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This past weekend my brother and I headed out for one last effort to fill our tags for the 2012 archery season and brought our son's along to help glass and get some more archery stalking experience. We had several spots in mind and started high Saturday morning in hopes of finding some rutting mature bucks in an area we've taken some good mulies in the past. First light showed a nice 3x4 buck running solo and after a short stalk we lost him in the thick manzanita and spent the rest of the morning unsuccessful, mainly just watching does running around by themselves. For the mid day & evening hunt we changed direction and decided to head to an area we haven't been to in quite a few years but always held good deer numbers and a few quality bucks. Shortly after arriving we picked up 7 does and a high horned 2 point feeding about 300 yards out and my brother wasted no time putting a plan together on how to intercept them before they made it over the top of a ridge and were gone for good. As happens to often when you have 16 eyes looking around, one of the does spotted him and busted the group about half way through the stalk. We moved in a bit further and picked up a large 3x3 pushing a doe pretty hard and decided to move in a bit closer to watch and figure out which direction they were going to be working before bedding time. The winds on Saturday were horrible, swirling and changing direction frequently and the doe winded us and ran off with the buck in toe. Several bucks and busted stalks later our spirits were getting a bit down so we decided to head back to the truck for a quick snack and refill and discuss some tactics on dealing with the winds and how to best spend the rest of the evening. We decided to head down a bit lower and shortly after arriving glassed up a beauty 4x4 chasing a doe about 200 yards out. We decided to have the boys watch through the binos and my brother and I split up to cover the two directions they were likely to take. About 40 minutes into the stalk it was clear they were going to head my way so I began the process of making my way in front of them, hoping to close the gap enough for a good shot. Although the doe was leading the buck, he was doing a great job of pushing her in the direction he wanted to go which worked out perfectly for me. I was perched on the side of a small knob that was out of the wind completely and they were heading right for a clearing about 88 yards out. I've practiced and am confident out to 80 yards and knew if he stopped and gave me broadside, non-rushed shot I could connect well. I couldn't have written this situation any better as the doe walked right through the clearing, stopping in the trees just as the buck stopped in the gap, facing away from me and offering me a slight quartering shot. I released and saw him take a small step just before the arrow hit and knew it was a slight bit back from where it should have gone but knew it was still a lethal shot and that he shouldn't go far. I took the shot just before dark so we decided to back out for an hour or so and check for blood after some coffee and a few high fives. It was dropping into the low 20's that night so after finding good blood and tracking about 100 yards through the thick in the dark we decided to head back home and continue tracking in the morning instead of risking pushing him at night. The following morning the 4 of us took turns leapfrogging each other on the tracks and blood for another 200 yards or so and found him expired under a small tree. The excitement of the hunt, stalk and the fact that we were all together hit it's boiling point and we all cheered, high fived and spent some time taking in the great memories we had just created before actually putting our hands on the trophy. Monday morning brought us back out into the desert chasing bucks again hoping to get my brothers tag filled as well. After watching 2 bucks partake in the most amazing fight we've ever seen, including seeing the larger buck flip the smaller buck over on to his back several times landing with his feet up in the middle of a cactus patch, Richard made a successful stalk and 66 yard shot on a beauty 2 point to put the successful nail in the coffin for the weekend. Awesome weekend guys, really enjoyed spending the time together and making some new memories for us and the boys. Joe Kauffman