Oct 2011 Hunt - My First Writeup

[NewHunter]

Let me start off with a few facts and admissions to preface this story...

 

- We had the opening hunt in a unit we were new hunting in.

- We came out scouting the area a few times and saw some good bucks and a ton of deer in general.

- I have been hunting for 3 years, my friend has been for 2 years, and my cousin has been since he was old enough (13 years or so).

- I don't bow hunt (for better and worse!)... yet...

- I don't end this story with a kill (so if you were hoping for one, turn back after the first few paragraphs)

- I both LOVE and HATE hunting Coues, and I will explain why...

 

Thursday, Oct 20th

 

This day couldn't come soon enough. I get out of work as fast as I can and get home to take a quick shower and hit the road. I wanted to be out to our parking spot by 4 to give us 90min to hike in and set up a small camp. We arrive at the parking spot an hour or so late. We set up camp in the dark. We spend the next few hours looking at the moons of Jupiter through our binos (add this to a reason I LOVE hunting) before calling it good around 9pm and trying to sleep.

 

Friday, Oct 21st

 

Trying to sleep was the key. Managed about 3-4 hours total, all of us did. We got up early, around 5:30 and made the short trek to our glassing location. My friend and I took one side from our camp and my cousin walked up and around a ridge on the other side to an area we hadn't scouted before. At exactly 6:48am my friend spotted his first Coues he has found on his own while glassing. It was a doe and spike at about 350 yards. He hasn't shot a deer yet, so he turns to me and expresses his desire to shoot it. I talk him down and let him know that we have seen a handful of spikes and he can get one on Wed if we haven't found something a little bigger by then. He understands that, but still wants to shoot, and finally decides to wait for another deer.

 

A few minutes later my cousin radios that he has a buck, and its a shooter. He waits for him to bed down and then comes to the ridgeline to help guide us to his location. Once there we find the buck bedded down at about 800 yards away (if there is a deer in the area my cousin is glassing, it will be found) directly across a canyon at our same elevation. We talk about how to get closer and get a shot. Going down and up is impossible without getting busted. Walking around looks like it would take too long based on how long this canyon is and the fact that there are a few does bedded down in our path. We finally decide to hike down the side we are on along a cut to get within 400 yards or so (doing math with our rangefinder) and once that buck is down we'll worry about how long it takes to hike him out . My cousin and I go down while my friend keeps an eye on the buck. We get ready and that buck hops up to chase off a few spikes, perfect timing because he is standing broadside at 475. My cousin gets ready and squeezes the trigger... miss. Didn't fully account for the elevation change and hit low. The buck takes off and beds down under a cedar about 600 yards from our position.

 

Well, now we are stuck. Can't go down and up the other side still, and we are even farther from our Plan B of hiking all the way around. Decision time... we decide to start hiking around. We end up hiking about half a mile side stepping a hill at a 50-55 degree slope. Literally a two steps forward and 1 1/2 steps down situation. This is why I HATE hunting. I won't tell you how many times I considered throwing all my gear on to the classified section that night! After about 90 minutes of crappy hiking, we are in place to where we can see where the buck is bedded down (my friend is still in the original spot). The buck has moved out of his view but he knows the general area he has to be in. We can't locate him so we decide to wait him out. We range our position and we are at just over 400 yards. We see a rock outcropping about 50 yards below us and decide that is the best spot for a good rest. We move towards it in thick brush and jump a doe! Exactly what we didn't want! She runs down and up the other side straight through where that buck is bedded down and her and the spikes that were hanging around book it. That big buck didn't run, or did it? Nobody saw. We wait it out for a few more hours (by now it is almost 4pm) and there is no movement. We decide to look for him the next day figuring we scared him pretty good with a missed shot and sending a doe flagging right by him a little while later.

 

That night I hike out for the weekend to take care of family responsibilities. Exciting first day, and I am pumped for the rest of the hunt.

 

Saturday, Oct 22nd

 

My cousin and friend go after that buck, but with no luck. They end up jumping him while walking back and get off a few quick shots as he is running, but no hits. They hike out after a long day and while hiking out my cousin falls down. As he is picking himself up, he sees a spike about 50 yards away from him. He whistles to my friend who hasn't shot a deer and asks him if he wants to shoot it. He does and he takes it at 30 yards. He recovered the bullet and put about 25lbs of meat in the freezer. He is a happy hunter with his first buck. This also ended up being my cousin's last day because of school. (For those that want their story to end with a kill, this is where you can hop off )

 

Monday, Oct 24th

 

Long, long day of glassing. We glassed up zero bucks and about 20 doe. I HATE hunting sometimes... highlight of the day was in the late afternoon/early evening we ended up glassing 6 does. No big deal normally, but I kept looking waiting for a buck to come out of the mesquites they were in. The does were muleys but I wanted to see if there was a big muley buck there (at this point I was considering putting in for mule deer next year). All of the sudden we realized that two of the does had Coues tails. I asked a friend I met on here that night if he had ever seen that, and sure enough, he sent me a picture of a hybrid fawn he had from the same area. It isn't every day you see a hybrid and I wish I had taken a picture through my binos so I could share!

 

Tuesday-Wednesday, Oct 25th-Oct 26th

 

I had the flu... worse than a bad day of hunting, by a long shot.

 

Thursday, Oct 27th

 

Last day... 3am comes way too early on normal days, but while still recovering from the flu it is extra hard on the body. I couldn't even drink a soda on the drive out to our spot with my friend. I was battling dehydration before we even started hiking. We are talking about where we are going to go and I let him know that if I see a spike at 7am, I am shooting and we are going home. He is happy with that comment... We start our hike and make it to where we camped. We talk about stopping, but I say let's just go a little more and see if this location is a better view of this area. We get there and then I tell him "Look, if we don't go all the way to where we know we should go, I'll be mad at myself for the next year". Remember, I don't bow hunt, so this was it. We hike another mile plus to an area close to where my cousin and I had been on Friday. Yep, we are looking for that same buck. We get setup and immediately my friend spots 6 doe across the canyon from us. Sweet! This is going to be a good day. 2 hours later we are radioing back and forth about how those 6 doe were a fluke and there are no other deer out here. We probably pushed that buck nocturnal anyways. He radios back and says he is going to circle behind me and walk the canyon in front of me to see if he can jump that buck (close to where they jumped him on Saturday). I say OK, figuring it won't work and that buck is probably nowhere close. I was sick, it was the coldest/windiest day of the hunt, and I really wanted to be back in my bed, so if we could get something to shoot at and go home, I was happy.

 

I see my friend go over the ridge to my right and wait... and wait... and keep waiting... he should be radioing by now saying he is about to start, or I should see him walking or something! Nothing. 20 minutes pass, seems like 40. Finally, he radios me. "I HAVE YOUR BUCK!" I am in disbelief. I make him repeat how I can get to him 3 times to make sure I don't have to radio him again until I am there. I get to his spot and he tells me that he decided to glass the opossite side real quick because he was up there. He immediately saw deer. All does. He kept going... Yep, 3 bucks! Not just one big one, but 2. Both pushing 100" plus and the third a massive 2 point.

 

We sit there and talk about how I can get over there (we are at 600 yards). Going straight won't work. We decide I need to hop back over the ridge, walk along the bottom for 2 more hills and then come up to their right and my friends right (almost making a triangle between me, my friend, and the bucks). I take my gun, rangefinder, 10x42 (on chest), and radio. I leave my bigger binos (Fujinon 15x60) and my tripod. I figure I won't need it because there are big boulders on every hill out here for me to get a rest on (first mistake! NEVER ASSUME THAT! lesson learned.)

 

I make the trek over to where I need to be. I am 2 hills over from my friend and three short hills from those bucks, but still don't have a sightline. I radio my friend and ask if there are any does on the next hill. He gives a quick scan and answers "No". I start a slow walk over and immediately a doe flags over the other side. CRAP! I'm busted. I radio back and ask about the bucks. They haven't moved is the report. Good... I wait out the other three doe on that hill as they warily make their way over the other side. Bucks are up and walking now, but not caring about the does between me and them is the report I get. Good... I get around the top of the second hill and see 5 does to my left. I see the bucks to my right and slowly pull up my binos. Crap! One of them is staring right at me... I am at 315 yards. One of the big ones is broadside, a thick/wide 3x3. I want to shoot that one! My friend says the other one has some junk on his right side, possibly a drop. That one isn't as thick, but it is higher and a 3x3, possibly a 3x4. I decide that is the buck for me, and probably the one my cousin also went after earlier in the hunt. I slowly get my gun ready, get a decent rest and wait for that buck to give me a shot (I'm at 313 yards, within my comfort zone). My decent rest doesn't last long (it is basically my knee and legs twisted in a wierd way to keep my gun above the brush as I am on the only hill without a boulder within a 5 square mile area!). The buck turns broadside and before I can shoot walks behind a bush. The otehr two bucks have moved away so they are no longer a good option without me spooking the whole mountain I am on. That buck finally walks back out and stands directly looking at me... no shot. He slowly quarters towards me, enough for a shot as he is almost broadside. Again, I get set in a position where I think I might lose a limb if I sit in it too long. First shot away... missed high. That buck doesn't move an inch. I get a new rest and get lined up again and miss again... That buck takes off like a dart. At first I thought I hit him because it sounded like he fell a few yards away. No luck, he was just running that fast out of there!

 

A long hike out, but my wife was happy I was home early that day (I was not). Thursday is why I both LOVE and HATE hunting. Those were the nicest bucks I have ever seen in my life outside of a photograph (of course, I've only been looking 3 years). Those bucks are the reason I am not putting in for muley next year, the 8 miles of hiking on a flu-recovery day, and all the other ups and downs of this hunt were worth it. They gave me just enough to come back for more, and I'll be back...

 

As my brother-in-law lets me know on a regular basis... its called hunting, not killing. I just wish this year it was called killing.

 

The buck on the right is the one I shot at. The one on the left is the thick 3x3. These were taken with my friend's iPhone through Swaro 15s at around 600 yards.

[motoxno53]

Shoot sounds like you had a pretty good hunt except for the Flu. Shooting sticks or Bipod and more time at the range and you will be set for what ever you hunt for next year.

Chris

[Pixman]

Thanks for sharing your story. You know I was interested in hearing about it and I was even mentioned in it kind of, lol. As you know I helped a buddy up there and it was a tough hunt. He only saw 2 bucks, one was a big buck that he didn't get a shot at and the other he killed and it was a small 2 point. He didn't want tag soup so he setteled for the small 2 point on the last day.

[mitchel]

Great killer hunting story!!!! You must really like to hunt to stay that focus. Thanks for the story and hopefully next year you will have a killer killing story.

[NewHunter]

I can always use more time at the range. I know I can make that shot, but I also know it was difficult to begin with and I made it worse by not bringing my tripod with me to get in closer (recovering from the flu, I was trying to save weight... not worth it).

 

Pixman, wasn't sure if you wanted me to name drop you or not, but had to throw a mention of you in there

[CouesWhitetail]

Congrats on hitting it hard and finding some very nice bucks to hunt! Hope you can connect on one next year! Neat pic of the bucks on the iphone!

[pwrguy]

I can definitely relate to the love/hate relationship. I had a similar situation with a buck at 300 yards, trying to line up on him sitting on a 45 degree hillside with limited rests for my gun, or even a flat spot to sit down on to shoot from the sitting position. All that being said, at least I didn't have to deal with the flu way to stick with it, your hard work will pay off, it just won't pay off every time.

[SunDevil]

that sucks that you got sick. rest of it sounds like hunting. it is usually worth the time to try and find a good spot to shoot from. remember that lots of guys never even see bucks like that and you got a couple shots at one of them. valuable lessons learned for future hunts for sure.

[bigorange]

Great story and totally relate to the love/hate aspect to hunting. I've been eating tag soup going on 3 yrs now and I even bowhunt to increase the opportunity. Great picture with the iPhone through binos...I may have to try that on my next hunt. Keep at it and take up bowhunting to increase your opportunities to get out...plenty of time to get ready for December bow season.

[Bryson Bendall]

Great write up Dale! It was a pleasure to be out in there with you guys! It doesn't get any better than hunting and being in good company! I think i had a smile on my face the whole weekend, even after I missed that nice one!

 

Also wanted to say hello to TJ, I just stopped real quick and said hi when I saw your sticker, and I was glad I did! I was in the blue jeep...Hope we run into eachother again and have a little time to swap some hunting stories!!!

 

Bryson

[briant_az]

Sounds like you guys had a good time! Don't get discouraged if you haven't shot a buck in 3 years, it took me 4 i think before I got my first deer and I have shot one the last 3 years in a row. The buck i shot this year was the biggest and I am going to have a hard time finding a bigger one! Good luck next year!

[Chef]

Thanks for sharing your hunt with us.

I really like how people are posting up their hunts even though no buck/s were taken.

It's only a matter of time before things come together.

[tjhunt2]

Great writeup. Maybe next year will be your year for killing. Thanks for sharing your hunt with us and I really enjoyed it.

 

TJ

[justinspe25]

Great write up Dale! Welcome to the Coues addiction. I keep telling myself one of these years i will put in for a mulie tag.