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Here’s mine from that hunt. Been looking to see what else came out and haven’t seen anything yet either.

My buck from 12A West.

6225E988-482B-4B57-A677-E0AC7B523722-8198-0000086ED92A02B7.mov To say my hunt turned out to be great would be an understatement. It was one of the best experiences ever, from scouting to the time laying hands on my ram. Memorable to say the least especially with just my nephew, grand nephew and I getting I done. So quick a run down… ram was aged at 8, but with the gnarly bases G&F said he could be 9+ but couldn’t tell for sure. Ram scored 174. One circumference landed in the bad spot in his horn which kept him from scoring higher but that just adds great character to the ram. His good side measures 91”. Oh in the last pic with grand nephew, the road that goes through the saddle, that saddle is where I shot from Brian

I have a sony A7iii 200-600 lens. (If they are close) Works well. I also use my phone and a spotter. I'm very new into photography but I like it when I can spare the time. Couple more from the kaibab

Couple bucks I saw got killed.

Got out late this morning, loaded my first 3 shells at 7:50 and shot my 15th bird by 9:56. Not huge numbers in any particular covey but a ton of smaller coveys (8-12) birds. When I got done cleaning by 10:30 they were still talking up a storm all around me. An abundance of birds out here!!!

My oldest son drew his first deer tag and I was pumped it was in a unit that I've had great success in for coues. His tag was good for either coues or mule deer. His hunt was over Thanksgiving break so we had no worries about school. My dad and my 2nd oldest boy joined us on the trip. My dad left early the Friday before the opener to get camp setup and we left town soon after the boys got of school. A 4.5 hour drive later we arrived. I had a real hard time sleeping that night like a kid on Christmas eve. Opening morning found us overlooking a big bowl that I killed my buck in last year. Not even a rabbit was moving in there. The next few days were good with a few encounters here and there with really small bucks. It was a grind to find good bucks and I was starting to feel the pressure. Wednesday morning found us sitting a saddle that we could overlook a a tank that some good deer had been using. Around 10:30a a good buck was glassed up and it was on. We set up where the buck should come out about 100 yards out. Like planned the buck read the script and my boy punched him with a perfect shot. His first deer and his first coues. I was super pumped and we hugged high fived and rolled around. We got his buck taken care of and headed home with smiles.

6.5 creed.... makes more sense now.

My son name is Dylan. He just graduated High School but is a motivated hard working guy. Hes 6 ft 210 strong guy. Several can vouch for him on here and hopefully they chime in. For the past 2 years while playing Baseball and school he started his own paver and turf business. Does good work but in AZ its hard to compete since so many people do it here, and people don't trust young kids. He also does monthly landscape if any of you guys interested. He's on the west side in Waddell/Surprise. The reason I'm posting is last night he said Dad, I need steady work. His skills are in what I mentioned above plus sprinklers, but he's willing to look into any field. He's young and I'm hoping some of you guys on here have a beginning position into something new. Could be electrical, mining, car sales, plumbing, farming, etc... Hoping to get him started in a career. If you guys have anything shoot me a message and I will put you in contact with him. He has a 4x4 truck to get to work. Thanks fellas. Some pics of his work and the deer pic is last weekend.

I have to start this post with a huge thank you and shout out to @CatfishKev. The man is such a gent and frikken amazing at glassing. It’s a privilege to be learning from you bud! I truly have learnt so much from our outings- here’s to many more! I managed to get some time off work to assist Kev for a weekend on his son, Caliche’s hunt and do some scouting for this hunt. This one was actually my friend’s first big game hunt in Arizona and he’d asked me for some help, of course I reached out to Kev as well 🙂 We arrived on Thursday evening, filled with hope which was actually well placed, as we found about 16 bucks during this trip. On Friday morning we glassed up 4 buck in a meadow. They weren’t big, but they were also a bit beyond a comfortable shooting range. Friday afternoon we visited a different spot where we glassed up some more smaller bucks and quite a few herds of does and fawns. We were also caught in a rainstorm that resulted in one of the most vivid double rainbows I can remember seeing. Saturday morning had us in the same spot, this time with Kev’s hunting pal Bucky the Boston Terrier in tow, where we found 2 beautiful big buck, who were feeding towards us. We made some plans to put our hunter in position but they picked up on something and turned back to where they came from. Feeling our cover blown we visited another area- no deer this time, but we found quite a few javelina and coyotes. Saturday afternoon had us in another spot- loads and loads of does and fawns but no bucks this time. Sunday morning was our last chance. We went to our most promising spot where Kev glassed up a beautiful buck before it was even light. A big Roman nose, big bodied and a good rack. We put a plan in place, but devastatingly bumped some does who ran straight to the buck who hightailed it with them. Feeling rather dejected, we returned to the glassing point to resume the search. We glassed up some sparring spikes very far away, and with the thinking of something is better than nothing again, hatched a plan to put our hunter in position. This time I stayed with Kevin and we guided him in. He managed to get extremely close (from where we were it seemed almost archery range) while they continued. While this excitement was going on- we spotted 4 additional buck, 2 of them certainly big bucks making their way straight to where our hunter was currently hidden. We excitedly told him to wait for them and our anxious wait started. They kept coming closer and closer and it seemed like they were about to step on him while we continued waiting to hear a shot. The hunter then excitedly told us he could see one. It was one of the smaller buck, and the bigger two were still approaching… The smaller one however knew something was up, he backtracked around a bush to get a look from the other side and fortunately one of the big bucks stepped forward and into our hunters target and we finally heard a shot! We waited a few minutes, watching for any movement before we packed our scopes to make our way down to find our happy hunter- with a beautiful, hugely bodied, mature buck. I’m almost convinced it was the buck Kevin had spotted first thing. What a beauty for a first time AZ hunter!

So after doing the jeep thing…TJ’S. XJ’S and LJ’S and a few Tacoma’s I decided to try the 3rd gen 4 runner…. I looked for several months for an AZ vehicle that was a one owner not beat to death all original vehicle to get started with… what I found was the little old lady from sun city vehicle….all original low mile limited trim package… The build was on… Here are a few pics to get started…. More pics and full story to come The black box in the back is the start of an all aluminum storage system with pull out drawers

Late tag holders had some great weather the last few days. Anybody hear of some of the bucks taken so far?

Greetings and my apologies for not posting this write up earlier because i truly thought i had. I was lucky enough to draw the early 45c sheep, in 2022, with 23/24 points. I spend 2 or 3 weekends on month, starting in July, and running through October in scouting mode. Needless to say, it was brutally hot and I had to get creative by installing a portable AC unit into the bed of my truck/camper because average summer night time temperatures averaged around 95+ degrees. Daytime temperatures were very consistent at 110. I lived 3.5 hours from my unit plus another 30-60 minutes to my glassing spots. The first few months was really learning roads/access and locating the persistent water holes. I tried to limit my hikes to early mornings to avoid high daytime temperatures, but more times than i would like to admit, i found myself hiking in/out in high temperatures - brutal. Minus the search for water holes, most of my glassing was limited to road glassing or a high point near the road. During all my early scouting trips, monsoons were pretty consistent and by October the north facing slopes in the large basins were loaded with food - literally a green up. By November, I had seen many sheep and just as many rams but all seen from afar. Even with using my big eyes (two 20-60x65mm swarovski spotting scopes with a bracket), I hadn't seen anything that wow'ed me and really used my scouting trips to try and exclude areas during the hunt. I started to question my decision of DIY and should I hire a guide - I was beginning to doubt my approach. So my hunt was starting on 11/18 and I set up sheep camp on 11/10. Most of my support was going to show up a few days before the start of the hunt. With nothing but time and tread on my boots to waste, I started hiking into areas based on my months of scouting. i was averaging 10+ miles a day and it wasn't until day 5 before finding what i considered a book ram. I sat on this ram for multiple days. This ram was named and if it was opening day, i would have shot "Dirty Brown". He was an old class 4 ram with most of rump hair missing so he looked like a dirty @ss ram - aka dirty brown. While in the same basin, I also found another shooter ram. He was smaller than dirty brown so we didnt name him. On the third day of sitting on Dirty Brown, he went MIA. I spend the whole day trying to relocate but I would never see him again. Luckily the day i lost dirty brown, my buddy showed up in sheep camp. I sent him into the next basin to the south - we thought divide and conquer. I was truly dejected thinking i lost the best ram i had seen in the unit. I finished the day watching ram #2 - we still hadn't named him. We both returned to camp and i was licking my wounds. I figured ram #2 was a shooter (likely a book ram) and I will go back and sit on this ram. I am telling my buddy that i lost the target ram but had a backup ram. The whole time updating my buddy on my trials from the day, he had a shitty grin on his face. Once i was done crying about losing dirty brown, he showed me pics of what he found - we ended calling him Rick Flare (horns flared). We wake up the day before opening day. My buddy goes back in to sit on Rick Flare and i went to sit on ram #2. At the end of day, on Thursday, we were left with only one ram - Rick Flare. Ram #2 went MIA on the third day exactly like Dirty Brown. We were ecstatic that Rick Flare was still in the same basin, so plans were drawn for opening day. Back in camp most of my team arrived and few were arriving in the morning. We had one plan for opening day - find Rick Flare and shoot him. However, after losing dirty brown and ram #2 on the third day, i was really worried he would not show because opening day would be "Day 3" for Rick Flare. I didn't sleep well that night. While sitting on all these rams, we did not see any other sheep hunters, but paranoia set in and departure time was bumped up. We were over an hour+ to the ram from camp and the caravan pulled out at 400 AM. Multiple rigs in-tow, we make our way to Rick Flare. We stopped short of the basin to split up the teams since we were not fully sure where the ram would be. Half the team stayed far back to see more of the basin and a small group headed up to where we last saw Rick Flare. To our surprise and utter disappointment, no sheep in the entire basin. Despair, frustration was setting in that the sheep moved out of this basin. We didn't have any back up plans since we already lost two shooter rams days before. My buddy said, "i am going up into the cut where i originally found the ram.". 15 minutes later he comes running back and he found the sheep in a tight crevice. my team moved to continue our search for Rick Flare and it was not long before Rick Flare was spotted. A handful of my team stayed back to watch and my buddy and I attempted to make a move. Rick was well over 1000+ yards so we moved for a closer shot. It appeared with every step the ram was watching us especially since he moved away from the other sheep in the cut. Luckily, in hindsight, he was moving closer to us while we moved closer to him. Unfortunately, it felt like every step we moved was being watched by the ram. In our eagerness to get in shooting range, we pulled out of the wash to set up for a shot. We were lined out at 571 yards - prone. Keep in mind, i do all my load development and DOPE on a 300 RUM. I was consistently shooting out to 900 yards (popping one gallon water jugs), so at 571 I felt extremely confident. I was shooting 210 Berger VLD pushing 3100+FPS. I was on reload number three for the brass and normally start to discard brass after 5-6 reloads. The video below was the first shot. It was hit, he partially flopped, but he got back up. I am cycling my next round and only part of the case came out. I realized quickly that i just experienced a head case separation and the ram is still on his feet. Adrenaline was running high and half the case was still stuck in my chamber. In the heat of the moment, the only thought was to slam the gun on the butt of the gun. Luckily the sheep gods were on my side and the case slid out. After removing the case which seemed like an eternity, the ram had moved and i was blocked by a palo verde and forced to move. I will give credit to my buddy for remaining calm and staying on the ram. I was able to reposition and locate the ram. I take my second shot, with no adjustments, and my spotter could not tell if it was a hit/miss. I thought it was a hit because i heard the thud on impact. Now, the ram is behind a tree and all we can see is his head and horns. We were told after the fact, he was a dead ram standing after the second shot. He was doing the death wobble but all my buddy and I could see was his head/horns moving in and out of the tree. On the next wobble outside of the tree, i sent bullet number three and ended my pursuit of the rugged desert bighorn. I was tagged out by 8:30 AM on opening day. 7C3F14A3-3DBF-4070-B892-8CFF1D10A56F.mov

Awesome ram congrats! I'd say he's my favorite ram I've seen this year, can't argue with big and gnarly Did you see your ram in scouting?

My buddy took a 32 foot scissor lift on a flat bed trailer and hunted from it. He was hunting off of Freeman road near Oracle. He would raise and glass from it until he spotted something. It worked at least twice. He stuck a giant 5x5 and the next year a 4x4. When your down in the flats even a couple inches of height makes a big difference

This is my Dad, buy with confidence. Very nice pistol!

Cole gave this to me after he graduated from college! We drove it back up to Gunnison in November for a deer hunt! It did not disappoint on or off the highway!

i have a lawn mover that might be working but not needed anymore and i also have a old power washer that is in non working condition... i am in Mesa Ellsworth and Baseline... DM me and i will send you my address and phone # if you are interested

Very nice ram, congrats!

I get asked why I do the giveaway all the time. It's to give back ! I didn't get the opportunity to hunt as a kid . My parents were divorced and there was just no money or opportunity for me . It's truly something I enjoy doing with the hopes that it will have a positive impact on some young person. I do have conformation of the first game animal taken with a giveaway gun and the ear to ear smile 😃 makes it all worth the effort. I can't give all the details I don't want to take away from a proud dad and his young hunters success. He's going to post when he can with details so keep your eyes out for a happy hunter with a ear to ear smile.

That poor guy needed a dentist!!! Crazy lookin

I drew it with 12 points

I was thinking the same thing, great shooting

Heck ya, Nick! Kev is solid!! He helped me a LOT in prepping for my bison hunt a few years ago! A good guy helping a good guy! Love it!! S.

I wouldn't have my scope mounted at any one of the box gun stores, and I wouldn't get my legal advice from them either. I was in The Sportsman's Warehouse in Mesa about six months ago and the guy behind the counter was telling a customer standing there if you get in a fist fight and your carrying you can be charged with assault with a deadly weapon. I was going to ask which ARS that fell under but just shook my head and walked away.