bowsniper

I hadn't seen the buck before the day I arrowed him. I got the picture of him a few weeks before, but I didn't get it developed until after. I think I got him in Mike's unit, 23......no wait, I forgot, that there aren't any coues in 23!!

Temptation is a horrible thing. I hope that I never see an unattended USO Outfitter truck out in the Arizona forest........

While sitting in my treestand the last two days watching the does go by, I thought of a few more things to add to this thread: 1) I use separate ropes to haul up my pack and my bow up to the stand, so you can be a little more careful hauling up the bow. Also, tie the ropes to a foot peg when you leave to keep the wind from tangling and blowing them up into the tree. 2) This maybe obvious, but use a safety harness. I know a few guys who don't. One guy thought that he was so sure footed that he could never fall off his stand. Well, he never fell off, but one day he was sitting there in his stand one second, and the next second he's falling through space. His stand disconnected from the tree while he was on it, and he got a serious neck injury. Because of this, I use extra straps to secure my stand. 3) More on scent control. I had over 20 coues under me the last several days, (mostly does) in calm, gusty, and swirly winds, and as far as I know, not one scented me out because of the scent lock suit. Don't forget about your backpack. I didn't want to spend $$ for a scent lock pack, so once I'm up in the stand, I put the whole pack into a Tink's Carbon Sack. The sack also works well to take the scent off hard to wash stuff. 4) Before the season starts, haul a target into your stand and practice some shots. You will be off almost 5 yards on 30 degree angle with a 30 yard shot, so get all that sorted out before it's too late. Have fun! Bowsniper

I have read on a previous thread on this forum that coues deer don't bait well with feeders like they do in other parts of the country. I couldn't find the thread, maybe whoever posted it could chime in here..... Bowsniper

I just spent a couple of days in a tree stand watching some does, 26 days from when I know that they were hot. No bucks anywhere, so I guess they all got "serviced" the first time around, despite me arrowing their buck. Hopefully it was done by my big buck (he went out happy!) Bowsniper

That's where the scent lock underware comes in handy!

I sure hope G&F has the guts to stand up to these out of state creeps! I am really getting sick of out of state interests trying to control things here in Arizona. It really pisses me off!! Bowsniper

Good shot and good for you! And congrats on the future hunter due in August. Much more important than mr. coues! Bowsniper

I am far from an expert, but I will share with you a few things I have learned: 1) I use a Gorilla treestand, but I am sure that there are many good brands. I think that fixed are better suited for AZ because many times you have to climb higher past branches, and a climber can't get past low branches. Also, I have never used a climber, but it seems like it would be a hassle to ratchet it down, (and noisy too), every time you needed to go down. A fixed with screw in steps seems to work well for me. One tip with the steps, use twice as many as you think you'll need, and also put them three or four feet higher than the position of your stand, to help you get in and out of your stand. 2) Salt licks are helpful, but it can take many months to get one well established. You should get one going soon for the August hunt. I would keep salt licks miles apart so you don't give the deer a choice, so be very careful where you start it, because once the salt leeches into the soil, it's there for a long time. There is a lot of info in the archives on salt licks, so do a search and you will come up with alot of info. 3) I've had 3 or 4 cams out at one time. 30 feet of flash is fine. I've used the cheapo stealth cam from Wal-Mart for $59. I also have three leaf river film cameras that have worked very well for me. They retail for $200, but you can get new ones on ebay for $100 to $140. 4) Place the camera where you think you might be placing a treestand. An active trail intersection in the forest would be a good place, some place where the coues feel comfortable, but you still have good shooting lanes. I haven't had good luck at water holes because coues are so wary when they come into a water hole. 5) I've only been at this less than a year, so I don't know. Hopefully someone else can tell you. One other comment, I think very good scent control is imperative. I used a scent lock suit over my full body, including my head, hands, and especially my feet. Good Luck! Bowsniper

I have only hunted two days this month, and just saw does. I'll try next weekend and then hang it up til August. How about you? How about posting a picture of that massive pig you arrowed? Bowsniper

I got this nice buck on one of my game cameras. It was pretty funny, there were about a dozen photos of rifle and bow hunters, and the last photo was of this guy, showing up after they all went to bed.

Here you go Josh: http://www.coueswhitetail.com/forums/index...?showtopic=1041

Thank you Amanda for your hard work and a great site, and all you forum members for your helpful comments. I'd like to take it a step further by encouraging anyone who hasn't yet done so to make a donation to this web site. Good things don't come for free, and this website and forum is a very good thing! If you can, figure out how much this forum has been worth to you, and go the main site at http://www.coueswhitetail.com/ and click on "Make a Donation". Just skip that 12 pack this weekend, and send a donation instead. Bowsniper

Mike, Awesome! Congrats on a great shot on a great coues! Good story! Be sure to let us know when the pics are up! Next year you need to put in for somewhere else besides 23, cause I hear that there ain't no coues up there!! Bowsniper

What are these guys charging for a coues?

I just got around to developing some game camera film and discoved a photo of the 112" buck I got before Christmas. I think that the photo was taken about a week before I got him. Here it is: http://members.cox.net/bowsniper/closeup.JPG Here is the photo after I got him for comparison: http://members.cox.net/desertchristianarchers/mark_coues.jpg

I spent yesterday helping a friend looking for a buck he arrowed on December 29th. The buck started walking as he released, and the arrow hit in the ponch. He looked all the next day during last week's big storm, but couldn't find him. We didn't find him yesterday either, but the question came up, "if you arrow a deer in 04, and don't find him until 05, which years tag do you use to tag him?" Or if you are rifle hunting and shoot a deer in 04, but find him and tag him in 05, does that deer count as your 05 deer? What do you think? Bowsniper

Back in the 1920's, the ranchers killed all the predators up on the Kiabab. Then the deer population exploded. But within a few years, 90% of the deer died due to starvation. It took decades for the forage and the deer to return normal. Something to think about...... Bowsniper PS: I don't care how may coyotes we kill, we'll never make a dent. The more we kill, the more they'll breed.

I found that I had a lot less false trips when I faced my cams North. Your milage may vary. Bowsniper

I also suggest Mark Plunkett at Wildlife Creations. That's where I just took my coues. He also did a great job on my wife's bull elk. Duwane Adams has Mark in his book on page 118. He is located in Phoenix at 51st ave and Thunderbird. He charges $525 for a coues. Bowsniper

I just got lucky on this one, because I'm a newbie myself, with lots of pics of other hunters and foxes too. All I can suggest is lock it up and keep it pointing North. Good luck! Bowsniper

Sure I would want to hunt in 05! But I kind of got beaten up last week on the forum for admitting that I kept on hunting after searching for a shot/lost animal for one and a half days, so I was kind of curious what those people would think about this situation. Bowsniper

Thanks for all of your comments! My heart is still thumping hard a week later. I was lucky and got a picture of the buck on one of my game cams. I 'll post it in a few days when I can get it scanned. I hiked a good friend into the stand yesterday, and he arrowed a good 3 by 3. The buck took a step forword as he released, and was hit in the gut. My friend spent the whole day today in heavy rain looking for that buck, but no luck. He is really bummed. Bowsniper

Been hunting for 12 years, the last two archery. It's been a long learning curve for me, as I usually hunted by myself (not by choice). In the 10 years of hunting before archery, I only shot a carp spike and two pigs. Things seemed to have picked up with archery. This year I was blessed with a turkey and a coues. I'm headed out for January coues, and if I tag out, maybe I'll work hard on Fall bear. I don't know anything about them so there is plenty to learn. Bowsniper

I kind of think that it depends on your personal situation. For me, I had a dozen unfilled tags before I finally lost one and then shot another a few days later. There is a major responsibility to do everything you can to find the wounded animal. When I lost that spike last week, I tracked him a 1/4 mile, then I tracked him another two hundred yards on my hands and knees before the blood trail gave out. I spent most of the next day doing a grid search through manzanita, before I finally gave up. So yes, I guess that I did do a "twofer", but I did everything I could do to find that spike, and with over a dozen unfilled tags to my name, I don't feel too bad about possibly taking two deer. I do however, feel very guilty about making that spike suffer. I can't say for sure what I would have done if I had been a more experienced and succesful hunter, although I can say for sure that with what I learned on this hunt, I will do things differently next time. I really learned on this hunt how important it is to have the perfect shot for archery. Trying to fill that first tag can make you do some unwise things. Bowsniper