Ron G.

Way to perservere and not be beaten down mentally. That is what makes your story so awesome. It is just topped off with the harvest of that awesome buck! Congratulations!

That is crazy Josh! Glad to hear you got your stuff back.

Congratulations Brittany and dad on a great pig! I can't wait to get my daughter out there with me. Welome as well.

Ha! This is the one I was going to post also, for the same reasons. It was taken this past December while I was down on Bassers' Coues hunt helping him out for a day. I'll repost it as I don't have any others quite as good.

Saturday, Jan 5th, I met up with a few friends for a day of pig hunting. We headed out to our glassing spot and prayed it wouldn't rain until the afternoon. Soon after scouring the country John mentioned he was going to hike up to the next vantage point. I volunteered to go with him. Here is Josh, Dan, and Dave glassing from our first spot. After glassing out in front of us for a while, John started glassing back behind us on the other side of the ridge. After a few minutes he said he's got some pigs. I radioed Josh and and told him John found some pigs and he'd better get up there quick as the pigs were moving at a pretty good clip. John and I moved forward to a better view point, and then I started off after the pigs. While making my way over to the pigs, Josh caught up to me. We both moved in, heading for a saddle it looked like the pigs were heading for. I dropped my pack just above the saddle, and then we moved in, trying to keep quiet. Try as we might, we sounded loud to me. Rolling rocks, getting hung up on brush, and whispering back and forth. We got down to about where we thought the pigs might be or show up and sat tight. A barrel cactus we'd been focusing on from our last radio conversation with John was about 20 yards in front of us. We then had a brief glimpse or two of the pigs, and both of us positioned ourselves for possible shots. Right then, we heard loud snorting or sniffing, and a couple of pigs then spooked. I saw one appear down below me so I drew, split my 30 and 40 yard pins, and then fired. The pig jumped and took off running, as did the rest of the pigs. I fumbled for my call, and after dropping it once, finally started blowing on it. It wasn't until later that I found out the 'crazy' hand signals Josh was giving me meant to hold off blowing the call as he had a pig spotted 40 yards below me and was going to stalk in on it. I stopped calling and then we heard brush shaking and a real pig distress call coming from the direction my pig had gone. We stood watching that spot for a couple of minutes and then Josh started moving up higher on the ridge to flank the brush that we'd seen moving. He thought there might be a pig held up down below where mine had gone. After he gained some elevation, he yelled out that he saw my dead pig. He hadn't gone 10 yards from where I'd shot him. The shot had gone in his right chest, just below his spine and angled through him, coming out just in front of his left ham. Still not sure how that happened as he was broadside to me, facing right. The Slick Trick broadhead had punched a nice, big hole in him. Here he is. The crew... Thanks all of you for being there. Thanks Dave for gutting him out for me. You didn't have to do it, but it was appreciated. He isn't the biggest by any means at 31 lbs, but that is fine as he carried well the mile or so back to the truck. Oh yeah, he was defective. He was missing a rear 'toe'... Ron

Looks like a great time! Thanks for sharing the pictures.

Good job Troy! Congratulations! I couldn't imagine sitting in school all day after that. Ron

My pig hunt really started during archery elk season. I was up helping my friend Josh (Mr. Smith from AZSJ forum) and we discussed about what we were going to put in for during the spring seasons. I hadn’t put in for or hunted for pigs in years. I think high school was the last time I hunted them and chased them with stick and string. Getting back into archery a couple of years ago made me want to get as much experience as possible with my bow, so thus a plan was born for Josh and I to put in for pigs together… Mr Smith’s friend Bob gave us a tip into where to start. It turned out to be a pretty good tip. My first scouting trip out there I found pigs right in the road. A follow up trip showed good pig sign and made me look forward to opening day. Opening day we had a whole crew out there (as with most of the hunt) that included Josh, his friend Bob, Dan (Dank on AZSJ), John (JLG61 on AZSJ but dubbed the ‘Pig Whisperer’ on this trip), and myself. We split up into two groups and started glassing. The morning was pretty uneventful, and we hooked back up that afternoon as Bob and Dan had to go home. John managed to glass up a couple of Does about 1ish, and that afternoon right before dark some pigs were found about 600 yards out. After a quick stalk over some tricky terrain, Josh and I were in the middle of pigs. They buggered before we had a clear shot. Even though unsuccessful, it made for a great time. What a day! Doe Where we saw pigs. Red line is our stalking route… Me after our unsuccessful stalk. Josh after our unsuccessful stalk. Sunset Fast forward to Sunday, the 7th, John, Josh and I headed out from Josh’s house and hit the ridges again. Sitting on a cold, windblown ridge, Josh spotted a pig further up the ridge from us. He hadn’t said much more than pig over the radio and the Pig Whisperer comes running by to get further up the ridge in an effort to warm up and get a better view of the pigs. That single pig turned into several pigs (~12), so Josh and I loaded up and were off. With the Whisperer spotting from up above, Josh and I made our way over towards the pigs. We dropped our packs below where the Pig Whisperer sat, and closed the distance as quickly and quietly as possible. Josh glassing Pigs Josh glassed up. Closeup of pigs. Can you see them??? The whole while, the Whisperer was doing his duty whispering into our ear keeping us updated as to what the pigs were doing. We came out of the last gully we had to cross to get on the finger the pigs were on. While only 30 yards from our reference saguaro cactus, we couldn’t see the pigs that were within 5 yards of that cactus. It wasn’t until we were 15 yards away and I was standing on my tiptoes that I could see the pig right in front of me. I ducked down, and eased up a few more yards closer, trying to make as little noise as possible. Josh was right behind me in his squeaky new boots ready to arrow a pig. I drew on the pig in front of me and when I felt I had a clear shot I released. I didn’t take into account the pig raising the hair on its back as I tried to close the distance for a clear shot. Not knowing it at the time, I shot right over its back. Josh picked out a pig and shot an arrow as well. Josh and I were sure he had missed, so we got on the J13 and called. We had pigs running to us from all directions, heading right for us. I had three come in at 5, 7, and 10 yards, doing a face off. I then decided maybe being crouched down wasn’t the best position to be in, so I stood up. By this time, Josh had released another arrow in the opposite direction not seeing those pigs in front of us. Not knowing for sure if I’d hit my pig, I was reluctant to shoot again. After the pigs cleared out, I went over to where mine and Josh’s first arrows lay. Mine was in a bush, clean as could be. No hair, blood, or anything. Josh’s was just as clean, located up in a tree. At this time, a couple of pigs circled around us and came walking by at 12—15 yards at a slow walk. Regretting the shot now, I loosed an arrow at the lead pig, once again harmlessly sailing it over its back. I guess I need to practice those 10-15 yd shots a little more! Recollecting ourselves and our gear, we joined the Pig Whisperer up on top of the ridge for a cold drink and some lunch consisting of wild game sausage and cheese. Pig Whisperer Pig Whisperer and Josh enjoying lunch While recounting the excitement and anguish of missing, Josh spotted a pig and a person a couple of ridges over. It only took a couple of minutes to see that person was Joshy (Joshy25 on AZSJ; we’ll call him Joshy here). We were entertained watching the pig keep just out of range of Joshy. We were impressed that he was able to follow it around so well, especially when not being able to see it. After he’d lost it, we were able to catch his attention, and got him on the radio. At that point, Josh and Joshy commenced in their long distance full moon greetings. It must be a Josh thing… John wanted to check out the other side of the ridge, so he took off; I went up to find a different vantage point while Josh waited for Joshy to get over to us. I finally settled on a point on the main ridge where I had a good view of the main area. Within a few minutes, I spotted 3 pigs making their way towards the drainage directly below us. The Pig Whisperer came down and joined me; while Josh and Joshy moved down to intercept the pigs. After covering some major ground in a short amount of time, the pigs finally stopped and began feeding below us. The two Josh’s moved in, but the wind swirled and after putting a nose in the air the pigs headed out. I had watched the whole thing while debating whether to pack up and head down to the saddle below me to try and intercept the pigs in case they spooked. At this point I knew I had to hurry if I was going to beat the pigs there. I loaded up and dropped off the steep ridge. As I hurriedly made my way down, I had a visual on the pigs. There was no way I was going to intercept them down on the saddle where they were headed. It was too steep and too many loose rocks that I was dislodging as I tried to make my way down. I dropped down another 10-15 yards and looked at the saddle expecting to see the pigs crossing over it. I didn’t see them and then wondered where they were. I lowered my gaze to right below me and saw the pigs heading right up to me. I repositioned my feet for a shot and the pigs leveled out on the ridge and started traversing below me. I nocked an arrow and ranged some objects below me where I thought the pigs would cross. As the pigs went behind some palo verde and mesquite trees, I drew my bow. It was a steep downhill shot at a range of 33 yds. The lead pig stepped out from the palo verde and I woofed. As it stopped I released my arrow. The arrow flew straight and true, smacking the pig dead center. All heck broke loose then. The pig I shot exploded into motion and ran off traversing the ridge until it was out of site. I started blowing on the J13 call, and I think doing that only put more speed into the two other pigs. I then got onto the radio and told the guys I was pretty sure I hit one. I set about marking my shot location and marking the area I’d last seen the pig I had shot. I tried to get a mark on where the pig was standing when I shot also. The two Josh’s joined me where the pigs were standing and helped me look for the arrow. Not finding it, I began to get concerned. I was really concerned as we weren’t finding any blood either. I started doubting what I’d seen as I shot, but I knew I hit that thing. I crossed over a small barren gully that only had tracks in it. I knew that the pig I stuck had traveled slightly uphill and was almost level with me when I last saw him. I put my pack down and figured I’d hike up towards the Pig Whisperer, who was sitting patiently up above us, hoping I’d cut the pig’s trail. I got to about where I thought it should be and started wondering how I could be screwing this up so bad. At that point I looked down and saw blood on the weeds in front of me. Yahoo! I’d struck the blood trail. I called the guys over, and we commenced following it. It was a well defined trail, often times with chunks of lung being found along the trail. Several times the pig whisperer mentioned he’d never seen a pig leave such a good blood trail. After trailing him for 125 yards or so, Josh saw something under a tree ahead of us. We moved up and it was my pig, plowed into the dirt. I pulled him out of there and we started taking pictures. Thanks Joshy for taking the pictures. It wasn’t until I got home that I realized you weren’t in any of them!  Pig Me pulling the pig out. View of harvest area Group pic minus Joshy25 the photographer Me with my pig Before too long, it was time to pack out. Joshy25 was kind enough to take some of my gear to lighten my load some and JLG helped out with my bow on the steep section. I loaded the pig onto my new 2200 pack. It carried that pig great! 2200 with pig loaded on What a great group of guys to be hunting with! I had a lot of fun with them all and learned several things on this trip. Thanks to everyone pitching in once my pig was on the ground. It was sweet to share my first archery kill with all you guys. We stopped by Terry Herndon’s house on the way home to weigh the pig for the Big Pig Contest. He weighed in at 43 pounds. Thanks again to my friends for all your help and support on the hunt. I really had a blast on this hunt. Ron

Just so there isn't any confusion, this is last year's (2007) pig. My 2008 story is here: http://forums.coueswhitetail.com/forums/in...ic=7952&hl= Ron

Congrats on a great ram! That thing is awesome! Aaron is a standup guy.

Congrats on a great buck! That thing is awesome! No joke! It is making it harder for me to wait till I get my next day off!

Holy Cow! Congratulations Extreme Coues on a (another) great buck! Thanks for sharing the pictures! Ron

Congratulations Redbeard! I can't wait to have my kids tagging along like that. It sounds like a good time! Ron

Congratulations Josh! What a buck! Good job Andy in glassing him up and sending him Josh's way! I have no idea on the score except for he's BIG! Ron

Here are a few I took this past year... Sunrise while helping out on 36A December hunt Sunset while helping out on November elk hunt Sunrise while helping out on November elk hunt Sunrise from scouting trip Sunset from town Ron

Congratulations on a fantastic buck!

Looks pretty nice. I was thinking of something along those lines. Can you line up the scope and binos pretty well? Have you used it in the field yet? If so, how do you like it?

I posted these pictures over on azsj forum, but figured some of you might be interested in seeing them. I got my 2006 AZ mule deer back from Jim Hartsock at Southwest Wildlife. I am very pleased with the job he did. Now I just need to get some other critters to keep him company on my wall! Ron

Looks like a good time up there. Great pictures and thanks for the updates. Keep them coming! Ron

Thanks everyone. He was taken south of I-40, but not by much... Grey Hawk, official score was 192 7/8 gross, and 187 7/8 net. Ron

What an experience that must have been! Can't wait until I or someone I know gets drawn for sheep. Thanks for sharing the story and photos. Congratulations to John Sr! Ron

If I was you I'd list out all the features you are looking for in a set of rain gear; weight, # of pockets; quietness, ventilation (pit zips, ankle openings, etc), breathable or waterproof/non breathable, camo pattern (if it matters to you), whether it has a mesh liner or is 3 layer laminate, and any other things you'd like to have in a set of raingear. Do you want the bottoms to be pants or bibs? I think as long as the waterproofing material has a good reputation (gore tex, dry plus, etc) and has taped seams, it will be waterproof and then you can concentrate on what features you want in the rain gear and start hitting the catalogs and the internet. Usually, less frills equals lighter weight, and sometimes lighter weight means less durable. It will all be a trade off... That is how I did it a couple of years ago when I was searching. I ended up with some lightweight packable gore tex rainwear. It is pretty lightweight, so if I wear it when cold I need to layer underneath. Usually, if I get wet, it is from sweat from too much exertion while wearing it. Hope I didn't make it harder! Good luck in your search!

Even though I wasn’t lucky enough to draw any of my own tags for the fall 2007 season, I have been blessed to be able to tag along and accompany several other people on their fall hunts. The one I was most anticipating finally arrived. It was my Dad’s 2007 rifle bull elk hunt. We had been talking about it for months, and it was hard to not let it be the only topic of conversation at Thanksgiving this year. My dad was very excited, and since he lives in the unit he was drawn for, he has been out scouting morning and most evenings for the past 2-3 weeks before the season started. However, he had not seen much due to the warm weather making most of the elk go nocturnal. I had taken off the entire hunt to go up and help out. A friend of my dad’s mentioned he had several bulls coming into water on his property. With his permission, we put up a trail camera to see just what was coming in. We didn’t get that many pictures, but one that stuck out was this beat up old boy. My dad brought this picture with him to Thanksgiving dinner to show me. Opening day was finally here, and the temps had finally cooled off some, raising the anticipation. My dad made the final decision of where he wanted to start out, a couple of small feeder canyons that fed a much larger canyon nearby where he lived. We split up first thing to cover more ground, with me glassing a southwest facing ridge he was going to circle around and walk along back towards me. I was greeted by an awesome sunrise to start the day. I glassed for a while until the sun started rising, and then jumped over the ridge I was on to glass the northeast facing side of another side canyon. My dad soon radioed me and asked where I was. I told him my location, so he headed down lower on the ridge from where I was at to get a different perspective on the opposite side of the canyon. A couple of minutes later, I saw a branch shaking through my binoculars, and then noticed sunlight reflecting off of a nice set of Coues’ antlers. I radioed my dad and said I wish I had a deer tag and that it was deer season, as I was watching a nice buck. As my dad and I talked, he told me he saw a bull, and described where it was. I took a few pictures of the deer, and then moved a little higher on the ridge to try to get a glimpse of the bull he saw. I found the bull across the canyon and started watching him. I had left my camera with my pack, and didn’t want to risk making any noise to retrieve my camera, thus possibly spooking the bull. I told my dad I was watching the palmated bull from the trail camera pictures. I asked my dad if that was the bull he had seen, but he wasn’t sure. I figured we were both watching the same bull, but I wasn’t absolutely sure. As I sat admiring the bull through the binoculars, he fed up behind some small pine trees. At this point I could see his rack and the top of his back. An unexpected KABOOM! jerked me out of the binos. I temporarily lost site of the bull, but was pretty sure my dad had just shot the same bull I was watching as he was nowhere to be seen. The terrain above him was pretty open, so I was sure I would have seen him run up there if he had moved from where he was standing. My dad got back on the radio and asked me if he hit him. I described where I was looking and confirmed he had shot the bull I was watching. We both agreed he went right down at the shot. My dad had a good setup and could see the area all around where the bull went down, so it was decided I would go across the canyon and check on the bull. I packed up my gear as quickly as my shaking hands would allow and headed across the canyon. I had dropped about halfway down into the canyon when another elk exploded out of the trees below me. I saw a brief tan flash, but wasn’t able to confirm if it was a bull or a cow. I covered the distance quickly, and popped out of the small stand of pine trees to find my dad’s bull laying almost on his back, stone dead. My dad had shot him through the neck, and put him down right where he had been standing. I radioed back to my dad and told him his bull was down over here and to come on over. While my dad packed up his gear, I found him across the canyon and ranged him at 210 yards. I ate a snack and waited for my dad to make his way over to me. My dad circled around the draw instead of coming straight across, so he came in from above me. The look on his face told the whole story. After admiring the bull for a couple of minutes and rehashing out the story, I took a few pictures, although my dad would say it was a lot more than a few! My dad and I were pretty stoked! After the picture session, we went to work. He shot his bull at about 8:15am opening morning, and finally had him back to the house hanging under the back deck by about 3:30pm. It was a long day, but very fulfilling. While it seemed like it was over too fast, I wouldn’t have changed a thing. Here is a picture of me on my way out to get the quad. We spent the next day resting, taking the meat to be processed, and hanging out with the family. I had a friend from work who also had a bull tag for the same unit. I got hold of him and mentioned I could accompany him and his brother if they wanted for a couple of days. He welcomed the help, but they had to go back into town Saturday afternoon and wasn’t sure when he’d be back up Sunday morning. We decided to meet up Sunday afternoon at my parents. I headed out Sunday am to see if I could find anything in case they weren’t successful Sunday morning. I headed out to an area my dad and I had previously scouted, but hadn’t really seen anything but sign. As I left the truck it was about 10 degrees. Dressed for the cold, I hiked in a ways until dawn broke, and then glassed and moved, glassed and moved. At about 8am I stopped and looked down below me to see a nice bull feeding and milling around below me. I excitedly watched him and snapped a few pictures of him. He was a respectable 6x6, and there was a tall 5x5 that was traveling with him, although I didn’t get any good pictures of the 5x5. I ranged them at about 560 yards below me. I watched them as they disappeared out of my site behind a ridge. Looking at the terrain, I figured they wouldn’t go far, and since I told the family I’d be back around 9 or so, I packed up and headed back to my parent’s. I hooked up with my friend from work and his brother. We went back to that area that afternoon hoping to glass the bulls up, but never did see them again. They might have kept on moving, but chances are they just holed up in one of the brushy draws. We did see about 5 cows that had moved into the opposite ridge since I was there that morning. We headed back to the same spot the next morning, but again, no luck. I had decided I would go home Tuesday night so I could get some things done around the house and then go back to work Thursday and Friday to have a couple of extra vacation days on the books. (Archery deer and Javelina is coming up!) I went out again Monday night and Tuesday morning with them, but while spotting a few elk none of them offered a shot opportunity. Below is a picture of Monday night’s sunset. All in all, it was a great hunt with my dad, and one that I will remember for a long time. Hopefully one or both of us will draw a couple of tags next year and be able to repeat the success of this hunt. I think my dad will do a Euro mount with his bull. We never did put a tape to him, so I’m not sure what he scores. Maybe next time I’m up there we’ll score him. We did age him by comparing his teeth to those in an aging book my dad has, and figured him to be about 12+ years old. His teeth were pretty worn down and he only had one tooth on each side of his lower jaw with an Infundibula (pits in the teeth) left in it.

Congrats Rick. Welcome to CWT.com!

Congrats to your dad on getting a nice buck. Having that condor there must have been something. Neat pictures as well.