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Wanted to share an opening day buck I took during the October central Az coues Hunt. Enjoy and good luck to all the coues hunters still out there.

My wife tagged out on this awesome coues. After trying to get on a monster buck that we had located without any success my wife found this buck being chased by coyotes. I had glassee up the 3 coyotes earlier in the morning and wanted to shoot them but we knew that there were bucks on that hill side so we waited. When all of a sudden my wife yelled at me to come over to her and told me coyotes were chasing a buck. Once i put the BTX on him i knew he was a shooter. He was able to fend off the coyotes. Come to find out it was a buck someone we knew had blown off his hoof and could not relocate so he told us about him and his last where abouts and shoot him if we saw him so he wouldnt suffer a slow death. Thanks my brother and sister inlaw for thier help. Our camp went 6 for 6 this year

Thanks to the Arizona deer association for hosting a great camp. Met a lot of cool people up there. Opening day was windy and cold. I froze in our tent the night before, it was miserable. We were cold, tired, etc. saw nothing. next day the bulls were fired up. We got in on them early, but my son missed a 60 yard shoot. He shot 5 feet over its back. that afternoon we were gonna sit water, but they started screaming again. We left the water and chased them down. Son made a great shot, drilled her and she dropped. Crazy packout. We drug her to the highway, which wasn’t too far, then hiked back to the 4 wheeler and then drove back to the truck. We drove the truck up to the highway and then loaded her up, traffic and all. headed back to the ada camp for a steak dinner.

I'm 42 years old and new to hunting in general. I was always interested since moving to the West in the mid nineties but it seamed too intimidating for someone to start having no family or experience with it. I decided when I turned 40 that I was going to make a go of it and figure it what I need to do to hunt Deer. I moved to Sierra Vista for a job at this same time so I started reading the regulations and talked to the few guys that I knew who hunt. My daughter's friends dad, Kevin S. knows a lot about hunting in AZ and was willing to show me the ropes. He showed me how to glass, what gear I definitely needed, what can wait and what not to waste my money on. I bought a used 30-06 with a 3-9 power scope on it and started to practice first at the range then in more realistic scenarios (sitting on the ground, prone position, etc.). For the next six months I spent a lot of days in the mountains, glassing, scouting, reading the terrain and setting up a game camera. I really wanted to be prepared for the first day of the season. Sometimes I would glass for an hour and not see anything and other times it seamed that the deer were everywhere. I ended up drawing for the first week of the rifle season in 35A which was my first choice. I took the whole week off from work, determined to do everything I could to get a buck on my first time out. Long story short, I saw more hunters than deer the first 3 days and then saw only Does and Fawn after that. I ended up seeing one spike and the third to last day but never had a shot, I was bummed out and felt like all the work I put in was not going to pay off. Me and two other friends who also drew tags went out the second to last day to find that spike. The little guy came into their view and they took a shot but missed. He bedded down behind some rocks then took off when we tried to flank him. I decided to give it one more try on the last day (Halloween) in the morning. It was just me and one other hunter who agreed to spot for me since she had an opportunity on the spike the night before. We start glassing at first light and see nothing for the first 45 minutes. Just as I'm thinking this is a waste of time she calls out "Deer" then two seconds later "I see antlers"! My mood inconstantly changes and my adrenaline starts pumping, "where" I asked, I don't see anything. Then just about 250 yards away I see a couple of Does and a Buck walking on the hillside and it's the nicest buck I've seen in person. I steady my rifle and try to keep calm, I tell my partner "I'm taking the shot". I pull the trigger then look to see where he is. My partner says he ran off to the left and wasn't sure if I hit him or not. I glass for a while and don't see anything but the two Doe that were with him. "I must have missed" I told her, but let's go over there to double check. As I walk and scan the hillside I don't see a blood trail or any signs of a dead deer. I walk around a little more and look over the valley floor below and don't see anything. I leave and tell my buddy Kevin that I missed my one and only opportunity. He asked me how the deer behaved when the shot went off, my spotter said that he jumped up in the air "butt up" then bolted. Kevin then says "you hit him, go back out and look, I bet he's there. I take a friend out with me the next day, looking for this deer that I think may still be out there. Sure enough, we spot him about 150 yards from where I shot him. It is a beautiful 8 point buck who is going to be mounted in the wall of my game room. I really appreciate friends like Kevin S. and people on this forum that are willing to teach and share with novices like myself. Hunting can be an intimidating sport for those who didn't grow up around it and some out there give off the vibe that they don't want new people in the sport in fear that it leaves less tags for them. I understand that logic to some extent, I spent the first couple days glassing up only other hunters, but ultimately I think more people leads to more money and resources going towards conversation of wildlife and habitat. I never knew all the things that AZ fish and game do to help maintain healthy populations of wildlife in our beautiful state. I have a much better appreciation for nature and the animals we are fortunate enough to hunt and harvest. I can't wait for the next hunt.

On the fourth day trying to get on a herd of bachelor bucks, my daughter, Hunter was able to connect on a good desert muley in south east Arizona. Her buck grossed right at 150”.

Every one likes their vortex till it fails them. 😉

Hey I’ll come now if you don’t have anyone. 6238663972 call me. I got you.

Crazy day, nearly hit a WMAT trophy bull on my way in. Saw seven more bulls before light and got into 6 bull bugling before light. Saw close to 300 elk today. My up high trail cam pics. I will post the video ones later. One shot has 40+ elk in it. I went to check a camera only taking my and my camera. I ended up staying from 100 to dark. The bulls were bugling just a couple hundred yards from me and elk were hitting the water every 15 minutes. Once the main group of elk started coming in the horses got aggressive and pushed the wave of elk away about 515. I did pass on a 300 class bull today at 60.

About 15 years ago, I took a nasty fall over a wet rotten log. Landed right on the scope. I didn't even check it. Just switched to my main back up. Still had #3 just in case. Then, my cousin dropped his rifle and broke the top turret off. He carried my back up #2. We both killed later in the hunt.

Some of this guns kills

Are you interested in trading for the exact same gun, unfired in either 30-06 or 22-250?

opening morning, I went all in with going after that big bull from last night. With the heavy fog I snuck into the corner of the giant field to find somebody beat me to it. He parked right where they exited and entered the field. After a few cuss words, i wished them well and left the area. pic of the fog lifting I only saw one bull (more like a non-cow) ill be headed to the same spot if nobody is there in hopes of finding that big guy in a couple of hours. More Gratuitous turkey pics

If you shoot from unit A, into unit B, you are technically hunting in unit A. When you fire the gun, you are engaged in the act of hunting, even if your target is in unit B . Seems pretty straight forward to me.

Hunt harder, I really want a 22-250...but let me see if I can sell it first and if not...yes we can trade ok? thanks.

If you're gonna dial, in that budget, SWFA is the choice ..

I passed on this buck tonight. Nice buck, just not quite what I'm looking for.

Should be clam baking that thing

My strategy will be to fill out the app...double check the info...tripple check the info...write out a check for the correct anount...double check that amount....fill out mailing info to the correct address....double check that address...mail on friday Good luck on the draw

Hey guys, I'm new to unit 125 and I'm hoping someone can point me in the right direction for some places to start scouting. Not looking for anyone's honey holes, just some general areas.

Well, since you are in unit 125, you are not in Arizona. Go for it!

Sunday Scouting Headed out towards Vernon on Sunday. On my way crossing into 3b I see these guys. I love the irony of last day of the 3b muzzy dear hunt and I got these guys at 30 yards. I'm sure more than a few of the tag holders would have been happy to be in that position. I was in that end all morning only saw 1 elk (not Pictured) coming down the fenceline I was going up. He spooked at about 40 yards. Good fronts and mass, smaller frame. Turkeys were everywhere and dumb, I wondered why that isnt the case when I am hunting them. Im headed out to check cameras this evening and scout a bit before the hunt starts once I dwindled this pile of work that I have to do, (but dont want to)

Awesome find. I have a similar stash on my claim in the Bradshaws

well i just spent the last hour reading through the forum on MM and at the end all i could gather is that they just want the story laid to rest (they meaning those who were there) only they know what truly happenned and for the rest of us we should just enjoy pics of those magnificent animals and hope that we might someday see something of that caliber I think i would probably go into shock if i glassed something even close to that