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Arizona
's Great Outdoors!
Information & Articles on Arizona Hunting, Fishing, Boating, Archery, Bass
Clubs, Hunt Clubs, Mule D
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Beginners Luck
My six sense said that something was there. I was
crossing over a series of grassy rolling hills cut by ravines. Trying to
use as much cover as possible, staying low and moving slowly. I was
headed toward the next ravine and a single mesquite tree perched on its
edge. It was when I reached that Mesquite that I got the feeling I was
being watched. I slowly looked up and down the ravine, nothing. I
glanced down into the brush and trees and there,
not ten yards away was a face, the masked face of a mule deer. As I
looked massive antlers materialize out of the brush.
The 1995 December Arizona Deer season was to be my first Bow hunting
experience. Arizona has a draw season for hunting deer with firearms,
but you can purchase an over the counter deer tag for Bow Hunting.
Originally I am from the east and had only hunted White Tail Deer. We
had moved to Wickenburg Arizona four years earlier, and I had noticed
Mule Deer in the area, but had not attempted to draw a tag until last
year. I was really disappointed when I didn't get a rifle tag. I
mentioned to my wife I should
take Up-Bow hunting instead, and that December I received a Compound Bow
as a Christmas present. She said it was because of all the complaining
she had to put up with.
Arizona has a wide variety of terrains in which to hunt. There is Scrub
Oak, and Pine Forests boarded with Desert and Canyon country. From the
Kiabab to the lower Sonoran Desert, Mule deer range throughout the
territory and I mean range. Unlike the Eastern Whitetail, Western Mule
Deer seem to aimlessly wonder about with no apparent pattern. Glassing
is probably the most popular method, but you will find hunters using
every know technique, depending on the terrain. When glassing a hunter
must first locate deer to look at. By looking for sign, you can
determine if deer are currently using
an area and their approximate number. When you do find them the next
step is locate some high ground to glass from. Pack a lunch because
you'll need to spend some time up there looking. The idea is to locate
the bedding area currently being used. Muley's sometimes will have a
temporary pattern related to a particular bedding site or the route to
it. Terrain such as saddles and ravines will tend to funnel animals. A
Topographical Map of the area will help you to locate this type of
terrain. Once you determine there
is a pattern it becomes a matter of deciding whether to stalk the bedded
deer or set up for an ambush on the travel route. During dry years water
will also offer a good ambush opportunity for the hunter. No matter what
technique you decide to use the basics are the same, you'll need good
camouflage, optics, scent control and of course a little luck won't hurt
either.
I guess you would like to know what happened to that big muley. Well we
looked at each other, I got the customary shoot of adrenaline and my
heart immediately raised my blood pressure to about eighty pounds. I
drew an arrow from my quiver, he got up. I knocked the arrow; He stood
broadside to me and stared. I tried to draw my bow but I was gripping
the string so hard the arrow wouldn't stay on the rest. He took off up
the other side of the ravine. I let down and whistled at him when he got
to the top. He turned broadside again. This time I relaxed and drew the
bow smoothly to full draw. The shot was uphill at about 30 yards. I took
aim and released, the shoot was low, I had misjudged the uphill shoot.
Bowinkle turned and disappeared up the hill. I decided to say nothing
about the incident to my hunting partner and co-worker Don Mortensbak
but the grin on his face told me he had seen the whole episode through
his spotting scope. I could only smile and
say wow what a buck. Don said that if I taken that buck I would be
ruined for life trying to match em. The Buck had gone strait up the
mountain picking up about eight does along on the way. We watched him
through the spotting scope until darkness closed its curtain. I
continued to hunt for the big fellow but didn't see him again. I made
several stalks on smaller bucks but was unable to fill my tag. Don did
score on a nice 3 X 4 over a waterhole on the last day of the season.
The monster still isn't on my wall but he gave me an experience I will
never forget. He and his kind are still out there and for that I am
forever grateful, for it is not the kill that brings satisfaction to my
soul it is simply the hunt and where it takes me.
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