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I nearly wrecked my truck on the way to work when I checked my credit card statement in June. It seemed impossible, but somehow lightning had struck, again, and someone in our family had a bighorn tag for the second year in a row. In 2024 my 15 yo son became the first member of our family to harvest a sheep. And now, just 6 months later, we were starting the adventure all over again. I talked to all my contacts from the previous year. Lined up conversations for advice on the various units we may have drawn and agonized over the thought of how we were going to make the dates work. And, I pondered THE decision. Six members of our family had applied, including my son who had the tag the year before. Everyone except for him had applied for the same two choices, 37B and the Kofa’s. The lucky bum had to apply for Rocky so I was juggling that unlikely scenario in the mix. But of everyone, I was the only one in the family with any significant amount of bonus points. Well below max, but still double what anyone else had. If it was my tag, one thought echoed in my mind. How cool would it be to take a ram with my other son. Two rams, with my two sons, approximately 350 days apart. From the moment the thought occurred to me, there was never any hesitation. It would be his. And we would do it together, his senior year, the last year he could receive a donated tag and before he left for mission and college opportunities. It would be a senior trip for the ages. And so it was. The results came and there next to my name it said DRAWN for the Kofa’s. I made some calls and drove to the unit that weekend. It was absurdly hot. And desolate. And remote. And 180 degrees the opposite direction from all of our other hunts for the year (everyone in the family had a different tag). So I called a few trusted resources and @trphyhntr recommended I speak with Zack Doster. I knew it would take 12+ days of scouting plus the hunt to figure things out and I just couldn’t pull it off this year. So I did something I have never done and hired a guide. Zack was incredible and kept us posted on his monthly trips and sent lots of pictures. Hunter and I focused on staying ready physically and with the gun. By the time we headed out for sheep we had been on 4 other hunts and done 3 pack outs. The week of the hunt we did a final check of the gun and worked on prepping. The weather looked like it was going to take a turn and we were prepped to backpack into the interior if needed. Thursday night Zack sent an Inreach message and said he had located a good ram just before dark. Game on. We arrived at camp after dark and my buddy Ty was waiting for us. We burned some excited energy chatting for a while before settling into cots for a quick sleep. First light we had the bowl the ram from the night before had been in surrounded. From 4 different vantages we searched every crack and crevice. Nada. We disembarked and headed to camp to patch a couple tires and throw our tent up. Hunter ate a sandwich and I made one for later. It wasn’t long before the hum of the compressor stopped indicating it was time to hit plan b. Zack and his guiding partner Bo along with my son Hunter and our buddy Ty all split up to cover a large basin where other sheep had been seen early in the week. It was a quick mile jog out to our first glass post. Zack spotted a ewe on a bare slope in the full sun. It was almost 90 degrees and I was shocked. Another quick jaunt had us posted on a knob with a 360 view. Zack left Hunter and I to cover the sunny basin while he climbed up to a spine ridge to look into the next canyon. Forty five minutes later the radio cracked and Zack was whispering. Three rams had fed out below him and had him pegged behind a lone Palo verde. He told us to work up the canyon to a saddle where he would meet us once they fed out of site. I had to wake Hunter from his afternoon nap, and when I said we had rams he sprung to his feet. We worked our way up to the saddle and met with Zack. Slowly we dropped packs and crept to the edge to relocate the sheep. First a ewe, then a young 5 yr old ram. Zack started to explain they may have fed over, but it was too shady and too lush in that cut. We kept creeping and peering down low into the cut. And then, a big mature sway back climbed out of a creosote. His horns were thick and broomed. His belly was potted and his legs looked short. Definitely a mature ram. With the spotting scope on him and his partner at 180 yds Zack could easily count the rings and he let Hunter take a good look. Hunter said “I would love to shoot either of those rams.” And then hesitated, “but I don’t want it to be over. It just started.” I smiled and said it was his choice, but also reminded him of the reality. This was one of the top 5 rams they had located in 15 days in the unit. It was forecasted to rain 1/2” the next day. And although we could come back a week later, he did have to go back to school on Monday. The bird in the hand proved more than he could argue with. He asked if it was as big as his brothers, I confirmed it was, and also older. And he said “Let’s kill that ram.” The ram kept looking up our way, he knew something was up, but he kept feeding our way. He was getting close enough that now I was nervous. By the time we were done sizing him up and making the decision, he had closed to 130 yds. I laid the rifle on the edge of the bluff and Hunter slid in behind. He was shaking so much he jammed the feed. I crawled up and fixed it. And he leveled the rifle. The old ram looked up from his feeding and stared a hole in us. Hunter had to turn the magnification down on the scope because he couldn’t see what he was aiming at. I saw his hand move from the cat’s tail, down to the grip, his finger moving first to the safety and then inside the trigger guard. At the click of the safety I nodded at Zack. The crack of the suppressed rifle hadn’t even clapped before the thump of the Berger meeting shoulder hit my ears. The ram took a few steps, nearly reuniting with his band mate, before raising up and tipping backwards, resting with his broomed tips pointed up in the very spot he had stood to feed. And there it was. Once in a lifetime. We hugged. We fist bumped. We cheered. We called mom and then grandpa. We thanked God. And as I followed his steps up to his trophy I quickly wiped away tears before he could see them. It wasn’t just a once in a lifetime moment for him. It was the culmination of so many moments. From carrying him on my shoulders when he was still in diapers, and giving him some old bush bell field glasses to practice “glassing”, tying a parachord around his Red Ryder to sling over his shoulder as we wandered wash after wash searching for javelina that were never there. It was a 10 yr old boy who had faced surgery after surgery, first learning to crawl and drag his half body cast, then to walk and then to run first track, then cross country, then a half marathon. It was boy who earned the right to be called a young man. His future still remained uncertain, but he had learned to live for today. For the moments that could never be taken. Tomorrow is promised to no man.

With 2 new grand children coming this fall my wife decided she didn’t want to hunt. It never was in my plans to give her tag back, but she told me she wanted to spend time with the new mothers and babies. So I headed to my draw unit by myself. My son and his wife decided to come visit for a couple days and my wife made the trip up with them. needless to say very little real hunting happened that opening weekend. After they all went home I spent a few days by myself putting everything I had into finding a decent deer that my friend had pre scouted. Lots of driving, still hunting. Glassing and enjoying the woods. I got lucky right before dark. I saw a group of 4 bucks, 2 big bucks and 2 small bucks. Thinking it was the group I had seen opening morning I made the quick decision to shoot the one that was in the opening. Either of the two big bucks I would be happy with. It actually was a buck I had never seen before. It took me a while to find him at night and with flashlights and by myself I took a few videos. These are the best screenshots I got off the video. Here are a few pictures from that trip

Sitting in my elk camp now around the fire dealing with the last 3 days of being rained on chasing a few bulls around with my bow got me missing the warm southern weather. I started the season off with killing a solid buck on the opening morning. I found this buck on the 2024 late December hunt helping my dad. We opted to not shoot him last year as he had half an antler broken off. I kept tabs on the buck from February on. Opening morning I went to where he had been frequently spotted and never turned him up. About 9:30 with not seeing much I decided to change spots and go look for my backup buck. To my surprise the first buck I found in the new location was the buck I was initially looking for. I had never seen him in this area. After watching him bed I snuck in and shot him at 227 yards. Hit him mid body. Slightly panicked I scrambled to reload the muzzleloader. Shot again in a rush and made a bad follow-up shot knocking a chunk out of the top of his back. He went and laid down and I watched him expire about 5 minutes later. My apologies on sub par pictures as I’m not good at solo photography deal. Went over and quartered the buck packed him out and all was wrapped up before 1:00pm opening day. Following that 2 weeks later I took my Mom on her whitetail hunt who turned 66 on opening day. It was slow. Didn’t see any mature bucks. We hunted 3 more days until one of the bucks I was looking for finally showed up. Nice 100”ish type 3x4. We played cat and mouse with him but he unfortunately disappeared on us. A while later my mom found a nice little 3x3 across the canyon that she said she would be more than happy to take. We snuck in to position and set her up 290 yards from the bedded buck. After 3 1/2 hours the buck finally stood. She heart shot the buck and he dropped where he stood. She was extremely happy as this was the first coues she had taken in the last 10 years. She’s taken a lot of time off hunting to help take care of family and grandchildren so this ment a lot to her. Couldn’t of been more proud of my mom. it was a tough 4 days on her hiking the hills getting after it in the October sun. Currently still a busy season going on as I am on a late archery Bull elk hunt and my 10 and 12 year old kids have rifle bull hunts after thanksgiving. We have one late December whitetail tag left to fill this year and can’t be more excited for it.

A few years ago we sold our home and our plan was to wait until prices came down up here on the mountain before we started to build. Well it didn’t happen so we built last year. Anyway during this time we had invested some money into my remodeling my parents “little” house (580 sqft) so they allowed us to live there rent free for the next 3 years. It was the first time I hadn’t had to pay rent or mortgage in our 25 years of marriage. My wife was ok if I invested some of that money saved into my personal and emotional well being. I was able to get CO vouchers the last couple of years. I shot a good buck my first year, but I hadn’t seen anything over 170” to shoot until this year. I’ve always been ok going home empty handed but when this deep forked buck gave me the opportunity I decided to take it. A couple of random bucks screenshots. My first CO buck a few years ago. this years buck.

Got him on Saturday morning around 7:30.

Back home and showered. Okay. My two brothers and I put in together for the first time In 15 or 20 years. As luck would have it we got our 5th choice and one of the least popular hunts there is. In August my middle brother doubled up with his son in archery in the unit, sacrificing his muzzy tag. Much cooler moment to double with your son. Fast forward to last Saturday. Sportsmans was having their bubble pop. Me needing nothing thought I would pick up a cheap back up muzzleloader to loan out to friends after I missed a couple of otc elk with it after loaning to a friend. My wife talked me into getting the 45 cal cva with the bergara barrel. We got 50%off on Saturday. Wednesday the ammo came in and I shot 6 or 7 rounds and sighted in. Thursday night I step foot in the unit for the first time In over a year. My youngest brother did not make it down the hill from showlow all the way and spent the night in globe. Instead of doing what I originally planned, 2.5 miles hike up with 1500' elevation gain with my nephew. We decided to go to a spot right off the highway where my middle brother saw some bucks in August. My nephew and I walk a few hundred yards to our vantage point and glass for a bit. We reposition 50 yards down the hill and I hand him my binos and tripod and tell him your my guide find me a buck. I am bored and walk around for five minutes or so. When I walk back I see antlers walking up towards us from below. I push him off the tripod find a couple of bucks and one looked big in the orange light of dawn. I throw my backpack on a rock and set up for a shot. Quartering to me, I settled in and place the crosshairs on his front shoulder and contemplate waiting for him to get closer for a nanosecond and squeeze the trigger. No visible reaction. The buck takes a few steps and disappears. My nephew on the glass says the big buck is going off to the right and I say are you sure he looked like he was walking left. Just then this runt pops out 100 yards below us . i text my middle brother to come to our spot. As we wait i see antlers below us and when he gets there 45 minutes later. I catch a bush moving aggressively. My nephew and I hike down there and find him. My other brother shows up and I now teach two of my nephews how the gutless method. Shot placement was two inches to the right of where I aimed The buck i will post some glamor shots shortly. My brother still has not sent them to me. Should I get it mounted? I have been back and forth on this.

Up for my dad's muzzleloader elk hunt in 6a. Dad has a cow tag and Nick from another site has a bull tag. I'm playing chauffeur and guide. I'm running 4 blinds as dad is 75 and Nick is in his 60's. So dad's in one spot Nick another and me another just to see what's going on. No point in me going back to camp . Saturday I had a group of elk at 730 and another at 830 am . It's just me and im already done hunting elk as I had the general cow hunt here a few weeks ago. Tagged out on my hunt on opening day. Dad had 9 bulls at his spot at 5 pm but has a cow tag . Nick hasn't seen a elk but has a bull tag. Raining like heck today so going to spot and stalk tomorrow there's water everywhere! The picture is the group infront of me at 730

I will post a story once I get more than one bar of 4g

Custom Ruger #1 .270. Custom wood, case colored frame, lever, quarter rib, rings. Checkered steel grip cap and butt plate. Accurized and custom trigger. Shoots great - sub 1-inch groups with several factory loads. $3700 for local sale. In Queen Creek area. Was told it would cost $6000+ to do it again. Scope not included. Many more pics available Hate to part with it but divorce requires you to do stupid things...

Got this one Saturday morning in Unit 28. Taking him to game and fish this morning to get checked in and measured

Was able to connect on a decent little 3x3 175 yards with my CVA Optima this year. Of course after the shot a much larger buck ran out from behind cover, still happy with this guy.

I think Lance just posted about some pipe that would work.

Sorry for all the scams and nasty stuff under my name. Thanks to all my buddies who hit me up to check, then posted about the scams. Thanks to the admin who got it sorted out quickly, and texted me personally. Screw the scammers! Glad everyone was on their A game.

I caught 500 crappies at San Carlos this year, if using my license money for corruption is what makes them happy, I hope that’s what they use it for. Boomers didn’t care about the US government being corrupt when everything was great for everyone. I don’t care what San Carlos does that’s their business

Back at camp after a wet walk. Missed our road back to the sxs but came out on another road. I figured out where we were and had dad stay put and went to get the sxs . We are soaked! Caught something not right and found a spike bedded with some cows 100 yds from where we parked . She caught me out in the open . Off they went ! It wouldn't have made any difference because my dad wasn't with me and I still needed to get the sxs and pick him up . Wet and cold but warmer now in the trailer running the heater

Roosevelt really produced this year. Had some 30+ fish days and some big fish days. Sorry about the sideways pics! All fish released. Big largemouth 8.25# and big smallmouth 4.3#. I’m watching the rain in Tonto Basin now and hoping for a lot of runoff in the spring. Water temperature Monday was 70 degrees. I suspect it will be low 60’s when this storm passes.

To see this moisture already and have a lot of points for 2026. 2025 rut hunters are in shambles

Looking to sell a Remington 700 BDL in 22-250. The rifle has a heavy barrel and it shoots lights out. It has a Simmons 6-18 scope that can go with the rifle or not. The second photo is a cold bore and then a 5 shot group immediately following. The first photo is 3 shots right after the 5 without cooling. All were shot at 100 yards from a bench on bags, no bipod or lead sled. Asking for $1000 obo. I’m in west Mesa, near Bass Pro.

It was a joke. Trust me, you didn't want that pipe.

Thanks for sharing!!! I know too many people use this site to buy and sell things and I for one sure miss the days of sharing a few details and pictures. Some great bucks! and looks like a great time. Good luck with the rest of your season

Went out on opening day Friday to look for a bruiser out in Redington to my secret spot 😆. Turned up 16 does and 1 decent 2x, it was 600 yds out, complete opposite direction of truck. He will live another day!!! Saturday had family obligations so I got some good rest for Sunday. Headed out this morning to the front side of Mt Lemmon to my other secret spot😅. The hill was straight up and full of shin daggers…..I absolute hate those things!!!! Found multiple doe right from the get go. Started glassing across this canyon and found 5 bucks right away. Ranged them at just under 800 yds. Where I was positioned on the down slope of this hill I couldn’t use my bipod, so I hurried down hill to a more level spot and a flat rock. They were milling around and ranged them again at 750 yds. As I extend my bipod and position the rifle I keep looking through the big binos and I thought let’s try and see my rifle is up for the challenge. I’ve shot rocks out to 800, but never a deer. 1st shot was just above the deer, I see dirt/dust fly. Reload and send another one. Same spot, more dust. I back the clicks down 2 and send the 3rd round….. bam deer down. As I get some landmarks as to where the deer fell I start walking. 8:10 was shot, I didn’t find the deer till 9:23. The mountain was so steep and so thick of vegetation I couldn’t find the rock formation it fell by. Finally found it…..wheeew. Took some pics and started the long drag out, dropped it off at the butcher and now back at home relaxing. Looking forward to my daughters WT hunt Nov 7.

Love all the sheep in the background of your pics. Congrats

My younger son drew the general rifle hunt tag this year as his 1st deer tag. 2 weeks ago my older son was on the youth hunters in the same unit and the big storms really put a damper on that hunt. The weather for this hunt was much better thankfully. Friday morning was a dud, but Friday evening we sat a blind that we setup a few ago. About 445pm 6 deer walked in. 2 spikes and 4 doe. We were teying to get him settled and setup for a shot on a spike and they were moving and feeding. Either stopping in front of other deer, behind other deer, or at bad angles. After about 5-10 min something kinda spooked then and they went into cover and fed away. Bummer. About 530pm a few doe popped out of another area farther away, then came the 2 spikes. It was the same group. We started positioning on them and from the right 4 more deer fed in, this group had a Forkhorn in the mix, so we started to target him. Again. He wouldn't stop moving or stopped in bad positions. Eventually it got to dark and we had to let them go. Saturday was uneventful other than bumping some does here and there. Sunday morning went like Friday morning. Not alot. Sunday afternoon we set the blind again and the 4 does and 2 spikes fed back in around 5pm. We were able to get my son lined up on a shot at about 200yards. He sent a round and you could tell the buck was hurt bad, but he walked about 30yrds and lied down. We gave him some time, but he was still head up so I had my son send another round. He was hit again, walked about 10yrds and lied down again. After awhile we went over and he expired. It wasn't as clean as you pray for, but it was done. He was a pretty happy camper and I was a happy dad. We quarter him out and got him out of there after dark. You always want a trophy, but this will be his first of hopefully many. So this is trophy #1 with room to grow.

That’s pretty much how matco works.