Like most of you hardcore hunters reading this, I’m usually wrapping up the fall hunting season around mid-December. However, this year, I wasn’t quite ready to do that, even after a successful 2017 hunting season. After reading the Huntin’ Fool stories and seeing smiling hunters with great pictures of javelina and Coues deer, that was all it took to pique my interest in hunting Arizona.
My research started after picking a unit along the border of Mexico. I had my work cut out for me since I had never hunted Arizona, let alone set foot in the state. Thankfully, Austin Atkinson from Huntin’ Fool gave me some great information about the area and what to expect.
On January 11th, I was bound for Nogales, Arizona from my home state of Michigan. The temperatures in Michigan had been between 0 and 10 degrees in early January. When I arrived in Tucson, Arizona, the temperature was a warm welcome at 70 degrees. My friend, Mike Hanson, picked me up from the airport in Tucson after his long journey from Oregon. After a quick stop at Sportsman’s Warehouse for our deer licenses, we were barreling toward the border of Arizona and Mexico. After an hour drive, we arrived in Nogales and settled in to our hotel for the week-long hunt.
Our plan was to hunt Coues and hopefully stumble across some javelina. We could also hunt mule deer with our same tag, so we had plenty of options. That morning, we found a decent mule deer buck with a harem of does. Being that it was the first morning, we wanted to see what else was around before we committed to stalking the first buck we saw. Bows in hand and packs on our backs, we were finally hiking into some great looking terrain with a lot of coulees and canyons. It was 32 degrees out, but it was warming up very quickly.
After a good hike into the area, we set up to start glassing as much of the terrain as we could. It was an exciting first morning to see so much game. I soon found a good buck I wanted to stalk, but I didn’t make it very far before I was busted. The terrain was dry, crunchy grass with loose rock, so stalking proved to be very difficult. Later that afternoon, we looked over some more canyons and got a better lay of the land.
The second day, we found ourselves bouncing along the border, glassing from high ridges. While glassing from a vantage point, I found a giant Coues buck. He was half a mile away and would likely move by the time we got close. I had Mike circle wide and come in from the opposite direction while I went straight to where I saw him last. I was able to get within 90 yards across a small draw, but the big buck was already following a doe out of the draw and into a thorn-filled thicket. I tried picking my way through very slowly but to no avail as he exploded out of there.
I was bummed the buck was gone. However, I was excited as I had found fresh sign of javelina digging for roots and I knew they were close. By the time we reached the truck, it was very warm out and I was thinking about water. I searched onXmaps on my phone for a water source close by, and there it was, an unmarked dirt tank very close to where I had seen the pig sign.
Arriving at the waterhole, I left Mike to sit the tank while I went to find a shaded tree to relieve myself. I heard a rock roll just as I was pulling up my drawers. Looking up, at 50 yards, I saw 10 javelina moving up the grassy bank toward the ridgetop. I grabbed my phone to text Mike, and to my surprise, I read, “Pig down!” After some quick pictures, deboning, and getting the meat in the cooler, we were heading to the ridgetop to glass again. Once at the top, it wasn’t long before we found the herd. I stalked downwind to 25 yards and made a perfect shot. The javelina didn’t go 10 feet before it expired.
On the third day, we were once again chasing Coues bucks, but we were still coming up short. Anybody who has hunted these deer knows why they call them gray ghosts. They can disappear very quickly. The next day, we decided we might need to lower our standards to any legal buck since they are so hard to get within range.
The following day, we split up to cover as much ground as possible in hopes that one of us would get a shot at one of these elusive gray ghosts. It wasn’t long before I spotted a great buck bedded on a distant hillside. I picked a route and was covering ground to get within range when I noticed another smaller buck moving closer. The big buck jumped out of his bed and chased him off. I could now see a doe that he was guarding, and I hoped they would bed back down. Instead, they went up and over the ridge. I figured they wouldn’t go far and I would be able to relocate them on the backside if I was cautious enough.
En route to the big buck, I came across some does with the smaller buck that had ruined my plans. It crossed my mind to shoot the 6-point buck as he was broadside 50 yards away, but I couldn’t do it knowing the big buck was close by. I crept to the top of the ridge where I had last seen the big buck. I immediately saw him standing 100 yards away. After a few minutes, he moved off into thicker tree cover. Once again, I crept to where he was last standing and found him moving through some thicker tree cover. I tried moving in closer, but a doe must have heard me and spooked him. They ran up a steep ridge but didn’t seem overly spooked, and they were in a better position to stalk.
I was again 100 yards away from the buck. He was straight across from me on the slope, but there was a steep draw that separated us. I could only go 15 yards before being exposed at the edge. The doe came through a small opening, and I could see he was following. I set my pin for 70 yards and drew back as he came into the opening. He stopped, quartering to me, and that was the only shot I was going to get. I aimed just in front of his shoulder at the base of his neck and released. The shot looked and felt great, except the arrow seemed to fly over him. The buck ran 40 yards, stopped, and made a blowing noise. I heard it again and threw my binoculars up. I saw blood pouring from his neck. He wobbled and fell over. I could not believe what had just happened! The flood of emotion was unreal as it had all happened so quickly. I snapped a few quick photos and field dressed the buck as the light was fading. I ended up carrying the buck out whole to get better pictures the following day.
The next day, our friend, Travis Millspaugh, flew in to join us on our last few days. We were able to find a good mule deer buck, and Mike made a great shot on him to end our hunt. We spent the last few days checking out new areas and predator hunting.
Overall, the weather was excellent and we were able to fill all of our tags. Being able to hunt in Arizona was an incredible experience, and I will be going back. I’m thankful to my wife, Anne, and my son, Gavin, for supporting my passion of hunting.
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