Lookin4amonster

Yup... hunt numbers just posted

Looks like the portal is in the process of updating right now. Still says "Pending", but the site is running really slow, and if you click on "View Details" it will show your tag# if you got drawn.

Thank you all. Appreciate the kind words.

If you ask me, there's not much greater than chasing these little Coues deer each December. My family & I always wait for the crowds of opening weekend to pass before we head down between Christmas/New Years annually, and we typically have the place to ourselves. This year was no different. The first day we got down there (myself excluded), my dad went out in the afternoon to glass a ridge we've always seen deer on. He spotted two bucks, and knew we had a plan for the morning. While he took a friend of ours to an area these deer might push to, my brother snuck up the backside to where the bucks were spotted the night before. No more than 2 minutes after coming around the a hillside to where that area was in sight, he spotted a buck broadside at appx 150 yards away. One shot later & he dropped this nice little 3pt in his tracks. As I was driving down that morning, simultaneously, I was disappointed to hear that I missed all the action, but excited he was able to seal the deal. That night, the temperature dropped significantly and we even took on some rain/snow. The plan for the next morning was to hike up high and spend the day. I only had 3 days at this point to tag out, and I'd had success previously going high to this one particular point. I wish I knew ahead of time just how cold/windy/snow-covered the higher elevation was, because I never would have gone up there. We saw a few does run up and over the top, but the consensus after only a few hours was that the cold weather had pushed everything down to lower elevations. On our way down a different route, we spotted a small small 2pt that my buddy wanted me to take, but I have killed plenty of small Coues deer in this area, I wanted to hold out for something bigger. And I'm glad I did. The plan for the next morning was to take a horse trail up to a saddle a couple of ridges over from where my brother shot his buck, and work my way west towards that area. I got up to my glassing spot right before light (any earlier and hypothermia would have set in), and immediately started seeing deer. All does for the most part, and another small buck that went up & over the top of a ridge before I could be tempted. I decided to continue on this horse trail that went around the backside of where that small buck went over, and took me to where my brother had success. I popped over the top onto the cold, shaded north-facing slope, and immediately kicked up one doe. She slowly meandered off, not too spooked. I kept walking and kicked up 5 more does that ran straight north out into the flats, but not necessarily hauling a$$. It looked like everyone was trying to stick pretty close. As I came to this rocky outcrop, the trail then hooks briefly back toward the way I came into a tiny little bowl. At that time, I heard my friend over the radio say he saw yet another small buck on the ridge line across from me. It was Saturday morning, I had one more day to close the deal, I thought "what the heck". So I sat on a rocky flat spot, threw my .270 Ruger over my shooting sticks and got setup on this deer. When I spotted him in my scope, his head was now behind an ocotillo and I could not confirm it was the same buck with 100% confidence, so I waited. In the meantime, I chambered a round. Right as I pushed the lever locking the bullet in place, a large 4pt buck jumped up behind me at 60-80 yards in that small bowl. He had been watching me the whole time. I quickly jumped up, threw the scope on him as he ran towards the top of the ridge. He briefly stopped at appx 120 yards, BOOM! Center punched, a little high. I could see the blood exiting his body as he managed to run another 30-40 yards. He started to slow his run again, BOOM! Spined him. It took one more finishing shot and he was done. This buck died no more than 50 yards from where my brother's died 2 days earlier. This is definitely my biggest Coues to date, and I could not be happier. I believe all those previous does in the area were hanging with him, and he was not content leaving them. Based on the fact that all previous 100-class deer I've seen in this area do NOT stick around when you jump them. I want to take this last minute to pay my respects to a close family friend/hunting buddy we lost a few months ago. Allen "Grizz" Samuelson. Or Uncle Sam to me. Him and my dad have been hunting friends since the early 80's in Steamboat Springs, CO, and he's always been a kind, helpful friend who wouldn't miss any opportunity to spend time out in the field with his friends. He was a big part of my life, and I know he was standing over me as I harvested my biggest buck to date. Miss you every day, buddy. RIP.

Their previous batch of prescribed burns in July really hurt the elk conditions this year in some very popular spots.

Headed up to 7E today to meet up with my dad who has a tag. He's been up there since Tuesday & it's been DEAD where we usually hunt. No bugling, and he's not even spotting elk from high vantage points. To everyone else heading up, good luck. Just thought I'd give the scouting report.

Four 36c tags in our group (3 late december, 1 early december) When did they even add the Nov 30 - Dec 9 hunts?

It would be the two together.

Quick question: if you apply for a bonus point only, do you lose your loyalty point? TIA

Hey, gotta ask.. thanks guys

It was unbelievable watching everyone step up and volunteer over the last few days on this forum. I cannot believe how fast that ram was on the ground from inception of the thread on Tuesday. Congratulations and THANK YOU for your service.

Good for you man for making the trek! Congrats on a great buck. Glad you're hooked.

Hike4Coues, I've hunted in 36c my entire adult life. Elkhorn Ranch is a great area (killed 5 bucks in that area), but nothing bigger than a 90" buck. My dad took a 105" out of there a couple years ago. I actually just got back from down there last night for a friends hunt. PM me if you want my two-cents.

Love the Broncos hat! Congrats.

Congrats man! and welcome to AZ

I can vouch for Tight Guy (my dad) above. I was there when that bull was killed, as well as the Antelope he shot in unit 9 last year. The Barnes 250 grain load performed nothing short of perfect every time. In fact, here's the bullet pulled from the elk above. Can't get any better than this:

I have desert schools and haven't gotten hit, so it can't be up to date yet

All April Fool's jokes. Nobody BITE!

I have been hunting archery elk for 10+ years and never had the privilege of harvesting an animal, and the odds of this being my year were stacked against me early. I found out in the spring, right after applying for the draw, that a good friend of mine would be getting married the Saturday of opening weekend in Lake Tahoe, and it was the first time I found myself actively rooting against drawing a tag. About a month later, I saw that my CC had been hit for elk & the strategizing commenced. I decided that I would hunt opening day, fly out to Tahoe for the weekend, work the following week & then come up the 2nd weekend for 3-4 days. Regardless, I would have only about 5 days total to hunt. In addition, my dad also drew a tag, so I was hoping to help him along the way as well. We all got up to camp the Wednesday before opening day, and put in all the effort to scout and have a good gameplan going into the hunt. Friday morning came along & we were headed to a honey-hole of ours where we had seen big bulls in the past. We decided to stop along the way to listen for bugles at another favorite spot, when 4-5 bulls were sounding off. We chose to hunt this location for the morning. As the bulls were bugling we worked really hard to get out in front of them. At about 7:00am, we got in close enough to start closing the distance on the bull that sounded the best. My dad circled left, I circled right. About 5 minutes after separating, I heard some crashing and hooves moving rocks. I looked left and saw elk-after-elk running through this opening, and toward a meadow roughly 100yds in front of me. I tried to hurry up but before I knew it, this monster bull was running through the clearing with about 10 cows right behind him. This was one of those bulls that you didn't have to score in your head, you just say "holy sh**" to yourself as you first see him. As they all ran through, I heard another bugle coming from up the hill and I looked to see another satellite bull following the same path these elk just went through. He was just slowly feeding & working his way down the hill. I got setup & started running through some scenarios in my head: "If he steps in front of this bush, he's about 35 yards, the next bush is 50, and if he goes behind the same bush it's about 60." Well, of course, he goes behind the furthest bush & I draw back. There's a pretty large opening where he's about to step out, so I'm not worried about any obstacles in my way. He starts feeding out into the clearing, but it doesn't look like he's going to stop, so I mewed real lightly to get his attention. I put my 50yd pin about 6" over his back & let it rip. My lumenok was really visible because it was still pretty early & the sun wasn't fully up, and this arrow was on a perfect line! Then halfway there, the bull jumps the shot & begins to take off, my only thought at this point was "miss cleanly!".. next thing I know, it sticks him right in the ham! I'm devastated. I get my brother & dad to come over. Tell them the story & I begin to track my bull to follow up the shot while they continue to pursue the big bull that had just passed through/was still bugling. I walk the first 100 yards in the direction my bull was heading without seeing a drop of blood, a single track, or even a freshly turned rock. I started sweeping the area all over for any type of sign, nothing! Right when I was about to start walking into the thick area the bull had run into, I see 3 hunters walk out about 100 yards away. They see me & walk over. "Did you just shoot a bull?" "Yeah, I hit one in the a$$" "Dude, you got him!" I told them I hadn't seen a drop of blood & they told me that once I got into the tree line, it was hard NOT to see blood. My belief is that I barely missed the femoral artery on the shot, and as he was running away & started clipping trees, the blade moved enough to knick it & he bled out like crazy. It looked like someone was taking a paint brush & just throwing paint everywhere. I was extremely lucky to have harvested this bull on opening day, but as I've always said, "better lucky than good". I want to thank my dad, brother, uncle sam & those 3 hunters for all your help (one, or all, of which might be on this site)! I'm very pleased with this bull & the meat's already in the freezer!

@mattys281 .. you're not the only person to say that to me. Seems to be the popular opinion. Everything worked out for the best though!

Thank you everyone for the props. I'm really excited about the whole thing.

Brother drew December 36C two years in a row.

Like 20 people do this same joke every year, for both results periods, and it's not funny. Can't people realize that.

Thank you for your service indeed!

Highly recommend calling the Tucson office. They're a little short with you, but happy to give out the results. 520.628.5376 7E Archery for my Dad & I