2015 Season in the Rearview Pic Heavy

[Craig Van Arsdale]

Thanks for the kind words guys. Glad you all are liking it.

My next and last hunt of the year was a Dec late rifle Coues deer hunt in AZ. I lucked out and drew a great tag unexpectedly after I decided to give up on any of the archery mule deer tags in AZ with the way their points system worked. Now that's changing.....

 

[Craig Van Arsdale]

I made a quick bonsai scouting trip for two days in late November just to get an on the ground look at the unit and eat my Google Earth humble pie once again...

I saw some does but no bucks. I suspected the deer were holed up pretty good after the two back to back rifle seasons that had just taken place so I didn't let the lack of deer sightings get to me too much.

I had also hunted archery Coues a couple times in late December in the past and knew its a totally different game at that time of the year so I was excited for the upcoming opportunity to chase these gray ghosts with a rifle.

Hunting out of state never ceases to amaze me at the constant challenges in logistics it takes to overcome and be successful on a hunt. It seems like I'm always battling something! So after the long drive from Northern CA to AZ I get to the gate late that night with the intentions of hiking into my predetermined spot that night. Turns out the National Forrest Service had other plans for me as they were doing road maintenance and had the area closed off to public vehicle access!!

From the main gate to where I wanted to hunt was 6.5 miles as a crow flies.... As much as I was frustrated at the closure I was also happy as I knew I would have the entire place to myself at that point! I slept at the truck that night and made the pack in the next morning with enough food for 6 days.

 

[Craig Van Arsdale]

I had time on my side though with 13 available days to hunt so the plan was to make the hike back to the truck in 6 days for the rest of my food.

The weather was great the first few days but the deer sighting were slim. I saw a few small bucks and some does but nothing I was looking for on this hunt.

The sunsets were amazing

 

[krohboy]

Loving this post. Makes me want to do one next year.

 

[Craig Van Arsdale]

Day 4 comes around and out of all things I run into two local guys on the same ridge I am camped on and glassing from. Out of all places I figure I am in the right spot.... Come to find out they are just out for fun and don't have a tag this year.... AND had a stud buck they had just spotted way down in the canyon on the other side of the wash about 1200 yards below us! As I walk up to their glassing perch the first thing I see is a set of Kowa Highlander 32X82 binos set up on the tripod! "These guys are serious!" I say to myself.

They were just as excited as I was about meeting each other and maybe getting in on this buck. We watch him for not even 15 min and he beds right under a Pinyon Juniper tree! The wind is starting to pick up and the buck is has clearly found himself a good shelter so we start making a plan to get on him.

We dump all our gear and take off down the mountain after him. I have my 240 Weatherby Mag and one of the guys has his 338 Lapua that they were packing in case they saw any predators. We bust down the mountain and make it down to a nice bench on our side of the canyon. At this elevation were concerned that if we drop much more elevation his body will be covered by the brush in front of him and prevent a good shot at his vitals. We range him from here and he's now at 610 yards. I explain to the guys my rifle shooting the Barnes TSX 85 grain bullets is not really the gun for this shot although I do shoot it well out to that distance I don't think its much for power at that distance or its ability to buck any wind which was starting to blow.

The one guy suggests we set up on him with his 338. I agree and we dial the Nightforce for 610 yards and about 8 mph wind IIRC. I get set up and into prone with a good rest and dry fire on him a few times to calm myself down for the shot and get used to his trigger. After dry firing on him a few times I just didn't feel 100% confident in the shot.... after all if I did take this shot it would nearly double the distance I have ever taken any game with a rifle so I decided to not take the shot and try to move in closer on him.

The guys were very cool about it and we packed back up and headed down to the next bench below us. When we got there we creeped over the edge and found him still bedded in the same spot unaware of our presence! He was now 355 yards with only a few mph of wind so I set up on him with my gun. Once I got set up I noticed that there were two small twigs making an "X" through his vitals which was the consequence of moving lower in elevation.

Once again I did not trust my small caliber gun with the shot so I elected to set the 338 up again. We dialed her in and I had a rock solid rest on him. The Lapua barked and the rest is history, he never made it out of his bed!

To top it all off they helped me cut and cape him and pack him out!

For a split second I felt like part of the hunt was taken from me for the help I received but that thought was immediately replaced with the thought of how awesome hunters can be and how if anything these two guys GAVE me something that I will NEVER forget. I made two new friends for life that day on the mountain and I couldn't be more happy about how it played out.

 

[Craig Van Arsdale]

 

[Craig Van Arsdale]

He ended up going 95 7/8 ths gross

 

[dotman]

Dang man!!! Hell of a season!

 

[7mag.]

Nice buck, and a heck of a season. Thanks for all the great photos and sharing the story with us.

 

[Manosteel]

Congrats on the season, great pics

 

[Bughalli]

Congrats on all your success. Kudos to you in waiting for the right shot.

 

[bigmoose]

What a great buck ! So cool to run into those guys. I'm sure your hunt made their day. Thank you for the awesome photos and great write up !

 

[WRO]

Awesome, the one thing I like about hunting is meeting new people in the field. I've made some really great friends that I've met on hunts..

 

[ScottH]

Thanks for sharing your season. Great story and excellent photos!

 

[texag10]

Getting it DONE! Thank you for sharing with us.

 

[Graves14]

This very well may be my favorite all time post on the slide! also may have convinced me to buy a decent camera lol

 

[Stwrt9]

Can't thank you enough for sharing this post what a year!!! Love the pics truly amazing adventures you had thanks again for sharing

 

[TXCO]

Great write up pictures and animals!! Thanks for sharing

 

[Roy68]

Congrats on your season! thanks for sharing.

 

[Art Vandeley]

Great Season. Great pictures. Great write up. Great Thread!