Your first Coues Buck

[THOR]

I was 10 and it was in Unit 32 with my Dad in October 1991....It all began there. scored a whopping 50 inches. Game on!

[AZwest16]

Thats an awesome memory. I remember mine. I'm going to have to try and dig it up now.

 

 

I was 10 and it was in Unit 32 with my Dad in October 1991....It all began there. scored a whopping 50 inches. Game on!

[billrquimby]

The photo of my first buck was ruined in a fire in our home, but the story about my taking it is in my book, "Sixty Years a Hunter." It was a typical three-pointer (3x3 plus eyeguards) -- nothing special, but it was my first whitetail and I was proud of it.

 

It was in October 1956. I was 20 years old and a recently married sophomore at the UA. We had no vehicle, sol I got up very early and walked from where we lived at Park Avenue and Fort Lowell Road in Tucson to the U.S. Forest Service boundary east of the end of Campbell Avenue, found and killed my first whitetail just after sunup, and then walked home to get my wife's cousin to retrieve my buck with his car.

 

I shot that deer with a .303 Savage Model 99 with a 2.5X Weaver scope with a post reticle. I'd handloaded the ammo with a Lyman "nutcracker" tool using a blemished (they were cheaper) Arizona Bullet Company (ABC) 150-grain .30-caliber bullet.

 

An energetic young man probably could still find a buck where I shot mine, but it's doubtful that he could walk that distance in the dark carrying a rifle, past all the homes now in the Catalina Mountain foothills , without being arrested.

 

Bill Quimby

[mattnduke]

Great stories guys! I hope to add to this thread in 2 weeks out of 24B.

[1stcoues75]

The year was 2004 on the late JR hunt in unit 32 I was 17 and it was my last year of elegibilty to put in for jr hunts. I missed a pretty decent 4x4 mule deer early in the morning and shot this buck right before dark. It was probably one of the best misses I've ever made. He scores right at 75.

[vegasjeep]

Lost a few pics from earlier hunts and kills but this is the earliest pic I have of one. mounted at Doyles in Tucson. scored 88" the others were nothing to write home about.

 

[THOR]

The photo of my first buck was ruined in a fire in our home, but the story about my taking it is in my book, "Sixty Years a Hunter." It was a typical three-pointer (3x3 plus eyeguards) -- nothing special, but it was my first whitetail and I was proud of it.

 

It was in October 1956. I was 20 years old and a recently married sophomore at the UA. We had no vehicle, sol I got up very early and walked from where we lived at Park Avenue and Fort Lowell Road in Tucson to the U.S. Forest Service boundary east of the end of Campbell Avenue, found and killed my first whitetail just after sunup, and then walked home to get my wife's cousin to retrieve my buck with his car.

 

I shot that deer with a .303 Savage Model 99 with a 2.5X Weaver scope with a post reticle. I'd handloaded the ammo with a Lyman "nutcracker" tool using a blemished (they were cheaper) Arizona Bullet Company (ABC) 150-grain .30-caliber bullet.

 

An energetic young man probably could still find a buck where I shot mine, but it's doubtful that he could walk that distance in the dark carrying a rifle, past all the homes now in the Catalina Mountain foothills , without being arrested.

 

Bill Quimby

 

that is a cool story...it would be fun to try... LOL

[dtresca]

Great stories! I'm hoping to add my story this November. First Coues at age 35? Why not?

[azcouesandelk]

Here is the story of my first coues buck from 2006 on the 36b November hunt.

 

http://forums.coueswhitetail.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=4505#entry48852

[Red Rabbit]

The Initiation: My First Coues Whitetail Hunt

 

A long time friend convinced me to put in for a December whitetail hunt in Unit 29. I was teaching in Texas at the time and this hunt would be on the trip back to Phoenix to see family over Christmas break back in 1982.

 

I arrived after dark one day before the season, to find the creek swollen due to 5” of rain that day. Not wanting to venture across the creek which I could not see its depth, in a 2wd S-10 towing a boat to be used later at Lees Ferry, I waited to cross until morning. My friend drove down from Phoenix the next day. We set up camp and took a scouting ride so I could see some of the area before we hunted the next day.

 

At the time, I had only been hunting for a total of one year. I had never hunted Coues before and asked what a nice one was. He said they were small, about 100 pounds, and with 3 points on a side. If it was big enough to see antlers, I should shoot. I envisioned something like a small basket racked Texas Hill Country 6 point (eastern count).

 

The next morning in the rain, we set out together up a draw. When the draw split, we decided to go separate ways. While my friend continued up to the right, I stayed at the juncture to glass the opposite slope. Quickly I spotted a buck and could see antlers, but I lost him when he went behind a juniper tree. Frustrated after not being able to relocate the vanished deer for several minutes, I decided to journey on up the left draw.

 

After walking a hundred yards, I told myself, “This is stupid to be walking away. The buck has to be there. It didn’t just disappear.” So, I hiked back and started to look again through my Bushnell 7x35 InstaFocus binos. After a few minutes, the buck was located in the same spot I had lost sight of him originally.

 

To get closer to for the shot, I went on the backside if a curvature to hide me, down to the bottom and maybe 50 yards up to a boulder I could rest the rifle as I shot uphill at the deer. When the buck stepped into a clearing, maybe 150 yards up the slope, I sent a 150 grain CoreLok from the 7mm Remington Express to the lungs. The buck dropped instantly. I went up to him, looked at the small 8 point buck, tagged him and proceeded to field dress him.

 

Rather than pack him down the hill, I decided I could ride the Honda ATV up the hillside and bring him down the easy way. After walking back down to where we left the ATV that morning, I drove up the creek bottom and up the hillside to the buck. I needed to sidehill about 30 yards to go over to the buck. I traversed about 10 yards of it before gravity and slope decided that I had overcome the center of gravity. It rolled over with my body cushioning its first rotation. Fortunately, the seat was the part that pressed over my back, and not the handlebars or racks. I looked down hill to see it rolling over and over and over, with flashes of red flailing outward on each revolution. I envisioned a complete loss of the plastic fenders.

 

Picking myself off the ground, I walked down to the Honda, noted the red was the red straps and not busted fenders, rolled it over from its side, cranked on the starter a few seconds to hear the sound of the dependable Honda. I drove straight up to the buck and tied it onto the rear rack. The first attempt at turning made me notice that I could not, as the handlebars had been bent down to thigh level. A couple of upward yanks on the bars and I was on my way back to camp. My friend returned to camp that evening having walked miles up the right draw and only saw two muley does. He asked how I did. I pointed to the buck in the oak tree. He remarked, “Geez Koepsel, that’s a nice one.”

 

I had no idea at the time how nice it was till I was told. I decided to take it to Seivers Taxidermy in Phoenix and later scored it at 97”

 

 

 

(I believe a "first buck" thread was posted in the past, but the change of servers may have resulted in the deletion of old posts)

[CalebFortner]

My first Coues Deer (or any Deer for that matter) was this guy in Unit 33, October 2010. Shot him with my Remington Sportsman in .270 at 105 yards. Mr. Jonathan is a friend and guide on this hunt.

Quick Story:

While Jonathan and I were trecking through the country, we spotted many does. After many miles of hiking and doe spotting, we decided to hike back to the truck. On the way back we thought it would be good to check out one last northern facing slope; and it turned out to be a great idea. Upon coming around the hill, I spotted what I thought to be a coyote.

"Hey man I see a coyote" I whisper to Jonathan, excited.

Jonathan thought to himself 'if you see a coyote, just shoot it', but decided to check it out first.

"It's a deer. AND IT'S A BUCK" he whispered excitingly.

"Is it a good buck for my first deer" I ask, hopefully.

"It's a great buck for your first deer" he answer.

I put the buck into my sights on my scope. I determined he was not more than 100 yards, and I am sighted in at 200. So I held accordingly.

"Shoot when I tell you to shoot" Jonathan commands

"Alright. Which was is he heading" I ask

"Left... No right. Shoot!"

BANG

"Nice Fu***ng shot"

The deer flipped over backward and died on the spot.

My heart was racing and I was so excited to see my first buck. We waited about 5 minutes, then Jonathan stayed and directed me where to go. When I got to him I couldn't have been more please.

We took some photos. Prayers of thanksgiving were given for the meat and the great hunt. And we packed him out the couple of miles back to the truck.

All in all, it was a great day of learning and I am extremely excited to get back out and do it again this year. I will be Going for another Coues this year in 36a.

[GRONG]

Oh sweet this is an awesome topic!

 

I'm pretty sure this was December of 1985 within a few days of my 13th birthday with I shot this buck with my Dad and late step-mom, Kelley Sullivan, in Fossil Creek in 6A. I remember Dad making a big to-do about it saying Josher, that buck is BIG! I didn't know jack at the time but was way pumped to have my first buck finally! The year prior I'd shot at a buck at probably less than 100 yards but only remember looking down the barrel at it when I shot, LOL!! Back then we didn't use binoculars much. Just walked slow hoping to see one up close before it ran off and that's how I killed this one. Good times for sure.... To bad this is the only field photo we got that day but it's better than nothing. It gross scores 101" as a 2x3. Bases were 4" and 4 1/4"

 

 

Sorry about the brutally bad taxidermy but here's a much better shot of the antlers. Probably gonna have Bret Prentice remount it one of these days.

 

[AZBUCKEYE]

The photo of my first buck was ruined in a fire in our home, but the story about my taking it is in my book, "Sixty Years a Hunter." It was a typical three-pointer (3x3 plus eyeguards) -- nothing special, but it was my first whitetail and I was proud of it.

 

It was in October 1956. I was 20 years old and a recently married sophomore at the UA. We had no vehicle, sol I got up very early and walked from where we lived at Park Avenue and Fort Lowell Road in Tucson to the U.S. Forest Service boundary east of the end of Campbell Avenue, found and killed my first whitetail just after sunup, and then walked home to get my wife's cousin to retrieve my buck with his car.

 

I shot that deer with a .303 Savage Model 99 with a 2.5X Weaver scope with a post reticle. I'd handloaded the ammo with a Lyman "nutcracker" tool using a blemished (they were cheaper) Arizona Bullet Company (ABC) 150-grain .30-caliber bullet.

 

An energetic young man probably could still find a buck where I shot mine, but it's doubtful that he could walk that distance in the dark with a rifle on his shoulder across the Tucson foothills without being arrested.

 

Bill Quimby

 

That is a great story wow the good old days

[Viper]

My first coues was around 1985, on an any antlered deer hunt in unit 23. We camped up on the bluffs above Roosevelt Lake. I lugged around my father-in-laws heavy old JC Higgins.30-06 for the first day. We didn't do any glassing back then, just a lot of walking. That thing wore me out, so the next day I carried my Marlin .30-30....much lighter. I walked up to the top of a juniper covered hill. When I got to the top, I had to "answer natures call". After taking care of business, I walked out into an opening and there stood a doe and spike. The doe ran into the trees and the spike "hid" behind a tiny little 3 foot stick-tree at 40 yards. I shot and he dropped where he stood.

At camp, I skinned him and hung him in a tree, with the head on. Late that afternoon, my buddy and I went to Young to buy ice, leaving his Dad and little brother at camp. We got a little "tangled up" at the Antlers Bar until late in the night. We actually joined in the annual Halloween party....great time. I think I was part of a mock shotgun wedding...at least that's what the poloroid picture showed.

We got back to camp around 1:00am.....I think we forgot the ice...or maybe it was melted...don't quite remember.

The Dad and brother had taped small branches to the deer's spikes to make it look bigger. We had a good laugh at that one. I left them on when I took the deer to the processor, downtown Mesa....mighta' been Southwest, before they moved to Queen Creek...different name though. I got some real suspicious looks and finger pointing, until they caught on...then they all had a good laugh.

It was a little spike, but probably the most memorable hunt.

[madx250]

That is a great story!