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4 days before the start of this hunt, Eddie Corona at OE4A contacted me about donating this hunt to me from a very generous person who was unable to hunt. I'm a double amputee combat vet and a diehard bowhunter. Immediately I got to planning. I knew nothing about bison and about bison hunting. Luckily I got connected with Russ and Laura Jacoby. They are bison whisperers. I can truly tell you that I would not have been successful on this hunt without them. Their logistical expertise is on par with extremely complex military deployments that I've been a part of. It's amazing to see what they do. The conditions this year were tough. There is still a ton of snow on the Kaibab. 4'-7' drifts are still present up there. Without a snowmobile or UTV with tracks, it was impossible to reach the blinds and salt. And the road leading in to the north rim is closed until June 2nd. I'm not convinced that the snow will be fully melted in time to get access with a truck. My hunt ended June 6th, so I definitely hired Russ/Laura or else I wouldn't have been able to access the hunt area. As most people know, this particular hunt means you have to sit in a blind, 14 hrs a day for an average of 14 days before you harvest a bison. You have to wait for them to come off the park. I mentally prepared myself for this. And I knew I was going to take the risk and try with my bow. It took us many hours just to reach the spike camp deep in the Kaibab using UTVs with snow tracks. It was slow going, like 9mph for 12 miles slow. After we finally arrived at the camp, Russ sent us 3 hunters out to hunt half a day while he set up the camp. Myself, Randy and Dave set out on the 90 minute ride to the hunt area. Randy and I dropped off Dave and then parked the UTV to begin our mile long walk into the blind. We hunted our way to the blind and as we approached the blind Randy spotted bison already at the water source. We quickly set down our gear. I grabbed my bow and Randy grabbed his rifle. Randy was able to take a quick couple shots and down went one of the bison. One bison ran away into the Grand Canyon park and the other waited by the bison that was laying on the ground. At that point I was able to slip in to 28yds and put an absolutely perfect arrow in the last bison. I shot another arrow and hit low in the sternum, but it wasn't necessary because the first arrow was a kill shot through both lungs. He fell and was dead in 30 seconds. We were ecstatic. We celebrated, hugged, cried and shared our viewpoints on what had happened. It was absolutely amazing! I couldn't believe I had snuck in with a bow, on the rim of the Grand Canyon and perfectly shot a bison!!! It took us long into the night to cut up the two bison and load them on to the snow machines. We used Russ's winches on the UTVs and portable winches to hoist the two bison into trees to make the work easier. Another 24 hrs later we were finally back at the main camp. After our goodbyes I drove home and got to contemplate what had just happened. I think I'm luckier than I should be. I never even stepped foot in that blind. I can't wait to try the bison meat from this harvest and sharing it with friends and family! Other than that...all I can say is that I am so blessed and thankful for OE4A for what they do.

I was blessed again with an awesome Goulds tag, and was able to take this awesome double bearded gobbler with a muzzleloader shotgun. It took me a long time to draw this coveted tag and used my 26 bonus points. We had 6 gobblers talking to us opening morning. This one came in on a string to the call and put on a show for us.

Yesterday morning I got set up 90 yards from a roost tree well before sunrise. The gobblers were on fire but had a ton of hens so they didn’t fly down to my decoys or in my direction. 20-30 minutes after fly down with nothing wanting to come in, I circled around to try and get in front of them. The flock had switched directions and was now going back towards where I was first set up. I hightailed it to get in front of them again and gave a few soft clucks. Before too long, the big multi bearded tom I’d seen the night before and last weekend was in full strut with his hens coming in. I waited until he was out of strut and shot him at about 10 yards. After some pics my friends and I were back to camp for carne asada tacos by 7:30. The bird weighed 22 pounds, both spurs are 7/8”, and the longest beard is 10 1/2”

So it has been quite a while since I've been very excited about pulling the trigger on Coues buck. A few days into our Mexico trip this year my buddy and his friend glassed up this buck and took this video. Only the 1st 30 seconds are worth much of this video but you can see the weird stuff on the bases We spent the day looking for the buck from about 8am to about 5pm with no sightings, I wanted to give the opportunity to Rob or Paul if we could, but both said if anyone saw the buck they should shoot the buck if at all possible. At about 5:15 with just a few minutes of shooting light my brother glassed directly into the sun about 1200 yards from where the buck was last seen only to pick him up staring at us at 400 yards about to walk out of our sight. Here is where the story started, I was kind of a nervous wreck when I'm normally pretty calm. Well I made a quick/rushed shot but it felt good and I saw the impact in the front shoulder What I didn't realize was that I hit him Infront of the shoulder in the brisket. With the help of everyhone we searched until dark, the next day I had the cowboys of the ranch and most of my friends helping to find the buck. We tracked him with some minimal hair and blood for almost 2 days before we had to leave for home. About a month a go I got these pictures from the Rancher. I hate wounding critters, but I hate wounding and not finding them even more. It wasn't how I wanted it to all play out but a pretty cool ending to a crazy cool buck. I was able to make it down this past weekend and pick him up and do a little turkey hunting Huge thanks to my long time friend Rob for glassing this buck up and going down to pick him up with me. Also a big thanks to my brother for going with me and finding him at last light and letting me shoot.

I would like to say it was by great skill and cunning that I called in and harvested my first (and probably only) AZ Gould’s Turkey. BUT, as is usual, Providence prevailed. It took me 13 years and 26 Bonus points to draw the #1 of 3 permits for the area for the early hunt. I went down to Patagonia RV Park on Tuesday to get in some scouting time after “setting up camp.” [:-D However, 3 days of before dawn and after dusk just about killed me – getting OLD! Super dry and dusty, the roads were actually not bad on the half hour drive into the area. On the first evening, I was heading back and here they came across the road -- about 6 mature gobblers strutting and gobbling and carrying on, along with a few hens. Talk about exciting! “This was going to be an easy hunt.” SURE! I was up well before dawn the next day but not quite as early as I liked in getting to the area. The turkeys were gobbling but soon stopped early in the morning. I did quite a bit of driving but never found anything else, so I headed back to camp. My hunting buddy, Ed, showed up mid-afternoon and we got to see another show in the same area. The next morning, we were in the wonder spot before sunup and got to hear the show again – same thing they clammed shortly after hitting the ground. We went driving around to the south where they had headed but did not find them before the wind came up. We did run into the flock later on to the west before driving back for a nap. Man, Ed snores loud! The days get muddled in my mind but on one of the days we drove into Nogales the long way to get gas and saw a lone hen at a couple of different locations along with a cattle dog. We did see the turkeys every day in that same field, though, in the evenings. Finally, the hunt started Friday and we got up at 2:30am to assure we were in-place before 5am. Instead of one gobbler, there were several going off without us calling. Unfortunately, there were also several hens making all kinds of racket. We had not called at all till we were set up in a likely place on the way to the field to the west where I assumed they would go. Being close enough to hear all of them fly down was so exciting. However, the sounds seemed to go south and try as we might, there was no bringing the gobblers back from those real, seductive females. We tried following their path and did identify the roost area. Again, they had all shut up just after heading south. In a desperate attempt, we drove around to the south and I sat some water while Ed napped but it never panned out. We stayed out all day in the wind scouting new areas and almost got hit by a falling 3” branch while napping in the truck. Now the providence part … Early afternoon had us back in the magic spot. Opening the windows, we immediately heard a gobble to the south but from further off than the roost trees. At least they would call once in a while during some of the daylight hours while on the ground! I started getting ready to try to intercept them on the way to the field when we heard a gobble from the field to the west. I then decided to have Ed take me to the other end of the field to where I we had seen them every day. Just after leaving, Ed spied this lone gobbler in the field heading south to join his buddies near the roost site. We continued up the road and had a philosophical discussion about if I would be satisfied with a run and gun harvest. I told him I try not to argue the specifics with Providence. I got out and Ed drove back to the magic spot. I could see the gobbler moving south through the sparse junipers. It was a mature gobbler with a nice bead and a beautiful, bright red head. I glassed him looking at me with his left eye and it reminded me of that scene in Jurassic Park where the dinosaur was staring at the hero with one eye. He was pretty far away so I tried to stay behind the trees up to the fence line where I headed South to the corner. Well, the gobbler was also headed to that corner in no big hurry. After he cleared the last two big Junipers, I rested on the fence and flopped him at 38 yd with one loud boom (3” magnum, 12 ga, #4 shot). He was still flopping when I got to him. Ed missed all the action because he forgot to lock the truck and went back to lock it, but he got there in time to record the aftermath of me holding the legs to avoid getting spurred and allowing the bird to expire without damaging the meat or cape. Following tagging the bird, we carried him back to some shade by truck to get some pictures. My head was covered by the bird’s tail in almost every picture but we got the one picture on a 2nd phase of pictures. He had nice spurs, one sharp (3/4 in) and the other rounded. His beard was a good one, too, at 11 inches. We found a nice tree with ample shade on Guajalote Flat where we skinned and cleaned him. His craw was completely empty which surprised me – too much time chasing the ladies! It had been a long day and I was tired and probably dehydrated. We got the bird on ice, ate some deer loins for dinner and tried to go to bed early. As seems to be typical, after strenuous days, I ended up in A-Fib but oh well. I slept well until about 2 am when I had to go, but at least the A-Fib had stopped by that time. I was so thankful for not having to stay up for another morning. I drank some more water to re-hydrate and the next thing I know, Ed is coming back into the trailer and making all kinds of racket at 5am – he is an early riser, and prefers the RV Camp’s restrooms and has not embraced the old man syndrome of sleeping in like I have. I guess 5am was really sleeping in compared to what we had been doing. He even made us coffee! It was 34F outside and inside the trailer was 49F. He was in short sleeves and shorts -- I was looking for my sweat clothes. Did I tell you he is from the UP of Michigan? So, I got up and enjoyed someone else making the coffee and prepared to come home with the bird. He left an hour or so before I did. I pulled out right at 7:30am to bring the bird home, leaving the trailer since I had already paid for a week’s stay. Providence had reined and I do not get to brag – well, too much.

Drew my second Gould’s tag this year with 24 points. Donated my first one back in 2011 to OE4A. Went into the hunt with high expectations and they were definitely met. Thanks to cramerhunts and my buddy Brandon for all the insight. Also. Big thanks to Ryan and Jesse for coming down on the hunt. Bird had a 10.25” beard and no spurs.

I have a Walther I bought for my daughter in 2007 as an 18th birthday present. She passed away about six months later from a massive heart attack the following year a couple of months shy her next birthday. She had AFIB that got missed when she went to the local cardiologist. I just sits in the safe. Now it does have a weight on the barrel I can't seem to keep tight so it creeps forward after a round of shooting but it has a ploymer frame and zero recoil. I'd like to see it go to a good home. It's yours if you want it.

Game 6 Suns tickets

People. . . This happens every 6-7 years due to the calendar. Hunts are set based on week of the year. Example certain deer hunts start on the 41st Friday of the year. Every year that 41st day bumps up a day or two until it gets bumped back again. Has happened since the beginning of time and will continue to happen for the rest of time. Noone is taking youth or Thanksgiving hunts away.

Never bought one but come on.

RAM, probably,

Just a heads up. I tried ordering some 404 Jefferey brass today. Did a search and found only one place that showed they had any. Its Called Powder Valley. There is a legit company by that name but unfortunately there is a scammer using this same name. He first hint was they wanted me to send money through PayPal as a friend or family. They sent me a reminder text asking me to pay right away and clearly they didn't have a good grasp on the english language. I looked up the telephone number online and it showed LA. Not where Powder Valley is located.I sent a text back asking for them to call me as I was having problems sending money. I received a call from a heavy accented guy. I told him his website was a scam and he hung up immediately.

Get a bigger tank attachment? My blackstone 2 burner is the best purchase of my life. No cheeseburger can compare to a blackstone cheeseburger. Look at the chicken sandwhich I fried the other day on that mf’er

Did anyone else notice the deadline us June 6th, the first Tuesday in June instead of the second Tuesday like it usually is?

June 7th

Best days ever missing school for a hunt!!!

Sorry for your loss. That's a pretty awesome offer! But again, my sincere condolences.

Yes I'm guilty of wasting a bunch of money on hunts. The best I can figure is in the thousands. 'been hunting for 30 years plus ". Bud light. Won't ever waste my money on that again.

Do those still have a warranty? How old is the battery? What size lug nuts do the wheels have. What is the bolt pattern on the transmission? How much rubber is left on the right front tire on the 4x4 unit?

VE Day 1945

IMG_0820.mov

Structure

I was able to call this bird into bow range (20 yards) this morning for my adult son. One arrow did the trick for his first turkey. Good times.