First Coues - on the third chance

[Sonof12]

So this is my first time posting something on a forum like this but my brother and I had such an enjoyable hunt we had to tell it…

 

This is my first Coues Whitetail and the first big game I have killed in about 7-8 seasons of hunting (talk about a dry-spell). If any of you hunt the Mogollon rim units, you know what its like to hunt these critters in Manzanita and Scrub Oak in canyons so deep there is shade in them day-long. In short, its tough work. So after the first 5 days of ridge-walking, glassing, and spot-stalking, we only had a couple fleeting shots at a forky to show for it. That was, until our good sense (and turns out better judgment) told us to find a tank, and sit on our butts. You see, a lot of Coues hunters tell you that during a rifle hunt, you can only get a good Coues when you glass them up at dawn or in the late dusk light, and then take a shot worthy of sniper-school to get it (point in case – my friend just shot one at 812 yards). But knowing that this year the rim is unseasonably dry and hot, we made the call to find the optimum tank. My brother and I scoured the country looking for a tank with Coues-deer action (although the prints don’t always tell the story – look at the cover folks!), found one that looked good, and set up a make-shift blind for the next day. The next morning found us at 5:30 am settled in enjoying the nice sub-freezing temperature and view. Hour after hour goes by…nothing. Then, we caught some movement off to our left – pigs. That was about 8:30 am. At about 9:30, my brother spurred me out of day-dreaming instantaneously with the heart-pumping phrase, “Here we go.” After looking up, a nice 95 inch buck descended to the tank like he meant business. As he was walking towards us at 75 yards, I told my brother to not make any movements. Then, if on queue, he turned broadside and slowed to a walk. I pulled up my 270 wsm (sighted in to hit 4” high at 100 yards of course), aimed low, took a breath, and gently squeezed off the shot. No ‘thwap,’ no stagger, nothing but lots of dust underneath the buck. Of course, he didn’t want to stick around so he was a lost cause. “You missed him” my brother said. “No way,” I said…“I had him dead to rights.” 10 minutes later found us walking over to the far side of the tank and nothing to show but tracks. I had a clean miss on my hands and have never felt so defeated in my life. “Well,” my kind brother said, “let’s go sit and see what happens…it is only 10.” As I went back to our seats, I started replaying everything in my mind and could not for the life of me figure out what happened. My gun was dialed in, and I had not dropped it or shook it around during the hunt. Right about then while replaying the event with my brother, a doe walked 15 yards in front of us and we were back to business. She wandered around until she got bored, and took off. However, something else happened during this period of time that provided some relief to me – I took a look at the line of sight through my binoculars and saw something very curious…I hit the darn barbed-wire fence! What are the odds! Well, at least it wasn’t a true miss or buck fever. Well, 12 noon came around and we looked at each other and said, “Let’s call it.” I went up to the barbed wire fence to show my brother and right to my right, 30 yards away, two bucks stood there looking at me. Of course, at this point, I was busted and they took off. “Dangit!” I thought. There was our second chance. “Let’s just go sit down and sit here the rest of the day Bro.” I said. We walked back to our seats, and within 30 minutes, a fourth buck charged up over the bank of the tank and right down into the water. This was it – our third chance. We both pulled our rifles up, both made sure our lines of sight were clear, and both fired almost instantaneous. There was no escaping the pinpoint accuracy gained with 6-power at 75 yards and a combined foot pounds of the weight of an old Chevy – our little Coues buck didn’t see what was coming and went down like a sack of potatoes. Thankfully, it was a quick and humane kill. When we approached the buck we were as eager as school girls getting ready for prom. Obviously, he was an old buck based off of the worn down teeth and the bladed and worn antlers but to us, he was the perfect ending to a day full of second and third chances.

[SouthernCouesHunter]

Nice buck! Congrats

[bonecollector]

Way to stick with it and be patient enough to keep sitting the water hole it paid off for you Congrats on a nice Coues!

[CouesWhitetail]

sitting water in subfreezing temps takes some serious dedication! Way to stick it out and get your buck. Too bad for that barbed wire fence, but congratulations on getting your buck!

 

Amanda

 

[king4wd]

Good work! Sometimes sitting water is one of the better ways to go.

[Coues Archer]

Nice buck great job..