105 December coues 3x3

[elkhunter]

When I drew this tag I came up with a goal that I wanted to harvest a buck that had age to him, big bodied and billy goat lookin. I had plenty of time for this hunt and was willing to go home empty handed if I didn't find a mature buck over 5 yrs old.

 

First day I took my 2 yr old son out with me and only turned up an 85 inch buck at 3 yrs old, not what I wanted.

 

2nd day of hunt I got fogged in at the top of the mountain so pops and I moved lower, glassed up a rutting buck, young body and great rack right at 93-94, not what I wanted. Later in the day found a group of of 3 bucks and one of em was a decent 100 inch buck, problem was he had no gut and looked perky and young. Looked him over for an hour and decided to pass, at this point my dad is wondering what is going on.

 

Yesterday headed out again before sunup, began glassing and spotted bucks and does everywhere. a lot of bucks in 80's and 1 buck about 95-97 but still no age. I caught a glimpse of a buck moving through thick cover downhill and saw his old body and his rack looked to be a 2x2, pops stayed behind as I moved up the mtn to see if I can find him again and get a better look at him. Once at the top, I glassed for an hour and 40 minutes and can't find the buck but found 2 other bucks and 8 does all bedded within 200 yds of me. I was ready to head down the mtn back to the truck when I decided to do one last thing, I pulled out a mule deer grunt tube from the bottom of my pack that I have never used before and started grunting, only once or twice per minute, no need to scare the deer just wanted them to stand up, 5 minutes later I found him at 158 yards! I looked him over through the 15's and thought he still looked young but had sign of age, maybe 5-6 yrs old. At this point it's midday and I had hiked 1600 ft in elevation to check him out, I decided I would be ecstatic to have this buck, knowing he waaaa slightly above 100 and has age to him. At the shot he dropped and rolled down the mtn a good distance and got hung up good. I really enjoyed this hunt, no pressure, plenty of free time (Christmas break for teachers) and got to see about 30 bucks in only 3 days of hunting and for the first time in my life I passed up 100 and 90 inch bucks! enjoy the pics!

 

[AZ RANGER]

Awesome buck and story. Congrats!

[Evan]

Great Buck Congrats!

[kwp]

Great buck. Love the goal and that you were able to make it happen.

[Eagle mountain ranch]

heck yeah that's a stud right there ..congrats

[Avid Hunter]

Wow toad of a buck, love his chocolate antlers! Congrats

[Couestracker]

Congratulations on an outstanding buck! Way to stick with your plan too.

[DNS]

Stud of a buck. Congrats

[cramerhunts]

Congratulations again Tyler! Super happy for you on a great buck! Passing those younger deer can be hard but it sure is rewarding when it all comes together. Very nice job buddy.

[n8toyota07]

Wow thats a stud Congrats!!!

[Apache7mm]

Holy Cow!!!

 

DAN

[mc68]

Good choice on pulling the trigger on that one. He is a stud! Great job bud.

[JLW]

stud!

congratulations, that buck is sweet!

 

James

[creed_az_88]

Awesome buck congratulations. Age makes a better trophy than score no doubt about it. Good job on a buck that has them both. You gotta love the knobs that grow way up the main beam and way up the eye guards. I would say that your buck has survived a hunt or two good job.

[johnnie blaze]

And that's how you kill a 100+ buck. Nice job man.