Nice picture there, KC, thanks. Would be nice knowing that story. Was that in Az? With a guide? Do you make that a yearly hunt?
jaguar:
I've gone on that hunt five times, in southern AZ. We backpack about three miles to some springs and hunt from our spike camp.
Before dawn on the second day, we climbed a ridge across the valley from our camp. We got to the top of the ridge just as the sun climbed above the horizon. My friend started glassing from the saddle. I walked around the ridge to another saddle where I sat down to glass. Two nice bucks were in a gully just below me, maybe fifty yards away. But I couldn't see into the gully, so I didn't know they were there and I don't think they knew I was there either. After about half an hour, they began strolling out of the gully. I was surprised to see them so close and I kicked some rocks loose while I was grabbing for my rifle. They took off at the sound of the falling rocks. I could see that both were nice bucks. I shot the leading buck from the sitting position while he was running. I think I hit him at about 280 yards and he crawled a short ways after that. The rangefinder said it was 300+/- yards from where I was sitting to where he laid down.
No guide. I go with a good friend who lives in Flagstaff. He's the other guy in the photo. We've hunted together since 2004 in AK, WY, CA, AZ, CO, etc.
KC
