Coach

When I finally draw that tag, I'll be shooting my Savage .300 WSM. Heck of a buck by the way!

Great looking buck! I liked the story, vids, and what a great trophy photo up on those rocks. Great job!

Nice job! Congrats to you and your boys!!!

Man, I sure hope someone steps up. These guys need to be caught and fined HEAVILY. Thanks for posting 200" Muley.

I've been impressed with Yokohama Geolanders on my bigger trucks. Was gonna put a set on my Tacoma this year, but needed to save a few bucks, so put on some Big O - so far they've been good, but they're still new. I've heard really good things about the Toyo Open Country MT, but they were a little pricey as well. One of the local cell phone carriers started putting them on their light trucks that were spending a lot of time offroad, and they've been happy with them.

Great buck, great story, and wow, what a shot... It seems more and more there are stories here of some amazing long range shots. I reload my own ammo, and I know I have guns and optics capable of shots like that, but it still seems like something I can't quite get. To me, a 500 yard shot is a long way away, and even in my tightest shooting guns, anything over 400 yards just seems amazing. In this case, just short of 800 yards - 8 football fields minus a field goal...How in the world do you guys get so good with your rifle to put a good shot on at that range? I've got guns that shoot clover leaves at 100 yards, 250 we're still inside 4 inches, maybe 3 on a good day. But that's off sandbags on a portable shooting table. When I see guys in the field making spectacular shots like that, I am just amazed at how much work it has to take to pull off that kind of shot in actual hunting conditions. My hat is off to you - kudos and then some. That is some amazing marksmanship.

Last year I backpacked in solo into an area that I was actually really scared to be in, that far, alone. I was maybe 9 miles N. of the Mexican border, and pretty much everyone I came into contact with was a heavily armed BP agent. There were thermal imaging trucks parked along the road as I drove in, and absolutely NO access by vehicle, unless you are BP or a rancher. All night I slept with one eye open and a pistol in my hand, as coatis picked around my makeshift camp. That is probably one of my most memorable hunts - at any time I expected to be surrounded by bambidos. Funny enough, I didn't see one illegal alien or drug smuggler. Lots of deer, and some of the prettiest coues country I've ever seen. Maybe it's because it was full moon on Halloween night, none of the bad guys were out there. Who knows. I'll tell you this, I'll do that hunt again, but I won't be alone next time - it was too stressfull. I was so anxious to shoot a deer and get the heck out I shot maybe a high 80's 3x4 - huge bodied deer on the second day of the hunt. But I know there are some whoppers in there, and I've never seen densities of coues deer anywhere like this. If you snuck up to a steep break and stood up, deer scattered like quail. You could push 10 or more out of one canyon head, move 400 yards down and do the same thing over again, over and over again for miles. Nobody hunts it because nobody wants to do a hike-in hunt right in the middle of drug smuggling territory. 2 or 3 guys together packing appropriate heat, could do really well in there. Or they could get slaughtered in their sleep, . At least they'd be in coues heaven when the lights went out.

One heck of a buck for sure. Thanks for posting up some pictures for us all to drool over. Now how about a story to go along with it???

That's awesome! What a great first buck and a fun experience for all of you. I love it when families are out there hunting together!. Congrats!

Thanks to all the posters here responding. Tons of great information. One day I'll see one of these 120+ bucks, I think lots of units have them walking around, if you know where to go and how to hunt them. Keep the posts coming!

OK, we've all seen the pix on our phones. Can somoene PLEASE post the story??? This has to be one of the coolest bucks ever taken in AZ, someone is holding out big time.

That's awesome Clay. Way to get them started early, and make sure they have quality equipement. Good job papa.

What model? Matrix?

Wowser! Great bucks. I just have one question, when you jumped that buck off it's bed, how did you know you should shoot? I mean he's kinda marginal - didn't you want a closer look? Just kidding of course! That's one of the sweetest looking bucks I've seen in a long time! Congrats to all of you guys!

dang straight - next year I'm putting in for unit 31! Maybe 32 as a backup. Sure won't waste any time in 27. Too steep, too remote, not enough roads, not enough deer, and so many lions.

Everything I've heard about Mojave's is that they are way more agressive and way more territorial. I've only been close to one, just outside of Tucson and it was every bit as agressive as what I've heard. The blacktails and diamondbacks here seem very subdued and reclusiive in comparison.

Wow, that's a hog. Wish you had pix of the one that trotted away. Congrats to the hunter.

I love 'em. Never quite understood the fear and hatred of rattlesnakes. I've come across plenty in years of hunting AZ and NM, but they've always been nice enough to tell me they are there. Now copperheads and cottonmouths in Oklahoma, that's a whole different animal. I've only had to kill one rattler in recent years, but it decided to take up shop under my office. With kids and dogs around, and knowing it could easily escape, I had to kill it. But generally, if they'll give me a couple feet warning, I'll let them go on their way. To each their own.

Shhhhhhh!!!! I'm pretty sure that buck came from 47M - maybe 26M - one of those "M" units. I for sure know it didn't come out of 27, and a 115 buck ALSO supposedly coming out of there...preposterous! Heck, I'd bet it came out of NM, or Texas! Sure as heck didn't come out of 27 - that unit's no good for coues, or muleys for that matter. Don't know where you got your info from Brian, but you're leading folks in the wrong direction!

Heading to a blind already gives you a lot of advantages. One thing you can do is leave a wool blanket inside the blind so once you settle in, you can wrap up and wait. You can leave as much warm clothing in there as you want, and maybe carry a thermos with hot coffee or tea. Nothing warms you up faster than warming up from the inside out. I'd also second what a lot of people here have already said, basically strip down to as little as possible before you start your hike in, then change into your warm stuff when you get there. Years ago, when I was still able to draw December tags, I had a nice spot I liked to sit all day, but it was a long hike in. I didn't have a blind up there, but I did carry a dry bag up there before the hunt that I could keep some insulated coveralls and a good parka in. I'd start my hike an hour and a half before daylight wearing just my thermal underwear. Keep in mind, it was usually in the teens, maybe single digits, temperature wise, and when the hike started it was a little chilly. By the time I got 1/4 mile in, I was pretty comfortable, and sometimes even shed my thermal top and hat before reaching my spot. Once I got there, I would just sit and look at the stars for a while, let any sweat evaporate, then slowly start layering up. The coldest hour of the day seemed to be right at sunup, but because I had plenty of warm outer layers to put on once I had gotten there, and didn't get too sweaty going in, it was not bad. Another thing I'd look at is a goose down parka, or at least vest. Many of them compress small enough to fit in their own pocket, but once they breathe and loft out, they are very warm and will help keep your core warm. Blinds or any ground-level area are pretty easy to stay warm in, IMO. That is, if you have them prepped and don't sweat too much getting in. Treestands are a different story. I've never found a way to stay warm up in a tree when it's cold out. Had a 30 yard shot at buck a few years ago in a treestand in January, and I literally could not pull my bow back - my muscles were just too cold, and I had on as many layers as I could wear and still move - lol. The buck just sat there looking at me as I contorted my body trying to get to full draw, but I just couldn't do it. I think that was the last time I ever sat a treestand.

+1. And, congrats to Ned on an AMAZING buck!!!

Gino, you are THE MAN!!!Great job all the way around, and what an amazing write up!!! So glad for Tina, and wow, just an all-around amazing hunt. Congrats, big time. Thanks for sharing the hunts with us - I'm still speachless. You guys rock.

Hello Young Gun, My name is Jason, but I go by Coach on this forum - being that I coach all my sons' sport teams. We live up in the White Mountains, and I've been hunting all around this great state since I was around your age. I didn't have anyone to show me the ropes, so let's just call it a work in progress. I love to get my sons out hunting whenever I can. My two oldest boys are Matt, 13 years old and Nick, 11 are really getting into it, and these days I'd much rather see them get a good tag than me. It's nice to meet you, and I hope you'll make a lot of good friends on this forum. Be sure to keep us posted about all your hunts, and we'll do the same.

He's a wall hanger for sure! Congrats again on an amazing buck.

I've been holding this post off for a couple weeks, to let all the youth hunts finish up. Situation: You know of a spot where post elk rut is hot, and you're trying to get a youth hunter (your own son) on his first elk. You park an hour before daylight listening for bugles or cow calls to make a morning plan. After sitting and listening to bugles and cow calls for 45 minuntes, you know where the elk are and where they are headed. You start getting on packs and making ready for the stalk. Another truck comes rolling up in the darkness as you and your son are getting set for the hunt. No problem, he'll see there are other hunters here and move on by, right? Wrong. He sees that you are getting set up for a stalk and realizes there must by elk close by, so he pulls up 100 yards and parks. Now he's out listening, and you know he's going to get right in the middle of your hunt. What would you do? Does it matter that you can tell right off the bat that he's totally clueless, and the only reason he stopped there in the first place was that he saw other hunters getting ready for a stalk? Just curious - really try and put yourself in that situation.