Sorry for the delay on the update, it’s been a fast pace since coming home keeping up with the year end business details, holidays and work.
The hunt was done the second to the last day of the season. I finally connected on a solid buck, a buck we had seen two days earlier and passed. We sat a tank (pond) we guessed he was watering at and shot him at 12:01, straight up lunch time. We videoed it, the 6.5 PRC did its job, I thought I had missed because of the water splash but it was just the LR accubond doing what it does, complete pass through with lots left on it. We videoed it, bullet hit him extremely hard in slow mo, now the story leading up to that moment.
After my wife filled her tag we came home to spend Christmas Eve and Christmas with our children and grandchildren. We stayed an extra day to enjoy them before they had to all return home. Then we headed back down to deer camp and mentally reset after a grueling few days before Christmas. Mentally I was wearing down a bit and had to find that optimism and positivity that is so important when you’re out there beating the bush. I got my game face back on and we got after it.
We bailed back into the country where that big buck was that we had glass up earlier in the hunt. We spent a day and a half trying to find him and just couldn’t do it, but I know he’s in there and I hope to get back down there and keep tabs on that buck in case we draw another tag next year.
After that, we went back to the country where my wife Shannon had shot her buck, but we didn’t see anything that was worth shooting. Then we went into some more Canyon country that I’ve hunted in the past and glassed up a solid 110 inch beautiful 3 x 3 with tall eye guards, but I decided to pass him. At that point I had two days left to get it done and my resolve to break 120” was starting to fade, I decided that I would shoot the next 110 inch buck we saw in camp that night if it was one that I liked. We moved again to country I know pretty good, country where I’ve seen a lot of solid bucks in the past.
Unfortunately the rut was actually cooling down instead of heating up and we were seeing less and less bucks with does and a lot of bucks still running together showing signs of pre rut but not rutting, a good friend was helping me which I really appreciated. He’s awesome behind a pair of binoculars. it’s like he can see through trees or something, some of the spots he makes are unbelievable. We glassed up two solid bucks with very big frames and mass and moved into position, the closest we could get was 760 yards across a very deep Canyon. We were in position at two in the afternoon and sat until 20 minutes before dark when the bucks got up and started to move. Unfortunately, the wind had kicked up and was gusting from the 3 o’clock position and I just didn’t feel comfortable taking the shot, and we watched them until dark. The wind was gusting up to 20 mph. They were both really good bucks.
Then we went back to camp making plans for the final two days to hunt. We decided we’d go after a buck that we had seen earlier and that we would sit his water source all day and see if we could get lucky. At noon there he was. Troy leaned over and said “hey your buck is on the tank”. I had been glassing a nearby ridge and we would take turns watching the tank while the other one would glass. I already had my tripod set up with the rifle in it, sitting next to me. He was standing with his butt towards us and I didn’t want to take that shot. As he was done drinking, he started walking to the right and I gave him a bleat, he stopped and I took the shot. The shot was 334 yards at an 18° angle, the bullet impacted the buck about 2 inches from where I was aiming but it was a solid shot. The buck ran. We gave it 30 minutes and watched the surrounding ridges, but we heard no running, no commotion and we figured that he was done. Then we reviewed the video and we knew he was done, the impact was substantial. I thought I may have shot over him but that wasn’t the case.
We went down and found him, he had made a death run for about 25 yards. How? I have no idea. We found him stretched out under a tree and then celebrated and put hands on him. Honestly, I teared up for several reasons. We hunted hard, we stayed all day everyday leaving camp hours before light and came back to camp after dark. We went into the nastiest country that area has to offer. I lost 28 pounds during the hunt. I’ve hunted these amazing animals since I was a kid and always wanted to break the 120” mark. I didn’t think I did it when I first laid hands on him, I was guessing he was 108-110” frame with trash and mass. I said a little prayer and thanked the creator for the opportunity and to give my respect to a wonderful animal that deserves respect..
We took pics and rested in the shade for awhile. Then we quartered him up and got him ready to pack out. We were carrying so much gear we decided to leave the buck and get the gear back to the truck and we would return for the deer making two trips. That’s what we did. It was late in the night by the time we got back to camp, it’s was a long round trip.
This is the first hunting trip since major back surgery 7 years ago that I felt like my old self, by the end of the hunt I was going up and down much easier, my heart wasn’t racing like it was at the start of the hunt, I could feel myself starting to get back to where I use to be and that in itself was worth the price of admission.
Coues deer are hard to judge. If you look at the pictures I’d shoot my wife’s buck every time if given the choice. When Troy measured them, my wife’s buck was 118 and change, my buck ended up being 122 and change. His mass and beam length was very big, he wouldn’t net near that but that’s not why I score my bucks. I have never entered an animal in Boone and Crockett or SCI, I only measure them to give myself a benchmark, to help aid in the pursuit of a bigger representative of the species if the opportunity presents itself and to help field judge. I couldn’t believe that buck scored that high.
We are having a pedestal mount done with both bucks together. Sharing that experience with my wife was special, one of my most memorable hunts I’ve had - memories were made. I couldn't be more proud of her, she is always game for any canyon, any mountain, all kinds of weather. She’s always positive and willing, she jumps in and is hands on, she earned that one and I have nothing but respect and love for her.
Take a look at the pics, I think you’d agree that her buck looks bigger. Tricky little deer, fun!
I took pics of the carcass and the meat. I thought it showed what the bullet did even if it’s a bit bloody and I wanted to show that we took every ounce of meat we could. Coues deer are scrumptious!
Also, my buddy owns a guide business, you’ll see his watermark on two pics. if you ever draw a quality tag for Arizona or New Mexico, reach out and I’ll give you his contact info, you won’t find a better guy to hunt with. No ego, as nice as they come and he has some serious skills.
RG
