ADDICT

An awesome three days in some awesome country!

Thanks my man. The 2-point was a legit cactus. No nuts. I looked

DOPE-TASTIC couldn't have said it better! My bud wasnt sold on him! Had him two days in a row within 250, bedded! I wanted a vapor trail kill shot so bad on him!

Just messin around with the new cameras! https://vimeo.com/47686459

I’m back from nine days of chasing elk in NM. The weather didn’t cooperate. The moon didn’t cooperate. The elk didn’t cooperate! It was very difficult to find elk in this area. It hadn’t rained for over a week and a lot of the tracks were tough to distinguish. Almost all of the water had dried up but do to hunting pressure the elk were reluctant to come in. I hiked a few miles every morning in the areas with the most sign. I never heard a bugle in the am. The unit is almost completely flat so glassing was tough. The biggest bulls we saw were actually on roads as we were commuting to the trailheads. I guess what I’m getting at was that it was a rough hunt! BUT, I had a great time. The week flew by. We did see some amazing bulls and had some close calls but I was never able to seal the deal. I guess it will only amplify the excitement when I take my next bull! My buddy Scott killed a bull opening night that despite being young, had amazing genetics. 17’ fronts on him. Matching devils. Wouldve been a slug! Here’s the video link if you want to watch us HUNTING elk(not SEEING J)

I just got home from a hunt in South Dakota. I laughed when they said backpacking for mule deer…in SD! Man was I misinformed! You’ll see from the video that t=it is as rugged as any high alpine basin, and has the similar timberline characteristic buck brush and scrub pines. We hiked in Friday night a couple of miles to camp. Early Saturday we hauled to the ridge-line and then started glassing each of those drainages. They went for miles. Every single hole had deer in it. The full moon had them bedded early but we picked deer up no problem. Around 10:00 AM I found this buck in my Kaibab 15s. He was out cold! Face on the ground, bedded in a steep chute at the top of one of the drainages. I saw he was only a 2x2 but he looked really wide and heavy. He had the fattest head/roman nose I’d ever seen and judging by his big body I figured he was really old. Since I’ve gotten in to archery hunting, I have gotten away from score so much as just hunting the best buck in the situation. It is so exciting to stalk these deer that I couldn’t pass up the situation! I dropped down and out of sight. Hauled across the bottom of the gorge and then climbed the rocky outcropping that shielded the cove he was in. As I took my big Kuiu Icon 6000 frame pack off, I peaked to see if he was still bedded—Nope! Up, alert and very aware of my presence. I ranged, ducked down, nocked my arrow, clipped the release and slowly stood up. I had to get my level straight and aimed to slip it right into the crease as he quartered away. The shot screamed across the sleepy basin and entered just in front of his femur and exited his opposite ribs! A little left of planned but devastating. He only lasted 15 seconds or so. We were so fortunate to capture all of it on video. Dave Chapman was there to help de-bone, cape and carry that old beast 4.5 miles back to the truck. His body was enormous! Missing teeth and his molars were ground and cracked to the gum line. I think he was a downhill warrior—which made me even prouder to have been able to harvest him! VIDEO LINK:

Thanks fr the kind words guys. CW has the best vibe. Everyone is awesome.

Amen man! He's one of my favorite trophies and he prob doesnt score 130. Just the roman nose, shredded ears, huge cape and feet.... I love that buck.

Thanks a lot guys! Western SD. Amazing canyon country. Huge bodies on these deer!!!

Thanks for the kind words guys. I learned a lot! I just got back fro SD and whacked a nice mule deer. I'll post in the MD Forum tomorrow.

VIDEO LINK: I was bewildered this year when I did not draw an antelope tag in WY. I immediately began looking for a back-up option. I was able to get a landowner voucher in NM, and the hunt was on! This trip was special. After 7 years of marriage, my wife finally joined me on an adventure! I figured an antelope hunt would be the perfect gateway. Warm temps, motels, a lot of road hunting and glassing etc. would make a perfect first experience. We picked her up her first camo and hit the freeway. Despite a flat tire, the 8-hour drive from Phoenix to Willard, NM went seamlessly. We arrived and met the rancher who provided me with a map and property specifics and then turned me loose! The first two days scouting were mainly getting oriented and trying to find sign. The ranch has a ton of drinkers and even more cattle so antelope tracks were hard to come by. It rained the majority of them time as well so sightings were limited. There were a few breaks and we found a few groups with decent bucks. Opening morning we were out bright and early. We videoed and judged about 5 different bucks. Nothing caught the attention. The middle of the day was uneventful as we drove a more desolate, open portion of the ranch looking for a bedded buck. We did pick up a solid goat but other hunters had already pinned him down. I watched hopelessly through my 15s from a mile away as they tried to sneak open-country directly at him—FAIL. That night we regrouped and headed to the area we’d seen the most antelope. My wife was very interested in everything now and actually spotted this buck! He was the best buck we’d seen and besides the weak cutter on his right horn he has a great look to him. He’s 15” long and grosses in around 78.” It was awesome to have her there with me! I hope she caught the “bug!”

She insisted on doing it solo! She even committed to a hunt of her own. Baby steps! Always room for the WU!

great buck and story! Congrats!

Thanks guys! I hope my luck holds up!

Great goat!

Here's the video link to the conclusion of my hunt: If you missed Part 1: Thanks for watching!

My bad bro!!! Ill get you some more on my NM antelope hunt!

What a week! I was fortunate enough to harvest a great non-typical mule deer in AZ 2 days ago. Everything came together this morning and I slipped one through this high country monarch! I actually found him last week during the opener. My good friend, Cavett and I packed into a basin and had a rough time sealing the deal. This was a buck we called tripod. His little inline on the g2 looked pretty cool in velvet. He was actually our #3 or 4 deer. The video really showcases the amount and quality of the deer we were pursuing. All public land, all OTC. https://vimeo.com/47972649 We did not connect. I was able to talk the wife in to heading back up here for one more go at it. We left Wed afternoon from Phoenix, AZ and were in Salt Lake City by 2:30am. My buddy picked me right up and we were en route! We’d learned a lot watching these bucks the previous 4 days. They were very habitual and predictable. They always started the morning in this big burn and fed to the drainage to the North. Cavett was in position in the saddle to the north and I was 100 yds above the burn by first light. After working every angle, glassing every cut, and slipping along the black pine stumps, I finally picked up the big non-typical feeding below me. I was on a shear cliff and he ranged at 120yds. I knew he was working away from me so I started to pick up other potential deer. He had a few great 4x4s with him and they worked directly towards Cavett. All the bucks had just removed their velvet, which is abnormal in the area for Aug. I wanted one of these deer fuzzy edition but I wasn’t going to let that break the deal. I had basically given up on the morning as all the deer were out of range and migrating out of my shooting opportunities. Then, while scanning the shrubs and lush undergrowth I picked up a back fork! This deer was only 55 yds away. Straight below me and completely unaware of my presence. I ranged him, adjusted for the steep angle and drew back. My first shot screamed across the lazy basin and whacked a tree 3 inches to the right of his vitals! Deer blew up every where! This buck was completely confused and only ran 15 yds or so and looked right at me. I regrouped and knocked another arrow. I gave him my 60 pin high on his back and let it fly. The arrow drilled him high in the body and due to the steep angle blew threw his sternum, essentially opening a drain out of his underside! He hobbled around the curve of the draw and bedded right down. I was able to watch him expire from my position and an hour later we had our hands on him. He’s a cool character buck and I was more than happy to take him on a last minute effort. Despite not sleeping for two days, adrenaline carried that heavy pack home! I’ll post the happy ending footage to the original movie asap!

Awesome pic! Congrats!

Thanks again for the kind words! I hope everyone has a MONSTER year! Keep pounding....!

Thanks guys! Its crazy, basically Ive just had two stalks work out perfectly!! If every stalk went right, we'd all kill every day! Im sure that karma will have a few year wait ahead of me now!

Wow! Sorry if I missed but was it a buck???

Bro, that is a freakin slammer! I love that terrain. Way to stick with it. Killing a deer you've watched and names is 100x cooler!

I moved to AZ in 2005. Growing up in hunting Utah, I never would’ve imagined how abundant the wildlife is here in the desert. The terrain, climate, species etc. are 180 degrees opposite of what I was accustomed to. I heard through new friends about the liberal archery season that covers most the state. Hanging out at the bow shops, I quickly learned that not only was there mule deer around Phoenix but there were some toads amongst the cacti! My first few seasons were spent hunting the high mesas and glassing “up” like you would when hunting for alpine mule deer. I ran into more coues deer than mule deer. Arizona hunters keep their spots very secretive—even getting general areas to hunt was tricky. I fortunately met a neighbor that happened to be one of the most accomplished archers in the world and an expert desert mule deer slayer! He gave me some invaluable insight into where/how to find them and went out with me several times to get me cranking. The 2010-11 Dec-Jan archery season left me with my first real desert mule deer season. I hunted within 30 miles of metro Phoenix before work, after work, during work etc. almost every day that Jan. Seeing numerous 170”+ rutting toads roaming the desert. It finally paid off on January 31 last minute as I was able to harvest a wide, unique 3x3 that I had seen on and off for 5 weeks. Because I harvested my buck in Jan 2011, I was not able to hunt the following Dec. I was not able to connect in Jan 2012 but found a batch of new deer and gave them all new names! This summer, I have committed to harvest a velvet mule deer. With sunrise around 6:00 am and temps already in the mid 80s I wasn’t sure where the rutting bucks I chase all winter would even be. The desert is nothing like alpine terrain. It’s relatively flat, with the occasional “knob” ascending slightly above the floor. Mesquite, palo verde, ocotillo, cholla etc. entangle and twist across the valleys that can swallow a roaming buck in seconds. I began in my rutting spots, hitting them bright and early. With Outdoorsman’s tripod in hand and my Swarovski 15x56s, I gridded out all of the usually cuts and pockets I’d seen deer in the past. I scrounged up a few does here and there and maybe 4 little bucks. The evenings were worse due to the temps being around 110 until about 8:00 pm! Bouncing around day after day, I was not able to turn anything respectable up. I finally glassed my deer from about a mile away feeding parallel to the top of one of the few “mountains” towering above the desert. He was with another buck and I could tell that both had 4-point frames, eye guards and were definitely mature deer. The time was 6:00 and I knew they were feeding for the evening so I devised a plan and began to make my move. The wind held steady and gave me a great, shielded parallel approach. My good desert buddy Jake Domres was right behind me as we worked our way up an adjacent draw. I had marked a big split saguaro as the approximate elevation of the feeding deer and we were within 100 yds by 6:45. I threw on the sneaky feet and we crept up over the shoulder scanning for antler tips in the shaded side of the hill. After about ten minutes I could see where the bucks had been at first site but they weren’t there any longer. I scanned every bush and shrub looking for any movement. With an arrow knocked I moved another 2 yards to get a different angle and saw the back fork of a buck about 15 yards straight below the ridge I was on! As quickly as I picked him up, his sidekick busted me as he was feeding a little higher and to closer to us. Both deer busted for the saddle at the top of the mountain. Jake waited for the top buck to stop and as the deer paused he ranged him at 63 yds. It wasn’t two seconds and the FMJ topped with a 100 gr Swhacker was through the buck’s ribs and braking his opposite shoulder! The arrow blew right through and the buck, disoriented stumbled quickly up the saddle and out of site. After customary expletives, celebrations, and mass texts we calmed down and assessed the shot. Both agreed the deer was done but we waited the necessary 30 minutes before trailing the deer. As I approached the buck, only 20 yards over the saddle, I noticed his right horn was a big 2-point! I was sick. The emotion quickly changed though as I caught the profile of the drop-tines melting off of his main beam! This deer was perfect. Great frame on his left, four side. Heavy bases and eyeguards. His right horn has eight scoreable points that twist and drop in every direction. We got the deer off the mountain by about 10:30 pm soaked to the bone and still enduring 100+ temps. I was more than worth it. I have to wait until Jan to carry my bow down here but you can bet I’ll be glassing until then!

Thanks again! Yeah they are tough to find in the summer. I cant believe how slugs just show up out of nowhere every Dec!