Rough Start to First Year Archery Hunt

micropterus79

Active Member
Jun 19, 2014
220
0
San Tan Valley, AZ
Not sure if this is the best place to post this but I know it won't interfere with upper echelon topics and pictures and I need to vent so here it goes:

I bought my first bow in March and practiced like crazy (still do just not quite as desperate) in order to be ready for the August OTC hunt here in AZ. I was shooting with a buddy back home in CO two weeks before the season started and of course, I didn't nock an arrow properly and at full draw dry fired my rig and it blew the string off the idler wheel and bent the axle. Luckily limbs were okay but it took a full month to get my bow back (no fault of my archery guy, just working with Bear was slow although to be fair, they ended up replacing the parts under warranty so I can't complain too much as the damage was all my fault).

So here we are in December and there is another season that I will miss due to the holidays and traveling. Went scouting last weekend only to find out the area I have seen the most deer in and scouted the most will be off limits due to the road in being closed (heavy fall monsoon this year). I was able to scout up another spot that looks good although I haven't actually seen any bucks in the area (see pictures below; the drainage is where I plan to hunt and the other is just a really nice pic of Four Peaks on the horizon in a pink sunset).

The next and last season will start January 1st and so far, I have the time off work and everything is good to go so long as I can survive the week and a half with the inlaws and traveling with four dogs and a pregnant wife all the way up to Casper WY.

Please wish me luck guys; its one thing to get out there and get skunked or blow a stalk but to not even having been able to try is killing me. I can focus on little else other than getting back out there!!Drainage.jpgFourPeaksHorizon.jpg
 

NVBird'n'Big

Veteran member
May 27, 2011
1,138
0
Reno, NV
Good luck to you Micro! Just stick with it and don't get discouraged, remember a bad day hunting beats the hell out of a good day at work. The terrain in your pics looks pretty dang good. I have no idea how deer act in January so I'm no use there. Just go out there and have some fun! Keep us posted on your hunt.
 

micropterus79

Active Member
Jun 19, 2014
220
0
San Tan Valley, AZ
Good luck to you Micro! Just stick with it and don't get discouraged, remember a bad day hunting beats the hell out of a good day at work. The terrain in your pics looks pretty dang good. I have no idea how deer act in January so I'm no use there. Just go out there and have some fun! Keep us posted on your hunt.
Nevada, you bring up a good point; according to my research, bucks out here don't begin the rut until December and it peaks out heading into January so all these set backs might be blessings in disguise. The lord does work in mysterious ways!!
 

OregonJim

Very Active Member
Feb 19, 2014
795
0
Oregon Coast
Sounds like public land hunting. I can't tell you how many times I've been washed out, locked out, worked out, and bummed out!
A couple of years ago I showed up opening day to a logging operation in my favorite stand of timber.
Another season a "buddy" got in tighter with a ranch owner while I spent the summer working on the road.
Opening day found me with no spot to hunt.

Just keep your chin up and stay positive.
You still have a tag and a season...... that means you are still hunting while most of us are thinking about next year.
Not to mention you have a kid on the way.
I think getting to hunt this year is a bonus!!!
 

micropterus79

Active Member
Jun 19, 2014
220
0
San Tan Valley, AZ
Thanks Oregon, you're right. Public land hunting is what it is. Rewarding when it works out but can be awful when it doesnt. I am very lucky to be having a daughter and still be able to hunt at all. I'm just so dang excited to get out and archery hunt for real it has been a little frustrating. I am still in the game and even though I will have to buy a new tag for 2015, things could be a helluva lot worse.

I hate to admit it but those stories you tell of the logging op and your "friend" elbowing in on your private hunts really do make my situation sting less although we are all potentially subject to those same trials and tribulations!
 

Team Kabob

Very Active Member
May 9, 2014
793
148
Keep at it buddy. I've been bow hunting for a while now and have had many chances to take a deer this season and have messed them all up. Wrong pin, wrong yardage, hit a limb. But, the way I see it every miss, makes me better.so I don't make the same mistake twice.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

Timberstalker

Veteran member
Feb 1, 2012
2,242
6
Bend, Or
It's all part of the hunt. You are still hunting all the way to Wyoming and back. when ever the wheels are spinning your hunting. As far as bad luck we've all encountered it somewhere along the way. My worst was when I drew a once in a lifetime sheep tag, 4 days before season a wildfire started across the river from where I had been scouting all summer. I didn't fine a ram to shoot for 16 days, but it ended up being the most rewarding hunt of my life.