Southern Arizona Deer Hunt - Part 2 (Tag Soup)

 Hi All,

As the title suggests there is no deer in my freezer this year. Saw 8 does, two with fawns. Saw two deer sprinting out of a draw at 600 yards and I couldn't tell if they were bucks or does so they went into the doe count. 

 Didn't spot a single buck but I did glass up this dead head. 

 Lat: 31.405261
Lon: -110.377665
This is the approximate location if anyone feels like hiking. I wanted to go get it but decided to glass for a live deer for the remaining daylight since it was the last day of the hunt.  

Glassing - As described in part 1.  

If I draw that Gould's tag I have a pretty good idea where they're living. Goulds is a type of wild turkey native to Southern Arizona and Northern Mexico.   It is a rare Turkey in Arizona but more plentiful in Mexico.

 I noted a few roost trees on my GPS sorry no pics the DIY Phone Skope was at the bottom of my pack and the sun was setting so I needed to be behind the binos.
If I do get that tag I will have to remember to watch my step 

 If you look close there a nice snake skin laying there in the grass.

 Borderland Adventure:

Not looking to open a political can of worms about "The Wall" but this is what the border between the US and Mexico looks like near the Huachuca Mountains in Southern Arizona.   At one point it was just the obelisks every 1/4 mile, I believe ranchers put up the barbed wire to keep Cattle from crossing the border and the rail track vehicle barrier were probably added in the last decade. 

 Being close to the border I got to witness some border action on day one. Hiked up a ridge in the Miller Peak Wilderness Area and at the top of a knob at about 6000' I find this: 

 Probably not a gift for friendly hunters but a rest point for drug runners. I considered dumping it but in the off chance it was a backpack hunters water supply I left it there also in the event we were being watched by drug runners on the other end of a high powered rifle. A few minutes after this photo the raid on the Canyon kicked off. First a Helicopter came into the Canyon low and circled our knob and a few others several times. Then it hovered a while. Border patrol brought in some trucks and sent some guys bashing into the brush. I was hoping they would spook some bucks my way but even if they did firing in the general direction of Federal Law Enforcement seemed ill advised so I decided to bail off the knob and relocate. I watched some more of the action until they were out of sight into a canyon. 

 I was advised to "stay far away from the lake" which I should have insisted we take heed but as this was my Buddies hunt as well he wanted to check out a canyon closer to the lake and I agreed so I am probably more guilty than him for the results. People Everywhere! Basically burned a day but learned some valuable lessons: Listen to experience, There is a two track on EVERY ridge, found some good turkey habitat. Something else interesting while I was sitting in the grass looking at half a dozen hunters on the opposing ridge a guy walks up and sets up about 50 yards away. He tends to get closer every time I tell the story so if I tell you this same tale next year I will tell you he sat in my lap and looked though my binos. Anyway I walked over to have a chat and he apologized that he didn't see me (cest la vie public land) but turns out he was in the Canyon the day before and he said his friend was on a buck and the helicopter spooked it. He said they pulled 8 illegals out the Canyon that morning.

I hunted dark to dark for three days and I loved being outside. One thing I did right was get into good shape over the last year. I was far more prepared for the mountains than the prior year. My legs felt just as good day 3 as they did day one. I can think of this trip as a glorified scouting trip and I know for next year the wilderness is where it is at for me. I would definitely consider getting some 15 power binoculars as the country was just too big for my 10's. An unfilled tag is disappointing but as Allan Ball said in the Movie American Beauty: "I guess I could be pretty pissed off about what happened to me... but it's hard to stay mad, when there's so much beauty in the world"