Kaibab Muley Spike

[sbhooper]

The fact that the buck was no monster does not take one thing away from the hunt. The fact that you did the right thing just adds to the satisfaction, in my opinion. Great job and there is nothing wrong with that buck at all.

 

[elk_hunter]

That's a super buck - he was fixing to be a super tall dude! Nice job taking him out of his misery! Congrats again on a great trip!

 

[Devil Diver Down]

Nice job. Hope you get to feeling better. No deer for dad?

I'll be fine. Already WAY better than I was at the end of September. My dad had several chances - some on really nice deer for any unit standards - and couldn't close the deal, unfortunately.

Mother Nature has given him so many positives over the years, growing up in a wild Arizona that will never exist again. Now she is routinely taking back every skill she ever lent him. It was pretty tough to watch him be a step too late or a hair late making a decision on a shot several times. I tried to hurry him along a few times when I felt we were "losing daylight" or other stuff, but finally realized that we were measuring success of this hunt differently and just let things unfold at his speed.

Nice buck! Looks a little bigger than a spike like the title suggests

For the Kaibab, he's practically a spike.

Thanks. He's a fine buck and I'd make that same decision 100% of the time, even if he was a pencil-sized spike, no matter the tag, so I'm okay with it. It also put an end to my hunt early and allowed me some shoulder-to-shoulder hunting time with my dad, which we typically don't get a lot of. From that standpoint, the hunt was a smashing success.

 

[recon6036]

Nice write-up and job well done. Congrats!

 

[big28hunter]

Wonderful hunting ethics and a beautiful buck. Congrats!

 

[Lv2hnt]

David:
Thx for the re-cap --- sounds like a great time with your dad! Sorry he wasn't able to stick his tag on some antlers too. Congrats on your buck (hope your lungs heal up soon!) ...

 

[MT_elk]

Way to go on doing the right thing. Congrats on the deer!