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This year was a year to remember. Its kind of a long story but I'll try to condense it up a little bit. I posted this on MM so some of you I'm sure have read it. In May I unexpectedly spent 10 days in the Neuro ICU in Mesa with bleeding on my brain. It came out of nowhere and thankfully stopped on its own. After a bunch of tests and some pretty significant pain and a terribly long recovery I'm doing great. No lingering pain or problems at all. I didn't think I was going to get to hunt at all, but thankfully I got out. Saw some pretty dang good bucks and happened to run into this buck. I made an absolute horrible shot (he either started to run or jumped the string or both right when I shot) Cousin took the live pictures.

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.

We were able to get out for 4 days and had some bad luck with stalks. Either the wind shifted or there was no wind at all to conceal noises. On the 4th day we had some luck and pops was able to harvest this sow at 15 yards. 21 consecutive years for this fella with the stick and string.

Haven't posted in a while but thought id share my pig. Found a herd 1st day out on 1/4/25 hope everyone had a good holiday season and A good new year! Good luck to everyone with tags! Its dry and hard to stalk. If you can find water glass all the country around water and the pigs are probably somewhere near!

A bit late but here was the result of my hunt. I did 6 or so quick early morning glassing sessions throughout the summer and found 4 decent bucks and saw 3 of them multiple times in the same general areas. Tall with weak forks; short but thicker and curvy; wide; and this unknown one too far away. Day before season we started closer to this buck to get better eyes on him and found him with a few does. They went up and bedded in a good spot to shoot. After not seeing any more antelope driving and glassing the unit the rest of that day we set up in the same spot to find this buck opening morning. He started in about the same spot but this time he and the does went 1.5 miles away from us and into an area with no roads and out of sight. The hill he disappeared on had one tree that they could have used for bedding, otherwise they might have slipped down further away. I decided to get up on the knob above them. Made the 2 mile trek in 100+ degree heat. Got up above them and peered over and thought I saw them but realized it was a small forky mule deer and a doe/fawn bedded in the other tree on the hillside. I kept creeping over and saw the top of the tree that I could see on the map and sure enough the buck and 2 does were bedded under it. I set up for the shot and when he stood up I dropped him in the only shade on the sunny hillside at 160 yards. The neat thing was that I had run into the game and fish guy for the unit the day before so I was able to share that he was down and he shared pictures of the archery tag's buck as well as the other rifle tag's buck the next day when he killed. The meat has been as good or better than any of the best deer or elk I've ever had. Even cuts that aren't usually very tender on deer/elk have been tender on the antelope. Probably because it had been slow cooked in the sun all summer long. 😉 7 or 8 days of being out there an not one rattler for me. My eyes were on the lookout in all that heat but none shown themselves. The odds ended up being pretty crazy to draw the tag. 603 people put in for the 2 tags but the 1 tag went in the bonus round to the other rifle hunter with 27 points. So it was me against 602 people for the remaining tag.

Just speaking for Rosy lake, but the bass are on a really good bite now on crawfish. So look for areas that they would be- rocks and such and fish down were they are. Rubeer worm,jigs etc, might catch a new state record. But bundle up its cold out there. If you happen to snag a white johnny morris rod and reel with a swimbait on it over by school house launch its mine, a reply would be appreciated.

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

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.

Me. If you don't obviously know, then you are ignoring the facts. I'll tell you my selfish reason for not wanting crossbows in the archery season... the quotas. F&G said that if you exclude crossbow kills in the August/September season... every single unit would have been open for the December hunt. Before the quotas I didn't care one bit about crossbows in the archery seasons. This is F&G's screw up for allowing them in the first place. I personally know of three able guys who abused the crossbow process... and shot forkys in August. One of them recently shot a javalina with a recurve. All 3 are just lazy and want easy. Ed F

Just wanted to give a shout out to Mark and his Crew. Great customer service, in fact the best I've had in a very long time. Seems like Customer Service these days have gone down hill, finding good employees is tough. Thanks again!

😘

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.

There's the Boarman we all know!

Im addicted to the internet, what do you want from me. I’m either here, instagram, or swiping right on every bitch on tinder.

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

We went with max nations from Steve wards, awesome time got our cranes and then some ducks and quail. Would definitely recommend him over the other option I was going to go with he was a little flakey.

That’s what I think about people that apply for 22 late rifle

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

Just to add on, Boarman is also one of the first to step up to help others, including me. Good dude, strong opinions, no different than lots of other guys on here. Thanks, levers, cool of you to give it away to someone.

I know a guy who needs a TV. I know people that need things and if I can help them I do. I know people who have good kids but finances are tight, so when I see stuff I know they will use, I pick it up for them. So I have some freedom with time. I'm old. That's better than sitting on the couch waiting for the Grim Reaper to show up! Going to another friend's funeral on Saturday. Just a year older. They are starting to drop like flies. I don't know why everyone is dying to get into a cemetery. I'll lose that race. Last place doesn't look that bad to me when it comes to that! But I also buy things on here. And when I can, I try to help.🤣

The attorney sounds like a horses arse looking for a reason to get chitty. My two cents.

Unlike my elk tags, I take my women how I can get them. Basically got an OTC tag coming over tonight.

Exactly . I’ve been advocating for breathalyzer for this forum for yeara

Unit 42. Freaking 4 bucks have been terrorizing my yard. I could shoot them out the laundry room window but they only come in after dark. Heard a commotion the other night and had 5 pigs destroying anything that was in their reach.