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!!