AZ hunting

Got this guy out of 12A this past weekend. I was hoping to get a big guy but couldn't stay all week and didn't want to come home empty handed. He should taste awfully good and its another set of small antlers for the garage. However this is the first time I've gotten drawn out here in Arizona so all in I'm happy. The scenery up there was beautiful and it was an excellent hunt. I hope for the same results in December on my elk hunt!

 

Small game challenge was a discussion on here awhile back. The most recent Wildife views has an article on it along with pictures of what the plaque looks like. Added a picture below. Really cool, forgot to sign up but definitely going to after seeing the plaque.

 

Wow. That's a nice plaque. I wanna complete all 4 challenges even more now

 

Anyone have any luck this weekend?
Was out glassing and found a few.
Kinda windy

 

I've been hunting the same ridge line/saddle for 3 days. Spotted 3 doe and two bucks Saturday morning from 650 yards. By the time I closed to 300 and located the bucks they were showing ass, heading over the ridgeline. Tried to get in closer yesterday and the 3 doe winded us. No bucks ever showed up. I glassed up 4 bucks this morning and by the time I closed to 400 yards they were getting ready to go over the top again, so I took two hail Mary shots at one. Got up here and no deer. I'm sitting above the saddle now but it's windy as fuck up here so I think I'm gonna go work the flats. It's fucking frustrating. These are smart deer! They bed in the flats so they hear you coming in in the morning and when they graze they take a mouthful, then scan the flats while they chew. I'm gonna try to come straight over the top of the ridge line at like 5 am tomorrow and hope to get in undetected and hope the wind is in my favour. A 50 yard chip shot would be real nice.

 

I get what you are saying 100%
They are sneaky bastards!
It is windy today and supposed to be tomorrow.
Keep us posted and stick with it- I know the frustration well .
Love your strategy- that's all about what coues hunting is !

 

They are sneaky bastards! Lol. The definitely earn their nickname- grey ghost. I will keep you guys posted. Hoping to luck out this afternoon in the flats. You stick with it too. What unit are you in?

 

My hunt is nov 30 - dec 09.
Unit 24b. I was scouting this weekend and helping my buddy's son who has a tag , same unit this week.
Came back home through Apache lake and fish creek.
Nice drive

 

Sounds like a nice day. Good luck on your hunt

 

Thanks man . It was just one of those nice times , watching a buck feeding at 1000 yards and he has no idea that you are there and the sun hits the mountains just right-

 

Fish Creek Tacoma Photobomb!!

 

No luck this afternoon. I've got two plans for the morning depending on what the wind is doing. Hopefully it's not so windy that they just stay bedded down all day.

First pic is the saddle from about 1/2 a mile out. When they go over the top, it's been the same place both times, near the right end of it. First plan is to go up the face of the ridge line on the right and over the top, hoping that they'll walk by on their way over the top.
this is my view from the rocks above the saddle. The trail to the right of the saguaro is the one I believe they're taking out of the saddle.

These are the flats I've been trying to approach through, starting way out in the big wash. There's not much cover out there when you're on that ridgeline looking out.

Second plan is to drop into the closer wash about a mile away from the ridge, hike up the wash, then belly crawl up onto the flat behind a bush and hope they don't wind me.

I've got em patterned pretty well but tomorrow morning is my last shot at this. Hopefully it'll work out

 

just a reminder for you guys who are out glassing, I can get special pricing on Swaro Glass, let me know if you guys need/want anything.

 

No luck for me on the deer this hunt. The wind kept them bedded down out there. I'm considering going back with my bow in december

 

Thanks for posting your hunt and follow up. I really don’t think people realize how difficult these coues hunts are with all of the tags they give out. The terrain they live in . They have always earned their name grey ghost and not by accident.

Best of luck on the coming archery deer and javy season!

 

I think Rinella does a good job showing what's involved hunting coues.
He even steps on a rattler and eats it.

https://youtu.be/JtRLz44KmbQ

 

Yea, they really are tough to hunt. I find that mule deer tend to just stare at you for minutes on end, but coues tend to take off like a bat out of hell as soon as they hear a human walking in their direction. But that makes a successful hunt all the more gratifying. Thanks for the good luck and good luck to you on your hunt too.

 

That's a great video to demonstrate what a coues hunt is like. The rough and varying terrain, the weather changes you have to deal with, glassing miles of land and feeling like there's just no deer there, the emotional highs and lows and everything between...

Thanks for posting that. I enjoyed watching it. From what I could see on the maps it looks like he was on the south east end of the guillero's. That canyon looked about right for the guillero's too.

 

As the Coues hunt approached I had high hopes. The October rains had greened up the desert floor.

Where we had been seeing bucks last year in the Flats, now they were on the highest peaks. Plenty of food, water and cover. 2017 was extremely dry and the deer had to come into water during our December hunt.

Opening day brought the usual shenanigans and parade of road hunters. Onto Sunday and High winds with temps in the low 30’s . We saw many (too many to count) doe. But the bucks were again staging their dominance party 1200 vertical up. As we moved in the Sunset and we tried to gather a plan.

Days 3-5 brought familiar country with a long hike and more vertical climbs. A nice buck spotted with a 874 vertical climb and as we harnessed the packs he disappeared into a Vertical shade cut.

More rain and Fog the following days. 40+ more doe spotted along with a spike.

Days 6-8 more glassing from 6am until 5pm. A pair of Coyotes working a carcass kill at 1100 yards.

Just watching them move in tandem with the cunning movements was entertainment for an hour.

Day 8 was drawing to a close. No deer taken this year. But another incredible week in Coues Country hunting the Grey Ghost.

Now it’s Time to grab the bow and arrow and head back in 3 weeks in hopes that the rut will be in full swing.

 

Sucks that you struck out but it sounds like a great week of destressing in nature and enjoying the beautiful mountains and wildlife. Thanks for sharing and good luck in January.

I'm gearing up for the December archery deer hunt, hoping to get a deer this year so I can still rifle hunt with pops next season. I was out scouting yesterday and had a herd of javelina come in and start feeding within 10 yards of me while I was glassing. There's very dense vegetation in this area, and I could hear them vocalising, teeth clacking, ripping at the plants and chewing, but I only actually put eyes on two of them until I moved and they spooked and ran down the hill when I saw about a 1/2 dozen bodies running single file down toward the wash below me. It was nice to be able to sit back and soak in the experience because I wasn't hunting them at the time, but also- now I know where I'm going for January OTC archery javelina. Haha