Buck Hollow Sporting Goods - click or touch to visit their website Midwest Habitat Company

2015 AZ Hunting Journal

Tryout Update and Good Pics (Pic Heavy)!

First, off, thanks again for all of the support for Sydney this past week or so. I know how much she really appreciated the support and perspectives. We had a long, HOT weekend of soccer tryouts. The forecast for Casa Grande, AZ was 113 degrees. I loaded coolers with plenty of water bottles, two extra gallons, watered-down Gatorade, and bought two Fog-Togg cooling towels, thrown in the fridge overnight. We got there in plenty of time and she took off to show them the kind of keeper she is. She watched one of my favorite motivational videos on Youtube and got her mind in the right place. The coaches were great at allowing water breaks every 15 minutes and they needed it because her session was Saturday afternoon from 2-4 pm and it was 111 degrees. I missed a big chunk of her goalie-specific training that afternoon because of a parent meeting, but caught some of the group scrimmages. Only two shots got past here and they were just really good shots that are hard to block. I had a couple of parents compliment me, including the dad of a girls she kept shutting down! Sunday morning’s training session was from 9-11 and it stayed in the mid-90s for that session. I was able to watch her goalie training and heard her coach calling her by name (instead of her registered number) and singling her out for her good technique. There was one that was something like (pointing at her) “This is how you do that!” She rocked it again in her group scrimmages. Proud doesn’t do my feelings justice! We won’t get the selection results until Friday (during my deer hunt), but I told her no matter what happens, she should be proud of staying properly hydrated (she finally admitted I was right in hounding her all these years), proud of reaching out of her comfort zone to tryout in such a big group setting, proud of being so tough in that heat, and proud of how she played. After two days in that grueling heat, she still managed to get some smiles in! Syd's talking about another journal entry of her own talking about her experience and letting you all know the results after they are posted. She's excited for soccer, for your support, and her own upcoming hunts!

Keeper Training. That's her in the middle catching the orange ball.


Smiling After 95 Degree Workout on Day 2


Cooled Down at End of Tryouts



Friday, before we left for soccer, we hiked in to pull one of my cameras to move this Friday during my deer hunt. The plan is to put this camera in the area that my new friend has told me about and is going to take me to. I’m pretty sure we’ll be hunting there this coming Friday when archery deer season opens (good luck, Hodge, if you’re reading this). The tank was as full of water as I’ve ever seen it and its cool to see the immediate response to a big rain on camera. Again, I was pleasantly surprised by what was on the camera: two different whitetail bucks, a couple of muley bucks, two cow elk fighting, a cow whipping on a spike, a black bear at night, and two more good bulls! The first pic of the two bulls made one look mediocre and like a raghorn, but when I got a head-on shot of him, he looked about as good as the one in the back. I'd take either one of them!

Coues Whitetail Bucks




Muley Buck


Peek-A-Boo! I love cows for their curiosity!


Cow Whipping on Spike


Cow Fight!


Black Bear at Night


Water Level Change (2-Day Difference)




Good Looking Bulls!






Deer season starts this Friday and elk season starts three weeks from this Friday. Its game time!
 
Last edited:
Great post and pics! sounds like your daughter did extremely well, and should be very proud to have a father like you!

I have a couple more hours of work tonight, then I'll be hitting road heading out your way in the morning!
 
Wow! Finally able to get a few mandatory days off and get caught up. What a summer and it is not over yet. Awesome.....so proud of you Syd! Can't wait to watch one of your soccer games in person. I've already told your dad I have requested my World Cup tickets well in advance. For a minute, I thought that was a picture of Minnie up in the tree....Lol. Thanks for the updates. BTW, moving Caleb in next week....Thursday, I think. I'll call. Talk to everyone soon.
 
This past Friday, the results for YOP were posted. It turns out, I got in!!!!!!:D I got selected for the pool of 40-50 kids that will get three weekends of advanced training in December and January. At tryouts, they said they might be putting together a team for a special tournament in January, but they will only be selecting 18 girls. I will hopefully be the goalie for that team! I am so excited, and I cant wait to go to training! Thanks again for all the support!:D:D:D
 
Long-Winded Post and Pic HEAVY

Again, thank you all for the support Sydney has gotten on here. She is beyond excited to have made it to the Arizona YOP (Young Olympians Program). We also found out yesterday that there will, in fact, be a tournament in December that she has a chance to play in. It sounds like AZ YOP will enter a couple of teams and with Syd being a goalie, she its likely she’ll be on one of the teams. I also found out yesterday that individuals in her age group will have a chance to make the regional and sub-regional camps next summer. This opportunity is even more selective, so she’s going to have to work hard for it.

Last Friday was the opening day of archery deer out here. My plan was to go into a new area that is a “quiet area”, which means no vehicles allowed on any roads. You have to walk in. I got there at 0430 Friday morning and found another vehicle there. I had to switch to Plan B, so I decided to head out to where I have my other camera up on a ridge near a stock tank. I parked a quarter mile away and hiked into the tank, sitting there hoping something nice would come for a drink. Nothing was happening other than me enjoying listening to the forest come alive, so I decided to head up and check out my camera and walk some of the area where I’d seen a buck before. I wasn’t planning on this area, so I didn’t have a clean card to swap out. I looked at the pic viewer and was treated to a couple of laughs and some good bulls. Apparently, I forgot to clean that card out and had loaned it to my son for his new camera last winter. Imagine scrolling through your camera in the field and finding these:





Shortly after that I realized I was missing my wallet, which had my hunting license in it so I hiked back to the truck to head home. It was starting to heat up, so I didn’t figure much would be moving soon, anyway. Of course, on the drive out, a big-bodied fork horn jumped across the road in front of me! I ended up getting both kids after school and convinced our son (8 in December) to join me for an evening hunt, sitting on a stock tank. He was reluctant at first, but Syd helped convince him we’d have fun. Nothing was moving at the tank, but we did have fun after I remembered that he was 7 and not as die-hard as Syd (yet). We had “light saber” fights with small oak twigs and shared a few laughs. We made it until 7 pm and I could tell it was time to go, so we hiked back out while there was still light. Like I’ve done with Syd, I had him lead me back to the truck so I could start teaching him about situational awareness and what to do if something were to happen to me. With complete confidence, he walked me right back to the truck! On the drive home, we saw a big herd of elk on my side of the road, so I turned around and went back. I was able to park on the side of the road and scan the herd with my binos. There was one nice bull in hard-horn with about 20 cows/calves. I got Jacob to see the bull and you could tell the instant he saw him! “WOW, Dad! He’s HUGE!” The rest of the drive home, all he could talk about was going with me again. Mission accomplished!

Pre-Hunt


Mid-Hunt


Because of a home remodel, Saturday turned into a family day with a trip to Phoenix to pick out granite slabs for the countertops. It also included a stop at Sportsman’s Warehouse to get Jacob’s first .22 rifle. He was so excited he could barely contain himself. He tried all different kinds before settling on a Ruger American. I opted for a full size because, at almost 8 years old, it actually fit him decently and he’ll outgrow a youth size in no time. For the next couple of years, he’ll just be shooting from a bench at the range, so I’m not worried about his ability to hold it off-hand. He asks me 3 times a day if we can go to the range! Guess what we’re doing my first free weekend!

Sunday was a sleep-in day after everything we had going on. I was going to skip out to my cam from Friday and swap the card, but go in from a different, closer route. I knew how to get there and was going to travel light, but decided to grab my GPS off my pack to be safe. Unfortunately, my GPS wasn’t there. My heart sank. I’d been having problems with the belt clip and had to fix it Friday morning. I guess it finally decided to jump off for good. I changed my plans after talking to my wife and decided to hike into the tank from Friday night and try to find it. I opted to take my other camera that I pulled from there and put it back since it was just sitting around and I wasn’t sure when I’d make it in to the quiet area. Syd offered to hike in with me saying “Two sets of eyes are better than one, dad.” I am truly blessed. Unfortunately, we didn’t find my GPS and the building storm clouds to the west kept us from driving that way to check the other camera area and swap cards. I was sick to the my stomach at the thought of losing 4 years’ worth of data points and having to pay at least $250 for a GPS unit that I could trust. We spent the rest of the day getting chores done and trying to keep my mind off the GPS.

With my wife’s support and encouragement, I went out after work last night to hunt the area of my other cam, look for my GPS, and swap cards. I got to my camera and swapped the cards, but found the side of the box all scratched up. Not sure if that was an elk messing around or a bear (plenty in the area), but nothing showed up on camera that was definitive. I walked 100 yards to where I sat for a while, the last place I remember seeing my GPS. Low and behold, it was there! The Good Lord answered my prayer! After thanking Him, I decided to cut my losses and just head back to the truck and go home. Family time was on my mind. At the truck, I realized it was getting to be that magical hour when critters start moving in the forest. I decided to take a slower drive home, keep my bow handy, and watch sides of the road. About a mile down, I happened to look over and see a beautiful 4x4 muley standing there feeding and looking at me. Without thinking, I stopped the truck, grabbed my bow and moved towards him. Of course, he trotted off, but not far and whistling at him sparked his curiosity. I realized I left my keys in the truck, the door open, and parked in the middle of the road. I grabbed my keys, shut the door, and went in pursuit. That was when the decent 3x3 trotted after him. After a quick cat and mouse game, I was able to get to full draw at the 3x3 in an opening at 60 yards, but he wouldn’t stop for me and they magically disappeared into the forest. That was the first time since about 2009 or 2010 that I’ve actually drawn my bow on a deer in Arizona. What a rush! On the drive home, I saw 3 herds of elk, all with young bulls (spikes/forks) and a herd of pronghorn. This is a crazy week and weekend coming up, but I’m going to try to find time to head out and find those boys again soon!

We looked at the trail cam pics as a family last night and we weren’t disappointed. Believe it or not, this area is my Plan C. I know those bulls probably won’t be there come rut because they’ll be chasing/rounding up cows. I learned that lesson three years ago. Follow the cows! Sorry for the long post today, but we’ve had a ton going on. I hope you enjoy the pics! Two weeks from Friday…

Chewed Cam Box



Gray Fox (becoming a regular)





Club-Sided



Big 6x7







2 Good Bulls



4x4 with HUGE Brows. This bull would tempt just because of his brows!





Bugling



Big 6x6s








Hard Horn
 
Last edited:
AZHunter said:
This past Friday, the results for YOP were posted. It turns out, I got in!!!!!!:D I got selected for the pool of 40-50 kids that will get three weekends of advanced training in December and January. At tryouts, they said they might be putting together a team for a special tournament in January, but they will only be selecting 18 girls. I will hopefully be the goalie for that team! I am so excited, and I cant wait to go to training! Thanks again for all the support!:D:D:D
Click to expand...

Hi Syd this is Tony. Aubrey and Aden told me to tell you Good Luck and keep working hard like you are. You will do great. Most of all have fun and enjoy the experience. Please keep us updated on how it goes.
 
Congratulations Syd. That's freaking awesome. I am a parent of 2 girls ages 9 and 7 and nothing excites me more than watching them excel in sports and hunting and really anything they decide to do. The Joy that you have right now is probably nothing compared to what your dad feels. I know that just thinking about watching my daughters progress in their skills and progress in their determination of being the best is the best feeling a father can have. Congratulations and make sure you thank your Mom and Dad for instilling the work ethic, desire and being a taxi to let you follow your dreams.
 
Almost There: Three More Days

In three days, I'll start my elk hunt. I'm sitting here at my desk and my nerves are shot. I can't concentrate and I'm feeling stressed beyond belief. I think the pressure of everything going on recently has taken its toll on me. This weekend was crazy busy with family stuff, including getting the house back in order after completing Phase 1 of the home remodel. Jacob and I had every intention of going out and doing some hunting/scouting and swapping a trail cam card, but got caught up in working on the house. So my cameras have been sitting there for two weeks unchecked and will likely stay that way until after my hunt. Its too late to do anything about it now.

I know it sounds crazy, but I almost feel burdened by the hunt right now. For some reason, I'm putting way too much pressure on myself. Is that normal? Somebody needs to figure out how to kick me in the butt and snap my head back on straight! But then, as my wife reminded me on our lunchtime walk with the dogs, I get like this before every single hunt that is my hunt (never for Syd's). Once I get out there, I'm right in the groove and concentrating on what I should be concentrating on.

I'm going into this hunt with low standards. I'm not holding out for a 350"+ bull. I just want to fill a tag and get that monkey off my back, especially after two weeks of chasing bulls and eating tag soup three years ago. I won't hesitate to shoot a raghorn if I can get one into range. I texted my friend in Phoenix to see if he is still coming up to take me into his sweet spot and hunt with me. If I don’t hear from him by tomorrow, my plan is to pack either my tree stand/sticks or Double Bull into the stock tank and just sit and wait, calling sporadically. Three more days until the hunt; two more days to figure out how to keep my nerves in check…
 
Steady hands Brian. You've just got to go from one task to the next. The biggest problem is accomplishing the task at hand while your mind is elsewhere. You've got two days of work/family etc, concentrate on that now, and then when you get to the woods your can totally immerse yourself in the new task at hand. Just remember as you prepare and feel burdened, that you are doing something that literally millions of people dream about and could never accomplish. Eat it up. Life is too short too over analyze and worry.

Easier said than done! I am already stressed about my rut "vacation" as I know I wont have the "time" to do it. It's part of it.
 
Hopefully your elk hunt is going great. I somehow missed your last update. Hopefully the first bull to give you a shot is a monarch, but no matter what it will be a trophy. Good luck.
 
First Hunt Update

I had to come into the office today to fill out my time sheet. The government is kind of funny that way when you want to get paid. Since I’m finally in front of a computer, I thought I’d throw a quick update. And thank you gundog870 and bigbuckhunter88 for the encouragement. Going into this hunt, for many reasons, my heart just wasn’t in it. That all changed Friday morning at the first bugle as I was walking into my spot! My heart, soul, spirit, and love for the hunt have been rekindled and rejuvenated!

I’ll try to keep this brief, but so far, no tag filled, although I’ve had opportunities. That bugle Friday morning was on its way to panning out as I caught up to the bull with his cows. The trailing cow was 96 yards up and to my left and he was about 130 yards away with a good clump of jack pines between us and I was downwind. It was a perfect set up and I just needed to gain 60 more yards to be in range. As I was closing the gap, something up front and to the left of the herd (I was on the right) spooked them and they took off. I tried to catch up, but it wasn’t in the cards. The bull quit talking and they seemed to just vanish. A bull walked out 100+ yards in front of me Friday night with one of the biggest cows I’ve ever seen, but they also magically disappeared. Overall, the bulls haven’t been talking to serious yet, so that makes it tough. Saturday morning, I jumped two spikes and a raghorn and put the stalk on the raghorn, but, like those before them, they just up and disappeared. I’m always amazed at how an animal that big can just disappear with no trace! Saturday afternoon, a bull came into the tank I was sitting at, but came in on the wrong side for me. I tried to coax him to my side, but he followed a cow up the hill after giving a quick glance my direction from 80 yards off. About 20 minutes before shooting light, I looked up canyon to see a cow and a calf working their way towards me. I figured the bull would be somewhere nearby and, sure enough, I saw him just uphill from them feeding his way up to the bench above me. I tried to use the oaks, junipers, and cypress around me, along with a favorable wind to close some distance, but snapped a twig. I froze behind a shrubby oak, but they didn’t like something so they headed back up canyon. By that time, I was out of shooting light. I went right back there Sunday morning and by 0600 hadn’t heard any bugles, so I decided to go look where I thought they might be feeding/bedding/staging. I took a higher up the ridge approach up canyon and within 150 yards, found the cow and calf. I froze to figure out what they were doing. The cow was looking over her shoulder and moving down canyon below me. I finally saw the bull and he went below me, too. I had him at 78 yards and was hoping he’d stand still long enough for me to cover 10-15 yards quickly, but no; he kept walking down canyon. I was able to glance far enough ahead and watched the three of them walk within 40 yards of where I’d been sitting 15 minutes prior. Go figure!

Syd went out with me Sunday evening and that was great, except it started raining and we forgot to pack rain gear. It wasn’t raining at the house and I didn’t think it would be raining 15 minutes south of us. Oops. We lasted about an hour before the cold and wet got to us, even sitting under the shelter of an oak pocket. But it gave us some much needed time together. We heard some loud bugles in some steep nasty stuff that I chased a bull in three years ago and fell down the hill. I told her there was no way I was going up that stuff in the rain with her. A filled tag just isn’t worth that risk. We talked about this coming weekend, which is her first soccer tournament. I’ve been torn between hunting (if I don’t fill my tag by then) and watching her play. Three years ago, I skipped most of the weekend to watch her because I promised her that her and her soccer would always be more important than any hunt. She looked at me and with all of her 11-year old maturity and wisdom, said “Dad, this will be my 5th year in this tournament and its only your second time with this hunt. I really want you to get your bull so go hunt and don’t feel bad. I’ll have more tournaments that I know you’ll be at.” There must have been an onion in her pack or somewhere around us, because my eyes got all kinds of watery. I hope that’s a result of her mom and me doing something right with parenting! With that, I got ahold of another buddy of mine and he’s coming up Friday night after work to hunt with me Saturday. He’s a great elk hunter, so I’m excited. We have soccer parent obligations Sunday morning, so I can’t hunt Sunday. There is no way my wife can do the work, get Syd to her game, and take care of Jacob. If I still don’t have an elk down, I’ll be out Sunday evening (with Syd as she pointed out)!

Between now and Saturday, I have a friend coming up late tonight to hunt with me tomorrow and Thursday morning. We’re heading into a quiet area (no roads) and spending the whole day up there (but hopefully not :D ). If that still doesn’t pan out, its supposed to warm back up to the mid-70s Thursday and Friday, so I’m planning on sitting on “my tank” because something will have to come in to drink sooner or later. While I was in there this weekend, I swapped camera cards and there were some great bulls moving in and out of the area. I haven’t had time to upload pics to Photobucket to upload here, but you’ll have to trust me. Even my wife is saying “Just stay at that tank!”

And, lastly, here is why I’m taking a day off today. Because of my Fitbit, I’m able to track distance and calories burned vs consumed. In four days of hunting, I’ve covered 26.92 miles, burned just over 11,000 calories, while consuming just over 5,000 calories and I’ve lost six pounds since Friday morning! My body said “Enough!” last night. I knew I had to go into the office today, so I just slept in and am taking a rest day to recuperate and rejuvenate. I’m looking forward to the time when I can post “Look what just happened!”
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top Bottom