Midwesterner Heading SW

[high rise hunter]

20 yards, you can't ask for much closer. I feel like the question then becomes, do you aim below the deer in anticipation of the buck jumping the string? That would be tough to do knowing if that deer just stands there the shot is a low, clean miss.

[broadhead]

I have to admit that I laughed out loud while reading the report from the 2017 hunt. And only because I know a bunch of people out there were wondering why a football game is important enough to leave a deer stand on an away trip during the rut. It takes a Packer fan to understand...

Packers - Cowboys, divisional round GB 34-31, Aaron Rodgers and "the throw" the Jared Cook. I would've been out of the blind watching that game too hahaha.

 

Speedy, I just moved minutes away from north side of 34a and hunted 33 last season. It took awhile but I found a few bucks once they started getting on the does during the rut. If you come down this way you're more than welcome to come out with me and try to fill your tag. There is no shortage of deer around. I doubt I'm going to have much chance to hunt the early archery season this year due to work and school but I still plan to get out and scout as much as I can so when December and the cool weather/rut rolls around I'll have a line on a few bucks. Send me a PM if you're ever interested.

 

PS where in Wisconsin are you from? I'm from south of Green Bay.

[Speedy]

It's that time of the year again to fly south to try and match wits with the wariest of all game species in the most hostile of all terrain.  Those of us from the great white north like me are easy to spot, we are usually red faced and complaining about the constant sunshine after 3 days.  I'll be there this Friday for another round of Coues deer vs. idiot with a recurve.  They won the past 3 rounds but I'm not one to give up that easy.  I've been preparing for 2 months so I'm ready, I even setup a special bow just for this hunt.   I'll keep you guys posted.  There no Packer games to distract me this time either. 

I also have another 34 a/b javi tag if anyone has some intel down that way they'd be willing to share that would be great.   I'll be happy to share some of the meat ;).  Actually I'd share some deer with anyone so I don't have to pay an excessive baggage fee.   And yum I can't wait for a sonoran dog at Ruiz's food truck in Tucson.  Truth be told they alone are worth the trip. 

 

[Speedy]

Well, getting closer but still no Coues.  I managed to get a 20 yard shot at a 3x3 that was trying hard to be a 4x4 but shot too far forward resulting in a non-fatal flesh wound.  Traditional bows have advantages and disadvantages over wheelie bows. An advantage is I can execute a shot sequence in under 2 seconds, but a disadvantage is not being able to hold full draw so timing of when to draw is critical.  I waited till his near leg started forward but he only took ½ step and then pivoted towards me so I had to hold tight to the shoulder.  Letting down would have resulted in a bust.  Still I thought I had a good shot, but was 4" left.  Centered in the kill zone on a broadside Coues that would have worked.  I felt really bad but the deer looked fine when I jumped him later.  He never bedded and was heading up hill.   Not making excuses but I know what some might be thinking (as I would) but I’ve killed 3 deer this season with my recurve, all died in under 60 yards.  This one was caused in part by my new shooting method.  Not using the arrow for a sight means I can’t be sure my anchor is aligned properly.  The method works, I just should have practiced with my face mask on.  Bummed to the extreme again.

I passed up a spork (1x2) that took interest in my decoy but wouldn’t get closer than 10 yards to it.  Had a doe walk right by it like nothing was there.  Another 3x3 saw it but then spooked right before entering the kill zone. Jury is still out on the deek, I’d like to see what an older buck thinks of it.  For some reason there were a lot of smaller bucks this year, not sure if there was a bad kill or what but most were barely 3x3s and lots of forkys. 

Despite all that happened I think I learned more about coues deer than that last 3 years combined. For one it’s really easy to burn out a stand.  I brought a trail cam which confirmed this.  Deer sightings went down every day to zero by day 3 (even after dark).  It’s not always the deer you see either, as I caught a few glimpses of deer sneaking away that winded me. 

Swirling winds and ground blinds don’t work well together, so based on the above it’s better to go somewhere else rather than risk burning a good blind. That’s not always easy to do.

I thought going higher in elevation to use tree stands might be the answer to scent control but there were no trees big enough to get more than 12 feet off the ground which isn't nearly high enough.  I also thought no way a coues deer won’t spot me in one but guess what, they don’t look up!  That was a surprise coming from the Midwest where they all do.  My reduced profile likely helps a lot.  The deer I hit was out of a tree stand, which lead to -

Coues deer are nervous wrecks to the max.  I cut off a few small cedar branches for shooting lanes and left one little branch laying off the side of the trail.  The buck I shot at came down the trail, saw the branch 10 feet away spun around and took off.  A minute later he came back, cautiously approached and nibbled on it for a few seconds before walking past.  Talk about acute awareness of your surroundings!  

I ran into 2 bowhunters one day just sneaking around, they were locals in their 20s.  It was fun talking to them but I mentioned the low deer density in AZ and how I typically see 8-10 deer per sit in WI and sometimes 25 or more in a big field and their eyes lit up.   That made me chuckle as they likely thought I was an idiot coming out here where if you see 2 deer a day it’s a success!  

The Sonoran dogs were as good as I remember.  It's going to be a long wait till next year...

[Speedy]

The wait is over, I'll be back in the desert in 2 days!  Another chance to build on my past experiences but I think I have a sure fire plan this time .  Still looking for javi intel in 34 a/b if I fill my deer tag.

Have to say I bowhunted deer in IA, MN and WI this past fall, even had a close encounter with a 170" class buck but never got as excited as I am right now. 

 

[mattys281]

Welcome back.  Just read your previous posts from last year, sure sounds like a lot of action and a great hunt.  Don’t be fooled, a lot of them do indeed look up.  They’re not as tuned in to treestands as their larger eastern cousins, but they can learn dang fast.  Good luck on your hunt!

[Speedy]

Thanks.  I have been perfecting a trick when deer look up, yelp like a turkey.  It works about 80% of the time with many of them completely relaxing never to look at me again.  Nevermind the fact that's a 5'6" 145# turkey in the tree above them!   Not sure it's going to work out there but I might have to give it a try.  Otherwise if they do see me for what I am I think that stand is burned for the week I'll be there.  

I'll be on final approach in PHX by this time tomorrow!  I can taste the sonoran dogs already.

[mattys281]

That’s a very interesting idea.  I’ll have to try that.  

[bigbuckfever]

Best of luck to ya Speedy.  Keep us posted.

[high rise hunter]

How did your hunt go @Speedy?

It was tough this year with an early rut. Saw some good bucks, not much for rut action and of course once again wasn't able to connect. 🙄 Not down and out yet, now that I live in this favorite state of mine I still have lots of opportunity in 2020 to make it happen! 

GPG! I'm stressing like crazy for this afternoon showdown.  

[Speedy]

Dang these deer require nothing short of perfection.  Hate to be a broken record, but another year same result.  This year I hunted exclusively from tree stands to improve the odds of taking one with a recurve.  After passing up a tiny 2x2 (6 pt my count) chasing a doe the first day (1/9) I experienced another ducked arrow again, when will I learn!  I’ve been telling myself if a deer is not looking at me aim normal, if they look at me aim low.  So on day 2 a better buck comes by the same stand and I’m planning to shoot while he’s moving (18 yds) rather than stop him, but as I hit full draw he stops and looks at me.  By this time I’m locked on and skimmed his back right over the vitals.  I almost tossed my bow out of the tree.  I saw another deer the next day that went by right at dark, then I never saw another deer again.  Due to the winter storm back home and a sick dog I headed back early (1/16) which was fine as I was completely bored after sitting for 3 days w/o seeing anything.   BUT, to make it even more frustrating a herd of Javis went by one of my stands the last day!  First time I’ve seen them in this area, and it would have been a perfect 10 yard shot from a tree stand but I was in the other one.  I wonder how many guys have ever shot one of these out of a tree?  I could’ve been the first?

In the end I only saw 4 deer from the stand which isn’t as many deer as I have past years, not sure if a cat moved in and cleaned them out or what.  There was a full moon but I never put too much into that.   Every year it always seems the deer action dies down mid-week which I’ve been attributing to me stinking up the place, but I’m having doubts since I hunt the same time period every year (the week leading up to MLK day) and this year I’ve been extra careful not to disturb things.   When I arrived on 1/9 bucks were chasing does but then that stopped, then on last day heading to my stand I saw a buck chasing does again, but mid hunt whenever I saw bucks after dark driving around they were with does either keeping a slight distance or laying with them.  We call this lockdown back home, when a buck senses a doe is about to come into estrus and stay with them. It lasts a few days and is the worst part of the rut as the only thing moving are buck fawns.  I wonder if that’s happening here as even my trail cams went quiet.  Maybe I’d be better off hunting earlier, or later? 

I was really hoping to fill my deer tag and venture around exploring other areas and that is what really PO-ed me the most about missing again.  Next year hopefully I’ll have more time since I’ll be able to drive, but that’s IF there’s a next year.  I’m pretty suborn so will likely come around to this hunt again by next year but how many years can I endure this frustration? 

Got to enjoy a Sonoran dog and hang with a bar full of senior Packer fans again, this time we beat those dang Seahawks!

 

[bigbuckfever]

I feel your pain Speedy, I came home after 3 days sitting a saddle and not getting to draw on anything.  Came down with the flu and tried to hunt through it but felt like I could black out at any time while it was about 30degrees out.  Had a 4 hour drive home with fever/chills.  hope to get back for the last couple days if I can swing it.  Oh well, that's all part of it.  There's always next year.

[Speedy]

I’m headed back, not even COVID can keep me away this year!  But this time is different, I’m driving and this will be my longest solo haul ever, 25 hours!  My new Ranger should be up to the task as it already survived an elk hunt in CO.  Sleeping in a tent rather than the back of an SUV will be nice too.  Plan to leave early Saturday Jan 2 arriving Sunday night in time to pick up a Rid A Rat thing and a deer license at Wally World (already have a Javi tag).  I have 2 weeks and hoping starting a week earlier will be better. My wife, 2 dogs and I were planning to rent a house and spend the entire winter there but that didn’t work out this year, but next year for sure. 

I’m just excited to get out of the house and hang out in the desert again.  Hunting back here in WI and MN has been excruciatingly slow.  What rut we had was way early and short.  I’ve been trying to kill a doe for the last 4 weeks (5 days with a muzzleloader, rest bow) and I’m embarrassed to say my freezer is still empty.  Might not have to be so picky and just take the first legal deer that wanders by.  There’s no problem bringing meat home so there’s no excuses!

[GilaCoues]

Good luck Speedy!  This has been a fun thread to read.  I'll be retired in a couple of years and looking forward to hunting this hunt since I only live a couple of hours away from the AZ state line.  

[DCS]

Good luck,exciting read.