Leaderboard

After eleven years I drew my 12 AW late tag. Due to health issues two of my three doctors said I should not go deer hunting. Fortunately one of my doctors said I could go but not by myself. I knew I had to hire a guide and I decided to hire Duwane Adams. Duwane has been guiding on the Kaibab for 40 years and knows every two track road and ridge to glass from. Usually a hunter gets one guide but I had three, Duwane, Rick Wyler and Johnny Wyler. I had never harvested a mule deer so I was looking forward to a fun hunt. In addition I had spent one day on the Kaibab in the past 35 years so I knew nothing about the unit. Opening day was cool and clear after 3 days of snow. They found a nice buck at first light but I missed the 440 yard shot. I was told the shots would be long and they were right. The rest of the first day were multiple sightings of nice 150 to 170 inch deer. I was looking for something better after waiting more than a decade. Days two and three were much the same seeing multiple bucks but passing on them. Monday, day 4 was clear and bright but the weather forecast was for high winds later in the day with snow for days 5,6,7 and 8. I was concerned about the weather and the possibility of bad and dangerous road conditions so there was some concern in my mind. Mid morning Johnny found a buck bedded in some oak brush. We could see the buck' right side but could not see his left side. We could not tell if he had 4 points on his left side. So we glassed for 40 minutes and finally Duwane said get the gun and shoot that deer. We ranged him at 350 yards and I took the shoot with the 270 WSM. I could not see anything but everyone said he was hit hard. He went behind a tree and we lost sight of him. We waited an hour and found him. The shot was good. I did not know how vast the Kaibab is. It is a tough hunt to scout for because the deer are migrating every day and a person needs to know where the deer are going and how they get there. One thing I wanted in addition to a great deer was to have a fun time with lots of laughs. I got all of that and more. Another thing that was important to me was not to feel any pressure in case I missed a shot, could not keep up with guides, or could not go to certain areas because of my health issues. Having three guides with me caused me some nerves early in the hunt having three people watching me shoot. In addition when I took the shot three of Duwane's friends including a former client were behind me. I was comfortable because we talked about my nerves a bit and they alleviated my concerns. I want to thank Duwane, Rick and Johnny for a great hunt and an enjoyable experience.

We were unbelievably blessed to harvest 3 beautiful Coues bucks this last week.We got quite a bit of footage of the 4 days we hunted to tell the story. We had our share of ups and downs with some bad weather and missed shots but gratefully filled our freezers. I think we learned from our mistakes and experience and will be better hunters because of it. Enjoy the videos! Day 1: https://youtu.be/IJKpsNoV6_U Day 2: https://youtu.be/WRmRH8ZyINI Day 3 and 4: Coming Soon!

I was fortunate to take my ram mid day on December 2nd surrounded by friends and family. Special thanks to my dad who scouted for me and burned miles of roads and glassed for hours.......As you all know, it was the hunt of a lifetime. He wasn't the biggest ram out there, but he is perfect to me. Sheep slow motion.xspf

My brother and I just returned from Az from our first Coues hunt! Although the travel was treacherous and long, the hunt was amazing!! Lots of deer and we found two bucks we are very happy with for our first of what I hope will be many! thanks to many of you on this site for your tips and advice! (Not sure why the one photo is sideways?)

This morning I was able to find a really cool mulie tucked away in a wind break. Glassed up a bunch of WT does and some smaller bucks but no shooters.

Not much to the story. Had a great hunt, scouted some big bulls before the weather came in. We saw more elk on this hunt than any year in the past 6 years. I passed a few bulls, but with another storm on the way we decided to shoot anything we could. I shot this bull Tuesday night out of a huge herd. Had my family there for the recovery. Shot was 125yds with an xbolt 300 wsm 165gr sst. Bull never took another step.

Made a little highlight reel of the coues bucks I've gotten on cam over the years. All in Southern Arizona. Hope you all enjoy!

Cool bucks. Thanks for sharing

That Dodge looks like a great trail rig! I'm surprised nobody has bit on these yet. Price seems right on both.

My thought on quail is I don't make a deer run before I shoot it, why would I make a quail fly? lol

^ this. I like the whitetail you killed but I’m not gonna lie that gnarly old muley buck you put a pic of made me tent up a bit.

Born and raised in what used to be some of the best quail hunting in the state and I shoot quail on the ground from opening day until the last😂

Belted magnums do not have to head space on the belt. I do not neck size any hunting load. It’s been my experience that when I partially size(i.e. shoulder bump/ i.e. head spacing on the shoulder) that I am also partially resizing the base also regardless of whether it’s belted or not. This has worked for me for many decades and I don’t see a reason to switch now. I agree that a belt is not needed but whether a cartridge has a belt or not does not affect my decision.

Here’s my kaibab buck from the early hunt this year. Just Dad and I in camp. It was an awesome trip! Hope I don’t have to wait 9 more years to do it again...

I know of some BRUTES from the late strip hunt. And one was by a lady that is just unbelievable. But not a Kaibab hunt. I know 5 other people who were on the 12AE or 12AW late hunts that all killed too. Good bucks, a couple over the magic 180", one of them pushing 190". Still waiting on a photo from AZKiller for a buck he was chasing, and tried to get us on, that was reportedly killed. Here is Taylor's buck again. STILL in disbelief at how fast it happened.

Friends late bab buck.

Im jealous, I need to make it to Kansas one of these years for a nice whitetail. That is a very cool buck, huge congrats.

Thank you for you time in helping with the search. I know the family appreciate’s all the efforts. This is my cousin and I know they are overwhelmed with all the volunteers and support. I can’t even imagine the hurt and pain they’re are going through. I just wanna hug my kids a little tighter and appreciate every second I have with them.

He's doing one of those Instagram two day teaser things. Once he post a full picture. I'll post one. It's a really good bull. (He does wear flat brim hats, shoots a 6.5 creedmore, wears kuiu, crispi boots and gets abused thoroughly from me for it)

Little more than a week I’ll be in 35b hunting the late rifle hunt.

Sent you a PM a couple weeks ago

I've used barnes 140 gr xpb bullets out of my 357 for the last couple ham tags I've had. I reload but federal and barnes both make factory ammo with the 140 xpb.

I’d have a hard time passing that muley!

I'll be going down there like I have for the last 25 years. Guys if something bad happens to me down there...I want you to remember that happened to me doing what I love most! Hunting and helping others get their big coues! God bless you all and good luck on your hunts. 516.mp4

I tried to send you a PM but you are filled up! Have some scoop you may or may not have heard already about 41W. Let me know... That coues tag don't need to go in the can, but that would be a good time to use Point Guard if you got it.