group pretty good on three arrow sets instead of the league standard five arrow sets. Sometimes I will actually just grab my bow and walk out in the back yard and fire one arrow so that I can gain confidence in my first shot. I really think think your program is going to work out fine and you will probably cure your target panic problem , mainly because you won`t settle for anything less. Hopefully Dec. will be a great hunt or hunts for you! Good luck and I really enjoy the reports Coues Addict

Couesfan I would shoot whichever bullets you shoot the most accurately!,Stalk in on your moose and Wait for a good broadside HEAD shot! seriously there heads are probably as big as a Coue`s deer vital zone. the hole probably wont be that big and let your taxidermist take care of that!. I guarantee you he won`t go far if you put the bullet in that spot between his eye and his ear. Good luck Rich T.

Doug I swear Doug, your pictures are always awesome, you should seriously thing about a sideline wildlife photography job. I need to talk to you about cameras and all that cool stuff. Thanks for the awesome pics. Rich

To all members I have been hunting in Arizona for over thirty years as a nonresident. My opinion carries no more weight than the next guy! I don`t like the ten percent cap, but I completeley understand and I do not think I would feel any different than all you residents about it if I were a resident. It is not fair to residents to have nonresidents get more tags in any hunt! on the other hand I have been paying some pretty big bucks for licence`s and tags for quite a few years. Maybe more actual money than some of you folks. In my humble opinion the biggest single thing you could do to cut down the number of applicants and (people) on the draw is to make everybody pay up front and 86 online applications. It`s just way to easy to apply for $5.00 per species. Rich guys are always going to have the money but the not so serious guys that are not sure about if they really want to apply will not if they have to pay up front. Come on guys everybody knows that Money Talks and Bullsh-t Walks. make the draw for serious hunters only! Not treehuggers! If you are not serious go Dove hunting! As far as bonus points I kinda have to agree with Lark, once a bunch of us have them than its not that big of an edge! I for one have hunted many western states and I think it makes you a better hunter to have to go somewhere you are not familiar with and try your best to harvest a good animal. All in all, I still like hunting Arizona a lot because it is an awesome state with awesome wildlife! Good luck to all the lucky tagholders. Rich Thompson