"The Bruiser Buck" Guinn's 2013 Monster Coues

Guinn was fortunate to get his hands on the statewide tag for AZ Coues Deer.  He contacted Mossback Arizona to help him out on his adventure.  His good friend Stan had the other tag and he killed a huge 141" gross deer in January with us.Guinn had the opportunity to come hunt that deer but due to prior obligations, could not make it.  Several huge bucks had been scouted, but we realized real quick that sometimes these bucks can be as bad as the bulls when it comes to breaking.  One big buck in particular broke up real bad so he was not an option. The rut was very strong this year, making it difficult to keep tabs on which bucks were there.
Being that he has never taken a coues deer, he was relying on us to help him figure out which buck to hunt.  Several weeks ago we located a really neat looking buck with a few extras we thought would score north of 120".  This was going to be our target buck.  With the rut winding down, the bucks were beginning to change patterns again and move back to their sanctuaries.

The "Bruiser" buck.

With Guinn having time in February to come he showed up and began his hunt.  Guinn is one of those guys that has a passion for hunting that is second to none.  At an age when most would not have the desire, or heart to "hunt hard", Guinn will do just about anything, and he certainly wasn't taking his coues hunt for granted!
Day one was extremely windy with not much moving, however towards the end of the day Jay found a huge NT buck that was a new deer that needed a second look.  The following day Guinn and Jay hiked to their glassing spot, while Luke was a ways off looking at a different angle for the buck that had been spotted the day prior.  This day was much like the first, but even slower.  Early afternoon Jay picked up the buck moving across the ridge and showed him to Guinn.  The buck was only 510 yards out and they realized he was broke but was still a heck of a buck.
Guinn got set up for the shot at 450 yards, and after 2 shots, Guinn had his first coues buck.  This buck was flat beat up from the rut, he was missing more hair, and had more scars than any coues buck we have seen.  He also broke off quite a bit of antler, especially on his left side.  He sheared off a point off his G2, and also broke the end of his beam off. You could really tell he had been rutting hard.

You can see how beat up this buck was from the rut.

Guinns buck scored dead on 120", and we figured he was missing 5-7".  The buck has just under a 19" beam, with great mass and length. We would like to thank Guinn for trusting us with his tag and for what he does for conservation.  What a pleasure to hunt and spend time with an amazing hunter and person. We can't wait to do it again. Congrats Guinn.

Guinn with his great buck.

Guinn with his buck and his lucky horseshoe!

Guinn and his AZ Bruiser!

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Mossback Arizona 2012 Highlights

Here are some clips of our 2012 adventures. 2013 can't come fast enough! Enjoy.

Stans 2013 Arizona Coues Buck

Congratulations to Stan on his huge 2013 AZ Coues buck that he was able to harvest.  This buck has almost capped off what has been a very special year that we were able to share with many clients.  The buck that Stan harvested was a buck that was located early on and lost.  Here is a quick story and several pictures of the deer.  

Stan started his hunt coming out earlier in the season to hunt a great buck that was later harvested and scored an amazing 125".   While out scouting some new country, Luke called and said he had glassed up a buck that we had located earlier in the year but had since disappeared.  However, this buck was in some rough, thick and unforgiving country.  With the rut coming on, we hoped the couple does in the area would pull this huge buck out of his jungle.  The day started with several mule deer being glassed, right where he always would hang out.  The muleys were rutting hard and hopes were that the muleys had not pushed the other does out of the area.  With all of us on the glass, if finally happended!  Justin and Marc caught movement up on the ridge.  The two does popped out with this buck behind them.  He pushed them over a half mile right to the area where he was bedded a few days prior.  Fortunately, Stan is in great shape and hiked off one mountain and over to the other to get into position.  We had the buck found but he would not leave the thick stuff.  And to make matters worse, another buck showed up and fought with him for about 10 minutes.  This fight was the most aggressive fighting I have ever witnessed.  We could actually hear their antlers banging over 1,000 yards away.  The buck continued to move quickly in the semi-open country and not offer any kind of shot. This went on for over an hour with Stan waiting and waiting.  Finally, the bucks does fed across an opening, and he followed.  Stan shot this buck at 353 yards on a stiff walk, right in the wheelhouse.  We were a bit surprised by the shot, but we knew the buck was hit hard so I headed over to a look.  

This is what I saw when I walked up on the buck.

 This buck had more ground "growage" than any other deer we had walked up on.  We knew he was a big deer, but we had no idea he was as big as he is.  His body was huge, as big as any coues deer I have ever seen, and his mass was nothing short of incredible.  The buck is over 16" wide, with beams that average 19.5".  Over 35" in mass, with the right horn scoring 68" and the left 55 7/8" A final score revealed he was 140 2/8" gross.  This makes him the largest buck ever taken with a statewide tag in the state of Arizona.  Congratulations to Stan on this once in a lifetime buck!  Special thanks to all the MBAZ guides who work so hard doing what they love.  More pics and video coming.

Stan with his big buck.

Jay, Luke, and Stan with 140" buck!

Stan and his buck.

All of with Stan and his huge buck!

Justin holding this buck!

Chad and the buck.

2012 Arizona Late Bulls

It has been an extremely long time since a post..  We had several great deer hunts and some awesome late elk hunts with some great people.  We also were able to help Bill Karnes from Texas, who was the lucky recipient of the 2012 super raffle elk tag harvest an amazing bull that we had found.  We did not go 100% on our late elk hunts, but we were 100% on opportunity.  We were able to watch some huge bulls that are on the hit list next year!  With the warm weather and moon, we feel like this years late elk hunts were a huge success.  All of the clients had opportunities, and were hunting big bulls.  We are excited about next years late hunts as many bulls were located and will be back next year.  Special thanks to those who trusted us with their tags, and to the guides that put in days on end to ensure success.

First off we were able to help Melvin on his champ elk tag.  What an honor to take these guys who have been around quite some time and still have the will and courage to get out and push themselves.  Melvin wanted a bull more than anything, and although his legs could not really function, he was able to harvest this dandy at 83 years young!  These champ tags that the AZGFD offers provide those that otherwise couldn't hunt an opportunity to do so.  Mel dropped his bull across a canyon at 460 yards! Congrats Mel and thank you for letting us be a part of your adventure.

Mel with his big 6x6

Next up were the late archery elk hunts.  Anyone that has hunted elk in the late season knows that it can be tough, place a bow in your hand and it is even tougher.  Dale accidentally put in for the wrong hunt and burned 14 points.  He was discouraged that he lost his chance to hunt AZ Bulls.  Well, what Dale knew is that he had the heart to do whatever it took to get him a bull.  On day two of his hunt, Dale put an arrow in this huge bull as he laid in his bed at 74 yards.  The bull didn't make it 50 yards and piled up.  This bull scores 350" as is and if he wasn't broken, we figured he would score around 371".  Congrats Dale on your awesome late archery bull.

Dale with his huge late archery bull

Mossback AZ Guide Art also had his own late archery tag and had his eyes on some great bulls.  With only a couple days to hunt, Art did what Art always does and got it done on this great clean 6x6.  Congrats Art on yet another awesome bull.

Art with his late archery bull.

Finally we had the late AZ Elk hunts.  Cowen, who is the father of MBAZ Guide Lee had drawn a late season elk tag.  With his health not doing so well, plans to hunt certain areas were not an option and Cowen made the best of things and took down this beautiful and unbroken 359" 6x6.

Cowen with his awesome late bull

Rick contacted MBAZ when he drew his late season tag.  Rick knew what he was up against, and worked extremely hard and harvested his best bull to date with Drake. This 8x8 is a bull that had been scouted and watched up until the hunt. After many miles of hiking, Rick put this AZ beast down! Congrats Rick on your best bull to date!

Rick and Drake with his late season bull.

Dan also drew a late AZ tag and after several days of hunting, was able to take this clean unbroken 6x7, which is his best bull to date!   Congrats Dan, we had a blast hunting with you and your party!

Dan with his AZ 6x7.  Congrats!

 Bill contacted MBAZ when he found out he had drawn his late tag.  At 74 years young, he wanted to come out and see what AZ was all about.  Bill hunted hard for several days, and was able to hike into position to shoot this heavy old bull at 420 yards.  Congratulations Bill on persevering and getting that big bull you always wanted!

Bill with his big bull.

Lastly, we finished up our elk season with a bull that had been located early on.  Bill Karnes, who had drawn the super raffle elk tag, wanted nothing more than a "nice" 6x6 to put above his fireplace.  Knowing how special this tag was, we told Bill to wait for a bull that was worthy of this tag.  Luck was on his side, as after several months of looking, we had located a clean bull that we thought would work.  Bill came out and after several days of hunting he was able to harvest this giant.  We have hours and hours of video of this bull, and will post up more pics and video of the bull soon.  Congrats Bill on your 407" monster bull!

The bull just prior to shot.

Bill with his "dream bull".

Taking it all in.

Jay packing the head out.

2012 Early AZ Elk Hunts

Here are some pics of the bulls that we were fortunate to be a part of on the early AZ elk hunts.  We had a great time, and want to thank those that trusted us with their "tag of a lifetime"!  I also want to thank our guides who work harder than anyone out there, and it shows! We had another good year, with lots of great bulls that we have watched for years being harvested. We were also able to lay eyes on some incredible bulls, some of which we had never seen in person! These bulls did not disappoint and we will be pursuing them next year! 

Here are some pics of the bulls that we were blessed to be a part of. I will save the details of each of them for a later date. We were able to capture some amazing video and kill shots on many of the bulls.  Our average score on the early hunts was almost 370"!  Many of them we have years of trail cam pics and video of as well.

Steve with is opening morning 7x7 archery bull. 

Wendy's 1st elk hunt! She took this monster after many days of hard hunting! Congrats Wendy.

Todd took this great bull, dubbed the "Anteater" by many guides due to his broken nose. 

Forest took this awesome 6x8 bull we called "Cross" due to his brow tines. 

Cade with his awesome archery bull! This bull has some beams! Congrats Cade

Steve with his awesome 6x7 bull! This bull broke off an xtra browtine before he was taken and is 50" wide! Congrats Steve!

Jim with his AZ Legend we named "Transient". This bull roamed all over the place!

Jason with his 2012 AZ Bull. Congrats Jason.

Rich with his last day 6x8 bull that has an impressive 31" of mass a side! Congrats Rich

Rich's 15 yr old son Tevin with his 1st archery bull on his 1st archery hunt! He shot this bull at 20 yards on video! Great job Tevin!

Ernie with his best bull to date! Congrats Ernie on this great bull.

Mikes 476" Monster Arizona Bull!

Mike and his Arizona Giant

First off, I have to apologize for not keeping the blog going the last couple months. Things have been busy to say the least. We have been blessed to be a part of an amazing bull. Mike Gallo was able to harvest the most amazing bull I have ever personally seen. Never in my wildest dreams did I think we could turn up a bull of this caliber. I will share the story soon, but for now here are some pics of this amazing 8x8 bull that officially gross green scores 476 5/8" and nets an amazing 462 4/8".  This believe this is the largest public land bull to come from this great state.  The bull has a 34 2/8" spread credit. The bull has over 80" in mass, and a 49 and a 51 inch beam! Congrats to Mike on this trophy of a lifetime! I could have never passed on the other giant legends that he did to harvest this bull. I also would like to thank the Mossback Arizona guides who pound the hills day in and day out! Great work guys and a big congrats to Mike! Enjoy the pics

We were glad the bull had not broken off anything! He lost his left eye earlier in the day fighting with another bull.

This view really shows the big extras.

Mike and his good friend Bob

I really like the head on look of this bull. His 3rds are 24 and 26"!

The mass is incredible.