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I have hunted an area in unit 23 on and off for years and have seen fighter jets come roaring just above the tree tops and following some of the canyons that are in the area. There are usually two, or sometimes three of them doing practice runs, following each other. Always cool to see and hear as it sounds like a freight train is just about to hit you. This past week I was walking on one of the open grass covered mesas next to a long canyon. I looked up and saw , then heard, a fighter jet coming my direction, low and fast. I guess he was about 200 to 300 yards above the tree tops. (It's hard to judge the actual distance of something moving that fast, but he was low) I started waving my arrow above my head at him to say "Hi". He must have noticed me because, in one swift movement he turned sideways for a split second, then as he was over top of me , he went inverted for a split second and then he rolled upright again and then finished off with a little waggle of the wings , as if to say "how 'bout that". Then he was gone from sight. I was left standing there in amazement at what just happened. An F-22 fighter jet just flew over top of me, INVERTED, and shook his wings at me. Truly one of the most awesome experiences I have ever had while deer hunting. And , no I didn't get a deer on this trip, but I didn't really mind.

No point in applying for elk. Save your points . I’ll take the bullet and apply and hopefully get any “crummy year”tags so no one else has to hunt weak antlered animals. No need to thank me.

Hey CWT team, I just found out my wife entered a picture of me, my son, and the lion I shot on December 30th of 2020 in a Sportsmans Warehouse contest for top pictures of 2020. Top "Like" getter for each of the three categories (general outdoors, fishing, and hunting) each wins a $100 gift card. We just found out 3 days into the voting, and have some ground to make up. If you don't mind giving me your vote by liking my picture at the link below, I would be super appreciative! Thanks https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=2716067021977474&id=1623654517885402

All my low level Navy flying was over the N Pacific Ocean, never had a chance to fly close over the land. Only people who had a chance to see us were the Russian sub's we were tracking.

With the snow coming in its gonna be a great time to go look for tracks and do some calling. Found a spot with 2 javi skeletons and a fawn kill within 100 yards of aach other. Gonna walk the tracks and hopefully find some kitty prints and go for it! Good luck to all!

F 35 on top is a Luke bird. F 22 below it, Langley. Langley's VA AFB is the nearest F-22 base but they will visit AZ. Nothing like getting buzzed by A-10s in a remote canyon while on a green horse.

36C about ten years ago. A10 really low and slow. I felt like I could have hit him with a rock! He was so low that I saw him turn his head toward me and that is when he gave me the wing waggle. SO COOL!

No...at least not what i saw...one of the absolute worst ruts ever but the growth was there. One of the biggest bulls ever killed with auction tag, A lot of outfitters had giants on canera that never showed up...My cameras showed average to above average growth for sure. Elk antler growth isnt all about the amount of moisture but the timing of moisture.. If we get a few storms every month it will allow new grass and feed growth which will support the elk. All that being said we rarely get much rain or snow after March so I'm not counting on much. Wishing and praying but not counting.

hurry up

We may have both next month

I've had them fly over a couple times while I was fishing on Lake Pleasant, but they were usually a few hundred yards up. Still, the roar of the engines rattled my guts. My granddad and I hunted doves a lot in the 1960s right near the east side of Luke. Almost every morning about the same time, the jets would begin taking off. One morning we saw one lift off and then it suddenly went quiet. A second later the canopy went skyward and the pilot followed it, only a couple hundred feet off the deck. The jet kept climbing for a bit, tho, and finally crashed in a huge fireball somewhere in the desert near Van Buren. We could easily see the smoke from where we were. Later read in the newspaper that the pilot broke a leg when he landed because his chute hadn't fully deployed.

OK, back to the hunting. My new friends and I discussed the real challenge with hunting coues out of tree stands is burn out. It's hard to keep a positive attitude when you haven't seen a deer in days, then to be ready when one appears is another ballgame. In the past I only had 7-8 days to hunt so felt compelled to grind it out no matter what. My hope was to shoot one early then explore new country but that never happened. Most days I'd come back for lunch then go back out, which is a lot of work. Otherwise I'd pull an all dayer. But now I had 3 weeks, no need to push that hard. So at the end of the first week I decide to go check out new country and refresh my spirits. Besides, I also had a javelina tag so I took the afternoon off and went to an area that might have them. I went up a hill to glass and saw 8 coues does come out of a creek bottom. Despite the date (1/11) no bucks ever materialized so where's the rut? But that gave me the idea to go check it out. It was about an hour till dark and on the way back to the truck so off I went. When I got down there I got a whiff of skunk, hey that brings back memories. But then I thought, why would a skunk spray here, and now? Then the light bulb went off, this could be javis. So I worked my way upwind. I found it fascinating to be stalking by smell like a coyote. Suddenly I hit a wall of stink. Man, I don't think they smell this bad. Three steps later I round a bush and jump a big boar. He runs about 10 yards then stops and woofs at me. I know they have bad eyesight but this was ridiculous. I'm in the open. So I take a few steps, his head pops up and woof! I stand still for 30 seconds and he goes back to shredding some plant. I move closer draw and try to shoot several times, but he never gave me a clear shot. Eventually he walks further away. Since I was on the opposite side of the creek I jumped down and started rock hopping. As I tried to get further downwind I came across one bedded, which turned into a stare off. Eventually it got up and wandered away and then it turned into shooting gallery. Javis were moving up and down the far bank so I got the the edge and waited. Two little ones run by and all I can see over the bank are floppy ears, that made me laugh. Too low, need more height. I found a rock that would give me more elevation and a decent sized javi comes by. It's not the boar but the light is fading. As I drew it turned quartering towards me but I know what my setup is capable of. To me I was shooting giant woodchuck so put my aim right on it's front shoulder. The arrow flew true and it piles up after 10 yards, by the time I got there it was stone dead. Wohoo, my first javi! Broke the front leg going in and poked out just behind the last off side rib. Perfect! That attests to the power of EFOC weighted arrows. So now the fun starts, what was that I read about field dressing these things? I really wanted to get one to eat it, just like shooting a recurve I enjoy a challenge in the kitchen. What was odd is this sow didn't stink at all, so was it the boar that reeked? I took my time with the gutless method. When I got done and looked at what I had for meat I was like wow, these really are a big woodchuck. The next day I fried up a piece of backstrap. It smelled normal and it tasted great. If anything it was very mild. I was happy, and my hunting mojo was back to 100%. The story continues...

Video on Facebook On the hoof: Facebook

Would be nice to hear the guides version of that story. Most guides I run into seem like pretty good dudes. Are there some turds absolutely, there’s also turd DIY hunters. Why wait 3 days to kill the wounded buck, why not walk right in Saturday afternoon and kill him since they supposedly knew where he was at and the buck was so wounded he could have just finished him off then. Hoping my sarcasm was really felt through this response.

Way more than I saw last year. At least 20 pigs running around.

The amount of moisture we need this winter to salvage antler growth is near impossible. It takes a LOT more than one storm, unless it happens to snow 10-12 feet. There is basically zero snow anywhere in AZ and hasn’t been any to speak of all year. Critters are going to be in BAD shape if it’s another dry spring and summer as well

We received a gracious invite from our buddy in Texas to bring Max out for a 4 day youth hunt on his lease. Needless to say Max put the 6.5 PRC and crossbow to work. Freezer is full and memories made to last a lifetime.

How about... killed.

Not sure you can call it “finishing off” when’s buck escaped and survived for 3 days and is shown on video with no visible wounds.

From Duwane: Brett Kelly @couesicrew and I chased this buck for several days with different clients. One client missed this buck which was an absolute heartbreak. As a guide you know this is a once in a lifetime type of buck. Brett kept on this buck for five days. He is a tremendous glasser and has developed the ability to dig out big bucks. It would be no different with this monster. He continued to hide in really thick cuts but Brett stayed with it. The fifth day of hunting this brute would be the day that everything would change. Brett walked client Ron Maguire @rrmaguire Into this buck at 32 yards and Ron hammered him! Ron has paid his dues. He’s been out here about 6 different times with the OTC hunts, sometimes guided and sometimes on his own. He booked with us for the first time and this couldn’t have happened for a better guy. Anyone that knows Ron knows he has put in the hard work to set himself up for a buck like this. This buck is a true desert giant. This buck has ton of character with inlines, kickers and mass. Just a flat out stud buck and we couldn’t be happier for Brett and Ron. Great job and congratulations to the both you guys.

I was in Cabela's last weekend and the feller stocking the shelves said their ammo deliveries were getting bigger and bigger. Still, their supply was flying off the shelves but at least their deliveries were increasing. That's some progress.

I believe it’s all caused by us. If everyone made a conscious decision to not buy any ammo for about two months, watch the price come down like a MF. Oh and there will be a huge supply as well. But it’s America, we can’t help but to want it now.