Coach

I had it done at least 10 years ago and it was one of the best things I ever did. I spent under $3K then (around $2700). Over the past few months I've noticed that my eyes are not as sharp as they used to be, but I was told that my eyesight would change over time naturally. I'm still not wearing glasses or contact lenses. I highly recommend it. J

I definately agree that G&F is going off the deep end as of late. First they destroy any reasonable chance of drawing a December tag while at the same time obliterating the herds by over-issuing tags for November. This of course *pushed* many hunters to start sitting treestands over salt since that was about the only way left to hunt trophy coues. Now they plan to take that away??? Others have hit on another really good point. If they do enact this, there will be A LOT of previously law-abiding hunters who finally decide that their own code of ethics are more palatable than a series of senseless, contradictory rules put fourth by a money hungry organization that is either trying to destroy hunting in Arizona or just doing so out of sheer incompetence.

This may be a good chance for those of us who have been disappointed with G&F decisions over the past few years to write some letters and make sure he knows exactly where we stand. It seems that a lot of "constructive criticism" has fallen on deaf ears, but maybe with some new leadership in place we'll get a little better response.

Congrats Gino! Great way to end the drought!

Now that's a test drive!

Awesome! Great job on your first archery pig! I'm glad you and your dad could share such a special time.

What a gorgeous buck!!! Congrats!

What an amazing buck. Gongratulations - you definately have a knack for trophy coues with a bow - Great job!

WOW - I am absolutely floored. What an amazing deer. Thank you for sharing the story and pictures with us!

Great buck! Congratulations!!!! Hope you get a big one in MX.

Alright guys, can somebody PLEASE get permission and post the pix???? I'm dyin' here.

Wow! That's one heck of a "first buck"! Congrats!

Yep, I agree from that angle it does look a lot more like a muley than from the first pictures. Nice buck regardless, and those other 2 are super bucks also.

I agree on the "way over 110" comment. That is a kong and it looks pure whitie to me.

Great job!

I also remember this thing circulating 6+ years ago and being outed as a wood carving.

Nice triple. Great job guys.

Thanks Gino! The new set up is a Savage 14 Classic in .300 WSM. It was part of a limited production run with dark oil finished wood and matte barrel/action. So far I really like it - a little heavier that what I'm used to Still have that howa unifred in the box - I've been looking for an aftermarket youth stock for it. Good Hunting, Jason

I was fortunate enough to draw a December tag this year, but it was for a unit I had never hunted. As luck would have it, a friend of my dad’s was going to be hunting in there with his in-laws and invited us to join them. My first trip into the area was opening weekend and I saw a lot of bucks chasing does, but they were all forkies and spikes. Both hunters in the party I was camped with tagged out on nice bucks (I’ll see if I can get permission to post their pictures), but the best one I found was a large 2x2 and I was holding out for something a little bigger. After Christmas, I returned hoping the big bucks had moved back in to take over the rutting. Unfortunately, there was far less activity than I had seen the previous trip, and again all the bucks I was finding were small. The big 2x2 was still trying to tempt me but again I decided to hold out. The next morning, my dad and I decided we needed to change tactics since we kept seeing the same small deer each outing in my primary area. We ended up hiking out of camp and glassing some country we had hunted briefly before Christmas. After about 20 minutes of glassing from our first set-up we found 6 does hanging with a small forkie about a mile away. By this time, I was wondering if there were any mature bucks in the area – how could this little scrub have a such a harem? I decided to give the area behind us one more pass while I came up with a plan for the afternoon. I immediately picked up some pigs with piglets and decided to try to get some photos of them through my spotting scope for my wife (she loves baby anything). While snapping pix of the pigs, I noticed some deer had shown up also while we were busy studying the forkie way off in the distance. It turned out to be doe with a fawn so I started snapping pix of them as well. Then out of nowhere, just above the doe and fawn a third deer appears that is clearly a buck. At this point, I was just hoping for any decent 3x3 or better and a quick look through the swaros confirmed that he fit the bill. I ranged him at 356 yards and set up for the shot. He stood quartering away from me like a statue for long enough to take a nice relaxed shot. At the recoil I lost sight of him through my rifle scope, but I saw him running down hill for just a second and then he was gone. Dad confirmed it was a good hit as he had watched the whole thing though his spotting scope. We got to where we had last seen him and sure enough he was piled up under a tree. The shot had hit perfectly just behind the ribs on the left side and exited just behind the front leg on the right. I’m still amazed he didn’t drop in his tracks – man they are tough little suckers. He ended up being a nice 3x4 with a double eye-guard on one side. He’s not a monster but definitely the biggest buck I saw on this hunt. I want to thank Bill L. for turning us on to this area, and Brandon and Ladd and their crew for sharing their spot with a couple of strangers. I also want to thank my dad, Dennis for all his help. And some pix of the doe and fawn and the piglets...

With your track record, I'll be surprised if you don't have your 08 tag filled by end of the month! Good luck Gino.

Those are some great looking bucks! Congrats, and thanks for sharing the story and pix with us.

Awesome buck! Congratulations!

Great job - that's a dandy buck! Spot-n-stalk archery coues is an amazing feat.

Congratulations on a beautiful buck! He's a stud fo sho.

Typically, I've always seen heavier rut activity starting in the last week of December, but I was out this last weekend and the bucks were definately in full rut mode where I was hunting - In fact it was some of the most obvious rut activity I've ever seen. Unfortunately all the bucks in my crosshairs were little guys, the biggest being a large 2x3. Here's hoping the big guys will move back in and reclaim their does!