The Hedgehog
Well-known member
- Joined
- Dec 19, 2000
- Messages
- 11,866
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.
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.