RackTracker

Wow! That is awesome!

My son, Colton, and I first found this buck on December 17th but decided I would not to make a stalk that evening. We relocated him yesterday with a large group of does and several smaller bucks. The group bedded before noon above a wash in some thick brush. I moved in to about 100 yards but could not pinpoint this particular buck. A broken 3 point (now a 3X1) and a 2 point were visible along with several does but the deer were spread out and I could not get any closer without exposing my location. Eventually, I began to move to the next point of cover. One of the does saw me and they all started to move out. The target 4X4 stood at 70 yards but did not stop for a shop. Colton watched him and one single doe separate from the group and move across a several ridges. They eventually bedded deep in a palo verde thicket. It was now about 2 pm. This time I was able to sneak into a location just below their bed and settled in behind some cholla cactus. I was inside of 45 yards and figured they would not get up until right before dark. I waited in this position until I determined we only had a few minutes of shooting light left. The deer were not up so I had to make a move. With an arrow knocked, I stood and started to move laterally hoping the buck would stand. After about 10 feet, he busted out and moved up hill away from me. He stopped broadside and I ranged him at 79.9 yards. The orange 80 yard pin settled in and the arrow was on its way...….next was that unmistakable "thump" sound as the deer ran away. He piled up less than 40 yards away as both lungs had been deflated. After a few late night photos, we were deboned, loaded and packing by 7:30 pm. THANK YOU Colton for all your hard work and determination, not to mention, packing out all the meat!! A perfect end to the 2018 season.....looking forward to getting back out there on 1-1-19.

Nice deer! Congrats!

Just finished the DYI Euro mount. Turned out great. Looking forward to tomorrow morning. Going to be a cold one in the desert. Good luck to all the archery hunters in 2019.

Thank you for letting me tag along Cole! Congrats on the great bucks! Can’t wait till we get to chase them with the bow in a couple days!

Wards Outfitters in Wilcox, AZ.

I was able to get my second archery bull this weekend and biggest to date. Opening morning my dad and uncle called in a 5x5 with split eye guards to 20 yards but I wasn’t ready to fill a tag this soon. Passed on a couple spikes at close range later that day. Saturday was very slow with only a couple bugles early in the morning. Sunday morning a bunch of bulls were bugling around us but not consistently. We saw a good 6x6 following a cow 200 yards away across a meadow. I tried cutting them off and got to 50 yards when a cow I never saw busted me. The bull started trotting off and my dad stopped him with a cow call. I guessed 60 yards and clipped a cedar right in front of him. Clean miss. We never got back into elk that morning and we headed back to camp. Around noon my dad and I decided to walk the ridge above camp hoping to find a bedded bull. My dad spotted a bull raking a tree about 100 yards below us. My dad stayed on top of the ridge cow calling and raking a tree while I snuck down there to 40 yards. I found a small opening to sneak an arrow through the thick timber and connected. He went about 40 yards and piled up in a dead tree. The swhacker went right through the middle of his heart. Always a fun time in the woods in September. Hopefully we will be back next year and will have more time to spend up there. Good luck to the rest of the lucky hunters with an elk tag in their pocket! Sorry about the side ways pictures. I can never figure that out.

Nice bull!

Awesome video!! 33 more days but whos counting!

6a early archery bull and 18a archery antelope for me!!!

Great write up Cole! Congrats again on you and your dads bucks! I can't wait till December!

After a very long wait since January, it was finally here. Archery deer season is by far my favorite time of the year. Each year I am counting down the days and dreaming of big mulies chasing does. I got back to Tucson a week prior to the opening day of season and spent my time scouting my favorite spots. In that week, I only turned up two small bucks and a bunch of does. Pretty disappointing, but opening day was finally here. I hunted with my friend Cole (C.S.Davis) who was still looking for his first archery deer. On December 18th he got it done. Hopefully he will post up his story soon. Fast forward to the morning of December 21st Cole and I located a couple solid four points only to watch another “hunter” unknowingly chase them out of the country. I was very frustrated to say the least. Midmorning we located a decent buck and watched him bed down with a smaller buck. I decided I was going after him and left Cole on the mountain to spot. I made my way down to my target Saguaro and dropped my boots and pack and slipped on a couple more pairs of socks to ease the pain of the desert floor. I slowly moved in closer reaching my next couple of landmarks until I saw an ear flicker in front of me. I raised my binos and there he was bedded 52 yards away facing away from me. The wait began. After a very long hour and 45 minutes he stood up and turned perfectly broadside. I settled my 50 yard pin on him and sent the swhacker downrange. He jumped the string and turned to run off. I could see the fletchings sticking out of his right hip angling towards his front left leg. He went about 30 yards and bedded under a tree. I backed out and went back to my boots and pack with a plan. I circled around to the other side of this small ridge to be slightly above him. Once again the pack and boots were off. I crept up there and found his antlers only 30 yards away. I went to full draw and took a couple steps to create an opening on his body only to see him get up and bust out of there seconds before I could shoot. He went only about 60 yards before bedding again. I snuck down to the tree Cole said he was bedded under and jumped him again at less than 10 yards. I went back to my pack and put my boots on. Cole watched him bed one last time and guided me into a spot were I could see him bedded. I could see his head and part of his neck bedded underneath a palo verde tree at 65 yards. I put my 60 yard pin at the top of his neck and touched the release. This time he did not have a chance to jump the string and his head fell over like he was shot with a gun. My 2017 deer tag was filled. Thank you Cole for all your help and keeping your eyes glued to your binos for hours watching my buck. The new year was here and my dad and I each had a target deer picked out. After a few minutes of glassing, I located my dad’s target buck below us only a couple hundred yards. My dad grabbed his bow and dropped off the mountain after his deer. The buck knew we were there already and turned and ran up and over a mountain out of the country. We glassed for a couple more hours with nothing to show for it. We made a plan to hunt the big buck we saw at first light. I climbed up the mountain to try and glass him up in the flat below and my dad circled around the mountain to get the wind in his face. I found about 10 doe and a small two point but no big buck. About this time we get a text saying my sister is in labor and headed to the hospital. We were now in a very big rush. My dad continued his walk which was headed towards the car when he jumped my target buck and a couple does. He very quickly walked there direction and actually got a shot at the buck at 50 yards through a small opening. He barley missed which probably was a good thing considering the situation. He grabbed his arrow and we jogged back to the car to get to the hospital. On January 2 at 8:27 am Daxton Ollie Duke came into this world happy and healthy! We left the hospital to give them some rest and decided to go back out hunting. We got to out glassing spot around 2 and not 20 seconds later my dad found two big bucks. One buck was my target buck that he missed the previous day and the second buck was a very big four point we haven’t seen before. My dad was nice enough to let me go after this buck. I got down to the flat where they were and found them 100 yards away. I slowly moved in closed and eventually had one walk into an opening and spot. I made the huge mistake of looking through my binos to see which buck it was and then ranged him at 60.0 yards away. I clipped on my release when he took a few steps and went out of sight. I knew that was my chance and I completely blew it. 5 or 10 minutes later I ended up busting the two bucks. That night I had a nightmare that someone else shot the big buck and I am still sick to my stomach about blowing my opportunity. Fast forward to January 5th and it was my last morning to hunt. I had to be back in Phoenix at 5 for work and school was starting back up Monday. My dad and I went to our favorite spot where we have had success in the past. Not long after glassing we found two small bucks fighting below us about 60 yards and a big bodied three point a couple hundred yards away pushing a doe. I decided to go after the old buck. He had four does with him and a smaller 4 point that kept his distance from the larger buck. I circled around to get the wind in my face and closed the distance. I got about 20 yards from one of the smaller bucks but could not find the bigger buck. The small buck started to walk off when the bigger buck came out from behind a tree to chase off the little buck. He stopped around 40 yards in an opening and just like that my 2018 deer tag was filled. He ran straight down hill about 50 yards and crashed. The arrow sliced his heart and cut the windpipe in half where it meets the lungs. After some pictures, my dad and I quickly packed him out in time for me to go visit my nephew for a couple hours before driving back to Phoenix for work. What a day!

Wow what a year!! Awesome the kids got their first deer! Great memories!

Thank you knothead

Early archery bull 5bs and 6a 4 points Archery goat 18a and 10 11 points Thank you!!

What a great buck on any day. Best part is you got to spend every day in the field. ! Congrats

What an awesome story. Thats one of the best bucks Ive seen this season. None of you will ever forget that hunt.

Where are you located ?

I always look forward to your stories. Unbelievable experiences with an absolute awesome results. Dinner looked great !!!!

Great buck. If thats the little one, I should would like to see his buddy. Good luck getting that tag again anytime soon.

Thats an awesome buck. Way to get it done solo. Congrats.

What a great hunt! Congrats all the way around.

Great bull Lance. Well deserved !!

That sounds like a great hunt. Big congrats to both of you. Memories you will never forget. Probably best you were not able to call for help and got to enjoy doing it all with just the two of you.

That's an awesome buck. We are leaving AZ in the morning for Utah with 2 tags in hand. PM sent.