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Ok, now that I have had two nights sleep and the meat is in the coolers (3 100 qt filled to the brim with boned out meat) and the head is at the taxidermist , now I can write this down. On day 7 right before dark, with two minutes of legal shooting light left, I found the skylined bull standing majestically on a ridge 350 yds away staring down at a cow. In 10 minutes he never moved. Just stood on the skyline taunting me. I quickly grabbed my rifle and rangefinder and tried to get setup but the objective on the rangefinder wouldn’t gather enough light for me to see the moose. I could get a range of the general area on the hillside, and at approximately 350 that was probably good enough. But then I could make out just the silhouette of the bull, no detail of the shoulder or the rest of the body. I had glassed these moose up from 2+ miles away and then threw a Hail Mary and drove the 8 miles around to get where I thought they might end up and somehow all of that worked perfectly, except the light. After 7 sub freezing nights in a tent without a fire, after 7 dark moonless mornings eating a cold breakfast by headlamp light, after fighting the snow and the rain and the mud and the wind after grinding almost non-stop from dawn until dusk, after all of that my goal was within reach and sitting a chip shot away from me and I had a decision to make. I was alone and although I would never get setup in the two remaining minutes of legal daylight it was unlikely that anyone would know or care if I stretched that out by a minute or two. Without a spotter it would be tough to tell what kind of shot placement I made or how the bull reacted... but on the other hand here was a great shooter bull standing broadside right in front of me. Knowing this was one of those moments that can define a hunt, I snapped a few photos gathered my gear and got out as quietly and discreetly as possible. It was going to be a long night of hoping that bull would stay in that canyon. He had a cow so I was hopeful that he would just follow her around for 12 hours and in the morning I could sneak in there and give him a forever home. Well my long night was made longer when I realized that in my haste to get my gear loaded up I had left my rifle sitting by the side of the road. I liiterally forgot my gun. This is when it became clear to me that I was starting to crack. The pressure was getting to me and now I was getting erratic and jumpy. So instead of hitting my nice warm bed at my in-laws home 40 miles away, I picked up my youngest son and we made the hour plus drive to go find the rifle which was fortunately sitting right next to the road, and slept in cold sleeping bags at camp. Daylight could not come fast enough. Day 8 There was no need for an alarm I was up an hour before I needed to be. After waking up Nash we jumped in the truck and waited for it to get light. At the first break of gray in the sky we parked the truck above the canyon and slipped in to find the old beast. It didn’t take more than a few minutes to confirm he wasn’t where I had hoped he would be. The canyon was just as cold and empty as every other time I had glassed it in the past week. Hoping he would be just over the ridge where he had come from the night before we went hiking. We did a 3 mile loop calling and glassing for that bull and never turned up more than an old, frozen track in the soft dirt in a creek bottom. He was nowhere to be found. Dejected we pulled out at 9:30. I was tempted to go grab a nap and decent breakfast at camp but instead off we went to go check all of the areas where I had located cows regularly hanging out. This has become my daily routine. While the bulls were amazingly nomadic roaming all over the country with their giant strides covering miles in minutes, the cows were homebodies hanging in the same willow and aspen patches day after day. I could almost always turn up these cows and most days there was a bull of some kind hanging around. Usually it was the same yearling or two year olds following a few hundred yards behind the cow and hopelessly angling for a piece of the action. However, with the mature bulls cruising for cows, an occasional collision of our courses was inevitable or at least that’s what I kept telling myself. Most of these cows could be found by glassing from a distance but some required me to hike into a creek bottom and see what was around. Regardless, they were reliable and I could almost always count on finding some kind of bull in the area. The first place I headed had been my most reliable. It was a piece of leased state property that was put into CRP. With big quakie aspen stands scattered throughout. This was where on the second morning I passed up a bull that I didn’t get a lot of time to size up but to this point had been one of the better opportunities that had emerged. So like a diligent mail man I headed there to start my rounds. As I came over the hill to look into the first draw it was like an instant replay of morning two. There was a bull standing in the waist high grass and he was headed into the timber, but even with only a quick look I could immediately see he was much bigger than the bulls I had been seeing in this area. Typically when I found a bull I would immediately reach for my 15’s to start judging him. But this was a no doubter first glance bull. Unfortunately it was a matter of seconds before the bull disappeared into the woods. We immediately pulled over grabbed the packs and headed in after the bull. We had only gonna couple hundred yards when a cow came crashing out of the woods where the bull had gone moments earlier. I dropped to my butt and swung my pack around in front of me. I told Nash he would be coming out and he settled in to watch. Soon the bull was trotting across the field behind the cow. I have a quick grunt and he stopped. In the spirit of fair chase I gave him one warning shot and the second one found its mark with the 180 grain accubond expending all of its energy in the vitals before settling under the hide on the offside shoulder. He was down in seconds and some big high five’s and hugs ensued. It was an amazing moment with my son by my side as I fulfilled this life long dream. It definitely wasn’t what I expected and the challenge of turning up a big bull was definitely formidable. I think a lot of that had to do with the weather, with alternating rain, snow, sleet and sunshine I think the animals were left unsure whether to hunker down or go looking for a date. However, eventually these animals are going to do what it takes to pass on their genes and I hope this guy got the chance before we took him home. They are huge animals a unique skeletal composition. When the spine is exposed the hump above the shoulders looks like something off of a dinosaur. The waddle under the chin can come and go throughout the life of the animal, often freezing during winter and falling or being pulled off as a result. The biggest difference is in the front quarters. There is a ton of shoulder meat on these animals that you won’t find on an elk. Fortunately we were able to get the truck into the field where the bull was so packout was 0. I think this is the first time in 15 years that I didn’t have to put an animal in a pack to get it out. From shot to shutting the tailgate was about 3 hours. We did a full gutless, cape and removed one slab of ribs to smoke before we head home. The back straps were more than 48” long!!! This was an amazing adventure and I learned a ton both about moose hunting and about myself. I would be lying if I said I never lost any sleep about this hunt beforehand. Between the weather, my inexperience and trying to know how I was going to recover an animal that big my head was a mess and I had a knot in my stomach when I headed out. But through this I reminded myself that I am of far more than I usually think. It was great that he died where I could get to him with a vehicle, but if he hadn’t I would have lived through it. So my advice to everyone out there is to go live your dreams. Start working now to make “someday” become today. Thanks everyone for following along and I hope you enjoy some more pics.

My son got it done on the second day. Due to the national forest service extending the fire closure in 17B to the 24th of October, we had to totally ditch our original plans and hunt some new country we have never been into. The first day was pretty rough, we only saw about 30 deer and the only 2 bucks were a spike and small forked horn my son was not interested in harvesting. Gotta give him credit for patience. Day 2, we tried some different country and had not even seen a deer until around 8AM when I picked up the buck about 2 miles out across a couple of canyons. We came up with a game plan, drove the truck down the hill, and hiked into our 1 landmark on the ridge, which was a lone mesquite bush. As we came over the ridge, we spotted our buck still up feeding and got into position for a shot. As my son was getting settled in, he saw another small fork bedded down in the bush right next the the larger buck, but the one standing was a lot larger. He dropped him in his tracks with a 320 yard shot across a small canyon. The other small buck never even got up out of his bed until we started making our way into the canyon. At that point the small buck and 2 other bucks, including a very nice 3x4 jumped up out of there beds and eventually made there way over the ridge. Wish we would have seen the 3x4 earlier, but my son had no regrets with the nice buck he harvested. It was a tough pack out, but my 14 year old hauled the back half out, over a mile through some rough country. I explained to him, they really taste good when you have to put that kind of work in.

Had an amazing two day hunt with my son Strad on the youth multi unit deer hunt. We spent the whole opening day working some pinion juniper country in 19a and saw some does but also found an incredible amount of trash and dead animals laying just about everywhere we stopped. Sat water that evening and decided on the way home we would hit the pines in another area and check out some areas the forest service had done some clearing in. About an hour after sunrise we saw a group of 5 bucks and tried to put the stalk on but had a real hard time due to all the shreaded bushes from the clearing had made it almost impossible to stalk without making to much noise. The deer moved through the clear area and back into the thick oaks on the hillsides. Frustrated we headed towards a tank I knew of on a closed road hoping to find water. About 200 yards before we came into sight of the tank I saw a doe browsing along below us. I told Strad we should loop around the hill so the doe won't spot us and give us away if there are other deer below. No sooner had we turned around when we heard the clatter of hooves running in the trees behind us. I pull up my binoculars and spot three deer behind a large gator bark 60 yards away. I can see the bodies but not the heads. They were milling around behind the tree and I was able to see that all three were bucks but all I could see was the base of the horns on each buck. Strad had no shot because they were standing one behind the other. We got down as low as we could and watched them for about 3 minutes. They were watching us back. For some reason that I'm greatful for, the lead buck decided to step out from behind the tree instead of sneaking off behind it. As soon as he hit the open and vitals were showing I was able to get the first part of the word shoot out when I heard the gun go off and the buck hit the dirt. He tried to get back up but fell back and never moved again. We gave each other hugs and high fives. Strad had just harvested his first big game animal. We gutted and dragged him the 1/2 mile back to the truck and were back in chino by 1030.

This buck obviously doesn't mind hanging around the houses/golf courses. Pics taken in a neighborhood in Marana a couple days ago.

we got a call Yesterday from her 1st time we talked since the initial Hostage call they make when they arrive at boot camp. she completed the Crucible sat. in 11 weeks Ive seen a chin a nose or forhead in pictures and wasnt sure it was her. today this was sent to me via txt. we go to her graduation next week and bring her home for 10 days. Final Drill picture this afternoon. went from this to this.

EE95EB34-BEB4-4D1E-ABEE-E0BC0FC18E6B.MOV EE95EB34-BEB4-4D1E-ABEE-E0BC0FC18E6B.MOV EE95EB34-BEB4-4D1E-ABEE-E0BC0FC18E6B.MOV EE95EB34-BEB4-4D1E-ABEE-E0BC0FC18E6B.MOV Tessa took this giant bear opening day. After spotting this bear at first light we put a plan in place after a two mile hike we arrived just as this bear was going to bed , we decided to stay put and wait him out. This made for a long day but finally around 5 he got back up and started to feed. She was very patient waiting for the right shot opportunity. The bear fed in and out of cactus patches not offering a shot it finally bedded back up and gave her a shot at 440 yards she made a lethal shot but this bear got back up she hit it again right behind the shoulder it went down but got back up and continued coming down hill so she followed up that shot with another perfectly placed shot. This time it was down for good . I’m very proud of her and everything she has accomplished I’m so lucky to share this with her. Here are the video links to her shooting and the bear as well. https://youtu.be/Bmx7swiJ-E0 https://youtu.be/MvkMfNfK9i8 1F252D2B-EA32-4EA1-A2F4-D0A283BBB5D2.MOV 6204EC82-9C9B-4819-A6AA-960E227BBCD3.MOV

I use a super nasty mixture that kills EVERYTHING for 2+ years. Bushes, grass, weeds, trees, seeds, leather boots, rubber gloves, the will to excercise, etc. I use it on my back 2 acres. I am sure, one day 50+/- years from now, I will die. Just because I use this crap.

First just wanted to thank @Tight Guy for being a primary contact with knowledge of the specific hunt. Others also were kind enough to share info with me and I’m very appreciative of it all. Being from Wisconsin my knowledge of hunting in AZ was extremely limited. I did have a flight booked to get a scouting mission in prior to season but due to a death in the family I had to switch my flight out to be at the funeral. That left only 3 days prior to the hunt open for me to scout. Long story short I put on almost 800 miles in 3 days, driving/glassing/driving/glassing until my right foot was about to fall off and my eyes couldn’t stay open anymore. Ran into a few hunters scouting and the reports were all similar... not much being spotted at all. One hunter had spoken to the biologist for the area and he was told this would be a great year to have used point guard (not encouraging to hear). I spent 6 hours between an AM and PM on top of the dog knobs glassing and never glassed up a single goat. I spotted 1 buck around 75” on day 1 of scouting and never found a bigger buck the entire time. Opening morning I went to where I knew he was hanging out and glasses him up right away. He was on private working his way to public and I was set up to intercept him when I had a couple elk hunters on atv’s come through. That idea ended up a bust. Went to a few other areas where I had seen some goats that I couldn’t get clear views of while scouting but found hunters in the general area of all of them. I’m not the kind of guy to intrude on others, regardless of if they’re after the same general animals or not. While scouting I did find a nice water source that had lots of goat sign all around it, no fresh tire tracks within 3 miles of it but never glasses up a goat. I decided to just go with it and spend the rest of my day in that area. About a mile out I spotted a white patch between some cattle out in the distance, pulled up the binos and saw a buck with a handful of ladies. I wanted to get a better look and began the long stalk with a strong crosswind and the sun at my back. 2 hours later I managed to get within 125 yards. It was an awesome stalk I’ll never forget and when I got there I realized I hadn’t seen much worth shooting and this would be a great memory, regardless of if he’s a wall hanger or not. Dropped him there and for him on ice within 45mins. Definitely not the biggest antelope in the world, in fact I’ve shot larger, but based on what I’d seen and heard he was big enough for me. Very large body, very small horns. His teeth were just about gone and his balls had shriveled up to almost the size of marbles. I’m guessing he’s very old but I’m not positive. Either way, awesome hunt and great memory! Thanks again everyone! Hope some true giants get dropped this year!

When I'm trying to hunt but my cat wants to make friends.....

we are off. hunt starts in the morning

I heard that Bashas owns Food City. I like Bashas, they put stores in towns that had nothing like San Carlos and Springerville. My mom worked for them as a cashier for a few years and one day a customer came up a little short so she covered it. He boss read her the riot act and a few weeks later Eddie Basha stopped by the store and my mom read him the riot act. He just laughed and said he probably would have done the same thing and told her she had a job there for as long as she ever wanted one. Mom passed in 2017 at 87 and always talked about "Eddie" and what a great guy he was.

I just had a memory flash and confirmed dates with my nephew. 1978 we were hunting turkey and his mom had to be rushed to Springerville because she went into labor pains. April 18, 1978..........

Regardless of a conviction or not, the antlers belong to the AGFD now. They will likely keep them for a while as evidence and eventually auction them anyway.

I'm pretty sure it goes on your record after the 5th year. That's how I remember mine showing up.

Pretty close.

Hey bro camp with us. A good friend has the tag. I know the unit really well. We have one tag in camp and several really good dudes coming up to help. I’m sure you would be welcome in our camp. Pm me if your interested.

I was one of the hunters from this last January that hunted ranch 2. I would hunt the ranch again in a second if everything worked out. Here are a couple pictures of the buck I ended up shooting. I can tell you that I missed a bigger buck more than once the night before I shot this one. I had a blast and the ranch is beautiful. I would be glad to answer any questions that I could if it mattered. I am out of town for a few days but I am connected.

Coues

Back in the early 1900's they had a mercantile in Ray/Sonora. I grew-up in Kearny, and there was still one of the Lebanese families doing business in town in the 60's, 70's, 80's...... I like the fact that Bashas is a local AZ success story. Small town immigrants who made a great life here in the good ol' USA! Really is a cool 'American' story! Good stuff! Edit: Wanted to give props to the 'other' Lebanese family I referenced above. Dick Haddad was his name. He was an awesome guy, very active in Ray/Kearny civics, school, etc.. Raised a great family too! Good folks.

when A. J. Bayless grocery failed Bashas' bought it out and gave all tenured employees the full benefits accrued at aj. eddie basha was as close to a saint as the local economy has ever seen. most of the remote stores started off as bayless. everyone was surprised when eddie kept the A J fine foods line-it was 2 managers of A J Fine Foods that guided and packed my bull out of hells half acre in 2006. johnny has had a tough time of it but they made it though the toughest stretch. i spent a little time at work with Eddie circa 1984 and will always have respect for that family. lee

I doubt they will try to sell work boots at AJ's Fine Foods.

you left the most inportant part out. The best way to get to unit 10 from flagstaff is I-40 ;)

That belongs in the boating navigation section...

I have used OnX for about 7 years. It was initially recommended to me by an NMDGF regional supervisor. I drew an antelope tag and the public land ranch I was assigned to had many pieces of private and indian owned land within it's boundaries. He told me there was a trial offer available and if I used it for that hunt I would be so impressed I would purchase the product. He was correct. I am still very happy with the product and have never looked to switch to anything else. I run it on a garmin GPS, not a phone. I have never used any of the other available programs.