bchoitz

Worked - Nosler Ballistic Tip bullets (Sorry Deerslam, I like them for Coues deer) Ruger M77 .280 Rem with 2-7X burris scope. Alot of miles and alot of hard knocks on this gun in the past, but it still works well. Water bladder in Cabela's scout? pack - I've used this for three years. The water bladder is quiet unlike bottles, and the ability to get a drink easily makes this a great idea for still hunting. Just get a bladder with a shutoff valve, or remember not to set the pack on the bite valve. Also make sure the fill cap does not leak! Cabela's new bladder was disappointing in this area as it is difficult to get the cap on and sealed properly. Nikon 10x50's on a tripod. I borrowed a pair of Pentax 20x60's but the magnification was too much for me, and they required me to be too close to the eyepieces while glassing that it was difficult to keep it steady, and hence caused a lot of eye strain. Knives of Alaska - I borrowed these as well, and they are awesome! Gutted and skinned my deer and they are still as sharp as new. Patience - This worked again and I will try to bring it on my next hunt as well Didn't work - My wife's Winchester M70 .308 Win. It sat at home the second half of the December hunt while my battled the flu My strategy for the December hunt - Knowing my wife could not go opening weekend I went for my deer and filled my tag before coming home so I would not be distracted from her hunt during the week after Christmas by my desire for a big buck. I wanted to focus on her hunt only during that week, and because of the flu I sat home in a funk the whole week Also didn't work - Modern call products Coues deeer call. I'll try it again if I ever get a rut hunt, but I did not get the opportunity this year. Rangefinder - I borrowed this as well, and it helped me get a better perspective on judging distance to coues deer, but it was a bit too much to carry for the amount of use it got. I stopped carrying it after the first day as I could accurately judge the distances to 300 yds without it. Bret C.

Nice set of Bucks, and on the same day as well! Congratulations on a fine hunt. Bret C

Amazing what happens sometimes! Congrats on your deer. I'm with you about Coues with a Bow. Something to be proud of for sure. Bret

Coues Addict Best Birthday wishes! Bret C

Mossberg? I Can't find it on the Wal-mart website, but they do show a "braztech"? Theyare break action single shot and come in youth models, .223, .243, .308, .270, and .30-06 weight for youth model is 6.25 lbs. Cost $165.00 Wally world also has NEF "Handi-rifles" from $200 to $250, youth models etc.. Never shot either, but I have used an NEF single shot shotgun before. Bret

Welcome to AZ (soon....) I moved down on July 1st 2001. What an introduction to this place! I'll second, third, fourth etc... what everyone les has said.. The sooner you get the hide off an animal the better it will be. If you are taking it to a processor close to where youa re hunting, do it soon after harvesting, like that afternoon or the next day. Bret C.

That almost looks like a "serious" post! What I was wonderin' was how you got them .270 shells inta that ther 30-30. I have my dads old .300 Savage, and it's a fine gun, but I wish I didn't. I'd rather he had it and would come huntin' with me and the grand kids. Still, my favorite is my Winchester Model 97. Only gun I own that has shot out the radiator in a Model "T" Now what gun would I like to be able to pass down to my own kid? I guess I'll have to go buy a new gun or two so I have some to pass down. Bret C.

Sounds like you had a great time in ol' Mexico! Congrats on a great hunt and a great deer. Bret

Sounds like a great way to spend December. Congrats on a fine buck! Bret

Congratulations to "old man" on a nice Coues. Good job, way to go! Bret P.S. - that .280 Rem is the way to go! I use a .280 with 140Gr Nosler Ballistictip in front of 57Gr of H4831SC for deer.

Thanks to all those who replied to my call for help. Niether of the kids tagged an animal, one of them even went so far as to go to California with his Girlfriends family for the new year! Well, I remember when I had those priorities as well Anyway, they did see some Whitetails, but the distance was too far for them to stalk. Thanks for the help. Bret

A friend of mine from work has two kids with a 6A Whitetail tag for the December hunt, and 2 other kids with a 3B? Elk tag. (He has 5 kids?) Anyway, he says he "goofed" when he submitted the application for the deer tags, and has never seen a whitetail in Unit 6A. I'm not very familiar with the south part of this unit, and was hoping for a little help on what area's of 6A actually had populations of whitetails. Fossil Creek? West Clear Creek? Wet Beaver creek? Any help on this would be appreciated. Thanks, Bret

Congrats on a nice Birthday trip! Sounds like you had a great time. Good luck to you in Mexico. Bret

Deerslam, I'm kinda in the same boat, except my younger son is 12 and about 100 puonds. Still, the biggest problem seems to be his ability to hold the rifle.. I am leaning toward a .243 as a rifle that he can use for deer. Another possibility for the younger one is a .22-250. Not what I would recommend, but it can be shot alot, and is good to practice with. It has the ability to take deer sized game, although some states require a centerfire rifle greater than 22 caliber for deer. The attached picture is from a friend of mine in New Mexico... "This is Nick's first deer. Broke his back with one shot at about 200 yard with his 22-250." Bret

Every year I ask my wife Kathy if she wants to put in for a deer hunt with me, and for many years she didn?t feel up to it after an auto accident in 1996 left her with some shoulder pain, but the last couple of years she says she is able and ready to go. It is always a challenge to find the time for a hunt in our house. Kathy?s job keeps her busy until the middle of November, so for her to go hunting we are mostly limited to the December tag. This year we drew tags for the December rifle hunt in unit 35B. Now with the Christmas holiday and my daughter coming back from college on the 17th, my wife felt that the only window for her to go was from the 26th through the 29th when my oldest daughter had to leave again for school. I got these days off from work, and then managed to get the 15th & 16th off as well. This allowed me to go on opening weekend and focus on getting my own deer. I wanted to fill my tag before we returned to fill hers. She has been hunting with me and her father maybe 8 times in the past, and has yet to tag an animal. I really wanted this year to be different, so I intended to get my tag filled to allow me to focus completely on her when we went the week after Christmas. I went out to an area I had scouted on the weekend after Thanksgiving. The water source was surrounded by fresh sign, and I saw a few deer even though it was late in the day when I got there and I had my 12 year old with me. When I got there on Thursday I found 1 set of tracks at the same waterhole. I headed up to the hills above the hole, and managed to glass up 6 deer, all does and fawns. I?m camping alone, so after I eat there is not much to do, it?s overcast and a few scattered sprinkles have fallen. I go to bed early. On Friday I get up before the alarm goes off. It?s 4:00 AM, but I?m ready to go! I make coffee and oatmeal, (my standard hunting breakfast.) and after I eat I drive out and then start my hike. I reach the spot I have decided on for the morning a little before 6:00. I have plenty of time to wait. I start glassing before I can see anything, and just at dusk I see several deer flagging and moving fairly quickly up the bottom of the canyon. I watch them but I can only spot does with fawns. I think there are seven of them, and I?m not sure what spooked them, but they have slowed and are beginning to feed again. I glass up several more deer as the morning wears on, all does, most still have fawns, I see maybe 15 deer this morning. I get up to take care of mother nature, and stretch my legs, and lo and behold I find 2 hunters on a hill 250 yards behind me. I don?t have a clue where they have come from, certainly not the same road I came in on. At least I know what probably spooked those does that morning. I glass for another 40 minutes or so, but see nothing new, and the sun is in a bad position. I pack up and check, the other hunters have gone. I move up and over a saddle for some more glassing. It?s about noon now. I find a dozen more deer from here, most in one group bedded under a clump of mesquite. I can see only does. They get up several times and once they even spook from under the trees. Still I only see does and fawns, but I watch as there is not much else going on, the other larger group of does is bedded up the hill from them. I was amazed how long those does stood and watched whatever spooked them. I found three that were watching the same spot, stomping and advancing or standing rock still, but they examined that spot for better than an hour. I can?t image being stuck under that scrutiny for that long! I never determined what if anything spooked them, but most of them eventually returned. I finally worked my way back to the slope I watched on Thursday for the evening. Only a doe and fawn to be seen, though they walked within 40 yards of me as I watched. Saturday was a near duplicate of Friday, same canyon in the morning from a different vantage point, and watched into the flats as morning turned to afternoon. Again, all the deer I saw were without antlers. I called home Saturday evening and verified my daughter got home OK. I decided that in the morning I would go out to a different location that I wanted to take Kathy to when she came down. I have always seen an abundance of deer there, and usually I see something with antlers as well. Sunday AM, and like always I?m up by 4:00 AM. It?s almost ? hour drive to where I want to hunt this morning, but it should only take 30-40 minutes to walk in. That is the reason I wanted this spot for Kathy?s hunt. I don?t take my tripod this trip, and the ranges I?ll be looking at and watching are only a couple hundred yards or so. I get there plenty early, and choose a spot near a saddle where the deer tend to cross from the open ocotillo covered slopes into the mixed oak on the other side. It?s not very far from where I parked, but is a natural way to access this area. I lie and wait for sun-up. It?s almost light, and I hear a truck coming in on the road I parked on. I drive a jeep with a soft top, and I hear this truck stop. I get up and move to a spot where I can see the Jeep, and yes the truck is a bright orange Suburban and it?s parked next to mine. I watch to be sure, but I really know already. 5 minutes later I am sure. They are here to hunt, and they are coming right to where I am. I knew this could happen, so I go to the backup plan and hike around the top to a ravine where the deer tend to climb up the mountain. As I get there I spook a doe and her fawn from the ridge I am on. I sit and wait, glassing the area. I find two deer bedded on a bench below and across from me. I hear a noise, and follow it to a Javalina coming up the ravine. I watch and see two more javalina. Soon I see a doe an her fawn moving up the ravine, and they hear the javalina and leave fairly quickly. I then spot a doe coming over a flat spot on the opposite ridge. She moves down the side and starts eating. She is alone, and her back shows signs of being harassed by the bucks. About 10 minutes later another deer comes over the same spot. It stays up near the top and starts eating. I think it is a doe, but after further srcrutiny with the bino?s (no tripod..) I realize it is a small spike. I think of Ernesto and Casey?s deer and I think this one would rank right up there with them. I admire them for being able to discern that it was a buck before they shot. Now that is good glassing! Finally, I have at least seen a buck. I continue to watch the spot where the doe and spike came over, and hope that they are not the last. Finally! I see another deer behind a tree, and with the blue sky as a background I can see forked antlers! OK, now I?m excited! Finally a buck! I wait and watch. The doe has moved close to the bottom of the ravine, and bears watching. If she gets to close she could spook. Also, there are javalina down there as well. She is getting nervous. I check on the spike (this takes a while to be sure it really is the spike and not another doe.. Then I look back to the buck I am waiting for. He has come over the top and part way down, that quickly. I watch for the next 5 minutes. He is not as big as he looked when he was behind the tree, but I decide I will try to shoot him if the opportunity arises. The doe is nervous and moving back up the slope now. I don?t think any more deer will come over. I find the buck in my scope and wait for a decent opportunity. He is starting to turn and move down the slope. OK, now or never? Boom! I lower the gun and watch him. He is not hit, but the small canyon has prevented them from figuring out where I am. He is starting to head back to the top. I try again, though this shot was not a great presentation. Boom! I missed, and knew it even before I found him again, but wait! He is back on the slope, and a bit closer to me, and now he is perfectly broad side! I don?t miss the third time. He is hit, falls immediately, does a somersault down the hill, and is still! A clean one shot kill! It only took me three tries... or two warning shots. Crap! I didn't bring my tripod!. Sorry, but this is the best picture I took from my makeshift tripod on the hillside. I forgot to smile, but I?m really smiling on the inside! I gut and hang the deer, and start for the first trip to the Jeep. I plan to leave the pack and stuff there and come back to carry out the deer. I meet the two hunters that parked next to me on the way in. It?s a guy from Patagonia and his son. They offer to help me retrieve the deer, and I gladly accept. They help me get him on my shoulders and carry my pack down for me. Sorry, I didn?t intend to write a book here. Here is the picture of me with my first Coues and my first whitetail. Bret

I have one put out by Arizona Game and Fish which covers unit 6A. It's similar to a forest service map. Some things are better such as seasonal closures and game unit boundaries, some are not a sgood, such as waterholes, tanks etc.. All in all I prefer a forest service map or topo's and then use a highlighter to add the game unit boundaries as described in the regulations. Bret C.

Congratulations on a hard earned trophy! Way to hang in there! BTW, it was a "lets just put in for a premium hunt and get the bonus points" that got me hooked. I'm sure it won't be your last Coues hunt. It's always nice to get freinds out to help you! 8 eyes are better than 2. Bret C

Awsome! Now all you need is a nice WT buck to make the week complete! Congrats on the Javie and lion. Bret

Great Buck! That is the way to send out the old year! Happy New Year! Bret

Real beauties there! Congrats to the tagholders! Bret

Sorry, didn't mean to imply anything.. Congrats for doing a good scouting job! Bret

Now what can a say after that!?? The guys I work with are giving me a hard time for hunting "Jackalopes". I suppose it's a matter of perspective. Bret

Way to go rabidApache! Those are some great deer! Bret

That is my thought when we are'nt even told the unit it was taken in. I suppose they are afraid we might find their "secret" spot if they narrow it down to 200 square miles or so..... Now for that matter, I'm surprised they told us what state is was in That is one beautiful buck, looks like it was taken in the 5000-6000 foot elevation where the vegitation is scattered juniper/sycamore. Great mulie country. Congratulations to the hunter. Bret

Beautiful deer there. Congratulations to the hunter, and the guide! Bret