My first coues with a bow!!

Arthur Gonzales' 2012 Arizona Archery Coues



We were able to get plenty of tc photos of this buck.



Chad named this buck Boots, can you guess why??

Well, once again Joe and I were back in the field hunting together. This time we were hunting coues deer in Southern AZ. Joe and I have both taken many coues deer but neither had taken one with a bow. I was hoping to shoot any 3 point or better but Joe, true to his style, was holding out for something over 100". I was constantly chasing the action as every where Joe went, he was passing on nice bucks and when I showed up the next day to try and take one, they wouldn't show. We kept at it and had a great few days. My wife missed a nice buck, which would've been her first, and our friend Mark harvested his second coues with a bow. Over the last several months, Jay, Chad, and Joe were getting photos of some outstanding bucks but since they seem to be rutting over the last few weeks, nothing had been consistent at the cameras. With the rut winding down, some of these mature bucks began getting back into their routine. At the location that I was to sit on our last day out, the amount of rubs and scrapes was comical. It almost seem like someone was playing a joke because every manzanita and pine had scrapes and rubs. Unreal scrape line, and big rubs at that. Joe had me sit this spot as there were several good bucks in this area and my chance at one of them seem to be pretty good. After 4 does had come and gone, things slowed down. I figured I didn't have much to lose so I grabbed my rattling antlers and crashed them together for about 10 seconds. The instant I stopped, I could hear a buck running through the oak litter head straight for my location. Within seconds, the buck was standing directly beneath my stand. I barely had enough time to put the antlers down and grab my bow. The buck was on full alert, obviously looking for the bucks that were sparring. As he moved forward a few yards, I recognized his extras and knew this was a stud buck. I kept telling myself "It's Him, It's Him.." Fortunately things happened so fast, I never had time to over-think my situation and never really got nervous. Since the does earlier had spent about half hour wondering around earlier in the day, I felt like I had all their paths ranged. Once this buck walked by me stand, I could tell he was headed down the same path the does took. I drew as he went behind the brush and when he stepped out at 18 yards, I touched off an arrow. It all happened so fast, it's hard to imagine that I actually remember every detail of the next few seconds. I heard the distinctive whack of the Rage broadhead connecting. In a few leap and bounds, this buck was standing about 60 yards out looking around to try and figure out what just happened. This is the point were I started shaking. I didn't want to take my eye off of him so I watched without binoculars. After a few seconds, I thought I seen him leaning to the left. When he walked off, I heard some brush and limbs snap. I'm sure you've all been in my boots. I began second guessing what I had just seen. Did he look hurt, was he falling or running off?????? After a few minutes, I stopped shaking and started gathering my thoughts. I looked down were I shot and with the binos, I could see a blood soaked arrow sticking in the dirt. I now knew I had at least hit him. I climbed out of the stand and picked up my arrow, climbed back up and waited another 45 minutes. Still unsure, I quietly slipped out of the area and walked the 1.5 miles to Joe's location. I ran him through the scenario but failed to mention it was a big buck. He thought I'd shot a 90" buck. We drove back to my spot and slipped back in quietly. I couldn't take it anymore, I was a nervouse and scared wreck. I let the cat out of the bag and finally told Joe it was the big buck. He pretty much figured the buck was dead and sure enough, when I showed Joe the last place I seen the buck we tracked him a few more yards and found him piled up. My shot was true as the broadhead hit both lungs and severed the top of the heart. This buck was dead a few seconds after being hit. Then the hugs and smiles hit us. With the help of my big brother, I'd finally taken my first archery coues, and my biggest coues to date. I have to give thanks to my wife and family for putting up with my addiction to hunting, to Joe for giving me this opportunity, and Jay, Chad, and the rest of Mossback AZ for finding this buck. Even though I'll be waiting a full year to hunt deer in AZ again, its definately worth the wait. Enjoy.

This buck sports long beams and matching extra points on both horns.

MBAZ Guide and my brother Joe with "Boots".

Thanks again to Will at Gila Outdoors for ensuring my equipment was ready to perform!!

 In addition to this buck, we were also able to harvest another great buck with Mark O. Mark's buck also frequented this area and we captured many tc photos prior to Mark making a great 20 yard shot on his buck. What a follow up to Mark's Freak Nasty buck. Two great bucks on back to back days. Congrats to Mark on his beautiful buck.

Mark O's 2012 Az archery coues

Arts 2012 AZ Archery Giant!

Here is the first picture I got of a giant coues that Art put down today.  I will leave the story for him to share.  What a buck and Congrats Art on this beauty.

2012 Archery Javelina Double!!

Gonzales Family on our successful 2012 Archery Javelina Hunt!!

Husband and Wife double!!!!

Those who know me well know that one of my passions is hunting javelina. It's right up there with chasing bugling bulls in my book. Most folks think thats odd but javelina offer a great opportunity to get up and close and if you blow a stalk, oh well, you'll find more. This also gives me a chance to get the rest of the family out with me and not worry too much about how much noise the boys make. This year, my wife Michelle wanted to get back into archery hunting and what better hunt to do it. Michelle has killed several pigs with archery and rifle so she is no stranger to closing the distance and since she is just getting back into shooting her bow after a few years off, we were hoping to get in close to better her chances. We decided to hunt close to home in one of the units in Northern Arizona that has huntable populations of javelina. Fortunately, I spend alot of time in this unit and just last weekend, I was able to find several locations that held fresh sign. Michelle and I purchased left over permits at the G&F office and the hunt was on. Within a half hour of our first outing we were in the pigs. Our boys were able to stay quiet enough as Michelle and I closed the distance. We found one herd of 6 pigs that obviously had not been chased much since they showed no fear and continued to feed even after the first time we bumped them (one bonus of hunting these northern units). After closing the distance again, Michelle sent a couple warning shots (that's what we're claiming) over the pigs just to let them know we were there. I struck first at 40 yards. Since the pigs split up after I connected, we decided the best opportunity for a close shot was to call the pigs to us. After some lips squeaking, we had them headed our way. Michelle came to full draw as a mature pig step out from behind a juniper tree. Her shot was a perfect hit and we never lost site of her pig as it only went a few yards and piled up. My first shot was a bit far back and as Michelle let the boys blow of some built up energy at the truck, I tracked my pig for a ways. Since there was not much blood, I backed off and went down to get Michelle and the boys. On our way back up to her pig, we spotted my pig bedded down. One last well placed shot at 27 yards and our javelina hunt was done. Our pigs died within 50 yards of each other which gave us enough time to get them down the hill and get some photos before we lost the light. This was key as our boys are taking after their mother and love to take pictures. It tooks some time but they managed to get some good shots for us. Just to make sure, Michelle and I took turns snapping some photos and setting up the self-timer. We loaded our pigs and head for home, another successful javelina hunt to add to our scrapbook!!

Michelle, Tomas, and JP pose with mom's 4th archery javelina!

Arthur, Tomas, and JP with dad's javelina. This makes 16 consecutive successful years!!

Here is the picture that JP took.. 

And Tomas' picture...

I added this picture to showcase the bow. Thanks to Will at  Gila Outdoor for the work he has done on our archery equipment. He was very instrumental in getting my bow set up before our late archery elk hunt and his help carried right into this hunt. One of the keys to success in any hunt is to be comfortable and confident with your equipment. Since we starting using Will, we have been nothing short of amazed at his expertise. If you are in the Safford area, stop by and see will or give him a call to see how he can help you out. Huge thanks again to Will.

JP closes the distance on this javelina. What a great way to get the kids excited about hunting!!!

Wades 2011 AZ Coues Buck

Wade was able to come down prior to the year end and tag out on this great coues buck.  Wade looked at many different bucks that were 100+ and decided that this buck would work.  One shot later at 350 yards and this buck was his.  The buck scores 109 4/8", and is just under 17" wide inside.  Congrats Wade, we enjoyed hunting with you and look forward to doing it again.  Thanks also to Ronnie and Collin for their help.

Joe's 2011 Henry Mt. Buffalo Hunt

Joe Gonzales' 2011 Henry Mt. Bison

Joe was fortunate to win a raffle tag at the Western Expo in Salt Lake City, UT for a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to hunt the rugged Henry Mt.s for buffalo. This truly was an experience that we won't soon forget. Beautiful and rugged country, jaw-dropping animals, and great company made for a fantastic hunt. Even though we were novices at buffalo hunting, we made the best of it seeing many great bulls. Joe even videoed one we dubbed the "Musk ox" bull. This bull had both horns dropping downward, a sight even the game warden have never seen. On the first day of the hunt, Joe was able to drop the hammer on this mountain of a bull. THAT WAS ONLY THE START... Then we had to figure out how to get this beast out. Being just shy of 2 miles from the trail head didn't sound to bad, until you throw in the fact that is was up hill through rugged country, with near a foot of snow, and at 9500 ft!!!! NEED I SAY MORE... We had some cowboys bring in horses but with the snow and difficulty of the terrain, we still had to pack the buffalo 3/4 of a mile to the horses. They sure proved to be worth there wait in gold.. Not to mention the cowboys' heroic effort in riding 10 miles on horseback in blizzard conditions since the weather did not allow us to get their trucks any closer. We would probably still be out there right now if they hadn't come in to help. Here are some great photos and a video that we put together capturing Joe's hunt. Joe passed on a bull that may have been bigger if not as big in order to get his hunt on video. It paid off. Enjoy the pics and video.

Joe's giant AZ archery buck!!! UPDATE!! More pics

Joe Gonzales stands and admires his 2011 AZ archery mule deer.



 

Holy smokes, were do we start. Joe was able to fill his OTC archery deer tag today after having several close encounters with many smaller bucks. Joe's buck grosses 190 7/8". This buck is very decieving both in pictures and while we chased him. With 21" of mass per side which added up to an 84" left horn, an 81 7/8" right horn, and a 25" inside spread, the inches add up quick! The hunt for this buck actually started in September when we came across a new area that we seen several great deer in velvet. During the elk hunts we stumbled across several great sheds from these bucks and we began thinking we might be able to find these deer in the late hunt. Once the late archery season opened up, Joe and I were behind the big glass scouring the brush fields. Incredibly, everytime we went in to this area Joe chased nice bucks. This morning we glassed up a herd of deer with 4 bucks, including this bruiser. Once Joe got in close, he simply sat back and waited. The deer were rutting and since this buck was pre-occupied with chasing other bucks and does, it was only a matter of time before the opportunity presented itself. Well, if finally happened and at 43 yards, Joe's first hit was a bit far back so we sat back and watched him bed to give him time to expire. As soon as one of the other bucks in the herd seen he was hurt, he went in for another battle. Joe's buck gave a good effort but being wounded he was quickly beaten down and the other buck spent the next 15 minutes putting a good beat down on this buck. While this was happening, Joe took advantage of the chaos and close the distance to finally put this heavy buck down for good. I was able to capture some rough footage of Joe's final stalk through the spotting scope so we'll have to put a quick video together. Congrats to Joe on a whopper of a deer. Let's see what else our new spot may bring in the future..



Check out the mass on this guy!!

This is the shed from Joe's buck that we found in September.

The day after harvesting this beautiful buck, Joe skinned and caped the buck in preparation for a shoulder mount. When he removed the hide, the true damage caused by the other buck was evident. The first picture below shows only the arrows entrance wound. The next pictures shows the bucks other side, this is the side the other buck stomped and gored him. We knew from watching the fight that the other buck had put a beating on him, but we had no idea of the damage he inflicted. Look at all the puncutre wounds and bruises! You can basically get and idea of the spread of the other buck based on the puncture wounds on this buck's side. This was the other buck's opportunity to show his dominance while the bigger buck was wounded, and he took full advantage of it.

2011 Late Hunt Fun

The late hunts of 2011 were a lot of fun.  We had some awesome hunters who hunted hard and had a great time.  We will add more details to the bulls but we wanted to get some pictures up and say Thank You to all of the hunters who trusted us with their hunts.  More pics of bulls to come.. Stay tuned.

Phil with "Droopy"

Phil with his great bull.

"Droopy" in 2010, we were able to get the sheds off this bull as well.

Another pic of him as he was passed up in 2010 with a score of 375.

Robbie with his hard earned trophy from a tough unit. Congrats.

Gene with his heavy 2011 late season bull 

The bases on this bull were huge.  Check out the mass.

Gene and his brother Dick with Genes bull.

Dick was able to take a great heavy late bull with time winding down as well.  

This bull had awesome mass and is a bull we have watched for a few years. 

Brian admiring his dark horned bull.

Brian with his 2001 late bull.

With a day left in the hunt, Brian was able to take this heavy old bull

Timm with his great late season bull.

Congrats Tim.

Mark hunted hard and was able to get this nice bull at the end of his hunt.

Mark with his first bull elk.

Congrats Randy on your beautiful late bull!

Randy and Crew with his bull.

Lance with his best elk to date, a dandy az late season bull.

Lance was a little excited when he got his bull.

Pete made a great shot to get this 3 horned bull!

Timm and Pete were able to enjoy a great hunt together!

James made a great shot to get his first elk! Congrats James!