Archery Deer - Opening Weekend

Finally!  Hunting season is here again!  Archery deer season opened up this past Friday, and we here at TKO managed to get out into the field looking for bucks.  Rob and Jay hunted around Flagstaff, and I hunted in my elk unit doing double duty by scouting for elk as I hunted for archery deer.

So far, some deer have been seen, even stalked, but no arrows flung yet.  My weekend was a full one, but I'll try and condense it down as short as possible. 

The first morning was spent hiking and glassing in some transition areas.  I ended up bumping a bull out of his bed at about 40 yards, but that was the only animal I saw that morning.  Walking through some thick P&J (pinon and juniper) country, I spied something under some trees.

Upon closer inspection, it turned out to be an antler.

That evening found me up in the flats, glassing for elk, deer, and antelope.  

A little before dark, I finally glassed up a couple of bucks.  They were a looong ways out there.  You can't tell from my attempted digiscoping picture, but they are bucks!

The next morning I had relocated to try and put myself closer to the deer I'd seen the previous night, but I was too far away.  All I saw that morning was a buck antelope a long ways away.  I was able to enjoy a beautiful sunrise.

After driving around and exploring different roads and becoming more familiar with the area, I hiked up to a vantage point to do some glassing for the afternoon and evening.  Some cows decided they liked the taste of my truck, as they surrounded it and licked it all over.

It was an enjoyable afternoon and evening once the clouds moved in and it started cooling off some.  I also had the chance to enjoy some Wilderness Athlete products while doing some glassing.

 Day 3 I headed for the high country to hopefully enjoy some cooler weather.  It had rained the night before, so it made for nice quiet walking.  I found this tank that looked like it had the potential to be a great wallow.

While walking on a bench down in a canyon, I caught movement up ahead of me.  I put down my bow and grabbed my camera.  This guy would have fed right to me, but in changing settings on my camera I managed to turn the flash on and he didn't stick around long after I took a flash picture of him.

 

 

A little while later I saw this guy feeding along through the trees.

While no deer was harvested yet, I had a great time in the woods on the opening weekend of the 2010 archery deer season.  I got to check out some neat country and spend time in God's creation.  I got to see elk, deer, and antelope, and heard my first bugles of the year.  I'm looking forward to getting back up for some more scouting and my upcoming archery elk hunt.