Coach

Last year I backpacked in solo into an area that I was actually really scared to be in, that far, alone. I was maybe 9 miles N. of the Mexican border, and pretty much everyone I came into contact with was a heavily armed BP agent. There were thermal imaging trucks parked along the road as I drove in, and absolutely NO access by vehicle, unless you are BP or a rancher. All night I slept with one eye open and a pistol in my hand, as coatis picked around my makeshift camp. That is probably one of my most memorable hunts - at any time I expected to be surrounded by bambidos. Funny enough, I didn't see one illegal alien or drug smuggler. Lots of deer, and some of the prettiest coues country I've ever seen. Maybe it's because it was full moon on Halloween night, none of the bad guys were out there. Who knows. I'll tell you this, I'll do that hunt again, but I won't be alone next time - it was too stressfull. I was so anxious to shoot a deer and get the heck out I shot maybe a high 80's 3x4 - huge bodied deer on the second day of the hunt. But I know there are some whoppers in there, and I've never seen densities of coues deer anywhere like this. If you snuck up to a steep break and stood up, deer scattered like quail. You could push 10 or more out of one canyon head, move 400 yards down and do the same thing over again, over and over again for miles. Nobody hunts it because nobody wants to do a hike-in hunt right in the middle of drug smuggling territory. 2 or 3 guys together packing appropriate heat, could do really well in there. Or they could get slaughtered in their sleep, . At least they'd be in coues heaven when the lights went out.

One heck of a buck for sure. Thanks for posting up some pictures for us all to drool over. Now how about a story to go along with it???

That's awesome! What a great first buck and a fun experience for all of you. I love it when families are out there hunting together!. Congrats!

Thanks to all the posters here responding. Tons of great information. One day I'll see one of these 120+ bucks, I think lots of units have them walking around, if you know where to go and how to hunt them. Keep the posts coming!

OK, we've all seen the pix on our phones. Can somoene PLEASE post the story??? This has to be one of the coolest bucks ever taken in AZ, someone is holding out big time.

That's awesome Clay. Way to get them started early, and make sure they have quality equipement. Good job papa.

What model? Matrix?

Wowser! Great bucks. I just have one question, when you jumped that buck off it's bed, how did you know you should shoot? I mean he's kinda marginal - didn't you want a closer look? Just kidding of course! That's one of the sweetest looking bucks I've seen in a long time! Congrats to all of you guys!

dang straight - next year I'm putting in for unit 31! Maybe 32 as a backup. Sure won't waste any time in 27. Too steep, too remote, not enough roads, not enough deer, and so many lions.

Everything I've heard about Mojave's is that they are way more agressive and way more territorial. I've only been close to one, just outside of Tucson and it was every bit as agressive as what I've heard. The blacktails and diamondbacks here seem very subdued and reclusiive in comparison.

Wow, that's a hog. Wish you had pix of the one that trotted away. Congrats to the hunter.

I love 'em. Never quite understood the fear and hatred of rattlesnakes. I've come across plenty in years of hunting AZ and NM, but they've always been nice enough to tell me they are there. Now copperheads and cottonmouths in Oklahoma, that's a whole different animal. I've only had to kill one rattler in recent years, but it decided to take up shop under my office. With kids and dogs around, and knowing it could easily escape, I had to kill it. But generally, if they'll give me a couple feet warning, I'll let them go on their way. To each their own.

Shhhhhhh!!!! I'm pretty sure that buck came from 47M - maybe 26M - one of those "M" units. I for sure know it didn't come out of 27, and a 115 buck ALSO supposedly coming out of there...preposterous! Heck, I'd bet it came out of NM, or Texas! Sure as heck didn't come out of 27 - that unit's no good for coues, or muleys for that matter. Don't know where you got your info from Brian, but you're leading folks in the wrong direction!

Heading to a blind already gives you a lot of advantages. One thing you can do is leave a wool blanket inside the blind so once you settle in, you can wrap up and wait. You can leave as much warm clothing in there as you want, and maybe carry a thermos with hot coffee or tea. Nothing warms you up faster than warming up from the inside out. I'd also second what a lot of people here have already said, basically strip down to as little as possible before you start your hike in, then change into your warm stuff when you get there. Years ago, when I was still able to draw December tags, I had a nice spot I liked to sit all day, but it was a long hike in. I didn't have a blind up there, but I did carry a dry bag up there before the hunt that I could keep some insulated coveralls and a good parka in. I'd start my hike an hour and a half before daylight wearing just my thermal underwear. Keep in mind, it was usually in the teens, maybe single digits, temperature wise, and when the hike started it was a little chilly. By the time I got 1/4 mile in, I was pretty comfortable, and sometimes even shed my thermal top and hat before reaching my spot. Once I got there, I would just sit and look at the stars for a while, let any sweat evaporate, then slowly start layering up. The coldest hour of the day seemed to be right at sunup, but because I had plenty of warm outer layers to put on once I had gotten there, and didn't get too sweaty going in, it was not bad. Another thing I'd look at is a goose down parka, or at least vest. Many of them compress small enough to fit in their own pocket, but once they breathe and loft out, they are very warm and will help keep your core warm. Blinds or any ground-level area are pretty easy to stay warm in, IMO. That is, if you have them prepped and don't sweat too much getting in. Treestands are a different story. I've never found a way to stay warm up in a tree when it's cold out. Had a 30 yard shot at buck a few years ago in a treestand in January, and I literally could not pull my bow back - my muscles were just too cold, and I had on as many layers as I could wear and still move - lol. The buck just sat there looking at me as I contorted my body trying to get to full draw, but I just couldn't do it. I think that was the last time I ever sat a treestand.

+1. And, congrats to Ned on an AMAZING buck!!!

Gino, you are THE MAN!!!Great job all the way around, and what an amazing write up!!! So glad for Tina, and wow, just an all-around amazing hunt. Congrats, big time. Thanks for sharing the hunts with us - I'm still speachless. You guys rock.

Hello Young Gun, My name is Jason, but I go by Coach on this forum - being that I coach all my sons' sport teams. We live up in the White Mountains, and I've been hunting all around this great state since I was around your age. I didn't have anyone to show me the ropes, so let's just call it a work in progress. I love to get my sons out hunting whenever I can. My two oldest boys are Matt, 13 years old and Nick, 11 are really getting into it, and these days I'd much rather see them get a good tag than me. It's nice to meet you, and I hope you'll make a lot of good friends on this forum. Be sure to keep us posted about all your hunts, and we'll do the same.

He's a wall hanger for sure! Congrats again on an amazing buck.

I've been holding this post off for a couple weeks, to let all the youth hunts finish up. Situation: You know of a spot where post elk rut is hot, and you're trying to get a youth hunter (your own son) on his first elk. You park an hour before daylight listening for bugles or cow calls to make a morning plan. After sitting and listening to bugles and cow calls for 45 minuntes, you know where the elk are and where they are headed. You start getting on packs and making ready for the stalk. Another truck comes rolling up in the darkness as you and your son are getting set for the hunt. No problem, he'll see there are other hunters here and move on by, right? Wrong. He sees that you are getting set up for a stalk and realizes there must by elk close by, so he pulls up 100 yards and parks. Now he's out listening, and you know he's going to get right in the middle of your hunt. What would you do? Does it matter that you can tell right off the bat that he's totally clueless, and the only reason he stopped there in the first place was that he saw other hunters getting ready for a stalk? Just curious - really try and put yourself in that situation.

Nice buck - I've probably already said it 100 times on this forum, but to me, there is nothing better than getting those kids out there. From the camp to the hunt, to something on the ground, I just can't thank you enough for taking the time to get your kids involved. Great job, and kudos on a great buck and a memory that will bind you two for a lifetime. You rock.

I've got one of these and they are great when caping. A little fragile for the hard work, but definately do the job. I just thought I would throw this out there. There are at least 2 versions of this knife. I bought the Tracer 22 and there are some blades for this knife you can't get on the regular Piranta, as far as I know. They are the 22XT Carbon Steel, and are absolutely amazing. They are blunted at the tip and hold an edge much longer than the standard 440 stainless blades. So if you are going to buy one of these knives, look really hard at the Tracer 22- the blades are not quite the same as the regular Piranta, but way better IMO.

200" muley, it was a Jr. cow hunt, but the elk were fired up in this area, still bugling hard, clashing horns, etc. I think the thing that got me a little torqued, was just how blatently they got right in the middle of a group of hunters clearly already in persuit. Just by their actions and attitude it was obvious that they would have no problem whatsoever outrunning us to the elk and shooting one right out from under us. In this event, there were actually 2 trucks that came in - but they were together. The first parked about 100 yards up, and the second was only 50 yards from us. It's the closer one that my buddy had a chat with, but they were clearly on radios or cell phones with the other truck. I hate to stereotype, but the first words out of both of our mouths were "valley hunters" because the closest vehicle was a jeep with one of those hitch reciever ice chest holders. Certain things just shout out newbie, but if you're cruising around in your scatchless Rubicon with a hitch-mounted ice chest, looking not so much for elk, but someone who looks like they know what they are doing, with hopes of following them to the elk, you might want to consider the possibility of confrontation. When confronted, one group, the ones in the jeep, went back down the road and found someone a little less intimidating to piggy back. The other truck continued up the road maybe a mile or so, got out upwind of the herd and started bugling - yeah, upwind blowing bugles, of the nastiest sort... I can't imagine how they thought this might help them. We had to adjust our plans to let the butt-hats run the herd back to us. In a way, they helped out by being totally clueless. We could predict how the elk would move ahead of them, and fortunately, Matt took his cow that morning. It was all good because we knew how to use their stupidity, but at the same time kind of frustrating. Maybe I'm just an old fart, and a little jaded. I don't think you should have to plan your stalk around some bunch of clowns, and constantly adapt to clueless hordes with no concept of etiquette or common courtesey.

Lots of great information here. A lot of people glass hard early and late, but while they are back at camp eating lunch seems to be one of the best glassing hours - from noon to 1. I've definately seen more deer right around noon getting up from beds, stretching their legs and repositioning than between 8 and 11 or 2 to 4. Bedded bucks can be really hard to pick up, especially the older smarter ones. One year I was looking for a particular buck that seemed to only move into the open stuff at dark, and was already back into thick bedding country by sunup. I got positioned to glass the bedding area on the back side of the mountain early in the afternoon - this was a rut hunt, btw. I picked up only one doe bedded in a relatively open area all afternoon. I just kept watching her, and just as the final 30 minutes of hunting light approached she got up and walked up the hill. Sure enough, the buck I was after stepped out of some really thick nasty oak/scrub brush maybe 30 yards below her and followed her up the hill. Now he's hanging on the wall - Point being, no matter what angle I had, there was no way I could have ever seen him bedded although I had been within 250 yards of him all afternoon. In the rut, glass does. In October, November and early December, well I won't be much help. I can't seem to ever find them on early hunts. Just be meticulous, focus on shadowy areas, and ask yourself where you would be if you were the deer. Slow your glassing down to a snail's pace, and then some. If your glass is moving, you can't catch movement. Sometimes, you'll hold your glass on one spot and be sure there is nothing there, and all of a sudden, something moves, maybe an ear twitch, maybe a rack that looked like branches turns a little... IMO, and I'm by no means a great glasser, the key seems to be patience. When I'm not seeing anything, I try to force myself to work a grid on a single hillside moving the glass just a little bit, overlapping the last area I looked at by at least 20 yards and each time I stop the binocs either counting to 15 slowly, or imagining myself walking over and identifying everything I can see in the binocs - focusing not on what I can see, but where in the picture a deer *could be* that I can't see and watching those hidden areas for any type of movement. 90% of the time I'm not seeing anything, it's because I'm trying to look at too much area, too fast. I'm looking for deer standing out in the open or moving around in the obvious spots. Those are the times, as I'm trying to teach myself, slow down, work a grid, let the optics sit perfectly still and pick apart every rock, blade of grass, limb, shadow, etc. Once I'm sure that little patch has nothing, move the glass just a little bit along the grid I've decided on and repeat. The best glassers I've hunted with are masters of self control and patience, and that's why they end up finding deer that most of us pass over. One more tidbit I've learned that seems to help in glassing situations. If you are glassing and pick up a doe or whatever, watch that deer intently. You'll see that if you watch for maybe 15 minutes, once or twice it's out in the open and clearly visible. The majority of the time, if you didn't already know exactly where it is, you would pan right past it. You can pick out a little bit of a leg, maybe the horizontal line of a back, maybe an ear, or a moving shadow behind a tree. For me, this helps to remember that even if there is a deer in my field of vision, it is probably only obvious around 5% of the time. The rest of the time it is partially or fully obstructed from view. Knowing this helps me to slow down and focus on details. Godspeed, Jason

Wowser! Great buck! Can't wait to hear the story and let's see some more pix of that bruiser! Congrats on a stud buck. You get a tape on him yet?

Ya know those flimsy rubber objective lens caps that binoculars all come with these days? Well I lost one off of my $1200 swarovskis last year and shot them an email looking for a replacement. Around $25 bucks later, I have one in the mail. I've bought both of my oldest sons Vortex 10x42 Diamondback binoculars to hunt with and they have the sweet Jim White tripod adapters and Slik tripods. So this year each son loses an objective lense cap off of their binocs during their elk hunt. I emailed Vortex asking how I could order the lost lens caps. I got an emal just hours later asking for nothing more than my shipping address and that they will send out replacement objective lense caps *free of charge*. I can't say enough about Vortex, just being such amazing optics for the price, to tack on customer service that makes Swarovski look like chumps... I'll say this, I'm a die-hard Swarovski fan, I have the 10x42 and 15x56 SLCs. Great glass I wouldn't leave home without them. But the way Vortex treated me, I would be hard pressed to find any reason that the next pair of binocs, spotting scope or rifle scope I buy should be anyting but Vortex. Aside from outstanding customer service, I think Vortex optics are on par with the big guys for a whole lot less money.