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Thanks be to God, I was blessed to kill my second archery bull elk at 10:00 AM on Wednesday September 20, 2017. 30 yard shot, double lung penetrating both sides. Watched him die within sight. He only made it maybe 75 yards tops. What a thrill and an incredible blessing! He is a perfect 6 point on one side and a freak on the other with a sword and a club dropper. He won't score very well but he is very unique and I didn't hesitate for a second to shoot him! I left Yuma on Friday morning, knowing I was going to miss the morning hunt. I was committed for the full season so one morning was not going to make or break my hunt but the anxiety of missing opening morning was brutal! Met up with my cousin in Surprise and continued on our journey to 7 West. Had camp set up and we were ready to head out for the evening hunt. Not much action at all but did see a black bear hauling butt up the hill. Jumped him at 30 yards. Started hearing bugles from camp Friday night so we were really excited for the morning hunt. Saturday morning is what elk hunting dreams are made of! We heard bugles from all around camp so we decided which one to chase while drinking our morning coffee and having some breakfast. We got into them right away calling in a satellite 5x5. He came in under a hundred yards but just not close enough. Calling brought him in but he didn't see what he was looking for so he got impatient and left. Kept following the better bugle up the canyon until we spotted him up on the opposite ridge with his herd. Nice 6x6. Made a plan and got across the canyon. Got in close to a few cows, probably about 55 or 60 yards. Knew the bull might come collect these cows so prepared for a shot. Sure enough the last cow started making her way towards the others. Soon enough he came screaming after them towards me. Heard him glunking so figured I was close enough. Wrong, I misjudged the yardage and ended up getting TWO shots at him but missed bad low. He was at least 15 yards further than I thought. Nice Start! The next few days were much like the first but no shots. Got close to the elk almost every outing, just not picking the right ridgeline or getting winded when we were in close, typical elk stuff when you are hunting with a bow. The one part of the story I don't want to leave out is who I was hunting with when I killed my bull. Tim and Jeff from Wicked Horn Outfitters were guiding a Wounded Vet who received a donated tag in my unit. Fellow Coueswhitetailer LV2HNT (Tom Wagner) who organizes these Hunts for Heros through Arizona Elk Society told me to call them before the season just to talk elk since I had never hunted the unit. Nice chat but didn't think much of it. On Monday afternoon Tim invited me to come hunt with them Tuesday PM, since they tagged out but had more hunters coming in the second week and didn't want to go home or sit in camp. I am not too proud to accept free assistance from a pro, so I took full advantage! Went out with them on Tuesday afternoon and knocked up a number of times and even drew back at a nice 300 class 6x6 that was quartering to at 49 yards. Just not a good shot. Had a FUN evening in the woods again and was eagerly anticipating the next day. Wednesday morning started quite slow but Tim was confident the herd was in the area and would start bugling when they headed for bed. We did a decoy set up on a herd bull trying to entice him over with calls. Out of nowhere we hear a bugle behind us and turn to see a satellite bull that snuck in. He kept coming in, about stepping on Jeff holding the decoy. Slightly spooking back about 50 yards, they kept up the calling and he stopped. Now he started coming in towards us but now from the other side. I had to readjust my position while in sight and basically had my back to him as he was approaching. He eventually got to about 15 feet where I drew my bow. Again he caught movement and split but again they were able to keep his attention with calls. Stops again in the only lane so I swung around just as Tim whispers "30", I got him in my sight and let it fly! Whack! I told Tim "I think I got him!" He said "you got him, he just crashed" Wow what a thrill! When it was all said and done I bought them dinner that night and agreed to let them use my pics on their website but that's it. I am so grateful for their generosity to help me! These guys are hardcore elk hunters and they have their craft down! I highly recommend them to anybody looking for help in Arizona.

This is my 2014 archery buck I was fortunate to harvest my first archery buck on Jan 17th of 2012 (my best buck to date) and have been itching for another bow kill. 2013 started out with a failed attempt at a buck that has been haunting me and my brother for a few years now. I was determined to go 2 for 2 with archery in 2013 and had my heart set on a few "mutants" we had showing up to our salt pit. Come early archery season I was devastated when I found out that one of the 2 bucks had been arrowed by a fellow archer 2 days prior to going out. I had a close encounter with the real freak, nicknamed "triple crown" on one occasion, but he winded me and I never got another chance. Fast forward to my rifle hunt and my brother and I could not relocate the buck. I settled for a last day buck with my rifle while in the back of my head wishing I would have found Triple Crown. Come December we were determined to find the freak buck and eventually found him a short distance from his original location and the plan was in motion. My brother and I would both hunt this buck until he was ours! First few days were full of activity, but the big bucks were only hitting the scrapes at night. There were a lot of local does and knew this guy would eventually make a mistake and give one of us an opportunity. That came this morning when he walked 30 yds in front of me quartering away. The arrow hit its mark and he was down 30 yds from where I hit him. Not the biggest, but definitely the most unique buck I have personally laid eyes on. Once again, I have to put a shout out to my brother for getting me into the archery game, without his persistence I wouldn't be doing this in the first place. We'll get you "big country" this fall! Canyon Killing Gear puts down the first deer of 2014 Here's the pics:

Here's a shed I found south of the border so unfortunately it's still there but I snapped a few pics for you all. I've never held a full size shed like this, it's literally "pencil thin"! I can't believe the buck never broke any of the tines with how fragile they are!