azowl

I grew up having never seen a deer in the wild till I was 21. I literally started from scratch on my own for the most part and it took me 9 years to finally get a deer. I was drawn for a great hunt in the desert and a work mate who was a very successful hunter took pity on me and helped me get this deer. He took me to his spot, this was actually only the 3rd largest deer I saw that day but he was the one I ended up with and I have no regrets. I watched him battle another buck. He's 28 5/8" outside width. My 1st's are: 1st javalina in 1984, deer in 1986, antelope in 1990, elk in 1998, bison in 2009, Coues in 2011, turkey in 2013, lion in 2016. Still need bear and sheep for the 10. Hunting doesn't come naturally to me but I do have the determination to stay with it until I succeed! Mule Deer 1986.pdf

What a great buck

Would bison respond to calling? I've called a great variety of animals. Beef cows respond on the run to a calf in distress call, they are related. Deer and elk also respond well if you're looking for females and often the females drag males along with them when they come in. Just a thought. It's pretty thick on the plateau and it'd be easy to miss them even when they're close by. Haven't found anyone who's tried it anywhere else but the conditions for this hunt are fairly unique.

Love to see it

There it is!

I had trouble loading a jpg file so I tried it in pdf. Still had to click on it but I'll keep trying. There are some others too, a dozen piggies, half that many deer, 4 elk, I think that's it. Thanks:)

Wow, that is a huge change. Why are they discouraging pre-hunt scouting if the hunt is not held on the ranch? They had discouraged scouting with us as well but the hunt was to be held on House Rock. The herd has been wintering in the park for years accounting for the extraordinary low success of hunters drawn for them. It's one of those hunts where so few get to go that it's difficult to keep up with the herds activities. My buddy was hiking in the Grand Canyon about 3-4 years ago and saw bison off State Rt 67 jus a few miles North of the park. He actually had to stop the car so they could get off the highway. I was hunting turkey in the same area in October 2013 and the store owner in that open valley told me that the herd is seen there at times. The G & F officer I hunted with then was Tom McCall out of Flagstaff. He was a great guy and seemed to know the herd well. In my experience, most of the department officers are very helpful. I was hoping I could be of help and sorry I could not be. I do wish both of you the best on the hunt. I'd probably cover every stock tank and game water on the plateau East of StRt 67 from the park North at least 15-20 miles. It's huge but they have to drink and they leave lots of sign.

I forgot to mention that my hunt was in July as yours is. I still need a sheep (sigh) and a bear to complete my Big 10.

Hello, I drew a supplemental tag for this hunt in 2009. Game and Fish is under tremendous pressure to reduce the herd at House Rock. They always held these hunts late in the year when the herd was on the plateau or even worse, in the park, where they couldn't be hunted. The success rate was really low because the buffalo just were not available. However bison do spend the summers on the ranch. After I arrived at the ranch at the clinic the night before the hunt, they told us that G&F officers were going to accompany us into the field as guides. I took my buffalo, a yearling for my tag, before 8am the next morning at 112 yards. There were about 8 animals, including the herd bull, that we were on to and were apart from the main herd of about 75 animals. Here's what we did. One of the other hunters had positioned scouts about a mile away on the foothills of the Kaibab overlooking House Rock a little south and west of the ranch house. They had great glass and immediately were spotting bison for us. We drove to a ravine about a half mile from the herd then walked/crawled to position. We couldn't see any animals until we were within pretty close range because of the terrain but the spotters kept us posted. Two of us took bison then. Never heard how the other two did as we were pretty busy. I had a 150 gallon rubbermaid tub, a generator, power saw and 130 lbs of ice. My buddy (You HAVE to have help on this hunt) backed the truck up to where I was with the buffalo and as I skinned the carcass, I used the saws all to cut quarters off and iced them. Took about two hours for that process. I was really concerned about the heat and losing the meat but it never got above about 90 that morning and we were quick to care for the meat. I'm happy to share any other info you'd like either by phone or through the forum here. You have a great chance. Go with the expectation of bagging one. This is the time to call in favors from all those you've ever helped or expect to help in the future. I'd love to see a picture when you get it.

Helped a friend get his first archery javelina this January. Most unusual shot I ever saw but put him down quick. Look close at where the arrow struck.

I'm having it made into a rug. I'm afraid we'll run out of friends wanting to come over if I have a full body mount staring at the front door:)

He had a broadside but the pig turned. Thought it was only a head shot till we recovered him.

Through the snout, down the throat and into the lungs. Went about 75 yards.

Hey guys. I'm the one who shot the lion then needed help. Sorry on the delay. My buddy suggested asking for help through CW and I was overwhelmed by the response. THANKS! I've never been a member and just finished signing up. I may be slow in posting pics but I love helping others as much as everyone else here does. I'll post a pic of a piggie I helped a young friend arrow for his first archery javelina in January. Most unusual shot I ever saw. I'll post it through the javelina forum section under most unusual shot. Thanks again!