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| Hunting Articles The Kaibab Bowhunt: How to prepare and what to expect! In our last article, "Find the water, find the deer!", we outlined the first major step to successfully hunting Kaibab mule deer. In my younger years stalking the thick pines of Wyoming for elk and mule deer, it seemed that you could find some source of water in almost every draw or canyon. If you've ever hunted the Kaibab for it's big mule deer bucks though, you know that this is not the water situation on the Kaibab plateau or most of Arizona for that matter. Instead, ten plus years of drought make natural springs the rarity and water is artificially imported by the hard work of the Arizona Game and Fish Department, U.S. Forest Service Department and volunteer organizations like the Arizona Deer Association. You can generally expect the Kaibab region to be dry as a bone during any hunting season except for possible snow during the November late season hunt. But, we've already covered the importance of water in our first article, so now let's cover the first hunt on the 2008 hunting calendar - the unit 12A archery hunt! What to expect and how to prepare. Hot, dry and noisy is a good way to describe bowhunting Kaibab muleys in early the late summer/early fall. Temperatures exceeding 80 degrees during the day (sunburns are possible!) and high 40's at night - this is a warm weather hunt. The rainy season has already passed and whatever moisture was dumped during the summer is pretty much all you can expect until the snow hits sometime in October but more likely not until November. Resident hunters may be familiar with this type of bowhunting but non-residents may not. Those of you from higher altitudes and used to wearing three layers of clothing to combat the cold you encounter in your high elevation honey holes will find that layering for cold weather is not really all that necessary. Can it get chilly and should you have some cold weather gear just in case? Sure. But do you need to pack as you would for a late November rifle tag, not necessarily. During the bowhunt, I typically wear a long sleeved camo t-shirt, light fleece jacket and fleece pants. Usually the fleece jacket is shed just a couple hours into the hunt and doesn’t get put back on until an hour or two before dusk. I choose fleece over other materials because its quiet and its warm when it needs to be. I don't get too hung up on a whole body, matching camo get up. If you think about it, camouflage is about contrast and concealment, to me wearing BDU camo pants with a mossy oak jacket and a desert sage long sleeve t-shirt only compliments the contrast of your natural surroundings, but that's just me. I generally pack 2-3 sets of camo clothing to rotate through a week's worth of hunting as I'm big believer in being scent free. After 3-4 days of stalking through 80 degree heat you can bet that those clothes are no longer scent free and the deer will smell you before you even know they're there. Some hunters believe in using scent-free products and cover scents and some don't. Personally, I'm a big fan and although I always try to hunt into the wind. I figure if my scent does swirl towards the deer then I may be able to fool him for just a few seconds or minutes more and that might be all the time I need for a good shot. For further information on the subject of hunting scent-free and my personal routine to prep for a hunt, see the article entitled "Be scent free, or risk blowing your hunt!." Stalking Whether you're moving to your tree stand, ground blind or still-hunting through the trees, moving quietly is of utmost importance when bowhunting mule deer. Stalking wild game is not easy and your abilities improve with experience. Unfortunately, this experience can only be gained through lessons learned by spooking deer when you're trying your hardest not to. The difference in the stealth required by bowhunters versus rifle hunters is obvious by the mere fact of how close you have to be to your prey to make an effective lethal shot. Do rifle hunters shoot mule deer at less than 50 yards each year? Absolutely. But can a bowhunter make a shot at 400 yards? Absolutely not. 50 yards is generally the max range for most bowhunters and still too far many less practiced shooters. Throw in uneven terrain, a little wind and a couple twigs in your shooting lane and your maximum effective range may be cut to 30 yards or less! Not an easy task with predator weary mule deer that are seldom alone. Not to mention the fact that you're trying to close the distance in terrain so loud and crunchy you might as well be walking on popcorn. Besides wearing fleece clothing and head-to-toe camo, including face paint or a face mask, another product that I've used the last couple of years with good success to get close to both deer and elk are fleece padded overboots. There are a few variations to these products and they've been around for a while. I finally broke down a couple years ago and purchased a pair (the scent-blocker version of course) and now wouldn't go hunting without them. In fact, I put them on straight out of the gate and wear them all day long. This extended use tends to wear them out faster than I would like but better safe than sorry. If you're anything like me, you've probably spooked many a deer heading to your spot, heading out, finding a spot to rest and grab a snack and even right outside of your camp, often spooking deer at the times when you least expect to run into them. So I no longer take the chance. I always try to move slow and quiet and always fight that urge to just "bust brush" because some little voice has convinced me that there aren't any deer in this area. I've learned this lesson the hard way too many frustrating times, folks. Whether you invest in a pair of these boot "silencers" or just slip a couple of extra large wool socks over your boots you will notice a big difference in the amount of noise you make as you move. Moving slowly and quietly is an understatement in bowhunting mule deer. However slow you think you are moving you have to move slower! Two to three steps, stop and scan. And repeat. This may seem tedious and will definitely test your patience, but if you stay disciplined you will increase your odds of spotting the deer before they bust you. Remember, mule deer can hear, see and smell much better than you ever will. Moving too quickly will alert at least two of their senses, sight and sound, and they'll be gone before you even had the chance to make a move. Moving painfully slow will minimize the noise you make and it harder for deer to pick up suspicious movement. Putting your head down and getting from point A to point B is not the way to find deer. Fight a muley's sense of smell by hunting into the wind or at a crosswind whenever possible, easier said then done. Also as I've said before, using scent-free products is another tool that will help you fool the deer's ability to smell you. Extending your shooting range, moving at a snails pace, playing the wind and silencing your movement with quality hunting apparel and accessories will be a big help during your up close and personal bowhunt of big Kaibab bucks. Mule Deer And Hunter Density It used to be that both residents and non-residents could purchase an over the counter mule deer archery tag, making it a popular option for those not lucky enough to draw a tag in the general lottery. But that all changed in 2008 when the Arizona Game and Fish Department made the archery hunt a draw tag. That's right, only 1,000 lucky bowhunters will be on the Kaibab in August this year! Considering the Kaibab's renowned trophy buck quality and its proximity to other western states, the 12a East/West bowhunt is, for lack of a better word, crowded prior to the change this year. Prior to 2008 up to 4,000 bowhunters would show up each year for the short 2-3 week archery season. Alll types of hunters and hunting tactics are employed during the bowhunt: spot and stalkers, tree stand hunters, ground blind hunters and road hunters. ATV's were pretty much everywhere taking almost any type of trail or road accessible to them. While there were a few untouched waterholes on the plateau, odds are that you would not find one with at least one tree stand or ground blind on or slightly off the water's edge. But again, that should all change this year! During the Kaibab bowhunt two years ago I had spent the better part of the day still hunting an area as I made my way to a waterhole about three quarters of a mile from any road - a real gemstone of a spot. I found it at about 1:30 p.m. surveyed the area and noticed one tree stand on the east bank of a fairly sizeable dirt tank. I built a hasty ground blind slightly off the water about seventy yards that overwatched a heavily used trail leading to the water. I set in with a plan to leave about thirty minutes after shooting light disappeared. Being courteous, I figured that the tree stand guy would have all the shooting lanes he intended and I would cover an area that he couldn't and wouldn't interfere with his plan. At 3:00 p.m. a hunter that I assumed was the owner of the tree stand approached the tank, walked the entire bank and then maneuvered to within 20 yards of my position and began setting up, not even realizing that I was just 20 yards away. I got his attention and let him know where I was set up and that I had already been there for over 2 hours. Suprisingly the guy was not the most considerate hunter but after about 10 minutes of debate he finally found another spot. Then the tree stand hunter showed up. Then another hunter. Long story cut a little short I threw up my hands when in the last 30 minutes of shooting light Mr. Tree stand started shouting across the waterhole to another guy on the ground that "the deer must not be coming in tonight!" By the time I came out I encountered 5 other hunters sitting on that dirt tank and this was a hole that was well off the beaten path! On the plus side I pulled up camp and moved to my plan B spot. While enroute I came across a heavy beamed 27" 4x4 velvet muley and although I wasn't successful I put a stalk on the biggest buck I've seen while bowhunting. Just understand that, while not as crowded as in previous years, the Kaibab bowhunt will still have a lot of hunters, their helpers and campers. Finding a waterhole all to yourself will still not be a guarantee but should be easier than past years. I'm still looking, but I know that when I find that one golden honey hole you can bet that that'll be one "Key To The Kaibab" I won't ever tell anyone about - I hope you can understand. 1,000 hunters, plus campers understandably makes the deer very skittish - especially the bucks. My experience is that the bucks rarely show at a waterhole after first light or before the sun sets. That's not to say that they won't and that's not to say that you won't have dozens of does at the water in the late morning and early afternoon. Unfortunately this is not a rut hunt so those does are almost always unescorted by any dominant bucks. Three years ago I ran into a hunter from Colorado at the Kaibab Lodge while eating lunch that punched his tag on a nice 160 class buck just as the last bit of shooting light disappeared. He'd been in his tree stand since 4 am! Whether in a ground blind or tree stand, that kind of patience can pay off. This is where preseason scouting and map recon can help put you in less hunted areas with less jumpy deer. While it's not a guarantee, doing your homework for a plan A, B and C spot will make you more prepared to deal with this popular and now much harder to draw hunt and possibly get you away to a prime spot all to yourself. Putting It All Together Bowhunting is a close up game and requires stealth, strategy and a little luck. Mule deer are not easy animals to get close to, which makes it so rewarding when you do actually connect and fill your tag. Consider it a real accomplishment. Solid shooting skills, quiet clothing, slow movement, patience and a less hunted area may be the "Key" to your Kaibab bowhunt of a lifetime. Be sure to send us pics and a story of your trophy - no matter how big he turns out to be! If you liked this article, you'd also enjoy: Be scent free or risk blowing your hunt! If you have comments or questions about this article, please post them in our Forums section or contact us. We always welcome feedback! Sign up now to receive advanced notice of new articles, products, special discounts and site updates by email. Hunting Articles [back to top] |
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Tuesday 06 January, 2009 |