Unit 1 Goat

[Pine Donkey]

After 16 years, my number finally came up and I drew a Unit 1 antelope tag. I made the trip from Southern Az four times to scout for my buck. Along the way, I met some wonderful and helpful people. Mark (MJE1) and my son Garrett went along on all the scouting trips. Mathewp45 had made a post that referred to his Unit 1 archery tag, so I contacted him and we traded scouting notes. We met a new friend named John while glassing from a hilltop on one of the trips. John was scouting for a friends archery elk hunt, and had was willing to help on my hunt. On that same hill, a couple weeks later, we met Jeff (Eagarcoues). Jeff has a wealth of knowledge about the area and was very willing to share. He scouted during the week prior to opening day and called me with information on each mature buck he had found.

 

After all the scouting, we found out that Mark would not be able to make the hunt as his wife had to have surgery. Garrett would also miss opening day due to a varsity football game on Friday night. John offered to help me out, and Cody, one of Garrett's friends was willing to miss a day of school for hunting.

 

I posted pictures of several bucks we found while scouting, and many members provided input on sizing them up. This site sure has a lot of knowledgeble people who are willing to help people out. On August 29th, Mark, Garrett and I found "the one". He had good mass, fair heigth, and good cutters. He was also in an area that I did not think would get too much hunting pressure. We had spotted a bigger buck west of the Springerville airport, but I have always heard horror stories of the free-for-all that takes place in that area on opening morning, so we decided to stay away from that area.

 

Here are a couple pictures of him on the 29th:

 

 

 

Pre-dawn on opening morning found John, Cody, and myself on a remote ridge above the area we had seen him in 4 days earlier. Before light, we could hear a quad driving away from the ridge, and could even hear his spotter talking to him from the same ridge we were on. It was a little disappointing, but thats life on public land. As light washed across the land, we began to find goats everywhere. By the time it was fully light, we had spotted about 45 goats including 8 bucks. We sized up each of the bucks that were in the open, but could not find the one we were looking for. John kept glassing back to a group that was hanging in some thick cedars. We figured there was a buck in the group, but they would not give us a clear look. Finally, about 9:00 John said they were moving and would cross an opening. He had his 80 power Sworovski scope ready and when the buck stepped out he said, "Robert, you need to take a look at this one". At 1.5 miles we were not able to tell if it was the buck we wanted, but knew I needed to take a closer look. After walking for quite a while, Cody let me know that there was another buck infront of me; one we had not seen. Just a few steps later, the buck busted me as I carelessly walked through an opening. As he stared at me from 150 yards away, I droped to the ground and set up the bipod. He must have thought I was trying to steal his ladies because he came at me on a dead run, stopping 40 yards to my left. He had good heigth, but weak mass and cutters so I decided to pass him. As he looked at me, pawing the ground, snorting and blowing I wished Matt could have been blessed with this opportunity the week before on his archery hunt.

 

Moving much more cautiously now, I headed for the bigger buck. After about 200 yards, I heard the quad coming up a lower road, then there were antelope running everywhere. I saw the buck streaking through the trees so I let out a quick whistle. He stopped and looked my way at 170 yards. I was already set up on the bipod and sizing him up through the scope. His heigth was OK, his mass was pretty good, and he had good cutters. While deciding if I was ready to end my hunt, he turned and walked straight away from me. This allowed me to see the beautiful heart shape of his horns. I remembered all the CWT members who told me to stop worrying about score and just find a buck that I like. This was that buck. He looked back at me, quartering away. One shot from Garrett's new custom .270 and I had my goat.

 

Although I chose this goat because I liked the way he looked, I did put a tape on him once we finished caping him out. My unofficial measurement is 76 6/8. I would like to thank everybody who helped me prepare for this hunt, especially Garrett, Mark, Cody and John.

[Heat]

Great Goat! Congratulations!

[mjmhunter]

Huge conrgats to you!!!!!!

[matthewp45]

Great job on a great buck. You deserved that buck for sure. Congrats!

[Schmitty]

Heck of a nice buck! Congrats!!!!!

[tjhunt2]

Great looking goat. Congratulations on your success.

 

TJ

[Browning'sCustomMeat]

Awesome goat Pine Donkey, Unit 1 is a great place. Congrats.

 

-Jeremy-

[Oak]

Classic looking buck. Congrats!

[azcouesfanatic]

Congrats on a great goat.

 

Brian

[Couzer]

Great job

[tomgobbler]

very nice, i have been wondering if you killed him yet, so what is the lenght of the horns?

sweet goat either way, congrats

tommy

[firstcoueswas80]

Very nice. Cant wait until I draw my tag, but part of your story got cut off.

[Pine Donkey]

Not sure why the post was cut off, I fixed it now. Sorry

[Pine Donkey]

Tommy,

 

Your reply to my scouting pictures was dead on. You called him mid-70's and 13-14 high. You were also one who said if you like him, just shoot him. Thanks for your input. I spend a lot of time in units 1 and 27, my parents have a place in Dry Valley, I hope to run into you up there some day.

[tomgobbler]

Cool, i thought i was pretty close, glad to hear i wasnt way off.... although for you sake i wish i would of been 4 inches off and he would of been 18"

Just kidding, Congrats again glad you were able to take the one you wanted. It is always fun to go watch an animal take pictures video andthen hunt for that exact animal and be able to close the deal. i drew last year after 20 + years of applying and took lots of pictures of my buck and killed him with in 20 of the hunt.... but the hunt was really all those hours scouting and looking.... glad you were able to find and take the one you had spent time on. He will make a great mount and those cutters will make up for what lenght he doesnt have. He's a very nice goat.

yea 1 and 27 are parts of my stompin ground, so yea hope we can run into each other some time. were exactly is dry valley....

thanks for sharing

tommy