The month of January in Arizona will forever hold a special place in my heart. While the rest of the country is buried under snow and huddled by a fireplace, I’m out in the desert glassing for Coues deer with my bow by my side. With any luck, I’ll find a rut-crazed buck and slip in close enough to get an arrow headed his way. That is all way easier said than done. This is one of the hardest animals in North America to spot and stalk with a bow. So, you better believe I’ll be using a few tricks within the onX Hunt App to up my chances of success. Through the years, I’ve found a few favorite features.
Pre-Marking Waypoints
Ridgelines and Glassing Knobs
If you fail to plan you plan to fail. So, a Coues deer hunt starts with a little e-scouting. I like having a main ridgeline to work along throughout the day. Ideally, it would be several north/south ridge lines where I can look to the west to get a view of the east-facing hillsides. I say several because backup plans need to be put in place. And I say east-facing because those will be lit up first thing in the morning and where a lot of feed occurs, which brings the does with the bucks in tow.
Glassing is key for finding Coues deer on a regular basis. This is why I pre-mark Waypoints along these ridge lines of potential glassing spots to move to as the day progresses. It beats the heck out of wandering around aimlessly. Have a plan and execute it.
Water Sources
Another thing I’m pre-marking is water sources. Water isn’t exactly everywhere in Arizona, so knowing its whereabouts usually always lends to finding animals. These can be found by making note of pre-marked water sources in the Hunt App or by literally seeing the water via satellite imagery.
Keep in mind that not all water is pre-marked—these are usually the most productive ones, too, as not as many folks know about them. The strategy here is bucks are chasing does and will inevitably come in for a drink. Whether I’m ambush hunting at the water source or glassing the area from afar these water sources are gold.
Compass Mode
Glassing a buck up a long way out and navigating your way to his exact location can prove difficult. Things never look the same as they do from your vantage point. Having a precise pin of where you last saw the buck is a massive advantage and that’s where Compass Mode comes in. By tapping into Compass Mode within the App, and getting a range on the deer, I can point the phone at the deer, input the range, and have an accurate pin of where that deer is. That, my friends, is a game-changer and it’s helped me out way more than once.
It’s also a handy tool to figure out potential places to shoot from. Get a pin for the buck, then get a pin for a spot you think you’d have a shot. From there, use the Line Distance tool to measure the distance between the two pins. If they’re in range of one another, you’ll now have a destination point to stalk your way to. And once you shoot your deer, you can also use Compass Mode to pin exactly where the deer was standing when you shot. The more reference points you have, the more prepared you’ll be.
Tracker
Arizona is a brushy place with no shortage of thorns ready to slice you up. While negotiating my way through the seas of catclaw (look that up) I will eventually find a path of least resistance. This is where the App’s Tracker feature will come in handy, especially with future navigations in the dark. Once I find a good path, I’ll turn the Tracker on as I walk back, then save the track when I’ve reached my destination. I’ll now have a reference path to follow on future hikes. One with far less bloodshed and ripped clothing.
Speaking of bloodshed: In the event an arrow has passed through a deer, I’ve found it to be a huge advantage to have the Tracker turned on during the blood-trailing process. As I mentioned, the country can be thick, and recounting your steps is not always a simple task. Using the Tracker, along with marking some prominent Waypoints along the blood trail, will provide a clear bird’s eye view of the deer’s path of travel and can be referred back to as necessary. Data delivers.
Bring on January
What I’ve laid out here are real tools that I’ve used in the past and gotten real results from. There is no substitute for woodsmanship and hunting skill of course, but I will say if you aren’t using features like these within the onX Hunt App, you are missing out. January is going to be here faster than I can process, and after writing all of that, I cannot wait for another lap through the first month of the year. With any luck, it’ll end with a THWACK.