Kaibab

[huntnphool]

Fantastic buck, love the mass!

[wheels]

congrats nice buck

[Bigshooter]

I have a soft spot for old bucks that don't score well.  Congrats.

[elkboy]

Awesome buck and great writeup!  Congratulations, and thank you!  The Southwest is an amazing place. 

[WAcoueshunter]

I have a soft spot for old bucks that don't score well.  Congrats.

I hear you, me too.  Love old bucks with mass, and a lot of times that means they lose the length!  Here's one I got a few years ago that fits that mold.  You can see the mass in my hands, he was a chunk. 

[Skyvalhunter]

Partial to mass myself. Did you see many other bucks?

[WAcoueshunter]

I averaged about 10 bucks a day, the vast majority of which were small 2 and 3 points. Maybe two spikes, probably five bucks in the 130 - 155 range, and then three big mature bucks.

I saw probably 15 bucks in the back of trucks. Two were 180+, two around 165, and the rest smaller, some really small. Lots of immature bucks get shot on that hunt, it’s like a general tag for the residents and draws a lot of folks that shoot the first buck they see. I talked to one guy who shot a spike on opening day and couldn’t have been happier. But there are lots of outfitters too. All the strip guides are on the Kaibab this week, and they aren’t shooting spikes.

[Muleyslyr]

Great buck man! That's well worth five years of waiting to me. Very cool.

[lemondog]

Awesome job and a great buck. Some times you gotta go for it and see what happens...

[boneaddict]

That’s a neat buck!

[wheels]

another awesome looking buck

[DOUBLELUNG]

Thanks all for the nice comments.  One think I love about hunting is the ability to see and explore new places, and learn different ways to hunt.  Sometimes it can be really frustrating as you try to figure things out, and you have no idea what to do next.  I've eaten some great tags over the years trying to climb the learning curve.  But then when it works out, it's just that much more rewarding.  This time I feel like I got lucky early on.

I'd say you made your luck.  Congratulations on being flexible and adapting your strategy to reality vs. wishing for different.  There are extensively roaded BLM areas in Wyoming I used to hunt, lots of pressure and ATVs EVERYWHERE.  I loved hunting those late, as by the third day or so every buck in these units were in the canyons out of sight of roads and ATV trails.

[rasbo]

Sweet buck,lots of great bucks come outta that area.

[tlbradford]

It's these types of write-ups that built this site.  Thank you for taking the time to share your story.  Congrats on a fantastic animal.

[pianoman9701]

Beautiful buck. Thanks for taking us along for the ride.