The Buck I Never Dreamed Of

[ScottAdams]

sheeesh!!!!!!!

[cohntr6]

I cant believe I was going to skip this post!

I think it is time for the score, story, etc!!!

Congrats big time!

Jeff

[cohntr6]

Oh yeah...128 is my guess...

[natedogthehunter]

Never have I seen I deer like that in my life. That is an awesome deer.

[Elkaddict]

I have a 120 on the wall and this buck looks at least 10" more, so I'm going with 130.

[firstcoueswas80]

I've Heard What The Taxidermist Scored This Buck.... Find A New As He's 20" OR So Bigger.

[tsquare602]

My story...

 

Sunday morning was Kevin and my last morning to hunt and the "Da Da Da Dah, Da, Da, Da Da Dahhhh... Good Morning" alarm came faster than any of us wanted. We heated some coffee and pre-made breakfast burritos, reloaded our packs and slipped our soar feet into our boots. I looked over the duct tape job I had done on one of my boots the previous day and it looked like it would handle one more morning so after tying them on, Brian, Kevin and I were ready to go. Off we went, It was dark and our headlamps lit the way. We hiked, and hiked, and hiked. We had located a few good bucks on the days before but despite our best efforts we were unable to tag one. This morning we decided to push our luck and try to get a little closer. As we reached our glassing point and started to set down our packs the deer in the area busted us. Three different groups started yelling out warning calls and in a flash they had left the area. Brian, Kevin and I froze at the sounds and our hearts sank. We blew it.... dang...

Devastated that our last chance had been spoiled we decided to stick around, enjoy the sunrise and hope that in a short time some new animals would move back into the area. We choose our spots, sat down took the first hour a little less serious. I ate the burrito I had packed in and, hey, it was still even a little warm.

We glassed for a few more hours and saw a few does with fawns in the far distance but that was it. As the sun grew higher we decided we had given it a solid shot but our mistake earlier that morning had screwed us. We packed up our stuff and in a last effort, decided to glass for "10-15 minutes" at one more location that was on the way back to camp. Brian got comfortable and took a seat. I stood and Kevin decided to continue a little further before stopping. As Brian and I glasses we talked about how much fun we had had, how beautiful the southern AZ deserts were. (and how much more beautiful they could be without all the trash from the illegals.) Brian glasses up one of the does we had seen early and took a couple of pictures with his phone through his spotting scope. Just as the last few minutes started ticking away Brian whispered directly... "Dude!, a big buck just came over that ridge!" I though it was kidding for an instant but I could tell by his tone he was serious. "What? Where? How far out?" Brian pointed to the top of a ridge and said "There, near a large white rock.". I told him I wanted to take a shot and that I knew I could do it. Brian looked at me and said "Yes, do it. You can do this Travis." I grabbed my back pack and rifle, set the pack down and laid in the prone position. I quickly located the buck in my scope. At this point my body was shaking like an unbalanced washing machine. My heart felt like it was in my throat. When I took a breath or exhaled I sounded like I was shivering... I took three long breaths. I noticed some consistency in my shakes. I took one more breath, slowly exhaled as I watched the cross hairs hold my mark I squeezed the trigger...

When the gun went off I didn't hear it. I didn't feel it either but I knew it went off. As I pulled the bolt back to reload Brian called out "You hit him!" I pushed another round into the barrel and looked through the scope to try to located the buck again. "He's running down hill. FAST! I think you hit him pretty good, he's slowing down." I was unable to find the buck in my scope again but I could hear rocks crashing down the hill he was on. "He just dropped over that hill. He shouldn't go too much further." I was instantly PUMPED! Brian and I both were. I glanced back toward camp only to see Kevin headed back out way full steam. We were all so stoked.

After giving the buck some time. We eventually made our way onto the hill where we last spotted him. We located a blood trail and after more tracking that we expected, we found him. When we saw him. All three of us jumped for joy. We knew he was a good buck but none of us expected to walk up and see what we saw. It was an amazing sight and one I will NEVER forget.

 

 

I picked up the rack on my lunch today and snapped a few more pics for you all. According to my taxidermist it is a Typical 6x6 and its pretty rare to see that in a Coues (or so I'm told. - Yes, I probably should know that but if you all remember in my first post. I am pretty new to this and this is my first buck). My taxidermist scores for SCI and Pope and Young and after measuring it twice he concluded it grosses 112 3/8. (I think its lacking some width) I still plan on having it officially scored for B&C but I understand that B&C take a net score after deductions and only measures after 90 days of rest. I think there is a fair amount of deductions based on the rules of the score sheet that I have read. I can't get over how awesome it looks and I am can't wait to see how the mount comes out. Thank you for all the comments everyone you guys have really helped put this buck into perspective for me.

 

[shanehamblin]

Lol have him re scored I think he missed about 20 inches

[JOEDKILLA]

+1

[Coues79]

His G2's are something special that you don't find on too many coues deer. I really like how his frame from his g3 forward looks. It almost looks like his g2's just shoot out from nowhere when you look at the last picture that you posted here. If this buck truly only scores 112 or so inches, I wouldn't worry too much about it. The character on this buck is phenomenal and this is a great buck to showcase as a coues deer; it is one that a very select few would ever pass up. I know I wouldn't ever consider passing a deer like this. What a great looking animal. I love the color of his rack as well. All around great deer.

[Apache7mm]

Those G2's are way too cool! Thx again for sharing with us all.

 

DAN

[Seldom Drawn]

You shot a awesome buck and your pictures show how excited you were,don't get all caught up with the score maybe

when you have 30 more years of hunting you can worry about the score.the internet has really screwed up hunting be happy with

what you shot you are a novice that killed a great buck be happy with it.that is one awesone looking deer.

Why even put him in the book it's only a piece of paper, mount him and look at him every day that's all you need.

 

 

Seldom Drawn

[elkhunter]

112 is very very wrong of a score! I am excited to hear what other ppl say when they score this buck, I am not so much into size but rather giving respect to bucks that has eluded hunters and grown so dang big!

 

Congrats in your success! Like others, we are insanely jealous but yet so happy you smoked this buck, congrats! By the way are those the Payne brothers?

[tsquare602]

I followed the guidlines for a gross score and did my best to measure it and the score is accurate. I think the pics make it look wider than it is. I calculated about 52" on one side, 50" on the other and just over 10" on the inside spread.

 

I'm totally happy with the score and i think i will be very lucky to beat 112 in the future. Its a beautiful buck that is totally unique and its one I am VERY, VERY proud of.

[OpticNerd]

Great write up. Score doesn't matter on this buck and if he truly is 112 then he's the biggest bad-A 112 buck I've ever seen.