HighschoolHunter

Congratulations! Awesome story. I was wondering how this hunt was going to turn out

Thank you! You’re story was awesome. I love it when guys do full write-ups

Some great stories in this thread, great topic. 2015 was my first year putting in for the draw at 13 years old, drew my first choice and shot a doe on the kaibab road hunting. 2016 I didn’t draw, 2017 I drew a yth hunt on the border but I could only go for 1 day cause my dad had to work that weekend. We saw some does but no bucks. By 2018 I was getting to be a better pig hunter than deer hunter, and every year I went pig hunting we would see nice Muley bucks in the desert unit we hunted. Of course, yth pig season is in January every year which is why we always saw good bucks. So I put in for the yth deer tag in that unit and drew it. There was certain little bowl that we always jumped deer out of on our hike into our pig hunting area, so we headed there first. Well, of course, our first time not spooking deer out of that bowl was when we were hunting deer and not pigs. We kept hiking up the hill and glassed down the other side from the top for a while, and at about 8 am I turned around and glassed back down the way we had came in, looking right into that bowl. I was basically glassing right into the sun, but I instantly picked up 2 or 3 deer at just 400 yards, making their way into some thick mesquite thickets. I called my buddy over and he broke out his spotting scope. We found 4 deer total, one of which was a little 2x2 Buck. I wasn’t comfortable shooting at that distance yet, and by the time I decided I was going to take him they had moved off into the trees. We knew the general area where they were though, so we started our stalk down the hill into the thickets. I had my gun loaded and ready as we headed into the trees, and sure enough, as soon as we got to the spot we had last seen them, we had a doe staring us down at 40 yards. As I was racking a round in my 243 getting ready the other 3 deer stood up and they all began to bound away. At about 80 yards they stopped and looked back at us for a few seconds but I couldn’t see antlers. One of the deer was noticeably bigger than the rest, but, and I still don’t know why to this day, I couldn’t make out the horns on his head. My buddy kept whisper-shouting at me “shoot the buck, shoot the buck!” I had him in my scope, and was almost certain it was the Buck, but since I couldn’t make out the antlers, for fear of accidentally shooting a doe I never pulled the trigger and they all bounded away into the desert. I was devastated. After a few minutes of arguing about which one was the Buck and kicking myself for not being able to see the antlers, we took off in the general direction it seemed they had run, but we were in the flats at this point and didn’t know where to go. We got up on a little knoll and glassed from there for a few hours in hopes we would pick them again, but we didn’t. So, we decided to head back to the bowl we had originally glassed them up in, where we always jump them with pig hunting. This time, right as we got to the edge of the bowl, sure enough, we heard the sound of rocks slipping and sliding, and looking down into the bowl, we saw 4 deer making their way up the other side, and this time, I could see the little rack on the 4th deer in line. I got my gun set up on a boulder and followed him in my scope as he trotted up and right when they got to the top of the other side, they all stopped broadside and looked back at us at 150 yards. I took a shot at the Buck and missed right over his back. He spun around and ran about more 10 yards to the right, as I quickly racked another round. The does began to bound over the ridge, and just as he was beginning to follow them, I shot again, and he fell over backwards! It was all woohoos and hi fives and hugs as we made our way over to the buck and skinned him out. We ate backstrap tacos in camp that afternoon. I had seen much bigger bucks in that area before but I was just so excited to have bagged a deer I didn’t care about the antlers. I was 16

Anyone’s bonus points updated yet? Mine shows that I didn’t draw sheep or deer but still shows the number of points that I had going into the draw, not the number I should have after not drawing. Not too concerned yet but curious

22 and 6b close down tomorrow at sundown. And 27 and 34A have both had one sow shot in each but are still open until they reach their sow quotas. Was really hoping a member on here might post about their success. Sounds like the bears are moving around now

It took 10 points to guarantee that early 12AW tag last year and the guys at 7 points were at 11% odds (what you’d be sitting at if you averaged you and your sons points). You’re guaranteed pretty much any mule deer tag south of the Colorado other than 3C or any of the late December rut hunts so keep that in mind.

How long do they usually take to do refunds? This was my first year applying in NM

Anyone hear shots or gobbles today?

First the rossislider thing and now this dang poor trphyhntr can’t catch a break😂

I went. It was my first time too so I didn’t understand much either lol. I was shocked when the elk tag went for over 250k and the Buffalo tag only went for 30 something. I wasn’t worried about any conflict of interest but that’s weird that Blake is in Dan’s linkdin profile, you’d think he woulda changed that by now

From what I’ve read they move father around in the fall looking for food as they fatten up before winter hibernation, making them more vulnerable/susceptible in easier areas to glass. Springtime they are still waking up, not moving around as much, still skinny from hibernation, still in rough, tough to reach areas. But i really don’t really know I’ve yet to see a bear in AZ. Hoping to change that this year. also fall you can use dogs and seasons are longer with higher sow quotas than spring

https://azgfd-portal-wordpress-pantheon.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/archive/BB-HARVEST-TRACKING-20220328.pdf

Sorry should have reworded that—Of course looking for bears is fun. Just don’t shoot one now that the sow quota has been met for the spring season

Hope you stopped looking for bears. The unit closed Wednesday at sundown check the g&f website

Anyone going out this weekend? I’m sure the hunting gets better later in the spring and into early summer but curious as to how many guys actually hunt the opening weekend.

Well not 23N anymore now that it’s closing at sundown today

Let us know what happens/happened @5guyshunting I’m hoping to make it out to 22 or 23N next weekend

I’ve had the same weird stuff every year. If you go into the draw details section for past years the hunter ed point is included in the individual points section as well, (at least for me) but not this year. Also I had a loyalty point for pronghorn and for elk that is not there for some reason now. Just disappeared even though I have applied for both every year for 6 or 7 years now so no reason for it to suddenly go away.

Good luck on this hunt! I’m excited to see what happens

Anyone else who didn’t get drawn not have their awarded points for this year show up yet? Not surprised I wasn’t drawn but I thought that I would see my new bonus point count show up in my portal if it’s showing I didn’t draw

Then, the agency should either prohibit killing female mountain lions, or at least implement a very limited total female quota that would require hunters to be judicious and careful in their hunt The first part of that sentence is one of the dumbest things I've ever read. If there are no cubs around there is virtually no way of knowing if a lion is male or female, especially not in quick, heat of the moment type of hunting situations (predator calling) I don't think I'd mind more limited female quotas, but I don't hunt lions and don't consider myself an expert. Curious what others on the site would think...

Sweet buck! I’ve never seen one while hunting. Most of the guys I hunt with say they’d shoot any drop tine coues buck they see regardless of score just cause they’re so freakin rare

Wondering how this hunt went? Any update?

Never mind just realized that it meant because they came to an agreement tag number will be restored and not cut. I’ve been a little confused on this topic but I think I get it now haha

Is this worth being concerned over?