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Story of my first deer. (Shortened) After glassing, and stalking other bucks I eventually found myself at the top of a ridge overlooking a wash filled with cattle. As soon as my eyes focused on a calf I saw the white bottom of a 2 point buck jump behind a bush. I briskly started walking to get even with the buck as I was on top of the ridge and he was in the bottom of a wash. I was using an ultimate predator decoy, a silhouette of a doe that I Velcro on my bow, to hopefully lure in the rutting buck. I chased him from ridge to ridge til eventually I cut him off and waited for him to walk right in to me where the wash ended. Seconds after stopping my movement he emerged from behind a bush at about 65 yards. His eyes immediately locked on me, the doe decoy, and began walking right towards me. I ranged the cactus 17 yards in front of me that he would have to go around. I drew my bow without him noticing because of the decoy. When he approached the cactus he turned broadside to go around it and that’s when I let the arrow fly. The Rage broad head penetrated deeply into his vitals from what I could tell at the moment. Instantly blood spurted out of him and he took off down the wash he came from. After waiting an hour I started tracking. After finding little to no blood I eventually made my way back up the wash where I thought he was. I found a large puddle of blood and 10 feet farther there he was; crashed in the wash. I had finally killed my first buck and it was an archery otc hunt. It took a lot of hard days, sleepless nights, and practice to get it done but I did it. Super happy for my first buck. He’s not a monster but for my first deer I can’t complain. Thanks everyone for all the tips and advice. I couldn’t have done it without y’all. 9F8FCEC8-3952-4732-83AF-844D2E2DF364.MOV

What else would a guy do? As soon as I figured out I could deer hunt in Jan. I bought a plane ticket and apologized to my wife.

I would hope a 1 oz gold bar. Drive to New Mexico and shoot two birds for under $250.

I was lucky enough to draw a Wyoming bull bison tag last spring. I’ve put in for WY, AZ, and UT for a decade or so and pulled a AZ tag a few years back and was unsuccessful after sitting in a blind for 158 hours. I was really hoping for another chance as I really couldn’t bring myself to shoot a fenced one on a ranch or reservation (I’m 1hr from the Ft peck rez which has bison hunts but they are fenced). The season runs aug 15-dec31 and then they reopen it from jan1-31 if they haven’t had any buffalo migrate down from the park. They shut the hunt down as soon as they start feeding the elk in Jackson Hole which has traditionally been mid jan. I decided to go as late as I thought was comfortable without getting shut out. Turned out it was still early. These hunts used to be easy, the buffalo would show up in nov or dec and they’d be near 100% success. The last 5 years or so the buffalo just don’t come down. The snow was deep when we got there, so much so we needed horses just to get through it at all. The buffalo unfortunately still hadn’t come down. There was a rumor of one bull on the elk refuge, there were about 15 more on the park about 5 miles off and the rest were all way way off in the park and likely won’t be here before they close the season. Well my luck finally turned on wild bison. We picked up tracks in the river bottom first am and caught up to the lone old bull on horseback. I was able to get into about 125 yards. I tucked a 175 swift a frame into his heart with my 7mm STW, then another. He spun around and started heading out. Couldn’t believe it. I put the next two into his low shoulder to break him, which sort of worked. I had time to reload and put two more in the base of his skull before he finally tipped. All shots where lethal. Can’t believe how tough they are!!! We got him gutted and were able to get horses and a sled to him. They’ve got draft horses here to drag them out, I really didn’t think it was possible but they got him drug about a mile to the nearest retrieval road and loaded whole!!! He weighed 958# carcass weight! That puts him at about 1600-1700# on the hoof. Should make Boone and Crockett and we are gonna have a few years of great eating!! Super stoked to have finally ended this quest. We were able to get done early enough to get in a little skiing and are having him butchered and frozen right away so we can haul him home ready to go in the freezer (freezers!). Edit: Sorry about the sideway pics. They all looked the same on my phone.

That’s not a coues deer😉

Right on, that’s one to be proud of! I’m 52 and this year is my first taste of DIY OTC archery (or any archery hunting for that matter)!

Believe it or not I’m with you on this one. I wouldn’t give em a dime.

NO Tags , So I don't like Iranians. BFD...To each his own............BOB!

They don't have the balls to make a measurable retaliatory strike against us. Maybe under Obama, not Trump. Next best thing, shoot down a plane to satisfy their need for a body count.

Well, the morning was hot but the rest of the day and evening was quite. Looks like it might rain. Maybe the deer will be less active tonight in the rain and be more active in the morning!! If tomorrow afternoon is slow I will check out 37b a little bit. Got cholla'd today.

Great job youngster! Bow hunting is challenging and I tip my hat to all those who have the patience for it.

Good job buddy. You looked super excited and happy.

I'm going to New Mexico. Well worth it if your into it. Turkeys happen to be one of my favorite. I have 4 of the 5 Species. Only lacking the Osceolla. Was going to Fla. to get it this year but gonna wait 1 more. No way I pay 1700 $ for the Rez . They can keep there birds. I wait in unit 1 and call them over the fence...........BOB!

Wow, this place is cold. No concern over the loss of innocent civilian life. Beat the war drums. I have a friend who has to travel to the mideast on business often, always glad to hear he comes home safely. You suppose they are Iranian Canadians looking for a better life? And went to visit family,, but what the heck. They are Iranian Canadians . BFD? Would your attitude be different if one American had been on board?

Yes

Hahah yeah but i still learned a lot from everyone on here. It helped me get my first deer.

$1700 for two merriams?? What else comes with it?

Anybody with a few brain cells knows from the beginning those idiots had something to do with it.

I wish I could go back to 64, Bob. Although my breathing wasn't top notch, the rest of me was still in good shape back then. Now everything aches.

We found him! John's on his way home safe. Dont have other details but just got the text that he is good! Thank you everyone for the help.

Haven’t had any from this one yet as we’re still working our way home but my cousin raises them so I’ve eaten it a lot. Tastes like beef but better. Marbeled like beef.

What frosts me the most is I have located three different wolf feeding stations within one mile of residences in or around Alpine. That is just wrong and asking for trouble, enticing wolf interaction with humans. Those wolf reintroduction resources that are doing that should be incarcerated IMHO !! Additionally, I have trail pictures of wolves in my yard at my Alpine residence. Doesn't make my son and daughter-in-law warm and fuzzy when they visit with the grand kids. Unfortunately it likely is too late to reverse this ill-advised government dog experiment.

2019 Late Whitetail Deer Hunt I got the AZGFD card today asking me if I got a deer this year. Well, I was able to say “yes” this year and I had to count up the days hunted in order to fill out the survey – 14 days! That’s a lot of time spent on this hunt and much of the weather was windy and cold. But it paid off. Having hunted this area for nearly 30 years on and off, we did not spend a lot of time scouting. After all, it was the late whitetail hunt. Should be a breeze! Yah, right. It was very breezy but that is a different issue! I do have to admit the first day was pretty amazing with seeing over 9 bucks on one hill and a lot of chasing activity. Second day was less interesting with the weather getting worse as the day wore on. I came home Sunday morning for Church and then back down. The wind was terrible so I ditched the afternoon hunt. The wind ushered in some cold temps and glassing from “John’s Hill” was miserable – as it would be for most of the rest of the hunt. Throughout the next 2 weeks, we got in several unsuccessful stalks which I cynically tallied up to “passing on that one” – the deer would just disappear during the stalk or just run like crazy in front of us. Rutting activity seemed to decrease as time passed with only spikes chasing the does, which was quite disappointing. I sat out one other horrendously windy day, the next Sunday morning, Christmas Eve Day, and the morning of Christmas, but was otherwise at it before sunup till after sundown. It got old. My buddy finally scored on a mishap -- shot a spike that came out from behind a juniper instead of the big one following it, just before the snows came in. I blew off that first snowy/windy day but was back at it the next day where it snowed on and off most of the day, ending up quitting after lunch and then went home Saturday evening for a shower, replenished supplies, and attended evening Church. That left only 3 days to hunt but the weather was supposed to be better – that is, less windy. My hunting partner, Ed, had gone to California to see his grandkid. His neighbor, Brian, continued to support by glassing for me -- he is really good. The winds were not all that low and Sunday was a bust. Brian had to work Monday morning so I called a friend of my son who was visiting family for Christmas. It appeases my wife and good common sense for me not to be out there all by my lonesome. He came down early Tuesday morning and we hit the hill early. Wind was bad and coupled with the cold temps, glassing was not fun. But it did work out as Ryan found and lost the little buck right at sunup. I had stalked him several days previous, chasing does in the exact same area. We did find him again down in the bottom chasing a doe about an hour later, so I stripped down a layer and headed out after him. The experience of the previous stalk paid off greatly as I knew where to go intercept/find him. He was the only buck in the area that was beyond a spike that seemed to be actively pursuing does those last few days. I recall kneeling to pray along the road down to the fence, recalling Pastor Robert’s sermon on perseverance – I hate perseverance! I had at least 5 strikes by my count, already. The wind was less frustrating down in the bottom and I even peeled off another layer of clothes as I hurried down to the fence line west and downwind of where all the chasing was going on. Much nicer conditions prevailed: constant but mild wind out of the east. I slowed greatly crossing the last little ridge before the big wash that was where the deer would probably be. I moved from bush to bush and stopped to glass. There were large open areas higher up and lots of cover in the bottom. Several horses and cows were in the area, also. Not seeing anything, I decided to cross the wash and get up to a high point that I found on the that previous stalk. Just as I rounded a bush, I encountered a doe coming out of the bottom and we proceeded to have a standoff where I did not move for at least 15 minutes. She finally turned and walked into the brush. However, she only took 3 or 4 steps to where I could not see her and must have turned and looked my way, as she blew and busted out of there when I moved forward. Well, that could not be a good thing! Visibility was pretty bad so I moved on to the ridge just out of the main wash where I could see the bottom of the wash and the several draws that snaked off to the east. I tried several spots and ended up sitting in the shade of this small juniper for a loonnngggg wait. Ryan meanwhile was freezing his rear off up on John’s Hill and had put on my heavy coat and then ended up finally in the truck. Time passed slowly! I started the “stalk” before 9am and it was well after lunch with nothing moving including the horses and the cows which had laid down. I played with my phone and GPS and found the “Best Times” for the day were between 2:30 pm and 4:30 pm. On cue, the cows stood up around 2:30 pm so I alerted Ryan by text about the cows and magic times. I walked out to the edge of my ridge where he could see me and then went back to my stand. He called me and said there was a doe 100 yards to the east, but I could not see it. Horizontal distance and angles have always been iffy for me and my normal hunting partner even after years together, so I took the info with a grain of salt. Anyway, I went back to my “stand” and waited. Suddenly, those crazy horses came running down the hill and crossed by my ridge about 10 yards behind me. I guess they were going down the wash to water. I thought they might be coming for carrots or sugar cubes and I was out. It scared the daylights out of me to have 3 @ 1000+ lb animals running towards me for no apparent reason. But it certainly got the adrenaline going. Now I was alert! Just a few moments later, the little buck came out of the big wash onto my ridge. My rifle was on the ground so when he went behind some brush, I slowly ducked down and picked it up very carefully. I shouldered the rifle as he crossed the peak of my ridge and just started down, where I squeezed off the first shot – OFF HAND. I generally avoid off hand but this was only 38 yards (later ranged). He humped up and bolted down the ridge and piled up in the brush about 20 yards from the initial hit. He was still moving so I shot again (recall that l really suck at off hand shots) just to make sure. I texted Ryan to pack up everything and drive the truck down to the gate. I was pumped! I again knelt to pray and thank God for his provision. He was a cute little 3 point. After a couple initial photos, I pulled the deer up to the shade of a mesquite tree for some more pictures and evaluated the hit. There was just a small entrance hole right above the sternum but a giant 4” crater on the exit. Lots of blood loss on ground, too. I could not find another hole so was not sure if I just missed (he was in the brush) or I hit near the 4” crater. I gathered my fanny pack and stuff over to where the deer was and awaited arrival of reinforcements. Ryan arrived with Brian (he just got there and did not even hear the shots), along with the son of the rancher who leases the area on his horse and his lucky dog. Lucky because he got lots of scraps with his excellent timing. Seeing a guy mounted on a horse coming through the wash, I thought Brian had wrangled one of those crazy horses to haul out my deer – NOT! We got some more pictures and then moved on to skinning (going gutless). It went pretty fast with Brian leading the charge as he had done about 4 or 5 deer just recently this way. I always seem to have trouble with the rear hip socket and not puncturing the pee tube. Overall, it came out pretty clean except for some mesquite beans that we found in the lower cavity. Now that I think about it, that second shot may have gone in right through the brisket and exploded the stomach but it did not exit. All four quarters and backstraps were pretty clean. I also retrieved the heart and tenderloins (where things weren’t so clean) from inside. We packed up and Brian ended up carrying out almost everything except the head, thanks to Ryan’s coyness. That slacker! Trip out was a piece of cake. The pack-out required only a pretty casual walk of only about a half mile but it was getting cold. Thank goodness it was only another half mile drive out. WOW, did that meat chill out quick. I let it set out overnight on the aluminum Diamondback bed cover of my little truck. Ryan left for home and I gave him one of those luscious backstraps. After spending the last night at Ed’s, I drove home the next day, well rested, and traded the cape for a Euro mount at a local taxidermist on the way home. It was quite a long hunt but quite satisfying. Got to spend a lot of time with great friends and got a nice little deer that is way bigger than my hunting partner’s – first time ever in our 3 decades together! 😉 The tenderloins and heart tasted great. I did flake out and take the four quarters to WGP for processing – too tired and cold and too much procrastination. BTW: I still hate perseverance, but do know that Providence had everything to do with this harvest for which I am very humbled and quite grateful.

Skinned the two cats, stretched and dried them and sold them at a fur sale. One for $900 and the other $820. Brian

That was 49 years ago. You must be an ol' codger like me. 👍