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My son has killed a couple mule deer but this year he killed his 1st Coues. Due to his school schedule he wasnt able to scout with me. I scouted 3 different weekends and with it shaping up to be a tough hunt we decided to hunt this buck. I actually figured he was smaller than he is. We were both happy as we walked up to him. We started our hike at 2am and made it to where he was by 6:15. Shot shortly after. Good scouting and a good plan worked out perfectly. Made an absolute perfect shot in front right shoulder/heart at 380yards. Bonus Rams during scouting

Blake Sartini III was the blessed hunter to obtain the 2020 San Carlos Desert Sheep tag. This ram I named “4 Low” showed up in a huntable area. Seen him only couple times years before and Blake made the trip when I immediately called him with excitement. We got within 700 yards and this ram decided to leave the herd. No reason just irritated I’m assuming from young rams picking on him. Rut was on and he ended up very high on the mtn to where we couldn’t access. Next day made plans to go where we bedded him and split up my partner with him looking at the herd from day before assuming he’ll come back. With luck would have it at 730am he came off the steep cliffs and tied back in with the herd. He ended up bedding and we wasted no time closing the distance. We did a 2 hour stalk playing the wind and got with 525 yards. Blake waited for him to stand and his 7SAUM made its mark and ram piled up. He roughly scores 187 6/8. He’ll definetly be hard to beat this year and couldn’t believe the mass on the sheep.

Last year we endured 2ft of snow opening morning, so the first couple days were getting stuck and pulling others out. Not the best as far as getting to where we wanted to go because of so much snow. It was a pain in the butt!!! We followed a few tracks with no results, just tired legs(knee deep snow). Saturday afternoon my friend spotted elk 8 miles away, we tried getting there but snow stopped us. So we made a game plan for the next morning to go in a different way to hopefully get to the hills they were on. Sunday morning we hike to where we wanted to go. We located a bachelor herd way up on a hill, out of shooting range. While looking around, I found a lone bull further down the hill closer to us that would ultimately give me a shot opportunity. 2 shots later I tagged my first bull elk. This year with the help of my lovely wifes few bonus points, both her and I drew tags again in the same unit. She shot her first big game animal, a good ol tasty spike. Later that afternoon I was lucky enough to tag my second bull in this not so sought after tag in 7E.

Ok here it is . . . We arrived for the hunt late on Thursday night. We had set camp the weekend before so all we had to do was throw our bags in the trailer and rack out. We were fortunate to be joined by a couple of good friends for the first couple of days. My buddy Chase and his dad Dave and son Raleigh were up for the adventure in a new place. I mean who doesn't want to see the Kaibab in November. Because of the rut / migration nature of this hunt we didn't have any target bucks in mind for opening morning but were focused on glassing nobs where we had seen a lot of deer the weekend before. Day 1 Right off the bat we had a buck picked up. Before it was even light enough to see his antlers we could see from his body that he was a mature buck. We looked him over with the glass for an hour or so but Nash had a goal of having the biggest buck in the house (which isn't hard in our household of impatient trigger fingers). So we let him go. As we walked out that morning I noticed a loose scope base on the 7mm-08 that was our primary rifle so we had to switch to the backup .243 which limited us a bit without turrets. We relocated midday and took a few naps and even played some baseball. As we were parked by the side of the road probably a dozen trucks went by and it was a roll call of whose who in AZ. Duwane Adams, Ty Goodman, maybe even Sirroyal. That night we worked our way a little higher on the transition zone and saw one more buck but he was smaller than the buck from the morning. On day 2 we rolled into a canyon to glass a bunch of fingers and there were already two trucks parked in our glassing spot. With only 75 tags I was beginning to mutter under my breath about being on top of other hunters in such a huge unit. Just as I was telling Dave and Chase where Plan B would be, Azelkhunter2 walks up and says "We tagged out yesterday, there are 8 of us who can help you today and tomorrow if you like." Well I wasn't saying no to that kind of offer. Dave, his son and friends were awesome to be with. We have run across each other in the past but have never spent time hunting together. These guys were first class, they hunted with us, made our boys feel great and even fed us. I can't say enough good things. That morning we glassed up 6 or 7 mature bucks in that area. We made a big play on the nicest buck we found. To get to him we had to cross a canyon and sidehill up a ridge about 1/2 mile. Right as we crossed the canyon the radio crackled and someone whispered that there was a bigger buck further back in the draw. We moved slowly into the area where the buck had headed and after a few minutes Chase picked up the buck in his bed. At only 252 yards it looked like this just might happen. Unfortunately the 180' buck was bedded with a small sage right in front of his vitals. We got the rifle set in the triclawps and waited for him to stand. It wasn't long before the buck started to shift in his bed and I told Nash to get ready. The buck stood and I said (in a little more than a whisper) "SHOOT HIM". I didn't hear anything so I looked over and saw Nash shaking uncontrollably and tears welling up in his eyes. While trying to stay in the scope he cred "Dad, I can't stop shaking." I tried to calm him, but before it happened the buck had moved up the ridge. We finally got the stars to align long enough for the buck to stand still and Nash to calm down simultaneously but it was at the very edge of our comfortable range with the .243 @ 362 yards. When it came time to squeeze the trigger Nash managed to control his breathing but was fighting the shakes and he muttered "Dad, I can't pull the trigger", I have never seen a kid get buck fever so bad. It was tempting to help him with the squeeze but I resisted and he eventually got the rifle to fire. The long report of the rifle told me it was a clean miss and Chase confirmed that he had shot inches over the bucks back. It was an exciting morning but we were still hunting and had a long walk back. We saw a number of other bucks that day but that was the only shooter. Sunday AM was a good morning. With a couple of Azelkhunter2's crew we found 3 big bucks first thing in the morning. We were just over 400 yds and made a quick move to get within 300. We came within seconds on the biggest 3x3 that I have ever seen when one of the bucks must have caught our outline on the skyline and the bucks were off. At midday our help had to break camp and head south so the boys and I laced up the boots to get it done with just each other. This is familiar territory as this was the case on both of Hunter's hunts earlier this year, so we were up for the challenge. At midday we stopped to talk to a gentleman from Idaho who had donated his tag to Tom Wagner and was down to scout for his expected tag for 2021. After we parted ways he drove up the road and quickly turned around and headed back to us. He told us there was a buck bedded 200 yards up the road and I excitedly asked him if he wanted to help us kill it. He was in and we started our "stalk" right there. That stalk consisted of crossing a fence and then spotting the buck bedded 210 yards in the bottom of a canyon. Nash looked him over and gave him the green light. We got everything set up and Nash had no trouble pulling the trigger this time. Our new friend Rick confirmed that the buck never even moved. He just tipped over right in his bed. We hugged. There were tears of joy. It was one of those moments you never want to end. All 3 of us stayed there in that embrace for as long as we could without it being weird. We started to pack up and then Nash said something that has haunted me ever since . . . "Dad, he just ran away" in a confused tone. I couldn't process what I heard. I looked back and the buck wasn't there. I looked down the hill and saw an antler. I tried to get the rifle set up for a follow up shot, knowing the buck had to be spine shot and was likely only on two legs. But before I could get him set up we lost view of the buck. The buck had been bedded with his entire body visible vertically in front of us. With that angle the hind quarter was basically in line with the neck. I had told Nash to aim right where the neck and body met knowing that it would either be a fatal neck shot or hit vitals. He was super steady off the tripod. So I just couldnt imagine this buck had gone far. The next few hours were excruciating. We found where he was bedded and the pool of blood was very small considering he had laid there for several minutes. Within 130 yds it went from good blood to pin drops to nothing. After looking for hours we decided to glass the canyon he had disappeared into. There were only like 3 tree pockets in the whole thing so if he was around I was confident we would find him, but from the looks of the sign I wasn't confident he was around. After not seeing any other sign of him that day or the following, I could barely stand to look at Nash. The disappointment in that little boy's eyes were crushing. To have to take his first deer off the board, for such a nice kid who never complains, has never expressed even a hint of jealousy to others and who has been right along his brother's side for two hunts this year . . . to take this away from him pained me in a way I have never felt before. I was angry with myself, resentful of the circumstances and bitter at the outcome. I know this is part of the game, I knew that buck wasn't mortally wounded but I have never lost an animal with a rifle. Why now? Why did this happen right now?!?! The best I can figure he hit that buck in the neck but missed the spinal column and major blood vessels. The impact disrupted blood flow to the brain and knocked the buck unconscious but the hard copper bullet from a light shooting rifle didn't expand much with only a few inches of tissue to work within. My guess is that buck is right back to chasing does, but with the migration and rut factors on this hunt the chances of ever finding him again were slim to none. The next day we took a break and made a run to flagstaff to pickup a few things the boys and I had forgotten and while we were there we picked up another backup rifle from our friend Ty. Ty has been a true pal we met through Hunter's OE4A hunts and has always been there when we needed help with a pack out or anything else. he came through big again this time. On the way back to camp we stopped at a gravel pile to check zero on both rifles. What we found was that for Nash both rifles were shooting significantly high. I think it had to do with how he was using the tripod and his small face combining for him not to get a good cheek weld. We made adjustments and were on our way. The next couple of days were steady with bucks but we were having a hard time getting into a shooting position again. I could tell Nash was getting worn down (heck I was getting worn down) and I was beginning to wonder if we were going to be able to pull it off. Tuesday night I called my buddy Russ, who had warned me this might happen and even told me not to wait until the last minute to ask for help, and asked for help. We weren't having any trouble finding deer, but I was struggling to do all the glassing, keep track of the deer, get the rifle set up and spot for the shot without another adult there. I was desperate to wash away the memory of the lost buck and help restore the fun for Nash. I was mentally breaking with desperation. Russ called me back and said he had a friend who could put us on some deer in country that should fit our style. I wasn't convinced... our problem really hadn't been finding deer or bucks or even good bucks. It was just making it all happen on a buck that Nash was happy with. Looking back, I realize I was getting impatient, but at the time it felt like the weight of the world. I have only experienced this one other time, on Hunter's first deer hunt, and I hope that it is just a first deer thing and we don't have to deal with it again (at least until my daughter starts hunting). So I called Russ' buddy Tyne. He shared some waypoints with me and talked me how to hunt some new country that should present good opportunities within our range. I have never used professional services during a hunt before. It has been a point of pride for me to take on the challenge of a new area, animal or technique and figure it out. But this time I wasn't above getting whatever help I needed. Nash had earned the opportunity and I was humbled enough to know that I might be over my head on this one. With all that being said, Russ and Tyne were top notch. Russ had every opportunity to say I told you so, I told you not to do this. But instead he did everything he could to help without any benefit to him personally. Armed with our new information we headed out the next morning. I was quietly optimistic, Tyne had assured me this was a sure thing, we were going to have an opportunity at a good buck. Well first light comes and just as we are working into the first area to check a truck bombs past us on the dead end road and doesn't even bother to stop and coordinate or talk so we don't end up on top of each other. My stress level rose a little as I headed towards the plan b area. In the early morning light I got crossed up and ended up hiking about a 1/2 mile past where Tyne had told us to go. We saw one solid buck early but there was no shot opportunity. After glassing for a few hours and not seeing any more deer I was torn between staying put where I thought Tyne had told us to and moving into a position that I thought might have better vantage points. Ultimately I am not one for staying where there are no animals in hopes that one might just show up. So we moved. As we hiked we saw a bald eagle soar over. I thought that must be a good omen, but my capacity for optimism was greatly reduced at this point and hope was fleeting. At 1:00 that day, the stress meter maxed out. Nash started crying. He told me that he wasn't having fun and felt guilty for wounding that buck. My heart hit the floor. We talked for a few minutes and I told him we could do whatever he wanted and if that meant heading home or taking a day off for Thanksgiving, then that was fine. It was his hunt and I would do whatever he wanted. To my amazement, and relief, he asked if we could go back where he missed the big buck and try to find that deer again. His toughness was amazing. Six days in and the kid was desperate to kill his first deer but he was still committed to passing up immature bucks and was willing to spend as long as it took to get it done. I agreed, tomorrow we would go back to the canyon. And for now we decided to hunt our way back to the truck and then see if we could hit up Tyne's plan A spot before dark. With only one hour of light left on Wednesday we looked over a small burn where we were told we could catch deer at first light. Well if deer were there at first light then there was at least a chance they would be there at last light, right? So we hiked out onto the highest point of the burn, which happened to be about 300 yards from our truck. We had been there for maybe 10 minutes when I look down and to my shock there is a buck feeding out less than 200 yds away. I glanced at him long enough to know that he was bigger than a 2 point and then alerted Nash. we moved the rifle and tripod about 5' to the left and he had a clear shooting lane. As Nash took aim I took to prayer "Please God help this boy." Of course, this was the only time Nash had forgotten the ear muffs so before he shot he asked me to plug his ears. There I stood, hands over my sons ears, staring at the buck and pleading with God. At the crack of the rifle there was an immediate and unmistakable "WHACK". The buck humped and jumped and headed back to the trees. My stomach was turning inside out as Nash tried to line up for a follow up shot. My prayers... from one Father to another...on behalf of the son we share... were answered when the buck bedded 5 yards from the tree line. A quick follow up shot (or two) and Nash had his buck. I had no idea the character the buck had until we walked up. A beautiful 4 pt frame w floating main beams with extras at the very tip and matching eye guards. The buck was actually pretty young, only 3 1/2 according to the biologist at the check station, and had all the potential to become a Kaibab legend. Instead, he will have to settle for a family legend as the biggest buck in our house.

Cant wait for that guy to go in there and start crying again. Gonna have to start guiding the old fashioned way again.

Josh, Thank you for all the nice words but listen my friend I was enjoying hunting with you and Alexa much more than you will ever realize. There was zero guide stress and you all were very refreshing and anxious to learn and always in expectation. The ultimate client that every guide wants but now your a friend that I will always look forward to helping. God answers prayer ! God bless you and Alexa thru the Holiday season! Let me know if you guys need anything buddy!! Your friend, Josiah 20201122_080351_00.mp4

Wish2hunt is like a 5 man crew in himself and I got this dude Len with us that is a beast. So just the 4 of us

Did you get your Jimmy John's crew equal?

Wish2hunt goes out of his way, drives way the heck out to the cabeza to hunt with me and my dad and he immediately spotted a ram.

Prayers, Nick

Really sorry to hear your family is suffering. Prayers for your family.

Prayers for a good outcome..............BOB!

Prayers sent

Prayers sent bud, hope for a speedy recovery...

Sorry to hear this and hope only the best for her.

Hope she gets well. Sorry to hear.

Sending thoughts, Nick! 🙏🏼

More sent.

Im sorry to hear that Nick. Prayers sent.

Prayers sent, God bless.

Prayers sent for her and your family.

I’m sorry to hear. This hits home. I pray she makes it

I want to start by saying thanks to the people who chimed in to my first post about being frustrated, mainly Bill for all his help and all his advice. I spent most of the summer and early fall scouting 24a with no luck. I couldn’t even find a doe. Every trip out to the Unit I learned something new but still couldn’t find a deer. Bill invited me to shadow his hunt in 24a and teach me about coues deer and I’m extremely grateful for that. I was discouraged to say the least. I figured even if I hadn’t spotted any deer I would still go hunt my hardest. Once I realized the north part of 24a was open, we started our hunt off haystack road. We hiked in about 2 miles and camped in some of the shittiest spots imaginable. Literally shitty. The cows were hogging all the flat spots, so we pushed them out and slept in their crap piles. Friday afternoon I finally laid my eyes on a group of magical does at 1000yards. Watched them for 2 days hoping a buck was in the area. No luck, so we decided to change our spots. After 2 nights of next to zero sleep, plenty of rain, and a ton of wind, we changed spots and did some “road hunting”. Driving and glassing, driving and glassing. No deer, just a bunch of hunters. Everyone I talked to was seeing doe’s, but no bucks. I took another look at the map, decided to go to the place I didn’t want to go.. way out, and way up. I found a cliff looking into a canyon, walked up to the edge and saw a doe at 70 yards. I knew it was a good spot. Spent a couple hours looking through my friends spotting scope while he sat in the truck browsing tinder.. or Christian mingle.com .. or whatever he’s into and found some does. At the point where I was asking myself “what in the heck am I doing out here?” I pan over and see a buck feeding on some bushes! I couldn’t believe my eyes... he had horns! Miraculously at the same time my buddy walks over and I’m shaking like a leaf. I ranged him at 711yards and decided no way was I taking that shot in the wind. Decided to cut the distance by 200 yards and see what the buck does. I hike down and glass the spot... he’s gone... My buddy on the spotter calls me and says “hey the buck has moved about 150 yards closer to you... wait.... there’s another buck.. he’s a TANK!” The two bucks move down to a water tank. I ranged him at 384yards. Dial my scope, zoom all the way to 16X... yup.. made that mistake.... and shaking like a leaf with buck fever I pressed the trigger... Got the rifle steadied... and he’s gone... My buddy calls me and said “dude you missed by a mile..... BUT YOU SHOT AT THE WRONG BUCK!!!!! The buck you want to shoot is 5 yards closer to you in the trail!” The buck starts walking, stops to smell the wind, and I poressed the trigger. Hit him about 6-8inches back from where I was aiming, and destroyed his spine... at that point I realized somehow I must have bumped .2mils of windage in the turret.... I watched him hoping he would bleed out for about 10 minutes before I decided to hike back to the cliff and come up with a plan. Maybe 25-30 minutes passed and he still had his head up. I was gutted. I still feel terrible that I didn’t one shot kill him... we moved spots on the cliff and I decided to shoot him again from 515 yards. Put one right through his lungs and he flopped over dead. We emptied our bags except the essentials and hiked down. My first year as a Hunter has been a roller coaster. But I finally laid my hands on an animal that I HUNTED.. an animal that I shot.. we took some pictures that I will cherish for ever, cut him up, and we packed him out in the dark.

I thought it was like a 80” buck but with the extra points, decent main beams it comes to about 96” i think. Was actually his first coues, he’s turning 65 next week.

I told him, everyone’s gonna think all we do is shoot stuff in the face lol. it was running, 350 yards. he shouldn’t have ran and he wouldn’t have got shot in the face.