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AZcoues_addict

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Everything posted by AZcoues_addict

  1. AZcoues_addict

    My Archery Lion!

    I finally got a shot of a lifetime at a lion with my bow! I was archery deer hunting (Kaibab) and seeing some nice bucks the past two weeks, but holding out for a big guy due to a late muzzy hunt that I finally drawn. I'd already passed on a smaller 4 point, several small bucks, and had scouted several water sources that looked like they had a number of deer coming into. I really liked the look of a particular tank, so I decided to sit it the next morning. I got out a little late, so I sat for only about 30 minutes and a doe and fawn had already come in to drink. About 45 minutes later I was day-dreaming when looked over at the water and saw a cat only about 10 yards from it sneaking in slowly! I always carry a lion tag "just in case" but have never had an opportunity or seen a cat this close, so I was immediately excited, very, very excited! She stopped and looked around twice, at me both times and around the tank, but I held still and the wind was in my face so I waited. She continued and stopped again a second time, but then proceeded to the water. When she bent down to drink, I began to draw thinking of course she would look up and bounce off. When I came to a full draw she was still drinking, and a warm spell came over me and the shakes were gone! I put my pin behind her shoulder and released. I watched and heard the arrow hit her hard, thud! She sprang straight up in the air about 4 feet, landed, and immediately ran down hill the direction she'd come in. I knew it was a good hit but I couldn't wait but more than 5 minutes I was so excited and shaking again now. I began to sneek to the water and found my arrow completely covered in very thin red blood, it was a comforting and reassuring sight! I slowly backed out and hiked to the truck to get help from some guys back at camp. By the time we arrived back at the tank it must have been an hour later, and we all began to track the blood trail. It was slim since she was moving so fast, but we finally found her down the hill only 80 yards! I was ecstatic, holding my cat in my own hands in admiration of such a beautiful animal. Everyone congratulated me and we took about 150 pictures! I couldn't believe it, after 12 years of hunting and buying a tag "just in case" I'd finally got a lion, with a bow no less! And I'm still excited just telling the story!
  2. AZcoues_addict

    MATTHEWS BOW RUMORS

    I haven't heard anything about the Mattews. As for the rests, I prefer the drop away type, I can still PAPER TUNE if I want to and no friction. The only advantage of the WB is being able to stalk with the arrow held in place, but other systems/attachment can achieve this as well and still trap the arrow well. A buddy has a flexible tab (can't remember the name) that is spring loaded above the arrow and holds it in place, when the arrow is drawn back it flips out of the way. I haven't ever had a problem with moving parts, but yes its possible with a drop away. I've personally tested my setup (hoyt supertec) which I consistently crono at between 300-305 fps with the drop away, while the WB tested much slower than some may think, it was between 8-15 fps slower for me, but speed isn't everything either!
  3. AZcoues_addict

    My Archery Lion!

    That is the entrance side, she had her front and rear legs closer together as cats do sometimes when they drink, so she was slightly "balled up" and her front leg was bent and tucked back since she was bending down. This sort of instinctively caused me to aim behind the tucked front leg, so I hit further back than I originally thought I did. Did the job though!
  4. AZcoues_addict

    My Archery Lion!

    One more pic, with a better smile!
  5. AZcoues_addict

    My Archery Lion!

    She was only about 10 yards from the water when I saw her first, but the shot was 25 yards, actually at a trick tank. I was sitting on top of it so I was very careful moving around and drawing back! I saw a few good bucks, mostly spot and stalk, but it seemed only the smaller ones were coming to water in daylight hours. I actually missed a big 5X6 in velvet spot and stalk, arrow deflected off a branch in thick cover, but it was my only shot before the big guy was out of sight so I took it anyway. I was upset all trip until the lion, I totally redeemed myself! A buddy just called yesterday and said he shot a bobcat on a different tank, was waiting in his stand before recovering the cat, and a small 4 point buck (about 17 in) came in and he shot it too! I couldn't believe it, congratulations to him but I said I'll take the lion over his two anyday!
  6. AZcoues_addict

    I FOUND HIM

    Awesome pics and video, thanks for posting. Hope u get him!
  7. AZcoues_addict

    Monster Coues

    Absolute toad! Wow!
  8. AZcoues_addict

    Anyone have any stories from this weekend?

    Totally awesome buck 4pt, sounds like you did a great job and had a bit of luck on your side as well! Congratulations, I think we're all envious!
  9. Just ordered a Win Apex from Cabelas, seems like an awesome deal right now but they're backordered, so I'll have to wait. I ordered the mossy oak, stainless and hope i get to use it on my dec muzzy hunt here in AZ!
  10. AZcoues_addict

    New to Area - Unit 30A Tips

    I had no idea so many people have dealt with the same issues my family has faced for the last eight years or so. In fact, my family has hunted in 30A for 30 years, and we do own a small piece of land there and have established many good people. For the most part, I agree with Sun Devil and the basic issue of locking gates to public land, it drives me crazy and I've walked that road many times to the top. In fact, as I understand it, the road used to be public access over the mountain to Bowie at one time, although this is definitely not how or why it was created. I consulted in person with Josh Avey, head of the landowner relations at the G&F office here in Phoenix about this same issue a few years ago, Skeleton Canyon more recently, and many others in the Southern part of our state. As I understand it the gate remains closed NOT due to creation of the road, but to maintainence of the road. The county has to "prove" that the road is regularly maintained, while the judge is to determine the evidence and decide if it is "regularly" maintained or not. You and I both know that some of these roads, depending on the precipitation and year, do not need maintenance every year, and due to this fact it may not be deemed a publicly maintained road. So what if the judge had grown up with the defendent in a small town or not, even when those who drove the plow for the county were testifying? Not a maintained road, right, or wait maybe not? All of these cloudy issues make one wonder about our access to public lands in the future if we don't do something now. The wording to these laws can be interpreted differently depending on the judge. For this reason, I wrote a letter to our governor stating my recommendation that these type of issues be addressed. We as outdoor enthusiasts, need to group together and think of a solution to these types of issues, especially with the amount of land being locked off every year. Since a large number of the roads here in Arizona were created by miners, ranchers, etc., we need some type of grandfathered law that specifically applies to maintain access to our public lands, since it is through these roads that we and others have always had acces. I'm not just talking about hunting, but camping, sight-seeing, bird watching, taking a drive with the family, you name it; the types of people who selfishly lock a gate are hurting THOUSANDS when public land is involved, and even more when you think of the long-long-term. The part that really angers me the most though is that these same individuals privately "select" those who can and cannot have access, and in turn have there own private, public land! Talk about a conflict! Personally I do not care who created the road, but IMO if it has always allowed public access or if public dollars were ever invested in maintaining it, I feel everyone should have access. With that said, I don't deny that we should also seriously address private land rights as well, maybe even monetary assistance to post private land boundaries, creatively think of ways to prevent trespassing, or even funding to create roads around certain private lands as a last resort. We need to voice our needs and concerns, and allow lawmakers to put their heads together in solving this issue, instead of just saying its private land so I'll lock a gate forever! All we're doing is hurting our sport, and more importantly our children's opportunities and access to public lands, not just for hunting either but for all types of outdoor activities.
  11. AZcoues_addict

    Payson NT coues find

    That NT coues rack is amazing, WOW! Thanks for posting the great pics as usual.
  12. AZcoues_addict

    Big 122" NT buck from 22

    Now that's impressive, character galore is right. He surely looks like one of a kind. Bummer his sheds were bigger last year, I wouldn't have expected that with all of the rain and feed we had last spring. Over-the-hill buck? Thanks posting the pics Josh!
  13. AZcoues_addict

    Our Junior Javalina Hunt

    That's great, it's sure exciting to witness young hunters and their first experiences in the field! It makes me remember all of my first hunting experiences all over. Congrats on a very big pig to Sam and his guides, and thanks for the post and great pics.
  14. AZcoues_addict

    How to get drawn!

    I'm right with KGAINES almost exactly, except I have one less elk bonus point! I also usually apply/draw a rifle tag for coues units with near 100% draw as an alternative for 3rd, 4th and 5th choices. For elk I hope to get the archery bull tag soon because I'm getting tired of waiting with 7 bonus points. I do study the units and draw quite a bit, but wish the AZG&F would reveal hunt draw statistics for the bonus point number and percentage of tags being drawn in each hunt. This way we would have more information on true draw odds, since those posted do not take bonus points into account. Here's some eye candy and proof that there are good bucks that can be found on 100% draw units since these hunts are the first rifle hunts of the year. Last year I shot this 105 coues on my fourth choice!
  15. AZcoues_addict

    Who Needs Mexico???

    Those are great bucks Couesn'Sheep, I couldn't agree with you more about hunting in AZ, it's pretty great! Hope we all speak up about the Coues hunt changes and give our input to the G&F Dept. Thanks for posting such nice pics of an obviously good year for you and your crew.
  16. Wow!!! That non-typical is outrageous, what a buck. Thanks for posting.
  17. AZcoues_addict

    Say goodbye to Dec. coues hunts.

    I think many people are arguing over more or less tags each year, it's sad and not what I want either but we have a problem here. Why can't we think outside the box, and possibly come up with a better solution? I don't know the answer, but it seems we could all put our heads together and come up with something better than what the game and fish dept suggests, and still address some sort of compromise? If we want more hunter opportunity, to me that means ultimately getting drawn but this fact depends on the hunt you apply for. Therefore in my opinion this means having higher odds of getting a tag, but not necessarily every year. Why not then limit hunters who draw a premium tag from getting drawn the next year or two? Maybe limit premium hunts only, maybe limit the season in which they can apply, maybe limit them from getting drawn period (especially as for bull elk, rifle or archery). The can still apply for the bonus point so they or the G&F won't lose out there, just increase everyone else's "opportunity" to get drawn for those years the hunters are taken out of the draw. Maybe this would circulate premium tags better (not on a yearly basis) but allow people to draw the hunt they want in a shorter # of years? In the end I think this would increase opportunity, not simply put more hunters in the field today, but give them a quality hunt and a chance to draw the tag they want in more of an expected time frame. Now this type of proposal would indicate if the G&F dept really was interested in providing increased opportunity, or whether this decision is simply for more $. For the previous year(s) successful applicants, they can hunt coues during the shortened Dec-Jan archery season that year if they want to hunt and buy the bonus point, or apply for carp. As for elk, they can buy the bonus point and wait, or apply for cow. Ultimately this does take away some opportunity yes, but maybe it would distribute it better, especially with the increasing number of residents. IMO we need to think of a better proposal, since as we said AZ is only increasing the resident hunting population. What about limiting the size of antlered deer that are harvestable, this would decrease hunter success and may allow for more tags and opportunity? We all need to be more creative with the ways in which we solve difficult issues such as this. I don't know how many of you would support some type of modified draw system, but I still find a way to hunt even if I don't get drawn for the hunt I want. I'd support some type of change, but not simply making hunts less desirable and the desirable hunts less likely. As mentioned, simply increasing the # of tags may have other affects not yet known, or could lead to increased harvest in certain years (or at least a less balanced or buck size harvest). I don't complain about not getting drawn, I'm just trying to find a better solution for a difficult issue that needs to be addressed. I don't know the solution, but I do think the AZ G&F needs to be more proactive in surveying hunters and getting large-scale feedback, and then be more creative or seemingly insightful about the changes. That's my more than 2 cents!
  18. AZcoues_addict

    Not much for Rut this year

    Coues n sheep - your buck has amazing mass and is very unique. Congratulations on a real trophy.
  19. AZcoues_addict

    "Dos Venados" from Mexico!

    Wow, great post and pics! Amazing bucks, thanks for sharing.
  20. AZcoues_addict

    Check out this muley

    Looks like a park deer to me too, if not shoot now and ask the taxidermist how big he is after you hold that rack in your hands!
  21. AZcoues_addict

    What would this buck score??

    It's hard to judge from those pics, but I'd guess he's near 95 inches gross.
  22. AZcoues_addict

    Shed posts are a tad slow so here's some candy

    Absolutely huge!!! Thanks for the pics.
  23. AZcoues_addict

    Lost the blood trail

    Yep, I think you need to take another look if your schedule permits! Sometimes we're so focused on an area we think the animal should be, that we overlook it. Also, if he did bleed well, he might be clotting and the trail may be more difficult to follow. I shot a buck a few years back, followed the blood trail and it too seemed to vanish. After nearly 100 yards of almost nothing, I picked it back up and shortly found the buck within 250 yards.
  24. AZcoues_addict

    My bowhunting log

    Now this is the kind of post that will keep me excited all spring long until the archery season opens in fall. Great photos, thanks a ton for sharing, and keep at it. The good part is if you can't get him in Jan, he should be bigger in August!
  25. AZcoues_addict

    Returened From Mexico

    Very nice bucks, congratulations and thanks for sharing the pics and info.
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