COOSEFAN

Great job stickin' with it and changing up tactics to get it done! Whackin' a nice buck with a bow is #1 on my wish list, I'm jealous man! Congrats! JIM>

Great archery bucks, sounds like a couple exciting days you both had! Congrats! JIM>

Congrats on a great archery buck! Width doesn't do much for score on a buck, it's nice but the difference between Wide and Narrow is only a few inches. My biggest buck, 215", is only 19" wide! Very pretty buck, love the mass he carries throughout! Congrats, JIM>

That's a GIANT buck!!! I'm glad Randy was able to finally bring em' home! JIM>

Here's another Christmas card for ya'll.... and don't worry, Santa's sleigh is still just as fast and efficient without Rudolph! I hope everyone has a Merry Christmas! JIM>

It is definitely a new experience to set cams out in the wide open without worry about theft! The best part about Mexico is the amount of country that a guy could have all to himself and never see another hunter, it's also pretty cool to know there's some giants living in the same country I'm excited to see what's on the cams and hope the activity down in Mexico is as good as what I saw yesterday in 35!!! Josh, I can't wait to read the story of your hunt, no doubt some bruisers will fall with you guys in the woods Best of luck to you all!

Awesome buck and great job on the stalk!!! I swear those older desert bucks are the smartest critters and the hardest to hunt, that's a big accomplishment, especially with a smoke pole!!! Congrats! JIM>

Sir, Please let me point out that I love bow hunting as much as rifle hunting... I have taken critters from 12 to 525 yds... I am aware what it takes to get close... and that most places I hunt with one weapon I can't hunt with the other. I'd love to put a rifle of your choice in your hands and turn you loose with a Coues or Bull tag here in several central AZ units....and I'd find you a critter, then say, "There you go, get to 300 yds and shoot him!" First off when we got there you'd have likely said, "How are we gunna see anything in THAT $hit!" and then thought to yourself, 'Self, there is no way I can close the distance unless the critter stands in that one little opening all day'. If I was a desert hunter or open timber hunter I would almost always be able to get closer, but when hunting in 6'-10' tall manzanita, mountain mahogany, and scrub oak I bet money you can't get as close as you think... not to mention how do you walk on air if there is nothing but sheer bluffs on both sides of a canyon? My Point? I'm not wanting to judge you, or your understanding of All hunting situations, or how you hunt them... nor do I expect you to have the ablity to judge me. We are different hunters from different parts of a very diverse state. I respect how you hunt and would only expect the same in return. This thread is not about your (or my) ideals of what is a reasonable shot distance.... It is about how we all need to know what our limitations are and being as ethical as possible in our hunting. If your limitaions are 300-400 yds then I applaud you for knowing that and living by it. Telling me what my limitations are, or should be, is about as bad as you telling me to eat my green beans. I can and have gotten close and shall do so again... but when the day calls for a longer shot than average I'd like to think that I will have the fortitude and confidence to say 'yes' or 'no', on that day, in those conditions. +1 Words taken right out of my mouth, well said Gino.

I loved looking through everyones pics, it's obvious I'm not the only softy on here who loves his dogs, as is evident in the great pics everyone has! I've got a bunch of pics but will try to limit it to a few here. Here's my boy Drake, he's literally my shadow, always by my side and since I've never introduced him to duck hunting, he mainly loves to shed hunt with his dad! I just don't have time to hunt ducks anymore and I learned with my first lab it's better if he doesn't know what he's missing out on! So shed hunting is what Drake knows and loves. Here's his baby pics! Here he is all grown up! Here's Drake's biggest matched set! Since he lacks thumbs I had to hold them up for him... Here's Drake with his brother Brutus who now resides at Butters' house and is a puppy makin' machine! And here's Harley my GSP, she's momma's girl but still gets out with Drake and I often Here's my favorite pic of my best friend Zeus, who is now chasing ducks to his hearts content in heaven. He was the only friend I knew that shared the same passion and intensity as myself for hunting, still miss him <img src="http://forums.coueswhitetail.com/forums/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/wink.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid="" border="0" alt="wink.gif" />

That's awesome!!! Congrats to Armando on a great first muley and a great shot! Great job to you as well Stan! I got to witness my 11yr old nephew whack 2 of 3 big game critters he took this year and there's nothing better hunting with kids can be tough but they are the most rewarding hunts by far!

If we miss it, can we expect to see some awesome pics of it from you?

Great job raising her up TJ! I'm a serious dog lover and I love my black lab (Drake) like a son , I only wish I had the time to get him out like you have with Lexie! After my last lab (Zeus) passed away I knew I wouldn't have time for Drake so I never introduced him to hunting birds, just sheds, that way he doesn't know what he's missing. Zeus was a serious duck hunter, he lived and breathed it, and I could never take him enough, I felt bad and regret not getting Zeus out more often, even now. Good for you for getting her out and enjoying her company, she obviously loves it! JIM>

Hey 308Nut, we are fortunate to have you as a contributing member here at CWT.com! Thanks for all the great info you've shared with us now and in the past! JIM>

DANGIT....and here this whole time I thought I was hunting! slopoke36, although I completely disagree with what you are saying and how you're saying it, I respect your right to your opinions and thanks for sharing honestly with us To keep this reply short, I'll just add that there is a TON of aspects about long range hunting that you are not addressing in your statement. And ALL of those aspects are why it's considered hunting and not just shooting. No matter what weapon you are using and no matter what the distance is, as soon as you have that critter in your scope or behind a pin and your finger is on the trigger, you are about to become a "shooter"! The entire time leading up to that moment, all the planning, scouting, hiking, glassing and finally stalking...... you were a "hunter" and you were hunting. I've killed more critters with a bow than I have with a rifle and I grew up primarily hunting with a bow or a muzzeloader. I fully agree it takes a ton of skill and patience to be a good hunter if you are using a bow or a short range rifle. I also maintain that it takes a ton of skill and patience to be a good hunter with a long range weapon! The difference is in where that skill and patience is applied for each technique but both types of hunting require the same skills to learn about and find your trophy. Hunting is hunting, everyone reserves the right to decide which technique is right for them and as long as it's done with respect to the game, the laws, and other hunters, it's all good JIM>

Good luck Jason, I'm sure you'll whack a toad! Jim, I'll be going thru the same crossing, hopefully I see ya! I checked the weather around Hermosillo and still not much change in the long term, we need it to cool down!!! Here's a couple pics I took with my wifes crappy camera (mine is too noisy). The deer activity sucked with the extreme heat but now that i got a bunch of cams out I'm sure I'll get some good pics next week! The lion hopefully won't be killin' any more deer, I know he hasn't shown back up yet on cams which is a good sign.....and I am still missing an arrow

I was just holding your rack a couple hours ago, I love the beams man! Congrats again! JIM>

Does Bret know you put that on here? LMAO, he's a dork! Awesome bud, congrats again! JIM>

sorry for the long post, didn't realize it until after posting it

I agree with what you are saying Gino and have witnessed exactly what you describe more times than I can recall over the years. I am one of the folks who have shared LR videos here and before doing so I thought long and hard about it. I initially didn't want to post those videos because what folks don't see and most don't appreciate is the time, effort and money that goes into each of my rifles to make them LR effective killers. Another thing folks aren't seeing or appreciate is the fact that before someone uses one of my rifles on a hunt they shoot it, in hunting conditions with a real hunting setup to see what their effective range is with that particular gun. Not all guns shoot the same for each individual person, so just picking up somebody elses gun doesn't mean you can shoot it the same as that guns owner! Lastly what folks aren't seeing in the videos is the hunters trying to figure out if they can get closer and realized they couldn't or that the hunters had already hiked to the closest spot for the shot. I guess I should keep the videos to myself so that folks don't draw conclusions and form opinions about LR hunting in general based off my videos On many occasions this year and past years I had hunters using my rifles and even though my rifles may be effective for me at longer ranges, my hunters knew that they were still limited to what they had practiced and proven to be their effective range with my gun. The main purpose for my guns is so that when clients show up with guns they hadn't shot in years (it happens alot!) I have them use mine and we practice with it to find their effective range prior to the hunt. I can't stand seeing easy shots missed on trophy critters, especially when tons of effort was put forth in finding that critter!!! Another point to mention is that in the end, no matter how much you practiced, no matter how much you know about angles, wind or any of the other factors, hunting is hunting and it's always an un-controlled environment where things can go wrong! Even at less than 200 yards I've seen lots of critters missed or wounded and actually more so at closer ranges than at longer ranges! Crap happens! I've seen some of the best shooters/hunters I know still have missed or wounded animals and it's just something that can happen regardless how much you practice or prepare. My buck this past Oct. is a prime example. I shot over 100 rounds though my new rifle prior to my coues hunt and that's not counting the rounds shot through it to get the turret marked and sighted in! I would travel down close to my hunt areas to shoot my rifles off my hunting setup in the same environment and the same elevation as where I'll be hunting. I practiced shooting in different wind conditions, different angles and different temperatures and I use the tools and charts to allow me to do that. I had both my guns dialed in and both guns, in perfect conditions were killers out to 700-800 yards. The day before my hunt started I shot multiple 3"-5" groups at 600 yards, in a hunting situation with the same equipment, setup and weather as what I'd be hunting in the very next day. That next day is when my buck showed up at 601 yards, the wind was not bad but needed to be accounted for and no angle to worry about. I was totally confident I could kill that buck. The end result after that deer dissappeared and my gun was empty, I realized the wind between the buck and myself was blowing more than we could visually see because of the canyon. I did my homework, spent tons of time getting confident and proficient with my weapon and I still sent 4 bad shots at that buck! Even with a wind meter you could not have accounted for the wind that was appearantly blowing through that canyon and only after witnessing the end result did we realize the problem. Am I one of those bad people for wounding that buck? What else could I have done to prepare myself for that shot? There was no way I could sneak closer, I was rock solid, and I had a friend to call the shot. Thankfully I hiked over there to make sure I missed and ultimately was able to finish off the buck. But my point I guess is that crap happens even to the prepared, whether it's 50 yards or 1000 yards no matter how prepared you are! There are too many folks that think you can just buy a LR rifle take it out and lob lead 1/2 mile away and kill critters. I don't think those folks will learn much by whats being said here and they will still fling lead carelessly in hopes of being successful, regardless if it's a LR shot or just a tough closer shot. And lastly, I do hope that folks who have watched my videos know that my friends and I aren't those types of hunters. JIM>

Hey Mr. Jonathan, Mexico is getting cheaper because of the economy and the media hype so it's getting easier to do for most folks. The problem most guys have is getting their wives to let them go! A bunch of folks think that Mexico is a war zone and that you are most likely gonna get shot or mugged while down there and that is possible if you go looking for it, but the fact is that thousands of folks travel down and back safely every year without incident. It is a risk but I feel is no different than traveling in south phoenix. I would bet you could find a great coues hunt from one of our sponsors here at CWT.com for anywhere from $2,500.00-$4,500.00 and possibly cheaper! Most hunts are 6-7 days and some guys will even allow you to come back down if you don't kill on your first trip! It would be hard to get gun permits this last minute but some outfits will have a gun you could borrow or you could take a bow and not need any paperwork.

Hey Jay, I'll be heading back down on the same day hopefully we run into each other! I'll be going thru Nogales and only have my bow so i won't be stopping at the military. Best of luck to you both!

Hey guys, I'm home now from a very short trip to Mexico! I'm glad to hear there are still folks headin' down there despite the scary stuff you hear in the media. I've gotta say, just like the 20 other times I've crossed the border and traveled in Mexico, I never felt scared and never had a bad experience with any of the officials or people while down there! You just gotta play by the rules and travel safe and you'll be fine! This first trip was to be a scouting trip and hunt a little with the bows for Coues or maybe look for a Muley. It was INSANE hot down there, especially sitting in a blind, and the deer weren't moving at all! I think most days it got around 95 degrees! To make the trip harder, the 4wd broke on the ranch truck and we even got it permanently stuck for a day so we couldn't get to some of our best spots. I was still able to get 10 cameras out and got some new areas mapped out so i'm excited for the next trip! Despite the conditions we still had some great experiences. I whacked a pig with my bow that came charging after I called him in to 15 yards, we passed up a great 30" wide and heavy Muley that unfortunately had short forks and was around 175 class, and I even had a lion come in to a tank I was sitting and I got some great pics of him! I'll post up some pics here shortly. Best of luck to you all that are heading down there, it's gonna be a great year for giants down there! JIM>

That's a dream buck right there, LONG tines and HEAVY!!!! Congrats to you! JIM>

Great job dealing with that situation, that would suck bad, I got upset just reading about it!!! Awesome job on the shot and for obviously doing the work before the hunt with the gun and the scouting, the success is proof of that! Congrats, JIM>

Congrats to all involved, that ram is a fricken HOG!!!! JIM>