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Was able to fill my tag opening morning. Woke up to unusually high winds, was not real happy, but it allowed me to close the distance from 450 yds to 288 yds. Also helped a friend fill his tag on Saturday. Filled 2 of 3 tags, tons of people/hunters. Had a nice layer of dust on everything due to Border Patrol was out in full force and the razors, side x’s and everyday idiots haulin a$$.

After my little Kembria drew tag number 100 of 100 tags for her first choice deer hunt this fall, I felt that luck was on our side. We, her big brother Draysen and I, spent a fair amount of time with her over the past few months working on target acquisition in the scope, trigger control, etc. But I would be lying if I didn't admit to being a little nervous about her first big game hunt. Desire wasn't an issue, she has been chomping at the bit for years. But unlike her big brother, I just wasn't sure how she would do. Well, yesterday we loaded up the truck and headed up north. We had a good opening morning plan to head into an area where I have consistently found bucks over the years. For her first hunt I wasn't looking for a big buck, just a decent one that would be within her range. As we rolled into camp (actually my brother-in-law’s family cabin), I got a message from a new buddy letting me know he and a friend were on a tank of a buck, but with no tag themselves, they wanted a kid to shoot it. He sent me some pictures, and my jaw dropped! We made plans to meet up very early this morning to see if we could relocate him. Within the first minutes of glassable light, we got a glimps of him just as he and his buddies were topping out and disappearing over the ridge across from us. Draysen was the first to see why they were fleeing. A group of hunters were walking up the same ridge the bucks were on right in their direction. We made a quick plan to try and get ahead of the bucks, as they were still unaware of our presence. Within 30 minutes we were ahead of them and had them feeding out in front of us at 350 yards. I got Kembria set up on the Claw/Ruger Precision 6.5 Creedmoor combo (the Claw is the original version of the Triclawps) and we continued to watch them feeding in and out of the trees waiting for a good shot. There were five bucks in the group, all well above our original expectations for the hunt. The second biggest buck in the group stepped into the opening broadside, and all of a sudden a group of deer (estimate maybe ten) busted out of the thick trees about 30 yards to our right and bolted. This caught the attention of our bachelor group of deer and I quickly became concerned they were likewise going to bolt. I said to Kembria "See that big buck in the open?" She replied "Yes!" I said, "Shoot him!" Maybe one second later, BOOM!!! Perfect 350 yard lung shot. He wasn't the biggest boy of the group (the bigger one was similar in length to the one she shot, but more mass). Nonetheless, the five of us were beside ourselves with excitement. Not a half bad opening morning buck for a little girl who just turned 10 years old two weeks ago. Pretty great day for this proud pappa! Can't thank our friends G.R. and Tanner enough for the huge assist!

Final build specs: Lone Peak Fuzion Ti SA DBM 24" Proof Research Sendero 1:7.5" Axisworks Muscle Mag 3 port brake Manners PRS2 in "Tac Swamp" bedded Axisworks DBM w. AI mags Trigger Tech Diamond @ 6oz (yeah, 6oz!!!) Cerakote in Elite Sand Seekins alloy 30mm. 87" medium rings Tangent Theta TT315M 3-15×50 w. Gen 2XR MIL Finished weight of scoped rifle with 5 rd magazine is 9lbs 14oz Starting load work up: Lapua SR brass Fed GM205M 41.0-44.0 H4350 (42.0 @ 3056fps & 44.0 @ 3200 are both ridiculously accurate, everything was actually sub .5" except the cold/clean/new group) 105 Berger Hybrid 2.858" COAL 2.246" CBTO (touching the lands) Range day this morning First 3 shots out of the rifle. Cold/clean/new shot, then 2 more almost touching. Adjusted zero, then....It shoots as good as it looks. Shots 7/8/9 from the rifle. 105 Hybrid @ 3056fps The local inspector had to get a better look at the rifle... I got the 105 Hybrids up to 3200fps with no signs of pressure. Everything was under .5". Had the above group @ .240", and the group @ 3200fps were at .307". All with bullets seated just touching the lands for testing purposes.

It's only October but most of my hunts (excluding an early November midwest whitetail trip) have wrapped for the autumn season. And good gracious does that make me excited to get back to AZ in January! I usually hunt solo (and often prefer to) but this year I'm going with a couple of buddies which will be a welcoming change of pace. Moving further north this go-around we'll be hunting Unit 22 for coues and hopefully pulling some javelina tags to boot. (FYI draw deadline is NOW). I live significantly closer to AZ now so I'm contemplating a December trip since I still have my tag in pocket from last January. Planning to bomb around the western desert for a few days looking for a muley to fill the freezer. Anyways, just excited and looking forward to some fun success stories on the forum. '

I'm not as active as I used to be on CWT. But I still linger and have always had a tremendous amount of respect for what Amanda built from the beginning. So if I can contribute to her and the rest of you Coues deer fanatics I will! I finally caught up with this buck after he eluded me last year. He's an old buck (and I'm not very smart) so I honestly couldn't be happier. It's always special when you can follow an animal this long. And for those who've done it, it can be very bitter/sweet also. I especially feel that way as I feel like I linger closer to my Coues deer hunting days being numbered. Enjoy.

Unfortunately I do not frequent this site as much as I use to and some of you are not on social media so I thought I would share my daughters youth buck from this year with you. It is an amazing deer. If any of you are ever considering an AZ or MX outfitter I would highly recommend Steven Ward with Ward's Outfitters. This buck was the largest in a herd of 14 he put us on. It was an incredible day for a very deserving young lady. Thanks Steven!!!

I won this shotgun in a raffle and shot it a few times. I have all the choke tubes for it and it is a clean like new gun. $350 Kenny 6238663972

If you have seen bucks in 7E, hunt 7E. I have actually seen more deer in 7E than 7W in the last 20 years.

Milo's Contracting he is in located in Mesa. All of the tile work on his web site was done by me. http://miloscontracting.com/

Two youth tags (Pig & Turkey) no Turkey for Dad 😕

For the price, they are phenomenal. Pros: Tracks perfect, great reticle, good turrets, good eye box Cons: No zero stop (but you can get an aftermarket set of shims), no illumination

Got a cow bison and a $25 charge

Drew another Goulds tag! And a javi tag. Cool to be on a hunt and find out you've drawn for more hunts. Good luck everyone!

Congrats to her! I drew it as well. How many points did she have?

The wife got hit for buffalo.

Keep it,the money that it brings will be made up in a couple days work,and you will never be able to buy another gun that he has held.

Never sell a gun unless you absolutely have to.

Keep it. I had a somewhat similar experience years back. When my grandfather on my mother's side passed away years back, we were going thru the old barn in Litchfield, MN and came across a very old, rusted out New Aubrey 12G. Mom told me to keep the shotgun (apparently it was my great-grandfather's) and do whatever you want with it. Ended up getting it back here to AZ wondering what the heck I was going to do with it, let it sit? Sell it? Restore it? I chose the latter and took a few months researching it, calling companies on the east coast (Numrich) for parts, etc. Ended up doing a decent job with the restoration and now it has a story to tell.

Very cool! I got that same sound from a cat on a cam a few years ago. Now when glassing and I hear a strange bird sound behind me I look lol

When Barnes came out with the X-Bullet I loaded some 120's in my Savage. I think it was 69 grains of RL19 or 22. Anyway they were about 3400 and I smacked a 3x3 high up in 29, maybe 220 yds. DRT Didn't even flop. Side canyon shot, he was about 30 yards lower facing away. Bullet hit about the 4th rib back and went through the backstrap and out the left side near the elbo. Lost a golfball size of meat. Boned it out, gutless method. I was alone and put him in my frame pack and hiked from 6400 down to the bottom of horseshoe at 4600w here we were camped. Should have rented a camcorder and saved it for Youtube. I would have been famous as the Godfather of the gutless method. LOL Taught lots of other newbies I mentored way back then when I had time to do that. Late December tags were close to 800 for 29 and some years you could get a second rifle tag. Mexican Gray Wolves were commonplace. Never needed to be reintroduced. I ofter wondered if that white Couse that G&F had a picture of in the lobby with a few other deer was the same one I chased for a few years. Talk of the town in Paradise, back in the day.

If you had 10x42s, my no-brainer answer would be 15x56. The 12x50s make it a bit more difficult. But....what is your budget? Unless you are talking $700-1k+, it is hard for me to suggest either. I would take a great set of 10x42s over a $400 pair of 15s or a spotter. Put a great set of 10s on a tripod and find way more game than sub-par 15s.

Yep, this will be my 9 trip to AZ to hunt Coues bucks in January. I have killed four in AZ and one in Mexico. Two of the AZ bucks make PY all DIY hunts on public land, except the Mexico hunt on private land but still DIY. A great time of the year to leave northern Colorado but now I still have a lot of WT hunting to do in Nebraska where I have two doe and one buck tag. I gave up on spot and stalk and mostly hunt from a natural ground blind or from a tree stand. Like most WT hunting, horn rattling and grunt calling can and will work.

Just go to any unit and fire a 6.5cm at a random mountainside. The bullet is guaranteed to only hit a monster buck.

12a east, my favorite

I think people believe their camps and noise disturb deer a lot more than they do. Especially in the case of wilderness deer. Ive been 8 miles deep in the mazatzal and had two herds of deer walk into my camp to stare at my little fire from less than 10 yards away within 30 minutes of each other. Had a forky buck walk dang near right up to us when we were camped by a creek making breakfast in the morning one time. Last year I had a doe and her fawn walk right up to me when I was going up a tree in a climber. Deer are very curious critters. In my experience your much more likely to spook them out by moving through an area. I usually sleep right at my glassing spot if I’m using binos and if I’m sitting an ambush, I’ll be within 100-200 yards of it so I don’t make too much noise going in. I’ve even slept in my ground blind before and still seen deer the next day.