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arizonian

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Posts posted by arizonian

  2. Posted · Report reply

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    Some days I wake up grumpy...

     

    Other days I let her sleep...

     

     

    This is a small story about my wife's hunt. No names are given or implied (including Grumpy). Chronology is purely WAG.

     

     

    Woke up on Thursday morning (10/23) to set up camp and hunt in Unit 34B. After spending the week getting ready, we were rarin' to go. Not much of a story, there were people already scouting the area we hunt. Found our camp site and set up. Next morning as we were getting ready to leave camp, a ute went up the road past our camp. Went to Plan B: Hunt the opposite direction. Found more people in that direction, but the die was cast.

     

    Glassed Friday morning, nothing. Friday afternoon, nothing. Saturday morning, ...yada, yada yada. One thing for sure, the grass was high and thick. Great cover for any animal that likes to sleep during the daylight hours.

    I did glass a doe and never saw more than the top of her back and her head and neck.

     

    We met a real cool guy from Benson on Tuesday afternoon on a road we were starting to go down. He had broken camp that morning and I thought he was gone, but he came back alone. My wife says we should exchange phone numbers in case either one of us got into trouble. He and his party had already had two rattlesnake encounters.

     

    Heard shots about 5:30'ish, glassed over, and couldn't see anything. Got a call about 6'ish, the guy says he made a 400 yd shot and thought he had a hit, but it was getting too dark and he would be back in the morning with his compadres to look for blood.

     

    Wednesday morning, we set up on a knoll overlooking a windmill. I could glass him and his two buddies up on the big hill, 800~1000 yds. About 8:15, it sounded like WWII, seven shots real quick, and the guy and friends dropped off the hill and out of sight. At 8:45, heard another two shots from the same direction. Got a call from him about 10:00, he and his two buddies were on a ridgeline one ravine over that was running parallel to our little hill and was looking for directions as to the best way to get to the road we were on. I hiked across the ravine to help him and his friends carry over a nice 3X3 and offered to drive him over to his ute. Guy says after hitting it he chased that buck down into the bottoms and across a couple of ravines One of his buddies was closer and in position and it took the two extra shots to put the deer down for good. His buddy put his tag on it. They were done for the day, we can have the hill to ourselves if we want.

     

    We (I) had decided to change positions and glass the north face of the big hill. Zip, zilch, nada. After sitting in the sun from 1:00 to 2:30, wifey said she had had enough sun. Good call on her part. We backtracked and went to an eastern ridge and sat behind a big mesquite that we could look through and glassed the east facing bowls and hillside of the big hill. As soon as the sun went behind the ridgeline, we moved forward and sat directly under the mesquite and glassed hard. Twenty minutes later a 3X3, a 2X2 and a spike came off the top feeding towards us. Ranged them at 295 yds. Wifey could see the one in the middle best and took a shot.

     

    I have never seen this before, but that 2X2 buck fell over, rolled and slid, rolled and slid, rolled and slid about 35 yds downslope. Wifey grabbed her pack and started up the hill. Guess who forgot the rifle?

    Turns out the 2X2 was really a 3X2. The third point on the left was pretty small and didn’t stand out much. There was plenty of daylight still left, but by the time I went back to retrieve the rifle and made it up the hill, we could see we weren’t field dressing on the side of that mountain. Grabbed an antler and started down. Didn’t take much effort, just kinda steered the deer. Got to the flatter part of the ridge and gave the guy a courtesy call to tell him wifey had killed a nice buck. Guy replies back that he and one friend came back and are one mile west of us and if we need help, they’ll come over and lend a hand. That was two bucks in one day!!

     

    Broke the blade of my Uncle Henry breaking the pelvic bone. dang! Finished the field dressing with my backup knife. Three of us carried the buck off the mountain and to the vehicles, wifey carried the rifle.

    After breaking camp and heading out the next morning, we glassed the hills looking for our new found friends. Saw where the ute was parked, but we couldn’t find them.

     

    Got a call from the guy Thursday night. They were in position to glass before sunup that morning. Didn’t see anything on the hill, but about 9 they spotted a nice 3X3 across the basin some 700-800 yds away. They watched it go into a mesquite thicket and not come out. The guy halved the distance and sat under a mesquite for six hours. About 4’ish, he spotted movement in the mesquite and got ready. When the buck stepped out and turned broadside, he shot it through the heart. He ranged it at 350 yds.

     

    Good times were had by all. I learned this a few years ago and thought I’d pass it on to you.

     

    A week camping and hunting with your buddies makes you appreciate camping and hunting with your wife.

     

    A week camping and hunting with your wife makes you appreciate camping and hunting with your buddies.

     

    Bill

    • Like 7

  4. Posted · Report reply

    Got this in an email today...

     

    I found this this morning:

     

    Ted Nugent, rock star and avid bow hunter from Michigan, was being interviewed by a French journalist, an animal rights activist.

     

    The discussion came around to deer hunting.

     

    The journalist asked, 'What do you think is the last thought in the head of a deer before you shoot him? Is it, 'Are you my friend?' or isit 'Are you the one who killed my brother?'

     

    Nugent replied, 'Deer aren't capable of that kind of thinking. All they care about is, what am I going to eat next, who am I going to screw next, and can I run fast enough to get away. They are very much like the French.'

     

    The interview ended.

     

    Bill :P :lol: :P :lol: :P

  5. Posted · Report reply

    Lost my blue handled Case pocket knife :( , probaly at a sign in point . My wife gave it to me , would like to have it back . Anybody find it ?

     

    Good luck!

     

    While you're lookin' for ruffcountry's knife, keep an eye out for my CRK! It's sittin' on a hill in 36A, west of the McGee Ranch.

     

    Bill in sunny Tucson

  8. Posted · Report reply

    Special thanks goes to Tristan McGee. A new found freind and the son of an old aquaintance, Tristan opened his heart to a couple of old codgers. Tristan should have been in one of these pics, but his wife called and he bowed out before the camera came out.

     

    Shot right after noon on Friday morning, the hike to the rim with just the rifle took 45 minutes. We came back from the bottom of the canyon and cut him loose from the tree where he was field dressed. I'm the guy on the left. Leroy, on the right, shot and missed from 350 yds around 10:00, then gave me the opportunity (and his rifle) when Tristan spotted just the horns of this Coues moving in the grass.

     

    About the curse: After following in my father's footsteps (God rest his soul) for more years than I care to count, I finally connected. I wish Dad would have lived long enough to see this.

     

    Bill

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  11. Posted · Report reply

    I drew the early Nov leftover tag for 36A...

     

    Tried to get Grumpy interested, but no luck...

     

    I'll camp out and avoid the drive...

     

    There'll be four of us in camp, including the youngster (14)...

     

    Haven't decided whether to hunt the Black Hills or the Sierritas...

     

    Scouting every weekend and have only seen a couple of spikes and a fork...

     

    Most mornings I sneeze like crazy. Must be something in the air that close to the mines...

     

    or not...

     

    25-06, how's your scouting going?

     

    Bill

  13. Posted · Report reply

    Some days I wake up grumpy...

     

    Other days I let her sleep...

     

     

     

     

    Today I woke up Grumpy so we could scout Reddington. Got a late start, didn't leave the house till 7:00, and knew it was going to rain. No matter, the buggy don't care about the weather, we had raingear in the pack, a bit of food and drink, and the whole day ahead of us.

     

    An open buggy is not ideal for wet weather, but it's all I have. We got our share of rain today. It came and went, and then came back. Only once did it really pour, but that was over in five minutes. Ponchos kept us and the seats almost dry.

     

    For lack of a better term, the honeybowl was dry. Didn't see a darned thing until about 2:00. We had stopped at a corral and were poking around a bit and I saw legs through the log fence. Because of the construction of the corral, there was no way to get a look at what those legs belonged to. We looked over the fence once we got to it, but the critter was long gone, down into the bottom never to be heard from again. Or so I thought.

     

    On our way out, I had to take one last look at the honey bowl. I found a deer that was just starting to bed down. It was under a juniper tree about five hundred yards away. I don't know if it was a doe or buck because the head was turned away until it finally settled in, and then it was too deep under the tree. As overcast as today was, there wasn't any excess light to reflect off any horns, but my mind keeps telling me there were horns on that thing. Something was between the ears, so it might have been a spike.

     

    Now comes the question: When do Coues whitetail shed their antlers? I know the antlers are fully developed before the Oct hunt and the rut is in Dec/Jan. When are they in velvet?

     

     

    Bill

  15. Posted · Report reply

    A key point in any hunting essay is self reliance, responsibility, and family involvement. If you butcher the meat yourself or with family, it drives the point even harder. A comaraderie amongst hunters is something to look forward to every year.

     

    Hunting is truly organic. Meat that has been harvested during a hunt contains no additives or steroids.

     

    (Personal opininon:) Most hunters understand geography, cartography, topography and meteorology more than a non-hunter. The ability to read a map and not get lost will help anyone planning to take up flying. Staying oriented is something most schools can't teach. Flying school will require cartography classes, and you'll be miles ahead.

     

    The ability to "walk" a friend to the deer bedded down in your binoculars by description of the rock formations and the alignment of certain trees and plants shows an aptitude of descriptive reference.

     

     

     

     

    Good Luck

     

    Bill

  17. Posted · Report reply

    Ya mean ya gatta have comfort when you're glassing?

     

    I've never thought about a seat to glass from, but now you got me thinkin'.

     

    I borrowed my wife's sewing machine and made a hood out of some light canvas. A bit of elastic keeps it in place, and it goes into the bino case when walking.

     

    Bill

  18. Posted · Report reply

    I think they just alow them to show them infront of the stores. Theyu are there evry day at the Mesa store. They have three of them out front. One with a honda on top and closed up and then one set up And another with all the add on on it. I am thinking they will only sleep two people unless there is more bed space than i see in them. That is the problem with the toy haulers that i have heard is they hit the lower drop down beds. Are the rangers as tall. I am wanting a ranger and i was going to be getting a toy hauler for it. I guess if i go with justy one drop down bed in the back it should work right. I do not need the double full beds to drop in the rear.

     

     

     

    Backwoods RV & Trailer Sales

    5151 N. LACHOLLA BLVD

    Tucson, AZ 85705

    520 293-4400

     

     

    The Boat Brokers, Inc.

    1680 INDUSTRIAL BLVD.

    LAKE HAVASU CITY, AZ 86403

    928-453-8833

     

     

    TOM'S CAMPERLAND, INC.

    2183 E. APACHE BLVD.

    TEMPE, AZ 85281

    480 894-1267

     

     

    Did a Google search and came up with this.

     

    Bill

  19. Posted · Report reply

    I've never really paid attention to the moon when planning a hunt, but it's always been in the back of my mind when I finally get out. I'll just keep glassing whenever I can.

     

     

    Hey, Terry, good luck on your hunt. I'll see you on Sat. afternoon. :)

     

    Bill

  20. Posted · Report reply

    What are the Solunar tables? How are they used and where are they found?

     

    Bill

     

    On edit, I found Solunar tables and a program for a PC on Weather and Wildlife.com. According to the literature on the site, deer are nocturnal. Makes sense why they bed down during the day.

  21. Posted · Report reply

    New to this forum, 25-06 turned me on. Great site!

     

    How do the phases of the moon affect deer movement? My thinking is that deer will feed during any available light when the weather permits. When it gets hot during the day, they bed down. If the moon is out, they will feed at night and lay up in the day. Comments?

     

    Have you ever planned a hunt based on the moon?

     

    Bill

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