Going into the 2019 Arizona deer draw, I had a choice to make whether I wanted rifle or archery. For 16 years, I had been holding out for a rifle tag, and depending on the year, I would buy a point. At the end of 2018 and the beginning of 2019, it was getting above the average for moisture. I did not have enough points to qualify for the rifle bonus point pass, so I decided to put in for rifle as my first choice and archery as my second choice.
Even though the draw results weren’t revealed until July, I decided to start scouting in May to ensure I was ready if I drew the tag. The first trip I planned just happened to be the weekend of my oldest daughter’s graduation. After attending Maddy’s graduation ceremony, I headed out with my buddy, Keith. We made the seven-hour trip and made it to the Strip around at around 4:30 a.m. on Saturday morning. We set up trail cameras and found two bucks that seemed to have potential for the early stages they were in. The summer was full of long rides Friday after work and back on Sunday. We had some good bucks located from our many trips.
We made the final trip two days before the opener and discovered that our priority buck was not only being hunted by us but others were after him as well. As the sun came up the day before the hunt, we had people all around us glassing for our target buck. We made a few new friends and ran into some old friends on the mountain. We hunted this buck for a few days and decided that with all the added pressure we would move on to a buck a good friend of mine, Jason Bond, had shared some trail camera pictures of with me.
The next morning, I was in my ground blind when Keith called and said he had a shooter. I climbed up the hill, and he was ready to make a game plan. The first stalk was on. I was able to get within 80 yards and ran out of cover. I tried closing in, but the three bucks knew something wasn’t right and busted out. Matt and Kevin were able keep eyes on them, only this time the big buck made the mistake of bedding away from his buddies. After the first long stalk in the 110 degree heat with no water, I had to climb back to the top to rehydrate and regroup.
The plan was set. I would start in and Keith and Levi would meet up with Matt and Kevin and talk me in on this buck. Before I knew it, I was within 50 yards. I had a small mound between me and the buck. I would have to wait for the deer to get up and move right or I could get on top of the hill and try and kill him in his bed. I snuck up on the mound, and shortly after, the buck was up and making his way to the left side of a cedar tree. The buck came out and stopped. He started to look my way, but before he could pick me up, my arrow was on its way. I could hear that familiar sound of the arrow hitting its mark. I walked 39 yards from where I hit him and he was down but still thrashing, so I put another one in him so he didn’t ruin his velvet.
As I sat over this buck, I was thankful for the way this whole hunt turned out. I’d like to thank all the people who helped me on this hunt: my dad, Jerry Hooper, brother, Dylan Hooper, cousin, Keith Norvell, Kevin Davis, Levi Rockhill, Matt Rockhill, Dave Glover, Eric Martinez, Jeffery Row, and Jason Bond.
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