Sorry to have been absent from Hunt Talk for the last week or so, but it has been for good reason. Joining some great friends to film and Arizona rifle pronghorn tag qualifies as excusable absence. We wrapped up filming today and thought I would provide the blow by blow account from the motel tonight.
Many of you have seen Jerry Pritchard in our TV episodes. Jerry is the lucky tagholder for this hunt. Jerry was a long-time AZ resident after leaving our little berg of Big Falls, MN. We have been roommates, best man in each other’s wedding, escapees from a Mexican jail, and hunting buddies whenever time and opportunity allow.
A few years ago, I posted a thread where Jerry shot a great buck on the Sheldon Antelope Range of northern Nevada. Whenever invited, I try to help him on his hunts, but as most know, when antelope is involved, odds are I will clear my schedule and be there a few days early. Here is a pic of the buck he took on that hunt. That was where the bar was set for this AZ tag.
Also joining us was another person you have seen on other episodes, NVLongbow, another co-conspirator from our early pre-marriage days of havoc and debauchery. Now, being of greater age and wisdom, we spend our time hunting together, rather than the activities that usually had us on a collision course with a calamity of varying degrees of physical and financial damage.
Most of our AZ hunts are blessed with the company of one of Jerry’s closest buddies, Wade Zarlingo, and this hunt would be no exception. Wade is always smiling, always willing to do anything that needs attention, and his hunting talent equals his modest of such. Wade is an AZ resident, so his travel to the area was of less logistical challenge and allowed him to come and look over the unit a couple weeks prior to the hunt.
Before moving to NV, while still an AZ resident, Jerry was smart enough to buy a lifetime license. For many who don’t know, if you buy an AZ lifetime license, you are not subject to the 10% non-resident cap, even if you move away and someday become a non-resident. Thus, Jerry’s odds of drawing an antelope tag were far better than for most of us other non-residents.
Jerry came down five days early to scout. Scott and I joined him a couple days later, with Wade coming the day before. Great fun, visiting, laughing about the stupid things we did as youngsters, all the while searching the monsoon-drenched grasslands for a buck Jerry might like. When I showed up, the monsoons were in full force. The first afternoon had me sitting out two hours of torrential rains that had me thinking I maybe should have brought my inflatable raft for this hunt. Every road was drenched with deep pools of standing water. I was hoping Jerry did not have a waterhole strategy in mind for this hunt, as I was looking at a mile long waterhole in the form of the road that would take me to the agreed-upon meeting location.
Jerry’s first two days covered a lot of ground and by the time we arrived, he had eliminated a lot of places that had been in prior consideration. Following a very wet first day, the next two days prior to the hunt were mixed clouds with afternoon thunderstorms, allowing us access to the few remaining places Jerry wanted to focus on.
Many of you have seen Jerry Pritchard in our TV episodes. Jerry is the lucky tagholder for this hunt. Jerry was a long-time AZ resident after leaving our little berg of Big Falls, MN. We have been roommates, best man in each other’s wedding, escapees from a Mexican jail, and hunting buddies whenever time and opportunity allow.
A few years ago, I posted a thread where Jerry shot a great buck on the Sheldon Antelope Range of northern Nevada. Whenever invited, I try to help him on his hunts, but as most know, when antelope is involved, odds are I will clear my schedule and be there a few days early. Here is a pic of the buck he took on that hunt. That was where the bar was set for this AZ tag.
Also joining us was another person you have seen on other episodes, NVLongbow, another co-conspirator from our early pre-marriage days of havoc and debauchery. Now, being of greater age and wisdom, we spend our time hunting together, rather than the activities that usually had us on a collision course with a calamity of varying degrees of physical and financial damage.
Most of our AZ hunts are blessed with the company of one of Jerry’s closest buddies, Wade Zarlingo, and this hunt would be no exception. Wade is always smiling, always willing to do anything that needs attention, and his hunting talent equals his modest of such. Wade is an AZ resident, so his travel to the area was of less logistical challenge and allowed him to come and look over the unit a couple weeks prior to the hunt.
Before moving to NV, while still an AZ resident, Jerry was smart enough to buy a lifetime license. For many who don’t know, if you buy an AZ lifetime license, you are not subject to the 10% non-resident cap, even if you move away and someday become a non-resident. Thus, Jerry’s odds of drawing an antelope tag were far better than for most of us other non-residents.
Jerry came down five days early to scout. Scott and I joined him a couple days later, with Wade coming the day before. Great fun, visiting, laughing about the stupid things we did as youngsters, all the while searching the monsoon-drenched grasslands for a buck Jerry might like. When I showed up, the monsoons were in full force. The first afternoon had me sitting out two hours of torrential rains that had me thinking I maybe should have brought my inflatable raft for this hunt. Every road was drenched with deep pools of standing water. I was hoping Jerry did not have a waterhole strategy in mind for this hunt, as I was looking at a mile long waterhole in the form of the road that would take me to the agreed-upon meeting location.
Jerry’s first two days covered a lot of ground and by the time we arrived, he had eliminated a lot of places that had been in prior consideration. Following a very wet first day, the next two days prior to the hunt were mixed clouds with afternoon thunderstorms, allowing us access to the few remaining places Jerry wanted to focus on.
