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.