John O Report post Posted September 3, 2011 Yaaaawwwwnnn.... Sleepy... More tomorrow..... he he he... Alright, enough fun. Time warp back 3 years- I get a wild hair and decide to purchase a low end PSE bow, knowing there is no way humanly possible to get close enough to one of these gray ghosts to shoot one, but still interested in trying something new. I learn all I can and practice almost every day, and begin to love everything about archery, knowing shooting a coues would only happen in my dreams. I go out scouting for my son's youth rifle hunt, and at the last minute decide to pick up an archery tag and bring my bow (4 months old) along. Three hours into my first day ever hunting with a bow, I have a spot and stalk coues whitetail on the ground. Crazy!! I figure I got this thing down, what the heck is the big deal. Two years later, at least 35 days of archery hunting in weather so hot the riser on my bow burnt my hand, to so cold I was in the early stages of hypothermia, and still no second coues with a bow. I had a few shots and many close calls, and learned over time that I needed to hunt hard and smart, and not just hard. Every day I came home empty handed I appreciated my first archery coues that much more. In the mean time, I had some great experiences with my boys, both harvesting deer during youth hunts, and in one case on a tag I signed over. Time warp to July 2011- Imagine my excitement when I draw a coveted 2011 December rifle tag. Visions and dreams of a whopper filled my mind, and a unit that I am confident I can get it done in. My boys both drew youth rifle tags, so it looked like Aug/Sept archery was going to be on the shelf this year for me. My oldest son started high school this year, and I realized quickly that with academic, sports, and church commitments, he likely will only be able to hunt one day. So I decided to go out after the gray ghost again with the old stick and string, with intentions of signing my tag over to him if I was successful. The monsoon has been a late soaker in Southern Arizona this year, and it seemed there was water everywhere, so sitting water seemed a waste of time. I spent two full dawn to dusk days chasing them, with one close call, and with temperatures peaking at 104 it was tough. One of my favorite quotes is "If you aren't questioning your sanity, you are not hunting hard enough". I was questioning my sanity. A buddy of mine joined me for a third day (high 106), which started out very slow. Mid-day we decided to explore some new country and we found something interesting. Every part of the unit was soaking wet, and green as can be except for a little half mile square area. Why the storms chose to ignore this area, I don't know, but for some reason it was dry as a bone. As we were driving, I caught a glimpse of a tank hidden in the brush, and went over to check it out. It had two little puddles of water in it, and was being hit hard. We built a makeshift ground blind, and sat on it for 4 hours, with 4 does coming in (good sign!!). I went back myself one day the next week and sat on it from 9-3:30 with 5 does coming in. I wanted to stay later, but had to make a meeting for my son at the high school. I had a feeling that the bucks were coming in later, but was essentially out of days to hunt. So I pushed a little harder at work, and got my hours in early enough to leave yesterday at 2. By 3:30 I was set up on my newly found jewel in the soaked desert, for the first time in 3 years feeling no pressure and with absolutely no expectations. This would be my last 3 hours of archery hunting this year, and I would have been fine driving home empty handed. I decided to move to a spot that put me a little further from the water (40-50 yards), so I would have a better chance of drawing back without them catching the movement. I shoot an X-Force with 80 lb limbs (a small upgrade from my first bow), so I had the speed and flatness to be very confident at that range. I ranged every spot the deer could potentially be at, and had a mental picture of each distance superimposed on the two puddles I was watching. At 4:30, three bucks came in. The smallest spike I have ever seen in my life, and two 2X2s, one a little wider than the other. The smaller of the two walked right over to the closest puddle (43 yards), and started to drink, having no idea I was there. I drew back and put my 40 yard pin on the sweet spot and let it fly. The 100 grain inverter went through him like he wasn't even standing there, and sounded like it hit piece of plywood. He bolted up the bank about 30 yards, did the dance of death, and was down within 10 seconds. It was truly a great day! I had him dressed out and to the Butcher by dark, and headed home with visions of the whopper my son will drop in December. Thanks for letting me have some fun with this. He is not one for the record books, but in my opinion (even more so now) any coues with a bow is a trophy. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
TwoGuns Report post Posted September 3, 2011 Ha. What a tease. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
DrRx09 Report post Posted September 3, 2011 Let's see some other pics....and congrats Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
CouesWhitetail Report post Posted September 3, 2011 love it! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Couzer Report post Posted September 3, 2011 Dude your killing me! So lets hear the story? ha ha I will tell you mine about 2 lions, and a huge WT buck! We even called in the dogs!!! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
BowNut Report post Posted September 3, 2011 We know your up lets see it! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bonecollector Report post Posted September 3, 2011 Alright waiting. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
loco4coues Report post Posted September 3, 2011 Great story, thanks for sharing! Congratulations. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
CouesWhitetail Report post Posted September 3, 2011 Loved the tease and the story....I hope your son shares just as much success in December! Congratulations on your 2nd archery coues buck. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
AZBIGMIKE Report post Posted September 3, 2011 CONGRATS! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Pine Donkey Report post Posted September 3, 2011 Thanks for the story and pictures. Congrats on the archery coues. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Sundevils79 Report post Posted September 4, 2011 Congrats on a good archery kill. Looks like the deer where you are hunting are going to be looking for water soon. Seems like most of the ponds i come to this year look like that. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
John O Report post Posted September 4, 2011 Dude your killing me! So lets hear the story? ha ha I will tell you mine about 2 lions, and a huge WT buck! We even called in the dogs!!! Cool! Shoot me a PM with details. I look forward to hearing all about it. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
tjhunt2 Report post Posted September 4, 2011 Thanks for the story and congratulations. Enjoy the good tender eating. TJ Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bow.hunter8971 Report post Posted September 4, 2011 congrats and nice story good luck to your boys Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
