Coach

Everyone has to gauge each hunt by their own personal objectives. For me, a spot and stalk mule deer in the desert would have very little to do with antler size. I've tried it, over and over again and just have not been able to connect. I've had good success with rifle, archery and ML coues, archery and ML bull elk, lots of javi skulls and only one mule deer - a high country, Navajo velvet 3x3 buck with a good frame. Stalking hard-horned mule deer in the desert with a bow is daunting for sure. For me, it's the next big challenge in AZ hunting. But when you come on this forum, you see guys killing HUGE muley bucks, better than any I've seen while out hunting, and they do it year after year. There is definately a skill set that takes practice and hard work to achieve when it comes to hunting mature mule deer in the desert. Sounds to me like you are putting in the ground work. You are into deer regularly, passing on smaller ones (shows patience and persitence) and you are learning their habits and habitat. IMO, that's 80% of hunting with time in the field and, frankly luck, making up the remaing 20% (15 and 5 respectively). Time in the field sounds like something you've already got covered. The last 5% reminds me of one of my favorite hunting quotes. "The harder I work, the luckier I get" -- Samuel Goldwyn. (although the quote was not originally related to hunting, it is spot on). Good hunting. I look forward to seeing you posed next to a desert mule deer. Just keep doing what you're doing and be patient. It will happen.

Totally agree with Mr. Quimby and others. I don't think it's necessary at this point to cut permits or increase fees. Our trophy quality across the state is fantastic, and our generous allocation of cow permits has not seemed to hurt the herds at all from what I've seen. I really feel AZG&F has done an outstanding job of managing our elk herds and hunts. While I don't agree with every game management stategy from AZGFD, I would give them an A+ for elk management.

Wow - that is just awesome. A great desert muley with a bow - and a great shot. Huge congrats!

Hey TJ - Great story. I really enjoyed it. Congrats on yet another Javelina - you are a machine. I've got to say, crawling hands-and-knees into a thicket at dark tracking a wounded pig takes some brass.

Wow Gino! That is an awesome looking buck. Congrats and way to show how hard work really can pay off. Just a gorgeous deer.

Nice job - a great story to go with it! Sounds like an exiting hunt. I agree, these guys are some of the most fun critters to hunt anywhere, especially with a bow. Next year I might just try the flintlock thing - something I've always wanted to do.

Huge Congrats, Dewey! That is awesome. Great write-up too!

Nice Job Clay - Great pictures!

That is awesome! I would love to get back into traditional archery. Great job.

Saw the pics. Nice pig and buck, you guys are doing awesome.

Sounds good, Good luck to you. And to you. I hope you find a nice herd tomorrow, and maybe some deer to chase too. Shoot me a PM if you want to bounce ideas in the mean-time.

I played "hookey" today to do a little deer hunting and pig scouting in 24A. For the first time I can remember, I spent the entire day hiking, glassing, checking out new country and saw not one single deer or javi. I was checking out one of the few places in 24A I hadn't yet explored and found some country that seemed like it should be crawling with coues, mule deer and javelina. Thinking maybe it's just the fact that we're right in between cold fronts maybe things aren't moving today, I still can't account for the lack of sign. This place had it all - plenty of food, water, forage and cover - even seclusion. Some of these spots can't be glassed from above without a lot of hiking, and I saw not one shred of evidence of hunting pressure. No beer or tuna cans at prime glassing spots, no human tracks, not even an old gum wrapper. I've had slow days before, but that usually means a few spread out does with fawns, but I can't remember in many years of hunting, not seeing a single deer or pig - given the amount of country covered and some serious glassing. This place isn't remotely in a spot that gets "hammered" but seemed like a moonscape. Aside from a couple bunnies, I didn't see a thing moving that didn't have feathers. I even went back to an old stand-by place that always has pigs and found only coyote and what appeared to be a huge bobcat sign. Not a single confirmed pig track. Anybody else seeing a bizarre lack of game, or was this just an off-day?

I love seeing guys pushing new territory, expanding beyond their comfort zone and trying new things out. Seems the 6.5MM has been a long-time favorite Euro round that never gained traction here in the states even while we were widcatting everythign in the .25 - .308 range. The six-five has a lot going for it and it's probably the one "niche" round American gunmakers and reloaders tend to overlook. Having .308NUT behind the wheel, I feel confident that we'll get a real good assesment of how it compares to the rounds most of us are more comfortable with.

Yeah, I'll be headed out tomorrow. Taking the whole family (at least that's the plan) but since it's new years some might want to sleep in. But I'm going out for sure and I'm sure at least one of the boys will be ready to go chase pigs. If I don't connect, I'll PM you and maybe we can meet somewhere Monday if you want.

Awesome picture - I agree, the way the hunters and the animals stand out is amazing but you can tell it's an old photo. Thanks for sharing.

Very cool pix and story - great day for sure!

Welcome aboard - +1 on a great first post. Great looking buck in what looks like some tough country to stalk.

Jeez ... now I get the ground rules after nearly 300 posts, most of which break them ... THANKS!!! I was wondering why I kept getting PM's telling me to shut my yapper ... :lol: Welcome aboard Shaun. I'd agree ... you've found the best hunting site on the web. LOL, My youngest son, Josh, wanted to see pictures of a prime rib we had cooked up Christmas Eve, and of course, I could't just make dinner without taking picturs and posting them up here. He saw in my profile that I had over 2000 posts, and just had to bring that fact to the attention of my sweet, loving wife....LOL. Her response, of course, was "what in the world do you have to say that much about????" LOL... I guess this place is addictive. I don't go on facebook or twitter or anywhere else, but I consider this place an extended home where I can just talk about whatever. Most of it has to do with hunting, sometimes it's more. What's great about this site is the people who frequent here.

Glad you are on board - Welcome! Now, just a few ground rules...Don't talk about religion, politics, wolves, baiting, trail cameras or ATVs and you'll never get any negative responses. LOL. Just kidding of course. Glad you're here. This is a great place to talk about anything and everything related (or not so much) to hunting in AZ.

I really like the .270 WSM for a "kids" gun (my kids are boys), heck I think it's a great all-around adult gun, but if she's flinching with a .270, then maybe a standard .243 or 22-250 (or 25-06) might be a better choice. There's a lot you can do with the gun itself to cut down on recoil too. A muzzle break combined with a really good recoil pad like the Simms or Pachmayr decelerator can really make a huge difference in kick. I bought a cheap wood stock for my kids' Howa .270 WSM, cut it down and put on a Simms recoil pad and they shoot it as comfortably as they do my AR-15, (.223 with a buffer spring = no substantial kick). And they are in the 100 pound range. I considered a muzzle brake to ease it up even more, but haven't found that necessary. While I haven't done it myself, if you took a .243 or 25-06, put on a muzzle break and a good recoil pad, I think kids could shoot it very comfortably. Of course, if you use a muzzle break, it's a lot louder so hearing protection both at the range and in the is an important consideration.

Absolutely nothing. Hornady bullets have been killing critters for years. Same with Sierra, etc. These days picking a bullet is like picking a bow - there are lots and lots of great ones to choose from. If Hornady, Sierra, etc. weren't still performing well, they would have faded into the shadows as other players with a more agressive advertising strategy (Barnes, Nosler, Swift) start to gain more of a following. Sierra Match King bullets are some of the cheapest around, but have a huge following with reloaders as do Hornady bullets. Same as with archery equipment, when it comes to bullets, powder, favorite hunting round, you just have to find what is right for you. The good news is, there's a lot more "right" anwers these days than wrong ones. The selection we have today in every category of hunting equipment is so far advanced over what our dads grew up hunting and reloading with is mind boggling. But the companies they used are mostly still in business, and for a good reason.

Update, I went out a couple days ago and it was the exact opposite of my previous outing. I took a nice, younger hunter along that I had randomly met before the elk hunt a few months back. In the morning, I glassed up 15+ deer and put the new hunter on a stalk on a 100-ish heavy 3x3. Conditions were absolutely perfect. We had this deer bedded in a very stalkable situation. Didn't work out, I think he turned his radio off - and he ended up just upwind of where the big buck and several does were bedded. Some of the does blasted out, but the buck stayed put. He went in, but now from the wrong direction and while a doe stood at 20 feet from him, the buck slipped over the hill - All I could do is watch (and bang my head into a rock). Later, in another area, we found a good group of piggies (12 strong) and a really big boar I hope to arrow in a couple days. Glassed up more deer and did some quiet "bed stalking". More deer found but no shots, yet... Finally, a little spike stood up, literally 20 feet in front of me and all I could think was, if I shoot this baby buck with milk dripping off his chin, just to fill my tag, my wife will shoot me. So I kind of whisper, "Legal buck - coming your way"...I watch him draw and hear the "whack". The little buck runs right at me, obviously hit, then veers off. I'm sure this guy has just tagged his first deer with a bow and I'm very happy for him - some high fives, and we're off to find the buck. Well, hours later, on hands and knees of tracking a blood trail that went from OK to pretty much nothing, I was pretty dicouraged. I've been on blood trails like this more than once, and as soon as the buck left the snow, and blood drops went from every few feet to yards in-between, I knew it going from bad to worse. Many times we lost the trail, but stuck with it REALLY hard and kept finding a little drop once in a while mixed in with fresh deer tracks going in every direction. Bad news is, we never did find his buck, and I was kind of left scratching my old bald head...It's good to take out newer hunters, and try to pass along the things we've learned, but it's also frustrating. This guy is a lot younger than myself, and had it been my own son along I would have encouraged taking the same shot under the same conditions. I really don't fault the guy - it's just really hard to be in the situation where you kind of feel responsible for putting someone in the position for a shot, but then can't recover the animal, and they can't tell you where they hit, or where their pin was when they shot... Overall, it was a great day - glassed up at least 25 coues deer, a good group of javi's got new hunter a shot at his first deer...man I just wish that little buck had been hit a little better and we walked out of there with a "perfect" day. Some things are just beyond our control, I guess.

Nice bullet selection - I'm reallly interested in seeing how the TTSX fly - that's a lot lighter than I usually shoot in a .300 WSM - pretty high velocities (and pressure) there. I like the Accubond in 180 and 165 grain, and CT in 168 grain. Can't wait to see how those lighter bullets fly in 300 WSM. I always considered 150 grain the lower limit for a .300 mag of any flavor but my dad used to load up some 100 grain match kings in his .270 as a "plinking" round and had great accuracy. Keep telling us what is working for you!

Awesome pic - gotta love those desert swine! Some of the coolest critters out there, and that is on heck of picture. Already got my vote for the next round of trail cam photos.

Nice Brian, Looks like it's going to be another "Done-in-One" year for you. Awesome spot you've got there.