Go Home Big or Go Home Empty!

"Go home big or go home empty" was the comment Jay made at the last 5 minutes of light on the last day of his hunt. We made it to Sowats this morning and got on a shooter buck right away. After stalking across a canyon, we notice the deer were pushed off into the thick drainage on the other side of the slope. After watching some other hunters wandering around on the top of the ridge, we knew what had happened. We spent the rest of the day going from deer to deer and we just kept seeing small bucks. There were a TON of deer in Sowats, but the bigger bucks just came out right before light and right at the end of the day. We saw one nice buck right before dark, but we didn't have time to get on him and Jay ended the hunt with an unfilled tag in his pocket. Overall, we saw a ton of deer during the hunt, but like I said before, Jay wanted a buck that the Kaibab is famous for. I guess that is what keeps us coming back for more... The chance at scoring on a big one.

I got the call! Sounds like Jay wants to go back up to the Kaibab for the last day of his hunt tomorrow! We leave at midnight for a red eye north.

Another nice buck from the 12aw late hunt. We really need to get back up there...1

Time to head home.... saw a couple decent bucks at Sowats this morning but not what I am looking for. I am hoping to make a red eye trip Saturday night to hunt the last day of the season... We'll see...

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Back out at Sowats. Passed on a 160 type buck right off the bat. Saw a giant 2 point drinking out of a trick tank. Deer are starting to rut hard. I have to go home today so I am going to go home BIG or go home Empty. Maybe I can get back for one last day at the end of the hunt.

West Lake area was covered with people this morning... Might as well head back to Sowats if I am going to play this game... I should of brought some blaze orange.... Just saw a flock of about 50 turkeys... pretty cool.

Finally saw some decent bucks this evening down in Sowats. Saw two 160 type bucks... Seems like more and more bucks are showing up each day. Tons of hunters though. Seems like Sowats is not really much of a secret. Going to head into West Lake again tomorrow morning. Maybe a bigger buck has shown up in there. We did get a picture from a friend who is hunting up here. His daughter took a nice buck!

Another day in paradise! I didn't know it was this cold in paradise...

Another freezing morning out at Sowats playing the numbers game! Just about time to start picking apart country.

Lots and Lots of little bucks!

Lots of deer seen today! Spent the evening out at Sowats again. Hiked north of the Sowats Trick Tank and saw a ton of small bucks like this one. Tons of does too. It seems like there are more and more deer out here each day, but we have yet to see a shooter buck. Guess we will keep coming back and maybe something bigger will show up... Bryan and Jason had to leave this afternoon, but Bryan will continue updating the blog from reports by Jay.

Hmmm.... What should we try next?

Saw tons of deer this morning. Lots of rutting bucks but no big ones. So we headed down to Crazy Jug to look around. Got an awesome view of th Grand Canyon.

Another great day of deer hunting. We decided to hit the West Lake Point area this morning. Good glassing spots along the ridge tops. Maybe we will see something good...

Tough evening hunt. Nothing major to report. We headed out into the White Pockets area and only saw a doe. Heading south to Big Saddle in the morning.

Saw a Bald Eagle sitting on a tree and below it was this... Still looking for a big buck. Heading north towards Slide Canyon this afternoon.

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Deer everywhere this morning... Lots of little bucks and tons of does. Still looking for a big one.

Another beautiful day on the Kaibab. Going to head back to Sowats this morning because thats where the big bucks are... ;) So they say...

Headed out towards Little Mountain this evening and finally found a good buck. Tried to cut him off but he gave us the slip in the thick stuff.

Hiked down to the end of Naile Point and glassed these burns. Saw a bunch of does and some small bucks... Heading on to next spot.

Where are all those 200 inch bucks we keep hearing about? Saw lots of does and some small bucks down by Sowats. Hunters everywhere! Time to head up to some transition country in the middle of the unit....

Time to go! A little hot oatmeal and we are off. Going to hit Sowats and the Bridgers Knoll Burn this morning....

Made it to camp. 28 degrees out. Gonna slip into our bags for a few hours sleep....

Made it to Jacob Lake. Last gas stop...

Stopped in Flagstaff to pickup an important piece of hunting equipment.

Finally! Heading out of town. Time to gas up and hit the road...

Loaded up and ready to head out this afternoon. It's going to be a LONG day at work.... Feeling like a kid on Christmas eve...

AZ Mule Deer - 12AW Late Hunt

Hunt Scout pro staffer, Jay Cox, was lucky enough to draw a late season 12AW tag for mule deer on the famous Kaibab Plateau this year. Jay burned up 8 bonus points for the tag and is super excited about his self-guided hunt for big mule deer bucks. We are going to tag along for a few days with Jay to help glass and document his incredible hunt. We will try to take you through every step of his hunt so that if you ever have the opportunity to hunt 12AW, this blog may be a good resource for you.

Pre-hunt Prep: As soon as Jay found out about his tag, we started doing some research and looking over the maps. A great resource for maps is Google Earth (http://earth.google.com/) and Acme Mapper (http://mapper.acme.com/). Both are free services and can give you access to aerial imagery, topographical maps, and even 3D viewing. I also use Terrain Navigator Pro (TNP) which is now owned by http://www.mytopo.com/ . TNP is probably the best mapping software available and is an excellent tool when used in conjunction with a GPS in the field. I will actually run TNP on a laptop in my truck in order to access aerial imagery in the field. It's is a great tool to use when you get back to camp each night. With all the tools in hand, we started looking for information. We started online by checking the AZGFD website at http://www.azgfd.gov/h_f/hunting_units.shtml for their "where to hunt" information on the unit. This is what they had on the 12AW late hunt:

"On the ever in demand 12A late hunt, pray (if religious) for snow. Forage quality and snowfall will push the deer to the lower winter range. If old man winter has not yet shown his face follow the suggestions given for the early hunt and good luck. If frost has cured out the summer range forage and some cold weather has struck, concentrate your efforts in the pinyon/juniper areas and even farther out in the sage and open canyon country. This is the classic western mule deer hunt. Practice with a flat shooting rifle at longer distances before the hunt begins. Also, before the hunt begins, study topo maps and enlist the aid of others who have hunted the area before. Bring binoculars and spotting scopes. Find areas overlooking large open expanses and plan on sitting still for hours on end and glassing until you feel like your eyes are going to fall out. After an opening day of this activity plan on spending the next nine days in the same manner. If the deer are low and you glass enough it will pay off.Being prepared on this hunt is even more crucial than on the early hunt. Good boots, parkas, and camping gear can make or break your hunt. Four-wheel drive, chains, shovels, and winches can keep you hunting instead of being stuck for a day. Use common sense; don't take shortcuts as they often take a lot longer than the more sensible route."

The next step was to start getting information from other sources. First, we talked to friends that hunted the unit within the last couple of years. Then, we talked to the biologist of the unit to see if we could get some updated information that did not appear on their website. Next, we started searching the chat boards and forums for posts that talked about previous 12AW hunts. Most forums have a "search" feature that allows you to search for posts from the last few years. Some great sites for research are:

Monster Muleys - http://www.monstermuleys.com/

Muley Crazy - http://www.muleycrazy.com/

The Arizona Hunter - http://www.thearizonahunter.com

Coues Whitetail - http://www.coueswhitetail.com/ (Yes, they have some good muley info.)

Rut'n Hard - http://www.rutnhard.net/

Muley Madness - http://www.muleymadness.com/

The Key to the Kaibab - http://www.keytothekaibab.com/

Arizona's Sportsman's Journal - http://www.azsj.org/.

Another great resource is Duwane Adams DVD called "How to Hunt Monster Mule Deer in the Kaibab". You can purchase this DVD at: http://www.arizonabiggamehunting.com/videos.htm.

Duwane's video is a great introduction to hunting the Kaibab during all of the different hunts that are offered. I would highly recommend it for any hunter that is new to the Kaibab.

As we continued our research, we started to see a trend with the information we were collecting. Certain area names kept appearing again and again so we put together a list of areas based on all the research that we had compiled. These were the areas that we wanted to start focusing on.

1. Sowats Point (and the Bridger Knoll Fire area)

2. The Gooseneck

3. Jumpup Canyon & Point

4. White Pockets

5. Slide Canyon

6. Cutler Pockets

7. West of Hidden Lake along the 12B border

8. Orderville Canyon

9. Middle Oak Point

10. Burnt Corral

Areas 1-5 above are all areas that seem to be very productive if there are good snows in the high country and if the deer are rutting good. Areas 6-10 seem to be areas that are good if the deer are hung up a little in some of the transition areas of the unit. Further map analysis of these areas showed some great areas to get started in so we will have to pick one or two to focus on during the first days of the hunt.

Because of our limited time that we will have for the hunt, we will basically be going in blind without any pre-scouting trips. Now, I can just hear some people thinking, "how can you not pre-scout for a tag like that?" Well, guess what? Limitations on time and money can be very restrictive for a self-guided hunter and I can guarantee you that there are a lot of hunters on this hunt that will be challenged with the same issues. The key is to maximize the time we have and trust in the information we have already collected. No matter what, it should be an exciting hunt.

Tomorrow, we leave after work and we will be updating the blog throughout the trip via our cell phones. So keep visiting the blog to experience what we are experiencing on an exciting hunt in the Kaibab....

Welcome!!!

Welcome to our new blog! Hunt Scout, LLC is proud to bring you quality location information for the self-guided hunter. Ever since the beginning of our business, Hunt Scout has been about one thing and one thing only.... hunters helping hunters. Too often, you see chat boards and forums filled with hunters that discourage so called "e-scouting" where someone is just looking for some good information about where to get started in their hunting area. It seems that our hunting "culture" is changing significantly with better technology, more efficient techniques, and the drive to shoot something bigger than the other guy. Some of those things are great, but anything dealing with the ego of "mine is bigger than yours" or "get off your fanny and scout" cannot be good for our sport. Encouraging each other and lending a helping hand is not only the Christian thing to do, but it is the right thing to do for our sport and our overall hunting culture. We all hunt for different reasons. Some express their passion by spending most of their days afield scouting and hunting for trophy animals. Others express their passion by spending time with their family afield and spreading the passion of our hunting heritage to the youth. It is important to remember that we all have different reasons to be out there, but no one reason is more important than another. So, let's try to help each other out and enjoy our hunting freedoms that many others in the world will never get to experience. This blog will take you on hunts and explore different areas where you might experience a little success for yourself. God Bless and let's go hunting...