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I don’t think anybody has a problem with choosing to hunt that way. What does bug me is when grown men and women feel like they have to poo poo the way someone hunted in a story they chose to share with the whole site, just because it isn’t exactly the flavor of hunting they prefer. Imagine if some dude came on here and said how stupid you were for hunting 1:1 with your grandson. What if long range guys came on here and told guys that shoot deer at 200 yds that their way of hunting was inferior or lame or whatever. Why do people find it necessary to come gripe about how someone else chooses to hunt. What if guys who shoot dinks came and bitched about guys shooting bucks that are “too big”. I just don’t get why people feel compelled to come on a site, read someone else’s story and then complain about it as if it will somehow cause everyone else to have some revelation about the enlightened form of hunting. It would be super cool if people were just like.. “Great buck, congrats!”

If you enjoy hunting by yourself that's your right, but personally I like hunting with friends. I also don't feel this is the place to voice your opinion when the intent was to help a KID! I just don't understand why fellow hunters have to be so devisive! Why can't you just be happy our passion for hunting is being shared and most likely continued with a future generation!!!! This type of devisive and negative talk is why so many good people have stopped contributing to this forum!

Congratulations on getting your grandson an elk. This was about hunters supporting other hunters and that's it. BigBrowns had helped so many people over the years and would likely do it for you if you ever needed it. Everyone is entitled to their opinion but ultimately we should all support each other.

Great buck, congrats!

Clover drew her first elk permit for a mid-October rifle cow in northern Arizona. She made a few trips to the range to test handloads and sight in the rifle over the summer. We arrived in the unit a couple of days before the hunt to check range conditions and water sources. Feed looked rather brown and crispy, only one earthen tank had water, and that left only the trick tanks with water that had been hauled by various critter groups. Our driest summer on record had its effects. The plan was to still hunt and sit various draws and ridges in hopes of catching the elk moving to and from water. No sense in battling the other permit holders for sitting within rifle distance of water. The morning’s hunt plan went out the window on the night before the opener as bulls were bugling all around camp the entire night. So Clover led the way walking from camp the next morning in hopes of zeroing in on a bugling bull and his harem. After seeing a six point bull cross a small opening into the thick pinyon-juniper, we followed to see a couple of small bulls but no cows. This was her first time to see elk at under 20 yards. The bulls became silent at about 7:30 AM. The first evening of the hunt was spent watching a well-trodden trail though the thick P-J leading to a water source a quarter mile away, but all that was noticed was the tromping of hooves of presumably feral horses, of which there are more of each year in the hunt unit. That night, the bulls were bugling around camp again, so Clover walked a mile from camp to sit an opening in hopes of catching some elk crossing towards their bedding area. About 15 minutes after sunrise, a cow and her calf ran across behind some small pines about 300 yards away, but no shot opportunity arose. Several minutes later, another cow entered the clearing and was angling towards us. While waiting for her to clear a small cluster of pines, another single cow appeared much closer about 100 yards away. As she walked into an opening between two trees, a quick cow vocalization stopped her which allowed for a quick shot behind the shoulder. The cow ran about 40 yards before circling and dropping. After gathering up the gun and pack and heading to the elk, Clover got to supervise the field dressing of her first elk. The 124 grain Hammer hunter bullet from the 6.5 WSM entered through some muscle on the back of the shoulder, though an onside rib, though an offside rib and scapula, and exited. Meat loss was minimal around the bullet path. One of the petals of the all copper bullet was found under the far side hide. As the gutless method of dressing was used, the internal trauma was not checked. (Clover is my 1 1/2 year old GWP).

Understandable. I hate it when it's done for business and when this guy will buy a governor's tag and also buy an army of guides. But hunting is also about making new friends and relationships. Taught the kid a great lesson and maybe now one day that kid will do the same!

Looking back on the hunt I recognize how much fun it was. I definitely wasn't feeling that way during the actual hunt. Riding that struggle bus sucked! Thanks again to the CW members who helped on numerous different things!!!!!

This year Thomas was blessed with two tags. The first tag he drew was the youth cow elk hunt in unit 22. This was the 4th year in a row he has drawn that hunt. He drew tag 200 out of 200. We were both super excited because we absolutely love that hunt!!! We also learned later during the deer draw that he finally drew the youth any antlered deer tag in unit 22 which the dates for that hunt coincide with his elk tag. We were both super excited, knowing that Thomas would be able to hunt both elk and deer at the same time. Over the next couple of months our excitement levels started to decline, at least with regards to the deer tag. A few issues we were facing that made us less excited regarding the deer tag were the fact that over the summer a lot of unit 22 was burnt to a crisp in a wild fire. Most of the areas we planned to hunt were gone at least for this year!!! In addition to that Thomas’s fall break schedule changed which meant we might not be able to hunt all 7 days. Finally, I did not have a lot of opportunity to scout prior to the hunt because of my work schedule. Thomas and I had several conversations about his hunt, specifically the deer tag. We spoke about possibly even turning tag # 2 in based on the issues we were looking at. If we turned in the deer tag we could take away some of the stress associated with it and we could focus on tag # 1 the cow elk hunt. Thomas stayed positive during our conversations and ultimately he got to decide what to do since it was his hunt. He decided that there was enough hunting areas in the unit that were not affected by the fire and after some negotiations with mom, she was willing to let Thomas miss school to hunt since he was four years invested into drawing the deer tag. Finally I will add that Thomas was not worried about scouting, he just wanted to have fun and if he got a deer bigger than a spike he would be happy. So we decided regardless of the outcome, we were going to keep both tags and just try not to stress about it and have fun!!! Going into the week of the hunt I was able to get a couple days off to scout. My plan was to locate an area where would could get Thomas a decent buck. After two days of scouting I was only able to glass up one buck. It was a descent one, about an 80 inch whitetail but it was only one buck and who knows if we could locate him again on opening day. Thomas joined me the night before his opening day and we discussed his options. Thomas had a choice to make, we could go after the buck that I spotted while scouting or we could chose to try to fill the cow tag first. We had a lot of good areas that we were fairly confident we could find cows on the first morning so after weighing his options, Thomas decided to go after tag # 1 first. And So The Hunt Begins............ Day 1 We went into one of our "honey holes" fully expecting to be able to tag out rather quickly on a cow elk. After all, we have hunted the same area the last three years and have had great success. Typically in this area we glass up several options within the first few minutes of glassing light and make a plan. This year was a little different, we spent just about an hour before we finally glassed up a single cow elk in a very difficult spot. We decided since we hadn't seen anything else Thomas and I would go in after the cow. As we were packing up our gear, I was explaining to Thomas this was a long shot but we should try since we hadn't located any other cows yet. As I was just finishing talking to Thomas, Adam aka BigBrowns and Thomas's uncle came running around the corner and said elk were up feeding on the ridge across from us. We ranged the ridge and it was just over 500 yards. Definitely within Thomas's capabilities. We made a mad scramble to get our gun set up before the elk fed off the ridge. Using a triclawps for the front of the gun and shooting sticks to secure the butt stock we were able to get the cow elk in the scope. Thomas then took over and made his micro adjustments while I double checked the range and dialed the turret on the scope. Thomas said he was solid and we decided to shoot. Thomas made a great 500 yard shot and the cow elk dropped in her tracks. Tag #1 was filled!!! Needless to say Adam and I were very excited to get it done on opening morning!!!! This would give us 6 and a half days to focus on tag #2 the any antlered deer tag. After packing out the cow elk Friday morning Thomas and I decided we would sit water for the first attempt at filling tag #2 while Adam helped some of our friends from California who had two kids with cow elk tags as well. Thomas and I sat a water hole with lots of sign for the evening. Our friend from California actually saw a whitetail buck on it earlier that day so we gave it a shot. What we learned is that Thomas does not like to sit still and I can’t build a blind very quietly. Needless to say nothing came in to the tank that evening. Day 2 Our first full day to focus on tag # 2 and my sister Tracy also was joining us for the deer hunt. Adam, Tracy, Thomas, and I headed out to the spot where I glassed up the whitetail buck a few days ago while scouting. After a little while of glassing Adam glassed up a very small forked horn whitetail buck extremely far away. We decided not to make chase since we knew there was a bigger buck in the area. About a half an hour passed and Adam glassed up the same buck that I spotted while scouting. The buck was working the same hill I had spotted him on and Thomas and I decided to make a stalk while Adam and Tracy kept on eye on the buck. As we were closing the distance Adam messaged me and let me know that the buck had bedded. Luckily we were able to locate him in his bed and got into a shootable position while the buck was still bedded. I got Thomas set up on the gun laying prone and he did a few dry fire practice attempts. He looked very steady and said he was ready to shoot. We loaded a round and gave him the green light to shoot. Boom, clean miss, at least from my viewpoint. The bullet had appeared to just go over the top of the bucks back. The buck jumped out of his bed and worked his way around a cut and we did not locate him again. After calling Adam we decided to make sure it was a clean miss. So Thomas and I went on a “death march” to the top of the hill that the buck was bedded on. On the way up I explained to Thomas that we need to make sure we did not wound the animal and if we did we need to continue to hunt it. We made it to the top of the hill and located the buck’s bed, we also followed his tracks for a couple hundred yards. We found zero evidence that the buck was hit. It was a tough morning but ultimately Thomas and I felt better about hunting on knowing that we did the right thing by confirming a clean miss. For the evening hunt we decided to sit water again. This time we went to a new tank while Tracy and Adam helped our California friends on the youth elk tags. The weather was very hot and it was extremely dry this year so we thought that we should continue with the strategy of sitting water in the evenings. What we learned after sitting water on this day, is that again I can’t build a blind very quietly and Thomas does not like to sit very still!!! Nothing came into the tank and we will continue to try to fill tag # 2 on the 3rd day. Day 3 This day started with Tracy, Thomas, and I heading to a brand new spot that we had never been too. Adam decided to help our California friends with the youth elk tags since it was their last morning to hunt and neither kid had an opportunity at this stage in the hunt. Our morning was mostly uneventful as we did not glass up any game animals except for one coati. Adam’s group was doing much better and they had two cows on the ground before 8am. While glassing that morning I told Thomas that both kids filled their tags. Thomas was relieved and happy that they were able to fill their tags. I think he might have felt a little guilty with how easy his cow elk hunt went yet again this year!!! We met our group for breakfast to celebrate and say goodbye and then we headed back out for our evening hunt. Again our strategy was to sit water and Adam decided to help out another Coues whitetail member who was struggling to get a cow tag filled for his kid. What we learned is that again Thomas doesn’t like to sit still and it is much easier to sneak in quietly when the blind is already built. We did have 3 cows and 1 bull elk come into the tank that evening but no bucks. Adam was successful in getting a 3rd cow elk tag filled in the same day. Thankfully I had the excuse of hunting with Thomas so I did not get to enjoy the pack outs on any of those kills. 😀 Day 4 Unfortunately going into this day we were down Adam’s ranger he had gotten a flat tire the evening before and without a useable spare we did not want to run the risk of being stranded. Honestly, I was starting to get a little worried at this point. We have only seen 2 bucks and we were down a vehicle. After talking to Adam our plan was to go to a spot that I was at while scouting. It was beautiful looking deer country and it was an area that my Jeep would be able to get into without too much difficulty. The morning glassing session came and went and we were able to glass up several does and 1 buck. Unfortunately the buck was just a very small spike and even at this point into the hunt Thomas did not want to shoot a spike. But hey we are up to 3 bucks now. I say that very sarcastically!!! I was starting to feel that at this point in the hunt tag # 2 may not be filled. I even called my wife and started to tell her that I am pretty much done with this trip since we were having bad luck. She reminded me that it is Thomas’s hunt and let him decide. Thomas and I talked and he wanted to hunt on. He had a much better attitude towards the hunt at this point then myself or Adam. I learned a lot about Thomas on this trip. He is a lot tougher than I thought he was and I was very thankful of his positive attitude. He helped me get back in the right state of mind to continue with the hunt. Since it was so hot and dry Thomas and I continued with the strategy of sitting water for the evening while Adam went out to scout a new area. We did have a whitetail doe come into the tank that evening but again no bucks. Thomas yet again struggled with sitting still and being quiet!!! I was starting to fuss at him a lot more. On a positive note Adam did locate a good area for the morning on day 5. Day 5 We went out to the new spot and we were able to locate a fairly nice buck, a wide framed 2x2 Mule deer. Thomas and I made a stalk on the buck that morning but he gave us the slip before we were able to get into a shooting position. The buck was not spooked so we thought he might be back. We marched back up what we later named “heart break hill” with the plans of coming back to the glassing point in the evening. Thomas and I decided to sit water for the middle morning and early afternoon in a different area. During this sit I was getting extremely annoyed with Thomas for not sitting still and making too much noise. It got to the point that I made him pretty upset. I think the stress of the hunt was getting to me. I just wanted him to fill his tag and didn’t want him to miss an opportunity because he was moving around too much. After a good conversation with Thomas I apologized to him for not remembering just to have fun. I promised not put so much pressure and stress on filling tag #2. Honestly I was stressed but I just kept it to myself for the rest of the hunt. The evening of Day 5 was pretty exciting, we located a really nice 4x4 Mule deer but he was pretty far away. I could tell that Thomas did not even want to attempt to make a stalk based on the distance we would have had to close. I did not want to push him too hard since we had already had some bad moments while sitting the water earlier that day. We made a deal to have fun so that’s what we are going to do. I let him make the call and we decided not to make chase. Thomas’s decision was a great call because we were able to locate the 2x2 Mule deer from early that morning, much closer than he was when we lost sight of him. We were almost able to get a shot on him from our glassing hill but we just ran out of light. Based on what we had seen this day we decided that we were going to spend the rest of the hunt in this area, after all we almost doubled our total buck count for the trip in this one day. We were up to five bucks spotted but these two were both bucks that we would love for Thomas to fill tag # 2 on. For the first time in this hunt we headed into the next day very confident that we would have at least a chance at filling tag # 2. Day 6 This day started with us back into our glassing hill with the plans of locating that 2x2 mule deer or his bigger brother that was in the area. Within a few minutes Adam and I glassed up the 2x2 Mule deer working the same ridge from the morning before. Thomas and I headed down the hill and hustled into a shooting position. Thomas pretty much has only one speed, but both Adam and I stated that he needed to hustle like no other time in his life to have a chance at this buck. We got down into a shooting position much faster than the day before but the buck unfortunately bedded about 45 minutes earlier then he did the morning before. However this time Adam knew just exactly where he was. After the buck bedded Adam directed me into the area. I spent the next two hours trying to glass the bedded buck while Thomas sat on the gun ready to shoot if the buck stood. I was not able to glass up the bedded buck but Adam called me and said the buck is up!!!. Thomas and I frantically scanned for the buck but we did not see him. The buck continued to stand for several minutes and fed away from our location. Finally, I decided to stop focusing in on the area that Adam had directed me to look and starting scanning the entire flat and boom I located the buck. I got Thomas into the gun and he was able to see the buck just cross over a ridge before we could shoot. We needed about 1 second and it was a done deal but the buck gave us the slip again. After looking back and reflecting on what had happened, I was so mad at myself for not locating the buck sooner. It was 100% my fault that we did not shoot him that morning!!! We were in great positon but I just screwed up. I was pretty down as we marched up “heart break hill” once again. I will add that once again Thomas stayed a lot more positive about this and he was remembering to have fun!!! He did get to look at that buck twice now in the scope so that was pretty cool. We decided not to sit water midday, but just relax since we had a rough time in the morning. My dad contacted me that day and asked how the hunt was going. After filling him in on the details he said he would come join us that evening to be our good luck charm. This was the first time my dad had joined us on a big game hunt and we were happy to have him along. We spent the evening glassing together and had a great time. My dad even got to experience some excitement when we located a couple of bucks at very last light. We scrambled to get Thomas a shot. We were able to get him a shot on a small fork buck but again we missed sailed high over the top of its back. We were able to confirm we missed and even tried to get Thomas another shot but just simply ran out of light. Knowing that tomorrow morning was our last chance to fill tag # 2, Adam threw out a Hail Mary by posting a thread on Coues whitetail asking for some glassing help. I was extremely thankful that 4 members of the site, Kevin aka Kridgetopp, Shelvin aka Bonecollector, Cliff aka Clj2010, and Brett aka Nighthawk decided to come up and help my son have a chance at filling tag # 2. I cant say enough about how thankful I was that these guys dropped what they were doing on such short notice. We now had a lot more eyes to help us locate a buck for Thomas on his last attempt. Day 7 The Final Attempt Driving to the same glassing spot we were trying to come up with a plan. We considered having myself and Thomas head down “heart break hill” and get into a much closer positions to have a chance at the 2x2 Muley before he bedded. However on this morning we had a lot more eyes on the hills and I was not so sure what to do if someone located a buck in another area. I did not want to be out of position to make a stalk on another buck if one was located. Since we knew for sure that there were at least 4 bucks in the area we decided to hang back and not be so aggressive. Wow am I glad that’s what we decided to do. Not to long into the morning our glassing help spotted a nice buck bedded just over 800 yards away. The stalk was on!!!! I did not get great eyes on the buck but Kevin and Brett went in with my and Thomas to direct us into the area. About half way into the stalk we got a call from Adam stating that the buck was up. All I could think of was great this one is going to just “walk” away from us. We put a little more haste into our step and luckily the buck stayed put. We were able to locate the buck rather quickly just below our ridge at 485 yards. I got the gun set up, ranged the deer one more time, dialed the turret and Thomas was ready to shoot. It happened so fast that I tried to remind him to stay calm. Thomas told me he was calm!!! Looking back I guess I was the one getting too excited. He went on to tell me, “Dad I got him I am ready to shoot!!!” I gave him the green light and……..BOOM!!!! BUCK DOWN!!!! Thomas dropped him in his tracks. He made a great shot!!! Just after the shot Thomas said “Dad that’s a really good buck!!!” After all the dust settled, hugs and hive fives given out I looked at the downed buck and all I could think was wow!!! Thomas you are 100 percent right that’s a great buck and I am so happy for you. Thomas worked so hard and stayed WAY more positive than I did during this hunt. Congratulations on finally filling tag # 2 you earned it buddy!!! It is not very often you get a chance to see your son get an elk and a deer in the same week!!! I could not have asked for a better ending!!! If I could do it all again I wouldn’t change a thing. It was such an amazing experience getting to share the ups and downs of this hunt with my son something that the two of us will surely remember for the rest of our lives!!! Special thanks goes out to the 4 members of couesewhitetail.com that came out to help us on the last day of the hunt. We could not have done it without your help!!! Thank you Kevin aka Kridgetopp, Shelvin aka Bonecollector, Cliff aka Clj2010, and Brett aka Nighthawk. Also a very special thanks to Thomas’s uncle Adam aka BigBrowns. Thank you for suffering through this hunt with us and making a call for help. However, next time I will just tell you our last day to hunt is a few days earlier so the magic of “last day” Adam can happen sooner. 😀 Finally a very special thanks goes out to my amazing wife Cindi for letting her boys go out on this amazing adventure!!! 20201009_064935~2.mp4 20201015_063511~2.mp4

Garcia’s Back in the Mud JH aka Blake is just over 3 years old and is 37lbs. He got his AKC Junior Hunter title when he was around 8month old. At 2 he went to Colorado for the American Brittany Club futurities and placed 3rd in both confirmation (show) and 3rd in Gun Dog Field trials. He ranges between 60-300yards depending on the terrain. His pedigree is loaded with both NSTRA and AKC field Champions. He is intense in the field but calm in the house. He has his hips and elbows OFAd as good. PM me if interested or if you have questions.

Another year in the books for this years youth hunt. First off hats off to Dave from the Arizona Deer Association! (ADA) As usual they did a top notch camp this year with great food. And on top of that..... i wanted something special for my oldest kid this year, Aurora. This was her last youth hunt and after years of grueling hikes hunts and failures i really wanted something special for her this year. I hit up Dave via text and said as much and within a minute or two my phone was ringing. He told me about a spot that sounded like a spot worth checking out. We decided to head up early this year and try and have a good day and a half of scouting.. on top of the deer tag we also had Auggies cow tag. We figured chase elk first and last light and hopefully tag fast and spend the rest of the time chasing muley horns. Well this year was different in several ways, this year we were counting pennies, mama ended up staying home and instead of pulling a camper and 2 trucks and camping up high, it was a tent hunt and only as needed people.. sort of.... since mama got screwed over my penance to stay in her good graces was to bring one of our nightmare children so that he would not be home fighting and screaming with the other nightmare child. Lets call him.....😈😈😈DAMIEN....👹👹👹 prince of the underworld. Well, technically his name is Enoch and ironically the only bible name kid we have, hmmm... so we were offf.. Another difference this year... i had volunteers! Yup, Kev suckered a couple dudes into helping this year. Hats off to Jeff (ohthatguy) and his younger more handsome brother Bill. We got to know Jeff and Bill on the last tuna fishin trip. We were noobs and latched on to them for the fishing trip and stayed in contact since. Initially Jeff was scheduled to help some friends on an elk hunt up north. Well, unfortunately the wife of a tagholder and her friend were walking and got hit by a hit and run! Thank God they were ok!. Lucky for me this made him available to help us out on the kids hunt. Wednesday we arrive in camp and get set up, first time we were ever there this early. Time to glass! Didn't see much that night, just a couple does. We went and checked a tank to see wassup, bone dry... That night we set up camp and Jeff and Bill get to see a bit of what our life is like. Enoch is in full on Enoch mode and officially names himself mothman for the night. Goodlord! Is there really this many moths?? Thank the lord they were drawn to the propane campfire ring. We probably had a pound of burnt moth carcasses stuck in that thing by the end of the hunt. Next morning, plan of attack is make our lungs feel like they are bleeding to climb a great glassing hill. We get there and start the ascent. Bill hangs out halfway up. I later find out hes a day into quitting smoking. Hes also new to hunting in general and is basically taking it all in for a crash course learning experience. Turns out hes from Commiefornia and moved here looking for a change of pace. Hes all ears next few days while i pretend to know what im talking about. Lucky Jeff is his brother and will help shorten his learning curve big time. We poke around and start glassing, not seeing much then Jeff comes and gets me. Hes got a herd of deer... we are sitting by the edge of a cliff and hear a squeal... im thinking i need to check on Enoch and look up to see him approaching us fairly excited and see hom holding what looks to be a nice coues shed. As he gets closer it turns out to be a good one. I summon Jeff to show him.. Well the morning wraps up with Jeff finding all the critters. 2 muley groups and a couple coues does. Not what we were hoping for... but hey thats hunting. That evening i let the big kids chilax in camp and we split up. Nada for the evening, growing weary... i decide to head up to the youth canp and check in. Also fill our tummies. I checkin with Dave and show him on my tablet where weve been looking. WRONG SPOT, oops! We got a plan for opening morning though... sort of. Well next morning we split up again.. and this is where Jeff really shows his committment to my kids... i cant say enough about this guy. He jumps on a quad at like 430 am and its freaking cold! Had to be at least a 5 mile ride to his glassing point, possibly more. We ride to a spot to walk out to a knob overlooking our target area. We find the elk and deer right where they are supposed to be. We bust out and me and Aurora go set a blind on the tank, by this time all animals are gone. Couple hours in, Its about 1pm, im feeling the urge to take a poo. Walk 40 yards to the west and bump a couple bucks... ugghhh. Ones the buck we called the big 2x2. Man, its freakin hot and i hate sitting water... the day winds down. A single coues buck is the only big animal seen, after the poop incident. a nice one but not what we are after. Evening starts to roll in and i went back to grab Auggie. We cram auggie and enoch with us in the blind to keep our scent concealed knowing outside the thermals were changing around and didnt wanna blow anything out. As soon as the sun goes down behind the hill me and Auggie bust out of the blind like Bram Stokers dracula out of his coffin!. We start creeping uphill where we expect the elk to pop out. Nothing... wait bugle that way... and we gave chase. We rush in trying to get a view before we lose light. I feel my phone vibrate and mean to check it then totally forget in the heat of the moment.. we are closing distance, we see elk.. get set up and right when Auggie had a clear shot-- awwwwww she moves out of sight. We try n scramble for another shot but we get busted. The jigs up. I tell Auggie to empty the chamber, he racks the bolt and the gun was not even loaded. Apparently aurora removed the cartridge to take dry practice shots while sitting the tank. Now we dont roll ready to shoot like that, only if making a stalk... We get to watch Jeffs video later showing the elk come from the wrong direction with deer in tow. This info becomes critical for where we set up later... Next morning, Jeff again goes to freeze his butt off for my kids benefit. Me and Auggie are in position to make a move where the elk are supposed to be. Well, again they didnt follow the script. Jeff radios me theres elk in the trees. We head to the sound but end up busted by a cow in the cut below us and that was that. I walk down to the tank to see if i can get a view below us. Oh crap its the big 2x2 and we left Aurora to sleep in thinking elk would be a "sure thing". Now i have this nice muley staring at me... oh wait thats not a 2x2, thats a 4x4! From that moment on we started calling him the big 2x2 thats a 4x4. Well, elk was a bust. Back to the blind for me and Aurora. And the suffering commences. Luckily i downloaded a couple netflix movies. I decide to share a classic with my daugter, we each get an ear bud. Who remembers this movie??? I started cracking up at one point and had to rewind the moment where this dude shows his face. Probly watched it 5 times.... classic! Well again, nothing that day... we head to Jeffs secret spot and check it out. Nada, locals already got to them. We head back up to ada youth camp for free dinner. When we get back we are informed we had a visitor in camp. Apparently Bill snuck back to camp early...he turned over our cooler, stole a big ole pack of fancy jew dogs (hebrew nationals) ate our buns and bread and made off with our lunch meat. Then he has the audacity to run around with his shoes off in camp so he can blame it on a bear. What a turd! Next morning, Jeff once again proves his worth. I make Aurora come with us too and let enoch sleep in the truck. we head in following bugles to the south east. As we approach we here more distinct bugles to northeast. While in pursuit Jeff radios me, 100 yards south of the tank! We haul butt, adrenaline starts to build... as we creep closer the bull gets louder and louder. We can almost feel the sound. We are trying to rush, but slowly. We creep around a big pile of dead trees and i see a cow. I set up the tripod, put the triggerstick on the back end of the rifle with it mounted in the triclawps. I pretty much set it up and tell Auggie, "dude its good to go, the saftey is off". He jumps behind it and lines her up. Im watching through the binos and am wondering whats taking so long.... dude shes turning what are you doing? "You said it was a light trigger dad?" It is whats the problem? I look down to see I'm the moron this time... i forgot to take the saftey off. Well now shes staring at us, dont like what she sees and thats that. They spook and as we try and set up for a redemption shot the whole herd bolts. BRUTAL! just then Jeff radios and says theres another small group about 100 yards northwest of the tank... we creep in. Theres a big thicket between us and them and the same bull we've been hearing. Theres about a beach ball sized opening in the thicket and i can see a single cow. Holy crap this could still happen... i get everything set up and tell Auggie the saftey is off. This time i really mean it! I tell him wait until she stands broadside... here comes a yearling to stand right in the way and finally it moves. The cow turns to the right, whenever your good man let her rip... pow!!! And she trots off. I run sideways to try and get a view. Jeff radios, they are directly between us and i say i think auggie just got one. He doesnt see it right away but comes back with, yup he got one shes laying down. SUCCESS! Perfect shot, bullet was just under the hide opposite side, her insides were jelly. "ELK are tough" a classic trphyhntr comment that cracked me up one time. I had to tell the kids and Jeff about the post that had me laughing and how tough elk really are. Heres a vid from jeffs perspective... We head to the truck and Jeff calls me, "Bucks! Bucks!" Awe crap, left the rifle at the elk. Me and Aurora haul but while Auggie goes to pick up Bill. We miss out on the deer opportunity but all is not lost. Meanwhile we head back to break down the elk. Once Auggie got Jeff me and Aurora made it back and Bill got to see his first Elk pack out. Well not really since Jeff jad his quad. Jeff on left, Bill on right. What a freaking morning! We take the meat to the cooler guy at pitchfork unlimited and then go plan for the evening. Now we know where the deer vanished, and we put that together with the direction we had the elk and deer come in the other night. Jeff rides off to once again be our eyes in the sky. Me and Aurora post up where i think they may come from as the evening draws on. I set up the rifle facing the north all ready to go just in case. I pull out my binos and just start looking all around. I hear Aurora whisper "dad!" I look to the north up the 2 track and see the big 2 point thats not really a 2 point jump the fence and head the wrong way... what? Where's he going? I thought he must have seen or winded us cuz it seemed like he was in a hurry. Well we continued to wait...again Aurora whispers but with a bit more enthusiasm "DAD!" i look and here comes one of the forkies... now at this point trophy dreams are gone, we want to go home the next day so anything she gets a chance at we are gonna go for it. As i see the forky coming to the fence i say "you wanna shoot him?, should i make him stop?" She says "Yes!" So i make that sound we all make when you wanna stop a deer. He stops perfectly broadside about 60ish yards, maybe a hair more. CRACK! he jumps and lurches forward barely making it over the fences and bolts! I cant believe it, as he turns hauling horn into the treeline i think i see bloody guts hanging out his side. I tell Aurora and she was like no dad that was straight up blood blowing out his side! Sure enough we walked down the fence line and found where he was standing... then a few more feet before hopping the fence. We call Jeff, dude she just smoked a forky!. "Im on my way!" now we follow the blood trail as we are walking we are amazed by how much blood there is and i just cant believe he even made it to the treeline. Aurora in her quick wit responds with a "mule deer are tough", i freaking lose it and start cracking up. As we work our way through the treeline we finally see him piled up. As we walk up on him im thinking, dang thats a big bodied animal! This is the first desert muley i have walked up on, way thicker then a coues. As we get closer it dawns on me.. "this isnt a forky, this is the big 2 point thats really a 4x4! Aurora you just killed a 4x4 muley!" We were freaking lit man! We thought she just killed a last day buck and in actuality it was our #2 buck. Turns out the buck that hopped the fence just ran for a drink of water and came back! We are beyond stoked!!! Amazing exit wound! very happy dad moment, 1st muley in the house and its a nice one. Looks like im springing for taxidermy... At this point Jeff was still thinking we got a forky, while waiting we called mom and told her the news and then Jeff finally showed up. I gave up on dragging this animal about 20 yards from the truck, dam these deer are heavy. I was so excited to show Jeff when he got there that we got the 2 point 4x4! He was also thrilled and im sure looking forward to sleeping in! Man what an amazing hunt. An elk and a nice buck in the same day. Jeff you are the freaking man. Thank you so much! Jeff and Aurora with her last youth buck. Thanks again man.

Ugh! I feel horrible for saying this.... but when Jeffy goes I’m looking at a Britney!! He’s an awesome dog at 14, not sure how much longer he has but he gets jealous. Don’t want to bring in another til he’s gone. Britney is my for sure next dog. Btw, he’s sleeping next to me in the pic.

Yes it is. Its a thunder beast 30 cal. It connects to a thunderbeast brake so i can install the brakes on multuple rifles and swap the can from gun to gun. Yes i love it, reduces recoil, there fore helps the kids from flinching, can shoot without ear protection etc. The young boy Enoch in the thread has a coues tag in a couple weeks, hes a small framed little guy and hates loud noises. This will make a huge difference for him.

I often have the 27" Harris attached. I find the extra 2" over the common 25" handy when sitting. A set of crossed sticks under the rifle butt really helps with steadiness too. https://www.harrisbipods.com/HB25CS.php?

I think that’s so cool that a guy could make a call for help and a bunch of you fellas just went out and helped that lad on a moments notice. Real class acts each and every one. Nice work, all.

Classic thread on why good folks don't post on here or elsewhere much anymore. The guy who has likely helped more folks on this entire forum is getting flamed for asking for help by folks with nothing better to do.

According to the experts you can only kill a big bull in Sept, lets see if that holds true. After a day bear hunting in which Law enforcement, search & rescue, and my mother were called. (I missed and did not make it back to the vehicle until 235AM). My legs and my body told me do something else today. I decided that it was time to start scouting for my 4b poverty late season archery tag. This is my 3rd year out of 4 for having this tag previous 2 were unfilled, not the elks fault just some very high standards and a couple of bad shots. This year will be my first time focusing solely on my elk out of all of the elk tags I have drawn, so I am hoping for something extraordinary. I used today to move whats left of my cameras, had two stolen in 3b, and taking pics of bulls off the highway both on and off the res (hopi). When the rut ends in a couple of weeks (hopefully) the res bulls cross the line and go into winter feeding mode making for spectacular sites. I will update this post as interesting stuff arises. enjoy the pics

She had a blessed year drawing an unlikely tag her first try and then getting to take this bull with one shot of the 7MM at about 45 yards in self defense as he was coming to trample us:) This was 10/3 at 4pm in the afternoon. We never could find any rutting action and never saw a cow in the two days we hunted. We just had moved sides of the unit to try an old area for the evening and had hiked into a secluded area. My daughter is a good hiker and we were just cold cow calling every couple hundred yards and this guy let out a very faint quick half-a-second groan/sigh really, like the very very end sound portion of a bugle, at maybe 100 yards or so, I'm sure from his bed. I was pretty sure it was an elk, but expected it to be a spike or something, but within a matter of seconds we saw him coming, we jumped down prone and got her all set up. She is really good at finding things in the scope but this time wasn't much of a challenge haha. My father dropped back to continue cow calling during this time, and the bull never really stopped coming so I had to eventually tell her to just shoot him before he got too close. He went down in about 10 seconds, and she was a very happy hunter!

SOLD

Tessa was able to take this gladiator of a bull on Monday morning he was in tact Thursday when we saw him . This is what a few days of fighting will get you almost every bull was broke to pieces . Tessa actually found part of this bulls rack , if you look above his shoulder you can see a broke off point . Going to have to pay the Taxidermest extra to put this one back together .

2016 Elite impulse 34 2bulls 3deer 3 javelina Mossburg 835 12ga who knows plus 4 turkeys savage 10 243. 100’’s of coyotes and foxes 8 javelina and one deer.

What part of the unit will you be focusing on?

Revenge on AOC PLUS 3

I’ve had a great couple of weekends hunting with my son- 15 and my cousins son- 10. My son drew his first ever bull elk tag, an early muzzleloader tag. We scouted and practiced shooting several times leading up to the hunt. My cousins son drew a youth javelina tag that would start 2 weeks after. With my truck loaded with camp and gear my son and I left home around 11pm the night before the hunt. Arriving to our hunt spot about 3am, I listened for bugles in the dark while my son slept. 45 minutes before light, I woke him up and he got dressed, we geared up and headed out. After glassing, walking and calling for about an hour we finally got a response. Soon we saw an elk coming from the valley below us. We set up the shooting sticks and waited, cow calling some to keep him interested. After a few minutes he came into an opening and we could finally tell he was a branch antlered bull, our goal. One look through the scope and my son said he wanted to take him. With the muzzleloader sighted in at 200 yards, I tried to stop him around that distance but couldn’t. He kept coming straight to us. Finally at 125yards, after trying bugles, cow calls, etc, I let out an awful squeal/howl/sound and that stopped him. Reading the script he turned broadside for us. Guessing he would be around 10” high at that yardage he held the crosshairs at the bottom of his belly and behind the front leg. Smoke clouded our view at the shot and when it dissipated we could still see him standing there, although hunched up a bit. I frantically reloaded the rifle as my son kept watch. Reloaded, I put the gun back on the sticks and told him to aim for the heart. I moved a bit to the side so I could watch without the smoke. At the shot, a high shoulder hit, the bull went down. After yells, screams, hugs and High fives we went down to the bull. His first shot was a perfect heart shot. We tagged him, took pics and started the hard work. After breaking him down and hanging him up in the shade of a tree we hiked back to the truck so he could start his online school (lucky we had service). By the end of the day we had homework finished and the bull in the truck. A truly amazing hunt. 2 weeks later my son and I are joined by my cousin and his son. This will be his first ever hunt. Opening day found us helping a stranger get his vehicle unstuck, which took a few hours. Afterwards we decided to take a quick look at where we wanted to hunt before lunch. We jumped a single javelina but he was too quick for a shot. The rest of the day was uneventful. Day 2, we went back to the same area and got into a decent group of 8-10. We got him and the youth .243 rifle onto the shooting sticks. After several minutes of trying to “find javelina in the scope” he finally sees them as they bust and go over the next ridge, ignoring my calling tries to bring them back. We let him drive the side x side and shoot BB guns for the rest of the day as per his wishes. As long as he had fun I didn’t care what we did. Day three was uneventful except for a few nice bucks we saw. Day 4, Monday we are back in the same spot glassing early. We spot 2 javelina and slowly move into shooting range, just over 100 yards. We get him set up on the sticks again and he finds one in the scope. After a few heart pounding moments he says he is ready and touches one off. A perfect hit and the collard peccary rolls down the hill. Some hooting and hollering are followed by the biggest smile I’ve ever seen. After an easy recovery and pack out, we headed back to camp all smiling and fist pumping. At the end, just before they left for home the young hunter told me he couldn’t wait to do it again. Music to my ears.

"Hold still" "Quit banging sticks/rocks together" ect

With some of the youth hunts starting this week I wanted to share a video of my daughter's hunt from back in 2018. I've been hunting all my life and hunting with my kids is definitely my favorite. Hope this gets some of you excited for the up coming deer season and good luck to all the youth hunters this weekend!