Unexpected Arizona Early 12AW hunt.

[Simeod]

Warning! My writing skills rank sowhere below outhouse poet!

So me and my family got drawn for the early mule deer hunt for 12AW. I can't describe how excited and shocked I am. My luck with Arizona draw system is normally abysmal. Me, my wife, son and father in-law all got drawn on one application.

I will try to keep this as a semi live hunt as the boondoggle unfolds.

First things first, next weekend is our one and probably only scouting trip for this hunt. We will be primarily focusing on camping spots across the elevation changes for the unit. 9000 to 6200 feet so we can adapt as the weather dictates. We are staying at the Big Springs Cabins which add some historical coolness to our scouting.

I will try to take photos and post them as we go.

Note: The national forests in across Arizona have some historic cabins you can stay at. The Big Spring Cabins near the north rim of the Grand Canyon are $65 a night for the four of us. On the South rim you have Hull Cabin which while more expensive is more private. That was it's own adventure as a Christmas gift for my wife.

 

[grizzly63]

Have fun. Make some memories.

 

[Simeod]

Have fun. Make some memories.

That is the hope. If I can help my wife get her first buck it will be a success. Anything more than that will be icing on the cake.

 

[Simeod]

Our one quick scouting trip is in the books. We located a bunch of possible camping spots from 6800 to 8400 feet of elevation.

We stayed at the Big Spring Cabins for this trip and it is a heck of a good deal and a beautiful place.

Bison season is ongoing. The hunter we talked to said 3 of the 10 tags had been filled, but the bison were not cooperating. We counted 55 head just 500 yatds inside the National Park.

There were a bunch of young calfs in the mix.

 

[Simeod]

If you ever make it to the North Rim I highly recommend going to Sublime Point. It requires 4 wheel drive and some ground clearance. You will get pin striping.





You get a 270 degree view of the canyon. It can be a bit of an adventure to get too, but it's worth it. The panoramic photo is too large to post.

 

[Simeod]

We saw quite a few deer and turkey. It was incredibly green and lush through out the entire Kaibab NF. All the wildlife we saw seemed to be extremely healthy and antler growth looked very promising for this fall.

All of the ponds and tanks were holding good amounts of water. The photo above is of warm springs. It's supposed to stay ice free during the winter.

 

[Simeod]

The excitement is starting to build. Getting everything ready and packed for 14 days of camping for 4 people is a bit daunting. Thank God my wife is more organized than I am. Only problem is I officially don't know where anything is. Every time I figure out where she put it, I swear she moves it!

This is going to be the Clampetts go to the AZ strip for sure.

I'll share some photos once we have everything hooked up to go.

 

[Simeod]

2 more days and a wake up.

We are heading up Wednesday morning. The backup kitchen sink has been stuffed into the back of the truck and the majority of the junk is loaded. Perishables is about all that's left.

The excitement is definitely building.

 

[huntscout]

Good luck! Enjoy!

 

[KipCarson]

Nothing wrong with looking like the Clampits, just don’t let granny fall off the top! Our rig looks hilariously overloaded every time we go truck camping too. Best of luck to you! Can’t wait to see how this turns out

 

[MTGomer]

I have a Nov 10 muzz tag on the east side. After you get yours, to scare the big ones that way.

 

[rtraverdavis]

Good luck! That'll be a really fun hunt.

 

[Simeod]

Last minute packing and we'll be on the road early tomorrow. If I can get everyone moving. We are taking two trucks and two trailers. If this isn't overkill I don't know what is.


How my wife gets the cooler truck I'm not sure.

 

[Simeod]

Thank you everyone for the well wishes. I'm not sure if we will have signal or not to update as we go. I will try, but for sure I'll have a wrap up at the end.

 

[Simeod]

I have a Nov 10 muzz tag on the east side. After you get yours, to scare the big ones that way.

I'll let you know what we are seeing. We should be home on the 6th.

 

[Simeod]

Mafe it in and got mostly set up, but my luck is holding true. DEF system popped a fault and had to take it to Cedar city Utah to get fixed. 3 miles till it would have shut us down was all that was left when we pulled into the dealer.

IHOP is probably better than my cooking though

 

[Simeod]

Update for Sunday. The truck is fixed and we got back to hunting. Camp setup is working well especially as the cold is setting in.

The teepee tent on the left is the cook tent. The gazelle is the father in laws and the Open on the right is mine with the sone and wife.

 

[Simeod]

Open day my son managed to get a shot on a three by two. Biggest deer yet for my son. He was very happy with it.

 

[Simeod]

Woohooo! My wife made a perfect shot and got her first mule deer. I am so stoked and proud of her. It's a gorgeous deer. Wasn't 20 feet from the shot.

 

[F250]

Heck of a start for this adventure !!!