2022 AZ Javalina/Coues Archery sorta live

[jnd1959]

Here's the Santa Rita mts to the west.
Day 1 of Coues

The Whetstones to the east.


Morning started and they're definitely not rutting yet. Counted 35 deer today. Finally at the end of the day we saw some rutting activity by a shooter buck. I'm definitely getting a pair of 15s to glass with. I knew my 10s would be a challange. And I can still pick out deer but I can't see the detail. And switching to a spotting scope you lose them and have to find them again.

Come to AZ. Hunt desert coues... In the snow!


Top of the mountain, we found the Arizona trail.

[Short Mag]

Good luck today

[doug]

Good luck !

[jnd1959]

Pictures from today.







Second one is the javalina we were covered up in this morning. Ended up with three groups totalling at least 20 and maybe more.

The other two pictures are of Coues deer we glassed.
We say 9 bucks. Made a play on 2. 2 of them were definate P&Y class. One we glassed 4 hours hoping he would move off the ledge he was on. Finally decided to move to other places tomorrow and come back to him Wednesday. So far having a blast and learning a lot about glassing these grey ghosts.

[camoclad]

Good luck

[3ChordTruth]

Beautiful, rugged country, good luck. Great pics, thanks for posting.

[3DW5]

Looks like a blast, good luck!!!!

[jnd1959]

So today started off slow with lots of does but not many bucks. No rutting. We're in a different unit. After lunch we glass a new area. I spot a good coues right away. It goes over the hill so we decide to go after it once we finish glassing the rest of the area. Guide spots a mule deer that looks promising. They ask if I'm interested. So we plan a stalk. It's about 3/4 a mile to the deer. Before we leave we get another look and the deer just gets better. We stalk up a wash, the wind changes and the deer move over a hill. We change tactics and loop around the hill to come in upwind. We get to about 170 yards. We're pinned down by what we think are 6 or 7 does. While waiting a truck drives by about 300 yards away and sees the deer, stops, backs up glasses, goes forward, glasses then backs up and glasses again. He finally sees us and drives off only to drive by again. Before this the deer have bedded down but now start getting nervous. They get up and move toward us and end up right on top of us. Not 6 but 14 does and two spikes. Big boy follows the does and begins to move our way. A better look at him confirms this is a monster buck. We have does within 10 yards and a spike that is blowing at a doe about 10 feet on the other side of a tree. Big boy follows a hot doe in to 50 yards. All the other does have moved past us in the clear at 28 yards. But they now have our wind and start to blow. Hot girl moves uphill right instead of left. Big boy moves to follow her and guide says he's at 50. I step out to draw and confront a hot mess. I see part of a big deer that I think is big boy but then a doe moves behind him and I'm not totally sure. I have about 5 seconds to shoot and by the time I get my bearings he's up the hill following hot mama. Unbelievable stalk that lasted 2 hours. We were in the deer for two minutes and it was pandemonium. This is exactly what I wanted. We look at vid and pictures and determine the deer is between 190 and 200. We have him put to bed and will try again tomorrow. Grainy pic the guide took of him bedded will follow.

[jnd1959]

Two deer are bedded a doe above and big boy below.

[jnd1959]

Two things caused this stalk to fail. First the timing of all the does. Another 10 seconds and hot Momma would have moved down with the other does. Second, and more importantly, I wasn't experienced in shooting with all this pandemonium. It took me too long to sort out what was happening. Comes with more experience I guess. For two minutes deer were running around us. They weren't sure what we were but didn't have enough info to run. Even after they winded us they were blowing and having an issue on which way to go. Some would run off only to come closer.

[bowtecmike]

Sounds awe inspiring, good luck tomorrow


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[ORIONTHEHUNTER]

Nice buck, but nowhere near 200 with that tine length

[Hooverfb]

Pretty cool!

[jnd1959]

Nice buck, but nowhere near 200 with that tine length

Could be. But it's bigger than anything I've shot.

[jnd1959]

Wednesday we decided to concentrate on mule deer since the Coues rut is late. Saw between 90 and 100 deer. Made a play on three. Loosed an arrow on a tight tall 3 by. Judged it for 54. I knew right away I had shot under him. I dropped my bow arm. An old bad habit I thought was long gone. Second play was a bust. We couldn't get inside the does. Third play we had a small 2 by at 52. I was already drawn when he stopped. Went to settle and the pin was dead in the sun. Stepped to the left and he was gone following the hot doe.

Thursday morning started with a second stalk at the tight high 3 by. We managed to get within 48 yards but I was too slow on the draw. This was an intense stalk with the last 100 yards taking about an hour and a half. I'm thinking I need to decide to give up competition archery and / or just work on a faster draw sequence. It is at 7 and needs to be below 5 from start of draw. I just took too long settling in order to perfect the shot. Second stalk of the day was a bust. Finale stalk had us in striking distance when other hunters spooked deer. Still another hunter was tracking a wounded deer that turned out to be the one we were after. It was not visibly injured but we did see some blood on the inside hind leg. With so many hunters around and the shooter actively pursuing the deer we backed out. It was tough as I had to hump it about a half mile to get into position. But it was the right call. That was it for this trip. Thoroughly enjoyed the trip and hunting with Duwane Adams and his guide Lars. Lars has incredible eyesight and the ability to spot deer. Both taught me a lot about hunting Arizona. Glassing and stalking.

What I took away from this hunt:

50 x 56 binos. Good quality glass. They had Swarovski glass and it made a difference.
Learn to glass, glass an area and move. Save the walking for the stalk
You don't have to be in great shape to do this but you do need to understand your limitations. Last day I walked 9 miles. That was all stalking and walking from the truck to the glassing spot. I'm an old fat guy. But I've gotten clearance from the docs to climb and can jog a couple hundred yards at a clip and did on several occasions.

Glass, determine if bucks are there and if not move. Don't waste time being sure. These guys spotted deer immediately. We may spend 15 minutes at a glassing spot.
You don't have to hire a guide but at least take a glassing class. Mr. Adams does them in the off season. Show up with 50 x 56 and good glass for lessons or your just wasting your time. They spotted between 300 and 400 deer in 5 days. I picked out 4 before they did. In the 10 x 42s I wasn't sure if I was seeing a deer or a shrub. In they're 15s I could not only see the deer but also that it was a buck.
A spotter helps tremendously. You can hunt on your own but you won't know if the deer have busted or moved.

Don't worry about other hunters. They'll be around and you may have to change plans. There's a lot of land out there so just find another place. If your good at glassing it won't matter anyway. You'll see deer the others miss.

Learn to shoot longer distances...no longer than that...still longer. You need to practice at 100 yards. This makes the 70 yard shot an easier one.