Awesome Time with family

[creed_az_88]

I was disappointed when I found out that my little brother and my little cousins that put in with him were drawn for the same hunt but a different unit as my wife, Miracle. I never would have imagined that it could have turned out so well. My wife and my cousin Beatrice were trying for their first deer. My little cousin zach and my little bro George were both out to tag their second buck; and my cousin Jesus was out to tag his 3^rd. I wanted to be a part of each of these rookie hunter's hunts but I really wasn’t sure if it was gonna be possible. Due to a couple of unfortunate events, Jesus and Beatrice’s dad, and also my little brother George’s dad were unable to be here for this hunt. This made me want to help even more. Fortunately the two units that everybody drew were neighboring units and close to home. I decided I was gonna hunt with miracle until she tagged out and if possible hunt with the kids the remainder of the time. Scouting began about two weeks before the hunt and anticipation grew as we all went over game plans and discussed options for the upcoming hunt.

 

Day 1

Opening day came really fast. My mom and aunt lida(Beatrice’s and Jesus’ mom) took George, Beatrice, and Jesus out to a spot that they had found during scouting trips. My uncle R.N. (Zach’s dad) took Zach to a spot he figured held some deer. I had a hard time choosing between a few different spots to hunt but when I asked Miracle where she wanted to hunt, she made it pretty clear that we were going to hunt where we had been watching the wide 3x4 and that we needed to be there early. I wasn’t going to argue with that. I was pleased with her enthusiasm so I made sure we were on top of a hill glassing the mesquite flats by sunup. We could not find either one of the two groups of bucks that we had hoped to see but we did find a group of does with 3 or 4 3x3s. She said she would shoot one of them so down we went. They were over a mile away and about halfway to them the wind switched to our backs. Getting a shot in those thick mesquites with the wind at our back would be impossible so we decided to go to a different hill further to the north to look at the desert from a different angle. On our way there we ran into some javelina and I called them into close enough range for her to video with her phone. She thought that was pretty cool. The hill was a good mile away, so after a short hike and a few more doe sightings we took a nap at a dry dirt tank before heading up the hill. At about 2 oclock she said “we should go now and start glassing”. Not wanting to leave my little dirt bed under my shady mesquite tree, I told her “we should wait until at least three, it’s 85 degrees and the deer won’t stand up until closer to four.” She wasn’t buying my “knowledge of deer habits,” so up the hill we went. The torturous heat didn’t seem to bother her, and to tell the truth it didn’t bother me as much as usual either. It was nice to see her so determined to get a deer, rather than me for a change. We started glassing about 2:45 and I picked up a bedded buck almost immediately about a ½ mile away. We could see there were other deer with him and that some were does and at least one other was a buck. Before long we could see about 8 deer. We didn’t recognize either of the two bucks so I was a little disappointed that they weren’t the bucks that the wide 3x4 was with, but they were bucks none the less, and although we came looking for the 3x4, she would gladly make anything decent her first deer. Before long I saw a big bodied deer feeding around amongst the other bedded deer. It was him!... the 3x4. We watched him lay back down and I said “Let’s go.” We didn’t waste a minute making a game plan. The country between them and us was relatively barren, all the brush no more than a few feet tall. We chose the only three tall mesquites between us and the deer as cover and we made sure we stayed behind them the whole way. None of the mesquites were wide enough to block our view from all the deer so we moved only under the cover of the clouds that passed by every few minutes. Fortunately most of the deer were laying in and around tall mesquites so although it took us well over an hour to sneak down the hill and across perfectly flat ground, we made it to within shooting range undetected. Most of the deer were up and feeding now but the wide 3x4 was still down. We could see his rack sticking up above the grass and we got setup for the shot for when he stood up. I told miracle that she could shoot one of the other three bucks with him that were feeding and she said no way! While we were waiting I spotted other deer a few hundred yards behind these deer and I could tell they were bucks headed in our direction. Within a few minutes the other group of bucks fed right in to the group of deer that we were already setup on and there were now ten bucks and around 8 does 350 yards away from us! One of them was another 3x4 that was just as impressive as the wide 3x4 and one was a 4x5 right behind these two in size. I became a total wreck. I had buck fever like crazy and she stayed as focused as a cat. She was in the scope for well over 30 minutes before any shot ever presented itself. The wide 3x4 had stood up twice and fed for ten minutes each time but never presented a shot. He was surrounded by other deer the whole time! Hard to get a clean shot on flat ground with bucks feeding in a big group. What a sweet dilemma. Every buck in that now group of ten gave her a shot but the one she wanted. They all ended up laying back down and allowed us to belly crawl to 250 yards. All ten bucks were now lying down and it was getting dark fast. I could not believe what was happening. Finally one buck stood up and looked away from us… Then another…and another. Nine out of the ten bucks were now all standing up and intently staring away from us. They all became very nervous but the buck she wanted still stayed bedded. I was worried that whatever had them nervous was gonna cause them to run, so I said “I think you should shoot that other big 3x4 before they leave.” She agreed and got it in her scope and said “ok here I go.” Just in time I said “stop, your buck is up!” All ten bucks were now looking backwards. A dust devil had stood them all up and we finally had an open shot at THE BUCK… Boom! “What happened?’’ “you hit him, he’s down!” The look on her face was priceless. She deserved every bit of that deer and some. All the practice shooting that .257 roberts had paid off. We barely got to her buck before the sun went down. I couldn’t have been more proud of her. Miracle has access to a lot of farm fields through family ties and fortunately shes not “a sit on the edge of an alfalfa field” kinda girl. She wanted to work for her first buck and work she did. Anybody who has ever been in a scope for a half hour trying to get a shot at a deer with the sun setting behind the deer knows how frustrating and energy consuming it can be. Special thanks to the gang for coming and helping us get the deer out. The wheel barrel they brought made it so much easier. The pictures really do not do this deer justice. His body size was very impressive for a desert buck. We were both so excited and releived that it all came together that we really didn’t put much time into taking pictures, which I regret!

 

 

Unfortunately none of the rest of our group had any luck the first day.

 

 

Day 2

My mom and Aunt lida dropped Jesus and George off early at my house and took Beatrice with them to a spot about 10 miles from where we were going to be hunting. Hunting from home was very nice. Me, George, Jesus and my dog, Tila hunted a spot that I had glassed up deer at from a long ways off before but I had never been to. About a half hour after sunup I get a call from my mom saying ”we got a 4 point spotted but Beatrice has to go to a birthday party soon and we cant get her to it in time so come help us.” I thought to myself, A birthday party during deer season, what the heck?!?! We hadn’t seen much yet so we accepted the offer but said “we cant make it there for another two hours.” We decided to take a different route back to the truck than what we had taken on the way in to see if we could get lucky and run into anything. We climbed off the mountain and swung back around the hill to walk the base of the hill back to the truck. When we got to the base of the mountain and started coming around the hill we spotted a group of deer right above us. There was a buck with them so I hastily said “one of you boys get over here and get set up on the tripod.” Talk about maturity! Both of the boys tried allowing the other the shot(which was the complete opposite from last year) but George ended up with the deer in his sights. “Get comfortable but hurry cuz they’re onto us.” George has come a long ways from his first year deer hunting where he had a deathly phobia of gun kick and I was pleasantly surprised when the gun went off. “You missed shoot again. Make sure no does get in the way.” Boom! “he went down george. Reload. He is getting back up shoot again…boom… I don’t know where you hit shoot again!” The does all ran off and the buck was struggling to gain composure and stand up. “Hes still alive George you have to make this shot count.” ”I’m aiming for his neck.”Confused by this comment I said “no don’t, aim behind his shoulder.” Boom! Dead Deer. A lot of hugs and celebration later, we were taking pictures and loading up to go meet up with the women. After we got the deer back to the truck I asked george why he shot the deer in the neck, and he said “I couldn’t hit him so I just figured I would aim for his neck.” I somewhat scolded him for his shot placement,but the neck shot did the trick, and he was nothing but white teeth from ear to ear for the rest of the day.George's buck We finally met up with my mom. She said that she lost the big buck but shes got a group of does and a little buck bedded on the side of the hill. These deer were pretty much too hard to get a shot on because of where they were so I told my mom to keep watching these deer and Im going to drive back and hike over to my quad which I left in the desert in the neighboring unit from the night before when miracle shot her deer.” Ill be back in a few hours”. When I got back she told me that the deer moved locations but we were pretty much in the same boat. So we went further around the hill to glass some more and I found another little buck with two does In a perfect spot to stalk. I told Jesus that he should let his sister shoot that one cuz its in such an easy place to stalk. He reluctantly agreed so we watched the buck until his sister got out of her birthday party and made it back to us by around 320. The buck was in a small draw with a low ridge just above it. We went around the hill up onto the small ridge and got set up.” He’s the one on the right Beatrice. Get comfortable and shoot when you’re ready.”” I don’t’ see any horns.” She said. “ It’s a buck, trust me.” “It’s a doe.” No its not its ears are covering his horns trust me. Hes about to walk over the hill, shoot!”” No It’s a doe!....O wait it’s a buck. It’s a little forky.” “ Too late the deer went over the hill.” I gotta give her credit. She didn’t feel comfortable so she didn’t shoot. During our stalk I had spotted a group of deer on an adjacent hill so we went around the hill to get a better look. We noticed a spike with the group so we snuck into range and I asked Beatrice and Jesus what theyre guns were sighted in for. They told me that they were zeroed in at 200 yards and they said it with confidence so I believed them. Three misses later and it was obvious that her gun obviously wasn’t zeroed in at 200 but more like 100. We got back on the deer and she missed another three times. This time due to excitement no doubt. My phone rang and my mom asked what happened? I told her the bad news and she then told me she spotted a buck in the same spot that Beatrice had not shot at the buck because she thought it was a doe. It was getting dark fast so Jesus and I shot straight to the top of the ridge and found the buck at the top of the next ridge. I ranged him at 230 yards and he instinctively got set up and took the shot. “You hit him reload and shoot again.” Miss.Hit. Deer runs over the hill. With darkness right around the corner we decided that we better come back the next morning. Good thing we did.

 

 

 

 

Day 3

My Uncle R.N. and Zach decided to hunt in the same area as us today but come into the area from a different direction. My brother Cole also decided to come and help us retrieve Jesus’ deer. We let the sun peek over the horizon before we started to work towards Jesus’ deer. On our way there we spotted the group of does and spike that Beatrice had missed the day before. The deer went over a ridge with Cole and Beatrice right behind them hopping for a shot. Jesus and I gained some elevation to watch the show from a distance. Cole and Beatrice were unaware that Zach and my Uncle R.N. were stalking the same deer from the another ridge. Cole and Beatrice unknowingly won the race and we watched for 5 minutes as Beatrice tried to steady her gun on the spike and get a shot from 150 yards away. The deer eventually spooked and ran down into the flats without any shots being fired. Beatrice had once again not shot because she was uncomfortable with the situation, and although frustrating, it’s better to be safe than sorry. Jesus and I climbed our way to where the buck was standing when Jesus shot at him the evening before. We spotted Zach and my Uncle R.N. climbing their way towards us but lost sight of them behind a rise in the ridge that they were on. We inched our way over the hill hoping to see a dead deer or some blood. As we topped out and got visibilty of all of the hill below us I spotted a buck laying down about 100 yards below us. I recognized him and got Jesus set up on my tripod to put another bullet in him. “That’s a bush not a deer.” I don’t think Jesus realized that he had shot such a good buck. “Look real hard Jesus that’s a deer. Find his shoulder and put one in him.” Jesus’ buck fever was worse now than when the deer was healthy the day before. I was expecting to hear a bang any second and then I did. Boom! But I didn’t feel any percussion from his rifle. “Who’s shooting!.” He yells with a whos-shooting-at-my-deer look on his face. “Don’t worry about it just focus and shoot your deer.” Jesus Was more nervous now than ever. Buck fever took it’s toll and he sent a bullet about a foot to the left of the buck. The buck struggled to get up but he rose and began to make his way away from us, obviously uncomfortable from the bullet wounds from the day before. Another shot rang out but it wasn’t Jesus’. It sounded like it was coming from just over the ridge. Boom! Jesus shoots and hits the buck for the third time, but the buck stays on his feet. One last shot and the buck goes down. We made it to his buck and we hear a few more shots echo, this time sounding further away than before. We took pictures and I refreshed Jesus’ memory about proper game care. Cole makes it to us just in time to help us get the deer off the top of that hill. We soon find out that it was Zach who was doing all the shooting and that he had anchored a buck of his own. The kids in my family sure can fling some lead. His buck had just as many holes in it as Jesus’ and George’s. These kids made swiss cheese out of their deer. They also made memories, memories that ill have with me for quite some time.Jesus' buckZach's buck

 

 

 

 

 

 

I am so proud of each and every one of these hunters and I thank all of them for allowing me to be a part of their hunt and their lives. Miracle grew up much different than me. She never ate wild game and she most definitely never hunted. Five years ago I never would have imagined that she would ever be wrapping her tag around a wide ol’ desert muley rack. She’s come so far and Im so lucky that she now understands that it’s so much more than just killing. George, Jesus, and Zach (all 12 years and under) have now harvested a total of 7 arizona bucks between themselves. These kids work their butts off and their success shows it. I’m extremely impressed with their desire to learn and their work ethics and I can’t wait to see whats in store for these now seasoned hunters in the years to come. Although she did not tag a buck, I have to say that Beatrice deserves one. She had a few shots that she decided to pass on because she was not completely comfortable and I have nothing but respect for that. Last year Beatrice had an unbelievable coues buck in her crosshairs and she did not pull the trigger because he had such “pretty golden horns.” We were all a little worried that she was not going to pull the trigger this year and she proved us all wrong by shooting at a spike. We’ll get em next year. My mom and Aunt Lida went out without the men and found deer everyday, which is not uncommon for these two. We really wouldn’t have been able to do it without em. Sorry for the long writeup but I had to somehow try to express what an awesome time I had in words.Thanks for reading.

 

 

 

 

 

-Creed

[double lunger14]

Sweeeeet! Congrats to all

[Apatkelley]

Very cool!! looks like you guys had a great hunt

[Couzer]

Great job to all!!!!

[HUNTnTAT2]

Congrats. Love to see kids out in the field

[Mocha1545]

GREAT Job to all of you. Very nice write up.

[COOSEFAN]

Awesome job to all, looks like a lot of great memories and experiences right there! JIM>

[CouesWhitetail]

Wow! great stories and bucks! Congratulations and glad you all had so much fun and were so successful!

[cramerhunts]

Congratulations to all on some sweet bucks! Your wife's is awesome! Those hills can produce some great bucks and more importantly some great memories with family and friends! Way to go!

[Pine Donkey]

Wow, great hunt. Thanks for posting the story.