Killing Giants in 3A Antelope Style!

When you talk Antelope in the State of Arizona the unit 3A is never talked about for having big Antelope.  Here are the Antelope we have killed in the last two consecutive years in the unit.

Here is the buck we named Flare mounted and on display.

 

Here is the hunt for the buck we named "Flare" 

Then last year I look at over 50 bucks before the hunt starts and finally find the buck we hunt opening morning.  I bed him the night before the hunt and at daylight we are on him.  After giving him a warning shot over his back we caught back up with him about 4 miles later and make a great shot.  Congrats two awesome Antelope in a unit that is not know for quality. 

Archery Antelope Success!!

Recently I received a call from an individual that was hunting unit 1 archery antelope and wondered if I had a little time to throw his way for some help.  We agreed that we would hunt the last three days of the season in hopes the pressure would be a little less since Labor Day would be over.  We knew we had a tough task at hand to try and kill an antelope with a bow in three days when the success rate of the hunt is under 5% and those individuals get to hunt for 14 days.  It was an awesome three days.  While standing at the truck with the antelope loaded Andrew look at me and said are you going to put this on your blog? I told him "Sure Thing" but I wanted him to write up the story part from the hunters side since people get sick of always hearing it from my prospective, and he agreed.

  Here are his words on the whole situation "When I drew a 2012 archery Antelope tag in AZ I knew it would not be easy. I scouted a lot of weekends and knew where to find large numbers of Antelope. I had no idea how hard it was once I got out! I hunted 4 days with help from a couple friends with no luck. No shots. Nothing. I decided I needed to hire a guide so that I may have a chance to fill a tag that took 9 years to get. I contacted Shane at Koury Guide Service and we went out. He took me in spots I had not previously been in and we got on animals right away. Day 1, pulled back but no shot. Day 2, I missed! Day 3, I shot this one!! I had such an AWESOME experience hunting with Shane and Koury Guide Service that I can't wait for any tag so that I can hunt with him again. Shane is a MACHINE! He knows more than most hunters out West combined! And his enthusiasm and love for hunting is seen every minute you are out with him. He absolutely goes the extra mile to make your hunt exactly what you want. I could go on and on about the experience I had on this hunt, but this would be long! If you want a great hunt, you won't find anyone better. Thank you so much, Shane!"

I would like to say that a guide is only as good as his hunters ability and Andrew made an incredible shot on this antelope or we would not have the success we did.  Congrats and awesome shot Andrew, together we deified the odds and created another memory.
  On a side note after we walked up to the antelope we looked up on a ridge about 500 yards away and saw a hunter walking off the ridge toward us.  The other hunter walked up and congratulated us on the success.  He said it was the coolest thing to get to eat his lunch in the shade of a tree and watch the entire process unfold.  He had found the antelope and then looked out and saw us watching the antelope also but from his vantage point it was wide open and no way to get any closer so he just kicked back and watched the show.

Flare the 88 inch Antelope Update.

I just got a picture from Brian,  he is the hunter we guided that killed the Antelope we named Flare.  His mount is already done and looks very nice hanging on the wall.  Check out they way Flare looked from years back to many years into the future.

Flare in 2009!

Flare in 2011!

Flare 2011 Opening Day!

Flare March 2012 and for Years to come!

Memories are for a life time! Congrats again Brian!!

The taking of "Flare" the giant Antelope.

After a month and half of watching the Antelope we named "Flare" is finally over.  Opening morning of the Antelope hunt found myself and Brian W. sneaking to where Flare was last seen that morning at daylight.  After passing the buck some where in the cedar trees we found there tracks and the walk was on.  We had additional help in glassing of Brian D., Buck B. and Todd L.  So while Brian W. and I were walking over 6.5 miles on nothing but tracks and starting to get a little tired, the crew kept moving in front of us glassing to hope to find flare before someone else did.  After a great spot by Todd L. the hunt was back on.  With other hunters also finding the buck we had to hurry and make a great stalk to finish the quest.  The rest of the story is in the pictures.  Just one last thing, my hunter Brian W. was in great shape and had a great attitude about walking for hours.  Without him being in shape we probably would of not killed. We probably walked over 7-8 miles before noon. Great job Brian.

Here are a couple pictures of Brian and  "Flare".

I almost forgot to tell you that "flare" green scored 88 7/8.  This is most likely the largest antelope ever killed in unit 3A.  The unit is not know to produce this quality of antelope.

Check out the video of the hunt of "flare" along with the kill shot.

"Flare" The Antelope with huge Spaids!

The Antelope here is one of many Antelope we have been seeing lately looking for some quality bucks in numerous units through out the White Mountains area.  Theses units are not usually known for producing large bucks.  This buck has just awesome prongs.  We have killed a net 90 and 85 inch antelope in unit 10 the past two years but with elk tags we are going to have to stay closer to home this year.  It looks like we will still kill a buck in the mid 80's even staying on this side of the state.

Antelope Heaven!!

With the draw only days away lets look at what we have killed for Antelope in the past two years. We do not book lots of Antelope hunts, we try to just do a few and kill huge Antelope! We have killed 2 Antelope in the last two years, all in unit 10 and both over 85 net B&C. This is the buck Brian Killed with us the year before last. We found this buck early and babysitted it until opening day. Opening day found us hunting in the area with a couple other hunters. After out hunting the others and getting into the right position fast the buck was all ours.

Here is a different look with me and Brian.

Here is video of Brian's buck before the hunt!

This is a buck we saw on Brian's hunt that survived the hunt.  After Jed drew the tag the hunt was on,  I sent Jed and his good friend to where the buck was the previous year.  They found him and to make a long story short after missing the buck once and not killing Jed came home.  Two days later we were in the unit again and looking at this wonderful buck that scores 85 net B&C.

Here is a picture of Jed's buck with my youngest son that was on the hunt with us.