Well I wish I had as great a story to tell as Jack Shanks, that was one awesome hunt. OK here we go.
As some of you knew the wife and I headed for AZ a couple weeks ago for a winter getaway and a little Coues deer hunting thrown in. To say we picked the wrong time or maybe even the wrong year is an under statement. But it was a great trip anyway.
We left -15º in MT looking forward to the 60's to 80's of southern AZ and drove on snow/ice all the way practically to Las Vegas. It was actually snowing in Vegas, this should have been our first clue
We intended to go thru the Grand Canyon area on the way but treacherous roads stopped that, oh well we'd just catch it on the way back
On the third day of driving we finally made Phoenix and rendezvoused with Terry Petko and his lovely wife Debbie. We had a great visit over some fine Mexican food. Thanks again Terry!
On south we headed almost to the border to where our friends were camping out in the desert. To say I was impressed with the country would be an under statement. I guess I was expecting something like the desert country I’d hunted in south TX. The rugged mountains all around us and 4000’ elevation were a big surprise. The frigid temps were also a surprise as it was getting down into the teens at night. Coming from MT we should have known better but we certainly weren’t prepared. One thing for sure I never wore any of the short sleeved shirts I’d brought and sitting around camp huddled under a blanket wasn’t the kind of relaxing Karen had in mind.
Long story short my Buddy’s hunting strategy centered around sitting on water holes. The recent rains and temps pretty much put a damper on this but we tried anyway. I got up high a couple times and glassed several deer but my hunting buddy didn’t really want me slipping around spooking the areas deer and figured with the rut kicking in things would get better shortly.
I did manage to get a shot at a spike that came in to water the fourth day of sitting but true to their reputation these little buggers are fast. At the shot things happened pretty quick but there was a thump and virtual explosion of hair. I slowly slipped out of the blind and to the spot to see my arrow lying on the dirt without a drop of blood to confirm the miss. The hair scattered everywhere had come from the sharp WW shaving the top of his shoulders as the arrow passed.
That evening the rain started again with the next morning dawning cold, foggy and wet. Ordinarily I’d celebrate these conditions as the bucks were starting their rut and it was perfect slipping around conditions but again I was told how spooky the deer were and if I went after them I’d just push them out of the area.
We were looking at having to head back in a couple days as our oldest daughter’s wedding was coming up so we decided to load up and head back to sunny Montana
The return trip was as eventful as the trip down when on the way to the Grand Canyon again we were stopped by snow condition at Flagstaff, AZ and wound up going around thru Vegas again.
It was easy to see these beautiful shy little deer were as great a challenge as I'd heard. I'm certianly looking forward to next time and hoping to get out and do a little chasing myself then.
It was great to meet Terry and Deb and we traveled thru some awesome country which I’d like to go and stomp around in someday. As always it feels good to be home, now to start planning the next trip.
Topic: Back home again (Read 2519 times)
