bigorange

Awesome! Congrats! I'm impressed that you could keep eyes on it long enough for your dad to get back with the rifle...that's tough!

I've used the Viper 15x50 for a couple years...love them. Carried them on harness for a long time and have just recently added a set of 10x42 to my optics arsenal so the 15x50 ride in my pack and see most use on the tripod. Honestly haven't tried the Viper HD, but I hear the difference is significant. If I ever upgrade from them it will be to Kaibab or some higher dollar glass. For the money you can't beat the Vipers.

Sounds like he may not have even known the buck was there and probably didn't realize you were on a stalk. Either way, it's public land hunting and that's one of the risks. I've read it on here and posted it myself...just be glad you have so much public land available to hunt. I grew up hunting with very little public land available and it can get tough to find good spots. And you ended up getting yours on a very different stalk...it just wasn't meant to be with this one.

Happy Birthday! Awesome way to spend it. Definitely a victory getting within shooting distance of those bucks!

Awesome buck! Congrats!

CONGRATS! I've been watching and enjoying your posts on here and it's clear your persistence paid off. Great job sticking with it and getting it done!

Good topic and agree. PM is the best way to go and consider sharing the unit or general area where you think the deer might have been killed. I got to talking to another hunter on here about my "white whale" last year and turns out he'd been after the same deer and had trailcam pics of it. Pretty sure that deer is still in the same area, so if I ever connect with it those cam pics will go in the collection. Also agree if you've been watching the deer you'll know it's the same one. Had a friend connect with one yesterday that he'd been seeing almost every day since New Years. Got to the point he knew it as soon as he saw it in the binos. It was a pretty unique old buck with great mass and palmated antlers so pretty recognizable. I personally have been trying hard to get it done this year and haven't taken a lot of time to study the bucks I've seen so far, just determine that they're "big enough" (and some days "any antlered deer" has been just that) and get after them.

Awesome buck and awesome write-up! Broadhead pic is pretty amazing.

I'm having a big ole bowl of 2011 tag soup to ring in the New Year. Archery deer early, spring turkey, spring javelina, August archery deer, archery elk, Nov rifle WT, and Dec archery deer. Only thing I managed to tag was a few doves! I wouldn't trade it though...had a some great hunts and great memories including taking my son hunting for the first time. Here's to a better 2012! I'll be out there tomorrow for archery deer and javelina!

Awesome! Nice write-up and nice pig!

Great job sticking with it and getting it done...and the second shot on the run too!

I forgot...a little lion sprinkled on top of my tag soup for extra flavor. Closest I came was sailing an arrow over a coyote's back. A couple of good stalks though.

Well said Lark. I grew up hunting in TN where there's an abundance of deer, but almost everything is private land. What little public land was available was either hunted out or over-run with hunters. Luckily my uncle had a farm that I hunted, but it was several hours away so didn't get to hunt it often enough. The amount of public land available in AZ truly is a blessing...just wish the deer were a little more abundant. And I feel your pain. Have been seeing lots of quads and hunters all over my favorite areas this year. Was sitting on one of my favorite hills the other afternoon and a hunter walks right through the flat that I'm glassing. I'm sure he had no idea I was there and I was hoping he was on a stalk...apparently he was just still-hunting through to see what he could find.

Awesome story and agree that's crazy odds! Nice hunting spot you guys have. Congrats on 2 awesome bucks!

Awesome...congrats! I do the opposite...I get a pig tag just in case I see pigs while hunting deer.

Nice buck congrats. I'm looking to end a similar drought...just under 20 years, but I took more time off than I would have liked. Finally getting back into it the past couple years.

I am...used it for pig tag this Spring. Worked great.

I hear you Steve. I'm eating a big pot of tag soup this year too. Agree that communication is the key and some of the hardest negotiation I've ever had to do. Bradley

Awesome buck and a great story! Congrats!

Nice looking buck...thanks for sharing. Good luck getting it done. Stick with it and it will work out for you.

Great buck even if it's not exactl what you were looking for. Sounds like a great hunt too. Congrats!

Awesome++ Congrats! I love big desert mulies...

I feel your pain. A couple of blown stalks is all I have to show for 2011. Going to give it one more try tomorrow, but not looking promising the past week or so. Picked up my 2012 tag today, so ready for another go at it.

Awesome deer. Congrats!

Hunting will definitely give you a lesson in humility, and patience, and persistence, and a lot of other lessons like you said. Had a similar experience with a nice 4x4 bedded perfectly looking upwind..snuck in behind him from downwind and never could spot him through the ocotillos and brush. Got to about 45 yards and never saw him until he bolted. Saw deer all day that day and 4 or 5 bucks. After one of my best days hunting, I went back to the same place yesterday and saw no deer all day until 2 does decided to come out right at sunset. Definitely humbling.