AZ_SAWBUCK

Hey Guys, I don't normally post info on my hunts but I am pretty stoked about this one so I thought I would share................ I was not unable to do a lot of pre season scouting and only turned up a few groups of bucks in my unit. However each group was in pretty popular areas so I really wanted to go a different route to get away from hunting pressure. A week before the opener a friend and I checked out a new remote area that looked promising. On our initial scouting trip in we only saw doe and fawn but did see a lot of sign and the country looked very Couzey! Opening week rolled around and I decided to go with my gut instinct and head into our new found spot. I four wheeled in on Wednesday morning and got camp and my tent set up mid-day. Just as I was putting the fly on my tent it starts to pour down rain, so I spent the next two hours in the tent rearranging my pack and waiting for the rain to let up. Glassed from close to camp that afternoon and only turned up doe and fawn. Thursday started with a quick cup of hot coffee and a 30 minute steep hike to a better vantage point. Right before the sun started to hit the canyon I was in I turned up two decent two point bucks higher in the saddle. Decided to ascend to a higher saddle and look at some new country.............I glassed for a few more hours and turned up a couple of smaller bucks and numerous doe and fawn. My eyes were burning so I took a little break from the glass. Checked my phone and thought I wonder if Jay Scott has posted any new podcasts......low and behold the latest is "Early Season Coues Tips and Tactics". Turned it on and set the volume really low then started glassing again. Time is 12:30...........he starts talking about the window from 10-2 being the second most critical time to be glassing. BINGO the deer start popping up........ended up glassing up several more bucks and different groups of doe. Suprisingly listening to a podcast while glassing makes the time really fly by! The day before the opener ended with a few good elk hunting stories from my friend Pat that had just drove in to help me on the hunt. Pat just came from a limited opportunity elk hunt where him and some other guys were able to put four bulls down in five days (he and the other guys are hunting machines)! Opening day: Couldn't really sleep I was thinking about the long hike and didn't want to be late to the glassing spot, so I ended up getting out of the rack 30 minutes before my alarm was set to go off (I could tell Pat wasn't too thrilled about waking up even earlier). Mow down some oatmeal and some instant Starbucks coffee and ascend up the canyon to our target glassing spot. The steep hike by headlamp took roughly 1.5 hours. As it was just getting light enough to see we set up to glass with a chilling westbound breeze that made for pretty low deer movement. Pat ended up turning up two bucks 850 yards away, I was all excited and wanted to get closer but Pat convinced me that we could do a lot better. We decided to save the buck for another day probably a 90" type 8 pointer. As the morning progressed and the deer seeming to be bedded I asked Pat "what do you think"? ................I knew what he was thinking...................hike higher and look into some new country that we were looking at on Google Earth. He looks behind him and almost straight up and says " I think we need to get up there and look over into those other fingers". I told him you just want me to hike up there so you can point it out to everyone later and tell them you suckered me into hiking up there. We laughed about it then off we went. Just as we start to get to the top Pat suggests that we just might find some deer bedded in saddle that we knew was ahead. So I take the Scope Coat off of the scope and rack a shell into the pipe of the boom stick. It wasn't 100 more yards along the ridge and up pops a doe and a fawn. We crest the saddle into the country that we really wanted to see, we could tell as far off the beaten path that we were and all the places to hide there had to be some good deer around. Pat wonders off to the south and I head a few yards down a different finger to look at some other draws. I get set up and glass for about 15 minutes..........I'm sitting there on the point eating a snack, and see something bolt out of the corner of my eye about 100 yards below me. All I could see is the right side of a deep forked buck running. He stops 150 yards from me and is staring a hole right through me. Grab my .300 win mag and just as I get on him and am ready to shoot he bolts into the adjacent cut. I think "crap he gone" then a second smaller buck jumps up and takes the same path as the first one. I glance towards the bed and am looking for more deer. But nothing else pops up. My initial thoughts are should I call Pat?.......no his phone is probably on airplane mode.....So I head toward the cut where the deer went and see the bigger buck standing in the bottom about 250 yards away looking back, settled the cross hairs behind his shoulder and boom. Clean miss, I'm thinking what the heck I was right on him.......check my turret on my Vortex scope and its set for 600, it must have got bumped. Quickly set it to 300 and boom SWHACK, I knew I hit him! Glance over and see him take about three stumbling leaps and do a backflip into a nasty rock cut. About this time Pat is running over with all his gear bundled up in his arms wanting to check out all the commotion. I give him an overview of what just went down ......A few grins and a short hike and we are looking over my buck. I was hoping he wouldn't break on his crazy fall but he did. I couldn't believe that Pat found the tine but it only took him about 3 minutes to turn it up. Luckily I had some electric tape in my pack and we were able to tape it back on for the pictures. If it weren't for Pat I would have had to eat half the buck to get him out, these Coues are small but still a heavy load when you have all your gear and have to descend 1000 feet in elevation to get out. Opening day ended with some cold drinks and good grub! Pat cooked bear burgers with a side of Coues heart wrapped in deer belly fat over a mesquite fire. He got the idea from "The Meat Eater", it was actually pretty good! My hopes for this hunt were to harvest a buck worthy of getting mounted. I have to admit I was a little consumed over taking a big buck. But after getting up there and listening to Jays reminder right before the hunt my view changed a bit. I told myself opening day.............I'd rather take a buck with my friend there than try and do it all alone later in the week. Im going to take the first decent buck I get a crack at! Hard hikes and the opportunity to look at lots of deer with spectacular views are what really made this hunt most memorable. Your right Jay you can't eat the horns and if you can't have a good time and enjoy your time in the hills what are you really in it for? The lord blessed me with some meat to feed my family along with my biggest deer to date, taped him at 102 6/8. I'd like to thank my wife and kids for all your support also thanks to my hunting buddies for all your help.....look forward to more adventures in the future! JS

Looking for a new or slightly used bow, nothing older than three years. I would prefer a set up package deal but am open to bare bows as well. $500-$800 range, PSE Mathews or Hoyt would be my preference. Let me know what you got! 602.292.9264

Can anyone fill me in on the facts about passengers riding in the bed of side by sides? I know there is a big craze right now for people going to crew side by sides. But I think the seats in the bed of a ranger is a great idea to have the whole family in one rig without breaking the bank. I have seen some great rigs out there equipped with harness for the seats and rops. I have heard rumors about Sherriff's and the Forest service cracking down on passengers in the bed. Has anyone gotten busted for this? Does anyone know the law? Makes no sense to me why someone can ride in the bed of the truck but not in the bed of a side by side. Is it all about the $$ and an easy way for agency's to create revenue?

great deal!

Easy units for you to get to in December ......I would recommend 18B, 36B, 37B. All those units will be bow friendly!

There are no bulls south of Payson! ................sent you a PM.

Nice write up! Can you tell us a little about your rifle? Looks like a Remington 700 with some custom touches?! Do you know how much does it weighs?

Where do you live?

Heck ya! sweet looking deer!

Great Buck! I think if I ran into that crew in the woods I would hide. Hardcore looking crew!

Congrats!

Not sure how you guys that kill these big A## bucks get it done but I want to learn! Great Job!

Thanks for all the comments! Love this time of year.........I was able to burn the last of my vacation helping a few other guys on their huts and was fortunate to watch a friend take a mule deer yesterday morning......a little icing on the cake! Good luck to everyone on their hunts this season!

Congrats!

I composed a hunt story in Microsoft word but can't copy and paste the content into a new post. Says my security settings wont allow site to access the clipboard. Anyone know how to get the text into a new post?

Thanks for the tips J!

Sweet buck! Good job!

If you want you can call me as well 602-292-9264 Jason

That's one heck of a feat to get it done on that kind of buck solo style. I like the way you wrapped that bacon too pretty fancy! Good job!

Good video!

That's a good deal!

I would get a "wireless containment system" Its basically a shock collar where when they get a certain distance from the hub it beeps to warn then zaps them. they also make ones where you burry a wire.

I have a friend who has a pregnant chocolate! Should be on born in two to three weeks. PM me and I'll get you on touch.

Good For You! love to hear the story!

They'll have to collect my guns from my cold dead hand!