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^^^+1 I dont care if he tags or not. He's hunting and thats what its all about, he aint buying a head as kevin had said in another post, Fred is actually hunting for better or worse and on top of that is nice enough to share pics of his trip. Even though I bet everyone up there that has a tag as well as guides are following him and this thread around like a puppy dog looking for a free scouting trip.

I'll keep it short and sweet. Turns out, it was actually worth the decade long wait for a tag. I had a blast. Got to spend some quality time with my brother which is too rare these days. Almost killed a really good buck the first afternoon. Got to 45 yards from his does but he decided to run off a smaller buck and not come back for hours so I crawled back out and left the does bedded. Turned out to be a good thing because the second day I found my target buck and was able to slip an arrow in him. I was able to creep into 160 yards unnoticed and then spent the following four hours stuck laying on the ground covered in stickers and trying not to melt. They eventually gave me an opportunity to get to 70 and I made the most of the oppurtunity. I didn't get to see him fall but my brother Cole got to watch him flip just out of my sight. He was with 3 does back in a shallow canyon that isn't visible from any roads. He was 3.6 miles as a crow flies from where I first found him in July. He's beyond what I could have ever asked for. I shot him in the that unit that I'm hearing doesn't grow big bucks anymore so I got pretty lucky. I got the very last tag so it must have been meant to be. I feel like I shorted myself only hunting two days but I couldn't pass this buck. Not in a million years could I have passed this buck. Thanks for reading. Creed.

Earlier this week, a member here showed me unbelievable generosity and I want to pay it forward. Instead of continue to try and sell this scope, I'm going to give it to a kid who needs a scope. Its a good scope that served me well and is good to start a youth with. Scope was shipped to a young hunter this morning!

Hunter vs client .. ladies man vs jon... i preffer to have skills to achieve my goals. Not pay for results. Great read cant wait to read the end result. Regardless of the outcome you have had an amazing adventure!

I respect him for trying this hunt without a guide, IMO he's seen as many big deer in person as you would see with most guides on this 13B hunt. Usually on the strip archery hunt if your lucky you might get one shot opportunity at a larger buck, and if you don't make it then your probably not going to fill your tag with the size of buck you were after. Remember most guides will only report their success stories, even this year I know of a guide with 5 plus clients in camp that have yet to fill their tags in 13B. Hopefully we will hear a success story from this hunt soon!

I have debated about what to say about this as I know some have mixed feelings about these highly sought after tags being donated. But after thinking about it I hope that if we are able to share the story that more people might enjoy the experience this increasing the good that has come The selfless decision someone made to donate the tag. A little background. In April of last year my son Hunter (9 at the time) was diagnosed with Charcot-Marie-Toothe. CMT is a degenerative neuro-muscular condition that causes muscle atrophy and reduced sensitivity in the extremities. As a result of this condition Hunter also had hip dysplasia in both legs which led to two separate reconstructive surgeries last year. He turned 10 in August and we squeezed in a youth Kaibab hunt as well as a cow elk hunt (from a donated tag) between surgeries. I was proud of his effort as he did whatever he had to and filled his deer tag and stuck with it through three cold days for his elk hunt but that tag went unfilled. He goes to PT twice every week and probably will do PT//OT until he is skeletally mature. We are blessed that his lifespan is not impacted and for now he can walk and ride a bike likE his friends, other than limited strength and the unknown of when and how fast the degeneration of his nerves will occur. Well a couple week’s ago Eddie Corona from OE4A called and asked if Hunter would be interested in an antelope hunt. This has been an aspiration of his for several years since accompanying me on scouting trips for my antelope hunt in 2014. So the next day, after going to PT, and the dr and getting x Rays we met Eddie Corona and picked up the tag. It’s been his top choice every year since so of course we were in. Then to find out it was Unit 10 tag, well, we were over the moon. I hope to share this experience with as many as possible and want to make sure that those involved know how much this means to a kid who has not had an easy past 12 months. Thanks to Eddie and everyone who helps OE4A in anyway and also to Darren Couturier who donated the tag. We can hardly wait to share the journey with everyone.

YES worth every penny. Wife thought I was nuts finally buying a 75 canyon cooler, got it from sportman when canyon had a sale for right round 230. kid thought I was nuts too. got up north (mid july)the next day no water on the bottom and all ice. its was a hot sob up there, came home the following day no water all ice. took the ice out stuck it in freezer and used it all week for drinks ;) before I had it we wasted alot of time(gas and money) buying ice every 1-2 days up north during hunts. going to buy a 125 on the way for next trip.

Im confident idgaf will tag a nice buck and it will be a great story to end this great thread.

Sounds like a very successful hunt Congrats on your results! I don't feel it's my place to post the guides name on a public forum, as they have have had some success in the past on this hunt as well.

I have the same cooler along with a 45qt. They are worth it

AZ420, who hasn’t tagged with 5 clients? Didn’t know anyone up there that had that many. What a phenomenal year to have a tag. Wish IdGAF the best of luck as the season winds down. We had 4 tags up there, killed 3 bucks 215-240 and the last guy stuck a 220+ in the shoulder. The best year 13b will ever see.

I love mine. I feel it's worth it. Kept my deer cold on a week long hunt in Texas with only a few frozen 2liter bottles in it.

Have had several of them and they were all shooters. Not too sure about the scope of choice on that one though!

Agreed- I have burned through cheaper boots in less than a year. Like most things, you get what you pay for. It does make it nicer when the sonsobitches fit though. Weekend bump boys and girls. Headed to the deep woods here shortly. Catch y'all on the other side.. Dave

Posting for my dad, 2010 Polaris Ranger 800. Winch, roof, back rack, new shocks, and Oddessey battery. Professionally maintained and older man driven. Never abused or crashed. Call Jeff by phone only. No text or emails. He's 70 not to internet savy. $6500. Jeff 480-209-0816

Well my wife called the lady this morning and it so happens the gentleman who they offered it to after her decided this morning not to take it so my wife ended up with the tag after all. So with only 2 points at stake we will be antelope hunting next weekend. We were already leaving today for california on a rock fish trip that I can not change. But i figure any lope I can get her next week will be a blast.

Do they not offer anything after 5pm the night before the hunt starts? So those surrendered tags that don't get filled just mean a few less goats shot this year? I already mentioned it, but all I could think about last night was getting that call for 5b. After trailing my son for those 9 days on the archery hunt before he killed and watching those bucks pass by at 120 yards and/or stomp their feet as we got picked off time and time again....I couldn't help but think revenge on just one more of them! haha

Had a 100 or so elk in my field this morning.....couple of nature bulls. Bugling and posturing.......then one of them destroyed my beautiful Austrian Pine on his way to the tree line! Ones of the hazards of living here, I guess.

Big Lake Jake Chill Out ,Dammn. Ya its a Good post , Shut up . It isn't Yours We will see the end . And if He doesn't Kill We can all say He should have got an Outfitter. personalyy I would have . Idid last year in the BaB . I knew nothin about it and Hired Mr Adams. I am sure if I had the time and I didn't I would have done it solo. Chit happens as it turned out I was as sick as could be with a Cold And I shot last minute of first Day and then slept in Duwanes tent with nyquil for 3 days. I was Happy with this guy. You never know what is gonna happen , Don't wast a tag that takes 20 years to draw.;.

Don't overlook the southern portion around camp verde as well, lots of glassing around the junipers if the bulls are quiet.

Hey all, I’ve been lurking on the site for a couple of years now. No idea why it took me so long to actually sign up, but I thoroughly enjoy the content. A little about me, my name is Brandon and I moved to AZ back in 2002 from Colorado. I didn’t get involved in hunting AZ until a few years ago, and have been addicted ever since (I’ll share that story first). I’m married with 3 kids, and a 4th to be any day now (all boys). My now father in law took me on an any antlered deer hunt in 2016 where I shot my first big game animal (a very small mule deer spike) that AZGFD aged at about 2-3 years old, and told me he just had bad genetics (insert milk on the lips jokes here). I had always considered myself an “outdoorsmen” until this hunt, when I realized how much of a city slicker I had become. My father in law had taken me on a couple of scouting trips before the opener, and asked me what I thought. I said” Well, I am having a tough time believing that there’s going to be a deer out there behind that cactus,” he laughed. Opening morning had me stumbling around the desert flats being taught a lesson with every step. I went south out of camp, my father in law went north, and his buddy went east so we had a good understanding of who would be where. Twenty minutes into my hike south, I make my way through a thicket and came face to face with a moo cow. Not knowing how he would react I backed out slowly, and rerouted. Come to find out I’m smack dab in the middle of a herd of moo cows now, and am really starting to feel like a city slicker. They don’t bother me, and I don’t mess with them and I scoot on out of the wash I was in. As I’m slowly walking through my new route, I hear the sound of hooves galloping behind me. I turn around and see a buck (appeared to be a decent 3x3 from behind) and a doe bouncing away up the side of a hill. I literally must’ve walked on top of them bedded, because to this day I am not sure how I made it through where they came from, to where I was without jumping them first in front of me. With my rifle slung over my head and on my back, I’m knocking my hat off and tangling my sling and binos together while trying to get to the top of the hill to hopefully have a shot at the buck. He was in the next area code by time I got my stuff together, and I regrouped from the adrenaline rushing through me. I walked countless miles that day, stopping and glassing, and learning and falling in love with not only hunting, but hunting the desert. As I tried to sleep that night, and replayed everything that had happened over and over, I began making my plan for the next morning. I had come across a water tank that I sat for a bit, and decided that I would head that way again in the pre-dawn hours. As the sun came up, I made my way south again. No longer having the rifle slung behind me, and noticing that my walk wasa lot different this morning, I realized that the addiction was in me now, and was spreading like wildfire. I spent two hours slowly navigating my way through the washes, towards my mark on the water tank. I was hoping I could cut them off coming from water as the morning sun began to rise. Unfortunately (or fortunately) for me, my first introduction to public land hunting, and another lesson was about to be learned. I’m ¼ mile from the tank now when I hear the sound of a vehicle driving down the road leading to the tank. I can’t believe it, two hours of slowly walking in, and here comes someone driving right down the road that I didn’t see a sole on the day prior. I stop and position myself behind a thicket to where I have shooting lanes should my new friends push anything out. As I sit there, the shotgun blasts begin to rain out. Well, there goes my plan entirely and I’m too new to have a plan B. So, I improvise, look towards a range of mountains in the distance and say that’s where I’m headed. Borderline frustrated, I start my walk that changes my life. Now, I am not wanting to interfere with the bird hunters, so I keep about a ¼ mile perimeter from the tank and walk around it. I’m to the other side now about to cross a wash when I catch movement up above me on the other side of the wash. I drop to a squatting position and identify the movement. I jumped two deer behind a bush. I raise my rifle and pick them up in the scope. The first deer steps out, and I see he has a tiny antler on his left side (literally about all he had) and a button on the right side. The internal debate begins. I don’t know my father in law well at this point, and I worry about the “size of the antler” razzing back at camp I’m sure to face if I squeeze. I then think about my late papa giving me my Winchester .270 that I am holding, and sitting with me through my hunter safety class at 13 years old back in Colorado. I think of how proud of me he would be if he could see me in this moment. As that last thought crosses my mind, he turnedquartering slightly toward me and “BOOM!” instinct took over and the bullet enters mid chest and exits his left shoulder. He stands straight up on his hind legs, turns and boogies up the hill with his girlfriend. I lose sight of him, and try to calm myself down and mark my shot location. I cross the wash and up the other side to where he was and begin looking for blood. No blood, anywhere. I walk to the top of the ridgeline, no blood and no deer in sight. Now I’m second guessing everything. I saw him stand, I was right on him from 45 yards, how could I miss?? Telling myself I have to find blood, I decided to criss cross down the hill side back to my shot location. I walk the ridgeline parallel from where I took the shot, and begin to criss cross down. The first zig of my zag, and I find him expired. I was so thankful and overcome with emotion. I never did find any blood at all other than where he lay, and believe that marking my shot location is the only reason I found him being solo and so green. I thankfully have cell service, and call my father in law, who sends my brother in law out to help me clean him up. Ironically he drives down the same road to the tank that the bird hunters drove out on. He actually stopped and talked to them on their way out, and they told him that they heard my bullet hit its mark after the shot. I thought that was pretty cool, and the first I had learned of that happening. My ears were ringing and certainly didn’t hear it hit. Anyhow, if you are reading this and you were one of those bird hunters at the tank in 37B that day in 2016, thank you! You pushed me around that tank and led me straight to what has now become a true passion of mine. From small game to big game, there is very little in life that I enjoy more for myself. My kids, my wife, and the great AZ outdoors. If you’re still reading, thanks! I look forward to sharing much more! I also have thick skin, so I’m not afraid to post these pictures that accommodate this story. The lessons I learned on this hunt, and the first spent shell on my belt of big game hunting launched me into this obsession and that was my trophy from the hunt. Now let’s all get back to idgaf’s thread, cause let’s be honest..that’swhat we’re really checking in on right now!

Its 2019.....

I need a new truck and I could get a hillbilly country chick with this truck.

Never heard of a bulletproofed 48 lol

wait a second is that a red gmc?