BML

Hunting trips for me are just not the same without my dad and/or brother. One or both of them accompany me on almost every hunt I go on each year. Those rare hunts where they don't go are just not the same without them.

Any chance we could talk you into posting the pictures of these two bucks? It sounds like you don't really care much either way, so I would just shoot whichever buck gives you the first opportunity. If you really want some good meat, wait for one of the younger bucks. Either way it sounds like you found a great spot! Good luck in January.

That is awesome! Great work Paige..

OK I am quickly discovering that I have no idea what I am doing!! Looks like I have a ton of reading to do before I decide on how to go about this. I am going to try to stay on a budget with this, but don't yet know what that's going to be either. I am in no rush. Thanks for all the tips and suggestions so far. I appreciate it. Doug, It was nice talking to you this morning. I appreciate the phone call and thanks for the info.

I would get back in the area at first light and try to glass him up again. If that doesn't work, try calling. Get a good back drop to break up your outline. BE STILL!! Cats will come in on you and you will never know. Then, all the sudden, there they are! Call for as long as you can possible call. Cats will lose interest when the calling stops. More than likely, once it starts to get warm, he will be in the nearest wash bottom or draw bottom with heavy cover. I can't stress enough to be still. Last bobcat I killed, I called up and out of a canyon with about a 20 foot drop straight down. I didn't see him until he popped out the top and he was locked right on me! He literally stared me down for minutes before heading towards me. To this day I am positive that he thought I was going to be his lunch. Good luck and let us know how it goes.

great video.. Anyone notice how low the seat is on his bike??? I will give you two reasons why!! ;)

dang, that's crazy!! I imagine that things like that happen on occasion, as mother nature can be very cruel, but to actually see the end results in person is pretty cool. Thanks for sharing the pictures.

Will do Brandon. I am there several times a week delivering packages to your receiving area in the back.

Parked at your work place at GMD in Prescott Valley (Dewey if you go by the address). Delivered a couple boxes there this afternoon.

What is that hanging from the tree above the right ear of the deer in the last picture??

First off, let me say that I do not go to the meetings, so I never piss and moan about the way our GFD runs things. I do, however, question how or why they do things on occasion. Here's my recent example: I received my hunter survey card for my elk hunt this year. This year, it's in a different type of format. It's bigger and on the left side lists the hunt number and tag number issued. On the right has the actual questionnaire. Here's the dumb part. I drew an archery elk hunt. The hunt number and tag number are correct on the left, but the right side is an ANTELOPE questionnaire!!!! I can understand that mistakes happen on occasion. What bothers me is that they constantly state that we archery hunters don't turn in our surveys and they can never get an accurate number of animals harvested and then they go and have a major screw up on the survey card! Maybe it's a trivial thing, but doesn't anybody proofread this stuff before it goes to print???

Brian, I appreciate the time to let us know what happened. Thanks.

Oh yeah....Well.....my dad can beat up your dad!!!

Get in touch with a member here that goes by wardsoutfitters. He will more than likely be able to answer all your questions. From what I understand, he operates his entire operation (or most of it anyway) on private land. Don't know if he utilizes feeders, but I know they use food plots. I know those aren't your true inquiries, but I imagine he probably has plenty of interaction with the GFD and would be able to help??

Big bucks don't get BIG by being stupid. Just because he hangs out near a road doesn't mean he is going to get whacked right away. He probably has lived his whole life in the same area and has lived through many hunts so far. If it were me, I would help a buddy out. That sort of thing goes a long way, IMO.

That's awesome!! Great job Mike. If you get a chance to post a video link, please do. Sounds like some awesome footage.

What a difference a year makes!! I was in SE WY near Wheatland last year, October 5-7, hunting antelope and it was still pretty hot. We slept in a tent on top of our sleeping bags and wore T-shirts during the day.

Not really any cool stories to tell about this bull. I hunted hard for 6 days, hearing bugles only two of those days. We struggled with an abundance of hunters, very little rut activity, and even a fight on a water hole with a couple guys who thought that because there blinds were up I had no right to be sitting there before they got there. On night number 2 I had a nice 290-300 inch 6x6 come to water about 10 minutes before dark. I let him get to the water and start drinking, but soon realized that at 22 yards he was WAY too close for me to be able to draw my bow without him seeing me. I waited until he lifted his head out of the water and he still saw me and took off. I never had another shot opportunity until the last night I was up there. I had a small spike coming to water right before dark and decided that it had been such a terrible hunt so far that I would go ahead and fill my tag and put some good meat in the freezer. I drew on him before he got to the water and shot him right as he lowered his head. Shot was only 18 yards. He bolted and took off right through the water. I waited 30 minutes and decided that it was too dark to track him so I waited until the next morning to recover him. My dad and I found him a mere 60 yards from the tank.

Thanks for the comments guys. For those that have asked about the whole waterhole thing, here is the skinny. There was a great tank that was seeing alot of action from the elk right before dark. My dad and brother hunted this tank for the last two years in a natural ground blind that we built. I didn't get into elk camp until Wednesday and that tank was the first place I went for the evening. I saw a blind on the tank when I got there, but it was empty so I sat. A small bull came in but a little too far for a shot. The next two nights I took a gamble and sat a different tank. I then returned to the original tank only to find a second blind set up about a foot away from my natural ground blind. Again, both blinds were empty so I sat. About two hours later the two hunters showed up wanting to sit in their blinds. There were some words exchanged and a small argument ensued. They insisted that they were going to stay, regardless that I was there first. Too my disappointment, they both went to the other side of the tank and into their blind. They were in their blind long enough for me to calm down and then they both came back over to me and stated that they were going to leave. They had made a phone call to a mutual friend of ours(small world) and decided that they would leave. Since I had calmed down, I told them that the tank was plenty big enough for the both of us and if they wanted to stay in the other blind, I didn't care. In my opinion, we are all hunters and we were all out to do the same thing. That tank was 80 yards long and there really was no reason why we both couldn't sit a side. I was not going to be the one to ruin an evening of hunting for a couple guys knowing that the tank was that big. Most of my hunting friends told me that I was an idiot for letting them stay, but so be it. I really don't care. We spoke after we returned to our vehicles that night and we both were cordial with each other. There were some mentions of ethics and I still feel they think I was in the wrong, but page 10 of the regs says it all. I actually ran into them on my way back to camp the night I shot my bull. We spoke again and they were very congratulatory when I told them I shot my bull finally. In retrospect, I truly believe that had I met these two hunters under different circumstances I am pretty sure that we would end up being great friends and/or hunting buddies. I have no hard feelings regarding the way they acted and actually made the decision to not go back to that tank again. I actually just received a cell phone picture of the bull he was able to kill I think today. I don't know if he is a member here, but if so, congrats on your bull. You definitely earned it!!!

Thanks for all the comments. I went back and re-read my story and it does sound a little like I was disappointed. I was just flat out beat from a week of hunting when I wrote it. I am very happy with my bull. I feel it was a huge accomplishment just to even fill a tag this year as bad as the hunting was. Now the wait begins for my next tag!! :lol:

Funny you say that Josh. About an hour before I shot my bull a nice male coyote came to water. I was sitting flat on my rear trying to stretch my legs when I saw him. Unfortunately, flat on my rear is the only position in which I cannot draw my bow back! I tried to draw and could not for the life of me get past the let-off point. Too bad too, because he never knew I was there and he watered 24 yards away and left.

One of the antelope hunters on the Deep Well did the same thing this year. Bob nearly shut his ranch down after all the BS last year and I am sure he will see that carcass. They lazy hunter left the whole thing right in near all the horse feeder things under the power lines. I wouldn't be surprised one bit if he doesn't allow any access next year.

On the rifle hunt last year, we had three bucks my dad was trying to kill. They were all together and the biggest was a small 3x3 that was solid brown like that. I tried to tell him to wait for that brown buck, but he shot the first one that presented itself which was a smaller fork horn. That brown buck was very cool to watch.

Thanks everyone! Brent, The buck on the left is the one that I wanted to mount on top of that really cool pedestal base you made, but I just couldn't afford it. I will probably end up having you make me one in the future though. The base that is on it right now is too big for where I really want to put the mount. Where it sits now is the last place in the whole house I can put it and it the left horn is actually pressed up against the ceiling! I figure I will save the current base and maybe put a life size javelina on it or something.

Finally got my AZ antelope from last year back. My taxidermist has a fantastic turn time, but it took me over 6 months just to decide how I really wanted to do it. I am very happy with the results. Here he is! Oh, and don't mind the blue/brown paint scheme. I am in the middle of repainting! AZ buck on the left and WY buck on the right!