Shed Hunting Trip

It's always been a hobby of ours to go horn hunting in the spring.  With antler prices up this year, it was just the motivation we needed to go tackle some rough, thick canyons in search of some brown, elk horns.  J Lewis, Andrew Crandell, and myself spent half a day sweating and swearing while fighting thru mansanita thickets and hiking in and out of canyons.  By the time we reached the truck, we had each found 4 antlers a piece.  Andrew found the only brown horn of the morning.

Although I didn't find a brown horn, I did pick up two of the biggest sheds I've ever found.  The first shed was a #2 (last years horn) that's in great shape.  I was so excited when I found it, that I didn't get a picture of the horn were it laid.  The horn measures 168" (mid 370 class bull).
The other big horn I found is at least 3 years old and was laying in the open (see pic).  It has an amazing top-end with a 26" G4 and 18" G5.  This horn scores 177" (low 390 class bull).

Maybe next time we will find some horns that we can sell to at least pay for our gas.  But I'm not parting with my big horns.  They already look good on my pot shelf.  Enjoy the pics.

J Lewis was the first to find bone

My first big antler of the day

Andrew's first horn

Too bad he's all broke up!

Andrew's brown 6 point.

How cool is that???

Probably the biggest horn I've ever found

Three tired dudes!  Not bad for a half day trip

400" or "Bust"

I'm sure most of us would take a "Bust" just to kill an incredible bull like either one of these AZ monsters.  Both bulls score just inches under the magical 400" mark and would be extremely hard for anyone to pass them up.  This first bull was taken while guiding for Chappell and Scott Guide Service and was harvested by good friend Mike Katich with a muzzleloader.  The bull had great thirds and an incredible split G-2 on his right side.  This hunt can be seen on the Extreme Bulls 5 video series produced by Chappell hunting productions.

This next incredible bull was harvested by Mike Baron of CA during the AZ early rifle hunt.  We chased this bull for 2 seasons in the exact same location before Mike Baron and Daniel took him on the third morning of the hunt.  We had nicknamed this bull "Caribou" due to the way his right side G-4 hooked forward like a bull caribou.  Two incredible bulls harvested by two great hunters.  Thanks for the memories guys...

Mike Katich's Monster AZ Muzzleloader Bull

Check out the incredible split G-2

Mike Baron with an AZ monarch

Mike Baron with the "Caribou Bull"