Kaibab Plateau Early Rifle Hunt

[TheTone]

Thanks for taking us along, sounds like you guys basically did everything you could to try and find success

 

[noharleyyet]

Thanks for the ride...

 

[WNC2500]

Glad we could go along with you with both the ups and the downs. Beautiful pics! Thanks for sharing

 

[elkrchr]

Your team hunted hard and smart for the entire season in some amazing country. Many of my most memorable trips ended with my tag in my pocket, but all those trips were successful in my book! Thank you for sharing.

 

[CRJR45]

If it was easy, everybody would have a trophy on the wall.
It was a great hunt and I enjoyed the pictures. Thank you very much.

 

[Khunter]

Az can be tough. Unrealated to your hunt but….Most mentally draining hunt I maybe ever had was Cow bison on the Kaibab. Brutal to see almost nothing for 14 days running. Entire draw pool of 10 hunters ate tag soup. Oh for Ten. The smart ones were maybe the ones who wimped out after 6-7 days and then the other few who gave up day 10. Me and another guy had the fortitude to keep beating our head against the wall through the final hour of 14 day season... Admirable maybe, dumb, probably.

Thanks for taking us along. You did as well as possible and a big buck sure coulda shown up at the end, bummer one did not.

 

[Big Fin]

Your effort would have been rewarded probably 4 out of 5 hunts. Sorry it was that unlucky 1 of 5 on this hunt.

Following this thread reminds me of my AZ Strip tag in the drought year of 2007. I hired one of the best guides for the unit. Hunted our butts off for the entire season. First time he’d had a client not get a shot on that hunt. The other two hunters in camp both missed whoppers, then left the following day in disappointment. That left me as the only tag holder for the final few days with the outfitter and two guides. Still didn’t turn up the buck you hope for with a Strip tag. A great hunt that served to remind me that no matter the tag, it’s still a hunt for unpredictable wild critters. After that, I was a reference for the outfitter and I suspect some questioned why I gave him such high grades. He hunted as hard and for as many days as I wanted, smiling and upbeat the entire time. That’s what made it a memorable hunt, even without a punched tag.

It sounds like you had a similar experience. Glad you enjoyed the hunt, even if the outcome wasn’t what we all hope for.

Thanks for sharing your hunt on Hunt Talk.

 

[jlong17]

Thanks for the write up! I say this with absolutely no disrespect or ill intentions: I think I’m going to change my hunt strategy from applying for these glory tags to applying for mid tier tags. This isn’t the first write up of the glory tags that ends in a bit of a let down. I had a family friend with a similar lifetime tag that sounded like a nightmare. So much stress that he seemed to forget about his hunting roots… all in pursuit of massive antlers. I think I would personally rather give my all and notch an average buck rather than recruit an army to find the unicorn. Not that that’s a bad thing, just feels weird I guess? Having said all this, I’ll let you know how I feel once I draw a Henry mountains buck tag next year
Thanks again for the story, and great write up.

 

[ShootsManyBullets]

Great hunt and write up. Bummed you didn't get one, but that early hunt is tough. Heck even the late hunt is tough with all the activity around there.
Thanks for sharing and the pictures were great. Someday I'll make it back there

 

[MTGomer]

Thanks for the write up! I say this with absolutely no disrespect or ill intentions: I think I’m going to change my hunt strategy from applying for these glory tags to applying for mid tier tags. This isn’t the first write up of the glory tags that ends in a bit of a let down. I had a family friend with a similar lifetime tag that sounded like a nightmare. So much stress that he seemed to forget about his hunting roots… all in pursuit of massive antlers. I think I would personally rather give my all and notch an average buck rather than recruit an army to find the unicorn. Not that that’s a bad thing, just feels weird I guess? Having said all this, I’ll let you know how I feel once I draw a Henry mountains buck tag next year
Thanks again for the story, and great write up.

Early hunt on the east side kind of is a mid tier hunt. They kill some giants, but a lot of small bucks or tag soup like npaden and two years ago, I, experienced.

This is not a thanksgiving hunt on the west side.

 

[npaden]

Made it home safely, after some of the stuff that went down this fall around the country with some hunters not making it home, just making it home is a successful hunt in and of itself.

Ended up losing about 2 hours for some phantom road construction on the west side of Albuquerque that had traffic backed up for miles and then all the sudden they opened everything back up and never could figure out what they were even doing to have it closed off.

It will probably be a couple days getting caught up at work and getting things sorted before I can get back and answer questions, post some more pictures and post some wrap up thoughts.

Thanks again for the thoughts and comments.

 

[rjthehunter]

Thanks for sharing your hunt! It was fun to follow along. You put the effort in on this one!

 

[Valley1320]

Made it home safely, after some of the stuff that went down this fall around the country with some hunters not making it home, just making it home is a successful hunt in and of itself.

Ended up losing about 2 hours for some phantom road construction on the west side of Albuquerque that had traffic backed up for miles and then all the sudden they opened everything back up and never could figure out what they were even doing to have it closed off.

It will probably be a couple days getting caught up at work and getting things sorted before I can get back and answer questions, post some more pictures and post some wrap up thoughts.

Thanks again for the thoughts and comments.

That road construction there sucks! Got caught in that the other day

 

[vanish]

Thanks for letting us follow along!

 

[rustednuts]

Az can be tough. Unrealated to your hunt but….Most mentally draining hunt I maybe ever had was Cow bison on the Kaibab. Brutal to see almost nothing for 14 days running. Entire draw pool of 10 hunters ate tag soup. Oh for Ten. The smart ones were maybe the ones who wimped out after 6-7 days and then the other few who gave up day 10. Me and another guy had the fortitude to keep beating our head against the wall through the final hour of 14 day season... Admirable maybe, dumb, probably.

Thanks for taking us along. You did as well as possible and a big buck sure coulda shown up at the end, bummer one did not.

Khunter, your story led me to stop applying for those GC bison tags. I couldn't imagine spending that much time and money in apps to have the entire group of hunters go zero.