BABBITT_BOYZ Report post Posted January 22, 2011 Cactus Jack The sun had finally graced the earth, it was opening day of my much awaited early coues deer hunt 2009!! I had a date with a heavy horned 3x4 with with killer eye guards!!! Due to a little bit to much excitement the night before we were running a little late getting onto the glassing hill. We threw our packs and rifles on the quads and hit the trail. After a short ride and a longer than normal hike we were finally behind the glass looking for some bucks, It was kinda hard to glass while still seeing double but i cowboyed up. It was a slow morning only seeing a couple does, the bucks were nowhere to be found. After checking a couple spots I had seen bucks in while scouting we returned to camp for a much needed nap. Awaken by talking we peered out of the wall tent to see the Game warden in our camp talking to my father in law. After checking our credentials he wished us good luck and was on his way. We made a sandwich and headed back up the hill for the evening, having no clue what it had in store for us. We got set up and glassed for the better part of the afternoon seeing a few more does but still no sign of my buck or any buck for that matter. I moved to check another spot that just seemed to have deer written all over it, a sweet little draw leading into the main canyon. Immediately, I find a doe feeding through. After a few minutes, another deer appears and its a buck... I call out for my cousin Ben, “hey i got a buck!” I show him the deer through the binos, and together we watch him for a few minutes trying to decide what to do. It is his first deer tag and I promised him he could shoot any buck I found with the exception of the one I had picked out while scouting.. I eventually told him he better go kill him. Ben says back to me, “I think thats your buck,” . We continued to watch him, he fed to a distance of 800 yards from us; at this point I could see it was the buck I had my eye on. My heart started pounding as we came up with a game plan. I was confident out to 500 after taking my first coues the previous year at 480 yards. “Black Mamba,” my .270 short mag, was ready to do work again. All I had to do was cut the distance in half. After always teasing Ben about wearing camo while rifle hunting, I ate my words while I made him trade me his max 1 t-shirt for my bright green one... i was taking no chances. Sneaking down the hillside, concentrating more on the doe than the buck, I was finally in range. 400 yards is all that laid between me and the buck. The grass was to high to use my bi-pod and there was a solid 15 to 20 mph cross wind. It was getting dark, the odds were stacking up against me. I fell back on my Marine Corp shooting skills; I got into a kneeling position and put my second mil dot to the left on the buck’s shoulder and squeezed one off!! Dirt flies. The bullet hit to the right of the buck. My kentucky windage was off and so was he. I racked in another shell and now, from a standing position, I hold two mil dots left to compensate for wind. The buck is running at 400 plus yards at this point. Yeah right!! I squeeze and to my surprise the buck stumbles and stops.. I rack in the last shell and watch it chamber in slow motion. I ran to a rock about 20 yards in front of me to get a solid rest. I put the cross hairs center on the buck, (so the mil dots lined up one on the shoulder and one on the rib cage) and squeezed the trigger. The buck drops and I hear the beautiful sound of the bullet meeting with the deer. The best words I had heard that day were Ben telling me, “he’s down!”. My deer fell into a cactus and was thrashing around. The cactus was stuck all over his face and ears not to mention the back of my head and neck after the grueling pack out. I named him Cactus Jack. The awesome buck ended up grossing 101 5/8 with one eye guard measuring 4 inches, the other 3 1/2. Not to shabby for my second coues buck. Ben also tagged out the next day killing a beautiful 3x3. It was a great hunt and I think we will be putting that hunt for our first choice for years to come. cactus_jack_3.pdf cactus_jack_2.pdf cactus_jack_1.pdf Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
tjhunt2 Report post Posted January 22, 2011 Newbie, first of all let me welcome you to cwt and second let me tell you that was a good story. Posting pictures to start your very first post is always a big hit on here but I know you tried so that counts for a great start. Congratulations to you and Ben and I look forward to seeing some pictures soon. TJ Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bonecollector Report post Posted January 22, 2011 Welcome to the site first off. Great write up and congrats on a good looking buck. Looks like he has some good mass to him. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Gr8 White Jr Report post Posted January 22, 2011 Great write up and very nice buck! Thanks for sharing your hunt with us and welcome to the site! -Tracy Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Coues Archer Report post Posted January 24, 2011 Wow thats a nice buck man! Great job, he's a dandy. Congrats. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
