rockymtnhunter
Active Member
- Messages
- 198
Greetings to all & good luck during the upcoming hunts. Just thought I'd give a little report on my Kaibab bowhunt & some observations for the upcoming rifle hunts. I spent 10 days hunting and saw lots of deer. My total deer count during the hunt was 447, of which 181 were bucks, including 3 giant bucks (which were 30?+ 200 pt-class bucks). Didn?t see the huge non-typical that I saw last year but I suspect he's still around. There were some great bucks taken that I know of & congrats to Bishup for his once-in-a-lifetime buck! I had a great opportunity for a 26? 160-170 class 4x4 opening day @ 30 yds, but inadvertently held on my 20 yd pin so shot went just under his chest ? that's bowhunting!##/*?!. Had a couple of other shots, but fell victim to ?jumping the string?. Ended up having some tasty tag soup, but that's OK. Seemed to be more big bucks than I've seen in a long time ? and I first hunted the Kaibab in 1971. I think it will be a good hunt during both the early & late hunts ? esp. the late hunt when the bucks move low & get rutty. Based on what I saw during the bowhunt & if the weather cooperates, there will be some great bucks taken.
Monsoon moisture has been abundant over most of the plateau - everything was green & lush. I did see a noticeable browse line on the aspen in a couple areas that I haven't seen since the early 90?s ? this seems to correlate with healthy deer population. And lots of does w/fawns ? looked like a good fawn crop this year. Deer didn't seem to be using the ponds & tanks very much because of the abundant rain & standing water in lots of places ? but things will likely dry out by Oct. Spent a day on the west side in the low country looking at a few trick tanks ? again things were green and water is in the tanks. Roads were in good shape.
I'll be there during the early & late hunts and can't wait to see how all of you who have tags do. Good luck!
Monsoon moisture has been abundant over most of the plateau - everything was green & lush. I did see a noticeable browse line on the aspen in a couple areas that I haven't seen since the early 90?s ? this seems to correlate with healthy deer population. And lots of does w/fawns ? looked like a good fawn crop this year. Deer didn't seem to be using the ponds & tanks very much because of the abundant rain & standing water in lots of places ? but things will likely dry out by Oct. Spent a day on the west side in the low country looking at a few trick tanks ? again things were green and water is in the tanks. Roads were in good shape.
I'll be there during the early & late hunts and can't wait to see how all of you who have tags do. Good luck!