Son's Coues buck

NMPaul · Dec 10, 2017

After Zach gave up his opening day for his coues hunt in NM (a unit we have never stepped foot in) I took one day to catch up on business at home, then I went out to scout the unit. Dickweed had finals this week so there was not skipping class. I got out Wed, set up camp not knowing we were about to get a ridiculous cold spell. My first day scouting scared me. Saw no coues, logged 11 miles, and saw very little sign. This is a border unit, so Border Patrol was out in force on the roads, and in the back country on horse back, airplane and helicopter.

The next day Z was out and we hit an area way back in there after a 7 degree night in my tiny uninsulated trailer. Condensation froze mattresses to walls, and every bottle of water was frozen solid. We saw some coues, but, nothing big. Again, nothing like our late December hunts in AZ when they are rutting. We were getting a little worried. Next morning more of the same, very few after glassing our eyes off.

The evening of the second day in the evening Zman glassed up this buck in 20+ mph winds. Made a great stalk and I watched in the 15x binos as the 300 ultra blew hair and insides everywhere. Had one day left to hunt, but, we had a feeling we were not going to find a better buck the last day we had. Felt bad he gave up 2 of the 4 days he had to hunt to help me in AZ and that we could not give the unit a better chance. But, it was a big boost for him and his buddy to show up for the last weekend of my AZ hunt.

deadon · Dec 10, 2017

Nice! Congratulations

BUGLEnmIN · Dec 10, 2017

Great N.M. couse guys good job.

Wapitiwilly · Dec 10, 2017

Good job guys...never a doubt with the two of you. Congratulations and happy holidays ??

NMPaul · Dec 11, 2017

>Good job guys...never a doubt with
>the two of you. Congratulations
>and happy holidays ??

Not so Paul. Just ate a 12AW late Kaibab tag in AZ. That was a heart breaker. Never saw a shooter. Hope you guys are well Paul.

crazeymaez · Dec 11, 2017

Congrats on the Coues.My brother and I also hunted these this last weekend for the first time,Saw 2 shooters on the first day out.

After that saw about 25 does with one small buck.No rutting activity.

But now I want to kill one of theses little bastards,lol.

Any info you can share Paul via PM on AZ would be awesome,points needed?How was the hunting,terrain? animals seen?ect..ect

NMPaul · Dec 11, 2017

>Congrats on the Coues.My brother and
>I also hunted these this
>last weekend for the first
>time,Saw 2 shooters on the
>first day out.
>
>After that saw about 25 does
>with one small buck.No rutting
>activity.
>
>But now I want to kill
>one of theses little bastards,lol.
>
>
>Any info you can share Paul
>via PM on AZ would
>be awesome,points needed?How was the
>hunting,terrain? animals seen?ect..ect

Zach killed this buck in NM. But, feel free to call me and we can discuss AZ. My impression, and I could be very very wrong is that there is a better population of them in AZ. I did not think we saw that many coues or that much sign, but, again, this is the first time in the unit we hunted, and I have not spent a lot of time in SW NM until this year.

5yearcoueshunter · Dec 11, 2017

Congrats guys, beautiful deer! Not bad for having a short time to hunt and never being in the unit.

Travis

twdjr · Dec 11, 2017

Congrats!

Wapitiwilly · Dec 11, 2017

We just returned from a late season elk in AZ. Weather was unseasonably warm. Many more challenges than we expected. Hopefully I will stumble into you sometime on the mountain!

coues79 · Dec 11, 2017

Good buck right there. Congrats.

joesikora · Dec 11, 2017

LAST EDITED ON Dec-11-17 AT 07:24PM (MST)[p]Those little grey ghosts are hard to hunt crazeymaez. I'm sure you'll get them dialed in!
Zach congrats on your nice buck!

Joe

"Sometimes you do things wrong for so long you
think their right" - 2001
"I can't argue with honesty" - 2005
-Joe E Sikora

Servehim · Dec 11, 2017

Nothing like waking up to frozen water, sure slows down the coffee making process. . Congrats Z and Dad...Great hard earned buck!! Paul I also will be following up about your AZ deer hunt.

hank4elk · Dec 11, 2017

Nice one Z-Man!
Saw a similar buck 2 days in a row...mulie hunting...LOL
Never saw a mulie buck tho.

NMPaul · Dec 11, 2017

>Nothing like waking up to frozen
>water, sure slows down the
>coffee making process. . Congrats
>Z and Dad...Great hard earned
>buck!! Paul I also will
>be following up about your
>AZ deer hunt.

The Kaibab humbled me. Never saw a shooter. Can discuss any time, just let me know.

nmtaxi · Dec 13, 2017

Nice buck! Congrats to Zach. He is quite an accomplished hunter for his young age.

NMPaul · Dec 13, 2017

Thanks for the nice comments.

cmbbulldog · Dec 14, 2017

Congrats zach!

2lumpy · Dec 15, 2017

Very nice bucks Paul. Recognize that old building right off. I have a grand daughter named after the little community to the north. She's the cutest little spitfire on the planet.

That is a spectuarily beautiful unit to hunt.

Thanks for posting your pictures, brought back good memories.

DC

NMPaul · Dec 15, 2017

>Very nice bucks Paul. Recognize
>that old building right off.
> I have a grand
>daughter named after the little
>community to the north.
>She's the cutest little
>spitfire on the planet.
>
>That is a spectuarily beautiful unit
>to hunt.
>
>Thanks for posting your pictures, brought
>back good memories.
>
>DC
I was waiting for someone to recognize that old building. One of the coolest things about hunting is seeing wilderness and its history. Lots of history in that area.