COOSEFAN

Very cool....well, actually COLD looks to be more like it! I'll be in that white stuff with the dogs tomorrow, can't wait! Thanks for sharing, JIM>

That is simply awesome! Congrats to you both! JIM>

I've never hunted the darn things but from what I've seen you could get a serious workout hunting them! I saw more Chukars this year than I ever have in the past. I have only seen them on the west side of the Kaibab and they seem to love flying across canyons! One of these days I'll remember to take the shotgun! JIM>

I too was a little depressed this year becuase of an "accidental" drawing of a Muley tag instead of a Coues tag Congrats on the success, great job! That's really cool you brought em' out whole to show the boys, I bet they'll remember that for a long time! JIM>

I'm gonna say 3,250 beans in that jar.....give or take 1000! I'll stick with 3,250 as my final answer! JIM>

Hey Lousy, good question and thanks for asking. Like a few others, I could go on and on about this topic, but I'll try to just explain my thoughts on the subject and your inquiry. You have a little misunderstanding illustrated in your first post......"if the satisfaction was still the same knowing that all the "hunting" was done for you?" If this were true, and it honestly could be in a "High Fence" situation, it would not be the same or even close to being as satisfying! The misunderstanding is that a guide or outfitter has NOT done ALL the hunting for you, YOU are the hunter and YOU will be doing the hunting. Even if a guide has scouted a particular trophy animal for you, knows exactly where he sleeps, drinks and eats........there's still no guarantee that animal will be there on opening day or even the last day, especially when the crowds of hunters show up! There are so many variables that take place on any public land hunt that your guide has no control over..... hunters, weather, moon phase, migration, predation, and even breakage during the rut. These variables are what makes a guide a valuable tool on your hunt.....they "hopefully" know what to do to overcome the obsticles and "HELP" you find the animal you're after or another one that meets your expectations. YOU the hunter, will need to hunt just as hard and will need to be able to make the shot just the same whether or not you have a guide... hiring a guide spares you the frustrations of scouting and valuable time away from work or family, and can be a huge asset to ya when those variables change your hunt! As you made reference to, some people enjoy the scouting, and that is true but that doesn't rule out the usefulness of a guide! Some, very few, guides will allow you to tag along during their scouting and help you gain an even greater experience in the process if that is something you wish to do. As a guide and outfitter here, my #1 goal on any hunt is to provide the best experience i can for my client and help him/her make the most of the tag. The one thing I always strive for is helping our clients gain the full experience of the hunt......not just show up and shoot!!! I honestly hope one day you can experience a great hunt with a good guide, to work your butt off, glassing, hiking, dealing with all the successes and failures of the hunt and to end up on the last day with a hard earned trophy....with your guide working hard right by your side the whole time.....it maybe a different experience, but in no way is it less rewarding or less satisfying! Just my $.02 JIM>

DUDE.....that is wicked, with that being the Grave Digger and all.....check out the "spirit" in the bottom of the picture! Looks like the top of a ghost's head!

That is a gorgeous critter right there....I could only imagine what it's like to hold your very own ram.....hopefully one day maybe Huge congrats to you! JIM>

Yeah, I've got the half-shield but I had taken it off because of the dust and that pic was from last summer so it wasn't too cold out. You're right, it does make a big difference though on cold trips!

WOW!!! Awesome job Kevin!!! I think you have more total inches of bone in 2 of your bucks than I do in all mine combined!!! Huge congrats to you! JIM>

Here's a couple of my rigs that took a serious beatin' this season so far.....it's hard to take the Rhino when it's cold outside, poor truck's got some "beauty marks" now Oh well, it's a huntin' rig

You are exactly right Ernesto, I share the same belief but I can't help but get frustrated if I don't "tag out". I'm a very driven person and usually put alot into my hunts and all for one reason.....to fill my tag on the animal that at least meets my expectations! I'm never dissappointed, but I do get frustrated and will use that frustration to scout harder, hunt harder and stay more focused on my goals next year. I think there is a difference between frustrated and dissappointed, I'm always happy to have a safe, enjoyable time in the feild regardless of kill or not, but I ultimately want to have the "full" experience on every hunt I go on........a year is a long time to wait and you never know when a hunt will be your last! JIM>

Everyone is entitled to their own opinions, lets keep it tactful! Thanks, JIM>

Sorry to hear about the lack of success for you and your dad. I can see that a few of your hunts have been for tough hunts and that doesn't help to increase your odds of success. My thoughts are that to be successful on a hunt you have to scout, plan, and prepare. The more days you spend scouting......and I mean actually scouting, glassin, checkin' tanks, talkin to locals, past hunters etc......all increase your chances of success by leaps and bounds, the more days the better!!! Sure, a guy can get lucky and lots of folks do, but don't rely on luck. The more you prepare for a hunt, means the less dependant you are on luck and the better your chances of success! Next time you or your dad draw a tag call me, I'll help out in any way I can. JIM>

I'm a guy who always see's the "silver lining" and with that I can always find a reason to call any hunt a success! BUT, I don't handle it very well if I'm not successful, regardless wether it's my tag or somebody elses! I enjoy every aspect of each hunt, especially the friendships, experience and memories, but I want trophy photos on my flash card when I pack up camp.......if I don't, then I'll be trying desperately to find the "silver lining"! Nuthin' like being successful to feel like you met the challenge of the hunt, beat the critter on his own turf and won......I don't like to lose

Holy cow....I feel sorry for those old granddad bucks down there! They usually have nothing to worry about but with you and Jim in the woods they are in trouble! You know you both have some serious pressure on your shoulders with all of us waitin' back here to see the matching pair of 120"s that I'm sure will be ridin' back with ya! LOL! Sorry for pointing it out, but you do have some pressure on ya! LOL! Best of luck chasin' those dream bucks, even if you don't kill em' we will be OK with a great story and pics regardless! JIM>

Gorgeous buck! Thanks for sharing it with us. JIM>

Congrats on a great first coues! Thanks for posting, JIM>

Awesome job on a great late bull! You did what it takes to get r' done, congrats! JIM>

Beautiful buck! I've been in a similar situation and we had to shoot into a dirt mound behind a bedded buck to get him to stand.....it worked like a charm and we were careful in doing it. If the buck blew out of there then no shot would have been fired, he simply jumped up and stood there giving us a good ethical shot presentation and I didn't see anything wrong with that. Just gotta know your limitations and stick to em'. Congrats on a great buck and thanks for taking the time to write up the story to share with us.......next time don't forget the camera ! JIM>

With all the stuff goin' on this year I haven't had much chance to get out coues hunting but I definitely got my fill of it over the past week! Through quite a bit of scouting since last summer I realized I was in for a very tough hunt in 35A! The grass was unbelievable, water everywhere and no matter what i put in front of em', I couldn't get a buck on trail camera to save my life! My hunters were friends of mine that had built my rifle for me, one drew the 2nd hunt and the other drew the 3rd hunt. The 2nd hunt only lasted 1 day before my friend had to go back to CA, so that was a bust, but my other friend had his 3rd hunt tag and he was ready to go! His name is Steve "Perky" Perkins and you guys have seen pics of him before with nice bucks, he and I always end up with incredibly tough hunts, but we have always done well so my hopes were high. We also had another hunter in camp from CA (Land of Fruits and Nuts) by the name of "Greg", so we had 2 tags to fill. Before the hunt started I had told Tyler (elkhunter) and Christian (Chrissy) that as soon as Tyler killed his buck I needed their help and they didn't let me down! Tyler told me he would be done opening day and that he would be in camp that night.....he's a man of his word! Our opening day consisted of serious hiking and no bucks, so with Greg and our new glassers we planned to hit plan B for the next few days. Even with 5 pairs of Swaro's panning the area we had a very tough time finding any worthwhile bucks, instead we all gained numerous cuts and bruises from the catclaw and unstable rocky terrain, and sore tail bones from sitting so long! On one of the days Perky glassed up a pair of bucks and came runnin' over to Chrissy and I thinking one was a nice 2 point. Chrissy and I just watched a decent 3x3 bed down on top of the biggest mountain around so we weren't too worried about seeing this buck Perky found. To humor him, we went over to look for his buck and started glassing. It took a while but finally I had a deer in my veiw and I instantly knew we needed to shoot, the buck was moving fast and headin' out of sight. Perky got set up, found the buck in the last window and I yelled to stop him.......the buck stopped and the seconds started clicking away.....still clicking.....and then the buck started off with no shot fired! All we needed was a few more seconds and it would have been all over, but the buck had enough and moved off and Perky wasn't settled on em' yet. Chrissy had to go home and Tyler had to get his meat takin' care of so the next day it was Greg, Perky and myself making the grueling hike up the mountain once again. Like clock work, the same buck and his smaller 2 point buddy fed out within 5 minutes as they did the day before and in the exact same place......this time Perky was ready! I ranged the buck at 538 yards, the dial was spun on the turret and the rest is history! Tyler had just come back out to help and had just reached my truck when we shot, so it was only a matter of minutes before that "mountain climbing maniac" made it up to us just in time for the photoshoot! Here's the pics from the shot, walk up and holding the precious, hard earned trophy for the first time! The buck scored 89" and ranks up there as one of those "hard hunt trophy's" that score could never justify. We did finally find some great bucks yesterday but the luck wasn't with Greg and the hills are a little heavier now I do want to say thanks to Chrissy and Tyler for coming down and helping us, everyone really enjoyed the company and were amazed at the skill level, passion and talent you both posses! I also want to add that Chrissy wasn't kidding when he talked highly of Tylers glassing ability........Tyler is the most dedicated and talented glasser/hunter I have ever had the priviledge to hunt with, i can't wait to hunt with that dude again.......thanks guys! JIM>

Great job and thanks for takin' us all along with you on your hunt.....I too like the detailed stories and appreciate you takin' the time to share it! Congrats! JIM>

Great job and congrats! It's all downhill from there....well, maybe a few bumps here and there Congrats! JIM>

Thanks again guys, I really appreciate all the reply's I just got home from huntin' our beloved little Couesies and it made huntin' the Kaibab seem like a walk in the park.......I now have gained an even deeper respect for those little buggers! Thanks again, JIM>

Great buck Casey and great shot! I know you practice with and know your gun and you just proved why that is important and you are now holding the reward! I do have to say it's about time you retire those camos.......I know they may be lucky or somethin', but geez...I think you're wearing the same camos in all your kill photos! LOL! Congrats, JIM>