turbo

Crawling works. Good job.

Great job. Want to share any details of the hunt? Seems like you had a lot of skill put into the pursuit.

that sounds about right. Little under a gallon a day. However, you are on the edge. another half gallon?

I will keep this alive. Saw two big bucks from a water source. Next day, saw two big bucks at the same water source, and I was up there 400 yards up, ready to kill. Spent the weekend in shooting lanes-ASAT-hide position at that water hole creek zone. Watched an older, whiskered doe come in down the hill, and she fed and watered for 30 minutes close to me. 8 yards, closest. The next day, flung a blunt arrow (primitive stumping arrow) at the spot. Would've been a dead deer. Ambush hide hunting is cool. I practice sitting, about 80% and I want to shoot a Grizzly into a big coues this week. Stay thirsty.

An 8 pt, little but nice, turned away from a certain death at 80 yards or so. Followed him and a doe, and ended up down the hill. Set up an ambush. Then, I saw two bigger ones, far off and high, And then of course it was 630 in the evening, and that was that.

Good job. What method? Blind? Spot and stalk? 15 yds is close.

Yeah, I saw him driving out of the last weekend's hunt. Driving?!? He and a buddy were cresting a hill, but that hill is hard to reach without walking a bit. Was on the phone, talking to friend I hunt w/in Missouri, and I had to say a few said a few cuss words. The two were doing that "crest a hill at dusk" thing the deer do. Since then, been practicing with the bow, getting righteous, and took a day off work, we will see...

Saw a big coues 11-12? point at dusk, cresting a hill. I would like to arrow something "better" than a small 6 pt.

first deer of the Velvet Season. Wish I had the skill to pick a spot you found. Good job.

ASAT camo last year and this year. Problems with it: first, being high contrast, it can catch attention when moving faster than a slow walk , as the Marines found out with their Marine ww2 camo,; secondly, the tan can seem a bit light for real dark monsoonal green areas, and the lastly, the girlfriend thinks the full pants and shirt make me look like I am in a clown suit. However, sit under some branches, or behind a lone bush and your golden. I toned down one shirt with RIT green dye because the tan was getting too bone-colored tan. For what it is worth, have had numerous occasions to watch other hunters, in groups, or people scouting. My friend and I notice that the darker camo in the cooler season can stick out in the dried out tan. People in faded dirty jeans or khakis and a grey t-shirt blend in better at a moderate distance, seriously. Another thought, last year a friend in Predator camo stalked some and his Predator top looked to me like a flannel of brown and white. He says ASAT looks like a disco shirt in some situations, and blends in very well in others, and he is 'color' blind. He bought the glasses that correct the colors, and he says that we color normal people are bombarded with too much info compared to him and maybe the deer. I did my own camo studies and I like how ASAT helps when the sun is behind you. I hunt real close, and without a bush or something between you and the deer, it gets chancy. Love camo vs non camo, all these threads about concealment. The second picture is basically what my 2017 deer could have seen. The last picture is ASAT in the green. Do your own test, borrowing gear, second hand stores, etc...fun.

Fell asleep Sat afternoon. Laying down in spare ocotillos. Heard hooves, like they would run over me. Slowly moved, heard an explosion of hooves, and saw a small buck ten yards away, on the other side of a fence. While my arrow lay on my bow, nocked (I am learning), it pointed the other way. His buddy and him never really figured me out, but did not like my initial movement and smell. I am not a good shot laying down, and am looking to harvest a bigger one then usual. Got on them the next morning, but was backlit at 40 yards. Even though I had gone from my knees to lay on an elbow, the sun made me look like a stump, and I moved a bit as a doe came into the picture. A younger buck with the other bucks did not the ASAT stump either. Had I moved to a nearby mesquite trunk, I'd be posting a picture.

Thanks for posting as well. I often wonder about people who "just go away" on these sites. Bill Q. always had solid things to say.

I start laying off the upper body weights a month or so prior to bow season. Wanting the neurological memory ("muscle memory) to works its magic effectively, so something like a bench press session once a week, pullups, some curls, etc... However, I do more kettlebell swings and light squats, calf raises and core exercise for the mtn hunts, along with slow cardio, some hikes. Brought the poundage down on my favorite bow from 53 pounds at 25" to 46 pounds at 25". So much easier on the shoulder. Shooting stickbow, and many of us wack our rotator cuffs. Noticing the smallest hints of an injury is something I try to pay attention to as I move through the calendars. Chiropractor visits, stretching, and generally chilling out, just to be more aware. If an opportunity arises, be chill, make the shot, that is focus.

Like AZAV8ER said, the mountains like the Catalinas can have areas relatively untouched by human traffic. Just going some place not super easy to walk to can yield deer. At low to mid elevations, even the best case scenario, i.e. dead deer at you feet within minutes as you watch him fall, still leaves boning out time and the walk out, maybe in 90-100 degrees. Higher elevations and the breeze will help you have more time to get your 2018 buck to the rig. And regarding the light weight string and burlap, a successful archer I know back in Missouri utilized that set up for dozens of timberland harvests.

I walked almost 22 miles, Thursday and Firday, there and back, on the Arizona Trail, an overnighter north of Freeman road in 37B. I am bragging. Mulepackhunter, dang: in my book, that qualifies you as an endurance athlete.

22 miles is impressive. If I walk 22 miles, I am bragging.

Hunting has bigger threats than a thread on a website. And this thread is relatively tame. Off season or on, the longbow, recurve, homemade, non compound bow sites can get heated. Stickbow leatherwall has over 320 replies in the thread hunting accuracy/proficiency . Like a lot of you said, the discussion of improved equipment and its effect on the species is legitimate.

Sealing the deal at 12 yards on a mature buck is the real thing. I can get closer to the younger ones and does like that, but connecting on a solid age buck eludes me. At that range with a compound, determining where the 20 yard pin goes would be interesting under some relative pressure.

high rise hunter "mental lapse in judgment"...yea, that has to hurt. when the bucks are right under us, and we are not ready; we get up to move to switch ambush site to the other side of the wash and the buck is right there coming in, all those things will wake a hunter up the next morning. sounds like you will be back.

+ 1

You are correct, and I seem to have misread your post; I saw too many wounded deer in the southern units, and been thinking about why that is? It is a good post to remind us to really think this January.

Went to the gym to drop some Holiday weight as the Arizona Trail near Picketpost Mtn was great country, and I am getting back into "wilderness shape" but at my age, the wine and cookies hang on. Going to do that trail over a decade or so, and my calves are feeling it .

Yes, bad things occur: deer to jump the string, and wind gust occur at long distance, but I think, IMHO, people overestimate their effective range. Watch people on the range, rifle or bow, standing or on a bench with rifles. I am no great hunter. Yet, my little circle, with one who have harvested a lot of deer, joke about Tucson Rifle Club needing a pile of rocks and chollo for people to lay on and practice. With homemade stickbows, I need to be "crazy" about shooting different positions, as my real effective range is not too large. People overestimate their effective range.

making some popcorn...

starting near Arivaca, but just so,IMHO