Flatlander

Same. We had one very sleepless night camped about 100 yds from the tracks before an antelope hunt. Hunter was 10 at the time, he slept fine. Everyone else, not a wink.

A lot to unpack here so I will do my best. 1) I assume you are a resident and not an AZ native living somewhere else now. 2) A mid-80's antelope is a monster. 82" is B&C minimum so that is roughly equivalent to a 190" typical mule deer or 375" typ bull. It used to be the case that a firearm pronghorn tag in AZ gave a near guarantee at a buck of that caliber in most units. That is not the case anymore. In most units mid 70's is a really good mark. 3) The hunts you are applying for are fine from a quality perspective. I suspect 80 is possible there, with a lot of effort. But there are very limited tags, only 1 bonus pass tag for each hunt. You may want to consider either hunts with more permits, or less popular units. There are several rifle and muzzleloader units you would have 100% odds for. 4) If your brother actually has 29 bonus points and is a resident, there are only 13 other residents with that many points. He should be able to pick a hunt and go. Unless he sat out last year, he could have drawn any hunt he wanted. Hard to call it bad luck if he is being that level of picky. BTW, where I was, the rut was cooking and there were solid bulls for the early rifle hunts.

Deserved.

Ancient bull. Pretty much the only place that happens in AZ is somewhere adjacent to a park or Rez where they can get away from the pressure.

Especially when you can buy a Gould's tag for like $1500.

Our family has drawn 2 sheep tags and 0 Gould's tags in the same amount of time applying.

I've wondered this too. My understanding, I can't remember where this was explained, it may have been something Mike Chamberlain said, was that turkeys have such a short lifespan and so many winter kill, that fall harvest of hen doesn't change the overall spring population much. If that is true for AZ and our mellow winters, I don't know. It would be worth taking this to a commission meeting or bringing up during a hunt guideline comment period.

We have killed 7 or 8 elk with Berger Hybrids. Rarely get an exit wound. Even on a small mule deer there was no exit. Everything has died in sight. The hybrids leave catastrophic damage at the entrance. It usually looks like motor vehicle trauma, expands in the vitals and ends up in the opposite ribs. Very little blood trail on most of them, but to be fair its usually less than 10 yards. I was stressed after the first few animals when we didn't have exits and even the entrances were usually the diameter of the bullet unless it caught bone on the way in, but its been very consistently effective at stopping them in their tracks.

Congrats, that’s awesome but I am tired just listening to that. Ever thought about quartering them?

Gnarly. Congrats on a sweet bull.

His dad is a bad dude and an AZ sheep slam holder!

Seemed like the rut was strong last weekend. Rain and pressure slowed it down a little by Saturday night. But I don’t think they are done.

Lots of town elk there. Heber has a lot fewer town elk than they used to, but seems there are lots more deer around.

Good stuff right there. That is what life is about. Congrats on the first of many spectacular memories!

Shoot, I didn’t know you went to college

I couldn’t find it either when I went to look up for you. I’m not sure if he is still making them. He used to make actions for Defiance and this was basically the same as one of their models, but stamped by Axisworks.

Hard to beat the Kaibab in October. Congrats, those are special moments.

Axisworks Liberator

She’s a tank. We packed her out in one trip. Two hind quarters in my pack. Two fronts in Hunter’s. We carried the trim meat bags in our hands. Damnear killed me.

Figured I could post up since we have a dedicated do-it-all rifle that has put 7 or 8 elk in the dirt. Axisworks action Proof Carbon Barrel Manners Stock Swaro X5i 3.5-18 25 SST 133 gn Berger hybrid hunters We’ve killed elk from 60 yds to 550 yds.

Kaibab youth hunts are special. Congrats!

Got it done before the storm came in today. Found a rut fest mid morning and the action was hot. Daughter got it done with 1 shot from 25 SST at 360 yds. Hunter was there helping, it’s hard to believe he’s nearly grown. Seems like yesterday he was following me around these same hills begging for snacks. This one got me a feeling a little sentimental.

Looking forward to hunting from a row boat in 4B with my daughter!

This is great. I can relate. Congratulations all around!

Nice buck!