SouthernCouesHunter

Here is a picture of the buck that was taken off of this scrape. Brian

coueskiller, Not sure where the picture was taken. Just thought that the orientation of the rack was cool. Brian

It appears that you all are correct. The buck was shot in Utah by a young hunter. I guess that all I can say is may the TOAD rest in peace. What a tragic loss of a wonderful animal. Sorry for posting the pic and bringing up the poaching incident again. Thanks for setting me straight on the issue and I guarentee that nothing else from this guy will be posted until I thoroughly check the background of the pic. Brian

What would the muley on the far left score?? Brian

I got the picture off of a guys digital camera. I guess that it may be possible that he just downloaded the picture to his camera. I could be totally mistaken, therefore making myself look like an idiot. Do you happen to know if there is any information pertaining to this? Brian

Ernesto, That buck lives on a private ranch around Douglas. He still visits the ranch house every day. Brian

creed, The rain definitely didn't help with the leaves tonight. The wind helped though but still couldn't get in close enough on the buck. Oh well we'll try again tomarrow. Brian

I understand your situation perfectly. January 16th 2005, my buddy shot a nice 4 point. I saw the shot, heard the shot, and saw the animal run off. After about an hour, the reenforcements showed up with spotlights and we began to search for blood. We found the last 6 inches of the arrow and it was covered in blood. We tracked blood for about 300 yards down the trail that I saw the buck run. With the amount of blood that was on the ground we were sure that he was just around the corner. After about 350 yards the blood just stopped. We continued to scour the area for more blood but came up empty. It was about 11:30PM by that time and we decided to call it a night and would resume searching first thing in the morning. We marked the last spot of blood and came back the next morning. Three of us searched the area for three more days (8-10 hours a day) and never recovered the deer. My buddy felt the same way that you are feeling now. He didn't hunt anymore that January. We occasionally went back to the spot this summer looking for any signs of the deer but nothing. Sorry that is so long. But the good news is on January 15th 2006 my buddy took a nice 6x4 that went about 60 yards and crashed. My buddy wanted to quit like you do right now, but with some stiff encouragement kept at it and you will be rewarded in the long run, as long as you do it ethically. Brian

Here is another angle of the same buck. Still can't see all the points very well. Brian

The video was awesome. I would have like to see a couple of archery coues hunts but other than that the video was produced very well. The elk calling and footage was remarkable. Hats off to the outfitter and the cameraman. It really depicted true hunting and the amount of luck that sometimes is incorporated with it. All in all I give the video an A-. The only reason it didn't rate higher in my opinion is because of the lack of archery coues hunts. If you haven't seen the video, it is a must see. Brian

Great post. Wonderful pictures. Beautiful dogs. Congrats on the successful hunt. Brian

Josh, Has anyone caught a climpse of this monster walking around? Brian

Cochise County did fairly well last night. Lots of hail that will melt slowly and soak in good. I agree with the whole stalking thing. Been trying to keep my feet in the same foot marks every day to pack down the leaves to make it a little more quiet. Seems to be working okay. Brian

That is a toad. Very nice shed. Thanks for sharing. Brian

I figured that I would go ahead and post the big guy. Notice the massive main beams on this toad that may be 2". Maybe he will be good in a couple of years but he sure would taste good now.

az4life, Thanks for the link. I wasn't so much looking to shoot a bigger deer for I am one of those hunters that will shoot at anything with head gear, but to be able to put in my $.02 when these kinds of posts are active. I also was interested in trying to figure out how to measure the herd that I hunt. By looking at the page, I think that by my very limited knowledge of scoring deer, that the herd that I hunt may have several 100+ bucks in it along with several 80-100 bucks. I hope to get some pictures of these bucks and post them put have yet to get one on a trail camera. So far this year, between the 5 of us hunting the area, we have taken 3 bucks. 1 that was a spike with very nice characteristics (Female hunter, 1st shot ever with a bow). The second was a rough scored 85 inch 3 point (plus eyeguards) and the third was a rough scored at 102 inches 6X4 with a broken g2 (after the shot trying to leap over a six foot mesquite). We have spotted and huge 3 point (plus eyeguards) that by the links explanation may go in the upper 110 range. He is about 5 inches outside his ears and has about an 16-18 inch rise. Great mass all the way up. Anyway sorry for rambling, just very intrigued by the forum and very interested in getting more into the exciting talk and hope to be able to share photos and stories of the hunts that we have. Thanks Brian

I have only been hunting for about 3 years now and have been mostly interested in putting meat in the freezer, so the whole scoring thing is new to me. What are the basics of field scoring a deer? The area that I have been archery hunting the last couple of years has numerous deer that look very similar to the buck that everyone is scoring in the 100s so I am interested in how to get a fairly accurated rough score on the deer. Any help is appreciated. Thanks Brian

I have been archery hunting coues for about three years now. Have had six shots in previous years and have taken two shots the last two nights. I am seeing the deer in plenty of time to prepare but it seems that when I come to full draw it feels like an earthquake is underneath me. Does anyone else experience this? Is there anything that I can do to control the adrenaline? Thanks Brian

Thanks to all that replied. I will definitely try those things the next time I get a shot. I love archery hunting but am getting so discouraged by taking so many shots and not being able to connect. I have even put in extra hours of practice at night on the block under high beam headlights to ensure that the bow wasn't out of wack. Brian

I am currently hunting in area 35A/30B, but am not having any luck getting the bucks to come in. The rut doesn't appear to be coming on very quickly and the bucks appear to still be in their bachelor groups. I have found several fresh rubs and scrapes and monitored them over the past few weeks but they don't appear to be getting refreshed. I have spotted several bucks and had them within 100 yards or so but can never get them to come any closer. Any suggestions?