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Wow Jake, Looks like you had a very successful pronghorn rodeo! Nice Pronghorn! Love those cutters on your buck! Congratulations! Thanks for sharing your pics and story. Makes me want to go to Wyoming...soon! Nick

I wished I still lived out in the County! Would be nice to have a mule and the gear to go in the backcountry on my sheep hunt. I could probably ride the mule right up to the sheep seeing how many dang burros live in my unit! Nick

Just want to point out a few things. As far as I know, ALL Boone and Crockett Official Measurers are certified to measure ALL N. American Big Game, according to their website. I can also tell you that shopping for another measurer once the animal has been scored by an Official Measurer is frowned upon by the Club. Maybe he was not B&C but some other Club. If an Official Boone and Crockett Scoresheet was never filled out by the guy at the Bass Pro, then I would recommend contacting Amanda from this site or any of the other B&C measurers in the State. Bill Keebler is a member of B&C and the ADBSS and has measured many sheep for sure. Either way, get him measured by someone from Boone and Crockett and let us know how it goes. Good Luck, Nick

Right On! Sounds like you guys had a heck of a hunt. Congratulations to both of you on killing nice bulls. I love that 5x5. Yours looks like an old bruiser! Way to get it done! Nick

That's an awesome bull! Especially for your first! Congratulations! Thanks for sharing your story and pics. Nick

In my experience a scouting trip to the area is always priceless. I know it's a long way to the Kaibab but I bet the effort would be worth it. Getting familiar with the roads and finding potential camping spots is always easy to do when you scout. Finding critters is always nice too! I always camped out of my truck so can't help you with a trailer, but if you get up there earlier than most, you should be able to find a spot fairly easily. I hope your buddy has a good time up there. The Kaibab is a magical place. One of my favorite places in Arizona for sure! Nick

2010 Arizona Strip Pronghorn Taken on Sunday September 5, 2010 at 8:45 in the morning. I glassed up a group on Saturday evening and figured they should be in the same area in the morning. I made a plan to loop around them and get the wind and the terrain to my advantage. To my pleasure, the plan worked and I found the group of pronghorn about 200 yards away when I got to the area where I thought I might be able to see them. They moved off a bit while I was preparing my shooting position, and when they stopped again near the top of the rolling slope I acquired the buck in my scope, took a deep breath, and pulled the trigger. I heard the tell tale sound "whak" shortly after the report of the rifle and saw that there were 4 does running away without the buck. I killed my first pronghorn antelope! The buck measures just a hair shy of 14 on one horn and 14 even on the other. Rough score from the taxidermist was about 79 inches. I couldn't be more pleased with him. Thanks to all of you who helped me along the way. You know who you are! Nick

Way to go! That's a nice bull! By The Way, it's OK to smile when you done good! Nick

Sorry to hear about the situation. At least he will make the Awards book and the Arizona Wildlife Trophies. My only question is if he hasn't been re-scored by an official measurer, how do you know he has shrunk an inch? Measure him up again and submit what he got. Score is not the end of the world. That is a beautiful ram that many people will never have the opportunity to hunt, nevermind kill one that is that huge! Tell your buddy to enjoy the memories from the hunt and the ram for what it is and forget about the score. It's only a reference anyways. Tough break, Nick

Sorry for the tease. Here's a link to the thread I posted on this site: http://forums.coueswhitetail.com/forums/in...showtopic=20767 Thanks for the interest. I had a blast. Nick

Hey Guys, It's starting to feel like we're beating a dead horse here. AZPredator, That's a nice bull on your avatar! You obviously have some skills and knowledge about what we all love so much. I agree 100% that there are many tools in the toolbox and lots of ways to get it done. My point about Bigdan was not that he doesn't call, its that he doesn't cow call and certainly doesn't use a hoochie mama. He only bugles when he calls elk and he has over 50 bull elk harvested with a bow. I think that track record speaks for itself. To each his own. I'll stick by what I said when I mentioned that saying it's "silly" not to have a hoochie mama might be taking it too far. Good luck this fall, Nick

Montana Black Gold makes some quality stuff. Can't comment on the model you mentioned but I would look at the Flashpoint line. Nick

Bucknasty!

Silly not to have one? I think you might have taken that one step too far. I know of lots of guys that are straight elk killers that have probably never touched a hoochie mama. One of these guys NEVER cow calls! To back up what I'm saying, check out the Elk forums on Bowsite and look for a guy named Bigdan from Montana. He's got over 50 bull elk killed and killed 3 P&Y bulls on public land in one year, one of which was a giant AZ bull. I'd like to hear you tell Bigdan he's silly for not hooching with his track record and experience, and see what he has to say!

If you need to use a hoochie mama to communicate with the elk, you should go to Elknut.com and get some of his tapes and learn to use a diaphragm call. Hands free and most natural elk sounds you can produce. Just have to get the hang of it.

Wow! That is a pretty happy ending to a very up and down adventure. Sorry you won't be able to enjoy the meat, but your persistence is to be commended. You should be very proud of yourself. I'm very happy that you recovered him afterall! Nick

Good to know...thanks! here the latest on the topic...The BL's are excellent, however, the ED's do have better edge sharpness and higher color resolution.

I'm having the same issue as you. I don't mind spending the money if I know I will get the performance out of it, but I have a hard time paying $1000 more for something for like fractions of difference. The top 3 I am considering are the Minox 15x58, the Kaibabs, and of course the Swarovskis. I have used the Minox 15x58's. I used them on my pronghorn hunt just a few weeks ago. I borrowed them from a friend. I can tell you that they are big and heavy. I have somewhat of a narrow face and they seemed to work OK for me, but I think the others will probably fit me better. I have also looked through the Swarovski a bit, but never a side by side comparison in the field with either one. Bottom line, the Minox performed well for me, but I don't think they are as clear and bright as my 10's. But they do reach way out there. If you don't plan on doing extremely long distance glassing for optics, something like a 12X might work for you. I already have some pretty nice 7x35's and some 10x50's so I am mostly in the market for 15's but I am also curious about the 13x Minox binos. I think I called Cameraland about that once and they said the 15's were better by a lot. So take that for what it's worth. For $499 open box or $549 new for the Minox, I don't think you could go wrong. I've also heard that the Kaibab is a "best buy" for the category, and it's pretty much undisputed that the Swarovskis are the KING. Not sure how well the Leica's with the rangefinder fit in there either, but I bet they do pretty good. I need to try the Kaibab's before I buy, but I am guessing that's the way I'll end up going. Ditto what Trent said on the tripod. Nick

Hunters with the lack of consideration described above are our worst enemy for sure! How can someone be that stubborn or clueless?

Always nice to hear both sides of a story! Good on ya Brian for looking into this matter and responding. Very upstanding if you ask me. I'm very sorry to hear that this happened to you My2! I would be pissed too at first, but in the grand scheme of things I seriously doubt they would have done that if they had any idea you were on the herd. Either way, I'm sorry to hear of your misfortune and I really hope you were able to find another nice buck and get it done. Nick

Awesome pics Coach! Thanks for sharing. It helps me keep my intensity level up for this December when I go on my dream hunt. Nick

What a way to put it all together! That is like a mini western safari right there! Congratulations. You WILL be eating good my friend! Nick

Looks like some tasty meals are coming your way! Way to go! I've killed a bull, but am 0 for 5 on cows with my bow. That's a great accomplishment for sure. Nick

What a great start! Congratulations on a fine trophy! Nick

Garrett! Great work young man! I'm sure you've made your dad and many others very proud of you, including me! Congratulations, Nick