On my way.

[AZ402]

I had a great time on this hunt with Pat. I was only going to be there for the first three days; so I'm glad we were able to take one in that time frame. The unit Pat drew was down growth wise. The numbers in this unit are coming back and the quality will follow soon. I only know of one other buck from this unit that has scored better than Pat's buck (82). There are five days left on this hunt, so that could change but Pat shot a fine buck for sure.

We got some great video from this hunt. We almost had a fantastic kill shot at 30yrds but it just didn't happen right. I'd say that was my only regret on this hunt.

Schmalts is a good guy and someone I'd hunt with again for sure. He hooked me up with some cool Harley shirts and bought all the food for the hunt. He even slept in his hammock one night, I was thankful for that.

It's been pretty cool to be on a few HT'ers AZ hunts and be successful. There are a couple more hunts I'd like to help out on this year (Delw,A-con and BigFin). More than likely due to guiding commitments, I won't make any of them (Bigfin hired a great guide and he'll do well.) Hopefully in the future I'll take part in a few more HT'er hunts............

 

[schmalts]

Stan, I am glad the hammock only was big enough for one.
I am stuck in PHX tonight as i missed my flight home. I was told on the phone it left at 6pm and that was the arrival time in DEN. So much for saving that one vacation day. I would have killed to use this time up in the mountains for one more night to chase elk and shoot yotes. I did blast a dog yesterday morning and the .270 made a mess of him. More rental car woes this trip... i will tell all in a day or two.
Anyone in PHX looking to get some beers tonight give me a ring. 262-388-2809

 

[schmalts]

O.K, got some time to kill at the Motel between coronas. Yesterday i did some elk scouting and yote hunting. Was working in on a good raspy bugle and when i got a few hundred yards from him some yotes sounded off in the same direction. After a fast coin toss i decided that the yotes were too good to pass so i got out the bipod and set up and withing 2 minutes a dog died. Never caught up to the bull to see him. A little later I was headed down the rock road thinking "i didnt get a flat yet on this trip" and called the wife to tell her that and she said i jinksed myself. 10 minutes later "poooosh" wap wap wap... a big friggin hole. I looked under the POS for the spare and guess what... not there! I put 4 plugs in it and used a can of fix a flat to get it up to a riding level. Got down the road to a deer camp and used thier comperssor to fill it up. 2 miles further the plugs blew out. I rode it flat for a little bit to get to another camp and do the same. I offered the nice couple 100 bucks deposit to take thier colmpressor and they just said take it. I limped it down the road 30 miles to get a new tire after stopping 5 times to fill the tire a little bit. Damn that sucked..... check those spares boys!

 

[Oak]

Impressive goat, schmalts. He'll look good on the wall.

 

[coopaloop]

Great goat but I think that SWEET cooler is the real trophy. Congrats. Sounds like a hell of a hunt.

- Coop