decembe deer in 36b

fisrtcoueswas80inches · Dec 2, 2002

my dad struck it rich this year,not only did he get a elk tag in unit 6a(he didnt get one, two afraid to shoot a spike on the last day) but he also got one of the highly sought after december deer tags in unit 36b. he will have a decent deer to beat because i killed a very respectfull 82 inch buck this year. as much as i want to have the bragging rights, i would love to get my dad at least a crack at a 90-100 inch buck because for 6 years he has worked so hard to get me a buck that he hasnt even shouldered his rifle for deer(maybe thats because untill this year we hadnt seen a buck during my hunt) we will be hunting the universal ranch road down by arivaca right by where i shot my deer. the deer were mostly in the flats during my hunt and werent very active. in december should they be in the flats also or will they be up high? we will be glassing alot seeings how in camp we have 2 pairs of docter 15x60's and i will have swavorskis 8x42s. i would love to get him and possibly the other guy with a tag in our camp shots. any pointers that you guys have will be greatly appreciated. and i also have a lion tag if we happen to see one. should our strageties from the november hunt differ from this one? we will be glassing a lot and maybe not walking so much but what should we expect? the hunt is also 18 days long i believe any pointers hint what ever would be apperciated
casey

bullwidgeon · Dec 2, 2002

First thing you need to do is sell the Docter binos and go get a pair of 15x56 Swarovski's ;-)!!!Just Kidding!
I would look hard at the ocotillo ridges especially if the rut starts during the last few days of the hunt. The bucks will try to stay with the does and I have always had luck finding them rutted on the ridges so thick with ocotillo that you could barely glass into them. I prefer to hunt the lower stuff, all though many huge bucks have been killed out of that unit way up high. I guess you should hunt where you have the most confidence, because confidence in an area can make the biggest difference on a hunt. The other thing is trying to get away from other hunters. Deer undisturbed will be easier to find than deer that have been blasted at for the last two months. Good luck.
Bret Mattausch

Bura Nut · Dec 2, 2002

Good post, helps me learn as well. The only other thing about glassing would be to plan on spending more time in Dec. glassing than you did between hunts in Nov. Meaning the deer will be up longer and moving alot more than the Nov. hunt. Most deer were bedded by 7:15AM this past Nov hunt in 36c, and didnt move around during the day until evening. I would plan on deer up and moving around till 9- 9:30am. This seemed to hold up compared to last Decembers hunt, the deer were up and moving till 10:00 some mornings and they were back up around 3:00.... Allen......

fisrtcoueswas80inches · Dec 2, 2002

we will be hunting in a area where there will more than likely not be a single person. we saw 2 guys when we wre back ther eon my hunt(1 of which was going down to my deer as if to claim it, I WAS RELODAING,just in case). as far as the moving around later and more that in november, there was hardly any movement and they were getting up till later, i shot my buck at 9:15 and was back at camp by 10:15.as far as trading in the docters, as far as i can tell, they are just as good as the swarvorskis although i have never looked through the 16x50's made by them but thanks for the info
casey

bullwidgeon · Dec 4, 2002

You 36B'ers need to be holding out for one like this. He didn't start rutting till the second to last day of the hunt (Dec 30th 1994). My uncle would not let me shoot 2 different 95 inch class bucks and 1 90 inch buck and countless weener bucks earlier that week. I was soooo pissed at the time, until we glassed this one up one windy afternoon chasing does and literally rutted out of his head. He was running back and forth along this long ocotillo ridge trying to keep 14 does all together and he would try to mount them if they gave him the oppertunity!! It was 2:00 in the afternoon when we picked him up!! He was even fighting with ocotillos that were swaying in the wind too much for his liking!! We got across canyon from him at around 3:00. He bedded at 3:15 and I waited on him to stand up till 5 minutes before dark. He never stood, I shot at him in his bed, knew I hit him but not sure where, he disapeared over the ridge he was bedded on top of. My uncle went over across the canyon and now it is like really dark but not quite black, the buck came busting out 10 feet in front of my uncle and I waited until he got like 50 yards down the canyon from him and started cutting dry again. 4 more, 1 hit way too far back and 3 clean misses(running coues bucks are the absolute hardest thing on Earth to hit even with 3 legs). The buck kept going down the canyon and disapeared out of sight. I crossed over to his bed and my uncle and we found part of his front leg 5 yards from his bed where I shot him the first time. Now it was dark, we followed the blood trail for a few hundred yards with flashlights, hung a white T-shirt in a tree over the last blood splotch and headed back for the truck a mile or two away.
Came back with a bunch of help in the morning and found him a few hundred yards away. The coyotes were on him and we killed one of them. They had pretty much eaten most of it, I was disapointed about that but glad to have found him the morning after I shot him!

Dont laugh at how young and skinny I looked. I had a hell of a time carrying out the weener buck my grandfather killed 2 days before I killed this one...
Bret Mattausch

fisrtcoueswas80inches · Dec 5, 2002

whatd he score

Bura Nut · Dec 5, 2002

Brett: That is a beauty. What a nice looking buck with great mass...... Allen Taylor......

bullwidgeon · Dec 5, 2002

107 gross, 104 1/8 net...Got me into the Record Desert Whitetail club that year ;-)!!! I am still a card carrying member and one day will be president;-)!
Bret M.

Bura Nut · Dec 6, 2002

Brett: What is the desert whitetail club? I heard a guy on here Randy Weaver talk about a club they had years ago in Sierra Vista or somewhere, and then Dave Howell has talked about opening one in central phoenix, but if there is such a club, lets get one going in Mesa or something and pump up the membership. I for one would be happy to help out in something like that MR. Future PRES>>>>..... Allen......

fisrtcoueswas80inches · Dec 9, 2002

cant wait my dad and i are starting planning our tactics and packing the truck for the trip down to hunting ground. this is going to be the best 3 weekends of rut deer action. although they are not rutting yet because it has been to warm, it will happpne soon i can feel it. cant wait to get my dad a crack at a 100+ incher. i know hell knock him down for sure because hes using my remington 700 bdl mtn lss 30-06. accurate as a mofo. i can put 6 shots in a group inside a pepsi can at 100 yards. not bad for a 17 year old dont ya think?
casey

fisrtcoueswas80inches · Dec 10, 2002

finally 2 days till we leave im so stoked
casey

fisrtcoueswas80inches · Dec 11, 2002

just mounted my harris model 25 bipod on my gun, we leave tomorrow!
casey

fisrtcoueswas80inches · Dec 15, 2002

well were back from the first weekend, dad needs a shower and i have to go back to school. i glassed up a bunch of deer. no bucks for some reason. glassed up a herd of 12 does from camp. i dont know why he didnt see any bucks ran into a hunter who said him and his wife had seen a few good bucks but were waiting for one bigger than the 105 that she had on the wall. any one know why we havent seen any bucks? have glassed up a whole bunch of does but i think it might be a lil warm. also we had a lion come through camp last night
casey

fisrtcoueswas80inches · Jan 2, 2003

well the hunts over. i still have braginng rights i got him the shots on the big forky then he went out the last night to where they saw the 105.they got on some more bucks but they must have seen them or something cause they started moving awaya nd at about 400 yards off hand my dad started shooting he shot 4 more times with no connections. dad went 0/6 and i know the gun is on cause he was using mine. looks like he wont hear the end of it till he kills one!
casey
p.s. congrats to all of you guys whol kille dbucks this year especially allen, nice to see u connect especially on a giant like that