kevinhunt1

Congrats on another great buck buddy!! Just putting my hands on that rack last week made me drool. You are a top glasser. That is an amazing amount of bucks you saw in only a week. Sounds like there are going to be some first rate bucks to hunt in the future down at Juan Pablo's too.

WOW! What a toad. Nice mass there. Great story too....

Well, back to the rest of the story all…What a hunt! It started on Thanksgiving eve for us. First I want to thank the 2 guys and very close friends I hunted with, first and foremost, Mike Grootegoed, he is the most avid Coues fanatic and the most knowledgeable hunter I have ever hunted with, especially Coues. His glassing abilities are uncanny…..shoot, he glassed this monster up! Then, John Vaudo, who I have hunted with for many years, and at 67…He is still getting up some of the tough hills. That tough ole “former” Marine, can still pack out some meat too. We seen so many things on this hunt, we had Goulds Turkeys roostin right outside our camp, seen and had coatimundi’s stealing Johns food, bread, and his precious reeses mini peanut butter cups (boy was he mad). We glassed up a huge 400 lb Black bear…on two occaisons, saw alot of Javalina, and even did a little Mearns quail hunting too. The weather for the most part was atrocious, we had rain, freezing rain, snow, wind and then more wind! We were not seeing as many deer as in prior years and we were getting concerned about even taking one buck much less three. Three days before the end of the hunt, I glassed up a small three pointer way out there and Mike decided to take him to fill his freezer because it was looking like this might be the only buck we would get. Took him right out too! Then, of course, the next day or so the weather was absolutely perfect for Coues deer. Clear, Crisp and Cold, still a bit windy though and Mike glasses up this Beast early Saturday morning. The buck only showed one side of his horns moving through the brush, and as soon as the buck disappeared by walking over a ridge away from us, Mike just blurted out to us a bunch of un-intelligible gibberish. From the way he was jabbering, we knew he saw something. Finally he gets out that he just found a Monster, and of course being a jokester, we thought he was feeding us a bunch of BS, so we didn’t really make too much about it. But his face became serious, and soon after, he showed us where he last saw the buck and we watched the area for a couple of minutes to see if the buck would make a turn and head back toward us. After those few short minutes, we decided to Haul @$$ down the mountain and see if we could get around the front and find a place we could glass the buck up again. We found a small hole through the trees that had a slight rise to it which allowed for a pretty fair view of the front of that mountain he was on. Sure enough, we found him feeding just over the edge from where we last saw him, and he was casually feeding in and out of the trees. Mike was done, he had his buck, so it was up to Me or John to take the shot. I owed John so I just told him to take the shot. We quickly cleared the tall grass in front of us out, and John set up on the buck. The wind was kicking up pretty good and when John took his shot, he missed the buck…The bruiser trotted off, not too freaked out, but there was never another shot opportunity for John. (boy was he angry with himself after that) We decided our best approach was to haul butt back where we started from on the other side where we could get a better angle. After climbing back up the mountain to our previous glassing position, we spent the rest of the day trying to locate him again. Fat chance it would be, the wind started Howling and reached up to 40 mile an hour gusts. We were not even positive the buck was across from us. We had a feeling he didn’t go far, but with an old stud like that, you never really know where he would run off to. Our gut feeling told us to keep glassing on that mountain, bottom to top, left to right. We stayed in our positions the rest of the day and into the late evening regardless, hoping we would catch a glimpse of him again, but never saw him. Dejected, we hiked off the mountain we were on, and drove back to camp. Sunday morning rolls around…last day of the hunt, gotta find him…Mike and I were up the mountain early to glass where we had last seen him run off to. John went back to the area where he had shot from to try to re-locate him. We were up there just before first light, and of course 4 trucks roll in all around us, pretty serious judging from their equipment. They divided up by two’s and headed to different points to glass. Being human and a little curious, we occasionally checked on them to see if they were still in position. They were glassing the mountain we were on but around where we could not see. All of a sudden we see one guy start scrambling around his truck, getting his rifle and pack on and hauling butt up the hill. We had this sinking feeling at the time that “Oh No, the Bruiser moved over there when he ran from Johns shot yesterday, or sometime during the night he moved”. Not much we could do at that point..so we continued to glass where we thought he would have been the day before. Low and behold! About 10 minutes later Mike see’s a little 3 pointer, but there is another buck with him…Oh Man…it’s the Toad! Oh boy, now it’s my turn to shoot…The buck is out there in front of us, and I am going to have to deal with the wind gusts just like John did the day before and that alone can screw this whole thing up. My first shot went just wide of him, and the buck ran into some thick trees. Mike watched those trees closely and waited. The Buck stayed in them for about 10 minutes, then finally, Mike catches a glimpse of his antlers at the edge. He was moving, and he was extremely cautious at first. He took one step, then slowly took another. I was back on him, ready. He took a third step. Looked around then started feeding on a bush next to him. Now he is facing towards me. He starts thrashing a bush with his Antlers for a minute. Then he does what we hoped for. He turns to the left, and slowly stretches his body out to offer a perfect broadside shot. I compensated for my previous mistake, and slowly squeezed the trigger. BOOM….!!!! We heard that loving sound of a smack. The buck lunged, then ran into the thick trees, 5 seconds later he slowly walks out and lays down under a tree. He starts wagging his head about 3 times side to side, then it drops to the ground with no more movement at all. The Buck is down, and I was basically a nervous wreck at this point. I hiked down to the bottom and across the canyon. I climbed up above the buck and snuck down toward his position. Still nervous about the situation, I am always paranoid about walking up to an animal after it is shot, as if he would get up and run. That was definitely not the case here. This Buck was ENORMOUS !!! It hit me hard just how big this guy was. Man, was I thankful. The shot was perfect…Right behind the shoulder. Everything worked out. Soon after, John and Mike made the climb up and both dropped their jaws when they saw this buck up close. Everything a guy who has worked so hard to get, ends up with something he will cherish for the rest of his life. Thanks for taking the time by reading my story folks. I wish you all could have been there to see him on the hoof. But only if I got to shoot him again afterward. Kevin

Wow! Very nice. Also, nice set of matching mules there... ;-)

Hey folks! Thanks so much for all the nice compliments about my story and the Bruiser. He is so awesome and I am still so stoked about him. Wish you all could have seen him on the hoof....what a rush! I can't wait to get him back from Dan Lee's shop and on my wall!

WOW! two nice bucks man...excellent!

Always nice to hear of family getting out together! Gotta teach them young-uns! Great job.

Hey Coues Kid......naaahhhh, I think I'll just do a european mount........hahaha just kiddin...for sure gonna mount it. I have it at the best whitetail taxidermist (and close friend) in Arizona, Dan Lee up in Dewey.

Just got back late last night.....super busy topday at work.....story and more pics to follow...I am soooooo stoked!!!! Rough scored at 128 2/8ths. NEVER thought I would score one like this!!!

Awesome hunt Tom! Congrats on two outstanding bucks! MIke is a beast too..

I was hunting Coues down off the old burn around West peak in the Pinalenos (Graham range) a few years ago and saw a really good mature ram up near the top of West Peak. Good glassing from up there too. Just a thought.

When the results for the 2011 Big game draw came, I eagerly opened up the G&F website, entered my info and watched the results screen show up and I literally jumped out of my seat and choked when I saw that I was drawn for a Rocky Mountain Big Horn Sheep tag in Unit 27. The upper San Francisco River hunt which is close to where my Great Grandfather settled many years ago. I made several scouting trips into the unit before the hunt. We arrived at the hunt unit at the end of opening day, December 1st. Unfortunately, it is cold, raining/snowing and its fogged in. It was too late to go out for the evening hunt so we stayed at camp, getting things prepared for the following days hunt. John and I both knew the weather was supposed to be terrible for the next 4 or 5 Days, and that is exactly what happened. We were completely socked in, the canyon was nothing but white fog, you couldn’t see more than a couple hundred yards, but we still worked to try and locate sheep. On the evening of the 3rd day Dan Lee arrived to lend a hand. On day 4 we were rewarded with some Big Horn Sheep Sightings. Dan glassed up a Ram that once evaluated, would fall somewhere between 150 and possibly close to 160, not bad… but not exactly what I am hunting for. There were 9 sheep in all and it was a relief to finally see some sheep with a legal tag and rifle in hand. The weather was still not real cooperative, but we made due. John, Dan, and I headed out the next day, and once again we spotted the same Ram and Ewes from the day before, only this time we were close enough to really evaluate the Ram. He is definitely a Ram that will Score closer to 160. Dan also spotted another Ram that he thought was big, but the Ram was heading over a ridge and out of sight within minutes of locating him. So at least there are respectable Rams I can go back for near the end of the season… if… I cannot re-locate the big Ram we had seen during one of the scouting trips before the season. Dan had to leave that evening and I really appreciated that he took time out of his busy schedule to put his radar eyes to good use for me. The next morning I saw 3 Rams, one small 5 year old Ram with 2 very young 3-4 year olds. We checked around that ranch area off the Juan Miller and near the Blue River and 4 bar mesa without any sheep sightings and headed back to camp a couple of hours away. That evening another good friend, Mike Grootegoed (Hunting6), arrived at camp. On the 7th day we went out to the edge of the canyon to glass not too far from camp, where I saw the same 3 small rams across the canyon the day before, found them again, then worked the edge of the canyon from different angles. The 8th day we decided to go down into the canyon and work it from the bottom. We saw three small Rams that day. Tough hike coming out. We decided on the 9th day to move to the other side of the canyon and work the edges there. The first hike in, the only sheep seen was one small Ram. After a quick lunch, we headed down the road to another area where I had seen the big Ram before the season. We stopped a few times along the road where you could glass. After the 3rd stop, I spotted a Ram several hundred yards away from me. I immediately see that it is a good Ram. We got out of the truck and put the spotting scope on him and determined that he was the big Ram we saw during one of the scouting trips before the season. Of course, now that I decide to go after this Ram, adrenaline shoots through my body. We hiked in, made a final stalk, to within shooting range. Once in the scope, adrenaline still rushing through my body, I pull the trigger and immediately see the Ram is hit hard. With the Ram down, now it is time to hike down the treacherous escarpment to get to him. As I was walking up on him, his horns kept growing and the Ram came in at 170 gross. Now for the Horrendous pack out with him! Thank God for friends like John and Mike to help with that or I would still be packing meat out of that canyon. I was stoked, and this hunt turned out to be one of the best hunts I have ever been on. I want to thank all the folks (too many to mention)who helped me with information before the hunt, glassing, and getting that sheep out of that hole! What a great hunt in a Great State!... Go AZ.!!! Kevin

Dan Lee takes a lot of pride in his work. He has mounted Desert bighorn, coues der and now has my Rocky BH. He does exceptional work especially on Coues and Lion. Great attention to detail. He has my vote, bar none.

Hey guys, Thought I would display my Coues deer on a Rock that I just got back from Dan Lee. I am really pleased with the outcome. I also had to have 5 inches of a broken G2 added on. He also did an excellent job on the rock and even added in the lichen to top it off. Hope you all like it Kevin

Way to go Carl! You da man!! Coues- the best meat in Az.

Thank you Amanda! And yes, blessed for sure!

Thanks Carl. I hope you get this hunt soon!

Nice Buck! 187 and 6/8ths

I Congrats on your great ram. I have been waiting to hear about your hunt. It is hard to believe that I have been blessed with two Az rams. There are so many hunters here in AZ who have not been lucky enough to draw one tag let alone two. I met a lot of people on my hunt and all were very helpful. I would encourage next years hunters to go there during deer season and talk to the deer hunters. I stopped many on the road and went into numerous camps and received lots of help.I had two people (Dave Manoos and members of the Corbell ranching family offer me the use of their horses or mules if I needed them. All the ranchers and cowboys were very helpful and friendly to boot. The residents of Safford,Clifton and Morenci were very as nice as they could be and I still keep in touch with some of them. It is a hunt I think about everyday and will treasure it the rest of my life I appreciate the MANY "congrats" on this forum. Ya'all are great folks! And AZBULLHUNTER, you are right, talking to deer hunters pays off too, and the many great folks like the ranchers and cowboys are always very helpful, and while naming names and giving thanks I need to start with Bob Martinez from the Martinez ranch who also offered me their horses if needed and Pete Abeyta a cowboy from the Tim Haas ranch family who all offered assistance. Then the folks from this forum, Adam Clark, Deerhunter, AZLance, all very helpful!

[What rifle and scope combination did you use? Hey Jeff! Thanks for the kudos! I wish everyone on this forum could get drawn for Sheep and experince the hunt! It was awesome. I use a .270 Weatherby Mag. with a Leupold 4.5-14x40 scope.

Nice job Tom! You write a great story too. Like the guy said earlier, it's like we were there with you.....I like those antlers, good character....

Good job son! Really nice ram! I hope you get drawn for the Rocky now. Starting out at such a young age, you may have your grandslam early.

Awesome story and ram. Congratulations! I felt the mental stress too on my hunt. You do worry over all the little things that could keep you from being successful. You are right on just enjoy the moment and the hunt, it is special.

I have. I was drawn for Desert BH in 2001. I know how lucky I am to have been drawn for both. In other threads on this forum, one sheep hunter, AZBULLHUNTER, stated " As a good friend told me before the hunt there is more to sheep hunting than just shooting a ram. He was right. As you all know sheep hunting is a privilege that should not be taken lightly. Very few people get to experience it. I have been fortunate to have done it twice." I have to echo his comments. What an awesome privelidge to get it once, much less twice. Such a majestic animal too. Not to mention all the great folks you get to meet because of being drawn, even right here on this forum. Congrats to AZbullhunter too, you got an awesome ram! I am willing to help anyone out there with sheep hunts too. What a great time.

WOW. Nice ram.