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The Boys had a great day out Sunday. Only day we had with high school wrestling in full swing. First archery kill for one and second for another. First time I have every seen three taking on first stock, same herd and no blood trailing. All dropped insight. Middle pig is a hoss.

Seeing Brandon's report on his hunt reminded me that we never posted our hunt either. I got two tags again, and gave one to a buddy for his 12 year old son to fill. Taylor would be filling the remaining tag for us. We drove out and scouted the afternoon before opener, and found a couple good bucks, with this guy as our target buck for opening morning. Hard to see, as he was about 2+ miles out, but he was tall and heavy. I did not get a lot of photos, as opening day started from 0 to 100mph in a matter of minutes. We got to where we wanted to be about 20 minutes before legal light and started glassing. The grass was so tall this year, the goats would just appear out of nowhere when they stood up. About 10 minutes before legal light, our target buck made an appearance, but about a mile off property. I then glassed up a different buck, and he was good too. We made a "great plan" to go after the 2nd buck. My buddy (Ryan) and his son (Cody) were going to jump in their truck, circle back around the buck about a mile away, then I was going to start walking towards it to push it to them. Great plan, should have a buck down before sunup, right? The minute Ryan started the truck, that buck was GONE! Ran a mile to the fence then a mile off property in about 2 minutes. Well, first plan failed miserably. We glassed up a bunch of other pronghorn, and plans were made and broken before we could even gather the gear a few times in that first 90 minutes. We packed up, and drove to another spot to glass, and met up with another buddy about 2 hours after sunrise, and took a look at his buck he had just killed (The one Kyle was waiting on, and got shot by another hunter, my other buddy's kid (Cole). We drove, and glassed, and spotted, and confirmed they were off property, and chased, and drove, and glassed.....for a few hours. Tons of goats, but nothing we could go after. I then got word that the other person in our group, Tracy, shot a good buck about 10:30AM with my old .280AI at 650 yards. About that time we spotted a good buck with a couple does on top of a bowl about 3 miles away, watching us as I glassed them up. No way to go straight at them, no way to go up the spine, so I devised a brilliant plan to back out, and drive around to the side about a mile away, and we could keep one hill between us and them and sneak through about the only group of junipers within 5 miles and should be above them to get about a 300-400 yard shot down into the buck. Now, Cody had been cooped up in a vehicle for 16 hours on Friday, and another 5 hours on opening day, so he had been raring to go all morning. About 1/2 mile into the hike, he was slowing down. So we took our time sneaking around the hill....and we jumped two BIG mulies. Who went stotting around the hill towards our destination....of course. I told Ryan and Cody, "I sure hope those bucks don't blow the pronghorn out of the country.". Sure enough, as we sneak to the top, there are the two mulies standing in the middle of the bowl staring at us, and the pronghorn are long gone. I tell Ryan and Cody to get comfortable and set up, and I would go down and around the hills, and sneak up the backside just in case the goats are in a fold and I can drive them towards our position. Well, 3 miles later, no dice. I head back towards the hill Ryan and Cody were on, and see Cody sitting under a tree, and RYan packing up the gear while I am still topping the last hill. Hmm. Get back to Ryan and Cody, and Cody is looking like he is in bad shape. Ryan thinks maybe he got too hot, so we slowly head towards the trucks a mile away. We barely get back to the trucks. Cody climbs in and is instantly asleep. We would find out later, the poor kid came down with COVID and it kicked him in the face in a matter of hours. So, Tracy and Don (Tracy's husband) met up with us and we check out her goat, and talk a little shop. They give us a spot where they had chased some pronghorn earlier, and so we decide to go check the area out. About 2:30, we get to the spot, and I glass up 3 separate groups of goats, about 2.5 to 3 miles out in this huge flat. 1st goat, decent with 9 does. 2nd goat, good with about 30 does. They are both about 2.5 miles out. 3rd goat, with about 6 does, and 3 miles out, hard to tell with him but he looked smaller than the first 2. Talking with Ryan, no way is Cody making that hike out in the shape he is in. Fast asleep and sick as a dog by now. And then it happens.... While watching the bigger buck...I see horn tips just off the top of a slight depression fairly close. I run over to Ryan's truck and climb in the back and stand on his ice chest to try and get a better look at the buck. He is a smaller buck, but ranged him at 565 yards. I tell Ryan get Cody out of the truck and get him ready to go. Ryan runs over and asks Cody, "Want to shoot a buck?" Cody jumps out, and I tell Ryan, "I am going to get him to come in." Ryan says, "huh?" I run to my truck and grab a white hand towel I borrowed from the hotel. Jump back up in Ryan's truck on the ice chest, and whistle once, and wave the towel like I am surrendering at Gettysburg. The buck looks over, and he is on his feet in seconds, slowly headed our way. I jump down, we get the tripod set up, and Cody on it to see over the grass. Back up in the truck, and the buck has stopped, just staring. I ranged him, 500 yards. Ryan says, "What do I dial?" I say, "throw me your rangefinders!" Now, they still can't see the buck, as he is behind a little roller hill. I start waving the white flag of surrender, and the buck starts back towards us. I tell Cody, "He is coming, get ready, I am going to get him to come right to the top of the hill in front of you." Range, "dial 3.2mil"....range "dial 3.0mil....range, "dial 2.5mil....dial 2.0mil......dial 1.5mil..........dial 1.0mil..........dial .5mil......here he comes" I hear Cody, "I SEE HIM!" Me, "dial .1MIL.....he stopped.....kill him right now!" The suppressed 25SST let out a crack, I watched the impact through the rangefinder. He turned, and I saw the fountain and a flop and said, "He is down!" From 565 to 210 yards. Here is the buck just off the top (hard to see the horns, but he is there) Cody getting ready and realizing a bipod was too low Waiting for the buck to top out Exit from the 133 Elite @ 3250fps Cody's first buck! Well, after the whirlwind that took about 10 minutes to unfold and get Cody's buck on the ground, Taylor and I headed out after the other 2 bucks 2.5 miles out. We had a lot of ground to cover, and the pronghorns had been watching us the whole time. We had a big herd of cows between us and the goats, so we were hoping to use them as cover. It worked for the first 1.5 miles. The pronghorn watched us coming the whole time, and when we got a mile out, both groups all stood up. So we went really slowly the last 200 yards to the cows...which then started to mill around and narc us out. Except our new friend, we shall call her "Bessie". Bessie calmed the pronghorn down, and they all bedded back down. Bessie walked with us for another 1/2 mile, as our escort. At 772 yards, the goats all got back up, so we stopped and got set up for the shot. They all bedded again, and the wait was on for the buck to stand and get clear of the does in front of him. We waited for 40 minutes, me even having to shoo Bessie out of the way once, for the buck to finally stand and finally clear the does, slightly quartering away. I have it all on video from Ryan behind us 2 miles back. A long version and a short version of just the shooting. It was really windy, and my first wind call was off a bit. First shot was a bit far back and a pass through (would find out it was a liver shot when we recovered him) and would have been fatal, but a second shot was on the money. The video is kind of gruesome, seeing him run and everything hanging out the backside. A heavy buck, high prongs, and Taylor's longest kill to date. You can see the first shot entrance a little far back. Here is the short video, buck is on the very left side of the frame to start. We had a great trip, and it was very rewarding to get Cody his first pronghorn, and Taylor her longest kill to date.

Wife and I got lucky and arrowed two seconds apart. Both nice boars for Chorizo!

Jack White did the first one of these that I ever saw back in the 70s for my uncle. @MogollonTaxidermy recreated it for me. Jack did the best pig rugs.

AZGFD isn't underfunded. Like any other government entity it's woefully mismanaged.

If that is non-res prices, I am good with it. You SHOULD have to pay a premium to hunt out of state. If those are resident prices, that sucks. I do think AGFD is severely underfunded and also there is a lot of pork that could be trimmed to help them with their budget. Recruiting quality Game managers is tough with the salary they make and the schooling required. We could easily use double the fish cops we have right now and you still would rarely get checked in the field.

Haven't seen any pigs posted yet so I thought I would share mine

Selling a never used, Outdoorsman tripod system, complete with original packaging..Sale will include the following: a "Tall Tripod" (MSRP $599.99), a "Telescoping Center Post" (MSRP $129.99) and a "Rear Rifle Support" system (MSRP $329.99)..I paid $1059.97 plus tax for this equipment.. Asking $700 OBCO..Only seeking cash offers as a result of having to pay medical bills.. Located in Tucson..... Outdoorsmans Tripod System website: https://outdoorsmans.com/collections/outdoorsmans-tripod-system

Sounds like an epic trip and nice write up. Thanks for sharing. Always fun when waving the white flag actually works…

This happen in Aug and really never got around to it. But since I've been home all day for the holidays here we go! Opening morning we got to our high spot and right away looking down I see a decent buck but with nice cutters. I hmm and haw at him and said out loud there is no way this guy is on the Property. Pulled up OnX and lo and behold he is sitting right in the middle of a 1/4 squal mile island of the property surrounded by State land. I put my gun on him and my hunting partner said wait a second I want to film this. I'm on the gun just waiting and waiting. And of course once he is ready the buck started moving after grunting at us the whole time. He ran a bit and stopped. Only at 450 yards I shoot and right over his back. On video it looked like a few inches over his back. He ran off of his little island and back on state land. I thought that was weird how I missed so bad. My hunting partner finds a nice buck a mile out. Through the spotting scope he looked good. He bedded down, So I stayed on the high ground and guided him into him. He gets into 300 yards and sets up waiting for him stand up. After 15 mins or more he stands up. Watching through his spotter I see dust and then a boom. I couldn't believe he missed that buck, then he radios me and says that's not me!!! The buck runs towards him and stops 150 yards in front of Kyle. He radios and says should I shoot him? And then through the binos I watched the buck fall over and then a boom. He radios back and said thats not me!. Some other hunter 600 yards out just shot him. I guess the hunter bedded the buck last night and he told Kyle he was very grateful for not shooting this buck. I guess something like that happen on a bull elk hunt a couple years ago and they got into it with the other hunter that tried to take his elk that he just killed. Well Kyle stayed on the south side of the valley and I stayed on the north side of the property and just worked the valley. I glassed up a nice buck and took after him. In the mean time that same buck I shot and missed started following me staying about 400 yards out and grunting. Can't do anything about he is still on State. I got set up at 600 yards on this bedded buck waiting for him to stand. Once up I made my shot and missed again! Dude what the! What is going on. I hiked back to the truck and picked up kyle. I found a hill and shot at a cow patty at 500 yards and was about 10 inches high. I have no idea why my zero is off. But we go find a spot and re zero it back. Found a soft ball size rock at 500 yards and smack in the center. Ok ok good to go! We made a couple attempts on some bucks but nothing happen. Now its even time and now we are on the bluff looking over the whole area planning for tomorrow. Sure enough that same buck comes off the bluff 500 yards away grunting at us for 20 mins. He slowly comes down. I told Kyle Im going after this SOB. He said he is on state. Yep and he is heading towards the private property. I was waiting for him to get some distance from us. I run down the hill with my gear and the buck goes over this little 4 ft knoll and now he can no longer see me. So I just walk to that knoll. My spotter radios, he is feeding with some does. The 2 does I asked? Yep! Ok perfect because those does are on the property. I come over the knoll and ranged him at 710 yards and can't get prone due to the high grass. So I extend out the bipods to 36" and grab my second hand held bipod and rest it under the rear stock. Boom and dropped him. My 280AI that Lance did the load development shooting 160TMKs at 3100fps has broken every animals spine which has been 5 animals. It does what bergers do but just more! All hits have been center mass and it still breaks the spine or damages the spine. I really need to do a write up on that bullet. But Sadly we haven't seen any of them for over a year now. The next morning we started about 1/2 mile from day 1. Same thing Kyle finds a buck that looks wide and cool looking. We went back and fourth between 2 bucks to go after. He couldn't decide but the wide one bedded down. I told Kyle Just drive the truck around down in the valley and park it 800 yards out. The buck can't see you due to these 15ft high rolling hills that are about 100 yards long. So he does just that and I watch the whole thing again from a mile out. He gets up to a shooting position. Same thing he's waiting for him to stand up. So after 20-30 mins Im bored and start texting Lance what Kyle is waiting for. Lance is now texting me back with questions marks.........anything? Nope but we have truck coming our way. I radio Kyle and told him a truck is coming. Probably be there in 10 mins. Lance texts back and if you can see his vital and have a good shot take it. So I rely back to Kyle if you have a good shot take it. He radios back and says Im getting ready. At the same time im texting Lance whats going on play by play. He shoots and hits him hard. He gets up from the shot and moves 10 ft and sits back down. Kyle re adjust and shoots again and dumps him. Side note Lance didn't have a tag this year gave it to his daughter and helped another youth hunter. With Kyles buck, my buck and the people that was with Lance that was 6 bucks down in 24hrs!! It was a fun hunt! Kyles buck looks cool and looks big in pics but didn't even score 70inchs

Here are the skulls that are similar to the ones you make. I figured I would share as they may give some ideas. You can enlarge the photos to get a closer look.

Very similar to skulls we saw down in Oaxaca, MX

Could be wrong but SF060 failed to pass for now.

Nothing says you have to hunt with it once you get the permit. Had a buddy get a temp one after a surgery, but he healed up and had rehabbed everything by the time season came around and could use a bow again. Game and fish offers two types, both a permanent disability one and an annual. Permit valid: Does not expire unless the medical certification portion of the application indicates the person has a temporary physical disability; then the crossbow permit shall be valid for a period of one year from the date the medical certification portion of the application was signed by the healthcare provider.

I have two 1lbrs that I would trade to get you started.

Nice work! One of my favorite hunts of the year.

Nice pigs! The shot placement looks perfect!

Those are some fattys!! Congrats, that is a great pic!

Very nice! We've been wearing the same camo as your wife and it's perfect for this terrain here in Az!

Congrats on the double. Great picture.

I can only sit and bead for a couple hours at a time. I worked on the AZ flag skull for 3 months. The second one took about a month. I would guess the hours at around 50 per skull.

Look like big javelina

Thanks CatfishKev! Here’s the most recent one.

My newest work. Created by placing a single bead on at a time.

Looking forward to javi season 2012 - something near and dear to me because it's one of those hunts that you can regularly draw, and once out there you can usually be on the chase. I think Javelina are the most underrated big game species in Az. What better quarry to teach young hunters to glass, read sign, learn the basics of hunting in the desert and keep it fun and usually action-packed enough to hook them for life? There's a few things I've noticed over the years of hunting these critters that I find kind of facinating. For starters, they are extremely social. If you sit and watch a herd for a while, you can quickly learn the hierarchy of the herd. But they always watch eachother's back and tend to the young as a whole. For an animal that is considered "dumb" they have a more developed communication system than deer, elk and even turkey from what I've seen. They are very particular about their "home ground". They seem to find a place that they feel safe, have the forage and water they need and stick to it as long as it feels safe. Once you bust them, if they really feel threatened, they'll leave that spot and might not return - ever. If you bust up a herd in a bedding area that they've used for years, once you see them scatter and go ridge over ridge, that awesome spot might not have javelina in it again for years. And those that re-occupy it later are not likely to be the same herd - just find it as appealing as those that used to inhabit it. Another thing I find interesting, and other javi-junkies have noticed, if you find the "home" bedding grounds of a herd that they are using regularly, sneak in and happen to shoot one without totally chasing them out of there (think archery - quiet, kill one and back out), they'll come right back and continue to use the area - they'll probably still be there the next year. BUT, if you don't take your harvest out of the area before field dressing them, and gut them right there in their "comfort" area, the herd will return, find the remains and get a little weirded out and leave in search of another safe place. It's like they recognize the remains of the one you killed and dressed, and can't feel comfortable hanging around "Bob's" gutpile. Point being, if you kill a piggie in their bedding area, pack him a ways out before the knife work. If you do this, you're likely to find them back in that area. If you don't they'll likely move somewhere else. Just some observations about these awesome little desert dwellers and their social lifestyle. I'd like to hear what others have observed about them.