Opening Day Last Chance Buck

[Brian Payne]

My buddy Ryan got a leftover tag in a border unit. Because of work obligations I wasn't going to be able to hunt with him. Ryan made the decision (with a lot of help from his wife) that he wasn't going to hunt near the border by himself. He was able to get a friend to get the tag as well. After seeing nine bucks in two days of scouting Ryan was pretty excited about the hunt. Mid-day Friday I got a discouraged call from Ryan. He told me that that morning he had seen five good bucks but hadn't been able to get a shot at any of them and that his partner had found out that he would have to end his hunt and head home that afternoon in affect ending Ryan's hunt as well. I made arrangements to get off work a little bit early and told Ryan I could go out with him for a couple hours that evening but that that would be the only opportunity I would have to go with him. I met him at 3:30 and we were up on a vantage point near where he had seen the bucks that morning by 4:15. At about 4:45 we glassed up four bucks at about 1000 yards. All four of them looked to be mature bucks. They were on the move and we knew we had to act fast. There were two decent size canyons in between us and where we would be able to shoot from. We gathered up our stuff and set off on a "death march." About 5:20 we reached the point we figured we would be able to shoot from. Much to our surprise the bucks had moved to the same spot we were headed and we ended up busting them. As Ryan frantically got set up for a shot the bucks ran down the canyon in front of us and up the other side. I was frantically trying to figure out which buck was the biggest and give Ryan a range. I ranged the top of the next hill that the bucks were quickly heading toward at 330 yards. I told Ryan there was no time to adjust his turrets and that he would just have to hold a little high. One of the bucks stopped for a second and with one bi-pod leg on the ground Ryan shot. I heard the reassuring WHOP and watched one of the bucks tumble down the hill. We knew he was a mature buck but had no idea how big. We hurried across the canyon to the buck so that we could get pictures before it got too dark. He wasn't the biggest one in the group but Ryan was happy to tag a decent buck with it being his last evening to hunt.

 

Great shot Ryan and Congrats on a fine buck! Thanks for letting me be a part of it.

 

 

The rocks on the horizon are where we first glassed them up.

 

[lucky2hunt]

Very nice, way to use that glass!

[general]

nice buck. Looks like he has a great dark color.

[JMP]

Nice job Payne. I haven't seen Ryan in ages. Tell him I say congrats, and what's up.

[Simple Hunter]

Nice job Ryan. Stick around those Payne brothers - they have Coues whitetail magnets

[.270]

now there' a couple o' beady eyed, inbred RV boys for ya. how is ol' ryno doin' anyways? good to see you two in a photo that ain't in the post office. Lark.

 

oh yeah, nice buck too.

[The Coues]

Nice!!

[cramerhunts]

Congratulations on a super nice buck! Way to get it done on such a short time!

[Red Rabbit]

Glad it worked out to get a nice Coues.

Was there need for concern on the border? ie How many IA and DR were seen? Will the wife be more at ease next year?

 

Doug~RR

[Brian Payne]

Was there need for concern on the border? ie How many IA and DR were seen? Will the wife be more at ease next year?

 

We didn't see any IAs or DRs and really didn't see much sign (i.e water bottles and backpacks) other than a few well beaten trails. The BP said they caught 3 IAs within a quarter mile of Ryan's camp the night before opening day though.

[Apache7mm]

Excellent story, i like the quick gameplan and getting it in motion as quick as possible and getting it done with just enough time instead of debating debating and losing precious time, well deserving buck!!!

 

DAN

[W.O.T]

Nice buck brotha! way to whackem with that moose rifle you shoot! lookin forward to you helpin me this winter

keith

[Coues Archer]

Beautiful buck.