Yuma Outdoorsman

Congrats to you guys. Sounds like a good time and glad you didn't call the hunt off early. There is not a better feeling than thinking you are going to go home with tag soup and then filling your tag in the last few hours.

I wish I would've used my camera on video mode a lot sooner as I've enjoyed getting to see the different angles of their racks and also some of their behavior with other deer and how they interact with coyotes. These 2 bucks came in 10 days ago and I got this buck taking a big ol' whiff of fresh air. Hope the video works. IMAG0181.AVI

I’ve heard them do it during the rut...never in October. I thought it was pretty funny to see.

Starting last Thursday, I finally had bucks on camera in my desert rifle unit rubbing their velvet off. Went and looked again today and it’s about 50/50 still have velvet/rubbed off. This buck still had velvet last week and rubbed off since. Man, I’m getting excited. Tomorrow will be 3 weeks out.

That one isn’t on the hit list haha he’s just for reference of the rubbing.

Been hitting the desert working trail cameras in several different locations and I cannot believe how many quail I’ve seen. Some waterholes have 50-100 birds and one had to of had 200. They are every where. I’ve even seen some in areas where the closest water hole is a couple miles away. Looks like it’s going to be a fun season.

I was out and about this weekend and saw hundreds of birds in the desert. Some of them are 2-3 miles from the closest water holes. Can't wait for the opener.

There are like 10+ pages of info on another thread...

Made some steak and some chops out of a young mule deer buck I shot last season. This was some good eating right here.

I like apple sauce with my pork chops so used It with my deer and it was great. Mushroom gravy on the meat was very good as well.

Well...any luck on day 1?

Fishing has been pretty good down here in Yuma. Fish I've targeted have been keying in on shad. I much prefer chasing that pattern than flipping/pitching. We have had Wednesday night tournaments at Mittry Lake and a Saturday tournament on the river. All of them have been 3 fish limits. I've fished solo for a couple and fished with a partner on a couple others and we have had some pretty good luck, winning 4 Wednesdays in a row and winning the one Saturday we fished. Here are a few "hero" shots from weigh ins and one stud I caught at Mittry.

The deer I hunt stay within 1.5-2 miles of the closest water hole from May/June-September. Around October-April, it is not uncommon to find them 5-6 miles in any direction from the closest drinker. When the rut hits, they go chasing and can end up wherever their nose takes them. For your August hunt, I don’t think those deer will move very much. They will probably be within a mile or 2 of their current spot at most, in my opinion. Good luck and post up your results.

Got this buck on camera 7/3. I pulled the camera since and will put it back up in early August. He looks promising though...

Doesn’t archery deer start in August? Is it possible it’s a deer hunter’s stand?

I’ve got a buddy that decided he was going to start building points for 13B this year and all he had is a hunter safety bonus point and wouldn’t you know it, he got drawn for 13B 😂😂😂 that luck sob.

Hahaha Mikey is my buddy that got drawn for 13B. Welcome to the forum buddy!

Some guys got this bull elk on camera a couple weeks ago. Well, the pics were taken at an area known as Growler pond (50E). Fast forward to yesterday, the elk moved towards Roll, AZ (35E along the desert to be exact) and fell into an irrigation canal. Crazy to see one down here in the desert.

I’ve shot 7 deer and all were shot with a .243 100 grain bullet. Shots ranged from 50 yards to 300 yards. It carries light when walking and covering ground also.

Got on this buck Saturday morning. I am sort of upset with myself for not putting down the camera and making a legit stalk on this buck but I'm also happy I got him on film. You can't tell in the video but there is an ocotillo at 34 yards that is too high to shoot over and blocked my shot. The buck is 76 yards from me when he stops and is staring at me in this video. I did make a play on them (not on video) and took a 77 yard shot and missed 6" over his back. No matter how much you shoot, you can't practice the buck fever adrenaline haha. Hopefully I can get on him again. Still getting used to using a camera also. It's definitely a learning curve so sorry for the random shakiness.

Looking to find this buck come January...not a monster but I like the character.

3rd week of January is always when it’s best in my area. It’s that way year after year. I’m sure some are already rutting and some might be done, but it always seems the majority of them get after it towards the end of January. They will rut clear into February in my area.

Congrats man!

Shot a pretty cool bird in the desert a couple weeks back. She was a little leucistic. Never seen one like this before. Check out the feet and topknot color. Hard to see or much different it is in photos; in person it was pretty wild.

I’ve heard the same thing as you as far as 39/40AB. I’ve been in 44B and the bigger bucks seems to be solo still. In another few weeks though that should all change.