The end of December is a great time to look back at ones year –I like to make a list of all I did during a year I have been very blessed this year and heres the “readers digest version of where I have been and what we did – one photo for each experience.

Please share yours , fun to see others’ experiences !!

Doveshoot in cordoba at los chanares –


Climbed ol donyo lengai in Tanzania


Guided a trip through the migration in Tanz


Caught a sailfish on fly in Kenya from hemingways


Several elephant hunts in Botswana , particularly in the Okavango delta





Some excellent hunts in Tanzania


A few great times in south Africa


Some great fishing in the Bahamas


some exceptional gameviewing and videography in Mana pools Zimbabwe with my nephews dan and Nik Hulme



Guide training course in Kruger


A great hunt in the Zambezi valley



Spearfished for tuna in turkey


Marco polo hunt and ibex in Tajikistan
http://forums.accuratereloadin...8321043/m/8501075281

Ended with a ten day safari in massailand !



And the highlight of all highlights , Christmas with the kids and family !!!
Little brooke delighted at a “jack in the box” !

trail with a string of “dinner”



its going to be an awesome 2013!!!
Happy new year everyone !!
Please share yours , fun to see others’ experiences !! one photo per experience

Ivan, thanks for the pics. Congratulations on a great year. I know it takes a lot of work and planning to pull off so many great trips. Good luck and I hope you have a another adventurous year in 2013'. Oh and. Um.. You forgot your Marco polo hunt

Ivan - Cool stuff! I suffer from a lack of good pics that aren't just dead animals, but here goes.

May 2102 / Alaska - Trying to get back to camp, after a long day's brown bear hunt on the Peninsula.


May 2012 / Zimbabwe's Zambezi Valley - My first cow, and the first animal taken with the .600NE


June 2012 / Zimbabwe's Malapati - Client and I with his first buffalo (44")


August 2012 / Tanzania's Lukwati - My first experience as a licensed PH in TZ.


September 2012 / Tanzania's Lukwati - Likely the last Lion I will ever shoot!


October 2012 / Colorado's eastern plains - Guiding my client, just as he shoots a 183" muley with a muzzleloader.


November 2013 / Colorado's eastern plains - running away, after client just missed him at 127 yards.


December 2013 / Pakistan - Blanford Urial, a unique species in a unique country.


December 19, 2013 / My best buddy in the world. "Hershey", March 31, 2000 - December 19, 2012. I'll miss ya buddy!

quote:

Oh and. Um.. You forgot your Marco polo hunt

its in there - with a link to the hunt report !!!!

awesome pics aaron !

My year isn't going to compare favorably Ivan but here goes:

Started off in January with a trip to Hawaii with the wife and youngest son to attend my friend and former squadron mate's retirement ceremony; Admiral Pat Walsh, Commander in Chief U.S. Pacific Fleet



Next was a Utah Black Bear hunt at the Flying B Ranch. Shared camp with Chris Sells "New Guy". We both got bears.



The wife and I finally got around to taking the long planned trip to New Zealand. It was the first hunting trip she has accompanied me on since 2006 and we had a great time:



October finally rolled around with the opportunity of a life time:



Finished the hunting season chasing a monster deer spotted around Thanksgiving. Never saw him again but did take a nice representative buck for the area:



Said goodbye to a few toys and picked up a few new ones:
Goodbye to the Merkel 500NE

Hello to the VC 577NE


Not hunting related at all but important to my year, I said goodbye to my best friend of 15 years:


And hello to a new friend whom I hope will be just as important to our family:


Sorry again for some of the large format pictures. Is it just me or is Photobucket on the verge of being unworkable in it's new format? I may be missing something but resizing and editing a picture often crashes the application and navigating between individual pics and the library seems extremely cumbersome now.

What an incredible year of blessings it was. AND I am excited to say Ivan and I are in the planning stages of me walking the Dark Continent with him in 2013...

It all started with Brother Dave on a free range Texas Aoudad hunt...

Then it was South Africa to chase my most favorite in Africa the elusive Kudu...

I was also able to share this trip with my beautiful wife and she showed me up again with a 32" Waterbuck!

Look at the Waterbuck I settled for...SMILE!

Wyoming was good to us as always. Not in trophy size but time with Family and Friends...

Charlotte's great antelope...

I think I actually shot the bigger one this time!

Montana with my best Mule Deer to date!

Named a Kryptek Camo pro staffer and really do believe in their products! "Battlefield to Backwoods"

My oldest daughter Aubree scoring on her biggest buck to date...

My youngest daughter Grace scoring on her first deer ever!

And the most important event of them all, celebrating the birth of our Lord and Savior Jesus with family...

Great photos guys!

Kyrgyz Marco Polo Sheep



Mid Asian Ibex



Girlfriend's First Animal



Bear Viewing at McNeil River Sanctuary





Fishing with Frostbit, Baitbabe, and Friends



Brett

I kind of rolled all my adventures this year into one long safari that comprised a photo safari, 3 mini hunting safaris, a 21 day lion safari and a few datys in London. I'm only posting this one picture of the lion as the rest of the trip kind of paled in comparison.

What I would most like to SHARE for '12 is the depth of respect I have for Terry Anders/ Forever African Safaris and Alistair Pole/ Zambezi Hunters. These consummate professionals under the worst of conditions that caused the closure of most of the hunting on the Save Valley Conservancy where they operate were still able to put on some superb safaris for all our clients. They did an amazing job of rescheduling on very short notice and helping me avoid opening a vein which is what I felt like doing at times. Thanks guys!

I got skunked in the States and did not draw one of the tags out of over 40 that I applied for.

I was then led to an unreal opportunity to go to Botswana on a plains game safari with Kanana Safaris in the Kalahari. It was 11 days of heaven. Africa is such an amazing place and I cannot wait to go back.

I won't post all of my pictures all over again but here are a couple.

awesome photos people , little joe thats an incredible kudu !!!

Other than a south Texas axis hunt, I have been living vicariously through you guys during 2012.
2013 should be different, July we head for the Save again!

January had us making our pilgrimage to DSC to see lots of friends, eat too much, and drink too much.


End of January we escaped the cold and wet and traveled to Argentina for a few days of sun and fun shooting doves.


In February, we went to Las Vegas for more fun with friends from far and near.


Spring sprung in April, I chased turkeys, and managed to get these guys on the last weekend of the season.


Before I knew it, we were headed to Zim for most of the month of June. Our annual safari was another great one and this lion was the high point of three week's hunting.


In August I took delivery of a slick 375 from Rifles Inc. Shoots like a dream . . . carries even better.

September brought in the local hunting season and I shot doves with friends from home. Dove hunting, buy the way, is my second favorite hunt. The first is buffalo hunting.


October is a busy month with planting food plots and getting our deer hunting farms ready.


In November, I did a mule deer hunt that did not work out and came home to a sick dog and a sad wife. The prognosis was bad x3. Now, after major surgery and minus a spleen and a splenic tumor, the news is all good and both of my girls are happy and healthy.


Since then, I've been chasing Alabama whitetails around home and trying to better this one . . .


December was all about getting ready to head to CAR on Jan 1 until, in the last few days, I learned that the hunt for one of these (of my own) will have to wait until 2014.


Not sure what 2013 holds, but I'm ready to find out.

I am really sorry about your trip being postponed, Will. I know this must have been a terribly difficult decision to make. But I suspect you will be in Dallas now instead. I only wish I could meet you, and others, there.

No pictures here from 2012 but I will always remember it as the year I booked my first African safari.

Well I went to Wal-Mart a couple of times to look at all the fine double rifles they always have in stock! Other than that I went to four funerals this year to say goodbye to some close friends! Other than that I just made trips to the gas station to make sure I have enough gas to get me to the hospital if I have a heart attack from exertion from walking to the john!

The only up side to this last year is I’m still on the green side of the grass for the time being!

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I didn't get a chance to take anything this year. Drew only a bear tag in CO and passed up a small bear on the first day and of course, that was the only bear for the season. No Elk, No Deer, No Antelope and didn't get a trip to Africa booked until next year. So I did a lot of armed hiking.

Mine is boring...I take it no one wants to see work pic's... Hey great pic's guys--hope my 2013 is as good as you guys 2012.

Ed

I could have done worse.

Took my youngest daughter to Canada for her first bear hunt. I think most Dads would agree that they'd rather take a child than do the hunting themselves.



The older daughter (who doesn't hunt) wanted to ride in the Wyoming mountains. What a joy! It was one of my best trips ever. Anna is a wonder!




Went to Zimbabwe on a non-hunting trip (to use up a ticket that was about to expire... long story) and saw lots of game while wandering around Vic Falls and Lake Kariba including a little participation in the Zimbabwe national pastime (fixing a few flat tires), a tuskless on the shore and my anual visit to the Victoria Falls Hotel for lunch.










I got to join a few of our Marines on a deer hunt Spring Hill and I do as a little appreciation for their service. That's just the evening hunt. We did about the same in the morning. Semper Fi!



And I finally talked my beautiful Sandy into becoming my wife. I married above myself, for sure.



We had a great, albeit cold, time on our honeymoon in Scotland.



And I won the best looking women with the ugliest old man award, hands down!



Perhaps most important, Sandy and I got to enjoy another year with my 91 year-old mother... she is the best and every year with her is precious!



Usually there's an elephant or buffalo or lion to report. Heck, I've not even taken a whitetail doe this year, but I've been truly blessed by the Lord.

Not a bad year... not a bad year at all!

My year was pretty much like Ivan's.....except for the Elephant, Swordfish, Genernuk, Buffalo, Leopard, etc :-)

Hey Ivan, you should think about getting your son into the entertainment industry. He's got that Michael Jackson crotch grab down pat!!! :-)

Year started out great with some nice bass and a few steelhead. Loaded up some 470NE 500gr cast bullets for pigs when I re-tore my rotator cuff. I drew nothing in California's big game drawings so I had to settle for a "B" tag hunting on public land While rehabbing the shoulder, a slight uncomfortable feeling in lower back suddenly went south, making walking extremely difficult. So much for the B zone. Good news was an MRI showed L3 squeezing the spinal column with a few bone spurs. The neurosurgeon performed a bi-lateral laminectomy and discectomy and we are pain free and good to go.

I am currently rehabbing the shoulder and back on this 70 year old body. I will be ready to get after what ever the "drawing gods" have in store. If that fails, there are always pigs and the "B" zone.

I am thankful for 2012.

1. In March my wife and I hunted Losimingur Mountain and the Great Rift Valley. We also toured Manyara and the Crater.

2. In September the both of us plus my brother saw Victoria Falls, fished above the falls, then hunted Matetsi.

3. October found me with a non-resident Mountain Goat tag going up and up in Montana. My second non-resident Goat hunt in the lower 48. I really need to focus on the easy hunts going forward, like sheep.

4. In November I got a Great Pyrenees puppy and have been training ever since.


It's been a fun and tiring 2012.

2012 has been a year of highs and lows for us.

Another sucessful safari in Namibia with the wife and close friends. Getting to experience the true desert conservancies was unique, to say the least. Sharing a "first" safari all over again, through the eyes and pictures of a good friend.

Tag draws were pretty uneventful, but I managed to hunt for late bull elk and meat hunts for whitetail deer.

There was enough jingle left to remodel a couple bathrooms for the wife and give her a new car, as a "Thank you" for the Namibia trip!

We got my 94 yr old mother recovered and out of ICU, and Kathy's 84 yr old father thru several more rounds of chemo, so we are still blessed with their presence and impact on our lives and those of the kids, grand, and great-grandkids.

I just won the 2013 Infinito Safari, so the next year is starting off pretty good too.

Two quick days at SCI

A week in Cabo.



Lots of hikes around mountains behind our home.





21 days with Andrew Baldry as first hunters into Royal Kafue.



HUNT REPORT HERE



Had the pleasure of watching the Madam dispatch her first four legged critter and later seeing her put a bullet through the heart of a Reedbuck at 254 yards off sticks.



Filling the freezer with Halibut and Ling Cod with Brett and Jena.



Picked up a used "white whale" of a camper for the Dodge



Fall hunting with Brett and Jena and helping Jena pack her Caribou (see Brett's post for picture) off the highest mountain she could find to shoot it.

Having a cigar with my 17 year old Alaskan Husky.

JIM: Does your husky inhale??

quote:

Originally posted by Bud Meadows:
JIM: Does your husky inhale??

Only when drinking Scotch.

Your husky looks like a fussy old bugger, so I presume only single malt will do.

Got the award for best buffalo in Zimbabwe
134 7/8 inches, Top ten in Record books.
Got married in November on lake Kariba.

Costa Rica in June. the Caprivi in Oct.

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i can't figure out how to copy the images directly( stupid me)

My 2012 season went into the pits. Didn't draw a license in my home state of Colorado. Didn't see one deer in Oklahoma on a hunt there with a friend. Same for antelope in another area. Had a problem with the mesh that holds me together from that explosion in Iraq.
So I guess Judge G and I had the same success (not a bad person to be partnered with), but he had the greatest success with capturing his beautiful bride.
BUT!!!
Did kill thousands (no exaggeration) of prairie dogs on the eastern plains of of Colorado this summer. Not a bad piece of shooting.

Been a good year 2012, and I hope it continues into the future. Got safaris lined-up in 2013 for Tanzania and South Africa, as well as a December hunt for free-range aoudad and mule deer in Texas. Regards, AIU

2012 Started in New Zealand (March):

Red Stag, SCI 441 official score.




New Zealand Elk, SCI 378 official score




New Zealand Tahr, SCI Bronze medal



September 2012, Utah elk, 379 SCI score

quote:

Originally posted by Scriptus:
Your husky looks like a fussy old bugger, so I presume only single malt will do.

You are correct. Only the finest single malt and freshest pig ears for that boy!!

Great photos ,ill post my year when in return from PUNTA DEL ESTE ,URUGUAY ,Ivan ,next time you will visit me and ill take you to hunt partriges,doves ducks and perhaps a boar with knife .
Aaron congratulations for a great year YOU MUST AD SOME PHOTOS OF ARGENTINA CAME TO VISIT ME TOO

2012 was a nice year for me and my family. We spent almost 3 weeks in RSA in May/June. Did the tourist thing in Cape Town; seeing the wine country, Table Mountain, Betty’s Bay, etc. We also spent a few days in Kruger Park and enjoyed that immensely, seeing all of the Big 5 except leopard. We did get to see some Cheetah up close plus all the usual plains animals. Took about 2000 pics that I have still not sorted thru.


We then went up to the northern Limpopo right on the Botswana border and spent some time with friends on their family ranch and I got to do a little hunting.

Took this really nice Impala



This thick based old Bushbuck


And this wide horned Waterbuck


I didn’t have any big hunts planned stateside this year so I just knocked around the farm and did some hunting with my oldest son, Wesley. We saw some nice bucks, including a 130” 9pt that I stupidly let walk. He did “assist” me in taking a few does for the freezer this year.




Beginning in August, we put a hurtin on the squirrel population. Wesley proved to be a safe gun handler with his BB gun all year, so Santa brought him a .22 for Christmas. He put it to good use immediately.


Looking forward to seeing what 2013 brings! Happy New Year to all!

Adam

I started off the year with a hunt in Masailand; shot two buff, a Grant's, Tommie, Coke's hartebeeste, wildebeeste, warthog, and impala. Memorial Day weekend we headed to the Virgin Islands for fishing and scuba diving; I caught a 300 lb Dusky shark, which was a blast. In June headed to Wyoming for a varmint hunt, then in Jul/Aug went to Australia. Scuba dived the Great Barrier reef and overnighted on big sailboat. Also hunted chital deer on a friend's farm with AR's Bakes.

In Sep I shot an elk, went deer hunting twice, and lots of bird hunting and coyote calling. No pics, but here is a link to my elk:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XkBRlFb0mrE