Leaderboard

Well, I decided to avoid the season opening crowd, and went out to 20c to my favorite spot today. Spent a couple hours glassing..nothing. Started getting windy so I headed down into a sheltered area where I have seen them crossing through in past hunts. Less than 10 minutes after setting up, I heard footsteps in the leaves-lots of cottonwoods around, and 5 came through. I took a shot at the last one at 20 yards and my hunt was over. Got to have an easy hunt once in awhile.

This past month has been pretty incredible for me and two hunting buddies. We all three tagged out on opening weekend of the December archery hunt with three mulies. Not giants for sure, but all we were looking for was to get some meat, and we did. First time I've been in a camp and had more than one tag filled during the archery hunt. Jan 1st and we were back out looking for Coues. We all tagged out again. It was pretty surreal, and we are all still in shock how it worked out. To us, archery hunting any Coues bigger than a spike is a shooter, so we were all three ecstatic! Gonna need a new freezer.IMG_5165.HEICIMG_5222.HEICIMG

I have been looking at this rifle in a 6.5 Creedmoor. I am old school and have always had 270's but have an itch to try something new out for a bit. Do any of you have this rifle and have any opinions of it? Seems like a solid gun with good reviews. I know folks on here have a lot more experience and knowledge on rifles so I figured see what everyone thinks. I like the spiral fluted barrel even though I don't heat up barrels enough to matter I guess that is more looks. It has a muzzle brake which I like. I have had many Ruger pistols and like them a lot. But mostly Weatherby rifles. So any thoughts are welcome, thanks.

As new 14x52 NL pure binos, Outdoorsmans stud installed. $ 3300 Located in Payson

7WSM Custom brake, polished factory barrel. Gun shot sub 1/2” groups with hand loads. Bedded and trued action. Adjusted trigger. All work done by a qualified gunsmith. Great turn key deer/elk slayer. This was a backup gun. Free ammo 5 boxes of new ammo. (See picture) $750 Less than 100 rounds down the barrel. text only. 4806203906

Sent this off to one happy young lady, 6 creedmoor, HS stock, Kreiger barrel at 25.5 1:7.5 twist, hordady 105 amax 2950 fps, Tim hunter elite 1.5 lbs, bedded, 700 action trued face only. first group was Boyfreind then the lady had her fun.

I hit the gym today around 2. I've gone 5 times in 2025. New years day was mass chaos in there. I went around 10 am and it was the busiest I have ever seen it. I use the gym not only for gains, but also to just decompress at the end of my day. Nothing like older rap and reps.

Great glass, son has these, I have the 14s. Not a ton of difference

Oklahoma reloading had in stock few days ago. 120/1k

Nah, not always but thanks. I cook for my girl. 30 years of not using my hand. Just saying. Was complimenting you . Anyway all looks great.

Gained 10lbs since mid October. Basically the result of going off the rails on my eating habits..... Been hiking the AZ Trail and have knocked off some tough sections but, "hiking shape" is NOT equal to being in "good shape". Gotta get my carbs/sweets in check. BTW, to answer your question, I did not workout in the gym, but did go to a hot yoga class. lol

Shhh. Chris, you weren’t supposed to tell anyone about hitting the tree😉. It was pretty funny though. I swear that tree jumped right out behind me. I about gave AJ and I whiplash and all my truck had was a small scratch. I don’t mind camping in a tent. Even when it was as cold as it was. I am used to hunting and camping in Washington and Idaho. AJ Didn’t even complain about the cold. We did have a buddy heater in the tent though. I even lost the clip to my rifle running up to make sure the elk was down. That’s how bad and thick those thorns were. The bushes must have hooked the release and dropped it. I didn’t even bother looking for it later. One story I forgot to mention, that was pretty important to me happened on I think Tuesday or Wednesday of the hunt. It was pretty windy, so Chris and I left AJ in the truck as we walked out a ridge to glass in the late afternoon. As we headed back to the truck we noticed another truck pull up, get out and start walking out the ridge we were on. We met up with the two guys and we were not shy about asking people what they were looking for, knowing some were looking for giants, and if they were if they could keep their eyes open for something AJ could shoot. We explained AJs situation to them. It turns out this guy was a guide, and not any guide. A guide that people pay a lot of money to use. His Client was from Utah and they were looking for 370”+ And we knew he shelled out a lot of money for this hunt. When we told them AJs situation, and told them about Never meeting Chris before, but that he sacrificed his time and money to complete strangers, the client told us his story. He had lost his 12 year old daughter a few years ago to an illness. And since that time he had been helping throughout the west Kids and vets with disabilities. He was grateful for what Chris was doing for us. And then he did something, that I still can’t believe. He turned to the guide and said, “Do you think you could help these guys find a bull?” Knowing there was only a day or two left in the hunt he was asking the guide if he could help us. The way he said it also sounded like he was content being done with his hunt so they could help us. I couldn’t believe it, but we also couldn’t accept that offer. We knew how much this guy was spending and I just wouldn’t feel comfortable although. We politely declined and the client asked the guide if there were any reliable spots that we could get AJ to. (Finding elk was not our problem. Finding elk where we could get AJ to was.). The guide offered up a spot that had been reliable in the past. As we parted ways and at this point I knew the client and I shared the same faith, the client said, “ It’s going to happen (for AJ). I know it.” He said his daughter was with him and that he would pray for us and that the lord would provide us with a miracle and it was going to happen. I share that because the last morning I had come to terms with AJ not harvesting an elk, and that the hunt and the achievements and the time we spent with family and friends was our success. Later that morning, as we were stalking this bull, I couldn’t help but think of the words this man said. And I immediately started thinking more positively. That this was going to happen, that this is going to be our miracle. That his daughter was somehow watching over us as well. I will never forget that man and what he was willing to sacrifice for AJs success. In my opinion, the prayer he offered on our behalf was the greatest thing he could have done for us. The people we encountered on this journey just makes me want to shut off the news. There are still a lot of good people in this world. To not have a single negative comment on Facebook, where I also posted for help, blows my mind. I am excited for the future of hunting and for our kids being great humans, because these values are being instilled in our children

As a dad who has been on the receiving end of much generosity I can empathize. Congratulations AJ! Nice work Dad and Chris. So much bigger than just an elk hunt. When the world wants to define someone by what they can’t do, it takes men like this to show them that they CAN do anything! Well done!!!

Chris, Thankyou again for all you did. You and Dawn are great examples of how we all should be, Selfless and kind. You didn’t need to help. Especially a complete stranger. I am proud to call you a friend.

this is what we were dealing with all week Three generations of elk hunters AJ, Chris, and myself Me and my boy

AJ wanted to walk up the hill through the thorns to go see his elk . enjoying the afternoon waiting for Chris and My dad to get back with the side by side so we could winch him down the hill AJ made it to his elk. A respectable 6x5

But that is exactly what that bull did. We got AJ on the death grip, had the turrets dialed for a 480 yd shot. Turn the camera on to aim, and my heart sinks. The camera is blown out, over exposed, and we can’t make out anything. Than I decided to pull the camera off and I would have to aim for him while he pulled the trigger. So I put my eye behind the glass and told him to pull the trigger when I say shoot. “SHOOT!” BOOM!!! Chris and I both see that bull drop. i couldn’t be a prouder dad at that moment. I hugged AJ to the ground. “You did it buddy! Hes dead! You dropped him right there!” Chris and I couldn’t believe it. The week had been such a grind. And the sense of relief that came over myself was almost too much to handle. My boy, has overcome so much. To live with Cerebral Palsy and an intellectual disability yet fulfill a dream of hunting. All I wanted out of this hunt was to see him push himself. And he did. And HE NEVER ONCE COMPLAINED.

Well shoot, I'm gonna jump in here and say something stupid to break the tension. I had no idea Washington had wet dream elk like that. My shorts are in the dryer right now.

Ummmm, good for him 🤷‍♂️ I don’t think anyone in AZ should really give a crap what Jay Scott thinks anymore. He doesn’t even live here. He pretty much only hunts Mexico and private land in CO.

It would be my dream to shoot a bull like that out of a neighborhood. But I think it’s at least a little funny looking back at the original posts of it. They seemed to really emphasize no guides and free range. Then turns out the whole town (probably) knew about it and a realtor might have been more use than a guide.

Well my uncle and I drew muzzy tags and neither of us had high expectations, but I was able to kill on the last morning of the hunt. We drew in a unit we know pretty well, so we were optimistic that at least one of us would bring home some tamale meat. Overall was a fun hunt but a few challenges and wrenches came up up of course. We’d find bucks way out there and try to come up with a plan, just in time to watch them decide to move out into the unknown. We hunted bucks we knew we’re in an area just to bust em out. Had a family emergency that pulled me off the mountain for a day plus. Last day everything worked out and I got a shot at this guy and now we have our tamales! A much better buck than I was expecting or hoping for. I hope the pics turn out with this post and not sideways.

late to the train here, but had to chime in my congrats as well! Nice storytelling, thanks for taking along for the ride...

Took a few years to figure out this unit. Not a good unit. Scouted a big buck this summer. Saw him 2 days before season but not again for 3 days during season. Crafty old sucker. Bears like flies. Not for the faint of heart unit. It sucks. Big buck scouted. Caught this buck stretching at 130 PM, 20 minutes after my nap, Day 2 of 5 of hunt but day 5 for me as NM has 5 day seasons and I got there early. Thought he was my big guy and he was in a good spot for an open sighted muzzleloader with very few deer in this unit. Gotta go get there in case I said. Got setup at 75 yards after a sporty stalk. Great setup with some rocks in front, perfect. I still couldn't tell exactly what he was as he was tight in the trees with 83 degree highs. But I was hoping he was my guy as this area was smack in the middle of the big guys home range. Opportunities are not many in NM for sure.... Sat on him for 4 hours at 75 yards and still couldn't ID what exactly he was other than a good buck. Finally, he got up to feed a bit and I realized he wasn't the big guy but dang with a big wind storm coming in and at 75 yards I assessed him fast and said he's pretty good. He wouldnt turn so I shot him hard, hard quarter to. Shot him at 75 with a 275 grain Barnes. Heart shot him but I didn't know with the BH 209 smoke . He went a full 100 yards and it was a bloodbath. No idea how he went that far. He's got ear and brisket wrinkles and his teeth match that. He's at least 6 I think if not older. Maybe older. He's likely as good as he's gonna get, likely. I'm happy with him even though the big boy is a class above. Inspired by Kev...

that's why I said "might" I was at the gym this morning. Looked around....I was the only dumb A wearing a mask. I did the walk of shame back to the locker room and tossed it.