Manamal

With no Az tags in hand untill December archery, i've been hunting ducks in unit 1 and 6a as much as possible. It seems to be alot better than last year, lots of mallards and teal. Cant wait untill Fri. when the desert units open up, gonna scout some good spots today and pray for nasty weather up north to push some more birds down. I used to hunt quail like a maniac untill a couple years ago. I needed a new challenge and decided to learn how to hunt ducks. It is so cool when you see birds at a distance and sweet talk em into your spread!!! Do any other duck hunters cruise this site?Bullwidgeon?

Just a friendly reminder: Watch for snakes!!! I was walking to one of my vantage points the other morning with one of my buddies and stepped ON a small rattler. It was early and cool so he was fairly lethargic, but man talk about gettin' the blood flowing!!!

I've got a couple buddies that name bucks on a regular basis. The two bucks I hear them talk about the most are "The White Whale" and "Old Glory". I would call the "white whale" a 24-26" 4x4 with big front forks and weak in the back. "Old glory" is a coues I have not seen but sounds like a typical 3x3 w/eyegaurds in the 80 or 90" class. The only reason I would name a buck is if he was my pet... And it would be hard to have a deer as a pet knowing how good they taste.

Last year I drove to Silver City while on a scouting trip in early Oct. just to check it out. Nice place! Going east on 180 on the left side of the just as you start seeing buildings is a little bowl with some junipers in it. I caught a glimpse of what I thought was the rump of a mulie so I turned around to check it out. Turned out to be three nice mulie bucks. Man, are you serious, a guy really shot a buck from a hotel? What a moron!!!

Since my post on the 16th I have seen the mulies I was referring to two more times. Scared them once because of a swirling wind, but had a chance to reevaulate the two big guys, probably 150 class bucks not 170. Nice bucks, I was probably just really excited and overestimated the score.

Haven't noticed any posts coming out of New Mexico for a while. Just wondering if you guys are still around.

.270, Man I sure hope not, but when you hear something from more than one source it kinda makes you wonder. I've seen deer and elk carcases in the field before with their antlers cut off as i'm sure some of you have. Sometimes its a lion kill, natural causes, misplaced bullet or arrow from someone hunting legally that just ditnt take the time to follow up the shot, or sometimes it's a poached animal. Unless it's fresh its hard to tell for sure. Probably the biggest question is "why" someone would poach. Some people just have a general disregaurd for the law, they are probably the guys that haven't been drawn in quite a while and feel the state owes them that buck or bull. Also are those guys that move here from some state with very liberal bag limits for deer. They have been killing multiple bucks every year for their whole life and look past the law to continue what they have been doing. These are the kind of people that just don't understand the problems that AZ deer face every year. Then there is another catergory of poachers I call "Opportunistic Killers". These guys may have a valid tag for whatever unit, and are unable to harvest an animal within the dates for the hunt set by AZGFD. They may be out quail hunting one day see a buck and kill it, and then tell everyone what a great hunter they are. But that person and god will know that they suck at finding bucks. Poaching is not hunting!!! And he who poaches knows he is not a hunter.

Do they still shoot poachers on site in Africa? It seems to me that would work well as a deterrant here in AZ. I've heard a couple times that on average, one buck is killed illegally for each one killed legally. Really no way to tell. I spend ALOT of time in the wilds of AZ and rarely do I see AZGFD. In fact it has been years!!! How come the dept. doesn't have enough officers to keep an eye on the animals of AZ? Ive Been to NM deer scouting/hunting for the last couple years, and see the NMGFD officers on a regular basis, some really cool guys with good info. I wonder if NM has less of a poaching problem than AZ.

It seems there are alot of twin fawns in the areas I hunt for coues, Ive also been hunting the mulies and have yet to see any sets of twins. Some fawns, yes, but no twins.

I've been hunting a couple bachelor groups of desert mulies, between coues hunts. As of yesterday the two merged into one. How am I ever gonna get close enough to TWELVE mulie bucks. When it was seven and five, i was able to get within bow range a few times. There are a couple of bucks there that really blow me away, 170ish 4x4's w/ deep forks. I hope before the end of the season they will split again. Too many bucks, what a problem to have!!!

I've been using a win model 70 in 300 mag for the last couple years. Great rifle, but I may have a new favorite, Im picking up a SAKO TIKKA in 270 and putting a Leupold VX III 4.5-14x40 on top. No tags in AZ. this year but Im heading to NM for the Nov 10-14 hunt to see what the TIKKA can do.

Couesnut, Well I've been hunting the areas adjacent to the burn, also some spots within five or so miles from the edge. From some of my vantage points I've been able to see deer IN the burn area, The grey coat of the coues is quite the contrast against the fire scarred mtns. However I do not target theese areas, as areas with more vegitation are holding more deer. Which hunt did your son draw in 6A? I used to live in Flag, theres a ton of elk in that unit, high, low, doesnt matter there everywhere!!!

Saw alot of bucks both coues and mulies, there are way more deer in my unit 22 spots this year than last couple. Didnt hunt the verde side though. Congratulations on drawing great tags. I've been putting in for that unit for years and have yet to draw- There are alot of coues in 22 and some big ones to boot!! Just get out there and do some scouting and find which areas they are using.

I agree with GMM, I have been hunting a few groups of deer and have noticed that they kinda rotate who they are hanging out with. One day there may be a group of three bucks all in the 60-80" range hanging together. The next day there are a couple small 2x2's with them, that I would assume are the same ones that I usually see in the next canyon over.

I was just curious if anyone could explain to me why there are only very few coues in areas like the Bradshaw mtns. or similar ranges that look like there could be some coues.

Sounds like a nice buck Arizonabowhunter! Are you hunting the coues again this year?

Last year while bear hunting in 22, I was watching a couple nice coues bucks. I was wishing I had my bow and not the .300 win. Anyways a guy is driving down a completly legal dirt road on his quad, and both bucks slowly lower themselves to the ground behind the vegitation and get back up a while later. It's so cool when they do that! I have noticed in the last couple years the new wave of road hunters in their camo golf carts. Has anyone else seen these things?

I've never hunted 23 South, but I bet if you went out there and found some ripe pears you would be on the right track.

Why,did ya get one?

Wow bullwidgeon, what a buck!!! I also agree that there are some big, steep unforgiving canyons in NM that will kick your butt if youre not prepared. But ya know what, thats where the big guys live so its worth the effort. Can't wait to go check out Whiterock. Seen any bears up that way?

Well the 27th is coming up fast! I hope everyone is shooting well and has found some bucks to hunt come opening weekend. I've been scouting a popular central arizona unit for bucks and bears. What I've been seeing makes me very excited for the season. So far the coues have been cooperative but no bear sightings as of yet. I was just wondering if any of you had seen any bears in your adventures into coues country this year.

GMM, congratulations on a great buck!! It is like an emotional rollercoaster not to be able to find an animal that you've shot, after all the hard work just to get in position for a shot. I know the feeling, and you did the right thing.

No crazy, I havent checked out whiterock yet, but I know where it is. I'll probably check it out next time I'm over there- Thanks for the tip. Here in AZ there are alot of places that the coues are the primary deer species in a given area. I have not found that in NM unit 23. I'm assuming they live in isolated pockets of the right habitat. Unit 23 definately has some large antlered mulies, is it the same for the coues?

crazyaboutcoues, Was in unit 23 a few weeks ago scouting for the Nov. 10-14th season. Saw four does and a couple bucks that still had some growing to do. All mulies. Looking for pockets of coues, but will take another nice mulie if the opportunity arises. Scouting NM again after arch. deer here in AZ. Good luck- Good to see action on the NM board again!!!

One thing to keep in mind 110orbust, is once youve glassed a particular canyon or mtn. or whatever, glass it again, and then glass it AGAIN!! however many times it takes you to find the bucks you are looking for. I bet even the best glassers in the world can't find all of the deer w/in a glassing arena on even the second pass of an area. Also glass in a grid type pattern, and when you move your binocs, only move 1/2 to 2/3 of your field of view, in other words overlap each new field of view. Hope this helps.