AZ Archery Weekend
Posted by drchoate on August 24, 2008
Opening weekend of the Arizona archery deer hunt has come and gone — for me anyway. It was an eventful weekend for sure. Opening morning found me high above the ground, waiting for an elusive Coues deer to wander by. While sitting in my stand, I got a call from my good friend, Geoff Lloyd. He had put a big Coues buck on the ground. Without hesitation, I was out of my stand and on my way. Geoff had scored on a huge buck that scored 122″ gross! A friend of our’s, Josh Epperson, filmed the hunt; perhaps coming to a TV near you soon. Congrats Geoff!
Here is Geoff admiring his 122″ buck!
Needless to say, I was impressed. I was also motivated to score on a big buck of my own. That evening I sat a different stand, but no deer showed up. At the end of the evening I checked the Cuddeback to see what had been coming in. I was excited with a couple of the bucks the Cuddeback had captured.
A nice 4 x 3.
A decent three point.
A 4 x 4 that I would like to see in a couple of years.
For the remainder of the weekend I hunted these bucks, to no avail. This afternoon I was driven from my stand by severe lightning, unwillingly I may add. So now I am home “hunting” vicariously via The Outdoor Channel.
More to come…
Now, I don’t pretend to know anything about couse deer since I’ve never seen one - but if I’m not mistaken, that is a GIANT is it not?! Sure looks like it to me - I mean it seems like I’ve seen much smaller couse in magazines that were proclaiming to be some pretty nice couse.
Very cool - good luck the rest of your hunt. We open with antelope Wednesday - elk starts Saturday. I can’t wait!
August 25th, 2008 at 11:39 am
Tom - It’s a TOAD! Good luck on your hunts! - Darren
August 25th, 2008 at 12:19 pm
Dang that’s one heck of a coues buck! You sure an eastern whitetail didn’t wander over there?
Good luck getting onto one of those trailcam bucks. You know they’re there… the rest is up to you.
August 26th, 2008 at 9:09 am
Phenomenal Coues buck! I’ve been doing a little half-hearted research about a DIY hunt in Arizona for a couple years. Other things are higher up on the list at present, but I’m sure I’ll find myself wandering around the rattlesnakes, cougars, and cactus one of these days chasing those tiny, awesome deer! Congrats to your friend, buck of many lifetimes!
September 11th, 2008 at 8:49 pm
dihardhunter,
Thanks for the comment. I have a Coues D-I-Y article coming out in a couple of months in the pages of Rocky Mountain Game & Fish magazine. Take care, Darren.
September 11th, 2008 at 9:47 pm