As soon as I heard the Game and Fish Department was hitting credit cards, I decided to call my credit card company. I had very low hopes because I only put in for one deer hunt and with only 6 points I didn’t have much of a chance. The lady on the phone said I had one charge pending from AZGFD. I about hit the floor because I knew I had drawn a 13A Strip deer tag.
I got off the phone in disbelief and immediately called my friend, Greg. I told him what I had drawn, and he said, “No way! After a sheep tag last year and now an Arizona Strip tag!” I started making phone calls and talked to another friend, Josh, whose girlfriend had drawn it last year. He told me it was going to be a tough hunt because this year would not be in the rut.
I started to call some guides in Arizona. One said they would call me back but never did, and another wouldn’t send me any pictures of deer they have taken on the Strip. Greg told me to call Travis at Arizona Strip Guides (ASG). I waited until Sunday morning and then emailed Travis. Within half an hour, I had pictures of all the bucks that were taken in 2017. I knew this would be the outfitter I would pick. I called Travis on Monday morning, and it was a done deal. I booked with ASG. He set me up with the phone number of my guide, Landon Wittwer. I talked with Landon a day later and told him I was going up to learn the unit. He gave me areas to scout.
Two weeks later, I made my first of three scouting trips with Greg. It was a good weekend with sightings of over 20 deer. I made another trip up with another friend, Ted. We saw several small bucks and does and a decent-sized buck. The next trip up, I went alone for four days. I later ran into my guide, Landon, and his hunting buddy, TJ Goodnow. We spent the night out on the Strip, and they showed me pictures of a few bucks that had been hitting water. After talking to Landon, we had one buck in mind for opening day. He said it would go a little over 200".
When I was back home, I sent Josh some pictures of the buck we wanted to try to get. He said that he knew that buck. Later that night, I went to his house and he showed me pictures of the buck last year. He also told me what he had learned about the buck the previous year, all good information that would later become helpful in this hunt.
It was the day before the season, and I arrived at camp. We had Landon, TJ, Greg, Ted, and me in camp. We discussed our plan of attack as we knew there would be other outfitters looking for this same buck. TJ, Greg, and Ted were going to a knoll to see if they could glass him up. Once up there, they ran into other people glassing the area. Landon and I stayed low, glassing up on the ridges. After a few hours, we got a call from TJ telling us Greg had spotted the deer bedded and he had video and pictures of him. Landon and I got to where they had parked and began to walk up the ridge to meet our party.
Once on top, Greg told us the buck was way out on another ridge. TJ and Ted stayed behind while Landon, Greg, and I took off down the knoll and up the next one. This was not an easy task for me. When I finally got on top of the next ridge, Greg and Landon were glassing for the bedded buck Greg had left earlier. Within no time, they had him spotted again. The only problem was that it was over 800 yards away. Landon made a plan. Greg would stay and keep his eyes glued to the buck while Landon and I would try to make it to the next ridge.
Once we reached the next ridge, we settled in. Landon told me it was still 550 yards away. I got settled in and used my Outdoorsmans pack to rest my gun on. Landon told me the deer was up, and I was ready and locked on him. I squeezed the trigger. Nothing. The gun was on safety. I took the safety off and waited on him to stop again. He did, and I was ready for the shot. I squeezed, and all I heard was a click. It was a dry fire. I put another round in and was ready, but the buck bedded down again. Now I was thinking this was not going to be a successful hunt. Just then, Landon told me to settle down. We went up the hill a little and waited. It was getting very windy, and we didn’t like the situation we were in and wanted to get closer.
Landon said we needed to try and get to a little flat under the buck so we could get closer. Landon called TJ and Ted so they could go back and drive to the backside of the ridge and glass. That way, if the buck went over the ridge they could keep an eye on him. We went back down the knoll and closer to the buck. The wind was in our favor the whole way. Greg told us the buck was still bedded. We got to where we wanted to be and settled in. Landon said we were 200 yards from where the buck was. The only issue was that at our position if he got up and walked over the ridge we would never know because the juniper trees would block us from a shot.
Landon called Greg on the radio, and Greg said the buck was still bedded. I got excited because I knew if the buck walked out he was going down.
I set up on Landon’s shooting sticks and was very steady. After a few minutes, Greg said the buck was up. We could see him. The buck was walking down the ridge a little. The buck stopped, facing us, and we waited. He was feeding on a juniper tree. He then turned around with nothing but his hind end facing us. As I waited, he slowly began to walk uphill and turned. Now I had the perfect broadside shot I wanted. I took a deep breath and squeezed the trigger. The buck was hit. I loaded another round and looked in the scope. All I saw was my dream buck falling over.
Landon started screaming, and I heard Greg on the radio saying the buck was down and he wasn’t getting back up. I was so excited that I lost track of what had just happened. I knew Landon was talking to TJ and Ted, telling them to come check out this buck. Greg said he was on his way as well. When I got up to the buck, I couldn’t believe how big he actually was. We were all so happy, and Landon was glad we had killed the first buck on his hit list. After we were all with the buck, Landon measured it at 33" wide and 211" gross.
As I look back, I am very blessed to have taken my dream buck. I would like to thank Greg Duran for all the hunting adventures we have been on and Ted Spradling for teaching me about hunting and the sport. Thanks to TJ Goodnow and Landon Wittwer, my guides. A very special thanks to my wife, Cindy, for never doubting me and for supporting me when I hunt and scout.
Arizona Strip Deer