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So FINALLY I am getting around to writing up the story from my late 22 hunt. I gave a few updates as I could and then life has been crazy since the kill date of Dec 24th. I will give a full writeup soon but for now I want to throw up the pics with a brief story for a buddy. Getting to the point, we hunted HARD from opening day up until 9a.m. with only taking one shot at a 450 yard shot that was rushed beyond belief. I wasn’t discouraged because I passed up enough 90+ inchers in hopes of a monster but on the 24th I wanted a buck to take back and show off on Christmas. I was me and 5 other people out that day and we were up on a great glassing spot since daylight. About 10:15 we decided to move on the mesa we were on and get some new country to glass. Not 15 minutes later we had three bucks in our glasses. Two 3x3’s and a massive 2 by. Immediately I wanted to get at the 2 point just for his character and how unique and heavy he was. Well I got up on a rock to use as a shooting rest just as he bedded himself and a doe in some nasty thick cedars. We tried getting angles but no where could we see them. Waiting impatiently in anticipation of Christmas, we discussed our options. Finally I opted to just wait it out and see if he will come jump the doe soon. So we waited for 35 minutes, just after 11, before we saw movement. It was over 400 yards away but we could see the does hooves. Then all of a sudden she jumped and the buck was somehow right behind her. As she took off he paused for a split second underneath the cedar and I let the 150 grain rip. Immediately the animal dropped dead in its tracks. Everyone went crazy as it sank in all out hard work paid off. We walked down to the beauty and this is what we saw…

well weve tried scoring it and to be completely honest we are having one heck of a time. so far we have had four independent scores done by friends, guides, and ourselves and all have been over 120 averaging about 124 but i dont want to give a green score let alone one thats not done by a official scorer so for now im just sayin 120+

Thanks much for the kind words everybody. just a little interesting fact, My Dad has been following this buck for 4 years and has the pictures that prove it. He also has tried to bag it for the last 2 and has been unable to. so aside from the score of the buck, it has a lot of sentimental value which means so much more

I second that. I too was in the Mazatzals this December and i only spent one night there and froze my a** off. I am definately going to continue taking a stove during winter months as well

here are some of the side shots

I had to shoot through it in order to get to the buck before he chased after the Doe. I thought it was pretty cool lookin

some more...

Here are some more pictures including 2 taken through the 15 Swaro's

Thats just it though. They have been going to that ranch for 5 years straight and never bagged more than one 105 incher a year. this year was just exceptional. Must be those new hormones and steroids i read about ;)

We were out glassin today and spotted a white toyota parked near our trucks about a half mile down a hill, we had driven the quads up. We thought nothing of it a drove further up the road heading to another knob to glass new terrain and kinda felt bad for the guys behind us but we were first after all. Anyways we get back an hour later to the truck and our quad ramps were stolen out of both trucks!! It was just a frustration crime because the toyota had a camper shell and no quad was going in that bed. We couldnt believe it! Just twenty minutes ago we were all excited cause we bedded a rutting 105 way up the hill and were headed to get some food for lunch and come back to no quad ramps. Luckily we were able to park the trucks on a bank and lift the quads in and drive 15 miles to get new ramps but they were 200 bucks A PIECE! I think its absolutely ridiculous that a fellow hunter would do such a thing. its not like we were making a racket or doing anything bothersome we just got there 40 minutes before them and they were pissed. I thought hunting was one of the last relatively safe communities but i guess this just goes to show there are no gurantees. Anyways to the facts so you guys can hopefully keep an eye out... We were in Unit 22 south of payson near jakes corner. The vehile was an early 90's toyota single cab pickup with a matching white camper shell. Oh and the men in there werent even kids they looked 30+. unbelievable. Feel free to chime in and rant about comparable instances so i can learn just how skewed my view was. Keep a lookout and lock your belongings!

So we just concluded our 6th straight day of huntin them gosts and i gotta say im hooked. I finally get into town and get some internet, looks like some good bucks have already been taken. Its my first coues hunt and has been an absolute blast. We've passed up some amazing bucks in search of 2 shall we say, monsters. Passed up a legitamate 98 to 100 inch 2x2!!! It was an absolute monster with huge mass, a great spread, and super deep. Other than that we have seen two mountain lions stalk and attack a couple of does just a few hundred yards aways which was a blast but also killed the morning hunt for obvious reasons. I have so so many stories already and i still have four more days to go, if needed of course. So we just bedded a real big non typical tonight that is probably a mile up a HUGE mountain that has no roads. The plan is goin there real early and look for the 5 does he was ruttin real hard and hopefully it will lead us to him so we can size him up when its light and start the hike. Troy (Goodie on here) is comin up to help with the glassing, he is the most lethat guy i have ever seen with a spotting scope. Im hoping we will have enough eyes, and swaro's , to glass this guy up and hopefully get a shot. In all we will have myself and four other guys to help me out. Oh and on a side note ive been wearin my new CW shirt every day, im sure it reeks but i heard it guarentees a 120 right?? So congrats to those who have harvested and good luck to those still out there, hopefully i will be able to write again soon with a full story and maybe some kill pics. And for those of you who helped and knew about my new swaro 15's they are workin out perfect! And i also got the camera adapter so i have some great shots of deer, mostly does, from the binos which i will post with my buck i bag Wish me luck and ill talk to everyone soon!

Somethin special is going on in 22 right now. Ok BIG update... Went out today and wanted to head north but couldnt due to foul weather, and i mean foul. rain and sleet and snow cominby the sheets. so we went down south and still got soaked and muddy but i was bearable. saw 8 bucks and a bunch of does all rutting real hard all morning but Ty Goodman and myself decided to head up north around noon as the weather had started to break. We tried an old "secret spot" Ty had up his sleeve that was in the absolute middle of nowhere. it took us an hour and a half to get back in there and it was a mud bog the whole time. we couldnt find his glassing lookout so we settled for a nearby one we thought and started to glass an hour before sundown. in all honesty we were kinda put down by the weather and then not findin a great spot to glass. so we glassed for half an hour and found absolutely nothing, further downing our spirits. as we were in our swaro's Ty tells me that this is the kind of place that you wont see a whole lot but if you do its probably gonna be big and a good chance a "knarly" non-typical. Not 10 minutes later we see our first movement and naturally its Ty with the find. Here's a little something like how it went, just half an our before dark. "I got a deer" "Its a buck" "Its BIG" "Wait its a monster!" " Holy S*** he's HUGE!!" "It's the biggest buck i've EVER SEEN!!!!" after that he became literally speechless and couldnt spit out a word to save his life. I have hunted with Ty and many other big time guides and never have i seen anyone this excited about glassin up a buck. I frantically started panning the area he was watching but couldnt find the buck and Ty was far to involved in his buck to help me find it. He says its running! its chasin does! and not 30 seconds later he was around the saddle and gone, a 45 minute hike if we ran. As he went over Ty threw my binos on the saddle and said dissect every tree and make sure he doesnt come up the other side. So i stayed glued in my glass straining my eyes with all my might yearning for a glimpse at this supposed mystery monster. While this was happening my heart was beating out of my chest and all of a sudden my mud soaked, freexing body became steaming hot and all my discomforts vanished. In the mean time Ty could not stop talking about the buck. now i know, as most do, that Ty has been at the Coues game longer than dang near anyone and has a collection of them rivalved by very few so when he said it was the biggest he's ever seen i knew something special must be going on. So we got back just now and made some phone calls and will have 7 people out there tomorrow and sunday lookin for this guy. unfortunately Troy (Goodie) and his buddy Eddie (Don't know his name on here but the guy knows Coues dang well) wont be up Sat but hopefully Sunday. So here's the the best details Ty can give on the buck with only 30 seconds view at 1600 yards... 120+ with stickers looks like a mule deer rack its so wide and tall 17" wide Super heavy Very very tall points (Don't know if 3 or 4 by) 17-18" main beams For those who have read the post about the Junior hunter that whacked that monster he says this one smokes it. Aside from the buck, we have had a great past two days. saw does fighting for the fist time ever. they reared up on their hind legs and started striking echother with their front. one got hit so hard she fell down and shook her head a bunch before she could get up. We have also passed on some good bucks yesterday and today (Thurs + Fri) two that would get me into the 100 club but still i hold the trigger. The funny thing is i want a big buck more than anything right now but the time i am having is far greater than any buck i could harvest. Don't get me wrong i WANT a monster, but these last 8 days I've realized the real trophy is in the experiences you share and the harvest is just further evidence of your fantastic time. I have been fortunate enough to have 6 people come and go on the hunt just to help me. that included Troy Goodman and his buddy Eddie driving up from Phoenix just for the day on two different occasions. Its these kind of things that really allow me to appreciate the hunting lifestyle and how it is so open and helping it is. I'm a coues hunter for life. So ill stop this long winded post with a good luck to all hunters out there and i will post tomorrow on news on the buck. oh man what i would do to see this guy

haha ya we already got two guys runnin dogs goin out tom to the spot, im sure theyll snag at least one. and i have glassed up 3 lions in just 6 days. ive never seen so many in my life.

tryin to get some shuteye before my buzzer rings at 4 a.m. oh just 5 hours so close... yet so far. And to help it all out i can feel the new Swaro's staring at me at the other end of the room! :(

Just bought a "vegas Gold" shirt. Hear if you wear it while hunting your guaranteed a buck as big or bigger than the one on your back

Never gone wrong with Cabelas...

i'm thinkin the same thing...

So i finally got me a pair of 15 swaros on the way with the outdoorsmans tripod and jim white head but i need some input for the adapter from the bino to the head. i know swarovski makes on as does outdoorsmans and they even sell a different one on this site. so basically im after some opinions on them to try and complete my dream optics setup

Well just got back from Phoenix where my optics setup finally came in! swaro 15 Slc New's Outdoorsmans med tripod Outdoorsmans pan head Swaro Adapter Its so crystal clear and sooooo light and i thank you guys for recommending some of the products although i opted for the outdoorsmans pan head because i got all their stuff at cost so i couldnt justify the Jim White although i would have liked buying it from here.. In typical fashion i forgot to take pics of the setup but i surely will on wednesday when i go back up there to leave for my unit 22 hunt :P So thanks again for the advice everyone and cheers to all going out on the late hunt this week! -Cory

ahahah ElkHunter thats too funny. Im gonna have to get a pic like that next week while huntin them ghosts.

hahaha and best Xmas card of the year goes too.... CooseFan

Bump gonna pick up 3 t shirts for me, my dad, and uncle from you guys.

ya and i forgot to add the SLC News come with a camera adapter with it! oh man swarovski just keeps gettin better and better Oh and I would like to blame my empty bank account solely on CW.com and all of its members that made it impossible for me to stay away from Swaro's. I expect full reimbursement for my losses... ;)

oh man am i ready. havent sept good in weeks thinkin about this dec hunt. Good luck to everybody, i cant wait to come back and see all the trophies people will harvest

ya i saw that. it was one of those "hey i know that guy online" moments haha. i was just in trophy hunter this month also for a bull elk. out of curiosity what did yours score Younghunter?