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Just jumping in to brag that I drew this year. 7 points. Either early rifle or early archery 27. Let's gooooooooo.

Was out chasing mule deer this January and came across this shed! I spent a couple hours looking for the match but no luck.

Been there done that. Cut ties and move in, hard as it is. Contractor won't leave his wife, bet $ on that. Don't let her back in. Once a snake, always a snake.

unless I forgot that I bought something else for $135 on March 3, it looks like I get to google "Is 30 06 enough for elk?".

Nice…congrats! And thanks for bringing the original topic back into the thread!

Very well said 👍

That first picture is why I love hunting Arizona. Congratulations

So I’m a bit late sharing this so with some down time at work figured I’d share my 2021 solo coues hunt! After years of archery hunting , never putting in for in for rifle hunts and always helping close friends of mine on rifle hunts and always saying to myself that I’m gonna put in for a rifle tag because how much fun I always have on them , I finally put in for a late November tag and drew . With having to move two house into one in the beginning of October and the holidays in a new home ,It didn’t give me much time to scout for this hunt. A good buddy of mine pointed me into a area he had been luck in the past . After spending all of opening day glassing up smaller deer and other hunters it felt there wasn’t much in that area that wasn’t being hunted hard and deer that weren’t pushed all over the place . I went back to camp and regrouped and made a different game plan for day 2. At first light I was on this little hill that gave me a huge view into some great wilderness area . With in 20 minutes I glassed up 4 does 2 miles away on this grassy hill side. I watched them for a good hour off and on as I tried to glass other areas trying to find a good buck. Coming back to them every 10 minutes to finally see 4 deer turn into 7 . At that distance was hard for me to see if there was antlers on any of the deer , but seeing a deer stand in front of a small tree and the tree shaking up and down for about 10 minutes and then seeing another deer chase that deer off I knew there was a decent buck in there. I grabbed my pack and decided to make a move on these deer knowing that they’ve been in the same area for almost 2 hours now. I decided to go strait at them . With 3 different washes and big hills to keep track of these deer as I was making my way to them . I’d cut down a hill ,cross a big wash ,bush whacking my way up another steep hill glassing them back up . After about a 2 hour journey , sweating and breathing hard after cresting this hill I thought I wanted to be on to shoot from I put my binoculars up right when this buck was bedding back down between two small trees . I ranged him at 800 yards a lot further than I’m comfortable shooting at. With one more hill in between us I ranged the tip of the hill at 400 yards . That would put me in a distance I’m comfortable with . Knowing he just bedded back down I made the cut down the hill across another wash and back up to a rock outcrop that would give a great view to where he bedded down . Got to the rock outcrop and saw his antlers shining through the small tree he was laying behind. My head started pounding as I saw the uniqueness of this bucks antlers. Got ready and was able to calm down and get comfortable while I waited for him to stand up at 380 yards . He stood up and buck fever kicked in and started to get shaky again ! I pulled the trigger with excitement and shot just above his back . Knowing I screwed up and pulled to hard , I reracked another round found him standing 5 feet from where he stood up , I put my crosshairs on him and took a deep breath and on the Exhale gently squeezed the trigger. After the recoil of a 300 win mag wasn’t able to see him go down. With doubt cause of my first shot , I made the long walk that seemed forever over to where he was to see him pulled up in the bush ! After breaking him down and getting my pack loaded it was start to get dark . I thanked god for this moment by myself and never felt a more rewarding hunt !

We have a couple first time elk hunters in our crew and one is a kid…more excited to see the kid on his first elk hunt than anything! Can’t wait for that steak too after tag soup for me last year.

Learn the country and scout. It part of being a hunter.

Gotta say “forbee”. Keep the internet searches down. I guess if they just search “best unit in AZ” all 4b posts will come up anyhow.

It's not just point creep, this year when I kill a 400 inch bull in 6A and post pictures with the unit- the masses will apply for 6A next year... and it will take 10 points... LOL - sometimes if the masses shift to another unit - it could take more points than the prior year. You are right there, good luck!

First stand of the morning started before and ended during sunrise. My FoxPro stopped calling with bad rechargeables 8 minutes into the shotgun-friendly stand so I broke out a quick hand call to keep things moving. 2 coyotes snuck into 60 yards during my second breath and the lead male caught the decoy moving nowhere near the cry of my hand calling. Gone. Second rifle-friendly stand had 3 coyotes hung up and circling each other at 275 yards between the 12-15 minute mark with backup batteries. Watching comfortably, I guess jackrabbit didn't sound good for breakfast. I lined up the rifle on a broadside dog and while exhaling, noticed another pacing to the front. After the following inhale, preparation met opportunity and I squeezed it off. One dropped, another stumbled hard, and the third ran straight away. I walked up to finish the second with my 12 gauge just feet away, but consider this to be my first 2 coyote in one shot. Third stand is one of my favorites and almost always produces an opportunity. Today was no different. 5 minutes in and a single coyote was seen charging from several hundred yards away. 2 minutes later, another is walking a ridgeline again 275 yards out. I wait until it stops, shoot, it drops and when the FoxBang kicked in the pup in distress, the original coyote was facing me 10 yards behind the call. Took a frontal shot at 60 yards and another one bites the dust. Fourth and fifth stands were blanks. It was a great morning and weather to be out thinning a predator-heavy hunting ground last called 9 months ago. All coyotes were harmed with leftover 100 gr SGK deer loads from a 243 Win, which has turned out to be an incredible all-around bullet so far.

Been there after over 30 years of marriage. It is comparable in some ways to a death. It takes lots of adjusting and time but it will eventually get better. It sounds like you shouldn’t consider reconciliation even if she wanted to. As hard as it is sometimes it’s better to walk away and start over.

The flow of illegals in SE AZ is crazy right now. During archery season, I vectored BP on so many groups. 5 or 6 to a group. Asshats kept fucking up my hunts, so I fucked up their chances of getting in. They had already beat the sensors and cameras. But once they chased my deer out, I brought the green suits in. It actually became fun stopping the bastards. I randomly go out to glass them up just because. Only drawback is that anyone in BP who hunts knows my secret spot now...LOL.

From speaking with friends that have been through something similar, I think this would be their advice: - Get a lawyer and do what he/she says, say what they tell you to say. I think a lot people make mistakes by hiding money or assets and it can come back to haunt you. the lawyer will give you direction on the best way to protect yourself - take an inventory of your valuables. Talk to your lawyer as soon as/if anything disappears - as hard as it is, don’t fight or argue with her, document everything for your lawyer - she will probably come groveling back once the contractor decides not to leave his wife - stand by your gut in regards to reconciliation. Some friends tried to reconcile only to regret that decision later, causing increased financial and emotional impacts. Better to rip off the bandaid if that’s what you decide. - spend as much time as you can with your kids -for their sake, as hard as it is, don’t bash their mom in front of the kids sorry you are going through this. I cannot understand how difficult it must be to be in your position. Remember it’s not your fault, don’t get gaslighted into thinking you could have done more or should have done something differently.

Thought I'd share an encounter from last fall....

That's a ridiculous antler! Great find. You should get out there and do some more laps and try to match it up

Protect yourself and all the assets you can. Sounds like this witch wouldn't think twice about putting the screws to you. Sorry your wife thought it was necessary to toss the family to the curb. There's no accounting for some people's actions.

He was about 2 steps from stepping on me. I had to flinch or he was coming through. Not the first time I've been that close. I'm just glad he didn't knock my tripod and swaros over!

You are absolutely right. Great video! But anymore it is tough to share pictures and videos to sites like this. Too many guys are overly eager to critique every they "perceive" you did wrong, why you shouldn't be doing what you did or how you did it, how they know everything about a situation they didn't witness or have first hand knowledge of, etc. It sucks being excited about something and eager to share it, only to have the armchair QBs knock you and it. It takes a lot of the joy out of it and makes you want to keep those things private, or for your immediate circle. At the very least, this has largely been my experience and the experience of many of my close friends. Most of my hunts these days are for my kids and wife. I can't stand to see someone rip my kids or wife for not being the perfect hunter (it has happened multiple times). One guy even made a DB comment to my 12 year old daughter, face to face, about her "bad shot placement" on a javelina that took her from the high of a successful hunt to immediate tears. I don't associate with that friend any longer after having words with him. I should be a better person and ignore the nonsense and idiots, but unfortunately it is not who I am. So I just don't share much publicly anymore. Sorry to hijack the thread. Just something I unfortunately have strong feelings about. I am glad guys like you (the OP) and Houston are still comfortable sharing. Again, great video and thank you for sharing it.

That's always cool. Those bulls get pretty dumb that time of year. Thanks for sharing. I wish more people would share experiences,pictures and videos.

I recently switched from #4 buck to Hornady Heavy Magnum Coyote Nickel Platted BB with good results. I have taken 5 fox and 2 coyotes with the load at distances between 30-40 yards using a modified choke. All dropped in their tracks. Hornady recommends Modified of Improve Cylinder for the load. It is not intended to be used with a full or coyote choke. The nickel platted BB appears to pernitrate better than #4 buck with no serious fur damage so far. The coyote pictured was taken at about 40 yards. It was broadside to me when shot and had pellets in it all through the ribs and into the neck area. When I skinned it a lot of pellets where just under the skin on the exit side of the coyote. It does a good job at dropping fox too.

Ok brace yourselves, its just a 2 pointer. Nice shed to me but not much to others on this site I'm sure.