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Hunted this buck for 8 strait days. I seen him scouting 1 time before my hunt. Never to see him again for 2 strait weeks. The times I did see him he was way out in a completely different location miles away. The buck was always on the move... For the few seconds I did have to see this buck I could tell he was an awesome deer; Deep forks, great mass and height! I called this deer “Ghost” he was unpatternable.. The buck never stayed in a certain area like almost all bucks do. This buck knew that staying in any given area for too long was bad news for him. Super smart deer! To make things even more difficult he was the only buck in the dam area not chasing does😂 Including scouting and my hunt I only seen this deer 3 times and the only time I seen him was at the last 10 minutes of shooting light; completely nocturnal animal. Below is the story on how it went down... I spotted a buck at 1 mile at dawn. When I put the spotting scope on him I could tell it was a shooter buck(not ghost). The buck was herding and rutting these does hardcore. It didn't take me long to pack up all my gear and start closing the distance on them. I get to a half mile of them and these deer rutted over the top of this hill away from me. I didn't wanna run right into them and spook them so I gave It about 30 minutes and just glassed the two drainages that came out from where they dropped into. I did this to make sure that they didn’t escape out of this pocket when I ventured into it. They never did so I headed over to the deer trail and started track them to where they went, I pursued them extremely slow because I knew I could get really close hunting this method. I tracked them for half a mile when I noticed ears walking towards me 100 yards away. I get down on my belly and just watch these deer get 20 yards to me and feed right around me lol they had no clue I was there. So then I see a 3x3 buck about 150 yards away and I grunted at him to try and pull him closer. He came in 20 yards and had a stand off with me and had no clue where the grunting had come from. He was looking around for 10 minutes right in front of me. The buck then started grazing and eventually met up with the does that were right in front of me. It was at that moment that I started hearing grunting and trampling like a stampede lol I just got ready on my belly cuz I knew something was lurking in front of me lol. I pulled my muzzleloader and have it on my side as I'm laying in my back. I then see about 25 deer within 30 yards of me. All I could see was little heads pop up out of nowhere. Then behind the does herding them up is a different buck than what I had seen this morning. An even bigger buck had pushed the big buck I seen this morning out of the group in the span of like an hour. This buck happened to be my target buck. "Ghost" I called this buck ghost because this buck I tried hunting for 7 days with no success. The smartest creature I have hunted lol. He had no pattern to hunt and never showed himself. He was nocturnal. But anyways this buck was pushing the does, nudging them in the rump and grunting like a mad man😂 I got on my knees as he got 50 yards from me and I let him have it. It took me 3 shots to bring that bad boy down. Here he is fellas, an awesome desert mule deer with a muzzleloader🤙🏽

Asking $1200 obo $1000 Firm Just in time for the HAM hunts.

Filled my 2019 tag yesterday. Glassed him up on a hillside in the afternoon following a doe around. Took him at 350 yards with my 270. To date he's the best buck Ive ever taken. Going to get him mounted for sure. Glad I decided to take Friday off rather than go to work.

Shot a pretty cool bird in the desert a couple weeks back. She was a little leucistic. Never seen one like this before. Check out the feet and topknot color. Hard to see or much different it is in photos; in person it was pretty wild.

I think Konex outdoors was making a stay on neoprene for these, might wanna google and check their store

yeah yours stinks. i thought it was a good read.

There are plenty of diesel technicians here

Looking to find this buck come January...not a monster but I like the character.

I had two days to kill to try and get on the board for 2019. The mule deer hunt didn’t pan out (so many does- not a single buck to be seen) and with the wife and middle son already successful, I bundled up and did some solo treestand time near Payson. I had no idea it was going to be so windy.. Day 2, at 4:20 pm this guy walked in with his girlfriend. Shot was a tad high, he ended up going about 120 yards. Luckily not so much downhill from the shot. I backed out and waited at the top for two hours- tracked him in about an hour (thank God I found him before the storm really kicked in) I still had to carry him up to the truck- and uphill - and at 8pm the sky just opened up and started with hail. I realized I’m not 30 anymore.. Didn’t have time for pics in the field- got a group photo at the house.

Well it all started when my credit card got hit for $300 from G&F and i knew that could only mean one thing. I wont even say how many points i had because it is just ridiculous how lucky i got but i had under 10 points. I had very little experience in the unit i drew so i knew it was going to be a lot of work and hours beating up my truck and sweating in the heat but that was fine with me. I met some great guys from this site and some of the past hunters in the unit that really helped me out a lot. I don't need to mention names but they know who they are and i appreciate all of the help. Scouting proved to be much more challenging than I expected. My unit received record rainfall which was very good for the area but it did seem to spread some of the animals out. Fast forward to the hunt and opening morning had me and my hunting buddies on the same glassing spot we were at the weekend before and after about an hour i glassed up a nice Ram. My goal for the hunt was to shoot a nice mature Ram and this one looked great to me so off i went on my first and last stalk on a desert sheep. Made it to 400 yards and waited forever for them to stand back up because they were out of view from my shooting location. Once he stood up I started shooting away and hit him a good three times. He went out of view but the guys i had watching him said he was hit hard and after a couple minutes the boys yelled in the radio that he was dead. I couldn't be happier with him as he is a great ram but it is a little bitter sweet that it is all over. Time to start putting in for Rocky Mountain Sheep.... G&F aged him at 8 years old. Thanks again to my family, and friends for all the help. Hope everyone enjoys the pictures.

A great time at the cabin with my brother and good friends. Opening day in the low 20’s , no snow, clear and sunshine. Couple of bear cubs hanging around the cabin , never saw mama.

https://www.fieldandstream.com...the-meaning-of-life/ What Is the Meaning of Life? David E. Petzal shares the most valuable lessons he’s learned during his lifetime in the outdoors By David E. Petzal December 25, 2019 I’ve been around awhile. When I was born, there were men alive who had fought in the Civil War. I can remember bits and pieces of World War II, and I clearly remember life before television. I bought my first rifle in 1956, began shooting in organized competition in 1958, and got my first hunting license in 1960. After 70-some years of fart­ing around on this planet, mostly out of doors, I can’t exactly tell you the meaning of it all. But as it says in the insurance ad, I know a thing or two because I’ve seen a thing or two. Here’s some of it. 1. Hunters, more than other people, are reverential of life because they know far better than others how difficult it is to stay alive, and how ­suddenly life can end. 2. There’s no worse experience than putting down a dog. She would die for you, and now she’s dying because of you. 3. Big-game hunting is the great leveler among men. Either you can climb the mountain or you can’t; either you can shoot or you can’t; ­either you hold up your end or you don’t. Money, education, and social standing have no ­bearing on any of this. 4. Nothing in the outdoors gets your attention like a grizzly paw print with water still oozing into it. 5. According to anthropologists, Neanderthals never built big fires to sit around and swap stories, which is one of the reasons why they vanished and our ancestors did not. 6. The best judges of ­character I have met are African trackers. Their assessments are ­brutal. One hunter with a drinking problem became “Bwana Ginni Bottle.” Of Robert ­Ruark they said, “He has bad legs and much fear.” To ­paraphrase Hamlet: Of all the people in the world, you do not want a bad review from them. 7. The great, unspoken allure of true wilderness, in an era when we are trying to remove all risk from life, is that if you screw up in it, you can die in it. 8. When The Moment comes, your armored, shockproof, waterproof, SEAL-approved $75 butane survival lighter will go click…click…click…click…click…click…. 9. Scent is the great memory jogger of the outdoors. If you smell an elk ­wallow, your hair will stand up ­every time you scent one thereafter. 10. You may have the hardest body in your gym, but you’re not going to be able to keep up with someone who runs up mountains as a regular thing, even if they’re 30 years older and smoke three packs a day. 11. Ecstasy can be defined as how you feel when you’ve gotten your critter and can stay in your sleeping bag while all the other poor ­bastards who haven’t ­gotten theirs are rolling out at 3:30 a.m. 12. Hunting and fishing are, at their core, sports of solitude, and they will end when enough sh!theads decide that nothing is worth Being Out of Touch. 13. Some of the ­greatest thinking takes place in bathrooms. If I’m told by people that they read my stuff in the john, I take it as a ­compliment. 14. Being afraid is a waste of time, in the outdoors or anywhere else. What bites you in the a$$ is going to be something you never worried about. 15. There comes a moment in the life of every hunter or angler when intuition blossoms and they Catch On. In my case, this held for hunting but not for flyfishing. I became an acceptable caster but remained baffled about everything else. If this happens to you, accept it. You don’t have a choice. 16. True marksmanship requires a tranquil mind. I’ve never met an angry man who was a good shot. 17. When Homo sapiens is ­finally gone, Earth will give a shudder of relief and clean ­itself up again, just as it ­always has, over and over, in its 4.6 billion years. 18. A long time ago, I read the words: “Like most brave men, he was also kind.” Experience has proved this out. The sons of b!tches you meet usually have a yellow streak, in addition to being sons of b!tches. 19. I’ve been writing for Field & Stream since 1972 and am proudest of the fact that every time I’ve made a mistake, the readers have caught it. 20. Hospitals ask you to describe your pain on a scale of one to 10, with 10 being unbearable. There is an 11, and you can experience it on any horseback ride longer than one-tenth of a mile. 21. If you want to be a legend in your own time, never say a word about your accomplishments; let others do it for you. 22. “Thank you” is the most ­useful phrase in any language. That’s why I learned to say it in Spanish, French, German, Italian, Swedish, Shona, Russian, ­Kikuyu, and Afrikaans. 23. For those who would be writers, here is a golden rule: Keep your big mouth shut and listen. 24. In New Zealand, a South ­African told me that the reason he hunted was to be able to stand alone in the wilderness and be reminded of his own insignificance. Ted Trueblood used to do the same thing by letting the campfire die out as he sat watching the stars. 25. If you’d like to know the true worth of a person, watch how they deal with major disappointment on a big-game hunt. 26. Whenever you leave ­wherever you’ve been, turn and look one last time to engrave in your mind what it looks like, because you’ll probably never see it again. 27. What I’d like as my epitaph: “He had just enough intelligence to appreciate it all.”

Opening morning 12A West we got a late start but she tagged out @ 7:50 AM. Kids hunts are so much more fun than my own!

It's been a few years since I shot a .260, but with mine I found that basically any powder that would work in a .308 Winchester will work in a .260, 4895, 4064, Varget. At one time I was shooting a 6.5x55 and a .260 at the same time and I was using a mild load of VV-N-150 for both.

What the heck difference does it make what someone else uses point guard for? You didn't draw the tag so it really doesn't matter. The only real effect it would have is if it's a max point guy and you won't draw that tag next year unless your in that pool.Just does not make since what folks complain about. And yes I realize I am complaining lol.

I bought mine out of Prescott can’t think of the name, but when I get home I’ll post it. Anyone need one for angle I have one for sell like new! I bought a straight eye piece and that’s the reason for selling the angle cover.

That's a good price , shouldn't last long.

1 sucks for quality.

If you dont kill the coyote then the pelt will run off. The 6mm's are fine in the heavier weights. Your gun sounds good to me. Enjoy.😃

Same question, same response. A goal of >80” in AZ is achievable in almost any unit in the state. Pick the hunt experience you want. Unit 10 - A chance at finding a super big buck, potentially shooting long range, lots of other tag holders. 5BN - Same potential for a huge buck. Not as many tags but still gets plenty of attention from guides and outfitters. More vegetated areas. Unit 9 - Hunt the trees and fewer people. 19B - Lots of private’s land you buy access to and have all to yourself. Highly recommend doing muzzle loader instead of rifle in this unit. 5A - Very few tags. Open country. Not nearly as much hype as 5BN. 3A / 3C / 4A / 4B - Lower on the radar but plenty of opportunity for a buck over 80”. Not as big of a circus as the more popular units. Units I would stay away from 1, 2A, 2B, 2C, 3B, 7, 8, 19A (unless you do archery), anything in the 30’s. One thing to note, they reduced antelope tag numbers significantly in several units this year. When you look at gohunt it will show the draw percentages from this year but will not reflect point creep from reduced available tags. Further complicating things is the fact that many premium tag holders point guarded tags last year so they are back in the draw this year. With our current moisture conditions it’s very possible we will have similar conditions which some say lead to smaller overall horn growth. I will say this, I highly encourage you to use those points. Between aggressive tag numbers, dwindling habitat, and high predator numbers I think antelope are really struggling in this state. AZ’s days as the antelope Mecca of the world may be numbered.

I missed a nice buck in 24b today during the hard rain. I thought the shot was perfect but it just gave him a haircut. Almost a perfect Christmas present.

Went out in November with a good friend and his daughter who had a tag. She toughed out the wind to find and harvest a good looking buck! Enjoy the video

I haven't seen many goats off bloody basin since the brooklyn fire.

I've been keeping hides and have had gloves for friends and slippers for the women in my life made out of them. Here's my wife's mittens, they're warm!

Casey shooting at him!!