bojangles

Looks like it was a tough hunt across the board this year for the late rifle crowd.

Nice!

Horton creek.

so are you selling the "rifle only?" w/ no accessories, or is the rifle "only $1100?"

welp, we all tagged out. what a blessing. I posted about my son's hunt in the youth section, and my wife shot a cow in the rifle hunt as well. since it had been so dry, i focused on water. it seemed to be a good move. i had seen a good bull on this tank we were hunting during the youth hunt, and another bull came in during my wife's cow hunt. opening morning i hiked over a mile to get to this tank, as i didn't have my 4 wheeler ready to go. it was a good sit, but the only bull that came in was a spike. several elk winded me, and were thirsty enough to circle the tank and come to the other side, up wind, and drink. i'm not sure if any bulls winded me or not, i couldn't see them all. it looked like an owl landed on the other side of the tank, but after close inspection i realized it was a bobcat. i think he winded me as well, as he never came to drink. I always have trouble with wind at tanks, it seems to change direction when the sun comes up or goes down. it's just a battle you have to deal with. on opening morning, i got a text from a friend, who's son had the big bull down. They killed him in an urban area that i did not have access to. I don't have permission to post pics, but he is a great bull, for any hunt, let alone late archery. Congrats to that kid, on a great bull. on day 2, i drove into the desert to glass the foothills. After an hours drive, someone was parked in my spot, and another truck pulled up beside me. i did a u-turn, and moved on. i was late getting into my plan b spot, and jumped some cows on the way in, but didn't see any bulls. after this, it was work and church stuff. i went out behind my house monday, which if G&F get's their way, will be off limits to hunting in the future. What a shame, a lot of dinners have been served by the locals off of elk in there. It's been a popular spot for generations. i glassed a spike up, and chose not to pursue him. That night i sat a tank with no luck. On wednesday, the day before thanksgiving, it was unusually hot. I bailed from work at 2 and hit the tank. Elk rolled in immediately, but winded me and blew out before i could see them. I was frustrated, as i knew this was an ideal day for something to happen. I mean i was really frustrated. I actually prayed. The wind had switched 180 degrees right when they were coming in, i could hear them on the other side of the dam when the wind switched, and they were gone like a heard of elephants. I never could see them. It seemed like one of them circled me and got quiet. Well, my prayers were answered, as a young bull came in to water at last light. Possible the one that circled me. He gave me a textbook, "do not shoot" quartering towards me shot angle. I carefully placed my 30 yard pin right behind his shoulder, hoping i would get one lung and bury the shwacker in his liver. I didn't range him, but it looked 30 to me. I heard a loud shwack when i squeezed the trigger, and he bolted. I snuck out of the blind and looked for blood. I didn't see any right away, and decided to back out, as the sun was fading pretty quickly. Liver shots can take a few minutes longer to be fatal, and i didn't want to jump him. After prayer meeting at church that night, i recruited some innocent bystanders who owned 4 wheelers to help me look for a blood trail. We got in there at 9 ish, and my nephew found the first drop. We followed the trail, and every step the blood got better, until it looked like someone poured it out of a milk jug. It was that dark, rich liver blood color. Well, after about 50 yards, we found him piled up. I said a prayer of thanks, and we dug in with the knives. He tastes fantastic.

the level of accomplishment is in the mind of the shooter.

that's the wife's elk, somehow it went sideways....

more pics

Pics

I took a broken raghorn and was thankful to do it. Had a lot of elk coming in but battled swirling winds, and got busted quite a few times. I'll post up some pics later.

I think my buddy mike has a smoking deal on one that has a small crack down the middle of it. A little superglue and you should be good to go.

Well that was quick.

i don't know a thing about anything, but my carb was acting up before the hunt, i had old gas in it, and before i took it to the shop, i put sea foam in the tank, and now it runs like a champ.

Nice!

Brian

Call me at 9284744660

I have a crew that lives out that direction that can do the job. but my showroom is in payson. If she knows what shes looking for ill get samples to her.

Story coming.

thanks for taking the time to do a great write up, and post good pictures!!

well put. There's a lot of quiet places out there. There's a lot of wilderness that nobody ever sets a foot in each year.

yes, see our topic in the youth section right here.

sooo..... The little fella got his first junior elk tag on his first try in the draw. Needless to say he was pumped. I had a blind set up in a really dry area that holds a lot of elk, but our first shot opening morning was to glass the desert. Well it was hot down there, and we came back parched, and didn't see a thing. I had been working on him with shooting in the last couple of weeks, and had him shoot the .22 as much as possible, and taking a few cracks with the '06 with a break. He seemed to catch on quickly. So that after noon, we got in the blind. It was hot, and dry. Things were kind of slow, a herd of pigs came in, and a deer almost made it to the water before blowing out of there when my son flinched in the blind. I was about to give up hope, when as the sun was going down i heard a bugle. A few minutes later he bugled again, only this time he was probably just a couple hundred yards out. I knew they were coming in. We got set up. When they came in, they all huddled around the western corner of the tank, and my son couldn't get the rifle pointed in that direction from where he was sitting. So we waited. But the elk seemed to be turning around, and looked to be headed back the way they came, instead of coming in view. Nervous that they would not present a shot, i finally moved the bipod over so he could get a shot. I didn't quite have my fingers in my ears when the muzzle break nearly shattered my eardrum. The elk took off. We got out, and i looked for hair and blood until it was dark. Nothing. I thought for sure he missed. In the morning we chased bugles, but i wanted to get back in there before it got hot. When we got to the tank, we offered a quick prayer for guidance, and took off in the direction they ran. Still, no blood; no hair. I heared some belabored breathing, just by chance after about a hundred yards. After investigation, we found her and finished the job. I think he only got one lung on the first shot, so she made it through the night. Best case scenario; we would have lost the meat if she laid out there all night.

Nice

Yesterday, late afternoon, he took the shot but I thought he missed. There was no blood, no hair, nothing. But we went back this morning just to check and we found her. She was still breathing but down. So he put the last shot and her just this morning. Best case scenario the meat was still good.

we just dropped off at round valley processing. look them up on facebook, in payson.