Coach

He looks really nice! Can't wait to see the pix after you ventilate him.

Just cut up the backstrap about 3/8 inch, salt, pepper, cavenders, then dipped in flour and fried in the skillet. Dang that was good.

That's hunting the rez - it all depends on who you talk to and on what day. I know the used to issue a lion tag with whitetail tags - maybe that's changed. My understanding is that while you are on your deer hunt, you don't have to pay the $10 per day for lions, but if you go up scouting and plan to lion hunt as well, then you'll need to pay the $10 ($6 trespass fee if you are just scouting and not hunting). This is how it was a few years ago.

That is so awesome! Great job.

Wow - I can't believe they defeated the box like that! When I put my covert in a spot it *might* be found, I do the exact same thing - lag bolt it to a tree, lock the bottom and hope for the best. I always figured they'd have to haul out a chunk of the tree to get the camera. Looks like I'll be firing up the welder and finding new ways to protect the upper seams. I really feel for you - sorry you lost your camera. We need to start putting a bounty on these camera theives or something. They are scum of the earth.

Nice recipes! I'm looking forward to trying some of these out. Tomorrow I'm going to take a piece of elk backstrap that has not been frozen and coat it in olive oil and pack on a dry rub of montreal steak seasoning and cook it slow on the grill. I'll let you know how it comes out.

I have gone to the exact same bullet for my .300 WSM for everything except coues. For coues, I like the Nosler/Winchester CT ballistic silver tip. It opens up better on light, thin skinned game IMO. As others have stated, the accubond will perform more like a partition, and I witnessed a very close call on a Nosler partition on coues. The buck was trotting over a hill and the hunter hit it perfectly at it topped the hill. We both saw it hunch up but keep going. When we got to the spot of the hit, there was nothing. The back side of this hill was crazy thick, and without a blood trail we would have a heck of a time finding the deer. We got lucky and the buck only made it 40 or so yards past the hit and didn't make it to the thick stuff. When we found it, there was one tiny drop of blood under its nose, and we couldn't find either an entry or exit wound. Once we skinned it, there was a tiny .270" hole going in the ribs on one side and another .270" going out the the opposite shoulder, just short of the scapula. Luckily, it did enough damage on its way through to keep the deer from making it any further, but if it had, we had no blood trail to go on, and could have spent days looking for it. Bottom line, if that's the bullet that flies best for you, go for it - it will kill deer dead as a hammer. But you might try the CT silver tip. In all the guns I reload for, these bullets will fly very similar, but the expansion will be better on coues with the silver tip.

This is a follow-up to the youth cow hunt in 3A/3C. Sunday, my oldest son, Matt got his first elk (http://forums.coueswhitetail.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=21584), and today we got Nick into them on one of the most exiting hunts I've ever been on. You'ld think with Halloween right around the corner the rut action would be pretty much over. We got out to our spot about a half-hour before daylight, and both myself and Forest Ninja Eric had *promised* Nick we would get him his chance. As daylight drew closer we had 3 bulls bugling their heads off, so we knew it was going to be a good morning. We sat tight until we were confident which way they were moving, then we made a plan and kicked it into high gear. We moved down the ridge into position where we knew they would be heading at first light and picked up the herd at the top edge of a burn moving our way. We really took our time making sure not to get in too close too fast, and got Nick set up with the bipod out ready for the shot. Sure enough, the cows start filtering in and we told him to just settle on one, wait for her to stop and take the shot. It was still a fairly long shot for an 11 yr old at 306 yards initially, and the first shot rang out but missed cleanly. All of a sudden, it was like the flood gates had opened up. Elk started pouring out of the trees like ants off an anthill. They had no idea where the shot had come from and actually ran toward us. A group settled into the trees just 200 yards below, and Nick repositioned and fired once more. This time it was a perfect hit and the cow dropped like sack of potatoes. All this time, the elk were still pouring out of the trees, and you could hear bulls clashing horns and bugling all over. The cows had split into a few groups but the bulls rounded up the entire herd and pushed them straight at us. All we could hear were hooves and rocks as the entire herd was barrelling right up the hill toward us and we were actually starting to think we might be right in the middle of a stampede! Luckily, they veered off at the last second and the entire herd of at least 7 bulls and 50+ cows ran past at 70 to 80 yards - it was like a sea of elk pouring past. Eric and I just stared at eachother in amazement. We had no idea the herd was that big. When the dust settled, we put our binocs up and saw Nick's cow on the ground. This is what makes hunting with kids so much fun. Nick was SOOO pumped, he jumped up in the air, hollered a little bit, man he was so happy to have his first elk down. Once again, a huge thanks to Eric. He really was awesome coming out to help us, and making sure it was exactly what a youth hunt should be - FUN. The boys had a blast - I learned a LOT by watching him, both about how elk move, and about what makes hunting fun instead of work and stress. I can't say enough about how he made this such a positive experience.

Awesome job! Way to get it done Cyr! Sounds like an exiting hunt to say the least. Thanks for sharing the story and pix.

That was really cool. I can see how you might hesitate when you are looking so closely at certain aspects of his rack like his fronts, but man, when you see royals and thirds like that, along with that width, I can't imagine too many people passing. Great video too - it really captured the hunt. Since you asked to be "very critical" and "don't hold back"... the only thing I wasn't really into was the intro with the big white balloons or clouds with the hunter and camera man's names. It was good narration for sure, and good music, but some of the effects were, IMO, too stock, like, look what nifty thing I can make my software do. Maybe I'm just an old cremudgeon, but the fading in and out of website links and graphics and balloons detracted a little bit for me of what was a really nice sequence from the opening shots of that super nice, wide bull to the harvest. I thought the narration was great, the overall experience was captured, but the opening sequence just seemed a little "cheezey" for lack of a better term, as if your aspiring cousin was experimenting with video effects. Fine for youtube or posting on local sites, but I wouldn't really want to be printing DVDs of that portion. Overall, it was a very cool and fun video to watch, but you made it clear that you wanted honest feedback about what is good, and not so good. I'd love to have video like that of some of my hunts, but I think it could be improved by less software effects, and more focus on the hunt itself. That's where the video shined, IMO.

Both of my boys shoot this bow. I can't say enough good things about it. If you are looking for a bow that will grow with you, this thing is awesome. I'm not sure if you're looking at it as a youth bow, but it's amazing that it can go from 15-60 pounds and cover draw lengths from 19" to 29". I've never seen a more versatile bow for growing archers.

Thanks! I couldn't be more proud of both of them. They held their composure, kept their spirits high, worked their tails off and never complained - I pushed them pretty hard - I could go on all night. I'm so happy for both of them to have had such an exiting hunt. Proud papa for sure.

That's probably one of the hardest to score coues I've ever seen. It's huge, and really neat, but I can't help but think that from a pure "net score" perspective, it's not going to do as well as it probably should. I'd really like to see how it breaks down. Scoring aside, it is an amazing buck, and I'd love to have the chance to take a buck like that!

That picture sure looks like the foot is missing, or at least missing digits, but who knows for sure without seeing it up close. The lion does look a bit skinny, so maybe it does have a handicap. I'm sure he can get on more deer with 3 feet than I can with 2 Cool picture regardless, and man long-ears, you've got more pix of lions in one post than I've seen in a lifetime of tromping around in the desert/forest. Super cool thread for sure.

Man, today Nick got it done big time. Rather than append his story to this thread, I started a new one called Nick's Turn - here's the link: http://forums.coueswhitetail.com/forums/in...showtopic=21627 Thanks for all the positive responses. It was a great youth hunt for sure!

My two oldest sons drew their first elk tags this year in the 3A/3C Jr hunt. They also had the Jr. deer hunt in the same unit, but we weren't quite able to get it done. Pretty much every day we were seeing elk, but just couldn't find the deer. Once the elk hunt started we were pretty sure it would be a slam dunk, as we had been in perfect position for elk almost each outing for deer, but it turned out to be harder than we expected when the pressure hit Friday morning. With help from friends, Eric (AKA Forest Ninja) and Skyler, we were on elk pretty much every morning and evening and opening day both boys got to shoot, but the shots were longer than I had practiced with them so we ended up with no hits. Saturday, we were on them again in the morning, and almost closed the deal with bulls screaming and fighting right in front of us, but still no clear shot as the cows were in and out of trees at 235 yards. We had to bust tail to Holbrook for a couple youth football games, and by the time we got back out, it was a little late and all of our spots already had hunters in them. This morning (Sunday), Eric came out to help seal the deal. We were on elk starting at daylight, but had quite a bit of pressure from other "hunters" (this is a whole story in itself - friggin idiots out there with no ethics - I'll vent more about this later) so the herd was constantly moving giving us only glimpses here and there. Finally, around 8 AM, we moved into the area we figured they would go to bed, and sure enough, as we topped a ridge, 4 or 5 bedded elk stood up right in front of us. It was actually my middle son, Nick's turn to shoot, but he didn't have quite the right angle and when he did get into position and tried to shoot, realized he still had the safety on - that's youth hunting . From where Matt and I were, we had a clean shot and I knew they were about to bolt, so I told him to take it. He made a perfect double lung shot off hand on this really nice cow in the heat-of-the moment. Of course, he was really happy to get his first elk on the ground. Now it's time to get Nick back out there and hopefully get him into position for his first cow. Special thanks to Forest Ninja and Skyler for all their help, taking time off from work and family to help the boys on this hunt.

Got Nick into some cows off the bed this evening but it was real close quarters and no clean shot was presented. We laughed about how he had a good shot at their feet. We'll be out there tomorrow morning for another go at it. He's so exited. Man I love getting the kids out there - they get so pumped up. I'll post the results of tomorrow's hunt as soon as I can. I have a good feeling!

Holy Moly - that is one heck of a buck. Looks like he's smart enough to be nocturnal. Hope you get to put a tag on him!

Slayin' then already Brian! Just stay out of my back yard - Carrie has all our foxes named

Nicely done! I bet you are hooked for life now!

Awesome job - man youth hunts ROCK! Way to work hard and get it DONE!!! Congrats on a fine trophy!

Thanks for sharing Dan, that thing is amazing!

Awesome job! Congrats Kade, on a very fine first deer! That's something you'll never forget.

I was lucky enough to draw a Unit 1 ML bull tag this year and really busted my tail scouting and working with some archery hunters to try and get a good bull lined up for opening day. I had pretty high hopes for a 370 class bull and had a couple located with the help of some good friends prior to the hunt. In the last 2 days before the hunt started the main bull I was hoping to get onto opening day had vanished, so I opted to go after another bull some friends had watched and video taped for a couple of days. This bull was in a very accessible spot, but they hadn't seen anyone else watching him, so we figured it would be a good bet. Well, it turns out, opening morning there were several groups of hunters on this same bull, so it was kind of a foot race - not exactly what I was hoping for on this hunt, but still worth getting in the mix. Just as I was getting into position on the herd, the shooting started and the herd buggered out of the open areas into the thick stuff. There was one really nice bull with them that morning, but I'm still not convinced it was the one we had on video. He would drop in from time to time, and looked a lot like a smaller 6x6 that had also been in this herd since before the archery hunt started. I heard later that no one taken either the smaller or the real big 6x6 of that herd. The rest of the hunt was really exiting, and I was into bulls pretty much every morning and evening, but was still hoping for something really big. I got close a few times, but the hunting was much harder than I expected. The elk had gone pretty much nocturnal, and it seemed the big ones were staying quiet and in the timber until after dark, and were doing all of their rutting between an hour after sunset to an hour before sunrise. Finally, on Tuesday morning, with only a couple days left to hunt I was going after a particular bull with a distinct bugle. I got into the location I knew he was hanging out before daylight, and immdediately heard a loud raspy bugle close by. I moved carefully toward the bugle waiting for shooting light and knew he was right there. Sure enough, the cows start moving by. The wind was right, I was in position prone with my bipod out watching the herd move across an opening right in front of me - this was it - I knew it. Sure enough, here comes the bull! Wouldn't you know it? As he steps out in front of me at 70 yards, he's a stringy 4x4 with nothing going on at all. I just had to laugh out loud. He sounded exactly like the bull I was after, and was in the same area pushing cows. So now it's getting light and I know there's not much hunting left for the morning so I bust a move back to the truck and start heading for a backup area. On the way I stopped and listened for bugles in an area that has had lots of bulls in the past. Sure enough, I get a bugle not too far off and start making a move. After crossing a couple rises and scanning I pick up an elk body right in front of me. I put my binos up, and it's a cow looking right in my direction. This area is pretty open and I didn't have much to hide behind but I crouched behind the only stump I could. Almost immediately, a big bull came to mount the cow I was watching so I started checking out his horns. Sure looked like a shooter to me - nice 6x6 with great fronts, and really good 5ths. Unfortunately I couldn't shoot from my position so I moved a little up and to the left for a better angle. He had pushed the cow over a small rise and was moving off so I started to reposition. I scanned to the left and there's another cow - and she too has me but this time I'm out in the open. She barked once and everything froze. I couldn't do anything but just freeze and not make eye contact. After what seemed like an eternity, she barked once more, but then went back to feeding. At this point, my heart was beating out of my chest, my mouth was dry and I was shaking. I could see the bull's nose sticking out from behind a tree but none of his body. I just stood there until he finally moved out from behind the tree. I raised, got him in my cross-hairs and fired - too fast it turns out. The whole herd bolted, but I was sure I had hit him - I had been practicing at long range and this was around a 100 yd shot. I checked the direction they had run, then backed out and called in some help to find him. After about 4 hours of re-living the whole event we couldn't find a single drop of blood. We found his tracks and trailed them for several hundered yards - still no blood - nothing. I came back the next day and spent the majority of the day with my buddy trying to make sure he hadn't gone down. No birds, no smell, no coyotes, nada. I finally had to accept the fact that I had just flat-out tanked the shot. As hot as it was, if he had been down, we would have smelled him or picked up some crows or something. I was now getting really discouraged having flat-out blown my shot at a shooter bull, and was down to the last day of the hunt. Thursday morning I went back to the same area hoping to get on him again, but the wind was all wrong. Then behind me a bugle rings out. The wind is much better to hunt in this bull's direction, so I started a stalk. After about 20 minutes of slowly making our way toward where we had last heard him, my buddy and I hadn't heard another bugle and were backing out to go back into the area I had missed my bull 2 days earlier. One more bugle rang out right where we had heard him before, so we were back on him. This area is fairly open with lots of pines, but has been recently cut, so it's good for seeing elk, but good for them to see you too. We moved slowly and quietly toward a draw we figured they would be heading for, as it was already getting late - for this hunt. My buddy, Kenny, motions to me that he can see the herd and I pull up my binocs and there they are about 350 yards out. As luck would have it, there was one little rise on this ridge top that had some flowery weeds we could use for cover to close the distance. As we approached the weedy knoll, I put up my binos and could see the bull at the back of the herd. I could make out some tall points, and good width, and saw one 6 point side really well. Being the last morning of the hunt, I was not about to pass up a bull with the frame I could make out, so belly crawled up to the top of the knoll we had been using for cover, extended my bipod laid down prone. I found the bull with my binocs and ranged him at 240 yards - pretty much the outer most limit of my comfort zone, especially after blowing an easy shot at 100 yds. He was feeding and still, and I forced myself to slow down and focus on the shot. I put my 250 yard mil dot behind his shoulder and forced myself to breath slowly and squeeze. BOOM! The bull bucked twice so knew the shot was good. The cows all ran off, but as we continued to watch the bull, he stayed behind, but was still standing. I knew he was hit, and wanted to shoot again, but didn't want to risk a long shot again if he was staying put. I reloaded and we slowly stalked toward him and kept him in sight until he bedded down. He hadn't gone far from where he was originally hit, but I didn't want to risk him walking off to die so I moved closer until I could see his body and shot once more, this time right through both lungs. He stood up, took a step, and fell over. It turns out the first hit was a little back. While eventually fatal, I was glad to have the opportunity to get close enough for a clean finishing shot. When I finally walked up to him, I could tell he was an older bull, in his declining years, and was 6 on one side with a broken 3rd and 5 on the other with a nice main beam. He certainly wasn't the 370 or 380 bull I had been dreaming about, but under the circumstances, being a grueling hunt and down to the last day, I couldn't be happier. A huge thanks goes out to all the people who were willing to take time away from work and family to be with me on this hunt, Kyle who helped locate the "opening day" bull, Casey and Steve, two great guys from Montana I met before their archery hunt and was fortunate enough to be a part of, and especially Kenny, who kept me going through the tough parts of the hunt and was with me throughout almost the entire hunt. Special thanks also to my wonderful wife Carrie, who stayed supportive throughout the entire scouting/hunting experience and had to maintain the homefront for weeks, while working full-time, so I could experience this hunt. Without their help, this hunt would not have been nearly as fun and memorable as it was. Here are some pictures. Enjoy. With Casey and Steve's permission I will hopefully add some pictures of the bulls these guys who came down here from Montana took.

Awesome story and a great bear. Congrats! Funny how hard this hunting thing really is. I'm running on fumes these days trying to get my boys on a buck in 3A/3C and they have cow elk tags backing that up starting this Friday - all after my unit 1 ML bull hunt. I guess the good news is, I've lost 30 pounds this year Been up by 4 every day for around 2 months now, and have only slept in my own bed maybe 5 nights. Anyone who wants to say hunting is easy can come carry my pack around for a couple days