6X6 or 6X5?

P.T. spent a good portion of his archery elk hunt helping his wife (who had waited years to draw a tag) with her archery elk hunt in a different unit.  He finally decided to be a good husband and call in a Big Bull for his wife, and it was a Big Bull she didn’t miss when he stepped out!

Now it was his turn to pack a bow!  After a handful of days chasing bulls by himself, and a handful of close calls, Bryant McGee showed up to help with the calling.

Next morning, the two hiked into a area that had been hot for the last few days.  As daylight started to creep in, P.T. and Bryant listened as a handful of bulls began working their way out of the flats toward their location.

The two could get a look at a few bulls as they worked their way toward the trees.  A good bull, but one side was busted off!  A average bull, but missing half his points!  Another big bull, but busted just below his third on the right side!  Nothing that wasn’t broken up!  A couple bulls were already close so it was time to get to work!

Bryant tried a couple cow calls, and got an immediate response from a bull that was working his way up the ridge a few hundred yards off.  P.T. began working toward the bull while Bryant stayed back a good 100-150 yards.  P.T. stayed between Bryant’s cow calls and the bugeling bull that was heading his way!  Suddenly a few glimpses of the bull, but the thick trees made it difficult to get a good look!  Before P.T. knew it, the bull stepped out at 25 yards in the thick trees!  P.T. saw him coming, and drew his bow!  With one small window to slip an arrow through, P.T. tried to get a look at the bull and decided to let it fly!  At the shot, the bull spun and ran a few yards before slowing to a stumbling walk!

The bull disappeared down the hill, and P.T. let out 3 quick cow calls, a signal to let Bryant know to head toward him.  The only thing P.T. really knew about the bull was he looked heavy!

P.T. and Bryant discussed the shot and waited about 40 minutes before they started the tracking job.  As bulls bugled around them, the two tracked the bull down the hill.  After about a 150 yard tracking job, the bull was found piled up near the bottom of the hill!

Turned out P.T.’s bull would have been a 6X6, but just like the rest of the bulls they looked at this morning this bull had busted his main beam just below his 5^th point!

 

You can watch this, and other hunts on MuleyBull Outfitters “Just Hunting Volume 1” found at www.amazon.com

2 Antelope In A Day!

Jeff Pettit – “I’ve got 17 bonus points for antelope.”

Paul Carter – “You want someone to put in with ya?”

Jeff Pettit – “Sure.”

…and that’s pretty much how Paul was able to swing a rifle antelope tag with Jeff!

Jeff and Paul had been friends since junior high, and have done quite a bit of hunting together over the years.  When Arizona Game and Fish posted the draw results, the two had reason to go out had celebrate over a beer.  They had managed to draw Unit 9 rifle Antelope tags!

On day one of the hunt, a decision was made to split up and hunt different areas.  Paul watched the night before as a great buck and a handful of does fed while the night set in.  Now, the first morning of his hunt, Paul was setting his rifle up to prepare for a shot at the same buck that had moved his does to the side of an open hill.  Paul had his daughter Makenzie along, and she watched in anticipation as her dad settled in behind his rifle.  The buck was feeding behind some scrub oak, and as he stepped out Paul breathed “here we go!”  The buck reared up and shot off the hill when Paul pulled the trigger!  The open country allowed the crew to watch the buck as he stumbled and finally went down for the count near the bottom of the hill.  Makenzie was a mess!  You would have though she was the one that pulled the trigger as she jumped up and down and did a little dance for us!

 

Pictures were taken, and McKenzie made a few observations on how bad antelope smell (and she is absolutely right) as the antelope was packed out to the truck.  Now the group was off to help Jeff…

Now it’s the afternoon of the first day as Jeff watched a unique antelope feeding with some does in the distance.  Just the build of this bucks horns were enough to get just about anyone sold, so the stalk was on!  As Jeff neared the group of antelope, a doe looked up and busted Jeff!  After a short stand off, the curious doe began to circle toward Jeff’s right to try and get a better look with the rest of the herd following her.  At one point, the antelope were just over a hundred yards when they came to a stop looking Jeff’s direction!  Jeff squeezed the trigger and the buck went down in his tracks!  For the second time that day, the celebration was on!  Jeff made his way to his 24” wide antelope buck and the ritual of pictures and high fives took place all over again!

 

You can watch Jeff’s hunt on MuleyBull Outfitters “Just Hunting Volume 1” found at www.amazon.com

Three Little Piggies

Well the first stalk of the day was a complete wash!  Just as Clay, Bryant, and Brady were almost within archery range of a group of javelina, the wind swirled sending the little solar powered rotor rooters on a dead sprint up a steep, brushy hillside and out of site forever!

Temperatures were a little more than seasonably warm for January, and as the three made their way back to the truck, jackets and sweat shirts started to seem like a bad idea.  This was the second day of a month long hunt, but it was the first day for the trio, seems like New Years Day was reserved for a little recuperation. 

After a quick snack and some water, the three loaded up in the truck and headed for a new spot, glassing some hillsides along the way.  It wasn’t long before another group of javelina were located, and this was a big herd!  The hike to the herd was a fairly easy one, and as the three worked their way into the feeding javelina, one spooked sending pigs in every direction.  Each guy headed after a different little group, and Bryant was the first to shoot.  His arrow hit home, and he watched as his pig ran over a small rise and disappeared.  Brady had disappeared into a drainage to the east and Clay had gone southwest.  Bryant began to track his javelina, and found him a short distance away piled up in the brush.

Brady hadn’t chased his bunch far when he found himself with a 20 yard shot.  Brady’s shot hit the pig perfect and he watched as his pig ran around a clump of brush and rolled to a stop.  As he drug his javelina out of the drainage toward the truck, he ran into Bryant as he also was heading to the truck with his pig.  The two arrived at the truck, loaded their javelina, and headed out in search of Clay.

Clay chased a couple javelina across the next canyon.  Just as he crossed the bottom, he found himself within range, however every time he drew his bow, the pigs would bolt and send him chasing them even further.  Finally one of the pigs stood still long enough for Clay’s arrow to hit him right behind the shoulder!  As luck would have it, the pig turned and ran back the direction Clay needed to go to get back to the truck!  The pig didn’t make it far, and he eventually ran into Brady and Bryant who helped him pack his gear back to the truck.  Three javelina for three tags in one morning!  The bunch even stopped and watched a third herd of javelina feed along a slope as they drove back to town!

 

Freak Bull!

Nine years of waiting and finally a tag!  There’s nothing quite like watching your husband and his friend draw a tag every other year and rub it in as they head out to chase elk with a bow!  Now it was finally Jennifer’s turn, except her husband also had a tag, and in a different unit to boot!  Now anyone that has any understanding of the laws of marriage knows that attention had better be paid toward Jennifer's long awaited archery bull hunt.  This was not a problem, Jennifer's husband was actually more excited to finally get his wife a chance at a bull than he was on going on his own hunt!

So here's how it starts.  Jennifer, her husband, her husbands buddy, and a few other friends were all lucky enough to draw archery bull tags throughout Northern Arizona.  So the bunch decided to make a friendly wager for a dozen arrows.  Not just A dozen arrows, but the hunter that ended up with the biggest bull would get a dozen arrows from each of the losers.  In the end, the winner would not have to worry about arrows for awhile!

A few days into the hunt, and Jennifer found herself set up next to a cedar tree passing up another pretty decent bull!  In fact, she had passed on a handful of bulls since the hunt began, with a few very nice bulls mixed in!  Forget about the contest for the arrows, Jennifer had made her mind up to hold out for the bull she wants.  Seeing how she had to wait nine years for this opportunity and who knows how far down the road the next elk tag would be, she wanted to make the most of it.

Bull after bull stepped within easy archery range for Jennifer, and the morning finally came when things seemed to come together.  Jennifer was at full draw with a bull just coming to a stop, offering a good shot!  Jennifer saw the bull as he was coming in and had already made up her mind that this was the bull she liked.  She settled her pin behind the front shoulder of the bull and squeezed the trigger!  Everything felt good as the bow went off and the bull spun and disappeared into the cedars!  I guess that’s the way it happens when you finally get that shot after long hours of practice at home and 3D shoots!  But, as it also goes, Jennifer was not a hundred percent sure where the arrow hit!

She retold her story to her husband as they walked over to check for blood.  There was just enough pink frothy blood on the ground for Stevie Wonder to follow, indicating a perfect shot!  As if she needed any more proof of her shot, the two tracked the bull for a full 80 yards before finding him piled up between a couple cedar trees!

Jennifer had taken a great freak bull!  This would also be her best bull to date!  With her nine year dry streak now at an official end, Jennifer’s patients paid off on a bull of a lifetime!  AND!  With all the hunts over, Jennifer is proud to say she wont have to buy arrows anytime soon!

 

Junior Muzzy Buck

Muzzleloader hunting was a new twist to deer hunting for Kylie McGee, but after some practice she found she could shoot her muzzleloader as good as she could shoot any other rifle.  This December hunt showed its own challenges with the weather and the fact that the distance had to be closed in order to get a good shot!

The days ticked by, several bucks were watched and passed, its fun to watch a young buck chase his does back and forth on a hillside, even if he isn’t quite what you’re looking for.  Early mornings were spent watching deer on hillsides and along ridge tops, then a quick lunch out of a can or cooked up with a Jetboil, then finishing the day looking at more deer with an occasional stalk to try and bring the muzzleloader to range of a decent buck.

Part way through the hunt, Kylie invited friend Baily Schriener to tag along and help out with the hunt.  A monster wasn’t necessarily what Kylie was after, but if a monster appeared he would be in serious trouble, what Kylie wanted was a decent buck and a good time.

Toward the tail end of the hunt is when it happened.  After returning to the truck from a short hike to get a better look at a group of deer, Kylie jumped out of the passenger seat to open a gate.  As she held the gate open for the truck, she glanced up on the hill and saw a group of deer watching her, and with the deer was a buck she liked!  She got everyone’s attention and grabbed her muzzleloader.  After she was set up, the deer settled down, and the buck returned to harassing his does!  Kylie settled in for the shot and waited for the buck to stop in an opening so she could take a shot.  The deer disappeared behind the trademark smokescreen of the muzzleloader as the shot rang out!  As the smoke cleared, Kylie could see that the buck was hit hard!  The buck began to wobble away as another load was crammed down the barrel of the gun.  Just as the gun was loaded for a second shot, the buck toppled over!  Kylie and Baily walked up to Kylies first muzzleloader buck! With big grins and a little giggling, the girls posed together for some great shots of Kylies buck.  Congrats!

 

A Little on 2013!

2013 was, as expected, a great year for hunting.  We logged in countless hours scouting, preparing, and hunting, and met a lot of great new folks while hanging out with family and old friends.

We saw a pretty good year of lion hunting, considering we had a ton of other hunts that took up a large majority of our time!

Chris Reinesch made due with what was probably the largest tom killed during our 2013 lion hunting adventures.  His patience paid off on a monster Tom!

 

 

 

While Chris’s lion may have been the largest we killed in ’13, he wasn’t the largest one we caught.  During a “catch and release” day, we were able to get awesome pictures and video of a truly monster Tom!

Terry Gray made due with a great Tom with his son Gary along to watch it all go down.

 

Another lion worth mentioning is a small “catch and release” lion that ended with a great pic of Craig and Carson Stephens with the small female glaring down on them!

 

Elk season was a blast as it usually is.  Bryant McGee Sr. was able to make due with a 360 class bull on the opening morning of the archery hunt.  This was the seventh bull called in that morning.

 

Brady Shultz had a frustrating time with bulls that were in range or nearly in range before he finally connected good on a 6X6 at 42 yards!

A late season hunt produced a 350 class bull...

…and Mac turned old enough to hunt and took her first big game animal ever!

Jamie and Mike Goad were able to take two great bucks at the same time during the general rifle hunt as both bucks tried to leave a canyon across from everyone.

Bryant McGee Jr. let the air out of a 4X4 at 654 yards!

Then it was time to focus on P.T. Carters sheep hunt!  What a great year to be a sheep hunter, and P.T. made good with a huge 168 3/8” Ram!

Shortly after P.T. connected on his sheep, we finished the year off with a quick archery Mule Deer hunt with Brandon…

Better stories on these hunts will show up in the future, and some of these hunts will be featured in one of our upcoming DVD’s (Just Hunting)!  So stand by, and good luck in 2014!