Thanks for all the advice guys. A portion of what follows was copied from my reply to ranger, who had the same tag. So I apologize for any repetitiveness. But it was easier to add what I wrote there, then add to it, than to rewrite, what would almost be a duplicate.
I was there during the last five days of the season. I had pretty good luck with other hunters with really just one exception. I had been told of a few waterholes by another guy who helped tremendously and provided a lot of support and information - as a matter of fact without his help, I would have probably been set back, at least three or four days doing my own research, and I still would not have had the background information to go off of. But luckily with his help, I was able to hit the ground running, so to speak.
On day one of my hunt, which would have been the actual sixth day of the season, I found my way to one of the waterholes about an hour before daylight. When I arrived, I found someone else already parked there. So I asked if I was even at the waterhole I was searching for, as I was simply working off of a usgs map and the map app on my phone, which as you know, was pretty sketchy unless you were on the very top, or on the edge of the plateau. Anyway, they said yes, it was the waterhole, and I did what I thought was the right thing to do, and I left, searching for somewhere else prior to daylight.
However, the next day, at around 10 a.m., I thought I would recheck that waterhole, as I had spoken to another hunter and he filled me in on the etiquette, so to speak, of waterholes. He had said, if no one was on stand at a waterhole, and I wanted to hunt THAT waterhole, to get in, and stay in. It kind of felt strange to me. I mean I understand the fact that public land belongs to everyone, and I also understand the Arizona law that says, first come first serve, but if felt strange to kind of swipe the stand of another hunter, who may had been running cameras, or been hunting there religiously since the opener. Regardless, when I arrived at the waterhole, no one was there. So I found the waterhole, and found a place to hide.
It was unbelievable seeing all the deer come on a string to the waterhole - again, though I am very familiar with western hunting in general, my experiences in the earlier seasons in the southwest, is minimal. So after seeing about twenty does, and deer seemed to quit coming, I heard a vehicle up top, they drove in, and cut off the vehicle. After some thought, I decided to check out what was going on, since I had heard lots about confrontation and other problems, etc, arising from sitting waterholes in Arizona. When I got near my vehicle I saw the same vehicle that was there the previous morning. I also saw a couple guys walking up and down the road. It didn't make sense, and I had no true idea of what to do. I didn't want to meet them, as I didn't want them to think I was being confrontational. So, I returned to the blind, and the other vehicle remained there. Then about two hours before dark, I thought I would investigate more thoroughly, because I thought, if the other hunter/s were trying to cut me off, etc. I would simply be better off going somewhere else. When I arrived at my vehicle I found a couple others still sitting in the truck. When one of them saw me, he came and spoke with me. He said that the actual hunter was hunting a waterhole down below me. We spoke a bit and I returned to the blind. I didn't think a whole lot about the situation, until I spoke with another hunter the next day, and after telling him about what had happened, he told me that the only other waterhole in that area was about a hundred yards below the one I was sitting. He also told me, that particular waterhole was dry. That was pretty frustrating when I found that out. I mean, I would never do that to anyone, and as they had come in around noon, they could have easily found somewhere else to sit/hunt, but they just slid in right next to me - which I am certain with the added human activity didn't help the opportunity to get a chance at a good buck. Personally, I would have NEVER done that, unless I had actually known the other person at the primary waterhole. Also, at what I would have considered prime time, about 15 - 20 minutes before actual dark, I heard them crank up and leave.
Oh well. It was actually an interesting hunt, and after learning a few things, I saw lots of deer. I also saw a LOT of successful hunters, but it was unbelievable to see what most had killed. Whenever I was hunting, I would hear a gunshot, and I would envision 160 to 190 inch bucks hitting the ground. But in reality after I started speaking to others who had been successful and maybe even had a deer in the back of the truck, or hanging, I found just the opposite. Most were tiny two points and spikes, or maybe even the occasional 1.5 year old three point that was no bigger than the little forkies. I thought to myself, the brown and down gang, back home, had nothing on these guys.
But I would like to add to my last statement since it seemed derogatory to some degree. After speaking to as many other hunters that I could, I found that most residents could only hunt deer every few years, some even waited six or more years between tags - which does make it easier to understand the desire to fill a tag, even if it was with a little 1.5 year old two point. Because here in North Carolina, we don't have a limit on doe, and can take two bucks, and we can hunt every year with all weapons. So filling a freezer with venison is not even something we have to think about. If we want a deer, though nice bucks are as rare as hen's teeth, we can go out almost any day of the season and bring home meat. I guess my prior notions simply lamented that most western hunters were more serious about trophy hunting - that simply wasn't the situation.
I understand now why others have said it was a FUN hunt. In the right areas, there were LOTS of deer and it was physically very easy. But it was nothing like I expected. Meaning I felt like before the hunt, and I must add, also before speaking with several others, I would see at least ONE nice 140 - 150 inch buck almost daily, while waiting for a good buck, but that couldn't have been further from the truth. I ended up killing the largest buck I saw while I was there. And though he is very odd to me, plus the fact that I am not great at scoring mule deer, I would guess he would be around 140 gross. Actually if my buck would have had front forks that matched the back forks, it would have been what I had hoped to come away with from my hunt.
As I expected, the hunt got better, the later it got in the season. Actually by the last evening of the last day, when I shot my buck, I didn't see another hunter. Which I wished I would have.
On that last evening, I returned to an area that a LOT of deer were frequenting. I got an early start and got to the area around 1 p.m. Actually, I might as well say it, because it is no big secret. It was in the new chain-down area in the north end of the unit. The evening before, I had hunted the area and I had saw about 50 deer - had I chose to just drive around, I am certain I may have seen a hundred or more deer -, and also about ten vehicles that started cruising around, during the last hour or so of daylight. It was unbelievable, seeing how many vehicles were in one area, even though the area is huge.
Personally, I would find a good area, then get out and walk to a high spot, or a low open area, and glass. And though I cannot say for certain, I saw a couple of vehicles repeatedly, which gave me the notion that they were simply cruising looking for a buck - which I later found was illegal. But I must add, that I cannot say for certain that they weren't doing the same thing that I was doing, driving from area to area, and then getting out and walking, and/or glassing, but it seemed that some of the vehicles never stopped rolling.
Again for clarity, I am not accusing anyone of illegal hunting, it is just that after seeing all the vehicles constantly driving around, I checked out the regulation book to see exactly what the law said about hunting from the road - meaning that some states simply state you have to be so far from the vehicle before shooting, while other states say, that a vehicle cannot be shot from, even if a hunter isn't driving around and happens to find an area to sit and glass, but for whatever reason they choose to sit in the vehicle while doing so, and some states even allow shooting and hunting from a vehicle as long as the hunter has permission from the landowner. I had no plans to shoot from a vehicle, I was simply curious as to what the regulation actually was. And what I found was that in Arizona, the use of a vehicle is not allowed to even find a game animal, meaning that even riding around, to find a buck, then getting out and making a stalk, is technically illegal - this was very interesting.
I can say that it was actually somewhat frustrating because I felt that if I happened to be 10 or 15 minutes from my vehicle and was lucky enough to spot a decent buck, I am not certain I could have made it to the deer before someone drove by the same buck and shot it from their vehicle - that never happened, but the thought was definitely in the back of my head. Also, in the back of my head, after hearing a few shots that evening, was, I wonder where those bullets were ending up.
The best buck I saw that evening was a three point that I could have easily shot. Then after trying to move to another area before shooting light had diminished, I met a nice guy who was trying to get his daughter a buck, I attempted to let him know where I had seen that buck. He thanked me and left, and I hoped that the young lady would get a chance at a buck. I truly hope she did, and it would have excited me more to see her shoot a buck she was excited with, than to actually get one myself.
So, on the last day of the hunt, I headed to the area early, as I had spotted deer the evening for around 3 p.m. After getting there, I found a couple of spots and because I knew the deer were funneling from the lower surrounding areas that were very thick. I felt that if I got out on the ridges, I could possibly see onto the adjacent ridge, or down into the small gullies that fed up into the chain-down. After going out onto a couple of these little ridges with no luck, I found yet another ridge and walked out onto the point. Seeing nothing, I started to walk back towards my vehicle. But just as turned to walk back, I spotted a deer on the other ridge that appeared to be pushing on a cedar tree. I looked through my binoculars, and it was a small three point, giving the cedar a good working over. I watched him for a couple of minutes and was amused at his bad boy attitude. I also saw another deer, which ended up being a doe. Then while watching this little buck, another buck walks in, from left to right, through about a six foot opening. Right away, he looked like he had a super tall rack, and due to the fact that he was moving through without seeming to want to stop, I new it was time to make a move, if I wanted to tag a buck. Like I said, my quick glance, revealed nothing more than, the buck seemed really tall. So, I dropped the binoculars and slung my rifle around and took the shot. At the shot, he dropped like a rock.
I made my way to the next ridge and found the buck. As you can see, he is a decent buck, not exactly what I had hoped for, but easily the best buck I had personally seen while there. And from my perspective, the body was really large. I will be interested in finding how old he was.
I tagged my buck, took a few pictures, then gutted him. Then, that is where it became even more interesting. And must admit, I have never felt more like an ignorant greenhorn, then at that time. I had rented an SUV, and normally when I do this, I always simply buy a large tarp so I can get any animal taken, in the back, without getting a mess of blood and dirt everywhere. However, when I had stopped after arriving and picking up the rental car, I happened to stop at a sam's club, instead of what I thought to be a Wal-Mart. Apparently, I was in such a hurry, I failed to notice that the Walmart was on the right and I had went into the store on the left. Anyway, they didn't have a tarp, so being in a hurry, I thought I would just pick one up in Fredonia. But after once again, getting to my hotel late, and needing to get up extra early, so that I wouldn't waste one precious minute, I again neglected to purchase a tarp - and really didn't and still wouldn't know, where to go, as it is a small town. Then after not seeing much in the way of quality after about three days, I figured that buying a tarp would have been a waste and I delegated it upon myself that I would not tag a buck. I also thought, that if I did happen to get lucky, there were so many hunters around, that someone would probably be willing to help out, should I need a tarp, or maybe even allow me to throw something in the bed of their truck.
Unfortunately after deciding I would need a bit of help to whatever extent, I quickly started searching for another hunter. But to my surprise, NO ONE was around. I did not know it, but I had the entire area to myself, during that last evening of the hunt.
To make a longer story short, I ended up finding two guys, who had camped just at the bottom of the buckskins and what I believe were the only other hunters who had hunted through to the last minute, and they ended up giving me a tarp and followed me back to my buck and helped me load him up. These guys were great and I will always remember their gracious act.
After getting my buck into the SUV, atop the extra large tarp, I returned to town. I then skinned the buck and quartered him. Then I got my gear ready for the long drive to the airport. It was midnight by then, and I needed to leave at 2 a.m. to be to the airport on time. So though that last day was extremely tiresome and hectic, it all came together in the end and I had under my belt a fairly satisfying hunt.
For those that did offer advice or help in any way, I greatly appreciate everything and hope that some day maybe I can reciprocate.
Sorry for being so long, there was simply a lot to the story. Actually there is lots more, this is just the abbreviated version, geez.
Good luck for those in the future who may consider this hunt. Depending on your goals, it may or may not meet your goal.
