2011 Arizona Strip Hunt

Well, before I get started with the details, I want to take a moment and thank the entire Arizona Strip Bucks crew. Guides Bryon Goswick and Devin Beck. Friends Tory Brock, Bill Beck, Ben Wells, Bob Dykeman, Luke Petrocelli and Dan Sullivan. Without the hardwork and dedication of each and every one of them, we simply couldn't achieve the success that we do. I also want to sincerely thank our outstanding clients from 2011. Michael, Kelley, John, Dan, Brian, and Mike. Thank you for trusting us with your priceless tags and for being such positive and great hunters through a long, tough and trying season. THANK YOU ALL!!............Matt Schimberg

Lets get to it! We enjoyed 100% success with all six of our valuable clients. We harvested four bucks grossing over 200" and two others at 199.7 and 190.4 The full moon, wind and snow made for tough conditions and it wasn't until the evening of day 6 did any bucks get harvested. But once the ice was broken, big bucks started to fall! We did experience 2 missed shots at another giant that we were after that would have grossed somewhere between 225"-230"!

The first 13B hunter below is John H. His gigantic deer turned out to be waaaay bigger than John and I ever dreamed with a gross score of 239.6" We had him estimated at 220" but when we approached and lifted his head, we about died! At almost 35" wide, each and every tine was much longer than we had guessed. With 28" beams, one G2 that was almost 22", a 17" G3, 28.4" inside, 46" of mass and long inlines, he added up quick! John made an exceptional shot at 360 yards straight down into a canyon only seconds before the buck was going to vanish. The most unreal thing about John's buck is that he reaches his enormous score as only a 5x5! His frame alone was 221" with one G4 measuring only 4.4 inches! I still can't believe it! John truly appreciates the magnitude of his accomplishment and I feel honored to have shared it with him. After a humble "thank you" to the Good Lord for our treasure, and being joined by friends Bob Dikeman and Ben Wells, we took the pictures below....

This monster was harvested by Mike M. from Colorado. Mike and I found this buck on day two of the 13A hunt. He was the only one Mike wanted to harvest. We jumped a doe in the thick trees and caught a quick flash of the buck following her getaway. We tracked the small bunch at a rapid pace for 400 yards or so and caught them crossing a small draw. Mike dove down prone and I bawled at the deer, stopping him at 165 yards. Mike hammered him through a small hole in the brush and he went down within 30 yards! We had nicknamed this buck "OneEye" due the loss of one eye from a fight I suppose. He was an old buck. His 34.4" wide 8x9 heavy antlers grossed 230" on the dot and had broken off about 3" inches. This buck lived in very thick and difficult country. Mike made good on the brief opportunity that we were given and it easily could have been the only chance we would have had! Thank you Mike!!

Brian B. from California shot the awesome buck below with guide Bryon Goswick and friend Luke Petrocelli. After a long and tough week of trying to kill a 35" wide non-typ giant, Brian decided this super wide, super cool buck would work instead. Brian's buck grossed 190.4" and just barely missed the 35" inch mark. Thank you Brian for being so patient during your hunt as we hunted thick country all week trying to make it happen.

Dan K. was hunting with AZSB guide Devin Beck in unit 13A. Devins dad Bill Beck was along to assist. They encountered the buck below early one morning and after looking him over, Dan and Devin decided that he would do. Dan made the shot count at 200 yards and the 199.7" gross buck was his. Thank you Dan! We appreciate it!

This awesome typical was harvested by very deserving hunter Michael R. of Arizona in unit 13B. Michael experienced it all on his long and very hard week of hunting with Bryon Goswick and Luke Petrocelli. They started the hunt looking for a couple of giant deer that that were in the same area. After 6 days of big wind, nasty weather and super intense pressure from other hunters, they found the velvet buck and decided he was big enough to shoot. One shot and it was over. Although it is tough to see from the pics, this buck has been scored by an official at 205.6 gross and after the velvet is stripped and the buck is dry, he will net very well in the All-Time B&C book. We can't thank Michael enough for his positive attitude and persistence in VERY tough conditions....

Last but certainly not least is Kelley M. from Oregon. Kelley was hunting with Devin in 13B. Kelley endured the very same tough week of hunting that the rest of us did and was rewarded with his buck of a lifetime. One shot again was all it took to collect the 7x8 giant non-typ that grossed 206" Kelley and his friend Jeff were a pure pleasure to hunt and have in our camp and we can't thank them enough for their business and trust. They asked to come back in future years to help other lucky tag holders and we couldn't be happier if they did!

A few more pics from bow season

Here are just a few more misc. pictures from the archery hunt. It was a great and successful time for all involved. Our first season offering "scouting packages" proved to be a sound investment with the harvesting of great buck that scored within 1/8th of an inch of 200"!

These packages are an awesome idea for those tag holders that either can't afford, or don't want, a fully guided hunt yet don't have the time to properly scout to set themselves up for success...

Mark's huge 226" buck As-He-Lay at the end of a blood trail a blind man could've followed!

Another live pic of Jeff Huffs awesome 195" incher...

Jeff Huff's Arizona Strip Buck taken on the 16th day of hunting...



Gale Bundrick with a huge Russian Boar taken during his Strip hunt! What a bonus...

Gale and his 199 7/8ths gross whopper harvested after purchasing a scouting package from us!

The End of the Bow Hunt

Well, here is the last buck for us during the 2011 Strip bow hunt. Jeff Huff harvested this great buck on his 16th day of hunting. While Jeff hunted some bigger bucks that never did just cooperate, he was thrilled with this 195" gross 5x6. Heavy rains toward the end of Jeffs hunt as well as the velvet rub that many of the bucks were going thru crushed the patterns on a couple of our top bucks. I can not say enough great things about Jeff and Mark.(read Marks story below this post) These two buddies from California, who usually hunt DIY, were honestly a couple of the most upbeat, patient, and good natured hunters I have ever had the pleasure of spending time with. They stuck to the plan, hunted hard and were both rewarded greatly for the effort. Thanks again gentlemen, see you in January!

Arizona Strip Archery Hunt Update

Well here we are over half way done with the Strip bow hunt already. The 2011 season has started well for us. The first buck to fall was a deer we had nicknamed "Lefty" for obvious reasons. Lefty was one that we had hoped to harvest but due to his roaming habits, inconsistency and the thick country he called home we had all but scratched him off the hit list. He used 3 different water sources and would often vanish for up to a couple weeks at a time. We kept scouting and even started the hunt on different bucks but kept checkin to see if Lefty would show up. The evening of opening day, Lefty was spotted. We quickly threw up a blind at the closest water, waited a day, and then Mark climbed in it the afternoon of day three. At 6:20 pm Lefty strolled into view alone and thirsty. Mark reacted with a Grim Reaper that nearly passed clear thru poor ol' Lefty. His awesome and unique 7x10 antlers grossed 226 5/8ths. We were all very pleased. Thanks Mark!!

Marks partner Jeff is still hunting for another huge buck that we have been having close calls with. Jeff has showed an amazing amount of determination and persitence and has remained focused in his hunt for a huge deer. Many would have thrown in the towel after the insane hours and long days Jeff has accumulated on his hunt. Hopefully he will score on the 36 incher soon...

"Lefty" two days before Mark Warrington harvested him.

The second buck harvested was taken by a gentleman that we assisted with one of our scouting packages. Not having enough free time to thoroughly scout, Gayle contacted me and we devised a plan. We met in 13B a few days prior to the opener and spent the day glassing bucks and checking waters. Gayle supplied all his own blinds and camp gear. He set up on a couple waters that showed promise and began hunting. After a couple close calls his main water source dried completely up. Not to be stopped, he quickly switched to a spot and stalk strategy and with the help of his son, was able to arrow the awesome buck below. After his ratty, dried velvet was stripped he grossed 199 7/8ths. Congrats guys, great job!!

Well, I just returned from 7 days on the Strip and am pleased to say that the both the country and the deer herd look phenomonal! I spent time in all corners of the Strip over the last week and cannot remember it ever looking as healthy as it does right now. The grasses, forbs and browse are all showing great growth and I think it safe to say that regardless of what weather does or doesn't develop this summer, antler growth will be fantastic. The buck's bodies are in 100% great condition. Their antlers are just now reaching enough growth to start determining whats what. More info coming in mid July....

Test Video Edit

I recently decided to learn a bit more about computers than simply being able to press the power button. I have had a ton of past footage sitting around for years so I bought an editing program and starting playing around with it. Here is a short clip I put together. Very amateur I know, but there is a couple pretty big deer in it. Enjoy...

John Gisi's 2010 241" Auction Tag Buck

I have posted these pictures before but here is a liitle detail about how the hunt went down.

My good friend John Gisi bought the Arizona Commisioners tag for Mule Deer in 2009. This tag is good for one 365 season starting on Aug 15th. 2009 and running until Aug 14th 2010. After much effort by many others, John had to yet to kill a buck when the Spring of 2010 rolled around. He gave us a call and a plan was formed.

I started scouting around the 4th week of June. The Strip was as green as I can ever remember seeing it and the monsoons had not even started yet. As I began to refind old bucks and discover new, one thing was clear, antler growth was un-freakin-believable! I was joined by Bryon around July 15th and by then I had already seen gobs of bucks over 200" including several over 220" The giant we knew as the "Fifty Incher" (buck pictured on the title of this blog) was one of two bucks that had are close attention. We figured "Fifty" to be over 40"wide and well over 230" gross. We also had a menagerie of backup bucks that were between 220" and 230" when John arrived to start hunting on August 1st. Sounds hard to believe I know but 2010 will go down in history as one of the best ever seasons on the Arizona Strip.

Aug 1st-Let the troubles begin. Right before we commenced hunting, things began to unravel. An enormous amount of non-stop monsoon storms racked the Strip daily. This threw most of our bucks patterns into chaos. Our two top bucks changed country and no amount of effort was going to turn them up. They had simply retreated into unhuntable, unglassable, dog hair thick country. Combine this with the fact that Strip bucks are very elusive by nature and don't allow the luxury of being able to find them at will, and we were quickly running out of time. We kept spreading out and looking, as well as starting to keep tabs on a few of our backup bucks. Time wore on and after 10+ days and only a few days remaining in the season, we decided it was time to shoot something.

On Day 12 we caught a break and when we spotted one of our best back-up bucks. We immediately seized the the moment as John and I made a long stalk and got in position. As is so common on the Strip, the buck and his buddies had retreated into a dark, nasty thicket of cedars to bed for the day. We posted up on the only marginal vantage point available and hunkered down underneath a tree. We had waited for several hot hours for something to move when Bryon and Ben made an awesome spot on John's buck from well over 3 miles away. They informed us that the bucks were exiting the thicket on the backside. We grabbed our gear and cut right through the bedding thicket going straight at the bucks. As we neared the edge we stopped and and started watching for anything to move. We kept slowly closing ground and finally a buck moved into view. It was not the big buck. We stayed put, eventually making one more small move and there he was feeding in a small opening between two trees. John readied himself on a tripod in the standing position and after watching the buck for an extra second or two to make sure he was the right one, John hammered him.

We were all very pleased to have harvested this buck after taking the hunt down to the wire. With only one day left in his 365 day season Johns awesome buck grossed 241". His frame was a tad over 210" with over 30 inches of trash. He measured over 23 inches of mass per side and had an outside spread of over 34" inches.

A huge thanks go out to John for his many generous contributions to Arizona wildlife. Without the purchase of these types of tags there would not be the funds available to manage and improve so many of the delicate areas these bucks call home. Thanks to Bryon Goswick and Ben Wells and everyone else involved for all the dedicated hard work.