Sunday, February 27, 2011

Javelina Fun!

This last weekend along with all the rain and fog found us hunting that awesome little animal called the Javelina.  Sandi had killed numerous Javelina with a gun so she looked for another method of killing one.  She decided to use a pistol that we have in a 22-250 caliber.  The first day was a little slow, the second day she missed, and on the third day she completed the task at hand.

Check out the awesome video of Sandi's Javelina hunt.

Check out the video of the hunt we went on the last day of the season, all goes well until the gun fires!  That's why they call it hunting and not killing.

Tuesday, February 15, 2011

244 Inch Monster Kaibab Mule Deer!

Jeremy Martinez guides for Koury Guide Service but this tag was his own.  Jeremy was lucky enough to draw the AZ Kaibab west side late tag in 2010.  After guiding elk hunters and Junior Mule deer hunters the time had come for him to get to hunt for himself.  After seeing this buck late on opening day the hunt was on.  Early on the second day the buck was located again and thankfully held still just long enough.  The entire story and more pictures will be in an upcoming issue of Muley Crazy. I don't want to ruin anything for Ryan by saying much more, so look for the upcoming issue.
Here is a little different angle of the buck!
Different angle!

Check out the Video of this Awesome Buck!!

Wednesday, February 9, 2011

Rogers Second Mexico Buck Over 110 B&C!

After hunting Old Mexico for the first time in his life he was hooked.  When Roger entered Old Mexico for the second time the stakes were higher.  While hunting hard for three days we had not seen a buck that we wanted to harvest.  After talking to some of the cowboys on our ranch we decided to hunt a part of the ranch that had not been hunted in years.  The next morning found us following the directions of the cowboy with his broken English and my poor Spanish we were a little lost.  Around 8:30 am I had found around 10 does on the same ridge we were on, after watching them walk away the most awesome sight ever stepped around a tree and looked right at us.  It was the most awesome buck ever this buck had it all, width, length, mass, over 5 points per side along with a 8 inch drop tine on the left side.  After this buck started to run we did not push on the buck since we had 4 more days to hunt the buck.  After returning to the ranch and talking to the cowboys it was an awful feeling.... This buck was not on our ranch!! Two days later I could finally glass again since I had been crying for two days and unable to glass (Just Joking, that is how I felt),  I had found a great buck on our ranch.  After shooting at a Mountain Lion in the morning this buck was in Rogers sights the same evening.  One well placed shot and Roger had just killed his second buck over 110 B&C.

Thursday, February 3, 2011

Junior Mule Deer Hunt....

Cody was one of the Junior Mule Deer hunters we had this fall.  This is a great hunt for the kids to finally get to hunt a quality animal.  The hunt is not as good as it has been in the past but still has the capability of producing some nice bucks.  Cody could not hunt do to a test at school for the first morning, we were out looking for a buck I had found previous.  I guess we were not the only one that knew of the buck since the entire town was there when it got light.  That after noon found us glassing an area where we have killed many deer previous.  With in minutes we had located this group of bucks and the hunt was on.  After one shot the rest is history.. Here are some pictures of the great buck Cody killed.


Here is the video of the hunt for this great Mule Deer. Enjoy!

Wednesday, February 2, 2011

Archery hunting the 7x9 Kicker Bull!

I found this bull only days before the archery hunt was to start.  This made life a little easier since I did not have to baby sit this bull for very long before we could start hunting him.  My archery hunter and I decided this was the only bull we would attempt to kill.  Opening morning had us very close to the giant just no shot, this was the first time my hunter had seen this bull on the hoof.  After that we was even more determined to kill this bull.  Through out the week he heard me say "don't shoot" about 45 times on different elk in search of the kicker bull.  On day 5 we finally closed the distance and actually shot our first arrow, just a little high.  The very next morning found the bull on the opposite ridge and heading our way! Enjoy.  Here is a picture from the video of the kicker bull.

Here is the video of some of the hunt as we attempt to harvest the KICKER BULL!

Monday, January 31, 2011

Archery Javelina sucess for the 11 year old Mr. "Skyler"!

This is the second year for Skyler to attempt to harvest a Arizona Javelina with his bow.  Last year there were some stalks but never a arrow thrown, this year was completely different. On the second weekend of the hunt Skyler is launching arrows.  After shooting a couple arrows that found there mark every where but on the Javelina he finally settled down and got the job done.  Hunting with your kids is the best thing in the world! It is even better when they are old enough to start hunting archery and you have to get in close to seal the deal.


Thursday, January 27, 2011

400 + Inches of Velvet Beauty!

This is a bull I actually saw two times before he rubbed his velvet.  The second time I was fortunate enough to capture some video of the bull.  After this bull rubbed his velvet I never saw him again.  Typical for those big bulls to make a journey into their rutting area.  I'm just glad I got to witness this awesome elk in the wild, even though we could not find him during the hunts.


This bull reminds me of a stag the way the right horn crowns toward the top.  If you look close he also has a small extra point between his G-2 and G-3 on the right side.

Tuesday, January 25, 2011

128 Inches of Adrenalin!

After hunting Old Mexico three years in a row and already killing a 120, 112, and a 108 this trip was about helping my friends kill some great bucks.  My thoughts were "seriously whats the odds of topping a 120 B&C buck".  That all changed in the first hour of the first day! Only 45 minutes into glassing I glassed a buck that looked to be around 115 B&C just as he topped over a far ridge.  Glassing for another 45 minutes we finally decided it was time to take a closer look at the buck I had seen previous.  After a short quad ride and a mile walk this is the view I had in my 15x56 Swarovski binoculars!


After being a horrible friend and completely forgetting my original game plan of  helping them kill first. For a split second I thought about letting one of them shoot this deer. Then soon coming to my senses my thoughts instantly changed to "after I kill this monster I will have the rest of the hunt to help them".  After a few adrenalin charged wild shots, I finally got it together and we were able to start the celebration!!!!
His eye guards were just over 8 inches a piece.
The final score came in at 128 5/8 Gross B&C.  Never in my life did I think I would kill another buck over the 120 B&C mark.  I guess that's why you hunt Old Mexico, you never know!!

Monday, January 24, 2011

Mexico Drop Tine Buck Christmas Present!

After receiving a fully outfitted hunt in Old Mexico from his wife for Christmas, Roger was on cloud nine. Sixteen days later Roger and I were in Old Mexico trying to harvest the first Coues Whitetail of his life.  Roger was hoping to break the 100 B&C mark, I was trying to break the 115 B&C mark for him. Yes our standards were a little different.  After having Roger pass on numerous bucks over 100 B&C.  I had finally found the buck worth the wait, and one of only three Coues deer I had seen on the hoof with a drop tine.  The rest is history!!
This is buck was found from over two miles away,  we then moved in and got a closer look to make sure he was what we were looking for.
With the rut in full swing we had to wait for this buck to stop chasing five does and a smaller buck to finally get the shot we were looking for.
Rogers buck scored just over 114 B&C.

Some Mountain Lions might have nine lives!!

With snow on the ground and the dogs itching to go me and my two boys headed out with a good friend and his dogs in search of the allusive Mountain Lion.  After searching for more than four hours that infamous track we had been looking for had just appeared, and the dogs were hot on the trail.  Following the tracks of Mountain Lion and dogs up the canyon got the heart pumping in anticipation.  Finally catching up to the dogs there was no Mountain Lion or even a tree in sight.  The dogs were all running back and forth along a rock ledge toward the top of the canyon. Searching for any sign of the allusive animal a small cave was finally found where the cat had entered.
This was one of the most awesome sights a person could ever hope for.  We were less than four feet from an animal that could kill you in a second and were able to take some great pictures.
Not being able to tell the true size of this awesome cat we pulled all the dogs back and let it come out of the cave in hopes of running it to a tree where we could actually see the true size.  The cat ran free and the chase was on again before going up a large pine tree to get rid of those pesky dogs.
With the cat in the tree and a good look taken I decide to pass.  It was a hard decision!!  In Arizona you can only harvest one Mountain Lion per calander year and since this was only early January I was going to hold out for that big headed male.
The decision to pass on this Mountain Lion was the best decision I made early in January!!



Keep checking back for video and kill shots of this huge male!!