Kilimanjaro

Braino, do you REALLY think you're gonna get the bleeding heart sympathy you're looking for from the guys on this site?? Not even close pal.. Nice grammar too.. I had to try and read your post 4 times before I could kinda decipher what the heck you were trying to say.. Punctuation works wonders by breaking a paragraph down into readable sections called "sentences". You should try it.

I know who took those pics and EXACTlY where they were taken.. I know its kinda unusual to actually see the pics of it actually happening, but come on folks, this craps happens in the southern reaches of your state day in and day out.. EVERYDAY, ALL DAY.. BP or not, it won't stop. Its the simple principle of suppy and demand. If there is a profit to be made off of something, that something WILL find its way into the buyers hand. ... think you're alone in the 36 units, think again. Rest assured, there's a pretty good chance that someone is watching you while you're out there. Just remember when you get that tingley feeling and the hair stands up on the back of your neck, there's prolly good reason. Listen to that sixth sense that nature gave you.

Lopes?... that was a spring draw. Is AZG&F financing yer move to MT? oops.. It was the javies that we somehow didn't get drawn for.. Oh well, it turned out better that way.. it would now just be another tag that gets thrown in the trash..

got my sheep and 'lope checks today.. I would have rather gotten the tags in the mail today though..

really nice 'lope! I'd take a crack at him!

thanks guys!! I may be moving to MT from AZ, but there's no way ya'll be be getting rid of me here on CWT!! Who's gonna fill you in on the hunting reports from up there if I leave??! Plus, this place ain't no good without at least 1 Texan in the mix.. too many Arizonans together in one place isn't any good for anybody involved!! I think its the sun and heat out here that gets to ya'll over the years!!! I certainly am getting myself a lifetime license here.. It'll be money well spent that'll be put to good use for many, many years to come!

what a stud buck!

Schmitty, thanks for all the kind words! I really appreciate them! I can't wait to raise her in MT while she's young.. Its the perfect place to do so.

This trip started with quite the bang, so to speak! I have been back home in TX for the last two and half weeks with my wife... we had our first child last Wed back in our hometown surrounded by friends and family!! She was born a perfect, healthy baby girl at 2:30PM that we named Sydney Lee. She was born 7lbs. 2 oz. and was 20in long with a full head of hair!! It was an expierence that I wouldn't trade for the world! She had me instantly wrapped around her little fingers. My wife had a flawless pregnancy and birth and was outta the hospital in less than 2 days.. the rest of the time was spent hanging out at home and spending time with my two girls.. BUT, as you all know me, I've gotta squeeze in a hunt or 2 if at all possible. And with all that downtime, my wife gave me the go ahead to give the axis deer and hogs heck for a couple of days. That was all the blessing I needed! I had two days of hunting! I have a really close buddy who has a ranch that is loaded with free range exotics down about 2 hours from my hometown.. the exotics in the area have been free range for well over half a century now.. They are so well established in that part of the TX hill country that most folks just consider them as part of the landscape now.. Anyways, I called him up and was given the green light to take an axis or sika buck and all the hogs I could shoot. I made the drive to the ranch and got a last minute look around the place before dark. Saw a ton of axis does and a few small bucks before dark.. I found a good opening that was near a really thick cedar thicket and that was where I decided to sit up in the morning.. I was there well before daybreak on the first morning and man, was it HUMID!! I was being carried off by the mosquitos and gnats! The chiggers and ticks weren't helping matters either!! I sat as still as I could as daybreak came, and as I was fighting the bugs off, daybreak was coming over me.. It got light enough to see thru my binos, and I immediately began seeing plenty of axis deer. There were bucks in all stages of development pouring into the field from the cedar covered hills.. some with fresh, thick velvet, some getting ready to polish off, and a couple in full blown rut! Because axis deer have no set breeding season and breed year round, you can have hard horned bucks at any time of the year.. After about 30 minutes of watching them, the herd began to get really nervous acting and began snorting and stomping and looking back over their shoulders back towards the cedar thicket. Sure enough, out walks a sawggering, pot bellied buck that was showing the whole herd that he was the owner of that field.. he hopped the fence and began to pee onto a spot in the grass, and then would rake it with his antlers.. he was alot darker in color than the rest of the bucks in the field, and had a really big neck on him.. I looked at his rack, and began to size him up.... " Good beams, prolly right at 30", really good fronts, good seconds, carries his mass well out on the beams, and is pretty damned wide!!! " " Why heck, this deer has everything you could want in an axis buck!!" "What are you waiting for....get him!!" I found a good V in the crook of a cedar bush and waited for my shot.. I ranged him about 10 times and kept coming up with either 188 and 190.. I was carrying my brand new .300WSM that I had built for me the past spring.. I had shot it at the range an couple fo times, but this was the first hunt I've got to carry it on.. "Ok, he's broadside, take your time and... breathe... and SQUEEZZZEEE." Smoked him!! He didn't take another step.. The WSM punched a 180 grain hole clean through his shoulder and out his lower neck on the opp. side. I made my way over to him and sat down next to him and admired my first trophy axis buck.. He was everything I could have wanted.. As I sat there, I realized how lucky I was to be able to hunt a really prime piece of TX property, and how lucky I was to be able to take a buck like this.. As I sitting there admiring him, I realized it's getting warm alreay! So I boogy to the truck and get him loaded into the back.. barely!! It must have been quite the sight to see me trying to pull this dude into the back of my truck solo!! Finally, I get him loaded and make my way over to the ranch house and wake my buddy up to take a few pics of me with him before I start cleaning him.. After I got him cleaned, we made a pass thru the ranch and picked up several memory cards from a couple of cameras they had put out in hopes of getting a pattern on the hogs that frequent the property.. Being that was in the upper 90's the past 2 weeks, we soon found out that they were all coming in during the middle of the night to the water hole.. I sat that evening and the next morning in a blind with my Hoyt in hand, but they never showed up.. oh well, there will always be hog hunting back home.. Besides, I really didn't want to clean a smelly ol' hog in the summer heat!! Well, all in all it was quite the trip.. I still can't believe I'm a Daddy now.. I'm beside myself with pride!! I feel like I am on top of the world..a beautiful wife and now a beautiful brand new, healthy baby girl!! It was quite a ride these last couple of weeks!! ( As bad as I want to show her off and share pics with all of you, I'm gonna keep my baby daughter off the WWW.. I guess I'm just a tad bit paranoid with all the loonies out there! Thanks in advance for understanding, guys..) But I'll plaster my mug on there for all of ya to see! A couple of Blackbuck does and bucks.. these bucks haven't quite hit maturity yet as seen by their color.. they'll darken up with age and the onset of cooler weather.. I snapped this pic of him as he lays after the shot.. I was giddy as a schoolgirl right about here!! and here he is... ..with all the rain TX has been receiving, the quail crop is gonna be a good one.. here is a Bobwhite hen I snuck up on that had 6 almost grown chicks with her.. I was amazed at how close she let me get to her! ..and here is a critter that is synonomous with TX.. These little boogers are everywhere and I still get a kick outta watching them.. they can't see worth a darn, but if the get a whiff of ya, they'll start to bobbin' their heads, trying to figure out where the smell is coming from.. I snapped this pic just as the head -bobbing started.. ..and then I snuck up on him and snapped a couple more.. thanks for lookin' guys!! Hope all of you are having as good a month as I am!!

cool pics Jim! love the arrowheads..

you'll be close to me! PM me and give me a jingle when ya make it up that way! thanks for all the kind words guys!!

I don't think where I'll be headed could be qualified as a "city"!!! We're gonna prolly buy a house in the small town of Conrad, which is about 50 miles north of Great Falls.. its has about 2000 folks in it. And I'll be working north of there.. that still sounds weird to me.. the "northern" border! Jim, get with me up there if ya get a chance to! Where in the state are you lope hunting? thanks for the words guys!

Last weekend I decided it was getting a bit boring around the house and packed up and pointed the truck south and headed to the coast.. I landed at the quaint fishing village of San Carlos, Sonora.. First order of business, get a cold Tecate and a few street vendor tacos.. MMMM!! Next, hit the beach, and soak in a few more Tecates and limes.. Then, squeeze in a few hours of snorkling in the coves near the condo, and sneak in a few more Tecates.. And finally, get in a day of sailfish and marlin fishing to ease the mind. There is nothing like being on the Mexican coast out in the Sea of Cortez with a cold beer in hand, and watching the teezers trailing behind the boat, only to see a bill come up from the depths and give chase!! It is a great getaway and I'll do it as often as I can.. heck, I'd own a house there if I had the cash!! It really is a little slice of real Mexico, and I can't get enough of it. Even the drive down there excites me.. being in the country where gagger burro bucks still call home, Booner Cimarrones, or desert bighorns, still roam the mountains, and the historic stomping grounds of the beautiful Masked Bobwhites.. awesome!! Anyways, I had my typical fishing luck. I have yet to get a billfish landed (4 tries) and this trip was no different!! I brought a 30lb Dorado (Mahi-Mahi) to the boat first off, only to strip the hook when the gaff touched him.. bummer, but no big deal... We're after billfish anyways!! I then was teased repeatedlly by seeing time and time again jumping blue and striped marlin while they chased schools of flying fish... No takers, no matter how enticing our ballyhoo and teezers looked.. THEN, I was given the final blow by getting an estimated 90-100lb. sailfish to take the bait, only to have it jump outta the water 15 ft after the hook was "set" and throw the hook!! Asi es la vida!! At least I fought him for one jump!! That has been, and probably always will be my luck when it comes to fishing!! But will I give it up?? Heck no!! I love every minute of being on the water, and especially in the cobalt blue waters off the coast of Sonora and Baja, just being in the presence of more porpoises and sea lions than I could ever count!! Maybe next time, I need to go with someone who has the Midas touch when it comes to those danged fish!! Here are a few snaps I took while down there!! I hope you enjoy them!! A view from the condo.. overlooking the bay back towards Guaymas.. the marina in town.. organ pipe cactus.. organ pipe catus and a cardon cactus.. They look like a cross between an organ pipe and a saguaro.. super cool! And HUGE! headin' out to the open water thru a pass called Indian Face.. Any guesses why?? looking back towards the coastline.. the two peaks on the water are called chichis de la cabra, or goat titties for you non speakers.. They are the most prominant landmark in the whole area.. they are in almost every pic I took!! I couldn't take my eyes off them! Next time, I'm gonna hike to the saddle inbetween the two peaks and give a yodle between the two "chichi's"!!! a scenic coastline pic of the area.. yep.. them's the chichi's on the left!! fightin' the dorado!! right before he got off!! I was SO CLOSE!!! EL CAPITAN!!! with the prerequiste Mexican coastline sunburn, of course!! All in all, a super cool trip that is close to home, and provided a much needed break from reality!! Thanks for lookin'!

I'll ask for ya Tony.. The place where I shot this buck is 3,500 acres and is completely low fenced... the axis were on there LONG before they bought the land!! They can come and go as they please, but you can usually find them if ya look for awhile.

Jim, he is a very typical shaped axis deer.. 3 per side.. I've seen a non typical or two over the years with more than 3 points on a side, or maybe a dropper coming off near the burr.. But for the most part, that's how they look! Tony, These guys aren't outfitters nor even in the hunting business at all .. I would have to see if they would sell a hunt or two.. they deal in ranch real estate.. I could ask for you though! Crotalus, of course we went back to TX to have out baby!! Now, for as long as she lives on this earth, she can ALWAYS say she is a native born TEXAN!! We wouldn't have it any other way!! Seriously, we didn't want to have her out here cuz we have no one out here besides a few friends and each other.. We have zero family out here in AZ.. The only thing we have here in Az is my work.. My wife wanted to be surrounded by all the family and long time friends back home.. Sydney was born the first grandchild on either side, SO, there was plenty of family and freinds there to share her with!!

they look great!!1 I'll get one of the shirts when they are ready to buy..

Hey, it was 7:18 in TX and you said to call you if I got anything!! So I did!! And the muzzlebreak ROCKS!! Its only loud the first few times.. then the ringing in your ears drowns out any "noise" you might hear!!!! J/K!!

thanks alot guys!! I really appreciate the kind words.. Tony, fortunately, I was allowed to hunt the ranch for free .. The owner's son has been one of my real good buddies for years..

nice find Amanda!! That rez country has some super deer in it!

I would have no idea.. but here goes... 1500 and 15,000..

One of those eight Gould's tags is MINE!!! I'm calling it now!

nice stag.. I've got one that goes right at 360 from NZ.. they are great animals.

I can remember picking pear apples with my Granny as a kid and watching her make preserves with them.. I can't see ripe pear apples this time of year and not think of her. We did it with algerita berries here in TX as well..

That was a sweet shot, wasn't it Doug?? I can still see it now.. I took my coues with the same gun the day before and dropped my buck in his tracks from 275 yards.. I've taken a ton of deer and a few blackbuck antelope here in TX with a 22-250. also taken a couple of pronghorns with 22 cal rifles.. If you are comfortable with the gun, use it! They'll do the trick.

Does anyone else think it's funny that esposas also means handcuffs????? . Funny?? How 'bout ironic?? Wait, the more I think about it, it seems pretty much par for the course!!