2013 Buck

[CouesFanatic]

Just got back from my Arizona archery deer hunt. Tried to get it done on a larger buck but couldn't pass up this buck when he came walking right to me.

We had chased the larger buck for a week, found him every morning and night. Pushed him around all over the place, luckily he was rutting like crazy. It is so noisy stalking that it is almost impossible to get under 120 yards. You can see from the picture that it's not the best country for stalking a buck with 20 does. I was stalking the larger buck one morning, with 8 javelinas 80 yards to my left covering up some of my noise. I was 120 yards from the bigger buck when I heard a deer walking to my right. I looked right and this buck was walking right for me. He walked behind a cedar and I drew. Grunted and made the shot. Didn't have time to range it, but he was only 35, didn't need to. He ran 30 yards and kicked over. He fell over so fast that I wasn't sure if he was done yet. Nice to get it done during Chiropractic School and with so little time to hunt.

Last picture is the best we got of the larger buck. He was pretty heavy for these small desert muleys and had deep forks with long tines.

[KopperBuck]

Nice! Gotta be honest though, I was hoping to see a Coues down.

[CouesFanatic]

ya a Coues with a bow is a tough deal. We did see a mid 90's coues but he was moving quick and we lost him. The Coues wern't rutting yet and the muleys were going nuts.

Killed this Coues a few years back:

[KopperBuck]

Nice! Definitely a bucket lister. Looks to be a real challenge.

[WAcoueshunter]

Well done!  That's a great sombrero buck!  Headed down next week, hopefully with similar results, or a coues of course.

Is that snow in the background of the last pic?

[CouesFanatic]

Thanks. Yes we got some rain down there so the snow line moved down low as I have seen it before. It's been pretty cold during the hunt.

[JLS]

Nice job!  I'd like to go hunt the desert someday.  How much is it for a NR tag?

[MLBowhunting]

Great buck 

[Bean Counter]

Great job! Nothing like huntin' in a tee shirt in the middle of winter 

[deerslyr]

Nice buck  public land? My brother just got stationed in the phoenix area so I need to start doing some research on this hunt for next year. Looks like a blast.

[WAcoueshunter]

Nice buck  public land? My brother just got stationed in the phoenix area so I need to start doing some research on this hunt for next year. Looks like a blast.

Private ground is not much of an issue down there, except in certain isolated areas (e.g. some of the antelope areas).   AZ has very liberal access laws and most is public anyway.

To answer one of the prior questions, you need both a license and a tag.  The NR license runs $151 and the OTC deer tag runs $225, so total license/tag cost to hunt OTC archery deer is $376.

[KimberRich]

Great Buck and cool pics.

So this tag was an OTC non-draw tag?  That price seems affordable.
Would be great to do a hunt this late in the year down there. I've got some friends and family in AZ and I'm not sure why I've never really looked into the tags.  Maybe do a xmas visit/hunt next year!!

[boneaddict]

Talk about the real ghosts.   Tough country, sly sneeky critters.    Saw two nice bucks down there when I was Javelina hunting.  I imagine the coues as one of the hardest hunts ever.   Found a top 5 in the world shed though. 

[WAcoueshunter]

Talk about the real ghosts.   Tough country, sly sneeky critters.    Saw two nice bucks down there when I was Javelina hunting.  I imagine the coues as one of the hardest hunts ever.   Found a top 5 in the world shed though.

Let's see that shed!!!

Archery javelina is a great side show to the January deer hunts.

[Bigshooter]

Nice buck.  My grandma lives in buckeye and I have thought about doing this also.  Or seeing if my 9pts would be enough to get me a late muzzy tag.

[BOWHUNTER45]

Nice ...big enough 

[WAcoueshunter]

Nice buck.  My grandma lives in buckeye and I have thought about doing this also.  Or seeing if my 9pts would be enough to get me a late muzzy tag.

Your 9 points should get you just about anything you want for coues.  They don't have much in the way of muzzy only seasons, but presumably you could draw one of the late general tags and hunt with your muzzy.  My avatar came from a late tag in 2004.  I've got 10 points, and will likely cash in this year if I'm not successful next week during the archery hunt.

There's a Kaibab muzzy muley tag (hunt code 1170) that you might hold out for - looks like it took 12 points for NR's to draw this year.

http://www.azgfd.gov/eservices/documents/bonus/2012%20Fall%20Draw%20-%20Bonus%20Point%20Report%20-%20Bonus%20Pass%20by%20Hunt%20Number.pdf

[BLDtraLR]

Nice bucks 

[CouesFanatic]

Nice buck.  My grandma lives in buckeye and I have thought about doing this also.  Or seeing if my 9pts would be enough to get me a late muzzy tag.

Your 9 points should get you just about anything you want for coues.  They don't have much in the way of muzzy only seasons, but presumably you could draw one of the late general tags and hunt with your muzzy.  My avatar came from a late tag in 2004.  I've got 10 points, and will likely cash in this year if I'm not successful next week during the archery hunt.

There's a Kaibab muzzy muley tag (hunt code 1170) that you might hold out for - looks like it took 12 points for NR's to draw this year.

http://www.azgfd.gov/eservices/documents/bonus/2012%20Fall%20Draw%20-%20Bonus%20Point%20Report%20-%20Bonus%20Pass%20by%20Hunt%20Number.pdf

I think he's referring to the late Muley Muzz hunt in the 40's units. Thanks for the comments guys, the desert has a unique beauty to it. It seems every single brush and tree will grab and poke you.

[Bigshooter]

Yes i was talking about the late muzzy hunt in the 40's. I don't have a lot interest in hunting coues deer.

[Titan-1]

Beautiful buck man. nice job.

[EDT]

I like your coues buck (the muley was not bad either  ).  I am a huge fan of coues hunting, in fact, it is my favorite.  here is a link to the one I have hanging on my wall.

http://hunting-washington.com/smf/index.php/topic,100491.msg1306579.html#msg1306579

[JCKILLSHOT]

Nice buck! I cant wait I'm going down there Feb 9-14 for javelina and a buddy of mine still has his deer tag. Does that kuiu vias pattern work good out there? I have the Verde camo and I'm wondering how well that will blend in?

[WAcoueshunter]

Nice buck! I cant wait I'm going down there Feb 9-14 for javelina and a buddy of mine still has his deer tag. Does that kuiu vias pattern work good out there? I have the Verde camo and I'm wondering how well that will blend in?

Sweet, you'll have a great time!

I wouldn't worry too much about the camo pattern.  Deer closes tomorrow (Jan. 31), and Javelina have poor eyesight and rely primarily on their nose.  The desert is full of prickly things - for a Javelina hunt, I'd wear stuff you don't mind getting full of snags, or a tough fabric like denim that will be snag resistant.   

[CouesFanatic]

I'd second that. The Vias is awesome down there. The Verde is pretty good. Wear some brown car harts or something you won't mind tearing up.

[JCKILLSHOT]

Yeah I didn't know how long the season lasts for deer cause I've never hunted it and the guy I know lives down there. Thanks for the advice guys but as I like to say you can never have to much camo!! I got a weeks wait and I cant wait!

[WAcoueshunter]

I've been back for 10 days and am still picking cactus out of my arms and legs.   

Seriously though, the "cat's claw" in the area we hunt is some nasty stuff, and there's really no avoiding it in certain areas.  It's just brutal on your clothes (and arms, legs, etc.).  The cactus themselves are easier on clothes, although that doesn't make your shins feel any better when you walk into a low growing prickly pair.

One other unsolicited bit of advice - leave your goretex boots at home.  The cactus will penetrate the leather and punch holes in the goretex booty. 

[pd]

I've been back for 10 days and am still picking cactus out of my arms and legs.   
Seriously though, the "cat's claw" in the area we hunt is some nasty stuff, and there's really no avoiding it in certain areas.  It's just brutal on your clothes (and arms, legs, etc.).  The cactus themselves are easier on clothes, although that doesn't make your shins feel any better when you walk into a low growing prickly pair.  One other unsolicited bit of advice - leave your goretex boots at home.  The cactus will penetrate the leather and punch holes in the goretex booty.

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This reminds me of hunting geese in Wallula in the 1970's.  We didn't have a boat (or a dog ) so we had to stalk the Canada geese who were close to shore.  This required us to crawl downhill over the snow, with out shotguns in one hand.  Yep, snow does a terrible job of covering the spines on pear cactus.  Most painful hunt ever.

Residents of Washington are so lucky--we have every type of ecological zone on earth (except the tropics and tundra).

[Austrian Hunter]

    Awesome Buck!!!  Great hunt!

[Bean Counter]

I was out all day yesterday with my bow. Got on a herd of ten mule does with one 160" buck. I was hoping for the second estrous cycle with the recent cold snap but it was all pretty tame. Chased em up and down hills and cuts allday long within 100-200 yards more than a half a dozen times. Had quite a fun time but couldn't keep from all the does busting me

I'm exhausted today.

[yote]

Great buck  real wide