Leaderboard

Wow! God is great! I am still in shock! I found this buck 4 days ago. The very brief encounter sparked my interest and I could not get him out of my head. I knew he was a good one and continued to look for him for next 4 days. Finally, I found him again, put a stalk on him, and got very luck considering the country was so thick. He was actually with 2 other bucks. I almost shot the wrong buck because the other one was a 105ish! I thought it was him at first. Don’t get me wrong, I would have been tickled with the 105, but then he stepped out from an oak and I realized I was on the wrong buck. It all happened so fast. I set my sight to 65 yards and made a great shot and he expired within 100 yards. I still can’t believe buckfever didn’t bite me, but I was very calm until I walked up on him! I didn’t realize how big he really was. He ended going 121 gross and 117 net.

I was able to put closure on my archery deer hunt today. Last Saturday I had this buck come in. I drilled him perfect right behind the shoulder. As soon as I hit him, It proceeded to hail and rain. I got out of the blind as fast I could to start following blood trail. Only made it about 40 yards before hail had covered the ground and washed all the blood away. For the next 2.5 hours it proceeded to rain 4 1/2 inches. I searched the whole time in the downpour but to no avail. I decided to head out and make a few calls for help. On way out to cell service, I barely made it out due to flooding. So I made my phone calls and tried headed back in with it still raining but flooding had overtaken the roads and they had been barricaded and closed. So now for the rest of the weekend the roads were closed and I couldn’t make it back in. I was just sick. Couldn’t believed what had happened. So my tag was filled and wasn’t going to do anything else but find this buck. Finally today, one week later, I was able to catch a whiff of a dead animal while seaching with a friend. Few minutes later he hollered and said he had found him. He had only went about 125 yards. I had probably walked by him 4 or 5 times with 20 yards and just couldnt see him where he fell. Bear had found him and chewed his antler points pretty good. Wasn’t much left of the buck. About gagged me to death cutting the head off. Velvet was mostly ate off. Bear had Chewed up eyeguards, ends of main beams and other points but I was happy to put my tag on a really great buck. Taxidermist is going to be able to rebuild points and put velvet back on him. Bitter sweet ending losing the meat but was able to recover him. Brian

Another thread got me thinking about old stories, and since this is the campfire, what better place? I'll start. I moved from Oklahoma to AZ when I was a freshman in HS back in the 80's. My dad worked in forestry and was working for the WMAT at the time. We went quail hunting in the fall and did a lot of ice fishing and just fishing in general. I had only hunted small game before moving here. A couple mornings in a tree stand for deer but hadn't even taken a shot. My first hunt in AZ was unplanned. A guy in one of my classes invited me to come along on a deer hunt. I didn't even have a gun, so I borrowed one from my dad. I don't remember all the circumstances but I found myself driving a ford escort to Alma NM, and following a hand-written map with scribbles and drawings in the middle of the night with a big ol' moon. Somehow I found their camp and settled in with a pop up tent and sleeping bag. We were just barely in AZ around Maple Peak. Being young and starting out I didn't have a backpack or even binoculars. So first morning we set out hiking, I had no idea where we were going. I had a pocket full of sunflower seeds and some water. We saw tons of deer but no bucks. Around lunchtime I spotted a white rump sticking out of a mahogony bush. I said "hey I've got a big buck here" and my buddy says "don't shoot until you see it's horns". I replied "it's nuts are hanging to it's knees! It's gotta be a buck!" and he replied again - "don't shoot it until you see it's horns". Right about then, it raises its head - it's a bighorn ram, and a big one. All I could think about then was a giant fine if I had shot it before identifying it. Again, young and just learning to hunt in the desert. Later that evening just as the sun was going down, we were hiking back to camp a little dehydrated and hungry. I looked across the canyon and right where it was a stark line between the shadowed part of the ridge and the brightly lit portion stood a big 4x4 muley. I was shaking with buck fever, and he was a good distance away. This was way before range finders and my borrowed gun was zeroed at 100 yards. I steadied on a tree limb, aimed way over his shoulder thinking he was 400 yards away and fired. Nothing. I didn't see where I hit so I just kept trying - and missing. Eventually, the buck just walked off and I was out of ammo. We went back to camp empty-handed. And so went my first ever Arizona hunt. Eventually I learned the ropes and started out small with javelina, an old pawn shop PSE bow and cheap binos. It was several seasons before I actually learned how to glass and hunt out west. Hope you enjoyed, and let's keep the old campfire stories going.

I mean, I don't blame it on the individual wardens... they are just over worked and stretched beyond limits.

After 2 years of preparation everything came together to harvest the ram of a lifetime in Alaska an 11 year old monarch! Hardest hunt I have ever done both physically and mentally. My pack was 60 lbs for the first 6 days sleeping bivvy style wherever we ended up each night. Out of 9 days it rained, sleeted, or snowed 6 of them. Ram down morning of day 7 and my pack went to 100+ pounds hiking 27 hours over 3 days to get out of the mountains. Truly an incredible adventure!

I was truly blessed again this year being able to take this buck. I had actually passed this buck up 2 years ago waiting for something bigger ( still kicking myself). He is actually not much bigger than 2 years ago, but did add a small point off his G2. I sat in my stand for 35 hours before this guy made his appearance. That is the only good thing that will come out of the trail cam ban... not knowing what's coming in, I wasn't waiting for a "bigger buck".

It's a sign. I need to hunt a lot more I guess 😂

Good point. I need to change the set up for that joke to make it more believable.

You’ve been checked in the field?

I tried this once but my wife put a stop to it and said we had to keep them, Something about CPS blah blah blah,,,,

Tagged Out, Rim Country and Round Valley Processing are all up and running in Payson.

Yes they do but going with alot family so ruled out the youth camp but that is a great thing Sci does for hunting community

I feel for ya man, that's a stud. Good on you for keeping after him.

Maybe my wife would buy that justification!

BTW, Chris down the road does awesome work with velvet bucks,

Awesome! Not the power pole part but glad that part of the state is still getting some! We’re drying out last week or so which to a dirt worker is welcomed! Never thought I’d be saying that but it was getting to be a pain! Over 16” in a couple months here!

https://gun.deals/product/heritage-manufacturing-rough-rider-22-lr-475-6rd-22-mag-cylinder-combo-1328 $132

Cucked by people that will never go see a bear.

Not having any beds is probably a good thing to put in the add.

It was hike in only…all flying was closed. I went with a local guide

This wall has been shown a few times on this website but it has evolved a little bit over the years. My first is the one right above the antelope. We sold the house and all the mounts in various forms of storage at this time...

Big muleys like the flats . Especially during the rut. The older bucks tend to move down lower away from the younger ones that want to fight over does. Normally you won't see them with more then one or a couple older does .This was taken in 37b in December of 2018 archery

I sat and watched 2 big bedded desert bucks on top of a mountain lay there and watch hunters tearing the road up looking for deer. Saw a bachelor herd of 8 do the same thing. Both times rifle hunts. These guys have given some good advice here. Big bucks like the flats but if there are breakers in the area a guy can get lucky. Another often overlooked area is the transition area of a big mountain to the flats. There is usually a strip of vegetation there that is different than flats or mountain. Black lava rock mountains hold deer sometimes. There is a greenhouse effect. Moisture doesn’t evaporate as quickly and the rocks hold heat. There will often be greener browse there. I have pictures of big bucks feeding near the top of malapai mountains. Above all else, they gotta drink. No water no deer and they are where you find them Big desert mule deer can be impossible to pattern good luck

Hey guys check out my new video.

I was in your shoes a few months ago… started butchering goats, wanted more space for game and game meat processing. Looked on craigslist, offerup, etc for used commercial equipment. I ended up building my walk-in a few months ago, and it only took about 2 weeks.... Highly recommend building one as you can tailor it to your needs. I just got an email today from CoolBot that they want to feature my cooler in their blog. Wasn't expecting that lol. Mine will get down to 34 deg in less than 5 minutes. Can control temp on smartphone... connects to home wifi and will give you alarm notification on your phone if there is a temp swing outside your set range.