Leaderboard

Had a good December hunt! After a couple years of tag soup we were overdue. Between work, travel, and family schedules our time was pretty limited to get out. Had a few good days with some good bucks spotted that didn’t present any shot opportunities and the warm weather didn’t help. These two had read the script and showed up at first light exactly where we had hoped to find deer. After we figured out our play and were moving closer, the herd of at least 12-15 topped out and moved onto the next ridge. Sneaking to the top to begin searching for the bucks, the herd had really spread out and all we could find were does everywhere. Finally spotted one of the bucks way down low and started setting up for the 260yd shot. My buddy spotted the other buck and we decided which one looked better and presented the best shot. Boom…dropped right there. The second buck didn’t even move after the shot and gave us time to get set up for another shot. Boom…dropped right there within about 25 yards of each other. Radioed our friends who had been helping spot for us to bring the packs and knives! They even brought a couple of cold brews from the truck to help celebrate. Nice having a youngster in the group with a strong back to help pack out too! The two of us have been hunting together for over 10 years and have had some great times and quite a few misses and servings of tag soup. First time we’ve ever even had a chance for a double together so it was really special.

This was the place that got me started with western big game hunting and online hunting forums. I had dropped off of CWT for awhile as AZ became a 'build points and wait' state for me as I spent more time in CO/WY, which were also a bit more accessible to me for where I was living. I'm aching to get back and hunt AZ again and I've always enjoyed reading along with hunts and successes that other members have had. I fully believe that CWT is still one of, if not the best forum in terms of practical knowledge, helpful folks and general camaraderie. Lots has happened in the last 10 almost 11 years since I became a member-- moved three times, had three kids, left active duty for the guard, spent 8 wild years in LE, changed careers again, broke my back, hunted TX, OK, CO, WY, UT, AK, and finally we have settled in western PA on 25 acres of our own and have been able to harvest a buck and turkey here in our first year of owning it! Just wanted to drop by and say hello again to the team here at CWT!

Turkey, buck, backyard!

Wow. I’ve shot a pile of critters from a road. Musta been county maintained or something? I’d have to brush up on my AZ regs again I guess! We can legally shoot from the road here in ND. Seems like a petty offense to take away a license for 5 years?!?

All F&G cares about is money. They don't care about the animals at all. Things will change when they see it hitting their pockets. Every unit has hunts to the max, good luck finding mature animals in any unit, it's getting tougher each year. I feel horrible for my kids and their kids. Seeing what my dad and his dad had for hunting opportunity and quality in the past compared to now is rough. Add 20 more years from now and you will be lucky to shoot anything with antlers. Have you hunted deer in western NM? Thats what AZ is going to. Hunt 12 days to maybe see a dink. I spent some time in the 37's this archery hunt. I've never seen that many people there in January. There is 5x the amount of hunters there was just 2-3 years ago. We are headed in a bad direction. Time for a draw across the board, cut these deer a break, they need it.

So many things going on that are affecting deer numbers. Predation, Drought, technology, commercialization of hunting, loss of habitat, shooting dinks, 1000 yard shooters, dept issuing too many tags along with other things not mentioned. This OTC archery reporting has opened my eyes as to how many animals are being killed and its kind of shocking. As an outdoorsman and a conservationist I think we need to have some serious conversations on how to help our big game animals. Especially our mule deer. They need our help before its too late.

A little farther south. He was swole 20260111_080512.mp4

Coues tag started Dec 15 on Ft. Huachuca and I hadn’t had much time to hunt, so I broke away on 30th for a quick day trip. Hit the road at 3:30 AM, buck down by 8:30, and back home by noon. Glassed all morning, only picking up does and no sign of bucks. I was just about ready to pack up and move when I gave it one last look. Caught a flick of movement that gave him away. He was tucked in perfectly—never saw his head or antlers—but his body size told me he was a buck. He was about 400 yards out with no shot, so I ditched my gear and closed the distance to 225. At first I couldn’t find him and thought he might’ve slipped out, but after slowing down I picked up his legs in the same spot—standing now, still no shot. If he dipped, I was done. Instead, he turned in place and bedded back down, opening up a small 12-inch window through the brush. That was all I needed. He never made it out of his bed. Shout out to all the guys on here that gave me some knowledge and pointers! Thanks a ton! Tried adding more pics, but wouldn’t let me got some reason.

The screen shot thing worked. Here’s the pics.

Seems like a pendulum swing. A few years ago some guides were getting off with a slap on the wrist. That’s a lame application of that law. Koury was looking for otc elk instead of scouting for his once in a lifetime deer tag?! Of course he should have known better. That’s on him. But that’s a silly letter of the law interpretation and honestly it sounds like they busted him because he was a guide. I hate that stuff. Seems like WMO’s want to target these guys, and I am not a fan of LEO’s trying to make a name for themselves.

Yeah, sounds like he got screwed.

Koury had his license revoked for 5 yrs. Not sure about the others.

I honestly can't believe more people aren't talking about this at least us below the rim. I am fortunate that I average a lot of days with a bow in hand. Honestly, Southern AZ and SW mule deer numbers IMO are about 15 to 20 % of what they were about 3 years ago. This is likely generous. This is an example of what the does looked like in the 37s in May 2025. Likely days from death. This pic was taken for drought documentation, not taking of game. Numbers were already waaaay down before last years drought. That was just the nail in the coffin.

Our desert deer are cooked. Best thing that could be done for the good of the herd is to shut it down for 5 years then make it all a draw....

Instead of bonus points, put in for that hunt you have no realistic shot at getting. It works for my daughter

It's almost time to enter your kids!!! Get them entered for a chance to win! Prizes this year are as follows 1st Savage vrx 110 scoped in 308 comes with ammo to get started, vortex 10x42 binos and harness,Gerber multi tool ,hat ,small cooler and more. 2nd Savage axis 2 in 6.5 Creedmoor scoped,ammo,Vortex 10x42 binos, harness, hat,rangefinder,small cooler and more 3rd Stoeger m320 compact 20 gauge,ammo,vortex 10x42 binos, harness and more Rules are simple! Must be Arizona resident All guns must be transferred Healeys in mesa takes care of this for me. Must be able to put in for youth only hunts Sets my age limits ( 10 to 18 ) must be 10 by the time of the first youth elk hunt. **** new is a picture of the kids at the time of transferring **** This will help with future donations For the under 10 kids there's a special draw for a savage rascal 22lr and ammo It's only open to the kids under 10 Entries accepted January 1st Deadline is the last day in August at midnight! Drawing is the first week in September Enter at youthgungiveaway@outlook.com It's all lower case. Make sure to include Your name Your kids name and age And the big one is a contact number . Thanks !!! Complete rules and prize pictures are in the contest and giveaway section here

Man, you are the one who has been on these guys since the beginning. Don't pretend you don't have a personal axe to grind and weren't rubbing one out as the revocations weren't being announced. These court hearings are as suspicious as the commission hearings. Debaca was a perfect example. Sounds like the actual offender got off with a slap on the wrist for throwing Debaca under the bus. What a joke! Both Debaca and Koury got screwed because of who they are more than what they did.

Probably more like $80 if it’s still good.

It was clear that anything said by either party or attorney was irrelevant. The outcome had been predetermined. I found it extremely interesting that Mr. Koury's attorney cited precedence of a seemingly more egregious violation of the same law where the guilty party was assigned education but no suspension. My main takeaways. The commission members are biased know-it-alls who are reinventing laws on the fly, and if you have shown yourself to be a highly successful guide or hunter, they are going to seek out any opportunity to make an example of you. Don't waste your time or money on attorneys or even bother going to the commission meeting.

I would be willing to bet half the archery and rifle deer kills are not reported. I am in favor of a unit specific archery tag with a quota, not a draw. A draw for the specific units to aquire the tag that doesnt affect the rifle draw and points would be ok. X amount of tags whether quota is met or not. The bottlenecking of archery hunters as the units close is fning ridiculous. The desert deer need a break for sure. All of the above mentioned plus the poachers are still rampant around the farming communities and freeloaders squatting in the desert and forests. My .02

. I could not agree with you more, but it’s not going to happen because of money and so-called hunting opportunity that a handful of influential people opposed to a draw want to keep OTC. guess we could blame it all on crossbow hunters

It’s on in the desert down this way. Have had a few friends send me some videos of giants in action. One buddy got a shot off but didn’t connect. I wish the weather would stay cooler but it’s going to warm back up in our area. I found an area last weekend where you could see they had been fighting and saw some rubs. Hopefully I can get out this weekend. A few good tracks in this area like this one I posted.

Don't apply for my hunt please. Really hoping for 3 in a row. I'll keep killing the rags in sub par units during drought conditions.

My brother found some rutting

Wouldn't tag #1 go to bonus pass?