Waylon's 125 Late Coues Buck

Waylon waited 9 years between Coues tags. This year he drew one of the state's premier late tags in the AZ Ground Pounders favortite unit.
Levi, Cash, Steel and Waylon began scouting immediately. Some good bucks were found during the fall but it wasnt until two weeks before the hunt when Levi found the one. Levi and buddy Derek Daniels went to check spot when Levi glassed a deer's leg in the sun sticking out of a oak brush. When the buck stood up Levi quickly named the buck Sunny Governor because he was worthy of the annual governor's auction tag . Levi watched the buck for the next two weeks straight. The first morning of the hunt had Waylon and Levi sitting in the first major snow storm of the season with about 200 yards visibilty. The next two days were just as bad. Finally on the fourth morning of the hunt the clouds broke and the sun began to melt the snow. Governor stood up in the sun and pushed a smaller buck away, never giving Waylon a chance. The next day the buck stood up but again did not give a good shot opportunity.
Waylon finally got the chance to come back and hunt on the 7th Day of the hunt. The buck was not seen that afternoon. On the 8th Day of the hunt Levi and Waylon were in the spot glassing before day break. It was a cold overcast morning and they both had a good feeling about the day. At 8:30 the clouds broke and sun started to shine on the ridge. 15 Minutes later Levi glassed the buck coming out of a pinion tree 750 yards away. Waylon quickly jumped in the gun and had him in the scope. The buck was cruising just like the other encounters but this time the AZ Ground Pounders were ready. Levi ranged the buck at 698 yards and Waylon turned the custom turret to 7. Waylon told Levi "when the buck stops I'm gonna kill him." Waylon squeezed the trigger on Levi's custom .300 Win Mag. Levi said "He is hit hard. The buck ran up the hill but he was hurt." The giant buck bedded in the middle of an opening. Waylon was going to shoot him again but when Levi went to get out of his Swarovski 15s he bumped the tripod. When he relocated the opening, the buck was gone. Waylon told Levi that he had never squeezed off a shot better in his life. They waited for Cash, Steel Jimbo and Derek to get there from another glassing spot. After 4 hours of waiting Jimbo and Steel decided to walk from the back side of the ridge to make sure that the buck wasnt injured and running off. When Steel approached the spot where the buck was last seen he found some fresh tracks and smelled deer. Steel looked to the right and said in to the radio Waylon's new favorite phrase,"Got him." The shot was a perfect center punch through both shoulders.

Waylon would like to thank Levi for all of his help in the past 4 months, Cash, Steel and Jimbo for all of the early morning glassing trips. And also thank Derek for helping Levi during the two weeks of watching the giant buck. Sunny Governor scored 125 4/8ths and has 9 1/2 eye guard and a 4 inch kicker off of the other eye guard. It is the Coues Buck of a lifetime on the Coues Hunt of a Lifetime.

                   

AZ Ground Poundin Lion

Cash, Steel and Jimbo recently did some remote lion hunting on horseback.  A Big Tom track was found and it didn't take long for the AZ Ground Pounders to catch their Fourth Lion of the Fall. 

Clay Myers Two Hour Tom

Clay Myers made the trip over from Camp Verde to hunt lions with the AZ Ground Pounders.  The AZ Ground Pounders struck a track first thing and the trail was on. The tom was bluffed within two hours and Clay made a perfect shot with the .44 Mag. The AZ Ground Pounders would like congratulate Clay on his two hour Tom.

Levi's 117 4/8th October Coues Buck

After six days of hunting hard during a full moon Levi and Steel Armstrong finally glassed this buck at first light on a Crytsal Cold Halloween Morning. The buck was shooter at first sight.
Levi made a great 450 yard shot with his Custom 300 Win Mag. to put the buck down.  Congrats to Levi on his biggest Coues Buck yet.

Uncle Bill's Short Wide Buck

Uncle Bill Armstrong was lucky enough to draw yet another Coues Deer tag this year and decided to hunt with nephews Levi and Steel Armstrong and Waylon Pettet. The first morning of the hunt was windy and cold little deer moving. Around 11:30 Bill and Levi glassed a buck getting up on the saddle below. After a debate on how big he was the stalk was on. Levi and Bill went down to kill the wide buck while Waylon and Steel stayed back to guide them in. After an hour long stalk Bill made the 545 yard shot. The buck has great mass and is 16 inches wide. Another 95 plus inch Buck for Uncle Bill.

Chase's Unit 27 93 Inch Two Point

On the fourth morning of the Unit 27 early Coues Hunt,  Chase Armstrong, Brian and Jr Murdock glassed from a high ridge overlooking last years burn. Jr found four bucks on the other side of the ridge and called Chase over. Chase got set up on the buck with his .257 Weatherby Mag. Jr ranged the buck at 512 yards. Chase shot but missed. When the buck got out to 700 yards Chase shot again. The big 2x3 buck dropped. The buck scored 93 6/8th and had black horns from living in burn. Congrats to Chase on his buck.

Joe Craig's AZ Big Game Super Raffle Lion

Joe Craig was drawn for the AZ Raffle Lion Tag and decided to hunt with the AZ Ground Pounders Outfitters. Joe made the trip from Tennessee and hunted for 2 days when the Ground Pounders struck a fresh track and the hunt was on. Joe made a great shot with the .30-.30. Joe's Tom is a great lion worthy of the raffle tag.

Jake's Mule Deer Buck

The Arizona Ground Pounders helped Jake Beeler out on his juniors deer hunt. Ten Minutes after light, Steel glassed a pair of Mule Deer bucks and the stalk was on. Cash found the bucks feeding up the bottom of a steep canyon. Waylon spotted the big buck and Jake set up to take him.  Jake made a great 285 yard shot with the .300 Weatherby Mag. Great job Jake on your 4x4 Mule Deer Buck!

Brett Carden's October Lion

Brett Carden of Western Oklahoma Trophy Outfitters made the trip out to hunt with the Arizona Ground Pounders Outfitters. After hunting hard the Arizona Ground Pounders caught up to this great dry ground Tom. Brett made a great shot with the .44 Mag Pistol. Congrats to Brett aka "Bullfrog" on his Trophy Lion. 

Travis Von Ende's Outdoor Experience 4 All Bull

Mid September 2011 Waylon received a call from Chris Denham, Editor of Western Hunter Magazine and Co Founder of Outdoor Experience 4 All. Chris wanted to know if we knew anything about unit 1 and if we would like to go on a Early Bull Elk hunt with hunter Travis VonEnde. Waylon and Adam Munson decided to go and help Travis kill his first bull. Travis had recently undergone reconstructive ankle surgery and was still using his crutches and a walking boot. The night before the hunt Travis was asked what kind of bull he wanted to shoot, his reply was " one with horns."  Little did he know that the very next day he would be chasing Trophy Class Bulls. The first morning started off slow but things heated up in the afternoon. Waylon and Adam glassed a good bull in his bed and radioed Chris and Travis who were in the canyon below. Travis made his was across a flat and set up for a shot at the bugling bull. Travis missed his first shot but remained positive that he could kill a good bull. The next morning Waylon glassed a great heavy dark horned bull on the edge of a meadow. Travis and Chris tried to put a stalk on the bull but he was too busy pushing his cows away from other bulls. The same afternoon the bull was spotted about 100 yards from where he slipped out earlier that day. Chris and Travis made another stalk on him and followed him up a draw. Travis didn't miss this time. The bull scored over 340 inches and is one of the biggest bulls ever killed by an Outdoor Experience 4 All Hunter. The Arizona Ground Pounders Outfitters would like to thank Travis and Chris for allowing us to join such a worthy cause.

Jeff Penny's Raffle Tag Lion

Jeff Penny and his good friend Andy Hampton came from Yuma to hunt with the AZ Ground Pounders Outfitters In January 2011. Cash and Steel knew Jeff had a good chance to kill giant Tom that had been trailed the week before the hunt . On the first morning of the hunt Cash and Steel struck a track that matched the Tom that Jeff was looking for. After a few hours of trailing the Giant Tom was bluffed by the AZ Ground Pounders hounds. Jeff made a great shot on the beautiful Tom and his 2011 Arizona Big Game Super Raffle Tag was filled with one of the biggest Toms ever caught by the AZGP guides. The Lion green scored just under 15 inches and was GIANT BODIED TOM.  Congrats to Jeff on his Trophy Tom

Cash's 2011 Coues

Cash and Steel Armstrong located this buck just days after guiding a 102 inch buck for a client. Cash made a great shot and the heavy dark horned buck went down. The buck carried his mass from base to tip and scored 108. Another 100 inch plus buck for the AZ Ground Pounders.

Bill Armstrong's 131 Breakfast Buck

Uncle Bill Armstrong as he is known to the AZ Ground Pounders Outfitters along with his brother Jimbo on his 2011 early Coues hunt, found and killed this monster buck. About 15 minutes after first light Jimbo glassed up a group of mule deer bucks. As soon as they could turn to look Bill found this monster 4x4 buck. This buck had good length on all of his points was heavy at the bases. Bill decided that he was the one but he also decided that he would finish his breakfast burrito before he would shoot him. Jimbo and Bill pulled a stalk on the buck and one 230 yard shot from Bill's .257 Weatherby Mag. put the buck down. Both Bill and Jimbo had agreed that the buck would go high one teens to low one twenties but were in for a surprise when they put their hands on him. He scored 131 3/8ths gross.  Great job on a monster buck for two of the original AZ Ground Pounders

Steel Armstrong's 120 Coues Buck

After two years of watching this absolute giant typical 3x3, Steel Armstrong finally got his buck. Steel found this giant buck, nicknamed Dueces for his extra long G2 points, in 2009. After other hunters missed their opportunity to kill the 120 plus buck, Steel drew the early tag the next year. The buck was found again in late July and the wait was on. Brothers Steel, Cash and Levi Armstrong  as well as Luke Weisser and Waylon Pettet took turns glassing the buck hoping that he survived until the October Hunt. When the season finally came Dueces was nowhere to be found. Finally on the 6th day of the hunt Cash glassed him up. Steel and Luke put the sneak on him and killed from less than 150 yards. Dueces final score went 120 3/8ths. The same day of the hunt Bill Armstrong killed a buck less than 2 miles away that went over 107 inches. Bill was hunting with his brother and original AZ Ground Pounder Jimbo Armstrong. Two Coues bucks on one day with a combined score of 227 inches. Not a bad day for the AZ Ground Pounders Outfitters. 

Dani's Giant Bull

Levi Armstrong recently took  Dani Leas on her first rifle bull elk hunt. The bull ended up being a world class trophy and the bull of a lifetime. Steel Armstrong helped to find this giant. The story was recently featured in Elk Hunter Magazine. The typical 6x6 bull went 386 3/8th and was one of the biggest bulls killed in 2011. Thanks to Mick Paegler and Luke Weisser for helping get the job done.   Great job Dani !!!!!!!

One Day Tom

The first post on AZGP.blogspot.com is the story of our last hunter Mike Coover and his April Lion. We have some great pictures and an awesome video of the hunt.

Mike and his One Day Tom

Mike, Ryan, Cash and Steel