Coues 'n' Sheep

Either way it is half a bull!

Ya-but, that is cuz there ain't no deer in unit 22. And when there are soooooo few deer it is nice not to have any competion in the woods. Seems to me everyone oughta hunt 31 cuz there must be more deer there if they offer more tags. Kinda like the rest of the 30's (units) where a guy can see 100+ deer in a day.

That thing is pretty sweet.... but, really do you need more stuff???

.....Feelings.......... Nothing more than Feelings...... I'm guessing that one will be your next new RB tone one for sure....

......Can we have clean-up on ilse 3, Please... it is a Blood mess over here.....

MM, My first brush with bino's like that was on a sheep hunt in Utah. We were set up on a road looking at sheep 3+ miles away on the mountain and really having to use our big spotting scope to get the job done. A guy and his wife pull up and out comes this suitcase... .... he pulled out what looked like 2 big spotting scopes connected by a handle! I believe it was made by Ziess and at the long range they were way easy on the eyes and the adjustable power made it possible to cope with the heat waves... I am told that the big Kowa's are basically the same, but I have no clue if the quallity compares to the Ziess. All I can tell you if I had an extra $3500 layin' around I'd owned me a pair of those a long time ago for hunting close to the truck or Ranger/quad. Hope that helps.... .

How big? how much? Pictures??

Congrats on all the action Scott! Great pics, too! I'd love to have one of those lil' cams for the longer pack trips. I have a spot that I gotta get a cam on soon and I am dreading taking a full size cam in there. How long are the batteries good for and what size?

Um.... Yeah.... that is a NO BRAINER!! Thanks for pointing that out, Famous Blake! Congrats on an amazing find....Hope you find this year's set as well...... there will be money in finding that deer alive and having the video to prove it.

Well, I done it.... I called and talked to the guy. He would like me to move the salt but understands that it is everyone's forest..... he just really hoped that I would not be hunting there during the first week of archery deer and I told him i had no intention of being there and that we had other interests later in the year. He told me that he has had stuff stollen there, which surprised me. Also that is not his Ranger... meaning there were two other human visitors to the tank before he arrived. He also hunts another water source about 4 miles away, which was what I had thought after seeing the set-up. He did seem pretty nice and I am sure we will run into each other in the future. I also learned the method to his madness as far as why he sets up the way he does.... makes sense, I guess.... but, it ain't for me. I wished him the best of luck in there.... we will be in touch. Reddog, I did checked my ego.... and it is still there, thanks for the concern.... Kent, Any time... look me up.

Yeah.... I'd be ticked too.... that is crap.... I would never put out a sign but if I am hunting at the end of the road I try to park my quad/ranger in an obvious way hopping those who know the area will know that I have beaten them there and that they might stop short and turn around. The guys I hate more than anyone are the dummies driving around road hunting when people are hunting the tanks in the evening....

Just an update... as life changes so have our (my) familly strengths...... In a tradition of customer service and dependability, I have branched my company and added a new partner(s). My wife and I just got her new web site and company off the ground. Her company is Assure Home Services and her web page is www.AssureYourHome.com ...For all of you that own second homes in the Rim Country I am certain that you will find this site and service very helpful. Also in a Statewide move, my good friend Trever and I have just gotten our Asphalt sealcoat business off the ground and are not only servicing the Rim Country, but also the entire Central region of the state.... our company name is Arizona Surface Systems and our cusomer service kicks butt-phalt!! If your asphalt driveway or parking lot is due for maintenance we'd be happy to give yo a price! Alright..... .... I'm done pimping myself!

Thanks for all the perspective! I know that we pretty much all see eye to eye on this. I might call the guy... I am kinda surprised that no one knows him.... actually I didn't really expect him to have the Steel Aggies to post up even if he was a member here.... I am not sure how I will approach it when I get around to calling, but I'd rather turn the GPS cords over to a bunch of scrappy guys then let anyone buttume they own it. Probably what bugged me most is the nerve... and too assume that I had any intention of hunting there at all. I already killed my buck in January and I don't even have a bear tag in my pocket yet.... so I could be simply looking for coyotes for all this guy knows. I new about the other salt... but it was in a retarded spot. To question my motives and be cordial would have not raised my hackles at all, in fact it would have made things far less awkward at this point. I don’t push well and I am a touch more angry every time I read the note. I will call… well I plan too, when I get an extra 30 minutes. Kent, That tank looks like over half the tanks in the northern, central, and even southern parts of the state… JohnnieB, The tank is at the end of a crappy 2 track quad road that goes for about 30 minutes after the trucks and jeeps have to quit. I am not a beginner, and all tanks have an old dozer push that leads right to them…. And maps generally don’t lie… this ain’t no secret spot, but it is just further than most will go considering all the critters you have to motor past to get to this spot. I don't ever need to hunt this spot and I'd probly never hunt it two years running anyway cuz there is too much woods out there to hunt in the same spot all the time. I hope this guy writes like GH after a couple of 14 oz curls and that I am just missing his true meaning.... ...however, I have hunch that this guy is a Real Cheese..... and that I am not going to like him even after we talk. I have been very successful archery deer hunting and I can tell a lot about a guy just by how he sets up his hunting spot.... not to mention the deer that do water here are all very spooky. I know a lot more about Mr. Chris than he knew/knows about me.... and I am no more impressed with him as a hunter than I am with him as a person, at this point.... I however, will leave my mind open ever so slightly just incase I am mistaken. And to all the lion piss guys..... that don't work. I have pissed right out of my tree and had deer walk up and sniff it and go on like nothing new... Pee is pee but if they ain't skeert of my pee they ain't skeert of lion pee! Party on guys (and Gals)! Oh BTW..... anyone got any tar & feathers???

Clay..... I think you need to remove your trail cameras from My unit! Oh.... and I will need to verify the GPS cords... can you email them over? Nice pics man!

Sweet! Love them bear pics!

Oh I am sure we will speak at some point.... however.... my reason for posting this is to educate.... we have far bigger problems than who's water hole it is.

Well, we are planning be there also... Glad your Bride got the W/E off! It will be good to all get to shoot together as a team.

Way to go Chrissy!! Just awesome and you know how envious we are!! Thanks for sharing!

TJ? Can you tell me exactly what time you hooked that lunker??? I want to cross reference you location so I know where your Honey Hole is! Great bass!! Congrats!

No Doubt!! Not to mention that ring back tone.... For sure a touch lighter in the loafers than I would have expected from ol' Grong!

DANG, Goff!!! I've never heard you string that many words together in a conversation, much less on here! Well put, buddy! BTW.... Deer Draws are here!! I bet I know where you are putting in! Let me know if you draw and wanna hang in our circle!

“One-ten or nothing, Buddy!” That was my “pep” talk to my old friend, Erin, as his Dec. Coues hunt began. “Don’t weaken… whatever you do, don’t shoot one under one-ten!” Was my speech on the phone as the second week of hunting got underway. Erin had two goals for the hunt, “I don’t want to hunt alone this year, I want to hunt with my friends.” and “I’d like to beat my other two bucks that I have taken in this hunt previously.” His best public land, late hunt buck is a 104+ inch typical…. A fantastic buck….. but not unbeatable. Erin hit the hills as his hectic holiday schedule would allow, hunting with any of his “coues nut” buddies that were available for the day. The weekend before Christmas, Erin and his buddy “Goff” hunted a day with me and the guys that ended in a blizzard and nothing bigger than 105-ish being seen. By Sunday the 27th he had 7 days in the field, and had been from one end of the unit to the other it seemed, but the clock was ticking! That Sunday morning was crisp and cold…. we sat on the rocks above a large basin that is one of my favorite coues deer spots. There were four of us, Erin & myself and my two buddies Tige & Stuffy, glassing our eyes out, for very few deer. We spied another friend, Brian, on the opposite side of the basin and the texting began… HaHa… It passed the time considering that there was very little going on below us. We headed back to a piece of country that had high deer numbers for the afternoon hunt so we could, remind our eyes what deer look like. At dark, I was first back at the ranger and as I waited my phone rang….. it was Brian, “Hey, I seen a really good buck tonight. You guys ought to go shoot him in the morning. He’s a first day shooter”. “Where at?” was my response. “You know that one spot…… well I was there and he was here-“ I was floored!! “That is right where we were gonna be in the morning!” “Well, he’s in the brushy cut, down pretty low and he’s gotta hot doe, he’ll be there.” “Thanks for the tip, B-Dog!” It is one thing to go to one of your good hunting spots looking for a biggun’ and hoping he’s there, but it is altogether different knowing that a guy you can trust has already seen the buck you’re looking for on the mountain you are planning to look at! Monday morning (day 8), Erin barely slept thinking about what might come. As we sat on the hill he looked over and passed a solid 95-100 incher first thing at about 500 yards. We picked the country apart… no Big Buck…. The hours rolled on and Erin’s patients were wearing, looking at the same deer over and over. “I have never hunted this many days without seeing a Shooter!” He admitted, and I told him, “Relax, there is a “hot doe” over there. He will show. He is right here, we can wait him out.” Mid-afternoon had us glued to our glasses in the same spots we had been all day, but now Tige and Stuffy had our backs. They were perched behind us with a larger field of view, so I began picking apart the stuff I knew they couldn’t see and by 4:00 pm Erin and I had a Whopping 15 deer under our belts… a great day for the country we were in! We had been watching a high 80’s buck for several hours right on the edge of the “brushy cut” when Erin says, “There is a doe now and he is rutting her in the open.” This went on for a while and then the lil’ guy froze, turned and started leaving the country…. BIG BUCK!!! There he came, head down and nose up, straight out of the cut! “Erin, grab your gun and your range finder!” I barked as grabbed my bino’s and tri-pod. And we were running! A half mile to close and the end of day was coming. To the bottom of the canyon and up the bottom…. The rutting continued…. We popped up on the face opposite the buck and the doe, they were at 375 yards. Dead-eye, Erin with a less than perfect rest and me with the buck in my bino’s repeating the words, “Shoot him, Erin. SHOOT!” I am not sure how many times I said it, and then there was the bark of Erin’s .257 WBY! The buck humped and jumped forward two steps…. As Erin chambered another, the buck flipped over backwards! I could hear the Whoops and Hollers form my friends nearly a mile away… and from their perspective the buck was going over backwards when the report of the rifle finally reached their ears!!!! BBD!! We had a nasty uphill climb to reach the buck, but it was worth every step! Erin let out a gasp and a sigh as we ripped the antlers from the brush… there would be no ground shrinkage today!! It was long after dark when we reached my truck. We had only our guesses as to how big he was, but we really did not care what he scored, only that we all got to watch a Thumper hit the dirt…. and the celebration was on!! The next morning, even the quarter inch steel tape could not shrink the buck or our excitement over the hunt. This would be where I tell you guys the score, but I won’t just yet. Please feel free to guess what this buck scores and if you are one of the many that already know please refrain. Thanks to Erin, for letting us tag along on this premier hunt and for letting a circle of friends pull a rabbit from the hat in the fourth quarter! And to my friends…. always Great to share a hunt with you guys, thanks! And to “Goff”, you are the measure of a true friend! You hunted your butt off with Erin and I am really sorry that you were not with us on the day all went down! Unfortunately, Erin e-mailed me mostly pics of me, the guys and his kids with the buck… and very few of him so I hope you can overlook my mug in the all these pics! HaHa! Here is one of the "A Team" as Erin puts it! A Motley Crew I'd say! A few more with me... I would not post them but that buck even make my Mug look good! ...and last.... nothing but horns.....

Yeah, you and everyone else.... Ya'll probably ought to car pool! It's like casting at the stump your buddy just pulled a 5 pounder out of..... we have a term for that! Good luck in the "new" unit.... make sure you start close to the golf course! Is there anywhere in that unit that is "in the middle of no-where"??? I'm gunna take up road hunting, again!

Easy there Fella..... You are selling a 6 year old bow.... you are bound to have lots of tire kicking.... As to asking the wife..... ... A real man knows what she is gunna say before he asks! And a good wife never says "NO!" to a husband that never asks dumb questions and has the coins to support his hobbies! Moral of that story.... .... Don't marry an evil woman!

Good concept for those that like that sort of thing.... Call me lazy but I prefir the old propane heater next to me cot deal where I just crank her up for a few minutes before rolling out....insta-heat! We rarely are in awake in camp for more than a few hours per 24 hour cycle so quick heat is the best.... I have never even set up my woodstove for my wall tent.