Chapman Elk

Terry  Chapman of Aztec, New Mexico recently picked up his elk mount from Mogollon Taxidermy.  Terry's great AZ archery bull officially grosses 374 6/8 and nets 362 4/8.  Terry hunted with Colburn and Scott outfitters.  Congratulations to Terry on a super bull.

Utah Mtn. Goat

Here are some photos of Dan Kasprzyk with his mountain goat he took in Utah.  Dan was very fortunate to draw the tag and even more fortunate to take a great goat with his bow.  He was joined on the hunt by his dad, Dick, and his son Kyle.  I have also included a photo of the wall pedestal we did with Dan's goat.

Dan with his goat

L-R Dick, Kyle and Dan

Snow in April

Here are a couple of photos of the shop on Saturday morning.  We had about five inches of snow on Saturday, April 9.  This is the latest I can remember it ever snowing.  Hopefully there will be a little more moisture before we get the summer heat.  I have included a photo of the Mazatzal Mountains from Sunday morning so you can see where the snow level was  at around 4500 ft.

Mazatzals on Sunday morning

The shop on Saturday

Another view of the shop

Archery Coues

Here is a Coues buck that Kyle Kasprzyk took with his bow in January.  It was a spot and stalk hunt and after spotting the buck at several hundred yards, Kyle was able to get within bow range and make a lethal shot.  It is good to see the younger generation with the passion to hunt.  I know Kyle's father, grandfather, and uncle, and they are all good people who are instilling the importance of the outdoors in their children.  Congratulations to Kyle on taking one of the more difficult big game animals with a bow, spot and stalk.

Absolute Bomber Coues

Check out this Coues deer that was just found in central Arizona.  The lucky guy that found it checked it with Game and Fish and they determined that it was killed by a mountain lion.  It is unbelievable how many giant bucks are taken by lions.  They are by far superior hunters compared to us humans with our high powered rifles and optics.  I put a quick tape on the buck and he grosses 144 inches and nets 139 nontypical.  He has a 129 3/8 gross, 124 3/8 net mainframe with 14 5/8 of extras.  His beams are an incredible 21 3/8 and 22 6/8 in length.  The photos don't do this buck justice with his height, width and massive bases  All I can say is I hope that he passed his genes along before the lion got him.

400 Bull

Here is a photo of Logan Anderson with his bull that he brought in to have scored a few weeks ago.  Logan took this bull on an Arizona archery hunt last fall.  The bull officially grosses a little over 414 and nets just over 400".  As you can see from the photos it is a very impressive bull.  I believe that this was a limited opportunity hunt. 

More MX

Here are more photos of the bucks taken in Mexico a couple of weeks ago. Friends Houston Davis, Darin North and Jeremy Gugelmeyer all took nice bucks.  Houston took his 105" buck at over 700 yards, quite impressive shooting.  Darin took his 97" buck and I believe it was over 500 yards.  Jeremy took his buck with a closer shot and it is 108" with a broken G-4 or else it would have been 111-112.  We had a great trip and are looking forward to hopefully returning next year.





Houston (above)



Darin (above)



Jeremy

Hannah's first big game animal

Sorry I haven't posted more photos of the coues deer taken on our Mexico hunt;  I will get those up in the next couple of days.  I have to share some photos of my daughter and her Javelina she harvested this morning.  She was very excited to say the least.  We have been hunting the past couple of days with no Javelina sightings until this morning and we were able to get within range so she could get one.  We did find a dead Javelina Yesterday morning that had died sometime during the night because it was still limber when we found it.  I couldn't find any visible signs of trauma, so it must have been sick.  If I start foaming at the mouth in the next few days I had better go get some rabies shots after handling it.  Anyway I posted a photo of that pig as we found it and also a couple of a happy Hannah with here nice Javelina from this morning.

A happy Hannah and her Javelina

Hannah, her Javelina and  a proud dad

Hannah and the dead javelina we found yesterday

Sonoran Giant

Here are some photos of the giant coues buck my father-in-law, Earl Laforge, took while we were in Mexico last week.  Earl and good friend Jeremey Gugelmeyer were on the buck for a couple of day and finally got it killed on the third day of the hunt.  I actually saw Earl shoot the deer from my vantage point across the canyon.   I got to see the deer alive, and believe me he is impressive to look at.  He is has a typical 5X5 frame with split eyeguards and an extra on each side making him a 7X8.  I put a pretty accurate tape on him in camp and came up with a little over 131" gross.  He should make the all time Boone and Crockett nontypical coues category.  We will be doing a lifesize mount of this buck later this year and I will post photos of it when it is completed.  Enjoy the pictures.

Sonora Coues

I just returned from Mexico a couple of days ago where I was hunting with five others and we had a great hunt.  The trip went smooth and I saw nothing different from the past 11 years we have been going down.  I am sure that there is some risk involved, but we didn't mess around in town and stayed on the ranch the whole time we were down there.  Everyone harvested nice deer and I will post photos of them over the coming days.  This is the buck I took on the last day.  I have been wanting a true 4 X 4 for years and I was finally able to get one.  He gross scores 100 7/8 and I couldn't be happier!  Check back for more photos to come including a monster buck my father-in-law harvested.





Family Affair Coues

Here are a couple of bucks taken in the late season by Jeremy and Kristy Ulmer, owners of Chasin A Dream Outfitters archery shop here in Payson.  Jeremy's buck is a gnarly old dude that grosses in the upper teens and Kristy's buck is pushing the 110 mark.  Kristy harvested her buck on the second to last day of the season with a strong and cold winter storm moving in that morning.  It turned out that it would have ended her hunt if she hadn't found her buck that morning.  The upper photo is Jeremy with his buck and the lower photo is Jeremy, Kristy, and their son Zach with Kristy's buck. Congratulations to both of them and if you are coming through Payson, stop and visit them at their archery shop across the beeline highway from Dairy Queen.

Archery Buck

Check out this coues deer that my good friend Gavin Weller took last week.  Gavin has taken many nice bucks with his bow over the years, but I think this will be his biggest to date.  Congratulations on a great buck Gavin!

Another Arizona Coues

Here are a couple of photos of Dan Kasprzyk with a nice coues deer he harvested early in the late season in central Arizona.  Dan took this deer with one shot at 670 yards with his 7mm rem mag with a long range scope mounted on it.  According to his dad, Dick, the deer was in country that looked more like sheep country with all the bluffs and steep slopes.  Dan's buck grosses over 100".  Great buck and great photos.  This is a good example of how well your field photos can turn out if a person puts a little thought  and effort into it.  Congratulations Dan!

Another Massive Coues

Here is a buck that Ty Goodman of Goodman Outfitters guided a hunter to in central Arizona a couple of days ago.  He is super massive and grosses over 130".  Ty guides his hunters to some great bucks each year.  I believe the story is or will be posted on the Rutnhard website, as Ty sent me this photo and it is already marked with Goodman Outfitters and Rutnhard.  Congratulations to Ty and his hunter on a great coues deer.

Old Nelsoni Ram

Here is Steve Hovik with his Nelsoni desert ram he harvested a couple of weeks ago.  This ram is quite old and has the most chipped up horns I have ever seen on a desert sheep.  He definitely did his share of head butting over his lifetime.