Coach

Part 2... Second weekend, we're back after it. We've got two tags filled and two more to go. Early Friday morning it's just Nick and I. At 7:15 I glass up a nice group and we're going after them. Everything was perfect, the wind was in our face, it was early so I thought they'd stay in the sun for long enough to get on them. Unfortunately they were moving fast, leapfrogging eachother over the hill and into some really thick stuff. No shot. The afternoon was like all the afternoons on this hunt - couldn't find a single pig. So the next morning we planned to do some hiking and get above the whole area where we could really glass everything. Carrie had brought my other sons out Friday night, and Brian had brought Monica out. Matt, Nick and I hiked up a long ridgeline to get a good look at everything below. The morning was really slow. We had found 4 coues deer, but no pigs. As we got to the highest glassing point in the area we still couldn't find the pigs. We had decided to go "bust beds" but I insisted on re-glassing a spot that I just knew would have them. Sure enough, just seconds into glassing I pick up a pig rolling a dirt wallow. Matt got on the binocs as Nick and I headed in for a shot. The pigs were bedding in some super thick stuff and when we got down there, we couldn't find them. We kept working up a ridge above where we knew the whole herd was, and finally we see one standing out in the open. Nick put his .270 WSM on a shooting stick and made a one-shot kill on a big sow. Here's where it gets funny. Brian had watched us all morning hike into this area, and took Monica to a different spot so they wouldn't bump us, but he had his radio tuned into ours so he heard the whole thing unfold. After Nick shot his pig, the herd bolted up the hill and Matt found a second herd right above us. Well, "Big Bry" heard all this commotion and he and Monica headed for a road that would put them above where were to try and find where these two herds had gone. He glassed us up carrying Nicks pig out of the bedding area to gut it and was trying to figure out where they pigs had gone. As we were gutting Nick's pig I hear a "BOOM". Turns out the entire herd had headed right up to where Brian and Monica were glassing us from. I get on the radio and ask him what just happened, and he replied with "Smackdown, baby, Smackdown!" The herd ran right underneath them and Monica got a great 100 yard shot on a huge boar. Unreal how it all unfolded. 4 youth tags, 4 pigs down. What great times with great friends. Here are some scenery pix to end the story with...

Yeah, he's got the right idea!!! Great vid, Josh.

Outstanding! Wowser, nothing gets my blood pumping faster than seeing those youth hunters taking their first big game, and Javelina are the perfect first AZ big game accomplishments. What a huge boar - and I love the AR set-up. My youngest will be on his first hunt in a couple of weeks and I'm probably going to have him using a very similar AR (Mine's a Rock River with a 1" bull barrel and RRA 2-stage trigger). Very cool setup for kids because there is so little recoil. Mine's a little heavy though, he'll have to shoot off a bipod or tripod to be effective. Great job to the little huntress - give her some high fives and knuckle pounding for us.

Nice job - that's a cool and very unique buck.

Wow - what a pretty deer - great job!!!

Couple years back I got my first ever coues sitting close to where these pix were taken. We called the area the "357 tank" because my buddies who had recently discovered it also found a 357" elk head close by. That morning, I was blown away by the bugling and cow calls - this was early August - and in the desert. There is something unique about sitting in country you never knew held elk, listenting to bugles and cow talk in areas I had grown up hunting pigs and quail, weeks before they were talking in the high country. No doubt they are there, but I would hate to be that tag holder, because everything has to be exactly right on exactly the right day. But if it all came together, it would make one heck of a Cinderella story.

Great hunt, great story, and fantastic pictures. Huge congrats on a really nice and unique buck.

Awesome job. Piggy hunitng in AZ is awesome. Gotta love those Magnus. Mine was a buzz cut and dropped the pig litterally in his tracks - first time I saw a bowshot pig go nowhere - the pig dropped, rolled 1 quarter turn and died (opps "expired") right where he was hit. Looks like a pretty big javi - did you enter the contest? BTW congrats again - nicely done.

desertdog, I hear where you're coming from but don't down our CWT members for defending our state of AZ. You're ashamed of everyone of the Cwt members especially sundevil and .270, REALLY? You're right, this dude might just want to get a debate started but we as CWT members have a right to defend ourselves. Yes, don't feed the troll, but don't tell us you are ashamed of us CWT members for standing up to this NM hunter. Just saying! TJ +1, Good post TJ. Desertdog, no offense, but I don't think this was an anti trying to stir up trouble, and I agree with you that generally the best way to deal with someone dropping in and tossing verbal grenades is just to ignore them. That said, I don't think anyone has been out of line in pointing out that these attacks were unjustified and that while we all have our bad apples, it's uncalled for to attack an entire group of hunters (who you don't even know) based on a single experience.

CRX is a great bow. I love mine, but bow opionions are pretty subjective.

Nice job, Jason. Looking forward to the video.

Nice job man - any archery coues is a real trophy in my book.

Nice job on the pig and nice write-up. There's a lot of buzz about these heads - So far, most of it is encouraging. They kind of look to me like a mix of a lot of earlier and exisiting designs, but who knows, maybe they bring together the best of several proven designs. They sure did a job on that pig of yours. Looks like you could set up spike camp in that entry wound.

Matt and I went out opening morning and got into a nice herd right away. Had some really close encounters but couldn't get a shot initially with them moving in and out of the big cactus. I could have waited for a closer shot but had this guy broadside at 50 and felt good about the shot. He turned away just as I shot so the entry was a litte forward and the exit was through the opposite cheek, but he dropped in his tracks (and my arrow never hit the dirt ) Fun way to start the Spring javi season! These pix are a little blurry - they're screenshots of some of the video Matt was able to capture. It was his first time video taping a hunt, so we didn't get quite as much good footage as we would have liked. Plus when he ran over to me with the camera after mine was down, I was taping for several minutes butdidn't realize until later the camera was on stand-by. Grrrrr. Now it's time for the boys' hunts at the end of the month.

That's a great buck - and a great story to go along with it. Looks to me like you sure know what you're doing - congrats on the other bucks you posted as well.

3 pages now, and not a peep from the starter of this thread. Drive-by-post, IMO.

That's one heck of a double - great job! Really freakin' cool.

Your turn is coming Brian - I don't know if it will be tomorrow or the next day, maybe not even this season, but you have put in the work and the hours, and you obviously have the persistence. Best of luck to you. I'll put in a little prayer for you tonight that you and your dad will be together when this hunt finally hits its apex for you.

Great looking buck - congrats buddydog, that's a great way to start off the year!

Nice buck! I'd end my 2012 deer hunting for a buck like that any day.

Great Job, Charlie. That buck is the result of a lot of hard work. Huge congrats man, you earned it!

Yup, I've seen both kinds on different occasions. Usually, when I find them it's where someone wanted to remember to split off a trail or something. Up on the North Rim there's an area, seems it's off the loop that ends (or starts) at Wall Street where there are dozens, maybe hundreds of these things. I'm kind of surprised FS hasn't put the hammer down.

For once in my life, I'm speechless....

Whoah there pardner! I really feel for you and I understand your frustrations. I don't like slob hunters either. But coming on to a public forum and basically blaming every hunter in an entire state for what a few slobs you witnessed doing is not exactly rational (I'm trying to be polite). I certainly hope you got the license plate numbers of those guys because they were breaking the law, because as you know, you have a legal obligation to report violations of those types to NM G&F. You did that, right?

I see both good and bad here. Some of the newer compounds at 30 lbs pack enough punch for javi and coues, but seem way under powered for elk, maybe even muleys. Hard to pick the right minimum on a spectrum that runs from javelina to elk.