2013 Mixed Luck AZ Archery Buck

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lancetkenyon
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2013 Mixed Luck AZ Archery Buck

Post by lancetkenyon » Thu Jan 16, 2014 11:56 am

Started out the December 2013 archery hunt with decent hopes but no plans of hard hunting, as I had taken two weeks off at the end of the year from work to spend with the family for the holidays.

I took a few days to start scouting with my 11 year old daughter for her upcoming javelina hunt in unit 21, and figured the bow would be going with us each day in case we saw something. Spent some time shooting the rifles out to 830 yds, and my 11 year old daughter went 8 out of 10 at a 12" steel with my .223 at 613 yds. Made my confidence in her making a longer shot go way up. Some good luck.

Got to spend some quality time in the field with her as well, as my wife was working crazy hours for the holidays, and we had a blast just hiking and glassing, took the dogs out a few times, and generally enjoying God's wonders and even some history lessons. We found some matates, saw some antelope, lots of javelina sign but no pigs. I was getting a little disappointed in not seeing pigs, but fresh sign still has me hopeful for February. Also was not seeing any deer. Mixed luck.

On Sunday, 12-29-13, my daughter had plans to go to laser tag with my sister/BIL/nephew who were in from Connecticut, and my older daughter who lives in our old house. I took that opportunity to really put some shoe leather down and hit some more remote location in hopes of finding some pigs. Of course, the bow went with me in hopes of spotting a buck. Started out hiking and glassing hillsides and canyons with lots of prickly pear. Found more sign, but still no pigs or deer.

About noon, I glassed up some Coues deer bedded in a canyon, but nothing big, so decided to let the small buck grow up a few years. Hiking at the bottom of a wash and looking for sign, I stumbled upon what I thought was an upside down doe skull in a heavy runoff area. Went to kick it over and to my surprise, it did not move.....hmmmm. I bent down thinking it might be a little buck, and could not pull it out of the dried mud. Started getting exited and digging it out that excitement grew. I finally pried it out of the dried mud (under the top few inches it was still pretty wet), and got a very nice surprise. A mature 3x3 Coues rack was still attached and with being buried in the mud, looked outstanding with no cracks or chewed tines, and the mud kept or stained it brown. Looks like it was a lion kill, as the front nose cavity is gone. Who knows and who cares. Great luck!!!

Anyway, strapped it to the pack and keep hiking, thinking my hunting luck has changed for the better, no matter what else happens the rest of the year. Climb out of the canyon, and now about 2 1/2 miles from my truck, and glass the next canyon. About 3:00PM, I glass up a decent lone mulie buck bedded under a 20' cliff and some low scrub. Decide now is the time to put on a stalk. Back slowly out of my canyon and hike down about 3/4 mile and cross the canyon the buck is bedded in to get above/behind his bed. I had GPSed my glassing position and noted a tall saguaro above the buck as a reference point to head to. Got to the buck's location at about 4:20PM. Took off the pack and over the top I go to get to the top of the cliff. Nock an arrow and draw and peek over the cliff, which should be right above the bedded buck about 20 yards.....no buck. Bad luck?

Back off and lower the bow. Wonder if I am at the correct spot and verify the cactus and my original glassing location....yep...this should be it. Draw again and peek back over....the buck is up but moved 60 yds. to the right and slowing feeding away up the canyon....but no shot as he is behind some mesquite trees. Bad luck.

Heart racing, I back off again and take off my hiking boots as the buck is now up. Sneak over the 60 yards as quickly as I can to get to the bucks feeding position and draw and peek over the ridge.....buck is still moving slowly but only 40 yards up the canyon again and I have a shot if he turns.......if he turns......still feeding away. I make a soft grunt sound in hopes he will stop walking. He turns his head and takes one step giving me a nearly perfect broadside shot slightly downhill at about 45 yards. Great luck!!!

Squeeze the release and the arrow buries itself in what seemed like a perfect hit for a double lung shot.....and the buck jumps and bolts like he is shot out of a cannon! Watch him start downhill down the canyon but quickly turned uphill and goes over the spine of the ridge I am on and out of sight. Hands shaking and heart pounding in my ears I listen to him as much as possible but can't hear much. More great luck!!

I head back to grab my boots and pack and give the buck some time to expire. Get to the spot I saw the buck go over at about 5:00PM, and lots of blood. Good luck!

Trail the blood down into the canyon about 50 yds. and the bucks jumps out of a bed and bolts over the top of the next canyon.....dang it! I then made the decision to back out of the area and not push the buck again tonight in fears of not finding him, and wondering how he is still going after losing that much blood and 30 minutes or so to die. Bad luck!

So off to the truck that is 3.24 miles away now. I had no clue I was that far...but you know how it is when you hike and glass all day with no thoughts to trivial ideas like packing out/hiking back in the dark. Luckily I carry a couple small flashlights and saw a beautiful sunset while trekking back. Got back to the truck about 7:00PM and got some phone reception and called the wife to ensure her I was not dead somewhere....she was kind of pissed by this time and in tears.....makes me realize she really does love me for me and not the life insurance I have. Another bit of good luck!

Back to the house by 8:30 or so and start looking on Google Earth for a closer road....none. Bad luck.

Shower, scarf down some dinner and hit the rack.....but could not sleep...last I looked at the clock was 1:00AM before I passed out. Bad luck but understandable for anyone that has left an unknown hunting condition in the field overnight.

Back up and drop off my 11 year old daughter at my older daughters house at 4:00AM and head to find my deer....hopefully.

Out at the parking spot by 5:15 and hiking by 5:20. Get to the spot where I last saw my deer by about 7:30 after a brutal hike in the dark. If there were any pigs or deer around on the hike in, they heard me hoofing it from a mile away and snuck out of the country. Anyway, find the blood from the first time the deer went over, and trail it to the bed I jumped him out of. Nice pool of dried blood and me wondering how in the heck he survived that long. Trail a very little amount of blood out of the bed and start to get worried at how little there is. I think to myself "You have all day to find him, don't worry about it. Stick to the blood trail, no matter how long it takes." Out comes the bow as I can't shake the thought of the buck going over the spine last night and wondering if I will find him today alive or dead....or at all? Bad luck.

Trail the very poor blood drop by drop to the spine, and get a major surprise as there is the buck crashed face down in the dirt right on the backside! Fantastic luck!

The buck must have topped the ridge as I last saw him and been dead on his feet, but I did not hear him crash down on the back side. Of course no camera with me, and I left the phone in the truck on a charger the night before.

Tag him, gut him and the inside is cold, as it was about 36 degrees last night. Quartered him up and cut off the antlers and load up a front quarter, back quarter and the skull cap. Get back to the truck with the first load by about 11:00AM and make a call to the wife letting her know I found my buck. Head back out for the other quarters and backstraps/tenderloins. Get the rest out by 4:00PM and get a couple photos. I could barely lift my arms to drive home as my shoulders and legs were like Jello.

So some mixed luck during the hunt, but ended on a very high note, with the good luck far outweighing the bad, which is not a common thing in the successful taking of game with a bow....or even a rifle.

I feel very blessed to have taken two fine animals in two consecutive years, and really hope to get my 11 year old daughter a pig in February, to continue the good luck. I have since been back out both scouting for javelina and with my 2014 archery deer tag, and have located a nice herd of pigs as of last weekend, so the luck is continuing...for now.

Now on to the thing that everyone wants to see...the photos!

11 year old daughter-pretty chilly in the mornings
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Scouting and hiking with the daughter
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Nice views
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Climbing up to glass
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The 11 year old practicing "the hide".
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A couple of photos after getting everything out.
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My lion kill Coues pickup rack.
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A big javelina that walked 5' past me and never knew I was there.
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JBird
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Re: 2013 Mixed Luck AZ Arcgery Buck

Post by JBird » Thu Jan 16, 2014 12:58 pm

Awesome! Looks like a blast.

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BOHNTR
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Re: 2013 Mixed Luck AZ Archery Buck

Post by BOHNTR » Fri Jan 17, 2014 11:02 am

Very cool.....that lion kill Coues looks like a dandy!
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MuleyMadness
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Re: 2013 Mixed Luck AZ Archery Buck

Post by MuleyMadness » Fri Jan 17, 2014 4:08 pm

Very cool story and photos, enjoyed all of it. Thanks!

Scott702
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Re: 2013 Mixed Luck AZ Archery Buck

Post by Scott702 » Fri Jan 17, 2014 7:11 pm

Awesome story and photos! Thanks! That lion kill is pretty sweet!

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