gotcoues

I'm sure you"ll have a blast! Their vitals are pretty small, forward and low. I prefer to aim right below shouder and that will put them down fast w an arrow. If you shoot them like your trying to "double lung" a deer, you might not recover him. Good Luck, shoot straight!

I needed a good chuckle

I ordered a 6.5-20x50 VX111 from Thesamplelist.com used for $615.00 and then ordered a custom elevation knob from Leupold. I have about $700 into my scope and couldn't be happier with the scope or custom elev knob. I waited for a couple months till they had the exact scope I was after. The scope was sold as is with slight ring marks and IMO came in flawless cond., much better than I expected.

Why does Frank's pig look so much bigger man? JK

That is so super cool T, I'm glad your guys hard work finally paid big! I really like the pics to go along with the hunt. Wish I would've made it out there with you guys.

Those are some awesome animals, congrats to you and keep it up!

Pretty well sums it up! Been there, done that..... OUCH

Very Cool, good job!

Ouch, now the temptation of taking your cam for some jerk who has a hard time being honest just doubled. It's two for one time now Those are great pics you have, good luck on hunting the area in the future.

I agree with your statements to an extent chef and I hope the trend continues. I also think the knowledge of what equipment works well being passed on to other coues hunters has increased the size of animals people are hoping for. It does however bum me out when seasoned hunters are continually taking small bucks over and over. I know I shouldn't worry about it and in reality it probably stems from my own selfishness in some way. I brought up point restrictions a ways back and was shot down pretty hard. I now understand that is a bad idea, and people should make their own goals. I like your topic and look forward to reading other people's opinions.

Got in late last night and leaving in about an hour to go back out to help my buddy Harvey (vizla-dog). We've seen and passed over 40 wt bucks in 6 days of hunting, very little in the way of rutting activity. Harvey glassed this buck at over a mile. We only got one good side view after a half hour of watching him and decided to get a better look. We stalked in to 420 yards and watched him for about 10 minutes before deciding to take him. I made a great shot at 410 yards, about 2 inches high from my mark. He only went about 20 yards and piled up. I'm tickled to death with this buck even though he's a little shy of my goal. We've put mass miles on our boots and have glassed and glassed our tails off. I missed a 90ish buck with my bow in the early season after passing on 8 different bucks under 20 yards and I missed him on the last day after sitting in my stand for over 70 hours. dang THAT HURT BAD, I feel better now though. We need one more to hit the dirt! One more down Harvey's son Aaron spotted some deer out in front of us soon after setting up Tuesday morning. As luck would have it the deer moved directly towards us, getting closer and closer. Harvey ranged the buck for the last time at 260 yards. He was shooting at a very steep angle and his rifle is sighted in at 300yards so he held low and squeezed the trigger. His buck dropped in his tracks almost without so much as a wiggle. This was such a fun hunt. We worked hard, walked hard and glassed hard! I can't wait to do it all over again.

I've heard about the enclosed area quite a few times and also that yes, there was a very significant difference inside the fence without any predators. Does anyone know how to obtain or watch this show online? I would love to see this show and learn about their studies.

I really liked your post JMP, well said. I also agree with Bill on the high fences, as long as you don't pawn your "trophy" off as DIY then there is little shame. Some people have more money than time or patience. Wish I had the more money part of that last statement. Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays everyone!

I’m trying to get about 25% less than retail, checked pricing online at Midway. I'm located on West side of Tucson, I can also ship. Justin 520-240-8796 $30.00 Winchester 32 auto 71 gr. FMJ 2 boxes 50 rounds each $18.00 260 Remington Premier Accutip 120 gr. Accutip BT 1 box 20 rounds $60.00 300 Win. Mag. Federal Premium 180 gr. Barnes Triple-Shock X-bullet 2 boxes 20 rounds each, one box has 10 spent saved brass $50.00 300 WSM Winchester Power Max Bonded 150 gr. PHP 2 boxes 20 rounds each, one box has 3 spent saved brass $40.00 300 WSM Remington 150 gr. Core-Lokt PSP 2 boxes 20 rounds each, one box has 3 spent saved brass $15.00 300 WSM Winchester 150 gr. Power Point 1 box 20 rounds $62.00 300 WSM Winchester 150 gr. Ballistic Silvertip 2 boxes 20 rounds each

OUCH!!! I sent my 15's to Germany earlier this year thinking they would fix them for nothing or realistically, a fair amount. I ended up paying quite a bit, plus extra because of the exchange rate and shipping both ways. I would try and research getting them fixed in the states. They were good about returning e mails and the binos did come back in like new condition though. Good luck!

I put my three kids in separate for elk, first choice bull and second choice cow. I like the results of this decision and will keep the same choices for next year. My twelve year old son Cody drew his first elk tag for a youth cow hunt. We were able to get out for a weekend and do some scouting. I was warned how thick the unit was and they weren't kidding. We came up with a plan of working our way down into a long canyon glassing as we go. I wanted to hunt in the bottom lower areas mid-morning and then sit water at night. Our friends Tracy (Gr8WhiteJr) and Angie (Girlygirlhunter) offered to come up and help out for Cody's hunt. Work, for both Tracy and I started to pile up! Opening morning got pushed back to Sat instead of Friday. Cody was pretty bummed, but I let him know we could hunt Monday if need be. We left Tucson Friday night and headed to our camp spot. Angie met us on the way up and Tracy had a few hours of work Saturday morning and then would come up to join us. Saturday morning we were up early and getting our gear ready. I had put some faith in the bulls being pretty vocal since the previous hunters were left somewhat robbed of bugles on their hunts. We were heading down into the canyon before light so I decided to pause for a bit and wait till first light. Cody could shoot across the canyon and I didn't want to get down in there too early. While we were waiting I decided to hit the bugle once and got an immediate response from down in another canyon. Thick Thick Thick!!! I knew we couldn't pursue elk in that direction. My 10yr old son Dillon hit the cow call I gave him to carry for the hunt and he too got a quick response. The hunt had officially started exactly like I had hoped. We were all on cloud nine and we could barely see since it was so early. We slowly drove down the canyon stopping often to get out and glass across and down in front of us. We came up empty on the long drive down to the bottom. At the bottom, we stuck to the plan and hiked through some of the bottom country. We stopped to call two or three times, the bulls were responding but we couldn't get them to come in, or better yet bring a lady friend with them. We kept pursuing a vocal bull confident that he would have cows with him. After about an hour it seemed we were losing ground and I decided to move our hunting party to a small ridge to get a better vantage point. By the time we got there we were already hot and tired. We had over-dressed a bit and were shedding layers along the way to the ridge. I set up the tripod and glassed for about 15 to 20 minutes. Angie was also glassing, but we both came up empty. Dillon, my younger son had expressed disappointment and had left his glasses in the truck. Angie quickly handed over her 10's and started working the hills. Wouldn't you know it; he had elk within minutes of freehand glassing with Angie's binos. I put my glass on them and figured they were a thousand yards out, maybe more. I had looked at that hillside several times, not sure how they eluded me and was just ecstatic to be looking at elk so early in the hunt. We quickly mapped and headed in their direction. As we got to the next vantage point we decided Cody and I should move on alone. Angie and Dillon had a good spot to watch it all go down. We moved off towards the bedded cows. We didn't even make it twenty yards from the other half of the hunting party and we were stopped in our tracks by a very LOUD bugle. We were walking right into a bedded 280 plus class 6 by. We were fortunate enough to watch him for about five or ten minutes at a hundred yards. Coolest stare down ever for Cody for sure, he was blown away by the sight of such a magnificent creature so close and so bigger than life! We finally got cows back on the brain and proceeded forward. The bull quickly stood up and held his head way down to look under the tree branches and keep a close eye on us. He ended up having one cow with him, but Cody and I never laid eyes on her. It was so thick; he took a few steps and was out of sight. As Cody and I continued on our stalk, we were treated to our 6 by laying out bugle after bugle, non-stop as he led his lone cow away. He let out maybe as many as thirty bugles. At one point, Cody was shaking and told me it was the coolest thing he had ever been a part of. We were certainly blessed on this morning! Back to the cows, my goal was to get into position for a 300 yard shot at a bedded cow. Rifle was dead on for 300 yards and I was confident Cody could pull it off. After several zig zags we were at 300, but left with no shot. We moved a little further up the ridge to get position on a different cow. We sat down and I set the tripod up for Cody. The shot would be just less than 300 yards. No sooner than we laid the rifle on the tripod, our cow was up and slowly walking behind the tree she was bedded under. Busted!!! To my surprise, 6 cows and a raghorn bull were moving to our left and thing became a little desperate really fast. He was able to get on the herd and quickly announced he had the bull. I told Cody just move one elk behind him and steady on her for the shot. As I had done in the past, I let him get on the animal at the lowest power setting and then cranked it after he was on the animal. Before I could even throw my glass up the shot rang out. I got the herd in my glass in time to see a stumbling cow having a very difficult time standing. She went down several times before falling what we thought would be the last time. I had tried to get him on her for a follow up shot, but she kept falling and the brush was too thick for a shot while she was on the ground. Cody stayed on point ready to shoot again if necessary while I back tracked to find Angie and my other son Dillon. The celebration began premature as we walked back to Cody. I think all the hooting and hollering got her back up again. The cow elk was now up again and moving toward the ridge top. I helped Cody get back on her by adjusting the scope for him. Second shot rang out, I heard the thump, but couldn't tell where he hit her. An immediate third shot rang out and she went down hard for good. My son showed incredible composure and I was overwhelmingly impressed he had connected three for three. I couldn't have dreamed of a better hunt for any of my kids! Thanks a million Angie for all the hard work and enjoying the hunt with us. Sorry work kept you from enjoying such an incredible hunt Tracy. Hopefully there are many more to come!!!

My son Dillon and I were on his first deer hunt ever this week. We had a great time together with our friend Gr8Whitejr, but ultimately came up empty for a deer and javelina tag. We came close but just seemed as if bad luck was are only luck. I was able to score big on this badger though. We were walking up a small hill to look for a forky buck believed to be hanging out on the other side. I noticed some movement towards the top of the hill. I put my glasses up and couln't figure out was it was. His head was behing a bush and it wasn't till he walked out into the open I realized it was a badger. I set up the tripod and loaded my son's 243. I made the shot at about 100 yards and luckily there was no damage to the hide. I'm going to take him over to Bret at Game Trail Taxidermy and am really looking forward to adding him to my collection of animals. So very cool!!!!

My friend Tracy asked how bad he stunk and to tell you the honest truth, I couln't smell him at all. Held him in my hands the way back to truck. I've got a bad sniffer, maybe it was better that way. Ha Ha

That's bad to the bone right there. How did you set camp, I assume you stayed up high?

That's pretty neat stuff right there. Glad your cam didn't get damaged at all. You almost had some underwater footage! LOL

I purchased an H & R single shot 243 and my kids love it. Super small and light weight, I can't remember the price exactly but it was under 200 for sure. It's dropped two carp in their tracks with 80gr core-lokt Rem bullets so far and I'm hoping a coues and some pigs this season. My 10 and 12 yr olds will be using it for their hunts this season. I purchased the rifle at Sportsmans in Tucson.

Well that was one heck of a right up my friend! Congrats again to you Angie and I can't wait to do it all again. It just doesn't get any better than this!

Loved the story and congrats on your once in a lifetime shot!!! AWESOME

I've logged 47 hours in stand so far and plan on sitting tight for at least 40 more Friday through Monday. I've passed on 8 bucks at 15 yards or less (biggest was approx 75in) and I hope I don't have to pass on many more. With a few decent bucks in the area I can envision putting an arrow through one of them. 100 or bust!!! Good luck to everyone going out this weekend!!!!!

That's awesome how he teased you a few times and then finally decided not to trust his instincts. Boy, that mistake proved to be fatal! Great buck, very nice job!