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Went out with some friends to help hunt javalinas and this guy shows himself at 2 hours before sundown. Put on the decoy and made a stalk around a mountain. Came around a corner and was face to face with the buck at 50 yards. I believe he never ran because I had the decoy on. Perfect hit on a beautiful 4x3 and he didn't go more than 80 yards. Another awesome hunt with my friends. #nobusiness

My dad, cousin and I wrapped up the late coues hunt. My dad shot his buck with one shot at 500 yards. Mine was one shot at 430. We looked over a lot of bucks and had a blast while doing it. I am grateful to still be able to hunt with my dad. He follows me into some gnarly country. He was able to watch my shot hit home and I was able to do the same for him. Memories that will last a lifetime.

I think the commonality of both of these bills are hunter success. Archery hunters sitting water are affective. I don’t buy the rancher bit. G&F needs revenue On a side note. Bucks will still come in after a quad drives a water tank. No reason to get worked up over. lastly, cattle will lay on a tank all dang day! Lazy bastards and I think this will hold up wildlife from watering.

Story of my first deer. (Shortened) After glassing, and stalking other bucks I eventually found myself at the top of a ridge overlooking a wash filled with cattle. As soon as my eyes focused on a calf I saw the white bottom of a 2 point buck jump behind a bush. I briskly started walking to get even with the buck as I was on top of the ridge and he was in the bottom of a wash. I was using an ultimate predator decoy, a silhouette of a doe that I Velcro on my bow, to hopefully lure in the rutting buck. I chased him from ridge to ridge til eventually I cut him off and waited for him to walk right in to me where the wash ended. Seconds after stopping my movement he emerged from behind a bush at about 65 yards. His eyes immediately locked on me, the doe decoy, and began walking right towards me. I ranged the cactus 17 yards in front of me that he would have to go around. I drew my bow without him noticing because of the decoy. When he approached the cactus he turned broadside to go around it and that’s when I let the arrow fly. The Rage broad head penetrated deeply into his vitals from what I could tell at the moment. Instantly blood spurted out of him and he took off down the wash he came from. After waiting an hour I started tracking. After finding little to no blood I eventually made my way back up the wash where I thought he was. I found a large puddle of blood and 10 feet farther there he was; crashed in the wash. I had finally killed my first buck and it was an archery otc hunt. It took a lot of hard days, sleepless nights, and practice to get it done but I did it. Super happy for my first buck. He’s not a monster but for my first deer I can’t complain. Thanks everyone for all the tips and advice. I couldn’t have done it without y’all. 9F8FCEC8-3952-4732-83AF-844D2E2DF364.MOV

Nice.

people that consider going to the local dog park as being out in nature control what goes on in our forests and deserts. pathetic

Spend some time around beaverhead in 27. You'll be sure to see some Ron. Unit 1 is starting to get over run with them too near the 27/rez border. Just so happens that bighorn sheep inhabit the exact same place as the FERAL horses in 1 and 27. Would we rather see bighorn sheep or feral horses on the landscape? there are around 70k bighorn sheep in the country vs 9.2 million horses, around 50k of which are FERAL, not wild.

About 30 yds passed your effective range.

Man, this topic went south fast! Love it! I am a horse owner and grew up in a ranching family and I HATE the feral horse plague. Cattle are regulated. When a cow escapes, the rancher loses money. Does it still happen? Yes. There are a lot of people that make money rounding up rogue cattle and selling them because the have monetary value. Horses are not native, plain and simple. AZBH88, do you shed a tear when you see people mowing down herds of FERAL hogs? If horses looked like hogs, nobody would blink an eye if they were shot

It's back! I'm sure it will be a while before we can actually purchase one due to the demand, but I'm definitely buying one. It looks like they did a great job keeping the good looks of the original Python in the new Python. For a Python it's reasonably priced. For a normal high end revolver, it's a little much!

The burros and horses are just stockpiled food for when the economy gets to rough in my book.

I don't post on here much but like most of you I get on just to see cool pics of cool bucks. I feel this is a buck many would enjoy to see. Luck: when preparation meets opportunity. That’s the best way I can describe this hunt. Due to some life events I didn’t not have time to scout much this year. I actually missed the first day of the hunt and the second day committed to helping a friend fill his tag on the one day he had free. We had some luck filling his tag with a nice 90ish buck then it was game on for me and my tag. It would be a solo hunt for the rest of the season which I mostly do and prefer in most ways. I decided I would hunt a spot that I nicked named “The Hole”. It’s a spot I have looked at in previous years, one years was covered with decent buck, then some years I have a hard time turning anything up. I had never taken a deer there but knew it could hold a good one since it was a “hole”. This spot is not hard to access but I knew it’s a spot hunters overlook and I call it “The Hole” because, while it’s not that hard to access and not that far of a hike, it’s a pain in the butt to hike in given the brush and terrain. The only good glassing spot is pretty uncomfortable and with an all-day sit during an early season you WILL get burnt. I get to the glassing spot with a good 30min sit to cool down before its even light enough to start glassing. This is done for a reason as while most of what I glass from here is a good 1000 yards away, one of the better bucks I had seen in years prior was on a small ridge just in from of the glassing point about 350 yards away. As most of you know that darn close to get to Coues especially just to glass so I knew getting in there in the dark was a must. I sat there and set up the glass on the tripod and started glassing before there was much light to even see anything, thinking ‘Well it’s about that time when lots of hunters are just waking up and the deer are the most active’. Through the low light I make out the form of a deer’s body on the ridge just in front of me at 375 yards. I make out some antlers and continued to watch as the light began to make it easier to see. Due to the subdued light I couldn’t tell exactly what he was and being the first deer that morning I began looking around to see what else may be out. For about 15-20 min I looked around for more deer and not seeing any other and I kept going back to the buck I saw. He was slowly feeding uphill as I was getting a better look. I could not see his main beam on one side so I thought he was a big 2 on one side and a 3 on the other. To be honest I still wasn’t sure it was a buck I wanted to shoot to end my hunt so quick. Finally got an angle seeing it was, what I thought, a good 3x3. This look was just after coming back to him and I thought well that looks like a good buck maybe another one showed up. The decision was made at this point to shoot but it took a bit to find a place to set up, the buck only being 350 yards now. While getting the gun set up the deer disappeared on me. It was now maybe 15 min before sunrise, yes that buck was on his feet for just a short while in the daylight. The last spot I saw him was on the edge of a large brushy patch so I figured he was in there somewhere. The wind was howling to and he was on the shaded side from the wind so it made no sense for him to leave, my gut told me hes still there. I watched the brush for about 45 minutes and I catch the buck up for just a few seconds as he shifted in his bed. No shot before a bedded back down, but now I knew where he was and could make out bits of his antlers through the brush. I made sure the gun was ready and got the phone scope set up to film the shot and the wait began. I waited for about 45mins and at was getting back on the gun to make sure it was ready. Well I looked in the scope and there he was standing. He was now looking over his shoulder and looked uneasy. Not knowing if he was about to bolt I decided to bag the filming and take the shot. At 350 yards I felt 100% confident on the hit but watch to see if anything runs off the ridge and nothing showed up. I gather my gear, make the short hike across the small canyon and find this. When I pull him out of the brush he just got bigger. I did not see all the mass, extra points, and thought how stupid I was in thinking I may pass. I was gitty for a while and got to work. The pack-out was heavy and sucked but I loved every minute of it. Yes, luck had a lot to do with it but my preparation, previous knowledge and opportunity all aligned for this hunt. I've had the privileged to take some great buck, working a lot harder to do so, but this is my best. Sorry for the long read that did.

You don’t have to have 15s. A lot of guys swear by them but not 100% needed to find deer.

I’m not sure if it’s been said, but a tripod for your binos is the single most important tool you can have. More so then your rifle. Tasco 7x42’s on a tripod will find more game then swaro’s being hand held any day. I’d just rent a tripod and swaro 12’s from one of the rental places. 12’s will be better for you if you’re just learning to glass, 15’s can be a little short on field of view so you’ll move around too much and that exactly what you don’t want to do.

It used to be common to see border patrol with a whole gang of illegals pulled over. I have not seen that in many years. I'm not worried at all about taking my family out camping and I have little ones. Yes there is still traffic but nowhere as bad as it used to be and for the most part they want nothing to do with you anyway. I'm mostly familiar with 30b, 35a and also would not hesitate to go for 35b or the 34s. Not to say any I did not mention would be bad I'm just not familiar with the level of traffic there.

Cool buck! No need to defend yourself over how you decide to hunt. I personally have just as much respect for the guy who shoots the spike for the meat as I do for the guy who holds out. People forget what huntings all about too much these days. ive decided that if any of my kids decide to hunt, their first deer will be very small. Mine was a spike, and it instilled an appreciation in me that I’m still grateful for. Seems like your approach is working just fine too!congrats!

I am surprised this hasn't sold yet. I want it because it is a cool round and a good price, but I have no need for the rifle. Someone buy this!

Oh and he drew unit 10 rifle antelope this yr with 5 points

No problem buying used Swarovski, I just make sure the seller is willing to transfer the warranty before I send money. No big deal. Much better than overpaying for Chinese optics just because they’ll replace your crap no questions asked.

Lots of theft of high end optics. From both retail stores and individuals. I can kind of understand this. Protecting the original buyer or supplier.

All day in a treestand is tough.. thankfully this guy and a buddy showed up around 3 on Saturday. Came into water at 32 yards, 100 grain montec to the heart and he was dead 50 yards later. He needed about two weeks to finish off and he might’ve broke the 100” mark but I’m happy nonetheless.

My wife has a lot of patience. There have been seasons logging over 60 hours in a stand, and she usually gets lucky. This season, she did it in 1. Hopefully some of that luck rubs off on me next week.

the Arizona Game and Fish is misleading the public on the rules for importing deer and elk into the state. If you have received emails or have been on G&F website, you have been told that it is illegal to import any raw or unprocessed deer/elk into the state. this is to protect our herd from chronic wasting. THIS INFORMATION IS WRONG. you can bring your out of state deer/elk back home to your licensed taxidermist/meat processor. here is an email from the Game & Fish to taxidermist and meat processors that help them collect samples for testing. All, Thank you for your patience while we work to resolve this issue. We have met with leadership in AGFD's Law Enforcement Program and have come to a resolution. According to the Arizona Game and Fish Commission Rule R12-4-305, out of state hunters may only import into Arizona and possess the following portions of cervids lawfully taken in another state or country: • Boneless portions of meat, or meat that has been cut and packaged; • Clean hides and capes with no skull or soft tissue attached; • Antlers, clean skull plates or skulls with antlers attached with no meat, soft tissue OR antler velvet attached; • Finished taxidermy mounts or products; and • Upper canine teeth with no meat or tissue attached Because of this rule, there have been concerns regarding your ability to lawfully collect samples from animals harvested out of state. We have worked with leadership in the Law Enforcement Program and have agreed that hunters will be permitted to bring their out of state harvest into Arizona in a condition other than above only if it is transported directly to a licensed meat processor or taxidermist. You may still accept these animals, and hunters will not be held liable. However, please be aware that hunters submitting samples from out of state harvests will be sent a letter informing them of recent changes to this rule. These laws are enforced in an effort to protect Arizona from the spread of Chronic Wasting Disease, an effort you have been instrumental in achieving. I appreciate your continued support of this program and our mission to keep Arizona CWD-free. Sincerely, Arizona Game and Fish Department azgfd.gov | 5000 West Carefree Highway, Phoenix, AZ 85086 the G&F has been email blasting and posting news releases without telling the whole truth. There is nothing wrong or illegal with you wanting to bring your animal back to Arizona to your licensed taxidermist /meat processor. even if their information says different, I know a lot of the out of state seasons have already started, so please share this with as many people and pages as you can. thanks Southwest Wildlife Taxidermy