The year of big muleys

[assassin]

Is it just me or are there big muleys coming out of all directions this year? Seems like last year was the year for giant coues and this year muleys are taking front stage. I don't know could just be me.

[Coues Sniper]

Great year for deer in general. Good age class, and good timing on rains. Spring was too late for elk however.

[Coach]

This year there are a lot of great bucks are hitting the ground - both coues and Muleys. Lots of good (great) hunters working hard, learning more efficient techniques, good equipment, etc.

 

I started a related thread earlier - on the one hand, it seems like G&F is issuing way too many tags, and in my favorite hunting unit, it seems to be having a negative effect. On the whole, I'm seeing bigger deer, and way more exceptional deer being taken, than ever before. It makes one wonder if the quality of deer is actually improving, if it's just a function of more hunters working harder and thinking "outside the box", or maybe we're just more connected these days, and we get to see more of the deer that our hunters are tagging.

 

Whatever the reason - AZ hunters are taking some amazing deer this year, as they have for the past several seasons. It will be interesting to see if the trend continues.

 

Congrats to all of the hunters out there taking amazing AZ trophies. I hope you have made a lifetime of memories hunting AZ with family and friends.

[assassin]

Coach, I agree with the fact in many units seem to have way to many tags. I've raised some questions to a couple of the local G&F guys and they say that their hands are basically tied due to some of the generalized quotas and percetages set by the "higher ups" in the G&F. Hopefully in the future they will be able to find a way to manage deer as deamed necessary but who knows. I have noticed certain deer hunts make you feel like you are somewhere back east ready to duck bullets.

 

On a side note I do think that there are a lot more serious predators glassing the hills these days. Makes me almost scared to poop out there.

[hntr4life]

When my generation of hunters were coming up, hardly anybody sat a glassed for more than 5 minutes at a time. In fact most hunters then didn't even carry bino's. Heck, back then a lot of hunters didn't even have rifle scopes, good boots were far more important than bino's. However, in recent years I have become convinced that good optics and lots of glassing is definately the more effective, efficient way to hunt. These improved hunting tactics as well as improved gear is leading directly to more big bucks being killed. The big question is whether the dear population can support the increased pressure and continue to produce lots of big bucks. I certainly hope so, but only time will tell.

 

Oh, and Dur stay off the Bud light and you won't feel the need to go every 15 minutes..

[EAS]

no joke! we got some good growth around AZ this year... I have photos of some of the bucks listed below, hit me up if you want me to send them to you... not my bucks or I would post the photos with the stats below... good old AZ strip...

 

Here's some stats for the 2010 13A/B hunts, the ones reported over 200" anyway:

 

8x8 scoring around 230- Sunshine Point

10X9 scoring around 249 KF deer out of Tuweep Valley

8X7 scoring around 205

7X7 scoring right around 224

8X8 scoring 240- Hancock Knoll Catchment

7x7 scoring 234- Tuweep valley

8x10 scoring 230- Cold Spring Wash

206- DS

226- LS

7X9- 234 East of Hancock Knoll

[Coues Archer]

Wow those numbers are huge!!! I doubt they actually score that high..

[sjvcon]

I've seen pics and some actual up close examples of several of the bucks taken out of 13A ... they probably WILL score that high green. Some of them looked like elk ... I kid you not. I spoke to a guy who spends a lot of time up there while I was on my hunt a couple weeks ago (a young guide), and he showed me trail cam pics of deer even larger (several) ... one he said they had estimated at close to 300" from sheds picked up last year. He's a nightmover though, and I guess thus far no one has caught a glimpse of him during the day, or so the guy told me. Fantastic year for antler growth all over the state ... it only makes sense that Kaibab and the Strip would kick out some monsters this year.