19A 2021 General Antelope tag

[Code3]

I'm first time Pronghorn hunter and have a General 19A tag Sept 2021. I've been scouting and road familiarity over the last two months when able to drive up the hill. Access is definitely challenging with this GMU! Would some experienced hunters be willing to share or confirm my newbie findings on finding success? I'm not concerned about P&Y score, as much as getting a respectable buck size and memories to last a lifetime. I'm excited and nervous over the potentially 36 less bucks to hunt (killed by archery and muzz) before my Sept hunt starts. While I've spoken to some land owners and AZGFD Warden about access to private land, it appears I'm either short on cash or late to the game for property privileges. So my hunt will be entirely on State Trust land and Prescott NF. I'm physically capable to hike in where most people won't.Yesterday I was glassing north Fain Ranch. Last week driving/observing Perkinsville Road from Chino to APS substation. Any help would be sincerely appreciated. Feel free to PM me. Thank you in advance!

[NOTAGS]

There’s a lot more to the Fain than most people realize.  Hiking in will open up new areas most people never see that only glass from where they can drive to. Good luck on the hunt. Crazy unit for sure, we’ve had the bunny huggers screaming abuse as they drive by in their BMW’s ,VW’s and Subaru’s. Good luck with your hunt.

[Markleo21377]

19 hours ago, Code3 said:

I'm first time Pronghorn hunter and have a General 19A tag Sept 2021. I've been scouting and road familiarity over the last two months when able to drive up the hill. Access is definitely challenging with this GMU! Would some experienced hunters be willing to share or confirm my newbie findings on finding success? I'm not concerned about P&Y score, as much as getting a respectable buck size and memories to last a lifetime. I'm excited and nervous over the potentially 36 less bucks to hunt (killed by archery and muzz) before my Sept hunt starts. While I've spoken to some land owners and AZGFD Warden about access to private land, it appears I'm either short on cash or late to the game for property privileges. So my hunt will be entirely on State Trust land and Prescott NF. I'm physically capable to hike in where most people won't.Yesterday I was glassing north Fain Ranch. Last week driving/observing Perkinsville Road from Chino to APS substation. Any help would be sincerely appreciated. Feel free to PM me. Thank you in advance!

I am helping on 2nd archery and muzzleloader hunts, so I’ll be able to provide you some info. If your going alone and want another set of eyes I’m available on the opener to assist. Sincerely,Mark

[bigbuckfever]

That's a solid offer.  I'd take Mark up on that if I was you.

[NOTAGS]

1 hour ago, Markleo21377 said:

I am helping on 2nd archery and muzzleloader hunts, so I’ll be able to provide you some info. If your going alone and want another set of eyes I’m available on the opener to assist. Sincerely,Mark

Dang nice offer!  

[Code3]

Thank you Markleo21377. I sent you an email with my name/#. Let's meet up.

[Jfos]

4 hours ago, Markleo21377 said:

I am helping on 2nd archery and muzzleloader hunts, so I’ll be able to provide you some info. If your going alone and want another set of eyes I’m available on the opener to assist. Sincerely,Mark

Gotta love seeing people willing to help out. This is what it’s about!

[Markleo21377]

Since this was Craig’s hunt I’ll let him provide pictures if he’d like but here’s a teaser from yesterday morning

[Flatlander]

I’d say you did pretty good 

[Crazymonkey]

Gotta play by the rules !pics or it didn't happen.😁

[Markleo21377]

I’m sure he’ll share….btw took him to local taxidermist in Chino and he said out of 25+ he’s taken in this is biggest or tied with biggest from lots of AZ and New Mexico units. Pretty special goat!

[Code3]

NEWBIE 19A PRONGHORN SUCCESS

This hunt touched all 3 bases and then slid into home plate like a .300RUM! We all know how lucky I was to draw 19A General Pronghorn with only 9 points, so I won’t bore you with testimony to the months of scouting and time invested learning from other hunters. In short, I did the homework & it paid dividends! Some of you had asked for “the story”, so I’ll fast forward to 12hrs before Opening Hour. 

I had a target list of 4 bucks spanning 3 different areas of State Trusts & National Forest from Prescott Valley to Chino Valley. I had observed each of these bucks just hours earlier—defending their does, breeding their does, and raking desert flora. At one point I was pinned down behind tall Deer Grass just 100yrd away, thinking this chaos was better than any Outdoor Channel show I’ve ever seen. My target list had been established. Then, a curve ball was introduced.

My hunting partner for Opening Day suggested I come put eyes on a buck he thought was “pretty good”. We then both glassed “Tall Boy” for over an hour. He chased off 2 other competing bucks to defend his 3 does the entire watching. Often times cresting a hill to provide a silhouette of his tall horns. This sealed the deal: the silhouette of his tall horns. All other negative features became a moot point, as this animal was impressively tall. “Tall Boy” just became the #1 on my target list.

04:00 we left camp to arrive before sunlight in hopes of taking him where we last saw him. As it often turns out, he wasn’t anywhere to be found. We hiked several hours & miles before spotting him on TOP of a rolling hill, some 1200yrd away, again silhouetting his horns. There were no other hunters this deep off the road, so we patiently watched him work those does down the hill, chase off 2 coyotes several times, frequently pass along his genes, and close the distance to around 600yrd. When the opportunity allowed, we used flora to hide our advancement as we belly crawled/boot scooted to a vantage point on a downward slope just 480yrd from his grass grazing on the prairie. 09:20, Boom Boom (hit him twice), .300RUM, 480yrd, smiles from ear to ear on 3 dudes. AZGFD Draw, No paid professional guides, No paid private ranch access, No cheating. Earned it the hard way!

Special thank you to Mark B (coueswhitetail.com acquaintance) & Jake M (fellow FF who decided a day of hunting is better than any day at work). Both made my ‘once in a life-time tag’ more memorable than each will ever know, and even documented it (YouTube: Craigs 2021 AZ Antelope Hunt). BTW, I named my trophy “Tall Boy” as a play on words; A “Tall Boy beer” is 16oz… This buck’s beams are over 16”. Conservatively scored 80.25”. This was one for the books… or at least a campfire ring and some beer.

[Markleo21377]

Craig,

Congrats again on such a magnificent goat and thankful I had the opportunity to help. After a couple hours together you’d have thought we’d been hunting together for years! Look forward to catching up again in the near future. Appreciate Jake’s hospitality and here’s the link to the short video I made.

 

[Chef]

6 hours ago, Code3 said:

NEWBIE 19A PRONGHORN SUCCESS

This hunt touched all 3 bases and then slid into home plate like a .300RUM! We all …

 

Phenomenal buck and stupendous write up!  You are going to be so happy down the road when you can come back and relive your hunt through this post.
 

My hats off to you for putting in the time to scout and have a game plan. Sometimes it all goes out the window because better things come up, like in this case!
 

You had a great set of buddies up there, and it shows they are just as proud of your success. 

[Chef]

37 minutes ago, Markleo21377 said:

 

I loved this video! Granted, at the beginning all I could think of were rattlesnakes. Superb footage of the live buck.
 

This is what it’s all about!

Congrats again to all of you.