Westons Buck! His First!

[Lance]

This was to be my 11 year old son Weston's second rifle Coues deer hunt. During his first hunt last year the two of us got really sick and were only able to spend a day in the field. During that time he had a shot at a small buck that wasn't sticking around for us to take our time. The shot was a clean miss and left Weston with a strong determination!

When this season came around Weston and I did not draw the tags we had applied for, so along with Weston's uncle Mel we applied for a leftover November hunt in Southern AZ and drew it.

I ended up shooting a buck in the early archery deer hunt so when the hunt came around I was able to give all my attention to Weston's tag!

Due to other hunting obligations we were not able to get to our hunt until the evening before. We glassed one area just before dark but didn't see any bucks. Three more friends came and camped with us that night. They each had a tag and we would all be hunting the same general areas.

Opening morning came and while we were getting ready, a knock came on the trailer door. When we opened it we were surprised to find our cousin and TLO guide Jake! He couldn't stand to be home and at the last minute he arranged to be able to come out and hunt with us! What a pleasant surprise, and we had a deer whackin' team for sure! I turned to Weston and Mel and said, " We're gonna have a two deer day!"

 

This is Weston getting his gear ready opening morning! No excitement in that smile!

 

 

 

We made our way into the desert mountains and parked in a small saddle. We got all our gear together and found an IA or UA or what ever kind of trail you want to call it. We call them "Mexican Super Highways," trails through the desert made by border crossers. We jumped on one of these trails and it took us easily up a steep mountainside to another saddle. From there we hiked to a mountain top where we planned to glass for the morning.

 

As the sun rose on a beautiful day we began to pick out Couse deer on every mountain side but no bucks. Our other crew on the opposite side of the mountain had found a couple spots with bucks and were putting a stalk on some of them but try as we could, we could find no bucks. Weston did a fine job of glassing. He picked up on the deer we found right away and even found a few on his own. Weston had been coming into the field on rifle Coues deer hunts with family and friends since he was 6 years old, so with his five years of experience, he new the drill pretty well.

The trucks far below. NOTE the trail we used going past the truck!

 

 

 

During mid day we gathered up with our friends and talked about the days events and made plans for the afternoon. They had some close calls but didn't connect on any of the bucks they had found. They mentioned they had seen some bucks headed over the mountain toward the area we planned to glass that afternoon. This was an area we had hunted many times and it had produced some great bucks for us in the past.

 

We found this beautiful guy soaking up some midday sun!

 

 

So with high hopes we hiked into the area and set up to glass.

After about a minute Weston was the first one to speak up, "I got him!" "I got a bedded buck!" "Where?" we all asked while turning our tripods and binos to look in the direction his were pointed! "Under a big green bush under that rock cliff." "I got him," Jake says! "Nice buck." Soon we all were looking at the deer and admiring the spotting efforts of Weston. I broke out the spotting scope and took a couple quick, blurry pictures as he got up and turned around to bed down again.

 

 

 

 

The buck was a young 3 point at 630+ yards. We knew Mel could probably take the buck from there but this was Weston's spot and we all wanted him to get first crack at a buck anyway. We made plans for Jake to stay and watch through the binos as Weston, Mel and I stalked in for a closer shot. We had two ridges that we could shoot from. The first ridge was 350 yards and the second was 50 yards. We of course opted for the 350 where we wouldn't spook the buck. Mel was to be Weston's backup so Weston and Mel both set up for the shot. We got on the radio and let Jake know we were ready to shoot. He told us there was another buck bedded on the other side of the bush and to be ready for it. I let Weston know were I wanted him to hold the crosshairs on his 243 and he settled in for the trigger squeeze.

 

 

Weston took a deep breath and let it out slowly........Boom! The gun went off and I saw the bullet hit the dirt right under the bucks chest. The buck sprung from his bed and ran toward us and out of sight behind the 50 yard ridge. Jake came on the radio, confirmed the clean miss and began to give us play by play as to where and what the buck was doing. Finally I picked up an ear flick behind a mesquite tree and we zeroed in on the buck. As soon as we got both guns settled on the right spot the other buck bolted and headed over the hill. It was a nice two point but was gone before Weston could get on him and Mel opted to pass.

Shortly after the two point vacated the mountain the three point stepped from behind the tree. Weston took the shot and we could hear a hit. The buck went down out of sight and Jake let us know that he bedded down and was going to need another shot. We thought he might have been gut shot and were hoping he would not get up. But after a minute he got up and worked his way back across the draw where he had come from. He came back into view for us just as he tucked himself behind another big pile of brush and disappeared. We watched the tree for a half hour and nothing stirred. Weston and I packed up and headed around for another angle leaving Mel to cover it from that spot. We worked into a shooting position at a 90 degree angle from the last spot and knew that if the buck were alive he would surely know we were there. We glassed and glassed the spot and found nothing. We were much closer at that point and I got an idea. I called Mel on the radio and told him to shoot the rock on the upper left side of the brushes and waited for a reaction. Mel made a perfect shot and dust and rock flew everywhere with a big racket! ......Nothing.......OK I said, we are headed in.

 

Along with tons of nasty trash everywhere, we found this homemade shank alongside one of the Alien Trails! ie. "Mexican Super Highways"

 

 

 

Still thinking maybe the buck may have laid down to die.

Weston and I headed up the hill to catch another Mexican Super Highway I knew would lead us right below the buck. We closed in to about 80 yards and Jake's voice came on the radio "There He Goes!" The buck was running and bounding across the steep hillside like nothing was wrong. I threw out the tripod for Weston and pulled up my binos! I noticed a small red spot on the hind led of the buck and knew it was a non lethal hit. The quickly departing buck was topping the ridge when Weston's rifle broke and the buck collapsed into the tall grass and out of site. "WOW you dropped him!" "Shoot him again!" Weston threw another round in the chamber just as the buck came back up on his front legs, Boom! The rifle cracked again and the buck went down out of sight. Jake came on the radio and said he could see the buck gather himself up and bed down again. He felt the shots had gone through the back strap and had shocked the spine but were also nonlethal and the buck was now recovered and needed to be shot again!

The buck was hiding in the brush assessing his situation and only Jake could see him. We took the trail up to a point right under the buck. I put down the tripod, Weston got into the gun, and I started picking apart the brush 50 yards in front of us. Jake was telling us on the radio where he was but we still couldn't see him over the brush. Suddenly the buck bolted from the brush again like nothing had even touched him and flew up the hill towards the nearest saddle. Boom! Weston's gun broke again just before the buck topped out and disappeared over the ridge. "I shot in front of him," Weston said as he lowered his head in disgust.

As the buck was leaving I was able to glass the two spots on his back where the bullets had barely pierced his hide and knew the chance of seeing this buck again was slim if any. But the day had plenty of light left and we still had bullets and a tag to fill!

 

I said "Come on Son, we got to get to the top!" Up and up we went huffing and puffing as we topped out in the saddle. I picked up the bucks tracks and quickly followed them around the next peak until I lost them going down a long boulder pile and rock slide. We cut up and across the nearly vertical mountain to gain an advantage point over the next canyon all the while watching the steep slope below for the fleeing deer. We quickly rounded the mountain straight into a hot, glaring evening sun. Squinting eyes, dripping sweat trying to cling to the rock slide in our haste! Cactus, mesquite, cat claw, ocotillo, glaring hot sun and loose boulders everywhere. I began to realize we hadn't had any water in hours and the strain was taking its toll.

 

 

Half way across I could hear my son behind me take a fall and turned to see him go head over heals on the rocks and face first into the sticker bushes. He hung there above the rocks like a pitiful piece of Velcro. The sting of the catclaw hindered and hastened his retreat back onto the open boulders. I cringed at his struggle, but was glad the brush was there to stop him. Fighting clear of the brush, he sat there on the rocks, hands in the air, afraid to touch anything. I half slid and stumbled down to him to help pick the branches and stickers from his cloths and skin. He was exhausted, his pride was broken, the buck was gone, and everything was hurting from head to toe. He lowered his head and his young tender eyes filled with tears. He is a strong boy, very competitive, good at all he does and hates to loose. It was hard to keep back my own tears seeing him in this state.

"Son.... son I know it hurts, I know everything hurts but we have to go." I hated to say it, I hated to ask it of him in his state. I felt bad telling him to get up when I just wanted to sit beside him and give him a hug. "Son, you've got to get up, we have a job to do." "We started it and we have to do our best to finish it. I know it hurts but that buck is hurting too and we're the cause of it. It's not likely we'll see him again and he'll be fine but we have to try." "That point right up there son, we have to make it to that point as soon as we can. Once we get there we will be able to see everything and he's either there and going to give us another shot or he's not, but we have to try!"

Weston muscled up all his strength, wiped the tears from his red little cheeks, stood up and brushed the last few thorns from his skin and clothes. He then looked up and looked me straight in the eye with a determination that would make any father proud! I will never, never, forget that look, or the feeling that raced through my soul! A feeling that can only be had between a parent and a child! Together we turned and raced to the top as if the brush and boulders were no longer there!

 

At the top we plopped down on a huge cliff and quickly broke out our tripods, binos and some bottles of water. I can't remember when I had ever been so quickly refreshed by chugging a bottle of water! The sun still glared but there was a wonderful breeze coming straight up the cliff that cooled us down.

 

We glassed and glassed but the buck was gone. We figured he had made it through that canyon before we could get to the point to see him. We felt very blessed to have seen where the shots had hit and knew he would be fine. Weston was so close to taking that buck it seemed crazy that he had given us the slip, but that's the way it goes sometimes, whether we like it or not.

We were out of radio contact with Mel and Jake and had been since we crossed through the saddle. They had no idea what was going on or where we had gone so they had started looking for more bucks for Mel to hunt.

After an hour or so I told Weston that knowing what we knew about the buck, we would go ahead and try to take another buck if one presented itself.

Right after I said it I glassed two small bucks getting out of their beds for the evening. I showed them to Weston and it was "Game On" again! We pulled out the bipod and rested the back of the 243 across my backpack. Weston settled in for the shot as the deer fed unaware on the opposite hillside 300 yards below.

 

 

 

I stared through my binos on the tripod. "You got em" "Yea I got em" "Are you steady" "Yea, I'm steady" "OK,Squeeze it slow and let it happen" He took a deep breath, let it out slowly and.............Boom! We hear the bullet hit as buck drops and goes over backward! "Shoot him again!" Weston already had another round in the chamber. "Where is he?!" "He is sliding down the hill behind that next mesquite, see his legs sticking out?" "I see him".....Boom! Whack! We hear the bullet slam home behind the mesquite. "Good shot! Get on him again!" Another bullet in the chamber, "Where did he go?" "He's under that tree now" "Where I don't see him?" I looked down the barrel of the gun, "Here let me see". "Here, you're on the wrong bush." I adjust the gun and Weston gets back into it. I look back into my binos and "Oh Man! He's up again! Going into the bush to the left see his rear sticking out?" "Yea, You want me to shoot at it?" "Yes!" Boom! The shot went just over the buck and he stepped into the thick tree. "Get back on him! Do you see where he was last standing?" "Yea" "He took two steps into that tree and stopped. just put the cross hairs right there where you think he should be and send one through there!" Boom! Four inches to the left of the spot I'm looking at the trunk of the tree blows up!

 

"There! You see him moving out the other side?!" "I'm out of bullets!" Ahh! We spread out laid on the ground like a couple of wiggling worms as we dig through our pants pockets for more bullets! Like pigeons in a magic show, bullets appear out of every pocket and we get the gun loaded! Four down and one in the chamber! Two more steps and the bucks whole body is exposed on the hillside! "You on him?" "I got em"....Boom! The gun cracks again and the buck drops like a ton of bricks! Weston slams another in the chamber. "Hit him again!" Boom...Whack! "Nice Shot! I think that should do it." We watch for a minute. "No wait, put another in him!" Boom....Whack! "Oh yes! I saw that one hit right behind the shoulder for sure!" WHOOHOOO! A wonderful sound of relief in Weston's voice echoes down the canyon! "Man! That was one tough little buck" I say. Weston says, "Yea, holy cow that was crazy!" He had hit him 5 out of 7 times and two of the shots had been through trees!

It was followed with big smiles, big hugs, high fives, a prayer of thanks and a big "Thank you Dad, your the best Dad ever!" that finally jerked that tear from my eye. Awesome!

 

I told Weston to hang tight and watch his buck and I would go to the top of the peak and call Mel and Jake on the radio and let them know what was going on.

Jake had found some other bucks and Mel was watching them. When they learned Weston had killed his deer Mel decided he would go ahead and take one of the bucks so we could get Weston back to go to school. Awful nice of him! He also really wanted to make the shot he was set up for! I went back over the hill to Weston and Mel took one of the bucks with one shot, in his bed right up the tailpipe at 441 yards with his 270 WSM and a 130 grain bullet! So centered and perfect was his shot he didn't ruin even one steak! Nice Shot Mel!

 

When I got back down to Weston I found him taking pictures of his buck across the canyon and of his newly found brass mine! I let him know that it was just going to be the two of us on the pack out cause Jake was helping Mel pack out his. Weston's buck was WAY off the back side of the mountain and it was no easy trip from the truck to get to where we had shot from! Looking at the cliff we were on and the steep slides and bluffed up mountain sides that lay between us and the buck I suddenly felt like we were sheep hunting and was trying to figure out how to get to him.

 

This is Weston's picture he took of his self made brass mine. Can you see all 7 casings?

 

Here is another picture that Weston took of his deer lying on the far hillside! The second buck is still standing in the upper left hand corner under the big light green bush!

 

We chose to go back over the top of our little mountain and down to the original saddle the buck had gone through. We were not about to side hill around back the way we came! When we got to the saddle we kept the gun for safety but emptied our packs down to the bare essentials and then used the huge trail our wonderful border crossers left for us to get us down the mountain and across from the buck. We then bushwacked over to the buck to claim Weston's first deer!

 

I took several pictures trying to capture to moment he walked up to his first deer.

 

 

 

 

 

 

A fun picture session ensued and we got to work cutting up and deboning the buck.

This is Weston gettting his "First buck blood on the face"

 

 

 

 

 

We got it all packed up and ready to go right after dark. We worked our way back over to the trail and back up the steep long slope to the saddle where we had left our gear. We loaded down our packs with the remainder of our gear and headed for the truck. Our friend Jason met us half way down the hill and helped by taking some of the weight. As we neared the truck we could hear the Border Patrol helicopter on its way! People bobbing through the mountain with flashlights and all. Soon we were all engulfed in his huge spotlight as he hovered above us trying to determine what we were. We waved and made some jokes about "Where were you two hours ago when we were on the other side of the mountain?" Still, it was nice to know they were around and keeping an eye on things. We made it down to the trucks poked, scratched, scraped, bruised, completely exhausted and totally happy! Just like we like it!

 

 

We made it back to camp just fine. Weston walked into the door of the trailer and flopped onto his bed. I woke him up and made him swallow some food and water and Bam, he was out like a light! We cut up Mel's buck and had a fine dinner. Indeed we had a two buck day. But most importantly Weston had his first deer and it was a precious memory to last a lifetime! Congrats Weston and thank you son!

 

Family Is Everything!

 

Lance

[CVLCADMAN]

What a great story! Congrats to a very proud father and son team! I can not wait till my little guy is old enough to go hunting with me! Thanks for sharing!

[palivs2hnt]

Sensational write-up and pictures! Congrats to both Father and Son! Thanks for sharing.

[couesridge]

What a great story! Congrats to a very proud father and son team! I can not wait till my little guy is old enough to go hunting with me! Thanks for sharing!

 

+1

[Schmitty]

Great Job Weston and Dad!

 

Thanks for the write up!

[firstcoueswas80]

Where is Mel's buck?

 

Was that a typo, or was he really shooting 230 grain bullet from the wsm, or a 130?

 

 

Nicely done! Great write up! What bullets was Weston using, becaseu 5 shots in a whitetail makes me think the bullets werent doing their job, especially with that neck shot!

[daryl_s]

Congratulations Weston on your first coues. What a great story and wonderful pictures to preserve the memories!!!!

[Arizona Griz]

Excellent summary of your son's hunt. The pictures speak for themselves.

 

Congratulations on your son's success.

[FlyingW]

Way to persevere to the end !!! Congrats

[GameHauler]

Lance I reread that twice because it was such a great story.

Thank you for such a great recap of the hunt

and the photos are awesome.

 

Congratulations young man on your first coues and what it took to get it

 

Wonderful post.

[leland]

Congrats to weston!! Its great to see kids taking game.

[WFGinNM]

CONGRATULATIONS!!! What an awesome hunt, thanks for sharing. That just made my night.

 

Way to go,

--Bill

[Coues 'n' Sheep]

 

 

Congrats Weston!!!! Way to go Lance!

 

For those of you that don't know Weston... this is one GREAT kid that is gunna be a great hunter and this is just the first of many great adventures we will get to see, I think.

[SunDevil]

NICE - I am so jealous! I can't wait to take my daughter out on her first hunt. going to be awhile as she is only 4. great story, great pics and great buck. Wow - that is a lot of lead. I think I will go invest some money in ammo manufacturers.

[COOSEFAN]

Great job sharing your awesome experience with us and huge congrats to Weston! That right there is my #1 pick for the Best Photo Essay category in the contest!!! Awesome! JIM>