As my handle states, I don't draw tags very often, but I have been blessed with some great tags , and definitely two that most would consider once in a lifetime. I drew my desert ram tag in 2008, and then my bison in 2014. I also drew my 4th AZ antelope tag in 14 , the first two were archery in the early 80's when I was fast and bows were slow. The third was a gun tag in 2001 when I was knee deep in building my own house, and after three days of hunting I was required to return home to handle some issues and never returned to the hunt. The 2014 was a muzzleloader tag, and I finally killed my first antelope in Arizona, although I had tagged out in several other states. The goat was number 9 in my Arizona 10 . And yes I know that there are now actually 13 separate big game species in the state.
Long story short, I am a lion short of my "Arizona Big Ten", which used to be an actual thing with AZGF. I think they refer to it as something else now, I couldn't find it on the website. I moved to AZ at the age of 8, and a friend of my Dads' had just completed the Big Ten . He had a plaque/poster on his wall from GF and all the animals mounted. I thought that was the coolest thing I had ever seen or heard of, having moved from Missouri where only turkeys were big game in 1970, although now whitetail are like rabbits there .
So, here I am today. Now I am slow and bows are fast. I qualify for the AARP membership, I can now live in Sun City where I have had my business for 21 years. My lower back is shot, but my heart is strong, and based upon what I am embarking on, my wife will argue my mind is shot as well. I leave Thursday after work for a five day horseback mountain lion hunt in southern Arizona. I have struggled after having shoulder surgery on my left side result in an 8 month recovery in 2015, to return to shooting my bow. I actually changed bows to the Mathews no cam and dropped my draw weight to 63 from 73. I am shooting well, and pain free. A year ago I was convinced my archery days were over.
My goal is to use my bow to hunt this trip, but I have heard some mixed reports about spending the day on horseback with a bow strapped to your side. The guy I am hunting with said his last hunter made it a day shlepping the bow and went to rifle (aka scabbard). I hope I am made of harder metal and don't cave. I plan to do what it takes to tie the bow on either myself or the hay burner.
I guess I can no longer use the " long story short" comment since I have been long winded here, but , IF I have cell reception in camp, and IF I am smart enough to use my iPad to post pics from my Iphone throughout the hunt, and IF I can handle the saddle time with my bow, I hope to make this something to break up the monotony of the next two weeks. Oh yea, I also hope to kill a lion with my bow, and turn a kid's dream that turned into an older (not old) guy's bucket list dream, into a reality. Stay tuned………...
I talked to my guy with the hounds and horses tonite, camp is set up. They killed a big tom two days ago that was a lion kill call from a local rancher. His pictures and videos only made me more excited. I shot my broad heads tonite , having dropped from the 73 lbs to 63 I have switched to fixed blade. The Slicktricks shoot like my field points. As some like to say, one day and a wake up. Work is gonna DRAG tomorrow!
Bicycle shorts while riding the horse help in a huge way!! Less Chaffing! Get some today, buy two pair and alternate them day to day. Good Luck and keep us posted,
Scar.
It got hotter . I was surprised that we had seen only one coues doe driving into the lake. Saw a coati, found an Good Samaritan station for illegals, cans of beans with pull tops and gallons of water. This is in the middle of nowhere , no roads remotely close. Who hauls this stuff out there?
Finally jumped some coues, had one spook from her bed by the lead horse and run right at me and vear off at 20 yards. Up close and personal!
6 hours later it's hot, the horses are dragging , the dogs keep hitting canyon water pockets and cooling off. I thought about joining them. We ended up at the truck and trailer . It was 91 in Sahaurita . No wonder it felt hot .
I took Scar Fingas advice and bought a pair of bike shorts on my way out of town. Target had one pair my size. I think they helped, but I do have a blister on my ass. Never had to put moleskin there before, but will in the am. Found some shade , and ready for a power nap. Perhaps tomorrow we'll catch one. I am hoping for a mature cat, but will be thrilled to tree one of any size for the first time. We came up with a scabbard for the bow, but the brush keeps knocking arrows loose from the quiver, and I will probably be due for new string and cable after this. More to come.....
We headed down low into a big canyon and the dogs lit up again, unfortunately they were spread out, and none seemed to be lined out on the track. Finally got too hot and the dogs gave up.
We did see two nice coues Bucks running together, one around 105", the other upper 90's both hard horned and running together. Where are they during deer season? Also a big herd of pigs. Lots of lion food...'where's the cats?
Got two calls on fresh tracks and a sighting of three lions together, trying to decide where to head tomorrow The lion gurus figure the three are a female with two sub adults. Moleskin on the butt helped, almost felt like I was adjusting to the saddle today, but then it dawned on me we only covered half of what we did yesterday and in way easier terrain. I guess I best not get too cocky. Figured out that putting my Primos sling on the bow string and cable before putting it in the scabbard would protect cams and string. That worked out pretty smooth today.
Sounds like we may head towards Patagonia tomorrow, I guess that means we'll be up at 3:00 ..... The nights are getting shorter. I slept like a dead man last night, I imagine tonite will be the same. The dogs are fed and already sacked out. It will be an early dinner and as close to lights out as we can get with the full moon. There seems to be no shortage of lion in southern Arizona these days, just need to hit some fresh tracks... Confidence is high!
We headed down low into a big canyon and the dogs lit up again, unfortunately they were spread out, and none seemed to be lined out on the track. Finally got too hot and the dogs gave up.
We did see two nice coues Bucks running together, one around 105", the other upper 90's both hard horned and running together. Where are they during deer season? Also a big herd of pigs. Lots of lion food...'where's the cats?
Got two calls on fresh tracks and a sighting of three lions together, trying to decide where to head tomorrow The lion gurus figure the three are a female with two sub adults. Moleskin on the butt helped, almost felt like I was adjusting to the saddle today, but then it dawned on me we only covered half of what we did yesterday and in way easier terrain. I guess I best not get too cocky. Figured out that putting my Primos sling on the bow string and cable before putting it in the scabbard would protect cams and string. That worked out pretty smooth today.
Sounds like we may head towards Patagonia tomorrow, I guess that means we'll be up at 3:00 ..... The nights are getting shorter. I slept like a dead man last night, I imagine tonite will be the same. The dogs are fed and already sacked out. It will be an early dinner and as close to lights out as we can get with the full moon. There seems to be no shortage of lion in southern Arizona these days, just need to hit some fresh tracks... Confidence is high!
Coffee, and on to the Patagonias. Hit the area at daylight, trying to get going before it gets hot. It was 91 in Sahuarita on Friday, a little cooler yesterday. The altitude in Patagonia makes it feel cool. I have gloves on , and with my reduced follicle coverage on my head, a beanie too. I had hunted this unit years ago once for Coues, and didn't come back due to how thick it is. Its the same now, but absolutely beautiful country. Around 9:00 am, after over three hours of cruising the canyons and ridges of the Patagonia Mountains, we stopped the horses to take a break before crossing another canyon. As the dogs dropped off the mining road above us, one lit up! Then all hit the area and went ballistic. I have never hunted with hounds, and for those who haven't, one dog bays, a lot of the other will. Its the " old vets" that these guys rely on for a lion track confirmation. That dog was the one who hit the track. All dogs jumped in baying, my guys were trying to figure which way the lion went, up was hideous, down was better, but barely. The decision was made when all 9 dogs lined out down hill for the canyon bottom. And up the other side. And over. Mad rush down the mining road trying to intersect the canyon bottom they went into. Its one thing to ride a horse with a sore blister on your backside, Its torture when the all horses are trotting, and galloping. I kept trying to block the pain in my ass with the end game. It worked. Btw , I was given spurs this morning for the first time. I think my guides had the same feeling that I did first thing. I was strongly encouraged to use the spurs to keep up. The dogs were over a mile away and in another canyon. Damn, will this cat ever go up a tree or something?………….
We move up and encounter pandemonium. I knock an arrow in case we have a jumper. The guides had told me if the lion jumps when it see us, one of two things will happen, the game starts all over, or the dogs get it and may kill the lion and the lion may kill some dogs. No pressure. I got my first glimpse of a treed lion.
Sorry to drag you all the way here and it not be a bow kill at the very end, but I was not going to be the guy who screwed up and ended up with hurt dogs. My goal was to take it with my bow, but foremost my goal was to have a memorable hunt and hopefully tag a lion. Nothing is a guarantee. The guide confided in me that day he was concerned that we would not catch a lion with the heat, and that would have been their first time of not finding one for a hunter. They are good. Honestly, after the mad race on horses on day three, I don't know if I would have had it in me to get on a horse on day four. As it was we had one dog in bad shape. She got to ride out across the saddle, not much more life in her than my lion on the other horse. We were a long, long way from the truck, All the water we had went to the dogs, there was none left for us humans. The dogs were all hurting, we had to stop for over an hour in the shade to let them recover. The area where we found the lion was bone dry, I guess there is normally water pools in all the canyon bottoms, but not this time. By the time we found some water all were in need. Horses, dogs, one of the guides drank from the pool we found. Not me. I would rather die of thirst than have giardia again… once is more than enough. The good news is the dog that had gone down, was back on her feet after the hour break, but she and and a couple others got IV's when we got back. These guys have all that stuff to keep the dogs healthy. It was around four hours after I shot the lion that we made the truck and trailer, cold water had never tasted so good. We had found a livestock tank and dunked all the dogs in it to cool off, hounds don't seem to much like being in water, unlike my labs. However they do like to drink it. I had come close to canceling this hunt due to my back being blown up for over two months , but the Monday before I was to leave I woke up and things had gone back to good. For that I am thankful. All the riding didn't bother it, my butt is another matter. This was without a doubt the coolest experience I have had hunting, I felt like I knew what it was to ride the range in the old days, seeing areas with no roads, although lots of immigrant and smuggler trails. If anyone has a goal to go on a lion hunt, this is a cool way to do it. Riding around in a truck after snow hoping to see some tracks where a lion crossed the road really didn't excite me, When I heard horseback in southern AZ., I was hooked.
I hope this broke up the last week before the draw for whoever read my ramblings. Come on Card Hits!
God Bless and good luck in the draw!
You need to get a "life-straw" weighs nothing, can fit in a cargo pocket and is an absolute life saver in the desert!!!!
Scar.
