COOSEFAN Report post Posted February 14, 2011 I've spent WAY too much time trying to go thru the thousand photos I have on my laptop and get them on this computer and photobucket! My wife isn't too happy with me but here's what I've got in a brief overview! My goal for Mexico this year was to try and pick up the peices from where I left off last year. I had several giants picked out last year and hoped we would kill at least one or two of them! The weather this year made it very difficult at most times to locate these big bucks and to make it worse we missed our shots when we finally found them! It was frustrating but all in all we had a great time as usual! With only a few clients this season, I had tons of time to devote to development and scouting. It was amazing to have an incredible amount of country all to myself. I became better friends with all the ranch owners and cowboys and learned A TON about how crafty and sneaky these special little deer are! I had some amazing experiences such as finding that Mexican Boa, flingin' arrows and lead at Mt. Lions, whackin' my first archery Coues along with Coati and Javi's, and getting to put my hands on a huge 200" muley and a 125" Coues! It was paradise for a blood thirsty, Coues fanatic such as myself! If you don't want to read thru the rest of my story, here's a slideshow with most of the pics! Just click on the pic.... I did have my own little mess-up of my own on my birthday. I didn't have any hunters so I grabbed the rifle, a snickers bar and a bottle of water and headed for a new area that we hadn't hunted before. It was tempting to hunt one of the big bucks in other areas but I had hunters coming down so off I went to scout/hunt a new area. I didn't plan on a long hike and didn't plan on needing my pack with all my optics but soon wished I had! It was awesome to hike around like I had when i was a kid with only my gun and no stress or worries about finding a giant or having to glass for hours, especially because it was my birthday! Just before dark I kicked up a great buck, somewhere in the 1-teens class I'm guessing, and i fumbled with the gun at the sight of his rack! That deer made it over the hill before I had a shot and after I ran up and over I got set up on some rocks. I scanned with the scope and found the buck hiding behind a tree watching his backtrail. I ranged him at 375 yards and tried my hardest to make sure he was the same buck! It was low light and all I could see was he had a huge frumpy looking body, dark horned and big eyegaurds. This is where I wish I had my binos to verify for certain, but it all added up that this was the same buck that just ran over here! I held the right distance and sent the bullet...WHOP! I reloaded, scanned with my eyes and caught the buck running sidehill, got em' in the scope and could see the big rack...tried to lead him..BOOM! I look with my eyes again as I reload and see the bullet hit behind him sending him straight up the hill and over before I could shoot again! I sat there for a second, knowing it sounded like a hit but that deer wasn't running like he was hit! Just then I could hear rocks rolling and I could see another deer going downhill. In the scope I could see it was a smaller buck and he was wounded!!! DANGITTT!!!! I didn't exactly yell those same words to myself out loud but you get the point! I instantly knew what happened, I shot the wrong buck and just missed the right buck with the second shot! I was upset at myself for not taking more time to scan the area or make for sure this was the same buck, it just made sense he was the same buck and I was running out of time! I then sent another round into this buck to finish the deal and had to cross the canyon with no water, GPS, or flashlight to make sure he was dead and to gut and hang em'! I felt bad for sure, but was glad I could finish him off. The hike out of that nasty canyon, not sure exactly where my truck was in the flats with no light and navigating all the cactus just added to the adventure! It sucked shooting the wrong buck but, heck, I got to hunt on my birthday, sling lead at a great buck and in the end I still got to experience another successful hunt with a pretty 90" class Coues buck! This is the second time in 2 years that I was reminded I do MUCH better if I'm not the one behind the gun! LOL! Here's some pics I took the next day when my buddy and I hiked in to pack the buck out. So there ya go, I messed up but oh well, it was fun, life is short and I want to experience as many Coues hunts as I can before my time comes, this was just another one for the memory bank! Next success story was our Muley hunter Matt W.. Matt has hunted Mexico 3 times now and although he's passed up some great bucks he hasn't killed one until now! My friend Matt R. was the guide and they again were holding out for one of the giants and had passed this buck up 3 times before deciding he needed to die! It was hard for either of them to decide on this buck because of the 3 point frame, but after some better looks at him it was decided he'd hit the mark! This buck is huge and was scored by an official measurer at 199 5/8"!!! Congrats Matt W. on a well deserved beast! Lastly, here's the trophy of all trophies! This is what dreams are made of right here! 20" beams, super wide, extra tines, and tons of character...simply an awesome 125" class Coues buck! This buck was taken by my friend Scott during the last week of the season. It was a quick and fairly uneventful hunt, Scott hiked in to a canyon, sat down, looked across and at 350 yards there stood his biggest Coues buck to date! He made a great single shot into the buck and he rolled down the hill! The buck had already burned off all his fat and muscle during the rut and was very skinny. Congrats to Scott on what many consider a once-in-a-lifetime trophy!!! For those of you that have been waiting to see these pics, thanks for your patience! Thanks also to those of you that took the time to read thru it all! JIM> Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Elkaddict Report post Posted February 14, 2011 Wow!! Beautiful bucks and photos!! Great story, thanks for sharing Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
CouesWhitetail Report post Posted February 14, 2011 Congratulations on another great time in Mexico! It is certainly hard to sum up 6 weeks of hunting in a post! I really enjoyed your slideshow (for those that didn't notice, click on the first little thumbnail in his post to see slideshow). I loved the pic of you with your bow doing the the thumbs-up with your buck in the background. Cool. Bummer about shooting the wrong buck, but way to stick with it and I can imagine that hike out was quite an adventure! Thanks for sharing your time down there with us! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
pwrguy Report post Posted February 14, 2011 GReat bucks. Looks like some lessons learned, but what an experience. congrats. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Pine Donkey Report post Posted February 14, 2011 Great story, thanks for posting it. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
izquik72 Report post Posted February 14, 2011 Some absolute dandies. That 3x5 mulie is a great looking buck. Looks like your most recent adveture was a blast. Thanks again for taking us along Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Coues Sniper Report post Posted February 15, 2011 Jim, congrats on an eventful season! That 125 is a stud of a deer, love the character. And that 3x5 Carp is a great buck too. And it seems your luck with the Coues continues. I have a feeling that when you break that streak of bad luck, you're going to do it in a HUGE way. It will be very well deserved, and I'm not sure I can think of a person who would appreciate it more. Always looking forward to more of your posts Jim, and congrats again. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
BML Report post Posted February 15, 2011 Awesome job yet again Jim!! Pictures are just pictures man. The story is where it's at!!! Thanks for sharing! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
coueswt Report post Posted February 15, 2011 Love your stories and pics. Looks like a blast. Just curious how far south you are based on the snake you found. Man i hate snakes! Thanks again for sharing. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bowhunter4life Report post Posted February 15, 2011 two stud bucks, what dreams are made of! Jim congrats on another great mexico year! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Chef Report post Posted February 15, 2011 I certainly am one of those that reads the entire post! Great write up Jim. Both the muley and 125" coues are whoppers. like the slideshow too, plenty of CATS!! Thanks for taking the time and I bet you can't wait till next year! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Jay Scott Report post Posted February 15, 2011 Great post Jimbo! That Coues made me drool all over my keyboard! I had to get a shamwow to soak up the moisture. Cant wait to see more pics! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
cramerhunts Report post Posted February 15, 2011 Wonderful write up Jim! I love reading the stories you share and feeling the emotions of the hunt as if I was there with you. Congrats to you guys on some awesome bucks but man that 125" Coues is truely what dreams are made of for me! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest super jumbo Report post Posted February 15, 2011 Congrats to ya jim on a dandy buck with a bow. It looks like you guys didnt have many dull moments dow there. I was over at scotts last night, and that 125 buck is huge. It seems like mexico was really slow this year on average for most of the outfitters, but you and scott mucked out some great bucks. Wish i would have gone with you guys when i had the chance. You and scott muzzy are animals when it comes to gettin er done. Thanks for posting. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
COOSEFAN Report post Posted February 15, 2011 Thanks for the reply's everyone! It is hard to relay all the cool things you get to experience while spending that much time in such an amazing place! I have had some bad luck recently when it comes to killing a big buck for myself, but I've had a blast in the process! One of these days I hope to tag a really big buck, but it's OK with me if in the end I just have a huge pile of little bucks! LOL! As long as I get to at least help kill big critters I'm satisfied COUESWT....I was only about 1 hour south of the border and I'm guessing in the northern part of the Mexican Boa's range. Thanks again everyone for taking the time to read thru my posts! JIM> Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
