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Don’t post much anymore but wanted to share. Was able to fill my OTC tag this morning on this 4 point muley.

I managed to draw my third antelope hunt (my last) within my lifetime. This time was in Unit 1. I decided to get some professional help as I am not as good as I once was and no longer believe the other part about being good once as I ever was. Sam Dieringer took on the task of helping this old man. He done good! Since the area was close to home, I got out several times and found herds with decent bucks but only saw them from far away. Besides, my ability to judge antelope is about as good as it is for sheep – the mature animals all look awesome. Also, I bought a gong and did some distance shooting practice. My rifle is my Ruger M77 in .270 WIN that I got for graduation back in ’76, with a more recent upgrade on the stock and scope. It does not like the new modern ballistic tipped projectiles but shoots the cheapy Remington and Federal 130 grain bullets pretty good out to 250 yd or so. The scouting and shooting trips were fun and always involved spitting rain and cool temps, which was a welcomed relief. I found several herds each time. Once, I got to see two decent bucks sparing and then the one run off the challenger for several miles and then return to his harem. All pronghorn seemed to stick around the same area and cross the highway in the same location. I was able to find them the day before my hunt started and got Sam to come evaluate them. Neither were nearly as big as the one he thought we should target. The plan for opening morning was nailed down tight: meet at 5:20am and head up the mountain. I had a lot of trouble sleeping and finally gave up trying at 2:45am. Following morning coffee and the most important activity of the day, I was hurrying around getting everything ready. The first day for me is often a day of missed steps and preparation for day 2 – NOT THIS TIME. I was a little slow getting everything ready, so got to the meeting spot about 3 minutes late. I hate that! Sam had invited Wade to come spot for us. Lots of people driving around led to anxiety for me. Fortunately, Sam had found the big one in an area many times. It was away from the roads and next-to-impossible to glass except for one angle, where you see a tiny bit of the area. I would guess that the bow hunters had not been in there to disturb this herd, so they were much less wary. We crossed the fence (not without me getting hung up) and walked in about a half mile. I was trying to stay in Sam’s hip pocket but that skinny cowboy has long legs! I was breathing pretty heavy at the fifth stop and Sam tells me they are about 300 yd away. I could not see them with just my eyes but was confident in Sam’s assessment. He asked how far I could shoot and I told him 200 yd for sure and about 90% at 250 yd. That was not a good answer as there was almost no cover all the way to the shallow cut the herd was going up slowly. We backed out a bit and got behind a small Juniper bush. Unexpectedly, Sam said get ready to shoot – the buck was coming toward us. I guess curiosity had bested him. The sun was behind us and there was a slight breeze in our face -- perfect. I scrambled to get the bipod extended, load the gun, and get a tripod under my right arm to steady myself for the shot. Sam began grunting at the buck. He came into about 200 yd and stopped, looking directly at us. I was playing with the scope up at 15X which made it a bit tough to find the critter. Well, he got bored with us, turned broadside and started following the cut back to his girls. There were many more bushes down in that cut so I had to wait for an opening where I expected him to go. He entered the only 10 ft opening and slightly paused. I took a rather fast shot and we both thought I had hit the buck hard, but Sam felt it was a bit back based upon the reaction of the buck. The does took off up the cut and we could not see the buck following. Taking a bit of time to regroup, organize things, and just settle down, I managed to pack up for the follow-up. Curvature of the hill and numerous Junipers prevented us from seeing the buck right away, but it only took about fifty yards till we could see the big, ole white belly sticking out like a beacon. High Fives and jubilation followed. Walking up on the buck, there was no ground shrinkage or disappointment. The horns were symmetric, had heavy prongs and mass, along with good length. His face was not nearly as dark as the other bucks I had seen, which was probably due to his old age. The horns were truly magnificent! And the entry shot was perfect. However, he had been quartering away which put the exit holes on the opposite shoulder, which was toast. The bullet fragmented and produced several holes in the cape, but I have a great taxidermist. 😉 Sam went to get Wade and my tuck while I got to spend some quality time admiring my buck and to give thanks to the Lord Almighty for such a magnificent harvest. Following getting some needed hydration, I was in the shade for several, enjoyable minutes but the sun came out and it was scorching. I had a 40-yr old, heavy duty space blanket that I set up as a lean-to for shading the buck. It was about 40 yd to the nearest tree and there was no way to drag that heavy critter up there and I did not want to damage the hide. They finally got back and we took a bunch of pictures after Sam sewed the mouth shut to get the best pictures. Talk about PROs! They skinned and broke down the animal in less than an hour with getting no blood on themselves. They didn’t even puncture the guts with an errant poke like I had experienced on a previous hunt (inside joke for MH). I served as go-fer putting the meat on that space blanket and I had blood everywhere. These guys did not mess around and had the parts ready to pack out, including the tenderloins, heart and liver, really before they were cooled down. Those two just about ran down the hill to the trucks while I “Campbell Ambled” down. They beat me by 200 yd. They used the time to precisely measure the trophy, which turned out at 81.5”, just under the B&C minimum. Still, it is a tremendous trophy. Unit 1 typically does not produce huge Pronghorn. I chose not to give Sam a hard time about shooting the first one we saw as I realized how much work and effort had gone into this event. While they were busy measuring, I approached the fence and remembered the awkward time I had coming in. Since they were so busy, I belly crawled under just like the antelope do and managed to do so without them seeing, which would have resulted in abuse and a really hard time. On the way out, I found that SW Meats did not have their refrigerated trailer operating, yet. However, I did call a local friend who has a meat closet and I took the critter there to fully cool down. I left the head there too as I could not reach my taxidermist to find out what he wanted me to do. After I got back home, we talked and he said to freeze it. Turns out we have a small chest freezer that was empty and just waiting for the task – just needed turn on. I invited Sam and his wife for the Friday night special at Trailrider’s of prime rib and they took me up on it. Wade had departed for home, already. Sam and his wife picked up the head from my friend, which saved me the long trip to Alpine. They brought it to our Barndominum and I stuck it in the now-cold freezer. Sam is very quiet and I figured out why. His beautiful wife is quite social! We had the greatest time. I was still full from the Carne Asada Steak plate at Aliberto’s that I celebrated with when I had gotten back before lunch. Consequently, I settled for a bowl of Clam Chowder, which is my sister’s favorite Friday night meal – we go there often. It was totally an awesome evening and I even remembered to settle up with Sam for his magnificent service. What a great day but I was drained and went to bed about 7pm after posting some pics. The story took a little longer! Psalm 37:4 Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.

My 13 year old was lucky enough to get a Antelope Tag in unit 1 this year. I headed up Tuesday without my boy before the hunt to check the rifles at the range and then continuing up to unit 1. I ran into some issues with 2 of the 3 rifles I brought up. On Tuesday evening I found 4 bucks, 1 really nice shooter that I could see pushing 80" plus. These dang things are so hard to judge though, so I could be off. Always remembering what a old timer told me to use the eye ball and the ear to help feild judge them. This buck had good hookers and was definitely a double eared buck. He had about 19 does with him so I knew he had to be king. Wednesday I woke up early and headed out to another spot and spent the morning trying to locate a buck I seen in April. I did not find that buck, but finally turned one up This would be #2 buck and thinking he would push close to 80". He had about 5 does with him and the area had alot more cover for my boy for a stalk. This Wednesday I had located 23 bucks all over the unit. Out of the 23 bucks there was a bachelor herd of about 13 bucks all together. This bachlor herd was in a different area than the other bucks with does. I ran into another hunter that was trying to find a shooter. He had seen lots of bucks but he was wanting something bigger than what he had been seeing. This guy was a super good guy and was willing to show me some areas to help my boy tag out. In turn I let him know I found a decent shooter and could show him the area where this #1 buck was. We had about a 2 hours or so left of light so we headed over there and I ended up locating the buck just before dark. Thursday morning I headed home to pick up my boy after his game. We got back up the area around midnight. With what felt like a few hours of sleep we woke up and headed out Friday morning to #2 buck. With no luck locating him we moved to another area and turned up a heard with a good shooter, super thick but not really tall. We started the pursuit and bumped them over a hill about 500 yards away. We headed up were we last saw them and decided to sit and call with a antelope fawn call to see if the does would come in as I have had success with this before. In turn we called in a coyote at 389 yards. It was at that time to get some more confidence in my boys shooting. We dailed the rifle in and I told the boy to go ahead and let him have it. He shot and dropped the coyote in his tracks. As we went over to check on the shot placement of the coyote we glassed up the heard of Antelope down the hill from us about 1000 yards away. We moved closer and watched the buck from about 800 yards away chasining the does all over the flats. We decided to move in closer for the shot. As we worked our way down we got busted and the herd took off about another 1000 yards off. Again the buck was going crazy chasing the does all over as they settled in thier new spot. We backed out decided to head back to see if there was another angle we could approach them. On the way back we ran into a prairie rattler. We took some pics and let it be. Well the rain came down pretty hard on our hike out so we decided to head back and dry out. So we decided try that herd later on in the evening. After a few hours of getting back rested, we decided to hit that #2 buck spot again. It took a bit to find him but the does gave him away. At 350 yards away the herd was content feeding. We set up for the shot and then a doe started feeding just to the left and another right behind him. I told my boy to hold off on the shot. What seemed like forever the does walked away leaving the buck wide open. I gave the ok to shoot and he let off a shot. The buck and does all ran about 30 yards. The buck stopped while the does kept going another 50 yards stopping wondering why the buck wasn't catching up. It was at that moment he tipped over with high 5's and hugs. What a shot!!!! So proud of this kid!!! Also earlier that afternoon I recieved a text message from the other hunter that was going to after that #1 buck. He was able to locate the buck and was able to get on him. It was a awesome text message with epic picture of the downed buck. He thanked me for helping him finding a good buck. It was well deserved for sure. Rough taped my boys buck at 76". Stud and very pleased with my boys hunt.

My dad waited 28 years to finally get an antelope tag and he made the most of it. We scouted a ton and had several target bucks but this buck was the target buck due to his character. Second morning of the hunt he connected with him. The buck had busted off several extra knobs and his double cutter on the right.

The hunting community is truly filled with so many incredible people and it has afforded me the privilege of meeting so many people through random circumstances that have become some of my closest friends! Six years ago, I had filled my muzzleloader bull elk tag and stopped by a camp to inquire how they were doing. Met two gentlemen, and helped them kill a giant 366” bull the very next day. Bryan, originally from here and now residing in Colorado became a friend that I talk to a half dozen times a year swapping stories and talking about our next adventure. In April he reached out to me and mentioned his 71 year old buddy Gino had drawn an antelope tag after applying 27 years. He had a conflict so asked if I would help him on his hunt. I was thrilled for the opportunity, talked to Gino on the phone to understand his expectations, and told him I would meet him day before opener to put together a hit list. This is where it gets interesting…I found 3 bucks that would go between 74-78” and took lots of video of each. I showed Gino and we ranked them by his preference. 1st choice was a heavy old buck that had a busted back leg. Must have been hit by a car chasing does. He was in rough shape and I told Gino only way he will make it is if he could avoid the plentiful coyotes in the area. Opening morning as it became light I immediately saw 4 coyotes in the area and no buck. My suspicions were confirmed when I found a clean carcass with just the neck and head remaining in tact. Buck #1 IMG_6871.mov We quickly moved about 5 miles away to the location of buck #2. He was a beautiful buck with long cutters and good mass. We arrived just in time to witness a hunter anchoring him in his place 1/2 mile away. Buck #2 IMG_6897.mov We moved on confident that due to the rolling terrain where buck #3 was living he may have gone unnoticed. When we arrived it didn’t take long to find him with his 14 does. A deep drainage allowed us to sneak unnoticed into 200 yards and Gino anchored him! What an adrenaline filled morning and it ended with a buck of a lifetime for Gino and a new friendship for life! IMG_6938.mov

Super quiet all around flagstaff as well. Was able to shoot this bull today.

Had the incredible privilege of helping my buddy fulfill his lifelong dream of killing a Dall Sheep. He absolutely crushed it at 3 months from his 71st Bday. Best part was his son had a tag to and killed a giant 11 year old ram. Northern lights were spectacular!!!

Story to follow

Big thanks to Jeff ( Huntsaz) for all his help. First place Cooper Williams Second place Rylie Ellis Third place Tanner Nelson Forth place Lillian Liles Fifth place ---Andrew Garcia --- didn't make the Arizona residents Requirements Under 10 special draw was Mackenzie Nelson And the winner of the gift cards is Cade Medlin I'll be in touch with all the winners tomorrow and I should have the draw video up hopefully by then for those interested. As always big thanks to everyone who donated to the giveaway. Check back at the first of the year for next year's giveaway!!!!!

My daughter stopped hunting 10 or so years ago. She couldn't get a tag and stopped trying. Fast forward to last year. I told her I was going to start putting her in so her son could pull a decent tag when he turns 10. Last year with no points she got late unit 1. This year she got antelope. I was stoked antelope are my favorite. I live in 3c and have seen maybe 4 antelope ever. See other post. I started Scouting immediately. I checked all of the g&f areas and saw only a couple of mid bucks. Kept checking and found a couple of spots. Last weekend the OHVs wrecked one of my spots. I wish they would stay on the trails. I decided to concentrate Scouting on one spot. G&f was doing a helicopter survey and those bucks disappeared as well. Sitting and thinking "you know antelope as good as they know themselves, where would they go" last night i saw a couple off in a basin to the far east and decided to take a closer look. About 200 yards from where I parked i ran into the buck I named the pimp. My first thought was that tricky m'fer. They spooked a little and I got out of there early. This morning rolls around and my brother took the morning off to high point for us. We go into the mountains looking for the giant. My brother sees a herd half a mile or so from our starting point in the wrong direction. After checking the small steep area we were in. I get a call saying there are 6 bucks in the herd he is watching and one is huge. We go to his vantage point and take a quick look. I recognize the pimp immediately. We make a quick plan and head that way. They were all bedded for a bit. As we approached the rut kicked in and bucks chasing does everywhere. The pimp chases a smaller buck over the Ridgeline. We move closer. My only pic of the pimp with the chaos the pimp was anywhere from 300 yards to over 500 and out of sight. She has them at 442 in the tripod and ready. I dial the scope and she shoots. Each round hitting just over his back. I guess the angle was steeper than I thought. My brother has to leave to work (around 900) we go to where i think they went. Not expecting much. I see a bunch of tracks change direction slightly and catch what I thought was the pimp at 135 yards. I left the scoope at 450. 20250905_085200.mp4 I make the adjustment back to default and this happens. Doesn't look it but the shot was close to perfect VID_20250905_192846.mp4 One more shot and then it gets western. 20250905_085407.mp4 Thinking hes down for good I give her a hug. She starts going over there and the buck gets up and struggles up the hill. We bump him two more times before the top of the hill with no shot opportunities. I text my brother and a nephew to help track. My daughter is mad and the only person she can take it on is me. I say he went this way and she said he went that way. We split up. I catch up to him 150 yards from where we part ways. I call her and text. No answer. She's really mad. A few moments later she calls me. We catch up to him walking away. I tell her just put it between his buttcheeks and end this. Boom and he drops. After a few seconds gets back up and starts crawling on front two legs up the next hill. F bombs are flying out of her mouth. The last one was F that tripod crap. Grabs her rifle and runs to position. Off handed she puts the final round in his neck. We didn't get the giant one but this one isn't too bad.

Any success on the archery hunt? I tagged this buck opening day around noon on the 6A rifle season this past Friday.

When someone whips into the diesel pump in a gas truck, goes inside, and never gets gas. Next.

Went out twice and had a great season. Lots of people hate dove but I love them. Had a bbq with some people and it was a hit. For those of u asking here’s what I did. clean them well. Then soak them in a bowl of buttermilk over night. Next day rinse them off I let them dry and add the seasoning u like. This time did mccormicks. next step was I went to food city and bought a cooked bag of green chiles. They have them whole cooked so just cut in strips next I like to add a strip of bacon. Nothing thick. Dove cooks quick so u don’t want it overdone I then threw it on traeger or u can do oven at 350 until bacon was barely cooked. They were a big hit again. Hope this helps some of u.

I saw Charlie Kirk as potential Presidential candidate in a few years. Maybe the lunatics did too.

Smokers that drive down the road and think it's ok to throw the butts out the window...... or realize the ash tray is full and stop and empty the ashtray out on the road or parking lot. Gum chewers that think it's normal to spit their gum out on the side walk or parking lot. Hunters that can carry a full beer, water, or soda in, but somehow can't gather up the strength to carry the empty out. Pure Assholes.

Killed a buck on the first Wednesday of the season. Went home for a couple days. Came back up Sunday had a couple buddies hunting the long weekend. Monday morning a little before daylight went to go number 2 . When I was done noticed oak I was walking past about 4 feet off ground in nook of the tree had bunch of rocks in it. I thought that's weird some kids must have put them up there playing around at some point. In the middle of rocks is a big butt blacktail. Went back to camp to let it get a little bit lighter before I took care of him. I knew he would be mad when I knocked him out of the tree. I always like to just take their heads off and skin them. My dad makes hatbands and knife sheaves out of hide. Went back 10 minutes later, he's gone.pics always post sideways for some reason

Congrats, nice buck! I hunted hard all 14 days of the archery hunt but didn’t get a shot. Got to 100yds on several occasions and spent 7+ hrs one day crawling and jumping from juniper to juniper but they just kept working away from me. Overall I had a blast, didn't go up there expecting to get one with a bow. I’ve drawn the archery tag now 4 times in my lifetime and tagged out 20+ yrs ago the last time I drew. To this day thats my toughest hunt, bowhunting goats spot and stalk in this state. Monsoon always dumps enough rain that they get their water anywhere and don’t have to hit water holes. I’m 62 now so I wonder if I’ll ever draw this tag again before I’m too old to crawl across the prairie pushing my bow in front of me…. Congrats again!

people who complin about everything on public forums...

when I park my gas truck in the shade where the pumps are and the diesel guy gives me a look like he wants my QT drink. Can’t stand it!

Congrats to all the lucky Elk Hunters. Please give me a call if you need a Euro give me a call. All my Euros are done using Maceration, no boil or pressure washing. Prices: Elk $200 Deer $100 928-595-1554 www.bigbrownstaxidermy.com

People not letting you pass on a dirt road

Flat brimmed hat over your ears. Stupidest -fing thing ever.

People

I got lots of other pet peeves too. People putting their shopping carts right next to their car and leaving it when there's a cart return a few yards away is one of them.

Was going to post this over in the 'Green Chili' thread but figured I would put it here instead. One of my favorite times of the year is late August - early September because I can take advantage of my favorite two New Mexican exports; Pronghorn and green chilis!!! Picked-up a big sack of extra hot Hatch chilis from my local Food City and went to work over the weekend roasting them up and putting them to use. Ended-up with 24 8oz jars of green chilis and 12-quart jars of 'green chili' (find the debate on the other thread). Some of the green chili was made with pork and some with pronghorn. Both excelllent!