Tony Get's His First Archery Bull!

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During the archery elk hunts this year I was fortunate to experience an awesome hunt with good friends Tony and Craig! Tony and his family have hunted Coues with me for the last few years and we've had some great times together. I knew this hunt would be no different. Tony had drawn the archery elk tag and despite the slow rut and bad weather he kept his spirits up the whole time and I knew it was just a matter of time until he got the shot he wanted. The time frame between the first and last shot was a roller coaster full of emotions with it's highs and lows but in the end we were rewarded for all our determination and persistence! Thanks Tony for letting me experience it with ya and congrats on a great first bull and great job stickin' with it!

Here's Tony's story.....

"We'll, we spent 10 days hunting in solid rain with almost no rut activity and finaly got a shot at a nice Bull and I hit a little bit back, not the best shot. After givin him plenty of time we started tracking we'll we followed blood until it stoped then we were able to track him in the soft ground. At 12:30 and two miles later we GPS the last track and went back to camp. After a night of no sleep we picked his tracks back up and followed them for another two and a half miles were we spooked him off his bed and he blew out like nothing was wrong I just knew we were not gona recover this bull. So we stayed put and gave him some more time after what seemed like forever we were back on his tracks. He had only gone 200yards and beded this time we were ready we closed the distance to 45yrds man I was shacking so bad but I took a deep breath and sent the arrow and place a great shot hitting both lungs. He blew out again and went 60 yards where he crashed and we recoverd him. What an awsome hunt and a great track job by Craig and Jim. It pays to be persistant!"

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Cole Smokes A Beast With A Muzzleloader!

Here's another great bull we had the great fortune to help with this year!

I got the call from Bob Horchler early on stating his son Cole had drawn a great muzzleloader bull tag this year! Cole only had a couple days to hunt as he just started college, so we knew we had our work cut out for us! The tag he had is one that you don't want to just shoot any bull, even with limited time you still want to take a good bull and that was our goal!

As everyone knows, the rut was very difficult this year but we had some great bulls lined up and the hunt was on. On our first morning, Jeff and I took Cole to an area where we had 2 bulls located. Both bulls would bugle very sparingly early and late but we knew their bugle and basically where they lived. We had Cole's mom and dad, Bob and Heidi, with us on that first morning as well! Right away we had the bugle we wanted. This particular bull is named "Floppy" because of a damaged ear. We moved in on the bull and played cat and mouse for a long time with him. Floppy was very educated and was smart enough to keep brush between us and him the whole time! It was frustrating being within range of him but never getting a shot! We didn't get the shot that morning but to have the family there to experience it all made it very cool!

I had to leave for home that evening and Jeff took Cole and the family back to the same area. The evening was quiet so they split up on two different waterholes that were close to each other. Cole's dad and brother were on one and Jeff and Cole were on another. They had only waited for a short time when Bob clicked the radio indicating a bull was visible where he was at! Jeff and Cole snuck over to the waterhole and got a visual on the bull that was now in the tank and right in front of Cole's dad and brother! Jeff knew instantly this wasn't a bull to pass on and Cole sent a perfect shot into the bull! The bull wasn't even down yet as the celebration started, everyone knew the shot was perfect and the family had a front row seat to the show!

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It was great meeting the Horchler family and hunting with them! Cole is a great hunter and we were all excited that he tagged a great bull! Congrats Cole!

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2 Hunters, 2 Great Tags, Over 750" of bone!

I'm not going in order here but I'm excited to share this story with you all!

We had 2 hunters, Davey and Gene, in Unit 10 this year on the early rifle hunt. Bryan would be the guide and my brother and myself would be helping throughout the hunt. Bryan did a great job and scouted for weeks before the opener and had some giant bulls picked out! Our hunters, Davey and Gene and Gene's brother Robert, are great guys and the atmosphere in camp was awesome and I only wish I could've been there during the whole hunt! Camps like that are why I love doing what I do and killing big bulls is only icing on the cake on those ones!

Matt and Bryan took both guys out seperately, Matt with Davey and Bryan with Gene. Bryan had some big bulls hitting a tank so he took Gene to sit it. I'm very surprised anything came in because I know how much I laugh being around Gene and I know Bryan had to be rolling in the dirt trying not to laugh out loud in the blind! Gene is one of those characters that even when he's not trying he gets ya laughing! Bryan would keep getting out of the blind to splash in the water in hopes a bull could hear it and come to investigate, but I know he was just needing a break from Gene! LOL! Eventually a big ol' bull came in to check out the noise and Gene was ready for him! Gene laid the smack down on him and tagged the biggest bull of his lifetime! Matt and Davey were close enough to hear the shot and they all were excited to see Gene killed a great bull!

Now it's Davey's turn! Matt and Bryan tag teamed and even with the help of Gene's brother Robert they relocated a bull that Bryan had some history with from the earlier archery season. Bryan had his archery hunter on this bull on opening day and his hunter shot him with what they thought at the time was a high lung shot. Unfortunately another guide ran in on the bull even though they knew Bryan's hunter already shot him! A whole mess of unfortunate events followed and everyone thought the bull ran off and died....but that wasn't the case! The arrow had actually passed through the back straps just above the rib cage and the bull was healthy and rutting his harem of cows 2 weeks later!

Matt, Bryan and Davey hunted this bull hard for several days with some very close calls but no shots fired. Bryan knew this bull intimately and everytime he moved Bryan knew exactly where to relocate him! Matt had to go back to work so I headed over to take his place. On my first evening there I watched as Bryan and Davey moved in on the bull but unfortunately bumped him again. Bryan told me exactly where to find the bull in the morning and the plan was set!

The next morning Bryan headed to a high point as Davey and I moved into the country where Bryan said the bull would be. Sure enough just after light we hear a bugle! There are no other bulls in this area so we knew it was him! I grabbed Davey and moved quick into position just as his cows came across a clearing at 200 yards! I threw the tripod down, Davey dropped his gun into place, I ranged the opening, here comes tines....It's him, 210 yards.....BOOOM! WHOP!!!! He's hit, He's down!!!!

I called Bryan and assured him that 5 weeks worth of watching him and all the drama he's endured with this bull, it was finally over! Davey and I walked up to the beast first and it never gets old for me, something about walking up to a giant bull and seeing the emotions on the hunters face is why I do what I do! Bryan came up shortly after and it was dead quiet. Davey and I didn't say anything and I could see through Bryan's watery eyes as he picked up the rack what he was feeling. He spent a crazy amount of time trying to kill this bull and had gone through some crazy bullcrap with other hunters in the process. This was his second hunter to shoot this bull and getting to put his hands on the antlers was a long time coming!

Even though I loved every second of the short time I spent with Davey and Bryan, it should have been my brother Matt standing there with Davey when he killed this bull. Matt had been there for everything but the kill and I felt bad just showing up for the finale...but I'll get over it, I had a blast!!! LOL!! Here's the beast named "Sidekick"! Average 61" on beams, over 44" wide, 390" straight 6!

Again, it was a great hunt, and I know it was an awesome camp with great folks! To kill two great bulls in the end was just icing on the cake and I'm glad I got to at least see one of em' hit the dirt! Bryan and Matt did an incredible job and their hard work was obvious to all that shared in the hunt. Thanks to Robert and Glen for all your help in camp and Dad and Gary for their help as well early on! Congrats to Davey and Gene on your great bulls! Mullins.

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Our Second Archery Bull from the 2011 Season!

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Well now that we got these bulls and this crazy rut figured out Jeff and I tag teamed our second hunter, Rich. Rich, an accomplished archer and hunter had his sights set on one of our biggest bulls for the first part of the hunt. He had the same issues with the hunter pressure and although he had some close calls with the giant bull he decided it wasn't worth the hassle. Jeff and I took Rich over to our secret spot where we killed John's bull and again had the area and the bulls to ourselves. The first night there we had some close encounters with smaller bulls and had a game plan for the following day. The next day we came in the backdoor on an area that holds a big bull and immediately had a good bugle. We set off after him with Jeff and Rich going low and myself heading high. The country is broken up cedars with sage draws and not knowing the bull had cows we bumped into them. We heard the commotion and then noticed the bull heading up the draw alone. I bugled at him and he stopped and looked back. The bull didn't know what busted his cows but after I bugled he thought maybe another bull ran into them! This bull turned and started coming back to find out! Jeff and Rich noticed this and Rich took off to get between the bull and where his cows went.

I sneaked down towards Jeff and bugled again which got the bull bugling back at us which helped to keep tabs on his location. Once behind Jeff and Rich I started rattling the two antlers I carry to simulate two small bulls sparring. This was enough to assure the bull that there were other bulls there and he kept coming! In the process of rattling I had a small bull sneak in behind me and watch me at 30 yards throughout the whole event! I could see the big bull coming and knew any second he was going to get an arrow in the ribs! Rich had snuck up closer than we thought and as the bull passed through an opening at 30 yards Rich sent an arrow through the beast! We all watched as the bull blew out across the sage meadow and knew he was a dead bull runnin'!

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The tracking was easy with the recent rains and we had our bull! We had Rich's friends John and Scotty there with us and they got to experience it all with us! It was a tough rut this year but we adapted to it, got away from the pressure, made some changes to our calling tactics and produced a couple outstanding bulls within the first week of the archery hunt! Congrats to Rich on your biggest bull to date and thanks for letting us share in the experience! Mullins.

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First Bull of the 2011 Archery Season!

So with the elk hunts finally here, our anticipation and excitement is boiling over! The bulls were screaming and the rut seemed like it would be good prior to the hunt but that would not be the case! The rain storms started rolling in and kept rolling in one right after the other and the rut seemed to wind down more and more with each storm!

I was in our main camp in Unit 9 with 3 hunters and even though the rut was slow and the pressure was heavy we still made it happen!

First up was John. John's expectations matched ours and we were wanting to kill a huge bull! We had several picked out and hunted them hard but we soon realized the competition for those bulls was too much so we went to find a bull of our own. After relocating to the other side of the unit we found what we were after! We had big bulls all to ourselves and they were talking enough to locate them. We knew cow calling was not productive so we changed up tactics.

We had a bull bugle in the treeline shortly after light. We grabbed our gear and ran to get ahead of him. After about a mile of getting into position, Jeff ran back as I took John ahead and set up. The bull bugled once more and that reaffirmed we had set up correctly. I ranged the shooting lanes and told John that this is gonna happen fast! Jeff let out a perfect bugle and the bull was interested in checking him out! We saw his legs first and just before he stepped into our shooting lane he stopped and put his head down. As he swung his head up I got a good enough look to know this was a shooter class bull and it was about to get western! Jeff's perfect subtle calling had this bulls curiosity and he wanted to check out this new bull in his area. The bull then started into our lane, 35 yards was the mark as the bull veered broadside and just as I stopped him John's arrow was on it's way and smacked him perfectly! We sat and listened as the bull ran and crashed within 100 yards!

We were all excited for John and his incredible archery bull! John kept his composure through the tense moments and made a perfect shot at the perfect time to claim this huge bull as his own! It was one of those moments that I live for. We took a tough hunt, adapted, relocated and smacked a whopper of a bull in the end! Congratulations John on a bull of a lifetime! Mullins.

P.S. Thanks to our packers, Vance, Matt, Glen, Dad, and especially my nephews, you all made it easy! Thanks!

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Dad's Long Awaited Muzzleloader Antelope Hunt!

Switching gears from Bears to Goats! We had just got done with the Bear hunt and headed up for Dad's Antelope hunt! Dad has waited a long time for this hunt and even though it's a trophy unit, the trophy bucks were hard to find! Dad only wanted to kill his biggest buck to date so any 80" class buck would fit the bill and with what we were finding we felt we had a good chance at that!

Bryan came down from elk scouting and Gary came up to help Dad and I. On opening morning we scattered to find a buck that Bryan had found the night before but with no luck so we then ran over to relocate our initial Plan A buck. Once there we found several hunters flingin' lead at a smaller buck and working him and his harem around in circles. We looked past the circus and relocated our buck several miles out so Dad and I loaded our packs, grabbed the Zebu decoy and headed out. It was 100 degrees and we knew we were on a death march across the prairie! We had gone about 1 mile when we noticed the buck those other hunters had been shooting at was headed our way. We stopped and got a better look at him and then noticed we had underscored him! Dad and I dropped behind the decoy and waited to get a better look at him. Eventually the does appeared at 150 yards and following behind them was the buck! At 112 yards we realized this wasn't a buck to pass up with a smokepole! Dad leveled his canon and BOOOM!!! The buck humped up and stood there while his does just stood looking around confused. Dad excitedly reloaded and hadn't packed the powder tight enough but after several missfires we realized what happened, packed the powder tighter and BOOM! The gun finally fires and the buck dropped dead at 112 yards!

We called Bryan and Gary to let them know that we didn't feel like hiking the extra miles so we decided to shoot this buck instead! We knew once they saw this buck they would realize it had nothing to do with the hike we had ahead of us, this buck was an absolute stud! The mass is insane and he's absolutely gorgeous! He didn't seem that impressive to us at a distance but up close it was appearant that he wasn't a buck to pass up and most likely scores better than the buck we were originally after.

It was awesome to see Dad get all worked up and excited and it was even better to see him tag such a great Antelope! Thanks to Bryan and Gary for being there to help out and share in the experience! Congrats again Dad! Mullins.

Auction Bear Tag Hunt 2011

Howdy folks, sorry for the long delay between updates! I've got a ton of cool hunts and giant critters to share with ya, stay tuned!

First we have a phenomenal bear hunt to share with ya! It all started with a phone call from Phil Townsend from Yuma, AZ. He purchased the auction bear tag and was interested in a spot and stalk hunt! We love hunting bears with optics and have some great country to hunt so the hunt was on!

Mullins guide, Bryan Waitman, started the scouting early and found several handfulls of bears with several being great trophies. As anyone that's done it knows, stateland bear hunting can be one of the toughest hunts you can do, and looking for a trophy adds a huge element of difficulty to it. With dogs you can shop around and pass on bears at close distance, but spot and stalk hunting is much more challenging and much more rewarding for the hunter as far as we are concerned. With tons of experience behind him and tons of scouting done, Bryan was ready for the hunt!

Myself and friend Steve showed up several days in advance to get our bearings and Phil, along with his son Matthew and friend Ernesto showed up later for the hunt. It was on the first day that Steve found a huge bear and Matthew and Ernesto helped him pin down the location. Later that evening, after a grueling climb up one of the biggest mountains, we settled into position and relocated the giant bear in a small canyon. The rain started pouring down on us but with tripods in position and Phil on a steady rest, we waited for the bear to present a shot!

Finally, after a short wait the bear stood up and turned broadside..BOOM! Phil sent a bullet towards the bear but unfortunately instead of a solid hit he gave the bear a haircut instead! The bear then ran down the canyon and we sat and watched as the bear ran a full mile in a circle below us in the flats and then dissappeared unhurt! We hunted that bear exclusively for the next couple days without success and then decided to move on to hunt different bears. We looked over several other good bears in the next few days and had a great time!

Finally, after sorting through numerous different bears, we finally found the one that Phil liked and he said that was the bear he wanted! Here's some pics of the bear as he fed below my glassing position.

After a quick lunch and reveiw of my pics of the bear from that morning, we headed out early to set up on the bear. I had watched the bear go into a thick draw to bed so we had high hopes we would get back on him. With Ben and myself up high and Bryan and Phil coming in from the bottom, our plan was set but as soon as I got set up I looked down and the bear was out! It was hot and way to early for him to be out but he was and our plan shifted into high gear! Bryan and Phil had to hike the mile in faster than expected and in just a matter of minutes the bear got hot and went back into the thick draw to bed again.

Bryan and Phil finally got into position and after only a short wait the bear finally came back out! The bear walked up the same ridge that they were set up on and then skirted around the side just below them! Because of the slope and close proximity of the bear they had to sneak in close! Ben and I were on pins and needles freaking out at how close they were! I think it was 40 yards when Phil could finally see the bears head and neck above a prickly pear. Phil, not wanting to take any chances, decides to take the shot he had...BOOOM! The gun went off and the bear piled up in a heap! It was exciting just to watch such a hunt, I couldn't imagine the excitement they had up close and personal with the bear like that!

It was great making new friends with Phil, Matthew and Ernesto and I definitely look forward to hunting with them in the future! I wish Matthew and Ernesto could've stayed longer but I'm glad they got to share in Phil's hunt as much as they did at least! Bryan did an amazing job and put us in great bear country with tons of bears found, actually, I think last count was over 20 bears sighted which is amazing for stateland bear hunting! Thanks to everyone that helped out, Glen, Ben, John and Pam, and Steve! The hunt couldn't have happened as well as it did without you all! Congrats again Phil on a beautiful stateland, spot and stalk trophy bear! Mullins.