coueshunter84

The lack of rain is bad down here inthe south, but not as bad as the lions. there are still quite a few deer out there, but the ammount of lion kills are rising. Ever since they banned trapping things are terrible. back in January there was a pack of yotes in every draw, I had one sneak up to 5 yards of me on the down wind side before I heard him breathing. he got away but its getting scary. the fawn populations weathered things pretty good last year. I seen several does with twins and one with triplets. so I dont think its the drought, on the numbers anyway. The antlers though were hit a little down here. Not as bad as it could have been. and this year will only tell. what I have seen of things it could be rough. everywhere I go the leaves and grasses are powder. cross your fingers and pray for a decent monsoon season.

Thanks for the luck on the draw but I've already used it up. I tagged a nice little mulie back in January. Hopefully I get either an elk or antelope tag. And if you would like to see a pic go to www.hhh-usa.org and look in the message board for pics and trail cam. I was headed up the hill to chase a coues and couldnt pass a shot on him. Biggest I have ever taken. Of course now I'm a little bummed about not being able to go after a rifle tag. But come January 1 I will be back out chasing the coues.

My longest kill shot was 426 yards by rangefinder. A one shot kill on a mulie. shot placement was right through both lungs, he dropped in his tracks. I use either 55 or 60 grain btsp hornadys hand loads, pushing 3300fps. I am also kind of picky on my shots. I'm mostly an archer, and that plays into my decisions. I know both my guns and my bows. The .223 I will not shoot in the wind( 10+ mph) past 300 yards. anything less than that with a standing still shot where I can place a bullet either in the heart or both lungs and its toast. I will and have taken several shots on deer out to the 426. and coyotes out past 500. The only times I have not made a one shot kill were back in my younger days before I had the patience to wait for the right shot. And a couple of years ago I had to take a second shot as my target stood right as I shot. He stood on the run and I caught him in the hip. That was at 70 yards. couldnt get a shot any further away due to where he was bedded and got winded ( I forgot about the morning wind change to up slope). . I am a firm believer in shot placement and patience. 2 years ago I had to pass up shots on 2 coues that were 110"+ due to adverse shot conditions. I spent the last 2 days of my hunt trying to get a shot on either one of them and ended up taking a little 3x2 just for freezer meat. Would a bigger caliber have allowed me to take one of the big ones? possibly. But concidering the distance from camp, I'll take the 3x2 instead of the .300. My .223 weighs in about 5-6 lbs. shoulders easy, and there is no recoil. granted the .243 is about the same. I just got a .223 as a birthday gift 15 years ago instead of something bigger so I learned how to use it.

Ok folks, got a couple of questions for you with the knowledge. What about the " fantails" and the red coues. couple of years ago I got into a little herd of what I have herd referred to as "fantails", Had one broadside looking at me at 50 yards. he had a fully formed rack nice and heavy compared to his body mass. but scored only about 60 inches. with the approximate body weight of 50 lbs , and no this wasent an immature buck he was a perfect 4x4 with eye guards. None of the rest of the herd were any bigger, none of them over 24-26 iinches at the shoulder. And last year got I into a herd of 4 bachelors in November that were red in color and all of them would put a good coues to shame on the body size, all of these were little guys biggest was a 3x2, no eye guards spindly rack. all of them would have gone 150 lbs on the hoof. thanks Shane

When I get the chance to hunt witha rifle I use a .223 and have never had a problem with it. I know several who use the .243 also without problems. I would much rather pack one of these " little guns" around their haunts than a .300. Ther are lighter, easier to handle, and are definately capable of making clean kills out to whatever the hunter is comfortable shooting. There is nothing like being able to pack your buck back out after a 10+ mile hike without haveing to decide whether to leave the gun or the deer for the next morning!!!.