gotcoues Report post Posted December 11, 2014 My wife Colleen was able to wrap her tag around a great buck. She hunted hard right out of the gate, going on long walks and getting up early. We went on mission impossible chasing a secretive booner that lives in deep, thick and nasty country. Best we could do was lay eyes on him from 820 yards away. We gave up on him after the first weekend. Hunted nights during the week due to her work commitments and saw only small bucks. Well, Saturday was the big day. Colleen, myself and my good friend Andrew started walking at 2am to get to a spot we have been scouting for three seasons and have yet to try and hunt it. We were settled in by 5:40 and Andrew continued on to another vantage point in hopes of increasing our odds of finding a good buck quick. Andrew was the first to find bucks from his vantage point, but I was also able to glass up two bucks before shooting light at 430 yards. By the time we could tell he was a shooter, he slipped into a very small cut and bedded. Andrew and I talked about the different bucks and we decided to try and take the one we knew was hiding right in front of us. The waiting game ensued while his buddy was bedded out where we could see him. Finally at 9:30 he reappeared and feed towards us. As I was adjusting the turrets for a third time, he finally turned for a better shot angle. Boom, buck down at 320 yards at 9:45 am. My friend Harvey had also offered to help, in the early afternoon, he parked and started the journey in to meet us and help with the pack out. After pics and loading up packs with the quartered out buck, we made a pit stop at our camera to swap cards and refresh. We had no way to view the card, but bringing home "the gold" is always a good thing! At about the half way point, we enjoyed a hot lunch consisting of Mountain House Chili Mac w Beef, Beef Stroganoff and instant hot coffee, we used water from a running spring for lunch as to save our drinking water. This hunt was Colleen's first experience with freeze dried foods and she was very impressed with the quality of meals we were able to eat in the back country. At about the 75% out mark, Harvey was waiting for us. He took my pack (my knees were about done), I took Colleen's and Andrew stayed in warrior mode with his heavy pack. We managed to get back to the trucks at 5:09 that night. I couldn't be more proud, and impressed with Colleen. I'm a lucky guy and thankful to have such an amazing wife. She hung in there throughout this hunt, no matter what the challenge. On Sunday, Colleen starting processing her coues buck as she has done with all her animals. She made 10lbs of chaurice sausage, grind up a bunch of burger. Santa has already dropped off the new smoker, so she is looking forward to testing it out on some coues. We had hauled in bags, tent and sleeping pads so Colleen and I could stay the night last night (Andrew was leaving at 3 with or without a deer down). We will need to make the 8 hr journey to retrieve that gear, we just couldn't get it all out with one trip unfortunately. This is certainly a well deserved trophy coues buck for my wife Colleen! As a bonus, we have the left side shed from his 2012 rack, trail camera pictures from two years and also video of him Nelson and I took in early August. 18 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bowfishAZ Report post Posted December 11, 2014 It was a tough day and I wouldn't hesitate to do it again!! Congrats again to Colleen and I am more than ready to see what bucks we turn up / re-unite with in 2015! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JTO Report post Posted December 11, 2014 Very cool buck and experience! Well done 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
rancilio Report post Posted December 13, 2014 Nice story and great trophy. Congrats Colleen. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Pine Donkey Report post Posted December 13, 2014 Great buck Colleen! Thanks for posting the story and pictures. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
WHALE Report post Posted December 13, 2014 You guys are a coues driven family Congrats 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Ernesto C Report post Posted December 13, 2014 Excellent Justin, congrats to all and thanks for sharing your great hunt with us! 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
tjhunt2 Report post Posted December 13, 2014 Holy cow, would you look at the size of that body. Great job Colleen and congratulations. Great job of scouting this one out Justin. There's no doubt everyone worked their butts off for this beauty. Thanks for posting the story and pictures. TJ 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
capoeirajosh Report post Posted December 14, 2014 Fantastic buck! 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
gotcoues Report post Posted December 14, 2014 Kids are wife are the reason I do get to hunt so much! Thanks for the nice remarks, Colleen is really happy with her buck. Hopefully we can put some stinkers down, the whole family has tags and We will be taking one of my son's friends who hasn't ever hunted as well. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Cola Blanca Report post Posted December 14, 2014 NICE! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
DrRx09 Report post Posted December 16, 2014 Awesome! Congrats again to Colleen! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Mocha1545 Report post Posted December 16, 2014 Huge Congrats on a GREAT buck. You guys surely earned that one. Thanks for the nice story and pics. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
GhostTracker180 Report post Posted December 16, 2014 Nice buck. Congrats! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ScottAdams Report post Posted December 17, 2014 Great buck! Congratulations!! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
