Coach

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.

Cool vid, J, thanks for sharing.

Thanks for the update Brian, you came close today, and tomorrow should bring more opportunities. You have been a very dedicated, and very generous and selfless hunter. I believe in good karma and I think the next days and weeks will be good to you. If anyone deserves it, you do.

Good info Bill, as always. This subject will always be a contentious one in AZ. I have no issue with private land-owners protecting their property, but in so many cases, a publicly maintained road leads both in and out of private property. I just can’t see any justification for any land owner to block public access on publicly maintained roads to public land. It’s just common sense that public land belongs to the public. But a very small, but vocal group seem to think that because they own a little chunk of land, that everything beyond their legal boundaries is somehow an extension of their land, and they feel entitled to lock out access to the rest of us who pay for their road maintenance. I think this issue is going to get a lot more attention in the next few years, and the majority of folks won’t be very sympathetic when new roads are dozed right around these ranches and the county no longer maintains the locked out areas. I sure hope that is how it plays out, because one of the truly great things about Arizona is the huge amount of public land that should be available to every tax-paying citizen of our state.

Hey Coach, Next time you boil a skull add a good amount of borax, it turns everything into jello. It also helps with the greasy skulls like pigs!! Thanks for the correction - I said I added ajax, but I actually added borax. And you are right, it does a great job of dissolving the meat, tendons and anything fleshy that is hard to get off the skull.

You're in way better shape than I am to even take part in that event. Best of luck to you!

A lot of great info here. Pretty much covers it, imo. Good luck on finding them.

Great job! Gotta love that big ol' smile!

Ok, can't insert the pic, so here it is...

Thanks Mulie Hunter, FWIW, the backstrap on this javi were fantastic, and while they weren't enough to make a meal on their own for 5, I cut some of the choice steaks off the top and bottom round to cook up "chicken fried" style and while some of the lower cuts had some chewiness to them nobody ever complained about the strong taste some people often ascribe to javelina. Thanks on the kudos for the skull. I'm kinda sitting on a pile of javi, coues and mulie skulls now that didn't make the taxi. What I've found with boiling skulls is - 1) It's nasty as heck. I put them in the smallest pot they'll fit in, but it's always a big pot. 2) I let them cook in nothing but water until almost all the meat and tendons and whatever that white crap is that hold our mouth together is pulled away from the bone. 3) I add more water, and some ajax, it seems to break up the cartilage and I focus around the back part of the skull, the ear canals, the nasal passage and those two bulbous skull features that are super fragile at the base of the ears - these tell you a LOT about a an animal... 4) I re-boil it when it's really clean. This time with about 30% peroxide, DO NOT let the water and peroxide hit your horns or it will bleach them out. On an unrelated tangent, The size of the thin skeletal mass where the eyes and ears intersect would seem to indicate more complex neural function, but check this out... I would have thought this part of the skull, where hearing and sight come together would be bigger and more complex for a coues deer than a javi. Seems it's smaller and more compact for deer. Interesting anyway,

The more I see and read about this, the more I think it was an underhanded deal by the "well heeled" contributors to carve out a little something for themselves, towing along some well-paid guides in the process. If you look at it objectively, we, as AZ hunters and outdoor-loving people have been asked to give up something very valuable for some abstract idea, which they have failed in every way to qualify or quantify in any measurable way. On the one hand, I'm thankful for organizations that are actively persuing the interests of hunters, hikers, bikers, fishermen, etc in AZ. Someone has to be a voice or liaison between us commoners and the big wigs in power. But this time, I think the middle men started seeing dollar signs for themselves as guides and advocates of the high-dollar deep-pocket types that tend to start and fund these "charities" that will one day pay dividends for them to reap. Our hunting resources in AZ are very unique, very valuable, and very much in demand. Much of that demand comes from those with extensive resources who don't feel obliged to wait their turn for a huge bull, buck or ram - I truly believe that. And I feel this bill is just an attempt to move those opportunities more into the hands of those that feel they are more deserving, through their commitments of time and money - because they honestly believe that they are more deserving of those opportunities than those of us who have contributed nothing more than our application fees. What I think they have forgotten is the spirit of giving and selfless endowment. They have paid so much over so long that they feel a certain personal entitlement - and they use bills like this to exact their percieved penchant. I'm grateful to the many voices that stood up and made themselves heard. This could have been railroaded past us in the dark, witout warnign or pretense, had it not been for some diligent members here.

Coues79, you are dead on. I can point to situations where idiots have messed things up for us all day. I can also point to situations where a lease-holder - not even an owner of the public land - has gone ape-sh!t over some minor situation and closed a gate that holds the access to public land. One of the best things about AZ is how much of it is available to us. A few disagreements over water or property damage, and AZGFD and USFS cave to what I consider a tiny minority of special interest groups. Why should you or I be banned from public land because of what some slob or idiot did? I'm an advocate for private property rights, but in AZ, so many have abused those rights by benefiting from public services when it suits them, then trying to claim ownership rights to land they lease from you and I to prevent access to OUR land. Really pisses me off, if you can't tell...

Correct me if I'm wrong, The Outdoorsman's is a business run by very accomplished hunters in AZ with a shop on Cave Creek. One of the first to carry high-end optics and always leading the edge of hunting in AZ. They put out the Western Hunter magazine which is a very well done hunting resource. Based on their success and history in AZ, they are understandably in the middle of this discussion. I know nothing about their stance on this issue, FWIW.

This story has it all - you guys found this amazing buck, stuck with him and finally were able to get it done. A youth hunter, not lucking into a great buck, but learning his habits and really hunting him. His size - wow, just awesome right there, the broadhead in the skull...man, just an awesome hunt and stories you can tell..nicely done indeed.