Yesterday, on Veteran's day, I finally had the opportunity to shoot my very first coues buck.
Let me back up a bit. 5 years ago I went on my first Coues hunt with my dad and brother. Immediately running into a spike buck, I thought to myself "man this hunting thing is easy" and I passed on it thinking that I'd for sure get a chance on a bigger deer. Well 4 years later and I was empty handed coming into this hunt.
Saturday, my dad and I dropped into a valley that we had worked the year before and had lots of success finding bucks. After a long day of glassing only turning up a handful of does down below our "glassing knob" the day began to run out. At about 4:15 I glanced over at my dad who was about 20 yards from me and he was staring at me and gave a quick motion in order to wave me over to where he was. "I have 3 bucks, 3 nice three by threes", he told me once I grabbed my tripod and rifle and made my way over to him. I was in shock to say the least. We contemplated going after them since by that time sunset was only an hour away. We then decided to go for it, planned our route, quickly packed our bags, and took off after for them.
We got down to the ridge one away from where we were planning on shooting and they had disappeared. We sat there glassing the hillside frantically and then all of a sudden they reappeared feeding back over the ridge. We eased our way to the next ridge, dropped our packs, and found a suitable rock for a rest and got settled. The bigger buck had disappeared and left the smaller 2 in the open 260 yards away. After lots of stumbling around trying to get a good rest off of the rock the smallest one went broadside and I let a round go. "You missed, rack another round." The middle buck stood there stunned and I let another one fly. He didn't have to say anything, I knew I missed a second time. They disappeared over the ridge. I was stunned, frustrated, and every other emotion at once.
The next day my brother joined us but we turned up little more than does and bucks that seemed to be always be in the wrong position heading the wrong way.
Wednesday morning my dad's truck wouldn't start and so I set out on my own. I made my way to my spot but there were other hunters in that same valley. "ah crap, what now?" I made a decision to make my way to the opposite end of the huge ridge but not before day broke. Not my first choice but I had seen bucks over there before and plus it was an easier area for my brother to find me once he got off of work. All of a sudden at 715 I was rocked with the firing of a rifle. Unbenounced to me there was another group of hunters not 300 yards from me on the same ridge. Well it was time to get out of there, I met up with my brother and glassed the next little valley for a couple hours. When midday came around we decided to check the other spot again. The other hunters were gone and we settled in for an afternoon of glassing.
Not more than an hour and a half and we glassed up a lone spike that was hanging out about 350 yards across from us. We set up right in time for him to disappear over the ridge and out of view. Not long after that we glassed up 2 groups of does on the same hillside. Thinking that there was a good chance that he was hanging with one of those groups I kept tabs on them while my brother glassed off the other side. 30 minutes later I swung my binoculars over to the last spot he stood and there he stood again! I radioed over and told my brother the news. He made his way back over to me. "If he makes it to that opening he'll be at 220" my brother said pre-ranging the area. I got set up again and put him in my scope. Like he was on a string, he quickly fed over across the hillside exactly to the spot my brother ranged previously. "He's at 226, any time you're ready. He's giving you the shot right there." I took a couple deep breaths and squeezed it off. "You hit him, rack another! Get on him again. Wait a second. Alright, shoot him again." I shot again. "Perfect hit!... He's down!!!"
After quick celebratory hugs and high-fives we packed up and made our way across the mountain. You can see him in the picture down in the little cove of rocks facing uphill. After 5 years I finally got my hands on my first coues antlers. It is far from a big buck but I am so proud of myself for finally making it happen. A big thanks goes to my brother and Dad for all the help and support!
