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

I know this rut has been tough this year but wanted to share a successful harvest from my Az archery hunt. Day 11 it came together. Now onto sons youth deer hunt

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?

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.

I managed to draw my third antelope hunt (my last) within my lifetime. This time was in Unit 1. I decided to get some professional help as I am not as good as I once was and no longer believe the other part about being good once as I ever was. Sam Dieringer took on the task of helping this old man. He done good! Since the area was close to home, I got out several times and found herds with decent bucks but only saw them from far away. Besides, my ability to judge antelope is about as good as it is for sheep – the mature animals all look awesome. Also, I bought a gong and did some distance shooting practice. My rifle is my Ruger M77 in .270 WIN that I got for graduation back in ’76, with a more recent upgrade on the stock and scope. It does not like the new modern ballistic tipped projectiles but shoots the cheapy Remington and Federal 130 grain bullets pretty good out to 250 yd or so. The scouting and shooting trips were fun and always involved spitting rain and cool temps, which was a welcomed relief. I found several herds each time. Once, I got to see two decent bucks sparing and then the one run off the challenger for several miles and then return to his harem. All pronghorn seemed to stick around the same area and cross the highway in the same location. I was able to find them the day before my hunt started and got Sam to come evaluate them. Neither were nearly as big as the one he thought we should target. The plan for opening morning was nailed down tight: meet at 5:20am and head up the mountain. I had a lot of trouble sleeping and finally gave up trying at 2:45am. Following morning coffee and the most important activity of the day, I was hurrying around getting everything ready. The first day for me is often a day of missed steps and preparation for day 2 – NOT THIS TIME. I was a little slow getting everything ready, so got to the meeting spot about 3 minutes late. I hate that! Sam had invited Wade to come spot for us. Lots of people driving around led to anxiety for me. Fortunately, Sam had found the big one in an area many times. It was away from the roads and next-to-impossible to glass except for one angle, where you see a tiny bit of the area. I would guess that the bow hunters had not been in there to disturb this herd, so they were much less wary. We crossed the fence (not without me getting hung up) and walked in about a half mile. I was trying to stay in Sam’s hip pocket but that skinny cowboy has long legs! I was breathing pretty heavy at the fifth stop and Sam tells me they are about 300 yd away. I could not see them with just my eyes but was confident in Sam’s assessment. He asked how far I could shoot and I told him 200 yd for sure and about 90% at 250 yd. That was not a good answer as there was almost no cover all the way to the shallow cut the herd was going up slowly. We backed out a bit and got behind a small Juniper bush. Unexpectedly, Sam said get ready to shoot – the buck was coming toward us. I guess curiosity had bested him. The sun was behind us and there was a slight breeze in our face -- perfect. I scrambled to get the bipod extended, load the gun, and get a tripod under my right arm to steady myself for the shot. Sam began grunting at the buck. He came into about 200 yd and stopped, looking directly at us. I was playing with the scope up at 15X which made it a bit tough to find the critter. Well, he got bored with us, turned broadside and started following the cut back to his girls. There were many more bushes down in that cut so I had to wait for an opening where I expected him to go. He entered the only 10 ft opening and slightly paused. I took a rather fast shot and we both thought I had hit the buck hard, but Sam felt it was a bit back based upon the reaction of the buck. The does took off up the cut and we could not see the buck following. Taking a bit of time to regroup, organize things, and just settle down, I managed to pack up for the follow-up. Curvature of the hill and numerous Junipers prevented us from seeing the buck right away, but it only took about fifty yards till we could see the big, ole white belly sticking out like a beacon. High Fives and jubilation followed. Walking up on the buck, there was no ground shrinkage or disappointment. The horns were symmetric, had heavy prongs and mass, along with good length. His face was not nearly as dark as the other bucks I had seen, which was probably due to his old age. The horns were truly magnificent! And the entry shot was perfect. However, he had been quartering away which put the exit holes on the opposite shoulder, which was toast. The bullet fragmented and produced several holes in the cape, but I have a great taxidermist. 😉 Sam went to get Wade and my tuck while I got to spend some quality time admiring my buck and to give thanks to the Lord Almighty for such a magnificent harvest. Following getting some needed hydration, I was in the shade for several, enjoyable minutes but the sun came out and it was scorching. I had a 40-yr old, heavy duty space blanket that I set up as a lean-to for shading the buck. It was about 40 yd to the nearest tree and there was no way to drag that heavy critter up there and I did not want to damage the hide. They finally got back and we took a bunch of pictures after Sam sewed the mouth shut to get the best pictures. Talk about PROs! They skinned and broke down the animal in less than an hour with getting no blood on themselves. They didn’t even puncture the guts with an errant poke like I had experienced on a previous hunt (inside joke for MH). I served as go-fer putting the meat on that space blanket and I had blood everywhere. These guys did not mess around and had the parts ready to pack out, including the tenderloins, heart and liver, really before they were cooled down. Those two just about ran down the hill to the trucks while I “Campbell Ambled” down. They beat me by 200 yd. They used the time to precisely measure the trophy, which turned out at 81.5”, just under the B&C minimum. Still, it is a tremendous trophy. Unit 1 typically does not produce huge Pronghorn. I chose not to give Sam a hard time about shooting the first one we saw as I realized how much work and effort had gone into this event. While they were busy measuring, I approached the fence and remembered the awkward time I had coming in. Since they were so busy, I belly crawled under just like the antelope do and managed to do so without them seeing, which would have resulted in abuse and a really hard time. On the way out, I found that SW Meats did not have their refrigerated trailer operating, yet. However, I did call a local friend who has a meat closet and I took the critter there to fully cool down. I left the head there too as I could not reach my taxidermist to find out what he wanted me to do. After I got back home, we talked and he said to freeze it. Turns out we have a small chest freezer that was empty and just waiting for the task – just needed turn on. I invited Sam and his wife for the Friday night special at Trailrider’s of prime rib and they took me up on it. Wade had departed for home, already. Sam and his wife picked up the head from my friend, which saved me the long trip to Alpine. They brought it to our Barndominum and I stuck it in the now-cold freezer. Sam is very quiet and I figured out why. His beautiful wife is quite social! We had the greatest time. I was still full from the Carne Asada Steak plate at Aliberto’s that I celebrated with when I had gotten back before lunch. Consequently, I settled for a bowl of Clam Chowder, which is my sister’s favorite Friday night meal – we go there often. It was totally an awesome evening and I even remembered to settle up with Sam for his magnificent service. What a great day but I was drained and went to bed about 7pm after posting some pics. The story took a little longer! Psalm 37:4 Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.

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.

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.

Burned most of my vacation time in Alaska so had only 4 days to get it done. Covered in bulls everyday and this bull came on a string to some estrus cow calls. Shot him at 18 yards and again at 32. Magical morning in the elk woods. 30” dead pine he ran past after shots 👊

9 days of hard hunting in super dry conditions results in great archery buck. My son and I hunted hard for 9 days before getting an opportunity on this buck. Spot and stalk. Love chasing these things with my bow. By far the hardest antelope hunt of my life.

I was able to get my turkey on opening morning. Something different happened on this hunt that I have never seen or heard of before. After I shot my turkey he is flopping around on the ground when out of nowhere a bald eagle comes dive bombing out of the sky through the trees and lands on top of my dead turkey and starts attacking him with his talons and beak. I guess he wasn't bothered by the gunshot I had just used on the Tom. Anyways I had to run quickly to scare him off before my dead turkey flew away.

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.

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!

It was a very slow start and hot. Maybe that’s normal - I don’t know. The last week was real good and there were nice bulls around. I passed this bull earlier in the hunt because of a couple others I’d seen. But on the last day - I figured I’d better shoot if I wanted to take an elk home with me. The other non resident from Oregon got a real monster. I met a lot of nice people here and made some new friends - stayed in AZ from 8/30 through the whole hunt. My elk is all on ice and I’ll be working my way home today. It was a really great hunting experience. Thanks to everyone who had given me tips and advice. I was hiking back to my truck one day and met Vincent - while he was cutting up his elk meat at his camp.

Came to water at 12:40 pm on the last day on the Fort. First Coues with a bow. 😀

The hunting community is truly filled with so many incredible people and it has afforded me the privilege of meeting so many people through random circumstances that have become some of my closest friends! Six years ago, I had filled my muzzleloader bull elk tag and stopped by a camp to inquire how they were doing. Met two gentlemen, and helped them kill a giant 366” bull the very next day. Bryan, originally from here and now residing in Colorado became a friend that I talk to a half dozen times a year swapping stories and talking about our next adventure. In April he reached out to me and mentioned his 71 year old buddy Gino had drawn an antelope tag after applying 27 years. He had a conflict so asked if I would help him on his hunt. I was thrilled for the opportunity, talked to Gino on the phone to understand his expectations, and told him I would meet him day before opener to put together a hit list. This is where it gets interesting…I found 3 bucks that would go between 74-78” and took lots of video of each. I showed Gino and we ranked them by his preference. 1st choice was a heavy old buck that had a busted back leg. Must have been hit by a car chasing does. He was in rough shape and I told Gino only way he will make it is if he could avoid the plentiful coyotes in the area. Opening morning as it became light I immediately saw 4 coyotes in the area and no buck. My suspicions were confirmed when I found a clean carcass with just the neck and head remaining in tact. Buck #1 IMG_6871.mov We quickly moved about 5 miles away to the location of buck #2. He was a beautiful buck with long cutters and good mass. We arrived just in time to witness a hunter anchoring him in his place 1/2 mile away. Buck #2 IMG_6897.mov We moved on confident that due to the rolling terrain where buck #3 was living he may have gone unnoticed. When we arrived it didn’t take long to find him with his 14 does. A deep drainage allowed us to sneak unnoticed into 200 yards and Gino anchored him! What an adrenaline filled morning and it ended with a buck of a lifetime for Gino and a new friendship for life! IMG_6938.mov

He was fortunate

Super quiet all around flagstaff as well. Was able to shoot this bull today.

Had the incredible privilege of helping my buddy fulfill his lifelong dream of killing a Dall Sheep. He absolutely crushed it at 3 months from his 71st Bday. Best part was his son had a tag to and killed a giant 11 year old ram. Northern lights were spectacular!!!

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!

Went over to NM and got the OTC turkey tags... gobblers everywhere! Set up a hen decoy and called this Tom in on a string from the top of a ridge. Shot him at 25 yds. 10.5 " beard.

In April 2024, I was fortunate to draw an off-range oryx tag for March 2025. I’ve had a whirlwind year since drawing and timing couldn’t have been better for the hunt. With that said, we encountered severe winds with no sign of letting up, which made things challenging. With the wind gusts, everything was bedded. Due to the flat terrain, glassing for extended periods was unproductive. We would glass and go, glass and go, constantly moving. The wind gusts were so brutal that any tracks on the ground were erased, making it easier to gauge a fresh track. So we changed plans and drove roads looking to cut tracks which we eventually did. We found a group of three at about 400 yards and they had us pegged. This happened twice more with the ranges increasing each time. They eventually had enough of us and bolted. Fast-forward to the late evening, and we were able to find the same group again at 1000 yards. They had picked up another oryx, and they were now four, with only one being unbroken. A long stalk later and I had my oryx. Five minutes later, it was pitch dark. Good luck to everyone on the upcoming NM draw!

Fun morning in the desert. 30 yards. Yes, it's legal. Look up12-4-318

Got the only hit I cared about! My boy has his first elk tag, a junior hunt!

If you aren't going to eat it then don't kill them. You can stalk them but use your camera or don't hunt them at all.