khartigan

uummm eeer 2,463, I think

shoulda tied him up!

Hunterofcoues Hey, thats a natural born hunter if I've ever seen one. I bet the poop even looks like camo. I hear that 270 with an extra butt pad would be ok for 10 day olds, so be easy on him till then. gutpile

Joe, Congrats on the newest hunter in your family. Can't wait until he joins us in the field. He will have lots of help when he does. Gutpile

Another fun year on the Kaibab. The drive sucks, but the country and solitude is worth it. Although, something happened this year, and my secret spot, usually devoid of hunters was packed with traffic. No biggie though, for some reason 90% of the other "hunters" didn't get the memo to leave their vehicles. So 5 steps off the road and we were on our own. Friday was chilly, windy and we arrived around noon anyways, so after setting camp the day was about shot. Saturday, we glassed up some nice 4 points, followed by a group of 12 does. Bingo, 250 yards grazing uphill, and so far none had bugered us. The "buck" fever kicked in though and Tanner (16) wasn't able to hold still to take the shot. We tried moving in, but to no avail. Off they went. Another 3 hours of cat and mouse, and we had a group bedding down across the canyon, 380 yards off. Perfect! For two hours the boys got to practice holding steady on a buck bedded under a Juniper. After some ballistics discussions, Tanner convinced me that the shot could be made. Finding two does bedded, the wait was on. Which is a good thing for baking in the sun will get rid of any amount of shakies for that kind of shot. The doe finally stood, and holding 4 - 6 inches high, he hit the mark. I think he is more proud of the gun than the deer. After packing her out, and skinning back at camp, Trevor (12) was itching and time was ticking to the end of his hunt. 10 minutes out of camp and some quick glassing showed nothing, so we moved on down the ridge to a new spot. No need though, for a singe doe feeding 211 yards out presented. No sun this time to bake away the shakies though, so we waited while Trevor collected his nerves. She was quarterd away, and his shot was perfect, placed right behind the ribs through the liver, heart, and some lung. She didn't get very far. Oh yeah, gutpile happiness. This has got to be the best hunt for youth. A few years of success, some gutting and skinning experience, and the bug is permanently set for another generation. Crossing Lees Ferry Trevor's First Coues from last year.

Thanks! Where's your elk story?

Stanley, Thanks. The success my boys have had tops all of the hunts I have been on. Congrats on your sons kill. I will never forget their "firsts". My daughter's 9 and she's excited for when she gets to go, but not as much as me!

Being new to the site, I thought I would share pics of last years goat. The hunt was short but sweet, with two hours of hunting and 5 hours of searching. No blood trail made the finding tough, so the family came out to help.

1stqoues, No coyotes got the goat. This is actually a few miles from the shot, I left the camera at the truck. So we split him in 1/2 to get him out. I also forgot bags for the meat at the truck, so I left the skin on. Luckily the meat didn't spoil and the 20lbs. of meat you get off the antelope was mighty tasty. gutpile

Finally! A Unit 1 tag. In my opinion the best elk unit in the state. It took 7 years for this tag and the wait was worth it. We chased Bulls every day starting by moonlight, and after 4 days, they would bugle well into the morning and start back up by 2 in the afternoon. This bull was lucky enough to run into my arrow a week into the hunt. I was done with being too picky for the bigger ones. Tag soup doesn't taste very good, even after I had an excuse of tearing my rotator cuff a few days in. This day was extremely windy, and chilly. I was trying to cut off the bulls as they made their way up the hills from feeding in the meadow all night. As they bugled their way up towards the saddle, I would position myself in front of their path. The first 3 bulls that passed were either too far, or following cows that busted me. This bull was the last of the day, something had to give. How sweet it was when he turned to a small opening 25 yards from me. Pulling the bow like a bicep curl, the ol' shoulder didn't want to work too well, but it held while we had a stare down for who knows how long. Deciding he didn't like me, he turned giving that perfect broadside shot. Smack! He didn't even know what was wrong and I watched him walk 50 yards, and then bed down. It only took 9 hours to clean and pack him out a mile from the wilderness to the truck. Thanks for all the help Joel. It would have been an all night packout without your help.

My new member number is 2918. Is that different from the actual number registered? Kevin

131 2/8

Bill, It's funny that you say that, for in fact I was hunting the Res. line for the first three days and ran across someone that was spending his time scaring the elk across the reservation line. I had friends that had found a nice "400" class bull that had been seen in the meadow nightly for a few weeks. Well, this jerk had scared everything off he could. We ran across him cow calling feverishly to a group in the meadow right at sunset. We were moving in to a big bull that was coming out of the tree line following the cows. That didn't last long, for he scared them off by his calls and walking out into the meadow. He didn't have a bow, but was dressed in camo with a bugle hanging around his neck. By the time we realized what was going on, he had seen us and rushed out of there. His job was done. After talking to AZ Game and Fish, and the Res. Game and Fish, what he was doing was illegal and if we had gotten his license plate, we could have turned him in. Oh well, maybe someone will get him next time. gutpile

AzP&Y, Now, that is happiness for sure. Nice frame.