Sir Buckwheat

Or at least thats what I had a guy tell me this weekend. My wife is 8 months and 3 weeks Prego and the 2 kids we already have were driving her crazy so I took them camping/hunting this weekend. Those with kids know that bowhunting with a 5 & 6 year old is about as easy as herding cats. We always have a good time and have lucked into shots in the past, but overall its just a fun outing with the kids. Anyway Sunday night we were out getting firewood when we saw a small bunch of deer. I pulled off and was trying to put antlers on one of them when an SUV pulled up. The plates were from a highly populated West Coast state with lots of nice beaches but so as not to stereo type I won't mention the name of that state. The two guys were trying to see what I was looking at. I thought it was a bit rude, but there wasn't much I could do about it. I asked if I could help them and they asked if I was looking at elk? They'd been hunting for over a week and still hadn't seen one. Said they'd been up high and low and everywhere in between and had driven over 200 miles. As we were talking I noticed the driver wearing his Scentlok suit with a cigarette in his left hand and an overflowing ash tray. There were obvious food stains on the front and I couldn't help but ask how he liked his Scentlok. "Biggest bunch of BS there is! Its such a rip-off! I can't get anywhere close to a deer or elk in this thing, they always smell me!" I supressed a grin and wished them luck. So if anyone is wondering about purchasing Scentlok products and are a chain-smoking road hunter don't waste your money on them...or any other scent killing product. You'll be wasting your money. Also don't waste your money on a Utah Archery Elk permit either....

Click it on full screen so you can better enjoy the show!!

Nice goat! Which unit was that in? Which unit was your wife's moose tag for? And lastly where did you draw your sheep tag?? You have to have one of the luckiest households I've heard of this year! To draw moose and sheep the same year, what are the chances? Good luck on your hunt.

Think they'll make them wear proper PPE next time their flinging melons?? When I first saw it I was sure she had to have broken her jaw! My favorite part is the two helpers that just walked out to her. You'd think after seeing something like that they would have ran out to see if she was ok....Nope! They just walked out slowly like they didn't really want to, but someone told them they had to. LOL!!

Congrats! I feel your pain. I have trouble passing shots on legal deer too. He's not a bad buck though.

My neighbor is a big runner, runs a couple of marathons every year, and likes to wear something like this for running. Says its easier on her knees and feet. I've been going to get some to try. Right now I like to wear wrestling shoes. I get the split soled shoes and they worke really well. Light, thin soled but still offer protection and they are deadly quiet.

Sights or instinctive? I'd head back and look some more also. I hit a forkhorm mulie a few years ago, before I went traditional. It was an uphill shot and I shot a bit low. The arrow hit his elbow and a rib, only got 3-4" of penetration. When tracking him an hour later the little bit of blood I found was dark and I found a 2" chunk of rib bone also. After jumping him out of his bed I found a little dark blood but that was it and as he bounced away he didn't appear to be hurt at all. I backed out and came back the next morning. He'd only went another 200 yards and bedded again. The arrow had punctured one lung and he'd expired sometime in the night. From his bed I'd jumped him out of until I found him there was no blood at all. I also know two guys who, for whatever reason, made a Texas heart shot on their deer. One deer ran less than 100 yards before bleeding out, the other went a ways further but eventually they found the buck. Theres a big artery that runs in the rump and even nicking it will cause the buck to bleed out in time. Good luck finding the buck and good luck to everyone still hunting!

Nice job on the deer and the doves. My favorite part of filling any tag or bag limit is the dinner that follows. My kids refuse to eat beef, we've lived off deer, elk, quail, phez, and grouse for so long they always ask what we're eating and if we tell them beef they say they don't want any. Looks like you're raising your kids right!

I like to use the Scent Killer spray and a wafer or two to help mask my scent. I would never dream of a deer not smelling me if it was down wind though. I think it has helped me a few times when the wind has swirled and I was in close. There have been times they didn't act like they smelled anything and other times when I could tell they smelled me but for whatever reason didn't seem alarmed. I figured between the scent spray and the cover scent it masked it enough they figured I was further away than I was....it proved a fatal mistake for a couple of them!

I'm new on here but have loved the pics of everyones speed goats! I'm lucky enough to work in an area every day that has a decent population of them. I've never been lucky enough to draw a tag, but then most years I'm putting in for deer tags and only put in for them on my off years. I think I will be getting more serious after last years hunt though. I love watching antelope and practice stalking them quite often when I have a little down time at work so last year when I got a call from a friend 3 days before the season started I was excited to be able to get serious about it. A co-worker of his had put the wrong number on his application and drew a tag for a unit that he had no knowledge of and, the funniest part, he hadn't looked at his tag until the week before the hunt and thats when he realized his mistake. He was considering turning his tag in and trying his luck the next year when Dave told him that knew someone that might know the area. Thats when my phone rang. I laughed when he told me the guy was considering turning back his tag. When he asked why I was laughing I told him I just happened to be sitting in the middle of the unit and could see 3 bucks from the location I was on. The guy still wasn't sure he wanted to trust his tag he'd waited so long for to someone he didn't know so I told them I knew where a pretty good buck was hanging out and after work I'd run out and get some pics for them. That night I ran out and snapped a few pics of the buck working a doe then emailed them out. My phone rang less than 5 minutes later. "Can you put me on that buck?!" What no hello??? Opening morning we met up an hour before daylight. After introductions we headed out. I knew this bucks routine and you could about set your watch by him. We headed to where he was usually feeding at first light and he wasn't there. We glassed for a few minutes and I told them maybe he'd went to the lower flat to feed, which he did on occasion. As we drove there I pointed out the draw that he usually bedded in. We glassed the lower flat and didn't see anything. Not a single goat! I could tell they were having their doubts. I told them there had been a couple of times he hadn't came out to feed until after first light so we should head back and watch the first spot for a while. He was rutting afterall and may have had a late night. On our way back up as we passed his bedding area we all saw him at the same time. Sure enough he'd stayed in bed a little late and surprisingly enough he didn't have any does with him. After making DJ wait a few seconds so I could make sure it was the right buck I gave him the go ahead. A short 70 yard shot later he had his first big game animal. We rough scored him at around 84-85 B&C. I don't know the final score though since he hasn't had him officially scored. He's a great buck though...

Great buck! Gotta love the TC Smoke Poles. Sounds like you have a full fall ahead of you. Can't wait to see what you get with your remaining tags.

My friend shot some video of the hunt to, it took me a minute to find it.

Nice Buck! Congrats!!

Congrats! Its even better getting to share it with a kid! Not a bad mulie for the kids first either...it took me several years to get one that big.

Thanks. BTW, I don't know if I've told you yet but this is a great website you have. I've really been enjoying it. Hopefully I'll have a coues story or two to share in the next year.

Which units have Coues Deer in NM? I'm assuming most of the southern units should. Are the SE and SW units better? I've heard they have the Carmel Mountain Whitetails in the SE part of the state, are the deer dispursed through the entire southern end of the state though? I'm wanting to start putting in for tags so I can take a killing a nice Coues buck off my Bucket list...

I'm no pro at coues by anymeans but I'll throw out a guess of 127 gross. The extra main beam will add a bit I think to both the mass measurement on his right side as well as the extra inches of growth it adds. It did take some growth away from that side, but I still think he'll gross pretty high. I have a bad habit of underestimating deer, so I upped my guess a few inches to compensate... One things for sure, if I saw this buck while hunting I wouldn't be doing any math other than "How far is he??"

I practice on a cheap delta 3-D deer target that is probably a little smaller than a Coues. I can kill it every shot out to 45 yards, but on a live animal I'd hesitate to take anything over 25 unless conditions were perfect. ie..little or no wind, deer not aware I'm there and looking the other way. Too much can happen in the time it takes my woody to cover the distance. A lot different than the Hoyt was but also more satisfying. I'll try to get some pics of my bow. I thought I had some but my wife must have saved them to her flashdrive and who knows where they are now. It is a beaut of a bow though, smooth and deadly quiet! Not to mention a lot lighter than my Trykon was to pack around the hill. Oh and Bob, thanks for the links. Paul sounds a lot like me. Drives my wife crazy that I hunt alone so much but I love the solitude of it all, plus one guy only makes half as much noise as two...

I've been bowhunting for 13 years now, WOW! Never had counted it up! Where does the time go? Anyway I've been dreaming of hunting Coues Deer the entire time and have decided its time to take the plunge since I'm not getting any younger and life isn't getting any easier. Do any of you have any advise as far as area's to try, tactics, ect. Being out of state I'll probably only get to come down for a week to 10 days at at time. Right now I mainly still hunt areas I know hold deer until I spot one then the stalk is on. I have had deer walk right into me on several occasions as well. I know Coues are different than the Mulies I'm used to and that the country is different as well but I love a challenge and am open to suggestions. I'm not a trophy hunter and will be happy with any deer, especially for my first one. One more thing, I sold my Trykon a couple of years ago and now shoot a Zona Longbow. My wife tells me I just like to make things hard for myself, maybe she's right. After 5 years of filling both my deer and elk tags though I needed to mix things up a bit...

+1 Sounds like a great time in some great country. Your buck is a great one to get. How many guys have shot a trophy buck the size of a javalina??

How about bull moose in the desert? I'll have to see if I can find my pictures and scan them. One year a friend and I were still hunting elk in a canyon that was chuck full of them the day before. We'd each take a side and then use radio's if we saw something across canyon and guide each other to them. It worked well. This day I was glassing across the canyon when my friend walked into a small patch of quakies. Not 10 seconds later a large black bear walked out on the same trail. I got on the radio and asked if he was OK, he said "Yes, why?" It told him to turn around. The bear was still within 15 yards of him overturning rocks looking for bugs. About an hour later he came on the radio and asked if I could see anything behind him? He was in oakbrush about chest high and I couldn't see anything. He said something would walk when he walked and stop when he stopped. He finally decided to throw a large rock to where he last heard it. When he did a lion and two half grown cubs took off up the hill. We decided to call it a day. Unfortunately, for me, my friend hadn't brought any changes of cloths and we were in a Chevy Blazer so I had to smell the results of these two close calls all the way home... (I'll let someone else get the bigfoot ball rolling....)

From the posterior view just look to see if you can poke them with one finger or two...

Great story and a great buck. Sounds like your niece is pretty tough. Also sounds like time to get her a concealed carry permit and a nice .40, unless she can handle a .45. You can't go wrong with a good .45... Thanks for the story and photos. That is a unique buck for sure and an experience I'm sure none of you will forget anytime soon.

Great job, and having your son along makes it that much better. I've been lucky enough to kill 2 deer with my kids along, its quite a feat since my kids are 5&6 right now but worth it all. That is a beaut of a buck too! Still can't believe you got 3 shots at the same buck!

Very nice. Sounds like a great morning. To be able to see a nice 6-point bull and arrow a great Coues...can't think of much that would be better. Thanks for the story. It will help make my day be that much longer.