COOSEFAN

I actually had more water than Shorty did .......he had 22 pounds of Dr.Peppers hidden in his! I wish I had seen the suggestions about adding rocks to his pack before we left....I would have done it We did only have enough water for about 3 days and hiked back to one of the trucks. JIM>

We were down there also and saw 10 illegals total throughout the hunt, even had one fill his water bottles within 3 feet of Shortpants and I as we were washing the dust off our face in a stream! I made him a movie star since I had the camera handy.......couldn't really understand what he was sayin' though I hope the dead guy wasn't him though, cause I think he wanted our help but there was nothing we could do for him, he looked like he had given up. Every illegal we saw was heading South also.....thought that was weird! JIM>

Way to go!!!! A big congrats to you and your dad! You guys earned that buck and did a great job scouting! Love the pictures....can tell you both are way happy and that's what it's all about! That is a beautiful deer. I got to try out my new J104 all last week and LOVE IT! I had a spike camp in it almost the whole hunt and fit my whole deer in it at the end and it worked perfectly! You guys did great! JIM>

Great buck! Any time you got a Coues tag in your pocket it don't matter if it's a desirable unit or not! You made the best of it and came home with a nice buck! JIM>

Beautiful buck, congrats to your bro! JIM>

Awesome buck! Congrats! JIM>

I forgot you guys were across the road, I could've waved to you from the top of the Mt. Everest we were camped on! Glad to hear you guys had an enjoyable hunt, and as others have said, you have a great attitude about our sport and what it's about! I think alot of us that were hunting down there got some photo's of that sunset........I think it was Sunday night? I took a bunch and will post them in my story. Best of luck to the kids! JIM>

ditto Congrats on your first guide job! Every guide out there has had there "first", and hunting is just that "hunting"! It's not shooting or killing! The key words you said about your hunt is "we all had a blast"! The main thing on any hunt is to have fun and make it as enjoyable as possible for the client in all aspects. And as DEERSLAM said, take all the advice you gained here, and use it to your advantage, you'll do fine! JIM>

Great buck and a big congrats to you! Thats awesome you got to share that with your dad! JIM>

AWESOME BUCK! Great job scouting and sealing the deal! I'll guess 115".......give or take 3" Congrats! JIM>

Completely agree! I remember my solo kills FAR less than the ones shared with family and friends! Besides, in todays world....especially in Coues country, it unfortunately is too dangerous to be out there by yourself. I was in 36B last year ALONE and didn't like it one bit! I was going to kill the first buck I found just to get home, took all the fun out of it......except for the few moments that I had a buck spotted and killed! Take a buddy, someone will go! JIM>

I think one of the biggest problems I've witnessed is taking too much time trying to find the deer in just the scope. Definitely scan fast with the scope the immediate area of the shot, then pull away and look over your scope with your eyes scanning the whole picture for any movement. Always be ready to shoot fast and stay in your shooting position until you are positive nothing is moving. Like has been said already, landmarks are your #1 tool out there, I will make mental notes on several landmarks and there proximity to where I want to be when I'm over there. Marking your shooting position with flagging is a great idea, never forget exactly where you shot from! Another common problem hunting solo is when there is several deer near your buck. After the shot, deer are running all over, you just have to be certain you are always on YOUR deer and that can be tough. Always alot better to have a spotter with you! JIM>

Them scalpels are amazing.....but they scare the heck outta me! I've done some damage already to my hands being in the glass biz during the offseason, just holding a scalpel sends chills up my spine! I use and love the Knives of Alaska. They hold an edge for a looong time! I also have a Bladetech that was given to me, it is the Tim Wegner design and I have skinned and quartered several elk without ever sharpening it! JIM>

Thanks guys! Nothing gets me more pumped up for the Coues hunts than watching some of our old videos, I was hoping it would do the same for you all! That little skit at the end was a stuffed deer my EX-girlfriend had given me, I took it along on an Oct. hunt, never killed, so we set it up on the last day to work out the bad case of "trigger finger" I had developed! I even tagged it and as Shorty said, I packed it out and skinned it! She wasn't too happy to find out I butchered her deer........ I loved every minute of it! I hope we get some more good footage, I have a few more hunts on tape I'm saving for a video that I'd like to put out one of these days, hopefully we can add a couple more to those with all the hunts coming up this season! Thanks, and again, best of luck to you all. JIM>

You've done your homework....I'm sure we'll see some success pic's! JIM>

That's the Shortypants I know!!!! Now your talkin'! Confidence and Optimism.........so much of it....the law can't hold it back! JIM>

I planned on heading out tomorrow as well, but having last minute gun problems Starting to wish I had put in for my favorite unit with you guys! Not too optimistic about where I'm headed, didn't get to scout, hopin' things are the same as last year! Best of luck to you guys, take a bunch of pics for us! JIM>

Thats a GREAT bull! imagine if he matched on his right?!!!! JIM>

Hey Shorty, I'm not making excuses YET........why are you! Don't let me down.....your starting to scare me........I thought since you were guiding me, I was finally going to kill one O' them 100" inchers like you always kill? Confidence man.......CONFIDENCE........YOU ARE DA MAN.......ACT LIKE IT.......for my sake at least! JIMBO>

I just bought the seat I've been looking all over for. It's the Crazy Creek stadium style chair, very light and has a back rest. It's not very compact, but not bad, you can fold it in half and it works well strapping it to your pack. They have several styles, some you can air up, some with more padding on the seat, etc. I had heard REI carries them, but I found mine at Sportsmans WH. I have always looked there for them, but have never went upstairs by the tents, thats where they have them. Several serious Coues hunters on this site use this seat, I'm excited I finally got one and get to try it out this weekend! JIM>

Awesome TAM! Thats what I was hoping to hear! I hate setting up wall tents and hate even more to tear em' down! We have a couple camp trailers, but cannot take the Rhino or Prowler when you take the camp trailer, so your stuck with the wall tents if you take the UTV's. It'll be awesome to have something easier to set up and still have the Rhino there! Can't wait to try em' out! THanks for the info, JIM>

I heard the skeeters were out in force also! anybody else having problems with the bugs down south? JIM>

Thats what it's all about! Awesome! JIM>

Letting the air out wouldn't have made enough difference in my case. I do know that most electric raise/lower beds on toy haulers have enough clearance for the Rhino and Ranger, not sure about the Prowler, it is the tallest of the three by more than 5 inches. I think most toy haulers have the electric beds, we went with the manual style for the dependability reasons, but wish we went with the electric bed! JIM>

I thought to extend the roll cage, they built an entirely new one, I think just an extension might not be strong enough but I bet they could shorten it. JIM>