Colorado Was Good To Me!, 5x6 191" Mule Deer

[motoxno53]

Okay Chris, Larry, here it is!!! I will start off by saying that this was the most challenging hunt I have ever been on and I could not have asked for it to have ended any better. The hard work, miles of hiking, thousands of feet I climbed was well worth the effort it took. This was my first trip to Colorado and I have a buddy that was going to hunt with me, but work kept him from being able to. Rather than putting it off, I did it solo. I would be lying if I did not say I would have loved the company, but I must say it was an amazing experience being by myself! Before the hunt I spent many hours on Google Earth scouting, narrowing down areas that I felt would give me the best chance at getting away from people and roads. I saw lots of hunters, which I expected, so I just did what most of us do; get up earlier and hike further. As you all know that does not always work but, in this case it paid off. Like I always do I at the beginning of each hunt I set goals for myself and no matter how hard it is, I try to stick to the plan. Right now in my life I am of the mindset that I will not pass on a buck the first day of a hunt if I would take him on the last day. I am not a hunter that has countless mounts in my house, but rather I take many photos and hours of video footage as trophies. Now this may sound odd but I don't consider myself a "Trophy Hunter" rather a hunter that does not feel the need to fill a tag each and every hunt. I just hunt until I find a deer that meets my goal or that I feel is old and that I would be proud to take. Sorry if you don't agree; this is just me and my way of thinking. Back to the story!!!! The first 6 days were in the high 20s/low 30s at night and high 40s/low 50s during the day. I would head out about 2 hours before sun up and stay out until I could not glass anymore. During my 8 days I saw 18 bucks and my goal for this hunt was a 160" buck. During this hunt I saw 3 shooter bucks that would score 180" or above. I made a stalk on one that would push the 190”-195” mark and was a typical 4x4, after almost killing myself I could not get it done. I tried to find him a few more days and then on day 7 the weatherman called for 2-3" of snow low and behold I woke up to a solid 12". I am glad to see that Arizona is not the only state that you can’t count on the weather forecast! It was more snow that I wanted, but I was still stoked as I knew it would really help me find deer. Day 7 was very uneventful, long and cold. The temps were in single digits to low teens at night and low 20s during the day. Day 8 turned out to be the day. I got up 3 hours before sun up and headed out. With the snow I knew I needed more time to hike in to where I glassed up the big typical. It was 7 degrees when I left my camp and where I was hiking the snow was 12" to 18" where it drifted. I got to my glassing spot with 20 minutes to spare, so I stomped out an area to set my gear down and get my tripod set up. I could not find the big typical, but I saw a buck, a good buck. I knew he was a shooter, but I still wanted to get the scope out and see what he was. He was a 5x6 and I was guessing him to be a 184"-187" buck again he was a shooter. I ranged him and it read 472 and with the angel I dialed my turrets to 450. I then checked wind and it was 3mph, but really pretty straight on so I did not dial any wind. I ratcheted my bolt and loaded a spent shell and test fired it to calm myself. It was 8:00 AM and I had all the time in the world; so I took my time to make sure I was good to go before making the shot. After I was sure I was calm and I rechecked wind and distance before I let it fly! I heard the report and he spun and bedded down next to a tree. I chambered another round and he was lying there almost facing me dead on, but his head was still up. This is where being by myself sucked. I felt the shot was good, I heard a report, but I did not have any way to know if I hit him or if he just bedded to hide. I hate the thought of an animal suffering so I got off my gun and put the spotter up and I saw some blood in the snow. Now I know I got him...so now I worry if I pulled the shot or make an error, but all I know is that need to get another one in him. Knowing he was hit I got back down on my gun. I had a very small window as he was still quartering toward me. This was going to be a tough shot so I took time to think about what my best option would be for a clean shot. After deciding, I let my second round fly. Again I hear the report. While chambering another round I got back on him and he was moving, but wait, he was not running. He was sliding down the mountain as it was so steep. He came to rest against a log. After watching and waiting I was sure he was down. It took me 45 minutes to get down to him and that was when I realized how dang big he was… and not just his rack; his body was huge, he was a toad of a deer! I am 5'9" 160 lbs so I know he had to be well over 200 lbs, pushing 250lbs. WOW this is going to suck.......but hey I don't care as I was lucky enough to have taken a stud of a buck... He was definitely bigger than what I was hoping for so I was glad to take the butt kicking I had coming in regards to packing him out. It took me 14 hours and 3 trips to pack him out, and every step was worth it. That night I got to my friend’s house and he put a tape to him. Little did I know he would turn out to be 191" and some change! No way did I think I took a 191" buck, so we checked the numbers again and yeah we were right. His body was so big I was underestimating him... I definitely need to say thank you to my wife and daughter for letting me be gone for 10 days and my buddy Steve and his wife Lisa for helping make this trip a possibility. My wife has a bull elk hunt in unit 10 over Thanksgiving and I still have a bow tag for AZ, so we still have some hunting to do this year, but those two hunts are icing on the cake for me. I have reached one of my life long goals and that is all I could have asked for! Oh man I am already stoked for next year!!!!!

 

Chris

[bobbyo]

Awesome Deer.Everything about him is huge. Look at that head, WOW! You are in good shape to be able to hunt in those conditions, well at least you are in good shape now!

Congratulations.

Bob

[scoutm]

Great Buck Chris!!! You Definitely put in the work for him. Love how he carries the mass. Congrats on a very well earned trophy...nice story too.

[firstcoueswas80]

WOW! Great buck! That second picture makes that buck look GIANT!

[lucky2hunt]

Holy Moley! That is an awesome buck!!!! Congratulations! Really enjoyed the pictures and the story!

[Chef]

Great great great story and buck!

This is absolutely awesome and why this site rocks!

I know how grueling it can be by yourself hunting in the high country.

For you to take a buck of that caliber after many days of hitting it hard

is just plain phenominal. Well deserved.

 

You also did a stupendous job of documenting your hunt with self taken pics.

I too know how much of a pain in the rear that can be. Getting set up, running

back and forth between shots...brutal! Good job and a big time congratulations!

[gotcoues]

Now that is an extreme hunt right there! Nice job and congrats on an awesome buck

[Coach]

Wow, awesome buck and great story. What a tough hunt, but the hard work sure did pay off for you. Congratulations on a great hunt.

[SunDevil]

You DA MAN. yea the CRAZY MAN!!! that is pretty intense right there. and they call coues hunting the poor man sheep hunt. looks to me like you could go to BC or AK and not have any problems at all chasing sheep or goats. congrats on a successful hunt and on such a great buck.

[cramerhunts]

Congratulations on a very hard earned stud of a buck! The pictures and story did a great job showing us how hard you worked for him which of course makes it so much more special! Awesome job man!

[briant_az]

That bucks a stud!

[loco4coues]

awesome buck and thanks for sharing!

[Coues Sniper]

Wow, STUD buck. That frame and mass is awesome, and look at those front forks! Huge congrats on a sweet buck!

[Couzer]

Wow that is a freakin nice buck!

[azcouesfanatic]

Wow, that is a freaking giant. Well done.

 

Brian