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creed_az_88

Needle in Paradise

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Most people spend their time dreaming about white sand beaches and resorts with temperature controlled pools and room service. Coues hunters dream about a different kind of paradise. Coues hunters dream about a place filled with rock that attempts to roll out from under you and break your ankles with every step. Coues hunters dream about a place that draws blood with every movement. We dream about a place that fills our eyes with sweat and leaves our lungs rapidly gasping for air.
I had the late November hunt this year. A week in this paradise left me bleeding like it normally does. The rocks tried to break me like they normally do. My caterpillar-sized eyebrows filled my eyes with sweat like they normally do. And, like I normally do, I had an amazing time and after only a few days removed from it, Paradise is already calling me back.

The first two days of my hunt, I got to watch my Brother-In-Law Cody C. attempt to fill his first coues tag. Watching new hunters succeed is the best.

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Cody smoked this buck at 330 yards on what turned out to be a miserably windy day.post-256-0-75891000-1449633404_thumb.jpg
We got the deer packed out in a reasonable amount of time, which gave me some time to prepare for the backpack trip i had planned with my hunting partner Cody M., who had the same tag. A week before the hunt started,Cody packed some water into the area that we were planning on backpacking into. Cody came out of that country with some video footage of an absolute gigantic deer he had found that day. We decided pretty quickly that this deer was worth spending the rest the hunt on. I think i have Cody convinced to share his story about this awesome deer here on coueswhitetail.com so stay tuned for that. Here is a little teaser pic.

 

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I dont want to spoil that so ill just say that all of Cody's hard work and dedication finally paid off and it took us alot less time than we had anticipated so that opened up the rest of the hunt to look for a deer that i had found last january.
Because of the birth of my second daughter, I had scouted a total of 0 times for this hunt. I wasnt too worried about another hunter finding this buck, but I had to hope that no lion got to him since I saw him last January. I couldnt expect him to be ecactly where i saw him in January, so I decided to look everywhere within a mile on every side of that spot. I had looked hard for him in all directions but one without turning him up. I took breaks from the area and hunted other places a couple of times but I kept having an itch to go back and look this buck. I saw some tempting bucks the entire hunt but i never saw one that could get me to give up hope on this buck.

 

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Cody had to go back to work so I dedicated one last day to hunt this deer. My dog Tila and I pushed back into the direction that I had not yet hunted. We gridded the area all morning, moving from high point to high point, hoping to catch a glimpse of him. by 11am, things were looking pretty grim. We had seen 7 does, two small bucks, and very little deer sign. I expected to see such little deer sign in this area, but im not gonna lie, I expected to find this deer that morning. There were only a few north sopes left in this area for me to focus on until dark so we changed positions one last time before we were going to stay put until closer to dark. I decided to try and look at one more north slope before I ate some lunch. This was the only slope in the area that had any mountain mahogany on it, and low and behold, there he was, neck deep in the biggest bush on that hill. I was 70% sure it was him but I wasnt positive. Im sure some of you reading this probably wonder how I could think it was the same buck after not seeing him for a year, but this country has a very low deer density, and his big square frame had been sketched into my brain the entire time. I called Cody M. just to let him know what was about to happen, and to calm my nerves. I then quickly cut the distance in half to 320 yards and got set up. In no time, a blue plastic-tipped bullet was on its way. It hit right where I was aiming and within seconds I followed up with one more shot and my time in paradise was now over. I would have given anything to have somebody share that moment with me, but there's something about walking up to that buck with just tila that made it special.

 

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This was the 37th buck I had laid eyes on during the hunt. He ended up being just over 1.5 miles as a crow flies from where I first saw him last january. 1.5 miles doesnt seem like much to most people but this really was like finding a needle in a haystack for me, Or a needle in paradise I guess you could say.

The pack out was brutal, but Tila led me right to the quad.post-256-0-74089000-1449634740_thumb.jpg
 
 
 
Thanks to my brother Cole and my ol' man Travis for helping out the first day. You guys move up those hills pretty good for a couple of tanks.

 

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Thanks to my baby bro George for helping out on saturday. A third back for carrying out meat was something that I wish I had more often.

 

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Thanks to Caleb for keeping Cody calm and packing out some of my gear. I know your pack wasn't light, and you still left me in the dust on the hike out. Brutal!

Thanks to Cody and Cody for letting me be part of your guys' hunt. Cody C. is well on his way to being a legit hunter and it wont be long before he starts smacking bucks consistently. Cody M. is and has been what I would consider an elite coues deer hunter. I knew it was only a matter of time before he laid down a true giant.

 

Thanks to Tila for sticking by my side and leading to and from the quad in the dark.

 

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The biggest thanks of all though goes to my wife. Without you my world would stop spinning. For every one struggle i have up on the mountain, shes at home taking care of 4. I love you.

Thanks for reading,
Creed

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Great buck and write up. And yes we are looking forward to the story on the monster in the grass in the camp picture. That thing is crazy.

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great write up!

congrats on a sweet buck!

 

James

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Excellent write up and awesome story. Looking forward to more pictures and the story of Cody's buck. I don't know how you guys pass up bucks waiting for a giant. I see a little forky and I can't help myself. Congratulations!

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Thank you for the time spent sharing! Love the write-up & the pics. The deer are awesome! Love your comment about your wife... I've felt the same about mine.

 

I've wondered about taking a dog on a deer hunt... you don't find it spooks the deer at all?

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Tila has witnessed about 15 bucks get harvested so I'd say not. She's been in on multiple javelina and predator hunts too. She's pretty mild mannered and is only out wandering around while we are hiking. When were glassing or getting set up to shoot she's sitting or laying down next to me within 5 yards. She loves ching rabbits so while we're hiking and if a rabbit takes off she'll chase it so that's her only downfall but I figure if her chasing a rabbit will spook a deer we would have spooked it anyways from hiking. Generally, if we're rifle hunting, we try to glass any areas we expect to see a deer from a distance so it hasn't been an issue yet. All I have to do is snap my fingers and she comes right to me so if we're in a tight situation with a deer, I can keep her right at my feet. You'd be surprised by how many deer will actually Stand and watch you when you've got a dog with you. Even if she did spook a deer or two it would be worth it knowing that she's gonna alert me to any danger when we're walking in the dark especially in these southern units.

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You are the man Creed. It is a real inspiration to see the success you and your friends have had. Thanks for sharing your hunts with us.

 

Keven

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