k-rub

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.

You know, stuff happens while hunting. I was 20 yds back behind my hunting buddy. He was only able to see 1 bison because of the way the blind was situated. It blocked the other two bison. He was able to take the first one and then I was able to come in and take another. Everything happens for a reason and I'm not mad at all. In the end it all turned out great. 158 hours is a long long time. I'll bet that tested your patience to it's end.

Thanks man! It's been a wild ride. Since February last year I've been in the field over 120 days. I love every second of it. Yep I got my ram back and it's on the wall. I did a euro. Yeah I know everyone will hate me for it haha. But I truly love euros the best. I'm definitely doing a euro and tanning the hide for this bison. IMG_1799.heic

Thanks everybody! It was pretty unreal. I'm still thinking about it every day since it happened.

***SOLD*** I just harvested an awesome desert bighorn in the Cabeza Prieta. I'm doing a euro mount so I have the full sheep cape for sale. 10yr old ram, 15.25" bases. Let me know if interested, I am pricing this to sell quickly.

I've tried both and Magview is better hands down. I have the Magview adapter on my 15s and it fits perfect.

Thanks Elkman. Yes to being a veteran. I like euros the best, especially this ram with the red horns will look killer with a euro. If I end up not selling the cape I may do a mount with replica horns.

Looks like 150ish

I just harvested an awesome desert bighorn in the Cabeza Prieta. I'm doing a euro mount so I have the full sheep cape for sale. 10yr old ram, 15.25" bases. Let me know if interested. IMG_1518.heic

It sure is!

Thanks fellers! I posted the whole story right here:

I figured I'd share the story of how it went down. It was pretty amazing. I had the opportunity to hunt desert bighorn sheep in the Cabeza Prieta wilderness of AZ. It was an incredible experience that I will never forget. The Cabeza is rugged, austere and dangerously beautiful. The only thing that really exists out there are the iconic desert bighorn. This story is filled so many nuanced connections between amazing people. From the moment the original hunter decided to donate the tag to me because he got Covid the hunt was meant to be. People that I didn't know I came from everywhere to help me make this a reality. I literally could not have done this without them. And for that I am forever grateful. When I hunt, I'm not the person who is always chasing antler length. I always have "the quality of the hunt" in mind. It's about the experience. This experience was among the best. In previous years of hunting I've had hard earned lessons, I've beat my body up and I've learned to deal with the frustration of failure often. On this hunt everything went perfectly. It culminated when I was able to harvest this 10yr old beat up and broken warrior at 220yds off the desert floor. I had prepared myself to climb on my hands and knees up these steep 1000' cliffs to make it happen. Instead it all happened at the bottom. I'm still in disbelief. The original hunter had 29 year's worth of bonus point for sheep in AZ. I've only been hunting for 4 years so I assumed I'd never hunt sheep. 2 days before the hunt he gets covid and donates his tag to me through Outdoor Experience For All. I was floored and quickly accepted only to find out that 46b west is a wilderness walk in unit. I called the preserve and they granted me access to drive in because of my prosthetic legs. I got out to the area a week after opening with some great dudes helping me. We glassed and saw some good rams over the next few days. On the 4th day we went deep into the unit and spooked3 rams that winded us when we got to the glassing knob. The rams went up a mountain and were not huntable for me. We backed out and drove a ways to a valley to glass. We glassed up those same rams a long ways a way from where they originally were. They ran up a mountain and down the other side then ran over 2 miles across the desert floor to a whole new mountain range. They were laying at the bottom in the sand when we saw them. I made a mile long stalk in to 220yds. Wind was perfect and we dropped into a wash bottom to cover movement. When I got there we couldn't see the big one but the second biggest one was in sight. I was considering taking that ram because he was pretty good but a little younger. Then the bigger on stepped into sight and I was able to take him 20" off the bottom of the desert floor. It was absolutely amazing.

All good man no issue on my part.

Thanks fellers. It was a heck of a hunt and I'm dang lucky to have been able to pull it off. It wouldn't have been possible to do without so many great people helping me.

Hey everybody, I'm finally able to announce that I'm starting an archery shop in Tucson. I ended up acquiring Bull Basin Tucson and as of 15Nov it will be renamed to Stick Sniper Archery. Come check it out sometime if you are in the area. We are on Instagram and Facebook as Stick Sniper Archery. Our long term mission is to grow the archery community in southern AZ. Below is an intro video about us. https://vimeo.com/640596023

Same staff. Same location. Should be business as usual with a focus on archery growth in Tucson.