Need some help in 29

[mp_moody]

Just got back from four days of scouting unit 29. We spent the entire time on the eastern side of the Chiricahuas, and plan to hunt one or two particular canyons. This scouting trip was more successful than my first coues hunt last year because we actually saw more than a spike buck.

 

However, the bucks we spotted were found via spotlighting, and not glassing. In fact, we only saw a doe while glassing in the mornings/evenings. My theory is the bucks are staying in the higher elevations because of the heat and only coming down to ~5000 feet a few hours after sunset. Does this sound about right? Both bucks were in the same general area, but I really don't know where to begin in finding them on opening morning. Do I need to man up and be prepared to hike a lot higher up? The areas we glassed were anywhere from 5000 to 5500 feet in elevation. The only buck I saw taken in this area last year was in fact killed near the top of a mountain by a tough old man in better shape than me!

 

The true success of the scouting trip was that I glassed a bear over a mile away yesterday afternoon. I could hardly contain my excitement as I frantically pointed him out to my hunting buddies. He wandered out of a ridiculously steep drainage and up into another. Unfortunately, I did have a tag but the season does not open until Friday. Both units 29 and 30A have a limit of 3 females, so I really do hope bear is still open on Oct 22! I assume there are at least three bears in this portion of the canyon, based on the size of tracks and distance between sign.

 

The two big issues of this weekend:

1) This area got a lot of rain. The grass is tall and insects are plentiful. There were numerous kinds of grasshoppers, butterflies, dozens of tarantulas, and a plague of mosquitos. I have bites on parts of my body that were 100% covered by clothing. It looks like I'm going to have to invest in a citronella candle for camp, a lot more DEET, and maybe one of those Thermacell devices.

 

2) The Slik tripod coupled with Jim White binocular adapter is great, but doesn't allow you to pan up and down or tilt the binoculars. I learned this thirty seconds into the first glassing session and kicked myself for not realizing this sooner. I'm going to have to email Amanda about a panning tripod head that will work with my combo.

 

Anyone have any general tips to finding bucks or maybe some gear suggestions? Thanks!

 

 

[Couzer]

I saw 2 nice bucks on the eastside of the chiricahua mountain. It was a hot day and they in the feilds at the base of the mountains on the Wilcox side. One of them was 115 plus. Might want to try lower, looked like mule deer country but they are in there. just my 2 cents. I hunt there almost every year for archery.

[azrcks]

My bro has your same tag, we will be there and planning on a bear too. We have found a canyon that was holding a few bears. We have taken 6 bucks there including the one in my tiny avatar. We will be on the east side as well.

 

On to your questions, the bucks are there you are just missing them, they will be bedded early and can sit all day only to get up and stretch and then bed back up again. 29 has been tough to hunt in the last 10 years as you will not see as many numbers as in other units. As the hunt gets closer we should know where each others camps are.

 

Have fun, Rich