Thursday: 2:30 pm Phylo and I rolled into the Comfort Inn at Globe and right away saw
two guys standing in the parking lot that looked suspiciously like coyote hunters. I asked
and after a year finally got to meet Mike Paul and Randy Black (RanUtah). After
introductions, a big Dodge rolls up and could be no other except the Jason Chaparro clan.
Complete with Dad (David) and son (Kevin). We also passed a motel called the "Encore Inn" at "Queen Creek Az" Hmmmmmm????? :eek:
As we got checked in and asked for permission to use the stairway for skinning (we
were denied that privelege, oh well) we were directed to our guides, Kevin Bowlers
(Onefoot) room. If you haven't picked up on this, I'm Kevin, Phylos name is Kevin and
now our guides name is Kevin, plus Jason El Paso son is Kevin. If you forgot someones
name here you could pretty much go with Mike or Kevin and have a pretty good shot
at getting it right.
5:00 pm found us at the Country Kitchen putting more names to faces. Including Mike
McDonald, Doug Kimmel (DouginPa) who had is wife Rhonda and 18 month old
daughter Mary or "Miss Temple" with him. This guy has it made guys. He travels for 3
weeks hunting yotes and his wife and baby come with him. WOW!!!!! I need one like
that. Doug you have a great family.
Later that eveining found us at Onefoots room watching him camo up my rifle and what
a job he did guys!! As Onefoot started working yote hunters started pouring out of the
rooms. First we got to meet Crapshoot and BroncoGlenn. (More on him, later.....) then
Jim Mcgill and Onis showed up. These two good old boys hail from Oklahoma and one
thing was apparent, these boys come to HUNT! I'll tell you all a little secret guys, ol Onis
don't talk much, but when he does LISTEN to him, he knows what he's talking about.
Jim and Onis also showed us a video they have been putting together and the
entertainment factor had kicked in. These two just got too much time on their hands.
Friday 5:00 am. We are ready to hunt!! Kevin and I pick up Kevin, fill the thermos and
launch ourselves North out of town. Onefoot sets up in a brushy draw and leaves me and
Phylo to cover him on the uphill and downwind sides. After about 15 minutes and hearing
some movement behind me, I lip squeak and Onefoot keeps calling. After about 5
minutes I don't hear anything else. As I stand up Onefoot sees a flash of Bobact moving
away from me.
Next stand produced a coyote yipping at us less than 200 yards out but no amount of
coaxing by Onefoot could convince him to show himself. The rest of the morning had no
results so we headed in for lunch.
That afternoon after a few stands, Phylo spots some movement and swings to it slowly.
Onefoot has already spotted the fox and passes the shot so Phylo can take it, the fox
never shows himself to Phylo and Onefoot thinks Phylo is getting ready to shoot so he
passes the shot. That Onefoot is quite a guy everybody.
That night back at dinner we get to finally meet HornetFan and wait for the results.
Team after team come in and finally someone announces they got in some shooting. Well
the story goes like this. Crapshoot and BroncoGlenn call in a gray fox on the reservation
and BroncoGlen unleashes his predator gun. The fox gets introduced to a 30-06, 125
grain TNT at about 3000fps at 15 yards!!!!!!!! and launches itself straight up about 6 feet
(I can't imagine why) Glenn had clipped the front leg and put another round into him. :eek: :eek: We gave Glenn a hard time about over kill but I have to say this, you have to admire someone that shows up to hunt with what he has to hunt with. And second to maybe only Onis and Pup these two guys saw a lot of critters, and are dedicated hunters, I can't wait to hunt with them.
Onis and Jim finally came in too with one dog but if memory serves correctly
they had seen more. These two were always "1st out, last in"
Saturday: 5:30am, Kev and I roll out of bed and since Onefoot was committed to
guiding Wild Bill and Dogonner we left out with some directions from Onefoot and we
were on our way. Kev and I made some great cat stands (sign everywhere) but no luck.
That night finds us back at the room where I got to meet Robert Livesay (Critt'r) and
enjoyed a nice long talk with Mike Paul and Randy Black, as well as a short conversation
on Mikes cell phone with Bob/SoCal. A little warning here everybody, if any of you
mess with me, I'll give your cell phone # to Mike Paul. You'll regret it, this guy can rival
my 15 year old daughter for talking on the phone. He could talk a dog off a meat wagon.
That night after some good hard hunting we came in for supper, visited and got to meet
Robb/Scotsdale and Wolverineatwork. Glenn and Crapshoot came by the room and we
compared notes and started planning a hunt of our own, since we live so near.
Sunday: 9:00 am, We slowly get up and drink lot's of coffee and stay in the room. We
wanted to hunt but was looking at a long day of driving and decided to sleep in instead.
Not Onis and Jim though, they were up and gone with the sun and produced another dog
plus saw three mountain lions. I'll let them tell you that story, cause it is a good one.
Sunday afternoon after spending all of my allowance and then some on raffle tickets, we
settled down for the show. I finally got to meet Rita and Matt Craig, and Nasa showed
up unexpectedly! Mike Paul was awarded the coveted Will Craig Award and much
deserved it. He accepted it graciously and mentioned that several other people that he felt
were just as deserving including Randy Black, Robb/Scottsdale, Jason El Paso, and Robert
Livesay. If I left anyone out here, my apologies, it was unintentional. Crapshoot won the
muzzle loader and my team mate Phylo sucked a Ruger 45/22 right out from under me by
just 2 ticket numbers and a couple of other neat things like scents from HunterClaus and a
PM decal. He was getting dangerously close to walking home. Well at least I get to use
the scents and shoot the pistol.
As we were wrapping up I spoke with Michael McCasland and picked up some valuable
latter tips. I then got to meet Rich and Tyler Higgins. After watching a video of Rich
getting a coyote, a big Alpha male in his face and keep him there for several minutes
howling growling and yipping I was impressed!!!!!!!! This guys KNOWS coyotes, he may
even be part coyote. Rich and Robb then did a little demo of a pack yip and I couldn't
believe it!!! I could have swore I was in camp listening to a pack of coyotes near me or
back on the ranch. I could not tell the difference between their howls barks and yips from
the real thing, and I grew up on a ranch listening to it. That was absolutley the BEST I
had EVER heard. I quickly invited Rich and Robb out to hunt and if they ever do, I will
be a richer man for it in the lessons learned.
All in all, the hunt was an absolute blast. I never got to fire a shot and Phylo and I both
agreed we would do it again tomorrow if we could. The people made it great. For all
you guys that didn't make it, I'm sorry and I understand, but if and when you can, I only
have two words for you.
LETS HUNT!!!

Amen Brother!

Oh yes! I agree....

A little more about PUP and Onis. On the first day of the hunt I had the pleasure to guide these fellas. My objective was to cover lots of ground so they could hunt Saturday and Sunday by themselves. Occasionally you have a true life changing experience and hunting with these two fellas was one of them for me. Personallity wise they were your above average coyote hunters with their dediction and skill. It was immediately clear that these two fellas knew each other and knew each other well, they meshed as only two long time hunter can. They tried hard not to make me feel like a third wheel but I was and that was all right with me, I was a student on that day. With that being said what most impressed me was their calling style. Even though I am considered by some to be a fairly skilled caller I felt like a true rookie when hunting with them. Their style was so radically different from what I've been taught and practiced that I came away knowing that I had a lot to learn. I was taught and have vigorously promoted calling with variety, fairly loud and often, with 10-15 minute stands. I hit a lot of stands, go for the highest quality available but keep going above all. Fairly common fair for the desert southwest really. But these fellas don't come from the desert Southwest. They are from Oklahoma and they do it differently there. Pup and Onis believe in long stands, 25-30 minutes, they call sparingly, on one stand I counted 5 medium to low volume distress calls in 27 minutes, Cryminny I normally do that in 3 minutes. About the time that I thought "This aint goinna work" in strolls a coyote. On a weekend where very few coyotes answered the call these fellas did as well or, in most cases, better than the very best callers availale. I was impressed to say the least. My calling will forever reflect their influence. Thanks fellas it was a pleasure.

Blue covered the weekend so I will just add my impressions.

First off, the pro-staff and moderators. A big THANK YOU to you guys for all you have done. A nicer or more dedicated bunch of guys would be hard to find. The late night conversations were so informative I didn't regret the sleep I was missing. This group deserves the recognition for all the hard work and being about as nice in person as anyone I've ever met.

Second, Rita Craig and Matt. I was so glad to meet these special people. Rita is very special and Matt reflects the best our society can produce in these troubled times. Any time you guys feel down on todays youth, go visit Globe and you will come away with a light heart and new outlook.

Third, all the guys who came. LKVL and Doug in PA will have to fight out the "Who Came Farthest Award". Pup and Onis definitly get the "Longest Drive-Straight-Through-So-We-Can-Kill-Something Road Trip Award. Mike in AZ had truck problems and still got out and hunted as much (or more) than anyone after getting it fixed. Congrats Mike here's your "Dedicated and Loving It Award". Onefoot gets the maids special "Hey, Whats All This Paint Everywhere Award." And my special thanks for the camo job and especially for guideing us the first day. Any of you guys get down toward Fort who-wa-chu-ka (can't spell the silly thing, but that's how it sounds) need to get some time with Kevin, Mike, and Kevin. They'll 'learn you something'.

I've missed just about everyone but I have to mention Crapshoot and BroncoGlenn. What a couple of great guys to have at a hunt. And in a weekend of lots of hunting and little scoring these guys worked their tails off (pun intended) and earned the "Harassment Award" for the fox story. :eek: BUTTTTT - They got something and Glenn, in addition to playing along with all our jokes, CAME to the hunt even though he only had the 30-06 to use right now.

Finally, the "Hey, You Aren't Supposed To Look Like That Award". I don't know who to give it to. Critter should have been about 30-35 years old and truthfully, if you close your eyes, when he's talking I think he is. NASA is as nice as I thought, but was supposed to look like Billy Bob Thornton in 'Armageddon' with the pencil protector and glasses. Hornet Fan has the ideal job and living in great country so he was supposed to be about 70 to deserve all that. And Wolverine@Work is definitly supposed to look like Robin Williams or Billy Crystal with his Humor Forum work.

End Result -- One FANTASTIC hunt with the BEST people in the world. Look for me next year. I'll be the one wandering around lost, hoping Rich or Robb or Mike or Michael or Kevin or Jason or Jeff or Robert or anyone will take me hunting and teach me even more than I learned this time.

Hey Kevin,

Some people use a gun, I use a cell phone and get them to surrender, then Randy clubs em!
It was too much fun.

Phylogenesis,
Good to know someone's watching out for Bluedeacon.

Seriously, it was good to see all the members and staff having a great time!!!

When I walked into the Country Kitchen Saturday night, I was greeted with, "Hey! You're not supposed to be here!" And it's true. I had informed the staff that there was no way I could get out of last minute commitments to make the hunt. But TJ wouldn't have it. He said he didn't care if we didn't have time to hunt. He just wanted to be there. That's my boy, and all the motivation I needed. At noon Saturday we threw some clean underwear in a bag and hauled a$$ for Globe. Five hundred miles in just over 7 hours.
We walked in on the wildest mountain lion story I'd ever heard. With pictures to prove it! I'll let the (lucky) hunters tell it to y'all, but it's a good'un.
Michael came to our rescue and gave our tired buns a place to flop. McC you are a prince, and your kids don't know what they're missing. I owe you, friend.
Sunday morning we had breakfast and then went exploring just outside the NW edge of the Rez. All we brought on the trip were some handguns in case we got some time to do a little plinking. Which we did for a couple of hours before heading back for the lunch get-together.
I finally got to put a face on Phylo and BD. (I just gotta go visit those guys.) Jason and MP pretty much MC'd the event, but Robb has this suave on-stage demeanor that makes him a standout. RanUtah did a fantastic job with the tickets. He's so organized he even had a tab run of all ticket holders on hand. Great job you guys! 22-250 was having unbelievable luck at the raffle. Of course, when you buy $200 worth of tickets...... TJ won a really nice Bianchi holster. Now he wants a wheel gun to put in it. His b-day is next month. We'll see... I got more than lucky, with a prize and memory that will stay with me forever.
Jay, this time they auctioned your caller, and you won't believe what it went for! Kevin, I want a squeaker (with the Higgins pin retractor attached!) Mike and Randy didn't invite me to go prairie doggin' with them. Again. But Rich and Tyler did!
TJ and I had a great time, even though it was less than 20 hours from arrival to departure. Everyone was in a terrific mood and the management even let Hornetfan back in the chow hall!
I think I got to meet, and I'm pretty sure shake the hand of, everyone who showed up for this hunt. What a super group of people.

Guys and Gals-

I can't say enough about how much this trip meant to me. It took a while to get there, but man oh man what a worth while journey. I thank everybody that put the hunt together, you all did a fantastic job. Thanks for making us a part of a good thing, and for making us feel welcome. You know when you tell somebody you are going to travel 16 hours to hunt coyotes with a group of guys you don't know, people tend to look at you like you are crazy, especially when the weather conditions that you left are really prime and the local population is very large. I hope that we can convey the message of Will Craig to all that we meet. Thanks again for including us in the way that you did.
I wouldn't trade one mile or memory. I intend on making it next year, wherever it is.

MJ McCasland your not the only one who learned something on the first day. I was told I could learn something from anybody, if I would just shut my mouth and listen and watch. IF you lived closer you would be the front wheel of our tricycle. lol. Thanks for the guide MJ.

Thanks to the rest of you guys who sat through the thing we refer to as video, again I appoligize that it is so crude, maybe after we get enough kills or rather footage(scenes) we can get it conpiled into something that is easier to watch.

Glen, I started with a 30-30, and wished I had a 30-06.

Thanks again to all of you.

later pup

Just a quick word to "ditto" my pard "pup".
Great times and greatr huntin.
And double thanx to all mods and staff for sett'n it all up.
But most of all a big thanx to Rita for the understanding and patience and support it took on her part for Will to be able to make his dreams and passions a reality.