Coach

Bump for a nice, clean rig.

I love it! Nice job. Great buck right there and memories that will last a lifetime.

Hate to admit it, and with all due respect to Amanda for creating this awesome place that has been a part of my daily life for decades, it just doesn't feel and look the same. Every morning I get my cup of coffee and come on CWT. I've shared countless hunts and stories, and even personal struggles. It just felt like a second home. I'm trying to adjust to the change but it just doesn't seem like the same place anymore. I just want to thank Amanda for what she created, The community of people who would never have met without this forum. I'll support it and keep trying to post, but it really feels like you went on vacation and came home to find your home was remodeled without being involved or even part of the process. But in reality, as much time as I spend here, I'm a guest, and as a guest I respect the wishes of those running the site and will do my best to adjust.

Hey guys, I have a 2A tag this year. It's pretty close to home but I really haven't been out there much. Incidentally, I also have a unit 1 archery bull tag that overlaps with this hunt. I've got a limited amount of time off and plan to spend most of it on the elk hunt. I waited 19 years for my first AZ antelope hunt in unit 9 a couple years back and wasn't overly impressed, so I'm wondering what to expect in 2A. My initial thoughts are pretty much any good looking goat is what I'm after. However, I have heard of some nice ones coming off that unit in the past. I just wanted to see if the people here with more antelope experience think this is a trophy unit, or just so-so. I'm trying to plan my time off in a way to make the best of both hunts so any input is appreciated.

Sweet

But hey, every 3-5 years. I thought this might be my last tag - I'll get more in shape, take the lessons learned from this hunt to the next one.

Great bull - tough year. Way to get it done!

The elk hunt was way tougher than I expected. I was in bulls every day but was looking for something bigger than I had yet taken. I've had 3 bull tags in unit 1 before this one and always ended up with something 330-ish. It took the full two weeks to finally find the bull I wanted to go after but only had two days to try and figure him out. The last morning of the hunt I was finally able to get ahead of him just enough to get a 70 yard shot as he crossed an old logging road - hit a branch I didn't even see and watched him trot off. That night, the last night I was in there bugling, raking trees, pulling out all the stops. But never got in front of him and watched the last minutes of light disappear.

I'm thinking about finally getting a .243. My first two choices are a Win 70 featherweight or Ruger Hawkeye. But I'm open to suggestions. I want something with a wood stock, good trigger, kind of traditional. I'm not opposed to something like a Tikka Hunter. What are your thoughts on the best .243 that performs well but has that trad feel?

Thanks for the info everyone. The Tikka t3x sure looks good, but that Montana rifles are beautiful. I'll have to see what the budget is and whether I go for the most bang for the buck or splurge on aesthetics. I did notice the Tikka has a 1 in 10 twist rate, and the Montana has 1 in 9. From what I've heard 1-9 is preferable in .243 but not a very big difference in the real world. Anyone have opinions on that?

Just got gifted one, it's a shoulder breaker for sure. I'm looking to sell it but not sure what's a fair price. Gunbroker has them everywhere from $300 to $450. All same model and in similar condition.

Yeah, sorry I didn't post a pic. The last few days have been crazy. It's an H&R but I'll have to get more info on it like age & exact model/length?

Nice job! Loved all the pictures too. Congrats!

Well, I got my antelope opening day, which was nice because I had the rest of the weekend to get ready for my elk hunt. I started in an area I had located a couple decent bucks but didn't turn anything up so started exploring some new country. I was glassing into a giant flat off of some really cool painted desert stuff and found a nice buck chasing a doe way, way out there and moving away fast. From my maps, it looked like I could get to a road that would take me closer, but ended up hitting a locked gate in the middle of nowhere. It looked like if I went far enough back around, I could get to it from another angle, but I decided to take a little two-tracker that looked at the flat from another direction. As soon as I got my tripod up and started glassing I found another buck, all alone about 1.5 miles out. Well, a buck right there was worth going after rather than trying to make a 20 mile loop to get on the guy that was moving fast in the wrong direction, so I started my stalk. I picked out a "knoll" way off in the distance that would at least tell me how far out in the middle of the flat this guy was. It turned out that knoll was much bigger than it looked from a distance - ha. So I worked my way off the red dirt hills to the edge of this huge flat. It was weird because it was really hard to navigate around in there. lots of dead-ends, up-and-down just to get to get off the hills and into the edge of the flat. I re-located the buck but he was still so far off I couldn't get a range from my sig kilo. Over 1000 yards still. I started working out a plan, and this guy just started trotting toward me. I got my first range at 643 yards, but it was clear he was going to do all the leg-work for me. There was a little ridge out there I didn't even see from up top, but once at eye level, he dropped behind it giving me an opportunity to make a move. There were almost no trees or bushes, so this was just what I needed to close the distance. As I got closer, there was a little run-off ditch I could use to stay low, but I knew once I came up out of it he'd be pretty close. Turns out, closer than I expected. When I popped up and started looking for him I expected him to be 200-300 yards out still, but he was withing 100 yards. I dropped back down and dialed my scope back down to the lowest power, then came back up to my knees. He was about 80 yards with his head down. I raised back up and shot him off-hand. He dropped right in his tracks. Doesn't get much easier than that - well until the pack out. Once I had him quartered and stuffed in my pack along with my gun, two pairs of binos, a tripod, etc. I could barely take more than a few steps in the sandy soil uphill toward the truck. I ended up having to leave half the meat and his head, and come back for them after getting more water and some food in me. Really kicked my old butt, but I manged to get him out.

That's awesome! Congrats!

Very nice buck! Huge congrats!

I'd love to see the fillets off of those. Thanks for sharing.

Thanks Amanda. I get the appeal of the makeover. Just old dogs and new tricks. I'll get used to it.

Any goat with a bow is impressive. That one is really cool! Looks like he was in an area that would be tough to stalk up on with a bow. Kudos!

Thanks, I'll try that out.

I'm probably missing something here. I used to come to a page where all new content was displayed by topic. Now it seems as if each response is ordered chronologically, so each topic can be spread out over a lot of responses. I don't mind the color changes, etc. but I'm finding it hard to peruse the latest conversations like the old format did.

It's good to see threads like this to help folks understand all the laws. As many have pointed out here, it would only take something really minor to ruin your hunt, or worse. So having knowledge of the law and following it to the letter can be the difference between a great hunt and a terrible one. Great job to all the folks contributing here.

I spent the weekend out there really trying to get to know the unit. It's strange for sure. There are some goats out there but with all the perfect antelope country out there, seems there should be a whole lot more. All our bordering states have TONS of antelope in all that open country. I eventually found a couple and think I have a starting point, but wow - I just can't figure out why they are so sparse in such perfect country.

I've got a buddy coming this weekend to help scout around the petrified forest NP. I've got other places in the south part of the unit near St. Johns. Like yotebuster said, my take is scout early and hard for the goat hunt. If I do my homework, it shouldn't take more than a couple days. Then I have the rest of the month to focus on finding a bull better than I have yet in unit 1. I've seen big goats, and really pretty ones but all in New Mexico. The first really nice mid-high 70's goat I see I'll go after him.

So, here's what I decided. Taking opening day of the goat hunt off, the 7th. Mondays are slow so if I don't get it done opening weekend I can squeak in a few hours on the 10th. Then from the 14th through 27th it will be all about elk. I went up in the high country last weekend and it was lush and green. I know this is a drought year, but I think the bulls up high are going to be well fed and watered. If I kill a decent antelope, I'll be happy but I really want to get up there hunting bulls in 1 again. I've done it several times and have yet to get one of the really big boys, and I want that more than an 80 inch goat.