rcdinaz Report post Posted October 11, 2015 Well my daughter Alex got it done again this year! She has 3 seasons under her belt and a deer every year. She just giggles when I tell her that isn't normal to get a quality tag and an animal every year. Proud of her! This year she had to do some actual work to get to her deer. So we started scouting on Wednesday evening in an area where I had seen a couple of really nice mule deer and a couple of coues during bear season. She told me she had 2 mulies so we should find a coues. In my great spot I end up watching 2 does for most of the afternoon but no worries we have all day Thursday to nail down a buck for the opener. So wednesday comes around and nothing all morning and I am thinking my spot had been invaded by a lion or qual hunters or a dozen other random excuses that pop into my head. Just before lunch... around 10:00 it happened. I find a small coues tucked behind a bush chewing away. I run get Alex, laying in the truck playing with her phone after telling me it is REALLY hot today. She finally manages to get her teenage body in motion and grabs her binos. Just as we sit she says I see the deer. I look through my binos and a toad of a buck, biggest I have seen in a long time is standing in the middle of a bunch of prickly pears. I told her that is not the one I saw that thing is huge. Then two smaller ones scamper up behind him. So now I am super pumped because the set up to get a shot would be very good if they stay in the area. We watch until they return back into the canyon they came from and then we head back to camp to meet up with grandpa for a late lunch. So it was hot and I heard a lot of complaints over the trip, need to mention that detail. We head back out late afternoon to a high ridge a mile away from the spot so as not to booger up the area. At about 5:00 we find the big buck meandering around a hill and he beds down right in the center of the hill in a flat grassy area until dark. At this point I am already cashing the check, done deal we just cruise in nice and quiet and Alex puts the hammer down on him. Last year was 375 yards through timber with a crazy 15 mile and hour gusting wind. We had been within 250 yards of this deer so I am planning the saturday sight seeing excursion. Friday... I am pumped to get there at day break. Alex is barely functioning until we finally make the 45 min drive to our spot. I can't wait to roll up and see our deer. So we glass... we glass more... we glass a LOT more. I am really confused all of the deer have done a Houdini! I finally see about a dozen deer make there way through over a hill, they were about 600 yards away and we never saw them. All mulies does and fawns and one little fork. So we glass.. glass more... glass till our eyes bleed and I cannot find another deer anywhere. We do this ALL day so I am really dejected.. the high point was Alex found a cell signal in the truck so watched a bunch of episodes of Friends "dad that show is pretty funny even if it is old" ya Alex it is REALLY old. Saturday... Alex says maybe we should try a different spot so we do. It is windy as all get out and we see absolutely nothing moving. I finally spot to stink pigs but even they lay down and hide out. We finally decide we need to go back to our #1 spot. So... we head back to the spot and glass... and glass... and finally come up with a few does under a tree. Alex has now explained to me how hot it is so many times I tell her she has a promising future as a wether lady, she is also an expert at friends trivia which by the way is why she was willing to move because the other spot had no cell signal . Took me a few hours to catch on to that one. So we continue glassing and at one point I actually nod off and almost fall on the tripod. I got up to move around and sat in a new spot and just as I look about as far back in the canyon as I can see I spot a deer... a long way off. I can tell he is decent size and a coues but he ducks back into his juniper and is gone. We had to be back to town early so I decide I am going in.. time to check out that buck way back there. I tell Alex to grab the gun and her pack. She reminds me how hot it is and do we really want to hike right now. So we have a negotiation to only cross one little ravine. I still can't see the Juniper so we negotiate again and she gets to sit under a huge juniper while dad hikes his butt back to the area. I do and low and behold with perfect timing as a crest a small hill a buck steps out of that Juniper. He walks around like he is showing off but it is not the giant we saw before. But he is a really good looking deer so I run back and grab Alex. At this point she was pretty comfortable under the tree. She finally makes it to the top of the hill and asks why I am waiving my arms around. So we make it back to the deer and sit in the middle of a bunch of rocks (yes it is hot there and as a bonus the white flies are swarming us). Then the deer steps out and Alex forgets it is hot and we are being chewed on and gets her game face on. The buck stops and poses a couple of times but we couldn't get the gun set up for a solid shot. Then the buck runs to a juniper puts his head in and a little doe shoots out like a scalded cat, never seen this before but the doe hides a few bushes over. The buck crawls into the tree and completely disappears inside. So we get set up and finally use the tricalwps in the big bipod and Alex is set. So now we wait and nothing and we are getting really impatient. We talk about throwing a couple of rocks so I find a quality throwing rock in the pile and chuck it into the ravine on one side. It makes absolutely no noise, I look for another rock, it is important when alerting Coues to have the proper rock for throwing and maximum noise, I throw again and no noise. Alex smiles and says you kind of suck at that dad. So I sit down and kick a rock by accident and the doe gets up and prancing off full flag, still no buck! So I grab a random rock and chuck it to the other side of the hill... wait for it... okay the buck magically appears and poses like a 3D target, just frozen. Alex is on the gun! She says I can't make the cross hairs stop shaking which is a shock because this kid has ice in her veins on every other occasion. So I whisper the standard "we got all day take your time" inside I am screaming "shoot, shoot him dead now!" So she finally exhales and bang, the deer shoots out of a cannon the opposite direction and bolts toward the ravine. He is gone! I start the internal pleading "please be dead" because I thought she missed. Alex looks at me "well!" I ask "what, did you miss?" "I don't know can't we just go look?". Okay we grab our gear and head down and She says "I am pretty sure I shot him right in the shoulder but can't figure out why he ran". I walk from the bottom to the juniper she walks the top and "pow" there he is after doing a peter pan off the bank he was piled up under a tree at the bottom. She walks over cool as a cucumber and says "I told you he looked like he fell down". I grab him and there is a small hole center punched in the shoulder and a small exit wound on the other side. She completely destroyed the opposite shoulder and most of his vitals so I have no idea how he changed direction 180 degrees and shot himself down the hill a good 20 yards. Okay this is already way too long so I won't bore you with the cleaning and pack out. Alex did inform me it was still really hot. But she was pumped and took a ton of pictures which was even better than the Friends re-runs. Alex had to really put in some work on this hunt, I was really happy it was not an easy one and she was rewarded for grinding it out. She is 3 for 3 and I remind her again that is not normal! 19 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
LovinthehuntAz Report post Posted October 11, 2015 Way to go!! Girl power!! I have four young daughters I hope I get a chance to bond with them in the hills one day!! 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ready2hunt Report post Posted October 11, 2015 Wow what a trophy! Thanks for the write up and sharing. Congrats to all involved Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Shawn Report post Posted October 11, 2015 Great job! Congrats Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
wildwoody Report post Posted October 11, 2015 Love them big 2pes you go girl... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Will K Report post Posted October 11, 2015 Sweet. Congrat's. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
SO I HUNT Report post Posted October 11, 2015 The smile says it all Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
nighthawk Report post Posted October 11, 2015 👊 great job! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
rcdinaz Report post Posted October 12, 2015 I think the deer was an older deer that either lost or didn't have the genetics for growing points. The deer was fat and had more fat than I have ever seen even more than the big ones in Mexico that we have shot. I didn't check his teeth but will soon. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ElkyG Report post Posted October 12, 2015 Congrats to the two of you, Nice buck! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
AZbowhntr Report post Posted October 12, 2015 Congrats to your daughter. I loved the write up. It really hit home. I have two daughters and trust me you are not alone. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
rcdinaz Report post Posted October 12, 2015 Girls are great! Other than completely losing their minds around 13-14 all 3 of mine are different and a lot of fun! The two oldest hunt and the little one asks when she will be old enough every hunting season. My daughters have both had to teach guys to clean fish. My oldest went dove hunting with a group of guys from school like she just belonged there this year, one of the boys is a family friend and they treat her like one of the guys (yep dad tagged along to check it out). I really think hunting and fishing doesn't get the credit it deserves for giving kids confidence and a sense of pride. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Couzer Report post Posted October 12, 2015 Great job! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
carpcody Report post Posted October 12, 2015 Nice deer, good job! Good write up. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Mocha1545 Report post Posted October 12, 2015 Congrats to your Daughter. Great job Dad! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
