RoughCut

Good Lord Almighty, I am just getting around to taking a peek at NM's regs and wow are they socking it to us non-residents. They used to be my favorite state to apply for because of their reasonable fees, easy online app service etc.. I can't beleived they have raised the non res app fee by 20$ in two years, thats a 300% increase. Can't wait to see what it is next year, we might as well call New Mexico, Nevada.Seems like they have some smart guys in the back office. At least they won't price all the non-residents out with the full fee upfront and increased app fees in this booming economy (sarcasm). All of you wealthy non res are gonna enjoy some fine odds this year. So obviously they eliminated the wonderful opportunity for non res to purchase their deer license up to the day before their hunt starts as well. I also though that was great, oh well. I could maybe understand the fees if there were some bonus points involved or some other incentive, or if they purged the 12% and 10% non res caps instead of making you hire an outfitter for however many thousands of dollors to enjoy better draw odds. Sorry, had to vent.

I would hunt any unit that hold Coues deer. Alas, you only get two choices.

You sure they weren't Ewe's. kind of hard to tell apart.

Do we get a score? or was our guessing in vain?

What do you think? Cottontail or hyrbrid?? HEHE J/K

125 4/8

That is a nice big bodied, mature looking deer. Also looks like he might have some "Junk" on his rack.

Jeffro, you mind if I ask where you got that wooden placard? That looks really nice.

Great point Doug, if we all did them online it would save game and fish a boat load. I wish AZ would get on the stick and bring back online application services. That way we could follow New Mexico's example and require survey's to be completed online prior to applying for the next season's hunts.. Save money and have more accurate harvest data, seems like a no-brainer. I know this topic comes up a lot but it NEEDS to be done.

Here

+1 without a doubt

125 2/8 Amazing

Details? Miles, 4x4.....?

My Top Secret Glassing Secrets ----Highly Classified---- First off I would say don't even bother taking glassing serious until you own a tripod. The absolute first thing I do when I sit down is glass the first 100-200 yards in front of me. I can't tell you how many times I have snuck into a spot and spooked deer that were right on top of me. I typically hit the open grassy looking areas as well as ridgelines initially at first light. Deer in these areas are typically easy to spot and contrast well, so you don't need to wait for hardly any light at all. Next I do a quick pass across most of the area I'm looking at. You never know what you might catch moving early. Next the hard work comes. I grid out my scenery into blocks of a single "field-of-view" I take my time and looke behind anything that can possibly hide a deer. You would be amazed at how small a barrel cactus can look from 900 yards, but they are often big enough to hide an entire Coues. Before I move to the next field of view I focus on an object in the middle of what I am looking at and stare at it for about 5-6 seconds(which seems like an eternity, but patience is king). I find it amazing what small movement you can see when you focus on a single for a small amount of time object. I always relate this technique to looking at a super faint star in the sky. If you like directly at it, it can be really hard to see, but if you focus on the space next to it you can see the star plain as day with your peripheral vision. I coninue to the next block and repeat. These techniques tend to work really well for me and I tend to outglass the other hunters. Hope this helps. This topic would be an awesome Sticky Amanda.

Thanks Doug & Doug I am on Cloud 9 right now. I've honestly never won anything more than a candy bar. My wife is going to be so excited to have a real pair of binos for her December Coues Hunt. Thanks again

122 1/8

Holy Smokes, the resemblance is uncanny

Good Lord, what were the first mass measurements on that hog?

Can I use an aircraft to scout wildlife before or during the season? No. Commission Rule R12-4-319 states that a person shall not use any aircraft, or any contrivance used for flight, or any lighter-than-air contrivance, to take, locate, or assist in locating wildlife beginning 48 hours before and during all big game seasons. This rule applies to all big game seasons and includes Commission Order special seasons. The Arizona Game and Fish Department also states aircraft cannot be used at any time in a manner that results in harassment to wildlife. prior to 48 hours you are good.

Pretty cool how bloody their horns look when they start rubbing off the velvet. I have to say, that trail looks a ton like this one in the Juniper Mesa Wilderness.

Honestly, why anybdy uses anything other than a Shepherd scope blows my mind. Best I have seen hands down. That ability to throw the scope to my eye and immediately know the range is invaluable. One-shot zeroing, no-math compensation, no dialing. It's a no brainer. My family has been using them for years and they've never let us down. Or you can spend more and have the comfort of having a big budget name on the side of the scope.

I would have had the pee pee and poo poo down my legs.

What hunt number? Did the hunt have 150 total or just 150 leftovers?

I by no means was trying to say finding a buck in this unit was easy. My hunt was the late Dec. hunt, so I may have a skewed idea. When we saw all of those deer, I didn't mention that everyone of those 103 deer were all does yearlings and fawns. There might have been some small spikes in the mix. I should also say the day prior we only saw about a third of that many deer and we spent every waking hour of that day in the field, perched on the same knoll. Deserdog can vouch for me when I say this unit has some of the nastiest scrubiest tear your skin off-iest brush in the state, so bring your long-sleeves I think the crappy part about the quote above is that he was kicking himself for not taking the mid-nineties buck. I beleive he did the right thing at the time for passing on that buck. I would never want someone to take a buck they wouldn't be happy with. If he wasn't gonna be happy with that buck, then that's ok if he leaves him for the rest of us. He's probably pushing 100, if not more this year. That buck has Desertdog's name all over it. Right, DD?? Anyways live and learn, I bet next time I bet you he will be pumped to take that nice of a buck.

Every Square inch of that unit is a good spot. Smallest unit in the state, so pick a spot that looks good and I guarantee you will see whitetail. on the second day of my hunt last year I saw 103 different deer in the first hour of daylight before spotting the buck that I shot.