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As I lay here in my tent, Mr. Buddy heater on low, 6" of snow surrounding us, camp 75% packed up....well...what can I say. Taylor is a badas$. We packed up Tuesday night and headed to Kaibab Wednesday morning. Rained the first 4 hours of the drive until we hit The Gap. We were ready for a 12 day mule deer marathon. Taylor was so excited to finaly be on the road.... The rain held off just long enough for us to set up camp, then started snowing. We tried to get some scouting in, but it started snowing hard enough we couldn't see 50 yards. So we headed back to camp for some dinner and a good night's sleep. Thursday morning, snowing up top, raining down low. Scouted down low, saw a couple "end of season" bucks tending does. Went up top in the afternoon, and battled the snow. Saw 3 more "end of season" bucks, but a lot of deer. Lots of smaller bucks too. With 2 minutes of "legal light" left as we were heading out...we saw an "opening day" buck. Only about 26" wide, but really tall, good forks, good mass, and a nice 6" sticker on his left antler off the G3. He would be our goal on opening morning....or so we thought. Opening morning showed clear skies, 19°, and snow covered hills above 7000'....and fog. Made glassing more than 100-200 yards impossible. So, we left the location we had seen the big buck for later, and went to a spot that has produced for us in the past. Got there just as the sun was breaking, and glassed up one of our "end of season" bucks and passed on him. I walked out on a point to glass some canyons and started picking deer out, from 200 to 2000+ yards away. Found a decent 4x4 @ 1575 yards, but across 7 or 8 canyons....no thanks. Found a 1 antlered 3 point, and I swear I saw 2 lions hightailing it. Couldn't get a good look, but definitely not deer running like that, and light tan. So back to the truck,and fog had burned off by 8:00. Decided to drive back and look for the big buck. On the way out, I was glassing every finger and cut....at 8:40...."there are some does.....ooh. And a buck. You might want to get out for this one....and grab the rifle....yeah, grab the rifle for sure." I range him, "430...dial 1.5MIL. He is moving....454, dial 1.7MIL. He is quartering away...he stopped...put one in him." BOOM! "He is down! Great shot!" We watched him for 10 minutes without so much as an ear twitch. Got landmarks, grabbed the packs, crossed two canyons, and definitely no ground shrinkage when we got to him. 5 hours of exhausting pack out. At the check station, they measured him at 31" inside spread, 33.25" outside. Taylor made short work of the late season, getting her buck about 1.5 hours into the hunt. And topping my biggest buck I have ever taken too. I am so proud of her, for the hard work she puts in shooting, for the positive attitude, for wanting to spend time with me, and her being such a great kid. I thank my wife too, for putting up with the time and money I put into hunting. And most of all, I thank God for allowing me my health, my wonderful family, and the beauty and the creatures he put on this earth.

My son Jake connected on a nice buck this weekend on a jr. hunt. He wanted a 3x3 and luckily we got eyes on this guy once the fog lifted on Friday. The pack out was tough on him (and me) but he hung in there.

Thank you all for the prayers! Surgery went well and she is resting.

Hey all, could take the time to say a prayer for Daughter Calgary ? She is having surgery today due to complications from her Lupus. We could sure us the prayers for her. God id good!

So convient for guys camping off the control road right off the 260 outside of Tonto Village. Guys could come by and load up their side by sides. So text for contact info and location? This weekend is going to be cold and wet...access to dry firewood priceless.

5-8" are forecasted in my unit for Friday. I have been waiting for Friday for at least 8 years now. Starting to get giddy.

Nice looking Brit! This is a great year to have a young dog to train and gain exposure to the birds!

forecasting up to 24 inches above 5500' Gonna be tough getting into elk camp on Friday.

At this point with the current weather forecast it appears the elk will be the favored team in the elk vs. hunters bowl. After the first day.......... hunter odds will continue to decrease.

Just a friendly word of advice to all for safety. As someone that drives Semi to So' Cal and back 4-5 days a week I see alot of Campers dissinegrated in the median. With pick ups overturned. I saw one last week and only one wall was still whole laying there. Its like a Semi trailer, there is nothing to them. I say get the best tires You can for them and slow down. I see at least one a month now for 4 years in pieces. ,and the pickups upside down in most cases. Same with boat tires. But seeing people going 80 with little tiny tires is a death trap...........BOB!

Can I get exact dimensions of the free sinks and free tool boxes? Pics of the tape measure and can you deliver? For free?

Congrats Lance, great buck. Sounds like you had a great time.

Did you score it?

Prayers sent. God is good.

Wow man!!!! Great buck!!!! I would put that buck right at 195”-200”. Unbelievable awesome buck, that’s what dreams are made of right there!!!

Prayers up from Yuma! May the Good Lord touch her with His healing hand!

Thanks for the kind words, I try to be humble around here anymore. When I posted him I didn't release how big he is. . Any way. It was Tuesday afternoon after work , we decided to hit a new idea. Got out there about 4 pm. We got to the spot we wanted and proceeded to glass. After a quick look and didn't see anything Hunter went around the corner to look and I set up the new doctors to give them a try. Went back to the 15s for a location and there was a deer with its head up in the tree. Tried to find him in the doctor's but field of view was small, back to the 15's. Noticed the deer was a 2 point with guards. Went to grab Hunter , while waiting for him I finally found a deer in the doctors, holly crap, it wasn't the 2 point, it was this guy, I started to shake a little, then Hunter looks at him and now were both a little over excited. He's at 477yrds, let's the first shot go, miss, takes a few steps then number 2 missed by inches. I love muzzle brakes , they have no clue where the bullets are coming from. He proceeds to walk to the left, over some rocks thru some tree's then we notice another 3 point, 3 bucks over there, don't shoot the wrong one I told him , he says is there a wrong. No Here he comes out of the tree walks 10ft and starts feeding on a bush, 562yrds, boom, that deer's whole body just shook . Drops instantly, slides down the hill. Spinned him. Picks his head back up after 10mins, then he put another one in him . Gets up dragging his butt goes 20yrds and dumps over, still moving alittle but no light left. long night waiting not much sleep for him. Went back in the am and found him 10ft away. Sorry about story and spelling not the best at it. Thanks to all

Just when we were hearing it was safe and the Outfitters would keep us safe

legalize it.

I would be all over that. Shoot a doe. Have it mounted with a big old buck on a pedestal together. Lovers.

All different cats in a month, had even more too in a month on some other cams

I have posted these before, apologies to those who have already seen them, but here are some 37B bucks my neighbor and I killed over the course of several years:

Alright well here goes nothin... Here is a few with the rifle.. And here is a few archery...

I killed a decent buck there in 2012 on January 2nd during the archery season. It is my first and only muley buck with a bow. It was super windy that day and it had the deer all messed up. I was able to approach to around 60 yards then waited for a doe to get up and move, taking the buck with her giving me a 40 yard broadside shot. I hit him slightly high and back but still got both lungs. He ran about 150 yards and hit the dirt. I was a happy camper! I was about a mile and a half from the truck so it was a pain in the butt to pack out the first load but I had help with the rest.