daryl_s

Mike, my dad has the HAM hunt in 23 so MT Ord is out of bounds. I think the hunt is in February. I don't have a tag so I might just tag along and be an extra set of eyes for him. This trip we took on Saturday was my first time in the Tonta Basin area. We saw 8 WT in just a few hours but that was just 1 trip so I don't really know about overall population. Good luck on your January tag, let us know how it goes.

Congratulations Wayne!!!!! That is an awesome buck and great accomplishment, I can only dream of having a shot at a buck of that caliber someday.

Looks like you guys had a blast. Thanks for sharing the story and pics with us.

No, those pictures were not taken up on Mt Ord. We were in unit 23 East of Mt Ord. I don't know the name of the mountain we were on, but in the last picture you can't see Mount Ord, it is just out of the picture, but the view is looking down towards where Tonto Basin is. We went up the 87 to where it meets the 188 and back down into Tonto Basin. Once in Tonto Basin we headed East. I'm a real rookie still when it comes to names of places, mountains, etc but just trying to learn little by little. I didn't even know it was Mount Ord until my dad told me. I love to get out and see new areas(new to me anyways) as much as I can. That's why I love this site so much, I learn a ton from you guys/gals.

Sorry, just realized I didn't finish and didn't answer your question. The previously mentioned does were all alone, no bucks. However, after heading back down we did a little more glassing hoping to see some javelina. We saw 4 deer a good distance off and they seemed to be running in circles and chasing each other. They were WT and if any of the 4 were bucks it didn't stand out too much, at that distance it was hard to tell and we didn't see them for very long. The behavior just didn't seem typical and it was about 12 noon.

Went out Saturday morning 12-23 just for a morning trip. My dad and I went through Tonto Basin just to check out the area because he has a javelina hunt for that area next year. You could see snow higher up on the mountains, here's a picture looking back towards Mount Ord with the rising sun just starting to hit it: It was about as beautiful a morning as one could hope for. We did a little glassing down low and saw 3 WT does. Here is a doe that I picked up right away at about 1000 yards. It's through the 12x's and I'm not very good at digiscoping but here it is: We then did a little more glassing in another spot and saw 1 WT doe. Then, just to get to know the area a little better we took the road all the way to the top where there were pine trees, snow and we were at around 5600 ft elevation. There wasn't much snow but here are a few pics: Here is the view from the top looking back towards Tonto Basin and Mount Ord: Hope to get out every chance I get.

That is the funniest idea ever Makes me wanna carry a mask with me just in case.

I think it should stay the way it is, no point restrictions.

Great bucks, but tell us more about those bass.

While I was in Argentina I visited a small "zoo" that had some very small deer. I don't know what kind they were but they were full grown adults and they were smaller than coues. I will try and see if I can find any of the pictures that I took of them. I thought it was weird that they also had javelina there.

I will graciously offer my translating services if you take me hunting with you in Mexico.

Mike, I hope you have a full and speedy recovery. You are in our prayers. Daryl Swain

That is an excellent buck, congrats to you and your dad. Good job on putting the December tag to good use.

Are you sure that your cell phone will work in the area that you are going to be in??? My cell phone(verizon) doesn't work where I hunt in 36B. Doesn't BP monitor the radio channels??? While we were hunting in October we heard someone call out on the radio asking if there was any BP listening because they found an illegal who was dying. After about 30 seconds BP responded asking where they were at. Good luck on your hunt.

I have the X-1 and really like it. There are better packs like the J 104 but for the price it can't be beat. I love having the rifle scabbard for pre and post sunlight hiking. It has lots of space too. I highly recommend it.

As Im reading your post about the "little" buck I'm mentally picturing a true dink, spike or something like that, just like Casey said. I scroll down and see the pic and that's not a bad buck at all. I guess it's all perspective. My biggest buck was about that size, and I have only killed two total. One day I'll have the experience and be able to hold out for the big ones. Either way you harvested a nice buck and have some good meat to put on the table, congrats.

Yeah, me too???? That is one heck of a buck. Congrats to you and your friend.

I wonder how many of the people criticizing the use of a paraplane use a quad to get into farther, more remote areas??? I'm not saying it's right or wrong either way to use a paraplane but.........where do you draw the line as to what is the "good ole fashioned way"??? I use a quad to get farther back into tough areas and then I do a good amount of hiking. Am I cheating???? Some will say yes, some will say no. They are doing it legally and as others have mentioned, it's still not easy to arrow those giant bucks. If I had a paraplane and could get out and do that then I probably would, and I bet some of the critics would too. There is so much technology in use now days that wasn't readily available even 20 years ago that pretty much everybody uses. To say that they're doing it the "good ole fashioned way" wouldn't be completely accurate for them either.

I have seen both of them where I hunt. I wouldn't worry too much about lions...I always hope to see them....I never hope to see illegals. I have hunted many times in 36B and have only seen illegals once, and we always hunt within a few miles of the border. Although the encounters are pretty uncommon it only takes one time running into the wrong group. I bought an XD-40 over the summer and when down south it is on my hip during the day and under my pillow at night. Hopefully I won't ever have to use it but if I do then I will have it. A neighbor of mine had some guys down south tell him that they were going to take his Jeep. He pulled back his jacket revealing his .357 and told them that he didn't think that that was going to happen. They just turned around and left. Just having it with you can be the difference maker. I don't worry too much about being down in the southern units but I will not camp alone and I will always have my sidearm with me.

Man, that's awesome. Congratulations to both of you. I bet you were just as excited as he was. I'm 25 and I still go hunting with my dad, I love it. I can't wait until my kids are old enough to go with me. That's a great first buck also.....great job redman jr.

Excellent first buck, congrats. It's that much more satisfying when you put in the hard work preseason to get it done. Plus you got to share the experience with family and friends, it doesn't get any better than that. 2 tags, 2 bucks, good job.

I didn't see any lions but I did see about 15 coyotes during 4 days of hunting. The fawn crop looks like it was great this year, almost half of the deer that I saw this trip were fawns. I am wanting to take a trip down to where I deer hunted and see if I can't take of few of these coyotes out.....or better yet a lion, and help the fawn survival rate a little bit.

I would love to learn more about the culture of the Yaqui. My wife is from Ciudad Obregon and there is a lot of Yaqui history in that area. I need to check it out more next time I am down there. My wife's uncle grew up around Yaquis and I met him once and he talked to me some in Yaqui, I thought it was pretty neat. Is there anywhere in Arizona where they have a museum or where you can see the "Danza del Venado"? I would love to go see it.

What a great story and buck to go with it. I'd say 95", pretty good main beams and good size eye guards. Congrats.

Congrats on a fine first coues.