Ron G.

Congratulations on a great antelope! Ron

John c, welcome to CouesWhitetail.com! I'll try to answer your questions best I can with the limited exposure I have to the X2. I'm thinking you can definitely pack out a DEER quarter with your rifle if you have the optional rifle scabbard. I think you'd just strap everything within the wings and flaps. You'd probably be able to carry out an elk quarter also, but with rifle, gear, and elk quarter, the weight becomes significantly more. In regards to the X1, I have that pack but I purchased it late last spring so I haven't used it much on big game hunts, but I've seen most, if not all of our little elf (coues) deer be stuffed into an X1 before for the pack out. Mule deer would be a bit more of a challenge, but you could definitely pack out at least a quarter and/or head and cape on the outside of the pack. The X1 is deceiving with how much actually fits in the main compartment(s). It holds quite a bit. I'm not really sure about the Gunslinger. I'd pm Allen Taylor or give Eberlestock a call. They'll be able to answer all of your questions. Thanks, Ron

Go up to Mormon Lake and there can be a herd of 200-300 elk. It is neat watching them this time of year during the early part of the rut and before the archery elk hunters push them out of the lake.

Congrats to the hunter and the Mullins Crew for all their hard work in putting down an AWESOME bull! Thanks for sharing the success with the rest of us. Ron

Awesome buck! Congratulations and thanks for sharing! Ron

Great pictures and what an experience to have those three cats hanging out there. Sure wish it was year round lion season still...

+1 on the lipton noodle packets. Those are tasty and fairly quick although it does mean some cleanup with the pot. Better tasting imo than Mountain House, but nothing beats Mountain House for easy and quick with little to no cleanup. Ron

I've received and replied to both pm's. Thanks, Ron

Sold... I have an original Jim White Tripler that is in very good condition for sale. Cost is $200 or I will also trade for an Outdoorsman’s Pistol Grip tripod head. The reason I’m selling it is to purchase the Outdoorsman’s Pistol Grip tripod head. I’ll be checking my pm’s daily. Thanks for looking! Ron

+1 for the Outdoorsmans Geovid adaptor. Expensive, but works great with the Geovids. Kieth go to the outdoorsmans and get the outdoorsman geovid adaptor. I have it for my geovids and works great

Awesome story Lance! Thanks for taking the time to post it up! Chris, tell Dennis congratulations! Ron

I wonder if this had anything to do with the shots fired at the G&F... http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/na...0,5537420.story Sinaloa cartel may resort to deadly force in U.S. Authorities say Joaquin 'El Chapo' Guzman, the reputed leader of the Mexican cartel, has given his associates the OK, if necessary, to open fire across the border. By Josh Meyer May 6, 2009 Reporting from Sells, Ariz. -- The reputed head of Mexico's Sinaloa drug cartel is threatening a more aggressive stance against competitors and law enforcement north of the border, instructing associates to use deadly force, if needed, to protect increasingly contested trafficking operations, authorities said. Such a move by Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman, Mexico's most-wanted fugitive, would mark a turn from the cartel's previous position of largely avoiding violent confrontations in the U.S. -- either with law enforcement officers or rival traffickers. Police and federal agents in Arizona said they had recently received at least two law enforcement alerts focused on Guzman's reported orders that his smugglers should "use their weapons to defend their loads at all costs." Guzman is thought to have delivered the message personally in early March, during a three-day gathering of his associates in Sonoita, a Mexican town a few miles south of the Arizona border, according to confidential U.S. intelligence bulletins sent to several state and federal law enforcement officials, who discussed them on the condition of anonymity. The Sonoita meeting is considered one of several signs that Guzman is becoming more brazen even in the face of a Mexican government crackdown on his activities and continued turf rivalries with other traffickers. Information from informants, wiretaps and other sources have prompted a flurry of warnings to authorities in U.S. border states, instructing them to use extreme caution when confronting people suspected of smuggling drugs and illegal immigrants from Mexico or ferrying weapons and cash south from the United States, officials familiar with those warnings said. Some U.S. intelligence officials suggested Guzman was on the defensive because of enforcement efforts on both sides of the border and because he can no longer afford to ditch valuable cargoes when challenged by rivals or authorities. Michele Leonhart, acting administrator of the Drug Enforcement Administration, said Mexican smugglers were also under pressure because their Colombian partners were no longer extending them credit. "There's a need to get the cash back itself quicker and faster," Leonhart said. U.S. authorities say Guzman has become increasingly intent on gaining dominance over smuggling routes in Mexico and the United States. To do so, they say, he has escalated his assault on some rival smugglers while forging alliances with others. "Chapo is at the forefront of the efforts to control the routes into the United States," said Thomas M. Harrigan, the chief of operations for the DEA. He said virtually all of the violence remained in Mexico, but U.S. authorities were alarmed that attacks on police, soldiers, government officials, journalists and other potential opponents had intensified near the border. How much risk that poses to U.S. authorities "depends on how desperate the cartels become to move their cargo in the U.S.," said Dan Wells, commander of the Arizona Department of Public Safety's Intelligence Bureau. So far, the contrast has been stark -- near-daily violence in Mexican border towns with relative tranquillity on the U.S. side, according to data and interviews with law enforcement officials in the region. For example, Ciudad Juarez had 100 times as many homicides in the 14 months ending in February as neighboring El Paso, which is roughly half its size. In 2008, Nogales in Mexico's Sonora state had 40 times as many homicides as Nogales, Ariz., which is roughly one-ninth as populous. Deeper into the United States, narcotics agents say they have seen little evidence of spillover from Mexican drug war violence beyond an increase in ransom kidnappings related to collection of drug debts. But near the Mexico-Arizona border, Robert W. Gilbert, chief patrol agent for the U.S. Customs and Border Protection's Tucson sector, said confrontations between law enforcement and suspected traffickers -- and among traffickers themselves -- had grown more violent. A shootout occurred several weeks ago when one group allegedly tried to hijack another's load of drugs on one of the main roads leading north to Phoenix. Two of the suspected traffickers were wounded. "Times have changed," Gilbert said. "The tactics, the aggressiveness. We're victims of our own success." Now, he said, "they'll fight us." An internal report from the agency, obtained by the watchdog group Judicial Watch, appears to support Gilbert's assessment. It shows reported weapons-related assaults against border officers rose 24% last fiscal year, compared with 2007, and assaults involving vehicles rose 7% in the same period. Among areas with sharp increases in assaults was the Tucson corridor, the report said. Mario Escalante, a spokesman for the Border Patrol's Tucson sector, said there were 113 assaults against agents in the sector between October and March, and an additional 26 last month. "They're losing money and they are frustrated, and they are using other tactics to get their loads across," Escalante said. The tactics include throwing barrages of rocks at agents, ramming their cars into agents' vehicles and sometimes shooting. He said the Guzman warning had put agents on edge. When authorities stopped a vehicle in Douglas, Ariz., several weeks ago, traffickers on the Mexican side of the border "laid down suppressive fire" to stop U.S. officials from advancing, enabling the vehicle to make it back across the border with a load of marijuana intact, one Immigration and Customs Enforcement official said in an interview. Arizona Atty. Gen. Terry Goddard said there appeared to be a shift in the rules of engagement on the part of traffickers affiliated with Sinaloa and other cartels. "They've got to get the dope through, or they won't get paid. . . . These guys are under orders. . . . They have rules of engagement and they follow this direction." One member of the Shadow Wolves, American Indian trackers who patrol the Tohono O'odham reservation for the Department of Homeland Security on the Arizona border, said that in the past, weapons were largely used by traffickers to protect themselves from bandits. "But lately, [the bulletins have warned] that they've been carrying them to engage law enforcement," the tracker said. josh.meyer@latimes.com Meyer was on assignment in Arizona. Times staff writer Sam Quinones in El Paso and Los Angeles contributed to this report.

Here are some pics that I've been meaning to post for a while. My dad took these pictures up where he lives. There are (were) a couple of nice bucks that usually show up in the subdivision during the rut looking for does. The story behind these pictures is that a guy my dad knows was pulling out of his drive way and this buck spooked and ran across the road, crashing into the fence. The guy said he saw the buck's neck snap back when he hit the fence. Sad part is that there is an open drive way about 2-3 feet to the right of the buck. You can see the gravel from the driveway in one of the pictures. Crazy thing about this is about 2 lots down from here several years ago a doe and fawn were in someone's fenced yard and the owner came out of their house, spooking the fawn. The fawn ran into a tree and broke its neck... Maybe the deer up there aren't too bright or can't see well... PS - G&F were contacted and responded to the scene.

It is springtime again, and that means several things, warmer weather, fishing, turkey season, shed season, and oh yeah, spring bear season! Once again, CMC, Packer, and I headed out to some Arizona backcountry in search of Yogi. This was the third annual trip that the three of us have done. All three trips have been backcountry backpacking bear hunts. The last two years we headed down south. In 2007, Chris drew the tag and got his bear. In 2008, Aaron had drawn a spring bear tag. Although he didn’t get a bear that spring, he got one in the fall. This year, with a change in the regulations, several units had over the counter spring bear tags. It was decided I would be the ‘shooter’ this year and I would get the opportunity to pack the rifle. Not to spoil the story early, but even though I didn’t get a bear, it was an enjoyable and memorable trip into some awesome, seldom traveled country. Even though we didn’t even see a bear (or any fresh sign), we saw lots of wildlife and the hunt almost turned more into a backcountry shed hunt, as sheds were more prevalent than the bears seemed to be… I’ll try to keep this short winded and let the pictures tell the story as much as possible. Almost anyone who’s hunted with me knows I like to take a lot of pictures, and this trip was no different. Aaron also snapped many pictures and as usual, Chris will post up some video when time permits. Due to time constraints (mainly mine) we decided to pack in a couple of days prior to the season to check the country out and do some glassing and try to locate a bear and keep an eye on him until the season started on March 20th. If we crossed paths with a lion before bear season started, that would work also, as we also all carried lion tags. Day 1: Spirits were high as we loaded up the packs and hit the trail we were hoping the recent above average highs would have some bears out of their dens and moving about. Our plan was to start high and work our way down low. We had spent the early part of the day shuttling vehicles, so we got a somewhat late start. Up high we still encountered some snow. Not much, but enough that we were confident there would be abundant water sources. We stopped a couple of times to glass and were fortunate enough to get a quick glance of our first band of sheep before they moved over a ridge top. Spotting some lion scrapes, droppings, and tracks, made us feel optimistic about our chances of seeing a lion. Putting in a short day we made camp and made plans for the next day. Some last light glassing showed some mule deer bedded and feeding on the north side of a parallel ridge. As in previous trips, we carried everything we’d need on our backs. Chris and Aaron slept in their OR bivy sacks, and I used a Big Agnes SL1 single man tent. Chris and Aaron carried their Badlands 4500 packs. I used my older Arc’Teryx Bora 80 pack. We all used lightweight sleeping bags, lightweight sleeping pads, and other lightweight gear. In order to be fairly close to accessible water, our first nights camp was pretty tight quarters. Chris found out the first night that subconsciously in order to save weight he’d accidently left a days worth of food out of his pack. Aaron was kind enough to share some Ramen noodles he’d brought for the first night. All the other nights we all had double serving Mountain House freeze dried meals. Breakfasts consisted of oatmeal and lunches were predominantly bagels with peanut butter and honey spread out on them. Day 2: The second day found Chris afflicted with some stomach issues. We still carried through with our plan of hiking down the ridge we were camped off of and spent the day glassing from the many vantage points. Our first stop… Some of the beautiful country… Aaron glassing… Me glassing… Taking it in… Some deer on an adjoining ridge… The first shed… Glassing… Sheep… Picture time… Day 3: Opening day of bear season was finally upon us. We loaded up and with camp on our backs we worked our from calling position to glassing position and so on until we worked our way down to where we planned to camp the next night. This is where Aaron found his first (of many) sheds and it really started off the shed hunting bug. We set up camp and then hiked back up the main drainage to do some more calling, glassing, and shed hunting. In all, the day turned out much better for shed hunting than bear hunting. It was still an awesome day with deer and sheep being spotted throughout the day, even if the calling didn’t produce for us. First calling stand… Glassing… Deer below us…

A few of us were out opening weekend (I posted some pictures and a story in another thread), but we didn't see any bears. Not even any fresh sign... Good luck! Ron

Thanks everyone. It was a great trip! As for that picture, it looks photo-shopped to me... Coues'n'Sheep, those are Sitka pants. They are great pants and I feel they are worth what I paid for them, about 40-50% off last year at the end of the season. AZHUNTNUT, I was just up there looking for sheds. Put in about 12 miles on foot in 2 days and didn't find much... Ron

Nearby vantage point… Day 5: Day 5 started out with Aaron finding yet another mule deer antler, a nice brown 3 pt, not 100 yards from camp. Since we’d walked by that same location at least 3 other times before and hadn’t seen it, it made us wonder if it had been dropped the night before. Before dropping off the ridge into the drainage below, we stopped to glass and enjoy the big country one more time. About 700 yards across from us was a group of sheep. We enjoyed watching some of the young rams in the group butt heads and mess around. There was one lamb that seemed to enjoy picking fights. Aaron strapping on the bone… Sheep… Making our way down… Back at the truck… What was packed out… The rest of the hike out was pretty uneventful. Although we saw plenty of old bear sign from the fall, we never did find any fresh sign or tracks. We figured we had gone in too early in the year, but over all it was an awesome trip. I saw some country I’ve always wanted to check out, but hadn’t gotten the chance to visit yet. I already have a few trails in mind I’d like to check out more. Thanks Aaron and Chris for another great hunt!

More sheep… On the trail… First good find… Photo op… Lion track… Chris’s monster… 2nd of the day for Chris… Meeting back up with Aaron after taking separate ridges down to the bottom… The day’s collection… Day 4: Day 4 found us packing up once again and hitting the ‘trail’. We hiked up out of the bottom on one of the near vertical ridges leading to another main ridge above the bottom we spent the previous night in. We (mainly Aaron) were loaded down with extra water since we didn’t know about water availability at our next camp. This made the hike up even more enjoyable. While making our way up the ridge, we saw the biggest herd of deer on the trip. I believe Aaron counted 33. Deer… Hiking up… Taking a breather… Making camp… Even before we made it to our next night’s camp, Aaron started picking up more antlers. He even glassed one up on a nearby ridge. We trekked over to it and ate lunch and glassed from the nice view point. After that, we hiked down a ridge and glassed for a while into the bottoms. In the distance, the drainage outlet where the truck was waiting for us could be seen. More bone… Could these two be from the same bull (same side, different years)? Cooking dinner… Where Chris’s truck awaited us (at the base of the far off mountain)…

Congratulations Luke on your buck! Great write up as well! Ron

Havalon Piranta Edge Hunting Knife I thought I’d post up a quick review of a gift I received for Christmas from my kids. I’ve been eyeing this knife for a while, but there always seemed to be something else to spend my money on. The best way to describe the Havalon Piranta knife is that it is a folding scalpel. Surgical sharp removable blades make this one heck of a sharp knife. The Piranta’s handle is constructed from lightweight, durable orange zytel military plastic. The overall length of the knife open is 7-1/4. It has easy-grip rubber side panels, ambidextrous thumb studs for one-hand opening, locking blade, lanyard hole, and pocket clip. Pictures of the knife (before it was cleaned…) I was fortunate enough to be able to use my Piranta knife on Mr and Mrs Smith’s deer hunt at the end of December. As Dave King started working on Mrs Smith’s buck, I whipped out my new knife and requested he give this one a try. It sliced through the hide and muscle like butter, literally. Everyone was extra careful to keep out of the way of that knife. The knife comes with 12 extra 2 3/4” stainless steel blades that are individually packaged. The instructions recommend using pliers (multi-tool) until experienced changing out blades for safety reasons. I can honestly say that after reading about and using this knife myself, this is the only knife I’ve ever owned that I’ve been a little afraid of. When Mr. Smith had his buck on the ground, I whipped out my Piranta knife again, put in a new blade, and went to work. About the only thing this blade wouldn’t do is pry apart joints or cut through bone, and I noticed that is what dulled it most was when bumping up against bone and or cutting a lot of hide/hair. What I especially liked and attracted me to this knife was it being so sharp, and so light weight. No longer are the days of having to carry multiple knives and a sharpener in your pack. I used one blade per deer, and it was about perfect. I figure a blade, or maybe two would process an elk. This knife will definitely be accompanying me on all my hunts along with 3-4 extra blades. This particular knife retails for about $39.99. It comes with 12 pointed blades, and extra pointed or blunt blades can be bought in packages of 12 ($6.95) and 100 ($39.95). A nylon holster is $5.95. All of these prices are from the Outdoorsman’s web site: http://shop.outdoorsmans.com/category.sc?categoryId=44 For anyone who hates sharpening or isn’t good at sharpening knives, wants a lightweight and super sharp knife, I’d highly recommend this knife. The only downside to this knife is it is totally utilitarian, meaning it doesn’t have the stigma or good looks of a nice custom knife. I am looking forward to hopefully using it on my own downed animal in the near future.

I picked up one of these last December (2007) right before my buddy's Dec muzzy cow hunt over in NM where we were expecting and received snow. I thought it was a nice setup, but needed some modifications. I changed out the zipper pulls (original ones were too noisy) and swapped out the buckles to work with my IPI binos manager. I also cut out the top 'liner' as it was just in the way and was too noisy as Jim mentioned. This is a nice setup that I used when I carried my 10x42 monarchs, but my 8x42 geovids fit too tightly, so I usually didn't use it with them unless expecting bad weather or really dusty conditions. Here are a few pictures of the mods I did... In September I picked up the Badlands Bino Harness. I'm really liking that harness. I've shot my bow with it in practice (not in the field YET), and haven't had any issues. It holds my 8x42 geovids well. I just wish the liner on the Badlands harness was a fleece type material (ie quiet) vs the nylon that is in there. I've thought about putting some fleece rest tape on the inside to see if I can quiet it down. Probably isn't really as noisy as I think it is, but I can hear it so it bugs me. I really like the magnetic closure! Here is a pic of my Badlands harness... For what it is worth, the Mad Dog IPI bino cover is much smaller than the original IPI bino manager cover. It just seems the Mad Dog one is more readily available... Ron

Congrats to your son on his first deer! It sounds like you guys had a great time and your story made me look forward to when my kids are old enough to deer hunt. Ron

Congrats on your first buck Jakob! That is awesome!

Awesome bear! Congratulations!

Awesome buck Jim! Congratulations! As always, great pictures and write up! Thanks for sharing it with us. Ron