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My 10-year old son, Evan, took this buck on Saturday 12/29/2018 on the late desert muzzy hunt. The buck was with 10 does and was running a hot one. Evan made 130 yard shot to take this mature buck for his 1st big game kill.

Didn't feel like going out this morning but when I looked outside I knew I couldn't pass up the opportunity. Walked a couple two tracks looking for tracks just to see what the deer would be doing. Saw this guy a ways ahead of me and was able to work my way up and around pop up over a slight rise and let one fly. I knew right away he was mine. I won't say how many arrows I let fly I over the last few weeks. It felt great to finally connect. Momma even came out to take pics and help me drag him out. Now I got to help momma get one!

Went up to 23 yesterday for a day of archery hunting in the snow. Spotted 1 lone javelina heading down the side of a big wash. Worked our way over and found about 7 feeding. LukeDuke worked up to the top while I stayed near the bottom. The javelina worked up to near the top of a snowy knob. Luke drew back and missed his. I had already worked up to the top and across a flat near the edge of the next wash. I found a lone boar standing near the edge and drew back and released an arrow. I heard the arrow hit something but got to where he was standing and no blood. I found blood on my arrow. We looked around and finally 1/2 hour later I noticed him limping at the bottom of the wash. Got into position for a finishing shot and then the long haul/hike back to the FJ. Thanks to Luke Duke for carrying my bow and jacket to the truck and not offering to help carry the pig. Lol! The last picture is where the pigs were feeding.

Perfect way to kick off the new year! Got to our hunting spot by 9am, had two down by 11am and made it back home on time to catch some college football! This was my first Javelina kill, I've hunted them for 3 years now and was finally able to close the deal.

Never posted him before but this is the buck from the fish tank fire I just posted about in the campfire. It's been 6 years since I killed this buck and today was the first deer I killed since then.

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

Wow. Didn’t even know you hunted

He kept his face hidden but nice rack on this guy. Was on my trail camera early this morning before first light. Got within 70 yards of this same deer at 8am this morning and could not close the deal. He was with at least 5 does and one of them saw me and alerted the herd. Desert mule deer hunting is so hard! Frustrated but glad I got to see some deer today.

Try these. They are made by ugg. They are right up your alley 😎

bunch of degenerates in this thread.

That’s called “clam sniffin” , yummy 🤤

I went to Colorado recently after years of not drawing an Arizona elk tag. This was my first time hunting elk and all things considered, I think it went ok. https://youtu.be/rMqONXi8EiU

My dad and nephew were able to fill their muzzleloader bull tags. The previous day me dad missed a nice 6x6 after a tree jumped into his shooting lane. This was the first elk for my nephew after he missed earlier in the hunt as well. He was able to shoot this spike at 130 yards when it was bedded down on the second to the last day of the hunt. It was a bit of a rough hunt as we didn't find the numbers or the elk where we usually do.

Can’t vouch for Danner but my Nevadas fit true to size compared to Ariat.

Funny. I’ve been thinking the same thing. I loved my older Pronghorns but not the newer ones. I’ll be following this thread for myself as well. Thanks!

“I’m going to shoot that coyote” ”no don’t do it you uncultured swine, the timing is all wrong. It’s science.”

Yup. There's even a giant boot outside the Maine store. Some trivia: L.L.Bean was founded in 1912 by its namesake, hunter and fisherman Leon Leonwood Bean in Freeport, Maine. The company began as a one-room operation selling a single product, the Maine Hunting Shoe (also known as duck boots[). Bean had developed a waterproof boot, which is a combination of lightweight leather uppers and rubber bottoms, that he sold to hunters. He obtained a list of nonresident Maine hunting license holders, prepared a descriptive mail order circular, set up a shop in his brother's basement in Freeport and started a nationwide mail-order business. By 1912, he was selling the Bean Boot, or Maine Hunting Shoe, through a four-page mail-order catalog, and the boot remains a staple of the company's outdoor image. Defects in the initial design led to 90 percent of the original production run being returned: Bean honored his money-back guarantee, corrected the design, and continued selling them

Check out LL Bean's lineup. There are boots that are supposedly rated to -20-30 degs. They ain't cheap, however. https://www.llbean.com/llb/shop/506698?page=mens-bean-boots&csp=f&bc=474-506697&gnrefine=1*WARMTH_RATING*Warmer^1*WARMTH_RATING*Warmest&sort_field=Relevance&start=1&viewCount=48&nav=C3vg44u506698-474 I have a pair of Bean's that have interchangeable linings for warm, cold and colder temps. The linings for real cold are Thinsulate with a silver covering like a space blanket. I wore them with temps in the teens and never had cold feet. They look like this pair but are sized to take the linings. It looks like they no longer sell the ones like mine, but they have the Maine Pac Boot with liners available.

Tough to say.only time I've seen a clear fluid on an arrow is on deer hit in the void space above the vitals and below the spine.the broken arrow is a complete roll of the dice as far as how that'd happen in my experience.sorry I can't be of more help.good luck tomorrow!

I find it VERY hard to believe that someone would send a check for $35.000 without doing a little research. With only 1 post and not returning since I feel this person is just trying to spread the word about a bad outfitter. It's a weird way of doing it, but some people are just plain weird!

I hate it when someone posts a topic like this, or asks for help, or trying to sell something, then never returns to check it or comment. Joined Sat @ 7:01 Posted this @ 7:03 Last online Sat @ 7:21

Didn't see the pic of the killed "ram" at first glance ouch

Exo 3500 hands down. Eberlestock makes a decent pack but the overall pack weight has gotten to me as I age. Exo, Kifaru, mystery ranch.... all great packs. Comes down to preference. Exo got my money. Glad they did.

I have tried a lot of packs and my Exo Mountain Gear 3500 is by far my favorite.