'Once in a blue moon' A CWT hunting story long overdue. (long read)

[308Nut]

December 2009 CWT hunt.

 

Once in a blue moon

 

 

This hunt starts out in the spring when the applications are being sent in to the Arizona Game and Fish. I had enough bonus points to draw and deer hunt anywhere I wanted south of the Colorado River and had my sights set on a good mule deer hunt that I had been dreaming about for eons. The fact that the late Coues tag numbers had been slashed to very few meant that there were only 2 non-resident tags available for the late Coues hunt that I had also always wanted. I decided that if I burned my points on that mule deer hunt I may never have enough points to draw the late Coues tag I also wanted. Also, my cousin Rex is a beyond help Coues nut and only applies for the late Coues tags. Bottom line, I opted to apply for the Coues tag. When the draw results came out it was very anti-climactic as I knew what the results would be at least for me. Rex called me later that evening and told me he also had drawn the same hunt. Sweet! It had been 5 years since he had drawn a permit. It was going to be a good season. The spring had been wet, there was no more archery hunts in December in our unit, the tag numbers had been restructured so there were only 23 other hunters in the unit, it was a rut hunt which can be frustrating but exciting none the less and we had team work on our side.

 

I decided that since I had to travel all the way from Alaska to hunt, and having a new and first baby in the house, I didn’t want to hunt the full 21 days. I opted for 2 full weeks. Rex started hunting opening morning. The beginning of what would become a 21-day marathon. He had our sights set really high as anybody with this tag and somebody who already has a great buck well over the 100” mark should do. Not having harvested a Coues buck in the past, I was hesitant to let any nice looking buck walk, at least not after the first week. I would hunt for a giant for the first week. Rex called me about 3 days before I was to leave and said they were rutting. This got the excitement going!

 

Finally my first day of hunting was here. About 10:00 I spotted 5 deer. After putting the spotting scope on them I discovered there were 3 bucks and 2 does. The lead buck was big, over 100” big. It was hard to not pursue him but decided to stay on target for a really big buck. Day 2 was fairly unproductive. Day 3 was excellent. We saw quite a few bucks and does first thing in the morning. Then things slowed down. At about 1:00 pm Rex spotted a buck moving across the canyon wall. After sizing him up, I was tempted again. He had a typical 3x3 frame plus eye guards and was VERY heavy. His G3’s were a bit short for my taste so I let him walk. After analyzing in my head what his score would be I realized he was a better buck that I first thought. He had a solid 100” frame but with his exceptional mass he could have been 110” plus or minus. About an hour later I spotted a doe’s legs under a cedar. A few minutes later she ran off. I knew there was a buck around. A minute later I spotted another doe hustling through the brush. Shortly after I spotted another deer and I assumed it was a doe behind her. I watched her run through a break between cedars and held my bino’s there. When the other deer passed through the opening, Rex and I both saw it was a buck. My first reaction was that it was a good buck. After he lost interest in the does he stopped to destroy a sapling with his large frame. We both noted how wide this buck was. He was wider than his ears on both sides. Rex elected to pass and we decided that this deer was good enough for me. Rex said he was better than his best buck and that he could be near 110”. I decided to harvest him only if he had eye guards. After he stopped tearing up the sapling, I saw the eye guards and set up on the shot. He was 440 yards. I waited him out. He stepped out and when he turned broadside, I took aim, and rested my finger along my trigger. The trigger broke clean and the .308 barked. The 168 Hornady was on the way at 2810 FPS. I knew the shot was a good one. I heard the bullet impact and Rex said “dead deer!!!” When I finally reached the buck I could not believe what I saw. He looked like an eastern whitetail! He was so wide and his points were so long. He seemed to get bigger the closer I got and each time I looked at him. After taping him carefully, we came up with 109-1/8” green. Not bad for a first Coues buck!

 

After a couple of storm systems, a lot of cold windy weather, and 10 hours a day behind tri-pod mounted Swarovski bino’s we had not found the buck of Rex’s dreams. Rex’s long time friend Ty Goodman who is also a professional guide offered to help out. Despite the fact that there are several outstanding guides in the area, Ty is among the best of them. He took us to a couple of his spots and he came with us to one of our spots to help us glass. As the days wound down without seeing the monster we were looking for, we were both getting a bit discouraged. I think I wanted to see him get a buck even more than he did. My long awaited Coues hunt would just not be complete unless he also scored on a good buck.

 

It was now the last day. December 31st. It was ‘do or die’. Rex decided that since it had been so long between tags and success, that he would harvest any decent 3x3 frame buck with eye guards. Ty and his son Nick took us to Nick’s honey hole. After hiking over a mile through some rugged country to a semi-remote basin, we were seeing lots of deer right off the bat and lots of bucks, just not any good bucks. About 10:00, Rex spotted a deer at over a mile. Ty put the scope to it and his reaction told the tale. After we all had a look, the consensus was that he was in the 100” range. He was rutting up a storm. He was chasing does and raking trees. After a half hour discussion and terrain analysis, we all agreed that since Ty is half whitetail that he had the best chance of keeping track of this buck and Rex and I would stalk the buck. We elected to take my rifle in case a longer than average shot was presented. Rex is a capable shooter but his rifle is old and tired. The accuracy of it limited his range to 300-400 yards max. After a long hot hike we approached the buck’s locations. They had moved a few hundred yards and Ty directed us in on top of them. The day was winding down and we had to make a move even if we had to snap shoot him. The wind betrayed us and the does blew out followed by the buck. They were gone. Rex’s and my heart sank to very low levels. We opted to sit and glass hoping to pick him up again. We never did. About an hour later, Ty motioned to us to meet him in the saddle he had worked his way down into from his vantage point. After we arrived he said “I’ve got him, I’ve got him bedded.” He told us that we could get to 550-500 yards of the buck’s location. This guy is amazing! We all lost him and Ty being half whitetail was able to pick him up again in a completely different location.

 

The moment of truth had arrived. We walked a bit lower in the saddle to get just a bit closer for the best possible shot and set up Rex with the .308. The range was 500 yards and according to the ballistic calculator I had him dial 5.5 MOA. Rex got comfortable and we waited. And waited, and waited. Finally the doe stood up less than an hour before the close of the season. After 21 days of hunting everything hinged on the final hour. Slowly she moved to our right. The buck followed. This was truly a sight to behold. As the buck exited the shade tree fortress his body was in the shadows while his wide and beautiful antlers glistened in the evening sun. It was breathtaking. I coached Rex on the wind and when the buck stopped, he squeezed off the 15oz. Jewell trigger and the sharp crack of the .308 split the silent crisp desert air wide open. We all watched as the bullet impacted the buck and folded him right in his tracks. Even Rex saw it through the scope due to the mild recoil of the .308. We all hooted and hollered. Rex and I both jumped up and gave a big old hug. We were all giving high fives and making phone calls. This LONG hunt and long day was finally over. I know Rex and I both could have lived with it being over sooner but this made the hunt all the more sweeter and exciting. With a world class hunt that has taken me so long to be a part of, what is the difference between opening morning and the last hour? EVERYTHING!! I got to savor every last flavor of the season. I sat there and cried I was so overjoyed. The longer and harder you work for a trophy the more you appreciate it. As hard as Rex worked for his, this one ought to be his finest trophy ever! It was accomplished by what I call ‘Team Ghostbusters’. It took all four of us to secure his trophy. I now know why they are called the ‘grey ghost’. They are very gray and it takes dang near an exorcism to get a bullet in one! Perhaps it is fate that on that very night was the blue moon. I am just ever so grateful that my long awaited hunt included Rex’s success. For me, this was my hunt of a lifetime. For Rex, it was once in a blue moon.

 

[firstcoueswas80]

Good read.

 

I know you have posted the pictures before but you cant post the story without reposting the photos. It is against forum rules.

[308Nut]

Good read.

 

I know you have posted the pictures before but you cant post the story without reposting the photos. It is against forum rules.

 

Scenery

 

 

The tools of the trade

 

 

Rex (pwrguy) glassing

 

 

308Nut glassing

 

 

My buck

 

 

Rex's (pwrguy) buck

 

[pwrguy]

Great job on the story Mike. I think you did a great job of condensing 19 days of hunting!!!!

[Chef]

Outstanding.

Congrats guys!

[CouesWhitetail]

Loved the story!! Thanks for taking the time to write that up and share it with us!

 

Hey, don't forget to send the link to this thread to Doug (RedRabbit) so you get entered in the coues contest. if you need help doing that, let me know.

[coyotekid]

great write up. Great bucks!

congrats to you and your cousin.

-sam

[cramerhunts]

Wonderful write up! Very well written and great expression of emotions that I think most of us have felt. Congrats again on a couple of spectacular bucks.

[Cimmaron81]

Love that scenery and the buck even more. Great story!