I had a boss who regularly said "Sometimes it's better to be lucky than good." That proved to be true on my first (and likely only) Coues hunt. I'm not a "trophy" hunter - in fact, I dont' like the term because it generates so much negative emotion among non-hunters and the general public and I believe a "quality" hunt is truly in the eye of the participant. But, I occasionally participate in some hunts that are considered high quality opportunities. For some time, I had been interested in hunting Coues whitetails because they are a unique subspecies in a unique area. I'm posting my story because so many hunters on this site seem to appreciate Coues deer and I gleaned some useful info by reading the forum.
Anyway, after building bonus points for several years, I put in for a Dec Coues hunt in 36B. I chose the unit because of the statistics and also because it had good opportunity for Mearns quail. I put in for 2006 because of the proposed fee increases for 2007, hoping my accumulated points would yield a tag brfore the cost became prohibitive (I'm a wildlife biologist for a NW state - so funds for hunting out-of-state are a little limited).
My wife, dogs, and me arrived in Arivaca on Christmas eve in time for an evening glassing session. Within 150 yards of parking the truck and heading toward a high ridge, I jumped a whitetail. I only caught a fleeting glance, but my impression was it was a buck - never to be seen again. The spot we picked to glass wasn't productive, but at least we were in the right area and my wife found a covey of Mearns' to boot.
Our first night camp spot turned out to be a bust, so rather than hunt Christmas morning, I tore down our wall tent camp and set out for a new (as yet to be determined) camp spot. We happened across a local hunter/guide who suggested a camp location near Arivaca Lake - which turned out to be a great area. Glassed Christmas evening and saw several does. Hunted the 26th - 13 illegals and 4 does. About 1/2 hour before light on the 27th, at the glassing spot I selected, I was greeted by very loud radio traffic somewhere below me - I'm guessing it was Border Patrol or National Guard - no deer that morning. By the tmim I returned to camp, the wind was starting to blow and the weather report was calling for winds to 35 mph, so we decided to break camp...again, and get a hotel in Green Valley. Rain started about 8 pm that night and kept up all night.
Sunrise found us sitting in the truck debating what to do as the rain continued - thinking this wasn't supposed to an issue for a desert deer hunt. I later discovered that Arivaca area gets more annual precip than my home area in eastern Idaho! The rain let up a little, so I headed up the ridge while my better half stayted in the truck, trying to catch up on some sleep. A break in the rain allowed me to glass for about an hour, but I only turned up 1 bedded doe. The wind was picking up again and the rain resumed, making even occasional glassing a challenge. A few ridges later, I came to a spot that just felt right - there had to be some deer there. But the horizontal rain made the proposition of serious glassing impossible - even a quick look through the binos was asking for blurred lenses and several minutes of cleaning off rain drops. As I dropped off the ridge, the wind seemed to lessen and I chanced a quick look through the binos. It proved well worth it, as the first thing I saw was antlers. I started shaking as I watched the only buck I'd seen in 5 days. There were 2 does near the buck, but the only interaction between the buck and does seemed agressive - he rushed after 1 doe, but retreated and stayed about 75 yds away. Shades of my mt. goat hunt in 2005 arose as the rain turned to snow, creating a near white out and obscuring the deer. The snow let up and I slowly closed the distance as much as I thought possible - I was trapped in an open ocotillo patch with open ground all around - to about 300 yds. He disappeared when I shot and 1 of the does kept looking at his last location, telling me the shot was good.
Basically beginner's luck and some persistence. Then we also a great day and a half of Mearns' hunting - wore out my normally very energetic yellow lab...
The head/cape is at Lippert/Doyle in Tucson - they seemed genuinely interested in creating a quality mount - anyone have any experience with them?
