M
massey_muley
Guest
I recently moved to Colorado and it was a stretch to make it down for my Dad's 2010 Arizona Coues' Deer hunt. But I made the 9 hour drive anyway.
My old man has really missed out on hunting the last few years, as he has been working in Alaska due to no construction work in Arizona. I had a feeling that hunting karma was due for him, as he has never complained a bit at not getting to do much hunting of his own as of late.
This Northern Arizona Coues' hunt has success rates around 10% and is one of the toughest hunts in the state. If you see one or two coues' bucks during the hunt you should be more than happy.
I was just happy to be spending some time with him and this area is the first place i can ever remember hunting and i took my first bull elk there at 16.
Things were very slow and on day 3 we had seen one coues' deer....a doe. We were wrapping up the morning hunt (8:15ish) when my dad said "lets take a little walk through this juniper bench, and get "baked" by one of these pricks"
Anyone who has hunted coues' deer knows how good they are at holding like a quail until the precise moment when they can "bake" you, snorting, flagging, and leaving you wondering how you never even got a shot off.
The night before my dad and i had talked about how on most hunts something happens that you just cant quite explain, an example of how the true hunter is connected to his quarry in a way that is beyond our understanding.
Not 100 yards of walking into this junipered bench, fully expecting some explosion of the irritating white flag retreat of one of the diminutive desert cousins of the eastern whitetail, I looked up, and in slow motion was smacked in the face by the shadowed figure bedded underneath a juniper 75 yards away, ears perked and looking right at us.
I rarely can spot a bedded mule deer or elk before he sees me, but could this really be the master grey ghost, the coues' deer?
I hissed at my dad to stop, as i simultaneously threw up my binoculars. I first saw the ears, unmistakable, then saw that he was a spike......no, they are eyeguards......then my eyes follow up the curve of beams.
"There's a nice buck bedded under a tree right in front of us", I excitedly whisper to my dad as he hurriedly backpedaled towards me.
"I see him...," he says.
"I dont know if you have a shot, you might have to wait until he stands-"
click,KWUUUUUUU-BOOOOOOOOM!
The explosion of the 7mm was almost as unexpected as the next view in my binoculars.....kicking legs in the air.
Dad turns to me for a high five, holy cow its over.
I think I was more excited than he was, I felt like I could die right then and there after being right next to him on a kill of one of the most elusive game animals on the planet.
We enjoyed a kill beer, took lots of photos, and it was awesome to see my dad, who doesnt often get overly excited , not able to take his eyes off his prize.
If you made it this far....enjoy the photos.
Happy Hunting.
-ZMassey
4x5
edge of the canyon where these little ghosts thrive.
this might be my favorite pic.
me and pops
this is the third mature coues' buck in 3 years for me and him. I'm glad it was him this year!
'08
http://www.monstermuleys.info/cgi-b..._thread&om=13942&forum=DCForumID5&archive=yes
'09
http://www.monstermuleys.info/cgi-b..._thread&om=15506&forum=DCForumID5&archive=yes
My old man has really missed out on hunting the last few years, as he has been working in Alaska due to no construction work in Arizona. I had a feeling that hunting karma was due for him, as he has never complained a bit at not getting to do much hunting of his own as of late.
This Northern Arizona Coues' hunt has success rates around 10% and is one of the toughest hunts in the state. If you see one or two coues' bucks during the hunt you should be more than happy.
I was just happy to be spending some time with him and this area is the first place i can ever remember hunting and i took my first bull elk there at 16.
Things were very slow and on day 3 we had seen one coues' deer....a doe. We were wrapping up the morning hunt (8:15ish) when my dad said "lets take a little walk through this juniper bench, and get "baked" by one of these pricks"
Anyone who has hunted coues' deer knows how good they are at holding like a quail until the precise moment when they can "bake" you, snorting, flagging, and leaving you wondering how you never even got a shot off.
The night before my dad and i had talked about how on most hunts something happens that you just cant quite explain, an example of how the true hunter is connected to his quarry in a way that is beyond our understanding.
Not 100 yards of walking into this junipered bench, fully expecting some explosion of the irritating white flag retreat of one of the diminutive desert cousins of the eastern whitetail, I looked up, and in slow motion was smacked in the face by the shadowed figure bedded underneath a juniper 75 yards away, ears perked and looking right at us.
I rarely can spot a bedded mule deer or elk before he sees me, but could this really be the master grey ghost, the coues' deer?
I hissed at my dad to stop, as i simultaneously threw up my binoculars. I first saw the ears, unmistakable, then saw that he was a spike......no, they are eyeguards......then my eyes follow up the curve of beams.
"There's a nice buck bedded under a tree right in front of us", I excitedly whisper to my dad as he hurriedly backpedaled towards me.
"I see him...," he says.
"I dont know if you have a shot, you might have to wait until he stands-"
click,KWUUUUUUU-BOOOOOOOOM!
The explosion of the 7mm was almost as unexpected as the next view in my binoculars.....kicking legs in the air.
Dad turns to me for a high five, holy cow its over.
I think I was more excited than he was, I felt like I could die right then and there after being right next to him on a kill of one of the most elusive game animals on the planet.
We enjoyed a kill beer, took lots of photos, and it was awesome to see my dad, who doesnt often get overly excited , not able to take his eyes off his prize.
If you made it this far....enjoy the photos.
Happy Hunting.
-ZMassey
4x5
edge of the canyon where these little ghosts thrive.
this might be my favorite pic.
me and pops
this is the third mature coues' buck in 3 years for me and him. I'm glad it was him this year!
'08
http://www.monstermuleys.info/cgi-b..._thread&om=13942&forum=DCForumID5&archive=yes
'09
http://www.monstermuleys.info/cgi-b..._thread&om=15506&forum=DCForumID5&archive=yes
