my dec 24a hunt

[CouesWhitetail]

Dec 24 I went out just for the morning. I went into the area where I had found 5 bucks on opening day. This is a place where I can always find deer.....except today! I glassed up a skunk, several cottontails, squirrels, jackrabbits, quail and other birds...but no deer! Talk about depressing! I think maybe the hunting pressure from both quail and deer hunters had the deer spooked and staying in thick stuff. Late morning I left my high point and walked down into some thick stuff and found very fresh WT droppings. Went to the backside of a canyon where it's nicely hidden and shaded and thought for sure I would find some deer, but none....ugh. Anyway, it was a beautiful, but hot day. I did have some javelina walk close by me, but by the time I got the camera out, they were in the brush again.

 

 

Dec 25 I didn't go out.

 

Dec 26 in the late afternoon I hiked into that spot where I waited out that 95 inch buck earlier in the season. Saw a doe on the way in, but no buck with her. Backpacked in by myself and set up camp around sunset. Here is a picture of the great sunset. The camera doesn't do it justice.

 

 

 

It's a long night this time of year, with it being dark from 5:30 to about 7 am. So I was laying in my sleeping bag reading a book, when I decided to scan around me to make sure a mtn lion wasn't coming by. I get kinda worried about that when I am alone in the dark. And although it's extremely unlikely that one would bother me, I still scanned the area around me. Of course, I never see anything...except tonight! About 10 yards away in the bushes I see two eyes glowing in the dark. I can't make out what it is, but it's moving and I see a form moving around to the base of my camp. I am trying to figure out what it is when I see it's shape move across an opening. Luckily it's smaller than a lion and I think it's a fox. It kind of circled me and apparently moved on, because I never saw or heard it again. The thing was super stealthy though. I never heard it moving even as I watched it in the bushes very close to me. Wish I could be so stealthy!

 

Anyway, the night was long and I woke up a few times because I had gotten so much sleep. I watched some beautiful shooting stars and listened to the absolute quiet of the night there.

 

In the morning I woke up slowly and made some tea and got dressed and setup to glass. I glassed up on that mtn where I had seen that buck 2x before. Looking, looking, looking. Nothing. So I glass some stuff that is lower and looks good. I see a doe. And she is only 500 yards from me and about the same elevation. So I think, wow, wouldn't it be great if that big buck is down there? I was thinking I would have to hike a ways up to get a shot, but if he is with her, it's a simple matter of sneaking a few hundred yards to get a shot and there is a small hill between us I can use for cover. Once on the hill it's 200-250 yard shot.

 

So I keep watching her and suddenly see the buck!! He is with her and another doe shows up too! I watch him for a little while before I pack up my stuff and start heading over. He is pushing the does around and lip curling when they pee. They aren't moving much.

 

I walk over and am able to use the loud military plane noise as cover. They are flying some kind of manuevers and so I move faster when that noise is there to block my noise of walking. This is very noisy walking, lots of crunching on loose rocks and plants. Most of the time there is no cover sound, so I move slowly not wanting to blow it. I finally get to a spot about 220 yards from them. I can't see them anymore. But then I see the buck coming down through the brush. Can't get a shot from where I am but all I have to do is go around a couple yuccas and get set up. Can't see the buck anymore. Then I see a doe start running crazy circles up and down the small slope they are in. It's brushy so I see her only occassionally, but she is running coquettish circles around where I last saw the buck. Since she isn't looking my way and I know she must be making noise, although I can't hear her for some reason, I use that time to move to get setup for a shot. I am in the open, looking for the buck. Before I even came around to that spot I had set my bipod to the right height for a sitting shot and put a shell in the chamber and had the scope covers open. So I sat waiting for the buck to come back. Now I can't see the doe anymore. There is a slight bend in the hill near where she was, so if they go 10 yards that way, I can't see them. But I figure the buck was there on my side only minutes ago and he surely will run that doe back this way shortly. So I wait. and wait. and wait. Maybe 20 mins goes by and no deer anymore!! I know I haven't spooked them. There is no wind blowing to them and I am all no-scented anyway. Unfortunately where they are headed I can't get a good glassing position for. But there are some small ridges that come off it where I can see a little. I hope it will be enough. So I sneak over and look on the back side of the mtn. It's super thick and nicely shaded. Great spot for the deer to spend the heat of the day. It's probably 9 am by now. Getting hot but not on that back side.

 

I go slow and glass a lot. I look uphill of where the deer were, up on the sunny side and see some deer. I look hard and see only does and fawns. I think the does have heard me and one of the fawns sees me. I can't see a buck. They decided not to come down into the shade but flag and run away on the sunny side. I glass more deer with them, one is a small buck, a 3x2 or something like that. Not the one I was stalking. So it must have been a different group of deer.

 

I move to another ridge. I glass up a doe 100 yards away headed uphill. Not where I would have thought the path of the deer would have taken them, so I don't know if it's the same doe from that group or not. I watch her for awhile and then move to another location in case the buck steps out so I can get a shot. She sees me moving. Freezes and stares at me forever. Eventually she snorts and runs uphill. I watch for the buck and see no other deer with her. She disappears into the thick stuff.

 

I glass a bunch more on the back side, but can't see anything. So I finally give up and start heading back the way I came. There is deer sign everywhere along some trails in here. But no deer visible. I get back to the little bowl where the buck was that morning and I jump a buck almost exactly where I last saw him! He had jumped up maybe 20 yards from me. Must have been bedded under this tiny bush on the sunny side of the slope.

 

I have my gun up, scope on him trying to figure out if it is the same buck or not. I decide it's a smaller buck and not him and so I don't shoot. Plus it wasn't a good shot anyway. He was running straight away from me, offerning not much other than a backbone/neck shot. I sit down and get discouraged....wonder if it really was the same buck or not. If it was then he watched me walk in the open by him at about 40 yards. But I had searched that slope as I went by and can't believe he was there. And besides he looks smaller and no does were with him. So I am guessing he came over later in the morning and bedded there while I was on the backside. I guess I will never know.

 

My heart is low and I can't believe I didn't get that buck this morning. I was maybe 2 mins from pulling the trigger with a 200 yard shot on a nice buck. UGH...

 

I start glassing around and see a man walking right toward my camp along the ridge. He has come up the way I did last night. So I get more bummed, thinking another hunter is in here now. But as I watch him I realize he only has a pistol and not much of a pack. Not wearing camo either. He is an older man, maybe late 50's? and he is walking around like he lives here. I start moving down to go get my pack and head toward him to see what he is doing out here. This is a long way out to just be taking a stroll. But he is walking too fast for me to catch up and he walks by and heads over a ridge where I just saw that buck disappear over. I really start wondering what he is doing. He has no binoculars and doesn't seem to be looking for deer. I figure maybe he is a geologist or rock hound or something. I head back toward camp and glass a shady area. I see nothing. I go back to camp and decide to pack up and head out. The one bad part of my hunt area in there is there is no good afternoon or evening glassing. Where the deer would be isn't really visible from where I am. It would take another couple miles to hike down to a spot to glass that backside. It's real hot and I don't want to spend the afternoon doing nothing. So I pack up and as I am almost done the old man walks up to me. I ask him what he is up to and he says he was moving his cattle!! I am telling you this area is SEVERE and I thought there was no way anyone would have moved those cattle. I figured they were wild cattle. No way to use a horse in there due to large canyons and rocky stuff.

 

So I talk to the guy for awhile and find out he is the cowboy and he walks in to that area on a weekly basis or so to move the cattle. He has walked in probably from 5 miles father away than I have. And I thought the hike I did was hard! This guy is truly amazing! He walks from his house through some very rugged stuff to get up to the cows. Apparently the cows just move when they see him and he can easily control their movements. I am amazed! We start walking out together and we talk for the couple hours it takes to get back to my vehicle. He is Mexican and talks with an accent so I can't understand a lot of what he says. But he has a camp in the mtns farther up than mine and says he stays in there when he needs too. I give him a ride back by his house and am really happy I met the guy. That is a hard core man and he makes me feel like a sissy for thinking it's hard hiking in those mtns!! Of course he isn't carrying a big backpack and gun and all the optics and such. But still even without anything, it's hard hiking for almost everyone (except him...he must be part mtn goat!). I guess you can get used to doing anything and he does this so often that he doesn't think anything of it. Cool man!!!

 

So I go home for the afternoon and spend the evening with my husband, rather than another lonely night on that mtn.

 

Amanda

[CouesWhitetail]

Dec 28 - I go out to an area I haven't really hunted for WT before, but I was with a friend when he killed a javelina last year. I had seen some deer while I was in there and I don't think anyone really hunts it for WT, so I figure it's worth shot.

 

I get there early and climb a small ridge. It's nice not to be hiking a huge ridge in the dark. This morning it's only maybe 15-20 min walk to my glassing spot. My tired legs are glad I chose this spot to hunt today.

 

I glass some nice looking stuff, but only see cattle. Then I glass up a buck way up on a mtn far from me. Not somewhere I could get to in time.

 

 

 

The buck was up in some of the grassy areas near the top of the mtn. But I don't think he was huge anyway. I could see antlers, but didn't make my heart stop. Then again, he was far away...

 

So I go back to glassing the area I am hoping to find a buck closeby. Here is a pic of the habitat.

 

 

I finally glass up a deer and I think it's a doe. But then it disappears and I can't find it. Maybe 30 mins later I see a deer near there and it's a small spike. I figure he will push out the doe and maybe there is a bigger buck there. But he goes to that same area and nothing happens. He then continues on past and moves downhill. I don't see anymore deer near him. Maybe the doe I saw briefly really was this spike? I am not sure.

 

I glass the backside of another ridge and find some javelina. They seem to have only gotten up recently and are feeding. Only see 4 of them, but I suspect there are more.

 

It's late morning and hot. So I start glassing bedding areas. I see a doe and a fawn walking down into a shaded bedding area. They are super nervous. In fact the fawn is looking back uphill and stomping it's feet. The doe seems unconcerned at the moment. It is getting real windy out and I can see bushes and trees and grass moving around them. The fawn starts walking up toward what it seems to think is dangerous. Of course I am hoping it's a buck that's been bothering them that morning. So I watch and search hard around there. The fawn stops alerting and moves back by the doe. But then the doe goes uphill and starts acting nervous and peering into the same set of bushes where the fawn was looking. I glass hard!! and can't see anything. After 15 mins? or so they start moving down and disappear into the shrubs. I assume they bed, since I never see them again. I watch for something else and find nothing.

 

I decide to hike back down to the car. It's about noon.

 

On my way out I decide to scout out another area nearby. I am not really in hunting mode, just walked around looking at the back side of a mtn. I leave my pack and gun in the car. I have my binos and look around. Right away I see a doe and a fawn and am thinking how maybe I should have brought my gun with me!! I watch them and they move away. I think they were getting water in the creek and now heading back upslope. No buck follows them. I decide it's a cool area and hike back to my truck and get by tripod and camera and setup to glass. After maybe 30 mins I spot a buck walking downslope. He is not real big, maybe a 75 inch 3 pt. I watch him awhile hoping he will find more deer for me. No luck. I glass lots of stuff and see nothing else. This is an amazingling beautiful area though and I am really glad I walked up there. Some neat rock formations and running water in the creek and deer on the mtn. Nice place. Someday I might come back and glass it in the morning.

 

 

 

 

 

On the way back I also see this old square rock structure. Not sure if it's ancient or more modern. But it's neat looking. Here is a pic.

 

 

 

 

I drive home and don't hunt the afternoon. On the way out I saw a roadrunner and called him in close to my vehicle. You guys ever done that? You can call them in like you do a tom turkey. You just imitate their mournful call and they come in and flare their crest and call. It's pretty entertaining. I think this one was a female though and she didn't do the whole show.

 

 

 

 

 

Amanda

[AZP&Y]

Amanda,

 

Very nicely written...My heart kept pounding with anticipation..

Sorry you didn't get the exact opportunity on that buck, but you definetely were very close to pulling the trigger!

 

Thank you for sharing the details, you brought out all of the sights, sounds and real hunt atmosphere!~

 

thank you - sweet sun-setphoto - truely a kaliedascope of color!

 

Az P&Y

[coues4x4]

Well, we sure had prayers out for you on a safe and sucessful hunt.There's still this afternoon so hopefully you can get out and score one.It was sure nice to be along with you on the hunt,thanks for sharing.I ran into a couple of guys from Gilbert in 24A behind Griffith's ranch,one knew about the website but the other hadn't until now.Hopefully you'll have two more members.Good luck and there's still bow season.Tony Villegas

[crazyaboutcoues]

Great Story Amanda Thanks for sharing your hunt and the pix

[muskeg]

good show .... Amanda

 

Good luck and Happy New Year

 

Johnnie

[CouesWhitetail]

Dec 29 - I was fortunate to have one of my favorite huntin' buddies be free to go with me today. We walked in a couple miles in the dark and got to one of our favorite glassing spots before sunrise. Right off I glassed up a doe but watched with dismay as she bedded. It was only around sunrise and she was bedding! She was about 450 yards away. Here is her pic.

 

 

 

My buddy was glassing a different set of ridges, where we usually see lots of deer, but haven't seen a really good buck there. He glassed up like 17 deer and not a decent buck with them. I kept glassing the thicker stuff and saw some more deer, but no large bucks.

 

We walked an old road up to another point and glassed late morning up there. Nothing going on. We did run into some other hunters who weren't too happy to see us in there. They said it was private property and we didn't have permission. I told them that according to the map it was state land right where we were and that we had gotten permission to cross private property to get into it. Anyway, after some rather heated conversation, I decided my friend and I would just go hunt somewhere else. So we told those other hunters we were leaving and hiked back out the way we came in. We were quite a way from other other hunters and almost back to an old dirt road when my friend saw a buck chasing a doe down below us in a break in some thick brush. He said it was a good buck. I saw him also, but didn't get my binos up in time to get a real look at him. We figured the deer must have heard us coming down that rocky slope and perhaps were running from us too, but they were not flagging and really didn't seem to be high-tailing it out of there. There were some small drainages where they were headed and it was on our way out, so as we got closer, I undid the right shoulder of my backpack, chambered a round and popped open the scope covers so I could shoot quickly if needed. As we got down there and closer to where the deer had disappeared, I crept along looking for the deer. Eventually we saw the buck, standing broadside looking at us about 70 yards uphill. I whispered to my buddy to check him out and tell me if he was good enough to shoot. There was not enough time for me to glass him and get ready to shoot. So while he looked the buck over I put up my gun and got my cross hairs on him. I could see good main beams and decent spread but that was it. My buddy whispers "shoot him! He's a good buck! Shoot him!". So I pulled the trigger and down went the buck. He struggled to get up again but fell again almost right where he stood. It was really brushy where he was and once he was down we couldn't see him at all. So we waited a bit and then I decided I would go up and see if he was down. I hiked up and went to the spot where I thought he was and didn't see him! I couldn't believe he wasn't there, so I looked back at my buddy and he didn't signal anything about the buck having gotten up. So I looked around some more and found him piled up in some brush. Whew! It was a perfect shot and he died very quickly. My buddy came up to join me and we looked over the buck. He wasn't as big as we thought, but he has some neat sort of palmation on his right side. He has decent mass and spread and nice eyeguards. But his left side is rather weak in terms of tine length. But I was happy to have him and think he is a cool buck.

 

Here is a pic of me with my buck:

 

 

 

Here is my friend with my buck:

 

 

 

We gutted the buck and my friend carried him out over his shoulders since all we had to do was walk a mile or so down an old road back to our vehicles. I carried my gun and my pack and my friends pack. Not sure which was heavier, the buck or those packs!! We did weigh the buck when we got home and he weighed 81 pounds gutted.

 

 

So my hunt ended with success although not with as big a buck as I had hoped for. Thanks to my friend Sam for loaning me his 15x Swaros for the hunt! Now I am addicted to those. Nice glass! And thanks to Martin for helping me with my deer.

 

Amanda

[WHT_MTNMAN]

Awesome story and pics Amanda and a way sweet buck. Really nice webbed main beams. great buck

 

Houston

[muskrat]

Wooo hooooooooo

 

Congrats Amanda! .. and a great yarn, too

[bchoitz]

Congratulations Amanda, it is a fine looking buck. Seems those other hunters wanted you to have him.

 

Thanks for a wonderful continuing story, and a satisfied ending.

 

Bret

[COUESAZ]

Thanks for sharing your hunt with us. What a nice buck. You sure do like waiting to the last day I would say. It seems to me that you have some very good spots for your self.

 

If it would not give away to much. I would like to find out the spot of those hand stack rock walls. If you do not mind pm me on the location. It looks as it could be some old prospector workings. I would like to hit the area with my Gold detector.

 

Once again nice buck.

[jamaro]

Great Job...

Jason

[DEERSLAM]

YA HOO! Success! Great story telling Amanda and great pics. Thank you so much for taking us along with you on a great hunt. Congrats to you on a very nice buck

[Guest Ernesto C]

Heehhaaawww,yea Amanda!! You are the best!! Two thumbs waaayyy up for you and Martin...........isn't this the second buck he helps you to carry? How long are those eye guards?

CONGRATULATIONS and God bless you more.

 

Ernesto C

[firstcoueswas80]

alright amanda! good score!!! i really like his right side! it is neat way to go!