I first started hunting Coues deer in 1990 and was really gung ho throughout most of the 90’s. So much so that I even guided hunters to bucks of 118 and 123. However most of you may be surprised to learn that I personally had never taken a deer over 100 inches let alone something of Boone and Crockett caliber.
That all changed this year when I was finally able to close the deal on a World Class Coues deer. I believe I first saw this buck last year on the October hunt when I missed a shot at a very large Coues buck down the ridge from where I was glassing. Amanda was around the corner glassing a different area and had the only range finder. Afraid the buck was going into the brush, I guessed at the yardage and missed at least 3 shots, actually it was more. Turns out it was 550 yards out. I never saw the buck the rest of the hunt and didn't get a good enough look at him to realize just how big he was.
However, my pursuit of this particular buck didn’t begin in earnest until December of last year when I took a friend to this area who had the December hunt. We got into some rutting Coues and my friend killed what I thought was the biggest buck in the group, and only after the buck was down and dead did “The” buck step out. Man what a giant he was. All we could do was watch in awe and wonder as this amazingly large and awesome Coues buck wandered out and peered at his deceased friend for a good 30 minutes. I took a few photos through the binoculars.
Around May of the this year I purchased some Covert II trail cameras from Amanda and set one up in the area where the big buck lived. It didn’t take long for me to get that big rascal on camera and man what a beast.
This picture was from Aug 8.
These are pictures from Aug 13.
These are pictures from Aug 15.
Finally these pictures are from Sept 8.
By the time I saw the photos from Sept 9, I was totally pumped about hunting this buck. The day before the hunt Amanda, Trent and I backpacked into the area the big buck called home.
Here I'm wondering if the Lord will bless me with this big Coues buck.
Early opening day found all 3 of us glassing different canyons along with my son James and his friend Joey who hiked in early that morning, glassing yet a another canyon. But it was Amanda who found him feeding on a slope in a bachelor herd of bucks all of which he dwarfed by a large margin.
The big buck broke off from the other bucks very early and dropped into some trees where he ended up bedding. I worked into a position under an oak tree about 200 yards from the group of trees he was in and settled in to wait.
Wait I did, about 5 hours of it. Suddenly without warning the sound of a deer blowing pierced the silence and the game was on. I think the wind may have swirled over to where the big buck and a doe were bedded. They blew out of the trees and started running up the ridge and directly into the sun. Even with a sunshade on my scope I still couldn’t see to shoot. The buck ran way up the hill and into a thicket where he bedded. Amanda could see the buck and I knew Trent had seen the buck because I heard him say “Good God!!!” over the radio when he finally got his first good look at him. I couldn’t see the buck from my current location.
I moved from my location to the next ridge over but still couldn’t make out the buck with my 10’s, of course it didn’t help that I was so buck fevered up that my hands were shaking like a hardware store paint mixer. I set up my 30’s but only located the buck after he stood up and started feeding some. I hit him with the rangefinder and it read 410 yards. I chambered the 6.5 wsm and cranked the scope up to 20. Holding the crosshairs at the top of his back, I touched her off and heard Amanda say I hit to the right. The buck didn’t go far and this time I was much steadier. I touched her off again and heard the smack of the bullet as it hit Pure D Boone and Crockett Coues flesh. I heard Trent say he was hit hard. The buck staggered and rolled. I had hit him a bit far back but he expired in less than 2 minutes.
The buck actually broke a tip off one of his antlers but thank goodness I was able to find it.
It was a grand celebration on the mountain that day let me tell you. Everyone got to see the kill from their different positions since after we bedded the buck everyone moved in for a front row seat. We took all the photos and relived the hunt and Joey and James gladly packed the buck out for me. It was certainly worth the nearly 20 year wait for. Maybe the next one won’t take quite as long. Again thanks Amanda, Trent, Joey and James for your help. I couldn’t have done it without you. It was indeed a great day to be alive.