COOSEFAN

Man, I've been reading this thread since the beginning and could probably write several pages of a reply! I've got a ton of experience relating to most of the thoughts in this thread and some I agree whole heartedly with and others I don't. I think I remember who Catclaw was referring to at the start of this thread, I think he had that bull in his avatar? I think it was a 400" class bull with extra kickers up top maybe? I remember hearing the story and being very impressed with that individual for taking such a huge bull on his own, but now hearing he covered up the fact he was guided only upsets me for ever being impressed. I'm always way more impressed with a hunter who gives credit where credit is due, regardless if it's a guide, a friend, or even if it was pure luck! The hunter that is honest and humble is the one I respect and admire the most. One thing I don't agree with is folks getting upset or being negative towards somebody else becuase they don't hunt the same way or don't share the same trophy standards! It's THEIR tag, who cares if they want to pass on a 360" bull, who cares if they shoot a spike, it's THEIR tag! I'm happy to see folks pass big stuff and go home empty handed (only as long as it's not my client ) because that's one more bull or buck left in the woods! Also, who cares if there is a bunch of "lazy" hunters or guys that road hunt all day, that only means you'll have less folks hiking into your honey hole!! I wish there were more lazy road hunters!!! I've got a good example for ya'll, Last year, Early rifle bull hunt in one of the best units. I had a client pass up a bull that no doubt was bigger than 390" and most likely was pushing the 400" mark and was a straight 6!!! Keep in mind this was the middle of the hunt, I had nothing bigger picked out, and it wasn't a special tag with unlimited time to hunt, he only had a couple days left! It was very hard for me to comprehend that we were passing this bull up! What you need to understand, and what made me feel better about it was that this hunter knew the risk he was taking. He knew that he would probably go home empty handed and he didn't care. In his mind, shooting that bull would only end his hunt and he then would have to go home!!! This particular hunter already had 2 380" class archery DIY bulls on his wall at home and he was bound and determined to hunt until the last minute of his hunt for a true 400" bull! His words, and they are still etched in my mind, were, "I'd rather hunt the whole hunt for a true 400" bull and go home empty handed than shoot a lesser bull halfway thru"! The thrill of passing up giant bulls, the excitement of having the tag in his pocket and not knowing what was around the next tree were all reasons for him not to kill that bull. He was there for the hunt and beleive it or not, there is a lot of folks out there that hire guides and share the same thoughts as this particular hunter....although i doubt they would've passed that bull! LOL! And another thing is that guy didn't care one bit about what others think. It was his own personal goal to kill a bull scoring at least 400". His drive was fueled only by personal reasons, he never would've wrote a story or posted the pics, even if it was the world record, it was his goals only. Granted, that is only 1 scenario and 1 hunter, but I gotta say, folks like that are more common then most tend to beleive! I don't know if maybe it's the class of clientele that I attract or what, but 97.5% of the clients I've guided in the last 10 years are folks that are respectful, honest and enjoy the hunt, not just the kill. Just because somebody hires a guide doesn't mean they don't have the skills to hunt on thier own and it doesn't mean they are only interested in making a name for themselves. Most clients I guide have actually killed more and bigger elk then myself! It is BS if a guy uses a guide but then covers up that fact later, I don't agree with that at all! But there is no reason to think less of a guy in general just because he used a guide. In those situations I give credit to the guide but also to the hunter for successfully doing his part as well. I do place more respect with those individuals that do it all on their own because I know what goes into it and how hard it can be, but some of those and even some of the guided ones were all luck! Just be honest about it and happy you killed your trophy. Bottome line, to each his own, and it's all just apples and oranges in the end. Killing a bull with a guide is still a great accomplishment, killing one on your own is a better accomplishment. Being honest and humble about it will win you more respect. And most importantly, for me, "The trophy is in the eye of the tag holder". It's not our tag so who cares, only once it is our tag does our opinions of trophy class then become relevant! OK, i'm done for now. JIM>

We WERE until I found out you drew my tag!!! LOL! Congrats man, you're gonna kill a biggun! My nephews have a couple late rifle bull tags again in there this year!

Well we got a bunch of bull tags and even a 19A Muzzy goat tag in the Mullins family.....but not a dang thing for me! These stoopid bonus points are a curse, I actually wish I didn't have as many as I do 'cause I'd be happy with a late tag right now! Gettin' tired of waiting year after year for my own tag but at least I get to do A TON of hunting with family this year! Congrats to all that drew! JIM>

Here's a couple pics of my boy Drake. Whether I'm at home or in the woods, he's always by my side every chance he gets. He and I recently went out to locate some bulls and had a good time runnin' around in the snow! JIM>

I would say that possibly less than 50% of the bulls have dropped, at least in the areas I've been in. I watched a 330" class bull in the snow yesterday for 3 hours as he raked on multiple trees and sparred with several other bulls. There were 21 bulls in the group and only 4 were skin heads and all the bulls still had both sides. I thought for sure I was gonna watch that bull shed but it seemed like he's still glued down tight. The other antlered bulls were mostly small 5's and 6's under 300" class with a couple rags. There's bone on the ground but there's still a lot more bone walking around. It's also a sloppy muddy mess up there right now! JIM>

Awesome video Amanda! I didn't realize how many different trucks I've had over the years until watching that, and there's still a couple that weren't on there! LOL! I know it costs a lot of money to have those stickers made and to ship them out! Thank you very much for doing that and for all your hard work in creating this site and this community!

Congratulations Justin!!! I definitely know the value in having a wife that supports our hunting addiction! Before mine started college she used to actually hunt with me and killed a few critters, but after college and starting her career she doesn't hunt anymore. I have since learned she only hunted so that she could spend more time with me! Now she just lets me hunt for 150 days a year and is still with me...which is amazing and I'm very fortunate! Glad to hear you found a good one, congrats again! JIM>

Simply amazing Doug!!!! JIM>

THAT WAS AWESOME!!!! That was one of the best videos I've seen showcasing true sportsmanship, ethics and respect for the animal! Everyone has their limits and to watch folks that have the respect and ability to stay within those limits is AWESOME! Anyone who has hunted Elk long enough knows that although they have a big kill zone, they are still one of the easiest animals to lose, regardless what you shoot em' with!!! It makes me sick to see folks still taking "head-on" or "quartering-to" shots with a bow and the most common are the shots taken farther than the hunters ability! Just like Dave said, when folks wait that long for a tag they are more apt to push the limits and take chances, and more times than not it ends in failure, I see and hear about it over and over again every season! I hope everyone watches this video and I hope everyone gives your wife and you the credit you deserve for being great hunters!!! Thanks for posting and great job putting it together!! JIM>

Thanks Ernesto and Kevin! You are exactly right Ernesto about getting names, dates, time, how, when and why! I've had multiple folks, some are law enforcement/USFWS and some are well seasoned veterans of border crossing, and everyone seems to have different ideas or interpretations of the law! I think it sucks that I can't get the same answer out of everyone regarding a solid way to legally import my skull, especially from the USFWS folks!!! Some say NO, some say as long as it's tagged, some say i need to have it mounted in MX, and others just don't know! I'm just gonna leave it in MX until I find a guaranteed legal way to import it!

THAT IS AWESOME!!! Some of my fondest childhood memories are from the Mormon Lake shoot! It was an annual family get together for us and I looked forward to that shoot more than anything else every year. Exactly like has already been said, there was an "atmosphere" surrounding the Mormon Lake shoot that made it special and the shoot has never been the same since it moved.

That was amazing fast right there! I kept waiting for him to cut his hand tho, looks like he's grabbing the blade half the time!

We just got a few more amazing donations for the banquet today while at the ISE show! A fully oufitted Moose hunt in British Columbia, an African hunt and a 7 day King Salmon and Halibut trip in Alaska! It's going to be an awesome banquet with lots of great items in the auction and raffles! Hope to see a bunch of folks there, make sure to get your tickets reserved now before they're all gone! JIM>

I don't think that is legal either. Maybe if it was fresh and would pass for a recently killed animal during the season then I can see that working but not on a bleached out rack. I've got a 144" pick-up down there that I'd LOVE to bring back but I haven't found a legal way to do it yet. JIM>

Man that's heartbreaking to hear the owners backed out of coming to get her! I just showed my wife and although she was tempted she still told me "NO"! I already have 1 GSP that we rescued and I would love to give that dog a home as well but it's just not feasible for us. Hopefully somebody gives her a good home, they are great dogs!!! JIM>

-Jim White Pan Head -Outdoorsmans Pan Head -Bogen Manfrotto (the old big heavy one, model number is worn off) I used the Bogen 701HDV and the 700RC2 this past season and they are awesome! For glassing my favorite is the Outdoorsmans for light weight and it's very smooth while slow panning in all directions, and the 700RC2 is very comparable. The 701HDV is perfect for a heavy scope, camera or rifle. Very smooth, stable and locks tight.

I've spent WAY too much time trying to go thru the thousand photos I have on my laptop and get them on this computer and photobucket! My wife isn't too happy with me but here's what I've got in a brief overview! My goal for Mexico this year was to try and pick up the peices from where I left off last year. I had several giants picked out last year and hoped we would kill at least one or two of them! The weather this year made it very difficult at most times to locate these big bucks and to make it worse we missed our shots when we finally found them! It was frustrating but all in all we had a great time as usual! With only a few clients this season, I had tons of time to devote to development and scouting. It was amazing to have an incredible amount of country all to myself. I became better friends with all the ranch owners and cowboys and learned A TON about how crafty and sneaky these special little deer are! I had some amazing experiences such as finding that Mexican Boa, flingin' arrows and lead at Mt. Lions, whackin' my first archery Coues along with Coati and Javi's, and getting to put my hands on a huge 200" muley and a 125" Coues! It was paradise for a blood thirsty, Coues fanatic such as myself! If you don't want to read thru the rest of my story, here's a slideshow with most of the pics! Just click on the pic.... I did have my own little mess-up of my own on my birthday. I didn't have any hunters so I grabbed the rifle, a snickers bar and a bottle of water and headed for a new area that we hadn't hunted before. It was tempting to hunt one of the big bucks in other areas but I had hunters coming down so off I went to scout/hunt a new area. I didn't plan on a long hike and didn't plan on needing my pack with all my optics but soon wished I had! It was awesome to hike around like I had when i was a kid with only my gun and no stress or worries about finding a giant or having to glass for hours, especially because it was my birthday! Just before dark I kicked up a great buck, somewhere in the 1-teens class I'm guessing, and i fumbled with the gun at the sight of his rack! That deer made it over the hill before I had a shot and after I ran up and over I got set up on some rocks. I scanned with the scope and found the buck hiding behind a tree watching his backtrail. I ranged him at 375 yards and tried my hardest to make sure he was the same buck! It was low light and all I could see was he had a huge frumpy looking body, dark horned and big eyegaurds. This is where I wish I had my binos to verify for certain, but it all added up that this was the same buck that just ran over here! I held the right distance and sent the bullet...WHOP! I reloaded, scanned with my eyes and caught the buck running sidehill, got em' in the scope and could see the big rack...tried to lead him..BOOM! I look with my eyes again as I reload and see the bullet hit behind him sending him straight up the hill and over before I could shoot again! I sat there for a second, knowing it sounded like a hit but that deer wasn't running like he was hit! Just then I could hear rocks rolling and I could see another deer going downhill. In the scope I could see it was a smaller buck and he was wounded!!! DANGITTT!!!! I didn't exactly yell those same words to myself out loud but you get the point! I instantly knew what happened, I shot the wrong buck and just missed the right buck with the second shot! I was upset at myself for not taking more time to scan the area or make for sure this was the same buck, it just made sense he was the same buck and I was running out of time! I then sent another round into this buck to finish the deal and had to cross the canyon with no water, GPS, or flashlight to make sure he was dead and to gut and hang em'! I felt bad for sure, but was glad I could finish him off. The hike out of that nasty canyon, not sure exactly where my truck was in the flats with no light and navigating all the cactus just added to the adventure! It sucked shooting the wrong buck but, heck, I got to hunt on my birthday, sling lead at a great buck and in the end I still got to experience another successful hunt with a pretty 90" class Coues buck! This is the second time in 2 years that I was reminded I do MUCH better if I'm not the one behind the gun! LOL! Here's some pics I took the next day when my buddy and I hiked in to pack the buck out. So there ya go, I messed up but oh well, it was fun, life is short and I want to experience as many Coues hunts as I can before my time comes, this was just another one for the memory bank! Next success story was our Muley hunter Matt W.. Matt has hunted Mexico 3 times now and although he's passed up some great bucks he hasn't killed one until now! My friend Matt R. was the guide and they again were holding out for one of the giants and had passed this buck up 3 times before deciding he needed to die! It was hard for either of them to decide on this buck because of the 3 point frame, but after some better looks at him it was decided he'd hit the mark! This buck is huge and was scored by an official measurer at 199 5/8"!!! Congrats Matt W. on a well deserved beast! Lastly, here's the trophy of all trophies! This is what dreams are made of right here! 20" beams, super wide, extra tines, and tons of character...simply an awesome 125" class Coues buck! This buck was taken by my friend Scott during the last week of the season. It was a quick and fairly uneventful hunt, Scott hiked in to a canyon, sat down, looked across and at 350 yards there stood his biggest Coues buck to date! He made a great single shot into the buck and he rolled down the hill! The buck had already burned off all his fat and muscle during the rut and was very skinny. Congrats to Scott on what many consider a once-in-a-lifetime trophy!!! For those of you that have been waiting to see these pics, thanks for your patience! Thanks also to those of you that took the time to read thru it all! JIM>

Great job on your 2nd pig Ana! Congrats to you and your proud papa! Awesome story and pics Ernesto, thanks for sharing her great hunt with us! JIM>

Hey Hunter X, I know you are a great hunter and a great videographer and I've always enjoyed what you've shared with us here. I've got to admit though, that video perfectly illustrated what I hate to see in the woods. I do believe the problem here was that you were pointing out an obvious fact that any logical thinking person already would know. The farther the animal, the less likely the loud noise will spook them. Whether it makes it ethical or not, that's a personal decision that each of us has the priviledge to make for ourselves. We, as a group of hunters, need to respect each other regardless what our weapon choice is or how far our effective range is. As long as it's lawful and respectful to each other and the critters we hunt, it's all good as far as I'm concerned. I see how the video brings an arguement about ethics, but it all boils down to each individual and their skills, preparation and personal idea on what's ethical. Argueing about it is futile and gets us nowhere fast. We can only practice and preach the importance of practicing and staying within our personal limits, regardless what distance that is, and that is what's fair to the animal. We only owe the animals we hunt one thing and that is to make a quick clean kill. All I kept thinking while watching the video was "Tell him to stop shooting!" It's one thing to miss once or even twice, it happens, but when it's obvious that something is either wrong or it's too far and the shooter continues to "fling" lead it becomes a bad thing and THAT is unfair to the animal. I don't care who is behind the gun or how much practicing he's done or how much he paid for the gun or even if it was within their personal limits, if I saw somebody flinging lead like that I'd yell for them to stop. just my $.02 JIM>

Thanks again for the kind reply's and comments! I'm very fortunate to have a very supportive and understanding wife and that is the only reason why I get to hunt as much as I do! Well....now that i think of it......if I didn't have her I'd be hunting ALL the time and I'd probably be living in Mexico! LOL! Just kiddin', I'm very fortunate with her and I know it Thanks again all! JIM>

Hey Newbster98, I saw your post and called Craigster for ya. He said $2,000 is the lowest he'll go for a single quad but he does have an interested buyer for both right now. If you are interested PM me or Craigster to get you his phone number. JIM>

Stickin' an arrow in a Coues has been a longtime goal of mine. With guiding taking up most of my time I've had very little time to put into that quest. Years ago my buddy Bret and I would always spend a week in Jan. chasing deer with our bows and although we had a blast I never drew blood. I even had the good fortune to hunt with Gino for several days and I still couldn't put it together so I just kept dreaming of the day when I'd finally stick an archery Coues. My goal this year was to try and devote more time into archery Coues hunting and to keep me focused I made sure to have my bow with me in Mexico! I only had a couple hunters in Mexico and my focus was on their hunts but in between those hunts I was developing my archery spots. One of these spots consisted of a small leak in a pipe that fed a large holding tank about a mile away. The country around this leak is un-huntable because of how thick it is but holds a bunch of deer. I first tried to dig out a hole and let it fill up in hopes that the water would last. I soon realized that the water didn't leak out of the pipe very often and the water would seep into the ground too fast, plus those dang cows would tear up the hole daily! Here's my first attempt at developing this water hole..... As you can see it looked good and I had high hopes for the spot but the water wouldn't hold long enough to sustain any consistent deer activity. With the help of my two buddies, Santos and Fito, we grabbed a bag of concrete and a water jug and did some serious tank development at night so we weren't taking any time away from our daytime hunting duties. Here's the boys showing me how you use the existing sand to make the concrete right there on the spot..... So after a few days of letting our masterpiece set up we ran back and installed a fence to keep the cows out and noticed our new tank was holding water and the critters were already pounding it! Excited about the activity and success with this new water tank, we added a camera and a ground blind to the spot and let it sit for a while. The bucks were starting to show up regularly and my favorite big buck had broken off his right antler! Our biggest problem this year was broken antlers and it was very frustrating! There was still a nice buck hitting the tank regularly and aside from breaking his beam tip he was still intact and had my attention!! With too many responsibilities elsewhere I never had a chance to hunt this spot with my bow and I checked the camera often waiting for a new buck or hoping the bucks I still had didn't break any worse! A buddy of mine finally came down and he sat this tank for the first time. He had a bunch of deer come in but the bucks held up just barely out of sight in the thick stuff. A lion did come in at last shooting light but my buddy had already started the hike out! Here's a picture of that lion...my buddy said he left the blind and walked out at 6:10!!! Because I had a bigger buck on camera on a different tank my buddy decided to sit the other tank the next day. With my next hunters due to arrive one day later I finally had a window to hunt for myself! I jumped at the chance to sit my new tank even though the day before my buddy wasn't successful there. I had to drop him off on the other tank early that morning and do some other work but by 9:00am I was in my blind and ready to go! I told my buddy I would check on him at 2:00pm so I really only had a few hours to hunt but I was excited nonetheless. The morning was slow but around 11:00am I started hearing some rutting action in the jungle west of me. There were does blowing and I could hear them getting closer! In no time and without warning a buck quickly strolled through my shooting lane to my left but on a direct line to the tank. I raised the bow and waited. My heart was pounding in my chest even though I had no clue which buck this was yet. As soon as he stepped out I recognized him as one of the smaller bucks and I decided not to shoot. It was extremely hard not to shoot but I still had several hours left to hunt! I practiced drawing my bow on him while he drank, here's some pics of him while my pin is settled on his vitals...(stay tuned as my brother whacks this buck later!) That buck exits and then a big Coati cruises in shortly after. I had already whacked one earlier so this one got a free pass that day and it was cool to watch em'. I then had no action for several hours aside from some Gambels and Elegante Quail that were obvious rival gangs in the area. They didn't like each other and it was cool to watch. Now at around 1:00pm, I'm day dreaming and thinking I've only got an hour left to hunt when I catch movement near the tank! The deer steps out on a steady walk, heavy antlers, obvious G3's, bow is up and as I hit full draw I grunt, he stops quartering away, pin settled low in his armpit in anticipation of him dropping, I press the trigger, I hear the arrow hissing and THUMP!!!! The buck swings around fast and is gone even faster! I set my bow down and just sat there quietly listening and replaying the events that I couldn't beleive just happened! I was worried that it looked like he spun around too fast and maybe my arrow hit forward in his shoulder. I knew he didn't drop down like I expected and the height of the arrow looked good but it only penetrated halfway and didn't pass thru! It all happened so fast I couldn't tell what exactly happened but it sounded like a cavity hit and the shot felt good. I packed up and after inspecting the first 20 yards of the trail I felt sick because there was very little blood. To be safe, I just left and went to check on my buddy. After several hours and talking it over with my buddy I headed back alone to follow the trail. My concern was that the buck spun before my arrow struck and hit him in the shoulder. That would explain the lack of penetration and lack of blood. I followed very little blood for the first 50 yards and I really began to worry. I said a prayer and continued on to the top of a little rise. Once there I looked down and there was a big pool of blood! I looked further and could see another pool and then another and as I looked into the next ravine I could see his nose sticking out from behind some grass!!! WHOOOHOOOO!!!! I couldn't believe it, I finally got my archery Coues buck and got that monkey off my back! To walk up and pick up his rack that first time was incredible. I know it's not a big buck but it doesn't matter to me. I had even showed my buddies trailcam pics of this exact same buck earlier and told them I would rather shoot that buck with a bow instead of a 115" with a rifle, and I did just that! My arrow had actually hit about an inch or two above where I was aiming and center punched his heart. The broadhead was pushing the skin out in the center of his brisket but didn't cut thru it. I'm sure if it had penetrated thru the skin I could've ran the blood trail with ease! This buck is actually an older buck and probably regressed, his teeth were well worn and he was all scarred up. He's got awesome character and great mass, I think if he wasn't broke on the beam tip he'd score right around 90" but I couldn't care less, he's an awesome archery buck and he's MINE!!! Thanks if you read through this long winded post! Scroll down and you can read the rest of the story.....

87 lbs field dressed

I paid close attention to all the deer I glassed up in the high country on that ranch this past season and none of them appeared to be dwarfs. I did find a buck that was almost in the same spot where I killed my "Midget" and he had an almost identical rack but was bigger bodied than the does he was chasing. Unless his does were midgets too, i'm certain he was normal size but i would bet he was related to my buck! With that in mind, it sure seems like the same dwarfism characteristics that we see in humans. I would bet a single doe could have twins and one could be a dwarf and the other could be normal. It's just a rare genetic variant. And, as with humans, there are different types of dwarfism or genetic variants, some could be even smaller than others or have different abnormalities such as smaller antlers, shorter legs etc.. I would bet money these deer with the dwarfism trait is exactly the type of deer folks are calling "Fantails". I don't think it has anything to do with "color phase", it's all about the size of them. Maybe they got the name because the tails look so much bigger on a smaller body??? As for the "rust color" on the dorsal side of the tail.....like Bill said, most of the deer have rust colored tails so that would be expected anyway. It's all very interesting and I would love to see more research done on our beloved Coues deer, especially in Mexico, I think there's still a lot to learn about these deer! I don't remember exactly what my buck scored, it was somewhere mid 90's. A very cool character type buck for sure.

Did I miss something in this thread that Benbrown's post pertains to or directed at??? I usually have my hands on 10 to 20 dead coues bucks every year. I'm not very educated, and I'm in no way a "Deer Expert", but I guarantee something was genetically wrong with that deer I killed. I'm also not saying he was a "fantail" at all. I'd never seen it before and haven't seen it since, but that buck was a dwarf. I didn't have him aged but the teeth were well worn and he was without a doubt an older buck. I know Coues in general have many variations in size, shape and color and I'm sure it all has something to do with genetics and where they live, but the buck I killed was abnormal. As for the personal "life list" of critters that have fallen to my exploits....I'm not sure why that was even said, but the truth is, this critter was more of an expensive mistake rather than an accomplishment. The single 756 yard shot was pretty cool though I don't have this buck mounted yet, there was a short period of time last year when the dudes at the border had just learned of the new law change for importation and didn't know what to do yet so they were just taking everyone's capes and unfortunately mine was one of them!