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What was your most memorable Az Hunt

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Great stories above and I'm sure there are many to come.

 

I don't know for me they just keep getting better and better. From the long shot of my first rifle coues and short shot (6 yards) of my first archery coues, my best hunting buddy and I shooting a coues and mulie in the snow 30 minutes and 1 mile apart, to my brother's first coues and elk last year -

 

I do know I can't wait to have kids and share it with them, then I'm sure I'll start getting favorites!

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My dad had gone home for work of our November bull elk hunt, but I had hunted hard all week. On the last evening of the last day I told my dad to come back up and shoot a rag horn where I had seen some coming out every evening. He was hunting for meat and I was hunting for something a little bigger. Sure enough we get setup and elk start rolling out. I'm glassing around and he gets all setup to shoot one when I say hey there goes a big one! He swings over and blasts it before I can pick up my gun. Lucky it had snowed because we tracked it until 1am looking for tiny drops of blood in the snow. Finally we said we'll follow it until it veers away from the truck since it was headed in that direction. It wasn't ten minutes later when we hear what sounded like a mountain lion scream. You've never seen two guys load their guns so fast. I'm lucky I didn't shoot my dad in the back I was in such a hurry. It ended up being a crazy warning call from the elk. It was out of gas and we quickly dispatched him. We hooped and hollard I was so happy for him. He killed his first six point bull. It was a night to remember.

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It's tough to pick the "most memorable" as all my hunts are memorable for me for one reason or another but my 15 day solo hunt on the strip was my most rewarding hunt I've done so far for myself. My wife and kids first kills were pretty special as well.

 

I kinda hope the most memorable hunt hasn't happened yet if you know what I mean!

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16 days in the strip with just my dad and myself.

 

I can't imagine 16 days on the strip with just my dad...I bet everyday was an adventure. Time well spent!

 

 

It's tough to pick the "most memorable" as all my hunts are memorable for me for one reason or another but my 15 day solo hunt on the strip was my most rewarding hunt I've done so far for myself. My wife and kids first kills were pretty special as well.

I kinda hope the most memorable hunt hasn't happened yet if you know what I mean!

15 days solo, I bet there were some tough moments on that hunt facing challenges alone, good job staying focused until the end.

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16 days in the strip with just my dad and myself.

 

I can't imagine 16 days on the strip with just my dad...I bet everyday was an adventure. Time well spent!The best time I have had.

 

 

It's tough to pick the "most memorable" as all my hunts are memorable for me for one reason or another but my 15 day solo hunt on the strip was my most rewarding hunt I've done so far for myself. My wife and kids first kills were pretty special as well.

I kinda hope the most memorable hunt hasn't happened yet if you know what I mean!

15 days solo, I bet there were some tough moments on that hunt facing challenges alone, good job staying focused until the end.

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Doubling up on coues bucks with my wife two different times was awesome! My kids elk, deer, turkey and pig hunts always come to mind. But this one helped shape my love for hunting 20 years ago.

 

When I was 15, my dad and I drew late rifle bull tags. We hunted hard for a few days with no luck. It was day 5 and dad said we had one last morning because he could not afford anymore time off work. That morning we did not even see an elk, we were driving back to camp to pack up and leave. At 11am a spike ran across the two track road, Dad jumped out and dropped him! Then he heard me shoot, he said did you shoot at the spike also? I said no, I shot that one, he looked the other way and my big 5x5 had died right in the middle of the road! He looks at his spike and looked back at mine about 3 times and finally said "well son of a B****" in a good ole John Wayne twang! We hugged and laughed the rest of the day breaking down those bulls with frozen hands.

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although i've killed a ton of stuff over the years my best memory is seeing my ten year old son shoot his first javelina on opening day and then waking up the very next morning and watching him shoot his first mule deer

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putting your hands on your downed 385 - 6x7 bulls rack - opening morning during archery season - ranks up there

 

other than that watch son stalk a group of muleys on his first rifle hunt - watch him set-up - I know theres a young buck in group. see he's ready to shoot , then he stands and walks back.

I'm like where they there - yep dad - had him in my sights but dad - he was smaller than the doe's

he was 11 then

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man this topic really makes me reminisce. although i've been fortunate to harvest 12 of the 13 big game animals here in AZ... I would say my most memorable hunts came with my youngest daughter & her fist pump in the air & yell after she harvested one of her first animals. my oldest daughters muzzleloader, 1st bull harvest, hunt with the help of Lee Hamblin & others. my wives muzzleloader bull harvest last year with the help of Hunter Weems. the smiles on the faces of three awesome women will always be etched into my memory! it seems I enjoy being a part of someone else's harvest more than my own anymore.

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My brother, an old friend I was in cub scouts with and I went to the Kofas quail hunting a couple years back. Enough birds to

keep things interesting. We carried on like 14 year-olds. Sadly, it was my last hunt with my brother as he passed earlier this year.

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My buddies elk hunt last year was one of our best efforts to date, no elk down but we went after it and kept hammering and had a bunch of great moments.

That will always be second to my kids javi hunt where they doubled on their first game on their first ever hunts. Both handled themselves and their guns like old pros. They are out of the house already and it brings tears remembering those days.

Thanks to max for crossing paths with me and bringing this passion into my life. Not sure I would have ever hunted otherwise. Can't wait to help you glass up and pack out your girls first big game. heck I'll cook up their squirls or rabbits too.

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Gonna have to think about this one a while. Been alot a hunts. over the years...................BOB!

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I can pretty much remember all of my hunts. Probably 50% of them were total solo hunts and some were concluded with me taking game which were reverent and fulfilled a deep sense of accomplishment, even though I was alone.

I think though that the ones that were more meaningful to me where ones where I contributed to with my skill and perseverance which resulted in another taking game.

Some of those were my kids first deer on the JR Kaibab hunt and my sons first turkey hunt and assisting a friend on his first turkey hunt.

 

Chris... you're an awesome guy and a great hunter. I am honored to have a friend like you. One of my most memorable moments was when I was able to go out with you scouting for my javelina hunt; You shared some much knowledge about not only javelina but all sorts of neat things that I never knew. Thanks buddy.

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Late kaibab rifle back in 1988. Learning how to hunt from my dad and we all had tags. After several tutorials from pops and trying learn something, got out of the truck in middle sowats and hiked in for a trial run. Dad flanked me about 500 yards away. All of a sudden a 201 buck bounded towards me from my dads direction. Ended up shooting him at 10 yards running directly at me. Good ole dad taught me well. 5 years later and not so wet behind the ears knowledge wise after turning into a hunting addict, on the early hunt back on the kaibab dad dropped me off again but up in the burnt corral area. 1 hour later I was standing over a 221 buck after shooting a mid 230s buck and having it taken from me from another hunter. 2 bucks in one hour over 220 to 235. Love it when my dad drops me off, and feel lucky when he does every time.

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Late kaibab rifle back in 1988. Learning how to hunt from my dad and we all had tags. After several tutorials from pops and trying learn something, got out of the truck in middle sowats and hiked in for a trial run. Dad flanked me about 500 yards away. All of a sudden a 201 buck bounded towards me from my dads direction. Ended up shooting him at 10 yards running directly at me. Good ole dad taught me well. 5 years later and not so wet behind the ears knowledge wise after turning into a hunting addict, on the early hunt back on the kaibab dad dropped me off again but up in the burnt corral area. 1 hour later I was standing over a 221 buck after shooting a mid 230s buck and having it taken from me from another hunter. 2 bucks in one hour over 220 to 235. Love it when my dad drops me off, and feel lucky when he does every time.

had another hunter steal a 230" buck? can you expand on this?

my most memorable hunts are where i killed a 374" 7X7 on an early archery hunt and had my dad and brother with me, as well as an old family friend. or the 402" bull i shot on the last day of the hunt after grinding it out and hunting by myself most of the time in an extremely tough unit. been with my brother on a couple outstanding bulls the last couple years too. the size of the animal doesn't make the hunt, but it sure makes them more memorable

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