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We drew the early Nov tag in southern AZ and were very fortunate to get perfect weather. Opening morning was supposed to be 25*. We made a plan to hike up and in to an area we have wanted to explore before. Without knowing how ruff this hike would be we finally made it 2 miles into where we wanted to be. We found a few deer but we were still 700+ yards from how high deer were feeding. We decided to make that climb too and get to the elevation we needed. All that work and no shooters. After considering staying put for the evening hunt we finally agreed to back out and not risk a very hard hike out in the dark that night. Turned out to be 5+ miles round trip and a ton of elevation. Sucked. Our legs were cooked for the day so for the evening hunt we decided to “take it easy” and glass closer to the truck. Go figure….That worked. My son found a decent buck at 1200 yards and we made a move to go get a closer look. That hike turned out to be just as nasty as the morning. We got to 525 yards and sat and watched him and decided I would try to take a shot. Getting settled in on the rifle my son said “wait!” There’s a better buck right there too. I located that buck and got another “wait!” Dad there’s a giant right there. I was not able to find that deer and wasted no time turning the rifle over to him. Ranged him at 535, dialed to that, Perfect shot! Unreal. So happy for him. He deserves it. He found that buck and found my buck on Sunday too. Mine went 91” and is my best buck, 715 yards. Super fun hunt. We ended up hiking 10 miles opening day. So worth it. We’ve never had an opportunity on a buck like his before. Any score guesses?

Seems like this site is more Craigslist than Coues hunting, so here is a coues deer. Glassed up a bigger buck on the next to last day. Made a move and glassed him as soon as he stepped in to the thick stuff and the wait was on. An hour and fifteen minutes later this guy stepped out, 435 yards. Slight adjustment to the turret, one shot and he was down. Shot the buck at 930, got back to the side by side at 315. Craig's Custom Rifles 28 Nosler, 180 Berger Hybrid, shot from the seated position with the Harris bipod.

This year was a year to remember. Its kind of a long story but I'll try to condense it up a little bit. I posted this on MM so some of you I'm sure have read it. In May I unexpectedly spent 10 days in the Neuro ICU in Mesa with bleeding on my brain. It came out of nowhere and thankfully stopped on its own. After a bunch of tests and some pretty significant pain and a terribly long recovery I'm doing great. No lingering pain or problems at all. I didn't think I was going to get to hunt at all, but thankfully I got out. Saw some pretty dang good bucks and happened to run into this buck. I made an absolute horrible shot (he either started to run or jumped the string or both right when I shot) Cousin took the live pictures.

My daughter turned 10 this year and was time to get her hunting big game. She got her first javelina in February. After that it was time for the fall draw. We were hopeful she would draw an early rifle tag. My Dad, wife, and myself all drew deer tags and she didn’t draw to our surprise. I was able to get her a leftover muzzleloader tag after the fact that we made the best of. She missed one buck the 2nd day we were out. The following day she passed on a couple 2x2 bucks. I found this buck shortly after bedded and the pursuit was on. Took us 2 hours to get up to the buck and get her in position for the shot. She killed this buck at 190 yards. Broke his G2 tumbling into the canyon below. She was a trooper and got herself a great first deer.

I shot a great buck opening morning! Not quite as big as the one above but still a really great Deer.

Well, it nearly took an army but we got it done. I don’t have the time or the energy to write it all up now, I will have to do that later. But suffice it to say that @1denogean, @bonecollector, @wish2hunt, @trphyhntr and a group of others all pitched in big time to make this happen and they will forever be part of our sheep army. @lancetkenyon thanks for the range time making sure the gun and charts were ready when the time came. This was our longest shot ever, 542 yds. We killed a good ram and it was amazing for my kid to experience. But more importantly my kid got to see men being men. He got to experience what it means to be part of something and to have others support you in accomplishing a goal without taking any credit for themselves. Here are some pics, I will write up the story later.

Wife and I had a few fun days in the heat filling some deer tags to start the season off. Wife killed her buck at 469 yards one shot and dropped him in his tracks. Shot my buck at 250 yards. Nice to have some coues meat in the freezer. We have our 10 year old daughter’s first deer tag to look forward to in 3 weeks which is the one we are truly excited about to get her her first buck

My son drew second choice this year, a unit we hunted two years ago. Opening day came and Christian, my pops, Colby and I got to glassing. It was a slower than usual morning, only 5 small bucks. We had an interesting find, saw a pack of 14 maybe 15 dogs cruising the mountains. No collars, all dogs were a different breed of pit, boxer, lab, German Shepard etc and looks like none of them were tracking scent, sure didn’t look like lion dogs. They covered some good country so we decided to hit a different spot for the afternoon. That afternoon we hit up a glassing spot we seen some nice bucks in with some lions in the past. I glassed this buck right at 3:20 getting up from his bed 1030 yards. The boy and I grabbed our gear and spent the next 30 minutes going uphill to get in range. After the shot, it was even more difficult getting to the buck and even worse packing him out. The cat claws were amazingly thick and we enjoyed every moment of it. We know that when we are back in school/work, we would rather be out in the field getting cut up by catclaw.

Been trying to figure out the proper way to go about this. Was going to make a different post…but basically, on day 4 I was able capture lightning in a bottle and dig up one of those big Coues bucks. I found this buck on Thursday morning after hunting half of Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. I found a nucleus of bucks and was just starting to kind of figure it out when I stumbled across this guy. I had no idea what he was when I shot. After passing up a couple medium bucks, I spotted this one at 286 yards, got him in the spotting scope before the morning sun had hit him, and right then he turned toward me. All I saw was “a big brow” and said “YEP YEP YEP! That’ll do.” I got a great surprise when I walked up to him.

Had a great hunt with my buddy! Hunt was a grind but we struck gold on day 2 and day 4 of the hunt! Hope you enjoy the pics! Any ideas how to measure the double main beam buck?

Got my 2024 coues. I am very pleased with it.

Well, I decided to avoid the season opening crowd, and went out to 20c to my favorite spot today. Spent a couple hours glassing..nothing. Started getting windy so I headed down into a sheltered area where I have seen them crossing through in past hunts. Less than 10 minutes after setting up, I heard footsteps in the leaves-lots of cottonwoods around, and 5 came through. I took a shot at the last one at 20 yards and my hunt was over. Got to have an easy hunt once in awhile.

It was a hot one this year! At one time our trucks recorded 98 degrees on Saturday. We only glassed up 24 bucks this season, way less than our usual 50 bucks. After the first 4 days of struggling and passing up bucks, my wife decided to turn her hunt into a meat hunt. At first light she saw this buck 1300 yards away and we watched him while waiting for the heat to kick in. Once it got warm enough, he bedded and we were off. We snuck in to 309 yards and had to wait a couple of hours for him to stand up. As soon as the buck got up, she was all ready and dropped him. I got a feeling this next Nov hunt is gonna be a real good one with the cooler temperatures and a lot more bucks in the field.

I was lucky enough to have drawn the first hunt in the Picacho Mountains (37A east) six years after the reintroduction of sheep to the area. Because the area is so close to my home I chose to go about the hunt self guided. First call was to AZG&F to figure out what I had gotten myself into. Officer Smallwood, the manager for 37A, kept me on the phone for well over an hour during my first phone call to him. He gave me areas to access the mountains and information on where they had been seeing sheep. This was huge. In all, I spent at least one day almost each weekend from beginning of September until the hunt in the area looking for sheep. I managed to wear out a set of tires on my Jeep on that road. Hunted seven days. It was physically and mentally strenuous. At one point, we found ourselves up on the mountain as the sun was setting. Coming down in the dark with headlamps on, moving from cliff to cliff was no picnic. I vowed that if I was ever in that situation again, I'd sleep on top of the mountain and come down in the daylight. I had several friends help out. I was never alone. My hunting partner, Jeff was with me every day of the hunt. Made two new friends from this website. Luis (Lucafu1) and Patrick (PatrickJr) each accompanied me for a day. Solid guys. Helpful to a fault. In fact Patrick glassed up the Ram that I ended up killing, he prepped the cape/head and hauled the meat off the mountain for me! I hope to repay the favor someday. I am including pics from scouting as I had as much fun looking at lambs as I did looking for mature rams! I did not kill the biggest ram in those mountains, nor the oldest. That said, I am super happy with him and he is going to look great on my wall! G&F determined it to be a 6 year old ram (probably born in the Picachos the year they were introduced) He nets 164 inches. An amazing once in a lifetime experience! I totally understand the fascination and addiction to finding sheep in the mountains. I hope to be a helper on somebody's hunt in the future!

So Max first deer was just a little baby 3 point. So we were going to hold out for anything slightly bigger this year. Hiked in a 1/2 mile and started glassing. It was disappointing, not even a doe. We moved up another 1/2 mile. We were at a high rocky point when I spotted and pretty decent forky. At 686 yards and just rocks and boulders on a steep hill we moved to the next ridge. We moved after he went into a thick of oak trees. This next ridge was a nice sitting bench. While the buck was still in the trees I ranged 5 different areas. The trees were 485 yards, dialed in for that, and set the gun up and put my hunting pack under the stock. I told Max to find a comfortable shooting position and set the gun up on that position. Best part right next to the location of the buck was tree in yellow fall colors. So real easy to find in binos and scope. After we got set up we both jumped on our binos and just tried to pick apart the oaks. After 20 mins some does started coming out. A total of 3 of them. After another 10 min of watching the deer come out, Max says that buck is in that open clearing again. I already knew it was ranged at 535yds so I quickly dialed for it. Max jumped on the 6CM 103 ELD-X. (Springfeild Waypoint, Suppressed) Lance got that round up to 3100 fps shooting less than 1/4 groupings. Ive shot 6" plates at 986yds with this gun. Ive been so impressed with it. The Buck was perfect broad side, and Max controlled his breathing and then shot. A perfect hit! He ran 10ft and tumbled. I said you got him! His excitement was "I got him??" He ended up being a 3x2

on my youth hunt in 37b this year we were trying to spot a 4x4 muley we had seen at dark the day before, it was the last day of the hunt so we stayed out all day but at last light my uncle glassed up this coues at 700 we got closer and i shot him at 550, a coues was not expected but i can’t complain it’s pretty good buck.

Unlike my sons tag 2 weeks ago which was in the 100’s, I was so looking forward to this weeks much cooler temps. Even though he filled his tag first thing Friday morning I knew there were some bucks in the area from past scouting trips and I knew it was going to be a great hunt. I get out there just before sun up and by god it was really cold….I start glassing thinking these bucks are just gonna be out and about sunning themselves. Not the case, I find 1 doe at 7:30 and two more around 8ish. My eyes are bleeding glassing these hills and canyons and nothing is turning up. Around 10:00 I start to nod off, I crawl to the top of the hill I’m glassing from and look at the back of my eyelids….. nice little cat nap. I wake up around 11 totally refreshed and ready to glass the again. From 11-12:15, temperature is absolutely beautiful can’t believe nothing is moving. As I’m slowly scanning an opening underneath a mesquite tree I see something that catches my eye. The antlers move…game on. I focus on them and range the opening at 463 yds. For the next 1/2 hr I hem and haw because all I see is a portion of the antlers which is a 2x. I know there are bigger ones in here, but thinking why not…meat buck, but it’s 463 yds away and the terrain is absolutely awful for a drag out. Well I convince myself this is the one, get set up and squeeze one off. I don’t see the buck, so I get behind my 15’s and see movement further inside the mesquite tree. The buck is still standing. I can’t tell if it’s hit so I get on the gun again and get ready for a second shot. I can see the antlers moving a bit so I get an outline of the body and squeeze another round off. I get behind the 15’s and I see a buck laying on the ground. I let out a heck yeah. Due to the distance and terrain, I leave my rifle and pack and bring a deer drag, tag and knife. As pull the deer from out of the mesquite opening I notice a portion of the antler and it’s right ear has some blood on it. I guess the 1st shot actually hit it just high, not enough to spook him though. Got it back to my other gear and started the long haul out, 2.1 miles to the truck, this deer kicked my butt, but well worth it. Dropped it off at WGP!!!

I'm still processing so much from the last several days and there is so much to celebrate and honor. First and foremost, I'm still so thrilled to be able to hunt with my daughter, Sydney, again and to have both Syd and my son, Jacob, with me. We couldn’t get Sydney’s tag filled before she had to go back to UofA and that’s my one sadness. However, after her taking several years away to find herself in life, I was beyond thrilled that she wanted to deer hunt again and I got to be with her. It was a very strange feeling to be the center of attention for filling a tag after Syd left back for school. My buddy tagged out on a nice Coues buck Sunday morning, and we shifted focus Sunday night and Monday morning to finding me a buck I'd be happy with. We traveled deeper into a spot Sunday afternoon, and we weren't disappointed. I knew where I wanted to be Monday morning, if we didn't find something Sunday night. I ended up glassing up a young-ish 2x2 with about 30 minutes of shooting light left. It was a legal buck, and I could fill my tag on a Coues buck for the first time since 2005. He just didn't make my heart sing and I didn't really want to kill a young buck just to fill a tag, no matter how much I wanted meat in the freezer. I hem-hawed enough to waste shooting light and the sunset decided for me for the night, anyway. As we were packing up and heading back to camp, I got a text from another dear friend who reminded me the next day was Veteran's Day. That kicked a dust storm of emotions I wasn't expecting. I knew I had to do something to honor dad and his buddies, so I knew if I saw that buck again, it was my sign from God, dad, and Goose. It was hard to get up Monday morning, but we got up and hit our spot early to make sure nobody beat us there. We finally glassed up my 2x2 from the night before, but I realized in the daylight, he just wasn't what I wanted. Right around 0815, I glassed up a buck, but couldn't make out any detail. Christian told me I needed to shoot that buck, so we got everything set up for a longer shot. Jacob was amazing at calling out scope adjustments for me while Christian was ranging. It was a group effort keeping me calm and steady and I appreciate everyone involved. It turns out my scope, rifle, and I have some issues we need to resolve, and I missed more than I want to admit, but I finally connected. It also took more shots than I want to admit, but I finally put him out of his misery and took my biggest Coues buck to date (76-7/8"). There was absolutely nothing flat about where he was and one of my shots was prone laying uphill. I'll let you figure out how many times I kept sliding downhill. We had work to do, and I appreciate everyone's help in getting great photos and the deer field dressed on a steep hill. I managed to keep all my emotions in when I recovered and tagged my buck. Back at the UTV was a different story. I had finally met my last post-surgery recovery goal from two years ago. Challenge Accepted Day ~800 and I packed out most of my own deer down a crazy steep, loose-rocky hillside and I felt strong and steady doing it. I sent a text to one of my dad's buddies that I'm close to and that's when the emotions overtook me, and I had to step away. I did my best to honor my dad and the rest of Task Force Black from Nov 11, 1967 on Nov 11, 2024. Sorry for the sideways pics, I never can get them rotated correctly.

My daughter after a dozen years, decided to start hunting again. Her fiance passed last year and has moved back home at our request. Her sadness has been apparent. First time putting in, in that time and she gets the coveted 37a late season bull tag. Fortunately, for her, there are few people that know late season elk as well as me. 🤣 Scouting was difficult, my usual spot on had 10 broken bulls in it, so I decided to check other areas that I know. Wednesday, I find a spot with a herd of about 25 bulls, but a guy in a gray single cab Toyota pulled behind and these elk acted very skittish. I wasn't comfortable focusing on them. Yesterday, I decide to go to my original spot and 15 bulls are off in the distance. One weird one with a double main beam I wanted her to take. This was the final dress rehearsal. I had everything timed from house to shooting position, including pee stops and circle k shopping at two hours and two minutes. Everything, for once, goes perfectly. Then the unexpected happened. A newer Ford started following us down a two track with very limited access points. I speed up and he speeds up. This causes me to go way closer to our hunting spot than anticipated. My brother took off his jacket and asked to be let out too discuss hunter etiquette. We get to a spot where a tacoma is better than a full size ford and leave him behind but very close to the hunting spot. We get to our spot and I see a silhouette of a man a few hundred yards from us. I curse out loud(very loud) then glass the field and find 15 elk bodies to our left and 850 yards into the field. The silhouette was 90 degrees to our right. I go through options in my head and for a brief time my daughter was not my daughter she was a hunter. I tell her 'let's c'block the m'fer'. The terrain and visibility was in our favor with him having a slope in front of him. I tell her let's cut across the open field into the little valley keeping the hill between the hunter and us and getting closer in the progress. We set up 3 different times before I dare not get any closer in the wide open. I'm anxious and texted Flatlander this Pic. He knows this spot in 37a Then I started texting ranges when they get to 500ish yards a fog bank rolls in and my rangefinder reads 7 yards. Last night my daughter said in a stern voice "I am shooting the first bull i see. I am not a trophy hunter". As we are in front of 15 bull elk, she says I like the gray one and the one way in the back. I am going to shoot the last one. I tell her weirdo is in the middle, a 4x6 with a split main beam, and there is a giant in the way back in the herd to the right. The fog lifts a little and the ones up front are under 400. The first ones cross at 307. Some broken small bulls. She let's them pass. She's set up and ready. I am thinking she is going to shoot weirdo as i swing the binoculars to the front of the herd. Boom! I ask her which one did she shoot at. Then Grey falls, not taking a step. After a few seconds it trys getting up and she puts a second round into his neck. Then he'll breaks loose. The elk just next to Grey make it look like Grey ran off. We stand there in disbelief. Then we look where she shot and see antlers sticking off the ground. Elk are running in every direction with this batch looking at its leader just lying there as we get closer i see this. as she walks up to it. My brother comes and we pose for a pic. this fat old 7x7 was shot at 705 am and we got the last piece out at 230pm. She did the majority of the field dressing

I didn’t get a tag and neither did my brother so we turned our attention to two of my nephews. I wasn’t able to be out opening day but my brother and his step son got to 150 yards of a heavier antlered 4x4 and he took one shot and dropped him. This was his step son’s first buck. On Sunday, we watched another 4x4 bed down and walked my brother in law and nephew into his bed and my nephew was able to make a great shot and filled his tag. Now, we have 5 adults with tags left to fill. 3 of them are able to hunt the whole time so hopefully they are successful this week. I can’t wait to get back out Friday afternoon and help out. I absolutely love the desert.

Just got back home yesterday from 5B where my wife filled her tag and my daughter did not. She could or should have but I screwed her by bringing out my long range rifle instead of what she was carrying throughout the hunt. She was a good sport about it and glad her mom dropped the elk. We walked alot between scouting and hunting and according to my wife's tracker we finished at 54.24 miles. Friday was the worst as we were packing the elk out until almost 11pm. Luckily by the end of the hunt my daughter was ready for more and wants a bigger bull than her mother. I want to thank @tinyturtle and @Coues&Coyotes for offering to help if I needed it . Chris was also very helpful during the hunt explaining the unit. He definitely knows the area (which is huge). I've hunted 5B twice (successfully) before but was never able to check out many parts the the u it.

I could have not have scripted this hunt for my buddy from Texas any better. Opening morning I dug up 3 great bulls in a nasty canyon. After running out of real estate we settled in for a shot my buddy makes pretty consistently at 736 yards on the best bull, a 6 point probably around 300-310”. After cutting hairs on his back twice the bull had enough and moved into thick timber. We never could pick them back up that day. He was heartbroken. Fast forward to day 3…..I locate 2 giants in some cedars and we sneak in to 50 yards and he hammers the biggest a 6 by 7 with devil point!!! His first elk! What a dream hunt for him and this is a bull of a lifetime! Only 4” broke off him, beams just under 55”, and mass all the way up 😬😬😬

My son drew a tag for one of Colorado’s open space hunts this year. It is a neat opportunity because it allows you to hunt the month of December and January which fits well with kids school schedules. We drove out as a family Christmas Day and headed out on the 26th for our first day of hunting. Saw a pile of deer and my son picked the deer he wanted to harvest and made a great shot. It was a special day and one I will never forget. I can’t stress enough, IMO, how important it is to just get out and hunt with our kids! No expectations, no trophy talk, no making them wait years for a tag because we want them to shoot the buck of “our dreams”. Let them shoot what they want. Just get out there and soak up the opportunities…they grow up so fast and time is so fleeting!

Decided this was the year to make it happen. Wife and I hiked into a wilderness area and came out heavy in 104°