dihardhunter
Active member
As I've grown older sometimes it's hard for me to decipher quite how a hunt gets planned. What I mean is this - it's tough to differentiate whether it's the place that first captures my attention and then I find a species to hunt which provides a convenient excuse to go explore that place OR whether it's a species that I get the itch to hunt and then I explore what places I can realistically go to hunt that species. My Coues hunt definitely falls in this strange limbo - but bottom line is this, whether it's the chicken or the egg - I went hunting.
Quick flashback to this spring, I decided to use a couple AZ deer points to target the late Nov-early December hunt timeframe. I'm on faculty at a University and due to the late Thanksgiving, I knew my classes would be done the week following that holiday and I could return just in time to give final exams and submit grades after the trip was complete. It was not a surprise that I drew given prior demand and my current point levels, and because of some other tags that I and my dad drew, planning for this trip took a back seat. The one key conversation I did have was with the local wildlife officer. I ran a few access ideas past him and he helped me sort out the two best ideas. One was a hot walk on the desert floor hugging a public/private boundary for about 5 miles before I could make my way into some tough access Coues country, the other was just an all-out hike through a huge swath of public land where vehicle access had been blocked off several years prior. I ended up opting for the latter option even though it was a much longer hike to where I wanted to get. Two things won me over - first, water was much more available, and two, it was more of a mountains hunt than a foothills hunt.
Opener was on Friday but I did not touch down in Phoenix until Monday night. 4 hours driving later and I pulled into the 'X' I had marked on my map at 3:30 AM. A quick hour of sleep, some pack reorganization, and I was headed in deep for 4 days. The first day was incredible - I saw probably 25 deer between the muleys and Coues, encountered a herd of javelina, saw a good bear, many lion tracks, caught a flash of a couple coyotes, and lots of interesting bird life...a couple cantankerous head of cattle as well. Among the deer, I saw 2 muley bucks - both solid mature bucks. 1 big 3x3 with goalposts for 2s and a symmetrical boxy 4x4 with eyeguards that was rutting 3 does fairly hard for early December. For Coues bucks, I saw 2. One forkie that bounced up a hill from a waterhole around 10 AM and a heavy looking 3 point that tore through the underbrush when I bounced him out of his bed in mid-afternoon as I was completing my hike. That evening was slow - just 3 does and a trio of foxes - but I had accomplished my goal. I had hiked the 12 miles back to my camp spot and was just 1/4 mile from a fantastic glassing knob where I would start the morning. I was legitimately sleep deprived at this point and was asleep by 6:30 PM. It was a full 11.5 hours before I woke at 6 with just enough time to shake the cobwebs out and head up to the glassing point before dawn.
An hour and a half after daylight and I had yet to see anything other than a single cautious Coues doe that slipped through the saddle right beside me. I decided to run a primary ridge down and glass into some north facing cuts as the day warmed. That move paid off pretty quick. Within 30 minutes, I had picked up a small Coues buck and decided to slink closer in hopes that a bigger buck might be hidden in the underbrush. By the time I had cut the distance, the little buck was out feeding on barrel cactus fruits and a bigger buck had indeed joined him. I crept in to about 325 yards and made 2 quick killing shots to punch my tag. I thought he was a clean 2 point with huge eyeguards until I reached him and discovered he had snapped both main beams and lost a 3rd on his right side too. I was not disappointed though in the least. Even broken up, he was still a beautiful buck with nice shape.
Long story short, I got the buck quartered and packed back to camp by about 2 PM. I shot at 930. From there, I loaded everything up and made it about 3 hours down the trail. My plans were to cover a third of the distance that night, set up camp, and finish the packout the following day. I'm only about 140 pounds soaking wet, so even a lightweight camp with gun and gear + Coues buck is a doozy of load. The AZ hunting gods must have been smiling on me. Right before the sun started dipping behind the horizon, I had a fortuitous encounter with the rancher who had the area's grazing permit. We chatted a while before he asked "don't suppose you want a lift off the mountain?" Stupidest question I've ever been asked. I simply replied, "Is a bean green?" Enjoyed several more hours of conversation with him and his son that evening and spent the next 2 days processing meat and chasing a few jackrabbits around.
Fantastic adventure. Can't decide whether the place or the critter was more intriguing, but one thing I'm sure of, I'll be back.
Quick flashback to this spring, I decided to use a couple AZ deer points to target the late Nov-early December hunt timeframe. I'm on faculty at a University and due to the late Thanksgiving, I knew my classes would be done the week following that holiday and I could return just in time to give final exams and submit grades after the trip was complete. It was not a surprise that I drew given prior demand and my current point levels, and because of some other tags that I and my dad drew, planning for this trip took a back seat. The one key conversation I did have was with the local wildlife officer. I ran a few access ideas past him and he helped me sort out the two best ideas. One was a hot walk on the desert floor hugging a public/private boundary for about 5 miles before I could make my way into some tough access Coues country, the other was just an all-out hike through a huge swath of public land where vehicle access had been blocked off several years prior. I ended up opting for the latter option even though it was a much longer hike to where I wanted to get. Two things won me over - first, water was much more available, and two, it was more of a mountains hunt than a foothills hunt.
Opener was on Friday but I did not touch down in Phoenix until Monday night. 4 hours driving later and I pulled into the 'X' I had marked on my map at 3:30 AM. A quick hour of sleep, some pack reorganization, and I was headed in deep for 4 days. The first day was incredible - I saw probably 25 deer between the muleys and Coues, encountered a herd of javelina, saw a good bear, many lion tracks, caught a flash of a couple coyotes, and lots of interesting bird life...a couple cantankerous head of cattle as well. Among the deer, I saw 2 muley bucks - both solid mature bucks. 1 big 3x3 with goalposts for 2s and a symmetrical boxy 4x4 with eyeguards that was rutting 3 does fairly hard for early December. For Coues bucks, I saw 2. One forkie that bounced up a hill from a waterhole around 10 AM and a heavy looking 3 point that tore through the underbrush when I bounced him out of his bed in mid-afternoon as I was completing my hike. That evening was slow - just 3 does and a trio of foxes - but I had accomplished my goal. I had hiked the 12 miles back to my camp spot and was just 1/4 mile from a fantastic glassing knob where I would start the morning. I was legitimately sleep deprived at this point and was asleep by 6:30 PM. It was a full 11.5 hours before I woke at 6 with just enough time to shake the cobwebs out and head up to the glassing point before dawn.
An hour and a half after daylight and I had yet to see anything other than a single cautious Coues doe that slipped through the saddle right beside me. I decided to run a primary ridge down and glass into some north facing cuts as the day warmed. That move paid off pretty quick. Within 30 minutes, I had picked up a small Coues buck and decided to slink closer in hopes that a bigger buck might be hidden in the underbrush. By the time I had cut the distance, the little buck was out feeding on barrel cactus fruits and a bigger buck had indeed joined him. I crept in to about 325 yards and made 2 quick killing shots to punch my tag. I thought he was a clean 2 point with huge eyeguards until I reached him and discovered he had snapped both main beams and lost a 3rd on his right side too. I was not disappointed though in the least. Even broken up, he was still a beautiful buck with nice shape.
Long story short, I got the buck quartered and packed back to camp by about 2 PM. I shot at 930. From there, I loaded everything up and made it about 3 hours down the trail. My plans were to cover a third of the distance that night, set up camp, and finish the packout the following day. I'm only about 140 pounds soaking wet, so even a lightweight camp with gun and gear + Coues buck is a doozy of load. The AZ hunting gods must have been smiling on me. Right before the sun started dipping behind the horizon, I had a fortuitous encounter with the rancher who had the area's grazing permit. We chatted a while before he asked "don't suppose you want a lift off the mountain?" Stupidest question I've ever been asked. I simply replied, "Is a bean green?" Enjoyed several more hours of conversation with him and his son that evening and spent the next 2 days processing meat and chasing a few jackrabbits around.
Fantastic adventure. Can't decide whether the place or the critter was more intriguing, but one thing I'm sure of, I'll be back.
