Coues 'n' Sheep Report post Posted December 31, 2009 The “Hard Way” part of this buck started clear back on Halloween night when my Niece, Savannah, her boy friend and another friend were mugged… beaten and robbed by 7 thugs on the Light Rail in Tempe… (Don’t get me started on this part) Now, with a badly broken collar bone, Savannah’s late coues hunt was in jeopardy. She missed classes and work further complicating her plan to hunt about 10-12 days … if she could even shoot a gun. She now had a pin, a plate, and 7 screws holding her collarbone in place. As opening day rolled around she had just gotten her sling off, and had managed light duty at work for a few shifts, but had no chance to really prepare for the hunt. On the Second day of the hunt (Saturday) Colton and her Dad took her out to an area were Colton had seen a whopper buck a few weeks earlier… they passed a couple of bucks over 90”… by mid-day she was hurting and the plate was cold.. adding to the pain. They called it a day and that night it was determined that the “pain” was infection… it had set into the incision over her plate…. time to go back to the Doc… hunt postponed. After a regiment of antibiotics and some more rest Savannah now had more movement and less pain… and was ready to hunt. She managed to juggle her work to get off Monday thru Wednesday and it was Game On! The Troops were rallied… Uncle Larry, her Dad (Dallas), Colton, and I would assist Savannah on this very short opportunity to ground check a 100”er or better if we could…. Monday: Cold and WINDY…. We didn’t see but one buck and he was on the move to find better cover. I was impatient…. And rallied everyone to make a move to the other side of the unit where I knew there was more deer…. That cost half day of hunting. Tuesday: We are in one of my favorite pieces of country….. Glassing…. Larry, Dallas, and myself are looking at a huge piece of country that Colton and Savannah are in and hunting. We find deer about 16 or so in a few hours… and they find a few others in pockets we can’t see. Pretty soon Colton lets me know that they have a buck rutting a doe way low and are on the move… “How big?” I ask….. “100…. Maybe better…” he whispers, breathing heavy as he is trotting down the back side of the ridge. Pic of Zip lookin’ for deer… We keep glassing…. Waiting…. (This is where I would like to tell you that we hear one shot and “Whooo Hoo, she smoked him!” however, some hunts don’t always go as planned….then we have work twice as hard for the desired ending. When the going gets tough we owe it to the animal to do our very best to recover that animal regardless of how tough it may be) …..back to the story: What seemed like an hour later we are jarred from our glasses from a distant, “BOOM”! Silence……….. BOOM…….. Silence……. BOOM….. not sounding good……. Silence….. BOOM……silence…… then Colton’s voice, “She got him the first shot, he’s hurt bad, and in a bush, I see him he has bedded and stood like 5 times in the last 5 minutes… he’s bedded now…. And he can’t slip outta there.” I tell him we are packing and will be to them in 2 hours…. just wait and watch. Two hours later I radio him, and he updates me, so we move to a support position above the bedded buck…. We can’t see him, they can’t see him, so it was decided I’d go down and either find him dead (which we believed) or push him out for a finishing shot. Ever wonder what it sounds like to hear a bullet hit before you hear the gun go off? … like a .22 short going off right next to you… (but I was behind a ridge and safe) ...The buck came to his feet just less than 20 yards from me and stared me down, then two shots… and the buck was on the move, again…. And bad hurt…. We watched the buck waiting for an opportunity to stalk him again, but lost him in a thick cut with lots of escape routes & hiding spots. With less than hour of light left we backed out knowing time was on our side if we just waited him out he had nowhere to go (we thought). Wednesday: At dawn we were back on point we now had one more body, my good lucky charm & buddy (Erin Bittner)… So Colton and Erin dive to the bottom of the canyon with Savannah (who is hurting pretty good)…. They plan to maneuver just across the canyon from the cut the buck went into and glass for him while we add support glass form the top… an hour later nothing… except howling coyotes above where we think the buck is… The call is made for Larry, Dallas and I come from the top and Erin form the bottom to find the deer while Colton And Savannah watch the hill, just in case… no luck. Now we are gridding…. 6 people on one hill… nothing…. Colton finds a track that appears flared on the right hoof and too deep in the soft dirt…. he follows till it drops into a lower canyon then side hills to a bluff with a good view of the area…. As he glasses he sees nothing… then a white patch up under a bush.. then the whole deer…. Dead. We all converge on the buck excited, to find that a lion had beat us to the buck but only long enough to drag it from the bed where it died in the open, to up under a tree 50 yards away the back of its neck still wet with lion saliva… no puncture wounds in the hide. The Lion almost hid the buck completely from us… we got there just in time! Savannah now held her “hard way buck” that a lion tried to steal! …The almost not getting to hunt, postponing the hunt, short time, and no prep…. And then an almost less than perfect ending… that netted her the buck that she has been wanting for a really long time. A mature Coues buck! Congrats to my niece, Savannah! You done good Girl… even with the odds against you! Bittner was behind the cam and only made it ito a few pics that I don't have yet, but here is the rest of the Crew! Then there was the 1 ½ mile pack out or um... up… I share this long winded story with you because even the best laid plans go south… we all hold these animals in high regard and it makes us sick to have to leave one out all night, while we are losing sleep about it… We can only put on our lucky hat and a good attitude and work hard to win. In this case patients, manpower, and hard work by a very good group of knowledgeable hunters made this “almost loss”, a Success! May we all have lots of one shot kills in our future… and on the days where just one does not get it done…. May we have the strength, patients and aptitude to win against the odds. Happy New Year! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
youngbuck Report post Posted December 31, 2009 Congrats to all involved! Makes me hot too about the light rail story. Who could rough a girl up so bad as to break a collar bone? I cant stand it. Thats a reason why the alum J-frame is never far away. Enough of the rant. Thats one great lookin deer. I like it when the brows are so far apart, always looked cool to me Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ROBERT RIVERA Report post Posted December 31, 2009 congrates great stroy and deer Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
RAM Report post Posted December 31, 2009 Very cool buck. Congrats to everyone involved. -Ryan Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dillon_camo Report post Posted December 31, 2009 Great story and an awesome buck. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
cramerhunts Report post Posted December 31, 2009 I am sorry to hear the part of the story that caused the "hard way", but what an example of perseverance and determination. Congrats on a great buck and awesome ending to a heck of a story. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
GameHauler Report post Posted December 31, 2009 The story and additional pictures were worth the wait Gino. Congratulations to all involved and on a great Buck. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Brian Payne Report post Posted December 31, 2009 Great story of perseverance! What a cool looking buck as well. Way to get it done! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Coues&Bass Report post Posted December 31, 2009 Gerat story and a great buck! I love how high the eye gaurds are on the rack! Congradulations to Savannah, it is great to see the women out in the field hunting hard. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Coues Sniper Report post Posted December 31, 2009 Congrats Savannah! Way to tough it out and kill a great buck. Love the way his 2's seem to come out from right behind his browes. Sweet buck. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
AZantlerhead Report post Posted December 31, 2009 That's a REALY good lookin buck , Congrats to her, Awesome!! Bad Ol' Puddy Cats!! Way to recover a buck, well done guys!! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bonecollector Report post Posted December 31, 2009 Congrats on a great lookin buck and a well deserved buck! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest borderboy Report post Posted December 31, 2009 Nice! Very nice!! Way to keep getting back up too! All those things to overcome. Wow. Concealed Carry Permit! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Verndog Report post Posted December 31, 2009 Wow.......great story and an awesome buck to boot! Great job guys. Wish I could get my hand on those maggots (cuz that's all they matter to). Again, congrats on a beautiful buck! Vern Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
DesertBull Report post Posted December 31, 2009 awesome story and buck Hope they caught those low life losers that beat up a girl. They must feel so proud of themselves. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
