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I just don’t worry about them. Come across them all the time too. They usually want less to do with you than you do with them. Most of them get a free pass, but when i come across a hyper aggressive one they usually get taken out of the gene pool.

Before January 2019, I hadn't taken a buck with a bow or taken one with a rifle since 2016. For 2017 and 2018 rifle seasons, I told my husband if I couldn't find one at least 85", I was going to pass. Coues meat is my favorite, but we had enough for the two of us with his bucks. Passed a handful of nice bucks on both hunts and had a couple blown stalks during the bow seasons. Opening morning of the 2018 rifle hunt, I glassed up 2 bucks a little over 500 yards away. The biggest was about a high 70's, maybe 80". Not wanting to shoot, we continued to glass. About 25 minutes later, we hear 2 guys walking up on us. My husband asked if I wanted to tell them about the bucks and I said sure. He tells them the distance and asked if they wanted to take one and the guy said "you bet!" We had him look through our optics that were a tripod so he would know where they were. He gets set up with his rifle and my husband gives him the range. He shoots and isn't even close... hits 3 feet below the bucks feet and way right. The buck doesn't even spook because the shot was so far off the mark and the other buck just continues to feed. He's getting ready to fire again and my husband told him to hold on and shoot our rifle. It's dead on... I took an antelope with it with one shot at 709 yards. My husband sets up the gun and dopes it for him. The guy slides behind the rifle and can't find the buck in the scope. After a few looong minutes of my husband dialing the power on the scope up and down for him, he finds him and is ready. We get in our binos, tell him just hold right on him and smoothly squeeze the trigger. The gun sounds off and the buck takes 5 steps and is down for the count. The guy is so excited! I think he thanked us and shook my husband's hand about 6 times. lol It was a great feeling to help someone and see them so appreciative and happy. Fast forward to January 2019..... We are on the archery javelina hunt and I always have an OTC deer tag. We have put in almost 4 miles and the pigs have given us the slip twice. Back in December I had sprained my ankle and it was still pretty sore. I told my husband I needed to give it a break, so lets glass a little bit. We set up the tripods and are only in the glass about 3 minutes when he says those words we all love to hear..."I got a buck." What follows was even better..."He's a good one." We didn't have to do "rock, paper, scissors" to figure out who gets to go after him, because he didn't get an OTC tag this year. Lucky me! The buck was feeding in certain direction and the wind was good. To make an already long story short, I was able to position myself in front of where the buck was trying to go. I was in the shade and had good cover. I had time to tell myself..."Make this count. This doesn't happen every day. Stay calm, aim and follow through." I had ranged a few areas where I thought he was going to come out as it was real thick. At the 40 yard clearing, he walked right on by. I can now see he is coming straight at me. I'm watching him through the brush and with the terrain, he's either going to keep on his path or turn and come broadside in front of me at 25 yards with a clear shooting lane. Well...he turns. This is it...it's gonna happen! Everything now slows way down...it was the strangest thing. Almost like slow motion. I can see him on the other side of the brush. I draw my bow and settle in. I see his nose clear the brush, then his eye. He has no clue I'm even here. Now his neck and then his shoulder. I place my pin in that sweet spot just behind the crease and follow him. My bow fires, I don't remember touching off the trigger. It hits it's mark. He spins and blows out of there running straight away from me, so I can't see the exit. I watch him disappear and crash into the brush. I'm trying to see if he comes out on the other side of the brush...he doesn't. I still haven't moved and I hear some huffing sounds that are either him or some pigs then all is quiet. I wait about 15 minutes and decide I can slip down and see if I can find my arrow quietly. I find it and good blood right away and mark it. My husband stayed up on the top of the ridge, so I figure I better go get him and let him know I hit the buck. From where he was at, he couldn't see me, but he heard the arrow hit and heard the buck take off. The second he sees me he asks "Well?" I will never forget the look on his face when I told him I hit him and it should be good. It's now getting late in the day and we're worried about it getting dark. Lucky we had one bar of service to get a call out to a great friend to head our way in case we needed help finding the buck in the thick stuff. It's now about 40 mins after the shot. My husband and I get down to my arrow where I marked the blood and start slowly tracking through the brush. A few drops here and there, nothing, then a big pile, then back to a few drops. I'm not gonna lie...I was wondering what the heck? Maybe I didn't hit him as good as I thought. Then, "There he is!" He is off to the left....in the thick brush...and he is done! I couldn't believe what just happened! From where he was shot, he went about 60 yards. So many things have to go just right. I'm so thankful it was meant to be for me! We had him hung in a tree and skinned when our friends got to us. 2019 has started off almost like a dream. Let's hope the good mojo continues. With 9 bonus points I have drawn an early archery bull tag. Please keep your fingers crossed!

Weed wack to close to a patio door and you'll have a bunch for free!

That’s a gopher snake. That’s a good snake.

I wear turtle skin gators if the grass is so tall and thick, there is no way I am going to see them. (19a antelope hunting). Some people disagree, but I usually kill the ones I see.

Completly new experience for us, only ever done "party boat" type fishing until this trip. Lost a few good ones but landed enough to be dang happy. Me and the younger boy got sea sick but not too bad. I learned a valuble lesson about taking dramamine before you get to the boat! We had a blast though, Pickles catching the grouper was just icing on the cake

I have an inreach. They allow contracts that you can turn on and off on monthly increments. $20-60 a month depending on your amount of texts. It blue tooth’s to your phone so you can type through there. Also has the SOS feature in case you get hurt. I really like it. Saved my sanity when I had my kaibab buffalo tag and sat in a blind for 10 days straight.

These 2 boys are still looking for a good home.

sorry that happened with your daughter. Had a similar experience w/ our female GSP and ended up taking her to a pointer rescue in Temecula, Ca.

Busted beer bottles, and you get the beer!

Hey AZ RANGER! I checked with my ex, and she said they are flush with the two Vizslas they have (they take a lot of road trips and the two kennels is all they can handle.... ). So unfortunately, no adoption angle there. BIG BUMP though! For anyone who has not met a Vizsla, they are amazing dogs! Hope someone can meet this little sweetie and fall in love. S.

Get a couple cracked windshields for free and bust them up.

I’ve seen 3 this week. Plus two gopher snakes. They have definitely started moving around more. I see them all the time in my line of work. I stepped inches from the first one I saw this week before he rattled and it scared me pretty good. Luckily he didn’t strike. I’ve had so many close encounters, I’ve lost count. Probably the craziest was the time I squatted down to take a dump with one coiled up right next to me the whole time. I was messing with my phone and I didn’t notice he was even there until I stood back up. Luckily it was a cold morning and he didn’t care.

Had a friend finish a rattlesnake off with a pistol. He put it around his neck took some pictures for a few minutes. Put it down back on the ground and the thing coiled back up ready to brawl. Lucky sob

I've stood on a couple, those bastards find me in 21 all the time. I only kill them when "It's an ethical shot"😝

I'm getting ready to head back down to the youth turkey camp, but holler at me sometime. I did my graduate work on the venom and genetics of Mohave rattlesnakes. I've seen strings of 5+ people walk past them because passive defense is their primary defense (most of the time).

Cool looking snake

Pretty much the same boat. Heck I've even had the unfortunate situation where I stepped on one and he just slid out from under the gap in front of my boot heel. Yeah that will get your blood pumping. The way I feel about this is about pretty much how I feel about any dangerous situation I partake in. I'm gonna just roll with it and see what happens. I mean in all reality I'm sure its probably way more dangerous driving out to the sticks than actually walking around.

Great deal on those 15s. Best glass for that price!!

He wasn't too bad after puking, hes too competitive to not go!

If I have to put my feet where I cant see,, I'm with HuntHarder and wearing the TurtleSkins. I wear them hiking in the dark on early Coues hunts. Sweaty feet beats the heck out of the alternative. Especially in Mojave country.

Yup. Thats why he stayed on the porch.

Barbary and muzzy coues for me!

I got sea sick when I went. Threw up all down the side of the boat. Started catching sharks immediately after. Chumming works! I took Dramamine before and it didn't help. Still had a great time anyway.