My Honey’s First Deer

  Arizona's November Deer Hunt in the desert country is always a tough ticket to cash in.  First the weather comes into play. It's often hot and the season has had little rainfall.  For me dry seasons offer the easiest hunting, all you have to do is find some fresh sign near a waterhole and the deer will eventually drop by.   Sounds easy, doesn't it? Sometimes it can be.  But when there is a wet season, all the water holes are full and some of the desert streams are flowing. Things have change completely. There’s abundant food and water scattered throughout the desert therefore so are the deer. 

  Now, finding a desert Muley can become a time consuming proposition involving a lot of preseason traveling and a lot of glassing.   This is exactly the type of season we have had this year, a wet one.  The temperatures we have experienced in Unit 44 have been quite warm in the middle of the day and cooling off by morning and late afternoon.

  I had drawn a hunt close to home this year.  That's good news because my wife "Rose" could hunt with me.  Rose has tagged along for years while I hunted and I have never meet a better cook or butcher when it comes to venison.  This gal can gut and butcher a deer quicker than @#$%& goes through a goose.  God knows country boys love country girls.  This year was to be different though.  Rose had a tag and a brand new 708 mm Winchester rifle, that the good folks at Randall's Firearms helped us pick out.  

  My work schedule did not allow for much scouting this year but we managed to get some field time in with help of one of the kids.  (I call em kids but Lee is 20).  The deer were hard to find but we did find some good sign and glassed up a couple of nice bucks.  Opening morning found our area a little crowed and nary a deer to be seen.  The sign seemed to indicate that our hoofed friends had taken to the flat country.  Hunting deer in the flats is a tough proposition so we decided to take to the high country looking for a not only a better view but also a better place to hunt. 

  After a 4000-foot climb up a steep road, (thank god for Polaris) we found our selves at the top of the Harquahala Mountain Wilderness area.  Not only are the temperatures much cooler but the view is spectacular.  Let me warn you, this is a wilderness area so you do have to stay on the roads. Going off a road is actually taking you life at risk; most of the area on top the mountain is either up or down and rough going all the way around.  Good boots and good physical condition is required to hunt this area. 

It wasn't long before Rose spotted a nice three point buck.    A 100-yard shot was required, she was excited, but she kept her composure, centered the crosshairs and brought down her first deer with a perfect shot.   The 3-point dropped in his tracks and never even twitched.   Being able to witness her excitement and enthusiasm about taking her first deer made my heart swell with pride.   She had done her homework with her firearm as well as controlled her emotions.  I will always remember my first deer but my wife's first would always be especially sweet.   We had the tenderloin Saturday night and it never tasted better.  Well that was until my sweet little wife looked at me with a sly smile and asked when I was I going to get my deer.  As I looked at her in stunned silence I heard Lee say; “you may never hear the end of this one”. 

Robert Willis

Team AZOD