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Passed on 3 100in.bucks and multiple smaller to tip this one over, 570 yds. On day 3 Tape added up to 109...congrats to everyone on there early season success... Coues Az

After 7 years of chasing game with a only bow I finally put down my quiver for an October Rifle tag. My wife and I had a baby last September and the days for bow hunting just aren't there like they used to be. My close friends, ones that I've made here on CW.com, know how I've scouted and hunted these little rat deer the last few years. Dozens of sheds, and a couple of less crafty mule deer bucks have landed in my trophy room since I last shot a Coues with an arrow. To be honest I'd started to doubt my ability with a bow, the fact that I've been successful with elk and muleys is a undoubtedly the direct a result of spending so much time focusing on whitetail and learning from mistakes. This is my first ever big game animal with a rifle, a borrowed 30-06 from my dad (that incidentally I bought as a gift for him from a fellow CW member a few years ago). I took this buck on the 5th day of the season, Halloween morning, while I was with my father-in-law Ernie Allen. I had been out most of the other days helping others and even got a stalk with my bow at a great buck a few days before in a similar situation as the one I took this buck. Ernie found this guy with a group of four other bucks right after sunrise. They were feeding along the side of a steep mountain about 3/4 mile away. When they bedded I got up and started to climb the far side of the ridge and planned to pop over and shoot him in his bed at a couple hundred yards. Unfortunately when I got into position I could see them up feeding and headed over the ridge top. I took a deep breath, backed out, and started climbing for the top of the mountain planning to catch them on the backside. When I reached the peak I found that I couldn't climb over; I was cliff-ed out. I took a chance and started to come around below the peak on the same side as the bucks. To my tremendous fortune the buck had hung up on the bench in the shade with another deer. I was able to take my time and made a 135 yard shot while he stood feeding on an acacia along the shadow line. He's just shy of 18" wide on the inside spread - the widest buck I've ever laid hands on. It was an odd feeling, getting ready to pull that trigger, after all of the years and all of the missed opportunities at other bucks. There was a euphoria and even an epiphany of sorts in that moment. I think what I realized was that there is more to being a hunter than just calling yourself a 'bow hunter' or a 'rifle hunter'. I've been nothing but a 'shed hunter' the last six years if a method is how you define yourself. But after all of that time and all of those experiences I have to admit that everything I did that morning was automatic; from gearing up at the truck to taking my time coming over the ridge to check on the bedded deer and not spook them I never had to think twice about my next step. The pack out off the mountain was a monster 2.5 miles back to the trail head with a 1,400 foot elevation drop (thankfully it was down and out). That Eberlestock pack gets an MVP for helping carry the whole deer out. Special thanks to my mentor Ernie, he was out there fresh from knee surgery and is a grizzled warrior...