bigorange

Smoking deal on the camp chef and the cabelas cot. Where are you located?

I noticed the same on mine the first time I wore them, but improved with break-in after a few miles on them. Nothing noticable now.

Great write-up. Thanks for sharing. Congrats!

Cats fan, but man that's really cool. Enjoy the visit and hope all your hunts are going great Chris...

This would make a really nice Christmas gift! Nice!

Awesome! Congrats to the kids and great job getting involved and helping out!

Nice couple of bucks! And an excellent welcome home. Love the typical muley and all the character on the coues. I've thought about putting in for a hunt on post, but have never tried to wade through the rules and paperwork. This post may have pushed me over the edge to look into it more seriously for next year...

Reminds me of a story I read in Outdoor Life when I was a kid called "Dinner Bell Bears"...specifically it was about grizzlies responding to gunshots expecting to get a free meal.

My buddy has a used pair of these and loves them. He never lets me use them though, so I can't give a personal opinion. Looks like a good price though.

35B HAM, no turkey.

Better than what mine says about elk. I'm one who's said all along that they'll be posted by the mail-out date. (At least that's how I try to keep myself sane) Guess I'm a liar this time.

It’s taken longer than I wanted to get this posted, but here we go. It’s been over 20 years since I’ve killed a deer. After about 15 years not hunting due to college and early career moves, I finally got back into hunting several years ago. Despite several close calls of my own and several friends having success while I was with them, this was my first AZ big game animal and first mule deer. What better place to make this happen than the Kaibab. Our hunting group decided to put in individually this year and apply for Kaibab tags and late December coues tags down south. When I saw the AZGFD charge on my card I thought it was probably my first or second choice Kaibab tag, but wasn’t sure. Either way I couldn’t wait to find out. Reality hit when I saw that I had drawn an October Kaibab tag. Dreams of monster mulies ran through my mind and I even contacted a couple of guides to find out their rates. I decided to go DIY and began making plans for scouting trips and my hunt. The reality again struck that I had drawn a Kaibab tag and the sheer distance from home which would make scouting trips difficult to schedule due to work. Fast forward a couple of months and my work schedule didn’t allow any scouting trips, but thanks to a lot of great folks on here (you know who you are) and the unit manager I had a great plan in place with plans A, B, C, D, and maybe E laid out. I also had 2 of my hunting buddies Steve (elkhunter1) and Daniel taking time off work to go along and help me. What a great group of guys. Due to work schedules, we planned to leave early Saturday morning and set up camp then hunt the afternoon. What an amazing drive to beautiful country. But a long drive! We found a good campsite right where the unit manager and a couple of others recommended and went to check out a couple of recommended spots. Driving into one spot we see a forky maybe 20 yards off the side of the road that doesn’t even seem to mind us being there. Wow…this is going to be easy, right? Of course being the first evening I passed this buck, but it was great to already see deer and more importantly a buck! After checking out this area that we intended to hunt Sunday morning, we went to another area that had been recommended for evening hunts. Several meadows converged near a waterhole and looked like a great spot with lots of deer sign, but no deer that evening. Sunday morning we’re back in the same area we had seen the forky…still hunting through partially burned area with a lot of thick aspens where I was advised bucks would often bed down. Had a great day exploring and hunting this area and saw several groups of does (lost count we saw so many), but no bucks all day long. Not even small bucks. Maybe this isn’t going to be so easy after all! But that’s why we call it hunting, right? Monday we decide to switch tactics and hunt the burn where we’d been hearing quite a few shots on Sunday. We know this is a popular area to hunt, and expect it to be crowded with other hunters. We find a nice looking area and work our way onto a ridge to glass. After several hours of glassing and seeing no deer we decide to move to another ridge. We’ve already packed up our binos and tripods and are getting ready to move when a decent 3x3 steps out maybe 100 yards below us…spots us and takes off. We should have been quiet even though we were getting ready to leave. He drops into the thick bottom out of site and we start glassing again. We spot him again working up another ridge and disappearing into a thick stand of new-growth aspen. We move over to that ridge to get closer and he has of course disappeared completely. We sit down and glass the other ridges for a while. I decide to take a break from glassing and rest my eyes (the best naps are always on the side of a ridge under a nice shade tree ). Daniel wakes me up telling me they’ve found some bucks for me to shoot…awesome! Steve and Daniel have spotted a decent forky, a smaller forky and a doe that soon bed down. After several moves, I finally am at an angle where I can get a shot but the deer don’t cooperate very well. The doe and small buck get up a couple of times to feed, but the bigger buck is bedded behind a log with part of his neck visible periodically. After waiting these guys out for a long time I decide it’s either time to shoot or time to move on since we’re losing daylight. I don’t want to force a shot on the bigger buck, and don’t want to shoot the smaller buck so we decide to back out. On the way back to camp we decide to take out our frustrations on some squirrels and end up with a tasty addition of roasted squirrel for dinner that night. We ended up hunting right behind camp until dark, and saw another CWT member linked below (who apparently ended up getting lucky later in the hunt) drive along the meadow as well as several does right at dark. We’ve lost count of all of the does we’ve seen so far. http://www.coueswhitetail.com/forums/topic/53354-cw-sticker-at-kaibab-deer-check-station/ Tuesday we decide to head back to the same area of the burn since we’ve seen the most bucks there and this will be our last full day to hunt. We haven’t been glassing long when we hear deer behind us…a group of does less than 100 yards away but no buck. Then Daniel (who by now I’ve begun calling Ole Buckeye since he’s spotted every buck so far) spots a buck silhouetted walking across the top of a far ridge and works his way onto the bottom of the ridge in front of us. This ends up a nice 3x3 who is on the move and never stops…we never see him again. Not too much time passes and Daniel spots another buck working its way down the same ridge. I get set up using the roots of a downed tree as a rest and Steve ranges him at 290 yards. I’m not messing around since I’ve missed a chance at a couple of bucks on the move and this is my last day. I let a 130 grain Barnes TTSX fly from my .270 and it hits the mark. The buck runs maybe 30 yards and stops behind some brush. I hadn’t seen the original shot hit due to recoil so I let another fly (apparently missed due to the brush or my excitement) and the buck is gone by the time I get back on the spot. By this time Steve has told me that my first shot was good with a classic mule-kick result out of the buck and that I shot so quickly he wasn’t even set up for video. I’m just glad to know I connected on the first one. Ole Buckeye spots him bedded down maybe 20 yards from the second spot. By the time I finally locate him (great eyes…all we could see was his tail flicking every once in a while) he moves to where I can get another shot at his neck/shoulder area. Before I can get him in the scope for another shot he rolls head over heels and I know he’s done. We can see plenty of blood where he was bedded, and he gives his last kick. We give him a little time and gather up our gear…packs and binos that we’ve left in the last several spots as we were moving on the buck. Picking our landmarks, we move over to the buck and I’m overcome with all kinds of memories of previous deer, thoughts, and emotions. After some handshakes and high-fives we get him into position for some pictures, tagging, and begin to discuss the pack out. We’re pretty close to the road, so we decide to use a pole and carry him out after gutting him. In hindsight with all the downed trees we probably should have quartered him there, but it is what it is. After the pack out and visiting the deer checking station (haven’t been to one of those since my last deer years ago hunting my uncle’s farm in Tennessee), we spend the afternoon skinning and butchering the buck, and then enjoying fresh backstraps and our first deer heart on the grill. Steve also grilled up some awesome javelina steaks and we topped it off celebrating with some Gentleman Jack. Overall a wonderful end to a great hunt. Not the monster Kaibab buck that I'd been dreaming about, but I couldn't be happier. We're pretty sure that this may be the same buck that I had bedded on Monday and couldn't get a shot and backed out. I’m very thankful to all of the folks from this site who gave me pointers and starting points for my first (hopefully not last) Kaibab hunt, Steve and Daniel for going along for the ride, my wonderful wife and kids for making it possible for me to get away for this hunt, and my almighty God for creating such amazing creatures and beautiful countryside that we’re so blessed to be able to hunt. Thanks for reading this and allowing me to share the great memories too.

So you are aiding and abetting the illegals? Trying to keep them from rooting around trying to find things.Not a bad idea. We always leave our coolers in the back of the truck so nobody busts the window to get to them. I'd rather they take what they need than break into the vehicle hoping to find something.

That's a wheelbarrow full of bone! Nicely done...congrats!

Updated today with more pics and story

Regs say that the tags will be mailed out by next Fri, so hopefully we can count on next week. You never know though.

Tagged out 10/28...now waiting on Jan 1. Might make it out a few times before that to help my buddies in Dec though.

I don't recognize this pack, but we have an older Kelty internal frame pack (Tornado I think) that is great! I'd be hunting with it if it wasn't purple.

Great buck and video. Thanks for sharing!

Well said. We could all learn a lot from PatrickJr.

Backcountry Bowhunting is a good one...someone grab that one too!

Was out there Sat with my buddy and only saw a couple does. Haven't heard from him yesterday or today. Too bad on the wind...doesn't make it easy finding them. Good luck!

Have same scope in BDC. Really like mine. Good price on good glass.

Apparently very one missed Lark's first rule which pretty much ended the discussion.

This hunt started last year when 4 of us decided to put in together. We drew leftovers for the early November hunt in a unit where one of us had hunted before. After some good tips on the forum and pre-season scouting we had a great time camping and hunting on a cold, windy hunt with every type of precipitation imaginable. After arriving in freezing rain and quickly setting up our borrowed popup camper, we decided to set out on the ridges near camp. Within a mile of camp on the first morning we had spotted a nice buck, but lost it before we could get a shot. That morning we learned a couple of valuable lessons…when you have 2 radios and 2 rangefinders in a group of 4, make sure they’re evenly dispersed when you divide up into pairs…the pair that spotted the buck had no rangefinder and both radios. We finished out the hunt spotting another nice buck in the same general area but also lost that one before getting a shot. Elkhunter1 came down on our last day of the hunt and helped glass and showed us a couple of other areas, but still couldn’t get it done. We went home empty-handed but had a great time and learned a lot on that first hunt. Cumulatively we had very little hunting experience between us. All of us were basically new hunters except me, and after 20 years out of the game I might as well be a new hunter too. Whitetail hunting out west is a lot different than the whitetail hunting I learned in Tennessee! This year due to work schedules and life in general none of us had time to do any scouting, so we decided to go back to the same area since we had seen a couple of nice bucks there last year and no other hunters in the immediate area. We chose the late November/early December hunt thinking that the 2 weekends available would make for more opportunity. Little did we know that family schedules with the holidays and work schedules would play havoc with that plan and we were lucky to get out for the first weekend. One of our group was sick in bed all weekend, so 3 of us took advantage of a generous friend’s cabin near the area (big improvement over last year’s popup camper ) and headed down for opening weekend. Saturday morning found us in the same familiar area as last year looking for bucks. It was an unseasonably warm, sunny day after a full moon so we expected to have to find bedded bucks. After a long morning of glassing and hiking we enjoyed lunch and a short nap in a shady spot on a high hill. We had only one doe to show for the morning’s efforts. After weighing our options we decided to work our way back toward the truck, glassing along the way and time our arrival shortly before dark. At our second glassing spot of the afternoon, I hear Cameron on the radio almost immediately that he has glassed a buck. Knowing that we’re not 100 yards apart I look away from my binos and can see the buck with naked eye right in front of me in the open. I get the binos on him while Cameron tries to set up for a shot. Cameron is having trouble finding the buck in his scope and it keeps wandering in and out of view…then decides to bed down. Luckily I’m watching when the buck beds down, otherwise we might never have seen it. You can see part of the head and antlers in the clearing just left of center, sticking up above the branch coming out from the tree to the left. Close-up…can see the antlers a little better. Cameron and Daniel have now both set up for the shot and the waiting game begins. As I’m watching the buck I texted our sick hunting partner Drew, elkhunter1, and a couple of other hunting buddies including one of the close-up photos. Lots of advice and encouragement coming back and we appreciated it. According to the text log the buck bedded at about 3:30. We waited over an hour as the buck fed and looked around from his bed. I could tell he was a pretty nice buck from his right side which I could pretty clearly see and the glimpses of left side when he turned his head. I didn’t tell Cameron and Daniel what I thought, since I knew this would be the first deer for either of them and I didn’t want to add to the nerves or excitement. I can hear Cameron and Daniel discussing who will shoot and taking turns resting from staying in the scope. I’m doing my best to keep my eyes in the binos in case the buck moves even though by now my phone is going crazy with all the return texts of encouragement and wanting to know details. About 4:30 I see the buck’s head move forward and the rear end start to rise…I know it’s time so I tell the guys to get ready to shoot. Clear broadside shot as he stands up…I hear one shot…nothing. The buck is still standing there and I’m almost shouting to shoot again…nothing. What felt like an eternity and fearing the buck will disappear at any moment and finally I hear the second shot and the buck drops in its tracks. At this point I have no idea who shot but I am yelling that they got him and am still watching in the binos to make sure he doesn’t get up. At one point I see his head come back up and we get ready for another shot, but it isn’t necessary. Now I tell Cameron and Daniel how nice I think the buck is. It turns out that Daniel shot first and then couldn’t find the buck again in his scope. That was the source of the delay on the second shot…finally Cameron took the second shot and dropped him. The hit was a little back, but destroyed the spine so the buck dropped on the spot. A few inches higher would have been a miss and a few inches lower would have been a gut shot and a potentially difficult track job. But no worries…a good hit and the buck was down! I spotted for Cameron and Daniel as they hiked over to the buck and walked them to the spot. Then I quickly made my way over to join them. This nice 3x3 is Cameron’s first deer, but we all agreed it was a team effort and felt like it was “our” buck. Now the fun began…neither Cameron nor Daniel had ever been involved in caring for a downed deer before, and it’s been 20 years since I’ve field-dressed a deer. Needless to say I’m wishing I’d paid more attention to quartering instructions or the gutless method videos as I’m thinking about the ½ mile hike to the truck. Not wanting to risk screwing up a quartering or gutless job, we plunge in with a “good old field dressing” like I learned on my uncle’s farm in Tennessee. Funny how it comes right back to you even after 20 years. Not the greatest or fastest gut job ever, but we got it done just in time to haul the buck out in the dark. Luckily we’d walked these ridges enough that we knew the way and just had to pay attention to the boulders and thick brush. Made for a very interesting hike out and stopping every 50 yards or so to rest and re-assess the route to make sure we could make it through the obstacles with the deer. We hung the deer overnight since the temps were in the high 30’s and Cameron drove it into town to the processor on Sunday. Daniel and I hunted Sunday and glassed another nice buck in the same area, but couldn’t get a shot before he disappeared. I had to get back to work on Monday, but Cameron and Daniel hunted all day Monday and Tuesday morning trying to find another buck for Daniel. A few more does and some Goulds turkeys were all they managed to glass up. This was a great hunt with great friends. I’m very proud of the team effort and our first buck…I’ve always said that I’ll let the other guys shoot first because I hunt archery and they don’t, so this hunt is their only opportunity of the year. Both of them have returned the favor and gone along on archery hunts with me just to help glass and have helped me on a couple of really close stalks. This is why I hunt…the success of the hunt has nothing to do with bringing home a buck. It’s the great friendships and great times had in the outdoors. I can’t wait for next year’s hunt with this great group of guys. Sorry this is a bit long. Thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoyed it as much as I enjoyed writing it. Bradley