Whacked My First Coues...

[COOSEFAN]

Stickin' an arrow in a Coues has been a longtime goal of mine. With guiding taking up most of my time I've had very little time to put into that quest. Years ago my buddy Bret and I would always spend a week in Jan. chasing deer with our bows and although we had a blast I never drew blood. I even had the good fortune to hunt with Gino for several days and I still couldn't put it together so I just kept dreaming of the day when I'd finally stick an archery Coues.

 

My goal this year was to try and devote more time into archery Coues hunting and to keep me focused I made sure to have my bow with me in Mexico! I only had a couple hunters in Mexico and my focus was on their hunts but in between those hunts I was developing my archery spots. One of these spots consisted of a small leak in a pipe that fed a large holding tank about a mile away. The country around this leak is un-huntable because of how thick it is but holds a bunch of deer. I first tried to dig out a hole and let it fill up in hopes that the water would last. I soon realized that the water didn't leak out of the pipe very often and the water would seep into the ground too fast, plus those dang cows would tear up the hole daily! Here's my first attempt at developing this water hole.....

 

 

 

 

As you can see it looked good and I had high hopes for the spot but the water wouldn't hold long enough to sustain any consistent deer activity. With the help of my two buddies, Santos and Fito, we grabbed a bag of concrete and a water jug and did some serious tank development at night so we weren't taking any time away from our daytime hunting duties. Here's the boys showing me how you use the existing sand to make the concrete right there on the spot.....

 

 

 

 

 

 

So after a few days of letting our masterpiece set up we ran back and installed a fence to keep the cows out and noticed our new tank was holding water and the critters were already pounding it!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Excited about the activity and success with this new water tank, we added a camera and a ground blind to the spot and let it sit for a while. The bucks were starting to show up regularly and my favorite big buck had broken off his right antler! Our biggest problem this year was broken antlers and it was very frustrating! There was still a nice buck hitting the tank regularly and aside from breaking his beam tip he was still intact and had my attention!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

With too many responsibilities elsewhere I never had a chance to hunt this spot with my bow and I checked the camera often waiting for a new buck or hoping the bucks I still had didn't break any worse! A buddy of mine finally came down and he sat this tank for the first time. He had a bunch of deer come in but the bucks held up just barely out of sight in the thick stuff. A lion did come in at last shooting light but my buddy had already started the hike out! Here's a picture of that lion...my buddy said he left the blind and walked out at 6:10!!!

 

 

 

 

 

Because I had a bigger buck on camera on a different tank my buddy decided to sit the other tank the next day. With my next hunters due to arrive one day later I finally had a window to hunt for myself! I jumped at the chance to sit my new tank even though the day before my buddy wasn't successful there. I had to drop him off on the other tank early that morning and do some other work but by 9:00am I was in my blind and ready to go! I told my buddy I would check on him at 2:00pm so I really only had a few hours to hunt but I was excited nonetheless.

 

The morning was slow but around 11:00am I started hearing some rutting action in the jungle west of me. There were does blowing and I could hear them getting closer! In no time and without warning a buck quickly strolled through my shooting lane to my left but on a direct line to the tank. I raised the bow and waited. My heart was pounding in my chest even though I had no clue which buck this was yet. As soon as he stepped out I recognized him as one of the smaller bucks and I decided not to shoot. It was extremely hard not to shoot but I still had several hours left to hunt! I practiced drawing my bow on him while he drank, here's some pics of him while my pin is settled on his vitals...(stay tuned as my brother whacks this buck later!)

 

 

 

 

 

That buck exits and then a big Coati cruises in shortly after. I had already whacked one earlier so this one got a free pass that day and it was cool to watch em'. I then had no action for several hours aside from some Gambels and Elegante Quail that were obvious rival gangs in the area. They didn't like each other and it was cool to watch. Now at around 1:00pm, I'm day dreaming and thinking I've only got an hour left to hunt when I catch movement near the tank! The deer steps out on a steady walk, heavy antlers, obvious G3's, bow is up and as I hit full draw I grunt, he stops quartering away, pin settled low in his armpit in anticipation of him dropping, I press the trigger, I hear the arrow hissing and THUMP!!!! The buck swings around fast and is gone even faster! I set my bow down and just sat there quietly listening and replaying the events that I couldn't beleive just happened! I was worried that it looked like he spun around too fast and maybe my arrow hit forward in his shoulder. I knew he didn't drop down like I expected and the height of the arrow looked good but it only penetrated halfway and didn't pass thru! It all happened so fast I couldn't tell what exactly happened but it sounded like a cavity hit and the shot felt good. I packed up and after inspecting the first 20 yards of the trail I felt sick because there was very little blood. To be safe, I just left and went to check on my buddy.

 

After several hours and talking it over with my buddy I headed back alone to follow the trail. My concern was that the buck spun before my arrow struck and hit him in the shoulder. That would explain the lack of penetration and lack of blood. I followed very little blood for the first 50 yards and I really began to worry. I said a prayer and continued on to the top of a little rise. Once there I looked down and there was a big pool of blood! I looked further and could see another pool and then another and as I looked into the next ravine I could see his nose sticking out from behind some grass!!! WHOOOHOOOO!!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

I couldn't believe it, I finally got my archery Coues buck and got that monkey off my back! To walk up and pick up his rack that first time was incredible. I know it's not a big buck but it doesn't matter to me. I had even showed my buddies trailcam pics of this exact same buck earlier and told them I would rather shoot that buck with a bow instead of a 115" with a rifle, and I did just that!

 

My arrow had actually hit about an inch or two above where I was aiming and center punched his heart. The broadhead was pushing the skin out in the center of his brisket but didn't cut thru it. I'm sure if it had penetrated thru the skin I could've ran the blood trail with ease! This buck is actually an older buck and probably regressed, his teeth were well worn and he was all scarred up. He's got awesome character and great mass, I think if he wasn't broke on the beam tip he'd score right around 90" but I couldn't care less, he's an awesome archery buck and he's MINE!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks if you read through this long winded post! Scroll down and you can read the rest of the story.....

[Brian Payne]

That's awesome Jim. Congrats!

[ehunt]

Congrats and great story!!! That is awesome how you guys built that water!! Way to get it done jim!!!

[azcouesandelk]

Great story and pictures as always Jim! Hug e congrats to you on fulfilling one of your dreams also... now you get to do it again next year!

[COOSEFAN]

OK, now that my hunt was done I had to go back to helping the other guys. My brother, Matt, and a good friend of ours, Wayne, came down with only a couple days to hunt. Matt decided to sit another tank the first day while Wayne and i went out looking for Mr. Muy Grande. Matt had a bunch of action but no arrows were flung. The second day rolls around and Matt decides my new tank had enough time to rest after all the "hootin' and hollerin'" I did when I killed my buck. Matt sits there all day and has an amazing time! He had tons of does and small bucks come in, a huge Coati that didn't give him a shot, a Bobcat that he misjudged the yardage on and missed, and some Javi's that he video taped himself stickin' arrows in! The same 3 point that I had passed up came in 9 times throughout the day teasing Matt. He had killed a high 90's buck with his bow last year in this same area and wanted a bigger buck but he only had a day left to hunt! He held off and passed up multiple bucks that day. On his last day to hunt that same buck came in a couple times again and Matt decided if he came in one more time then he'll whack em'! Well, that buck came in one last time and Matt threaded an arrow thru em' putting down his 2nd archery buck!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It was an awesome time spent with my friends and family as usual. It was especially neat to put so much time and effort into developing a hunting area and have it pay off like that! I can only imagine what that spot will be like next season after more and more deer find that water and utilize it more. Just in the short time that I watched the area, it was obvious more and more deer were utilizing it.

 

Congrats Mateo on your second buck bro, it was a blast hunting with you guys in Mexico! Next time you guys need to come down for more than just a couple days! JIM>

[bonecollector]

Congrats on your first archery coues, thats one to be proud of. Thats cool you built the water hole where he came in at. Awesome

[Weston]

Great story, I want to build a water hole like that sometime, too bad about the lion but GREAT buck congrats!

[Ron G.]

Congratulations on the archery buck! That is awesome! Great pictures and thanks for sharing them all!

[555]

Awesome story and pics!

[Chef]

Congrats again Jim and also to your brother.

I like the first pic you posted of him with his trophy, looks awesome!

[Verndog]

Great story and pics......congrats!

[izquik72]

Nice....... From the waterhole to bagging a great Archery coues Great job Jim.

[tjwking]

Awesome write up, sounds like a great trip. congratulations on a great looking buck.

[coueshunter]

CONGRATS Jim. It sure is a rush to kill one with a bow.....congrats on a fine animal, a true trophy. I think only about 2% of hunters have killed a coues buck with a bow..........Allen.......

[cramerhunts]

AWESOME! Really cool how you developed that water and it paid off for you guys....big time! Enjoyed the read and super pictures. Congrats on a super archery buck.