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We drew the early Nov tag in southern AZ and were very fortunate to get perfect weather. Opening morning was supposed to be 25*. We made a plan to hike up and in to an area we have wanted to explore before. Without knowing how ruff this hike would be we finally made it 2 miles into where we wanted to be. We found a few deer but we were still 700+ yards from how high deer were feeding. We decided to make that climb too and get to the elevation we needed. All that work and no shooters. After considering staying put for the evening hunt we finally agreed to back out and not risk a very hard hike out in the dark that night. Turned out to be 5+ miles round trip and a ton of elevation. Sucked. Our legs were cooked for the day so for the evening hunt we decided to “take it easy” and glass closer to the truck. Go figure….That worked. My son found a decent buck at 1200 yards and we made a move to go get a closer look. That hike turned out to be just as nasty as the morning. We got to 525 yards and sat and watched him and decided I would try to take a shot. Getting settled in on the rifle my son said “wait!” There’s a better buck right there too. I located that buck and got another “wait!” Dad there’s a giant right there. I was not able to find that deer and wasted no time turning the rifle over to him. Ranged him at 535, dialed to that, Perfect shot! Unreal. So happy for him. He deserves it. He found that buck and found my buck on Sunday too. Mine went 91” and is my best buck, 715 yards. Super fun hunt. We ended up hiking 10 miles opening day. So worth it. We’ve never had an opportunity on a buck like his before. Any score guesses?

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.

Ham guys are like die hard fly fisherman. Always complaining about needing a license when it's just a radio. Always complaining when a guy with a spinner bait is catching more fish than them. Take some Viagra and watch your Taylor Swift vidoes .

For sale- Springfield Armory Xdm 3.8 9mm sub-compact with the original hard case and accessories. - Three 18 rd mags - Upgraded trigger and machined sear spring assembly. (It is, by far, the smoothest trigger with the shortest reset that l've owned in a firearm. - Crossbreed Reckoning holster that I never used. $500 now $400 Thanks! Posting for a friend pm for his contact info.

My son drew second choice this year, a unit we hunted two years ago. Opening day came and Christian, my pops, Colby and I got to glassing. It was a slower than usual morning, only 5 small bucks. We had an interesting find, saw a pack of 14 maybe 15 dogs cruising the mountains. No collars, all dogs were a different breed of pit, boxer, lab, German Shepard etc and looks like none of them were tracking scent, sure didn’t look like lion dogs. They covered some good country so we decided to hit a different spot for the afternoon. That afternoon we hit up a glassing spot we seen some nice bucks in with some lions in the past. I glassed this buck right at 3:20 getting up from his bed 1030 yards. The boy and I grabbed our gear and spent the next 30 minutes going uphill to get in range. After the shot, it was even more difficult getting to the buck and even worse packing him out. The cat claws were amazingly thick and we enjoyed every moment of it. We know that when we are back in school/work, we would rather be out in the field getting cut up by catclaw.

Let's see them late Kaibab pics.

What a buck! Congratulations and thanks for sharing.

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

On another bedded buck. Been on him 2 hours 15 min so far. Hasn’t moved

This mornings count. 18 does. Two bucks. One was decent.

Cooler temps should make for a great hunt! Good luck out there!

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.

Ya. That one doesn't include tax either. I sent you a PM. Evidently you didn't read it. To compare a Klein to a Snap on is kind of laughable. Good luck.

Well, it nearly took an army but we got it done. I don’t have the time or the energy to write it all up now, I will have to do that later. But suffice it to say that @1denogean, @bonecollector, @wish2hunt, @trphyhntr and a group of others all pitched in big time to make this happen and they will forever be part of our sheep army. @lancetkenyon thanks for the range time making sure the gun and charts were ready when the time came. This was our longest shot ever, 542 yds. We killed a good ram and it was amazing for my kid to experience. But more importantly my kid got to see men being men. He got to experience what it means to be part of something and to have others support you in accomplishing a goal without taking any credit for themselves. Here are some pics, I will write up the story later.

Thanks for the support and all who showed up…

That is excellent advice for a client. I wouldn’t want a bunch of weekend warriors around messing with my work either. I’m not worried about the folks who are rolling with us. These guys know what they are doing. And even if they didn’t, we aren’t babysitting anyone and I am definitely not telling my kid to kill a ram so some Joe blow can take a picture. Some pretty awesome dudes have raised their hands and I appreciate it. I don’t have a lot of die hard friends and the ones I have work their tails off taking care of their families. So I appreciate anyone who is willing to pitch in. It’s been a cool way to make some friends over the years. Some of my best buddies have come from this site and I value those relationships tremendously.

I've often thought to myself that every trip is a learning experience. My first solo deer hunt was a memorable one. I had a 68Chevy truck with a six cylinder and two wheel drive. I drove in on Four Peaks rods and took a road back to an old deserted ranch one day after work. Slept in the back of the truck and heard some hewhaw's and thought, so that's why they call them mule deer. Got up early, grabbed my 44 Contender and a Featherweight 06 I had bought earlier on clearance for $269 at Walkin Auto in Tempe. So, off I went down the wash to the upper end of the lake. About two hundred yards farther I rounded a bend and there were two spikes sparing, maybe 30 yards. I pulled up the rifle and shot one. They both took off over the burm in the same direction. I went over and found blood and started to follow it. I trailed it for a short distance and it took me back to the opposite side of the wash. Then I followed it down the wash and came across the buck lying dead under a paloverde tree. I had some rope and tied it around the buck and over a branch. I pull the buck up in the tree as far as I could by lifting it up with one arm and pulling the rope with the other. I had it gutted a short time later and threw him up over on my shoulders and carried it back up the wash. I was glad when my truck came into view and when I got to it I reached up and dropped the tailgate and laid the buck down. It took me about an hour to get home and the wife was a work. I put some plastic down on the kitchen table and did my best butchering my first buck and was done by about 11. That was probably 40+ years ago.

Basic rule i live by. Hunt where others don't. It could be too far out or so close it's overlooked

Monkeys will eat dirt if you make them..

Seems like this site is more Craigslist than Coues hunting, so here is a coues deer. Glassed up a bigger buck on the next to last day. Made a move and glassed him as soon as he stepped in to the thick stuff and the wait was on. An hour and fifteen minutes later this guy stepped out, 435 yards. Slight adjustment to the turret, one shot and he was down. Shot the buck at 930, got back to the side by side at 315. Craig's Custom Rifles 28 Nosler, 180 Berger Hybrid, shot from the seated position with the Harris bipod.

High quality king size pillow cases from Goodwill. My wife buys them on 50% off day for $1-2/ea. Last bull I dropped off at Casey's he loved my Ralph Lauren game bags. Great thread count.

+1 I get mine at Big Lots (2 for $5.00) durable, washable and reusable. $10 and some change you can get a whole elk out.

Pillow cases.