I struck out in the AZ deer draw again this year and made plans with my brother to pick up leftover tags for a border unit that's been good to me the last few years.
The hunt started the day after Thanksgiving, we let the weekend crowds thin out and drove down Sunday afternoon. My brother, his wife, her uncle and I all had tags, her uncle came out form California to hunt Coues deer for the first time. My awesome dad was nice enough to drive down with me and cook for us all.
Hunting was tough with the warm weather and 1200 other hunters in the unit before our hunt started. My sister-in-law and her uncle saw bucks two days in a row but weren't able to get a shot. I spent the first 3 days trying to figure out where the bucks were hiding without much to show but a few doe sightings each day.
Thursday was my last day to hunt, I woke up to the sound of light rain falling on the tent. I decided to hike further from camp and hoped to find some deer in the head of a steep canyon that has a water catchment. I'm not too proud to say I asked God for a little help that morning as I was feeling a little discouraged.
The warm weather made hiking in the intermittent rain and fog fairly pleasant the only problem was my binos were useless most of the time. I saw several groups of does up feeding as I still hunted through the canyon which was a good sign. I followed an old two-track up towards the catchment in a saddle overlooking the canyon. I got about 200 yards from the catchment when my prayers were answered. A nice buck stood up from his bed about 120 yards up the steep hillside and offered a perfect broadside shot.
I lost sight of the deer at the shot and thought I missed for a few seconds as I watched two white flags headed up the hillside at a high rate of speed, then I saw my buck fall over ten yards from where I shot him. It took me a while to make my way up through the slick rocks and mud to put my hands on him. I feel truly blessed to take this deer. It was definitely a case of being more lucky than good but I'll take it.
It was great to hunt with my family and I made a new hunting buddy, "Uncle Ramon" is welcome in our camp anytime.
P.S. I either have a creepy knack for finding campsites near old graves or there are a lot of graves down here.
The hunt started the day after Thanksgiving, we let the weekend crowds thin out and drove down Sunday afternoon. My brother, his wife, her uncle and I all had tags, her uncle came out form California to hunt Coues deer for the first time. My awesome dad was nice enough to drive down with me and cook for us all.
Hunting was tough with the warm weather and 1200 other hunters in the unit before our hunt started. My sister-in-law and her uncle saw bucks two days in a row but weren't able to get a shot. I spent the first 3 days trying to figure out where the bucks were hiding without much to show but a few doe sightings each day.
Thursday was my last day to hunt, I woke up to the sound of light rain falling on the tent. I decided to hike further from camp and hoped to find some deer in the head of a steep canyon that has a water catchment. I'm not too proud to say I asked God for a little help that morning as I was feeling a little discouraged.
The warm weather made hiking in the intermittent rain and fog fairly pleasant the only problem was my binos were useless most of the time. I saw several groups of does up feeding as I still hunted through the canyon which was a good sign. I followed an old two-track up towards the catchment in a saddle overlooking the canyon. I got about 200 yards from the catchment when my prayers were answered. A nice buck stood up from his bed about 120 yards up the steep hillside and offered a perfect broadside shot.
I lost sight of the deer at the shot and thought I missed for a few seconds as I watched two white flags headed up the hillside at a high rate of speed, then I saw my buck fall over ten yards from where I shot him. It took me a while to make my way up through the slick rocks and mud to put my hands on him. I feel truly blessed to take this deer. It was definitely a case of being more lucky than good but I'll take it.
It was great to hunt with my family and I made a new hunting buddy, "Uncle Ramon" is welcome in our camp anytime.
P.S. I either have a creepy knack for finding campsites near old graves or there are a lot of graves down here.
