We were young. For the entirety of our friendship, my buddy John and I have shared the wild hills and waters of Arizona together. In our early 20’s John was suddenly captivated by bowhunting and soon after I caught the bug as well. When we first started trying our hands at archery hunting during our OTC deer hunts here, we swore off hunting coues whitetail deer. They were too hard, too jumpy, and way out of our reach given our limited bowhunting skills. Fast forward to present day and I have become obsessed with them. From their cagey nature to their beautiful coats, unique antlers, and second to none tasting meat. Hunting coues deer with a bow and arrow is the ultimate test for a bowhunter. While they are arguably the hardest animal to spot and stalk with a bow in North America, they are not impossible. Here’s a few proven tidbits of info I’ve gathered bowhunting the gray ghost through the years.
If you’re anything like me, you spent quite a bit of time as a youngster, and even an adult, consuming hunting media. Watching others embark on adventures around the world, doing something that we love is just downright inspiring. It pushes us to chase our dreams out in the mountains. As I got older, documenting such adventures became more and more appealing to me. Not so that I could be like the TV personalities I’d watched as a kid, but to simply have something to look back on. Something that I could share with my future kids and grand kids. “See? Your Dad used to do some pretty cool stuff.”
Carrying a DSLR or mirrorless camera around is hard work though. It just is. They are cumbersome and can be a distraction from the whole hunt, especially if you’re filming alone. GoPros revolutionized this and made it simple for us to strap a camera on our head or bow and go. All the while, we are capturing quality footage with just a push of a button. What if I told you that there was a camera specifically made for this? A GoPro made for hunting. Something made by folks who are like minded. The company is TACTACAM and their 5.0 camera is built for us hunters.
Here is a continuation of the coues deer hunt I was on with my Dad and Brother. In the last episode you saw how my brother was fortunate enough to tag his first coues deer ever. What a special day that was. Kid has been working at that for years now and getting to see it all come together for him was pretty special to say the least. Now, that my brother is all tagged out, my Dad is up on deck. Each morning we were seeing bucks and big ones at that. Today was our last day, and as you’ll see in the video, we made the most of it. Just in time too. The weather was calling for 50 mph winds, and while we’d stick it out if we had to, it was a relief to wrap this up before that. Heavy winds are no bueno for coues deer, or any game for that matter.
Hey, everyone! I hope all of your fall hunting seasons have been treating you well! It has been a busy one for me, but definitely have made some incredible memories along the way. The best part is, it’s not over yet! I just got back from helping my Dad and Brother on a rifle coues deer hunt a few weeks back and my Dad also has a late rifle bull tag. Definitely excited to help out on that. Before then, I’ll be joining a good buddy for a few days on a late archery bull hunt. After those are all said and done, it will be time for me to start scouting for our late archery deer seasons here in Arizona. Rutting bucks, bowhunting, and good times!
The past few years I have spent a good portion of late August/early September chasing elk around with my bow. Along the way, I’ve made some incredible memories and harnessed a potent love for archery elk hunting. While that love has not faded, this year is going to be a little bit different for me. This year, I was fortunate enough to draw not one, but two early archery mule deer tags. One is in Utah and the other is in Colorado. A high country mule deer hunt is something I’ve wanted to do for quite a few years now, but never have because of elk season. I decided to finally pull the trigger and try to make it happen. Looks like it worked…..double! Both of these hunts will be backpack hunts lasting from 7-10 days each. As you can imagine, my head has been racing trying to figure out what I’ll be bringing with me gear wise and all. So, with this post, I wanted to lay out just that. What I will be packing with me along the way for the 17 in total days of backcountry hunting for velvet mule deer!
For some odd reason, when I was a kid, I never connected the dots between hunting and food. Hunting was just always this cool and fun thing that I went and did with my Dad. My young self looked forward to things like hot coffee in the dark of the morning, donuts followed by that coffee, and the possibility of seeing wild animals. I just loved knowing that we were going and looking for them. At no point was I thinking about juicy backstraps over and open flame. Honestly, I was more thinking of what it would be like to walk up on a dead deer or to see one get shot. The consumption of said deer after the fact never crossed my mind really until I got older. I’m not really sure why that is. Sub-consciously I recognized that people indeed ate wild game, but I never really pictured myself doing so as a child. Things all changed for me in my adult life.
January in Arizona has become a time of year that I cherish to the upmost. While everyone else around the country is reflecting on their past fall hunting seasons and warming themselves by a fire, I am usually out hiking around with a camp on my back in search of rutting bucks. The weather is beautiful, the deer are moving, and it’s just a great time to be out and about in our Arizona desert. My brother Jake and I usually take the first week or so in January to chase mule deer and coues deer with our bows. This year though, Jake drew an archery javelina tag, so that was on the menu as well. 8 days of backcountry hunting was in front of us and our arms were wide open.
When the month of August rolls around, I have one thing on my mind when it comes to hunting. For those that know me, you know that the answer to that is bears. Over the years, bears have become my favorite species to pursue here in Arizona. This hunt that takes place at the end of August has become one of my most anticipated hunting camps of the year. I get together with friends and family to escape the heat/daily grind of city life. Camp is filled with shenanigans, laughs, and sometimes we come home with something that has a tag wrapped around it. While this is mainly a bear hunt for me most years, this year was different. For one, we had some new company in camp. Good company and some folks that I wouldn’t hesitate sharing a camp with again. For another, I had already filled my bear tag earlier this spring. I still had a deer tag in my pocket though…
As I woke up on the morning of December 29th, I told myself that today was going to be the day. Today would be the day that I closed the distance, and filled my archery tag on a mule deer buck. The 29th would be my 5th day of hunting mule deer here in my home state of Arizona. This time of year here is a time that has grown on me and dug its roots deep into my core. Year after year I take to the field with my bow to chase both mule deer and coues deer. Every year I have a few successes mixed in with a ton of failures. Of course I like to look at those failures as lessons learned and opportunities to grow. That goes for all walks of life, not just hunting. This year would prove no different in the “lessons learned” department.
If you are anything like me, you are probably constantly trying to figure out how to be better at what you do. I am not one that tends to settle for good enough. In this case, I am talking about a love that most of us share and that is bowhunting. The thrill of sneaking in close and sending an arrow through the vitals of our quarry is one that is unparalleled. It’s a feeling that wouldn’t be describe as “a dime a dozen.” For that reason, I think is why we want more and more of it. At least that’s how it is for me. I don’t know about you, but I have way more failures than successes in the field and I think that’s how it should be. If I killed something every time I went out, bowhunting would lose the mystique that I’ve grown to love so much. Still though, I am always trying to progress as an archery hunter.
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