5yearcoueshunter

Tommy, I don't think the Muzzleloader hunters did much damage. There was only 50 of them. I was in the unit last year on the rifle hunt when there was 100 tags. Still not hardly any pressure. A few road hunters but not much else. Especially if you go after Coues, you shouldn't see a soul. Other than BullWidgeon. LOL Good Luck! Travis

Good luck Bill! Hope you find a good one. Good luck to your boys as well Tommy. Are they going to take any deer or will they try to target Coues this year? I'm sure you know the area well, but let me know if you need any help. I've been in Unit 22 a lot in the last few years. Travis

Congrats to you and your Dad! Must be a great feeling for your Dad to get his first Coues after 9 year. I'm still seeking my first too! You are a class act Christian! We need more young guys like you out in the field! Travis

Congrats Cole! That is an awesome first muley! Passing up bucks at your age? If I would have done that I think my Dad would have had a heart attack! Congrats again. Travis

Congrats to the boy! That is an awesome buck for anybody to take! Travis

Wow! That's awesome Scott. You're more man than me that's for sure! Congrats! Travis

Hey Jim, did you get my reply?

Hey Jim, Glad you made it back to Arizona safe. You hit the nail on the head about the bigger bucks. They will be there. They are always the last to come down from the mountains being more reluctant. Of course weather and the rut will ultimately bring them in. They still don't grow on trees, but they will be there. In most of unit 2B, there is a small to non-existant herd of resident deer. The unit is pretty much a winter range. Of course there is pockets of resident deer but not very many. There are more resident deer I think in 2A and 2C. That's very good news about the migration already starting. It is definately early this year. I have been on the late hunt a couple times in dry years and not seen any big bucks. Just the small fork horns and such like you mentioned. The last hunt I think will definately be the hunt for the big bucks as the early hunts will probably cull out a lot of smaller legal bucks. I sure hope the big bucks don't come in too early and get shot in the early hunts. I guess time will tell. I have the last hunt also but I haven't been there for almost 9 years so I'm pretty excited. Good luck to you! Travis

Hey Tommy, Are your boys going to try for Coues this year, or just take any legal buck. I know they have both taken nice muley's before. I've hunted Unit 22 many times in the last few years so let me know if you need any info. I'm sure you won't though, cuz you the man! Travis

I don't think the deer have made it down to NM yet, but I've heard the San Juan mountains in Colorado got snow which is pushing them down early. Of course, I don't know this first hand, but have heard it through the grapevine. Travis

I've only hunted unit 2b once when I was 15. I'm going up there on the late hunt too this year for the first time since then which was 10 years ago! If the migration has started early like I've been hearing, then you might want to concentrate in the lower country on the west side of the unit closer to Navajo lake. There is a lot of BLM land here with more roads, but lots of more open country off the beaten path as well. I wouldn't be surprised if the rut might get be getting started on the late hunt as well, so checking the flats for does might not be a bad idea. I think the roads in the BLM are not as maintained, so if conditions get bad this might not be the place to go. Travis

Jason, Yeah I believe that in the detailed proposal they had before, that there is going to be 3 archery bow seasons for elk in the Gila. I'm not 100% sure though. Pretty much with deer and elk they cut back on tags statewide so there won't be as many leftover tags. They also went back to FAD instead of 3 to a side for deer. Next year's proclamation should be out in late December. Travis

Hey Jason, I think the Game and Fish hid the link because they are no longer taking input on them. The game commision adopted the final proposal in the last meeting Sept 29. I did find this link under the Commission section of the site. http://www.wildlife.state.nm.us/commission...eration_000.htm Travis

Congrats on your first bull Austin! That's Awesome! Travis

Beautiful! I love those wide bucks! Congrats! Travis

Desertsheep you're right. Most units such as 23 won't get 12% Nonresidents with guides, so those tags go to Nonresidents without guides. Last year Non-residents actually got nearly 40% of the coues tags in unit 23 because the resident coues interest is low. Hope you all have successful scouting trips and hunts! Travis

Beautiful Buck! Congrats! I hope I can draw another tag someday. LOL Travis

From my limited experience, I would use the bugle as little as possible especially when you are fairly close to the bull. Different bulls will react different to the bugle. Some bulls will come to you, while others will take their cows and leave. When it's heavy rutting time, you don't need the bugle to locate because they will be bugling on their own. It the rut isn't going quite as strong, then I would definately use the bugle for locating, then sneak in and use soft cow talk in close to lure the bull away from the cows. Travis

How about Quemado? Travis

I received mine on Saturday.

On off range Oryx in New Mexico, this year they only allowed people with even year birthdates to apply, and last year was odd year birthdates. Theoretically, that should cut the applicants in half. I think that would be a pretty good system along with bonus points. Travis

Are you looking more for Coues or Muley?

I only drew Deer, but it is up in unit 2B Late Rifle Hunt! That should be an awesome hunt and I'm really looking forward to it. I sure hope Colorado gets some good October snow storms and push them big Mulies down. This is the first time in 8 year that I haven't hunted in a Coues Deer area. Mixed emotions about that, but definately no complaints about the area we drew. Probably the best Public Land Deer hunt in the state. Travis

I just called the Game and Fish and asked the same question. The girl told me the results will still be posted on Wednesday, but people that they had trouble charging their credit cards, have until the 24th to update them. Then I asked, "What happens to the tags if those people don't update the card information?" She said, "We dont' know yet?" Classic Game and Fish. Travis

I've got mixed feelings about it. I think it would be great for the Game and Fish department to have accurate numbers about the harvest for management purposes. I also like the fact that it should eliminate the paper surveys that they bombard me with even though I sent my orignal survey in. The problem I have is that it can still be inaccurate if people lie about their success or not. It also can lead to more headaches if there is mistakes made in the reporting process and they elimate people from applying next year! That would be really bad. Not to mention the fact if you just plain forget to call! So to answer your question Jeff, I don't know how I feel about it. LOL The best system would be to have game wardens in lots of locations during hunting season and have a mandatory check in. That would be the most accurate way of getting harvest numbers. But no game department has the personel for that. Travis