Kilimanjaro

thanks guys.. he's sore as a board today, but he'll be back to his 'ol knuckleheaded self in no time and ready to do it all over again!!

what a season already!!

Scottyboy, that is your best avatar yet! Love it I prefer the classification of BIGASS 3x3 with kickers...personally! I just try to keep all you hooligans on your toes!! A little change is good for a laugh or two every now and again!

I knew it.. .. that guy IS crustier than two week old white bread.

that makes it the 4th year I have officially forgotten to put in for the spring hunts... every year I tell myself not to forget and every year someone makes a post about it the day after it closes and it reminds me!!! I want to turkey hunt at least once in AZ!!

Gambels and Scaled quail need good winter rains to have a good hatch. They need that boost of Vitamin D from the little sprouts of new growth to set off the mating season in Mar.. As we know, it was the driest winter and spring on record.. that, in turn, will reflect on the numbers of birds seen in the field this season.. Mearns on the other hand need good monsoon rains to have a good hatch. They nest in July and Aug and somethimes even Sept. Hence the later opening date for the season on them. It just gives them time to grow up! And as we all know, it was a SUPER monsoon season down south.. there should be plenty of them down in the grasslands this winter for sure.. And where there's good Mearns numbers, you should see this quite often!! Look familiar Casey??

nice pics guys! Ya'll should be able to put a hole into one of those bucks come this fall!!

Looks like a good 3X3 with a few small stickers on it.. but I don't think i would call this buck a 4X7.. thats a little misleading if ya ask me.. but still a really nice deer!

thanks guys.. RR, the wife is ok with going to MT as long as its not forever and we eventually get back to TX before we are too old!! I just want to go up there and spend 5 or 6 years and then head home.. Just long enough to hunt a BIG.. muley, WT, elk, loper, bighorn, RM goat, Shiras Moose, and lion!!! And then throw in these every year to ease the bird hunting problem I have... Sage grouse, Sharp tailed grouse, Hungarian Partridge, Chukars, Pheasants, Blue grouse, Ruffed Grouse, and Spruce Grouse just for good measure!! And then spring Merriam turkeys.. and fly fishing in the summer... Yep, MT sounds better and better every day!! Couesaddict, your brother in law is in what we call in the BP... paradise! And thats exactly where I want to go!! No more groups of over 100 every night, no more Mexican Millitary watching you while you watch them in the middle of the night in the middle of the desert, no more living cities swarming with them, no more auto theft, you get the picture... and you're actually liked in the community where you work!! No one giving you the 1 fingered wave when they see ya coming.. And for what I paid for my house here in AZ, I could get one helluva castle in that area of MT!!! Sounds like paradise to me! But man, I'll miss those coues deer and those little Mearns birdies!!! But it's still a long shot, but I'm keeping my fingers crossed! Someone's gotta go! And I'm not going anywhere!! no matter where I move to!!

Well, I just put in for a transfer with my career.. Right now, its a pretty low chance of getting a slot, but hey, I'll never get one without putting in for them .. I just think its time for a change from AZ. 4 years was enough for me.. Great place and I have no complaints or regrets, but it's just getting too crowded here and I can only see it getting worse. Also, its just getting out of control on housing prices and taxes. Cali is creeping into this state at an excellerated pace.. I'm also just plain tired of 95 degree Novembers!! I think I'll miss the Mearns hunting more than anything, but hey, I can always come back and hunt for a couple of weeks in the fall if I draw something and throw in a little bird hunting as well! I just think its time for a change of pace and scenery and weather for 5 or 6 years THEN I'll head back home to TX!! I'm ready to get back to some small town living.. When we get to put in for transfers with my job, we get to put 5 locations on the app.. I thought long and hard about the places and have come up with these and wanted to see what you guys think of these locales.. the first 3 are in MT and I went ahead and put the other 2 are back in TX as a standby. . I eventually want to go back home, but just not quite yet. Why go home now when I can live in MT for 5 or 6 years and hunt my butt off!! Anyways here they are.. Havre, Shelby and Sweetgrass.. Have any of ya'll spent time in these locales before? Good areas to live? Good for the wife as well? Decent people in those locales?? Good big game and upland hunting in the areas?? All very important to a person who has never lived in MT. .. Just wanted to see if any of you on this board have any expiriences with these areas of the state. I have been those areas a time or 2 in that part of MT, but visiting and living in an area are 2 very diff animals.. And I know it'll be cold up there in the winter, but hey its a trade off I'm willing to deal with for awhile. Just wanted some third party perpective. I think I'm ready to point the truck north and not look back for awhile!

Thanks guys.. Just wanted to see if any of you had been in that neck of the woods before.. I've only been to that part of MT once before and thought it was very laid back, but never thought of living there till I got a job with the BP.. It's still a long shot I'll even get one of the slots, but someone's got to get them and I figured why not me! Now its just a waiting game!

I think I'm more ready for quail season to start.. these mutts of mine are driving me crazy!! They are READY for season to start!! Should be the best Mearns season in a long while.. but the Gambels and Blues will have to do till that season opens.

nice bull!!!

everyone knows there aren't any coues deer in 36C..

I wear Danners everyday at work and have nothing but good things to say about them. We get a bew pair every year fro work and I've never had a pair quit on me in the course of a year of hard use.. I have also worn out a couple of pairs of their Canadians as well. Great boot and I will buy another pair one of these days.. I am currently breaking in a pair of Meidel Ibex. They are a bit less comfortable than the Danners, but I'm hoping they will break in and be a good boot.

Well, I made the trip back home to west TX this weekend to lend a hand for my buddy Kev on our annual pronghorn hunt.. unfortunately, I didn't have a tag this season.. I spent all my moola in Africa this summer and couldn't afford a permit this season!! Anyways, we found several smoker goats on the ranch we were on. We found 2 that were totally different in shape, but would each score about the same. One was a goat that was almost straight up and had very little hook on the end and the other was a more of a classic heart shaped goat. We looked at a ton of others, but these two were the best we could find. So, with that said, Kev decided to try and find the heart shaped buck again. We found him and looked him over once more. Kev then decided this was the goat for him .. And what a hunt it turned out to be! We found them in a bowl on the side of a small hill and put a stalk on them. We had them at around 150 yds, but the ocotillo was just too thick for a shot and the does took him outta there in a hurry. We watched where they were headed, got on another stalk and soon found ourselves being pegged yet again by the does. This time from over 500 yds. We just sat down and watched this 'ol buck chase these does all over the county trying to keep them rounded up. He was being run ragged. Finally, they went over a little rise and that gave us the opportunity to get up on them a third time. this time, we had them below us at about 200 yards. The buck was still busy rounding up the does when we found him. I ranged him right at 200. And the little .223WSSM barked and the buck dropped. After the high fives and such, we realized that the herd had taken us more than 2 miles from where we started!! It was a great goat hunt! After the goat was taken care of, we tried to find an aoudad ram for me. We went up into the moutains, and saw plenty of sheep, but didn't see any shooter rams. But the good thing is that we can sheep hunt there anytime we like so it wasn't too big of a deal that we struck out this trip. There will another trip this winter for a ram.. All in all, it was a great weekend! We got to hunt some good goats in some great country, chase a few aoudads around and see some old friends... And best of all, I secured me another goat tag for next season with the landowner!!! And here he is... thanks for lookin'!!

AZP&Y, no hiking yet.. It's still just too hot down here. Supposed to be 96 or 97 down here today. Is it ever gonna cool off?? It was cooler in the summer around here than it is now. When it does, we are gonna hike Rincon Peak. Its the last major Tucson Peak we have yet to climb!! I think our next big outa state peak is gonna be Wheeler Peak in NM again. I did it back in '99, and it was a great hike, so we are talking about knocking it out again.. Glad to hear you're still out there pluggling away!! And that the weather is good up there for ya! thanks for looking everyone!!

those guys on the on the other forum who said thaey wouldn't shoot this buck are full of it! I would take him in a heartbeat!! Awesome buck and congrats to your bud.

youngbuck, all I know about the loads Kev was using in his .223WSSM were the bullets.. it was those BarnesX triple shocks.. don't know about the actual loads. sorry. bowhunter, we saw a few herds of Javies in the area each day we were out. Plenty of the stinky little boogers out there. there are also some hogs in the areas east of where we were. More irrigated country to the east. I know some landowners out in the Alpine area that have TONS of javies on their ranches.. And it usually takes me right at 6 hrs to make it to this area of TX from here in AZ. I meet Kev in El Paso ( he lives there) and its about an hour east of there. Not too far. Plenty of good goats and muleys in that country and not far from there (45 mins), its good country for sheep.. both desert bighorns and aoudads..

no pronghorns in that part of TX.. You'll find goats in the panhandle (up north) and out in the the Trans-Pecos area of TX (out west)... And some of those areas are known for producing some gagger sized bucks in good years..

I'd be game! I've met a handful of guys off the board over the last few years. . It would be fun to finally put some faces with the names I've become used to seeing... Let me know when and where and I'll be there!!

swaros.. period.

very nice bull!!

Thought some of you might want to see the final outcome of Kev's coues buck.. I finished painting it tonight. I am headed to El Paso in the morn to Kevin's and I'm taking his goat and deer to him. Hope he like's how his mounts came out!! Cuz if he don't, he's gettin' the beat down!! We are headed out goat hunting and then onto some good 'ol auodad hunting in the Glass Mtns in Alpine, TX for a 5 day weekend. I'll let ya know how we do!! How do ya'll think he came out??

very cool!! Congrats!! One of these days......