Coach

Nice job man - any archery coues is a real trophy in my book.

Nice job on the pig and nice write-up. There's a lot of buzz about these heads - So far, most of it is encouraging. They kind of look to me like a mix of a lot of earlier and exisiting designs, but who knows, maybe they bring together the best of several proven designs. They sure did a job on that pig of yours. Looks like you could set up spike camp in that entry wound.

Matt and I went out opening morning and got into a nice herd right away. Had some really close encounters but couldn't get a shot initially with them moving in and out of the big cactus. I could have waited for a closer shot but had this guy broadside at 50 and felt good about the shot. He turned away just as I shot so the entry was a litte forward and the exit was through the opposite cheek, but he dropped in his tracks (and my arrow never hit the dirt ) Fun way to start the Spring javi season! These pix are a little blurry - they're screenshots of some of the video Matt was able to capture. It was his first time video taping a hunt, so we didn't get quite as much good footage as we would have liked. Plus when he ran over to me with the camera after mine was down, I was taping for several minutes butdidn't realize until later the camera was on stand-by. Grrrrr. Now it's time for the boys' hunts at the end of the month.

That's a great buck - and a great story to go along with it. Looks to me like you sure know what you're doing - congrats on the other bucks you posted as well.

3 pages now, and not a peep from the starter of this thread. Drive-by-post, IMO.

That's one heck of a double - great job! Really freakin' cool.

Your turn is coming Brian - I don't know if it will be tomorrow or the next day, maybe not even this season, but you have put in the work and the hours, and you obviously have the persistence. Best of luck to you. I'll put in a little prayer for you tonight that you and your dad will be together when this hunt finally hits its apex for you.

Great looking buck - congrats buddydog, that's a great way to start off the year!

Nice buck! I'd end my 2012 deer hunting for a buck like that any day.

Great Job, Charlie. That buck is the result of a lot of hard work. Huge congrats man, you earned it!

Yup, I've seen both kinds on different occasions. Usually, when I find them it's where someone wanted to remember to split off a trail or something. Up on the North Rim there's an area, seems it's off the loop that ends (or starts) at Wall Street where there are dozens, maybe hundreds of these things. I'm kind of surprised FS hasn't put the hammer down.

For once in my life, I'm speechless....

Whoah there pardner! I really feel for you and I understand your frustrations. I don't like slob hunters either. But coming on to a public forum and basically blaming every hunter in an entire state for what a few slobs you witnessed doing is not exactly rational (I'm trying to be polite). I certainly hope you got the license plate numbers of those guys because they were breaking the law, because as you know, you have a legal obligation to report violations of those types to NM G&F. You did that, right?

I see both good and bad here. Some of the newer compounds at 30 lbs pack enough punch for javi and coues, but seem way under powered for elk, maybe even muleys. Hard to pick the right minimum on a spectrum that runs from javelina to elk.

I found two boars hanging together last weekend that were out in some open country. Based on where they were, I got the impression they were on the move, maybe separated from a bigger herd, maybe looking for a new one.

194 3/8 - What a stud buck.

This just comes down to what YOUR abilities are, IMO. I've been bow hunting for 20+ years and my personal "comfort zone" is right around 50 yards. Beyond that there are situations I would take a shot but it would have to be absolutely perfect. I know a few guys that can make much longer shots in hunting situations, but because of their experience they seldom have to. These are guys who can put a group of broadheads in a foam target at 90 to 120 yards that look like a 35-50 yard grouping for most of us. A big factor is the actual amount of movement a live animal can and will exhibit from the time of release to the point of impact, even if they aren't startled. A single step or turn that changes the angle of their body can make the difference between a perfect hit and a marginal one, and that is if you do your part perfectly and hit exactly where you are aiming. One of the best indicators is what you feel at the time you are ready to release the arrow. If you KNOW where the shot will be, you are probably in your comfort zone. If you HOPE you hit, you are definatly outside of it. If there is a "rule of thumb" I would say it is to find where you can fit 5 broadheads inside 8 inches standing, kneeling, out of a blind, through the mesh if that's how you are hunting, and most importatnly, breathing heavy (I know a guy who would run around his house several times and do pushups while shooting his bow to mimic the feel of an actual stalk), and set that as your absolute outside maximum distance. The difference between what you can do with targets, fully relaxed and in your comfort zone compared to how your body reacts to a real hunting situation is huge, and very often overlooked. I have seen time and time again, guys who shoot target and 3D extremely well at long range, completely blow easy shots under hunting situations. I think a reasonable, albeit exaggerated analogy is that of a video game player or paint baller in a combat situation. Practice is great and it gives you a baseline idea of what your abilities are, but until are in that situation, you have no idea how well you will be able to perform. You might put 4 arrows in 4 inches at 40 yards in your back yard all day, but when your heart is pumping, you are full of adreneline and you have to hold at full draw for what seems like forever because a live animal is nothing like the 3D targets you are used to, and you have choose the right 1/2 second to release, are you really as sure of your shot as you are under perfect practice conditions? Work more on stalking skills to close that gap so that when you do release an arrow, it's a slam dunk. I know, easier said than done, but until you've been on a blood trail that peters out on what you thought was a great shot, it's really hard to describe the sinking feeling that you probably just killed an animal you won't recover. It's a sucky feeling and will likely have you up nights replaying the moment over and over.

Looks more like Dearborne, MI - just sayin'

That's a good cat - good and dead! LOL. Nice job. I think I've found the area I can finally take my first cat, last part of the month, we'll see. Thanks for posting and double thanks for saving lots of deer.

Dang, Brian. After hearing all about that buck yesterday coming right in, and you being so close, I was really hoping today it would replay the way it should have yesterday. The good news is, you know he's there and you know you are in the right position. Hopefully Friday you and your dad will get to share the culmination of all the hard work you've put into the hunt, and all the days of "close, but no dice". You are definatley doing it right I believe your persistence will pay off.

Man - spot and stalk coues with a bow has to be one of the hardest things for a hunter to achieve, along with spot and stalk pronghorn, and you've done both. Great job - my hat is off to you. Huge congrats.

Very good points by .308 Nut as well. I don't know much about units 5 or 22, or how they are managed - acually nothing. The areas closer to me are 1, 3A/C and 27. In all of these units there are a lot of true trophy quality bulls and huge herds of cows. I sometimes cringe about the number of cow tags allotted, but it hasn't seemed to negatively impact the overall numbers. At this point it seems that a good balance has been achieved in those units. If you want a trophy bull tag, you have to put in for a long time but when you get a tag your chances of getting a great bull are very good. If you just want to go hunt, you should be able to draw a cow tag fairly regularly, especially archery cow. The point was brought up about other states. I haven't hunted CO, but I have friends in Montanna. They can get elk tags every year, but the trophy quality is far inferior to AZ, NM and UT. Montanna is every bit capable of producing huge bulls, as Chuck Adams has proved, but these guys are chomping at the bit to come down here and hunt. Seems AZG&F is doing a pretty darn good job of balancing qaulity vs quantity in the units I'm familiar with when it comes to elk. Deer, not as much, but I have seen some improvements there as well, along with some disappointments. 1000+ tags for deer in 24A seems excessive, and cutting the rut hunts from 450 to 50 or maybe even less now... I don't see the logic in that. Kind of ruined one of my favorite deer units for me. I would love to see AZG&F put more emphasis on pronghorn. We are surrounded by states with huge antelope populations, but we just can't seem get them established here, the way it seems to me they could be.

Sweet bucks, and huge congrats to you. Hunting Mexico is definately something I need to experience. Thanks for sharing the story and pictures.

Gutless is definately the way to go. Try it once, and you won't go back.

I certainly wouldn't say you are less of sportsman if you don't process your own game. I would say you will have a more intimate experience with the hunt if you do.