Leaderboard

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

I was fortunate to have had a chance at this buck with the AZ heat last week and the moon. Extremely poor movement during the day and it was a grind. Scouting him in the summer and he was the #2 buck. Found this guy up and feeding in the evening in the heat for the first time in 3 days. Got set up, he fed my way, and I made a poke. 6.5 PRC, 130 Berger VLD. He's 1/4" shy of 30" wide...

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.

3 girls 3 junior elk tags 3 days to hunt 3 shots fired 3 elk at the meat locker = Happy dude(dad) Once again we were blessed to get 3 junior elks tags for our daughters in 23. So we loaded up Thursday and headed up. I kept telling myself this was going to be a lot of work but we had Abbey(15) Becca (12) Elizabeth (12) (twins) Cousin, Nephew, Brother, son, wife so I felt the help was there but still a lot of work. Opening morning Abbey chose to go with Josh and my wife and I was to take the twins. Bottom line if Josh is guiding you will get opportunity guaranteed. Well it happened early Abbey Shot her cow 250 yards by 7 am. I was so excited when I got the text but just as sad that I was standing next to her when she shot. In the end I'm happy for her although I'm selfish in my thoughts. So we headed back to the ranch to celebrate and take the rest of the day off and enjoy the time. Saturday we took the twins out , I found the elk again but there was a lot of pressure although nobody was banging away in that area there was a lot of people driving the roads. So we opted to go to another spot and low and behold on the way over their 5 cows crossed the road in front of us and we were able to get ahead of them pull over and make are way out in front of them and Elizabeth made her shot and the party was over. 100 yards at 7 am, so we took the rest of the day off to celebrate and just relax we did look in the evening but as far as I was concerned the pressure was off we had 2 elk down until those puppy eyes came to me and said Dad I sure hope I get a chance at one. I said challenge accepted. Sunday morning Abbey found the elk right by the house so Becca and I slipped in to them and they had back doored us down a thick haired over canyon so I blew 1 soft cow call and the bull responded right away so we had to move around to get the shot and was able to get set up fast and Becca sent one , although I had ear protection on I heard the thump but it didn't look like a great shot so we backed out for about 1.5 hours and came back in with help. I looked long and hard and could not find blood and Becca was really taking it hard then all of a sudden I smelled the smell of elk and I pulled a lighter out lit it up started following the scent and there she laid about 60 yards from the shot. 6:45 am 265 yards. I let out a yell that would curl your hair. Becca was very proud of her first elk heck all my girls were happy. But I have to tell you honestly there is nothing better for me to see it in their eyes. Passion just like me. I'm far from mister kill everything maybe 30 years ago I was But now to be able to take the kids out and watch them light up like a Christmas tree when they harvest makes all of it worth it. My wife and I are truly blessed and thank are lucky stars for the blessing's bestowed upon us all 4 of them. Thanks for the read and good luck out there, Pete

Back when I found out I got drawn for the 12BW late hunt, a buddy of mine, who was going to help me, got drawn for the same hunt. I didn't want to put either of us in a situation of having to decide who got to shoot first, so I reached out to a dear friend who used to guide in that area, before he let his license expire. One thing lead to another, and he was planning to go with me for the first half of my hunt. He was talking to guides who used to work for him and we developed a solid plan. My only goal was to find a mature buck that made me happy. My son, Jacob, was going to skip school and join me on this hunt, so he could experience some amazing mule deer hunting, after falling in love with Coues on his October youth hunt. This was also a reward, of sorts, for him for having straight As in his Basis School up here in Flagstaff, as well as for working his butt off to get his black belt. Jacob and my buddy hit it off great and developed a "grandpa-grandson bond" of sorts that actually put a tear in my eye more than once. My kids never knew my dad and our daughter had a similar relationship with another great guy in town. The following is a piece of an actual conversation Sunday morning: Wildlife Manager: “I’m guessing you’re one of those people who have higher expectations for yourself than you need to.” Me: “You’re not the first person to tell me that.” That was a big part of the story of my hunt. We had a great time as a trio. I got to forget about several things, including another looming government shut down, learn to hunt mule deer in the sage and deep canyons, see some rutting bucks in action, and watch a relationship build. I reconnected with myself and with what drives me. I found another piece of my own “why” again, after devoting most of the last year to get Jacob through his black belt journey. On the third morning of the hunt, we glassed up a herd of deer with two solid bucks. We put a plan in place and started the stalk. We got to within 150 yards and got set up. When the does and fawns finally stepped away, I slowly squeezed the trigger and hit my first AZ buck since 2005. “You hit him! He hunched!” was what I heard. At the hit, he ran around a tree and kept running for another 100 yards or so, so we thought. I had an ethical obligation to put him down quickly so he wouldn’t suffer. The second shot dropped him in his tracks at 178 yards. We gave him the proper time to expire, then we celebrated and took amazing trophy pictures. As we were field dressing and caping him, something hit me. There was no entrance/exit wound from the first shot. My buddy walked back to bring the truck closer and found the first buck I shot, behind the tree. My heart sank, but I knew what was necessary. Integrity matters more than anything else in my world. My dad hammered it into me and I’ve hammered it into my kids. I called AGFD and reported myself. The Wildlife Manager was extremely cool and we had a great talk. He understood what happened in my situation. We’ve all seen fatally wounded game run a long ways and act normal. They are tough animals, after all. I was beating myself up, not blaming him for throwing the book at me if that’s what he chose, considering I'm a Federal agent and a Hunter Ed instructor. That’s when we had the exchange above. He’s not wrong. In the end, I got to keep the first buck, he confiscated the second buck, and I was given a written warning because I self-reported my error. It was an honest mistake. Choosing the harder right over the easier wrong always prevails. Our morning Devotional before we left camp was about overcoming adversity through integrity. It was meant to be. I was sad to see the bigger-antlered buck confiscated, but the first buck (smaller antlers) was bigger bodied. We’ll have more meat in the freezer and still a great, mature buck. I can look at him on the wall with pride because he is, in fact, my first mule deer buck, he’s still a great buck, and I did it right. The meat from the second buck will go to families in need in the Fredonia area, and that makes me happy. I’m hoping to have the second buck back in March after attending the seized-assets auction. I have to have both to fully appreciate the whole story. Jacob filmed most of this hunt and will be figuring out how to put a meaningful video together with the footage he captured. He found a new passion and the video will be shared when it’s ready. He also worked hard to make this hunt a success and was involved in every aspect, including cooking, cleaning, filming, ranging, glassing, field dressing, caping, and packing out meat. Jacob glassed up and photographed this smaller 4x3. The 2nd (confiscated) buck...

LOL, this is my last hunt of the year.

I usually prefer wide vs tall, but that tall buck with the distinctive drop up front is freaking amazing. A buck like that could easily become an obsession.

Great Buck ! The Kaibab is a fantastic place to be for sure !

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...

Friends late bab buck.

in my humble opinion you would not need any distribution hitches for that load with that truck. In fact taking too much weight off the hitch can be more dangerous than carrying that weight. If it were me I would give it a tow without anything to Rye or Globe and see if you are comfortable. If you do end up going with something the EZ lift system worked well for me with a 7K trailer with 550 tough weight. I would invest in a heavy duty hitch however.

I have too Lance including lots of poor light stacking. Was curious at some of the commenters experience as it appears there's a lot of guessing going on. I have the Meopta's...

I have compared the 15x56 Meopta (Cabelas) HD (which I own) to Swaro SLC 15x56 (both HD and non-HD) side by side for hours glassing up deer in the desert. My ratings: 1. Swaro SLC 15x56HD 2. Meopta 15x56HD (just because the outer 10% was a bit less clear and slightly "fish eyed") 3. Swaro SLC 15x56 non-HD For this price, it is a no-brainer to pick up the Meopta 15x56HD.

Except that I'm not LE. I know of three other people who made mistakes and reported themselves and all three had the same outcome. None of them were Federal or State agents. Same treatment. I made a mistake and I owned it. Simple as that.

Well, I couldn't hold out for long. My best scouted ram is down. Not the biggest or oldest in the unit, but my lifetime desert bighorn was taken at 8:30AM on my 33rd birthday. Most of my hunting partners, as well as my dad and brother all had a heavy, contributing hand to make this one special. More to come, but for now..

I'd buy these before I bought the non HD Swarovski. You can find them cheaper and I believe outperform the non HDs.

I have to be honest, I'm a little disappointed in our G&F on this one with the fact there is not a harsher consequence for these actions. I get the whole self reporting and accidents happen etc, and no offense to the poster here as you were prepared to suffer whatever was thrown at you, but if after waiting XX amount of years for a trophy tag and dumping two bucks and the only consequence is that I only get to keep one and I probably can't get away with it twice.... that seems like our G&F is setting up a 1X poachers playbook exemption. I don't know what the right consequence is for this but feels like there needs to be some deterrent.

You did exactly what was needed to be done especially with your friend, and son present.I am happy that things worked out good for you,but no matter if it went the other way you owned up that it was a mistake.My father was chief of law enforcement for AG&F from 1947-1972,and it seems like they didn't throw the book at you as much as they do now,but in the end we are all people, right or wrong.I have stories where dads guys would write themselves tickets for mistakes,and have heard horror stories of people self reporting.God bless you, for all that you did,and know that the wolves on here have always have something negative to say.

Congrats on your buck. It's a bit humbling to here your post, Reminds me we are all human. I'm skeptical though on some self reporting scenarios. Kudos to you for doing the right thing though.

There will be no GoFundMe page for any of my endeavors. I appreciate the support, but, no, I will not accept or set up a GoFundMe to help with my mistakes. I own those outright. I do, however, prefer how the WM worded it. After discussing the illegal deer, he corrected himself to say the "deer that exceeded your bag limit" and his point was to avoid pouring salt in an open wound and make me feel worse than I did at that point. I told him I appreciated his choice of words. Although it was an illegally taken deer, there was definitely no ill intent.

You did the right thing reporting it and that’s good of you man.

Great story and great lesson learned about doing the right thing. I almost had this happen 33 years ago on a WT hunt in 23. Saw 2 bucks feeding. Shot at one. Saw 2 bucks running away. Shot at one of them but missed, thankfully. Went to spot of 1st shot and found buck dead. It went down so fast and never saw the 3rd buck with the other 2. Congrats on your buck. I keep telling people anyrthing can happen on a hunt and it does.

My daughter has been working with her GSP with antlers in the yard and he finds them every time, so hopefully he is ready for the big leagues.

If you had modified the dogs name to "horny" she might have swallowed it.

I have shot a bunch of different CA Ridgelines. Every one has been a shooter.