Coues Backcountry Archery Hunt with Horses

[naturegirl]

A little while back, Edge (Tim) invited me to come along on a back-country horseback hunt. An adventure such as this is definitely on my list of “to dos” so I was in. As soon as the dates were set, the excitement hit and I literally started losing sleep over it. I’ve said it many times before that the anticipation before a hunt reminds me of when I was a kid waiting for Santa Claus to arrive, and this wasn’t just any typical hunt – I was going backcountry on a horse!

 

Ginger & Favor = Best Buds

 

I’ve got my packing down pat, but I still needed to trim some fat in order to have a horse carry me and my load. I asked lots and lots of questions and quite often the answer was “If it doesn’t fit on the horse, then it stays in the truck.” This would send me back to packing to see what I could do without. Finally I came up with what I considered a good amount and was sincerely hoping he thought so too.

 

Edge provided me with a sweet little mare named Zazzy who is one heck of a good horse. Both Edge & I had to leave stuff in the truck. I left my tripod and he left his rain jacket since there were no large storms in the forecast at that time. I too had left my rain pants at home, but did take my KUIU rain jacket since it’s so versatile.

 

Zazzy & part of my load

 

Edge trained Favor to side step to the trailer so he can tie the load. Favor is 17HH.

 

We started up the trail, which at first required some stopping and adjusting of Favor’s load. This was done by adding rocks to the light side to balance it out. He is a beast of a horse and built as strong as they come. I watched in amazement following behind him as he found his balance and rhythm with the new load.

 

 

Before we left the truck, I asked Edge “So what happens if we see a huge buck on the way in?” His answer “You take a picture.” So right then I pretty much knew we’d see a good buck on the way in so I was looking hard to find him. I spotted a couple does first and then Edge spotted another group of does.

 

 

We were riding along and I was looking down into this ravine. Way way down at the bottom just inside the mountain shadow was what looked to be a decent mule deer buck by the size of the rack. I was just getting ready to say “Hey Tim, have you seen mule deer bucks in here?” but before the words came out the buck bounded up the mountainside and I could clearly see he was a Coues by his flagging white tail. I was clicking away with my telephoto lens from horseback, which by the way does not work very well, but I forgot my regular lens at home. I did manage to get the picture below, but I’m wondering if it wasn’t a bigger buck that I saw first. It didn’t matter either way because there was no chance any buck was getting an arrow. This was all for visual enjoyment.

 

 

We continue on up and down the mountains and I’m thoroughly enjoying the breathtaking scenery. I haven’t hunted in terrain like this before so it was all new to me. I did specifically ask Edge ahead of time what type of trail we would be taking because I have been known to get off and walk my horse a time or two if afraid. So the next thing I know we are heading up this steep mountain and I’m trying my best NOT to look to my side because I see the rock slides and they are going straight down. It’s steep and if my horse loses her footing, there is no stopping any of it and we are going DOWN! Now my anxiety really starts kicking in and normally I’d be off walking my horse at this point, but I was able to talk myself through it or should I say pray myself through it along with a few tears. I know my fear of heights isn’t the “norm” and I know I have to keep at it. I also needed to let go and trust the horse. After what seemed like forever and a day going up that scary trail, we finally reached a wide flatter section of the trail, which made me smile from ear to ear. My heart rate started slowing down and I was breathing easy again, but yes I knew right then I had to go back the same way we came in, which was okay because I was done with it for now! Edge didn’t know about any of this until later when I told him, as girls have pride too.

 

I made it!

 

About two-thirds of the way in, we lost the sun at which time Zazzy & I took the lead. Zazzy, being at the bottom of the hierarchy within the herd, needed a little encouragement from me to get out front, but once she did she gained her confidence and took her job seriously. Mr. B, Tim’s aussie-heeler mix, is as white as snow and led the trail well. My headlamp was only required a couple times to check their course and correct if needed. This was one of my favorite parts of the trip because we all got to use different senses, and I enjoyed watching the animals do their jobs so well in the dark. Or maybe I liked this part so much because I couldn’t see any cliffs! We arrived at camp a couple hours after dark and set up our tents.

 

 

Around noon the next day I hiked out of camp to hunt. I had been warned about bears being in the vicinity (as if the huge piles of bear scat everywhere wasn’t enough to tell me) so I was armed with both my sidearm and bear mace. I was alert for bears……very alert for bears. All of my senses were at full throttle. I was glancing this way and that and I see this well…it looks like a bear, but it’s kind of a little flat (this is what I’m thinking). So I walk over and it’s a dead bear! She is completely undisturbed and looks like she just walked down the hill and lay down to die. She had the prettiest long golden hair around her snout. I came back to camp and Edge asked if I had seen anything. My answer was “Yeah a bear.” He looked up at me and I quickly added “A dead one.” He said it was pretty rare to find a dead bear so I tested my skills to see if I could find her again and I marked the spot with my GPS. Typically I only mark camp and then my GPS is off for the remainder of the time. I feel you need to keep the skills you have and if you rely too much on technology, you lose it. I was given a good sense of direction by my father. My sweet mother has lived here since 1979 in a blocked grid city and still gets lost going from Mesa to Chandler (and no I’m not kidding).

 

 

I hunted throughout the next day and around 2 pm it started to rain. For whatever dumb reason, I had left my umbrella and rain jacket at camp. Somehow I magically found a 2’x2’ piece of corrugated metal that was just laying out there so I decided to use this as my umbrella. I balanced that thing on my head which kept me dry for hours, and boy oh boy did I see a lot of deer! I did try drawing my bow with the umbrella on, but unfortunately was unsuccessful and would end up hearing metal to metal each time I tried.

 

 

 

So here I am cruising up to a large meadow area with my silly metal umbrella. I look ahead and I see five does frolicking in the meadow about 100 yards in front of me. I then look to my left and there are another three does at the edge of the meadow. I think to myself “man if there are this many does there just has to be buck.” So I reach up and take off my umbrella. Not two seconds later a good buck with nice dark antlers runs about 20 yards in front of me across the meadow with a doe right on HIS tail. They stop about 75 yards away and then disappear into the thick stuff. All the other does stayed so I stayed in the area as long as I could, but never saw the buck again. I grabbed my “umbrella” and hiked back to camp.

 

Our plan was to leave the following morning, but it literally had rained nonstop since 2 pm the previous day so we decided not to travel in the rain and hunkered down for another day. My tent was sopping wet and so was my sleeping bag. I did an inventory of dry items, put them in a dry bag, and told Edge I was down to one dry outfit, 2 pairs of socks, and no dry jackets. He wasn’t much better off than me except his tent was dry whereas mine required constant care to keep from becoming a pool. I got out my silver emergency blanket (yes those cheap ones from Wal-Mart) and placed it over my sleeping bag to at least keep it dry from my profusely leaking tent.

 

At about 5 pm Edge & I had a conversation that went like this:

 

Edge “If you get cold and are shivering….” I interrupt with “Yes, I’ll say something. I don’t want to wake up a frozen popsicle.”

 

I must’ve asked at least a dozen times throughout the day if his tent was dry because I felt better knowing there was at least one dry shelter, but in the meantime I kept at keeping the water out of mine.

 

My heart ached for the horses as they positioned their rumps into the wind drenching wet and shivering, but my heart was torn because I too was cold and wet. Edge is an excellent caretaker of his horses. He was constantly moving them around trying to find the best spot for them. Before we even left, he had made it clear to me that the care of the horses comes first, but I’ll have to be honest that last night my own needs were quickly becoming my number one priority.

 

There haven’t been many times my skills have been tested to this extent, but when you’re in the back country you have only what you bring and what Mother Nature provides. This particular day Mother Nature decided to provide us with NONSTOP heavy rain. Now my skills were being tested and my comfort was already out the door a very long time ago.

 

The view from my tent

 

Since I’ve had to replace most of my camping and hunting equipment on a tight budget, I’m always looking for a bargain. On a trip to Goodwill, I saw a North Point mummy sleeping bag for $12.99. I could tell it was good quality so I grabbed it. The zipper wasn’t working. Either that or I’m just not smart enough to fix it, but regardless I’ve used it a bunch as is. I’m small enough I can just roll myself up in it. I will never understand how a wet sleeping bag with a silver emergency blanket over the top kept me warm that night, but it surely did. Those two items saved my rear big time. My rain jacket was with me, but it couldn’t dry out because there was no place dry for it to dry. I also mentioned to Edge that I used game bags as socks and he said he had done the same exact thing. Game bags also came in handy attempting to dry my sleeping bag and I threw a couple into the feet area of the bag. My logic was it would soak up at least a little moisture or provide some added warmth.

 

 

Finally, and I do seriously mean finally, Saturday morning the rain breaks. With great effort Edge manages to get a fire going and we dry a couple items. I took my second to the last pair of socks (which were like gold at this point) and put them on. I carefully placed my feet in gallon sized zip lock bags before putting my wet boots on. This was a trick I was taught as a kid in Illinois. I gave Edge my final pair of dry socks and he did the same with zip lock baggies and his boots. He also mentioned that I was pretty smart for bringing an umbrella along, which is typically a part of my pack. We cleaned up camp, packed the horses and headed out.

 

 

 

I was very very glad when we got to the truck and it was warm and dry! As for Coues deer, I’ve never seen so many in my life and I’m very thankful for every up-close experience I had with them. I also learned a couple dollar emergency blanket is a very important part of any hunters pack and I need a good lightweight backpacking tent in my arsenal.

 

I’m always seeking the adventure, not just a hunt, and this definitely fit the bill. Thank you Edge for sharing your animals and your spot with me. My knowledge bank got fuller this season and I look forward to chasing some Coues bucks somewhere again next winter! I have also earned myself the new self-imposed nickname of “The Buck Repeller!” You know the saying though even a blind squirrel finds a nut sometimes so I’ll keep on at it.

 

Someone from the past carved my old nickname into a tree and I just happened to find it! Odd find considering the location.

 

[Red Sparky]

Sounds like one heck of an adventure. The pictures are great and I really appreciated the story. Made me think of the one Miley Cirus song I like .."The Climb".

[randyolson]

A most excellent story book that I enjoyed alot....!!! What a great adventure, deer or not....! Thanks for sharing!!

[Liosis]

Well told...I always love a story with good pics!

[SirRoyal]

Enjoyed ! Good wet story!

[4Falls]

I always look forward to your stories. Quite an adventure you had. Thanks for sharing.

[Kaffer62]

Sounds like you had quite the adventure. Finding that name In the tree and the bear... what are the odds!

[Guest 300ultramag.]

Thanks for taking the time to share. Enjoyed the read. Hats off to edge and co.

[bonecollector]

Sounds and looks like a great trip minus all the rain.

[jim]

Wow sounds like a real adventure.

[6ANut]

Thanks for sharing once again and love the pics.

[elkaholic]

It's awesome you such a great adventure - I need to get that one checked off my bucket list- only problem is need big Favor just to haul me around - lol

 

the bear find was very unique - not many can say they found a whole dead bear - worth a second trip just to get the claws and skull later -

 

nice write up- great photos

 

 

sounds like a fantastic time with a great guy - Edge to pack you in and out safely

[Matt Meyer]

Sounds like a lot of fun(except the rain) Thanks for sharing the great pic's and story

[Zeke-BE]

That was a awesome write up and great adventure. Kudos to Edge!!

[tjhunt2]

It's 2:15 am and I got up to take another throat sucret for my sore throat and just sat down what I thought would be a second but couldn't quit reading. You have become a very good story teller. There was no way I wasn't going to not finish before going back to bed. I heard this Edge guy was a good guy. Thanks for taking us along.

 

TJ