talltines

Thanks for the advice and you are so correct! I will be back without my bow to search again for this stud. I owe him and I the time and effort. The mountains are very challenging to me and I really am uncomfortable getting too far out solo, but I am going to set that aside and get my butt back out there. I'm still kickin myself for pushing this guy, I've been bowhunting for a long time and knew so much better! The shot felt so good and I underestimated the will of the coues due to its small size compared to the Whitetail of MN. All my bad and I need to get my *** out there and fing him!

I wish I had friends to help... I moved to AZ about a year ago now and really don't have any friends down here outside of m girlfriend and her son and mother, so finding help is not happenin. My girlfriend did help on the pursuit of the blood trail yesterday. It is a couple hours to the pinal mountains from Chandler, but I think I will go back and try again in a day or 2. Maybe dumb luck will help me find him. I'm shocked at the amount of ground he covered and the thick shoot he ran through and didn't bed. If anyone has a tracking hound or would like to help me search I would love for assistance. I would be willing to compensate someone real well if they have a good dog. I don't know if that is legal in AZ, but seen it on TV a couple times.

Does anyone know a place around Chandler to get a deer processed? Also, a good taxidermist locally? Any information would be helpful.... Thanks!

Pictures are soon to follow! Nice 9 pointer or in AZ we a 7 point because the brows are not counted...(I'm learning) Mature deer. I just hung my deerstand after hiking up about 3/4 miles in the snow and was barely set and a fawn poked out along witha doe, followed by this guy. Has to be over 105". Hit him a bit low so decided to let him lay over night! we'll see if that was a bad decision or not in the morning. It's cold enough so long as nothin gets to him first.

Thanks! I did a google search and didnt see much out there. I'm new to Az from Mn, we have a wild game processor on every street corner in MN... Lol... I really wasn't thinking I was going to need to locate one so soon!

Awesome buck! And awesome story!! Thanks for sharing.... I agree, that one WILL look very nice on the wall! My adventure begins this coming Friday... Archery in the Pinals! Soooo Excited!

I missed a real nice 10 point buck, 160" class shooting through the mesh of my Double Bull blind a couple years ago and promised my self to never EVER try that again. If the angle isn't exactly straight on, you are bound to f' up your arrow flight! Still have nightmares of that evening along the edge of a corn field! Grrrrr!

Thanks a million for sharing! That is a serious slob!! The palmation and mass is sick...Got my blood a pumpin for the up coming January rut. Props to the successful harvet!!

Ok! Well....where the heck are the pics or a link to this other site?

Sweet set-up man. I'm not quite ready to hit the woods, needing my cold weather camo to arrive via UPS. I hope by the week of X-mas I will be all ready to go. Good luck, looks like one heckofa good spot!

Wow! I'm not near as impressed with the deer as I am the fantastic job you did camoing your blind in. Only problem is you've limited your visibility and shooting options by doing such a good job. Lol. If you can contain your scent as well as the blind, you are in for a splendid hunt hey. Good luck and I hope a heavy racked buck walks in front of that SWEET blind arrangement!

Hey guys and gals... I'm new to Arizona and wondering if I should set up a deer stand or still hunt the archery coues season. I'll be in the higher elevations around 7000-7500' near the Pinal Peak. I've hunted whitetail in Minnesota for about 25 years and have hunted in deerstands accompanied by rattling and buck grunting to lure the big bucks in. Do you think I can be successful in the mountain environment with this approach? Pre-thanking for the input.

The more I look at it...I think this guy died within the same time frame that he was shredding his velvet. He didn't get all the velvet rubbed off and cleaned up before he met his fate. Just a thought!

Very cool! That buck most definitely had some age to him. Woulda been one heck of a sweet looking trophy mount. Hopefully he managed to do some serious breeding to keep the genes floating around the area. That sucker has some serious junk on his antlers!!

Thanks for sharing. I was beginning to think these little coues didn't rub or scrape. Good find and I hope you have a trophy tending the scrape line!! I hope I can find some good sign like that to set up on.

Great information! Thanks. I intend on sitting in a ground blind or up in a tree on a well used travel corridor and wait for the deer to move through. If this method doesn't produce results I will do some rattling, if that fails I may have to head for lower elevations and do the spot and stalk method. If I do, I will use some type of bootie or just my socks if I must for the last 80-100 yards.

Bad idea! You really want to go un-noticed, using an attractant scent will draw the attention directly to your location. Maybe Ok for rifle hunting, but not a good idea for bow hunting. I would try to mimic the natural sourrounding smells such as trees and dirt.

I'm about to deal with the same issue. I plan on putting the blind and its carry bag in a extra large garbage bag and putting pine needles and pine cones along with some dirt from the area where I hunt. I will use aprox. 1/2 gallon of scent-away spray and soak it real good. finally I will attach a couple earth scent wafers and one pine scent wafer to the blind when I am hunting. That is the biggest downside of hunting from a ground blind. If you can, set it up a couple weeks prior to hunting to let the deer get used to it. Good luck!

A few shots from this weeks trailcamming! The squirrel with the pointy ears was a first, but the other thing is what has me stifled! Any help would be appreciated!

Thanks for adding the pictures! Funky looking dudes they are...

LMAO! I know I'm a newbie from Minnesota...but come on! I know what the pocket size whitetails are all about. Hahaha! I also know that these little fellas are a far cry from ghosts. I've seen more coues scouting in a day then I see in weeks in the northern woods of MN. The coues are actually way less nocturnal, kinda surprised that they are called "grey ghosts"! LOL... Can't wait to send my arrow through one of the pint size guys!

Lol! I guess it would be a good conversation piece, but I wouldn't want to waste an arrow on that critter! Things are freaky looking and should migrate back to Mexico as far as I am concerned! Hahaha...

I used course mineral salt. I like it better then salt blocks because they get their salt and move on, using a block I end up with too many images of the same deer because they need to keep licking to get the salt. My personal choice for trailcammin". I like corn the best, but way to expensive in Arizona, and very heavy to carry up the mountain to my little wildlife "honeyhole"!

One positive difference I've noticed with my first set of trailcam images is the deer move during daylight much more in Arizona vs. Minnesota. I have multiple shots of bucks on hoof between 10:00am- 2:00pm, which doesn't happen outside of the heat of the rut in MN. I am used to hunting high in tree in transition areas between bed and food sources. I'm quick to learn and have noticed that in the higher elevations (pines and oaks) the deer like area where there is a convergence of different ridges. I think hanging a stand high in this type of area will produce results. I'm very open to suggestions and would love to hear some insight from what you've learned over the years of making your transition. I agree if you have access to good land in Minnesota it can be pretty easy to fill a tag, although getting a trophy buck is another story.

Cool! I told my buddies in Minnesota that they have a new critter headed their way... Lol! Thanks for sharing the video.