azcouesandelk

Before I dive into the story I need to thank a lot of people for the help on this hunt. When they found out I drew an early rifle tag they all jumped in and helped out in a big way. It truly amazes me how great of friends and family I have that they are all willing to drive from all over the state and take time off of work just to help me. Tyler, Rob, Jay, Jeff, Matt, Jesse, Josh and of course my dad. Without all of you this hunt would not have been possible and we would not have had such a great time! Now onto the story... Imagine the surprise when seeing that $135 charge on my card back in March knowing either my dad or myself drew an early rifle tag in one of our favorite units or I possibly drew one of the most coveted archery tags in the state. Waiting the next couple weeks was brutal to say the least! When results came out we found out that I had drawn the early rifle tag with only 5 bonus points!!! Talking with friends that knew the unit well we discussed areas to focus on and realistic expectations. Going into the hunt I knew the opportunity to harvest a great bull was possible, but I wanted more than just antlers on the wall. The expectation was set that we were going to have a fun camp and if a bull better than my last or something unique presented itself I would attempt to harvest him. Leading up to the hunt I was able to get around 8 days of scouting in and was feeling confident with the quality of bulls I was seeing. The Tuesday before the hunt came fast and my dad and I were on the road to setup camp and do some final scouting. After camp was setup Tuesday I went to an area I had not scouted yet in hopes of finding a potential shooter and boy did I. Within a couple of minutes I found an amazing bull and watched him the rest of the night. I ended up going back and watched him all day Wednesday and Thursday also! The plan was set that we would have eyes all over the valley and ridges to locate this bull and hopefully get me a shot opening morning. Opening morning came and everybody was in place about an hour before light. It was an eerily quiet morning as we sat waiting for first light. Rob and myself moved in to the ridges awaiting the call that they had located the bull. The entire morning was spent looking in his bedding areas and rut areas in hopes he would show. Sadly he never presented himself and we backed out that morning in hopes that he would show that afternoon. We went back early in the afternoon and got setup again with spotters all around looking for the bull as Rob and I sat in a cut I had seen him feed through the previous 2 evenings. It did not take long before we got the call that they located the bull nearly 2 miles from us. We packed up and made a beeline to where he was. We ended up working up the ridge and setup approximately 600 yards from where we found his cows bedded. Now the wait began! We sat there with the cows looking in our direction periodically for nearly 90 minutes before he decided to stand. We watched him push a cow into an opening at 575 and I setup for the shot. I wish I could say the bull dropped in his tracks and the hunt was over, but sadly I can't. I ended up pulling my shot and grazed his back. We ended up tracking the bull on minimal blood and his tracks for a long ways before he bedded. In his bed was only a dollar size spot of blood and after that nothing! The entire second day was spent searching the area on the ground and with guys on hills glassing in hopes of turning him up with no luck. Sunday morning we decided to have 2 guys sit and glass the area where the big bull was and the rest of us would go looking for new elk. It did not take long and we had a mature bull located pushing a group of 5 cows. We bailed off the hill and booked it across the flat in hopes of heading the heard off. As we were pushing across the flat Rob saw his antlers in the cut to our left. After looking at his top end through the 15's I told him if I had an opportunity to harvest him I would. We continued across the flat to head off the bull when we saw his antlers again, this time he was a mere 175 yards out! I set up while Rob watched through the 15's. We could tell at this point he had a twisted pedical and broken or weak G3 on his left side but it did not matter to me. The bull presented itself after a couple of minutes and he went down. As we walked up on the bull we realized that this was an old bull that had amazing character! The fact that everybody was still in camp and able to be a part of the harvest made it even more special to me. Again I cannot thank everybody enough for everything they did for me on this hunt. One day I will be able to make it up to each of you!

Fried heart and eggs. One of the best breakfast you can have

Congratulations again on an awesome bull!!! You put your time in and it paid off in a big way!

Starting to look at some digital SLR's and wanting some input on what make and models everybody is using along with pros and cons. I don't have an exact budget in mind, but am willing to spend the extra cash to get what will work best.

Where are you located. I'll take the magazine

I believe that bull was killed on the Jicarilla. Absolute giant bull!!!

Aren't you to old for youth javelina?

The updated list is a day behind. If you look at the date on top it will say updated 8/2 for today

Got lucky and got my 5th choice

No need to worry yet. There are still tags available they just haven't pulled your app yet

Looks like some people are able to see leftover results on there portal accounts now. They must be uploading them as they go this year

Who really cares if it scores 410 or 425?!?! That is a giant bull that was harvested. It will probably be one of the largest taken in the state this year.

There are still great deer in there, but over the past 10!years I have personally seen the buck tondoe ratio dwindle. Still in the right areas we will have 10 buck days

They should be out sometime next week. Normally a week after results are posted

No leftovers this year sadly

I got a hit for $90 from Bank of America so I know that my two kids that I put on the same app are drawn. However, I put myself in for a hunt that I should be guaranteed to draw and I haven't gotten hit for the $45 yet. Making me a little nervous...Thought you were guaranteed that draw Kenny?Hope you get it Thought I was. 8 points for 3c Based off last years data you should have drawn. Only 1 of 12 people with 8 or more points did not draw last year.

My best buck from January 2013 off the San Carlos

Still my favorite and most memorable hunt. http://www.coueswhitetail.com/forums/topic/11178-2008-fatherson-success/

Check out sportsmans concrete. Great folks and big time hunters

Dang I missed it this time. I wanted to win 3 in a row!

Applying for the draw this year we had high hopes that my dad would get a Gould’s tag since he had 17 points. Going into this hunt neither my dad nor I have ever hunted Gould’s or have been turkey hunting in over 8 years due to waiting for an opportunity to hunt these birds. We both had quail hunted the unit many times over the years, but had not set foot in the unit for several years. Thank you the Rob and Tyler for helping out with more recent information on where to find birds! We got down to the unit Thursday morning to setup camp and try to locate some birds for opening morning. We spent the entire day checking water sources in an area that I wanted to hunt. Only problem was we were not finding any fresh sign at all! For the last hour of light we opted to go into a new area that we have heard held a good amount of birds. We overlooked a big valley and listened until dark without hearing or seeing a bird. Opening day we woke up and decided we would go the big valley we were at during last light due to the amount of roosting possibilities and the stories we had heard of the birds in the area. We parked the truck well before light and before I got out of the truck we had 3 birds going off around us. We got everything ready and headed toward 2 birds sounding off about a 1/4 mile away. We setup and started to call right before light and had the birds fly off the roost towards us. After playing cat and mouse with the birds for over an hour we could not close the distance on them and backed out after the shut down for the morning. Hiking out it hit me on how I missed this area in southern AZ. While hiking back to the truck we found an area that was tore up with tracks and strut marks. This gave us a plan for the afternoon. We setup that afternoon not hearing any birds, but we knew we were in the right area with all of the sign and the birds being in the general area that morning. After sitting for an hour we got a response and the bird was within 200 yards. I keep calling and never got a response from the bird again when all of a sudden there he was 80 yards away looking at our decoy. He never gobbled again and ended up walking away. Day 2 started off the same with birds sounding off all around us. Again we chased 2 birds through the valley getting within 60 yards several times but no shot opportunity available. We ended up going back to the same area that we called in the bird the afternoon before. The wind was howling and it was a slow evening when we decided to back out with about 15 minutes of light left. As we were loading the truck I heard a gobble way down the valley so we headed up the ridge to try to locate the bird. We setup and started to glass down the valley when we located 2 birds already in there roost about a mile away. Knowing where the birds were roosting we worked our way in the next morning and setup about 100 yards from the gobbling birds. As we sat there waiting for light I let out a couple soft calls and the birds responded instantly. Waiting a couple more minutes for shooting light I called again and 1 of the birds flew off roost and landed right in front of us. He ended up walking into 20 yards and my dad was able to lay the hammer down on him. This hunt far exceeded our expectations and was an unforgettable experience. This was my dad’s first turkey and one of the first hunts that he and I were able to share with just the 2 of us in quite some time.

Unbelievable spring you 2 had! Love seeing the amount of time you spend in the with your family. You are doing it right Phil

My dad has a newer 2500 with the Hemi in it and it does really well. Only thing is when towing don't expect to get over 10 mpg while towing

Yessir that was us.

Don't know the exact live weight, but he dressed out at 17 pounds. He had a 6 1/2" beard and only 1 spur that was 1 1/8", looked like the other had been broken off.