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I was fortunate enough to draw another deer tag this year and have been putting in alot of time in the hills the past 2 months. I had 2 bucks picked out for sure this year and knew it would be one of them or nothing. I packed in the day prior to the hunt and set up my camp. I managed to turn up a few nice bucks the evening before the opener but wasn't able to locate one of the bucks I was after. 3:45 came early the next day and I crawled out of my sleeping bag and started getting everything ready. Within a hour my brother inlaw showed up to hunt the morning with me before he had to work. We managed to get to the glassing hill with time to set up everything before the sun came up. I soon found my self glassing into the basin that I've seen my target buck in. I scanned the only turning over a few does. I was about to turn and glass below us for my other buck when some coyoties started sounding off below ous and deer came pouring over the cut above us. I saw what looked like a nice buck come out of the same area I've seen the big buck and although he was a solid deer he wasn't the one I was looking for. We glassed for another hour or so then started focusing our efforts on the shade. My brother inlaw called me over to his spotter and he had located a buck that he knew I needed to take a look at and make the judgment call myself. We sat and watched him for probably 15 minutes before I decided to pass. We continued to glass when I turned up 2 bucks. one was a smaller 4x4 maybe mid 80s and the other was a stud of a 2 point. As im watching the larger 2 point I see a deer making his way through some thick brush. I turned to my brother inlaw and said we need to figure out what that deer was. We knew that most of the bucks were still running together and he had to be a buck. We stared at a 40 yard circle for close to 20 minutes when my brother inlaw happened to glass the buck bedded in a small opening inside the thicket. He was just sat in a way that we though it was him but couldn't quite tell. We compared him to the videos we had back and forth for what seemed to be forever. Finally he turned jsut right giving us the look that we had been looking for to make conformation. Laying down below us bairly noticeable through the 15s was the one of the bucks I was after Pitchfork. We got set up and checked the range, we waited for what seemed like a eternity and finally he stood up. Shortly after he got up, I was able to successfully harvest this amazing buck. What a awesome, yet short hunt it was. I cant wait to do it again.

11 years of scouting/hunting as often as I could has finally paid off! This past August I was able arrow my biggest Coues Buck EVER. Last year was a very disappointing archery year for me as I missed several bucks during the Jan. season, I even missed a Javelina. With my failures weighing heavy on my mind, defeating my moral I decided to pick up the rifle and chase Coues deer with it to finish the year. Despite not having used a rifle to deer hunt in over 32 years I was excited to be in the hills of Southern Arizona on the quest to fill my tag. I was able to fill my 2019 rifle tag with a respectable representation of the grey ghost. January 2020 I found myself in a new position at work that demanded more of my time than I thought it would when I pushed myself to obtain it and my bow skills suffered. Covid 19 swooped in and added a harsh reality check for America and more importantly to me and my family when my wife was tested three times to confirm she was positive for it. My entire household was under quarantine for most of March. Unable to hit the field to scout as much as I usually do I was able to find one spot that heldover promise from last year. I set up my cameras there and a few other spots that looked promising. Two weeks before the hunt I ran into other hunters building a blind on the very tank I was watching, after talking to them I learned their intentions. I knew that if I wanted to hunt this spot opening day I would need to beat them there. Opening day excitement turned into nervous jitters as I drove south wondering who would be first to the tank. The extremely hot weather seemed to push more hunters to sit water and I was no exception. My heart sank as I rounded the last turn to the tank and I could see taillights at the gate, dang. I was less than 2 minutes late getting there. Plan B was, I would spot n stalk in the hills not far from the tank. As I sat in my truck thinking where I should start, I started to reevaluate my decision. I thought of how I would feel if that was me down there "waiting" for a buck to come in and they was chasing the deer all around keeping them from settling down and going to get a drink. Plan C, drive to a completely different area and hunt there for the day. I found two trucks in that area when I pulled up 45 minutes after daylight, now I am on plan D and it's not even 7am. I finished the opener without seeing a single buck. Day two my little voice whispered in my ear, "don't go hunting, something bad will happen!" This voice was so strong that for the first time EVER I listened and stayed home. April 2018 my wife had that voice and begged me not to attend a fundraising shoot in Phoenix, I went anyway and was rewarded with a broken right knee that laid me up for 7 months. Sunday I was up a 2:30am, not wanting to be beat to the tank again I arrived around 4am. I set up my blind, made sure everything was perfect and waited. I had deer come in at first light and just about every 45 minutes until 10:30. the action picked back up around 12:30 and stayed steady until I missed a giant around 2pm. I had good bucks in front of as the last light faded without loosing another arrow. Monday was a repeat of Sunday without my having taken a shot, lots of bucks but none that I wanted to shoot with one more day to hunt. By Tuesday the deer had started to slow down on the arrival times but stayed longer. On the drive in I noticed the water line was broken and gushing hundreds of gallons per minute. After daylight I went back to the break to see if there was anything I could do. I tried to contact the only rancher in the area I knew but my phone would not complete a phone call, I could text and post online, just no calls. I found several hose clamps on the old poly tubing, some bishop's tape in my truck. With a water bottle I cut both ends off I added the tape to the inside and clamped it over the PVC pipe, fixed for now! Who needs McGiver anyway!! Several times the ranchers bulls would come in bellowing and carrying on pushing the deer off. After fixing the water pipe I was feeling pretty good and satisfied with the hunt if I didn't get a buck. Around 2:30 the better bucks started hanging around outside the fence. There was one buck I had settled to take if he gave me a shot. 15 minutes later he crossed the fence and nervously approached and backed off from the tank several times before settling down to take a drink. As I started to draw back a much bigger buck walked into view, back to waiting! The new buck wasted no time crossing the fence to take his turn getting a drink. I drew back and settled my 40 and 50 pins on his chest just behind the shoulder, took a breath and let it fly. He ran about 50 yards out of sight and crashed, the Swhacker 125 strikes again. As I waited the bulls started bellowing, kicking up dirt and gathered in one spot just out of sight. Fearing the bulls would destroy any sign from my buck I decided to at least check the area inside the corral. What I found could only be described as a blood HIGHWAY in the soft dirt. I found part of my arrow covered in blood. It was at that point I could see the bulls gathering in the direction my buck ran, they were really getting worked up. I decided to continue the track job and followed it right to the group of bulls. Through their legs I could see my buck. It seemed like they were doing a WAR DANCE for their fallen comrade.

I shot this coues buck in August. My sons and a few friends think I'm a little crazy hunting coues deer with my recurve. I enjoy all types of hunting but hunting with traditional gear has become a passion of mine. This is my biggest coues to date and to do it with my recurve is a dream come true. I was able to spend time with two of my best friends on this hunt and that made it even more special. I'm already dreaming and making plans for next year.

For the early Nov hunts I like to go help my buddy Nate, we always have a great time chasing bucks in the hills. We looked over and passed up 19 bucks and got soaked on Saturday. When the rain cleared at dusk this buck was located and we quickly closed the distance from 1100 yards to 185 yards. Nice tall, long tined buck

After a few days of hunting, this old buck showed himself early in the afternoon and I decided he was more than enough for me to wrap my tag around. I snuck in on him feeding at 60 yards and that was the end of it. Best of luck to those of you still out grinding and those with upcoming hunts as well. Thanks for looking.

After many years of Hunting AZ Coues Deer I finally killed a good one! The story is short and sweet. Opening day in my usual places were not producing any bucks, plenty of does but no antlers at all. I moved down to the river bottom in some very thick cover where I had seen a few small bucks before opening day. As we all know it was unusually hot so I figured this to be a good strategy. At about 4 pm on opening day this buck walked out at 60 yards! My Marlin 336Y in 30-30 did the job and my hunt was over.

My brother took this buck the day before we had to leave at 440 yards. Great blessing.

I want to start by saying thanks to the people who chimed in to my first post about being frustrated, mainly Bill for all his help and all his advice. I spent most of the summer and early fall scouting 24a with no luck. I couldn’t even find a doe. Every trip out to the Unit I learned something new but still couldn’t find a deer. Bill invited me to shadow his hunt in 24a and teach me about coues deer and I’m extremely grateful for that. I was discouraged to say the least. I figured even if I hadn’t spotted any deer I would still go hunt my hardest. Once I realized the north part of 24a was open, we started our hunt off haystack road. We hiked in about 2 miles and camped in some of the shittiest spots imaginable. Literally shitty. The cows were hogging all the flat spots, so we pushed them out and slept in their crap piles. Friday afternoon I finally laid my eyes on a group of magical does at 1000yards. Watched them for 2 days hoping a buck was in the area. No luck, so we decided to change our spots. After 2 nights of next to zero sleep, plenty of rain, and a ton of wind, we changed spots and did some “road hunting”. Driving and glassing, driving and glassing. No deer, just a bunch of hunters. Everyone I talked to was seeing doe’s, but no bucks. I took another look at the map, decided to go to the place I didn’t want to go.. way out, and way up. I found a cliff looking into a canyon, walked up to the edge and saw a doe at 70 yards. I knew it was a good spot. Spent a couple hours looking through my friends spotting scope while he sat in the truck browsing tinder.. or Christian mingle.com .. or whatever he’s into and found some does. At the point where I was asking myself “what in the heck am I doing out here?” I pan over and see a buck feeding on some bushes! I couldn’t believe my eyes... he had horns! Miraculously at the same time my buddy walks over and I’m shaking like a leaf. I ranged him at 711yards and decided no way was I taking that shot in the wind. Decided to cut the distance by 200 yards and see what the buck does. I hike down and glass the spot... he’s gone... My buddy on the spotter calls me and says “hey the buck has moved about 150 yards closer to you... wait.... there’s another buck.. he’s a TANK!” The two bucks move down to a water tank. I ranged him at 384yards. Dial my scope, zoom all the way to 16X... yup.. made that mistake.... and shaking like a leaf with buck fever I pressed the trigger... Got the rifle steadied... and he’s gone... My buddy calls me and said “dude you missed by a mile..... BUT YOU SHOT AT THE WRONG BUCK!!!!! The buck you want to shoot is 5 yards closer to you in the trail!” The buck starts walking, stops to smell the wind, and I poressed the trigger. Hit him about 6-8inches back from where I was aiming, and destroyed his spine... at that point I realized somehow I must have bumped .2mils of windage in the turret.... I watched him hoping he would bleed out for about 10 minutes before I decided to hike back to the cliff and come up with a plan. Maybe 25-30 minutes passed and he still had his head up. I was gutted. I still feel terrible that I didn’t one shot kill him... we moved spots on the cliff and I decided to shoot him again from 515 yards. Put one right through his lungs and he flopped over dead. We emptied our bags except the essentials and hiked down. My first year as a Hunter has been a roller coaster. But I finally laid my hands on an animal that I HUNTED.. an animal that I shot.. we took some pictures that I will cherish for ever, cut him up, and we packed him out in the dark.

Well, I was able to tag out Saturday afternoon. I was walking down a wash into the wind and kicked this buck up at about 50 yards. He went north and into a finger and stopped at about 200 yards. I was able to position myself for a clear shot and dropped him. I hadn't seen a deer all day and when he jumped from his bed, he looked bigger than he was and I just couldn't pass him up. I had a slight shooter's remorse hit me realizing my hunt was over but after looking him over and realizing I had tons of trail camera photos and videos of him, I was happy to have him. I can't wait to get out for the rut in January. Here are a couple hero shots with him and a velvet video from September. mybuck.MOV

Long story short, had a few misses last year on the early rifle hunt down south. Figured out I had a loose ring on my scope. That boiled in my gut for a year and got lucky drew the same tag again. Got it done this time. This year the early early rifle hunt was extra hot. Didn't see any big bucks.....on day 1 we saw the buck I harvested on a ridge bedded with a doe. I looked him over quite a bit and decided to pass. Eyes were playing tricks on me because he was pretty heavy. I keep looking for that 3rd point LOL. Day two was tough, lots of deer but only dinks. Three of us had tags so we decided hey lets go back to that ridge and put something on the ground to get momentum. If you can believe this, that buck and doe were bedded under the exact same tree. I had plenty of time to get situated and shot him in his bed at 477 yards. Later that evening my other partner shot a small 3pt. Fun hunt. Wish it was a little cooler though. My buck is the large 2pt on the left.

Hey everyone sorry I haven't posted on here for a bit as my work and family life has picked up. I haven't been draw for a rifle hunt in about 5 years or so but have been helping out Tom Wagner on some veteran hunts. I finally got drawn and it was our second choice 6a mule deer. On the second day just at opening light I was able to harvest this magnificent buck for the unit. The weather being so dry we knew some good bucks had been hitting this water source as it was the only water around. I caught him moving from water to his bed and at about 175 yards I dropped him in his tracks.

Here's one from Duwane's camp...

It was a crazy opening morning. People all over in my spots, flat tire on the side by side, forgot bullets in my truck... Ended up right on top of this buck at 275yds watched him bed. Got a good rest and pow! Clean miss! He jumped 10 yards and pow! Did 2 cartwheels to a quick death. My first good coues deer! Got him cleaned up and to the processor in under 1 hour....as we walked out the ridge near the truck we spotted movement, a deer had walked in and bedded about 50 yards from where this buck had bedded.... We couldn't spot him. Ran my deer to the processor. And quickly ran back up the hill to get eyes on this mystery deer... I spotted it...it was a buck! and then I talked my buddy into pulling the trigger on it. I can't believe we shot 2 bucks....off the same ridge.... 50yards apart. It was a great feeling to have 2 bucks in the freezer and home before dark on opening day! We partied a little bit.

Born and raised in AZ, and finally saw my first lion last weekend. Unfortunately it was in a canyon I was glassing on opening day of the early deer season down south, so surprise, we saw no deer that morning! 🤣 Saw THREE! Assuming either a mother and a couple of adolescents or three adolescent siblings. Anyway, I snapped a couple of pics through the Swaros and thought I would share here (Only got pics of two.....). Thinking I might buy me one of those phone-scope thingys.

Read something yesterday that said that only 30% of hunters vote. There are supposedly 11.5 million of us in the US and a LOT of those numbers are in swing states. This is disappointing. Get out there and vote people. AZ is a big swing state this year. If the number of hunters that voted was up in the national average, it would really help us all. Crazy that a group of people with so much to lose due to our interests has such a small showing at the ballots. I'm sure some of this has to do with it falling smack-dab in hunting season but that isn't an excuse.

Had a nice trip with my wife and some random visitors of friends like Edge, and my buddy Brian who scouted with me all summer. I posted a bunch of trail cam photos earlier and had a bunch more after. We put a lot of effort into a few areas and had some good bucks on a decent pattern. Well as figured the bucks didn’t play well when the time came for live fire. All the same we had a good time with games , food, mule riding, hiking, and had 2 chances at young deer but stuck to the plan. Edge has this last evening so wish him luck. Elk chili with Fritos is Awsome. Monday we had hail and snow and had to boil water to keep the mules watered. What a major bummer we couldn’t run the wood stove, man I hope we get some moisture soon. These dang Arizona deer are kicking my butt.

I had three buddies who had tags for the early hunt. One bud was a meat hunter and shot the first spike he saw opening day. Second hunter took his sat afternoon on a nice wide buck. Wednesday the last tag got filled on the hunters best (2nd) coues buck. We all did some quail hunting after and agreed it was a successful hunt regardless of the tags filled. Good luck to all tag holders.

Got home at 1:00am today from a 28 day 16 State trip with Girlfriend. Saw Friends and family all over the Country. Big Cities and Hillbilly towns in the South Good time. Got some Great pictures of Fall colors in Pennsylvania. Went to PA . to see Girlfriends best friend She and I both Grew up with as tiny kids, She is battling brain Cancer. Kinda Sad. Saw many old Friends and relatives all over the Country. Saw my Youngest son 28 in Ill. that I haven't seen in 5 + years. Stopped in Cinncinati at a nieces house that had no Idea I was coming,, and just rang her doorbell . She was shocked. We are Blessed to have the warm Weather we have. I only saw warmth in Atlanta for 2 days then got cold as we left. Blue plastic covered roofs along the Gulf in Beaumont Texas and other areas and alot of destruction and bad from Hurricane Sally ,then they got it again yesterday. Got to visit My Dads grave for first time since He passed 18 months ago. next to moms.. That was touching. Saw them starting to tear down my 100+ year old red Brick Junior high School 1 block fro where I grew up and played Basketball 12 hours a day for many years. That hurt. I guess when You get older like Me you will see change from Your child hood. Will post some pics when I get with it ! Thanks for reading all . Did I miss anything here?.........................BOB!

I posted my sons 23 youth hunt in another section but I’ll put it here too.

I was finally able to recover a couple of cameras that have been trapped inside the Bighorn Fire burn area since June. The cameras didn't survive, but many photos on the memory cards did. I converted the stills to videos.

Thanks to everyone who shared advice and insight. Got it done Saturday after hunting hard for two days! Likely wouldn’t have been able to put meat in the freezer without y’all’s help.

Another from Duwane's camp...

70% of the people I meet hunting are about a half a retard tbh. So I’m not that surprised.

If your looking for a jackass, you’ve come to the right place😎