ScottAdams Report post Posted October 30, 2006 The hunt is over and it was quite an adventure. My friend Chris Ellis and I both had muzzleloader tags for Coues deer in unit 23. We decided early on to hunt very aggressive and so we started out in the extreme by hiking up a massive mountain at nearly 2,000 above the surrounding terrain. We glassed up an assortment of does and fawns and then finally I locked onto a couple bucks about 2 miles out with the 30's. We watched them work down a shady slope and finally bed down. At least one of the bucks looked good...so, throwing caution, and good sense I might add, to the wind we bailed off the mountain and started after them. We hiked down bluffs and rock slides to get where the bucks were. It took about 3 hours to get down there. The temperature really warmed up and it didn't take us long to run through most of our water. Once there the bucks weren't where they had originally bedded which isn't too unusual since Coues deer usually move to a cooler location later in the morning. We continued watching the ridge while we ate lunch and took turns napping. By 3:00 there was still no sign of the bucks. I felt the bucks were still close by so we decided to walk along the bottom of the ridge where the bottom got brushy and take our chances of busting them out. We hadn't walked far when we heard brush popping and cracking in the bottom. I immediately dropped to one knee and waited with the muzzleloader at the ready. In about 3 seconds the cause of the commotion emerged from the bottom in the form of 2 nice Coues bucks. Chris quickly ranged them at 54 yards. I picked what looked like the biggest and squeezed off. When the smoke cleared both bucks were still moving up the ridge but the buck I had shot at started to slow and then suddenly crashed down into a mesquite. What a rush!!! That's not the end of the story though. We were pretty much out of water and with a hike of over 2 miles and 2000 feet up still ahead of us, we decided to hike out to a different area and bum a ride out. However it got dark before we could hit a road and we decided to stay put for the night. So we bedded down under a couple of juniper trees like the deer we were pursuing. It was a long and cold night and this morning we were able to hike a couple of miles to another deer camp and get a ride out. Our lodging for the night. What an experience!! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
azcouesandelk Report post Posted October 30, 2006 Man what a story and experience there Scott. congrats on the nice buck with a muzzleloader to boot. I must say that you and your buddy must be pretty rugid just to sleep under a juniper with now sleeping bag or cover for anything to cover up with. Very impressive. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
BRYCE CANYON Report post Posted October 30, 2006 Great story and photos. That is what I call hardcore! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bowhunter4life Report post Posted October 30, 2006 now that is dedication to coues hunting. great story and congrates on a fine buck. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
azcouesandelk Report post Posted October 30, 2006 Also Scott you think your family has enough meet to make it through the winter? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
DEERSLAM Report post Posted October 30, 2006 Great hunt and story Scott. You never let us down Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
CouesWhitetail Report post Posted October 30, 2006 Wow!!! Great story. Geez, are we gonna have to work that hard on my hunt with you next month?? Where did you keep your deer while you spent the night out there? I would be a bit nervous sleeping out there with blood on me and deer meat nearby! Thanks for taking the photos, really adds to the story! Did Chris ever get a buck? Amanda Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ScottAdams Report post Posted October 30, 2006 Thank you for the compliments. I will say this; that this was hardcore Coues hunting in the truest sense of the word. My calf muscles are killing me this morning. Younghunter, I think the Adams family has plenty of meat with some to spare for the this winter, and we still have two more tags in the family . Amanda, Chris didn't tag out and headed home yesterday. Unfortunatley he twisted his ankle and wasn't able to hike much. His boots were showing a lot of wear and just not giving him the ankle support he needed. I think he's sold on the Cabela's Meindl Canadas that I wear is going to pick himself up some. Also as to your 27/28 hunt, there are some tough areas like this and we may hunt them or at least I know of one for sure that we will. We'll play it by ear. On another note; in this picture we had the area we glassed these bucks up from in the background. Check it out. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
fatfootdoc Report post Posted October 30, 2006 Scott, YOU ARE AN ANIMAL!!!!!! I don't know if I would have been up for that! Congratulations, hope my hunt this weekend is not as tough as yours was!! AG Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
5yearcoueshunter Report post Posted October 30, 2006 Wow! That's awesome Scott. You're more man than me that's for sure! Congrats! Travis Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
COUESAZ Report post Posted October 30, 2006 Good job Scott. I know exacly how it is. In my mind i say i am not going to hike that far to get a deer. Then i find myself glassing out that far. And in my mind i still say i would not hike that far today for a deer. Then I see a buck or two and off we go. It does not seem to look as far when there is a coues buck with a nice set of horns on it. Then after the shot you start to rethink your every move getting to this spot and you think Great now i have to hike that far just to get this Buck the heck out of here. Once again great hunt. I will be up in 27 AZ for a mule deer hunt. We are heading out tuesday. We have 4 tags to fill and i will have to remember that i am not huntin coues. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
crazyaboutcoues Report post Posted October 30, 2006 Atta Baby Scotty..Looks like the hard work paid off. Congrats Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Coach Report post Posted October 30, 2006 Great job Scott! Proves hard work does pay off big time - I'll have to razz Chris about his boots. He better get a good pair before the SC hunt 'cause we're gonna work him hard. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
TAM Report post Posted October 30, 2006 Nice work Scott!!! Did you see any other deer during the trip? I'll be out there next week looking for one myself. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
WFGinNM Report post Posted October 30, 2006 Good deal Scott, I'll be headed down to 23 Thursday after work. Hopefully I can locate my first coues buck. --Bill Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
