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Double Drop Tine Buck
by Josh Epperson
I shot this buck around 1:00 p.m. during the Dec 2003 season in Unit 21. I spotted him first thing in the morning with another buck. I could tell he was a nice 3pt, approx. 95″ but he wouldn’t turn his head much to let me see all of him as he was laying in some grass out in the wide open. He got up after about an hour and started feeding around, that’s when I saw his drop point on the right antler. That’s also when I told my Dad that this buck was in trouble. I told myself prior to the hunt that I wasn’t going to shoot a buck unless it was well over 100″ or had some sort of trash on his antlers. Since this buck had a drop tine and I’d never seen a live buck with one before I made up my mind real quick. I stalked the buck to within 115 yards and could see him walking through the bushes but he offered no good shot so I waited. I guess he decided that the tree he went behind was a good place to bed because he didn’t come out I sat in the wide open sun for two hours, right behind the scope, waiting for him to come out. I stayed ready just in case the buck decided to have a mid-day snack. Well he eventually caught wind of me and decided to make a getaway but I was already on him. When my bullet hit him he flipped forward on his shoulder and head into a small mesquite bush and shortly after I shot him for the second and last time. When I got down to him the first thing I looked for was the drop tine and it was gone! He had broken it off in the fall. I noticed then however that he had one on the other side too, but it had busted off prior to our encounter. I looked for 45 minutes for the broken tine but never could come up with it. Well maybe I’ll have it replaced I’m not sure right now. I do have almost 20 minutes of video of him so maybe I can get it fixed pretty close to the original length. I’m glad my Dad was with me as he’s always been my best hunting buddy and friend.
It’s all about who you know
by Tate Hyslip (and Dad)
My adventure started as my Dad following the advice of Garth Carter, decided to put me in for the 2003 draw for Arizona’s 36B late Coues hunt. After actually drawing this coveted tag and researching the potential, Garth became first of several making my list of “who to know”.
Although the hunt wasn’t until December, there was much to do and learn. Neither my Dad or I knew much about hunting this challenging Whitetail subspecies, nor had we ever ventured into that part of the State, much less that particular unit. After reading and researching several different resources, it became apparent that to truly give ourselves the best opportunity to score on a big Coues we would need to scout extensively. This presented a problem as my Dad’s work load is heaviest in the Fall months, yet we hoped we could pull away when the time came. We also realized the need for some “serious” optics. The Coues and the country dictate the use of good long distance glass, tripods, and hours upon hours of determined, strategic glassing. This presented a problem because at 16 years old with only a modest part time income, quality big glass seemed an impossible dream. In fact for Dad, who has a modest FULL TIME income, thoughts of 15x Swarovski or 30x Docters faded as the checkbook balance collided with the monthly bills.
As the time neared it became clear that we were not going to be able to scout at all as Dad’s work load and schedule was unrelenting. Furthermore, finances had not improved and consequently neither had our optic arsenal. Then, things began to come together out of the blue. My boss Brad Desaye, an avid big game hunter and owner of a large wholesale gun and ammunition distribution company was excited to hear about my tag. Brad insisted that I use his personal customized 257 Weatherby and started coaching me on everything about shooting, even taking off of work to take me to the range. Brad definitely makes my list of “who to know”. Next, my uncle Bryon Goswick, a professional elk and mule deer guide, had finished out his last elk hunt early and offered his services and the use of his “Big Eyes” optics securely placing him on my “who to know” list. Then Chad Smith another guide, made my list of “who to know” by providing some key information such as ranch access , productive basins, and excellent glassing points based on his intimate knowledge of the area. Everything was coming together and I was excited.
Before long the season had arrived with just a couple of other hurdles to get over. I needed to get time off from work, and from school. My home school teacher “Mom” a “who to know gal”, graciously gave me the time off. My dream employer Brad, not only gave me the time off, but sent me out the door with not only his rifle, but also his 10x Swarovskis. I was feeling like a “Make a Wish” kid and I wasn’t even sick!
Dad was able to get the time off, so off we sent with a volunteer guide, borrowed rifle, borrowed optics, my brothers quad, and my other brothers camo. It seems all that I brought that was mine was the tag. Chad’s directions were perfect and before long we were glassing some incredible country and immediately spotting Coues. AS sundown was nearing Bryon had spotted what looked to be a nice buck in a place where he could be staked. But, before we could even develop a plan, a string of illegal immigrants appeared out of nowhere on their trek to a better life, spooking the buck out of sight and trashing any hope of getting back on him. After some discussion as to why we probably shouldn’t shoot the sojourners or the “Coyote” leading them (just kidding), we made our way back to the quads in the dark.
The next morning found us high on a peak, freezing, glassing, and hoping to spot another nice buck. After about 2 hours, several does and some small bucks, Bryon glassed what appeared to be a couple of nice bucks about 3 miles away. AFter studying the lay of the land and mentally marking the spot, we descended our glassing perch and made our way to a high point about a mile from where the bucks were last seen. Another couple of hours glassing found only more does and more small bucks. The early morning start, the warmth of the sun, and the hours of tedious glassing combined inducing me to recline among the boulders and daydream. My daydreams were suddenly interrupted by Dad saying “Hey, get your stuff let’s go!” While I was taking my siesta, Bryon had found the bigger bucks and they were in a position they could be stalked about a mile away. Bryon stayed behind to keep an eye on the bucks and guided us as we worked our way into position. He had indicated that the smaller of the two was still visible and feeding but the bigger one had gone out of sight as we made our final approach. The last 10 yards were on our bellies picking our way through the cholla, finally cresting the ridge behind some brush. An opening in the bushes allowed a perfect window for the shot, and as we looked through the window we saw the smaller buck feeding and the bigger fellow just under 150 yards away bedded broadside and clueless that we were anywhere around. I got control of my breathing and all the Brad had been teaching me was cycling through my head. I didn’t see antlers, I didn’t see a deer, I seen a tiny speck on the shoulder of that buck. I was holding the crosshairs on that speck. When the crosshairs had steadied some, the 257 Weatherby roared and my first Coues buck was dead where he lay.
That evening we roughly scored him to be somewhere around 106″ gross. I called Brad while sitting in front of the campfire and shared with him the good news of how his investment in me had helped bring down my Coues. He seemed to be as excited as if he had shot it himself. Bryon, Dad, and Chad (after we called him) were equally jazzed. Sleep came easy that night, and as we left the next morning I knew I’d be back….I’m hooked.
Back home, the taxidermist officially scored my buck at 108 6/8 non-typical S.C. I. and offered to mount my trophy for free! Did I mention my Dad is also a professional taxidermist and without a doubt a “who to know” guy. (He also helped a little with this story)
As I reflect on this experience I realize how much of a gift this truly was, and I pray that I don’t for a moment take for granted the efforts put forth on my behalf by those mentioned and those not mentioned such as the individuals and organizations that work to protect our hunting heritage and future. This magnificent trophy and the memories are mine largely because I’m fortunate to know the right people.
Finally, I would not think of crediting anyone with anything beyond what my Heavenly Father has allowed and has blessed me with because of my relationship with His son, Jesus Christ. You know, in the end it IS all about who you know!
Close to home deer
by John Browning
I had left work at 3:30 pm and my girl friend and I were going to try and glass alittle before dark. I have a spot just outside of Payson where there’s usually a good buck or two. We drove the four wheeler to the top of the ridge loaded up our gear and walked to a good vantage point to start glassing. I was in the process of mounting my 10×56 swarovskis on my tripod when Christy said well there’s a deer right there. She was looking through my range finder across a canyon and the deer had just gotten out of his bed. I finally got my binos mounted and was trying to figure where she was looking, I asked her where the deer was and she said by the green tree I told her there all green give me a better clue, she was finally able to describe the location and I spotted the buck he was about 700yds away and had no idea we were around. We continued to watch him. The buck looked pretty good and I decided to try and get close enough for a shot, I asked Christy to stay and watch the buck in my binos and let me know if he started moving, I slipped down the canyon trying to be quiet as I could in the scrub oak and manzanita as I got to a small cedar tree I stopped and looked for the buck to make sure he was still standing there. Then I continued to sneak down the canyon and managed to get within about 400yds of the buck. I got my 7mm with 140grn federal positioned in the fork of a cedar tree sat down on my butt and located the buck in the cross hairs I ranged him again at about 450yds he walked towards me a little more and I decided I had better shoot now before he made it into the shadows. I took a deep breath and squeezed the trigger. The buck jumped and headed downhill. Christy yelled and said you got him I watched the buck go into some scrub oak and didn’t come out the other side. I had Christy stay and watch the area while I started down the canyon. As I approached the brush where I had last seen the deer I almost stepped on him. The buck is a 4×4 with a little cheater on the right side he has 16-6/8 main beams and 16-5/8 wide not the biggest I’ve taken but a real nice deer. I took him on Dec 16, 2003 in unit 22 at 4:45 pm.
Jordan Stailey’s 2003 hunt
by Jordan Stailey, age 14
It was the second day of the season I hadn’t been able to hunt the first day because of school and we had to get ready. But we were finally able to go. The hunt was in southwestern New Mexico in unit 21A( Black Range). We (my father and I) got there at dusk. There were so many hunters in the lower section where the mountains weren’t so rugged and steep. We glassed it out and we didn’t find any deer, oh well it was only the first day we had been out.
The next day found us climbing Trujillo Peak. We figured there would be more deer up here because it was hardly accessible and there weren’t any hunters there. It had been overcast all night and it had drizzled a little bit the night before, now on top of that mountain it started to poor and nothing was visible because of a fog that had fallen down over the canyon. No matter how tough the deer are, but they weren’t even moving around in this.
My father Glen and I hiked down the mountain, got in the truck and drove out of there! We were beginning to think there might be a flood. The creek next to us that had been dry all summer and autumn was now rising. We drove to the highway and we were just “cruisin'” looking for deer on the forest areas of the unit. We decided to eat lunch in the nearby town, Hillsboro. We pretty much did this all day.
The next day was perfect except for an early fog that was at the top of the mountain. We hiked up there anyway and waited it out. It was well worth it! It was some of the most beautiful country I had ever been in. We hiked along and glassed until about noon until we found tracks. They were big mule deer bucks by the size of the tracks. They were very fresh probably seconds before we got there. They had winded us and they were on the move. We stalked them as in New Mexico you can hunt either whitetail or muleys. The tracks led over the peak and on down the other side, we never saw them.
An hour later we were following more tracks when all of the sudden my dad stopped and said, ” There he is!” across the canyon here was a big mule deer buck! He was probably 27 inches wide, most likely a ten or twelve point and he had mass. He was 600 yards away. There was a little cliff that was just below us that we could get to and try a 400 yard shot( I had my dads 300 Win. Mag) but when we crept up and looked over again he was gone! We carefully approached the spot where he had been just to be sure he hadn’t just laid down. He was nowhere to be seen. We walked to where he was standing and found that he just casually walked over the other side ( as he was near the top). We looked on the other side and didn’t find him there. We walked back to camp a little disappointed. I had gotten a deer for five years straight and I didn’t think I was going to get one this year. We did enjoy, however, a nice meal of bacon burgers that settled our nerves a little.
We discussed that night that maybe we should just go home. I refused me just knew we could find a deer in that canyon we had been in. The next morning we decided to take a different approach, instead of being winded by the deer because of the furious wind at he top we walked along the bottom of the creek that had flooded before and we glassed the nearest mountain just in case. No deer. We walked for about twenty minutes before we stopped beneath a pocket next to the canyon where we had seen the muley. My dad glassed and as soon as he put them up to his eyes he said, “There they are Jord” I said “No Way!,” ” I think they are Coues Deer!” I couldn’t believe it I looked up there about 900 yards away with the twenty four-power scope and saw the two bucks. I didn’t really care what size they were because I figured any Coues deer is a trophy. They were feeding along a patch of mahogany. We stalked up to the hillside across from them. They were about 500 yards away. I had the cross hairs right at the tip of his antlers. He was way bigger than I had hoped for. I almost pulled the trigger but thought better of it. They were feeding toward us. Let them come to us. They disappeared beneath a mountain between us and them. My dad was glassing and glassing but all of the sudden we both saw them a the same time. They were 274 yards away looking straight at us!. I got the gun ready and rested on a kind of unsteady rock. The situation was sort of bad because they were facing us. The shot would be tough. I was shakin’ like a leaf. I aimed at the front deer as to what my dad instructed. He was a nice 4×4 16 inches wide. I jerked the trigger and missed. They took off down the mountain and into the bottom of the canyon. I was very upset at myself because I had missed the shot. My dad decided to walk over there and looked for a blood trail. I knew I had missed though. We found no trail and we just sat there thinking what to do? We sat there for twenty minutes when all of the sudden the deer came walking up the other side eating! I had trouble finding them but I finally did. He was standing right under a big pinyon tree. This shot was tough too because his butt was to us and his head and neck was turned to the left. My dad said to shoot when I was ready. I put it right at the hump on his neck and shoulder and squeezed the trigger. He dropped like a rock!
We walked over there and found him to be a very big buck. He was 16 inches wide with 8 points and very long main beams. What A Hunt!
Casey Charter’s 2003 Hunt
My 2003 deer hunt began the day that my 2002 hunt ended. After harvesting a very nice 82 inch typical on the last day, I was hooked for life. In December, my dad had a deer hunt and I considered that hunt practice for my next hunt. I practiced skills such as glassing, hiking, judging deer, and judging distances. Although my dad didn’t kill a deer, the practice was awesome and being outdoors was the best.
After I found out that I had drawn a November whitetail tag, I spent many days and hours preparing for the hunt before I left for college. I spent a total of 5 days at the range. After lots of practice, I got the size of my group down to about a ½”, the size that everyman dreams about and the size that ever hunter wants. My dad and I have bought a lot of expensive hunting gear this year and hopefully, it will end up in two bucks for us. Well here’s the story:
I recently started my first semester at Northern Arizona University, thus making my time for hunting few and far between. But, due to Veterans Day and having no classes on Friday, I was able to take two days off of school to hunt a total of 6 days! I left for Tucson at 11:30 Thursday, November 6th, a day before the opener. The ride home went smooth and when I got there, my dad already had the truck packed up and ready to go. All I had to do was get my clothes and my but in the truck and we could leave! We got to our first camp at about 6 at night, to dark to go glass so we just set up camp.
Opening morning finally came and my dad and I got up, got dressed ate some food and went on down the road to a wash. Once we got to the wash, we walked for a half of an hour to our first glassing point. Once we got to the top of a tall ridge, I set up our Docters and not 5 minutes into glassing, I glassed up four deer, all bucks. I thought wow what a good way to start the day. They were about 800 yards. We decided to go down off of the ridge we were on to a middle ridge that would put us into position for a 400-500 yard shot. I felt it was within my range if I knew the distance and could set up my bipod. Once we got to the ridge, I glassed where the deer were and they were not there. I later found them about 300 yards from where they were and about 600-700 yards from us, to far for a shot on the first day. I turned around and started glassing the other direction. I was looking at this huge hawk when 3 does’ ran through my field of view; I continued watching the same spot, four more deer, and all bucks! One of them I estimated to be a tall, heavy 3×3 that would go around or close to 90. Right before we packed up, I saw him aggressively rubbing a tree branch. When dad and I got back to the ridge we were on at first, we could not find them. The day ended up with us glassing about 10-12 more deer but no bucks. That night we stayed in camp. My 7 year old brother and neighbor came into camp that night. The next two days ended up with no more bucks spotted and few does’ the weather got increasingly hot and sunny.
Monday morning found us moving to a new place after going home for a good night’s sleep, a shower and a home cooked meal. That morning we went to one of our favorite places where we had seen some good bucks in there on my dad’s December hunt the year before. Monday morning my dad and I only saw 7 deer, all does’. When we got back to camp, our hunting partner had said that he had seen 2 little bucks. That day was somewhat cold and overcast. Because of the weather, my hunting partner went out a little earlier then usual. My dad decided to stay at camp and get dinner going. We left camp at about 1:30 by 1:35, we had already jumped one deer, and we couldn’t tell if it was a buck or a doe because we jumped it so fast. We walked over and around 2 more ridges. We were just standing on this one ridge at about 2:00 that had a little canyon in the bottom and I looked up to see a decent 3×3 and a littler 2×3 trying to sneak out of the canyon, I told my partner that they were coming out and I shouldered my rifle. They were trotting up the hill at a quartering away angle at about 75 yards and I didn’t have but the back to shoot at. My rifle is sighted in 3 inches high at 100 yards, but I didn’t even think about aiming low so I put it right on it back and squeezed. The bullet went right over the deer’s back, I am so confident in my ability to shoot with my gun that I was somewhat shocked that the deer didn’t drop. I put another one in the chamber and squeezed it off, once again right over the back. By this time, my hunting partner was ready to shoot and on his first shot he knocked down the bigger one, he then finished it off and watched me shoot my buck. Once I saw the big one down, I went to the second buck, he was running broadside farther up the hill by now, about 125 yards. I touched one off and he fell, he tried to get back up because it was a gut shot and I put my hand loaded bullet through his front shoulder and ripped a whole in his heart. And that was it, less than a ½ mile from camp at 2:00 in the afternoon, we had two bucks down. I called my dad on the radio and told him how to get to where we were. After some pictures, we began the work and eventually got the deer back to camp and skinned. While I was skinning my deer, I found the lead from the bullet that went through his shoulder and it was a perfect mushroom.
Over the next few days, we were looking for a buck for my dad with no success. On the second Friday night, we went to the place that I shot my deer last year. That day, we drove a mile or so down the road from camp and hunted. Right off the bat, we glassed up a spike, dad wasn’t interested on shooting him. We walked around the hill and glassed two more bucks. A littler for and a spike, once again dad wasn’t interested. The rest of the day ended with the deer bedding extremely early and a sighting of only a few more does. Although dad didn’t get one, it was still a good hunt and maybe one of these days hell let some lead fly at a deer.
This photo shows Casey with his 2003 buck and a friend’s.
Dave Vines’ hunt in Unit 34A Arizona
My name is Dave Vines and this is my first Coues deer. I have tried to hunt Coues deer with a bow for 5 years and have been unsuccessful this far. So this year I decided to put in for a rifle hunt in unit 34A in southern Arizona. I grew up in Patagonia but wasn’t much of a hunter in my younger days. I have put quite a few stalks on whitetail before but have never got close enough and there always seems to be Murphy’s whitetail law happening at the time of my stalk. I have been after this buck for 4 years and have watched him grow up. He was in an area where most people wouldn’t hunt for Coues deer.
I got up opening morning and went to the area where he hangs out and couldn’t find him. I saw two does and one mule deer doe and some javelina, but he was know where to be seen. I decided to go into a different area and do some glassing and picked up a couple of small bucks and a few does. My brother in-law came in to help me the second day and we climbed a tall peak on the south side of Mt. Wrightson to get a great vantage point to glass from and we saw a few deer but nothing like the size of this guy. We finished our second day of the hunt and decided we would go back into the area I went to on opening day, but we came in from a different way. We were out there before first light and started glassing as soon as we could see.
We didn’t pick up anything so we decided to make slow move up the ridge. The wind was perfect and we started making our way to the area where this buck has been seen on numerous occasions. We were walking and glassing and we picked up a doe about 600 or 700 yards away and she had us pegged. She wasn’t what we were looking for so we made our way towards her. She never moved even though we kept getting closer. We would creep over one ravine after another looking for this buck and we kept getting closer to the doe. We came up out of the next ravine and we could still see the doe, she was only about 300 yards by now and right before we peaked out the buck was right in front of us looking away in the doe’s direction. I went down instantly and told my brother in-law Glenn that the buck was standing right there. I slid off my pack and put out the legs of my bipod and then proceeded to creep up to the top of the ravine. The buck turned and looked my way but it was too late and my .270 shot true. The deer didn’t go anywhere and we ranged the distance with my rangefinder and found it to be a whopping 72 yards.
The buck scored 92 1/8 gross and 88 1/8 net.
Bill Lee’s first Coues deer… with a little extra excitement.
by Bill Lee
I was invited to join two friends in 6A to go to their secret spot. One of my friends had taken a nice buck in this spot the weekend before. He wanted to return to retrieve a couple of elk sheds he spotted at the bottom of West Clear Creek. It was a nasty day, and we spent a good portion of the morning glassing, and working our way to the bottom of the canyon. We found several lion kills on the way down, and saw lots of bear sign (I returned the next year and killed a big bear there). We got to the bottom of the canyon at about noon and found the sheds and a nice buck scull (another lion kill).
My friends have very good optics, and began scanning for bedded deer. I was told that because I was the rookie, and was invited to come, that I would get second shot (or first shot if it was a small one). At the time I did not have good optics, and I was spinning my wheels, so I decided to take a look over a small ridge. I was not 300 yards from my friends when I busted this buck out of his bed. I was lucky to get the shot off at 75 yards as the buck was hitting Mach 1. I had a good shot and he dropped about another 30 yards at the side of yet another lion kill. When my friends got there they were happy for me, but the one with the other tag was a little irked. His only reply was that he hoped I was in good shape, and it was a long hikeout.
I got drawn again for Coues the following year. On the last day of that hunt, I was in the vicinity of my kill from the year before when I spotted two bucks fighting. I began my stalk, only to see the deer fleeing as if spooked by another hunter. To my astonishment a lion came into view. I had made it a habit to carry a lion tag, and I began another stalk. Two hours later I took the lion from 330 yards (ranged). The lion was already sitting on a kill not far from where I glassed the two bucks.
Michelle’s and Joe’s first Coues deer hunt
by Arthur Gonzales
This was our first Coues whitetail hunt in Southern Arizona. These deer were taken, unguided and on public land, in the Oct. 2002 general season. Both were killed opening morning. This was Michelle’s first deer hunt and Joe’s first Coues deer. What a way to start!
My wife Michelle is now twenty seven and we had just gotten married three weeks prior so this was sort of our honeymoon hunt. Michelle and I had found two groups of four bucks on scouting trips prior to the hunt. We nicknamed the bachelor herd “The Posse” because every time we went to look for them we usually found them within a few hundred yards of where we first seen them. The buck Michelle took was given the name Giagantor because he stood out in the crowd. This was Michelle’s and Matt’s first deer hunt ever and they were out to harvest any buck. I had already killed several trophy animals so my goal was to make Giagantor my wife’s first Coues deer. Well about 7:00 am I glassed the mountain lion that was running the basin, but I was only able to deliver minor flesh wound before the cat got away. When Michelle and Matt came to investigate what I had shot at we found the buck that Michelle eventually tagged and watched it bed down. Michelle was able to sneak up and put down the buck with a 300 yard shot.
The same morning about 2 miles away my brother Joe tagged his first Coues buck. The buck was with several other bucks and they tried to stay hidden as long as they could but couldn’t handle the pressure. Our friend Robert glassed the deer up about a 1 1/2 mile away. When they got close to where they had seen the deer they slowed to a slow stalk. The herd of bucks jumped and tried to get over the top of the ridge before Joe could get a shot off. Fortunately Robert was next to him and pointed out the biggest of the herd to Joe and he was able to get a quick shot off before they disappeared. When they made it to the spot that Joe first hit the buck it jumped up and Joe finished him off.
During this hunt we had four tags and filled all four with two of them being great Coues bucks. Not bad for our first Coues deer hunt in the desert! Many thanks to Robert for teaching us how to hunt the Coues whitetails.
Joe Gonzales with his first Coues deer. This excellent Coues buck is a 4×5 and unofficially grosses 107 5/8 and nets 105 4/8.
Michelle Gonzales with her first deer ever. It’s a great 4×4 Coues buck which unofficially gross scores 98 4/8 and nets 98 1/8.
PIC – Joe Gonzales with his first Coues deer. This excellent Coues buck is a 4×5 and unofficially grosses 107 5/8 and nets 105 4/8.
Bow Hunt with Robert Andresen in Unit 31, Arizona
by Robert Andresen
First thing, it was hard to find a place to hunt because of the years of drought we have had here in AZ. But with my natural instinct of the grey ghost, I have in the units of 31 and 32, I decided to scout the area of 31 in the Pinaleno mountains. I know this area like the back of my hand and scouted for weeks before the August/September season opened. Now of course, I had to wait till the forest reopened so I could do this task. I put up several tree stands and took several live pics of the Coues deer, and also video to finally decide where to hunt. I hunted all season and helped my fiance try to get her deer, but with the shots she missed, of course this means no deer.
I had hunted for the whole season and passing up several bucks, I was sure that i would find my nice buck. Sure enough, on September 17th, I was in my tree stand and it was about 5:30 pm. I hear something coming down the trail. It was a nice non-typical 4 point on both sides not counting his brow tines. He moves in to about 19 yards and for some reason, I missed the shot. I was frustrated and after about 10 minutes, I went started down my stand when I saw this beautiful buck coming down the same trail. Now in the earlier season I was able to get both bucks on video and trail cam pics, but not when they both have fully grown antlers. So I knew this was a nice buck and took a 22 yard shot with great impact. The buck ran about 25 yards and dropped. Now it was about 6:00 pm and starting to get dark. Finally I got the nice 2 x 2 back to my truck. It is at the taxidermist right now and hope to get it back soon. The bucks antlers were 17 1/2 inches wide and 14 inches tall. He net scored 92 7/8 inches. Not bad for a 2 point. After the butcher was finished, I received 70 pounds of meet that fed my family for months. This hunt was completed on September 17, 2002 at 6 pm in unit 31.
Well, tell me the story!
By Paul Grube
“That is a nice deer”, my dad said as I neared the truck. “Yeah I…think it is…bigger than three years…ago” I panted as I laid the animal down on the open tailgate. “Oh he is way bigger, congratulations!” As we rounded the truck for the ride home my dad uttered the phrase that hunters love to hear. “Well, tell me the story!”
I drove down from Flagstaff, where I am attending graduate school, on Thursday night and headed out with my dad Friday morning. We kicked up one whitetail on the way to our favorite glassing point. I only saw it for an instant and couldn’t tell if it had antlers. We reached our glassing point and within 10 minutes I spotted a group of 3 does but no bucks. After two hours my dad asked how big does he have to be? “I’ll take anything this year dad, I am just happy to be out here instead of in front of my computer.” We spent the rest of the morning, afternoon, and early evening hiking. We spotted one more doe, and found a lion kill of a nice 3×3 mule deer.
As the light of day dissipated my dad headed for the truck and left me in the high desert. I cooked some “camp-grub” on my portable stove then climbed into my bivy-tent for some much-deserved sleep.
I woke about 15 minutes later than I would have liked and scrambled to get my clothes on and get to my glassing perch a few yards away. I glassed for about 2 hours, taking small breaks to take bites of power bars and hydrate from the previous day of hiking. Finally, I decided to eat some real breakfast and wear some more tread off the bottom of my boots. After not seeing anything all morning and early afternoon I decided to call my dad to pick me up at our meeting point.
I spent Sunday physically and mentally recuperating.
Monday morning I woke up extra early and felt rested and ready to go. I watched the black sky as I sipped my morning coffee. “This will be the day” I told myself. It had to be, it was already the last day of the season and I would be driving back up to school that evening. My dad wished me good luck as I left the house that morning in my car. It was just getting light. I walked quickly through the wet grass at the base of the hill. My eyes darted from the cholla in front of me, to the steep canyon above and back. As I began to ascended the familiar slope something caught my eye ahead about 175 yards away. Two deer flanked by tell-tale white flags were trotting up the rocky ravine. I racked the bolt, raised the rifle and clicked the safety to fire in one fluid motion, just as my dad taught me to practice hundreds of times. The deer in the scope had a solid looking rack that spread high and wide. I squeezed off one round and racked the next bullet through out of habit. As I prepared for another shot the deer suddenly disappeared in the grass and underbrush. I sat down and waited about 10 minutes, then slowly approached the spot I had last saw the buck. I set down my rifle and admired my deer. “Hey dad”, I spoke quietly into the cell phone, “would you mind bringing the truck up?”
I am writing this in Flagstaff, but my dad called me today. “I brought him to J. Clarno”, my dad explained. I knew Mr. Clarno from Tucson because he had registered 2002 archery javalina into the Bowhunting in Arizona record books for my father and me. My dad reported that Mr. Clarno rough scored (before the 60 day drying period) the antlers to 111.7”gross and 105.2” net! “How am I going to top that for my 27 Bull hunt in two weeks” my dad groaned.
Yes, what a deer, what a hunt, what a story of a lifetime to share.
Hoping you will soon have a story to share, Paul Grube
Casey’s first Coues deer buck
After 5 years of hard hunting with never getting a shot at a Coues deer, my dad and I decided to look into investing some money in some high quality optics. We have hunted with a friend who owns a pair of Docter 15×60’s and every year he has gotten himself and his son a pair of decent bucks. Whenever we hunt with him he always glasses up more deer in one day then we manage to see through the whole hunt. This year my dad and I acquired a pair of our own Docter 15×60’s and a pair of 10×42 Swarovski’s from a close family friend.The opening weekend of the November deer hunt in the southern part of Arizona was finally here! Camp included Mike, his son Westin, my dad and myself. Westin and I were the only ones who had drawn tags for that hunt, (my dad drew the December tag) and we were ready to go.
My dad and I could not hunt opening morning due to one of my last football games ever, but when we finally got to camp; we were buried in good news. Mike had seen some monsters. With his pair of Docter’s, he had glassed up a buck that he thought would go between 110-115. Mike and Westin had glassed this buck up bedding down from about a mile away. By twilight, they had stalked to within 200 yards. Should be a chip shot on a good Coues right? Well buck fever began to set in and my hunting partner, Westin shot high, right over his back. Although I was disappointed to hear that he had missed a great buck, I was excited to hear that there were some good bucks in the area and I thought I had a good chance to get my first shot at a big buck.
My dad and I glassed our butts off that weekend but never could put antlers on any of the deer we glassed up with our tripod mounted Docter’s although we were seeing a lot more deer then usual. Westin had missed three times at different deer before the weekend was over but we all stayed confident. On Sunday, my dad and I went out around this waterhole and never saw a deer. This was frustrating to not see a deer on the last hunt of the weekend.
The next Saturday, we were at it again. Westin and his dad decided to do a “drive” per say. My dad and I stayed on a ridge over looking a big canyon that they would be working. We watched as they went around a hill and sunk into the bottom of the canyon. About five minutes later, my dad says “Casey I found you a buck he’s a good one, hurry and get on him.” I look to find him with the Swarovski’s thinking that he was only a couple hundred yards away. I hurriedly asked my dad where he was and he said over there, on top of that ridge. I said “Dad the only ridge that I see is about 500 yards away.” “He says exactly, that’s it get on him.” By the time I got my gun on him, he was just getting over the top. That was the first buck I had ever seen during a deer hunt.
The next morning, we all decided to drive down to the flats and hunt from there. We all walked around this hill to a peak with a good view of the mesquite and cactus covered flats where it would be possible to get a shot anywhere from 100 to 600 yards. My dad and my hunting partner both set up their Docter’s and started glassing each facing different directions. We sat on that ridge for about an hour or two. All of a sudden, Mike, Westin’s dad says “I got one, and it’s on the move but I can’t tell what it is but it looks like it might be a buck.” We all pack up and move to a nearby ridge where we can get a better look at this deer. When we get to the ridge, Mike says “Everybody get down, I got it.” We all sit down and my dad and Mike both set up their tripods. Mike was giving my dad directions to where the deer was, “Go to the cedar and go about 100 yards to the left.” My dad went to the cedar and said, ” I see a buck!” I put my backpack on top of my dad’s while Mike ranged him in. By this time my adrenaline was already pumping hard. I couldn’t believe it, I was actually going to get a shot at a buck, and I had broken the curse! Mike ranged the buck in at 340 yards, “Wait until he gets to a clearing and take him. Ok there’s your shot, take it” BOOM! My 30-06 rang out into the silence of the day.”
“You hit him, get him again BOOM! BOOM! The big buck went down. We all watched where he went down as I reloaded just in case. I was so excited, I could barely get the bullets in the magazine. We waited about 20 minutes and sent Mike and Westin down to see if he was deceased or just lying there. The plan was that they would go down and to the left so that if he wasn’t dead yet, they would kick him out to the right where I could get some more shots off if need be. I was watching them and the mesquite that my buck had gone down in the whole time. All of a sudden, I hear Mike yell out ” Shoot! Shoot!” I’m looking for movement and cannot find any. Then, all of a sudden I see my buck running away, by this time he is at about 400 yards and running as fast as a deer can with a whole in one of it’s front shoulders. The first two shots sailed high, then I knocked him down but he got back up. The next shot knocked him down again. That deer would not stay down. He got up one more time. My dad said to me “You have time, finish him off.” I put the crosshairs about 10 inches over his back and put him down. I know it was a lot of shots but hey, I’m only 17 and I was excited.
Before I knew it I was running down the hill to see my first deer. Everybody in camp was jealous of my buck because it was the only one taken. When we took it to the taxidermist, he said that it scored 82 2/8 B/C. That’s not a huge buck, but it is one that I am awful proud of and I will never forget. If it wasn’t for my dads Docter’s, we might have never seen the buck and I would have not gotten a shot. Or Mike would have seen it first and therefore Westin would have gotten the first shot.
Record Book Whitetail
By Martin Guerena
It was that time of year again, when all the waiting would come to an end. Finally, I could find out if I was drawn for anything. As soon as I found out that I could check on the internet, I immediately phoned my dad. I was driving home to Globe from Phoenix when my dad called me back. “Son, you are never going to believe what I am going to tell you.” Well after not being drawn for elk or antelope for 6 years, I was hoping that those two words would be in his next sentence. “You got drawn for deer.” All right, I have been waiting for an Arizona coues deer permit for a couple of years now. Then he told me I got drawn for elk and antelope too. He was right, I didn’t believe him, I had to go and check for myself. I had drawn an archery bull elk tag and a rifle antelope tag. Wow, this year was going to be great. My only downside to my elk and antelope hunts would be that I am a full time student at Northern Arizona University and I would be limited to only hunting the weekends. My antelope hunt starts the second weekend of my elk hunt, so I would only have one weekend to hunt elk.
My elk hunt was first in line this year and it was a hunt I will never forget. I saw lots of good bulls every time I was able to go out and I was also able to get within bow range. The only bad part was none of them ever offered me a good shot opportunity. Due too all the great elk we were seeing during my hunt, I didn’t have an opportunity to scout for antelope. The plan was to head up to my antelope hunt and shoot the first good buck we saw and then return to hunt elk.
At first light, on opening mourning of my antelope hunt, I found myself looking at over forty antelope. Two of them were nice bucks. One of the bucks was heart shaped and looked to have had 15” prongs. I have always wanted a heart-shaped buck and this was my chance. At 375 yards, my 130-grain Hornady bullet found its mark. My dad Jesus, and our good friend and hunting partner, David Johnson immediately took care of my trophy and we headed back up to hunt elk again.
The next day was the last day I could hunt elk and I got into a decent six point raking a tree. Again, no shot offered. Although I didn’t harvest a bull elk with my bow, I sure learned a lot about this magnificent animal and had a great time hunting them.
It was now December and both my school year and hunting year were coming to an end. I still had the late season coues whitetail permit for one of my favorite units in eastern Arizona.
“Coues Whitetail,” Say No More! These deer are awesome! Small, beautiful, and smart. They have the ability to disappear from a hunter’s eye in a heartbeat. If you have ever chased them, then you know exactly what I am talking about. They may be the hardest of all deer to get. To harvest a record book coues deer, takes a lot of knowledge about the animal and patience. What I mean by patience is being able to pass up 80 and 90” class bucks. Maybe even a low scoring 100-class buck.
On the first day of my hunt, I was accompanied by our family friend and hunting partner, David Johnson. Both of us had deer permits, but I was going to hold out for a nice one. David’s not picky, if its got horns, it’s going down.
At first light, we began walking into a small draw were we have always seen bucks. The wind was really blowing hard, so we decided to sit under some brush to escape the wind and glass comfortably. After glassing all the terrain we could see, I decided to glass the hill closest to us again. Out of nowhere, standing next to a mesquite tree in the tall grass, was a great buck. He would probably score over 100 B&C points. By the time I lowered my binoculars to show David, the buck was gone. I told David that this buck looked really good and might be the one I was looking for.
I stood up to grab my gear before going after the buck and caught a glimpse of three deer running below us. They were all bucks. They had been bedded right below us the whole time. David grabbed his gun and made a beautiful running shot on one of the three 80 class bucks. I quickly went up the next ridge to see if I could find the big one I had just seen a few minutes ago. With no luck, I went back to David’s deer and we dressed it out and carried it back to the truck. His deer was a pretty little palmated 3 point.
The next morning it was snowing and the fog prevented visibility until about 10:00 a.m. My brother, Mark and I returned to the area hoping to find the big buck. We saw a few does and four bucks. One buck was really heavy, but didn’t have the points I was looking for. It was really difficult to pass up this great deer, but I had two weeks of the hunt left and the rut hadn’t even begun yet. I knew if I was patient I would find what I was looking for.
The next day my brother had to work, so I called up my good friend and hunting buddy, Jay Boyer. He love’s coues deer hunting, and quickly took me up my offer. I decided we would hunt a bigger mountain range near the deer I had been seeing. As Jay and I headed up the mountain early that mourning, I saw up some does below us on the opposite ridgeline. I watched them for about ten minutes, hoping a buck was with them. With no luck, we kept climbing up the mountain. When we got to the top of the snow-covered hill, we cautiously peeked over the other side. I immediately saw some does bedded down on the ridgeline below us. I decided to keep walking around the backside of the mountain. I kept a close eye on the does, hoping a buck would show up. On the third glance back at the does, I couldn’t believe my eyes.
Out of no where, a huge set of antlers stuck out of the brush near the does. I quickly sat down and folded out my Harris bipod on my .270, knowing this was the buck I had been waiting for. I had the buck in my crosshairs when Jay told me he was only 198 yards away. The buck was facing us and he had some does in front of him. I didn’t have a good shot yet. All of the sudden, the buck just disappeared. I could see all the does, but he was gone. I knew the buck had to be just lying there also, but where? I couldn’t see him anywhere. I was just going to have to wait until they all got up and he presented himself.
Jay and I sat in the snow for three hours before the does got up and started feeding up the ridge. During that time I must have said a thousand prayers, asking God above for just another look at this beautiful animal and to not freeze to death in the process. When the does got to the top of the ridge and were out of sight, I had no other choice but to go after them. I told my buddy Jay to stay there and keep an eye out as I headed toward the deer. When I got to the top of the ridge, I saw the does just below me about 60 yards. One of the does saw me and they took off running over the hill. I quickly ran after them. When I got to where they had crossed over the ridge I saw them running up the next hillside. The buck wasn’t with them. Huh? Well, this buck didn’t get this big from being stupid I thought. Maybe he was still lying down in the thick brush behind me. I turned around and started glassing through the area I had just ran through. Wow! My prayers were answered when I saw an outline of a deer in the middle of a big juniper tree. His antlers were up in the branches and his whole entire body was completely surrounded. I couldn’t believe I had walked within a step of the buck when I was running after the does. He didn’t even move a muscle. Smart coues deer for you. I quickly sat down and placed my crosshairs on his back. The only opening through the branches was about two or three inches wide. I figured at a distance of 80 yards my .270 should have no problem getting the job done. My shot was perfect and the buck died in his bed.
When I walked up to him, I couldn’t believe how big he was. A true 4×4 coues whitetail with 6-inch eye guards too. Wow! My buddy Jay quickly came down off the hill after hearing my shot. “Did you get him?” he said. I just pointed below me in the middle of the giant juniper tree. He couldn’t believe his eyes. Both of us sat there and just admired my trophy. We were amazed that I had walked within a step of this buck and how he crawled up underneath such a place to hide. I sat there for a minute and thanked God for giving me the opportunity to harvest such an amazing animal. He was everything I waited for and more.
Martin’s 5×5 buck is a huge buck, but the lack of symmetry hurts it under the Boone and Crockett system. It net scores 107 4/8. After much discussion with Boone and Crockett about the proper way to score this buck, they determined that the points after the eyeguards are abnormal points because they are not in the typical pattern of a Coues whitetail, even though they come off the main beam. These are referred to as “non-symmetry points”. Because of this, the buck then doesn’t have matching third points – it’s missing the third normal point on the right antler.
– Another view of this magnificent whitetail.
score details: This 5×5 buck officially nets 107 4/8 points (non-typical B&C). But without deductions this buck grosses about 128 inches!
Main beams: 17 0/8; 16 0/8
1st circumference measurement: 4 1/8 on both sides
Inside spread: 14 3/8 Abnormal points: 3 points totaling 13 7/8 inches; eyeguards 5 6/8 on both sides!
The First Hunt – 2006
by Brad Fulk, owner of Rio Sonora Outfitters.
Early December and the time had come to hit the ground running. With the expectations of possible finding a couple bucks in the 130″ range, I put the entire RSO Team together for the hunt!
Mike and Kevin went separate ways as Team RSO spread out glassing as much country as possible the first evening. Windy conditions kept the deer down and very little activity was noticed. Plans were made for the first morning, again we spread out into several different areas, including the canyon we saw the buck in 2005. Both Kevin and I were horseback about a 1/2 mile apart, Mike and guide Jason Greer went into the canyon they glassed the first afternoon, guide Jimmy Vincent went into an area I had taken a great buck out of in 2005, and guide Martin Guerena covered an area on the backside of the canyon Jason and Mike were glassing. Both Kevin and I were getting pounded by the wind up high on the mountainside, but with our elevation, we could maintain radio contact to all parts of the mountain range we were hunting. At this point, Martin and I were the only ones to have seen this buck, so we described what we expected the buck to look like, a drop-tine on the right with long brow-tines and basically said “you should know him when you see him”! We had took a couple 120″ plus bucks off this particular range in the past, so we had pretty high expectations of seeing a big deer somewhere.
Glassing was tough with the gusts blowing in our face, and there was silence on the radio, no one was seeing anything other than the few does and a small buck I found in the canyon bottom, below Kevin. We watched the deer feed with hopes of another buck stepping our into view, but that didn’t happen. I began glassing new country when I got a call, it was Jason, I could make out “we got him”! After confirming what he found, I was able to get ahold of everyone and quickly we headed off to their location. This buck had to be recognizable, was it him?
It took 45 minutes for Kevin and I to get off the mountain and to the corral where Mike was waiting to transfer us from a horse to a Ranger. When we got to the canyon, Martin had just gotten there, all we had to wait for was Jimmy and the ranch cowboy. We hiked up to Jason and words just cannot describe the look on his face. He said the buck was absolutely huge and just bedded along with a smaller buck in some heavy browse. Mike shot a great 4×4 buck (shown below) in January of 2005, so he handed this opportunity over to Kevin. After some fairly critical planning, Kevin, Jason, Mike and I began a 3/4 mile stalk up the canyon, with Jimmy, Martin and the ranch cowboy staying back to watch the area the bucks were bedded in.
The stalk went well, no deer or cattle were busted out ahead of us which was my worst fear, and we got to a point we had set out for completely undetected! Kevin rolled out in front of the rest of us and set up on his pack with his .300 RUM, both Jason and I were filming Kevin and the buck, and Mike set up the spotting scope on the buck which was up feeding in the middle of a chaparral thicket. Kevin found the deer quickly, so I told him not to look at the antlers and to hold off until he feed into a opening. I got my 15′s on him, and then hit him with the rangefinder, 415 yards, perfect! I wanted to milk the video footage as long as possible, but I definately didn’t want to frustrate Kevin, who was steady as a rock on his Eberlestock Pack and extremely eager to drop the hammer. At that point, all we had to do was wait. The deer began moving slowly toward an opening and in a step or two he would be in the clear for the second time. I couldn’t tell Kevin to pass on another shot. With cameras rolling on both Kevin and the buck, a few seconds passed then I gave Kevin the go ahead and the vapor trail of the 180 gr. Nosler Ballistic Tip told me the deer was dead before the bullet reached the shoulder. Kevin made a perfect shot on the buck that will most likely be the largest any of us there that day will have the pleasure of seeing. BIG BUCK DOWN!
From left to right; Mike and Kevin Kearney, Brad Fulk, Jimmy Vincent, and Martin Guerena.
My 2007 Mexico Hunt with Mexafari
By Amanda Moors
Well, yet again, I feel very fortunate to have been able to hunt Coues Deer in Mexico during the rut. The people, the culture and the outstanding Coues deer populations make a trip down there very special. I chose to hunt with Mexafari outfitters (www.mexafari.com) and this would be my third trip with them. Last year I was privileged to take a 110 inch buck (click here to read that hunt story) and I always see some great deer down there, so I was eager to go again. My friends Beth Pugh and Ernesto Cibrian went along on the hunt. Beth had a tag of her own and Ernesto went along to help us glass and to help as a translator since he is fluent in both English and Spanish. Those of you who frequent the CouesWhitetail.com forum will know who Ernesto is and of his passion for Coues deer. Beth has hunted for years and has taken Coues deer before, but hadn’t yet reached the “fanatic” level of dedication that Ernesto and I feel about these little deer. I think after this hunt, she may well be on her way to becoming “Coues Crazy”…..
The journey down to the ranch started during the day that the big snowstorm hit Arizona in late January. Beth lives in Alpine and she and her husband drove down to my house in Globe during the snowstorm. Salt River Canyon was closed due to the snow and so they had to go the long way around and didn’t get to Globe until around midnight on Sunday the 21st. Beth and I loaded up my Jeep the next morning and headed down to Sahuarita (south of Tucson) and Ernesto met us along the way. We stayed overnight at my father’s house and then left for Nogales early on Tuesday morning. We met one of our guides, Temo, at the McDonald’s in Nogales on the US side. Temo had all the appropriate paperwork for our guns and hunt contracts. After a quick breakfast we left for the border and Temo made sure our crossing went perfectly smoothly.
The trip to the ranch takes about 9 hours of driving from the border. It’s a long, windy road, but it goes through some gorgeous scenery.
We drove through all kinds of small towns and up and down steep canyons and over one-lane bridges over rivers. Eventually we made it to the ranch around 8 pm that night. We unpacked and settled in to get some rest before the hunt started in the morning.
Here is a photo of the front porch of the ranch where we stayed. I don’t know how they keep all those plants alive since it freezes at night!
We awoke to hear the wind blowing hard outside…..as most of you know, wind can make hunting for Coues deer very difficult because the deer tend to stay bedded or at least move less. On the other hand, sometimes having a windy day can make it easier to find deer because they will move to the sheltered areas, thus narrowing down your search area. My friend Beth would be hunting with Temo and Ernesto, while I would hunt with Javier. Javier had seen an excellent 110 inch buck during his pre-season scouting trips and knew exactly where he wanted to be opening morning. We set up facing a large hillside with a small draw below us. This would allow us to glass the area where the buck had been seen. Unfortunately, the wind kept blowing and it even started snowing. After glassing awhile and not seeing any deer, we decided to try and find another area that might offer more shelter to the deer out of the wind. Despite the wind and light snow, it was a stunningly beautiful morning and I felt so fortunate to be on this ranch hunting Coues deer yet again. Normally, wind makes me feel frustrated when hunting, but this day I couldn’t have cared less…I was just happy to be out there in coues country, knowing my chances of seeing several great bucks on this hunt were high. My mind drifted to a friend of mine who is no longer able to get out and enjoy things due to a terrible car accident. How incredibly lucky I am to be able to get out and enjoy such a great morning doing something I love.
We took a short drive to another location and one of the guides immediately glassed up a giant buck! Unfortunately we only saw him for a brief moment through a break in the oak trees. Wow, great buck. We glassed for awhile, hoping the buck would come back out. No such luck. Javier knew the land and knew we had little chance of seeing that buck again given the direction he went. The side of the ridge where he headed was so thick, that Javier thought it would be better to just try to find this buck another day. So we packed up and went to another spot. It’s now late morning and we hiked to a good overlook and I set up my tripod and started glassing. After a minute or two I saw another GIANT buck coming fast down a ridge across from us. I got Javier’s attention and showed him the buck. He agreed it was a monster and so we packed up and moved fast to a location where we could shoot across a canyon at him. However, when we got there we couldn’t find the buck. He apparently had disappeared into some thick brush and trees. We glassed a long time and saw nothing. Javier and I talked about what size we thought the buck was and I told him I thought it was a 120 buck. He thought maybe 115. Either way, we both thought it was a monster. So we waited and glassed and tried to will that buck out the thick stuff. Around 1 pm, we had to make a decision on whether to leave the buck and go have lunch or wait him out. We decided to stay put and luckily we had another guide who was with us go back to the ranch and get us some food to bring out to us for lunch. We glassed for another hour or two while waiting for food when suddenly I spotted a small buck down near the bottom of the draw across from us. As I watched the buck I realized he was looking back at something in the trees. I figured it might be the big buck, so I grabbed my rifle and set up the bipod and put a round in the chamber. He was still in some fairly thick brush and I knew it would be a very small opportunity for a shot. I wanted to be ready. Well, a big buck did step out and Javier immediately went to work trying to evaluate it and see if it was the same buck. The buck quickly moved into some thicker trees and we couldn’t see him for awhile. Then we saw some more movement. The buck moved into a small opening but I didn’t really have a good shot. I was looking down toward it and it was facing me. I could see the tips of its main beams behind a juniper. We were above and across the canyon from him, so I could look through the tips of his antlers and see part of his back. Most of his antlers and head were behind the juniper. I suppose I could have taken the shot and tried to hit his spine, but I still wasn’t sure how big it was. We tried desperately to tell whether this really was the monster buck we saw earlier. Unfortunately, with the glimpses we had of it, both of us decided it was only a 107-108 inch buck. It seemed to have really long tines and it had bladed tips of its main beams, but for some reason we just didn’t think it was as big as we originally thought. We found out the next day that we should have trusted our first impression of this buck…..
So after that brief time of seeing that buck, he went back into the thick stuff and we glassed for another hour or so hoping to see him again. We didn’t see him again and so we decided to go some other spots for the evening hunt. We ended up at the same place where we started out in the morning during the wind and the snow. But now it was calm out and evening was falling. I almost immediately glassed up a very nice 110 inch buck, probably the one Javier had been expecting to see there this morning. I wanted to go after it immediately, but Javier thought we would run out of light for the shot and it would be better if we came back in the morning. When it became too dark to watch that buck anymore, we went to the ranch and enjoyed a wonderful dinner and some tequila around the fireplace. It had been an excellent first day. I had seen three bucks I thought would go over 110, but things just hadn’t fallen into place for me to get one. Around the crackling fire, Beth told me all about her day and the great bucks they had seen. She had seen a 109 inch buck right away in the morning, but Temo said they would find something better since it was only the first day. Then later in the day they saw four bucks fighting with each other. At least one of them was a true monster and they knew exactly where they were heading the next morning.
That night it rained all night long and was still raining when we got up. We made sure everything that was sensitive to getting wet was packed in ziplock bags or trash bags to protect them from the rain. Beth, Temo, and Ernesto went after that big buck they had seen the previous evening. With the rain coming down they went and stood under a tree and were watching a herd of javelina. Several had come really close and ran off. Just then Ernesto said “Big buck, big buck”. Beth looked over and was looking for a full-bodied deer and Ernesto said, “look on the top of the ridge for his neck and head only.” Beth put up her binoculars and said “OH !!!!” The buck was staring right at them. Temo looked at Beth and whispered, “You shoot now.” Beth sat down, unbuckled her pack slipped it off, chambered a round (.25-06). She put her rifle up and had him for a split second in her scope before he was gone. Beth wanted to run over there and find him but Temo said they should wait awhile. Her heart was pounding. All of a sudden a doe came walking out from some bushes on their side of the ridge. The javelina were woofing and the doe started walking along the ridge, and then the buck came running over the top. He stopped, Beth put up her rifle had him in her cross hairs and again he moved; he started chasing the doe. But she had enough time to lead him a bit and shoot. The buck didn’t stop, he continued to chase the doe. She put another round in, thinking she missed and hoping that she would get a second shot, and then Temo said the magic words, “He is down!” Beth was thrilled. This was the biggest and nicest Coues deer buck she had ever seen and she made a good running shot and he was down. It was about 11:15 in the morning and the shot was about 100-110 yards. They went over and found the buck and everyone was thrilled! Check out her giant buck….
I scored this buck for Beth at the ranch and came up with a gross score of 119 5/8. This is just a straight typical, no trash on it at all. WOW!
The cowboys who packed out Beth’s buck.
Meanwhile Javier and I had gone out to look for that 110 buck. I glassed him up again and we headed after him. Eventually we got up on the ridge across from him, which would have given me a 200 yard shot at that buck. Javier had left another guide down below to watch the buck while we were making our stalk. Unfortunately, the buck was no longer visible to the other guide, but he felt the buck was still there and that we should be able to see it. We searched quite awhile and although I saw several does, we could not find the buck. It was getting to be late morning and Javier began to wonder if we hadn’t spooked the buck out of there during our stalk. I didn’t think we had and I could hear something below us which seemed to be doing the “snort-wheeze” call of a buck. But I couldn’t find anything. Eventually my guide decided the buck wasn’t there anymore and he wanted to try another location, so we did. We found a nice 101-103 inch buck only a couple hundred yards away at the new spot, but I didn’t want him, so I just filmed him.
It was mid-day now and we headed back to the ranchhouse for lunch. While we were there we heard on the radio that Beth had gotten that amazing buck! As soon as Javier and I saw it back at the ranch we knew it was the buck we had waited on during that first morning of my hunt. It had been a 120 class buck! With a mix of elation for Beth and disappointment at myself for not having taken the shot at the buck the day before, Javier and I headed out to find some more bucks, while Beth, Ernesto and Temo stayed back and celebrated their successful hunt.
Before hunting that afternoon, we went to shoot my rifle to make sure it was still on since I had tripped and dropped it the day before. The rifle was shooting a bit low and to the right, but only by an inch or two at 200 yards (without a stable rest) and so I decided not to change it and to just keep that in mind when I took my shot. That afternoon we didn’t see anything I wanted and so we went back and enjoyed another great meal and tequila and cervezas around the fire. The next morning the plan was that we would all go out in the morning and try and locate that 110 buck that I had seen a couple times already.
We set up in various locations to glass the ridge where the buck had been spotted previously. We got there early and waited for first light. I started glassing and eventually found that buck bedded on top of the ridge very close to where I had waited for him yesterday morning. It was a great sight. All we could see was part of his head and his tall antlers. Since he was right on top of the ridge, his antlers were skylined and the first light of the morning revealed frost on the vegetation around him. Man, I wanted that buck. So I discussed a plan of attack with my guide and we decided to go up to the top of a small hill nearby and shot across. Although it looked farther to me from where we were below, Javier knew that it would be about a 200 yard shot from on top.
We packed up and Ernesto came with us so he could film the shot. We moved fast up that hill and about 15 minutes later we were in position. Javier crept forward and confirmed the buck was still there. I looked around for a rest and chose a branch on an oak tree. The grass around there seemed too tall for me to use the bipod. I already had a round in the chamber before getting up there so all I had to do was get the rifle steady. Javier said, “he’s up, the buck’s up and looking at us”. I found him in my scope and saw that there was quite a bit of brush in front of him, but it seemed very close to his body and so I decided I could shoot through it. Knowing my gun was shooting a little low and to the right, I put the cross hairs on his high shoulder and shot. The buck jumped and ran down the back of the ridge and disappeared. Beth and Temo had been watching from down below and we radioed to ask how it looked from their angle. Beth said it looked like a hit since the buck hunched up and ran. Javier and Ernesto both said they saw the same thing. I was still worried about the brush and was really praying that I had killed him. Javier called the cowboys on the radio and asked them to bring the dogs just in case the buck was wounded and not down.
After getting to where the buck had been standing, we saw there was no trace of blood and there were two branches with bullets holes in them. Apparently I had hit the brush in front of him, but these branches were very low and to right of where I was aiming. Had I really missed this shot???? Did the bullet get deflected? We searched for blood and set the dogs out to sniff for blood. The cowboys led the dogs down the backside of the ridge looking for blood or the deer. No luck, nothing. Apparently I had missed badly and the buck left unscathed. I couldn’t believe it and couldn’t figure out what had happened. I still don’t know what happened. I mean this was a broadside shot at a deer standing still only 238 yards away from me! Ack! I felt nauseous…..the one consolation was that at least I had missed cleanly and not injured the buck. I was very depressed and anxious. If I make a mistake I like to learn from it and fix it, but it seemed unexplainable that I had hit below that buck! I mean I had a decent rest, I had time to take the shot, the buck wasn’t moving, what more can you ask for? Perhaps the bullet was deflected by something on the way over there, but the angle of how it hit those low branches seemed to indicate otherwise.
Here is a short slow-motion clip of that buck when I shoot at him. Where the bullet ended up hitting is below his back legs. You can see him kick his back legs up and see some wood bits flying in the air since the bullet struck that tree. You can’t see his antlers real well, but as he runs away you can see them a little. It certainly was a great buck…..maybe next year I will see him again or someone else will….
After regrouping, we moved to a new spot and I found a nice buck looking right at me only about 200 yards away. He had most surely been watching me set up my tripod before I spotted the buck. Javier was with me and I showed him the buck, we watched it while it stared at us. We could see that the buck had tall eyeguards, good mass on the bases, and main beams that almost touched. It was hard to tell, but when the buck turned a little, it looked like his third tine on his left side was at least 7 inches long. After a minute or two, the buck turned and disappeared into a drainage. It was tempting to go pursue that buck right away, but Javier made a decision to not pressure the buck and come back to hunt him in the afternoon. So we went back to the ranch house for lunch and planned to return later and approach the buck from a different ridge. We also took my gun out and checked it again. It was slightly low and to the right, but nothing that would have accounted for my miss this morning. Anyway, I adjusted the scope a little and now it was dead on.
About 2:30 PM we headed out to see if we could find that buck again. Javier crept up to the end of the ridge and found the buck again right away and yet again, amazingly enough, the buck had already spotted him. So just as in the morning, we could see just the main beams and those tall eyeguards. Knowing the buck would run any minute, I quickly decided to take the buck. In order to get a shot, I had to make a move to the right a few feet so I could get out from behind the brush in front of us. Javier whispered to me that the buck was looking away and so I moved then and set up the bipod and found the buck in the scope. I made a 150 yard shot with my .270 and he went down where he stood. The buck has 5” eye guards, 4” bases but had a narrow spread of only 10 4/8. It grossed 101 inches. It wasn’t the biggest buck I had seen on my hunt, but it was a really unique one and I was happy to have him. I always wanted a buck with big eyeguards and wrap around main beams. Here he is. Check out the dark beams that almost touch in front.
And here is a picture of the skull after it was cleaned up.
The day after I got my buck we went out and tried to film some nice deer. We found several, but most were a bit far away to see much of them. But here is one clip:
We had a long, but enjoyable drive home. We broke up the drive by staying overnight in Hermosillo. One the highlights of the drive was seeing a large bobcat cross the road in front of us on our way to Hermosillo. Here are a few more interesting things we saw on the way out. Love the roots on this tree growing out of the rock!
Thanks to Javier and Temo of Mexafari outfitters for yet another successful and enjoyable hunt. I really love that ranch that we hunt on! Lupe made some excellent food and we enjoyed our time in the evening around the fireplace. Thanks to my friends Ernesto and Beth for going with me and making this a great trip!
Anyone wanting more information about Mexafari, can visit their website: www.mexafari.com or email me and I can give you more information.
Also, please note that Mexafari is donating a fully outfitted Coues Deer hunt in Mexico for the Arizona Deer Association fundraiser on April 7, 2007. Anyone interested in bidding on that hunt, should definitely attend our auction. There will be many great hunts and hunting related items at the auction. See www.azdeer.org for more info.
My 2006 hunt in Sonora
By Amanda Moors
Being a Coues deer fanatic, I am frequently dreaming of hunting Coues in Mexico. This year I was very fortunate to be able to go to Sonora for a Coues hunt. Mexafari outfitters in Mexico (www.mexafari.com) asked me to come down to hunt and get video for them to create a promotional video which they could show to prospective hunters. The ranch I went to is East of Hermosillo about 120 miles, but despite the relatively short mileage, it takes about 6 hours to drive there. Much of that drive is on very slow dirt roads, but the scenery is wonderful. Javier Monge is the owner of Mexafari and he guides hunters for Coues deer, Mule deer, turkey, and bighorn sheep in Mexico. I hunted with Javier two years ago and saw a 120 inch buck, but I wasn’t able to get him.
This year I went down to the same ranch with my friend Martin Guerena, but we only had 4 days to hunt. We both wanted to bring our own guns this year. Since I had not previously brought a gun into Mexico, I was concerned about making sure the paperwork was done correctly. Javier assured me he could get the gun permit and all the paperwork necessary to get the trophy back across the border. We met one of Javier’s guides named Temo on the Arizona side of Nogales and he helped us cross the border and check our guns with all the appropriate Mexican authorities. I was surprised how easy that seemingly formidable process proved to be.
One view of the habitat from the ranch house.
We arrived at the ranch late on the 25th and got up early to start our hunt the next morning. Because Javier had a cactus spine in his leg causing significant problems, he scheduled to have it surgically removed on the 26th and wasn’t going to meet us at the ranch until a day later. So on the the first day Martin and I hunted together with Temo. We went to a nice spot where we could glass a large area and saw many deer. Temo said the week previously they had seen 5 bucks chasing one doe near where we were glassing. So the rut was in full swing and we were eager to see some of it. Martin, an excellent Coues deer hunter, glassed up a large buck but it was far away, moving fast and in thick brush so we didn’t get a real good idea of what it would score. It was over 100 inches and perhaps pushing 110. Because of where it was headed and the low odds of seeing it again, we decided not to pursue it and to try and find other bucks. We found several more bucks that were chasing or following does, but none of those were over 100. Later in the morning we went to another point and glassed up a very nice buck that we think would go about 103. Both Martin and I were holding out for bucks that were 110 or higher, although I figured I might be convinced to take a 105 on the last day if he looked right.
Martin glassing some nice country on the first morning. The big buck he saw was on the mountain in the back of the photo.
We spent the next several days hunting together and then separately once Javier got to the ranch. The surgery was successful and he was able to hike around just fine now. It was the peak of the rut and bucks were chasing does all over. Everywhere we went we found several bucks. I would say the average buck was about 100 inches and we saw many of them that were over 100. But finding a 110 proved more difficult. Many of the bucks had broken tines or main beams from fighting.
The weather was unusually warm for late January. It would be close to freezing in the morning, but would heat up really quickly. Despite the warm weather there was a lot of deer activity throughout the day. Some of the days we hunted all day and some found us back at the ranch for lunch. This ranch has some great hunting very near the ranch house and you can even glass up nice bucks right from the ranch porch. The ranch had several reasonably comfortable bedrooms and a nice fireplace in the livingroom. A very large buck that I measured as a 129 inches (gross) was hanging on the wall near the fireplace. It is a breathtaking buck, and inspired us to continue passing on the smaller bucks in hopes of a monster.
Here is a pic of the buck I measured to be 129 gross.
Each day’s end brought discussions of what we saw; one evening Martin returned with some great video of an excellent buck that, unfortunately, had broken off his main beam after the 2nd tine on his right antler (Martin figured he was a 108 or 110 pre-fracture). Talk about having to make a tough decision! He had him in his scope at about 80 yards and was able to watch him for quite awhile. But he decided the broken beam was reason enough to let the buck walk.
On the 3rd day we all hunted together at a new location that was farther from the ranch. We were walking some shallow, rolling, oak woodland covered hills, when we saw a nice buck. He was moving away from us and into some thick stuff. So we decided to try and call him back to us. The day before Javier and I had called in another buck to within 5 yards. It was quite an experience. With the rut in full swing, I felt confident we could call this buck back. Based on the brief look I had at him moving away, I thought I might want the buck so I got ready for the shot while Martin filmed and the guide used his grunt call and estrus doe call. The buck was within 50 yards in just a few minutes. He was partially hidden behind some mesquite-like brush. He could see us, but was still interested in the calls. After a short time he stepped out and moved toward us. I had him in my scope and was looking him over. Martin whispered that he was a 4 point on one side and so I was about to shoot, but I couldn’t see the fourth point and the buck didn’t seem to have the tine length I was looking for. So I watched him walk around in front of us only 10-20 yards away. I can’t really say I made a conscious decision not to shoot the buck. It was more that I did not make a clear decision to shoot him. Usually when I see a buck I want I know right away and this one just didn’t grab me that way. So the buck eventually moved away, somewhat alarmed by us. Of course almost immediately I was doubting myself and thinking I should have shot that buck. It would have been so easy and he certainly was a gorgeous buck. I only had one more day of the hunt left and I hadn’t seen a 110 yet. So maybe I should have taken that buck. I think Martin thought I was nuts passing on that buck. (Which is about what Martin thought when I passed on a 108 two years ago on the same ranch. So it’s not unusual for him to think I am nuts!). But, fortunately, after I passed on that nice buck Javier immediately said not to worry and that you have to follow your heart and take the buck that is meant for you. So I felt better and later we tried to figure what that buck would score. We came up with 101 or maybe up to 103. A great buck, but not what I was holding out for. After watching the video I noticed he has a short non-typical point on his right antler between the eyeguard and the 2nd point. Look for it in the video and look for how wide this buck is when he turns. In the video you can also hear us using doe bleats and buck grunts to lure him out.
We moved on to a nice glassing spot that overlooked two dirt tanks that were full of water and spent the afternoon watching numerous deer come to water. In addition, there were bucks chasing does most of the day, but we hadn’t seen anything worth going after until we decided to leave. Javier wanted to go take a last look at a buck he had seen only briefly nearby. So we went to find that one but could only see parts of him in the bushes. Then Temo spotted what looked like an enormous buck chasing some does in the area below us, maybe 550 yards away. The buck had good mass and had a forked G-2 like a mule deer. Martin decided immediately that he wanted to go after him. So he and Temo took off after the buck. They got within about 300 yards and Martin set up for the shot. Temo whispered “shoot him!” and Martin let out a rushed shot at the buck while it was walking. I was filming and saw the shot missed high and to the right. Now Martin is a very good shot and he was using his own .270, but he had been having some problems with the scope lately. We tried sighting it in the day before and it wasn’t shooting very well. After the shot, the doe ran off and into some thick vegetation. She was alarmed but her suitor was not. He followed her languidly, showing no sign of injury. Martin couldn’t see the buck anymore from his angle. I radioed that he had missed the buck cleanly and to wait for us to try and find the buck again. But then we got thinking: from our perspective it was possible that the bullet could have passed through the buck and hit the dirt uphill of him, making it look like a miss to us. So Javier went down to meet Temo and Martin to go look for blood. I stayed where I was and watched for the buck. Javier had actually spotted the buck moving in some bushes a couple hundred yards away and thought the buck looked unhurt. But they wanted to be sure. They found no blood and were sure the buck had not been hit. They tried to find another area to glass from, but the vegetation was too thick and they decided to leave the buck alone for the evening and try somewhere else. So we hiked out and searched for deer on the way back to the vehicles. We didn’t find anything worth pursuing.
Back at the ranch in the evening we debated the plan for the next day, which would be the last day of our hunt. Martin wanted to go back to the area where he took the shot at that buck. With his huge body and forked G-2, he dwarfed all the deer we saw around him and his dark antlers looked massive. None of us ever had a good chance to study his antlers to get a good score estimate but most of us thought he was over 110. I even thought he might be a 120-class buck. So, not surprisingly, Martin headed back there with Temo the following morning hoping to find that buck. I went with Javier to another location where he had seen a 110 buck earlier in the season.
At first light we spotted a large-bodied buck with some does skylined on the top of a ridge. They were only about 300 yards away. Based on body size I thought this might be the buck for me. As it got lighter we were able to look at the buck more and decided he was maybe a 102-103 size buck. But he sure was impressive. We left to go check a drainage where Javier knew the 110 liked to spend his time. On the way there we saw several more bucks chasing does, but none was what I was looking for. We spent the next hour or so searching for the buck but not locating him. So Javier decided it was best if we go try another spot. It was late morning and getting hot. He wanted to go glass an area around a spring that had some shade. So we drove over and started the short hike to the glassing spot. We were side-hilling toward a ridge and when we got to the ridge Javier looked uphill and saw a buck. I couldn’t see him from where I was but Javier motioned for me to get down, which I did. As I crouched there I leaned a little around a bush by me and looked up and saw a very large buck facing us. I could see massive, dark beams and a big body. I couldn’t see anything for tines, but Javier saw the buck turn his head and he thought the tines were 9 inches long. So he whispered to shoot if I could. I chambered a round and when I looked up to shoot the buck was gone! I never even saw it disappear. Javier said it bounded up and over the hill. So we pursued him, but it was very thick on the other side of that hill. After not seeing him, we decided to try calling. No buck showed up. We moved around trying to get different angles on the area but we saw nothing but some does lower down. Javier was pretty upset we hadn’t seen the buck just a few minutes sooner. He figures the buck was over 115, maybe 119. And it was only about 50-80 yards away!! Here it was the last day of my hunt. It’s now getting hot and near mid-day and I just missed a great opportunity at a great buck! That hurt! One second more and he would have been mine….
We decided to go back to the original plan of glassing that spring. After 30 minutes, we saw nothing and were about to give up. Then Javier checked one more time and saw a great buck! The buck was chasing off other bucks and following a doe. The moment I saw the buck I knew I wanted him! I ranged him at just over 400 yards. But never having taken a shot that long, I wanted to close the distance. I told Javier that I wanted a 300 yard shot or less. So we moved downslope and closed the distance to about 300 yards. The buck was still chasing other bucks and guarding the doe. It looked like a nice spot for them to spend the next several hours so I wasn’t real concerned they were leaving anytime soon. Javier took off his jacket and put it on branch on an oak tree. There were several branches hanging in the way so we had to make noise breaking those off. Luckily nothing spooked and I got all set and ready for the shot. I had the crosshairs on him and was thinking of pulling the trigger when he decided to bed down! Now all I could see was the tips of his antlers! Well, we waited there watching and watching and watching. Several more does and bucks were moving around in the area, but the big buck stayed bedded. After an hour or more of waiting I started to let my guard down and I was sitting talking to Javier under the oak tree. I just happened to look up and saw a big deer moving in the open. I jumped up, got on the gun and saw it was the big buck. I prepared for the shot while Javier filmed the buck. The buck was slowly sauntering toward a doe. As he got closer to her he quartered away and then stopped. I took the shot and saw him jump up a little and take off running. I followed him and took a shot at him while he was running but that missed by quite a bit. I saw him run into some bushes that I had previously ranged as being at 200 yards. So I knew if he came out I would have a great shot at him. We watched and searched for him but nothing came out. Had I hit him? He never appeared to stumble when he went in the bushes. Had he changed directions and moved out without seeing him? Or was the tall grass just hiding him? As we watched the area we talked about my shot and Javier saw the buck jump up as well. The movement of the buck was the same as I had seen on other deer I hit very well in the lung/heart area. Javier thought it looked like a good shot into the ribs based on how the buck reacted. But neither of us saw any blood or any sign the buck was wounded when it was running. Where we were we had a perfect vantage point to see the buck if it came out of the patch of brush. If we went over to his side of the drainage we wouldn’t be able to see anything until we were right at the area he was last seen. We decided we would wait at least an hour before going across to find him.
About a half hour later, as we watched for the buck to come out, several more deer went by and at least two 95 inchers were being run off by something lower in the drainage. So I was worried I missed and my big buck was running them off. We couldn’t see who was pushing the bigger bucks out. Javier got on the radio and asked for one of the ranch workers to come meet us. So Jorge came out and Javier explained where he wanted him to walk to try and find the buck or push him out if he was hiding. As all the deer started busting out of the drainage we looked them over and none of them was the big buck! Jorge then moved around in the area where we had last seen the big buck and found him lying there quite dead. I was elated! The emotion was just overwhelming. I have a huge fear of wounding and losing animals, and I had waited over an hour wondering if I really got him or not. But that buck must have been dead within 5 mins of the shot. I rough scored the buck at 110 7/8. In the video you can see the buck bed down right about the moment I was going to shoot him. Then after waiting a long time we saw him get up again.
Here is my wonderful buck! Don’t I look happy!!!
Here are some views of the buck.
As we were returning the to ranch we heard that my friend Martin had been successful at finding that same big buck and taking him with a rifle owned by the camp cook. He shot him at about 400 yards. It’s a great buck, but we all were somehow deceived by this buck since he ended up scoring about 100 inches if he wasn’t so broken up. That buck had a huge body and seemed to dwarf all the other deer around him. He definitely was a macho buck!
Here are some other photos from the trip.
In the field the guide used a flexible, thin strip of bark to measure the antlers. He used the strip on the rack and then placed the strip against the ruler on a multi-tool to get the measurement. Pretty slick way to do it.
Some pics of one of the bedrooms and kitchen (which was remodeled a year ago) at the ranch.
Jorge carrying my buck out to the truck.
Some nice sheds that were at the ranch house.
Here are the measurements I took on my buck (Feb 16, 2006)
| Inside spread | 13 | ||
| Measurement | Right | Left | Difference |
| main beam | 18 4/8 | 18 1/8 | 0 3/8 |
| 1st tine | 3 6/8 | 3 1/8 | 0 5/8 |
| 2nd tine | 7 6/8 | 8 1/8 | 0 3/8 |
| 3rd tine | 6 3/8 | 5 6/8 | 0 5/8 |
| 1st circum. | 4 1/8 | 4 0/8 | 0 1/8 |
| 2nd circum. | 3 4/8 | 3 4/8 | 0 0/8 |
| 3rd circum. | 3 2/8 | 3 2/8 | 0 2/8 |
| 4th circum. | 2 4/8 | 2 2/8 | 0 2/5 |
| totals | 49 6/8 | 48 1/8 | 2 3/8 |
| gross | 110 7/8 | ||
| net | 108 4/8 | ||
Mexico Coues Deer Adventure
Note: this article originally appeared in Western Hunter Magazine. Thanks to Chris Denham, editor of Western Hunter, for allowing me to re-publish the article here.
Cola Blanca Outfitters is a sponsor of CouesWhitetail.com. To learn more about booking a hunt with them, please visit their website. You can also read another hunt story from a previous year by clicking here.
“Insane Coues Deer Hunter Syndrome”
Half a mile away across a huge canyon on the sunny side of a mountain stood the biggest Coues deer buck that I had seen in more than 30 years of hunting. Bright morning sunlight reflected off his massive antlers, lighting them up like a ghostly bone white apparition. He was huge! He was magnificent! He was the reason that I had come to Mexico.
I was hunting with Dan Bishop of Cola Blanca Outfitters on a remote ranch in Sonora, Mexico. In addition to being an extraordinary outfitter and hunting guide, Dan operates Bishop Taxidermy in Tucson, Arizona, which is renowned with both hunters and the television and motion picture industry for producing some of the most creative and life-like mounts that you will ever see. His taxidermy work is wildlife artistry in every sense of the word.
After a long day of travel meandering our way through the border checkpoints and then the captivating Mexican countryside, we reached our destination. The ranch house was incredible, situated on a huge ranch that had been built to accommodate visiting hunters. A main dining hall with a king sized fireplace and comfortable sofas was surrounded by a number of bedrooms, each with its own fireplace. The luxury of our accommodations seemed unbelievable in such a remote location. The ranch owner told us it had taken a year and a half to complete construction of the ranch house and guest facility. Every Spanish paver tile, every beam for the vaulted ceiling, every red cinder block and every cement truck had come in over a road so bad that we spent the last fourteen miles of the trip in 4 wheel high. After a delicious dinner of homemade tamales with rice and beans and salad, we all slept soundly through the night.
During our first day a field, we saw more than thirty deer, four of them bucks that would have been fine in the U.S. but were not considered “shooters” in Mexico. Any buck scoring less than 100 points is usually passed up until the end of the hunt. We spent most of the day glassing one canyon after another with our binoculars. Dan Bishop hunts with Leica 12 x 50 binoculars mounted on a sturdy tripod and he spotted about three times as many deer as my hunting partner and I did with our 10 x 40 Zeiss and 10 x 42 Swarvoski binoculars. Part of the difference was his skill, part was his more powerful binoculars and part was his rock steady tripod. He was prepared to spot deer at long distances and to quickly evaluate them as necessary with a tripod mounted spotting scope.
The second morning, we came on three bucks at the head of a canyon just after daylight. There was a small two point, a very good three point, and a real trophy buck hidden in the shadow of a rock cliff. At first glance he looked to be about a 108″ to 110″ typical with wide spread antlers, great mass, long main beams and high tines. He was the Holy Grail for Coues deer hunters and certainly the best buck I had ever seen in the field up to this point in time. We had agreed that Eric, one of my best friends, hunting partner and son-in-law, would shoot first and he did, making a beautiful running shot at about 180 yards that catapulted a buck end over end. But at his shot, the very good three-point had gone down and the huge buck was still standing. At that moment, Dan and I did not realize that Eric could not see the big buck from his position. He correctly followed Dan’s direction to shoot the big one, which was the big three point in his field of vision.
Dan Bishop was about to blow a gasket! He and I could clearly see the sensational big buck. I had the cross hairs on him twice but did not fire because Eric had arranged his hunt to take two bucks if the opportunity presented itself. Dan was hollering for somebody to shoot the big buck and I was waiting for Eric to shoot and finally the best Coues buck I had ever seen got up ran over a ridge and was gone. Eric wasn’t able to see him until the last second and then it was too late.
I went over the ridge after him but we never saw him again. We had traveled almost 1000 miles, entered a foreign country, had a good shot at one of the best Coues bucks we will ever see and he got away clean in the confusion of the moment. Had I known that Eric couldn’t see him from his position, I would have blasted that buck in a heartbeat. Coues deer hunting is usually like that with days of relentless effort punctuated by sudden moments of opportunity that are measured in seconds.
When you take a Coues deer buck, you have recorded a milestone in your hunting career. The little gray ghosts of northern Mexico and the southwest United States are the biggest trophies in the deer hunting world and the most challenging. He is small in size and a master of stealth and escape. Shots are usually long and frequently difficult or very quick with no time to get set. The country he lives in is huge, making it a challenge just to spot a good buck. There are steep mountainsides that require a three-point stance and plunging canyons that look like the heart attack you’re hoping to avoid. Sharp, loose shale covers the ground beneath tall yellow gramma grass. There are thorns on most of the fauna and if you slip and slide on one of these slopes, your body will accumulate a memorable collection of sharp, sticky things.
Shouts of joy and a call for the camera pack brought me back to reality. We had a great buck down, Eric’s first Coues deer buck, and it was time for celebration. I cleared the live round from my rifle’s chamber, slung the backpack full of camera gear over my shoulder and started across the canyon. The buck was a beauty with long beams and tines and good mass, the kind of buck that most hunters will never see, much less harvest. I was thrilled for Eric and extremely proud of the great shot he had made. We took lots of pictures and some videotape and then hauled this very good buck down into the canyon and all the way up the other side.
We drank some water, hung the buck in a tree and went on hunting for the rest of the day. For the record, Dan never said a cross word about me not shooting that big buck. He had every right to express his feelings and I would not have blamed him had he chosen to do so, but he just smiled and said we would find another good one.
That night’s dinner featured thick, barbequed pork steaks cooked on a open grill, huge baked potatoes, fresh salad and warm tortillas accompanied by bottled water, cold milk and canned sodas. We all devoured this delicious meal and then flopped briefly on the sofas in front a blazing fire before drifting off to bed. Dinner was a feast every night. I have never eaten so well on an outfitted hunt.
On the morning of the third day, we went east of the ranch to a vast canyon system and spent the morning glassing. We saw two very nice bucks that would have been shot on sight in the States, but we passed them up. At this point in the hunt, Eric and I were still holding out for a “book” class deer. About noon, a small herd of javelina appeared across one canyon and Eric decided to take one. He made a terrific, very long one-shot kill across the canyon and that turned out to be the easy part. It took an hour to climb down, retrieve the pig and climb back out of the canyon.
About one o’clock, we headed back west to a high vantage point that overlooked a huge basin surrounded by some low hills. A few minutes after we started glassing, Dan said he had spotted a good buck. After some direction from him, I was astounded to see that the deer was actually on the horizon about a mile away. We looked at him through the spotting scope, guessed that he was well in excess of 100 points, and decided to go after him. With Dan in the lead, we stalked as close as possible. His Leica rangefinder registered 426 yards, the wind was gusting from left to right and I would be shooting slightly uphill. I got into the best shooting position possible on a steep down slope location.
It was a moment of truth and I was not comfortable with the circumstances. Two days before we left for the hunt, my .270 Weatherby rifle started spraying bullets all over the target. I quickly checked the rifle and scope, but found nothing. It was after I returned from the hunt that I learned the rifle had been knocked off the back of my ATV and fallen onto the concrete floor of our garage. Out of time, I turned to my alternative rifle chambered for .270 Winchester with a 3 x 9 Leupold scope, sighted it in for a 300 yard zero. The Mexican gun permits processed months earlier allowed us to designate two rifles by description and serial number and that is what you are limited to when crossing the border.
The buck was lying down in a small depression and we needed him to stand up before shooting. With the distance, wind, substitute rifle and awkward shooting position, I was concerned about wounding the buck and losing him. When he stood up, I put the horizontal cross hair right on the top of his shoulder, held about ten inches to the left to compensate for the wind and squeezed the trigger. The bullet passed just over his back. I shot again with a little lower point of aim and this time it seemed that the bullet was so close that it might have cut the hair on the top of his back. He circled around a small tree and when he quartered toward me, I lowered the point of aim again, shot, and the wind took the bullet just barely off to his right. Any one of these shots was within inches of killing him. The buck finally took off and the last I saw of him was his white butt bobbing up and down as he hightailed it around a small mountain.
The next day, we found a very good buck bedded on a bare hillside about 500 yards away. A cross wind was blowing hard again and my confidence was not up to taking the shot. We made a long stalk but just before getting in position for a shot, we jumped a small herd of cows out of a draw and they stampeded right toward the buck. He responded by running over a ridge and disappearing. At this point, I had embarrassed myself by missing out on three shooting opportunities at 100 point plus bucks in as many days. We had only one day left and it was not looking good.
Eric decided to hunt north of the ranch on the last day, so Dan, Luis and I headed out to a large canyon system before daylight. We crept onto a vantage point and immediately started seeing deer on the opposite mountainside. Dan saw the big buck first. There were two other smaller bucks with him and about ten does scattered around the same area. Despite the half-mile distance, I could see his antlers without my binoculars. That alone tells you that we were looking at a real trophy buck. I asked Dan if we could get to a low ridge about 400 yards from the deer. Dan left Luis with the spotting scope and we started closing the distance.
Dan maneuvered us through some light brush and open areas on a circuitous approach and finally we crawled the last few yards. The three bucks were still together and had gradually moved toward us during our stalk. Dan’s rangefinder pegged the distance at 356 yards. I borrowed his tripod, improvised by putting a ham and cheese sandwich in a baggy on top of it to cushion my rifle stock and lined up the shot. Thankfully, there was no wind. I placed the crosshairs on the buck’s shoulder midway between back and brisket, waited for one of the smaller bucks to walk out of the way and squeezed off what was likely to be my last shot on this hunt. I lost sight of the buck in the recoil but the “thwack” of a solid hit was a sound of relief. Looking through his binoculars, Dan said the buck was down in the tall yellow gramma grass. We waited for a bit to see if I needed to shoot again but there was no sign of the deer.
It took a long time to cross the big canyon and during most of it, we were out of sight from where the buck went down. After a difficult trek of descending, side hilling and then climbing through the loose shale, we got to within a hundred yards of our objective. We stopped for a breather, left our coats and packs behind, and started the final approach. I was out front with the rifle and Dan was just behind and to my left. We slowly closed the distance, ready for a quick shot if necessary, but we found nothing. Step by step, we gradually pushed through the long grass but there was no deer and no blood. We eased slightly downhill to a small draw that split down the mountain on our left and right. Carefully, slowly, we checked the area to the left that was more open. Turning back to the right, rifle ready and thumb on the safety, I started to ease down the draw as Dan headed uphill to a better vantage point.
I had gone only a few steps when I heard rocks clattering and rolling ahead of me. Hurrying forward, I glimpsed the buck lunging down a deer trail about twenty yards in front of me. He was down when I came up on him but lunged up again as I approached. I quickly raised my rifle and put him down for good. My first bullet had broken both his shoulders and passed completely through his chest, grazing his heart. How he managed to get up and go as far as he did was unbelievable.
I stood there looking at this incredible buck of a lifetime and realized how lucky I was to get him. At age 64, the terrain was more of a challenge for me than it was thirty years ago. Success brought feelings of relief and jubilation. I was also filled with respect and admiration for this king of the mountains who now belonged to me. He will always have a place of honor and be admired by all who see his magnificent profile mounted and preserved by the artistry of Dan Bishop.
My buck had a gross score of 119 4/8″ and he was everything I had dreamed of. Eric’s buck was also sensational and we will both have to go back to Mexico if we ever hope to do better. We shared a great trip and came home with great memories, new friends and great trophies. It truly doesn’t get any better.
It is hard to imagine doing as well or better than we did on this hunt. But Eric and I both suffer from a disease known as “ICDHS” or “Insane Coues Deer Hunter Syndrome.” I should warn you that this condition is very contagious. We have already decided that we will go back to Mexico again next year with Cola Blanca Outfitters. Perhaps the big buck that got away from Eric and me will be waiting for us. I can’t wait!
EQUIPMENT NOTES:
Here are some suggestions that will help you prepare for a successful Coues Deer hunt in Mexico:
1) BOOTS
The ideal boots would be all leather, 8” to 10” lace-to-toe design with an aggressive sole for traction and a shock-absorbing element to cushion your feet on the sharp, rocky terrain. Cabela’s Alaska Hunter boots are an optimum choice.
2) BINOCULARS
The best all around glass currently available may be the 12 x 50 Leica Ultravid, which provides sufficient magnification, a wide field of view, high resolution and a very bright image. These binoculars can be hand held for a quick look or mounted on a tripod. The Swarovski 15 x 56 SLC binoculars are ideal for this type of hunting but they are more specialized, requiring a tripod for effective use. Any binoculars will require a steady tripod for extended viewing. For cost effective alternatives to the very expensive European models, look at the Pentex 12.5 x 50 DFC SP, Burris 12 x 50 Signature Select or Cabela’s 12 x 50 Alaskan Guide binoculars
3) SCOPES
A power range of at least 4.5 x 14 up to 6 x 24 is ideal depending on your preference. An objective lens between 40mm and 50mm is sufficient. The real issue is that all the lenses must be multi-coated to produce the crystal clear image that you will need for range shooting. I personally like the reliability of Leupold scopes but my next purchase may be a 30mm Burris Euro Diamond or Black Diamond scope for about half the cost of similar European models.
4) RIFLES
Your rifle should consistently shoot minute of angle or less with your selected ammunition and the weight of the rifle must be such that you can carry it all day in the field. Among currently available factory-built rifles, Weatherby markets their incredible Vanguard SUB-MOA rifles that are selected in the same manner as were the original 1 of 1000 Winchester’s – by test firing at the factory. If you select a factory rifle, be sure have a trigger job done by a professional gunsmith to adjust the trigger and insure the fire control system is fully functional; that means the trigger, sear engagement and safety catch.
If money is no object, you can order the custom rifle of your dreams from any number of reputable firms. Christensen Arms Ultra-Light Carbon Barreled Rifles are a dream to carry and are very accurate. If money is an issue and you really want a custom, tack-driving rifle, check out one from H-S Precision; it will come with a guarantee of 3 shots at ½ MOA at 100 yards for .30 caliber or less at what is a bargain price for this degree of accuracy.
5) CALIBERS – There are three levels of power to consider here:
A) A .270 or .30-06 with high velocity loads from Federal or Hornady or a similar caliber with your fastest hand loads that still maintain MOA accuracy or less. These rifles can be lighter and produce less recoil than the magnums.
B) Any of the .270 or 7mm Magnums will shoot flatter, hit harder, weigh more and produce more recoil than the standard .270 and .30-06 class of cartridges using high velocity ammunition.
C) Any of the .300 magnums. This is probably the most popular choice among experienced long-range riflemen. The .300 magnums combine the elements of accuracy, high velocity, bullet weight, frontal diameter and high energy transfer at the target.
6) MAKING A SELECTION
Ideally, in order to avoid losing a trophy buck shot at long range, you need to knock the animal down. Penetration alone is not enough to insure recovery because even a mortally hit buck can travel a long distance in the time it takes you to reach him in difficult terrain. If you can carry and shoot a .300 magnum; it’s your best choice. If less recoil helps, go the .270 or 7mm magnums or consider the installation of a muzzle brake to reduce recoil. The standard .270 or .30-06’s class of cartridges can work but realize that you will be at a tactical disadvantage with respect to trajectory, wind drift and energy delivery compared the magnum calibers.
7) BULLETS
Aerodynamic, accurate and non-reinforced for quick expansion. Minimum standard deviation in shot to shot velocity and MOA accuracy are both basic requirements in your choice of ammunition. Like most mountain game smaller than elk, these small deer don’t require the use of heavy jacketed or reinforced bullets.
8) PRACTICE
Forget the 100-yard stuff. You need to shoot at 300, 400 and 500 yards in actual practice until your confidence and comfort level is automatic. Also, practice in the adverse conditions of heat, cold and wind. If you can, practice shooting uphill and downhill.
9) PHYSICAL CONDITIONING
You will need strength, stamina and flexibility to traverse this terrain. Think of it as sheep hunting. Climbing the mountains and in and out of deep canyons requires brute strength. Hunting hard day after day requires stamina. Flexibility will help you maintain your balance on steep slopes and uneven footing.
Hunting the Sierra Madre with Ojo Caliente Outfitters for Dos Machos Grandes
By Tom Brown
In mid January 2002, I received a call from Rick Young of Northwest Hunter about filming a trophy Coues deer hunt in old Mexico. I’ve been hunting in Mexico for thirty years and I can usually put hunts together without too much trouble, however barter hunts are another story. I would have to work hard to make this one work for everyone involved. After making several calls I learned that my good friend Ernesto Beall of Ojo Caliente Outfitters had two of the coveted Chihuahua Coues deer tags. He jumped on the opportunity to be a part of what could be the first-ever televised trophy Coues hunt. Ernesto and I had been thinking of ways to promote his Coues deer hunting operation in Chihuahua, and a trophy Coues hunting episode of Northwest Hunter on the Outdoor Channel would undoubtedly provide the best possible forum and audience we could ever hope for. Ernesto Beall owns and leases several large ranches in northern Chihuahua which have a history of producing trophy Coues deer. The big Coues bucks are extremely wary, hard to get close to, and not much on hanging around for movie cameras; but we agreed to give it our best shot so on January 28, 2002 we set out for Ojo Caliente’s 70,0000 acre ranch in northwest Chihuahua, Mexico. This one-of-a kind ranch lies in the foothills of the famed Sierra Madres and holds one of a handful of live creeks in the region. This fresh water creek served as life support for numerous Indian villages as evidenced by the archelogical sites, petroglyphs and ruins found along its banks. The fresh water now supports a healthy population of Coues deer, mule deer, goulds turkey, javelina, mearns quail, scaled quail, black bear, mountain lion, and the elusive coatimundi, a raccoon like creature that roams the Sierra Madre in family groups up to twenty strong. The Coues deer rut takes place in January, making it the best possible month to be hunting. Unfortunately, Coues deer bucks are very aggressive prior to and during the breeding season making it difficult to harvest a buck in January without some sort of antler damage.
During our four and a half hour drive south from the west Texas town of El Paso we passed through three separate biomes before reaching the five thousand foot base camp we would call home for the next week. Our entry into Mexico was painless because we got the green light at the Palomas-Columbus international border crossing in southwestern New Mexico. For those who have not been to Mexico, all ports of entry have a gadget that looks like a stoplight. Before being allowed into the country, your friendly Mexican customs agent pushes the button for you. If it’s red you get pulled over, if it’s green you simply step on the gas and wipe those tears away. This Mexican version of roulette can be a wonderful introduction for U.S. hunters who generally arrive a little on edge about hunting in a foreign country. If you do happen to draw the red light the consequences are mild unless you pack something your outfitter or Mexican Customs told you not to. You also need to be aware that there are secondary inspection points along the way and you must be prepared to show your visa and luggage at these points as well. If you ever get a chance to hunt Mexico, I’ll promise you that these minor inconveniences are far outweighed by the tremendous hunting opportunities offered by our friends south of the border.
View of part of the Ojo Caliente ranch in Chihuahua Mexico.
On arrival in Casas Grandes we found Ernesto Beall and his top guide Jose Luis ready for the task and anxious to go hunting “Hollywood style.” Since this was their first ever Coues hunt, Rick and Jim received a crash course in judging trophy Coues by looking over the thirty some-odd shoulder and full body mounts that adorn the walls and halls of our homes. This would later backfire on us when Rick ended up setting his trophy requirements based on the biggest bucks taken by our group over the past twenty years. Rick and Jim had a hard time accepting that a 110 inch Coues buck is the equivalent of a 180 inch northern whitetail, but when I showed them a photo of the 145 inch world record typical Coues they quickly came to their senses. After a delicious meal at the best steak house in Casas Grandes, we headed out to the ranch where we were pleasantly surprised by what appeared to be the beginnings of a once-in-a-blue-moon Chihuahuan snowstorm. An hour later we arrived in camp where three inches of fresh snow had already fallen. The cook and helpers were gathered around the campfire waiting for their charges, solving the world’s problems and enjoying the unusual weather. Although very little was said, all of us were concerned about the storm and the prospect of hauling heavy camera equipment up snow-covered and semi-treacherous mountains where the Coues deer make their home. Rick believes in, and relies heavily on, expensive and heavy camera equipment and his high quality hunting shows are proof of his convictions. I was sure that the camera weighed forty pounds by itself, and the tripod and other support gear easily weighed another hundred pounds making the equipment almost overwhelming for foot hunting. This however would not prove to be a problem with the leanest, meanest cameraman of all time. Jim Nabor is both an avid hunter and a one of a kind cameraman; capable of climbing like a goat and packing like a mule, as we would soon discover on our first morning climb up to the northwest corner of the ranch in a canyon known as the Boquia. This ranch has what I consider to be the world’s best Coues habitat consisting of scattered oaks mixed with juniper complimented by lots of deep, dark ravines. When compared to Sonora, Chihuahua has very little cactus making it much more pleasant to glass and foot hunt the mid elevations where the Coues bucks roam.
After an hour of slow, methodical climbing, we spotted two very nice bucks. One of them was a heavy, wide 95 inch eight point, and the other was a young six point. More importantly, both bucks were well within filming and shooting distance, and I was now chomping at the bit for Rick to make a kill for this all-important segment of the show. The bucks stood motionless against the background of fresh snow and gave us plenty of time to film and evaluate them. Rick passed the shot because it was early in the hunt and the largest of the two bucks had broken off a G-3 leaving him lopsided and slightly weak for a TV appearance and a spot in Rick’s trophy room. I tried in vain to convince Rick that getting this close to another trophy Coues with all of his camera equipment could be difficult and any good taxidermist could easily repair the broken antler. The kill would also be easy to film because the bucks were standing in two feet of snow in broad daylight without an easy escape route. Rick stood his ground and our entourage proceeded to the top of the ridge that separates base camp from the Boquia. From there we had a birds-eye view of 70,000 acres of drop-dead gorgeous Coues hunting territory. We glassed up several smaller bucks which Jim videoed as a warm-up for better things to come. I knew that this show was destined to be special because of the snow and because we were on a ranch where the odds were excellent to obtain good footage of trophy Coues deer.
As we traversed the ridge and glassed several draws feeding out of the Boquia, we spotted and passed several bucks that would put a smile on any trophy Coues hunter’s face. I quickly learned that hunting celebrities are very selective because they get to see so many trophy animals, and this celebrity would stop at nothing short of a 110 inch all time Boone and Crockett buck! That night we feasted on grilled rib-eyes with all the trimmings and gathered around the fire sipping a little tequila to kill the pain, take the edge off, and guarantee a good night’s rest. At one point during the conversation, I looked over and saw a grey fox that had come in to see what all the commotion was about. He stood there looking at us like we were intruders in his house. It was unanimously agreed that the fox was delivering a message of good things to come. Ernesto reported spotting a large ten-point buck that was a cross between a mule deer and a Coues deer. The buck was of average body size and spent the entire afternoon gathering up whitetail does until a monster Coues came over and ejected him from the mountain. This was the second cross we had seen this year, and all of us were anxious to get a glimpse of this obvious mistake of nature.
Rick Young glassing some of the beautiful country on the Ojo Caliente Ranch in Chihuahua, Mexico.
On Day two we headed out before daylight, and as the sun broke the eastern ridge, I spotted a group of bucks milling around a rocky bluff a half-mile across the canyon. We counted six bucks in this bachelor group and one was definitely a trophy even by Rick’s standards. Unfortunately, the approach was bad and it would have been hard on Jim to get the camera and gear across the rugged canyon and close enough for quality video. I could tell Rick was disappointed, but Jim was relieved as we loaded and headed up the ridge glassing for the elusive whitetail deer that we have come to admire and respect for their uncanny ability to melt into their surroundings. Later that afternoon as we made our way off the ridge between camp and the Boquia, we spotted several deer feeding on the fringes of the brush-covered draws. Rick scanned the bottom of the arroyo and spotted a buck that instantly put a big smile on his face. Sure enough, directly beneath us at around three hundred fifty yards, stood a real nice 6×4 along with a smaller buck and several does. I held my breath, and when Rick all of a sudden said, “He’s a shooter!” I breathed a sigh of relief and sensed we might get some video after all. I think this buck was special to Rick because he had spotted him while the rest of us were preoccupied with another smaller buck that had stood on a boulder under a tree for more than an hour. This is one characteristic that makes Coues deer so darn hard to find. So when you find one it’s a good idea to observe him as long as possible to see if he has any friends and to learn more about their habits and daily activities. We had another tag to fill for the show, and I honestly believed that a good ten-point Coues buck in hand, and on film, would be much better than any buck in the bush. The buck bedded down under a large alligator juniper giving us an opportunity to make some ground and get within reasonable filming and shooting distance. I worried about losing site of him because we had very little daylight and at least two hundred yards to get within camera range. It seems like everytime we take our eyes off of a trophy Coues he disappears into thin air. After closing the distance we found that the buck had vanished. With lots of quick and frantic glassing, we found him standing in the bottom of the arroyo, tending his does and feeding in the direction of the live creek that winds its way through the middle of the ranch. The buck’s neck was swollen, and he was undoubtedly the boss of his herd handling the smaller buck like a cutting horse and protecting his does as they fed around him. I held back while the cameraman, Rick, and Jose made their way another fifty yards down for the shot. I had the buck centered in my 10×50’s, and it wasn’t long before I heard the report of the 280 Remington and that unmistakable th-a-wack indicating a solid hit. The big buck hunched up, lunged forward, then ran down into the arroyo and disappeared from my view. A few minutes later I heard the second shot. I knew the first shot connected, and I was not worried about recovering Rick’s buck. I had only hoped that the daylight and camera angle were sufficient to get it all on film. I slid down to where the action was and reported the sound I had heard and the buck’s direction of travel. Within a minute or two I spotted the buck lying in the rocks not far from the tree where he’d bedded earlier. Before we could get gathered up to go down and see him, a subordinate buck moved in and mounted one of the does that milled around their fallen monarch. I have seen this happen with wild turkeys, but never with whitetails. All of us celebrated Rick’s kill like a bunch of kids in a candy shop as we hot-footed down to get a few photos of what Jim appropriately calls the “hero shots.” We called Ernesto on the radio and Jose put the big Coues deer over his shoulders and walked him out of the canyon and 300 yards down to the rendezvous point. The buck’s neck was very swollen and all of his points were in perfect condition, a miracle for a rutting buck of his size and stature. His heavy 6×4 rack was truly magnificent. His features were very typical for this ranch and his long and pointed nose made him look as elegant as any Coues I have ever seen from this region of Mexico. Ernesto’s other ranch produces the short and blocky facial features which are more common among the species. Ricks trophy Coues later green scored one hundred and twelve inches. Rick was elated with his trophy Coues and has plans to full body mount the buck being pulled down by a big cougar he’d killed earlier in the year.
Rick Young's excellent 109 B&C (gross) buck taken on the Ojo Caliente ranch during January 2002. This was the first time Rick had hunted Coues deer.
On day three it was my turn to bat. I elected to hunt the drainage we call the Gato, where we had seen a huge heavy antlered buck two weeks before. This buck was one of the best Jose and I had seen all year, but unfortunately he had slipped right out from under us when we tried to push him through an escape route on the last day of the first hunt. As we made our way up to our glassing position, I heard some noise behind us, turned around and found myself face to face with a nice eight-point buck that had apparently heard all the commotion and come up to investigate. This was unusual because the wind was in the young buck’s favor, and we were not wearing any scent cover. He just stood there staring at us for several seconds before stomping, snorting, and walking back over the ridge. I honestly believe that this buck may have never encountered a human before and simply did not associate our scent with danger.
After several hours of glassing, I spotted three more bucks milling around some big boulders across the canyon. One was a very respectable 100 inch eight-point that Rick encouraged me to take for the show. I politely passed stating, “ I am after a better buck, and we need to keep looking.” After arriving at our next spotting promontory, we spent the rest of the morning glassing the canyons and enjoying the sunshine and left over snow. At half past twelve I looked down along the edge of the heavy brush that lines the bottom of the Gato, and there basking in the sunshine and browsing in the tall yellow grass was the same heavy antlered buck grazing with a single doe. His antlers were so heavy, wide and dark I could see them without the aid of my binoculars. When we’d spotted him two weeks before he’d been a hundred yards up the draw and in the company of a single doe. This was a buck I wanted more than anything because of his massive antlers and much like my good friend Rick Young, I had made up my mind early in the hunt that I would not accept anything less.
We put the spotting scope on him to confirm that he was the same buck we had seen two weeks before. We had a slight problem with this because this buck appeared to have a 5×4 main frame, while the other buck we had seen had a 5×5 main frame. My 30×70 spotting scope did not have sufficient magnification to count the smaller nontypical points, but Jose and I had a gut feeling that this was probably my buck minus a couple of points. We could not close the distance because there was not any cover between us and it was too far to take a shot with the 243. We watched helplessly as the deer fed on the edge of the brush, ready to disappear at the slightest hint of danger. All we could do at this point is wait for the buck to bed. After an hour of feeding and basking in the sun, they walked into the heavy brush and disappeared. A cloud of disappointment came over me as I realized it would be extremely difficult to make a stalk under the circumstances.
Once these big bucks bed in the heavy brush in the bottom of a canyon, it’s almost impossible to get a shot because they use the brush to their advantage in more ways than one. We decided to make a move and see if we could jump him out of the draw and catch him moving out against the opposite face. We eased down towards the area where they disappeared and just about the time we got to the bottom, Jose saw the doe moving through the snow on a game trail straight across the canyon. I soon caught a glimpse of the buck and his heavy wide rack. He did not stop or appear alarmed as he melted into the cover and was gone within seconds. Once again that sinking feeling came over me, and we retreated back up to the sunny side of the hill hoping to see him on the shaded north face of the Gato during our lunch break. We had seen him several times by now, but we could never be sure he would show up again. Half way through lunch Jose looked down near the bottom and said, “Aye esta Tomas!” This time the big buck and his companion were back in the bottom of the canyon feeding from the direction they had gone after the last sighting. They just stood there like mannequins in a department store window begging for us to put a stalk on them. I was glad that I had not taken a shot earlier and patted myself on the back for waiting for a better shot opportunity. The buck had stayed in the same drainage for three weeks, and we had now seen him three times in an area less than a hundred yards square. We eased to within 350 yards. I figured it was time to fish or cut bait because it was getting late, and if we dropped down further we would lose sight of him and lose the opportunity for a shot.
Finally, the moment of truth had come. I set up with my shooting sticks and let some lead out of the barrel kicking up rocks behind him, under him, over him. After several choice words I said to Jose,” I can’t make this shot. Let’s get closer.” The buck had moved ever so slightly and continued to act like a hot spring gobbler, ignoring his surroundings, and letting us stalk to within 290 yards to make what I hoped would be the final shot. I found a semi-flat spot, adjusted my shooting sticks, caught my breath, squeezed ever so slightly and Ka- boom! The giant Coues buck bolted downward and disappeared into the ravine. Jose was sure he saw one of the buck’s hind legs fly upward and thought he heard the smack of the bullet. These observations gave me some confidence in the shot, and I knew that I had connected in some way with one heck of a Coues deer.
I placed a flag at our location, marked the distance at 290 yards with my range finding binoculars and we hastily made it down to the last location of the buck and his doe. Unfortunately we did not find any blood at or near the place where the buck had last stood, but we were able to find their tracks and some flipped rocks. We scoured the bottom of the draw a hundred yards in both directions before finally picking up a faint blood trail that headed down the ravine. We decided to wait thirty minutes to avoid pushing him and hopefully give him time to expire. We followed the blood that was heavy in places but eventually dwindeled down to nothing. Our frantic search ended with a goose egg causing much distress and despair. I have lost very few big game animals and considered this loss as possibly the most tragic of my hunting career. It is hard to describe that empty and helpless feeling when you reach the end of a blood trail and know the animal has clotted and had the strength to get away. I knew I would have to live with this overnight because it was getting dark and the blood trail had all but disappeared. I started worrying about what could happen and we thought through all the scenarios both good and bad. Jose assured me that the mountain lions in Mexico typically feed on the carcass and bury the remains at the kill sight. This was not very comforting, but I figured under this scenario I would at least recover the antlers.
We carefully marked the last blood and made the two-hour hike back to the road. Once in camp I had to recall and confess the details to Ernesto and the rest of the crew and needless to say, a restless night ensued. The next morning found us back up in the draw at daybreak searching from the point where the blood trail left off. After what seemed like an eternity I said, “We have got to go higher and look for birds on the carcass.” Later that morning I watched a single crow light in a tree in an area one hundred yards up from the last blood sign. This would be our last chance at finding the lost buck. That hopeless feeling had already welled up inside of me and I was almost certain the hunt was over. I marked the tree, and we started a grid pattern search working from the bottom of the draw up to the crow’s landing spot. The big black bird had done his work. I found heavy blood on a game trail 50 yards up the side of the ravine and more and more until I stood at the last puddle and found absolutely nothing! I yelled to the guys to come over and help me but the wind had picked up and they must not have heard me. Knowing the buck had to be close, I retraced the blood trail ten yards, looked down, and there he was laid up under a yucca, stiff as a board. I will never forget that close up view and the feeling that came over me when I found this monster Coues deer I had worried so much about and worked so hard for. The buck had retraced his trail, expired, and rolled down off the game trail. The shot had passed high above the vitals angled back and exited through the hind leg breaking it cleanly in half and severing a main artery. It is hard to believe the old buck could climb straight uphill with only one functional hind leg. It’s even harder to believe that he was not slinging all sorts of blood from the point of impact down to the first blood and again as he climbed up the side of that canyon with only three functional legs. Others might have given up, but with a strong will and lots of determination we were able to solve the puzzle and recover what would ultimately be a buck of a lifetime.
Tom Brown's 117 B&C (green, gross score) was taken on the Ojo Caliente ranch in January 2002. This buck probably would have scored 125 if it didn't have so many broken tines.
The old buck had been fighting a lot during the last two weeks and had broken off his G-4 on his right side and sheared the same point off the left side flush with the main beam. He also damaged his right brow tine providing my taxidermist with plenty of expensive antler repair work. This seven and a half year old monster Coues green scored 117 Boone and Crockett points. He would have scored 125 B & C had he not broken three of his tines. Despite his broken antlers, this buck was a one of a kind because he carried a tremendous four inches of mass all the way out his seventeen-inch main beams.
We were all extremely happy with the superior genetics of these two trophy bucks, which represent a good sampling of what this one hundred square mile Coues hunting paradise is capable of producing. This ranch undoubtedly looses more trophy deer to old age and predation than are taken by the hand full of trophy hunters outfitted by Ojo Caliente each season. My friend and master taxidermist, Chuck Meachum from Tucson, Arizona, said he could repair the broken tines and said, “You will never know the difference.” We spent the next morning caping out my buck and gawking at the size of the deer we had killed and documented for a television show. Filming spot and stalk trophy Coues hunts under fair chase conditions was a true challenge, and our hats are off to Rick Young and Jim Nabor for doing such a great job. The last couple of days were spent filming the numerous Indian ruins, petroglyphs, and plant life so that Rick would have plenty of good video to compliment the show. When all was said and done, the Northwest hunter, the Southwest hunter, and the Alabama cameraman ended their Mexico Coues hunting adventure without incident and all returned home to the states safe and sound with new friendships, great trophies and fond memories of hunting in the Sierra Madres with Ernesto Beall of Ojo Caliente Outfitters. The show will air on the Outdoor Channel as well as several others in September of 2003 and a video will be available in April 2003.
To book a trophy Coues deer or goulds turkey hunt with Ernesto Beall of Ojo Caliente Outfitters please take a look at Ernesto’s web site at www.ojocalienteoutfitters.com or give him a call at (915) 845-3149.
Story and Photos by Thomas C. Brown all rights reserved.
Other fine bucks taken by Ojo Caliente Outfitters:
This buck gross scores 121 as a non-typical.
This buck grosses 118 as a typical.
The Moment
By Garrett Mortensen
Finally spotted the beast
He’ll score 380 at least
With tines long heavy and dark brown
You’d give anything to bring him down
There is an urgency you can sense
You’ve got to close the distance
Wind is perfect out of the west
Knock and arrow and lay it on the rest
Caught up in the thrill
Of being poised for the kill
Your heart stops beating
You know this moment is fleeting
There is a quick moment of peace
The arrow is released
Everything seems so serene
You’ve bagged the bull of your dreams
Thank the lord for letting it be
This once in a lifetime memory
Trail Camers Prayer
by Jeff Mortensen
Lookin at cam pics,
Right before Sunday meetings.
For intents and purposes,
Proves to be self defeating.
Antlers and Tines,
Big bucks galore.
The guy from the pulpit,
Would make a man snore.
They are all Gods creations,
It is part of the plan.
But Lord please forgive me,
For being a man.
For thinking of things,
That are frowned on by most.
Images of small deer,
Known to some as the Ghost.
Hunter Blue
By Tyler Zawacky
I sit here on this roof,
Of a house no bigger then most.
In a place of roof tops and lights.
A forest of noises and people.
Yet these last few nights
This feeling has pulled me up.
To sit and wait for something – I have no clue.
Then in the hunter blue sky just before light
In the distance there’s a bugle.
Two houses over at the crest – a silhouette.
First an elk, then a coues chasin’ does, – two mulies fighting.
I look down as a mountian lion jumps from the wall below.
The morning chill of a future Fall,
Sends shivers down my spine.
I feel an odd moistness in my hands like morning dew.
Then I hear it, a car door slams, a horn honks.
I’m brought back to this jungle only to fall asleep.
to dream of hunts to come,
memories to be made and many hunter blue mornings to come.
Poetic Fun
By John Noble
May your arrows fly true
and your bullets fly straight
I’ve learned better to go
Than stay home and wait
It’s the call of the hunt
That keeps us burning inside
With visions of mountains
And valleys so wide
This year has come to a close
With freezers being filled
Some with crazy dumb luck
Others with captivating skill
So however you have spent
This entirely short year
Whether chasing elk pigs
Or the bitsy Coues deer
Hopefully you have found
A new passion or friend
One that will stay true
And see you through till the end
Of this next year we will buy
New trinkets and toys
As thought to be men and women
We are but little girls and boys
A new bow a new rifle
A new rod a new reel
Or polish the old one
To give it that lost feel
For why I hunt
I cannot begin to explain
For me it eases my mind
And takes away the pain
What pain could this be?
I know you want to ask
It’s that dang 110″ buck
That disappeared into the grass!
Ghost Hunter
By Nick Cruz (aka Grey Hawk)
With the sun on my back and the wind in my face I’m off to hunt my favorite place.
Today the desert ghost will be my prey, I’ve chased these Coues many a day.
He’s smart as a fox and quick as a cat, but today I know I’m up for that.
Through my glass I spot the ghost, “oh my god he’s bigger than most”.
Sun on my back, wind in my face, I grab my bow and start the chase.
Through the desert I slowly crawl , for the ghost can see and hear all.
I draw my bow and let one fly, I should have known that ghosts don’t die.
To Glass a Coues
I rise up early with dawn a long ways off;
And few know why and some would scoff,
Because it’s always dark and usually cold;
And I have to make myself do it if the truth were told.
I lace up my boots, gather my binoculars and gear;
All for a possible glimpse of a Coues whitetail deer.
As I stagger out the door and head for the truck;
I wonder if it’s worth it, to see a big Coues buck.
I try to dismiss these negatives from my head;
But think deep down I should still be in bed,
But the lure of watching these dainty little deer;
Draws me into a night, dark, cold and clear.
I drive through the dark ebony of night,
Finally reaching my destination and starting my hike.
By the glow of a flashlight I start my hike up,
But soon my legs are screaming to give up.
But to quit now would make my trip pointless. I will not stop!
I’ll just push a little harder until I reach the top.
As the peak of the mountain starts to draw near;
The light of a new dawn begins to appear.
Finally, I reach the top and shed my pack,
And the first rays of sunlight spread its warmth upon my back.
And there’s a pesky little gnat buzzing in my ear;
Oh but it’s so, so sweet to be sittin’ up here.
While I scan the canyon spread out at my feet;
I feel like a king on a jewel-studded seat
While glassing the basin for the buck below,
I wonder what my 15×60 Zeiss will show.
Soon some movement catches my eye,
And my attention focuses on a rack, wide and high.
My adrenaline rushes at maximum warp speed,
Because this is one magnificent Coues buck indeed.
I’ve seen some good bucks, that’s for sure;
But for Coues buck fever, there is no cure.
This poem was originally printed in the book “How to Hunt Coues Deer” by Duwane Adams and Tony Mandile and is reprinted here with permission. You can purchase a copy of the book by visiting the CouesWhitetail.com bookstore.
