AZHunter
Iowa Boy At Heart
I realized I haven't been on here in a long time, especially when I saw everything has changed. Lots going on in our hunting fishing world during COVID-times. A month ago, I took my son on his third youth deer hunt. He harvested his second Coues buck and is showing no interest in mule deer (carp deer to die-hard Coues hunters). It was unseasonably hot for a late November hunt, even down near Tucson.
"I just want to fill my tag, put tasty meat in the freezer for us, and get out of this stupid heat."
That's what Jacob said to me when he decided to go after a smaller deer than planned on the opening day of his deer hunt Friday. We both love chasing Coues whitetail in SE Arizona, but hunting in 87 degrees in November is horrible, especially when shade is limited.
Shortly after a post-lunch nap in a small piece of shade, I glassed up a group of deer going to water across the valley. I got Jacob's attention and let him know there was a fork and a goofy-looking spike in the group of 5-6 deer. That's when he said the above quote, referring to the fork. They came down to 350 yds, but circled back up to 400 yds. Jacob got lined up, adjusted his scope accordingly, and missed slightly right. It happens. We attributed it to buck fever/operator error. The bucks kept walking uphill away from us and bedded behind two rocks just under 500 yds from us.
We kept an eye on them and our friend joined us to glass, bringing much-appreciated ice-cold drinks. We watched the bucks fidget and twitch for a couple of hours and then realized the one rock was actually the spike's body behind some grass. Jacob asked, Carl encouraged, and I gave Jacob the thumbs up for a 500-yd shot. He's put the time in behind his rifle and I know how comfortable he is. He took the shot, and missed wide right again. The fork eventually stood up and walked to the left of the spike, standing perfectly broadside. That's when we found out his scope got bumped off somewhere between his last practice session and his hunt. He shot at the fork at 5:05pm and dropped the bedded spike cleanly. We celebrated and laughed at what just happened. Somedays, I'll take luck over skill, although I know Jacob has the skill. He's a way better shooter than I am.
We hustled across the valley, tagged Jacob's deer, took a few quick pics, field dressed the deer, and hiked back to camp by headlamp. As I was carrying all of the meat, I realized I was glad he harvested the smaller buck. My pack was somewhere between 60-70lbs, including meat and all my gear. Then Jacob cooked us Coues tacos for dinner!
Friendships were solidified, and the love of chasing Coues whitetail in SE Arizona grew stronger. What an adventure. It turns out that, between his last practice session and his hunt, two ring screws had come almost a full turn loose. It made me realize just how lucky we were and it taught me a valuable lesson about checking all aspects of all gear much more regularly. Operator error (over-torqueing screws) when I remounted the scope jarred the reticle loose, so its been sent back to Vortex. He's committed to his bow and/or one of my 1911s for his youth javelina hunt in January!
I never get tired of SE AZ sunrises
Glassing away
Mountain/deer hunting lunches are the best!
There are two Coues whitetail bucks in this picture
Realizing he filled his tag!
Proud moment!
Proud hunter cooking dinner!
"I just want to fill my tag, put tasty meat in the freezer for us, and get out of this stupid heat."
That's what Jacob said to me when he decided to go after a smaller deer than planned on the opening day of his deer hunt Friday. We both love chasing Coues whitetail in SE Arizona, but hunting in 87 degrees in November is horrible, especially when shade is limited.
Shortly after a post-lunch nap in a small piece of shade, I glassed up a group of deer going to water across the valley. I got Jacob's attention and let him know there was a fork and a goofy-looking spike in the group of 5-6 deer. That's when he said the above quote, referring to the fork. They came down to 350 yds, but circled back up to 400 yds. Jacob got lined up, adjusted his scope accordingly, and missed slightly right. It happens. We attributed it to buck fever/operator error. The bucks kept walking uphill away from us and bedded behind two rocks just under 500 yds from us.
We kept an eye on them and our friend joined us to glass, bringing much-appreciated ice-cold drinks. We watched the bucks fidget and twitch for a couple of hours and then realized the one rock was actually the spike's body behind some grass. Jacob asked, Carl encouraged, and I gave Jacob the thumbs up for a 500-yd shot. He's put the time in behind his rifle and I know how comfortable he is. He took the shot, and missed wide right again. The fork eventually stood up and walked to the left of the spike, standing perfectly broadside. That's when we found out his scope got bumped off somewhere between his last practice session and his hunt. He shot at the fork at 5:05pm and dropped the bedded spike cleanly. We celebrated and laughed at what just happened. Somedays, I'll take luck over skill, although I know Jacob has the skill. He's a way better shooter than I am.
We hustled across the valley, tagged Jacob's deer, took a few quick pics, field dressed the deer, and hiked back to camp by headlamp. As I was carrying all of the meat, I realized I was glad he harvested the smaller buck. My pack was somewhere between 60-70lbs, including meat and all my gear. Then Jacob cooked us Coues tacos for dinner!
Friendships were solidified, and the love of chasing Coues whitetail in SE Arizona grew stronger. What an adventure. It turns out that, between his last practice session and his hunt, two ring screws had come almost a full turn loose. It made me realize just how lucky we were and it taught me a valuable lesson about checking all aspects of all gear much more regularly. Operator error (over-torqueing screws) when I remounted the scope jarred the reticle loose, so its been sent back to Vortex. He's committed to his bow and/or one of my 1911s for his youth javelina hunt in January!
I never get tired of SE AZ sunrises
Glassing away
Mountain/deer hunting lunches are the best!
There are two Coues whitetail bucks in this picture
Realizing he filled his tag!
Proud moment!
Proud hunter cooking dinner!
