PatrickJr

On the first day, the hunter i was with missed a big buck we figure would go 110+. On the 3rd day, the other hunter i was with missed an opportunity at a 100" at 225 yards because of a gun jam. We hunted two particular bucks for the rest of the trip but we werent able to get it done. Kinda rough when a guy tells you he wont shoot past 300. On the 3rd day of the first week, it got to midday and my buddy Albert glassed up a lone coatimundi male. I borrowed Bobby's rifle and shot the coati out of a tree at 724 yards. Then i was able to stay on the ranch for 4 days while everyone went home and Bobby brought down the second group of hunters. I mostly glassed during this time. I was able to shoot my first canvasback too. This ranch was great, we were always seeing big bucks and finding new ones. The second week, i had my father to hunt with. We were basically hunting for anything over 100". On the first day i found a 115+ but my dad was never able to find him in the scope. On the night of the 2nd day, it rained HARD. Some of the ranch even got snow. It was still raining when we woke up, so we stayed in camp for a while and left around 9am. My father and I went to one of my favorite spots, a spot that i had seen a few shooters in. It was super cold with low wind. after only 30 minutes of glassing, i find a buck that i knew was a shooter. All i told my dad was that we needed to kill this buck. he was over 800 yards when this photo was taken. We were able to move in and played cat-and-mouse with the buck for almost an hour when finally my dad got a good shot at him. My dad shoots this buck at 206 yards, the buck beds immediately and dies within seconds. My dad was overwhelmed with emotion. My dad stood up and i gave him a huge hug. I also congratulated him on killing his first 100" buck. My dad has been hunting coues deer for over 25 years, so it was about time. I quickly ran up the hill, grabbed my dad buck and brought it down to him. Words cannot describe this moment, it was such a honor to be there with my dad when he killed his first 100" buck. Just father and son, exactly how we started out hunting when i was 5 years old. we love hunting with other people but it just meant alot more for it to be just him and I. We were back to the ranch house by 12, where i caped my dads deer then headed out to help another hunter. I found a buck id seen 3 or 4 days before and Markus killed him bedded a 425. The next day, we all got together and helped Pete get tagged out. here are some photos of the ranch

just added to original post

1000+ new guys just decided to try out 33, thanks those are big bucks, no matter the unit, so i dont see the need to say which one

Since the summer, John and I have been looking for bucks for his daughters deer hunt. We found one buck early in the season that sort of took all of our attention. So we didnt get to cover as much ground, and when that buck tapped out and disappeared, we didnt have much. After his daughters deer hunt we began scouting for my hunt which was roughly a month later. Checking all sorts of areas trying to find a big buck. Nothing really got our attention. We ruled out some areas that we would not come to unless we got really desperate. We thought about it and decided that we would backpack a couple miles into a good area and see what we could find. I had never backpacked in and camped, John hadnt done so in over 15 years. we started getting all of our gear ready. We planned to backpack in past an area where I have hunted and into some new country. Thursday evening around 5pm, we started our hike in. both with very heavy loads, we were actually making great time. Must have been the excitement or something. Got to a nice spot to camp around 6:45pm. Got camp set up quickly, and began making an easy dinner. Got into bed and waited for morning. pack was loaded to the max Camp Being camped back in there was so nice because i only had to hike about 100 yards to where i wanted to glass from. Within the first 30 minutes, i had already seen 5 bucks or so, nothing good enough. I got a call over the radio from john and he said i should come take a look at some bucks he found. I take a look and the biggest buck is pretty cool. He has a great left side but his right is a little funky. I was going to hold myself to a 90" buck or a character buck. This buck definitely had character. He worked his way up the mountain and we tried to get to a shooting position. By the time we got setup, the buck was almost over the top. I turned the turret to 550 and got ready. As he approached the top, i didnt even have the desire to shoot because if i made a bad shot, that would require us going over to the other side of the mountain and it would be a mess. We figured we could find him again that evening or the next morning, no big deal. Pic we got of him that morning, his body is huge We continued to glass throughout the day. NO matter what time it was, we were seeing deer, everywhere. But still no bucks of the caliber we wanted to hold ourselves to. Around 4pm, we moved back to where we were setup on the buck that morning. Within minutes, john was waving me over to him. He told me the buck from earlier, just came back over the mountain. I got all my stuff ready. The buck was 700 yards away but he was getting closer. I ranged where i figured he would walk and dialed my scope to 525. I had an awesome rest. He was within range and broadside. I would get a clear shot and begin my squeeze, then almost as soon as the trigger is going to break, my crosshairs would start going all over his body, then id let up. i went through this 4-5 times. There was no reason to rush the shot, we wasnt going anywhere and even if i didnt shoot, we would find him in the morning. Him that afternoon, check out his body again I finally touched it off, John quickly told me i hardly hit over his back and the buck ran 50 yards to the left. I quickly found him in the scope and without any hesitation, touched the 2nd round off. After the recoil, i looked through the scope to see the bucks legs in the air and he was rolling down the hill. At this point i realized just how steep that hill was and if he didnt stop soon, he wasnt going to stop until he hit the bottom. Luckily he caught on a rock, only rolled 100 yards or so. Unfortunately, we didnt get the killshot on video because i missed the first time and we didnt follow the deer with the camera. The shot ended up being 521 yards and i was using my 257 Weatherby once again. We unloaded everything out of our packs except the rifle and water. Got to him, took pictures and boned him out. Only bone we carried out was the skull. Made it back to camp just after 7pm. We hung the meat, made a few mountain houses, and went to bed. Woke up the next morning at first light, packed up camp, loaded the packs and hiked out. Took over an hour of downhill hiking to get back to the truck. Scored the buck at 90 and change, an AZGFD biologist aged him at 7-8 years old. Heading out (lmao my eyes are closed and i look special) SPECIAL THANKS TO JOHN, THERE IS NO WAY I COULD HAVE DONE THIS WITHOUT HIM dang im cute

This May, my dad suffered a stroke and spent 30 days in the hospital. He was released and had no idea if he'd ever be able to drive again. We were very unsure of his physical capabilities heading into the hunt and i wanted to play it safe. He drew the thanksgiving hunt which luckily was a 10 day hunt. We only could hunt saturday morning for the first weekend and had a narrow oppurtunity at a good buck that was around 90". We knew hunting pressure would drop off for the second weekend. I had a particular canyon picked out and it required little walking, plus if we found something in the canyon then we most likely could shoot from the glassing spot. Got out on the second saturday and hit the same spot and familt friend John came along. Naturally i found a buck that we couldnt shoot from the glassing spot. i watched the buck bed in a perfect spot so I asked my dad how he felt and he said he was willing to hike so he could shoot this buck. Found a nice trail and it took us to 321 yards from the bedded, got set up and within 30 seconds of being fully set up, the buck stood and my dad put him down just 5 yards from his bed. Killshot on video too Couldnt have been prouder of my dad, he pushed through and didnt let the stroke or some hills stop him from being successful. Probably one of my favorite hunts of all time.

These 2 coyotes chased this fox up a tree, both coyotes are pictured if you look hard enough (look at 11 oclock, 3 yards from coyote #1). Coyotes left after 30 minutes and the fox stayed in the tree for hours on a hot october day.

Thanks everyone for the responses, i had an amazing time and am already looking forward to the next backpack hunt.

Awesome buck man, great to see that your father was with you!

Thats a stuuuud

After spending 4 days helping a friends daughter on her youth deer hunt and not being able to get it done on the buck we had been watching, it was time for me to leave on my elk hunt. I packed up my stuff and picked up one of my best friends, Reyes, and we left Monday night, Oct 10th. Got up to my unit after midnight and we slept in my truck. Woke up and made the short drive to where we wanted to glass. Found multiple herds right away, but i was never able to get close enough. Around 10am, we went to set up camp and got done around noon. Made a quick trip to town for gas and ice, then on the way back i was able to shoot this coyote at 375 yards with my 223. That afternoon, we wanted to get up on the one mountain in this unit and glass the flats. We did and found elk right away again. They were two miles away, Reyes stayed on the hill with a radio so we could talk. I drove the truck and cut the distance in half. All i took with me was my rifle and an antelope decoy because there was no cover. I ended up spooking that herd but was able to run into another group and started to head them off. Reyes had another herd spotted in case these didnt work out. I was closing the distance and was less than 500 yards when i came up to the edge of a small wash. I looked across the wash and saw a cow standing there. I quickly sat down, pulled out my bipod, chambered a round, and ranged the next opening. It was 180 yards, i didnt even have to adjust the scope for elevation. She stepped out and a perfectly placed shot from my 257wby had her on the ground. It was awesome to just be chasing elk for a couple hours. In this photo, you can see a big herd in the middle, this was the backup herd. The lower group of elk, i had no idea about, and reyes never saw them. They ended up being the group i killed out off. We had all the meat packed back to the truck by 9:45. The next day we slept in, and packed up camp, then headed back to Tucson. It was great to be able to go up on this hunt with one of my best friends and be successful.

Thanks Everyone!

leaving Jan. 3rd and wont see the states again until the 18th or so

I really want to call one in. it seems like they are annoying to those who are around them alot. If anyone wants to send me to a spot where i can just go get one, that would be awesome. Id like to have the skin tanned to hang up

I used the 15x50 Vipers (not HD) for 2 years and it was my first pair of 15s. I really liked them but they might hold you back as a glasser. Quality and warranty is good. Biggest negative to them is when you have to glass into the sun, clarity is terrible, must have something to do with coatings. I always used them on a tripod, They are very small and light for 15s, which is better for hand holding. They are a good intro to hard core glassing. This year i was able to put together funds and bought my own pair of Swarovskis, never going to look back.

John and I spent many days in the field before and during the archery season. One of the days, we were really far in and I brought my predator caller with me knowing that we would have a good chance of calling something in. That day we found 15 bucks. At the end of light, we started calling and on the first stand, I called in 4 fox but John wasn't able to connect with the bow. On the next stand I called in 5-6 and John whacked one while I was videoing. Straight chaos, fox were running everywhere. We were able to locate many quality bucks but John would never make a stalk unless the buck was in a perfect position and he was sure that he wouldn't blow the bucks out. On the Saturday before the end of the season, we went into an area looking for pair of bucks and couldn't turn them up. We hiked to a new area and found several more bucks. Found one that caught our attention. Moved in closer. Watched the buck in his bed at 250 yards for what seemed like forever. We kept going back and forth, trying to figure out what he would score. We would always come up with low to mid 90s. John decided to go for it, knowing there are bigger bucks in the area. This one was just in too good of a spot. A little while later, and a shot at 47 yards, John had his buck down. Quite the nasty pack out after this, 3 miles in and I was almost out of water, sunburned from being in the sun allllll day. Great day though. He went 98 gross and 96 net

No, theres an old mine right there.

On the paper plates 👌👌👌👌👌 😂 #ballinonabudget

I bet $20 dollars that some will start a thread claiming the credit card charges have started then say "April fools"

I did not get to do as much calling as I wished I could have but when I was able to get out I had decent success. Still fell short of my goal to call in and kill a bobcat. After a day of school, Reyes and I went out and one the last stand of the day called in the tailless fox. Shot at ~50 yards with my Mossberg MVP in 223. And no, there aren't any filters on these pictures. After a different day of school, Reyes and I went out with a buddy of our, Gavin. Gavin called in this coyote and Reyes killed it as I videoed. This was his first coyote. Once again with my 223. I was out jumping ponds for ducks and decided to do a quick stand before I went home. Called in a double but only got a crack on this one with the 223. Went out to scout for pigs before the junior pig hunt and as the evening was coming to a close I did a stand hoping for a cat. Around 21 minutes in I saw this fox. He didn't want to come in and was around 300 yards out. Then another fox runs past him so he tagged along. Shot the first at 80 yards and second one at 225-250 on the run after some warning shots and one that clipped him. Also with my 223. Got out with my buddy Carter, he is new to calling and on the first stand I was able to get this fox the run into 20 yards so he could shoot him with my Benelli M1. Once again while with carter, I called in this dog to 45 yards where he hung up. I let the 223 eat. Hope to do some calling before the fawns and calves start to drop!

I always play multiple sounds on each stand even if something comes in quickly. If a fox comes in quick, I'll play a fox distress hoping to get another in. It depends on what I'm calling for when I decide how kind to sit on a stand. I would say 20 minutes is the ideal time. If you're calling for cats you might want to sit longer. I've called in coyotes at 18 minutes and fox at 21 so you just never know. I will play each sound for 5-7 minutes before switching. When done with a sound I decrease volume slowly once at 0 I switch and increase new sound slowly until I get it where I want it. Volumes just play around with, before I had a truck I would tend to play sounds fairly quiet so I didn't have to walk super far to my next stand but with a vehicle you can do whatever. Don't overlook your hike into the stand, keep quiet, and I like to hike further typically. And don't think what I've said is perfect because by predator calling standards, I am a novice and have lots to learn.

My dad and I went down for our fourth year in a row. This time to a new ranch, hopes were high. On the evening of the travel day, a friend Albert, shot his biggest buck. He didn't want to pass on any 100 inchers and sure didn't let this one get away. Shot it at 600 yards, which is phenomenal because just last year he had to be less than 200 yards from the deer to hit it! Here's a little background on Pete, he is a complete novice to hunting and really only came on the hunt to hang out, watch people kill deer and if the chance arose, shoot any buck he could. He is as blind as a bat, I put my 60x spotter on a deer at 600 yards and he never saw it. On the first day he was driving in the ranger with Ernie and Albert, Ernie spots this buck walking down the hill at less than 50 yards. Despite Pete having issues seeing the deer and hitting it, they were able to harvest him. Awesome first deer for possibly the luckiest mf in the world. Josh went out and found this monster 2 point on the second day. He put this great buck on the ground and it scored 95 inches! One the third day I was able to tag along with Bobby and video him shoot his buck at 540 yards. The deer broke the beam in the fall, and going down to get it, a huge rock dislodged from under my foot and tumbled directly onto the antler breaking the tine off. Sorry bobby.... On the fifth and last day we only planned to hunt until noon. Bobby found a shooter at 9am but the buck never gave us a chance to get within 800 yards. At 10, Bobby found another buck and my dad wasn't going to pass. I took my dads gun and ran down to a flat spot and set it up. He got down to me and put a bullet in the deers chest at 532 yards. We were in a rush so that's how I packed the deer out. We were very optimistic going into this hunt and found it to be very difficult due to the heat, full moon, and zero rut activity. Deer were bedding at first light and moving very little when they were up during daylight hours. you don't want to know how this happened... Sweet pickup Pics of ranch. Are you really hunting nowadays of you don't take a selfie?

I took Carter on his first junior pig hunt great kid Carter is one of my best friends. You probably are one of the reasons he is the hunter he is now. He killed his first coues last year, and is always looking to learn!

Thanks everyone. My dad was pleased because he went home last year from Mexico and in December with an unfilled tag. So he was due to kill something

For unit 33, there were the 300 muley tags, 2150 coues tags, 200 muzzleloader "any" tags, and 300 youth "any" tags(150 per hunt). So last year the tag total was 2950 not counting archery otcSorry I missed the 200 Muzz. tags. That brings the total to 3050 tags. Absolutely ridiculous. What kind of BS data are they looking at that leads them to think they need to ADD tags??? If anything we need to have a tag reduction, it would improve the experience in the field, quality of animals, and if it means a price increase, I'm cool with it.

For unit 33, there were the 300 muley tags, 2150 coues tags, 200 muzzleloader "any" tags, and 300 youth "any" tags(150 per hunt). So last year the tag total was 2950 not counting archery otc