Soup and Sandwich...

[scoutm]

As with any December Whitetail hunt anticipation, excitement and expectations were all running high. Unfortunately, that means the disappointment can run pretty deep when the expectations are not fulfilled.

 

In total, I spent 22 days in the unit with different CW.comer’s scouting, helping others with their hunts and hunting. We have hunted this unit in the past with good results prior to last year’s hunt when we picked up leftover early November tags. We had a total of five tags to fill that year – three with experienced hunters and two with casual hunters. Disappointedly, all 5 tags were left unfilled.

 

After drawing a pair of the coveted December Tags for this same unit, Sundevil and I were determined not to have a repeat of last year’s dismal results so multiple scouting trips were put on our calendars and the research began. We decided to focus most of our efforts on new areas to try to improve upon last years results. Our scouting trips exceeded our expectations with multiple areas producing high deer numbers and several good bucks.

 

Opening weekend of the October hunt Sundevil and I made a quick trip to the unit to see how much pressure there was, where that pressure was and what kind of success was being had. As anticipated, there were hunters everywhere. We saw one nice deer hanging and received several reports of really good deer hitting the dirt. I must admit, hearing of all the success disappointed me a bit as I knew it would impact the quality of our December hunt.

 

Between the October hunt and the first November hunt, I made a quick day trip down to our unit to check out one last canyon before joining Red Rabbit, Firstcoueswas80 and Scottyboy on their early November hunt. The trip proved to be very fruitful – the canyon held a very high concentration of bucks.

 

The early November hunt was extremely hot but everyone made the most of it. Red Rabbit and I went up into the canyon I scouted the week before and almost immediately located a few bucks. One of which we felt deserved a closer look. As luck would have it, we were unable to get on the deer before it moved over the ridge to be taken by a fellow CW.comer – Shortpants (We believe – we aren’t 100% positive but we are fairly sure).

 

Having seen lots of deer and a number of bucks Red Rabbit, Firstcoues and I decided to head back into the canyon the next morning. Not 5 minutes into glassing (we arrived a little later than desired) I located what appeared to be a good buck so I pulled out my spotting scope and was pleasantly surprised to see a really nice 4x4. Red Rabbit and Firstcoues both took a quick look at him and after Red Rabbit asked if I wanted to save the buck for my hunt the two of them were on their way after him. Again luck was not on our side and we were unable to get him down.

 

With the holidays upon us, the scouting efforts were at an end. I felt pretty good about that as we had located several new areas and had seen many nice deer. In addition, we also had our old tried and true locations. I was certain we would not have a repeat of last year’s results.

 

Finally our hunt arrived. We left Thursday to scout one last canyon before deciding where we would be opening day. Having not seen any deer in the canyon our decision was made and we were off to track down the 4x4 that eluded Red Rabbit and Firstcoues in November.

 

An hour before sunrise we arrived at our trailhead only to be disappointed by the site of another vehicle parked there. Sundevil, Blackdog and I all piled out of the truck and SunDevil quickly spotted someone hiking up the side of the mountain. We were relieved as he was heading in a different direction than where we wanted to go. We, therefore, felt we could comfortably stick with our original plan.

 

We arrived at our low glassing spot 10 minutes before glassing light. We took the extra time to get comfortable and setup to glass. Within minutes of starting to glass, we start locating deer. At around 9:30 A.M., much to our dismay, a hunter stands up and becomes visible to us on a hill about 500 yards ahead of us. As that was our intended next stop, we had to rethink what to do next. Surveying the area we decided to relocate to another glassing point further south that gave us a look over another canyon and stock tank that held water. This point also still gave us a view into the canyon which was our original destination.

 

As the morning progressed we continued to glass up a number of deer but no bucks. Around 10:30 I take a look back into our desired canyon to see if the other hunters were still present when I see a buck. Being so far out I couldn’t make out how good it was but either way it didn’t really matter as the other hunters were still in the canyon. I turned around putting the buck out of my mind and continued to glass.

 

Just before lunch we all hear a shot behind us back up in the canyon that held the other hunters. Naturally, we turned around to see if we could see anything but we could not. Periodically, Blackdog was looking back in the canyon to see if he could see them packing a deer and was surprised to be greeted with the view of the other hunter’s middle finger. We have no idea what that was about and didn’t much care so we returned to our glassing.

 

With the canyon now void of other hunters and with the hope of relocating the buck I had seen earlier that morning, we decided to head into it for the evening glass. Around four in the afternoon I relocate the buck - he’s a really wide 3x3. Unfortunately, he did not provide enough time to evaluate him before heading to thick cover to re-bed. My snap reaction was to pass on the buck as I really wanted to relocate the 4x4.

 

At around 5:10 the wide 3x decided to show him self again. I quickly put the spotting scope on him and decided I would pass. SunDevil took a hard look at him through the scope but before deciding what he wanted to do the buck quickly checked a nearby doe and then headed deep into the canyon. Being late there was no time to make a move on him.

 

The next morning we decided to see if we could relocate the wide buck but were once again greeted by the hunter that should us he knew how to count to one with the aid of his middle finger (there’s more to this story but don’t want to get into it) so we decided to move to a different location. The new location only produced a few does.

 

While back to camp for lunch, a bow hunter pulled in to say hello and see how the hunting had been. Through our conversation we found that our visitor was also a CW.comer – Motoxno53. Already feeling frustrated by the events (not detailed here) of the last two days I was about to be delivered another disappointing blow when Motoxno53 revealed that the 4x4 I was searching for had been killed by his buddy at the end of the late November hunt.

 

After another two days of glassing does and spikes, having work and family obligations, Sundevil and I were forced to return to town for a few days so camp was packed and we hit the road.. The only positives to our first four days out in the field was meeting Motox and getting to see field photos of the 4x4.

 

Ready to erase the events of the first trip down, we were eager to get back to our unit for 4 more days before the Christmas holiday. These four days were again highlighted by hunters on nearly every hill and tons of does, fawns and spike bucks. We just couldn’t seem to locate any bucks with forked horns so again disappointed and frustrated we packed up and headed home for Christmas.

 

Christmas with the family was a pleasure but with several stories being posted of success and pre-rut activity, I couldn’t help but be anxious to get back out in the field. Feeling confident that when we returned to the field our luck would change, we made final preparations. We made a few calls to friends, reviewed more maps and finally settled on a location to start our final few days in the field.

 

Back in the field for our last chance trip, we returned to an area that fit the criteria that should have offered a high chance of success. On one of the less than ideal days of our previous trip we found an area that did not appear to be pressured and held many does. On that trip, in one afternoon, with high winds, we located over 40 does in just a few hours. Having been frequitly told, "in December find the does and the bucks will appear", I was extremely confident this area would produce for us. I was wrong. The does were still present but not a single buck. Dumbfounded and disappointed we moved to a different location.

 

The remainder of the trip was much of the same - Hunters, does, wind and no bucks. As the sun set on the last hour of the last day all hopes of filling our tags faded and all I could think about was returning home to spend the ringing in of the New Year with family and friends. So, we packed up for the long drive home empty handed.

 

Reflecting back on this hunt, I’m a bit surprised at the level of disappointment I’m feeling. We saw more than 400 different deer in 11 days in the field and not more than 10 of them had forked antlers and not more than 3 of those were 3x3s. A far different experience from what we saw in our scouting and on the November hunt. So, for the second year in a row in same unit its tag soup for me and tag sandwich for SunDevil.

 

It was great to see and meet so many CW.comers in the field and thanks to all that provided information, help and support on our hunt. Come on 2010 season the Soup and Sandwich tastes like….

[Coues79]

I had a very similar experience on my December hunt. I ended up either glassing or jumping over 50 different bucks, over 10 days of hard hunting. Lots of hours spent behind the glasses. The biggest buck I glassed or saw was a real big 2x2. He was one of the biggest main framed bucks I have ever seen, but wasn't what I was looking for. He had to be close to or just over 100 just as a 2 point; really impressive deer. I guess I just wasn't in the right places cause theres been a few toads, monsters or hawgs (whatever you wanna call them) taken over this past December in my unit. Sure wish I could've found one. Maybe this next hunting season the draw will be good to me again.

[Red Rabbit]

Larry,

Did Chris give you a lucky red bean?

The hunts do not seem to have the quality deer of ten years ago. Been tough spotting for my last 4 hunts in C.

 

RR

[Coues&Bass]

Out of 5 tags for the December hunt we only filled two. We went to alot of our normal spots just to find hunters already in the area. We hunted North, South, East and West in our Unit. We seen alot of deer and a large number of small bucks. We chased acouple of good bucks out ahead of us but could never locate them again even after many days and failed attempts.

We finally found the buck we were looking for the Sunday before Christmas. We got up to a good glassing point only to find we had a hunter directly across from us and below where we had seen the buck.

Later that day we talked to the same hunter( wearing a purple beenie) from Flagstaff and he said they had only one more day to hunt. I asked him if he had seen anything, he kindly gave it up that he had seen the same buck and that his friend Red had his does beaded. He was going back in for an evening hunt.

We thought that we may never get a chance at this buck again but decided to go take a look on Saturday after Christmas. To our surprise we spotted him on top of a mountain right out of the truck. It took us all day and a great bit of luck. I killed him on the way back to the truck.

I have not drawn a Dec. tag since 1995. My buddy hunting with me had never hunted in DEC. I was telling him all the stories of seeing good bucks rutting after does. I think he is hooked and hope we get the chance to do it again.

We as Coues hunters know that we must put forth the effort to get the chance at a good buck. Just keep the tag soup brewing and sooner or later you will add some Coues broth to your mixture. The next day it might even be good between two pieces of bread.

[scoutm]

Larry,

Did Chris give you a lucky red bean?

The hunts do not seem to have the quality deer of ten years ago. Been tough spotting for my last 4 hunts in C.

 

RR

 

 

Just like you that dang unlucky bean residue is still around. I'm thinking of burning my hunting clothes and starting fresh.

[azpackhorse]

Sorry about your hunt Larry, I actually got your number from Casey Thursday and was going to call you and offer some assistance but got busy at our camp. There were a couple of real nice bucks hang'n out above our camp. My buddy that had the same tag ended up killing one of them.

[Redman]

Thanks for sharing your story, I hope you don't take this the wrong way, but there is a reason big bucks are far and few between, sometimes skill, effort and luck are ALL needed....sounds like luck eluded you.

 

December hunts can be extremely overrated in the terms of size of antlers.....I wonder if the big 4x4 was killed by a hunter holding a left over tag? Like you said with something so highly anticipated there can be much disappointment.

 

 

Redman

[SunDevil]

in comparison, we had this same tag in 2001. we hunted fewer places and fewer days back then and saw more bucks and more bigger bucks . back then there were only 75 tags for this hunt and only 2 hunts prior to it. there use to be 3 weeks between the nov hunt and the dec hunt. now there is only 1. I am sure a lot of us on this forum would agree that quality has definetly been impacted by opportunity.

 

I have a good friend who between himself, his friends and family have taken numerous 100+ inch bucks out of this unit. he spent 7 days hunting with a friend in Oct and never saw a 3X3. He also spent 7 days hunting with his brother on the early Nov hunt and never saw a 100+ inch buck. needless to say he was very discouraged.

 

 

[Guest borderboy]

Ever notice how a plain old baloney sandwich can taste so good in the field? I think the best sandwiches I've ever had have been at the top of a mountain looking for Coues Whitetail. Even disappointment is better - out there. It's all good bro. My dad told me years ago, " If you don't like hunting whitetail when you don't get one - you don't like hunting whitetail."

[Red Rabbit]

Seems the unit which is under alternative deer management guidelines for older bucks and a lower buck:doe ratio offered this:

.

.

.

.

But on a December hunt where the bucks will theoretically come out as the rut nears, one hopes for this:

[Antlerdog]

Between Christmas and the New Year was one of the toughest times to hunt a big coues deer!!!!! The full moon was rising at sunset, and setting at sunrise!! Between 11:00 PM and 3:00 AM it was daylight outside! I don't mind hunting the full moon, but this was as bad as it could be. December tag or not, good luck.

[scoutm]

I think most of my disappointment stems from two very negative encoutners with a guy I hesitate to include in the fraternity of hunters and a tremendous amount of trash everywhere you went. Add to that the impact the "alternative management" is having on what should be a quality hunt the overall hunting experience has greatly diminished from when I had this tag last.

 

Going home empty handed is the least of it. All that does is get me more pumped to get back out next year.

[Red Rabbit]

The better news will be that the full moon in 2010 will be Dec 21. So the last few days of the month should be good in that regard. No blue moons in 2010 though.

[pwrguy]

It does seem like there are fewer really large bucks in the December hunt than there used to be. I don't really know what else to attribute it to except the tag re-structuring. It did also seem like the rut was hit and miss depending on where you hunted. It was really cool to see that activity that we saw even if the bucks were smaller. Personally, I don't think I will wait around another 5 years for a rut tag..November seems to be a viable second option

[Coues Sniper]

Between Christmas and the New Year was one of the toughest times to hunt a big coues deer!!!!! The full moon was rising at sunset, and setting at sunrise!! Between 11:00 PM and 3:00 AM it was daylight outside! I don't mind hunting the full moon, but this was as bad as it could be. December tag or not, good luck.

+1. This year was the worst I can remember as far as that goes...

 

" If you don't like hunting whitetail when you don't get one - you don't like hunting whitetail."

Dam straight.