mr.smith

I've got the hunt coming up this weekend and I thought I knew where I wanted to hunt but have been reading through old posts on here see that those areas are high traffic areas. So here is my question; Where am I least likely to encounter smugglers and immigrants? I'm sure I can find deer just about anywhere in the unit. I'm not worried about that. I just don't want to run into a bunch of trash and AK toting mules. I had planned on hunting around Fraguita Spring/ Tres Bellotas area, but that seems to be right on the main illegal highway. I have looked at the Warsaw Canyon area but have heard horror stories there too. Are there fewer illegals on the east side of the unit? Perhaps right in the center as it is further from I-19 and hwys 289/286? I also thought about hunting north of the Ruby road thinking that area is more out of their way. Any input is appreciated. PM's are preferred. Thanks. -Josh

Amanda, I only broke out the camera once and it was to take a pic of my nephew lying flat on his back with binos sitting on his chest pretending to glass form that position. We saw a couple bucks on Friday but missed our chances. The weather turned Friday night and Saturday was spent in sustained winds over 20mph with gusts pushing 60mph. I only saw 6 deer all day. My hunt was pretty much over Saturday morning at forst light as I took a fall and landed on my rifle. Damaged my scope and hurt my back. Still glassed all day for my dad. Yesterday evening the sky was threatening rain and it was getting cold so my dad decided to call it a hunt. I'm resting up today and headed out to help on a sheep hunt tomorrow. Guess I will just have to try and fill my archery tag before the end of the year.

So we didn't end up seeing a single immigrant. The area we hunted was very close to the border and had a heavy border patrol presence. We came home early for a variety of reasons none of which was a dead buck. Thanks for all of your input and advice. -Josh

Thanks all. I am never in the field without my sidearm and I know enough spanish to get by (should be fluent but I'm a slacker). I don't really expect a problem but if you are ready then if/when the situation arises it more than likely won't get out of control. I'm looking forward to the hunt. Good luck to all who are hunting this weekend.

Nice! I saw a bunch down in 33 a couple years ago. Didn't shoot b/c I didn't want to spook any possible bucks in the area. I read your other story about them and it reminded me of something funny a guy told me a couple weeks ago. He said he shot one out of a pack and the others took the carcass with them. Said they all spooked when he shot then immediately came back and snatched up their dead buddy and took off into the brush. Weird little critters.

I saw a video on youtube that said that was a great area for coues

Thanks guys. I'm bringing my nephew so he has to be back on Monday for school. Helping on a sheep hunt after that so I am limited to opening weekend. I have done quite a bit of map scouting and have decent hikes planned. Hopefully we can get in far enough from the roads to escape the pressure and high enough up to escape the immigrants/mules. Good luck on all your hunts.

Lots of people in the vicinity of the youth camp. Saw a bunch of javelina and only one antlered deer the whole weekend. Tons of does out there. My niece ended up getting a little javelina boar on Sunday. The only buck was a nice WT we bumped out of his bed. Never offered a shot though.

Golf course and community ponds. The ducks have safe refuge all over town, no sense in getting all shot up when you can loaf around and be fed bread.

An easy way to tube out the front legs is to remove the quarter with the skin still on and peel it down. a lot of people try to skin the leg with it still attached to the torso. That really limits you. Maybe it has already been done but if not it would be great to see a caping tutorial thread done by a taxidermist.

Well, thanks anyway. Looks like work got in the way and my buddy can't make it back out. Now I have to wait until the youth hunt to get out again. Nuts. 10 days til 36A with some kids.

Has anybody been up the Charouleau Gap road lately? How is the road? Think a stock Tacoma would make it up? Is it smoother from the Oracle side or Catalina side? Any info or insight would be appreciated. Thanks!

The waterfowl regs are available on the azgfd website.

There's no ducks in AZ!

I've seen whitetail near the Bull Pen area of West Clear Creek

It's possible the arrow fell out and that the blood along the length is from runoff. If that is the case I would think you only hit leg and maybe the pelvis which stopped the arrow. Deer carry a lot of fat on the hips and rump. Either way good luck pinning him down.

Never said you were a bad person nor did I say I was God. In fact I even said "I really hope he finds this deer" and "...due congratulations. It is a fine buck with lots of mass and character". I gave my analysis of the situation based on what was presented. I think you made a bad decision but that doesn't neccesarily make you a bad person. I stated my opinion, You don't have to agree with it, like it or even care about it. It was mentioned earlier; opinions are like A-holes everyones got one and they all stink. I sincerely hope you learned from this ordeal and that it makes you a better hunter.

Wow what a stud buck. Congrats to your father.

Well my wife shot a bigger buck than me again. This year we were lucky enough to draw another December tag. I was holding out for a big one and Felicia just wanted to put some meat in the freezer. The hunt was a little harder this time around. Last year we were in 33 with good deer densities and somewhat easier terrain. This year it was 21 and we were hunting some steep stuff. I hit a stud 3x3 early in the season and despite an exhaustive effort could not catch up to him again. I'm sure he is still running around out there, hopefully I can catch up to him this month with my bow. As the season progressed we had a number of stalks that just didn't work out and a couple missed shots. Finally on Dec 27th we were able to put it together. I had decided that I was pretty much done unless the chance for a double should arise. And it did. We were closing the distance on a 3x chasing does, we got to about 320yds when Felicia first shot. The deer must have stepped forward on the shot as it hit him in the kidney area. He then trotted up the hill a bit where he was joined by a small two point. The three pt quickly bedded and the little buck trotted up the hill. We moved in on the bigger buck to about 150yds where Felicia smoked him with a shot to the neck. So we go down to the deer and start taking pics and dressing him. A couple minutes later JLG comes on the radio saying that the little buck is bedded within 150yds of where we are dressing this deer. Sounds like natural selection at work to me. I had no shot from where I was so I actually had to get farther away to gain some elevation to be able to see the deer. A single 300yd shot and he was down in place. So now we are two for two for two years in a row. It would be nice to score Dec wt tags a third year in a row but I really want to find that other buck with my bow this month. We'll see. I want to thank Dave, John, Ron, and Dan for their help. Packing out two at once is a lot easier when you have lots of people. Felicia and her buck The double Group photo Consolation prize

The pics are hosted on AZSJ. I don't think you have to be a member over there to see them. Hmmm

Thanks all! Amanda I emailed you a pic, please let me know if you get it.

Could it be that the bleeding critter cut itself on the ice? I know dogs have "periods" not sure about does as they only come into estrus/heat seasonally and generally are always bred during that time. I imagine the plumbing still works the same though and if the blood you found was indeed uterean bleeding then said doe is beyond estrus and did not concieve. Seems an improbable scenario.

I'll say 2400 beans

I was checking out Sportsmans gear daily this morning and thought others might be interested. Today they have Rage 2 blades for $29 +$5 S/H You can buy up to four packs and only pay shipping once. I recently bought a bunch of Rage 3 blades so i am not really in the market for broadheads, but I figured somebody might be interested.

Anybody got any tips for muleys in 33? I'm helping on a hunt this weekend and the scouting hasn't gone as well as I had hoped. A handful of does and no bucks. Some of the does I've seen were running with Coues does. The whitetails truly are moving down the mountain if I'm seeing them in the flats.