Leaderboard

Hi! I'm new to the forum and wanted to brag a little about my daughter's first hunt. Got herself a cute little Coues deer.

Unfortunately I do not frequent this site as much as I use to and some of you are not on social media so I thought I would share my daughters youth buck from this year with you. It is an amazing deer. If any of you are ever considering an AZ or MX outfitter I would highly recommend Steven Ward with Ward's Outfitters. This buck was the largest in a herd of 14 he put us on. It was an incredible day for a very deserving young lady. Thanks Steven!!!

Killing a nice coues has always been something that has eluded me. I’ve killed a bunch of them over the years but never one that i would consider nice, or big. I have been fortunate enough to take some real good elk, mulies, antelope, bear, etc. but coues have always kicked my butt. Having killed 3 between 95-98” my goal is always to take a 100” buck. This year was no different. I’ve been chasing one particular buck for 3 years now but i have never seen him hard-horned. My goal was simple this year, kill that buck. I have hunted him endlessly through archery and rifle season with no luck. I spend a LOT of time scouting and running cameras so i know most of the deer that are in the area i hunt. As soon as the bucks shed their velvet this year, i lost track of all the “shooter” bucks i have been watching. I can’t for the life of me figure out where they go. Well, the opening morning of my rifle hunt rolled around and Jason, my brother and myself found ourself at our glassing point. Jason had a tag with me and my brother was there to help out. We started seeing deer right away but nothing special. After covering all the country in our immediate vicinity, my eyes started to wander to the country I’m sure we all look at with the thought of “why am i glassing so far away?” I mentioned to my brother that i could see a couple deer waaaaayyy out there and he told me pretty much what i was thinking to myself. Why the he!! was i looking over there. I figured i was looking at a couple does anyways, so i got back to glassing the more approachable country around us. A few minutes later my brother told me he spotted some more deer waaaay out there where i was looking and one looked like a decent buck. Not getting too excited, i pulled out the big eye and looked him over. He was a decent buck, but not what i was after. We kind of forgot about him and got back to business. A little while later someone was looking over him again and he seemed a lot bigger than we thought. Another look through the big eye confirmed there were two bucks. We could tell they were both at least decent with one being larger than the other. We watched the bucks bed and made a plan. Jason and i would make a very long and what should have been “low percentage” stalk to see how the bucks looked from much closer. The stalk worked out great. We found ourselves 450ish yards from the bedded bucks. After a quick look, i decided to try to shoot the bigger buck. A few minutes later he stood up and walked through a narrow shooting lane. I fired and the shot found it’s mark. Buck down. After the celebration ended we noticed the other buck was still standing there and Jason decided he was big enough. A few minutes and one shot later we had two bucks dead within feet of eachother. I never got a great look at the buck i shot i just knew had a good frame and could tell he had a bit of funk on his rack. When we got to the bucks, i was pleasantly surprised. He was not the buck i was after but he is one i could not pass. Jason’s buck was also a little better than we thought. Nothing like an opening morning double-down on a couple good bucks.

It was freaking hilarious. I was just getting ready to squeeze off a shot at 1181, and a squirrel popped up about 10' to the right and behind. I ranged again real quick, and told the spotter to watch. He was sitting on top of a rock, and it was far enough away that I got back on target after the shot broke to watch the hit. I hit about 1-2" low on the angled rock, and the shrapnel blew him 20' in the air spiraling in a tangle of....parts. My spotter said, "No....FU<#!NG.... WAY!". I remained calm like it was no big deal..... I consider it my best shot ever.

Well here is the short and sweet version of my wife's first elk hunt. She drew a limited opportunity "Any Elk" HAM hunt. I knew it had the potential to be a tough hunt so contacted my friend Shane Koury to help us out. We got on a monster bull early on day one that none of us had ever seen before, but he wasn't in a shootable location. As we moved in on him, he and his cows busted us. We were determined that he would be our target bull and set about to pursue him the rest of the hunt. The first day and a half were great. He was a very silent bull and bugled very little, which made it tough to find and trail him in a flat, cedar heavy unit. Late on day two the weather started moving in and for the next few days we were pelted by rain, snow, sleet, hail, and heavy wind with little to no breaks in the weather. This weather effectively killed the rut in our unit. The bugling slowed to just one bugle before light by day two. By day four the bulls were back in bachelor groups and there was zero rut activity or behavior. On day five Shane and I did an evaluation of my wife's mood. We agreed that we (mostly me) were putting our standards and expectation of bull size/class on her and encouraged her to be more open with us about what she was looking for in the hunt. It was clear she really just wanted to shoot a mature bull, and we didn't want to kill her enthusiasm with the continued grind for our target bull. After we "adjusted" our expectations and plans, we quickly came across this guy in a bachelor group of three bulls. Kursty made a good 235 yard shot with the muzzleloader. We heard the loud unmistakable thump of the bullet making impact, but he ran off into the thick cedars. After a short time we began tracking him. No blood, but because of all the moisture, a blind man could have tracked his deep prints in the mud. After bumping him a couple times we agreed to back out and give him four hours. It was probably about 40 degrees at the time so we weren't too concerned about meat spoilage. We could tell he was struggling to stay ahead of us and was done, but needed some time. Those four hours drove my wife to a near nervous breakdown. After picking up the trail where we left off that morning, we found he had bedded up not far from where we left him. Kursty put one last shot in him at 21 yards and he was done. This was a fantastic first elk hunt for my wife that had a little bit of everything, highs and lows, grinding it out, crazy weather, a little rut activity, etc. I am super happy for her and can't wait to get her out in the field again.

This is probably the baddest buck I have ever seen! This family has taken some amazing bucks over the years but this one takes the cake!! Congratulations Wes Ely

I was able to finally get my bull last week (evening of the 20th). Passed on a lot of smaller bulls before we finally spotted this guy.

Archery javelina in 6a for us!

Great season! Got into a herd having a full blown party, opening morning (a week late in 7w this year for the early muzzy hunt in there) Had some bruisers just out of bow range. Got into big bulls every single day and no shortage of amazing elk hunting! Met some cool hunters in the field, earned some blisters and bruises. Found a good shed, hiked through God's most beautiful country, I had a great time overall. I called in many bulls, saw some of the most jacked up bulls I've ever seen, took a shot and missed at a 3x6 that was so strangely cool.. and an hour after that, I managed to slock this little guy on Monday evening. Ranged him at 86 yards, as I began to punch the trigger I noticed a blade hanging out if the rubber band..... Talk about a dilemma..... I punched the trigger anyway. Bull ran 40 yards and spin-out dead! Had him half quartered up before my fellow archers showed up, 2 trips down the mtn, and we had him bagged and tagged and hanging in the cool air back at camp by 1am. My 4th archery bull and I really really enjoyed the hunt. Just got home to do laundry and work tomorrow, then back up the hill to call in another bull for my buddy.

Scouted for a month ahead of the season. Hunted for 13 days and finally everything came together. Tough hunt. Was hunting unit 8 and it was hot and dry. It was 85 the first 5 days and not much cooler after that. 81 yesterday. My son was supposed to be my helper but melted in the heat. I took him home after 5 days and was alone the rest of the way. Some of you will remember my dad passed away in May. This was the first time I went on a hunt without him. Emotional roller coaster for sure. Had many close calls and got a tip from a guy I met on a little hidden water spot. Sat there a couple days with no results other than antelope, mule deer, coyotes etc.. I did get several bulls on camera at night and it kept me coming back. I chased bugles around in between. After 12 days I was about wore out and decided for good or for bad, I was going to sit that spot until the end. Day 13 found me in the blind before daylight with bulls bugling all around. As luck would have it, part of the herd decided to come down the ravine to the water. The big bull pushed his way through the cows and into the water. 40 yards. He turned to broadside, I calmed myself, settled my pin and let it go. Hit him just a little high which brought on some nervous moments because he bled in his chest instead of leaving a blood trail. But I knew I hit him well and was confident he was dead. Made a circle and found him about halfway back. Not going to lie, I shed some tears. It was a long, physically and emotionally draining hunt for me. Then, I had no help. Did everything on my own. Told my wife, I can say I did it alone now, but I never want to do it again. A common theme with the bulls where I was hunting, was weak backs. Everyone thought it was from the drought. Not sure, but if this bull had backs to go with the ridiculous fronts, I can only imagine what he would have scored. All in all, I had a great hunt and met some good people. Was considering doing euro mount. Anyone have any suggestions of someone in Phoenix that is good, and reasonable? Almost done. Should have my hands on him soon. Can't wait to put a tape on him. Daniel Gradillas of Spot-N-Stalk Skullz holding him.

I want to say thanks to all the guys that take part in this forum. You guys made researching this hunt easy. Coues Whitetail was everything it was supposed to be and more. I scouted this buck in July and found him on the second day of my hunt. I was able to get close (150 yards) and seal the deal with one well placed shot. I'm very proud of this buck. The warden was able to age him between 6 - 8 years which makes it all the better. Thanks for the conversation as always and enjoy the pictures! Reece

My wife and pops drew oct tags together. Last year both were able to tag out and were excited for this year. Opening day my wife had passed up 7 bucks til I spotted a shooter for her. Took us an hour and half to cut it from 2300 yards to 500 yards. We looked him over again and made plans for a stalk. Worked our way up to 154 yards, after a few practice squeezes she felt comfortable enough and let her bullet fly. It’s her second buck almost a twin to last years buck. on Sat we couldn’t locate any shooters for pop, Sunday morning same deal, around noon pops decided he’ll take one of the smaller bucks we found in the morning. So we hiked in bout 2 pm in the heat and circled around to view the north facing slopes. Turned out the small buck had a buddy that’s a little cooler. We set up at 208 yards and his bullet hit the mark, fun hunt this season. Warm and really put the boot to the ground!

Looking for owner. Found near Boyd Ranch off Scenic Loop, NE of Wickenburg. Scared little pup I believe is a German Shorthair Pointer, about 14-16 weeks old. Was pretty standoffish but a turkey sandwich brought him around pretty quick. Website not allowing pics to upload.

Was able to fill my tag opening morning. Woke up to unusually high winds, was not real happy, but it allowed me to close the distance from 450 yds to 288 yds. Also helped a friend fill his tag on Saturday. Filled 2 of 3 tags, tons of people/hunters. Had a nice layer of dust on everything due to Border Patrol was out in full force and the razors, side x’s and everyday idiots haulin a$$.

I know this is long. I was going to keep it brief, but thought I would add more detail, as I like to analyze each hunt and try to learn something from it. I had this same hunt 7 years ago, which my brother from Indiana joined me on. He was able to hunt with me the first week only. I got selective after seeing my trail cam picture of a 340 class bull. We hunted him that whole first week, having close encounters with him and passing on smaller bulls. My brother had to leave, and so did this bull, with all 20 of his cows. I did not fill my tag that season. I drew this tag this year and my brother flew out to hunt with me again. This time he was able to stay for most of the hunt, but not arriving until Sunday late morning. It was the first time I had missed opening day of an elk hunt, let alone the first three days. My anxiety was through the roof. When my brother arrived, I told him, "this time I'm killing something while you're here". My early criteria was 5x5 or bigger. My early scouting was discouraging...very little sign where I hunted before, hot temperatures (85 degrees), very dry, tanks very low... The first Monday and Tuesday saw little action and only a few bugles. Wednesday we hunted all day in the rain and had a blast. The rut was firing up. We had close encounters with a nice herd bull twice, but couldn't get a shot. We did 12 miles chasing bugles all day. Each day after seemed to get better. Even with the full moon there was good action, although the bugling shut down by 8:00 am, so we had to find them bedded. We had close encounters each day, with 4 or 5 in the 330 class. Most within 30 - 70 yards, just couldn't get a shot opportunity. I am very conservative with my shots, and will not try to force it. Up to this point, my brother had been struggling to produce good cow calls, using open reed calls that I had. He did pretty good in camp, but in a set-up he got "stage fright". I could tell he was pretty discouraged with himself. Heck, I've been using these calls for 25 years and still struggle now and then. He said, "they don't like calls with a Hoosier accent". On the last Tuesday of the hunt I gave him one of my diaphram calls to try. To my surprise, he did pretty good with it. I also broke out the....Hoochie Momma. I resisted this for 9 days, as I really don't like the sound of it, compared to diaphragm/reed calls. But he could make consistent cow sounds with it. It was getting down to the wire...Tuesday afternoon...our 9th day. We wouldn't be able to hunt the last day of the hunt, Thursday, due to my brother having to fly out. So we had two days left. After doing some camp chores, it was getting late, about 4:30 pm. We were pretty worn out and feeling a bit lazy so we decided to just walk a short road behind camp, about a 1/2 mile back. We would try a new calling strategy. I would initiate the cow calls with a couple different diaphragms, then he would mix in with the Hoochie Momma...so they wouldn't be shocked by it if they came in. Then I would move up in shooting position and leave the calling to him, as needed. We set up at the end of a point. With some cow calling, we provoked a bugle across a draw. He seemed to be hung up, when another bull bugled to our right. We adjusted our setup and got ready, as this bull seemed to be coming in. I had told him, "the caller is the quarterback, you have to draw that bull in and stop him for the shot". He whispered in the radio, "do you see them coming from the right?...get ready". Here come two cows and a calf...trotting in to find their friends, with a small bull following about 40 yards back. I ranged the cows at 25 yards as they trotted by, got nervous and kept on going. As the bull's eyes went behind a tree, I drew my bow. The bull took a further line to follow the cows....I estimated 35 yards. As soon as the bull was in the clear, my brother hit the Hoochie, stopping the bull. My shot was true, as clearly seen by the Nocturnal lighted knock...low, right behind the shoulder...THUMP. As the bull ran off, we both hit the cow calls. I listened...but no crash. Holy smokes! What a turn of events, in just minutes! My brother walked up to me and we quietly discussed what had just happened. We slowly/quietly walked up to where the bull was hit. It was easy to follow his tracks, dug into the pine needles as he ran. Within 50 yards we found the arrow, covered in bright red blood from tip to knock. There wasn't a lot of blood, but enough to follow, with some difficulty. It took about 45 minutes to cover about 150 yards. At that point, we were finding clots and where he stood, bleeding from both sides, barley dripping on the ground. Now it's dark, and we break out the headlamps. I'm a pretty good tracker, but on my hands and knees I could not find another spec of blood or disturbed pebble. We began a grid search along the line he was taking. We searched for a few hours, then walked back to camp, grabbed a bite, and rode the quads back to the site. We continued to search all over the ridge top with the quad lights...until 2:00 am. We went back to camp and washed down some Alieve with peach schnapps and got 3 hours of sleep. We were back out there at 6:00 am. I used the Backcountry Navigator app on my phone to coordinate our search grids. We searched the ridge top, and the surrounding side draws/canyon. We finally found him at 1:00 pm, nearly 1/2 mile from where I shot him. What a MIRACLE! I was humbled and overwhelmed....I broke down and cried...in front of my younger brother. This had never happened to me before, with archery/rifle kills...elk, deer, javelina...one shot and they die within site. I have been on quite a few of these tracking jobs for others that didn't turn out well. The hard part to understand was the shot was perfect, both lungs. How in heck could he travel 1/2 mile?! Miracle #2, the meat was still good! It appeared he had been in shade until the last hour before finding him. Also, that night was the coolest we had, 50 degrees. I had my doubts, but had to take a chance. There was a slight rot smell, I think from the blood and gut cavity. I skinned back the hind quarter and sniffed the meat...not bad. I cut through the meat, to the bone and sniffed...not bad. We took the meat to the processor, who said it looks and smells great. Cooking some backstrap confirmed it was still good. It was an epic hunt! We had close encounters with nice bulls, saw some awesome country, and had a great adventure with my brother. Lessons learned: #1 Don't get discouraged with lack of sign/activity in a place known to hold elk in the past. Have patience. The rut will kick in and opportunities will happen. This season had several negative conditions stacked against it...hot, dry, full moon. It was still a great hunt. #2 Hunt hard. If the success rate is 20%, hunt 5 times harder than everyone else. According to my brothers step counter (not sure how accurate these are) we covered 64 miles in 9 days and 9,000 feet in elevation change (up/down). #3 Have a good hunting partner that will encourage you and continue to get out of bed every morning at 4:00 am. #4 Don't discount a particular call because you "don't like it". Try everything in your tackle box and figure out what they're biting on. #5 The last day we were in camp, my brother came up with a yellow jacket trap, using a water bottle and apple juice. GEEZE! Do this on day one! They were a real nuisance. I got bit by one day one and stung on day 10. #6 Avoid the temptation to track the animal right away. Wait an hour. I was confident in my shot...certain he was dead. I don't know for sure, but it's possible I pushed him. It took 45 minutes to track 150 yards, but maybe not enough time. #7 Don't give up on the search. I was confident in the shot and knew he was dead. We searched for 15 hours and covered many miles in steps. The Backcountry Navigator (or similar app) is a huge help with this. #8 Don't give up on the meat. I believe my bull was dead for 18 hours. The meat was still good. Arrow covered in blood from tip to knock: Two happy hunters! Meat ready to go: Shot entrance: Shot exit: Went back 9 days later to look for a lost radio. Not much left: Interesting...the toe is covered with a hard sheath.

Got to my hunting unit on Friday 21st at 6:00 pm. 24 hrs later, Saturday at 6:00 pm, put an arrow in this bull, ran about 100 yards and dropped. I'm very happy! Thanks for looking

Don't let me leave out my favorite picture! I did this hunt solo and am super happy with the pictures I got out there hoofing it on my own.

If it helps, we had 2 bears in one canyon 2 saturdays ago, one on top of the canyon and one towards the bottom (1500yrds apart I would say). Got 127 from the upper one waiting for him to clear some brush and he just vanished, meanwhile the lower bear did as well. We decided to cut our losses and bug out. Came back last Sat (1 week later) and found the lower one again and my son was able to get to 250 and done deal. We did not see the upper one that I assumed got a good whiff of him causing him to disappear.

Often I head to southwest Colorado and the San Juan Mountains to photograph the aspen colors at the end of September. Last year, I journeyed to the Grand Tetons. This year however, I stayed home and photographed the San Francisco Peaks just outside of Flagstaff. Colors were nice and we were blessed with some snow on the mountain. A complete set of images can be seen on the website too. https://www.plateaulightphotography.com/Landscapes/Arizona-Landscapes/Fall-on-the-Peaks-2018/ Thanks for looking.

Man I didn't mean anyone has a small penis, sorry, it's just every topics seems to go south, I guess I just wish I was a cool kid. I can only shoot 70yrds with my bow. Didn't mean to insult anyone.

I shoot about 2500-3000 rounds a year of centerfire rifles. Probably 800 or so at 400 to 1700+ yards. My personal hunting rifles are verified at long range for actual drops. Here are some shots over the last 4-5 years. A lot of other 1st round one shot kills from 18 to 350 yards that will not add to this discussion. I can not think of many that needed a second shot. Maybe 1 bull @ 250 just to anchor him at last light. 662 yds, bull elk, 1 shot, within .5" of POA. 7RM w. 180 Hybrid @ 2996fps Bull went 50+/- yards 772 yards, coyote, 1 shot. 7RM w. 180 Hybrid @ 2996fps Coyote ran 40 yards 637 yds, mule deer buck, 1 shot, with wind drift about 4" R from POA (still shattered both shoulders, vertebra, and top of both lungs) deer dropped at the shot and never moved. 6.5 SLR w. 127 LRX @ 3060fps (by my 14 year old daughter) 1365 yds, 2 coyotes, 2 shots. .300RUM w. 230 Hybrid @ 3068fps Coyotes flopped about 20 yards downhill 1323 yards, coyote, 2 shots. .250AI w. 100SMK @ 3100fps Coyote spun about 4 times and dropped 488 yards, mule deer buck, 1 shot. .25-06AI w. 100 TTSX @ 3600fps Never took a step 432 yds, bull elk, 1 shot. .300RUM w. 215 Hybrid @ 3100fps (son-in-law) Dropped at the shot 1201 yards, squirrel, 1 shot. .300RUM w. 230 Hybrid @ 3068fps Flew about 20' in the air in a tangled mess Here are a couple of the misses (names will be withheld): Bull elk @ 882, shot right over his back (because shooter misunderstood when I told him to "hold right on his shoulder", and he held the top of the shoulder....right where the vapor trail showed) .300RUM w. 215 Hybrid @ 3100fps Big mule deer @ 851, saw bullet impact dirt just below belly. Watched that deer play cat and mouse with the hunter for 45 minutes, never offering another shot. 6.5 SLR w. 140 HVLD @ 2950fps I can't count the number of shots NOT taken because conditions did not allow what I consider a guaranteed kill shot or a possible recovery. Not so much distance, but mainly wind, cover, weather, proximity to nasty terrain for recovery, etc., I have missed more archery shots than rifle by far. And 80% of those were at freaking turkeys.

Shot my buck at 425 yards this year. First shot was 2.5” low. I missed a few more as he was running down the hill and put a two more into him at 350ish yards. I can cold bore steel out to 850 yards or so, animals I struggle with because I get too excited. Last two years I’ve averaged about 800 rounds of practice a year. edit, Woody I’m also part of the small penis club.

With the onset of summer rains, lightning, and clouds, it was time to get out shooting. This past weekend I met up with a couple of friends and we traversed northern Arizona to shoot across various canyons. Had the Nikon in hand, but suspect the Winchester will get some trigger time soon with elk and whitetail tags for this fall. Aim small ;-)

The past few weeks, I had the opportunity to visit two different, lesser-known slot canyons near Page, AZ. It was nice being one of only four people from your group in the slot, rather than one of hundred being herded like cattle though extremely well-known Antelope Canyon. At times, the canyons were too dark to use autofocus, so manual focusing in live-view with the aid of a Hoodman Loupe was used. Almost all of the images are focus stacks of several images using Zerene software, as I have found that a single shot at f/16 does not have the necessary DOF More images from these two trips can be seen in the slot canyon gallery. They are the last 16 images there. Thanks in advance for looking. https://www.plateaulightphotography.com/Landscapes/Arizona-Landscapes/Antelope-Canyon/

axisworks