Flatlander

Dude, that's a good bull. Congratulations!

Driving to school is more dangerous. Tell them you aren't going to school again until they find a safer way to get you there.

Might keep in mind that one of those threads was asking for help on the Kaibab doe hunt. Looks like a young guy trying to figure out where to start. Good luck with your hunts Christian, please be sure to post some pictures for us.

This sounds awesome.

Congratulations on an outstanding bull Jim.

Dude that last antelope is a stud. Thanks for sharing.

Finally, pics! Great bull congrats

Finally, pics! Great bull congrats

Sweet!

Got anymore pics? That buck looks better than 75" to me. . .

Awesome shot! I always enjoy your stuff . . . rap music and all.

I have been patiently waiting on the sidelines for an archery bull tag in a unit I have wanted to hunt since I was a kid. It is clear to me that I am not going to catch the bonus pass group for this unit and I want to hunt elk next year. With the hunts about ready to start I thought it would be fun to hear what tag everyone wishes was in their pocket right now. OF the following hunts, what would you choose? 17A, 17B, 19A, 19B, 20A, 20C Early Rifle Bull Peaks Early Rifle 22 South Early Muzzleloader 3B Archery 4A Archery 5A Archery 5BN or S Archery 6A Archery 6B Archery 7E Archery 8 Archery

Good work dude!

Thursdays usually work for me. Then we could have a football game to watch as well.

Congrats to Wesley! I want to get my hands on that buck so bad. Can't wait until I can see him in person. Don't let Josiah fool you folks, he is a class act and did a ton to help Wesley and I take bucks of a lifetime. You are a class act my friend.

Here is a live pick. He's even better on the ground.

Thanks MPH. I was just glad someone brought it up so I could share a little more about how great everyone was.

I am so happy you said something about this. Although I did not pay a guide, a landowner, or even a butcher one penny for this hunt; I could never feel good about claiming it as DIY. You see I received dozens of PM's, emails, texts, and calls from different folks who offered support or advice. Great friends took vacation and time away from their families to help me scout and hunt. Josiah came out on his own dime and offered anything we needed, Chuck came up and did anything I needed, Mark brought his trailer and cooked every meal and then stood by my side and offered encouragement when I doubted myself after two misses in a single night, and then when it came time to get the job done and he could see I was rattled he jumped up grabbed a pack and said I'll come with you, he and Josiah coached me the through the agonizing hour and a half between the first shot on the Legend and the last. When I had trouble with my muzzleloader three weeks before the hunt my mailbox filled up with advice on how to fix it, 5 different people offered guns to me, members called and talked me through the possible fixes. TJ sent me a text that lifted my spirits and reminded me to keep my priorities in order and my eye on the prize. This buck will hang on my wall, but it belongs to everyone who took part. Thank all of you so much, this whole experience has been more gratifying than any other I have ever participated in. There is no way it could have happened without the help and support of all of you. Thanks, I couldn't have done it without you.

On a day like today, that crossing is a death trap. I remember reading a search and rescue team members account of an attempt to save 4 scouts and their leader who ended up drowning in there during a storm. It will send chills up your spine. The flossing is why it is now closed, to my understanding.

Sorry for the wait guys, yesterday was a LONG day and I wanted to take one night to recover. I considered writing an article on this one, but with the all the support you guys have shown over the last 6 months, I just didn't think it would be right to make you guys wait. I have really enjoyed sharing this experience with all of you this summer (some of you literally sharing the experience) and I couldn't wait to come back and let you guys be a part of the celebration. After spending all of Labor Day weekend in the unit and looking over a ton of bucks, I was starting to feel a little overwhelmed with the idea of trying to judge and score these bucks on the hoof. I wanted to make the most of this experience possible in every way, and I did not want to end it early unless it was with a truly unique animal. With this in mind I spent way too much time on Tuesday and Wednesday looking at antelope field judging articles and blogs. I had not seen my number one buck in over 6 weeks, and decided to spend Thursday afternoon looking for him. I put 6 miles on the boots, and turned up several very interesting bucks, but never turned up numero uno. A few of the Thursday bucks: Friday morning I decided to go to a different part of that same area and see if I could find any other good bucks that I hadn't seen, but committed to myself and my hunting partner Mark that we weren't pulling the trigger unless we came across a no doubter. From the time we got out of the truck Friday we were covered up in bucks, but were not seeing anything that made my heart pound. When we saw this buck we agreed he needed a closer look. However, Mark reminded me that we were going to make a hunt out of this and not to get trigger happy. We scurried across a meadow to close the distance and unknown to us at the same time the buck was heading our way. We ended up 20 yards apart, and the buck had no idea we were there. I took this photo with my phone without using any glass at all. At 20 yards he was tempting but we knew he wasn't going anywhere. I called Sir Royal who had been coaching me up on goats all summer and he suggested we keep looking. Throughout the day I had been sending pics to a few friends and after I told a few that I passed on this guy, my phone lit up. One buddy even called and told me to turn my butt around and go kill that buck. I appreciated the concern, but there was another buck on my mind. We drove to a different part of the unit to check on my #2 buck who I had found over Labor Day. He was in a little known part of the unit and I was confident no one would be hunting him, so hopes were high as we headed his way. When we started glassing the valley he had been in we found this guy with the does that #2 had the week before. I decided that if he was man enough to take the does he was man enough to hang on my wall and the stalk was on . . . 2 hours of cat and mouse ensued, and soon I was at the last cover between me and them but still 50 yds beyond my comfortable range. Onto my belly I went with nothing but grass and elevation between me and the 13 bedded goats. I was able to get to 154 yds, which I knew I could shoot effectively, but the grass was too tall for my bipod and I did not have my shooting sticks. I moved to a sitting position without being detected and used my knee as a rest. Soon the buck stood to check a doe and I had my opportunity, the buck was walking to the right and as I swung over onto his chest I did n't let the cross hairs settle before I started to squeeze. The .50 cal bucked sending a sabot harmlessly in front of the buck. The goats were gone in a flash and I was ready to put my muzzleloader on ebay and walk away. All that hard work and I had failed to execute. butt we drove out of the valley Mark stopped to look at a small buck we had seen earlier about 300 yards off the two track we were on. As soon as he raised his glasses he said Andrew you better take a look. I had been staring at the floor boards while I beat myself up over the blown opportunity. I got out and put the spotting scope on what was now 4 antelope in the pasture. The second I saw him I realized that I was looking at #2 200 yds away and totally pre-occupied keeping two other bucks away from a hot doe. I grabbed the shooting sticks, Mark grabbed his tripod and we started closing distance. It wasn't 5 minutes before that doe trotted at an angle that brought her 125 within 125 yards and #2 was right behind her. This time I was sure to settle the cross hairs and squeeze. When the smoke cleared I fully expected that buck to be toes up in the dirt. No dice, we watched as he ran off after the doe for half a mile. He never slowed down. I hoped for blood but never found any. To say my confidence was beginning to drop would have been the understatement of the century. So much hard work had gone into making this moment happen, and I had blown it with poor execution. Saturday Morning Josiah (Sir Royal) decided to join us and I was excited to have a real goat expert helping me validate the quality of bucks I was seeing. At first light we went looking for the buck I had missed the night before (either of them . . .) and we had him briefly at 200 yards but couldn't get ourselves together quick enough to respond, we watched as the buck slipped two fences and into private land. He stood on the other side staring at us defiantly. I thought I was going to throw up. As we got back on the highway we stopped to look at a buck who was bedded on land we could not hunt. he was a buck we called the Legend, but never thought he would be huntable so he was never on my list. If he had been there he would have been #1 for sure. As we watched a car drove by that made the Legend restless and he and his does took off for a bedding spot higher on the hill. We realized if depending on where they decided to water, there was a chance he could end up in a spot where we could get a crack at him. Now I should tell you I started applying for this tag 13 years ago after an archery hunt, and I put in for rifle and muzzleloader only, because I did not want to ever sit a water hole again. So when Josiah suggested I go lay in the grass for 7 hours and wait for the buck, I had a minor anxiety attack. But, for this buck, I would do anything. It didn't work. It was hot, it rained, there were flies and mosquitoes and it sucked. That night we did a little homework and thought there was a chance that buck would be where we could get to him in the morning. We took a chance and set up on him at first light. By 6:30 Mark, my best friend Chuck who had joined us Saturday, and I had the Legend in our glass. Soon Josiah also had him from a different vantage point and it was go time. It was all coming together. As I prepared to close the distance Mark could tell I was rattled and asked if I wanted him to come with me. I assured him that I would feel very good about that. We slipped up and over a rise, crawling as we got to the crest, and there he was, 200 yds away and staring at a doe in the bottom of the drainage between us. I knew he was going to follow her and got on the shooting sticks. Mark gave me a range finder reading of 153 just before the buck turned and trotted a half dozen steps towards us. When he turned broadside I settled my 150 mark on his shoulder and squeezed. Before the smoke cleared I could here the whack of the 250 gr. Hornady Sabot. The buck went down in a pile and I started hugging Mark, I could here Josiah across the valley screaming and were all coming unglued. It was premature. The next thing I know Mark says, he's up, he's up and moving. As the buck was walking away I tried to get reloaded and composed for another shot but never felt confident. We watched as the buck put his head down and walked for 1.5 miles in a big circle around us. As he crested a ridge on the horizon Mark and I used the hill for cover and took off running after him. I'm 31 and Mark is a little bit older than that, I run 4x per week and somehow that guy kept pace with me the whole way. We skirted around the ridge he was on and found him standing in the shadow of a point across from us. More belly crawling ensued, and I knew that this time I had to shoot from a prone position using the bipod. The buck saw us and started to trot, but with blood running down both sides, he couldn't go far in one stretch. He stopped at 180 yards I split my 150 and 200 yard marks on his white patch and dropped the hammer. This time it was for sure. I couldn't believe it, we had taken a wold class antelope on a hunt that was known as a quantity, not quality tag. All of the reading, the studying, the calculating of draw odds, the scouting, the phone calls, the friends who had come to help, the advice, it all came together. I rolled onto my back cried like a baby, Mark jumped on me, we could here Josiah and Chuck hooping and hollering. I couldn't speak, I was shaking now more than ever. It was incredible. Thanks to all of you for sharing this experience with me, it has been the highlight of my Summer. Too many people contributed to this for me to thank here, but please know that every piece of information lead to me beign able to find this giant. And AZKiller, I was never scared to share the pics, I just wanted to do it justice when I did. The BBD post was sent from the field just after I called my Dad and Wife. I wanted you guys to know that WE did it, I wanted to share that excitement with all of you.

BBD

Still hunting and couldn't be happier.

I paid 1723 at cabelas on Thursday

FYI the shoulder and ditch adjacent to the road are considered part of the roadway.

Long day, with lots of bucks. Some really good ones. But they are all still alive at this point.