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To tell this story we need to go back 7 years ago when my brother in law Adam starting telling me I should try to hunt big game in Arizona. I have always loved the outdoors and enjoyed fishing, but never truly had the desire to hunt. Finally, after about a year of listening to Adam plead his case on why I should hunt, and also seeing my sister get a bull elk, I decided to put in for the draw. Being that I was a rookie, I had no idea I would have to wait several years before I could hunt elk. After two years of not drawing a tag Adam convinced me to put in for deer as well. Well that was probably the best decision I have ever made. Over the past 4 years I have had the opportunity to go on multiple big game hunts. Some of the hunts have been successful and some have not, but just being in the outdoors and growing friendships is reward enough for me. Through all the ups and downs, I have developed a deep love and passion for hunting. I have also been blessed with the fact that I get to share my passion with my son Thomas, who has been hunting along side of me for 2 years now. Heck the kid has gotten two elk before I have even shot at one!!! I might be a little jealous 😀 Let's move forward to the day I got a call from Adam letting me know that cards were being hit. I was on my way to work and can still remember screaming loud over the phone, "I got MY bull tag!!!" Adam even told me to calm down because I was so loud!!! It was six years in the making, but I finally got MY tag. Since I was involved in a few other hunts this fall and had other obligations, I did not scout as much as I should have going into this hunt. I was able to get out and go scouting the Sunday before opening day and had high hopes. Adam and I went into a very good area and unfortunately we struck out and did not locate any bulls. I was trying to remain confident knowing that I would be back up on Wednesday morning. That would give me two more days to locate MY bull before the hunt started. Well Wednesday morning came and passed and I struck out again. Needless to say I was a bit nervous at this point. Wednesday evening I went into another area and located 15 or so bulls, but nothing that I would consider to be MY bull. Adam came up and joined me for Thursday's scouting. The plan was to split up and cover as much area as possible. Well about an hour or so before sunrise I was on my way into a scouting location Adam selected for me, but to my surprise someone had beat me to the spot. With very little time before sunrise I decided to go to plan b which was a spot I had seen a really nice bull during my son's cow elk hunt this past October. I drove as fast as I could to get to the glassing spot before sunrise, luckily I made it just in time. After about 30 minutes of glassing I had spotted a few small bulls and some cows, but still no sign of MY bull. After about an hour I decided to move locations. Just as I started to move I saw a yellow spot through the trees working my direction. I immediately put the glass up and knew that this was MY bull. I spent the next 2 hours watching MY bull feed across from me at 450 yards. I took several pictures and some video of him all while thinking, "Why can't this be opening day!" Once he disappeared into the thick trees I knew where I wanted to be for opening morning. Going to bed Thursday night I could hardly sleep, opening day was almost here and I had MY bull located. Adam and I went in to find MY bull opening morning, and spent more time glassing fog than anything else. There was a storm forcasted for the first three days of the hunt. We decided to back out and try a different spot in the evening hoping for better glassing conditions. The evening hunt came and passed. We saw several bulls but nothing that was as good or better then MY bull. My sister Tracy joined us for the second day, and we made a plan to go back and locate MY bull. Adam was pretty familiar with the elk movent in the area and he knew that it would only be a matter of time before MY bull shows up again. We just need to stick to the plan. The second morning came and passed. Again we saw several bulls, but we were unable to locate MY bull. We decided to change it up for the evening and tried a different spot. We located a really nice 5x6 bull that was definitely bigger then MY bull. Long story short we made a stock on the 5x6 but quickly realized it was not a good decision to continue. If we continued to chase this bull, we would be putting ourselves into a dangerous situation. He was across a canyon from heck, a storm was starting to roll in, the wind was picking up, and we were losing sunlight. Everything was telling me that this was not MY bull. It was a difficult thing to do but we had to let that bull go. On the way out my sister found a small deer shed. I have never seen her so happy in my life. It was one of my favorite moments of this hunt!!! We regrouped at the hotel, and honestly all of us seemed relieved we stopped chasing that 5x6. After all he was not MY bull anyway. On the third day we met our buddy Chris who came up for the day to help us glass. We stuck to the plan for the morning and went in to locate MY bull. Once it was light enough to glass we instantly spotted a large herd of cows about 400 yards away. We knew that there was a spike and a small 4x4 with this herd yesterday morning. We watched the herd for about fifteen minutes and we did not see MY bull, so we all worked around the hill about 50 yards to glass another spot. After a few minutes I decided to go back to the original glassing spot to check on the large herd. To my surprise there were 5 other hunters glassing right on top of us not 20 yards from our gear. It was pretty clear that we were there first, since our ranger was also parked very close. I was trying to contain my anger, after all it is public land. I personally would have backed out, but obviously these people were not going to do that. I called Adam to let him know what was going on. Adam discussed the situation with the other hunters who were trying to get a kid a bull regardless of size. They agreed that they would give us an hour to locate MY bull, and after the hour we would let the kid shoot the spike or 4x4 in the herd just in front of us. After about 10 minutes of some high pressure glassing, our buddy Chris said, "I got a small 5x5 over here." We took a look through the glass and sure enough it was MY bull. He was about 1300 yards away so Adam told the other group to give us 15 minutes to get set up, and if we don't shoot by then they can have the kid shoot one of the other bulls that was still in range. Adam and I went on a fast paced stalk to get in range of MY bull. We got to about 500 yards and tried to set up for a prone shot. MY bull was slowing moving through the trees not giving us a shot opportunity. We needed to move positions and we knew we were running out of time!!! We knew at any moment the other group was going to shoot. After about a 75 yard army crawl we got back into a shooting position. MY bull was still not cooperating. He was not presenting us a shot opportunity. I watched him in the rifle scope for several more minutes, then BOOM!!!! The other group started shooting. The kid that was with the other group took 6 to 9 shots at the 4x4 that was in the herd from earlier. I honestly lost count but kept thinking please don't scare MY bull!!! The other group did give us well over 15 minutes before they started shooting. I was very thankful for that and the fact that all their shooting didn't spook MY bull. After about 5 more minutes MY bull finally gave me a 580 yard hard quartering away shot. BOOM my rifle went off. I did not see the hit through the scope but followed the bull up the hill about 15 yards and he stopped broadside. BOOM, I sent another round. MY bull just stood there like I missed completely. I asked Adam, "Where did I hit?" Perplexed he replied "I don't know???" Then my bull started a fast paced walk up the hill. I followed him through the scope for about 5 seconds and then I saw him drop. MY bull was down!!!! I told Adam "He is down, he is down!!!" We sent one more round just to be sure and watched him for a few minutes. He was not moving. After reality hit me, I punched Adam in the arm yelling, "I got MY bull!!!". Needless to say I was excited and relieved that it all worked out. The other group of hunters were also successful. They were able to get the kid the 4x4 from the large herd. In addition to that, Adam glassed up another bull for another member of that very same group. The third hunter was able to take a bull at over 900 yards. Pretty good morning to say the least!!! 3 bulls down in about a 30 minute time frame, including MY very first bull!!! Huge thanks to my sister Tracy for helping us pack MY bull out. She packed out a front and hind quarter. Also huge thanks to Chris for glassing up MY bull that morning under a high pressure situation. Finally, huge thanks to my brother in law Adam for convincing me to put in for this hunt 7 years ago. Hunting has tought me alot about myself and because of hunting I have developed some great friends. I can wait for the next adventure but won't soon forget this hunt, and being able to harvest MY first bull. VID_20181129_075956.mp4

Buck I got yesterday was chasing does, running other bucks off, etc.

Good for you man! Adam is a great guy to have at your disposal.

Well it all started when my credit card got hit for $300 from G&F and i knew that could only mean one thing. I wont even say how many points i had because it is just ridiculous how lucky i got but i had under 10 points. I had very little experience in the unit i drew so i knew it was going to be a lot of work and hours beating up my truck and sweating in the heat but that was fine with me. I met some great guys from this site and some of the past hunters in the unit that really helped me out a lot. I don't need to mention names but they know who they are and i appreciate all of the help. Scouting proved to be much more challenging than I expected. My unit received record rainfall which was very good for the area but it did seem to spread some of the animals out. Fast forward to the hunt and opening morning had me and my hunting buddies on the same glassing spot we were at the weekend before and after about an hour i glassed up a nice Ram. My goal for the hunt was to shoot a nice mature Ram and this one looked great to me so off i went on my first and last stalk on a desert sheep. Made it to 400 yards and waited forever for them to stand back up because they were out of view from my shooting location. Once he stood up I started shooting away and hit him a good three times. He went out of view but the guys i had watching him said he was hit hard and after a couple minutes the boys yelled in the radio that he was dead. I couldn't be happier with him as he is a great ram but it is a little bitter sweet that it is all over. Time to start putting in for Rocky Mountain Sheep.... G&F aged him at 8 years old. Thanks again to my family, and friends for all the help. Hope everyone enjoys the pictures.

Tagged out on my first elk during the late rifle bull hunt. Moved to AZ from Texas back in 2016, hunting western big game has been the most challenging, humbling, and rewarding experience I've had as an outdoorsman.

Left home at 6am, got to the spot late. glass up deer on the furthest steepest mountain and they’re at the top like bighorns. Couldn’t see antlers with 15s from there, but one was raking a tree and looked like a bigger bodied deer so we had to get closer and see. We worked to a ridge 550 yards away. See a couple spikes, then my friend says there’s a little better one. Ok last day deer. Hit him a little back, but not bad for standing up using a tripod for the rest lol

THE WINNER IS WILLIAM SCRUGGS, SANTA FE, NEW MEXICO

Why? If speed is what you like, why not. 257 wby with a 100 @ 3400--3500 fps?

Congrats Chris on great bull. I hope to finally get in on one of your hunts.

Maybe you'll get a small buck or two a little horny but nothing serious. The best rut activity with big bucks chasing does will be late January to mid February.

Thanks Chris for inviting me to share your hunt, and doing something you didn't need to do which was sharing some of the meat.

Sweet bull, I know right where you were, awesome story. Ya you gotta love Adam

Great story Chris! You have come a long way since your first year of hunting. You have definitely grown to become a great hunter! This was a really fun, but challenging hunt! You made 3 great shot! Congrats!!!! Adam

You should see activity around the 25Th

How can you kill good bucks and not have a yeti? Congrats

If you are reading this and know my son Draysen, shhhh!!! He is at school and doesn't know yet, but I can't contain my excitement! Justin from NWTF -Arizona called me just a little while ago to let me know that Draysen is this year's winner of their annual JAKES essay contest! He and his chaperone (me of course!!!) will get flown to Nashville for the annual convention in February, and then to Kansas in April where he will get an all expenses paid turkey hunt. I'm so dang excited I can barely contain it!

After purging a bunch of gear to replace a 12 year old vehicle, I got a postponement. Jesus (mechanic, not the one upstairs) applied some bad aids and shes back on the road. Sooo, I made an executive decision to use a couple of those car payments for another rifle. Here’s what I ended up with. (Gunbroker is a dangerous website BTW) started with a new CZ 557 trued action and tune the trigger to 2.5 pounds add a #5 Bartlien straight fluted barrel chambered in 280AI ( 8 or 9 twist ??) finished at 24 inches action and barrel were surface hardened using nitrading process ( some kind of science beyond my pay grade) professionally bedded into a Manners carbon fiber stock I don’t have any info on the smith or what reamer was used. The ad included a pic of a 3 shot group that appeared to be 1/2 inch or so. No verification or notes on the target pic. The rifle was built for Tom Mack who is part of CZ skeet shooting team, which explains the choice of a 557 action. I spoke with him and he said the round count was less than 40 and it was a “shooter” with 168s. The rifle looks and feels like a brand new one. Action is a little stiff and needs cycled.

The 90 HVLD @ 3300 in a 1:7" would work too. At 4000 AMSL, 59*F, still has 1000ft/lbs & 2240fps @ 720 yards. 715ft/lbs & 1893fps @ 1000 yards. I have a buddy whose daughter has killed 3 mulie does with a .223 Rem shooting the 69 SMK @ 3000fps out to 230 yards. So I think heavier and faster would whoop a Coues buck. I think DSE has a .22-250 AI with a fast twist shooting heavies.....

You can keep up to 100 different shooting strings. They give you ES, SD, and average, you can see each shot velocity, and they give you up to 5 (I think) velocities at given yardages. I do MV, 25, 50, 75, 95. Amazing how fast a bullet bleeds off speed. You don't have to shoot "through" it, you do not have to set it up perfectly aligned both L-R & U/D flat and square, you don't have to strap it to your barrel, easy to read, you do not have to worry about environmental issues like clouds/sun/rain, keep it on the bench or shooting mat at your fingertips.

Point guard is voluntary no? this super bonus point will generate some revenue it will also force others to buy into it that should not that don’t care to kill trophy’s but like to go annually. Charge more of point guard.

I'll also provide a great review of Bull Basin Archery. When I decided to get back into archery I need to buy everything and needless to say a lot had changed since I had last bow hunted about 17 years before. Richard helped me out with everything and continued to help me out in the months that followed if anything was quirky with my bow no matter how small the issue was,. Jesse was also very helpful any time I needed anything. I highly recommend giving them a try if you're in Tucson and looking for an archery shop.

I would first like to start off by thanking everybody for the wealth of knowledge that is shared on this site. I have been a member here for about a year and have just got around to posting my story. I read these forums daily as I have become completely obsessed with chasing the "little ghost" known as Coues Whitetail. I have become so invested in learning about and chasing these deer, sometimes my wife thinks I'm crazy. I have done hours upon hours of research to figure out an advantage, if any, over these sneaky critters. I have many more failures than I have had success in 3 years of hunting in Arizona, but have learned more than I could have ever imagined. I have hunted almost every season since I was 11 years old, only missing seasons for being over seas. When I found out I was coming to Arizona I was thrilled to start a new chapter in my hunting career. I quickly found out that hunting in this state is like nothing I have ever done before in my life. My first season was an OTC hunt in January. My game plan was to sit off of deer travel areas and hunt ambush style with my bow. At the time I was only confident out to 30-40 yards. I can say I busted more deer in that one season than I had ever before in my life. As the season went on, I was finally presented with a shot opportunity. I had a doe pass within 25 yards of me and had no idea I was there, following behind her was a nice 3x3. As the buck came into shooting distance I grunted with my mouth in order to stop him for a shot. Little did I know he wouldn't stop, but run completely out of the area. Completely confused, I searched for any video I could find on deer hunting in Arizona. That is when I learned about "glassing" for deer. I got myself a pair of 10s but lacked a tripod. I learned how to glass for deer by hand pretty quickly. As the season started to end I was presented with another shot this time at 50 yards. Needless to say I wasnt prepared and missed pretty badly. My first season in Arizona ended leaving a burning desire for success. During the off season I shot hundreds of arrows to prepare myself for longer shot opportunities. I became confident out to 65 yards very consistently. My obsession was growing more and more every day leading up to the next OTC hunt in August. I spent days looking for spots to set up and hunt. I stumbled upon a secluded watering hole with very little access. There was tons of deer sign everywhere in the area so I knew it would produce. As the season opened I fully committed myself to sitting the water. I spent countless hours on water without even seeing a single deer. The season ended much quicker than I would have liked, but it only made me work harder. The next season passed with the same outcome as the 2 prior. Fast forward to August/September 2017, I now am confident shooting well past 70 yards, I have a tripod and a pair of 15s, and have scouted and found bucks consistently. Opening day comes and I am not able to hunt because of work. The next day I'm out early and in my spot. Right after first light I glass up a group of bucks I have seen all summer long. I watched them and devised a plan to slip in within shooting range. I was able to stalk within 60 yards of the deer but was never presented a shot opportunity. My confidence is sky high at the point. A week goes by and have blown quite a few stalks. My wife being as great as she is wanted to come out and help me on my hunt. We were set up and in position to glass for the bucks I had seen numerous times at this point in the season. The words I SEE A BUCK!!! Coming out of my wife mouths filled me with excitement. We came up with a plan for her to keep an eye on the deer while I slipped into position. I got to 33 yards from this buck with only a tree separating him from me. As the buck walked out I was at full draw, I settled my pin and let my arrow fly. I heard a lot smack and the deer took off. After a few minutes passed I walked to where he was standing and found my arrow. My heart immediately sank as I didnt see a speck of blood on my arrow. Needless to say I missed. I took a long walk of shame back to where I had left my wife. We talked about what happened and I determined I rushed my shot. We got back on the glass. 15 minutes goes by and we see another group of bucks headed for an area where the wind and cover was in my advantage. I quickly got down and in front of where they were headed, a quick confirmation from my wife let me know they were still headed my way. I started ranging trees and found out the farthest shot I would have was 30 yards. No sooner did I clip my range finder to my harness the first buck stepped out right where I thought he would. He looked in my direction but I dont think he saw me. He put his head down and slowly started feeding, I slowly drew my bow and settled my pin, I verified my bubble was level and my pin was behind his shoulder. I sent my arrow flying hearing the solid thud of making contact. I watched as the buck ran 15 yards and fell over! I just harvested my first Coues, on the ground and with my bow. The amount of relief and pure joy that over came me was undescribable. He isnt the biggest buck in the world but he was my first spot and stalk deer in Arizona. I continued to hunt the following seasons with my bow without firing a single shot. I decided I would try my hand at rifle hunting. I was fortunate enough to pick up a November leftover tag. I got myself a rifle and started practicing every chance I got. I was very confident in my shooting ability leading up to the season opener. Opening day November 2018 has finally come. I found a good vantage point with plenty of deer activity. The canyon I was hunting in was much steeper than what I was used to bow hunting in. As the days of the season started to roll by, putting 15 hours a day in the mountains, a shot opportunity presented itself. A nice 3 point was feeding 400 yards across a small draw from where I was at. I ranged him at 410, and got myself set up for the shot. I plugged the numbers into my ballistic calculator and dialed my turret. I took my time and squeezed off a shot. I thought for sure I hit him good, but at the same time not sure if I had hit him at all. I worked my way to where he was and searched for blood, nothing. Completely beside myself I bailed off the mountain and headed straight to the range. I put paper at 100 yards only to find my zero had shifted 2 inches high and groups larger than an inch. At this point I realized I hadnt cleaned my rifle in a few range sessions, so I headed home, re-torqued all of my mounting screws to spec and cleaned my rifle. I took the afternoon off to let myself reset mentally. The next morning I was right back into the same canyon waiting for daylight. It was very still, with only the slightest breeze. As the sun started to rise I noticed 3 deer feeding. I immediately recognized 2 of the bucks from the morning before, I continued to search and eventually found the buck I had missed the morning before. He was about 300 yards above the other 2 smaller bucks. I ranged the bigger of the 2 smaller bucks at 297, he was slowly feeding on the hillside. I went through all of the same steps I had the morning prior. I watched him through the scope of my rifle waiting for him to stop, sure enough he did exactly that. I squeezed the shot and watched him drop, I racked another shell and kept my cross hairs on him, he stood back up slowly and I shot again, dropping him once more. I continued to watch him until he stopped moving completely. I called my wife to let her know what happened, she was excited and happy for me. I harvested my first rifle buck in Arizona, on day 4 of the season! Again not the biggest in the world but he is my first. Once again I would like to thank everyone for sharing their knowledge and helping me learn and understand what it takes to hunt in this great state!

Glad you were able to work some hunting into the schedule. Great looking buck. Congrats

Time to start reloading. Your velocity spread is huge with either of those factory ammo and the further you shoot the more it will affect you.

Took this picture a few years back in unit 10. Note the distance this bull flew through the air after jumping the fence at a full out run. Looks like exhaust coming from his hind legs. Maybe this is why they can disappear in an instant, they can fly.