SDHunter11 Report post Posted December 21, 2012 When I was 13 years old, I missed a 150 yard shot on a monster buck. This buck was the largest buck my father had ever seen (he was a game warden in southern units for 20 years, so it was a big buck). I have since worked on my shooting and had many great hunts with very few misses. I have still been haunted by this miss and I was able to get a little redemption in the early dec hunt. My father and I both had left over tags and were hoping for two nice shooter bucks. We started opening morning by glassing a hill that had produced many bucks in the past. This was the same hill I missed the large buck on many years earlier. Once the morning light hit the hillside, we began to see deer. I was watching a couple of does when my dad caught my attention and indicated he had a couple of bucks. From the 15s, we watched two decent bucks feed up to a saddle. They were about 400 yds out and although I was set up prone for the shot, I was not comfortable and had not decided if they were shooters yet. Well, the deer crested the saddle and a plan of action was drawn up. I was going to hike up and around the back side of an adjacent peak to get a good view of the back side of the saddle. My father would wait to see if I pushed them back over the saddle. There were two other hunters in the area and I informed them of my stalk and suggested they may want to repositon to get in place for a shot if I sent the deer back their way. They were very understanding and said they would be on the look out. When I got up to the mountain, I very quickly found the deer and got set up for the shot. I ranged the two bucks at 390 yds and decided to shoot the front buck who seemed a little wider. (It was difficult to determine which buck was larger) The shot rang out and I saw the deer hump up. I knew I had hit him so I slowly worked my way over. On the walk over, I heard a few shots on the other side of the hill and assumed the other buck had headed over and met his demise. The grass where the buck was on the first shot was waist high and it was difficult to find blood. I found a game trail nearby, heading downhill, and followed it for awhile until I found some good blood. It was clear the buck had taken a good hit, but the job wasn't done. A few minutes later he stood up100 yards out and I put one through his neck. I honestly thought he was a little bigger, but I was very pleased with him. He died less than a 1/4 mile from my miss years earlier. It made me think he was related to the big buck and it brought me some satisfaction knowing I had come a long way since missing that deer years ago. The shots I heard over the mountain were one of the other hunters taking the second buck. The hunter with the tag was from back east and it was his first coues. We gave them a lift back to their car and got to know them a little. They were both firefighters and were very thankful for me stopping by and letting them know to get ready. The next day, my dad took this good buck less than a mile from mine. I had the joy of packing both of these guys out. My dad says I owe him from the years of him doing it for me, funny thing is I can only remember him packing one or two out for me! All in all, it was a fantastic hunt and I was able to spend some quality time with my dad in the wild. My buck scored 80 4/8. (I wish more people would put the score of bucks under 100 to help people get better at judging bucks) 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
6ANut Report post Posted December 21, 2012 Congrats on you and your dad taking nice bucks. What did your dads score his looks a lil bigger? Over the counter as well nice job. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Will K Report post Posted December 21, 2012 Nice work guys. A big congrat's too you. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
CouesFanatic Report post Posted December 21, 2012 Nice bucks and cool story. Is that a suppressor on the other guys gun? If thats a break its huge. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
trophyhnter Report post Posted December 21, 2012 Great story! Great to hear stories of hunting with your mentors! Congrats on both your bucks! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
randyolson Report post Posted December 21, 2012 Congratulations!! Nice double! Father and son! How great! Thanks for sharing!! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Oso Verde Report post Posted December 22, 2012 SDH11, It was a pleasure meeting both you and your dad. It is good to know that there are still true gentleman and sportsman afield. Lance and I talked about that morning for a couple days. BTW.. The Border Patrol was really amused with the deer in the trunk of the "Prius"! Thanks again for the ride. I'll send u a pm with my December deer. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
DesertBull Report post Posted December 22, 2012 I put my first deer in the trunk of my ford tempo. There still blood in the Carpet when I traded it Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
CouesWhitetail Report post Posted December 22, 2012 Great story and congratulations on your buck and to your dad for his buck! and I appreciate your request for people to put the scores of bucks under 100 so everyone can get better at judging them! You might not have noticed, but the redesigned main coueswhitetail page (not the forum) makes it easy for you to view bucks based on scores. You can search using the tags like "80-90" "90-100" "100-110" etc and it will pull up bucks that are in the photogallery for which we have scores. Look for those search tags on the right hand margin of the main home page www.coueswhitetail.com 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Coues Archer Report post Posted December 22, 2012 Nice job on some awesome bucks! Congrats to you and your dad.. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
SDHunter11 Report post Posted December 22, 2012 Congrats on you and your dad taking nice bucks. What did your dads score his looks a lil bigger? Over the counter as well nice job. The main beams on my deer were a little longer than my dads, but his had a little more mass and longer G2s. I did not score his, but they were very close, I would say not more than a point or two. The two deer could very well have been related, similar rack configuration and similar coloration on their chest. I'll see if my dad can score him soon. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
SDHunter11 Report post Posted December 22, 2012 SDH11, It was a pleasure meeting both you and your dad. It is good to know that there are still true gentleman and sportsman afield. Lance and I talked about that morning for a couple days. BTW.. The Border Patrol was really amused with the deer in the trunk of the "Prius"! Thanks again for the ride. I'll send u a pm with my December deer. It was very nice meeting you both. It was very gentleman like of you guys not to push the deer during my stalk as well, so thank you. I know it wasn't ideal seeing us pull up that morning, but I am glad it all worked out. I think I was more excited for Lance getting his first coues than i was with my deer! His excitement was contagious. I hope to run into you guys again. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bonecollector Report post Posted December 23, 2012 Great time in coues country with your dad and both of you guys tagging out is a bonus. Was the prius a rental car for the guys from back east? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
