WAcoueshunter

Check the weather ahead of time, and layer accordingly. Most days will be chilly at first light, then warm up significantly with the sun. You'll likely only need down layers for the first and last hour of hunting. Also, know that there are LOTS of prickly things that will tear up your down in the desert (even at 4500+ feet). I pack the Kuiu super down and never wear it on the outside unless I'm sitting. I was down there before T'giving, probably my 30th hunt in that neighborhood. Took me about 10 minutes to run square into a prickly pear!

Got a hit! Late 33 here I come!

Nice buck ytwhite! Good pics too.

Hi all, my buddies and I drew a Unit 17 muley tag the second week of November. This will be our first muley hunt in New Mexico, so I'm just looking for any additional info I can find. We scouted the north end of the San Mateos over the summer and all the deer we found were up high. Any thoughts on other areas/ elevations to consider for a November hunt? Is the south end of the San Mateos worth looking at? Are the deer typically still high up on the mountain in November or have they come down to the sage flats? I assume this is dependent on weather conditions from year to year but just trying to get an idea. Thanks in advance! Any help is greatly appreciated. WAcoueshunter

That second pic showing the entry hole is priceless. That will silence the naysayers about the long range!

By southern AZ, I assume you mean Texas, right? Surely no coues could have tines like that! Kidding. Seriously, WOW! That is one sweet buck. Well done! Love to hear great stories about huge spot and stalk archery coues. Doesn't get any better than that.

I don't know Casey, or any of you for that matter. But seems to me that being bummed about blowing the horn off a deer is quite consistent with respecting the animal. To me, having an intact skull plate and rack is a way to remind me of the great animal that was. I had a similar experience. After years of unsuccessfully hunting muleys here in WA, I finally shot a nice little 3-point and was absolutely ecstatic. Then my bro-in-law (who, incidentally, is a state patrolman) got to the animal first and decided to put the kill shot through the back of its head. I guess that's what they do to finish off roadkill. It didn't bust either horn, but it split the skull plate, and I'm guessing the fallout from Casey's shot was similar...it's not a pretty sight. To me, that's disrespecting your quarry.

What a beauty. Let us know when you find out the age. With that short fat snout, he's got to have some years on him. Congrats!

I'm a big Danner fan. I bought a pair of their Hood Mt. Lights a couple years back before a coues hunt in 33. I might have worn them for an hour before the hunt, so I took my old pair of Rocky's just in case. We hunted our butts off and I had no problems at all - wore the Danners the whole time without even a slight problem. I've heard the pronghorns are great as well. Up here in Washington, we hunt in a lot of rain and snow - the gore-tex liner sure comes in handy. One thing to consider - down there in AZ, the vibram sole (like on my boots) is probably best for traction on rocky terrain. Up here in the rain, snow and mud, the "bob" sole is better because it doesn't collect the snow and mud.

My two buddies from AZ and I drew the 16A late archery elk tag. Not bad for our first time applying to NM!

Yeah, I suppose that would be useful! Bass Pro Shops Outdoor World Hunting.

Thought everyone might like to know that the Outdoor Channel is replaying a Coues hunt from Mexico they aired a while back. I saw it last night, but it's schedule to air again on Thursday at 2:30 PM Eastern and Sunday at 9:30 PM Eastern.

I'm also a NR who hunts in AZ each year with my friends and family. In fact, I just got back this morning from a pig hunt in 19A (holy cow it rained a lot this weekend!). I'm also going to feel the pinch of any tag increases. But I really doubt AZGF is going to max out their new price ranges in the near future. Why would they do that? If they wanted to price out average joe NR's from your average November coues hunt, they would have done so already. It's all about supply and demand, and most NR's will stop coming if the price is too steep. And if they stop coming, AZGF will just be that much more in the hole, because there just aren't enough rich guide clients clamoring for November coues hunts to make up the difference. What they're trying to cash in on is the incredible NR demand for the premium hunts - e.g. your trophy bull and Kaibab muley hunts. I have no problem with this. How many of you NR's were putting in for those hunts anyway? My sense is these premium caps won't affect many of us, at least those of us NR's who hunted AZ with our friends and family. NR's don't apply for Kaibab tags to hunt with their friends and family, because if they did, they wouldn't see their relatives very often! The NR applicants for these tags are guide clients and NR's who have no attachment to AZ other than the fact that they saw some pictures of B&C-worthy bulls and bucks come from AZ. Charge those guys up the kazoo!

Bowsniper - that is a great buck and a fantastic picture of your buddy. Both hunter and photographer should be commended!

Seems fair to me - any business has got to raise its prices now and then, and if the State requires that a long-term range be adopted, with annual price increases made within the range, then so be it. One question though - is the 10X increase in the cap for nonresident deer and elk tags because the State is thinking of going to a tiered system for trophy deer and elk tags in response to the USO suit? Since I don't apply for mule deer or elk tags, I presume such a system wouldn't affect me. But raising coues tags to $1200 along with Kaibab and Strip tags would be a bad thing for those nonresidents of us who aren't made of money and like to hunt with our resident buddies.

I sent BPS TV an email asking about the coues show. Here's the response I received - apparently they'll send you a copy of the show: "We don?t plan to air that again but we should be loading the coues show on to our TV show website at some point. However, we will be glad to send a copy if you like. Dave Appleton BPS TV"

I caught the coues show last week. Pretty cool seeing a coues hunt on TV, although the hunters didn't seem to know too much about coues deer. Sure made me itch to get back out in the desert though. Anyway, you can check out the Outdoor Channel lineup on their website, www.outdoorchannel.com. I also went to Bass Pro Shops' website to see if they had anything about the show - the BPS website listed three airing times for the coues show, the last of which was on Sunday. So doesn't look like they're going to run it again anytime soon. I just got the Outdoor Channel a couple weeks ago - nice having a channel pretty much dedidated to hunting and fishing. I've seen some great shows so far.