COOSEFAN

Great info guys! Thanks. My buddy that is hunting with me is a Taxidermist, so he'll do the skull splitting, I'm not too worried about record books myself but we'll see when/if the time comes! I will continue to look into it, let you know what I do, thanks again! JIM>

Exactly what I was thinking? A lion kill would have been my first thought on that one, with the nose all crushed like that, never know though, unless you found an arrow near it or somethin? Great find David! JIM>

I for one think it's cool that, even though this is a Coues site, we can all change it up and talk about hunting in general, regardless of critter type! I'm a SERIOUS COOSEFAN, but I'm also a SERIOUS ELKFAN as well, and thanks everyone for not making me go to another site to talk about, or post pics of ELK! JIM> aka. COOSE-ELKFAN!

kwp, that one in the middle is by far the smallest shed I have ever seen........I guarantee you win this contest with that one! JIM>

hey Jason, is there a stove vent in that tent? what condition is it in? Very interested, JIM>

yeah,yeah.......drag it on why don't ya! Seriously I'm happy you guys got the tags, I'll still be there pretending I have a tag, shooting the bulls with the video camera instead of my bow. Gonna be a good hunt! JIM>

I have alot of hesitation and fear in shooting elk with a rifle. I have unfortunately seen quite a few elk lost after shot by a rifle. It has happened to me personnally when I was 10 yrs old, I drew a mature bull tag in 4a/4b. I was using a .280 Remington and shot and lost two really good bulls. Neither bull was more than 100 yrds away and I shot the second bull at least 3 times out of 5 at less than 60 yrds. He just kept running circles not knowing where the shots were coming from. We tracked him for as long as we could, ran out of blood and tracks very quick, and stayed doing circles in the area for several days after. We didn't know what happened until later that year my dad shot a Coues with the same gun and it took 7 shots to finally put him down. The bullets were acting like full metal jacketed bullets, just zipping through like a feild tip, not doing much damage at all. I feel my bad fortune was due to the bullets we were using, but nevertheless it burned a lesson in me I will never forget. I would never chance anything now when it comes to shooting elk. I would use the biggest gun available and more importantly, the one that I'm most confident/accurate with! I personnaly would never shoot an elk past 350 yrds with any gun, but thats MY limitations, it can be done if you've prepared for it. I know of two guys that had 6A late bull tags, not even close to being prepared except for a box of shells and their 30.06's. They found two bulls on the opposite side of one of the deepest, nastiest canyons in the unit, and started throwin' lead at around 600 yrds. They finally had enough holes in the two bulls to put them down but no bullets left to finish the bulls off! They sat there and watched them die then went to our camp, all proud at what they killed, and asked us to help them pack the bulls out! We were there to help so we did but it was very sad and pathetic what they did. My point is, you can kill an elk way out there, if you have enough bullets, but do your part, know your limitations and your equipment, it's not worth wounding and/or losing an animal. JIM>

Haven't been there yet, but heard they are getting "cleaned out". Lots of empty racks, especially archery stuff, no broadheads/arrows etc. Probably a good time to go, less stuff to buy! JIM>

Yeah........rub it in desertsheep! We already knew YOU took MY tag........don't want to hear it anymore. We definitely need to have a CWT.com members meet-n-greet in Tusayan one night during the hunt! We'll have to do "We Cook" for pizza and beers maybe on the first Mon. night, I think it's the 25th? Mon. night shouldn't be too busy there. Their pizza is the best in the state, especially after several days of hunting! I will have a bunch of "two legged" pack animals in my camps also if any of you guys need any help during the hunt. We'll swap #'s or camp locations closer to the hunt if anyone is interested. "I'll buy the beer"! JIM>

I like the prairie ghost stuff, but only for plains use. My buddy has a full outfit of it and wears it in the desert chasing Mulies by our house and he stands out like a "glowing yellow Gumby"! I keep telling him it's way too bright for the black and grey rocky stuff we hunt, but he still wears it because of how much money he paid for it. I like the lighter colored camo, just not the bright yellow stuff, the Natural Gear is great, especially the leafy suit, the Predator line is awesome especially if you have all versions of it to match your hunting area, and I will be stocking up on some of the Kings Camo, the new stuff looks awesome! JIM>

Hey Manny, thats awesome you've already found some "shooters"! I've been stuck behind this dang computer workin' on videos, but we have several guys up there scoutin' and there are some bad boys still roamin' the hills for sure! The thing with unit 9 is that there are parts that are green as heck and have full dirt tanks, then other parts that seem to have gotten no rain, very spotty up there. The bulls will still be in the drier areas though, thanks to the trick tanks. We have 2 of the 75 Bull tags in 9, and that just excites the heck out of us! We also have 1 of the unit 10 Early Rifle tags and 1 of the Archery tags in 10 as well, very unusual for my group, we usually don't draw much. JIM>

Thanks again for the info guys! That chart really helps me get a better understanding of what you guys are talking about. I have buddy's that swear by Hornady ammo, so I will try to find those and try them. Rich T., I don't know if I could make myself take a HEAD shot? Just thinking about it makes me nervous! I can work the bolt fast in my .270, more than likely fast enough to hit em' again. Take out his '' air bags '' then go for his '' runnin' gear '', that should break a Moose down quick, I hope! I like what I'm seein with the 140 gr. bullets, and am pretty set on going with that at least for now, I'll buy and try the Hornady's and the Federal's, see which my gun likes best. THanks again guys, JIM>

I have the badlands 2200 and love it, BUT.......Deerslam and a few others have really liked the Eberlestock Just One pack so I finally went and put my hands on one. WOW........ I am going to buy one next week on payday! I might be willing to sell my Badlands.......got alot of miles on it though. Very impressed with the Just One's construction and expansion capabilities are incredible! Perfect if you carry a big spottin scope and all the other expensive junk, plenty of pockets...which are alot bigger than the 2200's..... and very quiet and comfortable looking material. The price tag is $199.00 at the Warehouse, is that about what they are priced every where else? Also, the one I looked at was a different camo than what I've seen on them before, it was more like a "sage" pattern, is it new? Thanks, JIM>

I am not taking a back-up rilfe because we have to limit our total weight for the plane rides and I am taking video equipment and all of our optics. My thoughts are, my buddy is bringing a 30.06 and we can share either gun if we have to, and worst case scenario, we will be out there trying to kill Moose and Caribou with our .44 mags.! THAT would be fun, but hopefully it doesn't come to that. JIM>

My favorite for hunting when it's hot is the Under Armour( favorite is the sage color) and wear it under my Natural Gear leafy suit, mesh type camo's. Very comfortable and alot cooler than wearing regular clothing. JIM>

Hey Doug, those pic's are awesome, thanks for sharin' em'! It makes me jealous as heck! I guess I could sneak out my front door and get some wild cottontail pics, or maybe a stray cat......just aint the same though! Thanks, JIM>

Hey Chef.........not really appropriate here.......but........ your balls are showing!

Thanks for all the reply's! The reason I'm taking my .270 instead of my 7mm or 300 win. is because I am very confident with it and won't have the time to invest into gaining that same confidence in my other rifles. I too believe it's all about placement, so again.....270 it is! I really don't yet know where I will be hunting, just know I will be in Anchorage on the 3rd of Sept. and then on to a smaller town, stay at a bed n breakfast then on to camp in a bush plane on the 5th. It will only be my buddy and I and the outfitter. The outfitter isn't allowed to guide us, just stay in camp and cook for us! Thats how I wanted it! My mom and dad are fishing with the same outfitter right now in Alaska and talked to my dad today, he said the outfitter is really excited because of the size of animals in our hunting area and said were gonna have great opportunities at huge Moose! He said the Caribou are like rabbits and to make sure we don't shoot one until the second to last day, because you'll see bigger ones every day after your tag is filled if you shoot early?!! He also said he has one of the best success rates for non-guided hunters in Alaska. He said he's right at 50%, and told me if I learn how to hunt Moose before I go and have a hunting background, I'll have no problem killing a good one! I'll believe it when I see it! The terrain looked very open in his pictures and even where some of the Moose were killed it looked very open with a good sized mountain nearby. We are hunting at a secluded lake and I guess the Moose hang around the edge of the lake in the willows. I'm guessing shots will be far possibly for Caribou and should be able to spot n stalk the Moose. We'll see. I will be buying factory loads and have always used Federal Premium Vital-Shoks in the 130 Gr. Nosler Ballistic Tips on my Coues. I killed 3 bucks last season, from 210 yrds to 363yrds and none went farther than 10 yrds with this bullet, only one just hit the ground, but he was already in his bed. My rifle was brand new last year and was given to me as a tip for an elk hunt I guided, so I don't know much about the barrel twist and it does have a fairly short barrel. It is the Classic Featherweight model and I don't have the Adjustible Objective scope, but it does have the B+C reticle and it works awesome with the .270 caliber and my 130 gr. BTips. The 150 gr. partitions sound good but Mr. .270 has me thinkin about the 140's? I WILL NOT be using the Ballistic Tips, just so you know, I need to save them for my Coues hunt in Oct. Sorry for ramblin', just trying to answer all the questions in everyones reply's. Thanks again for all the info JIM>

Ok, that's funny, sort of. Here is what I have suspected, at least half heartedly, for the past several years, but have never mentioned it to anyone for fear of being laughed out of the building, but here goes. You hear of alot of people that draw more than one very hard to get tags every year. What if, by mistake, the program used to assign all the random numbers in the drawing was giving some people the same random number for every species? You are supposed to get a new number for every species, in essence a seperate drawing for deer, sheep, elk, etc. So, say Joe Hunter gets a real low number in the elk draw, then when it's time for drawing the sheep tags, instead of being given him a new number, the computer lets him keep the original? As complicated as all the rules are now witht he bonus points, percentages, etc, it would not be that unfeasible to think the program had a bug or two. I've heard of too many people that have drawn antelope and late Kaibab or sheep and early elk, to think that it is pure luck. I myself once drew a rifle antelope tag (1 bonus point), a 7W rifle bull tag (2 bonus points) and a unit 33 Coues tag (1 bonus point) in the same year. Ok, Im going back in the basement now, putting my tin foil hat back on and waiting for the black helicopters to swarm my house. I was wondering the same thing! With all the mess-ups that DO happen, it is very feasible for that to happen. BTW.......I know of a guy who got an Arivaipa Sheep tag AND an Early rifle BUll tag THIS YEAR! And I also personnally know three guys who drew 3 Early Rifle Bull tags AND 3 Strip tags in the same year a couple years ago. It happens too often with incredible odds against it to not make you wonder!? JIM>

What's this about?

I think that was the best one yet! THANKS for the laugh! JIM>

PM sent, Muliehunter

Hey Mulie hunter, first congrats on your tag, there are some bruisers in that unit, but it's a hard early hunt in my opinion, but can be done! I only know the SW part of the unit, but I have seen some monsters there, but not a lot of deer overall where I hunt. The SW part but stay east of the Mule deer/antelope type country and you'll find Whitie's, when you see it, you'll know what I mean. Just promise me one thing, if you go out and shoot a 113" buck on your first day of Coues Deer hunting, please don't go telling everyone that "Coues deer are too easy, I'm going back to Muley's from now on!" That's what my Bro-n-law did! Here's his buck. JIM>

Congrats on your fine puchase! I think you definitely have a good reason to get the "good" stuff, actually three good reasons! I have looked on ebay forever to find an outdoorsmans tripod for sale, and have never seen one..............'cause nobody wants to get rid of em'! Good luck, JIM>

Hey brett, I'm excited you asked this question! I had to be respectful to the supporting sponsors of this great site before, but now I can proudly say that "Howell Wildlife Outfitters" would be a great choice for a Mexico Coues hunt. They have tags available still and are the newest sponsors of this site. I wrote an article about my experience this year hunting with them and Amanda has it posted for everyone to check out, the links are on the home page. I would highly reccomend their outfit and am certain you would have a great time with these guys! Huge bucks, amazing food and extremely nice folks! Thanks, JIM> Here's the link to my hunt story: http://www.coueswhitetail.com/hunt_stories...ico_hunt_06.htm