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My wife and I took our two oldest girls out this weekend for their deer hunt. My oldest is 13 now and in the past has had some very unfortunate luck when it comes to deer hunts. Thankfully this year it all came together for her and she was able to take this awesome buck at 348 yards. The weekend before I set up our steel target at 350 yards for them because to me that's about the distance most coues hunts come together, and wouldn't you know that would be the distance that this buck stood up and was feeding in front of us. Mama and I were pretty stoked for her and she was about as excited as a 13 year old gets over things these days! Those smiles say it all.

We had such a great time on my son's first big game hunt. The youth camp was AMAZING. Everyone was so nice. They were so willing to donate their time to help all the youth have a successful hunt and the food was delicious. My dad was able to go with us on this hunt but he is used to hunting near Flagstaff in the pines so this was very different for him. Opening day we went out by ourselves just to see what we could do. We got a few pointers from the people at camp on where to start. My dad was not used to glassing he is used to hiking with little glassing. In 22 it was all about glassing and little hiking. We saw a couple white tail doe but nothing else. Day 2 we decided to have a mentor go with us. (He was amazing!) We were able to get on a couple bucks in the morning but they were already being stocked by two other hunters but we waited to see if they would come our way. The two othere hunters missed 6-7 times before the deer even ran the opposite way. Others are missing left and right. My son was getting discouraged because he couldn't even get a shot. I gave him a pep talk and he was ready again. Sunday was the last day we had our mentor. Same thing happened we glasses a buck and by the time we were ready to stock someone was already shooting at him and missed. We went back to camp dropped our mentor off ( he had to get back home) and grabbed a quick bite. We went back out by this time it was HOT we knew they would not be moving around so our best bet was to hike and jump one. We walked a couple miles up and down ridges and were heading back to the truck when a velvet spike jumped out of nowhere. We got my son set up on his shooting sticks by this time the buck was on the other side a ridge and moving fast my dad whistled and it stopped and looked. My son said "I have a shot" we told him to take it. 300 yards away, 1 shot dropped him where he stood. I was so proud of him. I am grateful my dad was able to be there and to pack that deer out a mile back to the truck 😜. I am grateful to our mentor and wish he could have been there to see it and i thankful for everone at camp that helped with whatever they needed. Now we are in Flagstaff helping my other son fill his cow tag.

This was my son's second youth tag in SE Arizona. Last year was a 34A tag and he fell in love with chasing Coues. He opted for 35A this year because a good friend of ours who took us out last year knows 35A much better and Jacob really likes our friend. Learning from last year, we practiced out to 300 yards with his new scope on his Savage 111 youth in 7mm-08. With my supervision, Jacob has put together all of his own loads for this rifle, using Barnes 140 gr TTSX. We hunted hard Friday in the heat. We saw 36 does, 12 fawns, and four bucks, including an absolute monster Coues buck. It didn't work for that buck due to distance from us with a ton of open ground between us, private property nearby, and then busting him out of an unexpected area on our way to another distant buck. That second buck didn't work out either, and Jacob learned why they are called "The Grey Ghost". I earned "Dad of the Year" award during our lunch break when we realized the fuel canister for my Jet Boil had about 10 seconds of fuel in it. I offered him my semi-warm MRE to be fair, but Jacob opted to eat his Mountain House spaghetti cold, and ended up liking it. We hiked a little over four miles in the heat and not so rolling hills of SE Arizona yesterday. Jacob carried all of his own gear this year and switched with me when I carried his rifle to give him a needed break. He carried the heaviest pack he's ever carried and never once complained. He's the type of kid that has to dance around in the shower to get wet, but he's tough as nails. Proud is an understatement. Saturday morning was harder to get up, but we did it because you can't fill a tag laying in bed. We switched gears and went to a spot known to hold bigger bucks, but not as many overall deer. I've been sworn to secrecy, so I can't say where we went. As we were approaching our first glassing spot, we noticed two white tails flagging up and over the ridge across from us. The lead buck was another brute. We quickly set up and started glassing while Jacob got his rifle set in the Triclawps. Within 10 minutes, we had two bucks feeding across from us at 315 yards. We were as close as we could get, so I looked at Jacob and asked him how comfortable he was. The calm confidence he responded with told me everything I needed to hear. Of course, the bucks went behind the treea dns started feeding away from us and down into the next ravine. We watched them come back out and started ranging them. Jacob was waiting patiently behind his rifle. When the bucks finally presented a shot, they were closer to 375 yards. I gave him the shooting solution, he adjusted his turret like a pro, and he settled in to wait for the opportunity for a clean, clear shot. I'm extremely thankful for Lance talking me into downloading and setting up the Shooter app. You rock, Lance! As the bucks were moving, our good friend and mentor took over coaching Jacob and I knew instantly he was in good hands and didn't need me beyond calling turret corrections and spotting the shot. Through his Taekwondo journey, I've learned to let go as a dad and trust in him and others to keep him on track. As soon as the bigger buck opened up and presented a broadside shot, Jacob hit him hard, but not hard enough. Our friend coached him on what to do when the buck stood back up. When the follow up shot presented itself, he remained extremely calm and sent the finishing round back out to 375 yards before we were ready. I was fumbling with my range finder to see if Jacob needed to change his turrets. He knew what was needed and didn't hesitate. Fortunately, I was able to jump back behind my 15s at the shot and watch the buck roll down the slope perfectly into a tree. If not for that, I'm not sure we would have found the buck. Jacob showed amazing control, composure, and (most importantly), confidence. My friend and I are impressed and proud beyond words. It took forever for the buck to finally die. We'd watch it twitch its tail and kick its leg and then be still for 5 minutes. Every time we thought it was dead, it would twitch its tail! After 12 minutes of not moving, we figured it was dead and formed our recovery plan. We had to hike across to the point where the buck was down, which was no easy task, either. Our friend stayed put and kept eyes on the deer while we got above it to see if another shot was necessary. Five minutes of staring at the spot with no movement told me everything we needed. The steepness of that slope is not justified in the pictures, but I'm thankful the hike back to the truck was downhill. After pictures and gutless field dressing, my friend and I split the deer between the two of us, and Jacob carried the head. Going out heavy is an amazing feeling and Jacob, although tired and sore, showed the world and, most importantly, himself exactly what he is made of at 11 years old. And, yes, we should have had orange on Jacob, but he forgot his hat and was walking between us, so we were comfortable that nobody would do anything stupid. On top of that, this area really only has one ingress/egress, so we weren't worried about other hunters in the area. Jacob says now he's only hunting Coues in SE Arizona, although he may try a carp deer once just to say he's done it! What have we created?? And, of course, we had to hit the DQ in Eloy on our way home after an unplanned potty stop! We also need to give a HUGE shout out to azlinetrash769. He helped us with the Triclawps that Jacob used, which helped him extend his range and keep steady. Jeff, you are truly a wonderful person and we are blessed! Now for his 24-hour black belt test this Friday/Saturday. I hope to see some of you there if you're in Flagstaff! Jacob watched so many parallels from this hunt as they apply to his upcoming black belt test. He's stronger than he realizes and integrity and perseverance are everything! And sorry for the upside down pics. I don't know why some come out that way and the others are right how they're supposed to be.

Last year, Bubba was skunked for both deer and Javlina. Because his sister has take a few animals, he really wanted to enjoy some success this year. We started glassing at 6:20 AM and almost immediately, he spotted a group of 4 bucks. We watched them work their way closer to us for almost an hour. It looked like 528 yards was as close as they were going to get. I had the boy get prone, We dialed the scope on his heavy barreled .243 up to 525. First shot was a miss (high). Second was a hit, but the deer was still up. It took two more shots and the deer went down for good. We had to cross a steep and thick wash to get to the animal. I was really wishing I had another person to keep an eye on the spot that the deer went down and guide us to it. When we got to where I though we should be, nothing. We spent 90 minutes searching for the deer. It was Bubba that found the first sign of blood. Once we were on the blood trail, we found the buck 15 yards up the hill. The original spot where i thought we should be looking was over 150 yards away. We managed to get the boned out meat and head back to the truck by 1:00. I am so proud of my son, for keeping calm while shooting at a live animal. He has practiced on milk jugs out that far, but never an animal. I am also proud of how he did not show any frustration when searching all over for a downed deer that seemed to disappear (at least not as much frustration as I was showing!) And finally, I realize that I need to get my plump fanny into better shape If I want to continue to hunt with him as he gets older.... I am exhausted!

Got back from the 22/23 youth deer camp and I have to say I was very impressed with the camp!! Everyone from the AMDO, AZG&F, the mentors, and the camp cooks were awesome! This was my youngest son's first big game hunt and he drew unit 22. He wanted to go after Coues, but our plans changed after we got to camp and hooked up with another young hunter and a couple of mentors. So we headed off to a spot they heard about in mule deer country. Opening morning were glassed up some does and a spike that went over the ridge they were on, so we decided to make a big circle around to get a look on the other side. As we get to the top, to our surprise we jump the deer further up the ridgeline than we thought and the spike presented a shot but Kam was not ready and he ran off and we could not find em again. That evening the other kid (Jacob) made a stalk and shot at a tall 2x2 but missed. Next morning we were glassing the opposite side of that same ridge when our mentor picked up two small bucks sparing up the same ridge from us 300 to 400 yards. Kam decides to go after them so we walk along the top to where we last saw them, but they are gone. So we drop down to get on the next one. Just has we start to crest the top, I tell Kam to get in front of me and get ready, I made that mistake a couple years ago. We get to the top and Kam shouts "dad" and buck pops out of the next little cut I saw it had antlers and said shoot him. Kam shoulder's the rifle and realizes the front scope flap is still down, he lowers it flip it open aimed, and just has the buck realized he needs to move Kam fires. I didn't hear the whack but I see hair fly and he kind of lunged forward. Efren our mentor buddy said you hit him. So we crept up and he was still alive but down, so Kam finished him off. What awesome thrill! Kam was pumped his first buck! We get down to him and realized it was the same buck his fellow hunter missed the day before! It was a standing 55-60 yard shot, I was proud that he kept his cool and did everything right. Needless to say I was pumped for Kam taking his first game animal! Now he is 1 up on his brothers! We couldn't do it would the awesome help of the camp mentors that came with us, they were awesome dudes and a huge help to not only us but other youth hunters, one of them help skin 4 deer back at camp! Huge Thanks to Efren and Gilbert

My son drew the early 33 Jr hunt. Took him out of school on Friday to go on his first hunting trip. Glassed up a nice 2x at about 0730. I thought to myself that would be a good first deer for my son to shoot. I then noticed this guy lurking in the ocotillos. Trying to be calm I told my son he may want to shoot this deer instead. He has been talking about this hunt everyday since.

It all started with the credit card update and then the morning check to see if the cards got any hits.Boom $650 hit on the card and now the waiting game began to see if it was the wife or I that grew the bison tag. Weeks later and I find out I am the one that drew the tag and the homework began. Started watching every video I could find on bison including everything the game and fish had for us.also sent out a few pm messages to catfishkev and idgaf. They both handed out info on the hunt and catfishkev was gracious enough to let me jump on is bandwagon and use his trail cams that he had. politics up there made us come to conclusion it would be best to have our own information. catfishkev made the first trip up to place trail cams. He placed 6 cams on different locations. My turn was next and I headed up with my dad and son to meet up with another hunter that catfishkev new and we checked cams and went over the pics for the start of his hunt which started sept 13th. After viewing the cam pictures we learned that we had a lot of bison coming thru different locations with some at night and some during day. The other hunter took that info and just couldn’t make it happen during his hunt. i also Sent the cards to Kev so he could view them and also see what the bison were doing. Seeing this cam pics made the weeks before my hunt even longer and to top it off I was unable to make it for opening day and weekend for my hunt. From day one of getting drawn and looking at graphs of herd movement and what time of year the herds were moving to different places from there gps collars I had my eyes set on the east side of the unit. All the cameras on the east side said different and that the bison just were not there. I had e mail game and fish to ask about any information I would be missing on the hunter meeting that takes place night before hunt. I got an e mail telling me I didn’t miss much and was told over the last week or so there was some movement on the east side. 5 days into the hunt and I arrive on the plateau worried I would not have a place to hunt. Went to the east side and checked out first spot. Cam didn’t work but there was very fresh sign that wasn’t there 2 weeks before. Decided to sit there for evening sense there was not any other hunters. Sat from 3 to dark and only saw deer. On way out I stoped at another camera location and man had that place changed. For over a week there was bison at that location everyday and nobody was there hunting them. That night I reviewed the cameras and saw there was a guide checking cams too that day and he had placed a ground blind in the location due to what he saw on cam. That morning I get to location and there is nobody there and I had the spot to myself so I thought. Hour into sitting with sun up I hear a truck driving up close. Said to myself no way is somebody going to walk up on me after seeing my truck. Few minutes later I hear foot steps hour after sun up. I look over and see it’s a guy my age and an older man with crutches. Start talking to them and find out that the hunter Dan is a wounded warrior that received the tag a week prior to hunt. He had met up with the Guides up there and they had sent him to this location. After I found out he was a wounded warrior and he had a hard time getting around I decided I was going to leave the area and let them hunt it telling them that there are bison coming in everyday. They turned and looked at me like I was crazy and asked me to stay which at first I was still going to leave still but then decided to stay and hunt with them. Told the wounded warrior to take the first shot if anything comes in and i will see what happens after. 0930 comes around and they are at 90 yards and closing. The heard came In and it was a mad dash to the water then the fight for the first licks of the salt. That’s when the real stress started and had to try and identify a cow bison out of the herd. I can hear the other hunting trying to figure out which one to shoot and I was doing the same. Boom they take a shot and the herd scatters. son jumps out of there blind and says well he shot let’s go look for blood. As he was doing that I decided to Pursue the herd and I went around a clump of aspen and they’re were standing there 80 to 100yards away. I dropped to the prone position and put my crosshairs on the first bison I see. She was starring right at me facing me for what seemed like an eternity. She then turned broadside and one shot dropped her in her tracks. I guess the east side of unit was calling to me because that’s were I made it happen. Turns out the wounded warrior missed his shot and didn’t get a bison down. The wounded warrior and his son stayed with me after my harvest and helped me break down the animal. I couldn’t tell them enough how much I appreciated that and if they were not there I would be having one heck of a time getting it done. I gutted her and flew back to camp to get my saw and my dad to help out. The whole time the other hunters stayed to watch over my bison tell I got back. We finished the bison and his son help me load everything into truck and I was back to camp. Long drive back to gilbert to get meat taken care off and hide and head to taxidermy. all in all I had an amazing time from start to finish and I met some great people along the way that were very helping in every way I could imagine. I am very grateful for being able to harvest a bison and share the memories with others. Catfishkev without your help I am pretty sure it would of never happened and I thank you. hope you all enjoy the long read! And catfishkev and idgaf thank you both again. trail cam pics are location I harvested my bison plus I threw in a nice deer! All cam pics are from catfishkevs cams that I was lucky enough to be able to share with him

Thanks to the Arizona deer association for hosting a great camp. Met a lot of cool people up there. Opening day was windy and cold. I froze in our tent the night before, it was miserable. We were cold, tired, etc. saw nothing. next day the bulls were fired up. We got in on them early, but my son missed a 60 yard shoot. He shot 5 feet over its back. that afternoon we were gonna sit water, but they started screaming again. We left the water and chased them down. Son made a great shot, drilled her and she dropped. Crazy packout. We drug her to the highway, which wasn’t too far, then hiked back to the 4 wheeler and then drove back to the truck. We drove the truck up to the highway and then loaded her up, traffic and all. headed back to the ada camp for a steak dinner.

Cow down last night! Hopefully another tonight.

Daughter got drawn along with her school mate/life long friend for JR deer in unit 33. The hunt started at the end of their school fall break so we only had Fri, Sat and Sun to try and fill tags. Both being freshman in high school was going to be an act of god to have them miss any school, (I was the complete opposite). I signed them up to participate in the JR deer camp put on by AMDO being held at the Triangle Y camp, but we weren’t going to make it until Saturday midday because we had our sites set on hunting the front side of Mt Lemmon Friday. Base camp was in Bigelow but we hunted Molino Basin opening day. Got on a couple of bucks but couldn’t seal the deal, drove down the backside from the top on the control road that evening and spotted more bucks but lost them closing the 800yd stock. Woke up at 4:30 Saturday morning, broke camp and parked at Prison Camp for an early hunt prior to going to the JR Camp. Got hillside at 6:45 and buck was down at 6:55. Dropped deer off at WGP and made it to the JR camp by lunch time. Unfortunately we couldn’t get her friends tag filled but she had a blast and the jr deer camp was top notch fun, all kids won raffle prizes some (not ours) even went home with new guns. And the JRs were slaying really nice bucks. I got two more JR tags in late Nov, hopefully a trifecta!!!!

Thomas was able to take his 3rd cow in as many years on opening morning. We were able to spot a group of elk within just a few minutes of glassing about 800 yards away. After closing the distance to 333 yards, crawling the last 10 yards, we were able to get into a shooting position. We couldn't lay prone or use a pack. Our only option was to take a standing shot because we were in some thick Manzanita. We set up the 6.5 Creedmore on a tripod using a triclaps and shooting sticks to get rock solid. Boom cow down at 7am opening morning. Big thanks to Thomas's uncle Adam aka BigBrowns for helping out with this hunt. Very blessed to have some great hunting buddies.

She filled her tag opening morning. My son was there to help and scout for his hunt. He has a 33 tag starting December 13th. So after she killed her buck, we went into scouting mode.

Yes, diplomacy would definitely stop 2 groups that have been fighting for a thousand years.

we got a call Yesterday from her 1st time we talked since the initial Hostage call they make when they arrive at boot camp. she completed the Crucible sat. in 11 weeks Ive seen a chin a nose or forhead in pictures and wasnt sure it was her. today this was sent to me via txt. we go to her graduation next week and bring her home for 10 days. Final Drill picture this afternoon. went from this to this.

Yes its the biggest machine gun shoot in the USA, knob Creek. The news claimed the had an embedded reporter and this was live footage from the turks blowing up the kurds. Bad part is a ton of people and our government believed it.

Bill did a roof for me (including some plywood and facia replacement) in Tempe. Quite reasonably priced and excellent worksmanship!

Didnt know ford started making SXS lol jk.

well whatever Penance I had to pay in the Walmart parking lot was worth it because I got it done a couple of hours on opening morning. Pics and story later but for now we are making a b line to unit 23. Hoping for the ultimate hat trick weekend baby!!

Lets hear more about "excellent " condition. Missing eyecups, inside cover on the bridge, lenses look like they were cleaned with a piece of sandpaper.

If you vote third party it is a guaranteed victory for the dems....Ross Perot.....

What planet r u on? His approval ratings are going up even with this fake impeachment crap. He's keeping campaign promises and could do a lot more were it not for Rinos and a communist Congress. Conservative judges are being appointed. Tax reform has led to the hottest economy in your lifetime. Industries are moving back to the USA. I heard yesterday there is more industrial space under construction than ever in AZ history. The EPA has been hamstrung. Trade deals that favor the US for a change are being signed and China will be forced to play fair. The usmca is ready to be ratified but the Dems don't want to bring it to a vote. They'd rather have the US lose than Trump win.

I know this is an old post but i agree...most goat mounts look horrible. Clay did mine the year before and it was awesome. Similar base.

Nice job Dave. Just so you guys know Dave felt so guilty he got one and the wounded warrior did not. But he was there first and they didnt show up until after sunrise. He also offered to leave And they told him to stay, and when He decided to stay still gave them dibs on first shot opportunity (which could have cost him his shot). They missed, he gave chase and filled his tag. I pretty much told him empathy is a good thing and more people should have it. But he has zero reason to feel guilty. Dave, you are a man of character and you deserve that bison. Congrats dude! I'm super happy for you!

If you are available today or tomorrow, I can slap it on, mount the scope, and bore sight it for you. Have all the right tools. Mounted probably 100 or so scopes and bases over the last few years. R700s are easy. Cost you a 12 pack of Redbull. PM me if you are interested. I am up near Sportsman's Warehouse area, I-17 & 101.