Thanks for the replys on my Coues deer. Like some of you I used to only hunt muleys. About five or six years ago I decided to start hunting Coues deer. I have been hooked ever since.
This buck was my first Coues deer. I hunted hard for 10 days passing up some smaller bucks, messing up on a couple of good opportunities as well. Towards the end of the hunt is when I finally started seeing some sign that the rut was starting.
Day nine of my hunt was pretty uneventful as far as seeing any deer. I was out by myself heading back towards my truck late in the afternoon when I suddenly fell really hard in some rocks. After laying still for a moment and realizing nothing was broke I looked at my rifle and saw a pretty good size nick in the scope. I was really disgusted at that point. Not only was I tired mentally as well as physically, but now my main gun was out of commision. I had two rifles, and wasn't about to take a chance with this one until I could sight it in again. That evening my hunting buddy (Hector) showed up in camp and we made plans for the next day.
The gun I was carring had an old 4x scope. Not the ideal set up for coues deer hunting. We set up early that morning and immediately glassed up this buck. After coming up with a plan we set off for a long stalk. An hour and a half into our stalk found us out of cover and still at least four hundred yards away. If you have ever looked at a deer at that distance with a 4x scope you will understand the dificulty in making the shot. I set up a good rest and had Hector spotting my shot. The first two were low, yet the buck couldn't figure out what was going on. Finally I connected the buck spun around and went into some brush. We discussed the shot and thought it wasn't a solid hit.
After waiting a while to see if he would come out we decided that since it was so thick my buddy would go over while I better positioned my self for a shot if the buck busted out. Hector made his way over and was within ten yards when the buck came out. He ran towards the bottom of the canyon when I made the final shot. It took us four hours to pack this buck out
I have never actually put a tape measure on this buck, I would guesstimate mid to high eighties. None the less he sure is pretty on my wall.
I learned a lot on this hunt and have upgraded alot of my equipment such as optics and scopes. I also have learned a lot from reading the great postings on this site. Nowadays I use use 15x56's and pack into areas with my Llamas to hunt these beautiful animals.
If you like I will post a couple of Pictures of my Llamas from my 12 year old sons first coues deer hunt as well as his Coues deer.
Thanks for letting me share this.
