CouesWhitetail Report post Posted November 7, 2008 Hi All, Well, I was again fortunate to draw a unit 27 tag and was able to hunt with my friend Scott and his son Austin. We had a great time, but only Austin shot a deer. I don't have a picture of Austin's buck but it was a nice 2x3 with some palmation on one side. Austin didn't have a lot of days to hunt and he shot this buck as we were travelling to our hunting area. Congratulations Austin! Anyway, we started out our hunt by backpacking into an area Scott has wanted to hunt for years. Here is a pic of me and Scott's giant pack (note it's almost as tall as I am!). But it was a pretty tough hike in and we only made it half way to where he wanted to be after three hours of hiking! Since it was getting dark we just camped there, which happened to be an excellent glassing spot, but the morning would only bring a few coues does and muleys in the area near us, and one Coues buck and some does that Scott glassed up with his 30x's about 3 miles away. Well, after not seeing a whole lot in the area that morning, we changed plans and hiked back out. We decided we might have better luck in other areas. From there on out we did day hunting trips from Scott's NEW house. Scott has been building this house for many months now and I was happy to be able to stay there and see it. It has an amazing view of some great Coues country. In fact the view is so great, that we actually spent day two just glassing from his back porch!! I was happy to do this since my legs were very sore from our long, hot hikes on Thurs/Friday. I can tell you it's a rare treat to eat bacon and eggs (courtesy of Scott) while glassing from a chair on someone's porch! A few pics of Scott huntin' hard on day 2: You can see some of his house here with the amazing windows that allow for a stunning view of the mtns. The rest of the hunt we spent hunting mornings from the house and generally coming back in the afternoon to work on building projects, like installing doors, window screens, and lights. It was quite fun for me to learn how to do all that stuff. We also got to go to several church functions including the preacher's 50th birthday party at his nearby log cabin that he built essentially by himself. And that includes cutting the trees himself, prepping the logs and puttting them in place! I know several people that build their own homes, but I didn't know anyone who actually cut the trees themselves!! Way cool! I should have taken a picture of that place! Anyway, one morning Scott and I were glassing different areas and Scott found a couple nice bucks. I was watching some smaller bucks in another area when I heard him call on the radio to come back his way. As I headed that way, Scott decided he wanted the biggest buck and started taking some shots at it. Unfortunately, he didn't have a range finder and he understimated the distance by quite a bit (300 vs 525 yards!). By the time I got there (with a range finder) the bucks weren't providing any shot opportunities. Not knowing for sure if he had hit anything, Scott headed down the steep ridge to check for blood and a dead deer and I stayed up on top as a lookout for deer moving out of the area. Here is a pic of the area, the bucks were down in the grassy flat below the binos. Scott didn't find any sign of a hit deer, and did see one of the bucks running out of there and heard what was probably the 2nd buck moving across the canyon. So Scott headed back up where I was. Scott had a great new lightweight rifle for this hunt (he can fill in the details if he sees this). But here is a pic of him and his custom rifle: Some digiscoped pics of one of the little bucks I saw that morning (sorry no pic of Scott's big buck): Some scenery of the areas we hunted: On the 2nd to last day we tried a nice area and I found a buck I really wanted (I would guess 105+), but I didn't see him until the bucks were going to bed. It took Scott and I probably 1.5 hrs to get over to where I would have a 300 yard shot from the bucks if they came out of the bedding area. We set up there and waited a couple hours, but tired of that game and decided to head back home. It was a hot hunt and the bucks didn't seem to be moving much at all in the afternoons. Pic of Scott on watch for my buck to get up and step in the open: We went back in on the last morning and found bucks again and yet again they bedded before we could get there and we decided not to wait them out all day. So I guess that buck will just be bigger next year for me!! Some other things I saw during the hunt included this partial skeleton Scott found under a juniper tree that turns out to be a ringtail cat skeleton. Also found a dead snake that I hadn't seen before, it's an eastern patchnosed snake. and a Red-tailed hawk that soared right over my head while I was on top of a ridge: And some nice maples showing their red foliage: This was a different kind of hunt for both Scott and I in that we just pretty much hunted the mornings rather than staying out til dark. We accomplished lots on his house and probably spent as much time doing non-hunting stuff as we did hunting. It was great spending so much time with Scott's family and friends! Too bad we didn't get bucks, but at least Austin did and we enjoyed a great meal of venison tacos the night he killed that buck. YUM!!! Amanda Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
willhunt4coues Report post Posted November 7, 2008 It sounds like you still had a great time and thats all that matters. Great pictures and write up. Thanks for sharing. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
AZP&Y Report post Posted November 7, 2008 Awesome re-cap and hunt story- Enjoyed all of it and the pics are spectacular. That is one MAMMOTH pack!~ WOW! Thanks for sharing the experience and the 105 sounds like a bruiser! AzP&Y Doug Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
AZ RANGER Report post Posted November 7, 2008 Thanks for the post. Looks like a great time. I really like Scott's house, can't beat glassing from the porch. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
TAM Report post Posted November 7, 2008 I didn't think Scott was still alive! Haven't seen him post in forever. Thanks for the trip report and cool pictures, more proof that it's all about the journey not the destination. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Chef Report post Posted November 8, 2008 I was thinking about you and your hunt just yesterday. I'm glad you guys had a good time. I was wondering if you would be up for the hike after all the great food you had on vacation! That's a pretty pimp house Scott has there too! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
GRONG Report post Posted November 8, 2008 Loved the story Amanda but I'll have to be quite honest with you............................ You just absolutely lost me when you mentioned that you had radio contact with Scott. What's the world coming to....... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
crazyaboutcoues Report post Posted November 8, 2008 Great story Amanda...it's good to hear Scotts back in business Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Snapshot Report post Posted November 8, 2008 Thats a great story Amanda. A big kudo's for you, Scott and Austin for going on a backpack hunt. Thats some great looking country in there. The warm weather is always tough to deal with. I wish they would change that hunt back to mid November. The size of Scotts back pack makes my back hurt just looking at it Great pictures! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
CouesWhitetail Report post Posted November 8, 2008 Loved the story Amanda but I'll have to be quite honest with you............................ You just absolutely lost me when you mentioned that you had radio contact with Scott. What's the world coming to....... LOL! Yes, it's shocking isn't it?? Well, Scott will actually debate whether we had radio contact or not. My NEW motorola radios (which I got to be an upgrade to my old ones) were so terrible that both of us were about to throw them off the cliff. Made for some very frustrating communication! Amanda Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
300 wsm Report post Posted November 8, 2008 Looks like you guys had a fun hunt. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ScottAdams Report post Posted November 9, 2008 It was a great hunt and Amanda and Austin and I had a great time even if it was a little more light-hearted hunting than we typically do. Some of you have asked about my rifle. It's a Savage that I had customized. It's chambered for the 300/6.5 WSM. I have Talley lightweight rings and a Leupold 6.5-20x40 LR scope. It's very lightweight and accurate. I'm glad to finally have the house built and moved in although it's still a work in progress. Here are a few more photos. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Snapshot Report post Posted November 9, 2008 Thats great Scott. A very nice looking house and spread you got in a beautiful area. I bet you will be glad when you are finished, as building houses is alot of hard work and long hours. Best wishes to you and the family. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Coues Archer Report post Posted November 9, 2008 Wow. that is some fantastic country great pics. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
catclaw Report post Posted November 10, 2008 Great stuff Amanda and Scott! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
