Kevin H

A few years ago I started pulling my bow differently on the advise of a great friend and hunting partner. I now hold my release hand on my upper sternum and push out with my support hand until the bow is drawn, then bring it to shooting level. It took a while getting used to this but it has its advantages... there is certainly less movement, but the main advantage is the distance that your arrow is out in front of you never changes... meaning if you have your arrow on the rest with your support arm extended, your broadhead could be 20-25 inches in front of your bow before you start to draw. If you are sitting in a blind you are really going to have to be sitting toward the back so that your broadhead doesnt rub on your blind as you bring your bow up pre-draw. Then as you come to full draw, your draw elbow may touch the back of the blind, and now your broadhead is far away from the front of the blind. Now think about the way I described how I now shoot... if you start your draw with your arrow already near the location it will be at full draw, and as you draw you move your bow out forward toward where your broadhead already is, you can sit more in the center of your blind and not worry about the noise or movement that might be caused otherwise... also if you have to let your arrow down without shooting and dont wanna make a bunch of noise or run the risk of putting the broadhead through the side of your blind when you let down, drop your release hand from your anchor point down to the side of your neck or top of sternum and bring the bow back toward you... this will help avoid some problems. Give it a try and you might like it... Also most people are stronger pushing out than pulling back and it is easier on your shoulders as you get older like me... if you can do a 60 pound dumbbell bench press with your support arm, you can easily do this.

I didn't mean to stir up so much drama with this post. I acknowledged some errors on my part which I will not repeat, however I can't believe some of the posts that people put on here... Jim, are you implying that going into the field with your friend without a tag is in some way improper or illegal? I can not believe that you would suggest that if someone takes a buddy into the field with him that he is any less a hunter than someone else who has no friends to go with them... I was not getting paid for my services and did not have any means of taking game, so therefore I was legal... I don't know very many avid hunters, who if given the opportunity to spend a day in the field with a good friend vs. sit at home and watch hunting shows would pass the opportunity... unless that person has no friends that would like to take him with them...

OK, let me clarify a few things... my bad for wearing earth tones... yes it would have been hard to see me, I get that... what upset me was five things... the guys were shooting from the road (illegal), STANDING for shots that ranged from 200 to 450+ yards (slinging lead on a running buck off-hand), after they saw me they used their rifle scopes to look at me (not cool man), didn't even walk a few hundred yards to check for any sign of blood (if your gut shoot a deer, they often keep running and you can't just go based on the sound of the shot) and not even having the decency of a courtesy wave (I don't know, but that woudl of at least been decent of them)... A couple of these issues, I can understand, but when you look at the totality of their actions, I hope you can understand why I am upset, and I hope that if nothing else that they stop to think about how that went down and re-think things for the future... And of course, I have re-thought what I should do as well... the whole waving my arms thing was kinda stupid, but honestly I was kinda freaking out when I realized that I was gonna be in the same scope picture as a buck that was getting shot at, and Thom I never thought of getting the license plate as they drove away until way afterwards, and I was figuring out what to do with the huge pile in my pants Ok, off my soap box now, just had to vent to others who might understand...

I hope that the guys this is written to are not actually members of this forum, but in the event that they are, here goes... So the Sunday after Thanksgiving I was out with a friend who had a tag in 32. I was sitting on a ridge top glassing the canyon while my friend was on the backside of the ridge glassing another canyon. I locate a 95-100 inch 3x4 coues on the opposite side of the canyon near the bottom around 400 yards from me, working his way down into the thick bottom. I radio my buddy and tell him to head my way. He tells me it will take him a few minutes. I loose sight of the buck in the bottom. At the same time I'm glassing the bottom trying to find the buck again, I see a white Dodge Ram coming up a two track in the bottom of the canyon. The truck slides to a stop and a couple of guys jump out of the truck with their rifles. I hear rocks rolling in the bottom of the canyon and I look to see the buck on a dead run headed straight for the saddle I am sitting in. The shooting starts with both idiots standing and shooting off-hand at this running buck which is easily 200 yards from them when they start shooting. They both unload their rifles as fast as they can work the bolts. Buck now closing fast on my position and jackwagon #1 loads a single shell in his rifle and starts to acquire the buck in his scope. I am standing in a tan hoodie and brown ball cap and I start waving my arms like a wild man when I realize that the guy is pointing his rifle my way. The guy takes a shot as the buck is literally less than 20 yards from me passing through the barren saddle and over the top... I yell "Hey!" at the top of my lungs and now both jackwagons are looking up toward me and pointing. I am still waving my arms. Idiots actually raise their rifles after seeing my movement and look at me through their scopes. Once they see it is a person, they immediately lower their rifles down and turn and walk really fast to their truck. The guy actually backs back down the road for around 100 yards and does a 6 point turn and they haul butt out of the canyon. If any of you know two guys (probably early to late 20's) who were hunting 32 and who were in a newer Dodge Ram with black rims and a Cabelas sticker on the center of the top of their rear window, I have a little something for them if you can send them my way!

Although I agree with most of what has been posted on this subject, I want to share a couple of experiences I have personally had when it comes to long range shooting... A few years ago I killed a nice muley buck at 805 yards with my .300 Win Mag. I had only practiced (and I mean PRACTICED as I was a police firearms instructor and avid firearms trainer at the time) out to 400 yards. With that being said, the only reason I attempted the shot was I had gut shot the buck at 75 yards when I jerked on the trigger (yes, buck fever happens to the best of us) and he ran across the canyon and was standing broadside at the top of a barren ridge at that long range. I had less than 20 minutes of legal light left and took a good rest, held over the distance I believed the bullet would drop (like you say not to do) based upon research I had done on the ballistics of my particular round and squeezed the trigger. The buck dropped right there with a high shoulder shot (actually right where I guessed the shot should hit). Was this the best scenerio? NO! But I felt that I should attempt to dispatch the buck if I could rather than him suffer throughout the night and find him in the morning. The second experience was similar in that while coues hunting a few years ago, I saw a decent buck at around 650 yards that was literally dragging his guts. Someone else had gut shot him with a cannon... it was noon and I had not heard a shot close by for hours, so either he had put some distance on after being gut shot or had been like that since first light... either way, he needed to die. There was literally no way for me to get any closer without spooking him for sure and having him run off again wounded. I laid down across my pack as my buddy called my shot. I had since changed my hunting set up and was confident out to 600 on a still target and with no wind. I shot and missed my first shot (right over his back)... He came 20 yards closer and I killed him on my second shot. Come to find out, he had been shot almost a mile away at first light and was headed to water... So this brings me to my point. Although sometimes we don't plan on taking shots longer than we normally do, sometimes it happens. All anyone can do is practice as much as they can, buy the best equipment that you can afford based upon your personal situation, and use your best judgement when making those decisions in shoot / don't shoot scenerios. Thanks for reading... I feel better now... Kevin

This is good info. It all makes sense. Any particular "pack rattle" and "doe call" you would recommend? I have the little coues buck grunt, made in the west valley (don't remember the name). The pack rattle I use is the smaller pack rack by Barnes and Hale... I have tried the bags and I personally have found them ackward to use and hard to "tickle" them together. Using a tickling technique seems to me more productive for me than making it sound like a full on fight. I use a Ridge Runner grunt by Quaker Boy. I leave the expandable tube compressed and not extended much, as it keeps the tone a bit higher. Keep your grunts to one or two in a sequence. I have never heard a Coues rip out three or more grunts in succession. (It may happen, I just have never personally heard it)... The thicker the cover, the more likely they will come into your call... if you are near an opening, most likely they will come only to the edge of the covering and hang up there. Oh, the doe call I use is a small can call, EZ Gravity Bleat, but I have modified it... I took a leather punch and punched a couple of small holes in the center of the orange silencer cap. I always use the cap on it and it produces a nice, softer and quieter toned sound. I will turn the bleat can all the way over for a second or two then turn it back right side up. Dont allow your bleats go too long, it is not a natural Coues sound. I just got all set up to film our hunts. Once the pre-rut really gets going, I will try to get some rattling action on film and post up a link or something, even is we dont kill what comes in... Hope this helps!

You name it and I've tried it. Limited rattling and limited use of a grunt does work, but I have found over the years that limited is the key. There are a few things which make hunting Coues different from hunting lets say midwest whitetails. First, the buck to doe ratio (especially counting mature bucks who would be more prone to being agressive) is very low with Coues deer. The more remote you get, the better that rattling will work. The buck to doe ratios are higher and the deer have less pressure and exposure to guys just making a lot of noise with rattling horns. Here is a technique that has worked for me in getting a couple of really nice bucks in close. Use a small pack rattle and go really light at first. Make short rattle sequences with a little time in between (a couple of minutes). I usually take a single shed with me to my tree stand and I will use that shed to rake the tree of limbs. If you have watched Coues deer much, you will have noticed that most of the bucks sparring dont fight it out like you see in the midwest. Usually it is a shorter struggle with one buck running off then coming back and re-engaging. As you are rattling, ALWAYS look downwind! These Coues will almost always come in downwind! They are smart, especially the bigger bucks! Scent control has to be perfect or you will only catch a glimpse of them as they sneak off after winding you. My best luck has been from a tree stand because of this. Use grunts sparingly, and always try to sound "wimpy". No buck around where I hunt wants to come in to fight a big ol nast buck that is gonna whoop his butt... they will come in if they think that it is a smaller and weaker buck invading their territiry. Be careful on the doe calls... usually the ones you buy are too loud and too long. Keep them short and quiet... they do carry a long way! Get a good set of walkers game ears and you will hear what I am talking about. Never knew how vocal Coues deer were until I started wearing them. Also it will help you pick up the sound of deer coming in so you can be ready for them. Just my two cents...

Turd hasn't called me back... I posted on facebook that I guessed it at 115" but couldn't get a good idea of the width the way the picture was taken... Can't wait for bow season!

Taken this morning in 35A by my nephew...

Just to make thing fair for the game and test my grit, I save my pee and poo for a month before my hunt, and the morning before I go out, I roll around in it to make myself as stinky as possible. I then get dressed up in my tie-died flourescent gear that has silverware tied to it t give it a nice clanging metal sound every time I step, a cowbell around the neck and head out with the wind at my back. I also hunt with a traditional bow I made out of a 2x6 and a piece of yarn as a string. My arrows are wooden dowells with flint broadheads attached with a glue gun. Anyone who baits, uses tree stands or blinds, wears camo, uses good scent elimination and shoots a modern rifle or compound bow are all just cheating and there is no way they should be able to look themselves in the mirror. Come on, just hunt and have fun. Do it legally and within your own belief system! Never bash another hunter just because he doesn't do it your way. It is about having fun and sharing those experiences with your kids, grandkids and other friends and family!

The mule deer are not real plentiful but some are really big. My nephew killed the SCI World Record Non-Typical 244 2/8" there a few years ago and he and his brother have killed a few 180+ over the past few years. They both guide that unit and may have openings for that hunt if you are interested in them guiding you... well worth your investment. Their website is www.trophycouesoutfitters.com

My hunting buddy Jim never brings any snacks and mooches of everyone else. So I decided to play a prank on him. I bought a carton of whoppers and emptied them into a ziploc bag. The week before while on an elk hunt I must have picked up a quart sixe bag full of old elk droppings from a bedding area. I put the droppings in the carton and had a handfull of whoppers in my hand. I was sitting in my chair around the campfire munching on the actual whoppers acting like I was getting them from the carton. I set the carton of dropping on the table and said I was going to go to the bathroom and told him in no uncertain terms NOT to wat my whoppers because they were all the snacks I brought to camp. I snuck around the back of the pick-up and started watching. He waited a second, looked to see I was gone and grabbed the box of whoppers. I yelled stay out of my whoppers so that he would have to hurry. He poured a handfull in his hand and popped them in his mouth and crunched away (for a second). He started spitting out mashed up elk crap out of his mouth and was cussing up a storm. Needless to say, he has never tried to take anyone's snacks since!

I have a cabin in West Turkey Creek. Most of the areas I hunt burned. The deer left for the fire but I have seen lots of deer back in the burned areas. Access will be your problem there (lots of private property). I would concentrate in higher elevations as that is where I have been seeing the bigger bucks. Lots of spikes low, but if you want a nice buck, I would look for the most knarly country you can find, get up high and glass. There has been a lot of hunting pressure in the easier areas and the mature bucks know when they start seeing camps going up to get the heck out of dodge or go onto private property. Get up high well before sun-up and you will watch other hunters pushing the bucks up to you as the sun starts rising.

A few years ago I was sitting in a well brushed in blind on a water hole in SE AZ. I hear a horse coming up the trail toward the water hole and see an amazingly hot girl that I had just met riding the horse (the ranchers neice). I had stopped to check in with my long-time rancher friend just the day before and was actually invited to come to dinner the following night (guess the rancher was trying to hook us up, we were both recently single). Anyway, she rode her horse to within 15 yards of my blind and got off and was facing away from my blind. She proceeded to take TP out of her back posket, pull her pants down and drop a deuce right there. It all happened so fast that I could not give her warning until she was in the process. Well at that point, I decided that it was too late and didnt want to embarass her (or myself) and hoped she would just do her business and take off without seeing me. She took the meanest crap in the most un-lady like way, wiped and stood up and pulled her pants up. She got back on her horse and started riding again. I thought I was in the clear when her horse stopped and turned his head and looked right at me... she looked over and saw me. She turned bright red and waved, and I waved back. Not a word was said and she rode off. Needless to say, I didnt go to dinner as I was too embarassed to face her. We talked last year for the first time since and we both laughed about it... but it was still a little uncomfortable.

Ok, this is where I have to add my two cents... By the time you can afford to go to africa or alaska, getting you your ideal rifle wont seem so expensive (get what I mean?). My recommendation is to go with a .300 Win Mag or 7mm Rem Mag. and spend your money on optics and bullets. There is no sub for practice, practice, practice. Different yardages, uphill, downhill, different temps and altitudes. Remember no matter what gun you have or how much you spend on teh gun itself, I have never seen a gun shoot accurately at long yardage by itself! I have a Savage .300 Win Mag with a muzzle break topped with a good Vortex scope with turrets. I can shoot sub MOA out to 600 yards from the bench and keep all my shots within 1 1/2 MOA out to 800 with most field conditions. I buy decent (but on the inexpensive side) factory ammo and the only other mod I made with my rifle is that I had trigger work done. I have buddies with rifle scope combos in all kinds of whacky calibers that cost 3x what I have in my set up and I smoke them all day long. Just remember, Practice. If it hurts too bad to do perfect practice, then you are shooting too big a gun.