In late December there is a simultaneous archery and rifle Coues Deer buck hunt in Unit 31 in Arizona. This area is commonly known as Mt Graham, my neighboring mountain range. (Photo above is an example of a Coues buck deer.) Yesterday my husband unit had a close call.
After many days of angling around to get a good clean killing shot with an arrow, my bow hunting spouse finally crept within 50 yards (45 meters) of the small but beautiful buck. He vaguely heard a pick-up truck slow and stop behind him. Suddenly a bullet whizzed by his head, and he saw his buck fall. The shooter, who could clearly see my hunter and his prey, very recklessly, illegally and ungentlemanly had fired from the road. My husband unit was terribly shook up but the unsporting and rude young man basically said: “Tough Luck!” He picked up the deer, tossed it in his truck and sped away without even tagging it. (Attaching the permit to the dead animal to prove a legal taking.) Due to disability (my man often bow hunts with one crutch), he was not able to make his way down the snow covered slope to the road to record the rude offenders vehicle license number.
To add insult to injury, the Sheriff arrived a short time later to inform him that the mountain was being evacuated due to the snow storm. Swift Trail, US 366, is a steep, narrow road of extreme twists and turns. The 6 or 8 inches (15 to 20 cm) of snow at this elevation was becoming dangerous, not to mention what might have been accumulating 2000 to 3000 feet (600 to 900 meters) above.
So his December hunt was over.
The boorish road hunter who could have easily put his bullet into my husband unit was undoubtedly boasting about his great stalking skill to his goon friends. We hope he chokes on the venison
