Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Pictures Or It Didn't Happen

The 80's. Sweet.
I was born in mid/late '79 so while I was there, I didn't exactly get to partake in the awesomeness.

Anytime, anywhere.
When it is go time I generally prefer to hunt by myself, but having someone to BS with after dark is always nice.

Stewart the adopted dog, sneezed this canine tooth out through his nostril while at the vet.


That had to hurt.

Ya, well GFY.
I've been 5 times and have yet to kill one. I knocked one sideways in 2018 but it made it to a 1000 foot cliff and I never could find it.

The guy I go with has killed 6-7 and as far as I know, as killed more than anyone.

PS, I luv you

I had that same BPS 10 gauge. Beast of a shotgun.
I killed 12-15 toms with it before realizing it was an expensive way to get the same thing done that my 20 gauge does.

Down the road it went, as good of a turkey gun as it is/was.

Imgur is acting like a 5 year old, else I'd throw some pics up.

I need to get over there and visit my friend someday. Maybe he can guide me to the top to look for them things. Just seeing one would be a hoot.

Got that as a grad present from parents, grandparents and an uncle in '93.

I have killed 2 or 3 at unmentionable ranges but most under 40 with a handful under 20 yards.

I still pack it every year even though I have grown to like my turkeys in my lap.

Wanting an Ithaca 37 in 16 for my next shotgun. Put it to use on everything.

Actually that was in the 90's, 1992 to be exact.
Still pretty good water levels and fishing in 1997.

Clear skies a few years ago.

Well geeze......you don't say:

The back of my mind thought it may have been the early 90's, but hey...don't ruin my dreaming OK?

In the 80's we were still wearing Larry Bird shorts.

Geno, I know you have some dead stuff pics.

Let's see 'em.

Very few to be honest.

I see bucks with a doe tag in my pocket and vice versa. Bulls with a cow tag, turkeys during elk and deer season, get within 25-30 yards of dumb ass bugling bulls when trying to arrow a cow and then get busted by the 15 pairs of eyes on the girls and calves. Wait in the sun, 100+ degrees next to a scrub bush, for a bedded pronghorn to get up and come to water. He does, starts heading straight towards the water I'm watching and then veers off to head to the other tank. Passes by about 29 paced yards from me. I shoot traditional and on an animal that size want a 20 yard shot, maybe might stretch to 25 if he had stood still. But not taking a walking shot at nearly 30. Later in the hunt we had a herd coming to water just before end of day. I hustled down to the tank, lay down behind a broken trough in the cow crap and dust, had them come up the draw right to the beaten down area with no cover, I was behind the only piece, 13 yards from the tank. Does came in led by grandma. She pulled up at the edge of the brush, scoped things out, then moved around to get downwind of the water. Mr Big Buck and his little buddy kept inching toward the tank, looking at the does with that "But the water's over here" look. Eventually, the doe got far enough downwind she got a whiff of something, never spooked and ran off but just headed toward the other tank a mile away dragging the disappointed boys with her. Muzzleloader tag and I have horns and meat to eat. But 35-40 yard is too much for me and my setup. My outfitter wrote up a story about our hunt in the Kingman Miner newspaper, because even though we didn't kill, we had a great time. While waiting for some bedded goats to move, I even found out I can call quail over to the edge of the draw I was hunkered up against when I heard them up above me. The "rooster" came over to see which of his girls was getting away I think.

Hunted Coues pretty hard, DIY, down in AZ one winter. Saw some does. Last day I glassed a bit in the AM, had lunch, went for a hike in the afternoon. Big circle back to the truck, parked on a bit of a ridge. Get back to truck from the driver side, start removing pack, binocs, etc and decide perhaps I better look over the other side of the truck. Sure as scheidt, I look over about 300 yards from the truck, see something light in color. Glass it, a deer butt, head in the rose bushes. Oh, there's another. Mule deer does, Oh, there's their two kids. Up from behind the rose bush comes a big ol' Mulie rack. One of those don't look at it, just shoot racks. Of course, I have a whitetail tag in my bag. Would have been and easy stalk to better range, although the '06 would have done just fine. By why not use the numerous draws and junipers to get a bit closer?

I had a great hunt though, saw the Red Rock area of Sedona for a week. And prior to that, I was up on the Rim in the cold. I can post pics of that.

First day up there I set up camp, have enough time to walk down the FS road to check it out, see movement before I get 1/4 mile from the truck, coming down the side of the hill to the road. Friggen herd of cow elk. Stop broadside and munch a bit, 80 yard away. 400 yards from the truck. right at the road. No packing, just load the thing............if I could have shot. They didn't do that the year prior when I had a cow tag.

Next day, morning hunt in the forest, opposite direction from the elk. See movement, scheidt, it's a winter flock of about 50 turkeys. I freeze, 3 jakes walk up to find out what I was, 13 yards away they're doing the bird thing, turning heads side to side to scope me out. Do you think they ever do that when I have a turkey tag?


Wrote some about my hunt a couple falls back for a cow in AZ, that same outfitter friend tagged out his hunters and invited me over to hunt with his guides before they took off.

Between the binocs and scopes he and his fellas were using, and my meager ones, there's $20K of glass looking for elk there. We found them, and chased them for about 4 miles before they "disappeared". That happened multiple times. Again, I saw all sorts of great stuff, and a good number of elk through the glass, but never could get on them.




I am known by friends as the "Unluckiest Hunter in the World" . B grateful, I soak up all the bad luck for you other guys.

T, here's a picture example of the wrong species for the tag held.

On that elk hunt in Oct '19, I crawled under this fence to get to another area



Get under and start to move and hear some rustling under the trees/bushes. Look over and these guys were looking at me:



Those are not cow elk, and they rarely show up that close when I have my HAM tag (Handgun, Archery, Muzzleloader) hunts.

But, they do on occasion and I did get lucky one February at 5K' in Western AZ:

Love me some blacktail hornin…
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I need to get me a javelina geno. Cool little critters 👍

If you ever get time in the spring, AZ weather is usually pretty nice. Have had an inch or two of snow where we hunt at 4000'-5000' feet or so, and some rain, but usually pretty nice.

LONG trip down there for me, even longer for you.! My friend the outfitter is usually so busy during antelope, deer, elk and sheep seasons they don't get to do much family and friend camp stuff. He sets up his trailer for archery javelina season and leaves it, gives clients the recommendation to put in for that unit, and family and friends get tags and camp there too. It's more like a traditional deer/elk camp for them. He's lived in/guided/hunted that unit for 40 years maybe and knows where to find them. I go just for the fun and camaraderie besides getting to hunt in some cool areas.

Try it sometime, you'll like it. And when properly cared for, the meat is like farm raised pork. There's just not much of it on a critter that usually dresses out at 30-45lbs.