COOSEFAN

Another very important fact and one that's already been stated is elevation. You always have to be mindful of the elevation in which your hunting in relation to what the elevation was when you sighted your rifle in. Elevation change isn't that noticeable at closer ranges but it doesn't take much of an elevation change to make a huge difference at long range! I got my first taste of this during my Kaibab hunt last year. My rifle was sighted in at 5000ft and my hunt was to take place around 6500-7000ft. I checked my zero at 200 and was 2" high, no problem i thought, but then at 700 yards I was completely off my target and most likely would have missed a buck or wounded em'! Always try to sight in at the elevation you usually hunt in and always try to check your zero once in your hunt area prior to the hunt. As for calculators, after we figured out the load that my gun liked best, we used the ballistics calculator to get the clicks close. We then went and found a spot in the elevation I usually hunt and shot through each of the yardages to make sure it was all correct with my set-up. I remember the calculator was off just a little bit for my set-up, can't remember how far though, but I remember thinking it was a good thing we shot it to make sure before marking the turret. We use white electrical tape on the turret and mark all the tested yardages on it starting with the 200 yard zero. Once it's all set we'll then put clear tape around the turret so the marks don't get smudged. This illiminates counting clicks or pulling your face away from the gun to look at a chart. It's also nice knowing that each of the yardage marks were actually fine tuned by shooting it, not just because some computer said it should be good!

Great write-up Shorty! Qoute of the day: "THATS STEP ONE: GET OUT AND PROVE WHAT YOU CAN DO BEFORE TAKING SHOTS ON GAME!" What I've learned from having the chance to hunt with lots of different folks from around the country is that most folks can't shoot consistently accurate past 300 yards. Nothing wrong with that, just as long as that is known and shots are kept within each persons capability. I get all worked up and frustrated when reading, hearing about, or actually seeing folks "throwing lead" at distances way beyond their capability. It's a luck game at that point and total disrespect for the critter. I'll stop at that Ever since getting my last custom long range gun I've been like a sponge soaking up all that i can learn about what it takes to shoot consistently accurate at long range. What it takes to do it consistently is amazing, there are so many variables that come into play and so many things that need to be taken into consideration before pulling the trigger each and every time! One thing that most folks don't realize is that their guns just won't shoot consistently accurate, and it doesn't matter if you are the worlds' best shooter, the gun just won't do it. Basically, the more work you have done to your rifle as far as accurizing, floating, bedding, custom trigger, fancy scope, load work-up etc., the more consistently accurate your gun will be. At that point, once your gun is consistently accurate, you will start to realize how much human error is taking place in your shooting! With my gun right now I can average about a 8" group at 700 yards while on my hunting set-up which is sitting behind my tripod, custom shooting fork on the head, and custom shooting sticks under the rear of the gun. This set-up is the only way that I shoot because my gun is sighted in this way. If I were to lay prone, i'd have a bigger group. Even if I were to have my shooting fork positioned in a different spot on the forearm of the stock, my group would get bigger! Everything has to be the same in order for my shot to hit where it's supposed to, if i vary even just a slight bit, i'll miss the target at those ranges! One thing that I always do prior to sighting in, or especially hunting is that I always shoot 2 fouling rounds through my gun after thoroughly cleaning it, my 3rd shot is always dead on and the 1st shot and sometimes the 2nd shot will be a flyer out of a clean barrel! When shooting past 400 yards out to my 700 yard limit, wind is a huge factor. In practicing cross canyon shots, we've used optics to make a note of the vegetation around the target to see direction and speed of the wind. Sometimes it'll be blowing differently on the opposite side of a canyon or slope. Once it's determined what the wind is doing by the target, then you can use the focus on your scope or binos and try to see the mirage to see what the wind is doing between you and the target. If the wind is mild, you can adjust for it, if it's too windy, then I just wouldn't shoot! My friends will set multiple flags up between them and their targets at the range and practice adjusting for the wind all the time, they would be much more capable of making long shots in windy conditions than I.

Awesome buck!!! Congrats to your pops! JIM>

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Back when duck huntin' was a big passion for me a Drake Woody was the #1 duck I wanted and I've still never taken one! I've got all my other favorites killed and mounted but i'm still missing the prettiest one of all! Gorgeous pics as usual Doug and thanks for sharing! JIM>

A buck that dreams are made of for sure!!!! Congrats to you Scott on a very well deserved HOG of a buck! JIM>

Happy belated B-day and best of luck this season! JIM>

Hey, your age makes me wonder if it's a sign for me to make sure to find a way to use my tag this year Happy B-Day Shortybritches, hopefully you whack a giant coues buck in a little over a week, and hopefully you don't get raped, mugged, molested, shot, killed, or abused in any way shape or form while you're camping out there all by your lonesome! Just had to put those thoughts in yer head.....'cause I know it's on yer mind! Again, hope your day was great, you scardy-cat!

Hey folks, i'm finally home for more than just a day which is great except that now I have to attend to all the chores that have been neglected since July! I've been in the woods for a little over 100 days so far this year and it's been a blast! Lots of work but it all paid off and we had a great early season! I've been tryin' to round up all the photos and don't have them all yet but here's what i got so far.... Wilbur was the first stud to hit the dirt and was probably the toughest, least fun hunt of them all this year! It was pre-rut so no bugling to be heard, just lots of walking and still hunting draws hoping to bump into him. It was hot, the bulls were nocturnal and it took 10 full days for our luck to finally change! The evening of the 10th day was when we finally picked the same draw that Wilbur had chosen to feed in and after a single perfect shot he was finally ours! Wilbur will be scored again in a few weeks as the drying period is almost up and I'm sure he won't be much less than his original score of 445"!!! The next bull was taken by an archery client of mine. This bull has a history with us as one of our clients shot him last year and hit high just above the spine. We looked for days for this bull and never found him.......until this year and he was still on his feet! We named this bull "Crossover" because of his crossed-over G1's. He also has extra points on his G2's which made him easy to identify. The archery hunt was great for us and we were calling in several 360-380 bulls each day! We were hoping for bigger but the hunting pressure started having a negative affect on our spot so when Crossover stepped into the shooting lane at 17 yards broadside, I stopped him and a perfect arrow was on it's way! Crossover ran 60 yards and tipped over and after putting our hands on him we were all amazed at how huge his body was, he was just like Wilbur in that he fooled us on trailcams! The huge body and head made his rack look smaller but in the end he scored 372"!! It was at the processor that we found out indeed this was the same bull our client shot and lost last year, the broadhead and about 4" of shaft were removed in the backstraps! While we were hunting for Crossover, our good friends were helping another hunter in the same unit. They had their bulls picked out and were hunting very hard every day passing up good bulls waiting for the one they wanted! "Squiggy" was the bull that the hunter "Don" wanted. This bull is awesome and has a cool G3 which earned him the name. Don has helped us all summer and definitely put in the time to earn such a stud bull. Squiggy made the mistake of coming well within archery range of Don and Don made the shot! Squiggy scores right at 380"!!! Next was the early rifle and muzzleloader hunts. I was fortunate enough to get to hunt with a repeat client of mine. This client's name is Ian and he's the kid that killed that "Ron Burgundy" bull from last year! He drew the tag again and the hunt was on! We had very limited time but like last year we made the most of it! We called in and passed several great bulls and finally on the 4th day of the hunt we had this great bull coming in screaming! Ian was on the shooting sticks and ready when I stopped the bull broadside and said "take 'em"! When the smoke cleared we could see the bull was hit perfect and in a matter of seconds he was piled up! This was an awesome hunt and Ian took home his second 370" class bull in 2 years...not bad for a 17 year old! Again, while I was hunting with Ian, some friends and family were hunting in a different unit. This hunt was with a friend of ours "Will", and Will was holding out for something big! He spent max points on his early rifle tag and the boys were hunting hard looking for a bull worthy of the wait! After several long hard days they finally found the one and put him on the ground. This bull is a true giant of a bull and one that dreams are made of! He will be scored by an official measurer soon but with a conservative tape in camp he taped out at over 420"!!! I don't have the feild photos yet but I'll get them posted when I can. Congrats to Will and the boys on gettin' it done! I've got a few more bulls I'd like to share, just don't have pics yet, one is an 11 year old young man that took his first bull with us, it was a blast and he showed amazing patience by passing up several great bulls, some were even 360" class bulls! He took a perfect 330" 6x6 bull on the last hour of his hunt and his dad was sitting next to him to watch it all go down! Thanks for checking out the pics, I'll get back in the groove here now that I'm home for a bit, looks like there's a bunch of success stories to catch up on here! Take care, JIM>

Howdy folks, figured I'd share some cool photos with ya. When the elk hunting got slow my friend Mike didn't pass up any chances at knockin' some dust off his trigger finger! Mike's now added an archery 'yote and a gorgeous Bobcat to his acheivements list! He also passed up a big badger (while in the middle of calling in a bull) and saw 2 different lions while hunting with me! Believe it or not that Bobcat is a big ol' female! JIM>

Great write up of an even greater experience Scottyboy! Awesome bull, congrats! JIM>

Gorgeous mount! Gorgeous buck! JIM>

You know your addicted when even though you know there's a chance you may get shot and killed by a drug smuggler you still apply for and hunt the southern units! Bad as it may be, it ain't stoppin' me!! JIM>

Awesome story and great job, congrats to you Mike on a great pig! JIM>

I've got a few of the DB's and love em'! I just recently had my first experience with the big Ameristep blind, I don't know what style it was, it's a friends. It worked fine but it was very comical to watch 2 full grown men trying to figure out how to get it to collapse! I gave up and threw it in back of the truck halfway popped up still, even at camp with the instructions we still had a hard time folding it up and gettin' it in the bag! JIM>

Great job, sounds like it was a blast! JIM>

Welcome to the site and great job gettin' your girl into the game! That's a great buck and thanks for sharing the story and pic's with us! JIM>

Yeah, don't worry about glassing for doe's, if there's a buck with them he probably won't be much more than a spike anyway. The mature bucks will still be either alone or with a few of their buddies. Just remember, if you find a buck, before you shoot it make sure to scan or glass the surrounding area to make sure there isn't a bigger buck with him! That unit is tough, lots and lots of hidey holes, just have faith and glass hard! Best of luck and be sure to share your experience with us later! JIM>

I too think something bad will happen in the near future, it sure doesn't seem like it's getting any better down there. Last year, in the bottom of a tight canyon, I had to step over a large bail of marijuana while the smugglers lay hidden in the grass no more than 20 yards away. A few of the smugglers were running up the hill with bails on their backs and I could only hear the close ones moving around so I knew they were there, I could almost feel the barrels pointed at me! I had an elderly client with me and told him to jack a round into the chamber and do it loudly and stay right with me! He was freaking out, as was I, and all we could do was continue on and act like we paid no attention to what we just walked through. The canyon we were walking through was very narrow and very steep on the sides, when we noticed the bail of weed it was too late, we were already right in the middle of the smugglers! What if they had jumped out with guns on us? What if they just decided to shoot us right there as we walked past? I know my client, with his long range rifle wouldn't have been much help in that scenario and I know my little pee-shootin' 9mm won't do much either if these guys are packing assault weapons! Makes me think I should take an AR or something for these next few weeks that I'll be in 35B, I know I'd feel better! Gonna get worse before it gets better! JIM>

Gorgeous photos, those trees are amazingly bright! What a contrast from what I'm seeing out my window right now, only bland desert here!

Fantastic photos Doug! Thanks for sharing! JIM>

I agree and especially when Turkey hunting! My thoughts are that you'll see spotty pre-rut activity in the end of December and first part of January, but the heat of the action is mostly later in January from what I've seen. I do think that higher elevation deer rut earlier though, seems to be the case with muleys too. JIM>

Happy Belated birthday from me too! By the looks of the pic's I'm sure you had an enjoyable one! Thanks for all you do! JIM>

I honestly hadn't heard about this prank or at least didn't remember it, but I got pranked! Here's the story of my experience with it! The names will be changed to protect the guilty My friend "Jeff" and I were sitting with our client and his brother on a hillside waiting for a bugle. The clients brother "Mike" was walking around looking at the ground and I noticed he was picking up elk poo! Both these guys are from Virginia, and are actually seasoned elk hunters hunting several states every year. I know they are very knowledgeable about elk so I'm curious as to why he is picking up elk poo?! Mike walks over to me, drops some poo at my feet and asks, "Do you know the best way to tell the freshness of elk poo"? I said "yeah, the color and texture when I step on it". With that Mike leans over to the poo he dropped at my feet, picks one up and pops it in his mouth!!! I about lost my lunch right there, I could not believe he just ate one! Mike said, " You gotta taste it"! Mike was rolling it in his mouth and then swallowed it and said, "Yep, it's about 2 days ago and definitely a bull and he was eating some sage"!!! My friend and I were freaking out and just then the brother "Bruce" grabbed up a poo and popped it in his mouth too! I couldn't beleive it, these guys were nuts, absolutely disgusting! Finally, as Mike was going for another helping my friend noticed he was pulling Junior Mints out of his pocket and tricking us.....we had fallen for their disgusting joke!!! Now, this is where I get some serious revenge on a fellow CWT.com member! I kinda feel bad, but not really because this dude is very deserving of all the jokes I've played on him this past summer! Sorry brotha but this is too funny to not share!!! With this new prank fresh in my mind along with some borrowed Junior Mints, I start planning my greatest prank ever! I had my target and he was unsuspecting to say the least! I told everyone in camp that my clients were "elk poo eaters" and never mentioned a thing about the Junior Mints! Everyone was disgusted and that was when I bet my good friend "Pancho" that he wasn't man enough to eat elk poo! Pancho took the bet like I knew he would and turned it back on me just as expected! I agreed, I will eat elk poo if he ate elk poo too! To play fair, I even grabbed some elk poo and added a fresh Junior Mint to the pile when he wasn't looking and gave him first chance at picking it.......he didn't, thankfully! He picked a tasty REAL elk poo and I picked my tasty Junior Mint, I even held it up so he could see it and even then he didn't notice it had a little more shine than his! With witnesses all around, Pancho popped his treat in his mouth, chewed it up and swallowed it! GOTCHA! Once I got up off the ground with my sides hurting from laughing so hard, Pancho wasn't about to let me win so he proceeded to tell everyone that elk poo isn't that bad and he'd eat it again.....and he did!!! He was desperate to not let me win and wanted to take away my thunder... no chance brotha, I gotcha good Pancho!!! The cool part to all of this is that from now on when a new client asks me about the dedication and knowledge of our staff I can proudly say that i've got one guy in particular that REALLY knows his poo! This is a true story, there IS an elk poo eater among us!

Hey TailChaser, welcome to the site but I gotta say you messed up right from the start by mentioning you were friends with MJMHUNTER! I would have liked you much better if I didn't know that! JUST KIDDING! Welcome to the site and definitely post up some pics if ya get a chance! JIM>