Flatlander

I saw that Amanda had a death in the family. Maybe she needed a break from our nonsense.

Nice work. Was that a Youth archery bull tag? Didn't know there was such a thing.

That 27 buck looks pretty good!

As a new hunter you probably don’t have any idea the hornets nest you just stepped into. 1. People spend their entire lives hunting and learning country and finding out the logistics of the when and where and why certain areas are productive. That information is hard earned with sweat, blood, fuel and time. So people aren’t likely to give that information away easily. 2. Unlike other outdoor recreation, an increase in the popularity of hunting has a direct negative impact on those already participating. This is especially true of hunts that have no limit on participation, like otc hunts. Every person that joins the sport is one more I have to compete with for a limited resource. 3. OTC archery deer is a particularly sore subject in this state. The number of otc tags sold has skyrocketed since 2020. Which also overlapped with a game and fish sponsored media campaign where they paid influencers to come to AZ and film hunts and talk about them on their podcasts. That increase in tag sales, and subsequent harvests has lead to a decline in opportunity with several units being moved from otc to a draw and the implementation of mandatory harvest reporting and harvest limits. Simply put, hunting opportunity is declining and interest is increasing. OTC archery is at the center of this debate in AZ right now. None of this is your fault, but you also have to understand where these dudes on here are coming from. They’ve seen one opportunity after another drift away into the sunset and it’s left scar tissue. In terms of your original question, you are in a good spot for what you want. Get some bino’s on a tripod, start looking for deer. When you find one you like, sneak until you are close enough to make the shot, then do it. Good luck. Let us know how it goes.

Can the richest and most famous guy also be the next guy in line?

He got his tag really late, at least he posted about it late. I suspect it was a returned tag situation.

Alright, its been alluded to on another post so figured I might as well let it rip here. My 15 yo son has the one sheep tag for 37B. The odds to get the tag are ridiculous and I don’t want to even pretend it’s fair. But he is also a hard working student athlete who sacrifices a lot for his goals. I want him to be successful. We have found a few rams and one solid one we hope to reconnect with. But his time will be limited as he has school and practice everyday until 12/20 and then he has practice everyday except Christmas Eve and Christmas. So we are going to hit it hard on weekends until school gets out and then see how much practice he thinks he can get away with missing. If you’ve ever wanted to be part of a sheep hunt, this might be your chance. If you would like to team up and help glass on 12/1 (opening day, Sunday after Thanksgiving), shoot me a message and we will coordinate. We plan to put out as many eyes as we can to try and turn up a ram and see if we can get him killed. The unit is huge and pretty remote with sheep spread out all over. So trying to figure out where they are is the biggest challenge. Then waiting for them to be in a spot where you can get to them is the next challenge. Then execute an effective long range shot. This is no cake walk. You’ll need your own transportation and glass. If we have a spare radio we will loan you one, but cell service is pretty good in a lot of that country. It would be awesome if guys were comfortable evaluating sheep. The plan is to get as many eyes out locating on the first to see if we can turn up something good and then put together a plan to kill him. If it doesn’t work out, we’ll try again the next weekend. Rinse and repeat until school gets out. Thanks to those who have already reached out and those who want to participate. I think this could be really cool.

Ummm, see above.

You found the shooter ram tho!

That would probably be my buddy Mike. He is the dude on the right throwing a hang loose in the group pic. He went out the day before the hunt and covered a bunch of country looking for a ghost ram while I camped out on the one we killed. I think he saw 14 sheep that day including a 5 year old ram that one horn that was probably close to 40”. Just a baby giant.

Hands down my favorite pic

Well, it nearly took an army but we got it done. I don’t have the time or the energy to write it all up now, I will have to do that later. But suffice it to say that @1denogean, @bonecollector, @wish2hunt, @trphyhntr and a group of others all pitched in big time to make this happen and they will forever be part of our sheep army. @lancetkenyon thanks for the range time making sure the gun and charts were ready when the time came. This was our longest shot ever, 542 yds. We killed a good ram and it was amazing for my kid to experience. But more importantly my kid got to see men being men. He got to experience what it means to be part of something and to have others support you in accomplishing a goal without taking any credit for themselves. Here are some pics, I will write up the story later.

I’d be spending my time in 27. Should be amazing.

No 4B? Bummer.

Sorry dudes, I swear I am not intentionally dragging this out. Just up against a deadline and trying to catch up with life after spending 7 of the last 9 days in the desert. Here is something to tide you over.

Big increase in some units. Be some happy dudes in February, we’ll see about November.

Says you can’t receive messages. I will take whichever bolt is available.

On the edge of my seat. I want to see this place.

Do you have binoculars mounted on a tripod? Get up high and look look look. Your very best bet is the first 10 minutes of gray light. I mean like when you can’t see without binoculars. Just look for those yellow dots on open slopes feeding. Or on east facing canyon slopes. Then watch them cross to the north or west. You can then try to glass them up again in their beds or try to set up for the evening to catch them as they come back to feeding areas. If they don’t come back out, try to intercept them again in the morning. Start glassing, you’ll find elk.

Thanks for the support and all who showed up…

This aged well.

I meant on Sunday. Don’t get stuck at River bottom the night before.

Just be on the hill at 700

So awesome! Happy for you guys, wish I could have been there! Had me on the edge of my seat.