Tuscon Jan 21-25th

[SDLIVIN]

Well unfortunately that Onx AZ OTC deer hunt series is a little late for me.

Finalizing last minute details, but plan so far is to pack up Saturday, driving out Sunday (10 hours), Scouting Monday, hunting Tuesday through Friday, drive home Saturday. Originally was only hunting AZ because my wife was going on a business trip in Tuscon and I was trying to leverage that, but now appears we will just be in the same state at that time.
Recently posted up on an Arizona Hunting Forum board, mentioned GMU's I was looking at and a member offered to show me around 35A.
So, will be meeting up with him Monday morning for scouting. He suggested we meet up at a lake campground area in the center of 35A, and after researching and asking questions, appears I will be using the campground as my base and doing short excursions from there to various hunting grounds, which makes things much more manageable. Super stoked to have local knowledge helping out an out of towner, from CA no less. Zonies traditionally have no love for CA folk regardless of our political leanings. Also, He mentioned other hunting opportunities in the area; predator (coyotes, cats, bear?) and Mearns quail. Though as expressed here, he mentioned very tough to find without dogs, but may join up with some hunters with dogs to tackle the quail. Oh yeah, and trout fishing in the lake.
Priority is Archery Deer, but if that doesn't pan out or (knock on wood) I harvest early in the trip, looks like there will be plenty other game to keep me occupied. fingers crossed.
-Robert

 

[Baller]

Looking forward to reading the report upon your return...

 

[SDLIVIN]

Been back a week now, but work got in the way...

Unsuccessful hunt, but I will chalk it up as a successful trip nonetheless.
The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly.
The Good...
-Had an amazing experience and I believe I learned a few things along the way.
-Felt great to be out and in such beautiful country, the lunar eclipse was a nice surprise on the first night.
-Got to test out some of my new gear so will be more prepared for next time.
-Met some great people; married couple from Wisconsin hunting Quail, another hardcore group from Oregon out bow hunting Javelina.
-Saw a couple dozen Coues deer where I was hunting. Many more Muleys in 'town' (like Christmas lawn ornamanents on front yards) and an Antelope herd in the lower grasslands.
-Overall the amount of deer in the area was ridiculous. Everywhere you looked it seemed.
-Got to stretch the legs on the 4x4 truck, fun off-roading.
-As I was breaking camp to pack and head home, a CBP officer stopped by and we chatted for an hour or two. He gave me some great info on other areas to hunt for next time.
The Bad...
-Of the 2 dozen Coues deer I saw/glassed, ALL were Doe in my hunting area. Never saw a buck trailing any of the solo or pack does.
-Possibly missed the rut by a week or two.
-No Muleys in the area that I was focusing on.
-Only buck I did see jumped the road in front of my truck on the way out of town, nice forkie.
-After the fact, heard that this area is pressured heavily beginning of the season.
The Ugly,
-Average elevation was 5500', got really cold at night, mid 20's. Made the few nights that got up in the low 30's feel warm in comparison.
-Lack of time planning, specific knowledge of the area, unclear strategy and tactics negatively impacted the harvest opportunity.
-Subsequently spent more time exploring the area then I would have liked.
-Since I never saw a buck, never even came close to taking a shot. No shot to take.
-$300 OTC Tag soup, ouch.
Didn't take a lot of pictures, just because I was using my work phone as a camera and it auto locks every 30 seconds, so PITA to use in the spur of the moment and not the best quality.
But here are a few.

Lessons learned.
-Passion and exuberance do not make up for time planning. Trip came together in a week or two, could of / should of spent months pre-planning.
-Luck sometimes pays out, but experience rules the roost. First Deer hunting trip, First Bow Hunting trip. Even lack of harvest one should still gain some experience points to carry on to the next opportunity.
-Was not pre-aware that my hunting area was Coues only at that elevation. I should have made a decision early to change hunting location to focus on Mule Deer as in my mind I believe they would be a little easier to bow hunt/stalk.
-Tried spot/stalk, didn't even glass a buck, but stalked does for practice and the grass and ground made it almost impossible to be quiet. Not sure this could be an effective Coues strategy in this specific area.
-Tried ambush with a natural blind. One evening spotted 3 doe on a bluff following a well made trail, next afternoon I set-up close to that trail, thinking they would retrace and maybe, just maybe a buck would be trailing. They never showed.
-Set-up ambush at a cattle water stations, as I heard (Jay Scott podcast, as recommended by Kellendv) this was a good strategy, and did see plenty of deer in the immediate areas around the water holes, but it had rained and snowed the previous week, so there was plenty of water everywhere.
-Full moon, so it did appear the deer were more active later in the evenings well into night, possibly being much more nocturnal then typical.
Hunting License is valid for year from date of purchase, so will be planning (well in advance) next years trip.
Tree stand tactic will be in the mix compliments of an area my CBP friend told me about on the outskirts of Tuscon.
-Robert

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[SDLIVIN]

and the last sunset

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[HATCHET1]

AZ can be a tuff state to hunt...

 

[HortoTheSlayer]

Sounds like you gave it a great shot and next year you'll be better prepared. At least you got out there and saw some new country. Nice write up.

 

[ilovesprig]

Just seeing game is half the fun....Sounds like a trip that gave you valuable knowledge for next time.

 

[msailor]

Sounds like a great trip gotta get to AZ one of these days.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Bowman]

Awesome trip and hunt

 

[Kellendv]

Robert,

Sounds like you had a great experience. I would not beat yourself up... for a first deer hunt, with a bow, I’d say you had the experience you should have... a humbling one lol. The vast majority of people do not fill their tag on most hunts (rifle or bow) and Coues deer are one of the tougher species to hunt. You mentioned that you wished you had more time to plan. Planning is great but there is no substitute for spending time in country. Obviously you need to be proficient with whatever weapon you choose to use, but other than that the best thing you can do to increase your chance of success is to put boots on the ground in the area you will hunt. It’s not always possible to scout an area that’s so far from home, and that’s where map study will come into play. Look for tucked away canyons, draws, and bowls. Mark hills to glass from on your OnX. That 300 dollar tag is just the price of admission... without it you don’t even get to play the game!

 

[Bowman]

Intel from freinds helps too.
It was a well executed hunt.
Just wasn't in the cards.
You did well my friend.
LB

 

[SDLIVIN]

Robert,

Sounds like you had a great experience. I would not beat yourself up... for a first deer hunt, with a bow, I’d say you had the experience you should have... a humbling one lol. The vast majority of people do not fill their tag on most hunts (rifle or bow) and Coues deer are one of the tougher species to hunt. You mentioned that you wished you had more time to plan. Planning is great but there is no substitute for spending time in country. Obviously you need to be proficient with whatever weapon you choose to use, but other than that the best thing you can do to increase your chance of success is to put boots on the ground in the area you will hunt. It’s not always possible to scout an area that’s so far from home, and that’s where map study will come into play. Look for tucked away canyons, draws, and bowls. Mark hills to glass from on your OnX. That 300 dollar tag is just the price of admission... without it you don’t even get to play the game!

Thanks.
I knew going into it, it was going to be a low percentage opportunity, but one still has to be optimistic in these endeavors. I figured if Steve Rinella couldn't capitalize in AZ, close the area I was in, on a coues with a rifle, my first bow-hunt was going to be challenging to say the least.
Agreed, boots on the ground is invaluable, learned a lot through simple exploration.
In this situation, it wasn't lack of finding canyons, draws, and bowls. It was the overabundance of this topography. Terrain was basically a plateau of grass ridges with dozens upon dozens of tree spotted draws and bowls feeding into larger canyons/washes that ran for miles to the border. The vastness of the terrain was daunting. At a certain point just had to make a choice and pick a draw/bowl/canyon to work with. Every one of them held deer, I am positive of that. Season is over, but already thinking into next. I appreciate the advice as well.
Regards,
-Robert