dihardhunter
Active Member
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Posted this story on one other forum where a few forum members gave me some information. Thanks to one of MM's members for the same courtesy.
As I've grown older sometimes it's hard for me to decipher quite how a hunt gets planned. What I mean is this - it's tough to differentiate whether it's the place that first captures my attention and then I find a species to hunt which provides a convenient excuse to go explore that place OR whether it's a species that I get the itch to hunt and then I explore what places I can realistically go to hunt that species. My Coues hunt definitely falls in this strange limbo - but bottom line is this, whether it's the chicken or the egg - I went hunting.
Quick flashback to this spring, I decided to use a couple AZ deer points to target the late Nov-early December hunt timeframe. I'm on faculty at a University and due to the late Thanksgiving, I knew my classes would be done the week following that holiday and I could return just in time to give final exams and submit grades after the trip was complete. It was a unique academic calendar and I didn't want to waste it. It was not a surprise that I drew given prior demand and my current point levels, and because of some other tags that I and my dad drew, planning for this trip took a back seat. The one key conversation I did have was with the local wildlife officer. I ran a few access ideas past him and he helped me sort out the two best ideas. One was a hot walk on the desert floor hugging a public/private boundary for about 5 miles before I could make my way into some tough access Coues country, the other was just an all-out hike through a huge swath of public land where vehicle access had been blocked off several years prior. I ended up opting for the latter option even though it was a much longer hike to where I wanted to get. Two things won me over - first, water was much more available, and two, it was more of a mountains hunt than a foothills hunt.
Opener was on Friday but I did not touch down in Phoenix until Monday night. 4 hours driving later and I pulled into the 'X' I had marked on my map at 3:30 AM. A quick hour of sleep, some pack reorganization, and I was headed in deep for 4 days. The first day was incredible - I saw probably 25 deer between the muleys and Coues, encountered a herd of javelina, saw a good bear, many lion tracks, caught a flash of a couple coyotes, and lots of interesting bird life...a couple cantankerous head of cattle as well. Among the deer, I saw 2 muley bucks - both solid mature bucks. 1 big 3x3 with goalposts for 2s and a symmetrical boxy 4x4 with eyeguards that was rutting 3 does fairly hard for early December. For Coues bucks, I saw 2. One forkie that bounced up a hill from a waterhole around 10 AM and a heavy looking 3 point that tore through the underbrush when I bounced him out of his bed in mid-afternoon as I was completing my hike. That evening was slow - just 3 does and a trio of foxes - but I had accomplished my goal. I had hiked the 12 miles back to my camp spot and was just 1/4 mile from a fantastic glassing knob where I would start the morning. I was legitimately sleep deprived at this point and was asleep by 6:30 PM. It was a full 11.5 hours before I woke at 6 with just enough time to shake the cobwebs out and head up to the glassing point before dawn.
An hour and a half after daylight and I had yet to see anything other than a single cautious Coues doe that slipped through the saddle right beside me. I decided to run a primary ridge down and glass into some north facing cuts as the day warmed. That move paid off pretty quick. Within 30 minutes, I had picked up a small Coues buck and decided to slink closer in hopes that a bigger buck might be hidden in the underbrush. By the time I had cut the distance, the little buck was out feeding on barrel cactus fruits and a bigger buck had indeed joined him. I crept in to about 325 yards and made 2 quick killing shots to punch my tag. I thought he was a clean 2 point with huge eyeguards until I reached him and discovered he had snapped both main beams and lost a 3rd on his right side too. I was not disappointed though in the least. Even broken up, he was still a beautiful buck with nice shape.
Long story short, I got the buck quartered and packed back to camp by about 2 PM. I shot at 930. From there, I loaded everything up and made it about 3 hours down the trail. My plans were to cover a third of the distance that night, set up camp, and finish the packout the following day. I'm only about 140 pounds soaking wet, so even a lightweight camp with gun and gear + a boned out Coues buck is a doozy of load. The AZ hunting gods must have been smiling on me. Right before the sun started dipping behind the horizon, I had a fortuitous encounter with the rancher who had the area's grazing permit. We chatted a while before he asked "don't suppose you want a lift off the mountain?" Stupidest question I've ever been asked. I simply replied, "Is a bean green?" Enjoyed several more hours of conversation with him and his son that evening and spent the next 2 days processing meat and chasing a few jackrabbits around.
Fantastic adventure. Can't decide whether the place or the critter was more intriguing, but one thing I'm sure of, I'll be back.
As I've grown older sometimes it's hard for me to decipher quite how a hunt gets planned. What I mean is this - it's tough to differentiate whether it's the place that first captures my attention and then I find a species to hunt which provides a convenient excuse to go explore that place OR whether it's a species that I get the itch to hunt and then I explore what places I can realistically go to hunt that species. My Coues hunt definitely falls in this strange limbo - but bottom line is this, whether it's the chicken or the egg - I went hunting.
Quick flashback to this spring, I decided to use a couple AZ deer points to target the late Nov-early December hunt timeframe. I'm on faculty at a University and due to the late Thanksgiving, I knew my classes would be done the week following that holiday and I could return just in time to give final exams and submit grades after the trip was complete. It was a unique academic calendar and I didn't want to waste it. It was not a surprise that I drew given prior demand and my current point levels, and because of some other tags that I and my dad drew, planning for this trip took a back seat. The one key conversation I did have was with the local wildlife officer. I ran a few access ideas past him and he helped me sort out the two best ideas. One was a hot walk on the desert floor hugging a public/private boundary for about 5 miles before I could make my way into some tough access Coues country, the other was just an all-out hike through a huge swath of public land where vehicle access had been blocked off several years prior. I ended up opting for the latter option even though it was a much longer hike to where I wanted to get. Two things won me over - first, water was much more available, and two, it was more of a mountains hunt than a foothills hunt.
Opener was on Friday but I did not touch down in Phoenix until Monday night. 4 hours driving later and I pulled into the 'X' I had marked on my map at 3:30 AM. A quick hour of sleep, some pack reorganization, and I was headed in deep for 4 days. The first day was incredible - I saw probably 25 deer between the muleys and Coues, encountered a herd of javelina, saw a good bear, many lion tracks, caught a flash of a couple coyotes, and lots of interesting bird life...a couple cantankerous head of cattle as well. Among the deer, I saw 2 muley bucks - both solid mature bucks. 1 big 3x3 with goalposts for 2s and a symmetrical boxy 4x4 with eyeguards that was rutting 3 does fairly hard for early December. For Coues bucks, I saw 2. One forkie that bounced up a hill from a waterhole around 10 AM and a heavy looking 3 point that tore through the underbrush when I bounced him out of his bed in mid-afternoon as I was completing my hike. That evening was slow - just 3 does and a trio of foxes - but I had accomplished my goal. I had hiked the 12 miles back to my camp spot and was just 1/4 mile from a fantastic glassing knob where I would start the morning. I was legitimately sleep deprived at this point and was asleep by 6:30 PM. It was a full 11.5 hours before I woke at 6 with just enough time to shake the cobwebs out and head up to the glassing point before dawn.
An hour and a half after daylight and I had yet to see anything other than a single cautious Coues doe that slipped through the saddle right beside me. I decided to run a primary ridge down and glass into some north facing cuts as the day warmed. That move paid off pretty quick. Within 30 minutes, I had picked up a small Coues buck and decided to slink closer in hopes that a bigger buck might be hidden in the underbrush. By the time I had cut the distance, the little buck was out feeding on barrel cactus fruits and a bigger buck had indeed joined him. I crept in to about 325 yards and made 2 quick killing shots to punch my tag. I thought he was a clean 2 point with huge eyeguards until I reached him and discovered he had snapped both main beams and lost a 3rd on his right side too. I was not disappointed though in the least. Even broken up, he was still a beautiful buck with nice shape.
Long story short, I got the buck quartered and packed back to camp by about 2 PM. I shot at 930. From there, I loaded everything up and made it about 3 hours down the trail. My plans were to cover a third of the distance that night, set up camp, and finish the packout the following day. I'm only about 140 pounds soaking wet, so even a lightweight camp with gun and gear + a boned out Coues buck is a doozy of load. The AZ hunting gods must have been smiling on me. Right before the sun started dipping behind the horizon, I had a fortuitous encounter with the rancher who had the area's grazing permit. We chatted a while before he asked "don't suppose you want a lift off the mountain?" Stupidest question I've ever been asked. I simply replied, "Is a bean green?" Enjoyed several more hours of conversation with him and his son that evening and spent the next 2 days processing meat and chasing a few jackrabbits around.
Fantastic adventure. Can't decide whether the place or the critter was more intriguing, but one thing I'm sure of, I'll be back.
