tommat Report post Posted December 7, 2012 Took the best Coues buck of my life, Monday morning. I have been hunting Coues for over 30 years, never really been a trophy hunter. I have always shot (or shot at) the first buck I glassed up and had a chance at. About a month ago I started keeping an eye on a hill I had seen some deer in the past. It is in a convenient place for me to get to, about a half hour from my home. I wanted to find a good place to sit and glass the hillside so I began to climb to what looked like a good point to glass from. I just got to a nice knob to sit, when three bucks kicked up a couple hundred yards uphill from me. One was quite nice, with a spike and a fork. Watched them for awhile and thought I know where I'm gonna be opening morning. Watched them top the hill and hiked up another 100yds or so with the intention of climbing the hill and scouting behind it. A whitetail flag caught my eye and a real big buck was running up dead away from me with a small 3 X. I got my binocs on him and wow. He was wider than his ears and and thick. He made me forget about the previous nice buck. I got to see him three more times over the next month. and got a couple pics through my 15X binocs and cell phone, hence the poor quality. The last time I saw him he was chasing a doe, all worked up. This was a few days before opening morning. I was concerned about other hunters being on "my" hill so I was determined to be at my spot at 4:00am, well before the sun. Full moon of course. Didn't even need a flashlight to get from my truck to the spot. 1/2 hour into shooting light, glassed up a buck, eyeballing me. ranged him at 260yds. I knew he was not the big boy right away. I tried to ignore him. Glassed away from him. Then thought well let me get the rifle scope on him. He was a tall fork. Nice big body. I was weakening...telling myself not to shoot. There were a couple big bucks around here...Put the rifle down... look away. Got the rifle back on him...I did have a lot of commitments that had sprung up that week. It was a nice buck. Freezer was empty....Boom I let it rip. He stood there looking at me and then flagged up the hill. I told myself good. I didn't want to shoot you anyway. I followed him up the hill to be sure of the miss, no blood, and hunted till I had to return to pick up my youngest at school and never saw another deer that day. Saturday morning I gave it another try, got there early and it paid off. Weekend hunters began appearing at first light only to go somewhere else when they spotted me on "My" hill. Never saw a deer that day and began getting down on myself for missing the Fork. I was pretty sure it was me and not my trusty -06, but to be safe I told myself next time out I would use my 11 year old's Youth .243. I knew that gun was dead on. Never got to hunt Sunday and my brother-in-law invited me on a Mtn Bike outing Monday morning. I told him no, I was gonna hunt. Sunday night I changed my mind and told him I would meet him at 10:00. I had a couple open mornings later in the week and figured I'd give "my" hill a rest. Monday morning I realized I would have an hour to glass "my" hill after I dropped off my son at school so I threw my stuff in the truck and was at my spot before 08:00. Glassed up 2 does right away. I remembered the big buck was interested in a doe so I was really paying a lot of attention to the area around them glassing hard....nada. My watch told me I had just a few min before I had to get home and get my bike ready. Swung my Vortex 10 X 42's to the right and BAM. there was the Big Boy with a spike, way down the hill, much lower than I'd ever seen him. Grabbed my rangefinder and got a quick reading of 360 yds....That's too much for me..watched him a bit and noticed I had ranged the wrong tree near him...got 330yds. I couldn't close the distance without risking getting busted, I was on the edge of a steep drop off and they were getting close to rounding the hill on me. 300 Yds has always been my personal maximum range. Thought a moment and decided to go for it. Dropped my tripod low, sat down and attached a yoke on the top and put the crosshairs on him. His head was down, eating. The spike about 15 yds above doing the same. Held about 8 - 10" high blew out a breath and squeezed the trigger. Boom. I tried to keep an eye on him but lost him....the spike just stood there, looking where the buck was....I felt very calm for the shot as I really didn't expect a hit. I glassed for 15 min looking for a sign of him and the spike slowly walked away. Gave him 15 more min, just in case of a poor shot. Phoned a friend and told him I thought I had a really big buck down, he headed my way and off I went. Didn't see him till I was about 10 yds from him. I didn't yell or whoop. Just sat and stared. Thanked God for the steady aim and perfect shot placement. That deer dropped straight down, dead before he hit the ground. Never in my wildest dreams did I ever imagine taking a buck like this. My buddies Carlos (Cflores), and Lyn arrived and helped me with photos, field dressing, and getting him to the truck. (Carlos did all the packing), He might have been more excited than I was. I had no plans to cape him, just thought of capping the skull and figuring it out from there. They insisted we cape the hide and put in my freezer for me to think about. Thank God I did. I dropped him off at Lippert / Doyle taxidermy and they green scored him at 103 7/8". I was blown away and my lovely wife has given the go ahead for a mount and a prominent place in our home. I would not argue this trophy was taken with a lotta dumb luck, and I feel I got him despite my best efforts. I will think of this buck as the icing on the cake. I don't think I will rifle hunt again and will now concentrate on taking an archery couse. And Thank the Lord for lousy shooting on opening day! Wanted to add a trail cam pic emailed to me by someone else eyeing this deer. The little kicker on his right eye guard proves it. The best part of this pic is that the buck with him is the one I shot at and missed opening morning. I am sure of this as stated above, I stared at him long enough........ 3 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Pine Donkey Report post Posted December 7, 2012 Very nice buck! Thanks for posting the story. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
firstcoueswas80 Report post Posted December 7, 2012 Very awesome trophy. A perfect Coues buck! wide, heavy and very good length. A very big congrats to you, and I am a bit jealous. That is a beautiful buck and great shot. I like the extra on the eyeguard and the 3rd. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
WHALE Report post Posted December 7, 2012 Great Buck! Good luck on the archery coues. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
shaynec Report post Posted December 8, 2012 Great story! thanks, shayne 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Coues Archer Report post Posted December 8, 2012 Awesome story! And awesome buck, congrats on a dandy.. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
CouesBuckhunter Report post Posted December 8, 2012 Look under my post of my moms hint and I have a trail cam picture of that buck. Congrats on him. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
AZ RANGER Report post Posted December 8, 2012 Congrats. Enjoyed your story 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
CouesWhitetail Report post Posted December 8, 2012 Congratulations! 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
elkhunter Report post Posted December 8, 2012 My first thought was that couesbuckhunter had a trail cam pic of him! Now you got multiple pics of him, congrats! A few people were after this buck, good work! 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
archerman Report post Posted December 8, 2012 Excellent story and congrats on a seriously nice buck! 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Coues Sniper Report post Posted December 9, 2012 Great buck. I like his look, the score is just gravy. And sorry to be "that guy", but this part of your post made me cringe - ....I felt very calm for the shot as I really didn't expect a hit. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
tommat Report post Posted December 9, 2012 Great buck. I like his look, the score is just gravy. And sorry to be "that guy", but this part of your post made me cringe - ....I felt very calm for the shot as I really didn't expect a hit. Coues Sniper - I agree no shot should be taken unless you are confident you can make the shot and a clean kill. I would not have shot if I didn't think I could do it. I was referring to the mind set I had at the time. I had a bit of bad luck on my Elk hunt, as well as my son's Elk hunt and Javelina hunt the week before.......sort of a "murphy's law kinda thing. I golf a lot and understand how confidence and commitment in your shot has a huge influence in the outcome. I also agree I could have stated it better. Thanks for the read and the comments. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
tommat Report post Posted December 9, 2012 Look under my post of my moms hint and I have a trail cam picture of that buck. Congrats on him. CouesBuckhunter - saw the pic and the others you emailed me.....Wow. No doubt exact same buck. Really neat seeing him in your trail cam pic. Thanks for bringing it to my attention. Another hunter had come forward and says he has a picture of him in velvet. Can't wait to see that one. I guess he wasn't my little secret. You guys discovered him way before me. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Coach Report post Posted December 9, 2012 Nice buck!!! Congrats. You did well. I liked the story too. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
