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My son drew a tag for one of Colorado’s open space hunts this year. It is a neat opportunity because it allows you to hunt the month of December and January which fits well with kids school schedules. We drove out as a family Christmas Day and headed out on the 26th for our first day of hunting. Saw a pile of deer and my son picked the deer he wanted to harvest and made a great shot. It was a special day and one I will never forget. I can’t stress enough, IMO, how important it is to just get out and hunt with our kids! No expectations, no trophy talk, no making them wait years for a tag because we want them to shoot the buck of “our dreams”. Let them shoot what they want. Just get out there and soak up the opportunities…they grow up so fast and time is so fleeting!

Ok we are hunting 36A which has really been kicking our butts and for only 75 tags it seems everyone else had the same gameplan. Oh well, public land all good. Needless to say the bucks have been few and far between. This past Monday we saw a great buck in an area that takes quite a bit of time to get to so we went back this morning before sunup. Two other pairs of hunters had the same plan, probably looking for the same buck, if he’s still alive. Again, public land all good. We glassed up several deer, one small two point then watched this one bed at about 750 yards around 0900. We decided to make a play for him and moved to abiut 390 where we sat and watched him for the next 3 hours. We could only see eye, nose and antler. Finally he stood and my son dumped him with a Savage 110 Ultralight 6.5 PRC, handloaded with 123 grain Hammer Hunter bullets at 3250. He took a step and was done. Not the biggest with expectations on a late hunt but with work and family calling he’s happy and so am I. Grateful to spend time with him and thinking back to the first deer he shot on a 33 youth hunt at 11 years old 17 years ago. Back at it in the morning.

Good Afternoon, I'm considering retiring and starting a new career. For those who know me, you know I've spent the last 20 years in law enforcement. Over the past 4 years, I've been in a senior management role, supervising a team of over 200 staff members. I'm exploring my options to see what types of jobs are available. I've often been told that I would make a great salesman, so I'm considering a career in sales or another management-style role. If you know of a company looking to hire a highly motivated individual with excellent decision-making and communication skills, I would greatly appreciate any leads. Adam

If you're in Vegas you're welcome to raid my garage chest freezer. Arrowed a Custer State Park bison this fall but since I'm spending most of my time overseas right now, I'm not there to eat it.

I just got to my camp spot 47 degrees and more than a few road hunters. 500 am can't get here fast enough. I figure i have a 2 hour climb to get where I want to go.

Rifle was built by Clinten Neff with Neffs Custom Rifles. It’s a shooter but I wanna build something a little more recoil friendly for my wife to also shoot. That’s a 3 shot group before I adjusted 2 clicks for the 4th shot. About 100 rounds down the barrel Build details: -Rem 700 action with a sako style extractor -22” Proof Carbon Barrel -Timey Trigger (think its the elite hunter if I recall correctly) -Christensen Arms FFT stock -Magpul bipod $2100 w/o scope Located in Safford but would be willing to meet or even ship if buyer covers cost.

This one dates to the 1910s, I’d have to check the SN again but I want to say it’s 1918. Like all Model 12s that haven’t been abused, it works like a 100+ year old Swiss watch. Full choke with very desirable solid rib (the vast majority are ribless). $500

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Sounds like an awesome family experience. Congrats to Max and thanks for sharing.

I agree. I just needed to upsize to 4 seats but other wise I’d hang onto it. Good rig at a good price

Leica geovid. Had them for 20 years won’t get rid of them

Thanks all for the info

This brings me back to trophy hunter magazine late 90s early 2000s

Hello Adam My uncle retired from the air force after 27 years, he was an MP. He went to work for a large security company after retiring from AF as a supervisor. Good luck and enjoy your new endeavor!

Man the insurance part is tuff anymore, you will be great at whatever you decide. Hope you continue to do taxidermy because I need you as soon as I find a cape. Hope to see you in San Diego again soon.

Pulling for you guys. Let's see some dead animals.

The 888 are really simple: a channel knob and a volume, but I understand you can re-program them and get into all kinds of trouble, also. You can even get the police and fire channels.

Glassing some hills now where I saw a big one last week. So far only two smal 2 points this one is at 494

What a day this was. Went out for a solo hunt. shortly after day light I had glassed up a group of 6 mule deer bucks. I watched them for almost 2 hours waiting for the right opportunity to make my move. I snuck in from just over a mile away and watched/studied from 300 yards out trying to figure the best way to make this opportunity work in my favor. The wind was in my favor, and I had very little cover to close the distance. I ended up at the last juniper tree between me and the 6 bedded bucks. I peeked around the shaded side of the tree just to get caught by the small 2x2 in the group at 91 yards. All the deer got up and were on edge and ended up busting out. I watched them go over the next ridge and then hiked back to my jeep. I sat there contemplating if I wanted to try again and locate these bucks or push farther up the road and hike into a water hole I had found on onx. I said screw it drove farther up and then hiked in 1.5 miles to the water hole I had never seen before. Lucky for me it had water and quite a bit of deer tracks. I brushed myself in a blind and sat down at about 11. It was pretty warm out and I was hot from the hike in. But by 215 this buck showed up and was on water drinking out of nowhere. I ranged it at 41 yards while he was facing me head down drinking. I got up on my knees and drew back. He lifted his head after drinking and looked over to his right while elbow deep in the mud. I debated for a second to let him turn or just send it head on into his chest. I felt super confident in the shot, so I let it rip. The arrow smacked the deer with the loudest thud I have ever herd shooting an animal with my bow. He dropped in his tracks and flopped for a few seconds, and it was all over. I packed up my gear and hiked around to check out what I had just shot. I knew he was a solid buck but definitely wasn't expecting to shoot my biggest coues yet off a random water hole in an area I never hunted before. My gut was telling me he might break 100" mark, but I didn't spend a lot of time admiring him as I had to get to work taking care of the meat and getting it all packed out. After just over a 2mile hike back to the jeep with very little water left i was beat, but it was all completely worth it. The next morning I took the head out of the freezer and taped him at 111 7/8" I was shocked beating my old record of 104" with my bow.

I haven’t even looked at his prices but I know they are selling a lot of it as they just bought a new warehouse and a new ranch and herd. I wouldn’t pay that but am glad it’s working out for him and his family. They are a ranch family that started with next to nothing except hard work and a plan.

Will do. Most likely, though, i will stick with king anvil. I still want to do some exploring.

Sit water. All of a sudden the drought is the best thing that’s ever happened. Small bucks on does is irrelevant. Small bucks breed hot does every year

Been trying to figure out the proper way to go about this. Was going to make a different post…but basically, on day 4 I was able capture lightning in a bottle and dig up one of those big Coues bucks. I found this buck on Thursday morning after hunting half of Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. I found a nucleus of bucks and was just starting to kind of figure it out when I stumbled across this guy. I had no idea what he was when I shot. After passing up a couple medium bucks, I spotted this one at 286 yards, got him in the spotting scope before the morning sun had hit him, and right then he turned toward me. All I saw was “a big brow” and said “YEP YEP YEP! That’ll do.” I got a great surprise when I walked up to him.

Ironically Tommy Chong was at some weed event in Mesa today.

Help Tiffany and Harper Through This Tragic Loss Hello fellow cwt members. I am very sad to say that codyhuntsaz aka Cody Smith passed away while Coues deer hunting in unit 36b on December 2, 2024. He was extremely active on cwt.com and loved this community. I have included the gofundme text and information below: Cody Smith, a beloved husband, father, and friend from Gilbert, AZ, tragically passed away at the age of 43 on December 2, 2024, while deer hunting with a close friend. He collapsed in their camp trailer, and despite his friend’s courageous efforts to administer CPR—along with assistance from other campers in the area—Cody could not be revived. Unfortunately, emergency services were over an hour away, and it was too late by the time they arrived. Cody leaves behind his loving wife, Tiffany, and their 8-year-old daughter, Harper. They are now facing the profound grief of losing Cody while also navigating the financial burden of his unexpected passing. The costs of laying Cody to rest, preparing for the holidays, and managing without his income weigh heavily on their shoulders. We deeply appreciate everyone who has supported Tiffany and Harper with meals or through Meal Train donations. For those who may not know, Meal Train also accepts monetary contributions. However, to further ease their financial burden, we have started this GoFundMe campaign. If you are able, please consider donating to help this beautiful family during this incredibly difficult time. No amount is too small—every bit helps. Your generosity will go a long way in supporting Tiffany and Harper as they begin to heal and rebuild their lives. Thank you for your kindness and support.