Kaibab

cmbbulldog · Nov 24, 2016

Hows it going up there? Anybody back from the late hunt?

brian390 · Nov 24, 2016

Yeah, I haven't heard much about how the Kaibab hunts went this year either.

cmbbulldog · Nov 25, 2016

I'm sure Don and Dan will be both be up there with hunters, hopefully they report back.

rockymtnhunter · Nov 25, 2016

To all:

For those wondering about how things are going during the Kaibab late hunt, here's a few photos to satisfy your curiosity...

First photo is unique buck taken by Brian, the hunter I was with - we chased him for 2 days before we caught up with him. Great 6x7 with extra long droopy fronts - not the biggest buck on the mtn but a real trophy! He was following does and had a nice 4x4 shadowing him everywhere he went. First saw him a mile away across a deep canyon where 2 hunters pushed him out, but I don't think they saw him. We came back next day and sneaked in the back door on him, but couldn't find him, finally spotted him at 1000 yds under a cedar about a 1/2 mile from where he was the day before. Took a couple of hours to get 350 yds from him - Brian made a great shot w/300RUM-one shot and a load of bricks fell down on him, about 2.5 miles from truck. For those who have been w/me during the past few years he was in the "Triangle".

Next two photos are of bucks taken by hunters in the same camp where Brian was staying - they hunted a different area, but shot these 2 bucks the day we were retrieving Brian's buck. That's a lot of bone from one camp!

I know there are still hunters out and I expect some good bucks will still be taken. Overall this year was exceptional in terms of bucks seen & taken.

cmbbulldog · Nov 25, 2016

Thanks for the report back Dan! Looks like bucks still up high (or mid) all the way low.... Cant wait to get back up there some day. Congrats to the hunters!

brian390 · Nov 26, 2016

Those are some great bucks that you guys got. Thanks for updating us on how your hunt went.

PleaseDear · Nov 26, 2016

So nice bucks right there.

Thanks for sharing

Robb

mike111 · Nov 27, 2016

Great Bucks!!

Wapitiwilly · Nov 27, 2016

Damn nice bucks. Hopefully I will draw in the next couple of years??

rockymtnhunter · Nov 28, 2016

A little more about the early & late rifle hunts.

The early hunt was good, but challenging. I was with two hunters who were looking for big bucks. Weather was warm & dry on opening day, deer were using available water where they could find it, in fact I saw more sign on a few tanks than I've ever seen before. Deer were high in the burn area as expected, but hunters were everywhere!

We found some good bucks before opening day in the burn in spite of all the pressure. We split up opening morn and the hunter I was with had a shot opportunity at 164 yards at a good 170 pt 5x5, but he passed on the shot because we weren't sure it was the big buck we'd seen previously. The other hunter went where he'd seen 3 good bucks, but nothing showed up, except hunters!

After opening day we went to many of my favorite areas outside of burn - saws lots of deer & bucks every day, but no shooters. We spent 2 days low on west side to see if deer had moved low - found deer and some respectable bucks, deer were definitely on the move headed for low country, but there were still deer high and in the middle country. I was sure they would be low by the late hunt. Spent some time on Little Mtn, saw deer but hunters were everywhere.

We sneaked in on 4 good bucks at 80 yds in one of my favorite honey holes up high where I've always found good bucks when the pressure is on during the early hunt, but no monster so hunter passed on shot. Found a good area in the middle country (6500-7000' elev) where we saw a lot of deer and some good bucks, including a big buck that slipped away before hunter could get set up for the shot. Lots of acorns in this area, but I'm not sure if muleys eat acorns.

Neither hunter ended up punching their tag, but they were happy with the bucks they saw and the opportunities they had. Saw a lot of bucks taken, looked like hunter success was pretty high during early hunt.

By the late hunt many deer had moved low, but there were still deer in the middle country. Weather had been warm & dry since early hunt so deer were hitting the trick tanks. As usual, I found multiple trailcams were on trick tanks. I did go high (above 7500' elev) one afternoon before opening day just to see if deer were there, there wasn't (at least I didn't see any). I scouted low country for 2-1/2 days before opening day and saw good bucks, but there were deer a little higher than usual it seemed to me, i.e. in the middle pine-oak-locust areas. Hunted 2 days in classic Kaibab west side p-j, cedar, cliffrose, grass country - lot of deer and bucks, and you can see the photo of the results for Brian.

Closing thoughts - I shared this thought with the hunters I was with year. I have 45 years of memories of working, camping, & hunting on the North Kaibab. Today, for me, the joy is in the remembering - the places & bucks I've seen, the hunts I've been on, and the people I've met over the years. Those memories mean everything to me. After some reflection, I think will be the last year that I do what I've done the past 4 years. I'll probably focus on trying to draw a rifle tag before I turn 75 (10 years from now). My health is good and there's no place I'd rather be than the North Kaibab.

FYI - I'm finishing up the book I've been working on titled "Hunting the North Kaibab - A Hunter's Practical Guide to Hunting Mule Deer on the North Kaibab Plateau in Arizona". I plan to have it available before the AZ deer application period next year. More info to be forthcoming.

cmbbulldog · Nov 28, 2016

Thanks for the recap Dan, sounds like fun.

Looking forward to the book! Please keep us posted.

And I hope I can talk you out of retirement when I draw the late tag again!

HalfAce · Nov 28, 2016

LAST EDITED ON Nov-28-16 AT 11:45PM (MST)[p]Dan, for the time and effort you have put in up there, and for all your generosity helping others and myself, you deserve one of those Kaibab monsters.

If you need an extra set of eyes when you draw your tag, let me know.

Sounds like ill be making a purchase in some hunting literature in the near future ;-)