AZ Strip Mule Deer Video

Check out this awesome video of some Giant mule deer off the AZ Strip.  This video is by my good friends Brec and Bronson Bundy of Mule Deer Addiction Outfitters.  These guys eat and sleep giant mule deer.  All the footage is from this past year on the Strip.  Enjoy.

AZ Coues Deer LeftOvers

After not drawing a Strip tag for the 9th year now, some friends and I decided to pick up some leftover coues deer tags in southern AZ.  We chose a unit that none of us had been in to try and learn some new country.  Because no bonus points were burned and we knew nothing about the unit, it was pretty much an "anything with antlers" trip.

Our gang included myself, Richard Owens, Ben Williams, and Craig Blackburn.  Damon Hughes came along for the ride and was our hook-up for our sweet lodging.  We arrived late Wednesday night and scouted all day Thursday.  Then we hunted Friday and Saturday.  Here is a brief breakdown of each day.

Thursday Nov. 8 (scouting)
The weather was beautiful and we saw lots of deer.  Saw 10 bucks with two over 95".  Also had a mountain lion run across the road behind us.  No shots at the lion.

Friday Nov. 9 (opening day)
A storm moved in and it was miserable; windy and rainy.  Still managed to glass up one of our big bucks.  Craig missed him at 490 yards.  Didn't compensate for wind drift, shot wide left.  Fought weather all day.  I shot a buck about an hour before dark at just over 300 yards.

Saturday Nov. 10
Still fought weather; more wind and rain.  Craig and I saw some bucks and talked Ben and Richard into them.  Ben moved in and dropped the buck at 189 yards.  Later that evening, Richard and Craig found two bucks and Craig made good on a 160 yard opportunity.

Our Final Tally
4 tags bought.  2 days of hunting.  3 tags filled.  All bucks taken were 2 points.  Lots of fun!

Craig's 2 Point

 

Ben's 2 Point

 

My 2 Point

 

All Our 2 Points

 

The Gang

L-R: Richard Owens, Craig Blackburn, Me, Ben Williams, Damon Hughes, & Eyeguards!!

 



Have I mentioned that I'm heading to Mexico in January to hunt coues???  Stay tuned!



Arizona late bull elk in Unit 1

The 2012 late season found the BTO crew in Arizona hunting Unit 1 for late bull elk with new found friends Gary Walker of Booneville, Mississippi and his good friend Keith Phillips of Maryland, who came along to see Arizona and keep Gary awake for the long drive.

The opening day found us seeing a lot, and I mean a lot of elk. With Devin and Daniel seeing over 300 elk and Gary, Keith and myself seeing 150+ elk.  It was a great start to the hunt. We did put a play on two great bulls that Daniel watched go over a ridge but we ended up bumping into the bulls who had joined up with several other bulls for a noon day nap. Opening day came to a close with a lot of elk being seen and sore feet for some of us.

Day two brought unseasonably warm weather but again alot of elk were seen.  Devin and Daniel spotted one of our shooter bulls that we were able to bed, but around 10 AM all the elk were spooked by something on the ridge they were bedded on and they moved up and over the top not to be seen again. The highlight of the day two was when Gary, Keith and myself got to see up close and personal a collared Mexican Grey Wolf that we watched at less than 100 yards for more than 5 minutes. It was amazing to see how big of a predator these things really are. We also heard howling from camp one of the nights which was cool too.

Day three found us chasing bugles, yes I said chasing bugles.  We heard bugling everyday on this hunt and this day was no different. We finally glassed one of the buglers with a group of cows and watched the bull until he bedded for the morning. We moved the group to within 358 yards and sized up the bull for Gary. With the bull getting up to reposition himself the decision was made to take the shot. Gary put an incredible 358 yd shot with a 20-25 mph crosswind and couldn't have put it in a better spot.

A big thanks to Gary and Keith for making the long drive out and congratulations on a great late season Arizona bull...


Gary's bull bedded at 358 yards
 

Gary with good friend Keith and a great late AZ bull elk
 



The BTO crew which made for an easy pack out

Kent Hall's "Wrong Buck" AZ 3C Mule Deer

We've all heard stories of people shooting the wrong animal.  Personally I've never been apart of such a mishap nor had it happen to me.  That is until this last deer season!  With the 3A/3C deer hunt winding down, a friend and myself set out to find a buck I had seen two weeks before while scouting.  I had hopes of taking this buck with one of our clients but had lost him due to all the pressure from the cow elk hunters.

Kent and I hunted for a couple of hours without a single deer sighting.  We moved locations and continued our search.  By 9 am we had located him!  He was with a small 3 point and almost a mile north of where I had last seen him.  While we prepared for the shot, the bucks decided to bed for the morning.  The big buck bedded in a jack pine thicket offering no shot.  At 256 yards we set up and waited for the buck to stand.  After almost an hour, the buck stood and began to bristle up and posture.  He walked away and into a small thicket and began raking on a tree.  Kent had to get out of his scope and adjust his rest and got back in his scope.  Kent immediately found a buck standing in the open and facing us.  Kent settled the cross-hairs and shot!

"Kent, you missed!" I exclaimed.  Suddenly I noticed a different buck running towards us with blood running down his side.  "Kent, you shot the wrong buck!!"

Those have got to be the worst words to hear when hunting.  Had I not witnessed it, I probably wouldn't believe it.  Better yet, I captured the whole thing on film.  The big buck apparently was displaying his dominance to the other buck as he approached.  When Kent took his eye off the buck and tried to relocate him in his scope, he found the other buck that was standing in the open.  When I get the video edited, I will post it.  It's sad, but priceless.

Luckily, Kent still managed to shoot a good buck considering it was the wrong buck.

Kent with the wrong buck

 

Kent's 28" 3x4

 

The one that got away.........

Sorry for the pic quality

 

Unfortunately for this buck, Kent's nephew had a Junior 3C deer tag and ended up killing this buck the next weekend.  Congratulations to Jace on such a great buck.  He should thank his Uncle Kent for unintentionally letting this buck walk!

Jace Hall with the right buck

 

 

Farrel Holyoak's 3A/3C AZ Mule Deer

I also had the privilege of hunting with Farrel Holyoak of Overgaard during the 3A/3C general deer hunt.  Farrel had booked a mule deer hunt in northern Utah and ended up missing the first day and a half of the AZ season.  He got home just in time to load up and head out for the evening hunt of day two.  Despite our efforts, we only saw a little buck that night.

The next morning we moved locations and slowly worked a little ridge, glassing some burned out bottoms.  Within minutes, we located a heavy, wide buck directly below us.  I told Farrel that it was a nice buck, but only a 3 point.  I told him that I thought we could do better.  He adamantly insisted that he was a big buck and that we should kill him.  After a few minutes of debate, I told Farrel that it's his tag and that the decision was his.  "BOOM!!!"  Farrel put his 270 WSM to work and put down the buck.

Congrats to Farrel on his Buck

 

Farrel's 30" Wide 3x3

 

Bill Davis 3A/3C Mule Deer

This year I had the opportunity of hunting with Bill Davis of Tennessee.  Like most non-residents, Bill had been applying for the AZ strip over the last 9 years.  Upon realizing his 0% chance of drawing a strip tag without max points, Bill took the advice of some research articles and applied for 3A-3C general mule deer.  Bill drew his tag and called BTO for help.

Bill arrived two days before the start of his hunt and spent some time scouting with me.  On the morning before the opener, we saw a buck that I had scouted and named "Jowls" because of his double chin.  Bill looked over the 4x6 buck and moved him to the top of his list.  Opening morning was cold and windy and deer movement was minimal.  Around 10am, Jowels and some friends made an appearance and the stalk was on.  By the time we got into shooting position, the bucks had bedded.  Jowls was bedded in a jack pine thicket with a small shooting lane to his vitals.  Just before noon, Bill made a perfect 225 yard shot and his 1st mule deer was down.  Congrats to Bill on a great buck.  He'll look good hanging next to his whitetails.

Bill with his Arizona Mule Deer

 

A big Thanks to J Lewis and Damon Hughes for helping out on the hunt

Damon kinda got lost and didn't make the group photo

 





Now you see why I named him Jowls!

 

As a side note: Jowls had a tear under his tongue that was allowing food/cud to pack in between his tongue and jaw bones causing the bulge under his jaw.



Dane Hancock's 3A/3C rifle velvet mule deer

This year I was able to take my younger brother on his deer hunt.  My dad (Mike), Daniel, Dane, and Myself had spent many days scouting for Dane and our clients and had come up with quite the hit list of bucks.  The unit was looking more promising than the past two seasons with more deer and more mature bucks.  Dane and myself were looking for two bucks in particular, The wide heavy four and a narrow tall four point that we had seen for the past three seasons while hunting elk but had eluded us during the past deer seasons. 

I drove up Thursday night and headed into where the two bucks lived to glass.  I ended up not seeing any deer but saw around 100 head of elk.  Opening morning came and Dane and I were headed out to drive in to start still hunting down through some burned cuts.  We were sitting in the truck talking about our game plan and waiting for it to get light enough to start walking up the ridge we were going to work down.  Grey light finally approached and we were getting our stuff together to take off up the hill.  We had made it 50 yards from the truck when two bedded bucks stood up out of a stand of jack pines at 175 yards catching both of us off guard.  We were still getting stuff situated and hadn't had a chance to get the shooting sticks ready.  I told Dane to get ready as I threw up my binos to see what the bucks were.  The buck in the front was our "Wide Heavy Buck" I thought would be 185-190 range.  Both of the bucks were still in the velvet which was odd for the time of year.  I told Dane to get on him as he was moving away up the hill with the other buck.  I ranged him at 215 yards and told him to take him if he could, as he was having to shoot offhand.  As Dane's 300 win mag rang out I watched as the big buck kept moving up the hill and the second buck hit the ground.  He had walked in front of the big buck at the wrong time and took the bullet intended for his buddy.  We made our way up the hill to find that Dane had caught the buck right at the base of the pedicle and shot a horn off.  The hunt ended up lasting about two minutes total after leaving the truck.   Although it was short it was nice spending time with my brother in the woods doing what both of us love to do.  Congrats to Dane on a nice buck and thanks for letting me be a part of the hunt.

Dane's velvet buck



Some bucks from the same area



Potential looks good for next season