WHT_MTNMAN

Looks great. I like that pose.

Yeah I've fished it this early and you won't catch any bass and water is dangerous to cross, but if you can find a good pool you can still catch some cold water cat fish, ummmm.

Nice I love hats...they look awesome, the shirts look great also, I got to get some ordered.

Congrats Oak, nicely done, what a beautiful goat.

Jeremy, my thoughts and prayers are with you, and your family.

Well me and my wife will be there at a table with Haywire and his wife and another couple of friends, see some of you tomorrow.

Well after a few invitations and everything not coming together quite right, I finally felt ok about finances , time off etc.. and accepted an invitation to hunt Old Mexico to hunt Coues Whitetail with Clay Goldman. About 8 of us from Payson headed down Fri. morning early and crossed border with no problems around 8:30-10 am. We got to the Ranch around 1-2 pm set up camp and headed out for an evening of glassing. We figured out where everyone was hunting, I was directed to the borders of our ranch and off we went. The next 5 days were similar. Up early, great breakfast (thanks Bob) hour quad ride to hunting spot, glass a few good bucks and lots in the 85-95 range but I was holding out for a smoker buck, back to ranch after dark with another great meal prepared. We had three tags on one ranch and three on the other. During the first three days, the other ranch produced a 110ish buck with a six inch drop and a heavy palamated buck in the 105-110" range, and a 100" buck with some cool character. ( If I get permission I'll post some pics) I passed a couple of really good bucks that I figured would go 105 but was reluctant to shoot one too early in the hunt. I found a really big 2 point frame that would probably score 100-105 on Tues, decided to pass and then was talked into shooting at (which when I put the scope on him I was glad to do) Long story short I missed a long shot that should have been relativly easy but I made a dumb mistake in my excitement. I watched him climb a saddle about a mile away at a run. The weather was starting to turn, with rain and fog setting in so I decided to go to an area that I had seen a really good buck around 105". We glassed for about 30 minutes, found a decent buck and then found the buck I was decided I was going to shoot. It wasn't the same buck I had found earlier but he looked to have decent mass and long G2's. With fog gathering around us and rain pouring off in the distance I decided after almost six days this would be the buck I would take home. We moved into just under 300 yards and I made a good shot. We then got packed up and headed back to the ranch house with the next day and a half spent in strong rainstorm as we cut the trip a day short and traveled home. I had a great trip, with some great people and can't wait to make it back. Thanks Clay for the invite and for making everything flow perfectly. My buck is just under 100" I just put a rough estimate together. There is a bunch more to the story, but as usually I don't have time to write it all up, I hope you enjoy. Here are a few pictures Lion kill buck for that had been seen last couple of years so I looked hard for him, I guess there was a reason he never turned up.

Jay and Ron I've been looking forward to this post since I got a few pictures on my phone, nicely done and what a cool story and picture essay. Some of my favorite hunting memories are when I am with one fo my sons. Awesome, to bad it wasn't caught on film but thats ok you got some great pictures.

What a stud buck, I love the extras and the inline. Lots of great character and a huge frame to boot, nicely done.

Great looking bucks Cade, great pictures on everything.

Josh I shoot them out of my .300. Very accurate in my rifle and can make a huge hole in coues sized animals but stops everything quick. BTW I'm shooting 210 gr at 3100fps, I got better groups when I backed it down a bit.

There was a huge lion killed up in White Mountains last week that should have a record book skull that was estimated to be close to 200 lbs, everyone was surprised a bit when it only weighed 150lbs. My point being like Lark said, most lions are about half of what you think, even those that know lions usually guess a weight and subtract 50 lbs to be close. IMO

129 4/8

As always Gino, what a tremendous start to the year and huge congrats to all of the gang.

Thanks guys it was a great trip. The reason he doesn't score real well is because of his lack of eye guards, when I first saw him I figured him at over 100" but when I saw he didn't have much in the way of g1's I still decided to shoot, at that point I didn't care too much. Bob- I didn't get too many pictures in the field, I had your knife on me, but didn't take any pictures. We got rained upon pretty good headed back to the ranch. When I score him a little more close I'll let you know, but he should be right around 97" according to my quick calculation.

Ian- huge congrats on a great looking buck. Sorry you had to spend time around Gino.

Actually the game and fish set up all the requirements on who and how and when a hunter gets a tag, that is actually management. As hunters we are a piece of the WHO is carrying out the orders but it is "managed" from above

Super buck, I love the mass and as said before, welcome to CW.

I think every year sites like this become more popular with more people posting away. I'm sure the quality of deer taken every year is becoming more visible, more recognized not necessarily meaning that more quality bucks are being taken every year. IMO

Nice job cuzin, lets hope for another good year from ya.

The hardest part is finding someone who will let you drive their rig, if that is taken care of you can get a CDL in a few days at most if you devote the time. Some companies do all the training for your CDL and have classes and vehicles at their disposal.

Well I have no idea about Government Job Processes, If I didn't have decent job I would go out and do everything and anything to be qualified at as many things as possible. My dad owned a ready-mix company and I've been in concrete and other forms of construction from a very young age. I also agree that if anything good comes from this discussion it is worthwhile. Good luck to all those looking for work and I hope your blessed (and all of us) in 2010. Background check was only a joke of course, actually there are probably more construction workers that could pass a background check than physicians that could.

It didn't sound like you needed DO experience, just be able to pass a few things. The P (passenger) endorsement on CDL is probably one of the easiest endorsements and can be had quickly. Quite a few construction workers have CDL's since it is required to drive a lot of construction equipment, straight axle and not only tractor trailer combo. I've had my CDL since I was 18 driving mixer truck and got my P endorsement to drive school bus. The hard part is most of us construction workers passing the background check.

My buddy scott's Oct. 09 buck 113 6/8 buddy Ric's buck next day 111 6/8

couple of absolute stud bucks.great job