broadhead

AZDirtyTaco, Sorry, haven't been on here for awhile. To answer your question I went out with a plan that quickly changed as soon as I got out there. Got in early and set up and started glassing and before long spotted a nice buck but he dipped out and disappeared like they're good at doing before I could figure out a plan to get close enough to him for a shot. I spent a little more time during the early season trying to get a line on a decent buck again but things didn't work out as well as I had hoped and barely got any more hunting in. I did get to go back to Wisconsin and spend a few days tree stand hunting the rut in some spectacular deer land and passed up a few smaller bucks and does waiting for one of the big boys to come by. A couple bucks that we know are in the area came close but wouldn't come within 50 yards, which with the brush and woods never presented a shot. It was a good time though. The last morning I was able to hunt I had a group of does move in and feed 20 yards underneath my stand and since there was no buck following them in I got some of it on camera and almost got busted by one of them as I was tilting my phone to get a better shot haha. But now I'm able to get out for the late December and January hunts. I got out for a day hunt yesterday and found a nice choke point along a draw with trails running all over the place. Within an hour a doe followed the script exactly and snuck by at 50 yards. I waited for the buck to follow until the wind shifted and I had to move to the other side of the draw and waited there. And waited. And waited some more. And then waited until dark with nothing more than a few does coming by. But I also found a water source and another spot I can set up on when I get back out. Otherwise I'll get up in the ridges and try to spot them moving as the rut gets going. It's been warmer than normal this week so that might be keeping the deer from moving much but I'm going to get a trail cam up to see what comes by. Hopefully this will all end with some venison in the freezer! Sorry I don't have a success story yet! B

Awesome, congrats! I always love to hear the story of spot and stalk kills so if you get the chance fill us in! I'll be heading out to 33 this weekend and next week so I'm always interested in learning how you filled your tag.

How did you get him? There's always a story!

I'm selling my Vortex straight razor spotting scope. I picked up this scope a couple months ago and only had it out three times for scouting. It is essentially brand new. No damage, original box, and literally everything that came with it down to the inspection card and every lens cover. For anyone wondering, I'm selling it so soon because I decided to go with some higher powered binoculars and I'm going to sell the razor to offset the cost. Since I'm selling it to offset the cost I'm not interested in any trades. Located in Tucson, $550 shipped to you. I'll leave it on here for a few days before I put it on eBay so if you're interested or are local in Tucson and would like to check it out in person send me a PM.

Yeah definitely looking forward to getting out there and finding some deer, shot or no shot. Oneshot, I'm thinking I might end up setting up like that if the deer are still scattered like they've been since the monsoons started. We just got some pretty good rain in the area last night and tonight so I'm anticipating those streams running strong again. I'm going to find some trails, use the wind, and possibly set up where I can catch one coming in to get a drink late morning through early afternoon. Then head back up and glass them coming out of their beds and see if I can spot them for the next day. The early archery hunt will likely be as much of an extra scouting opportunity as anything else, which is fine by me too. Good luck and thanks for the replies!

As far as I know you can hunt Ft Huachuca with a military ID. And there are deer there for sure. I was stationed there for a few years. It's a tiny base population wise with a lot of open country and some really nice canyons. Mountain lions too so be aware of your surroundings. Feel free to PM me and I can fill you in on what I know.

All the input has been really helpful. Thanks to all of you for helping out. At first I was worried I was looking in all the wrong places but it seems more like I just need to find a few days when I can dedicate to glassing all day and I'm sure they'll start to show up. It's been hard only being able to get 5 or 6 hours in at a time. Take care and good luck this season!

Hey guys, This is my first post on here. I've been doing a lot of reading and I've come across some really helpful threads and some very helpful people willing to share their knowledge but haven't seen anything that gets to my question. This is my first year in too long that I've been able to not just get back into hunting but really hit it hard through some scouting. I've been preparing to hunt the early archery season and to get ready I've put in four scouting trips in addition to a lot of map and Google Earth map scouting. So far I've been able to get in three good scouting sessions into the basin I've decided to hunt and have seen plenty of deer. By last count I'm up to around 45 just from walking in on trails and picking them up while glassing so I'm optimistic about the herd in the area. The only problem is I have yet to fine one group of bucks or even a loner anywhere in the entire area. After glassing a couple nice canyons crawling with does (to the point of having groups of them literally walk up and over the ridge I was sitting on a few times) and since it's the time of year the bucks are still together away from the does I've pushed into some seriously rugged and forbidding terrain to try to find where they're hanging out. Yesterday I took a look at the canyon I figured was a sure bet and one I hadn't been into. When I made it to the top I found the ridge covered in trails, scat, and in the little depression was a bunch of obvious beds. I figured for sure I was about glass some bucks but after three hours of picking apart the terrain from the creek bottom up to the top I got nothing (I was on a time limit and head to head back in after that) Not one deer. So I guess my question is in your experience and in general should I be changing up my approach to try to find the bucks? One thought was to look farther up into some of the draws where I've spotted so many of the does thinking the bucks might be occupying some of the higher ground and pushing the does back down. Otherwise I figure it's just a game of keep looking until you find them. These Arizona coues deer are new to a guy born and raised in Wisconsin. Thanks in advance fellas. Any advice is very appreciated.

Thanks again guys. All good ideas. I've been going over Google Earth and thinking about what you guys are saying and I think there are a couple areas I need to get up and take a closer look at for that have been just outside of my view from the areas I've already glassed and seen all the does. I know the bucks are there. It's not like it's an area that isn't holding deer given all the does I've seen but I'm quickly learning 1) these coues deer in this southern AZ terrain are a whole different ball game and 2) bucks this time of year are a different kind of challenge all together. Oh and 3) western hunting is new to me but it's very quickly becoming a total obsession.

Thanks for the replies, guys. To answer a couple questions, The areas I'm looking in are about two-three miles from the roads, walking in on a somewhat popular trail but not a lot of people get far off the trail, which is where I've been trying to go. I'll look for high ground to get up on looking at north facing slopes with brush and trees to provide shade and cover. I've been focusing on places where other hunters don't want to go - further down the trail and up steep rough climbs. Figuring if humans don't want to go there deer are more likely to. I've come across a few hikers within a half mile of the trail head but nobody else anywhere, but that's more likely to change as the season gets closer.