Funny Story

[Coach]

So, last year I posted a story about trying to hunt a water hole at the beginning of the AZ coues archery season. I had a couple of spots staked out - public land and all that implies. I had a great water hole with cameras set up and lots of activity, but didn't want to put my blind up too early, because I didn't want to "stake out" a spot prematurely, and, honestly, I was afraid it would get stolen. A couple days before the season started,went in to set up my blind - yeah, there's a double bull sitting right above the water hole. Dillemma time. So I left a note indicating that I have been scouting the same water hole, yada yada, let's work out a schedule where we share it.

 

I didn't really expect a response, but I got an email opening morning sent by a guy named "Fred". Said they were basically planning to sit that spot Friday - Sunday. He was sending me emails right from the water hole via his blackberry. This was my plan B spot, as my plan A spot already had a blind set up as well - so my plans for archery hunting coues were kind of in the crapper. To tell you the truth, I wasn't really OK just saying, OK, you get it for the first 3 days - my intention had been to work out an arrangement where we shared the spot without stepping on eachother - but hey, this is AZ public hunting. You set up earlier than the other guy and take the chance of getting your blind stolen, or back out and let him have it, IMO. He set up earlier than I was willing to so all I could do was to try to work out a reasonable arrangement.

 

Throughout the day Friday, I kept in contact with "Fred" asking what he had seen, etc. and he kept in contact about what he was seeing. Late in the day he tells me that they got a nice coues off the tank and that they were done - something like "it's all yours". I got picture taken by cell phone of Fred and another guy (who we all know) with a high 90's, wide, short-tined velvet buck. Obviously I was a little jealous and kind of kicking myself for not staking the spot out earlier.

 

So, that's the backround...here we are in May of 2010, last night I was having trouble falling asleep after a long day turkey hunting with my boys. We put on the Outdoor channel, and there is Easton's Bowhunting TV with a trip to AZ to hunt Coues with a tradtional bow, by, yeah, you guessed it, Fred Eicher.

 

I was just thinking...no way...but it all came together. As I watched the show and the video of his brushing in of the blind (they moved it mid-day) and compared it wth the emails, pictures, my own trail cam pictures, it was clear. I was competing for this water hole with a whole hunting show. The final picture I got from Fred was him standing next to a guy named Randy - yeah, Randy Phillips - from Archery Headquarters, in Chander. Same buck from the show, same water hole I intended to sit. It was kind of surreal - I didn't know who Fred was, I honestly thought it was just a situation where 2 "normal" guys wanted to hunt the same water hole.

 

My congratulations go out to Fred and Randy. I don't have any hard feelings - we were all looking at the same spot, and you guys set up before I was willing to. No prob, I moved elsewhere and took a a nice buck. BUT there was a MUCH bigger buck hitting that hole., FWIW.

 

LOL. Anyway , I just thought it was funny to be sitting there with my boys, going "That was where I was going to be last year!" and they said, "Dad, you coulda shot that buck." And I said, "Yeah, i still think mine was bigger". LOL.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[CouesWhitetail]

Great story and nice job working it out with the other hunter. Good thing it didn't turn into a show about the conflicts for water holes on public land! Nicely done.

[bonecollector]

Thats kind of cool! Who would of thought that your hunting spot would be on a hunting show.

[Guest Bandido]

Maybe there should be a "waterhole tag/permit" available also. This could come as part of a pkg deal with dates corresponding to hunt seasons. Or we can just make our own. That way everyone would have one. Yeah that's it. For real.

[elkhunter]

That's pretty cool, I was watching that show and I was impressed on how Fred went ape %%%% when he shot his buck, for once someone got excited to harvest an animal on TV. Woulda been more sweet if you were able to take that buck though!

[PSEps]

Thats crazy. I watched that hunt on TV. Sorry you were not able to get that buck. But thats just how it goes sometimes.

 

Derek

[stanley]

Yep, cool story!!

 

I actually came across the last couple of minutes of that show also. I was bummed because I missed the 'impact shot'!!! lol

 

I like Muzzy's Bad to the Bone show! Fred gets sooooo excited when he kills something. Definitely not contrived IMO.... He always seem genuinely excited! I saw one of his shows where he shot a fairly small muley off of a tank in NM, and he was over the top happy!

 

S.

 

 

PS: His wife is quite the accomplished bow hunter as well.... and not too tough to look at!

[SunDevil]

neat story.

 

this is all kind of interesting to me and something that I struggle with.

 

is the concensus that because the other guy had his blind up first means he gets dibs on the spot for as long as he wants it?

 

it has always been my thinking that public land means first come, first served on a daily basis. I can see if you went in there opening morning and they were already there and set up but to say we are going to be here Fri - Sun and the justification being that they set up a blind?

 

am I off on this?

[Coach]

Yeah, SunDevil, I think the general rule of thumb is that whoever gets there first on any given day gets the spot. That said, you never really know who you are dealing with and whether their take is the same. If it turns out that you are competing for a spot, IMO, it's probably best to get some communication going to avoid an ugly confrontation.

 

In this case, them saying they planned to sit for the next 3 days, really isn't "acceptable" IMO, and if I had felt strongly about sitting it, I would have pushed the issue and said, OK, then plan on me sitting 3 bushes down - I hope you are a fast draw. . However, I was really only interested in sitting it opening day, or later during the week. I figured Sat and Sunday would be a zoo in there, so it wasn't really worth worrying about.

 

Where it gets a little fuzzy is when someone sets a blind on a water hole days or weeks before the hunt. You would be well within your "rights" to set up a blind 10 feet away from theirs and sleep in it if you want to be the first one at the spot that day. But there's nothing keeping them from sitting theirs as well, or doing whatever they can to mess up the area if they do leave.

 

It's really up to all of us to try and keep things in perspective (not worth a violent confronation), and try to meet the other person and work out something fair.

[DUG]

Neat story Coach. I watched the show and Fred did mention all the other hunters and public land. He gets a little too excited for my tastes when he gets something. Maybe it's just for the cameras......

[grizzly]

Your brush with greatness!

 

I saw that episode and watching that long shot with a recurve, the arrow seemed to stay in flight forever, then made a perfect hit. One of the coolest impact shots Ive ever seen on TV.

[kaibabkiller]

Watching that episode got me fired up to go scouting unit 24A, It turned out to be a good thing for me, a bad deal for those that have hunted the unit for years. It is public land. I just hope Im the only person dumb enough to hike a couple miles into one of the nastiest canyons Ive hiked, in August, to sit a water hole.

[Coues 'n' Sheep]

 

 

HaHa! Small world! Funny how stuff like that happens... I remember you taking the high road on that deal... probly a good thing you did or else you might have been on TV in a way you had never hope for!! LOL!