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I know some of you probably already heard this story, but here it is again. A while back I decided to try to go do some calling for bears up in unit 1. I really couldn’t find anyone to go with me so I ended up going by myself, I really dislike going by myself. I ended up making 3-4 stands calling for around 45-60 minutes starting from Escudilla to Mt Baldy. I drove my quad around and hiked a lot of miles that day. I headed back to the house around 3pm to grab a bite to eat after all the unsuccessful attempts and getting discouraged. I decided to give it one last go, so I remember a aspen grove up on top that was close enough to a road that headed down a thick canyon. I arrived at this spot around 4:30-5pm hike over to the boulders that over looked a small Meadow of about 2 feet of grass with aspens around it. I sat on the ground having a boulder to my back I felt pretty safe nothing could jump out from behind me without me seeing it first. I got my favorite reed call out and started calling for about 10-15 minutes noticing my left leg was going numb from the lack of blood flow. Getting a little nervous I paused the calling and attempted to move my left leg around to get some blood circulation into it. As I tried to move my leg something came in and latched on to the end of my boot. I screamed like a little girl feeling helpless. I couldn’t figure out what the H#%L it was. I took my right boot and kicked as hard as I could and it finally let go and backed off making a terrible noise. It started coming back towards me so I pulled my S&W 357 from my shoulder holster and fired once at it. It was gone, not knowing where it went I started to make sure I didn’t shoot my leg. Luckily my legs were intact as I missed them. I stood up trying to realize what just happened and getting the feeling back into leg I couldn’t figure out what it was. I had phone service so i called the wife and told her I just got attacked by something and that I was ok. Chatting with the wife I came to the realization it was a badger after she was trying to guess what it was. Wife asked if I shot it and I told her I didn’t know. After getting off the phone with her I walked down about 5-10 yards where I found a big ol stinky male badger piled up next to a bush. One hole from the 357 entering its neck and bullet lodged in its back leg, at point blank range it incredibly did not pass through. It’s nut sack was bigger than a baseball, and had a bald spot on them from dragging them around, it WAS the king of the mountain.

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've had my fair share of kills with my compound but figured I would try something new this year and now I'm hooked. 45#pse tigershark Goldtip340 traditional arrows 125 grain montec fixed 3 blade

Foxes will do goofy things too, but at least they aren't as stinky.

Had a Great hunt! 2 weeks ago my dad got a call from azgfd saying someone turned in a tag and he was next in line. They called on a Friday evening and said he needed to let them know Monday morning. We drove up to the unit and started a frantic search to see what we could turn up. We found several decent bucks so he opted to take the tag. The fallowing weekend we found this buck. He spent all this last week patterning this buck in the mornings and evenings. Opening morning dgaf Cwt and I were glassing while my dad was in there normal path, however the buck didn’t fallow the script and did something completely different than normal. My dad did stalk in however he chose not to take a walking shot do to range. That evening Dgaf Cwt and I were joined by my 4 year old Quinley. We spotted the buck and after some crazy rut activity from the buck chasing does and gathering more, we were able to guide him into position. He took the 170 yard shot and hit him right in the pump house! This buck has some crazy mass all the way up! Such a fun experience thanks Dgaf Cwt for your help.

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!

Sorry for your loss! Best wishes on your sale.

Says Mesa on his profile!

That is hands down the best story ever

When I was a kid, I had a youth cow tag in unit 1. I had killed my first animal, a spike bull the year before in the same area. Opening morning we are driving in and there is a cow 50 yards off the road. "Dad, there is an elk!" "Yep." "Dad, I have an elk tag and a gun." "Yep" And we kept driving. Couple days later after a few close calls, my mom decides to go out with us and we are sitting about 150 yards from a water tank, maybe less. Mom was set up under a big rub, but dad didnt tell her that until later. Out comes 5 elk, all cows and calves. I pick out the dry cow, and let her have it. Since I was only like 12, it took me a few shots. Got her down, shaking like a leaf. That was the first/last/only time I ever had my mom out on a hunt. It was pretty cool. Dad and I joked the cows were coming to see the Avon lady as my mom was putting lotion on right before we left my grandparents cabin.

Ill be up there Thursday!

Took a Marine on leave from Iraq, varmit calling years ago. We were west of Eagle Eye Rd in the Harquahailas about 2am. Set the speaker up in a clearing and after about 15-20 minutes I hear something shuffling through the brush towards us. I hit the varmit with a red led light and illuminated his eyes like pancakes. It was an old hippie wearing sandals and tie-dye. Despite the fog his brain was in, he realized his mistake and just kept shuffling south towards the highway. Took awhile for us to process what we just witnessed, kind of unsettling. Can't believe anyone would be wearing sandals out there in the dark. Must have seen a half dozen rattlesnakes on the road that night.

Wow!!!! Thats awesome. Congrats

Heard a bunch this morning

Ultimate group buck fever. A million years ago now. Hunting muleys in 36c. My dad, me, two brothers(all had tags) with my 4 year old nephew at the time. Driving back to camp in the evening just before dusk, I spot the largest desert muley I've ever seen 60 yards off the road. I get out and try to pull my rifle through the door of the truck without angling it. My dad tries to shoot from the bed of the truck leaving the safety on. My brother also inthe back of truck dives out and starts running after it likes he's flash. My other brother leaves (driving) the truck in gear grabs his gun and goes for an angle. Missing twice. My 4 year old nephew left alone in the moving truck now with me next to him trying to pull my gun through the truck frame Is smart enough to get his short leg onto the brake pedal. Buck got away.

Did you see the size of that chicken?

haven't seen a warden in field while hunting in 25 years of hunting and guiding...

I’ve been checked a couple times. Guess I’m lucky. Once for antelope, twice for elk, once for turkey, dove and quail. Always enjoy chatting with the WM.

You’ve been checked in the field?

I have a copyright on it…,

I drew my first AZ antelope tag this year with 17 points (15 pts + HS +loyalty). I still feel very fortunate to have drawn with 17 and personally know of others who didn’t with more. I started preparing immediately. I spoke with some of last years tag holders, AZGFD officials, guide friends and internet searched all I could. I purchased maps, OnX hunt chip and the premium membership and drove the unit marking areas. I became a member of the Arizona Antelope foundation and attended their online webinar. I even sweet talked the wife into some new NL 12x42’s. I was all in, putting everything I could into this hunt. Who knows if/when I could draw again. I spent over 33 days scouting and put 6,500+ miles on my truck, not to mention 2 new sets of tires. I’ve hunted Wyoming a few times for antelope and have looked over plenty, but judging them is still tough for me, especially from a distance. Anyhow, I made a list of the best bucks I saw and named a few. Some of them I had patterned well and saw them often, some I only saw 2-3 times. My biggest hurdle would be finding one on public land during the hunt. I arrived on Tuesday before the Friday opener and camped on a piece of BLM 6 miles from Holbrook. Not wanting to mess up any archery hunters I glassed from camp, the highway and once from Denny’s when it was raining, Hee Hee. I did manage to find one of my top 5 bucks on Wednesday but never saw him again. Thursday afternoon I spoke to an archery hunter headed home. After talking and looking at a few pictures I found out the best 2 bucks were taken during the archery hunt. Opening day- I’m in my target area but only see some small goat bucks and a few muley bucks. I head to another area for the afternoon hunt and spot a tall and wide but thin buck I had on my list. I watched him until dark and headed back to camp. I had several friends come up Friday night to lend a hand glassing or to deplete my supplies. We had a quick dinner, a few spirits and went to bed. Saturday- Two buddies and I are looking for the buck from the night before. We see a small buck chasing two does. We move to a little knoll an spot him glowing in the morning sunlight almost a mile away. I check with OnX and we are both on state land. We watch him feeding for a few minutes until he beds. I make a plan and we go over some signals. I head off west with the sun at my back and the wind in my face. I’m at a brisk walk while below a small rise trying to make up time. I stop occasionally to look at my buddies for instruction and to look at OnX for location. Before the last knoll I turn for last direction. They indicate the buck is walking towards me. I creep up towards the top of the knoll, lay down and start crawling forward to a bush. After a minute or so I see the buck through the brush feeding towards me at around 600 yards. I decide to crawl another 30 yards to a rock outcropping for a better shooting platform. After reaching it, I see the antelope feeding to me around 500 yards. I get set up to shoot, ranging several trees and bushes along his path direction. He should walk within 300 yards or closer. Naturally, at 445yards he beds down looking in my direction. I decide I will wait until he stands back up. I check my ballistic calculator and decide on 34” of hold over. After 15 antagonizing minutes and several trains horns later I feel the wind start changing direction. I afraid he may not stand but instead bolt from his bed. I decide to set up on the gun, blow a call and hope for the best. With a great rest I blow the call and watch him stand up broadside facing to my right. I find my hold over, settle in and the recoil surprises me. As I’m cycling the bolt I hear the impact and watch the goat run from left to right FAST !!! I watch him pile up in a cloud of dust and rocks. He must have slid 12’ or more and broke off a prong that we never found. I collected my brass and walked back to the top of the knoll. I flagged my buddies, sat down in the shade of a juniper and started shaking. I dug out my tag and some water from my Fanny pack and texted my wife and kids. Soon my buddies arrived. We hugged, high five and shook hands. I tagged my buck and took some pictures then we headed back to camp. We skinned/processed the buck and got the meat cooled. Soon we started celebrating and with Holbrook being so close, everyone got dilly bars from DQ.

So, you assume no one else can pay cash and have a change of mind? Rather condescending in my book.. next up….

Typical for guys on here to assume everyone is as broke as they are. Good luck with the sale.

Silly of you to assume such a thing considering it’s paid for. Guys like you have all the answers don’t ya?

Holoson it is then thanks for the input. Just a note I have a Burris fast fire and its been fine for me on an AR platform