Coues79

Good work. It wouldn't matter to me what tag I had in my pocket..... if i see a lion, its gonna be attempted to put it on the ground. Good to see that one on the dirt. Congrats.

It sure would be nice to have roads built around them but I just don't think it's gonna happen. Look at all the pressure to close roads on usfs land. Active engagement with the ranchers to keep access roads open is going to have to be a top priority.

I think it depends on how hard that water source gets pressured. With little human activity around the water he could be within a mile. If there's decent activity around there, a big buck like that won't mind getting further away. Big bucks are big cause they're smart. If they need to move further away they will. It doesn't take a deer anytime at all to cover a couple miles. If that's how far he needs to be he'll be that far if its the only water around. Heck might even be further.

I could care less what any landowner does on their land... but if you lock it up and access to public land, make sure you're just using "your land" and not "public land" behind it that can only be reasonably reached through an access road that was put there for the intentions of public use.

I glassed up my first lion this past December. I was driving aboht 55 mph down the highand saw a buck moving down a ridge line at a pretty good clip. I got out with my rifle and took a look at through the glasses and he was good solid deer.... ended up moving down the ridge line and got into a thick cut; lost him. I went ahead and set up to glass.... spent some time picking through a bowl I thought he had come from and glasses up a lion. He ended up moving and got out of sight before I could even put a plan together to go after him. First lion I've glassed up in all my years hunting. Spent a lot of time behind the glass and into remote areas. They're bad mamma jamma stealthy killin buggers. I get a tag very year for the very reason that happened to me. First time I've ever had a chance to even think about wrapping it around a leg.

Your post is rediculous. Try being on the other side of the coin. You try to scrape out a living raising cattle and have to deal with cows getting shot with both guns and bows or worse one your best horses. Storage tanks being shot full of holes draining them and droughting out your cattle. Gates being left open and causing you weeks of work in one night when 300 fresh weaned calves go thru it. Maintaining the water sources that allow the game to exist in the first place, all with your own money. Trash left everywhere for you to pick up if you don't want to look at it. Awfully selfish point of view to blame a rancher for locking HIS private property to prevent having to deal with the few ignorant a$$es that ruin it. Me me me!! What about him?? I wouldn't call it ridiculous nor "me me me" "public" isn't about just "me" buddy. Its the "public". Whether its me or some city slicker from a high rise we should have access to public land if the road has been used for public access in the past. If some rancher has cut roads all over his own property, on his own dime then I ain't got a fuss about it. I can tell you about land all over in 29, 30A, 31 and 32 that are locked up and it keeps gettin worse. I guess i could park on I-10 and treck the 7 miles to the doz cabesas. Too bad my old man and my kids cant though.... guess we can go on to 31 too. Heck there ain't but two access roads on the 31 side of klondyke anymore. All because some ranch outfit is gettin the rights to the country and putting up locked gates all over the place. So i guess cause I'm a law abiding citizen, pick up trash and teach my kids ethics of hunting, I gotta suffer for some arrogant rancher? I can't access country that I grew up hunting anymore and as a result can't share that country with my kids anymore. I ain't one to complain or rant and rave very often but when it comes down to this, it ticks me off. Yeah, I can see your points that you made but you identified the extreme minority of hunters. I ain't one of em, my kids won't be one of them and i sure don't know or associate with anyone like that. Probly most of the folks on this site ain't what you described either. It is what it is. There won't be anything done about it. Its been this way for decades with landowners lockin gates up. Sucks for the guy that wants to show his kids where he grew up huntin but can't cause of a 2 inch x 2 inch piece of metal.

The Game and Fish needs to actively work on this. There's so many ridiculous landowners that lock up gates that are the only access points for public land. Absolutely ridiculous that a landowner can lock a gate to prevent people from accessing public land, yet they have all privelages to that public land plus their own. Ridiculous.

Get out and practice stalking in on animals. After the archery deer season get out and try to get up close to deer. It takes experience with wind, country and using cover to get good at it. Take a camera with you if you do it. Its fun getting pictures up close. Don't be afraid to take your boots off to close the last couple hundred yards. If you can't do that cause it hurts your feet, consider investing in something to go over your boots to muffle the sound. It doesn't take much to blow a stalk within 100 yards. Playing the wind is Probly one of the biggest factors you'll deal with when archery hunting. Experience playing it will help you..... gotta give yourself lots of opportunity to develop your skills. When you're done with a stalk, write about it in a journal. Be as detailed as you can with what happened, what worked and what you think went well. Pretty soon you'll have quite a collection of events to look over. If you think it's cheesy to do, you might be right. But, one day your son will find it and think its the coolest thing ever.

That's awesome! Sure isn't easy slipping one in on good buck like that. Congrats!

I am.

Interested in the Jim white doubler. Sending PM

I'm hoping that he tied up a Boone and Crockett buck for me. I will know tomorrow.

Awesome buck. Thank you for posting the pics up for us. Now go get yours!

Wow what a stud buck. That's one awesome trophy to have on the wall. How are ya gonna top that one? I might have to hang it up and start huntin muleys after taking one like that big boy. Congrats!

Could be a reason why you didn't see any human sign..... I've been in places real similar as you describe. It just doesn't make any sense why there's no animals. Might have been a real dry springtime that the area could not support animals and they had to move. If there was a lot of sign, might just be a few animals that stay put in that area. 4 legs and 4 hooves can make a lot of sign if they have been holding tight in one area. I can understand your frustration though. I spent time in another unit this year and was skunked on seeing deer. First time ever not seeing a deer in that country. Sucks.

I didn't know "good, taste, and javelina" could be used in the same sentence.... yuck. I guess its just one of those things that people have to overcome to eat them. I don't like shooting em because I won't eat em. I personally can't get over that nasty little nipple sticking off their back oozing disgusting skunk stench oil all over themselves. They're nasty little critters IMO. Looks like some folks like em though and have gotten over my issue with em. Have a fun time cooking em up!

Congrats Tony! That's awesome to hear.

That's awesome! Congratulations on your first Bull. Its cool to see it come together for you.

LOL. Wow. That is one amazing lookin bird dog. Awesome pick up man.... bet yer proud.

Does anyone know if the 300 rd is open? Do they normally close it down during the winter?

31. Ill be getting more pumped the closer the end of the month gets here

Ill line up for the bipod and moultrie if they dont want it.

The only thing I have of sitka brand are some gloves and a Beanie. I really like them both. High quality, snug fit and warm. I just can't for the life of me justify spending so much on their clothing line. I'd rather have other hunting goodies but that's of course IMO. I'm sure it'd be a good jacket for hunting Coues Deer. You might consider the time of year you'll generally be hunting in. For myself, I find that the jacket comes off after about 100 yds of climbing the mountain. If im hunting any of the early hunts i typically wont even carry a jacket, just wear long sleeves. The use of my jackets are while I'm glassing of which I prefer a lightweight less bulky jacket, especially when I have to strap it up on my pack when I'm done glassing.

If that's not a sign I don't know what is

28, 29, 30's and 31 had a real bad Winter/Spring last year; From the start of this year, my ol' man in Safford has 2.84" of moisture since January. I spent two days in 28 for the early hunt and ventured into country that has seen my family with a lot of success over the years. We have taken some very big mule deer out of the country we were in. Opening day my wife and I spent hours and hours behind glass and covered a lot of country... it's the first time I've ever been skunked with not seeing a deer in 28. The tanks all had water but no sign on them at all. Over the past severely bad winter/spring, the tanks must have dried up causing the deer to have to move out of the country. I don't know of too many permanent water sources where we were at so what are the options for them when the tanks dry up? We did spend the next day in some different country with permanent water sources and did see deer, but nothing like I saw last year in the same country. It sucked! I had been optimistic the last two years for 28 because I had spent a lot of time in there and have seen a lot of deer.... this last winter/spring did them in for a few years IMO. If we can get some decent winters backed up to good monsoons for several years, the deer herd will get back to good.