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Mother of God. I hit my Hail Mary. 23 south early rifle bull. Holy #&+#&:@+...

Can't wait to see what days I need to request vacation! It's a real issue when you apply for archery and ML for elk and rifle and ML for goat and draw both! The struggle is real 😀

I thought my wife drew her first ever cow tag. Turns out I got Unit 1 archery bull! Wooohooo!

Draw Results are up now, unit one Early Archery

Archery bull baby!!!

Late cow 4b for my dad

Nov bull archery in 23. Gives me something to look forward to.

A big difference is what is your land ? Brush Desert 🌵 ? Irrigated Pasture ? How much is your water bill ? How often and how much time do you spend irrigating - ( is your schedule were you can spend that time doing that ) how’s your fences ? How much time money do you have to get them up to shape to keep cows in - so your not chasing cows - Feed is a huge cost - if you don’t have to feed very much until the end thats a big difference ….. or if you have to buy hay the entire time - ….. some people love the idea of growing there own and have nonidea , what it truly takes , and others are 100% prepared and ready …. I don’t know you so take this with a grain of salt for what it’s worth ….. they are a lot of work - but the end result is way better beef then you can buy at the store …. good luck

Hold on while I get some popcorn.

yes, i am sooooo anxious for mine to change from "pending" to:

Drew a 23 late bull, now its just a long wait.

Kachina Peaks ML baby! I'm so dang excited for this hunt!

All are good comments above, as to things to consider. The figure Sparks put out is in the ball park for last years costs. Raising finished beef for the retail and restaurant market is what I do to support my farm, we do 35-40 beaves a year and have for 30 yrs. now. A few things. For your situation, I would suggest buying yearlings in the 750-900 lb range in May (getting beef through the winter can be pretty costly and labor intensive) and feeding them on your pasture until September-October, try to get them to at least 1000 lbs. Best to feed at least two together. Be conservative the first year on how many your pasture can support, most people over estimate that and slowly degrade it. You have a good sale barn there, go to a few sales and just watch. Then look at some of the ranches and other back yard guys. Were you buy them is not as important as what you buy, IMO stay away from the Brahman cattle, Corrientes ect. we breed Angus cattle, but other breeds work well also. When picking out yearlings look for CALM cattle, with good hinds that carry low, full backs, bright eyed, good coats. As soon as I got them home I would worm them with an Ivomec injectable. Ivomec Plus is good for those raised in areas that have liver fluke infestations. A lot a permanent pasture in AZ has that now, ask the producer. And ask if he has wormed them and with what, and when. A good indicator of a liver fluke area is the presents of snails. Don't forget processing costs, you have a good packing house there in Perkinsville if they are still in business. Call them and check on availability of appointment slots and costs. I am currently scheduled out to June of 2023 with my processer just to make sure I can get animals in. If you want to supplement with grain, (we offer both, grass finished and grain finished in our program), understand the grain prices are out the roof. Two years ago I was paying 500/ton for corn and sweetfeed, last year 800/ton. I expect 1000/ton this year. After working them up we are feeding 8 lbs twice a day/hd. We feed for 6-10 weeks. Watch them close for signs of bloat and always make sure they all come to the feeder at feeding time. I hope that helps some, I am sure I am missing something. Personally, I think if you have the facilities raising your own beef is great! Great for the family!

I’d ride that mortgage out. The way I look at it, any of my current low interest debt (2.8-3.7%) is getting paid off for me by inflation. I’m making 3-5% on my debt right now and I’m gonna take any cash I can come up with and reinvest it. Now is a GREAT time to have fixed interest debt.

My son got charged Friday afternoon

GM Top Engine Cleaner amd mix some Kroil in with it.

I will take it.

Usually a week later

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 !

I own and have owned several Taurus wheelguns... That being said Taurus wheelguns are very solid pieces of equipment...thanks to the buyer for saving me some money...lol What caliber is the Remington 700 you'll be buying?

AZ Varmit Callers Association

Griffin and I hit the road with high hopes and much excitement. We connected with 2 locals who volunteered to help us out. You never know what to expect. Does this mean here’s a dusty 2 track I once saw a deer at or rolling out the red carpet. We were humbled by the level of commitment to help us. Each day was filled with hours of glassing and holding out for a good one. We passed many bucks and held the bar high. Finally on day 4 we spotted a heavily palpated 4x4 about a mile away and 800-1000 feet higher. We watched him graze and knew he’d be the buck of dreams if we would be able to hang our tag on him. We formulated a game plan and off we went. 4.5 hours later we sat above the thicket. We decided to wait him out. Unfortunately the gray ghost gave us the slip and we never saw him again. It was an epic 2 hour hike out in the dark with our egos bruised but our hearts full of the experience. The next day was to be our last in AZ so we decided to take the first legal buck we saw. Finally on the opposite hillside we spotted a buck and moved into shooting range just as the buck disappeared into bottom. He was about 200 away. As we sat there picking apart the hillside just looking our local friend hissed “he’s right there!” 100 yards away the buck emerged from the thicket and stood quartering to knowing something was up. Quickly griffin steadied on the sticks and the crack of the rifle broke the silence. No buck in sight. We decided to give it 30 minutes and give it a look. No blood at all but we spread out and began grid searching. Just a few short minutes later we located the buck and the celebration was on! I want to say I’m so humbled to the 2 gentlemen who took time out of their schedules and spent 5 days helping us chase down the gray ghost we are forever in your debt. We came as strangers but now I consider you good friends! The hunting community is filled with good people who are the salt of the earth with kindness in their hearts! Cant wait to return to AZ next year!!

It’s funny how hunters can be a circular firing squad. It was explained to me by the purchasing agent and the areas Bioligist this was an either specie tag. The negativity dissuades so many people from posting. I will be the first to admit I don’t know it all. I’m a lifetime student. Every state is so different with rules and regulations it can dizzying especially if you are applying in multiple states. Thankful for the positive input. Let’s remember our sport is under constant assault and we need to stick together regardless of how we hunt with rifles bows, crossbows, heck even a rock for all I care.

Lots of talk of selling the house: Im your guy if you live in the East Valley.

love me some slow cooked elf with bbq sauce.......