donniedent

Pm sent

Back to the topic. For me, I give other guys a wide berth because that's how I would want to be treated. I'm out there to be alone. Camp is for making friends. My mentor and hunting partner and I hunt together at times but also hunt apart and only share a camp. When we hunt apart we hunt miles apart. Where we hunt there are so few deer that if you're within a mile of each other you're probably looking at the same animals. I hunt there because I want to avoid other hunters even though success is very low. If I'm glassing an area I would hope that other hunters would find another area once they realize I'm there.

Eh, we all get pissed and lose our temper and say stuff. I run my suck quite frequently. Honestly I saw the tire comment and didn't take the time to see that it was you that said it. I just realized AFTER my last post that it was you bud. I probably would have been nicer had I opened my stupid eyes and seen it was you and not some newbie DB. My bad too buddy.

Wow, great deal!!!!!

Hey mc68, I wasn't insinuating that you had ever blocked a road and I didn't take it that a way in your first post. I was speaking generally. I've ran into trucks blocking roads both here and in Wyoming and that's what I was thinking about when I said that. I was however directly referring to the tire flattening comments. Flatten someone's tire because you can't hunt where you want at that moment? Counter productive if you want the truck out of the way. Just stupid.

If I wasn't getting ready to pay for my coues mount, this bow would be sold. $250 off list? Not gonna get a deal like that anywhere. If someone doesn't jump on this, I'm going to.

One heck of a rifle right there. Top notch glass on it too.

Lol hunters flattening other hunters tires? Blocking roads? This is why I stay in the low, flat deserts. This is why I'm willing to go years between bucks. I've had jackasses that knew I was there set up on the same small canyon as me 100 yds away. I got up, threw my pack on and walked right thru the area they were glassing and I had already glassed. No need for altercation or slashing tires, just say what needs to said without saying anything at all. I don't ever want to hunt where some of you hunt. Now way.

I get paid tuesday. If it doesn't sell by then I'll buy it.

That's a good deal guys, im in the car biz. they would put that on the lot for 12k.

Great job man, good buck. Love his color.

Depends on the group of does. Friends and I are still seeing lone bucks cruising for does. There is a secondary rut. The does that didn't get covered will be a hot commodity in many areas over the next couple weeks. This time of year, one day the rut looks totally over then the very next day it looks hot again. Nows the time to be looking for lone bucks with their noses on the ground.

Nice buck man. Congrats

Normally I would jump right and help in but I have buddies in the unit too and I heard it's been a zoo. He's got his work cut out if he isn't on deer already.

I personally have no judgments about a guy taking a 80,90 or 100 yd shot. If you're a true sportsman and love your quarry you'll do the right thing when the time comes and if you make a mistake, you won't do it again. As far as the decoy thing... I have thought about making a hat that looks like a doe muley for years, even if it only got me 10 more yds on average. Great idea.

Archery ethics.... ugh, just like religion and politics. Don't be bothered longshooter.

Lol... It worked man I'm telling you. For me, I would have to go 13 more yds for a shot in that situation so whatever works right?

This might sound nuts but if you get spotted, get on all 4's and start milling around in circles like a stink pig. I have done that and had deer go right back to feeding. Not at 93 yds though. 150 and 200 yds. Deer watch behavior. They are used to being stalked and know what it looks like. They also come in close contact with other animals feeding. If you get spotted outside your shot range, dint act like a predator, act like prey.

Wanted to clarify something. Muleys are easier to stalk in on while they are feeding in the DESERT! When I was in Wyoming I was out for the archery opener. There was a group of bucks I scouted for weeks. There was a tall, heavy 180 class buck in the bunch I wanted bad. Opening morning, I was on them. I ended up busting them and they were gone in a flash. I decided to go check another area miles away. On my way back to camp, I took a road that looped a mile south and below where I had stalked the bucks earlier that morning. I decided to stop and glass. Low and behold, I found those bucks under a line pine a mile away in a little shallow draw. I went back to camp, got a bite and went in after them. Long story short, I got within 50 and blew the shot at the big boy. Very next day, found the same bucks feeding in the same area. This time I got proactive and set up for an ambush. I got the big boy within 75 but at that time I was not confident at that distance. I got caught and they bounced. I decided to check and see if those deer went back to that draw. Sure as sh!t they did. I ended up within 45 yds and nailed a 150 class buck. I was only able to do that because they acted like muleys are supposed to, not like desert deer and... The country allowed that because I was walking in dirt. 9 out of 10 times you'll never get 45 yds away from deer in the desert because it is flat out noisy. Desert deer are even less habitual than their mountain cousins. They sketchier than mountain deer and I think they are smarter over all. Who ever said muleys are dumb never hunted Sonoran or mohave mule deer.

+++++1 sneaker. Very well put. There are definitely sleeper units in the state that have huge deer but low overall numbers that you can draw at least every other but will require at least 3 years of scouting and homework. I have a few of those in my back pocket.

Sold yet?

Yeah lol, dessert deer are so different. Like I said, hunting in Wyoming was fairly textbook. Muleys did what they were supposed to do. Bedded under ribbon cliffs, fed in slides on north faces... everything they are meant to do. The one great thing about hunting desert deer is it has made me a better hunter all around. I truly believe if you can learn to find desert bucks you can hunt muleys anywhere. Just my opinion but I don't think there's a greater hunting challenge in arizona, if not the west.

That's funny how he bedded down right in the sun like that. I tell you, when it comes to desert muleys, you can throw away the books. I hunted mules in Wyoming when I lived there and they acted exactly like Mike Eastman said they would. You get in the desert and those books work better for toilet paper. Totally different deer

Oh yeah, post a pic and make a guy go from nuts to bananas.

I try and get within my max range and stop there. Usually 75 to 80 yds. This time of year if I'm on a buck, there are does too. I worry more about the does than the buck. It's a situational call. Sometimes you can force the issue and get him to stand and sometimes you just have to wait them out. I'm really bad at waiting them out and I've blown untold opportunities by being impatient. Many times, all the does but the hot doe will bed. Mostly because the buck is keeping her moving. This is when you want to be in the right place at the right time. If I glass up a herd that has a buck with them that is a shooter, I beat feet and try and get close. I don't sit and watch them and wait for them to bed. Usually you can close the distance to under 200 yds. At that point is game on. So to answer your question... lol... Get in close before they bed if at all possible. Deer are 1000 times harder to get close to when they are already bedded rather than when they are still up and feeding.