Photo courtesy of Bruce Reed
This is one of many entries, over the next coming months, into the approaches and tactics we have learned over the years hunting Arizona's desert mule deer. Hunting these deer can put any hunter to their knees. Terrain, low densities, weather and a massive amount of country, are just the beginning of challenges to face.
Topics covered throughout these blogs will be from habitat, hunting techniques, past stories, equipment, different seasonal patterns, trophy quality and improving on the future of this very challenging animal. Some opinions may vary from reader to reader, as these are our opinions, but these are some of our keys to success. If along the way any viewer wants to offer advice, get some tips, or just drop a note, feel free. Keep checking for updates and let us know what you think. Thanks
Travis
The forty units, and their neighbors, offer some exciting and challenging hunting
opportunities for those willing to step outside the box!
opportunities for those willing to step outside the box!
Entry #1 March 6 2010
The desert is such a place that will take a very able hunter and reduce them to a feeble, wounded prey. Then, reconstruct them to be the ultimate predator, ready to take on the game of the world!
To many eyes, the desert appears as a vast wasteland, void of water, feed, and hunt-able wildlife. Just the word, desert, brings thoughts and impressions of sand dunes, dust storms, and cacti varieties that send a burning pain into anyone's imagination. All have a fear of venturing too far into this "wasteland" and disappearing into the next sun stricken mirage. But, to really understand this place, a hunter must conquer this fear and appreciate the way, the survival, this fragile population of wildlife must endure. Through blood left on cactus thorns, sweat hitting the desert pavement, and miles earned on that pair of boots that you just can't get rid of, a real oasis of hunting possibilities start to emerge.
As simple as it sounds, discerning living habitat from dead habitat is a huge key to unlocking major parts of the riddle. Living habitat does not have big flashing signs saying " hunt here", it will be camouflaged! I have had hunters come to hunt my home desert from many parts of the country,and Arizona, stating "you mean to tell me, deer live here". Many hunters have never been to a desert, only seeing the "standard" desert on T.V., post cards, or even in a magazine talking about our drought. Reading the desert puts the odds in your favor. Breaking the myths is a key to a successful hunt, every time!
Living-manner or rule of life. Webster's definition. Rooster quail on a crisp early dawn calling to reassemble his covey, whistling of dove wings as they streak across the sky on their way from roosting trees to feed, rabbits running about in search of the quick fix of green feed, the song of the coyotes, long off and close by. Nature's definition. These sounds, sights and even smells are clues of life. Tracking storms throughout the monsoon season, evening drives, and bird hunting trips offer great in tell to the life in an area. Many people offer advise by simply saying scout, scout, scout. If you are scouting a lifeless area you are wasting your time! Finding a lifeless area is not a total loss, you know to check it off the list. Keeping a journal of weather patterns, precipitation amounts and visual impressions are some ways to build a record for seasons to come. Becoming intimate with an area has provided us with many lessons.
Growing up along the Colorado River, life was only along the banks of the river. Alfalfa and cotton fields crawled with deer throughout the dry times, sometimes called droughts. When rains would come, as sparse as it was, the deer would vanish. Where did they go? Deer need water and feed, simple, right? But, for us finding food sources seemed impossible. The deer would leave lush Ag fields in search of something else. The time tested, native plants, were drawing the deer out of an easy living. The desert muley did not come to these deserts in search of Ag fields. Ag fields were drawing native deer to the bounty and security of year long growth. When given the choice, these desert deer take native growth over imported plants.
As the ocotillo start sprouting green, tender leaves, the grease woods turn from a dingy brown to a vibrant green and a carpet of various ground cover, such as philorea, start to shine, the deer become apparently more active. The dry, dead areas gradually and suddenly become full of life. These often overlooked areas have big populations of wildlife, and trophy bucks, within them.
I would sit a top a high mountain top and watch multiple groups of deer feed about, all hours of the day, so consumed to the protein rich bounty the desert provides. Pick-ups and quads would just race by, completely unaware of the "honey holes" under their noses. Only occasionally the deer would look towards the dust trail.
I watched a bachelor herd of bucks feed for over an hour during the midday lull on one November rifle hunt. We wanted the bucks to bed down before we made our move. The bucks kept feeding, drawing closer and closer to a well traveled road winding threw the desert. Many hunters travel this road to their hunting areas in the hills and canyons several miles away. But the bucks kept feeding, drawing closer and closer toward this road. Surely they would avoid the road, I thought. Vehicles passed within fifty yards as the deer just fed, never giving a second look.
This was a very dry fall. Feed was thin to say the least. The desert had seemed to dry up all around. This section of road cut through the middle of a minor depression of sorts. Not enough to really even notice from the road. It was enough to catch run off, from the little amounts the desert received. From the high vantage point it was obvious, this low spot was holding green. At first glance this place was as dry as everywhere else. A windmill over two miles away had several different big track around it. They had to be somewhere!
The low area had something more, something made the bucks so comfortable that they would feed 50 yards from, and on, a well traveled, maintained road in the middle of the day.
One of the bucks stepped onto the road, then another....and another. Before long all five bucks were standing in the bar ditch of this express way. I sat watching, knowing, this could be the last time we would be on these bucks. I had waited too long. Any second a truck, or a quad, would turn the corner and run these bucks to another part of the horizon. Possibly, if they were very, very lucky, a hunter might get a shot, a running shot. Either way, things were going down hill fast.
I sat , watching, glassing, evaluating, only slightly aware of anything around me. "Maybe we should have gone after them sooner!" I turned and saw the client looking towards me as he finished speaking. I was fighting my own head as well! Patience usually prevails in most circumstances. Now the bucks were moving back towards us, towards the thick depression, where they were first at. I was focused on the job at hand. So focused I didn't notice the approaching pick-up.
As the truck slowly passed by the place and then stopped where the deer where feeding on the roadside, two camoclad men stepped out. One of the men was holding a can, probably soda, the other was lighting a cigarette. The two men walked over to where the bucks were feeding. The one man knelt over and examined, what I thought to be tracks. The two men stood talking and pointing for minutes, pointing in my direction. I knew they were not looking at me, or my vantage point, rather where to head next. The bucks stood 70 to 80 yards away looking in the hunters direction.
new entry on march 19
The two men, talking loudly, walked back to their truck. The can flew up in the air and rattled as it landed in the back of the truck, I'm guessing it rolled off of the other cans back there. Doors slammed, engine started, and they were off. Now we can get back to focusing on the job at hand.
As the deer kept walking about, feeding in the same in the same little oasis, I only saw a dust trail from the hunters pick-up. The bucks began to bed down. "Now we get back to the stalk, the reason why we are still here!" My brother said. The bucks were bedding 200 yards from the road, 200 yards from where the other hunters had previously had a pic-nic!
Sitting and watching, waiting, second guessing my previous move, I began to plan the approach. Figuring the bucks would get up in the next couple hours to stretch and feed, I decided the our hunter would stalk from my direction. It seemed reasonable the deer would now begin working their way away from the road. The hunter moved in, little by little, he got to within 100 yards. The bucks were still bedded and completely unaware of the hunter less than a hundred yards away. The brush was too thick to see the deer bedded, they would have to stand up for our hunter to get a shot, we knew the wait was on.
From my vantage point the bucks looked to be in the wide open. They were not trying to hide or get deep in the brush, like I have heard people say, instead they were just laying down wherever they stopped and laid down. I tried to get the hunter to see the bucks. All I got from him was "I can't see a thing down here". It is very hard to maintain self discipline in these moments, I wanted the hunter to keep sneaking in. Possibly having the bucks stand briefly for the hunter to get a shot. The hunter also wanted to keep sneaking in. But we would wait.
A good friend of mine once said, "This place is Mars with a ten foot jungle." I guess it is the perfect description. From a vantage point the desert looks wide open. The deer stand out like chrome bumpers on a sunny day. But on the floor of the desert, it is hard to pick a shooting lane much over 50 yards.
You will sit and glass, swearing, you have seen everything out there. I hear it all the time, I've said it many times,,,"If there was anything here, we would have seen it by now." You will see the obvious pretty early on. But after hours of not seeing anything else it does become boring. And then, a herd of a dozen or so cattle walk right out of where you are looking, and this is the first time you have seen them! Now, have you seen everything that is there?
Vantage points and patient glassing are the rule in the desert!
Don't get frustrated, it is a lot of country.
The bucks started to get up. At first, only one, but within a half hour, all of the bucks were feeding. The bucks were not feeding in any direction, just back and forth, almost in small circles, disappearing and then reappearing five feet away.
I motioned for the hunter to move up another 10 yards. And to do so very cautiously, stopping and glassing through the thick grease woods after every step. Glassing 75 yards is tough work, but you have to find the deer before they find you!
Paying attention to detail is a must, look for the smallest details. Look for a horn shining, a white muzzle, the sun reflecting off of a deers back.
Be patient!
The bucks were gradually moving towards us now. They were moving the direction we had hoped for. The moment of truth was was just about here. Any minute I would see the hunter raise his gun, and hopefully the buck, the right buck, would fall. The deer were starting to line out straight to the hunter.
I let him know to be ready, the deer were almost in his lap. I knew the hunter had found the bucks, I saw the rifle raise! "Shoot the 3rd buck" I was thinking out loud.
The 2nd buck lunged forward, staggered and the hit the ground. The other bucks stood still. They had no idea what had just happened. The biggest buck was still on his feet. We shot the wrong deer. If we had another hunter down there we could have easily taken another buck, the bigger buck. The remaining 5 bucks stood looking. That's right 5, five, cinco, five stood looking for the culprit of the chaos.
When we first found the bucks there were five bucks feeding. As the bucks began bedding down there were five bucks. We had just killed one of the bucks. There should be 4 bucks remaining. The bucks had gone back to where one other buck had laid down earlier that morning, we never saw this buck. Now there was five bucks standing and one dead on the ground.
After 2-3 minutes the bucks started making their way across the desert floor. We watched to see if we could determine which buck hit the ground. All five we had previously located were still together. We killed the buck none of us had seen.
As the hunter approached the downed buck, the rack got better and better, we now had something to judge the size by. The hunter sat his rifle beside the buck and grabbed the horns. As he lifted the huge rack we we all began cheering and high fiving. We knew we had killed a monster. The buck was 32 inches wide, although a 3x4, the buck was huge. Scoring this buck would be an injustice of sorts. This old desert dweller had reached the end!
This 32" 3x4 was the result of a long wait on the desert floor
The pictures were taken the next day
I wish we had spent more time taking pictures back then!
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