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The 142 buck!
by Jay Jones
Click on photo to enlarge
My name is Jay Jones. My friend, Clint Hill (who is an avid coueswhitetail.com
fan/poster) told me there was some interest in a special Coues buck I was lucky
enough to harvest this year.
Here are a few pics of my 142 gross Coues (unofficial). Below is a short story
about taking the buck.
I feel very humbled and fortunate to have had the opportunity to harvest him
with a 506 yard shot. Lots of respect for this old monarch. We estimate his age
to be 6+ years old.
My hunting buddies/guides were Nick Forsythe and Ted Byfield. Ted spotted the
buck over two miles away and announced excitedly, huge buck way up high in the
bowl. This is the same bowl my hunting partners, Greg Lucero, Nick, Clint Hill
and I spotted a huge buck two years ago and were thinking this must be the same
one.
Ted and I drove over and climbed the back of the bowl. We crawled up a steep
manzanita and shale face. Nick covered the front of the bowl in case the buck
tried to slip out. Nick and I had climbed the same route up to the bowl the day
before. When we reached the top yesterday it was covered with deer sign and we
knew it was a worth the climb. We spotted several deer but not the one we were
looking for.
This time, Ted and I arrived at the bowl crest at 1pm careful not to skyline and
maneuvered into position to glass the dark north facing slope of the bowl.
Within 10 minutes, amazingly Ted had spotted the buck bedded next two a feeding
doe under a juniper. He quickly ranged the buck at 506 yards.
I extended the Harris bi-pods on my Weatherby .257 to shoot in a sitting
position because the mountain grass was so high. I turned the elevation turrent
to 500 yards on my Leupold VX-III Long Range Tactical 6.5x20 outfitted with a
Leupold bullet drop compensating dial (highly recommended).
I settled the crosshairs on the buck and tried to concentrate on a smooth
trigger pull. Seemed like I was squeezing way to long and hard when I realized
the safety was on. Happens to the best of us I guess! Got ready again and got a
good squeeze, this time with no safety on, sending the 115 nosler ballistic tip
on its way. Ted advised, you hit him...but he's up and moving.
Two hours later after some very anxious moments we had my buck of a couple
lifetimes. Initial gross score is in the range of 142 and will probably net just
south of 135 placing the buck somewhere in the range of top 5-10 all time
typical Coues bucks ever taken.
It is hard to put in perspective a trophy like this buck. My ambitious goal for
30+ years of Coues deer hunting had been to get a buck exceeding the Boone &
Crockett minimum of 110. I have several in the 100-110 range. Lots of good, very
capable hunters never break through the 110 barrier. Obviously, I far exceeded
my expectations. Again, I feel very, very lucky.
I can't thank my hunting buddies Nick Forsythe, Ted Byfield, Greg Lucero and
Clint Hill enough. They all played a major role in helping make this possible. I
have learned much from them. We are childhood friends who come together every
fall to continue our quest and passion for chasing these little gray ghosts
around the Chiricahua and other mountains.
Greg was the first one in the B&C club. Larry Osborne joined Greg and now I
finally broke through. Nick, Clint and our buddy Tim Gomez are next to join. You
can be sure we'll be there trying to help them make it happen every fall.
Click on images to enlarge.
