Coach

That thing is a beast! Congrats to the hunter and everyone who helped out.

Dang Justin, those are some fantastic looking bucks. Great write up too - really awesome that your son Dillon could get out there and share in such a cool hunt with you. Sounds like you guys really put the work in to remote and it paid off big time. Huge congrats.

I was recently given some old fishing gear. Most of this stuff is probably from the '50s. The tackle box looks almost exactly like my Grandfather's did in some of my early childhood memories - except almost everything in it is in practically brand new condition. It's got lots of heddon lures including the "Tiny Crazy Crawler" some rubber bodied lures that have no cracks - it's just a really cool old tackle box filled with cool vintage lures. Thing is, I don't have any use for it, but I get the feeling somebody would go nuts if they saw it. I've looked at ebay to see what collecters are buying and selling but some of the old lures are going for $1-2 dollars, others are fetching $60 each and much more in some cases. I'd love to hear from someone who actually knows what in this box is collectible and what's just old stuff. If anybody is in to old vintage lures and tackle, please shoot me a PM. I'd be happy to supply pictures.

That's a GREAT looking buck! Awesome job!

Agreed! Good luck finding the owner.

Man great shooting and what a great looking buck! Way to make the best of those leftovers.

Very cool looking buck - Nice job!

Huge congrats HOSS! As I said before - that is one of the most beautiful deer I've ever seen. I'm sure you are on cloud 9 right about now, and with good reason - you killed the buck of many dreams right there. If anything I said regarding the genetics of this amazing deer was percieved negatively - I whole-hartedly apologize - that was certainly not my intent. That's an amazing buck, and couldn't have been taken by a more deserving hunter.

I sure hope they aren't done yet. We got 1 hit for javis so far out of 4 of us.

Well, when you look like Ernie from Sesame Street...Even your wife is going to push your ribs a little. I've been bald as a cue ball since my early 20's. Now, since I have a goatee, I can get a pork pie hat cheap sunglasses and look like Heisenburg. Throw on an cheap members only jacket and some teacher pants and bad shoes, I can pretend to be a drug lord. LOL. BTW, do you get XM on those ears, or just PBR?

Yes, Muley Man, we were in 23, and I have to say, I absolutely fell in love with that unit. When I first moved here, I hunted unit 24A pretty much exclusively for a decade. I’ve taken some very nice bucks in there, really just feel at home there. Getting to spend a little time in 23 with some advice from CWT members, I’m absolutely blown away with the opportunity there to learn and grow and explore a little deeper on every hunt. It is a lot like Unit 27 – but with a lot more access. We got to just barely touch some of the most awesome hunting country I’ve ever seen. As I was glassing coues bucks I was hearing and seeing huge bull elk on the down side of the rut. It’s hard to take your glass off a 380 type bull but when you’ve got 110+ coues one ridge over, and a bear tag knowing there are some bruisers in there – and just trying to stay focused. I just fell in love with that area, and I’m getting really geared up to start getting in a little further into some areas that are available to everyone – but nobody seems to go. I learned by hunting in extreme SW New Mexico, if you are willing to strap on backpack, forego the niceties of a big camp and just get a few ridges further, there are opportunities out there that few hunters ever see.

Hey guys, my oldest son Matt and I got back from a fun youth hunt on Monday night. Matt was able to take a nice 3x3 on the last morning of our hunt. We got out there Wednesday night hoping to scout all day Thursday, but it started raining hard around midnight and didn't stop until around 10 on Thursday. Once it was dry enough to drive on the soupy roads we headed out to a spot we had found on the map that looked promising. We found a few tracks, but overall it seemed a little sparse for sign. Then on the way out we found a really good set of sheds. This got us a little more exited about the area for sure. We did a little more scouting that evening and found a way to glass that area from the bottom, did a little shooting at coyotes (missed 3 times due to not having the range finder handy) but we knew where we wanted to be opening morning. Friday morning we headed in and I dropped Matt off about a mile before the glassing spot so he could hunt some of the other ridges while I glassed the canyon we figured the big guy to be in. At about 7 I found a decent 3x3, then another almost identical to him, and finally through a gap in the brush I found a good looking buck bedded right in the open on the hillside. I got on the radio and told Matt to head on over. When I got back to the glass, the bedded buck was gone. A little more glassing and I found him moving down the hill in the sunlight and got a good look at him, and he was a dandy - maybe the same buck we had found the sheds from. I watched him drop out of sight behind a little knob. When Matt got there we located the smaller 3x3 and a little forkie I hadn't seen earlier. The shot was a little long, and he really wanted to wait out the bigger buck. Finally Matt got to see the big buck move out from behind the knob as he was heading to a bedding area. There was no time for a shot, and it was out of reach anyway - about 650 yards, so we made a plan to get closer for the later part of the hunt. On the way out we found another coyote, and Matt nailed him this time. We tried to get back on that buck Friday at noon but ended up on the wrong ridge, then at evening got on the right ridge, but the sun was right in our face and we really couldn't see anything. Saturday morning we were back to the same spot, but didn't find a single deer on that hill. The wind started up right at first light and just got worse as the morning progressed. We headed to Snowflake to coach my youngest son's football game and didn't get back to camp until dark. Sunday morning we were back to the same spot at first light and picked up a doe, but nothing else seemed to be moving. I was starting to get a little discouraged thinking we had maybe pushed the bucks out of this spot and was about to suggest we go look for a new area when Matt motioned to me that he had found two bucks. This kid can sure glass. One of the bucks was a small 3x3 and the other a heavy 2x2. After a little discussion, we figured that there was a good chance the big buck would start moving, so he elected to pass on those two. They moved into the same bedding area the bigger buck had gone Friday morning and we didn't see anything else the rest of the morning. In the evening we headed out to a new area just to explore in hopes of lucking into something. We didn't find any deer, but found this really cool gopher snake crossing the road. Monday morning it was the last shot we had, as we had to head home in the afternoon. We went back to our spot even earlier and started glassing. Matt was kind of kicking himself for passing the small 3x3 the day before, but we were still optomistic. Right away we found a couple of does, but no bucks. We moved our position a little to get an angle where we could see more of the hill. Matt found a small forkie moving in some thick stuff, but we could only get glmpses of him through a big cedar tree. I got up and started glassing the upper portions of the canyon to see if there was anything behind us, and as I panned back down there was a nice 3x3 feeding down the hill directly across from where we had been glassing - he was just 200 yards away and right out in the open - almost exactly where the big buck was on Friday morning. I showed him to Matt, and he said, "I'm shooting him". We got set up for the shot and had to wait for him to come out from behind a big cedar tree. As soon as he stepped out, he was quartering to us slightly but broadside enough for a clean shot. Matt made a perfect shot and I watched the buck hunch up, then run behind the closest tree. Turned out to be a very big and very short blood trail, as it was a heart shot. It wasn't the big guy we had hunted for 4 days, but Matt couldn't have been happier. Matt packing him out. A big thanks goes out to the CWT members that were willing to share some info to get us started in an area that was new to us. You guys responed via PM, so I'll keep your identity private, but I really appreciate your willingness to share information and get us pointed in the right direction.

Wow - he looks very life-like, and you preserved the velvet beautifully! That is a really awesome deer - the eyeguards are huge - double on one side, huge G2s, even bigger g3s - the way that left side carries the mass over and the thick main beam wrapping around - definately one of the coolest couse bucks I've seen. The mass up front is just amazing - not that score matters, but this guy had to do really well. Seems to have a little of everything. Any back story on him?

My prayers go out to the family and friends.

I certainly respect Dan's knowledge of deer, and specifically the deer he watches grow year-to-year. As awesome as those last two coues bucks are - this buck, IMO has an entirely different shaped rack. What would be G2s on this buck would have to be 12" on the right and 14" on the left. The whole growth pattern is very characteristic of a mule deer, the long curl, fronts splitting - but so much of him looks just like an old coues. The shorter ears, the tail, those freaking awesome eyeguards. I'm definately in the "hybrid" camp on this one - but any way you cut it, that has to be one of the most amazing, beautiful deer I've ever seen.

Best of luck to you guys! What a great tag to have. I'm looking forward to your story.

Bump for a really - really nice gun. I've got the Sig that is almost identical and just love it.

Sweet gun. I'm currently trying to decide if the next gun I get will be exactly this - or go the rifle route.

Easton ACC pro hunting is my current favorite - switched from Gold Tip which were also very good arrows. A buddy of mine who has shot ACCs for a long time switched to Maxima. I haven't shot them yet, but this guys shoots professionally for Hoyt and I honestly don't know anyone who is a better shooter. His 100 yard groups are tighter than most guys' 40 yard groups - and that's not an exaggeration. The next arrows I'll try will be the Carbon Express Maxima red - but the ACCs are shooting like lazers out of my Hoyt so I have no reason to change.

Wow - another double! Great job. Looks like you guys did your homework and made it pay off big time! Huge congrats!

Well done! Great looking bucks - congrats.

Nice shooting! That takes some serious skill. You guys did great.

NICE!!! A super sweet double. Father and son! Just doesn't get any better than that. Great write up.

That is really cool how you were able to catch all that on camera. Definately a hybrid with the coues tail, the large, black tipped ears, the stotting. Great post.

Hey CRAZYBUCK, I just want to say I really appreciate those of you who actually do your jobs well - and many in USPS do. On the other hand, there are some that just don't seem to care as much. I've always been amazed you can hand-write an envelope - often very badly and for basically nothing have it delivered to the right place across the country or just to the next town. There are a lot of hard working people who take pride in their work at the USPS. But there are others who don't have your work ethic. Lately it seems I get something in my mailbox almost every week that is clearly addressed to one of my neighbors - and while I always hand deliver those - I have to wonder how much of my mail ends up somewhere else.