MHO,

You had asked about the Kaibab and if that is where Duwane guides. Here are a few Kaibab bucks killed by Duwane's (Arizona Big Game Hunts) hunters in 2005. Articles by me on all three will appear in future issues of Rocky Mt. Game & Fish magazine later this year. -TONY

Early season



Late season



Late Season

Thanks for the pics!

Lovely bucks, Tony. Just one more thing to tickle your imagination... Darn, if only one had a tag...

- mike

>>Darn, if only one had a tag...<<

Mike,

You and me both! During the 1960s and early '70s when permits were first come, first serve, my grandfather and I hunted the N. Kaibab almost every year. Back then, the permits were also for ANY deer. So my grandfather hunted for meat, regardless if it was a buck or doe, while I attempted to snag a decent buck.

I haven't drawn a tag there now over the last 20 years, even though it's usually my first hunt choice.

Below is my best -- a 6x7 -- killed in 1967. Pardon the photo; it was shot with a 110 Instamatic. -TONY



And the mount as it currently looks hanging in my trophy room

I sat with Duane a couple years back at an SCI regional dinner. You couldn't meet a nicer guy.

Outdoor writer, NICE boots in that old pic, I bet your feet sweat a lot!! I had a pair like that 40 years ago too.

I would pick the 2nd buck. The first one and the last one aren't as complete.

The 3rd one has no back end and the first one is thin. Granted they are all huge deer. In an area like the Kaibab, Paunsaugnant, Jiccarilla, or Northern Mexico I would only shoot the 2nd one, unless it was the last day.

In much of the rest of the western world, I would shoot any of them!
Nice deer all around though.

Tony, that is a great buck. Thanks for making me feel a bit better about not having a tag. I guess it is not that easy, even for residents...

- mike

Mike, there are better mule deer areas than the Kaibab. The Kaibab has kind of run dry, or so I have heard.

I would reccomend Old Mexico or the Jiccarilla.

Yeah, I know that (Old) Mexico can be spectacular, but I have the following problem with most of the mule der hunting taking place down there - maybe Drummond can set me right here, if I have this wrong??

Most of the mule deer in Mexico are hunted on the desert floor. Tracking is the traditional way of hunting this area, although I gather some outfitters (Drummond?) have started using "Texas style" trucks with high shooting seats. That normally means, you won't have a bunch of time to size up your deer, before you have to decide. In fact, you may not even get to decide at all, your guide may be the only one seeing all (or part ) of the antlers and decide on your behalf. Sometimes this works well, sometimes it won't. Mexican outfitters are no different from other outfitters, the good bucks are displayed in the brochures, and the rest are not advertized much. To me one of the big thrills about hunting mule deer is to glass and stalk, and to have a good chance to be selective about the trophy you'd like to try for. I don't see Mexico offering this to the same extent as is the case north of the border...

Secondly, a lot (most?) Mexican hunting is done with Mexican guides, certainly if there is any tracking is involved. Sadly, I have to admit I speak zero Spanish, and I don't feel that is the best basis for a fruitful cooperation.

The Jicarilla certainly gets good press. It probably should, there seem to be some awesome bucks coming out of there. The last time I checked, I believe their regular mule deer hunts were something like $12000, and that probably does not include minor details such as guide fee, accommodation and food - you know all the ancillary costs, one expects to pay having bought a 5 day hunt worth $12000 (I could be wrong, but in that case, I'll gladly be corrected). Anyway, I might be able to afford this, but I'm not sure I want a mule deer that badly.

- mike

Mike, what am I thinking. Alberta is producing some serious heads these days too.

Gene Plihal (or something like that, I will look it up if you are interested) has some really huge deer in Northern Alberta.

Alberta has mule deer right now like Wyoming had in the 1960s. He gets $5500 for a moose and a mule deer.

There is another guy in British Columbia doing mule deer/moose/bear hunts for $3900 but I think it's more of a meat hunt. My father is going to try and figure out if he can hunt like that anymore. If he can we might do this hunt in 2007. 4 guys hunt for the price of 3 there, your welcome to join us..

Seth, thanks for the magnanimous offer. I was scheduled to go to Africa in 2006, that was canned due to an unfortunate development with the area I wanted to go to. Now I'm tentatively booked to go in 2007 - we shall see how it works out?? But thanks again for your kind offer - I get the feeling you are that kind of a guy!
- mike

Dennis,

Hit the nail on the head with Duwane. Straight shooter and a great guy to be around.


Elkman,

Neat boots, huh? Actually, the only reason I had them on was because of snow. Though you don't see any in the photo, there was plenty of it just a few hundred yards away in the higher elevations. That photo was taken in the bottom of a deep canyon. My normal footwear was leather even then.


D99,

I probably would pass on #1 for a few days, but in regards to #3, as Kipling wrote, "You're a better man than me, Gunga Din."

I wouldn't hestitate one second to let the air out of buck that grosses over 200.

Hope more folks think the Kaibab has dried up; I might eventually get a permit.


Mike,

While tracking is often the method used in Mexico, many of the Mexican guides are also learning how to glass, just as Duwane does when he hunts South of the Border.

In fact, the time I hunted with him down there, I was hunting Coues while he was guiding a mule deer hunter. First morning while glassing, my guide and I spotted a dandy MD buck. That afternoon, we pointed Duwane in the right direction, and within two hours that buck was dead with a spot and stalk.

Here it is. -TONY

Tony, that is interesting on glassing the MD. I thought all the mule deer in Mexico were hunted on the desert floor, and the coues in the mountains. Obviously, I was wrong.

Actually, I'm very interested in this method of Duwane's (and yours) described in your coues book. This glassing with tripod mounted, high power binoculars sounds like something to expand the hunting envelope. Next time you see Duwane, ask him about the chances for glassing and stalking MD in Mexico, will ya?? Was your buck the odd one, or is it possible to glass and stalk MD on a regular basis??

- mike

Glassing is the ONLY way Duwane hunts both Coues and mule deer in Mexico.

That Coues deer with Duwane & I on the backcover of the book was killed in the same area where we killed the mule deer above! In fact, it was less than 1/4 mile away from the exact spot.

There were times I wished it had been, but don't for one minute think the "desert" of Sonora is strictly flat. There are plenty of mountains and hills to go around for everyone, and I climbed my share of them, too. From high up, we could even see the Sea of Cortez, which was several miles away.

It's not the normal area Duwane takes his Coues hunters, but there are enough there to go around. The guy that killed the MD also killed a good WT the next day, and three others in camp killed good WT bucks over 5 days.

The glassing technique has become THE method of choice around here, especially for deer and elk, and Duwane was one of the pioneers of it. It's the only way he and his guides hunt on the N. kaibab, as well. It's also the preferred technique for javelina.

Last fall, his son Luke killed a dandy buck in southern Colorado that they glassed in heavy vegetation from ridge to ridge. In order to glass in horizontal bands, they just climbed a bit higher each time. Obviously D99 would pass on this buck, too.

This is the buck, also to be featured in an article I'm doing. It grosses 187. -TONY

Thanks Tony, I learn things here all the time.

- mike

Mike,

An amusing tale about glassing:

I carted my 15X binocs and tripod to RSA when I went in 2003. Naturally, using them the way we do got the attention of all the PHs at John X's main lodge.

So one day in early afternoon, I set up on the deck outside the dinning room because a person could see a lot of the surrounding hills from it. Within 15 minutes I had picked up five bedded critters in various directions. One was a bedded reedbuck with only its tiny antlers sticking above some grass less than 500 yards away.

Just then two of the PHs came out to see what I was looking at, so I made them a friendly bet that they couldn't find any of the five critters with their reg. 8x binocs, which they both used.

They were still looking for even ONE after 20 mins. Then I literally pointed them toward the reedbuck and they still couldn't find the antlers -- until I let them look through my 15s.

From there we started on the others that included a dandy kudu and bushbuck, both more than a 1/2 mile away. The latter was super, in fact, but they don't hunt any of the game near the lodge.

Anyway, they quickly became believers, although I doubt they'll ever go the route of the pod and big glasses. -TONY

Mike,

Almost forgot:

If you look in the chapter about hunting Coues in Mexico, there's a photo on pg. 128 of Danny Nasca glassing. That's the area where the mule deer was killed, and off in the distance, the horizon is the coast along the Sea of Cortez! As seen, there's a couple notable hills. I almost died climbing the one we're on in that photo. It's tough to get old, especially after smoking for 45 years.

Duwane's even taken to rating the steepness of climbs by the number of rest stops I take and how many cigarettes I smoke on the way. He'll refer to a particular peak as "a two-pack climb for Tony" or such. -TONY

Tony, inspired by this thread, I picked up your Coues book and had a read this weekend. Good stuff.

I have often wondered about and wanted to try this "high power, tripod based" glassing. If you glass with 15x binocs literally for hours, does the high power not totally "suck out" your eyes after a while?? I find that long time glassing is pretty demanding, and it gets more demanding the higher the power one uses for magnification...

- mike

Mike,

No, it's actually not that bad on the eyes, especially compared to using a spotting scope, which really is wicked on the eyes.

With binocs, you're able to use the 3-D ability of your eyes better because you're looking through TWO eyepieces instead of the single one on a spotting scope. And the bane of eye strain and headaches is lessened mucho by the tripod because the binocs are steady and not bouncing around like when you're hand-holding them.

Now, that said, the most important aspect is using QUALITY 15X binocs that are sharp. Cheap binocs will indeed be a hindrance. -TONY

P.S. - I leave in a few hours for the SHOT show in Vegas. So I might not be in AR too often until Sunday.

Thanks Tony, much appreciated.

I have been eyeing a pair of Swaro SLCs 15x56, sadly they are not exactly cheap....

Have a nice Shot Show!

- mike

quote:

I have been eyeing a pair of Swaro SLCs 15x56, sadly they are not exactly cheap....

Mike,

That's what Duwane uses now. He used Zeiss for a long time before that. I have the Docters, which are somewhat larger and heavier than both of the aforementioned. For normal glassing I use B&L 8X. -TONY