“The Lure of Sonora”

Same phone call, same recording, different year: “You were not drawn for deer. You have a total of five bonus points. You were not drawn for sheep. You have a total of 11 bonus points. You were not drawn for…” What’s an avid native Arizona hunter to do with himself after getting the same old news again? Answer: Head south!

I’m sure I’m not the only hunter in Arizona who lives with the frustration of only drawing an Arizona tag every few years. While Arizona continues to offer some of the best quality big game hunting in the west, tags have gotten harder and harder to draw as our state’s population has increased. Also, many species have struggled with the stresses brought on by our continued drought.

My solution has taken me south of the border to enjoy the fantastic hunting that Sonora, Mexico has to offer. Hunting trips I’ve taken in recent years have focused on mule deer, Coues deer, desert bighorn sheep and Gould’s turkey. My daughter, Amanda, and son, Danny, have also had the opportunity to hunt Sonora. Amanda killed her first Coues deer buck last year and Danny harvested a respectable desert bighorn ram in 2006.

One of my most memorable hunts was for desert bighorn sheep in 2005. For the first time ever, a tag was made available for a mountain range just outside of Puerto Penasco, where as kids, we had vacationed many times. The outfitter had scouted the Sierra Pinta range prior to selling me the tag and had claimed to have seen a ram that would push the 180 mark! Being the eternal optimist most of us hunters are, I spent two weeks scouring that range trying to relocate this “magical” ram. After 14 days, I finally weakened and took a real nice old ram that made the record book, netting 169 4/8.

Just before I harvested my ram, my guide, Matt Dominy, set up his spotting scope to give us a better look at the band of five bedded rams directly across from us on the crest of an adjacent ridge. As he brought them into focus, I could see that just over the top of them was a herd of about a dozen Sonoran pronghorn antelope, grazing on a distant sand dune! That image will be etched in my mind forever.

From camp at night, we could see the sparkling lights of the scattered developments popping up along the coastline, extending south from Puerto Penasco. Nothing like hunting sheep in paradise!

During the months following the hunt, I kept wondering if maybe we had missed that ram somewhere. I decided to purchase the tag the following year for my son Danny, and have another look. Right before dusk on the second day of the hunt, Danny spotted a ram that he liked, which quickly finished that hunt; our chance to find the big ram was over.

Other great trips have included hunting Coues deer with Joe Del Re, of Del Re Adventures. One of our favorite ranches welcomes the hunters with a shot of tequila and a cold cerveza as you arrive, along with homemade guacamole and chips. The ranches are very well maintained with extensive water developments and a conservative harvest quota, ensuring hunters a chance at trophy class Coues deer.

During the past two seasons I’ve had the opportunity to hunt a couple of ranches near Hermosillo with Brian Bundrick of Sonoran Ultimate Hunting. Brian spends several months each year in Sonora scouting ranches and securing the best hunting leases in and around the Hermosillo area. Each hunt I’ve taken focused on mule deer, but good opportunities also existed for harvesting Coues deer on the same trip.

June 1, 2008

‘Same phone call, same recording, different year: “You were not drawn for deer. You have a total of five bonus points. You were not drawn for sheep. You have a total of 11 bonus points. You were not drawn for…” What’s an avid native Arizona hunter to do with himself after getting the same old news again? Answer: Head south!’

“The Lure of Sonora”

Story By Charlie Kelly

Photos By Mark Seacat

During my first late December/early January mule deer hunt with Brian, we seemed to talk sheep hunting as much as we did deer hunting. Brian knew of a ranch that had desert sheep hunting opportunities still available for the season, so in March we “headed south” together again in pursuit of a desert bighorn.

We arrived early enough in the afternoon to do some scouting that evening and located a band of four rams, including one particular ram with nice horns that dropped well below his jaw line. The next morning we were able to relocate the same sheep just over the ridge from where we had seen them on the previous evening. After a quick stalk, we were within shooting range at about 250 yards, so we set up for a shot as the rams slowly fed up the ridge above us.

I’d like to tell you I was really relaxed as I prepared to harvest this ram, but like many other hunters, my stomach was in knots. Brian had decided to video the hunt, so everything seemed to be going in slow motion as I prepared to take the shot. I remember saying, “Okay guys, I’m ready to take the shot. The ram is clear of the others.” Then I slowly squeezed off the shot, only to hear a loud “Click!” We all looked at each other in disbelief as I ejected the faulty factory round that had a clearly dented primer. I was quickly loosing my composure, but made a quick shot as the group continued to feed uphill. The whole group ran up and over the skyline, and we wondered if the ram was hit.

After searching the ravine over the ridge for about a half hour without finding the ram, we finally sat down and Brian rewound and played the video on his camera. From the footage, we could see the impact of the shot and then the ram as he crested over the ridge, disappearing right next to a large patilla cactus. We walked further up the hill where we hadn’t looked previously, and found the ram expired about 30 yards below the cactus we spotted in the video. He turned out to be a beautiful ram, netting 174 0/8. Following the sheep hunt, we spent an afternoon touring the ranch and sizing it up for a possible return to hunt deer in late December 2007.

We returned for that hunt right after Christmas in 2007 and I had the opportunity to hunt with Mark Seacat, who lives in Bozeman, Montana and works for Mystery Ranch Backpacks. Other than being an accomplished outdoorsman, Mark is also a serious mountain climber and an expert on mountain-style backpack hunting. To top this off, he showed up in camp with more camera equipment than the rest of had in optics… put together!

His photography skills are exceptional and he now provides photographs to several different outdoor gear manufacturers. His photography really showcased the “Sonora Experience” that we south-of-the-border hunters enjoy each time we journey down there. While we didn’t harvest any truly huge deer on this hunt, we all did connect on some beautiful bucks and had a great time!

Most of our early hunts included driving down to Mexico with our own vehicles. While I haven’t ever had any major problems doing this, it does take considerable time to get though the border at times, as well as the time necessary to clear your trophies for import into the U.S.

The last couple of trips down, we have flown in and out of Hermosillo and this proved to be a much easier, faster, and more relaxing option. Clearing trophies through the airports in both Tucson and Phoenix was also a breeze compared to crossing the border in our own vehicles.

I’m still hoping someday to harvest that 180-class ram, 200-inch muley, and 120-inch Coues deer like many other hunters that head south each year. In the meantime, my family, my hunting buddies, and I will enjoy each and every trip we take to Sonora and look forward to future trips down there!