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In this day and age you try to raise your kids right and give them opportunities and experiences that you enjoyed as a kid! Then getting to watch your kid pass the tradition on to their kids! Gives hope that not everything is a complete wreck out there in the real world!

Last weekend my 2 sons and I went turkey hunting for our first fall hunt. We arrived on Thursday evening and setup camp. Friday morning we went to our first spot and someone beat us to it so we decided to go explore some more of the area and went a few miles north. We walked some tanks and glassed some open areas with no success. On the way back to camp we bumped a small group of hens crossing the road. We tried to get out of the truck quietly but they gave us the slip, we were too slow. We continued towards camp and spotted another larger group of turkey that had just crossed the road. We stopped and started sneaking down the road. As we came over a rise I spotted a coyote also putting the sneak on the turkey and he was headed up the road directly at us, but didn't see us yet. I played the gamble of just shoot him and bag a coyote and then try and go for a bird in the chaos, or hope he runs and doesn't bust the turkey. I chose option 2, but if course he freaked and ran right thru the turkey trying to get away and they exploded across the creek and into the trees. No luck. Next day in the AM we got close to some hens but not close enough. Saturday afternoon we went to go setup on a waterhole. On the way we spotted a group of hens walking the road. I stopped the truck and they walked right up to the truck and I told my son's not to move and let them pass. When they pass we will sneak out from behind and see if we can bag them. They literally walked to 5 feet in front of the truck and then walked around it. We slowly got out and I was clear first so I took the shot on a hen and smacked her good for my first turkey! Lincoln ran down the road and in the chaos was able to get 2 shots off at a hen, but missed in the excitement. We grabbed my bird and went on with plan A to the waterhole. My son's and I setup in a ground blind an archery hunter made and waited. About 30 minutes in a Tom comes flying into the tank. Literally flying in the air with another 2 behind him in the air. They landed a d started eating. 2 more Tom's joined them shortly. The 4 walked around on the other side of the water about 80yrds out for about 15 min. Then I whispered to my son's to not move and stay quiet. I heard a turkey behind us in the brush. A 5th Tom strutted out and worked his way over to the group of 4 and started strutting and parading around like a tough guy. Eventually they all calmed and kept eating. 2 birds started for the water cautiously. They were in range but were crossing each other, and my son froze a little and didn't shoot when he could have. The other 3 started working in too, and finally the 3rd bird which I think was the one from behind us walked in and my son smoke him at about 40yrds. 1 clean shot and he was flopping. Unfortunately he flopped right into the waterhole. My son's were both stoked to say the least but I may have been more excited on the inside than both of them. My son's first turkey was a nice Tom. 7.5" beard and once we washed it the fan turned our pretty nice.

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.

I have always enjoyed journaling my noteworthy hunts on here both for posterity and entertainment. Although this is not MY hunt, it is noteworthy as it is my sons FIRST hunt. Not just of deer but of ANYTHING.. My son has never shown ANY interest in hunting. ZERO. Not even in VIDEO GAMES. I mean ZEEEERO. So when he said he would be interested in applying for the deer draw I was somewhat surprised. I think we were ALL shocked when he actually got drawn. I spent a LOT of time planning and preparing and begging for advice (a HUGE thank-you to all that sent info to me) I had a pretty good game plan of how to get him a deer. All that went out the window after we learned he is HORRIBLE at shooting. We practiced and practiced and got help from some extremely good teachers(not me) but he just couldn't find the rhythm. He developed a pretty bad flinch even with the lightest of deer rifles. So I switched him to my 223ar and locked him into a pretty decent tripod system(field optics research) to help with the flinch and stability. He was shooting good this way but it severely limited our range and options for hunting. I decided we would be limited to 100 yds or less and in a controlled environment. So that means sitting water. So now our epic journey begins,,,,,, Day one. Opening morning. It's over. The end. Our view curios visitor The best part of the entire hunt for HIM The end...... Sat until 10 am when it started getting hot and I figured they might come get a drink. First saw the above doe and watched her for quite awhile. Then another and another. Eventually two small bucks showed up. There was a larger buck farther back behind the water hole but Easton could not see it well. The small one was standing broadside at 80 yds. After about 5 min of watching and waiting for the bigger buck he decided the little one was good enough. Calm as a rock he he went through the process we practiced. Pretty much a bang flop. I was a "little" nervous about the 223 but it WRECKED that little deer. Never had a chance. He was a ROCK. ZERO nerves. ME on the other hand. I was a nervous wreck. Took me forever to calm down. I was so bad I for got to video it. Oh, I HAD the camera set up and I turned it on. I even followed the deer around for 5 min all the way through the shot. I just neglected hitting the record button. I so totally suck at video. It is my Achilles heel. About 5 min after the shot 2 buggies came up the trail. I think if he waited for the bigger buck any longer we might have gotten nothing. I commended him for his good call and his excellent shooting. Funniest part of the entire event was afterwards. I asked if he had fun and he said it was awesome. I asked if he wanted to do it again and without pause and very emphatically he said... Nope. Oh well. We'll see,,,,,

Just got back from a week at Alamo, kids had fall break and love it there. First couple days were hot but it cooled off pretty good midweek. Had a good buzzbait bite early first couple days, after that it was mostly Texas rigs with brush hogs and lizards. We caught between 15 and 30 per day amongst the three of us that fished. Good times. Also saw this buck one morning he was probably 125 yards away and this was the best pic I got of him. Sorry pic of deer is sideways.

Seeking to downsize firearms collection. Purchased NIB for short notice AK remote 7 day backpack hunting trip, but was able to find the 2 lb. lighter Tikka T3X Superlite I wanted in stock day before flight out. Savage still unfired NIB. Grew up happily on various Savages, but brother swayed me to lighter build-out for extremely remote mtn. hunts. Rifle for sale to those who can legally possess. Cash, in-person, w/ bill of sale. Located in Peoria near Loop 101 and Northern Ave. PM with interest and ad will be updated as Pending/Sold. Savage 110 Long Range Hunter .300 Win Mag - $850 https://savagearms.com/content?p=firearms&a=product_summary&s=57036 - AccuFit system lets shooters quickly adjust comb height and length-of-pull - User-adjustable AccuTrigger - AccuStock rail system secures the action three-dimensionally along its entire length - Gray synthetic stock - 26-inch button-rifled barrel with adjustable muzzle brake - Hinged floorplate magazine - Soft grip overmold fore-end and pistol grip surfaces - New Model 110 design and ergonomics - 3-position receiver tang safety - Comes drilled and tapped for scope bases

One tag filled.

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.

Ok here’s a variety of stuff I’m looking to move. Open to trades. Located in Tucson prices are FTF local or I will be in Phoenix on Tuesday the 17th and can meet you otherwise we can make a deal to ship. Ruger MK IV 22/45 blued bull barrel like new condition $375 Merrell Moab mid height waterproof size 14 excellent condition like new $40 Aluminum power throw lever $15 magazine for Erma EP 452 22lr 10 round $20 PMag 7.62x51 10 round $10 Benchmade mini-griptilian 555 great shape $100 3 boxes of federal 16GA #8 field loads $20 for all 3 boxes Sig Whiskey 3 3-9x40 duplex reticle 1” tube riflescope $80 Hog Saddle style rest, made by a different company (no markings on the rest) very well made, 1/4x20 threaded to connect to your tripod plate, all metal construction $180 Thanks call or txt 520-780-4318

Mossberg 930 12 ga., 8 shot, 18.5 inch barrel in excellent condition. Comes with factory box and all factory paperwork, shims etc. Also comes with Holosun mounting plate, light mount and buttstock shell holder. Must be 21 years of age and show AZ driver’s license. Chandler area. $400.00

I hate that. Glass the ridge, get down to the bottom where it’s thick and gotta work hard with binoculars and the FOV is narrow. i jump back to the top, miss everything.

You should start posting in the appropriate sub forums. This forum is for questions and people seeking help with this site not for general questions. Admins should move this to the correct forum.

No there sold thanks

Great story Harley.

Great story and great birds, congratulations!!

great pic. very cool perspective

Merwin, deal with confidence. KDS is my son.

Interested can you pm me?

Hey! We are currently expanding our state designs! Reach out if you get one down and we can make a custom one for you if we havnt gotten to it yet!

My cell 6o2 56eight 7nine88

Way to go! Congratulations