AZ Jim

I am interested in how it shoots. Had the same base rifle in .243 super light youth. Had a difficult time getting better than a 4-inch group at 100 yards because the barrel was so thin and light (at least that is what we think the reason was). Two shots and it would heat up so bad you could not touch it. Belive it or not it was also one of the hardest kicking rifles I have ever shot until I filled the stock and added a decelerator recoil pad. I imagine your Dad's rifle will shoot better though with the wood stock and that scope. AZ Jim

Nice Job and good story ! Congrats! AZ Jim

This looks like a cool website and I am new here so I thought I would post my 2006 Kaibab Buck story. Here it goes.... Well I made it back to the Kaibab again this year (2006) and had the whole 10 days to hunt. After passing on small bucks every day of the hunt I was beginning to get discouraged. On the sixth day of the hunt I met a guy from Casa Grande, Arizona named Jodie. He had taken a real nice 5X7 and gave me some advice on a good area to try. I began to see more deer and some nicer bucks, but no shooters. I was beginning to think maybe I was being to choosy, but on the 8th day I saw a big, tall, wide "Kaibab Buck"! After finding it in my binoculars, losing it in my rifle scope, finding it again in my binoculars, (It had turned and headed back into the tree line), finally locating it again in my scope: I fired a shot. After searching for hours for blood, following it's tracks and replaying the bucks re-action at the shot I came to the conclusion I had missed. I could not believe it. The next morning (9th day) I set out in the same area again and bumped up a four pointer but it was to early to shoot. I was beginning to get discouraged. As It became light I started seeing many deer streaming down the hills back into the cedar and juniper thickets. I must have seen 80 to 100 deer that morning (does as far as I could tell). I started praying and asked God to help me. I thanked him for the opportunity to be here in the first place and decided to take the the first legal buck I saw as I only had two days left and wanted to at least bring home some meat. The next thing I know I bumped up the buck of my dreams. All I could see was "rack" running through the dead burnt trees. He came to a slow sneak moving from my right to left about 100 yards directly in front me. I found a spot through the trees took aim at his lungs and squeezed off a round. He bolted downhill towards the cedars at the shot. There was another smaller four pointer with him which tempted me but I stayed focused on the big one. All of a sudden he skidded to a stop and spun around to see what scared or hit him. He stuck his head out into a clearing and then his shoulder, I took the opportunity and carefully aimed and squeezed off a round into his shoulder. I saw the reaction this time as he jerked and his opposite shoulder came up as he turned and spun out of site. I hit the ground on my knees and prayed again; please God help me find this deer. The final shot had been about 150 yards so I had to cover some ground before I came to where he was standing. I moved very slow with my gun at ready to give myself some time to calm down. When I got there I started looking for blood. I did not see any blood or the buck so I kept moving to where I lost site of him. A little bit further down the hill I saw "rack" and as he came into view I realized I had taken the buck of my dreams. I tapped his eye to make sure he was dead and then hit the ground again overcome with emotion and thanking God for this awesome gift. As I turned him around and roled him over to see where I hit him I discovered a bullet burn mark between his shoulders that just took the hair off and never broke the skin. It was running diagonally between his shoulder blades from back to front. I realized this was the same buck I had shot at the day before. This was the exact angle I was shooting at and misjudged the trajectory due to the fact I was shooting from a higher ridge to a lower ridge where the buck was. I found two other entrance wounds, one through the lungs and one in the shoulder which deflected up and caught him in the spine. After I caught my breath, tagged my buck, and shot a coyote (who was already heading down towards the buck), I left to get some some help and my wheelbarrow for the nearly mile pack out job back uphill to the truck. I have been looking for a buck like this for years. Two awesome hunters helped Dad, Mom, and myself haul my buck uphill out of the "burn area" with the wheelbarrow. They are Gary Mehus from Gilbert, Arizona, and Bob Zimmerman from Lemon Grove, California ( Thanks Again Guys !! ). They affectionatley nicked named me the "Wheelbarrow Man" as they would see it sticking out of the bed of the truck as I passed by their camp every day. They had no idea they would be helping me use the wheelbarrow to get my deer out. I have not scored the deer yet, but estimates are from 190 to 205 inches. The deer is a non typical 4 x 5 with only one full eye guard ( check out the gnarly bases ! ). It has a 27 1/2 inch outside spread and the length of the main beam is approximately 27 inches. The height of the rack from the skull cap is approximately 24 inches. I will have it scored and let you all know. The buck weighed 207 lbs. field dressed and 172 lbs carcass weight at the butcher. Dad hooked me on Kaibab Muleys at a very young age and I have been pursing them since then ( I bet he wished he hadn't after pushing and pulling that wheel barrow up hill ). The rifle I used was the Springfield 30-06 Dad bought me for my 14th birthday. I had it customized in the hopes I would use it to take my big Kaibab buck one day. It did the job. Thanks Mom and Dad for all your help on the hunt. I am glad you were there to share to share the experience with me. P.S. Chris - thanks for letting me use your truck. Sorry about the mud and the scratches! UPDATE: Final score on the buck was 183 when I had it officially measured. AZ Jim

Awesome story ! Awesome Buck ! Very Rewarding Hunt! AZ Jim

In this picture you can see on old wound that healed in his back next to his spine. About 3/4 of the way to his tail on the deer's right side (your left as you look at the picture), you can see the scaring and the bump under his skin. We think maybe an old archery wound, but we never found a broad head. AZ Jim skinning_buck_arrow.bmp