COOSEFAN

Beautiful cat!!! Thanks for sharing!!! JIM>

I did test out the Alaskan Guide Bino harness system and it works great for smaller binos. I've been using and abusing mine ever since and it's still working great. I don't believe the 15's will fit very well in the one that I have tho, but I do know they made changes to the Alaskan Bino system and maybe they are a little bigger? I use the Swaro green bag for my 15's and it's perfect for them obviously, but expensive. I'm sure you can find a nice case for cheaper somewhere, maybe try a camera store? JIM>

Howdy all, I'm sitting at Paradise Bakery because my internet is down at home and I'm having some serious CWT.com withdrawls!!! I just recently got home from my last hunt in MX and I've got TONS of cool pics and nice bucks to share with you all but it's hard doing it all from here. We had a very successful season, taking 11 coues bucks, all great bucks with the biggest being the first one that was 117"! I did a BUNCH of trigger pulling but never on a deer so no buck for me this season, still had a blast enjoying the company of great folks and big bucks! ALRIGHT, now for the good part! CHECK THIS OUT!!! You all remember this huge buck my client took in January 2010. I had this buck in my scope, had pressure on the trigger but ultimately didn't kill him. He was fully intact at that moment and I didn't shoot because of several reasons. First, it was my first time on the ranch, I had just met the ranch owner 30 mins. prior, I hadn't discussed with him yet on prices and I had no money in my pocket!! Secondly, I had a client coming in a week and was supposed to be scouting, not hunting....but till the day I die I will regret not finishing my pull on that trigger!!!! A week later I relocated this buck but he had broken 2 huge tines on his right antler. I sat with the client for 7 hours watching this buck rut his does debating on whether or not to shoot him. We knew he would surpass my clients goal of 110" even after the breakage, but it was some serious breakage! I couldn't tell him to shoot. I wanted the buck to live another year and get em' un-broken. We sat there all day hoping the buck that broke this buck would show up but no other big bucks came. Finally, at the end of the day my client decided to take em and have him fixed....BOOOM, done. Here he is, even with 2 missing tines he still scored 117". NOW CHECK THIS OUT!!! Fast forward to last summer. I get a call from my friend in Mexico, he says that same ranch owner just found a big shed. Cool, we planned on hunting there again this year so I was anxious to see it. We show up on the ranch about a month ago and the owner pulls out the shed and I about fell over!!! It was missing the G2 but I knew instantly it was off our broken buck and it was the side that was broken! I noticed the broken G2 looked fresh and inquired what happened, he said he hit his barn-sour horse with it and broke it...GO FIND IT !!! It was dark but with flashlights he took us where it happened and we found the broken tine! Here it is, it's obviously from the year prior to us killing him but was laying under thick brush and was still hard white. I glued the tine back on also. The shed scores 58" putting this buck at a straight up 130" 3x3 the year prior. He gained a couple inches the next year on beams, mass and a little inside kicker that developed the next year. Also, the shed was found around 500 yards from where we killed him! WHAT ARE THE CHANCES OF THAT!!!

Here's another reflection of past seasons. You all might remember me posting TCam pics of the coyotes killing one of the bucks I was after last season. I showed up a couple days after the event to check my cam and I immediately found peices of a deer floating in the spring near my cam. I was shocked to check the pics and see it was one of my bucks and it was coyotes that killed em'! I spent several days looking for the rest of the deer but never found em'. While rounding up cattle the ranch owner finally found the carcass wrapped up in the thick stuff not far from the spring. It was in a thick ravine about 200 yards from the spring and I wasn't surprised I missed it in there, I should've looked more in there. It was cool to finally put my hands on it and really sucked knowing that coyotes took em' out. The worst part, and I know it's just mother nature, but it took those coyotes at least 30 mins to finally kill the buck and I think they drowned him in the spring! Here's some of the pics and the head....

WoW Ernesto, HUGE congrats to you buddy, that buck is AWESOME!!!!!!!JIM>

Side note: My buddy still has the rack from this buck as the client was slow in paying for the mount and the tines haven't been fixed yet. Finding this shed is perfect because now the repair job will be as close to exact as possible! Now I just need to find a way to get the shed home legally! JIM>

It's also possible to apply for and get an extension for a particular ranch and extend the hunting season. We did it for the first time this past season for one of our ranches and we were allowed to hunt 1 week longer, extending the season to Feb. 12th, but only on the ranch that the extension was granted for. JIM>

Alright, now for part 2. So with 3 days spent on the first ranch we packed up and headed to the next ranch to check it out for the remainder of the hunt. Here's some pics of the second ranch... Here's some cool pics that Manny B. took and some of the crew... AND, of course, there were TONS of bucks running around like crazy with only one thing on their minds!!! Basically, anywhere you glassed, at any time of the day, you would glass up deer! It was overwhelming but absolutely awesome! After a couple days went by with a crazy amount of bucks being spotted we realized that any 100" class buck was going to be a shooter. I don't know how many 80's class bucks we saw total but I know it's a crazy number! There were a bunch in the 90's and several bucks spotted that would break the 100" mark. 2 of those bigger bucks are lucky to be alive today and can thank the strong crosswind in the canyons for it! A couple of those sidehills on that ranch are a lot heavier now too! Eventually on the second to last day Gary, Santos and I found a nice buck that Gary just couldn't pass on. The buck was bedded at 630 yards and was well inside Garys comfort range with his 30-378 Coues Canon! Like was typical, we had a variable crosswind but not as hard as usual. Gary made the calculations with his Droid, dialed it up and settled in for the shot. BOOM...MISS! Buck got up and trotted a little farther, re-range, re-adjust. BOOOM...MISS! Gary was trying his hardest to dope the ever changing wind and finally at 687 yards, buck broadside, BOOM....WHOP!!!! It was getting late and the canyon and terrain were too steep and nasty to cross in the dark and finding the buck would be almost impossible in the dark so we picked out markers and hiked out. The next morning the cowboys rode horses in and picked the buck up for us!!! CAN'T BEAT THAT!!! Here they are saddling up and packin' out our buck! Here's Gary's nice buck! Good mass and character and we were all happy Gary got a nice buck, he worked very hard for it and passed up a TON of bucks in the process! One thing I really wanted for the boys was to get into some Javi's. We would see them daily but always at prime time and not wanting to spook any deer we always passed up the opportunity. On the last morning while eating breakfast, Manny B. sat on the porch and glassed the hill behind the house. I had just grabbed my plate of bacon and eggs when Manny came in sayin' "I GOT PIGS"! With my plate of bacon and eggs in one hand I ran out and set up the tripod and my .300 with the Loc Jaw/Rifle Railz. I was trying to eat at the same time and eventually got breakfast down and the gun set up! Everyone got their glasses out and set up and one by one the boys sat behind the rifle, I would range a pig and dial the turret, everyone would line up on the right pig with their binos and BOOOM....WHOP! "PIG DOWN"! Who's next?!!!! Everyone got a chance to sit in behind the gun and each took a pig with 1 shot, the closest pig was 515 yards and the farthest pig was 689 yards! We were supposed to be on the road heading home, but instead we all finally got our pigs so we were OK with leaving late! Santos, Manny and I headed up there and found each pig, gutted them and drug em' back to the house. The best part is that the locals LOVE Javalina meat and each pig we took was appreciated by the locals! Thanks if you read through my long winded posts, I tried to keep em' short but pic heavy, I know you all like pics! Thanks and huge congrats to Popps, Gary and Manny B.!!! JIM>

To start this reveiw, I'd like to mention that I tested this product while on an actual hunt so I was able to form a genuine feel for its pros and cons in the process! The product is being called the "Bino Chest Pouch" or "Bino Bag" and is similar to the "Bino Buddy" system that is popular today, but has some real advantages over that current harness system! In the past I've always used the "suspender" type bino harness and although it was better than having the bino's hanging off your neck, they still continually bounced or swayed from side to side while walking and even more problems occured if you had to run or crawl! I've gotten accustomed to holding the bino's with my left hand continuously, regardless what I was doing, in order to control the bounce or sway and that was usually frustrating. I believe we now have an alternative with this new product! My first impression with this "Bino Pouch" was how comfortable it was once strapped and fitted on to you. It truely has a "form-fitting" feel and there is virtually no bounce or sway while walking! The main reason for that is the straps are NOT "stretchy" like a bungee cord, but are a durable, woven strap. The model that i have has 4 zippered pouches and 1 sleeve for a lense pen. The straps are fitted with buckles which makes it easy to put on and take off and has easy pull tabs for tightening. It also has an internal liner with a pull cord to seal off you bino's from dust and debri.......but this proved to be a bad thing in certain situations as I'll later describe. My first "real" test with this product went as follows....... It was early in the morning, a huge bull was spotted and the stalk was on! Three of us covered close to 1 mile as fast as we could and i never once had to hold on to my binos and never once was frustrated with them swaying back and forth! Once within range of the bull he decided to bed down out of sight. The ground and forage was covered in dew and while crawling on all fours, I noticed myself grabbing for my binos to keep them from dragging or getting wet.......no need for it, the Bino Pouch worked perfectly! The Bino Pouch really proved it's usefullness at that point and was very noticeable how accustomed I'd become to my old harness system and it's drawbacks! At this point I was really impressed with the Bino Pouch, but soon realized one major drawback....the liner! In the dead calm quiet of the morning, and being well within range of a monster bull, I cringed each time I pulled out my binos! The liner made an unavoidable noise which sounded more like I was digging into a bag of Dorito's! It never sounded that loud any other time, but I guarantee any Coues buck bedded within 100 yards of me at that moment would have heard that! If I had known this Bino Pouch was mine to keep, I would have cut that liner out right then and there! I never did pick that bull out of the brush, but he did stay bedded until we returned later that evening and it was at that time he finally gave us the shot we wanted! No need to worry about the liner though, the creator of the Bino Pouch has already made the change to remove that as well as making the top cover larger, quieter zippers, and a larger compartment for accessories! With those changes, the Bino Pouch is a "must have" for anyone that hates "bino sway or bounce" or for anyone that rides a quad or UTV during a hunt. The top flap is all that is necessary to keep out dust, rain, and debri. I hadn't learned yet about which changes were being made, so I took photos depicting how the liner would pull in and out when removing the binos. This is when the audible noise happens and really was my only complaint. The zippers are loud but I tucked them into the pockets, as you can see in this pic, thus illiminating that noise and that is also one of the other changes already being made, so no worries! The pouches on this model are adequate size but with the new improved version you will be able to carry most small rangfinders, lense cleaning kit, or whatever else you want. In this picture you can also see how I tucked the top flap back so the bino's were easily accessible when in a situation where I needed them constantly. It was comfortable this way and if I didn't plan on using them again I would just pull the flap back over. In summary, I was optimistic at first because I've become so accustomed to my orginal, "bouncy" bino harness and never thought about one of these pouches. But after using and getting comfortable with this Bino Pouch I feel it's definitely a valued asset for me and I will probably never use the other harness again! The "new and improved" Bino Pouch's should be available in the CWT.com store within the next few months, I'm sure Amanda will let us know when they are available! I've already taken scissors to that dang liner and I love this Bino Pouch now and would highly reccommend this product to any serious hunter! You'll see me wearin' mine this year in more photos

Howdy all, I'm posting this for "Butters" (aka Bryan). I've had the pleasure of driving this beast and it drives AWESOME and will go anywhere! If I had the money I would've already bought it, but I don't so here ya go! Butters is wanting something with better gas mileage and newer so he's selling his baby. I took a bunch of pics for ya, details to follow.... Here's some details..... Lifted AC works great Power door locks and windows Rebuilt 350 motor last year 205 transfer case Quick release sway bar Dana 44 axles 33x12.50 BFG Muds + Wheels w/ new matching spare (tires and wheels less than 1 year old, 90% tread) Hi-Lift Jack w/ bumper mounts New Radiator New Starter New Steel Braided Brake Lines New Steering Gear Box New Drive Shaft New CV Joint New Battery New Warn Locking Hubs New Front Bucket Seats w/ 3 tier center console New Factory Dash Bryan has $10k invested in this beast with upgrades alone, but it's for sale at $6,500.00 OBO. He currently doesn't have access to a computer and I'm leaving for MX today so I won't be answering PM's. Please call Bryan with any questions you may have at (623) 866-8919

Congrats Ilene!!! Nothing wrong with whippin' out the firestick in the last inning and gettin' it done! You stuck it out longer than I could have with the bow! Congrats again on a very pretty buck! JIM>

What's your thoughts or experiences from the 2011-12 Mexico season? Based on your general location and timing, how was the rut? If you have prior experience on the same ranch, how was the antler growth this year? Did you have any issues at the border crossings, checkpoints, etc.? Did you have any issues with ticks on the capes? Thanks! JIM>

Hey guys and gals, I'm back again from yet another great hunt in beautiful Sonora, Mexico! This trip consisted of my dad and close family friends, Manny B. and Gary. We headed down to hunt some ranches that I've been wanting to try for several years now. We knew the quality of deer would be on the smaller side but we also knew the quantity would be high so the plan was to have a blast and kill some good bucks in the process and we did just that! I've got TONS of pics and our friend Manny B. gets credit for most of the great pics that i'm posting here. I'll keep this post picture heavy and text light as this post could get REALLY long if I went into all the details. Here's the first ranch we hunted, it was fairly thick and nasty but we still glassed up quite a few deer, some decent bucks and great rut action! Here's a few pics of the crew, also one of a rock squirrel that I thought was dead but after picking it up I realized he was just sleeping! Also, a rare find, a lion skull and javi skull lying next to each other! The rest of the bones were scattered together as well! First up was Manny B.. We had a good buck spotted on the first day and set up on him till dark but he never came out for a shot. The next day Pops and I snuck around the back door and Manny B, Gary and our friend Santos came in high. We all located the buck at first light at the same time and he was the same distance from all of us but Manny B. was in the best position for a stalk. He and Santos snuck in and took the buck at 275 yards and Manny B. had his biggest coues on the ground! Here's some pics I took of the buck before he hit the ground, Manny B. is to the left of the buck in these pics getting ready to hammer em'! Here's the wide brute up close! Now, after watching Manny take his buck, Pops and I head over a nasty hill and glass a big canyon. We immediately find another good buck and after crossing another canyon we close the distance as much as we could. The shot was 646 yards with angle to account for and some crosswind. We set up the .300 WM on the tripod with the Loc Jaw/Rifle Railz adapter and dad settled in behind the gun. Here's the only pic I got of the buck before the shot, you can see his legs as he is standing on top of the boulder just left of the tree. you can see the shine of his beam and face as he's looking to the right just under the branch.. Here's Pops set up for the longest shot he's ever taken! BOOM! ....... WHOP! The buck folded and barrel rolled 70-80 yards down the steep mountain, we didn't know it yet but he unfortunately broke 3 tines in the process We were excited with the shot and the clean kill, but I was worried about the task before me! I had to cross the canyon and crawl and claw my way up that nasty mountain! Climbing up that mountain was one of the toughest things I've done, the pictures don't do it justice at all! Everytime I moved the buck he would roll or slide and take me with him! I propped him up on this boulder to take a couple pics and then had to brace his back legs on a tree to skin and quarter em'. I was sad to see he broke tines but they can be fixed, Pops made a phenomenal shot and I was proud of em'! So that was that for that ranch, it was good but we wanted to check out the next ranch and see some new country and find a big buck for Gary! I'll have to start a new thread because I've got too many pics!

With respect to Tim's thread here I started another thread where we can share our thoughts and experiences from our Mexico hunts this year. I've moved the related posts there as well. Congrats again Tim, I still come back to this thread to drool over your buck!!! I LOVE IT!!! JIM>

HA! That's wild! I just read through your old post and I actually learned of yet another waterhole that I didn't know was there until I saw one of your pics! It's actually the picture of my buddy glassing next to my Toyota, if I was to turn around and walk up the canyon behind me I'd be right where you have a picture of a big waterhole nestled up there...I didn't know about that one! My buddy, the nephew of the ranch owner, has been trying to get me to hunt that ranch for several years now but always been too busy learning other ranches. I'm glad we finally made it there, one of the prettiest and neatest ranches I've ever hunted!

Thanks all! I love hunts like this past one, we were hopeful to find bigger bucks but the main goal was to enjoy every aspect of the hunt and have fun, taking decent bucks in the end was all just a bonus! Jay, yeah, nothing compares to the Kowas, it's almost not even fair to the little critters that like to hide out there! Luckily for me my friend LOVES using them too and doesn't mind packing them around for me! Ilene, that squirrel looked dead, I even poked him but when I picked him up by the tail he growled and squirmed around! He was actually sick and was dead the next day unfortunately. I washed my hands really good after that!

Congrats to you all! Sounds like a fun trip! I hunted a couple different ranches this past week and after looking over a ton of bucks I really started to see the horn growth this year was definitely lacking it certain areas. I'm guessing it isn't a wide spread issue, some areas in Sonora had decent horn growth while others are seriously lacking. There was a bad freeze last February and I've seen the effects on different ranches, some worse than others, but that coupled with where the few rains fell definitely had an effect on the available browse last spring. Again, I've noticed some ranches were worse than others and I beleive that's why there is a big difference in opinions this year on rut activity and horn growth, it all depends on where you were hunting. Congrats again to you guys! JIM>

WOW Tim!!! I heard you shot a beautiful buck but had no idea he was that beautiful!!! I LOVE that style and frame, HUGE congrats to you!!! I just got home from another great trip and we had some serious rut action and easily looked at over 100 bucks. We were about an hour north-east of Hermosillo this time and during the same time frame as TAM. The ranches I was on didn't have the quality I was hoping to find but it was a blast seeing so many bucks and watching the rut at it's finest! I also agree about the north/south line, further south you are the later the rut. Having a hot doe is the key to what you are going to see in any given spot. If there isn't a hot doe around, the bucks will be cruising or taking a break. I also agree when folks see this and think the rut is slow, done or non-existent they don't realize that quite possibly, at the same time, 1 canyon away there is a hot doe with 5 bucks going ballistic! I think the position of the sun is the trigger and probably the reasoning for the north/south differences in rut timing but the weather/temps and moon phase dictate where and when the action takes place. If the timing is right but the temps are hot they will be rutting in the thick bottoms or shady areas out of sight, if it's a full moon the majority will rut hard all night and lay low and rest throughout the day. Cool weather keeps em' active and in the open obviously and the dark moon forces more daytime activity. Figuring out the right time for the certain location you plan on hunting, further north or south, is the tricky part. My $.02 JIM>

Awesome buck Justin!! Very well deserved, huge congrats to you!!! JIM>

Hey guys and gals, I'm late in gettin' these pics up but been under the weather since returning home. We headed down after Christmas to one of the ranches we hunted on the first trip. I had my same hunters with me and we had hopes of another successful trip. The first couple days were good, some rut activity and good bucks, but as the days wore on it got hotter, the moon was getting brighter and we were seein less and less deer daily. Here's some cool pics I took when I should've been looking for deer instead This is a "Cola Blanca Jabali" that we'd glass up all the time... Here's the last thing you want to see on your ranches... Cool pic of part of the ranch... The first day of this second hunt started out really good with lots of bucks seen and passed. We still had cooler weather at that point and we had some rut action. One of the bucks that was chasing does within' rifle range of my hunter was very tempting! It's a buck that we've had on camera and he looked better in person. Having killed a better buck with me on the first hunt, my hunter passed up this buck and hoped we'd find something better. Here's the buck we passed.... We had named that buck "The 9 Incher" because of his G2's and after seeing him in person we figured he was around 112". The next day was slower, the weather was getting hotter and the moon was getting brighter. With this in mind we knew this hunt would get tougher with each day so it was decided if "The 9 Incher" stepped out again he was getting hammered! The 3rd day dawned with some decent activity very early on but was short lived. The 9 Incher was one of the rutting bucks and he bedded down before presenting any shot. We had him bedded in a thicket with no shot at 465 yards across the canyon from us. With the rifle ready, we sat there for 3 hours getting sun burnt waiting for him to stand! At about the 3 hour mark he started moving quite a bit in his bed so we got ready. Sure enough he stood and stretched his neck and head in front of his shoulder to scratch his face with his back hoof. We waited for him to finish and clear his shoulder for the shot..."BOOM", he folded his legs under his belly in mid air and bounced on the ground with a thud after the bullet hit it's mark perfectly! We had him at 112" before the shot and after walking up to him we realized his tines were a little longer and he has some very cool character that never showed up on the trailcams or while watching him with big glass. He has 5 extra tines or stickers that don't count because they are just barely under an inch, his G2s average right at 9" and his beams are 17". We were worried about his width hurting his score but even with a 10 1/2" spread he still tapes out conservatively at 114"! And yet again, my friend and I got to be the lucky guys holding this great buck in the photos! The deer activity continued getting less and less after killing the 9 Incher so we packed up and headed home. A cool sidenote, the 9 Incher and that 117" we killed on the first hunt were taken within 50 yards of each other and basically in the same spot! I REALLY like that spot!

I'd love to see that one buck try to flag! He's pictured in several of the pics but you can see it best in the last pic, he only has 1/3 of his tail left! Probably saved him from a coyote, just like a lizard losing his tail to a bird or cat! Very cool! JIM>

Right on, it's about time you guys signed up here at CWT.com! In the outfitting world there are a few outfits that are too focused on making money or making a name for themselves and they focus too much on booking multiple clients or competing with others and they don't focus enough on the individual client and their needs or desires. Luckily, there are some great outfits with great guys who sincerely care about each client and give each client their best. Even better is that all these great outfits that I personally know are sponsors of CWT.com and Colburn and Scott are one of the best! Glad to see you guys here and best of luck this year! JIM> there ya go Jay, don't forget MY $20.00! HA!

Man that is awesome! I've only rattled one in before and it's awesome to see! Huge congrats to Jimmy, great job! JIM>

Awesome job yet again Gino and Jason and congrats to Tina! I feel sorry for those bucks and pigs in your neck of the woods, poor guys don't stand a chance! HA! Congrats again! JIM>

Right on Brian! Huge congrats to you man, spot n' stalk archery Coues is a huge accomplishment, congrats again! JIM>