Leaderboard

" One website says 13 times a day". Thats a bunch of crap.

OP is a Troll. Rice is a Turd, End of Story

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.

Thanks Lance!!! And no I did not use Adam's mini cannon 😀, I used my 7 mag. The bull was it's first blood.

Wait what, it snows in Arizona? I'm headed there a week from tomorrow hoping to escape from it ;). Seriously nice buck. I'm still looking to get my first Coues, this will be my 4th attempt!

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.

I put in for over 38 years and had max bonus points for the 2018 sheep draw and got tag #2 in Unit 28 (south). My son-in-law, Dan Ott, and 26+ year hunting partner, Ed Soyring, accompanied me and the guides, Tyson Hatch and Matt Holcomb of Double H Outfitters. We decided to wait till Monday, Dec 3rd to start hunting to avoid some foul weather and any conflicts with the other hunter in the unit who had been waiting for 51 years for tag #1. Congrats to Craig (and Matt) on his terrific sheep, which scored 189". We saw lots of sheep on the first day and tried a stalk but two big rams got into it and ran off before we were in position. The second day was more discouraging with fewer sheep sighted and the big one from the day before just walking off out of the area. Third day was the charm. High winds kept a herd of 7 rams and 1 ewe pinned down below some cliffs. Three different stalks finally culminated in a 176 yard shot on a very nice ram. Pack-out was easy. He green scored by G&F at 172-1/8” and 6 -7 years old. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ; and, also, to Chris, Matt, Tyson, Ed and Dan.

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

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.

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.

I agree 100% with this. You can pry my 12x50s, and my 28 nosler from my cold, dead hands!

Started this post to try and figure out what people suggested as far as if the el were worth the extra money over the slc and what magnification people would suggest and I have decided so far to save for the 12x50 el

I agree that’s why every year I normally pick one item and upgrade it.

Congrats on a beauty! He's worth waiting a year for another chance in AZ.

Very cool! Congrats!!!

Great year! It's amazing how time keeps on moving on. Good luck in 2019!

Great bull! I talked to Adam while you guys were hunting up there. And heard the story of the bull. Congrats. So, did you use Adam's rifle?

Free bump for some fantastic glass. These may not look as cool as some of the new ones, but if you are just starting out looking at 15s, you can save $$$$ over vortex and have way better glass

There is some discussion that this might be repealed. Just pay registration for 1 year at a time.

I see him. Ducking from the Paparazzi.

I would like to ship all Democrats a million miles away. One way ticket.

Not can’t ...won’t.

Ducey screwing us, and also a result of us being screwed for years of the state not spending our money properly.

You have the golden hand!!! You are more then welcome to come on my hunts :). As for spending to much time doing it, I say if you are bonding more time with family and friends because of it that is the best gift you can have. Sadly Ive met hunters who actually quit their jobs because they couldnt get time off to go on their deer hunt. Mean while wife and kids are at home and dad quit his job so he can do what he wants and not provide for the family. Plus they didnt hunt. Thats to far for me. But man oh man if you have the family on board what a door it opens up for you and to spend awesome time together. Congrats on awesome bucks and to your kids, friends, and wifes huge buck!!

Call Trump he has connections! Just a joke I know nothing.