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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.

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.

or hunt with a rifle in one of the fall hunts like most people did for years and years.

You teasing bastardo

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.

How about people leaving trashy camp sites.....................

Story to follow

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

Ransome company older but works fine $400

Wow, what a great buck! Those hooks coming in are saweet!

can still use a crossbow on general hunts. With no special permit.

Rattler no 2 for the year here in flagstaff. Another hopi. Crazy how many are out. The only rattle snake ive ever seen up here before this year was about 25 years ago and this year I'm at 2 in less than a week. Be careful elk hunting next week.

I finally get my bear back from the taxidermist and on the wall. It's not only a great looking bear, but the mount is superb! The cape on this bear is full and nearly flawless, and a pretty chocolate color. Very happy with it I called in this bear at first light and shot it at 50 yards as it was exiting stage left. It took off so fast I thought I missed! Especially after not finding any blood where it was or ran to. It ducked into a brushy creekbed. I had to go look for it! The creekbed was 40 feet deep and was dry. When I got to the sandy bottom, I still hadn't found any blood. I walked to my left a bit, then saw some blood drops! Walked a little further, around a bend in the creek, and there it was, lying dead on its side! My first solo bear! I couldn't hardly believe it. It was a good sized boar. I had to drag him to some shade to field dress it, was all I could do to drag it a few inches at a time. After field dressing it, I saw that the shot went through both lungs. I had met a couple of other guys bear hunting nearby, who offered to help me if I got one down, since I was hunting solo. With the bear in the shade, I hiked back to my Ranger and drove out looking for those guys. Luckily, I found them close by, so we went back to the bear. Using the Ranger winch and a huge tow strap those guys had, we carefully got him up to the Ranger. It took the three of us 2 hours! They couldn't believe how nice the bear was, the coat was full and gorgeous. We doubled a tarp under him and secured the tow strap around it's chest behind the front arms. Those guys did the hard work of guiding the bear up the steep banks and keeping the tarp under it to protect the cape. I just worked the switch for the winch to pull him up out of the creek. 😎

As I understand that most people running kowa big eyes is generally with the 30 power wide-angle eyepiece, you would have to look and see what the field of view is compared to what you're thinking about as far as the Swaros go. My guess is that with the variable eyepiece you would have a much narrower field of view. I ran kowa 66 big eyes and really liked them. But that was with 30x wide

If you read the new rule, someone who is applying for a crossbow permit now has to go see a specialist, who performs a function test and writes a “narrative” justifying his professional assesment, that then must be delivered in person or via mail to a dept office and the process has to be renewed every year. Anybody scheduled an appointment with a specialist lately? 6-9 months is the norm unless there is an acute injury. Ever try it at the VA? Double that. Oh yeah, gotta pay for appointment too. If he is a CHAMP holder, repeat that same process for the CHAMP application. Then the applicant will have to find a crossbow, remove the optics, purchase a 1x optic (I think there is 1 on the market right now) and reattach it and resight. Meanwhile, they still have to deal with whatever injury or illness qualifies them for the permit in the first place. The commission can pat themselves on the back all they want for a good compromise and I am sure they will sleep just fine. The flat brimmed hunting bro’s can enjoy their otc archery for a couple more years and the influencers can keep their likes up until it’s overrun. A few abusers will decide the extra headache isn’t worth the hassle anymore. Many of them will write the narrative themself and still get their permit signed by their buddy who is an ortho. And the people who this whole system was created for? They’ll either decide that all these extra hurdles aren’t worth it or aren’t feasible with their daily life that already includes way more PIA factor than most of us even bother to consider, or a few of the really resilient ones who are at a good place in their life and have the means will dip duck dive dodge duck all the wrenches that keep getting thrown at them. Good job everybody, way to go.

Ranchers that think they own everything but really don’t, land that has private property signs that really isn’t private

Wow what an epic hunt man congrats to all!

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!

Great pics, that’s a dream right there! Thanks for sharing. Killer sheep

That is awesome! Would love to see the northern lights someday.

Thats awesome! Congrats

It was between Wupatki and Sunset Crater.

I have something similar. I wasn't convinced until I bought an e-bike- and it's instrumental on all of these logging roads. You can scout quietly and bring some gear with ya.