Coach

Great buck and great story Gino. Congrats to the young lady on an outstanding trophy. She overcame a lot and had some amazing friends in the field to put it together. Excellent job, my friend.

Or you could get a person who claims to hate "e-scouting" but asks for information on a unit they've never hunted - or scouted. You go against your better judgement and divuldge very detailed info in the interest of helping out a fellow hunter. Just suppose (hypothetically, of course) that hunter went on to take a nice trophy-class buck and then refused to say, even privately, whether it was taken in one of the areas you suggested. In this "purely hypothetical" situation, you can see why some people might opt not to share information in the future, knowing that gifts given aren't always returned. Some food for thought anyway.

Great lookin' buck there. Congrats!

Nice looking sheds. A year or so back i was camped in NM next to some good ol' boys from Texas who found some amazing 7x7 sheds in an area of NM that isn't really known for big bulls. The NM back-country holds some amazing bulls and kongo muleys for sure. Thanks for sharing these!

Not THAT far south. I'm fully convinced it's a lion, and a big one. This particular set-up was only 3 weeks old and the number of camera triggers was crazy for that time period. Mostly does (probably 40+ pix of multiple does), but the batteries failed in the cold weather, or the camera - not a good one, and the last 50-some pix were totally blank. I did manage to get 72 good pix that were mostly coues does with a couple cows and some "tough hombre" cowbows and a couple small bucks. I've got a good camera on this spot now so it will be interesting to see what's really going on in there. I've never seen a new setup with this much activity, that's for sure.

Just checked my cameras in the desert and got this pic of one Huge lion... Here's a pic of some coues does taken from the same camera at the same distance to get an idea how big this cat is...

Personally, I think aluminum shafts have had their day. They will be lost somewhere between cedar and carbon as a good "stand-in" as technology progressed. They definately played their role, and many great trophies have been taken with them. I just don't see much of a future for them. You can make modern carbon arrows heavier if you want more KE, and they never bend or warp. If you want larger diameter to get a more helical arrow, there are "fat" carbons available. Combined with the shorter fletchings we're all using these days, I don't think you'll find a "technological" argument for aluminum shafts. On the other hand, if you find them more asthetic or have some fondness of them, by all means shoot them. Just like cedar shafts with turkey fletchings, bamboo fly rods with hand-tied caddis nymphs, Italian 28 guage over-and-unders, we all find ways to make our sport more personal, and if going back to the 2017's that made you love archery makes it more enjoyable, use them with pride. Sometimes backing away from technology actually enhances our experience in the field. Look at how our ancestors took game with flint-lock rifles, and the "masters" of archery hunting took amazing trophies across the globe with long bows and recurves. We all have to find what we are comfortable with. For some it's blazing speed with the latest bow shooting ultra light arrows tipped with mechanical broadheads. For others, its a long bow and hand made arrows built by hand with natural materials. It's not what you take into the field, it's what you leave with.

Let's try this. I attempted to lighten it up and sharpen it with photoshop.

BTW, great job on the photos. I love it when hunters take the time to pose their deer respectfully in the field. Kudos on one heck of a buck, story and pictures for us all to drool over.

What an amazing buck and a great story to go along with it. I would guess 113 conservatively, maybe 117"??? That is one great looking buck. It obviously took a lot of patience and work, but it was clearly worth it.

Yeah, the pic looks a little better on my PC, but not much. I can see the outline pretty well though. This camera is not the best - especially the flash. I've got my Cover II on it now, hopefully there will be some better night pictures.

Nice pictures. Thank you for sharing your hunt. Those carvings look very familiar. I know of a spot near Globe where there are very ancient rock carvings of snakes and people with swollen hands. There are several rattlesnake dens close by. If you see the "squiggelly" lines with round heads and pictures of people with large round hands, you know you've stumbled on an area that holds rattler dens. Thanks again for posting.

C'mon guys. I bet there is at least one member on here that would be willing to take this guy out and show him the ropes. SE AZ is too far away for me personally, but I bet there are some guys in Safford or Clifton who wouldn't mind getting out of the house for a day or two. Jim, you really are taking on something big if you are coming from out-of-state and going in blind. I checked your profile and couldn't tell where you are coming from. Can you give us something about you to go on? Hunting the desert is hard, hard, hard if you aren't used to it, and don't know where to start. This forum is full of knowledgeable hunters from all over the state, many of which are very glad to help out somebody who is willing to do some leg-work. As others have stated, be ready to spend lots of time glassing. The country is generally very open, but the critters here know that and don't show themselves much. I had a wise old guy tell me I should wear out the seat of my pants long before my boots if I want to figure these animals out. He was dead on. You won't see much walking around unless you are focusing on escape routes that lead to places you'll not likely glass nor hike. Shoot me a PM if you want, and I'll do my best to give you some idea of what to expect. However, Amanda has done a great job of describing the habits and habitats of coues deer, along with detailed glassing and hunting advice, right here on this site. I doubt I could tell you much that isn't readily available from the CWT home page. After that, it comes down to fine-tuning the basics, which takes experience in the field.

I got a lump of coal. Times being especially tight, we decided to forego presents for us adults, and focus on the kids. I did build one heck of an AR15 upper-half with my work bonus, though. Would love to post pix. It's a really cool 16 inch "entry" upper with a floated YHM quad rail fore-end, phantom flash suppressor, tango-down grip and some nice magpul goodies to make it look cool. The "old" upper half is a RRA floated stainless heavy (one-inch) barrelled varmint rig with a Pentax scope from Doug @ Cameraland. Can't wait to see how it shoots with a real scope on it. My middle son shot a pig at 125 yards this year with the "close quarters" Aimpoint Comp-ML. I'm pretty sure this rig with the RRA two-stage match trigger is capable of shooting much tighter groups than I can.

Pretty buck! Congrats!

Sweet! Congratulations! I'm still laughing from the "what unit" post by Jimmer Kids are awesome - got 3 boys myself.

Wow - that is an amazing collection you've got there. Nicely done.

Nice looking buck! Congrats to you and the hunter.

Merry Christmas!

Very cool! I'm also glad to hear that they are protected. Thanks for posting this Amanda.

No, sorry that name doesn't sound familiar.

Very Nice! Congrats!

Now that'll put a big ol' grin on your face!

Living here in the White Mountains of Arizona, I recognize that we live in a special place. Having hunted, fished camped and hiked with family and friends in the Big Lake area for coming on 3 decades now, I've gained a certain familiarity - no - a physical and spiritual bond with this part of the world. Passing up promotions, intentionally staying out of managerial positions, I have been able to establish my childrens' home in the small town where I grew up - a short drive from where the "capitol tree" was harvested (http://www.smugmug.com/gallery/9623061_LGPe2#648509416_EYMtN). Where I met my wife, where I played sports and made friends, where I found who I was. When news hit that the whitehouse "holiday tree" was to come from our area, many herer were overcome with pride. Some might have even thought that our community would finally get some much-needed national attention. You see, our teachers have to host bake sales and post donation flyers to attain luxuries like paper, pencils and books. For myself and others, it was seen as a travesty. It's been dubbed "Arizona's Gift" (http://capitolchristmastree2009.org/). A gift of something beautiful, majestic, timeless and irreplaceable from the very ground many of us feel a deep-seated connection with. For a true President, a TRUE leader of the free world, an evangelist of freedom and liberty, an agent of the Constitution, an ambassador of American ideals, I would gladly submit this "gift" and many others - including my own blood and life, if it came to that. But not for the guy currently sitting in the white house - looking upon "the gift" with the same indifference he treats his gift of elevation to the highest power of the greatest nation in the history of the world. I can't help but shake my head in sorrow that so many are so glad to sacrifice to a false leader who seeks only to take everything he can and give nothing in return. When I see that majestic tree that once stood among pioneers, apaches, soldiers, countless elk, bear and deer being cut down, and dragged to the white house for display as a "holiday tree", to be later burned or hauled to a landfill by the hypocrites it served, I can't help but see a part of America's soul being put on display as an empty, defeated corpse that once stood tall, strong and full of promise. Look closely at your Christmas Tree this year. Look into your soul at the same time. Figure out what is truly important to YOU this year, and make a plan. Let's all start fixing this mess one American at a time. God Bless us all this Christmas season, and grant us the strength to return to our roots and core values.

"Azone you mean you cant find detailed info online ...... Guess it depends on where you look if they look hard they might find some info like this that I found....." I stand corrected