Turn-Back Tag and Migration Chase for Trophy Mule Deer Success
My quest for a big mule deer dates back many years. I had been on a number of mule deer hunts with limited success. As many of us have been doing, I had been building bonus/preference points in many of the western states. Three years ago, my friend and owner of White River Guide Service, Wade Ovard, recommended that I try to draw in Arizona. He put me in touch with Hunter Weems, owner of Arizona Custom Hunts. After talking to Hunter, we came up with a strategy to try to draw an early rifle Kaibab hunt in unit 12AW. I had enough points that should have allowed me to draw the tag. Unfortunately, due to point creep, I was again unsuccessful in the 2024 draw.
In early September, I got a call from the Arizona Game and Fish Department offering me a turn back tag for the hunt I was trying to draw. Luckily, I had purchased Point Guard Plus that allowed me to be first on the list for the turn back tags. I immediately contacted Hunter who told me to absolutely accept the tag and get ready for an exciting hunt starting in late October. Fortunately, business partner and guide Jesse Parker from Arizona Custom Hunts was available to guide me during the early rifle hunt on short notice. Jesse had been lucky enough to draw and harvest a trophy buck on the Arizona Strip during the archery hunt on his first day, so he was available to guide me. Jesse contacted me and we discussed my goals for the hunt and logistics. He answered all of my questions and told me what to expect for trophy quality in the unit.
I arrived in St. George the day before the season and was met by Wade who fortunately had a few days free from his busy fall hunting schedule to come along and help locate a trophy buck. After arriving at Arizona Custom Hunt’s base camp just outside of Jacob Lake in the Kaibab National Forest, I met Hunter and Jesse who welcomed us and made sure we got settled in. Jesse suggested that we go out and glass the nearby burn area to see if we could locate a buck to hunt opening morning. Unfortunately, we did not locate one, but Jesse thoroughly explained the unit, including its topography and how the deer migrate as the fall progresses towards the rut. About a week prior to the hunt, they had had a snowstorm and cold spell that had started the pre-rut and migration of deer out of the higher elevation forest towards the more open, lower elevation rutting and wintering grounds.
Opening morning found us on one of the oak brush fingers at mid-elevation trying to locate a shooter buck. We saw many does and small bucks, indicating that the pre-rut migration had started. We spent the next three days trying to turn up a big buck unsuccessfully. Given Hunter’s and Jesse’s experience in the unit, Jesse encouraged me to stay positive as our luck was going to change as the season progressed.
On the fifth day of the hunt, the weather turned colder and it snowed. That afternoon, we started to see more and bigger bucks migrating through the higher timbered areas of the unit towards the lower elevation rut areas. We saw one big buck with potential but just couldn’t turn up the opportunity to get a shot. Unfortunately, Wade had to leave that evening, so Jesse and I were on our own for the remainder of the hunt.
Our sixth day of hunting started with four inches of fresh snow and colder temps. We began in the same area that we had been in on opening day and noted significantly fewer deer and no bucks. Something had changed. Jesse suggested that we hunt the higher elevation timbered fingers as his experience led him to believe that the big bucks would be starting to migrate. Sure enough, once we arrived there, we started to see bucks migrating through the timber. By 11 a.m., we had seen 13 different bucks, including one shooter buck which took off before getting a shot opportunity. We had previously decided that given this unit’s potential, I would hold out for a 190" class or better buck. Jesse kept telling me that I would know when I saw this buck.
At about 11:30, I looked out to my right and saw a heavy, wide antlered buck. I yelled excitedly, “Big buck, big buck! Stop the truck!” We jumped out and initially could not find him through the timber. Jesse finally found him walking away from us through the timber at 200 yards. All we could see were horns. Unfortunately, I was not offered a shot opportunity. Given Jesse’s extensive knowledge of the area and the migration patterns of the deer, he said that he knew where the buck was headed and we needed to get there quickly. The buck was going to enter a canyon and come out on the next finger a couple miles away as he migrated to a lower elevation.
After a white-knuckled ride down a two-track Forest Service road out to the main road and down to the end of another Forest Service road, we arrived at the edge of the canyon that Jesse thought the buck was headed to. As we prepared to leave the truck and walk the 200 yards to glass the canyon, Jesse spotted the buck coming out of the canyon and into the timber where we were parked. He told me to grab my gun and get ready to shoot. Jesse confirmed that he was the buck we were after. Unfortunately, the buck started to run away from us. I identified a shooting lane through the timber. As the buck jumped through this shooting lane at 150 yards, I fired and he dropped immediately. It was apparent that my shot had paralyzed him. I quickly completed the kill with a follow-up shot.
All I could see was horns as we approached the buck. Congratulatory yells and hugs followed as Jesse and I evaluated our trophy. Jesse let Hunter know of our success and how big our typical buck was. Another guide and hunter from our camp and a different camp had actually heard our shots and came to inspect our trophy buck. They helped get him loaded in the truck to take him back to camp.
After passing through the game check station, we arrived back at camp where the Arizona Custom Hunt’s crew congratulated us. After taking some more pictures, Hunter put a tape on my buck. He was a 30" wide typical buck with 28" beams, green scoring 206". My buck was the third 200"+ buck harvested during this hunt in our camp. I can say that Hunter and Jesse certainly exceeded my expectations for my Arizona Kaibab mule deer hunt. I have been going on outfitted hunts for the last 35 years, and Arizona Custom Hunts is one of the best that I’ve hunted with, and I hope to be able to hunt with them again. I am thankful to Wade for recommending them and wish that he had been able to be there on the day of the harvest. I feel fortunate to have been offered the turn back tag by the Arizona Game and Fish Department.