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We were excited to see that my son drew a junior deer hunt again but this time in an area we never been in. We put in some crazy hours scouting google maps and onX maps just to find an area that looks interesting. I hit up some friends that hunted the area before and they gave great advice. We did scout trips and seen 10+ bucks a day and was feeling great before the hunt. Thursday I parked right outside Colby’s school and when his bell rang, he came running out, jumped in the truck and I think I peeled out a little bit. We got to camp, my pops had things already set up and we ate dinner and were ready to roll in the morning. My son decided to go to bed at 7:30 pm which was a new thing. Opening morning was the exact opposite of scouting, basically saw a coati, 4 mule deer does, 2 small coues bucks and 5 coues does. At 10am we decided to move to glass bedding areas. Glassed for a bit and my pops and I told Colby that we have to glass at 11am, we cannot go back to camp for lunch. We told him that’s when bucks change their beds. Sure enough at 11:12 I saw a buck moving from one bed to another. Colby asked if it was bigger than his buck from last year (that’s his only goal, to get something bigger than his last buck)I said yes and he said game on. We waited til the buck bedded down again and made our move. Colby is real confident under 300 yards so we snuck in to 267 yards and the only place we could find a lane to shoot in was out in the open field. No shade, just dirt and sun and no wind. We waited 3 hours and 12 minutes and when the buck was ready he stood up, the buck was quartering towards us and Colby put a bullet behind his shoulder and the bullet went all the way to his opposite side rump. The buck hunched up, went a few steps and rolled down the mountain. Turns out that this buck is real old, can’t imagine how many lions, bears and hunters he evaded the last 9-10 years. Had some giant hooves and teeth were won down pretty good. We hung around the area for a few more days glassing, saw plenty of bucks but nothing in this caliber and headed back home today.

Chandler’s first hunt was a success! We’re gonna need some more butter!

We caught up to a group of hens yesterday afternoon, and my older son got a decent Tom yesterday evening. First turkey for both of us. His Tom death flopped into a tank we shot it on and got wet. We cleaned up the fan when we got home and I think it will turn out well. My son's are posed with my hen by the rocks, and my younger son is with it on the tailgate.

I keep replaying Friday afternoon, Oct 6, in my mind and am so proud of our son, Jacob. I'm also thankful for the friends (family) that helped make this happen. Grandpa Goose and Christian made this hunt even more special. We were glassing in Unit 10 Friday afternoon, looking for a cow elk that we (Christian) spotted that morning over 2000 yards away bedded between two junipers. A bull bugled to our right down in or across the canyon immediately east of us. We knew he had to have cows with him. While making a plan, I decided we didn't need three people going in. That was too many bodies and, therefore, too many chances for something to go wrong. I stayed back with the gear while Jacob and Christian went in to look and, hopefully, make something happen. I know when it's time to let go and time for someone else to lead him, especially someone I trust wholeheartedly. 10 minutes later, at 4:40 pm, I heard the shot, followed by the wracking of the action of Jacob's 300WM. Then dead silence. Nobody answered my radio or text inquiries. This dad was shaking, but confident. Jacob is an ice-cold shooter. My radio went off at almost 4pm letting me know Jacob hit a cow solidly. She entered a thick clump of junipers and never came out. I grabbed the gear and headed down to Jacob and Christian. I got the full download. Jacob made a perfect 357-yard shot on a slightly quartering-away mature cow. Christian kept eyes on the area while Jacob and I picked our way across the canyon. Christian guided us in perfectly after seeing her fall and tumble down the canyon side. Jacob paid his respects to his elk and helped me drag her 15 yards down the canyon to the wash where we could process her easier. We got some great trophy pics before we ran out of light and began the hard work. Fortunately, Christian and Goose were able to drive Christian's Pioneer right up to the elk. The ride out on the tailgate of the Pioneer was beautiful under the stars. I got my chance to say thanks to all those above who watched over us. That's when my emotions caught up to me. I lost track of how many times I hugged Jacob.

Yesterday morning I got set up 90 yards from a roost tree well before sunrise. The gobblers were on fire but had a ton of hens so they didn’t fly down to my decoys or in my direction. 20-30 minutes after fly down with nothing wanting to come in, I circled around to try and get in front of them. The flock had switched directions and was now going back towards where I was first set up. I hightailed it to get in front of them again and gave a few soft clucks. Before too long, the big multi bearded tom I’d seen the night before and last weekend was in full strut with his hens coming in. I waited until he was out of strut and shot him at about 10 yards. After some pics my friends and I were back to camp for carne asada tacos by 7:30. The bird weighed 22 pounds, both spurs are 7/8”, and the longest beard is 10 1/2”

Spending the last few evenings processing my bull has been a lot of work , but something I always look forward to . Teaching my son to take pride in your blessings , along with teaching him skills that I hope he will carry on to his son. Having my father there this time to see me pass on the passion of hunting and the outdoors the way he instilled them in me is something I will hold tight for the rest of my life. This has been my favorite part of this hunt.

Young buck

FYI we are getting him a haircut tomorrow.

I tried to upload pics this morning, but I didn't have enough service. We cleaned the fan up when we got home a little bit ago.

I was able to take this absolute behemoth of a bear this morning. I typically hunt the spring but due to the shortened season, late winter moisture and cool temps, I was not able to turn a bear up. I had hesitations about hunting higher elevations in the oaks due the great crop of prickly pear not far away at lower elevation. Well I'm glad I stuck with my original plan.

Just got back from my New Mexico antelope hunt. was a wonderful hunt with a lot of antelope to glass. got this guy on opening day. First time hunting antelope so didn’t really know how to judge size, they all looked the same to me.

Awesome. Love all the generations helping out. Cherish these times while you can!

Outstanding, congratulations guys!

Congratulations! That is awesome.

Man this youth hunt has knocked me down a peg or two. Finally found a good buck though. Hopefully we can seal the deal.

Good for you. My soon to be 16 yr old and me are deep in this dent side. Good memories already with more to come. Motor just got done, won’t be long.

Priceless.

Processing with family/friends is truly the cherry on top to end the hunt! Very cool all 3 generations participated. Congratulations on your success

I love this post. I would have loved to do this with my dad, but between us we have enough mechanical skill and talent to MAYBE do a brake job.

We had the hen breasts for dinner tonight. It was amazing. Tons of garlic, tons of butter, etc. Legitimately one of the best meals my wife has ever cooked and she is a pretty decent cook. We are going to do this again, but next time over pasta.

Hunted for muley horns this weekend. Found a decent amount of deer biggest was a fairly big Forky we passed on. Moved to another area and got on 2 nice coues this am and made a stalk til they vanished in thick stuff and we ended up bumping them. Standards are officially lowered now and will go for any big forkies or better. Some of my go to spots are just too thick and it's been pretty darn warm. Good luck to all .

My 11yr old son harvested a nice tom turkey yesterday. This was his first turkey and first big game harvest. When he dumped it, it death flopped into the water tank we were sitting and got muddy. It wasn't pretty for pictures, but it was a nice bird. He was super excited and so was his little brother, and of course I was probably more excited then both of them for him!

Some hunts are ruined by killing something. I used to be all about the kill. As I have got older it has changed and I think I enjoy helping or watching someone else as much as hunting for myself. That said, there is nothing like glassing up a trophy and making a great stalk or shot. I think the most successful hunt I have ever had was a late archery bull hunt that I hunted a specific bull for 3 days and finally killed him at 15 yards.

He must have called in sick for work

He is special ops, if you knew his face you would have to die. JK no idea Congrats on the antelope. They are fun to hunt