Basser15 Report post Posted January 1, 2008 ....the deer gods gave to me! (Sing it in the 12 days of x-mas beat ) (This was copied from another message board, so if some of the names don't make sense I'm sorry, but a lot of you view over there too so I'm sure it'll make sense.) Well my first coues hunt is unfortunately, or fortunately depending on how you look at it, now over. In fact, it is my first ever rifle deer hunt (8 bonus points ). We had 3 tags between us and were able to fill all 3 of them over that time frame. I was there for mine and one other but wasn't able to be with Jay when he filled his, but I think he did ok withouth me. Thanks to everyone who helped us out over that period and I truley enjoyed the time spent out there with all of you and can't thank you enough. Quick recap: The first 2 days of the season Dan(GBR) and I were tagging along with Jay in his unit to help him locate some deer. The first morning we glassed up a real nice buck but as we were moving into position we were busted by some does and a spike who of course ran in the one direction that we didn't want them to. Game over. The only good reason for that happening is since we had already hiked to the other end of the valley and draws that we were hunting we decided to sit and glass some more from there and leave Dan all by his lonesome on the other side...which was the only time we had peace and quiet all morning That afternoon was when we glassed up the lion....what a sight. The next morning we went to another area and where Jay didn't pull the trigger on a couple bucks that we were trying to talk him into, but it all worked out since this area produced his toad of a buck the last weekend of the season. http://www.azsj.org/forums/showthread.php?t=14408 The next 3 days Dan and I spent hunting for my deer but all we could locate were does, a flat tire on the Rhino 8 miles from anywhere, and a truck load of weed....so pretty uneventful I came home for a couple days to do the Christmas shopping, and then the weekend before Christmas I went back out with my brother Hunter. On the way in I experienced my second flat tire of the trip, this time on my truck. We decided to carry on with the spare to hunt that evening and the next morning and take care of the tire later. That Saturday morning we glassed up the first bucks of the hunt but they weren't what I was looking for....but then realized how cool it would be to take my first buck with my little bro there. By the time I came to that realization I turned to relocate the bucks but of course they had disappeared. Lesson learned on that one. We ended up cutting the trip short and coming back to Phoenix so I could take care of the tire since Tucson didn't have what I needed, and spend some time with the famdamily leading up to Christmas. The morning of the 26th I met Houston and dark thirty to begin the home stretch of my hunt. That afternoon we met up with Andy(flyfishmadison) who was driving out from New Mexico and set up our base camp that we would be using for the rest of the week. The morning of the 27th, which was Andy's first day of the hunt, he located a buck on the other side of the valley. We decided to move in and check him out, which turned out to be a good idea. Half way to our designated location Houston radioed to inform us that he was joined by two others, one of which looked to be a good buck. Here is the end result: (I'll let Andy expand on this one since it is his buck ) Over the next several days we hunted hard, tried different areas, hiked a little here and little there, even had Ron G my good luck charm come out for a day, but we couldn't locate any mature bucks. I've heard reports of bucks rutting in different locations across the state and in surrounding units but we just didn't see any of it in our area. All the bucks we located were hanging out in bachelor groups with the exception of few forkies that we saw sniffing some doe butts, but none of the bigger dudes were coming out of hiding. We saw a ton of deer and looked over a lot of amazing country. Even had a couple small bucks and a tall, goofy two point within bow range but I just couldn't convince myself to pull the trigger on them at that point. That finally changed the night of the 30th... December 30th was my 12th day of hunting during this late Coues season. That morning Houston had come back up and Andy went home after the morning hunt. Time was starting to run out on this hunt and it was dawning on me that eventually I was going to have to come back to civilization at some point. Didn't want to but I guess we can't spend everyday hunting That evening Houston and I decided to retry an area that we had hunted before but from a different location. We located a buck one more ridge over and after a few minutes decided that it was our best option at that point. We gathered our gear and started the trek over there and hoping that we would have enough light to make this happen. About 100 hard or so into the walk we had two deer spook from the bottom and start up the other side. "The second one has horns!" is what i hear. I dropped to a prone position and located the buck in my scope as Houston tried a deer grunt to get him stopped...and sure enough it paused him just long enough for me to pull the trigger, and one 400 yard shot later I had my first deer on the ground! It's amazing how quick it can all happen sometimes... (If you notice Houston is actually smiling in this pic) We got him processed by headlamp and we were able to get half of him in Houston's pack and the other half in mine, both with some room to spare. Not much meat to these little boogers This was a very successful hunt in the fact that I was able to learn a lot about these deer, the country, and of course share the experience with a lot of people over the past couple of weeks. I also shot my first deer at 27 years old Thanks to everyone who helped out and I hope that I will someday be able to return the favor. Now unfortunately it's back to reality for a while. School starts back up tomorrow and I think my fun time is over for the next couple of months. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
azryan Report post Posted January 2, 2008 nice writeup...and congrats to all of you for taking some beautiful deer Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
AZ402 Report post Posted January 2, 2008 Congrats Rob!! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
KidBowHunter Report post Posted January 2, 2008 Nice bucks and good job! Troy Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mjmhunter Report post Posted January 3, 2008 Congrats to all of you guys!! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
AZ Jim Report post Posted January 3, 2008 Nice Job and good story ! Congrats! AZ Jim Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
gorczyca Report post Posted January 3, 2008 Kuddos...great job on some great bucks. Loved the story too... Scott G. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
elpepe25 Report post Posted January 3, 2008 great bucks fellers, congrats Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Basser15 Report post Posted January 4, 2008 Thanks guys. It was truley an enjoyable hunt and after 12 days I was ready to be home....but once I was unpacked and had a good nights rest I was already itching to get back out! Heading out on Saturday with my bow. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
