Kaibab Plateau Early Rifle Hunt
- Thread starter npaden
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npaden
Well-known member
Just finished day 7 of my 7 day hunt and now we are about to go into extra innings.
Saw 20+ does and 2 bucks this afternoon and evening and then 50+ deer on the highway in the dark on the way back to camp.
That’s 70+ does and 8 bucks total today not counting the ones in the dark on the way back to camp.
One of the bucks was right at 160” according to the guide and we decided to pass on him. I’ll try to get a picture and post it here, but the guide is going to town to take a shower so I might not get it tonight.
It was another just gorgeous day with hardly any wind and just perfect temperatures.
3 days left in the season and things are looking up.
For some reason I’m way more upbeat now than on day 2 or 3. Part of it is developing a comradarie with the guide, part of it is the weather being nicer,
Saw 20+ does and 2 bucks this afternoon and evening and then 50+ deer on the highway in the dark on the way back to camp.
That’s 70+ does and 8 bucks total today not counting the ones in the dark on the way back to camp.
One of the bucks was right at 160” according to the guide and we decided to pass on him. I’ll try to get a picture and post it here, but the guide is going to town to take a shower so I might not get it tonight.
It was another just gorgeous day with hardly any wind and just perfect temperatures.
3 days left in the season and things are looking up.
For some reason I’m way more upbeat now than on day 2 or 3. Part of it is developing a comradarie with the guide, part of it is the weather being nicer,
El Jason
Well-known member
Love the positive attitude. Best of luck.
cgasner1
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It’s gonna make the difference
El Jason
Well-known member
Is this a migration hunt?
npaden
Well-known member
A couple other things I just remembered. Everyone has pretty much left and we have the place to ourselves. No gunshots today and only one other vehicle.
The end of the 7 day hunt means we are losing some of the extra guides and helpers. Now down to just the 2 guides with clients left and 1 extra guide to help spot.
Last thing tonight I think. I’m very happy with my guide and the outfitter. At no point did I mean to make it sound otherwise, I was just typing up my thoughts as I went. It might have come across negative but really wasn’t my intention. They have all been very nice and polite and professional and putting in a lot of effort. It’s not for lack of effort or expertise on their part that I don’t have a big buck on the ground, the luck just hasn’t gone my way and there are a lot of factors in play including the fire and it’s after effects that have impacted deer behavior. And I probably had my expectations too high. I have been told by everyone that it gets better as the season goes on and it is looking like that is the case and hopefully that will continue.
Kind of but not really. They do migrate but usually not much by the end of this early season. Usually there will be some deer movement with deer coming over from the west side due to higher hunting pressure over there. That seems to be part of the problem this season since with the archery season the area we are hunting was closed on both the east and west side. The guides are thinking this has impacted deer moving over from the west side. The highway that we have been seeing all the deer on the last 2 nights is the dividing line between the east and west so it is looking like they might be starting to move now hopefully.
The end of the 7 day hunt means we are losing some of the extra guides and helpers. Now down to just the 2 guides with clients left and 1 extra guide to help spot.
Last thing tonight I think. I’m very happy with my guide and the outfitter. At no point did I mean to make it sound otherwise, I was just typing up my thoughts as I went. It might have come across negative but really wasn’t my intention. They have all been very nice and polite and professional and putting in a lot of effort. It’s not for lack of effort or expertise on their part that I don’t have a big buck on the ground, the luck just hasn’t gone my way and there are a lot of factors in play including the fire and it’s after effects that have impacted deer behavior. And I probably had my expectations too high. I have been told by everyone that it gets better as the season goes on and it is looking like that is the case and hopefully that will continue.
Kind of but not really. They do migrate but usually not much by the end of this early season. Usually there will be some deer movement with deer coming over from the west side due to higher hunting pressure over there. That seems to be part of the problem this season since with the archery season the area we are hunting was closed on both the east and west side. The guides are thinking this has impacted deer moving over from the west side. The highway that we have been seeing all the deer on the last 2 nights is the dividing line between the east and west so it is looking like they might be starting to move now hopefully.
Hem
Well-known member
I'd be getting nervous about the gratuity cost, better not settle for less.
Big Hank only.
Good luck!!!
Big Hank only.
Good luck!!!
npaden
Well-known member
I did ask about how that would work with the extra guides and helpers and they said that they should have already received a decent tip from their successful hunter and that I didn’t need to tip them just for helping out. I did buy the entire crew lunch at the cafe yesterday though.
They did say that if one of them actually turned up a buck that I ended up shooting that a couple hundred dollar tip would be nice.
The guide that is still hanging around now that the 7 day hunt is over is my guides brother and I’m probably going to tip him regardless and if he spots a deer I end up shooting I’ll add to that.
Like Randy says, you’ll run out of time and health before you run out of money. I can’t take it with me.
Irrelevant
Well-known member
How many of these bucks are repeat spots from day to day, any idea?
npaden
Well-known member
There might be a couple of the small bucks that are repeats from day to day but we went for a few days without seeing any bucks so no repeats on those days!
Really hoping that today is the day! The Halloween buck of 2025.
Mallardsx2
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I absolutely would not have been able to pass the 160” buck !!
The pressure on these 20 year wait tags is for real. That's a fact.
Hell, the pressure on the 5 year wait tags is real. Its 5 years of your life, waiting for a chance. Its actually kind of ridiculous when you think about it.
East side is a hard hunt. I had the muzzleloader tag a couple years ago, started looking a couple days before season and hunted every day of the season. I saw one decent buck. Although I did watch the crew that you are with kill a 200 inch buck in my spotting scope.
A lot of the big deer on top peel off to the west side where you can’t hunt them. It will be interesting in a year or two when the new burn get some green in it. That opens up a lot of country that was a jungle before.
A lot of the big deer on top peel off to the west side where you can’t hunt them. It will be interesting in a year or two when the new burn get some green in it. That opens up a lot of country that was a jungle before.
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BuzzH
Well-known member
If you're putting pressure on yourself over a tag, IMO, you're doing it wrong.
I hunt for 180 degrees the opposite reason for stress and pressure.
I do agree that it's ridiculous to feel pressure on a hunt, that's just dumb.
Mallardsx2
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duckhunt
Well-known member
Definitely getting an adventure out of this one.
npaden
Well-known member
Kind of a bust this morning and I thought it was going to be good. Pretty sunrise though.
Saw about 25 does and 1 small buck.
Here’s a picture of the 160” buck we passed on yesterday. He looks a little better in the video, I may try to post that later. Just a clean 4x4 with a little weak back forks. No trash or extras. He was with a couple 140” type bucks, they thought he was probably just a 2 1/2 year old.
Taking a short lunch and hoping that since the deer quit moving earlier than normal this morning that they will be up and moving earlier this afternoon.
I’m not feeling any pressure, if we find a big buck that would be awesome but if we don’t I feel like both me and my guide have done everything we could to make it happen.
Saw about 25 does and 1 small buck.
Here’s a picture of the 160” buck we passed on yesterday. He looks a little better in the video, I may try to post that later. Just a clean 4x4 with a little weak back forks. No trash or extras. He was with a couple 140” type bucks, they thought he was probably just a 2 1/2 year old.
Taking a short lunch and hoping that since the deer quit moving earlier than normal this morning that they will be up and moving earlier this afternoon.
I’m not feeling any pressure, if we find a big buck that would be awesome but if we don’t I feel like both me and my guide have done everything we could to make it happen.
