bonecollector Report post Posted October 17, 2019 Keep Hammering Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
CatfishKev Report post Posted October 17, 2019 Ok, new caliper on, 3 more hours to get it done.. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
CatfishKev Report post Posted October 18, 2019 Shots fired. Questionable hit. Hopefully recovery in am. 3 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Millhouse Report post Posted October 18, 2019 Fingers crossed. Gonna be a long night. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
AZHunter1 Report post Posted October 18, 2019 Dang your luck is questionable this year. Smooth as 60 grit sandpaper. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
oz31p Report post Posted October 18, 2019 12 minutes ago, CatfishKev said: Shots fired. Questionable hit. Hopefully recovery in am. The last time I though I had a questionable hit I have a 12y blood trail. I bet you recover just fine. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
CatfishKev Report post Posted October 18, 2019 19 minutes ago, AZHunter1 said: Dang your luck is questionable this year. Smooth as 60 grit sandpaper. This is true. On the phone with my wife I said I killed a bison on day one, brakes didn't lock up on the highway with my kids in the truck and we are all safe and alive. Son killed second day and daughter had a shot. Heck I'm just happy to fill my bison tag. Even after all the bad luck I still feel lucky to have a once in a lifetime harvest and all my little ones safe and sound. My oldest baby girl has true grit when it comes to hunting, I'm proud of her regardless of what tomorow brings. 8 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
CatfishKev Report post Posted October 18, 2019 24 minutes ago, oz31p said: The last time I though I had a questionable hit I have a 12y blood trail. I bet you recover just fine. I'm hoping it's like that. I actually feel well have a dead cow waiting for us but it's that wondering that causes pure mental madness. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
oz31p Report post Posted October 18, 2019 12 minutes ago, CatfishKev said: This is true. On the phone with my wife I said I killed a bison on day one, brakes didn't lock up on the highway with my kids in the truck and we are all safe and alive. Son killed second day and daughter had a shot. Heck I'm just happy to fill my bison tag. Even after all the bad luck I still feel lucky to have a once in a lifetime harvest and all my little ones safe and sound. My oldest baby girl has true grit when it comes to hunting, I'm proud of her regardless of what tomorow brings. Did I miss the bison picture or have they not been posted? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
654321 Report post Posted October 18, 2019 I'm curious when an animal is wounded on the last evening of the hunt do you have to call the AZGFD and ask them if you can recover the animal? What happens if you find the animal and it's not dead? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
CatfishKev Report post Posted October 18, 2019 Well what can I say, this season has been a ride. Started with the bison card hit then pondering whether to do the co op or not. In the end.. decided not. only had a handful of dates between hunts to check things out and set cams. A big shout out to many previous tag holders on these hunts. Heat, Notags, Idgaf, Mt sourdough all had info to pass along to me. Flew up on short notice with my wife and checked a handful of areas and set cams. Ran short on time when my battery light came on in the f250, had to call it a day and spent the afternoon in Kanab at the napa parking lot changing out my alternater. Got back and finished what I could before the hunt that started the next day. Fsst forward.. The downside was 2 of my kids had elk tags the same time. We made plans with Dale and Heather in Young AZ (Wild Heritage Taxidermy) to take my kids out and stay with them while my wife and oldest son joined me on the bison hunt. That plan changed because I wanted my kids to have the opportunity to see the kaibab and see live free ranging bison up close and personal. The plan now was if I didnt fill my tag quickly momma was gonna zip them down to young and I'd stay with my oldest boy Auggie and hunt the bison. Well the day came, left with the boys and the camper and momma was to follow the next day... then the whole turbo intercooler fiasco took place and that basically cost me my day of checking cams and scouting. Once we finally hit the north rim we set camp in a dash and went to check cams.. the boys were already over it. I had asked quite a lot of them and they delivered but now on minimal sleep and food it was becoming less fun. While checking cams I'm noticing most the spots that seemed hot the activity had pretty much completely dropped off. This sent me into a mental tailspin and I started freaking out a little bit. By this point Auggie and Enoch my oldest and youngest sons were spent and started napping in the truck. Next cam spot my middle boy, Caliche wanted to continue with me. Hiked down to a spot recommended by Idgaf and checked the cam. Looked at pics Whoah! We missed a herd by a half hour. After looking through pics I figured I had a chance that a herd would show up every 3 to 5 days. It was decided, this is my spot I'm gonna hunt.. Opening morning.... chewing on what weapon to bring. I really wanted to take a bison with my bow as first choice. Alternatively my wife has a marlin 30-30 that her pap had bought for her dad when he was young back in PA. I thought to myself if not a bow to take such a historic animal what better then an old historic rifle.. well I decided to bring both. Get the bow out in the dark and have my boy shine a flashlight in it to illuminate the pins. I take 2 practice shots and its shooting four inches left. At this point I'm worried about the co op hunter potentially getting to the spot before me and decide to come back at lunch and zero in my bow. We gather up our gear and throw it in the truck and zip down the road. We park a good 300 yards or so to not spook anything and we load up heavy. 2 nice lawn chairs with hi tech pistons, the blind, 2 packs with a rifle and a bow, 2 down bags stuffed inside and a mr buddy heater and some snacks and drinks etc. We get down and set up the blind before its light out and I check the co OP blind and its empty... a sigh of relief. Now we wait.... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
CatfishKev Report post Posted October 18, 2019 1 hour ago, oz31p said: Did I miss the bison picture or have they not been posted? Coming real soon... Spent though. More storytime tomoro. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
CatfishKev Report post Posted October 18, 2019 8 hours ago, 654321 said: I'm curious when an animal is wounded on the last evening of the hunt do you have to call the AZGFD and ask them if you can recover the animal? What happens if you find the animal and it's not dead? To be honest not exactly sure. I think if we are walking in with a rifle we are poachers so were not doing that. . Someone please correct me if I am wrong. I'm actually not sure on this one. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bonecollector Report post Posted October 18, 2019 Good Luck on the recovery. I would not take a weapon on the recovery mission. If the cow is still alive, unfortunately cant finish her off. I would have notified the warden of your situation. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
trphyhntr Report post Posted October 18, 2019 11 hours ago, CatfishKev said: To be honest not exactly sure. I think if we are walking in with a rifle we are poachers so were not doing that. . Someone please correct me if I am wrong. I'm actually not sure on this one. well obviously searching for it the day after the season is the right thing to do. and if you found it alive and had to put it out of it misery thats also the right thing to do. talking about it on the internet, wrong thing to do. 6 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
