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Shot this guy on opening morning. Spent a few days scouting before my hunt to find some elk to get into and i found a few. Spent most my time scout for wifes 3a3c tag. Opening mor ing I Come up a small hill to look in a meadow and across it i see this guy chasing a cow all over. One cow call and the cow heard it and came running and the bull was right behind. They came into 20 yards searching and after a few seconds of not seeing anything turned to walk away and I stopped him at 40 yards and shot him. He ran 50 yards and died. Shot him with a rage. I know people give that broadhead a bad review but they have never let me down and always leave huge holes.. been up in 3a3c with the wife ever sense trying to fill her tag. Seen plenty of bulls and have had a opportunity everyday and passed on a ton of bulls. Last night she missed. this morning put an arrow over the back of one. Hope it pans out she is getting discouraged. sorry for the sideways pics from on the phone in the woods. I am happy i could send it.

Nope, 200”

Only a loser will drop their only grand on a bino upgrade. When you save up ten grand let’s talk. For now what you have is perfectly fine. Take 500 and invest it. Save 500 for emergency your biggest asset is your youth not your glass. Cover ground. Don’t try and keep up with the Jones. You can’t as a student.

NEWBIE 19A PRONGHORN SUCCESS This hunt touched all 3 bases and then slid into home plate like a .300RUM! We all know how lucky I was to draw 19A General Pronghorn with only 9 points, so I won’t bore you with testimony to the months of scouting and time invested learning from other hunters. In short, I did the homework & it paid dividends! Some of you had asked for “the story”, so I’ll fast forward to 12hrs before Opening Hour. I had a target list of 4 bucks spanning 3 different areas of State Trusts & National Forest from Prescott Valley to Chino Valley. I had observed each of these bucks just hours earlier—defending their does, breeding their does, and raking desert flora. At one point I was pinned down behind tall Deer Grass just 100yrd away, thinking this chaos was better than any Outdoor Channel show I’ve ever seen. My target list had been established. Then, a curve ball was introduced. My hunting partner for Opening Day suggested I come put eyes on a buck he thought was “pretty good”. We then both glassed “Tall Boy” for over an hour. He chased off 2 other competing bucks to defend his 3 does the entire watching. Often times cresting a hill to provide a silhouette of his tall horns. This sealed the deal: the silhouette of his tall horns. All other negative features became a moot point, as this animal was impressively tall. “Tall Boy” just became the #1 on my target list. 04:00 we left camp to arrive before sunlight in hopes of taking him where we last saw him. As it often turns out, he wasn’t anywhere to be found. We hiked several hours & miles before spotting him on TOP of a rolling hill, some 1200yrd away, again silhouetting his horns. There were no other hunters this deep off the road, so we patiently watched him work those does down the hill, chase off 2 coyotes several times, frequently pass along his genes, and close the distance to around 600yrd. When the opportunity allowed, we used flora to hide our advancement as we belly crawled/boot scooted to a vantage point on a downward slope just 480yrd from his grass grazing on the prairie. 09:20, Boom Boom (hit him twice), .300RUM, 480yrd, smiles from ear to ear on 3 dudes. AZGFD Draw, No paid professional guides, No paid private ranch access, No cheating. Earned it the hard way! Special thank you to Mark B (coueswhitetail.com acquaintance) & Jake M (fellow FF who decided a day of hunting is better than any day at work). Both made my ‘once in a life-time tag’ more memorable than each will ever know, and even documented it (YouTube: Craigs 2021 AZ Antelope Hunt). BTW, I named my trophy “Tall Boy” as a play on words; A “Tall Boy beer” is 16oz… This buck’s beams are over 16”. Conservatively scored 80.25”. This was one for the books… or at least a campfire ring and some beer.

Has anybody been out looking around for deer? I've been looking around the last few weeks at some areas in my unit for rifle season and I'm starting to get a little excited. I have been waiting for it too cool off but the weather is not cooperating. My next free weekend is the first weekend of October so no matter what, I will go take my first long hike over 5 miles and see what I run into. It is extremely green in my neck of the woods and I don't see that changing any time soon. Tons of feed and the bucks I've seen have big bellies and a few have quite the head gear. I know a lot of the guys on here are in elk/antelope mode but deer season isn't too far off. A cropped photo of a buck I've got on trail camera.

I wouldn't buy ANY cheap glass. I would borrow what you can this year, save until next year and buy top tier 15s.

Can’t wait till I’m balling out with NL Pures like a real pipe hitter.

12s

Why lug around 2 sets. Keep using(borrowing) what you have. Save your money.

Good ol PNF!

My recommendation is to buy the best 15’s you can afford. If you have $1000 saved up already….keep saving until you can get the right set. They will be your most used binos for glassing on your tripod. You need them to be as clear as possible. If you go low end you will regret it and won’t use them like you should because they are not clear and won’t serve the purpose you are getting 15’s for. Good 15’s on a tripod will be a game changer. You can find used 15 SLC’s for $1200. You are almost there:) There have been some other recommendations for good 15’s on here as well. Try a few sets out. Don’t skimp and buy a crappy pair to get you by this year. Save your money, buy a high quality used set next year and don’t look back. If you can borrow or rent a pair this year do it, then buy when you can find the right pair in your price range. Good luck!

This^^

Buy used slc 15s Swarovski and cheap 10s.

These are likely the most under rated binoc out there. I own a pair of these and Zeiss Victory FLT’s. I use the nikons almost exclusively. They aren’t as good as the Swarovski EL’s but I think they’re better than the old SLC’s. https://www.ebay.com/itm/255099232754?hash=item3b651961f2:g:By8AAOSwfZpgflpr

Why not just rent a pair for the hunt from Ross Outdoors or Optics 4 Rent?

If you can spot a deer pretty far away and can see some sort of bone with 10X then he might be worth getting closer to. If you see deer at distance and can't make out if its buck or doe then its not worth the bother. Having used 10X Zeiss and 12X MeOpta for decades I can say it is a wash. Closer in, picking out a head turn, nose or an ear flick on a well beded deer or one in thick cover is more about a well trained eye. Do you have a nice carbon fiber tripod?

He’s dead. But there will be others.

I got 2 only 2 left

I bought this last year for my son. Ended up going a different route. Never been shot just been sitting in the safe. Asking $160 live in QC and work in Glendale. I’ll meet anywhere in between.

Phenomenal buck and stupendous write up! You are going to be so happy down the road when you can come back and relive your hunt through this post. My hats off to you for putting in the time to scout and have a game plan. Sometimes it all goes out the window because better things come up, like in this case! You had a great set of buddies up there, and it shows they are just as proud of your success.

I've had success and utter failure in 22N. Drew the late archery bull tag a few years ago and it was wicked cold. By the time the late hunts roll around, the animals have had about all the pressure they can take. And why would bulls hang around 22N where there's roads and open terrain when there's a couple inhospitable wilderness areas just across the east fork? Good luck, be in shape and shoot straight.

Same, I was up there and it was on fire!! Lots of missed opportunities!! I did slow down Sunday evening. Came back home Tuesday and headed back up thus evening. Hopefully they're fired up!!