First AZ deer hunt
Printed From: The BaitShop
Category: Hunting
Forum Name: Big Game
Forum Description: Deer, elk, antelope, and all other big game on all continents.
URL: http://www.baitshopboyz.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=28009
Printed Date: 26 March 2026 at 18:08
Software Version: Web Wiz Forums 11.10 - http://www.webwizforums.com
Topic: First AZ deer hunt
Posted By: MapleHill
Subject: First AZ deer hunt
Date Posted: 11 December 2023 at 19:51
Well, we had 4 days to try to find a Coues buck in southern AZ with my boys and best friend. My oldest son drew the tag, but he had finals the first 6 days of the hunt, which left us with 4 days. My buddy landed Wednesday evening, we picked him up and headed south. We saw several does morning 1, hoping for mr buck to show up. Well, we hunted hard, daylight till dark, saw dozens of does and fawns, not a single buck showed up. I never thought we would see so many does and not 1 antlered deer showed, not even in the road at night! Needless to say, the research has started to find the habits of these elusive little deer. This was our first time hunting them, we took 2 scouting trips down there and at the spot we found we saw deer everyday. We noticed a couple quirks with these deer. We didn't see a single deer while sitting on watch in the evening, not one! We did see them moving until about 11:30, which we thought was very odd compared to what are used to with whitetails and mulies in the other places we have hunted. These little deer are very hard to see, they blend in amazing and their diminutive size make them very challenging. This was the first hunt I have been on where sitting and glassing is the way it's done. I will start another thread on the equipment we used...good optics are a MUST! Overall we had a great time, I am so proud of my boys, they hung in there glassing from start to finish. I'm not sure I would have had the patience to do that at their age (15 and 18) and walking dozens of miles in some rough terrain, actually the worst place to walk I have ever been to. Loose stones/gravel everywhere make for rolled ankles and sore feet, it's not as steep as Idaho, not as high as Colorado, but the broken ground and "high enough" (6000-7500ft) make it a challenge. This particular area didn't have much for cactus to jab you. Now, son #2 and I will make some plans to chase deer with archery tackle and try to call in some predators...stay tuned for that. Here are a few pics of the country we were in and my boys. Sunrise at our spot. The area the sun is shining on is Mexico.  My oldest son Matt, he was the tag holder  Both my boys  My younger son Adam at another spot we found near a water hole  A cool view we had over looking a well used area near a spring
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Replies:
Posted By: BEAR
Date Posted: 12 December 2023 at 06:31
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Thanks for the great pics. Looks flat to this mountain/foothills guy. maybe you need another rifle, flat shooter. LOL keep us up to date. Over man years, I've figured the opposite. I see most deer in the morning. they feed at night and roam till the sun comes up, then travel to bedding areas. They seem to come alive again at sunset, and like me waking up they move slow for about an hour; which means they are not active till dark. I always hunt all day, in at 5 am out at 5 pm. Good luck to you and the boys. ------------- “ The IQ and the life expectancy of the average American recently passed each other in opposite directions.” |