Kaibab Mule Deer

by John Lindsey

We always put in North Kaibab in Arizona 1st and 2nd choice, and I have been lucky to draw 7 of 9 years running up till then, and this year was perfect as my son and I both drew tags in the early season. This year the conditions were very hot and dry as we scouted deer through Bow season and right up to the hunt. We saw quite a few decent deer, and even saw some of the same bucks week after week.

When the season opened we found more of the accessible bucks to be up higher in the pines and chose to hunt these. Patrick’s deer was spotted, along with mine, in a group in a steep ravine with a road on the top opposite the ridge we were on.

Now I hunt with my son and attempt to teach him the values I respect most, and this hunt would prove to test those values and show why some people can be complete idiots.

Having climbed down into the thicket filled ravine, the deer from the group of 5 selected as ‘mine’ appeared first in range, and I shot the 4X4 dark racked buck at about 370 yards uphill. Although he stumbled, we saw him drop and lay dead on the opposite ridge along a fence line running down into the canyon. The climb across proved nearly impossible, so we picked a good pair of landmarks, hiked out of the canyon, found the ATV’s, and went to the other side of the canyon with the road on top. The mile trip took less than an hour to walk and ride.

When we were heading down the road we passed a Toyota Pickup with a really nice buck in the back, nodded to the driver, then proceeded to find only a gutpile where my buck had fallen. The driver of the Toyota had taken my buck, and was never seen again.

A lesson was learned.

We finished the day by finding the group of bucks again, and making a plan for the following morning. When we found the group of deer in the next canyon over the following morning, three bucks were still together. One of those was Patrick’s. After spotting them on an and off for several hours we had a good idea where to cut them off at, we split down opposite sides of a canyon where they figured to hold up for the afternoon, Patrick’s buck passed in front of him at 40 yards from his spot in the thickets and was dead in an instant from his .308.

After taking care of the deer, we proceeded back to the top of the same canyon at 4:00 in the afternoon and I took one of the remaining bucks in that group, a buck with decent mass but shorter forks. And we never let the deer out of sight.

The weather was very warm so we called my wife up from Flagstaff to pick up the deer and take both to butcher the following morning, and drop Patrick’s deer at the taxidermist. She arrived the next morning and we took a few more pictures. That would be the last time we saw Patrick’s buck.

Our preferred taxidermist in Flagstaff had a medical issue and was not available to take in the deer so my wife took the deer to Pioneer Taxidermy. His deal included butchering and his workmanship on display appeared ok so a deal was struck.

Four months later on my sons birthday this idiot calls to say he “misplaced” the rack and wondered if we picked it up, which we had not. Turns out that several racks had been stolen by someone with access to the premises. Suspicions were had but nothing ever came of it, and the rack was never seen again. We offered and still offer a $10,000 reward to the person who puts the thief behind bars. The rack is certainly not worth it, but the satisfaction of seeing this jackass jailed is.

We have the hide and have been looking for a similar rack to mount ever since.

Another lesson learned.

We’ve taken many deer since, but the first one is always the most memorable and his first buck comes with a few memories to forget.