Found a big WT skull and metate!

[CouesWhitetail]

Hi All,

 

I spent a couple days doing owl surveys on the rez and found some neat stuff in the process of hiking around.

 

My husband saw this chip that looked like a piece of an arrowhead. We both decided it was a "maybe" but not necessarily definitely an arrowhead piece, but it has some serrated edges and there were no other pieces of rock found in this area which was full of lots of other types of rock.

 

 

 

However, just a few steps later my husband found a metate and we decided that perhaps that chip we found really was an arrowhead piece! This is the first metate we have ever found, so it was very exciting! Hopefully you can see it well in the pics. We didn't move it, so the pics are as it lay, which was upended on its side.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The metate was in a widened area of the drainage which had lots of Gambel Oak. Perhaps they used the metate to ground acorns? Or perhaps they even grew corn on this little flat next the drainage (assuming in past times it was a wetter climate). I don't know, but it was really cool to find it.

 

Found some elk sheds and WT sheds also.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And even more fun was finding a couple WT skulls. One is small and one is very nice!!

The big buck was a very exciting find! He had bladed tips of the main beams, which I don't think you can see real well in the photos. I rough scored it in the field. Do you guys want to guess what it scores or should I tell you?

 

 

 

 

 

 

I found a jawbone nearby the skull and am assuming it belonged to this buck. Using Jim Heffelfinger's aging game animals booklet, it looks like this buck was 8+ years old.

 

 

 

And lastly we saw a nice blacktail rattlesnake (close your eyes Coosefan!!!)

This rattlesnake was near a dirt road and when we drove by he rattled very loudly. So we stopped and got out and taped and photographed him. He is a beautiful snake! I am posting a pic and also a video clip of the snake. We wanted to get the rattle sound on tape and so I was taping while my husband moved toward it to make it rattle. But the snake started coming after my camera tripod! Scared me! so I jumped back from the camera and missed some of his movements, but it was exciting!

 

 

 

video clip of rattlesnake

 

 

Anyway, it was a great couple of days of fieldwork. Saw lots of stuff I didn't get photos of like bear, deer and elk. What a pleasure to be out in the monsoons with lots of cloud cover during the day. Of course it wasn't so much fun when we had to set the tent up in the rain, but it wasn't as bad as it could have been!

 

here is a nice couch's spadefoot toad (they came out to feed on flying termites that were all over the road!) we saw on the way home and a sunflower.

 

 

 

 

 

Enjoy!

Amanda

[firstcoueswas80]

very nice! that rack looks bigger in your hand than it does on the rock.

 

 

i want you to tell us, we already have a guess the score going... which i cant participate in cause i have an un fair advantage!

[GameHauler]

Thanks Amanda

Very cool pics

Looks like you had a great trip

Tell use the score

Mike

[AZP&Y]

Very nice pictures- That is 1 heavy beamed coues rack!

 

thank you for sharing (snakes) and all

 

AzP&Y

[CouesWhitetail]

Ok, here are the measurements. Ouch....it sure hurt to leave that one behind. (since it's the rez I can't possess them!)

But it was still great to find it and check it out!

 

Typical Coues WT Scoresheet B&C

 

 

# pts rt 4 # pts lft 4

 

 

inside spread 15 4/8

 

 

main beam right = 17 left =16 4/8

first point right = 2 2/8 left = 3 6/8

second point right =5 4/8 left = 5 4/8

third point right =5 4/8 left= 5 4/8

 

circumferences for both sides cirum 1 = 4

circum 2= 3 7/8

circum 3 = 3 4/8

circum 4 = 3 4/8

 

totals right = 45 1/8 left = 44 7/8 differences = 1 6/8

 

 

column 1 15 4/8

column 2 45 1/8

column 3 44 7/8

subtotal 105 4/8 GROSS

subtract column 4 1 6/8

final score 103 6/8 NET

[firstcoueswas80]

WOW!!! i would not have guessed him over 95"!!!

[Kilimanjaro]

Nice find Amanda!!

[CouesWhitetail]

He is a bit short-tined which probably threw you off Casey. But his mass carries well and his main beams are long! Neat buck! I think he looks big on that rock, but then I got to see him in real life and photos probably don't show him that well. My husband put the buck up there figuring it would look good and when I turned and saw it, it made my heart start pumping hard! I got all excited for hunting season for sure!

 

I think that rack looks alot like the one in the CouesWhitetail.com logo, don't you? Check it out:

 

 

Amanda

[COOSEFAN]

I did get the heebie-jeebies seeing that snake pic Amanda! I had a Blacktail do the exact thing on the rez once.......just heard the buzzing as we drove passed.......very aggressive snake! I think they are the purdiest Rattlers out there though! I know I can't prove it but I was 4/8" off on my guess! We killed a buck in Mexico this year that is identical to that one and scored almost exactly the same....so that helped my guess I bet that is definitely a buck you have to hold in person to appreciate! Fantastic pic's and thanks for taking us along! JIM>

[CouesWhitetail]

Were you brave enough to watch the video of the rattlesnake Jim? hehehehe

 

oh, and since I didn't have a tape and cable with me in the field I measured it using my compass and a string. Could be off by 4/8 pretty easily, so maybe you were right!

 

Amanda

[firstcoueswas80]

That buck sure does carry his mass well! I do believe if he walked infront of me a 140 accubond would be on the way to his shoulder/heart/lung

[KGAINES]

Great pics Amanda.

Casey who are you trying to kid, one 140 grain accubond, I am not doubting you would get the shoulder, lung, and heart, I just figure you would use a bullet for each spot, plus a couple more fore good measure.

[4Falls]

Amanda,

Really cool finds. My hunting partner and I have found quite a few Matates in 23. Usually around oak flats. once we found a group of 5 of them in a circle. Sort of like a prehistoric grainery.

 

Thanks for sharing

Jeff Falls

[tucrats]

Wonderfull Pic's! Looks like it was a great day, and action packed. "I hate snakes also!" jimmya

[Coues 'n' Sheep]

This is a great thread Amanda! I love all the pics. It is shame that all those treasures that you found had to be left behind, but the pics are almost as good. Thanks for posting the score on that buck I thought about 103". Is that toad on the yellow strip of the highway??? That is a way cool pic.

 

CnS