This year my brother-in-law and I put in to be drawn for deer. Our state of residence in Arizona and having experience with hunting in certain areas, we put in for areas 27 and 28. Our first pick was 27, but it’s a coveted area, plush with deer. The hunt we were drawn for was November 2nd through the 8th in area 28 hunting Mule deer.
Basically put, almost everyone who gets drawn for area 28, put in for area 27 as their first pick. So everyone in area 28 is pretty much a reject of 27. Sad but true.
Deer Season Begins in Arizona
We setup camp in the mountains north of a small town called Ft. Thomas. The spot we chose is one of the better places in that specific area. In under an hour, would could hike to a saddle just south of us and have great visibility of everything on both sides of that ridge. We thought we would see something, if not get our buck.
Well, after hiking up and down ridges for nearly six hours through terrain that makes your knees hurt, we see absolutely nothing. Heck, we barely found any sign of deer in the area.
So after putting our heads together, we decided that they were probably further south, closer to the river. So day one was a bust. No deer in sight.
The second day, however, was much different. We woke up at 5:30 am, before it was light enough to see, and headed out with higher hopes. Besides, we had out lucky charm with us….my brother, who decided to join us the night before.
Twenty minutes down the road, by brother-in-law spotted a deer about a hundred yards off his side of the road. He jumped out to take a look at it, and couldn’t see any antlers. So naturally, I start glassing the rest of the area to find the rest of the deer it was traveling with, with nothing in site.
Then I heard him say, “It’s a buck!” I scoped it one more time and as it turned it’s head, sure enough, there were two spike about eight inches long. I confirmed it, and before I could say anything else, he squeezed the trigger and the little buck was down.
Now, for all you sensitive souls out there, don’t be sad for Bambi. Just because this wasn’t a huge buck doesn’t mean anything. The younger deer don’t have as much of a wild taste and the meat is more tender.
Later on that day, my brother and I ran across seven more doe and no bucks. But the hunt isn’t over yet, I still have a few days. Being that today was my anniversary, I couldn’t very well stay hunting and expect to have a space in my own bed on my return home.
We’ll see if tomorrow brings more luck.
I’ll keep you posted!
