BigGameHunter

Spent the weekend in 23 with my 13 yr old son (who had the tag). While we didn't get our bird (just missed a little high on that bugger) we had a blast! Takeaways: 1. I absolutely didn't expect to see as many birds as we did. And was even more shocked to hear the toms gobbling like crazy in the early morning hours. 2. "Stalking" a turkey is dang near impossible. Everytime we thought we were in position they would slide behind us (this describes the whole weekend). 3. The best piece of material I ever purchased was a lightweight camo mesh-nylon (order from amazon, $5.00). If you don't have it ... strongly recommend it. 4. And this is the most important - absolutely nothing better in life than spending an entire weekend with your kid in the woods. Even though we were not successful we had the most amazing time. Missing the shot and still being able to keep our spirits high and continuing to work hard is what life is all about. He is already excited about his next hunt. The line of the weekend, comes from the kid, as we are sitting quietly in our blind at about 5am, the elk were bugling all around us ... *whispers* "dad if you think about it ... all the sounds the animals make in the woods are just so they can get it on"

Congratulations to your son. That is an awesome accomplishment and great job to everyone that helped out. That's how we make this hunting community stronger.

Good day, I have an Eberle x1 that I am looking to sell. Please PM if you are still interested.

Double score - the kid got drawn and I got drawn ... game on.

Anyone witnessing any rutting behaivor yet? I know last year, it seemed to start later in December (atleast in the unit I hunt). Just curious, if you seen the bucks start to seperate and chase does, yet.

Thanks gents, I am still not seeing the bucks move in yet. I have a few large herd of does that I keep an eye on ... that last year brought in a couple big bucks, but nothing yet.... I am loving this cool weather - hopefully that will stir up the testerone.

That's F'n legit ... well done brother!

You don't eat the horns - choose wisely young padawan

On Thanksgiving I always give thanks for having an amazingly understanding wife -- as she lets me leave the Wednesday before thanksgiving to go on mt hunt(s). Obviously causing me to miss the holidays. In return, our family usually celebrates with a turkey dinner the weekend before. Which is advantageous because all the left overs are worked into camp meals.

I hunted that same hunt a few years ago. It was a GD mess back there - south and north. I will be focusing predominately in the S this year too, for the exact same reason as you - my dad can't handle the physical challenges that the north will present. That being said, after we fill his tag. I will take my tag and shift efforts towards the North and work the canyons relentlessly.

I have found that mule deer, deer, can be found repeadately in the same places ... however we don't shoot does. I rarely see a mule deer buck in the same place two times. The only exception to this rule is during the rut where they are never any further than a wieners length from the does (that don't travel much). After that they are nomads again. Just my experience

Gents, Quick question: Do you focus on any particular side of a mountain while glassing as it relates to time of day? I.e. Midday, you only glass the north side of a mountain?

That's an awesome deer. Congrats!

Nice work! Hopefully you have a big freezer ...

We have added another avid hunter to our hunting community. Quite possibly the best hunting trip of my life! and I'm 100% certain best of my son's life. We hunted in 6A this weekend and as you can probably tell we were fortunate to harvest a nice cow elk. It was truely exciting to watch the kid fill his tag after 3 long days of hunting. However, despite our success, the feeling of spending time with my son, in the woods, hunting, hiking, talking, sharing, laughing was far more priceless. I am so proud of him, not just because he harvested an elk, but because he worked his tail off this weekend. Every morning up at 5am and hiking 4-6 miles per morning, with smaller more focused "hikes" in the evening - never complaining once. Everyday, we saw elk, and everyday he was able to level his rifle to put an elk in the scope, but for one reason or another couldn't get his shot off. The first night, no shot because the shot was out of range (200 yds+) and not really enough light to pull the trigger. The next morning after climbing up and down mountains and through canyons he had a cow at 75 yards but never had a clean shot. He resisted pulling the trigger again (my heart was hurting for him at this point). But when Sunday morning came he popped up at 5AM and was ready to do it again. We started back to our spot(s) when we found a bull and 5 cows feeding in the woods. Just like we talked about and like we practiced; he got down in prone and tried to find the cleanest shot possible. Ultimately, 125 yds was all that seperated from his first elk ... he pulled the trigger and stuck his first cow. The very first thing he said was, "did I make a good shot?" I said, "you made a great shot ... you rocked her! You shot your first elk!" He couldn't stop shaking ... when we walked to where she was standing and I was about to start him on his first track of blood trail, I looked over, pointed, and said, "Hey, buddy ... she's right there" (30 yards away). To which he responded with "I GOT AN ELK! I GOT AN ELK!" and that was immediately followed by the biggest hug I have ever received. We snapped a few pics and then started down the road of breaking her down and packing her out. Last night, he stood in the kitchen with mom, uncle, grandpa, and friends while we started the process of butchering her. Let me tell you, he was a proud (and tired) boy. My friends, as a dad, I can't even begin to explain how amazing it is to share a hunt (especially a successful hunt) with your kid(s). If you haven't had the chance I can only hope you experience it. The bonding, the talks, the laughing, the hardwork ... these are experiences more parents/kids should enjoy. Even if we hadn't been successful ... this would have been the best hunt of my life. Hunting is an incredible vehicle to eliminate all of today's distractions (Iphones, computers, email, etc.) and truely spend valuable time with your kid. I can't wait for our deer hunt in two weeks .... oh yeah .... he also got drawn for mule deer *fingers crossed*

Congratulations boys!

Nice work!

congratulations and great work.

Congratulations! I believe we saw and talked to you guys a couple times out on the roads. Great work and tell your son congratulations

That is quite possibly the best youth/elk video I have seen. That's a memory he will likely never forget ... nice work dad

I just hung cameras over a water tank that I know takes a lot of deer traffic (just based on the amount of track around the waterhole), but how long should I give the camera to pick up a buck(s)? 2 weeks? 1 month?

The kid and I will be in 33 hunting Muley's (2 tags) ... life is good

Why not load the results in batches? If AZGFD has already processed credit cards; then post those draw results. If there is an issue with the cards then process a second batch of results after everything is verified and cleaned up. Also, by doing this they can load an error message on the draw results page, for the applicant with issues, that reads "error - with credit card. Contact AZGFD." This will be another form of communicating the issue. Kills me because there is a file already created and ready to be posted ... and it's just sitting there. All by its lonesome. Has our names on it. And the unit....just begging to be shared with the pubic. "share me" it says while it waits ... but it remains held down by the man... OK I digress

That's funny right there ... don't care who you are

The kid and I will be chasing deer in the fall ... life is good