Tag Soup

[The Hedgehog]

If you are going to eat tag soup.. might as well be good tag soup. Suprisingly, AZ Strip Tag soup is a little bitter and doesn't go down so good.

Got back late last night, hunted the entire season, spent 13 days exploring for deer and only saw one that I felt was worthy of the tag. Saw around a dozen different bucks and maybe 30 does in 13 days of looking. In 13 days I took about a total of 5 hours of daylight to nap or relax. It was busy, tough, and at times frustrating. On day 3, I turned down the 2nd best buck that I saw, a 25" thin-horned buck that would probably have scored in the 190s (gross). Saw a few others in the 170s. No regrets on passing any of them.

Lot of coulda-shoulda-wouldas... but it was a good adventure, learned a lot. The big buck I saw was 50 yards, broadside for several minutes.. the day prior to season. I hunted it opening AM in the rain, and went back several times. I should have stuck with it from the get go and sat on the handful of does in the area. Instead, I chose to check in now and again, and explore other areas. Local guide Breck Bundy and his client Jeff did the smart thing and stuck with the buck's area and his does, this and took the buck. Wish I would have known because I was hunting a dead buck for the last couple days of season. It was a massive old 35" wide B&C typical frame with trash on the right side. I'm sure its photos will show up in print, an absolutely beautiful trophy mule deer.

I was hunting good areas that held deer thanks to tips from Stan Durkalec and Ryan Hatch. The area is very challenging to hunt for a number of reasons. Anyhow, the AZ STRIP.. I came, I saw.. It kicked my ass.

 

[browtine]

Man! Sounds like you hunted hard and passed a couple decent bucks... You know what the "dead" buck scored?

 

[Oak]

Bummer, man. That sounds like an awesome ghost buck you were hunting the last couple of days. I can't imagine passing up a 190's buck, but then again I've never killed one.

Oak

 

[IdahoBugler]

Greeny, Sounds like you had a good time. It doesn't sound like it kicked you butt. I think any of those deer you passed up would of been trophies to most of us.

 

[Boman]

Greeny,

I kinda know the feeling. I drew a really good tag this year in Colorado and ate tag soup as well. An over the counter tag woulnd't bother me to not get something but this was a very limited tag so I had high hopes.. its very bitter soup for sure. Good luck next year.

 

[csutton7]

tag soup--I know it well--may I suggest getting a couple of yrs worth of different critters to add to the pot--makes it so much more satisfying(depressing)---but hey you saw some new country and hunted--that's the most fun and adding the animal is the climax and we all know about climaxing---chris

 

[mtmiller]

Sorry it didn't work out for you Kurt, but it sounds like did everything posible to make it happen. None-the-less, I am sure it was big fun hunting some new country.

 

[T Bone]

Good effort Green. It's a hard pill to swallow for sure. With time it will become less of a crap sandwich to chew on.....

 

[The Hedgehog]

Browtine, apparently the big buck was 35" wide and scored 215.

The moon was full too, that damn AZ G&F issuing AZ Strip tags during full moon.. unbelievable!

 

[noharleyyet]

Greeny, you shoulda just mailed the tag back. Cool story..sounds like you gave it a good shot.

 

[1_pointer]

I'm guessing a bit of boot leather was spent. That's one of the great things about hunting, it can break you down and turn around in a second.

 

[The Hedgehog]

Not much boot leather, a little. Not a physical hunt, but mentally the toughest there is. Downright frustrating to work so hard, knowing there are deer right there, but not being able to see them... Tough to take. Area is heavily roaded, but huge in size, isolated, and very few tags are allocated so the deer get huge none-the-less. I spent a lot of time riding an ATV. Tank to tank, using a GPS and map looking for water, tracks, then climbing onto knolls and buttes to glass AM and PM hours. Covering a ton of ground by and glassing multiple key areas early and late is the ticket to seeing the most deer. Took me a while to figure that out. Didn't take many photos but here's a couple scenery shots and me with my 40" buck.

 

[Moosie]

Nice buck man !!!!! Love the spread ...

Bummer on the Buck, Next time though, right ? Those tags are a Dime a Dozen right ?

 

[schmalts]

Judging by how clinched your fists are i say that buck is a little spindly.

 

[JB Florida]

Sounds like you had quite a challange!

I hate it for ya dude, tag soup sucks but it still beats being at work

Would ya do it again?
Thats a difficult tag to draw.

 

[1_pointer]

I'm not sure how I'd like hunting the p/j like that. Sounds like a LOTS of glassing. When I drove through there last Dec on my way to Phoenix, I did see one smoker buck in the back of a pickup. My former supervisor has a 191" net typical he got off the strip. It was the smaller of two bucks he was hunting. He came off the north end of the unit.

 

[danr55]

Welcome to Arizona hunting!!. Lots of country to look at but only a few good bucks in there. Sounds typical for the strip.

 

[Dinkshooter]

Love the kill shot, tastefully done, no blood in the photo. Good work.

High pressure tags can be rough. I need to dig out a picture of me on the last day of my unsuccesful Archery bighorn sheep hunt. Soaked to the bone holding a 7/8 curved piece of driftwood. Probably close to a 220 ram.

No blood in that photo either.

 

[AZ402]

I'll say that Kurt did better job scouting from 800+ miles than most resident tag holders did. The particular hunt he had is a very tough hunt due to the low deer densities. It does hold monsters but they are hard to come by. I wish I would have had the time to go up and lend an extra pair of eyes. I was impressed with the amount of time and effort he put into this hunt.

 

[TheTone]

Sorry to hear Greeny, looks like tough, big country and it sounds like you did everything possible to make it a success. Looks like tons of potential hiding cover for deer with the brush, as well as the topography. I'm gathering materials for a possible triple batch of tag soup unless things start changing fast for me.