Swinging Through Southern Arizona

[AzViper]

My buddy called mid-afternoon and asked if I wanted to head down south to do some prospecting. I am not one to pass on an opportunity to get outdoors, I said sure. I was in the middle of working on a few poker tables for clients so I closed up the shop, grabbed my gear and off we went. The first photo is of an old mine in the area. On close inspection I could smell urine from within the first few feet.

I GPS the area to get the elevation of 4500 feet and the air temps were 95 degrees. The area is covered in Oaks and Manzanita. This is great Coues Whitetail Deer country as I have hunted this land many of times. My day was spent unearthing shell cases so the next prospector may have better luck than I did. In all it was a great day to get out and just enjoy the Arizona backcountry.

 

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[vpnavy]

Super photograph's (and country) AzViper. Thanks for sharing...

 

[Mudflap333]

I found this beauty with my GoldBug 2 in the Greaterville area so I know the old timers didn't find it all.

 

[Hard Prospector]

Beautiful country for sure, I've bow hunted that country a few times myself for Coues but never did get one. They certainly live up to the reputation as "ghost deer of the south west". Thanks for the story and nice pics.

 

[AzViper]

Grey Ghost of Arizona... Many claim that the Coues is North Americas toughest big game animal to hunt due to the terrian of which they live. They are at their best in the desert amoung the cactus fields not in the terrian seen above. I was lucky to photograph a nice Coues and get him 6 weeks later.

 

[nuggeteer]

Hey AzViper,
Great pictures and story! Looks like similar terrain and vegetation as here in Redding... beautiful. I bet those shells made the MD scream.

 

[Hard Prospector]

Grey Ghost of Arizona... Many claim that the Coues is North Americas toughest big game animal to hunt due to the terrian of which they live. They are at their best in the desert amoung the cactus fields not in the terrian seen above. I was lucky to photograph a nice Coues and get him 6 weeks later.

Just spotting one of those little suckers was tough, I did get a few stalks in but it always managed to "disappear" before I could close the last 50 yards. They are for sure the most challenging big game animal to bow hunt in North America, I'm glad to hear of your success.

 

[goldenIrishman]

Viper.... Is that the Huachuca Miners club site? I've been talking to Clay Diggins about that area and want to get out there soon with the better half. We both members of the club but just joined and they haven't been doing any club outings due to the heat.

 

[AzViper]

Just spotting one of those little suckers was tough, I did get a few stalks in but it always managed to "disappear" before I could close the last 50 yards. They are for sure the most challenging big game animal to bow hunt in North America, I'm glad to hear of your success.

Coues Deer before while in the wild and after. The key is having great optics. I hunt with 15x60 Zeiss Binoculars mounted on a very sturdy tripod.

 

[63bkpkr]

AzV,
With those binoculars the tripod must be mounted in the bed of a duce and a half, maybe even a 50BMG tripod. Great pictures!...........63bkpkr

 

[AzViper]

AzV, With those binoculars the tripod must be mounted in the bed of a duce and a half, maybe even a 50BMG tripod. Great pictures!...........63bkpkr

To bad Zeiss no longer makes these fine binoculars. Why they choose to discontinue them I have no clue. They are so optically clear. I can sit and glass for hours on end with no eye fatigue. These binos in early morning or late evening will make the hillside pop open. I once watch a lion take down a Coues buck from a mile away and spent 3 hours behind the glass to watch this event unfold.

 

[Clay Diggins]

Nice take on the Coues AzViper. A real beauty! Thanks for sharing!

That "Diggers Delight" claim is a gem. Well worth the Club dues all by itself.

 

[DizzyDigger]

Az..that's a gorgeous Coues buck!

Did you take that beast with a bow?

I've seen Coues, and even tried to put a stalk on one many years
back (with Kodak camera in hand), but that dude winded me from
no less than 400 yds and then just disappeared like he was a ghost.

Two toughest critters you can stalk with a bow have to be Pronghorn,
and Coues..and you've gotta have some serious weasel in ya to get
in close enough (30 yds..max) for a decent shot. I used to stalk the
Pronghorns up near Sheridan, Wy..and even managed to get close enough
that, had I wanted to I could have made an easy shot on a couple. Never
saw no reason to shoot one though, same with the Coues, but I certainly
respect anyone who can get in on one, and use stick and string to fill their
freezer.

 

[AzViper]

Az..that's a gorgeous Coues buck!

Did you take that beast with a bow?

I've seen Coues, and even tried to put a stalk on one many years back (with Kodak camera in hand), but that dude winded me from no less than 400 yds and then just disappeared like he was a ghost. Two toughest critters you can stalk with a bow have to be Pronghorn, and Coues..and you've gotta have some serious weasel in ya to get in close enough (30 yds..max) for a decent shot. I used to stalk the Pronghorns up near Sheridan, Wy..and even managed to get close enough that, had I wanted to I could have made an easy shot on a couple. Never saw no reason to shoot one though, same with the Coues, but I certainly respect anyone who can get in on one, and use stick and string to fill their freezer.

I wish I could pull a string back on a bow again. Years ago (17 years) I was part of the Gorilla Squad for PSE or Precision Shooting Equipment (some Say, Pull, Shoot, and Explode) we were a team of archers that pulled high poundage from 120 to 150 pounds to see if the risers and limbs would bend and break. The biggest problem at the time was keeping the cables on the bows, the teardrop ends kept pulling off. It was not until we got cables made of Fast Flight that these issues went away. Then it was bending cnc machine risers. Well in the end my right shoulder has paid the price due to the high pulling poundage. With arrows leaving the bow at over 400fps the deers reaction time could still jump an arrow if the arrow was not placed correctly on the animal’s body.

I have been away from archery for a while now but I am sure todays bows are incredible to shoot, just wish my shoulder would allow it. I know shoulder replacement is around the corner as I am in pain 24/7, but have learned to live with the pain.

I screwed up and missed the boat on fiber optics sights on bows. I had developed a fiber optic sight that I made years before any commercial fiber optic sight was on the market due to the work environment I was in at the time. I use to shoot 3D tournaments and at these shoots my sight was gathering light and was glowing long before others could leave camp to go out on the course. Today these sights are made by everyone. Had I only known my pockets would have been lined with gold... LOL

 

[AzViper]

Today started off rough. My buddy and I were back down south in Greaterville, Az. looking for a locked gate that I never found. I found two locked gates in the area but both had cable locks around the gates with no access. Spent the day digging and vacuuming the clay layers I found. The first bucket of dirt had a good amount of gold so I never pan anymore. We dug and classified more five gallon bucket than we can even remember. The area I was digging I found two separate layers of clay one on top of each other and separated with about 6 inches between the layers. We need to come up with a method to break the clay up. I wish I had the trommel ready to go but its weeks from being completed. I was able to break up the bedrock and vac and scrape all the clay in the crevices. As you can see in the last photo I was able to clean the bedrock of all rock and clay. Had little accident with my hand...

 

[Terry Soloman]

Sorry about your hand. Any gold photos?

 

[AzViper]

Hi Terry, was to busy digging clay and rock. By the time I got home from being out 12 hours in 105 degree temps I was to tired to run any of the material through the sluice. My new truck was a mess so I spent another 2 hours cleaning the truck, finely when I sat down for the day it was 8pm and that was to download the photos, resize the photos and post them. The trommel I am building will be great to run all the clay balls, clay impacted rock, and dirt that this entire area has. The gold is locked up in the clay making the use of a drywasher useless.

 

[AzViper]

This is the amount of gold we have process so far.

 

[AzViper]

We still have more to process but here is more of that Arizona gold. Finding time to do cleanup is becoming and issue and tomorrow will be back at it down south.

 

[Terry Soloman]

That is good looking gold - nice and chunky!!!! Congrats AZ!!!!