5yearcoueshunter

Well another year of Spring Turkey season is over for me. I was only going to be able to hunt one weekend this year so I wanted to hunt hard. Well I only got to hunt about 15 minutes. I called in and bagged a nice 2 year old Merriam's Gobbler at 15 yards. It only took one yelp on the push - pull call to bring him running in. I've never had a turkey come in that fast. He has a 8 inch beard and was taken in the Jemez mountains. Travis And here is the Gobbler I got last season. Another 2 year old bird with an 8 1/2 inch beard. This one was taken near Datil. Travis

Thanks for the compliment on the bird Vinni. You are right, it is really dry. That creek is usually very good fishing in about another month, but I don't know about this year. Please forgive me, but out of respect for my hunting and fishing buddies, I'm not going to disclose the name of the river as it would be an easy place to locate if I did. I can tell you it is in the Santa Fe National Forest! haha Congrats on your bird this year as well. Great pics with you and the family. Travis

Hey Lance, congrats on your Gila birds! The Jemez was as dry as I've ever seen it. I'm sure it was more wet then the Gila, but that's normal. The creek you see behind me would normally be running higher then where I'm sitting, this time of year. There just wasn't any snowpack this year. I wouldn't be surprised if the Forest will be closed before Memorial Day. Sad situation. Pray for Rain!!! Any pics of your gobblers?

Wow! Tell your family congrats on the Turkeys! Getting 2 birds a peice is quite an acomplishment. Do you know if they were hunting on public or private land? Travis

Vini, congrats on your opening day Tom! There is nothing like Spring Turkey season. I'm itching to go. I didn't get to go the first weekend but do plan on going this weekend. A buddy of mine got his first Turkey on opening day. He said they were gobblin the mountain down and I think he's hooked for life. Again, congrats on a good looking bird. Travis

Deer - 2B late hunt, 27 coues rifle, 23 rifle coues late hunt Elk - 52 Bull Mzl, 34 Bull Muzl, 10 Bull Muzl Antelope - Stallion Range, SW, 52 Muzl Bighorn - Desert, San Francisco Ibex - Rifle, Muzl I already got an off-range Oryx tag for January, so anything else would be a bonus! Good luck to all in the draw, and also anybody that is going to be out chasing long beards this weekend ! Travis

Casey, I know there has been some bad things said about Nosler Partitions, but I've found them to do great on Elk and Oryx. For 30.06 I would go with 180 grain. My Dad shot a bull once square in the shoulder, went strait through, broke the other one, and exited. Bull just hit the dirt! I also use them in a .270 in 150 grain for Elk and Oryx and again have had no problem. The best thing is they are usually not as expensive as other bullets. Sorry, I don't know much about the bullets you were asking about. Travis

Tony, I totally agree. Even though I think this one particular bill would be great for Arizona resident hunters, it might just open a "can of worms" when it comes to other Anti-hunter issues that could come to the Legislature. I think California hunters know all too well about that. Travis

Bret, between my Dad, my Uncle and myself we have drawn 5 Antelope tags for the SW area and have never had any problems. In our experience, most ranchers welcome you and have always let us do pre-season scouting and we've always taken nice Antelope. Of course I'm sure theres always expections to that, but I wouldn't hesitate in applying for a tag. If you draw, you might get lucky and get assigned to an awesome ranch with some really good quality bucks. So far, all of our tags have been for the San Augustine Plains between Magdelena and Datil which is probably the biggest concentration of Antelope in the SW area. Travis

Not till June 21 according to the regulations. We still have a long time to wait. These spring months are definately the longest months of the year for me! Travis

Happy Birthday Scott!

That deer certainly does have a whitetail rack, but everything else about him says Muley. To bad we can't see his tail. In this part of the state, there isn't any Coues anyway, but there is some Texas Whitetails. Possible hybrid? I doubt it, just a whitetail wanna be. I hate poachers!

I've always thought that Lions were not as big as a problem on deer herds as coyotes. Lions are very territorial and basically control their own population to some extent. I do believe Lions still need to be managed because of man's interference with our domestick livestock that give the Lion's an unnatural food source and other habitat factors such as fire surpression, etc. Coyotes on the other hand, are way overpopulated in my opinion and I think are the primary culprit of fawn mortatily. From what I've read, naturally wolves kept coyote populations in check. A perfect example of this is our elk herds. At least here in New Mexico, if there wasn't any cow elk seasons, elk would overrun the country because they dont' have enough natural predators. Coyotes take a few young elk and so do bears and mountain lions, but I don't think they are a limiting factor because elk congregate in bigger herds and are just bigger animals than deer. Wolves and grizzly bears were probably the primary predator on elk. That said, I think our Game and Fish department gives way to many cow elk tags, but that's a different story. Anyway, I definately don't think Lions are evil or need to be all killed because they are hurting our deer herds. All predators and game animals need to be managed through hunting/trapping in my humble opinion. Travis

Well I guess my credit card did get charged! I drew a an off-range hunt for January! Wahoo! It should be a tough but fun hunt. The rest of my family and friends didn't draw. Travis

Never mind. I think I jumped the gun. I think my credit card charge is for something else. Don't I feel stupid. Travis

I think they are starting to hit the credit cards for the early draw. It looks like I got drawn for an off-range Oryx tag! Wahoo! Results I think will be posted on Friday. Good luck to All. Travis

I agree with you Kevin on the Nosler Partition not expanding on smaller big game. In my experience, they work great on Oryx and Elk becaue of thick hide and heavier bone mass you have to penetrate. A regular expanding bullet like a Corlok works the best for smalller big game if you want them do just hit the dirt. However, I have found that using a Nosler Partition on smaller animal can give you less blood shot meat, but usually leads to having to track your animal a little ways. Travis

Wow, all beautiful Rams! I would really like to hunt them someday. I need to stop applying for Javelina in February and spend my time looking for a Barbary. Congrats to all you guys! Travis

Awesome Job! Congrats Tommy! Travis

In my experience, I really can't taste much difference between the two species. It just all depends on what the deer have been eating and how well the meat was taken care of. This last year I shot a 3 to 4 year old muley and by buddy shot a 3 to 4 year old Coues. They were both taken care of the exact same way and shot within 1 mile of each other in the same exact country. Both deer are awesome. If anything the Coues has a little bit more flavor. Not strong, but just more flavor to it. The meat also had more of an odor than the mule deer. My muley had no odor what so ever. I have also shot a few young eastern whitetails, and they taste the same as well. But like the Coues, had a little more flavor then most muleys I've ate. From what I've read, whitetails are generally more nervous and cautious animals that might contribute to the meat being a little more flavorful. I have never had a strong Muley. But I also have never shot one on the desert floor, or in cresote. All the muleys I've ate have been in either sagebrush, oakbrush, or mountain mahogony kind of country. So maybe that's why I haven't had a bad one. Anyway, all deer are good. Don't worry about it. LOL Travis

Tommy, sounds like you had a great hunt. You're a very patient man is all I can say. Sitting in a treestand for days takes a lot of dedication and like I said patience. I have no doubt, that it will pay off big time for you on a huge buck in the years to come. And when it does happen, it will be sooooo sweet! Travis

Wow! Nice buck Jeff. That buck looks like he has some age on him. Congratulations on your first Coues! Definately a trophy to be proud of, especially in New Mexico. I'm still looking for my first Coues. Eight years now in NM, 2 misses due to buck fever, and I'm hooked for life! Again, Congrats on your awesome buck! Travis

My favorite would be a bolt action 30-30 with a scope and get within 75 yards. If you get into a herd of them, pick the medium sized one and make a well placed shot just barely behind the shoulder. Don't go to far back as a Javelina's guts are a lot closer to the shoulder porportional wise then a deer. I chose a 30-30 because you have a slow bullet that expands well and doesn't tear up much meat. Young Javelina is in my opinion the best meat out there. You can cook it barbeque style or just plane pork chops and sausage. If you do it pork chop style, just coat it with a little flour, and get your bacon grease real hot. It's awesome. Now if you bag an old boar, it's definately going to be a little stronger. I found making a sausage mixture with spices is the best. The most important thing to me is to make a quick clean kill and get the animal gutted and skinned as soon as possible. Hunting them with a bow is fun, but I've found the meat doesn't taste as good because the animal usually will "scent" or be on alarm after you shoot them. A gun shot will have that "shock" value to knock them out before they know what's happening. Just my 2 cents. Travis

Sent you an email. Travis

Definately a bad angle on that pic for scoring. That is an awesome deer and like Chris says, you can tell it's a Coues no doubt. Travis