Waylon's 125 Late Coues Buck

AZ Ground Pounders · December 25, 2012

Waylon waited 9 years between Coues tags. This year he drew one of the state's premier late tags in the AZ Ground Pounders favortite unit.

Levi, Cash, Steel and Waylon began scouting immediately. Some good bucks were found during the fall but it wasnt until two weeks before the hunt when Levi found the one. Levi and buddy Derek Daniels went to check spot when Levi glassed a deer's leg in the sun sticking out of a oak brush. When the buck stood up Levi quickly named the buck Sunny Governor because he was worthy of the annual governor's auction tag . Levi watched the buck for the next two weeks straight. The first morning of the hunt had Waylon and Levi sitting in the first major snow storm of the season with about 200 yards visibilty. The next two days were just as bad. Finally on the fourth morning of the hunt the clouds broke and the sun began to melt the snow. Governor stood up in the sun and pushed a smaller buck away, never giving Waylon a chance. The next day the buck stood up but again did not give a good shot opportunity.

Waylon finally got the chance to come back and hunt on the 7th Day of the hunt. The buck was not seen that afternoon. On the 8th Day of the hunt Levi and Waylon were in the spot glassing before day break. It was a cold overcast morning and they both had a good feeling about the day. At 8:30 the clouds broke and sun started to shine on the ridge. 15 Minutes later Levi glassed the buck coming out of a pinion tree 750 yards away. Waylon quickly jumped in the gun and had him in the scope. The buck was cruising just like the other encounters but this time the AZ Ground Pounders were ready. Levi ranged the buck at 698 yards and Waylon turned the custom turret to 7. Waylon told Levi "when the buck stops I'm gonna kill him." Waylon squeezed the trigger on Levi's custom .300 Win Mag. Levi said "He is hit hard. The buck ran up the hill but he was hurt." The giant buck bedded in the middle of an opening. Waylon was going to shoot him again but when Levi went to get out of his Swarovski 15s he bumped the tripod. When he relocated the opening, the buck was gone. Waylon told Levi that he had never squeezed off a shot better in his life. They waited for Cash, Steel Jimbo and Derek to get there from another glassing spot. After 4 hours of waiting Jimbo and Steel decided to walk from the back side of the ridge to make sure that the buck wasnt injured and running off. When Steel approached the spot where the buck was last seen he found some fresh tracks and smelled deer. Steel looked to the right and said in to the radio Waylon's new favorite phrase,"Got him." The shot was a perfect center punch through both shoulders.

Waylon would like to thank Levi for all of his help in the past 4 months, Cash, Steel and Jimbo for all of the early morning glassing trips. And also thank Derek for helping Levi during the two weeks of watching the giant buck. Sunny Governor scored 125 4/8ths and has 9 1/2 eye guard and a 4 inch kicker off of the other eye guard. It is the Coues Buck of a lifetime on the Coues Hunt of a Lifetime.