Amanda's Mexico hunt

[Jason]

Hello Amanda,

 

Just watched your video of that great buck.

 

I'm dying to hear the story of your "entire" hunt.

Was the video you took through a spotting scope?

Tell us about the Outfitter?

All the details if you have time!!

 

I've finally convinced my wife and saved up enough money to make a trip to Mexico this year(depending on what tags i get drawn for if i'm lucky). Thinking about going with Tom Brown but not for sure yet.

 

Would love to hear stories about everyones hunts down in Mexico. Who they hunted with? Would they hunt with that outfitter again?

 

Who did Woody hunt with when he got his monster buck.

 

Thanks Jason

[CouesWhitetail]

Hi Guys,

 

I got back from Mexico a couple days ago. I had a great hunt. I went down there with my friend Martin Guerena. He shot the video with my new miniDV camcorder. Sorry the quality of the video is poor. I hadn't turned off the digital zoom and Martin was trying to zoom in to show the buck really well. That digital zoom is pretty useless. And there seems to have been something wrong with the camera, you can hear a knocking noise on the video. It made that noise whenever we were recording after the first day.

 

I went down there and hunted with Desert Trophies owned by Marcos Fonseca. (there are other outfitters with the same name run by other people). Marcos is a fan of this website and I will be creating a web site for his business, so you will get to see lots of big bucks taken on their ranches. They have some great mule deer as well as coues deer.

 

The hunt was on a ranch east of Hermosillo and south of a small town called Sahuaripa. Beautiful country with tons of deer. We hunted with a couple Mexican guides, Javier and Temo. We had to adjust to a different style of hunting. Less glassing and more walking of small canyons hoping to spot deer across from us. It worked suprisingly well. I think it works well there because the deer density is so high that there are deer literally everywhere. Tons of tracks and HUGE scat everywhere. Pretty amazing. Water everywhere too in tanks, creeks and springs. Mostly oaks and tall grass, not much juniper.

 

I had set a goal of 110 or higher for this hunt. When we met Javier in Nogales, one of the first things he said was that he had seen a 130 incher two weeks ago! Talk about exciting!

 

On day 1, we still hunted through a small area where Javier had seen a 120 inch buck earlier in the season. We saw a few does and then the fog rolled in very heavy. We waited it out for about 45 mins before giving up and moving to another location. Only to find that the fog cleared back where we had just left and so we went back up. Saw a spike harassing some does. Then Martin spotted a decent 3 point, although probably not 100 inches. It must have bedded behind a tree, never saw it come out again. We checked some more areas that morning, but not much luck. Several does, and some Gould's turkeys. The guides seem to prefer to only hunt the morning and the evening and to go back to the ranch during the middle of the day. That took some getting used to also. But it was pretty hot and the rut wasn't really going yet.

 

That evening we went out and saw several more does, many javelina, and one spike. That was pretty disappointing to see no good bucks on the first day.

 

Day 2 - nice morning. We walked slowly up a road that went through a small canyon, glassing in short bursts. We saw several does, but no bucks until we topped out and then saw a decent 3 pt with a doe. It was broadside at about 200 yards. But I let him go. This was the area where Javier had seen a 130 incher while guiding a bow hunter earlier in the season. Then the guides checked back down in the canyon we had walked through and spotted the monster buck that I posted the video of. Talk about HUGE! I am glad the video wasn't rolling when I first saw the buck, I had several rather heated words flowing out of my mouth in awe. Very wide and massive. Kinda of short points, but still a monster buck. The guide thinks it was about 118-120 inches. The buck was 379 yards away according to my range finder. That video clip is pretty much all I saw of it though, so it was a very short encounter. (Apparently I can't add the link to the video in this forum, but if you go to the main page of CW.com, you can find the link in the "what's new" table.) Then he disappeared over the ridge following the doe. Wow, totally exciting to see something that big. And it was only about a 1/2 mile from where Javier had seen the 130 buck!! Since the ridge he went over was extremely thick and we had many more days in the hunt, Javier opted to back off that buck and go look for others. We moved higher up the mountain and saw several does, but the wind picked up and the deer took cover. We set up to spend the afternoon at a water hole that the 118 buck might come into. No luck. Around 3:30 we started seeing the does come out and they looked like they were going to move down into the bowl where we saw the monster buck. So we packed up and moved back down there. But never saw him or the does there. Still windy.

 

Day 3 - It rained hard that night and was raining hard when we got up. We drove out to the spot where the big buck had been and hiked up the hill across from him in the dark. The rain had stopped. The sun was breaking out, fog lifting. Several does started feeding in the open grassy hill. It felt perfect. But about 10 minutes later the fog and rain rolled in. It rained pretty hard and you couldn't see the hill the does were on only a few hundred yards away. We waited in the rain for maybe 45 minutes. The weather looked like it would never clear so we finally gave up and drove back to the ranch to dry out. It rained and snowed some for many hours. As the weather cleared back at the ranch we glassed from the house. Several deer were spotted, but no bucks. Later in the afternoon we headed out to a place where Javier had seen some deer over 110. There were many rubs and huge scat. And we found a couple smallish sheds, although one had 5 points on it. Later that evening we were walking down one side of a canyon when Temo made an awesome spot on a bedded buck. It was 250 yards away across the canyon. It got up and started feeding. It was about a 108 inch buck. Nice eyeguards and it's 2nd and 3rds were of equal size at about 7 inches long. Decent mass. I decided to pass on that buck since I couldn't get the monster buck out of my head and we had several days left. We walked some other ridges and saw several does, but no more bucks. Weather was very windy that day.

 

Day 4 - Went back up the same hill overlooking where we saw the monster buck. Windy morning. Saw no does at all on that slope. Very disappointing. Then we slowly walked through some thick stuff that overlooked another canyon that was more out of the wind. No luck. Eventually we headed back toward the ranch in the jeep and stopped at several locations to glass. We saw a small buck and several does.

That evening we went to a new location that was a great place to glass since it was still really windy out. There was a road that went along the side of a canyon where you could stop and glass into the canyon and see deer that were staying out of the wind down there. Saw several does, but no bucks. Then went to a place where we could glass a long way and found a really nice buck chasing a doe really hard. He was about a 105 inch buck. Decided not to move on him. Then Temo, who was checking another canyon, radioed that he had spotted a buck and he couldn't quite tell how large. We went over and checked it out and saw that it was about a 102 inch buck. It was bedded across the canyon 250 yards away. Decided not to shoot. The sky was full of storm clouds and it looks like that cold front was never going to pass. Very windy out. We checked out some other areas with not much luck.

 

Day 5 - despite the storm still going last night, we woke up to a clear and crisp, cold morning. Stars shining everywhere. We had decided that if the weather was good, we would try yet again for the monster buck. So we headed out there in the dark and setup. Saw several does. two of them spooked. Others didn't. Saw 1 buck trot across the slope where the big buck had been. He was maybe an 85 inch buck so of course I opted not to shoot him. The grass was so tall, he couldn't see the does that he was searching for. He trotted by above them and came back later in the morning. Temo and Javier had go to check other connecting ridges with no luck. Eventually after a couple hours we gave up that location and moved into the thick oak woodland where he might be. Temo and Martin had seen a set of huge tracks and fresh rubs in there yesterday. So given this was the last day, Temo and Javier opted to try and push the deer out of the thick stuff by walking slowly through it while I waited looking into the canyon. They radioed that they could see that it was working and that their were deer moving toward me, but I never saw them. Apparently they cut out before reaching me. Martin glassed up a 2x3 high up on a ridge where the 130 had been. Around 10 am we all met up and decided to go up and glass the east side of this mountain. Shortly after topping out, Temo came back to tell us he had seen a good 4 point very nearby. We headed over and it was extremely thick yucca, mesquite, and prickly pear. We had a bad angle, but eventually saw a deer. It turned out to be a spike and it fed right toward us, probably only 80 yards away. No sign of the other buck. Temo went back around along the ridge to get a better angle and eventually called us back that way. He had seen the deer again, but they must have bedded shortly there after because we never saw them again.

It was about noon, very hot out now, clear sky, no wind. I was hunting in a tshirt now. We glassed up another smaller buck, not worth pursuing. We decided to go back to the ranch for the afternoon and then go out to try and find that 108 inch buck again. We got there around 3:30 pm. Glassed for awhile before seeing a spike bedded nearby. Then saw several does in the area where the 108 had been. We glassed that one canyon all evening and although we saw about 6 deer and several javelina, we never saw the buck in there. As night fell, we hiked back out to my jeep.

 

Since the guides had to get out to another ranch to guide a mule deer hunter the next day, we went back to the ranch and had dinner and then packed up and drove to Hermosillo. We got there about 2 am and the guides helped us find a nice hotel. My clutch on my jeep seemed to be slowly failing so I was very concerned about driving out of Mexico in the morning. We got a little sleep and then met Javier at 8 am to go look at some big deer at their office. Then Martin and I started our long journey home. Had some very interesting times driving without a working clutch. Luckily Javier had showed me that you can indeed shift without a clutch, except to get into first gear when fully stopped. Everytime I had to stop in traffic, I had to shut off the car and move it into first gear and then restart it to get going. Talk about nerve wracking! It was so bad that when we were waiting in line for the inspection near Nogales, the car behind us pushed us through the line. As each car moved a few feet ahead, he would push us along. Then he gave us a big shove to get us up to the inspector. Funny times. Anyway, long story short, we made it home and my jeep had a leaking master cylinder (despite being completely new as of about 6 months ago).

 

So, I didn't get my monster buck, but what an awesome thing to see. And the people were very friendly. The cook made some excellent food. T-bone steaks cooked to perfection, shrimp shiskabob with wine/honey sauce, lightly breaded chicken loins, and on and on. Some great food and drink. Spent most evenings drinking tequila shots . What a life! Viva Mexico!! Thanks to Marcos, Javier, Temo and Jesus for a great hunt. And thanks Martin G. for going with me. He is a great hunting partner.

 

Amanda

Edited January 1, 1970 by CouesWhitetail

[5yearcoueshunter]

Great story Amanda, thanks for sharing it with us. It sounds like if the weather had of coperated, you might have gotten your 110" or better buck!

 

Travis

[TREESTANDMAN]

Sounds like a blast!! That is an awesome video you posted of that Monster.

[CB1]

Great story and video, thank you amanda....hopefully you'll get to go again, just a matter of time before you connect..sounds like your on the right ranch, that seems to be the hard part anymore, finding a good ranch and honest outfitter, worth the trip, isn't it?! I looked at more coues bucks in one week in mexico than i did in several years here in az. In the several trips i got to take to mexico i saw several hundred deer, invaluable coues expierence....highly recommended...cool story...thanks again...BH...P.S...pretty strong passing on a 108, i would have hammered him...i know, i know, the big one was right there somewhere.......

Edited January 1, 1970 by CB1

[Outdoor Writer]

Nice recap of your hunt, Amanda. -TONY

[CB1]

Gawd Dang, forget my last post amanda, i did'nt see the video of the big buck before i posted that...great video, thank you ....sorry, i would waited on him too...Big buck, Big buck,.....BH

[stanley]

Great story Amanda! Thanks for taking time to share the details with us.

 

S.

 

:-)

 

PS: I know what you mean with the bad clutch. I had one go bad on a VW bug in high school, and drove for two weeks without one! You really CAN shift gears without one... :-)

[300 wsm]

Hey Amanda awsom story, and video. Sounds like you had fun. I cant wait to get a chance yo go their.

[coueshunter]

Amanda, what a good story and the video is fantastic. I bet you had the jitters hoping to smoke that bad boy............great trip and I bet you cant wait till this next season................Mexico is great............Allen...........

[Prohunt]

Amanda,

Great story and video. With bucks like that in one area, I know where your going to be next year!

Travis

[Arizona Griz]

Amanda, nice story and video. Mexico is a place all avid Coues hunters should try sometime.

Arizona Griz.

[Jason]

Thanks for the great story Amanda.....

 

Jason

[standman]

Great story and really awesome video Amanda. Truely a magnificant animal. One of my deams is to go down there some day and try archery hunting them monster bucks. Thanks again for the story and a wonderful website.

 

Brian

[CouesWhitetail]

Thanks guys, glad you enjoyed the story. It was a fun hunt. I am kinda bummed my video camera malfunctioned. Would have gotten much better video otherwise. But at least we got some of that big buck!

 

Amanda