Let the fun begin!!

Well Jay Brent and I went out scouting and checking over some country. While Art and Joe were up north, we were down south checking out some coues haunts... As we were scouting, I caught a glimpse of a nice buck, and we moved up to go find him again. I was telling Jay how it was a very compact and heavy buck, and no sooner did I start talking than Brent jumped off the quad and ran over to this massive shed. It has got to be the same buck I saw. We had a great time during the day and are excited about the coming season... Stay tuned.

Brent holding his prize. It looks like last years shed.

This guy needs a few more years...

THEY CAN'T FIND THEM ALL !!!

Here's a couple pics and short video clip of our shed hunting trip this weekend. Fellow Mossback guide and brother Joe picked us up as my hunting truck is out of commission with a broken leaf spring (hauling to much game and antlers). Weather started out nice then got cold and windy. I had my youngest son in the backpack so we had to tame our hike down a bit. We thought we'd glass an area that we usually do well in but over the last couple years, its been getting hammered by everyone that owns a quad. We knew we were early so we mainly just glassed to see where the bulls where hanging out. We seen 58 bulls, including one herd of 37, but none had dropped yet. The big herd fed up and around us as we glassed so my boy was jazzed to see them all filter by (he kept calling them deer??). Before we left, we walked a feeding area that usually gets pounded and on our way back to the truck, I glassed these bad boys up. I think being so close to the main road, 400 yards, and the fact that they were both tines down, allowed them to stay undiscovered for about 4-5 years. They are a great set with the left side being the stronger of the two. The right side only grew 5 points but had awesome character on the 4th. This is one of the heaviest sets of sheds I have found, the left horn was 15 pounds and the right was 14 pounds. The left horn scores 175" on a mere 50" beam, with 32" of mass. This shed has similar character to one that I picked up in the same area with my 4 year old. My son was holding the deer shed that Joe found and when I told him this set was his, he wanted to hold them as well, HaHa. I've also thrown in a pic of both boys with their sheds. The season has just begun....


Yep, they're not brown but they'll do.

Completing our 2010 Javelina Season

Hell all, this is Art. Just wanted to share a quick video clip and a few photos of our last hunting trip. We usually put in for javelina tags down south as a good reason to visit our best friends and to get away from the Northern AZ cold. This year Kevin and I, the husbands, put in for archery tags and filled them in January. On this hunt Michelle and Ann, the wives, would be looking to uphold their contribution to the season. The weather was not very conducive to hog hunting as it was quite chilly with strong winds and lots of rain. However, we were able to find a big herd of pigs hiding from the wind and both ladies were able to take their pigs. This hunt was a family oriented hunt finding glassing for javelinas while trying to entertain the kids. We managed to be successful at both. You can see in the video that even though our kids are well trained to cover their ears when anyone is about to shoot, it still scared the 2 year old a little. Its a blast to see the excitement in the boys when they make eye contact with the javelina. Its the reason the pigs start to make an exit in the video, but not soon enough. Its very rewarding to be able to share the outdoors with our boys and our best friend's entire family. I did not put much into editing the video but its enough to share with you all. Enjoy the pics and video, it was a blast making the memories.

Breakin in the Boots

I went out today with my son to go hiking, maybe find a fresh shed or two, and begin the break in process for my new Lowa Tibet boots, to prepare for my sheep hunt in Alaska this year. Tate was in the pack most of the time, and we put on about 4 miles in one of our old haunts. We saw a lot of fresh elk sign, and several fresh rubs, but the highlight was watching a bull we are familiar with. Mossback Guides Art and Joe Gonzales were able to film this bull and observe him throughout the summer and fall. A good friend of ours almost took him in the early hunt this past year, and I was excited to see him... He is one beautiful bull. Hopefully we can find his sheds soon.