Dream Hunt of A Lifetime

[C.C.Cody171]

Back Story

This is a hard story to tell because I'm not sure where to start. The journey to harvesting this buck of a lifetime has had many ups and downs. I started hunting Coues about 8 years ago by drawing a couple consecutive rifle tags. The first year I drove out to a mountain range with a friend who had hunted Coues for years and killed some nice bucks. We started at daylight looking at an open hillside from a two track and saw a handful of these little whitetail deer and soon realized two of them were small bucks. I was sitting on the ground with my elbows on my knees holding some old Nikon 12's and thinking back they were probably about 1000 yards away so I couldn't tell much more than that. We watched them for a few minutes and they fed into a small thicket of brush in a draw in the middle of this big hill. We figured I could make my way up there in the next draw over and poke over from the side and shoot one. Once in place I could see right into the thicket and the deer were gone...I thought man where did they go. After walking toward the spot for a minute I was about 75 yards away and I kept looking into the brush and nothing. Finally to be sure they were gone I threw a rock into the draw and the two bucks jumped out and one took off running. The other buck just stood there and looked at me, I was in shock for a minute and my heart started pounding. I pulled my rifle up and was looking at him for a while before I felt ok to squeeze the trigger. An instant later my first Coues hunt was over and little did I know the sickness that was setting in. I carried the whole deer to the truck and thought wow that was cool but over pretty quick. I looked back at those awesome mountains and regretted not getting to explore them for the next week or getting to see any more deer. I said "next time I wanna go up there!"

The next year with the same hunt I did a ton of hiking and besides some sheds was empty handed come the last day. I took my cousin Travis along and we went to the top of those mountains in some country that I figured deer had to live in. It was a long day in cowboy boots, because I forgot my hunting boots, and we ran out of water and food mid morning, rookies. We jumped deer all day but only ever saw a flash of tail lights. We didn't glass anything up during the few minutes that we tried. Right before dark many miles from my jeep three deer jumped up and started running across a saddle and I put my scope on one and saw it was a little buck. I led his run and squeezed the trigger and dropped him about 400 yards away...what! (Something I would never even consider doing now, total luck) Well once again my hunt was over and once again we carried the whole deer to the truck. I didn't have a knife and we got back around midnight so thirsty. When we got back to phone service I had a bunch of messages from my worried wife and the whole drive home we were talking about the things that we could have done different or the things we could have brought with us to make it a little more comfortable.

So, I don't need to talk about every hunt but I wanted to give a baseline especially for the beginner hunters that are currently experiencing unprepared situations like this. Keep at it and it will get better.

I had killed a couple mule deer with my bow and rifle previous to this so I started in on Coues with my bow and took on a challenge that would take me three years to finally succeed at (spot and stalk). I got drawn or got a left over tag those few years and always got a deer and had some great hunts during that time but it was my main goal to sneak up on a Coues with my bow. I always hunted every day I could in January, August, September and December. I stalked a lot of deer, because my standards were pretty much anything, so I was within 100 yards of probably 100 bucks before it finally worked out. It was a September day when I glassed up some small bucks at 1000 yards and four hours later I shot one of them in his bed at 32 yards. He jumped up and ran about 40 yards before piling up, double lung. It was an emotional time of triumph and disbelief for me. Four months later I got my second Coues with my bow during the rut. Glassed him up out there quite a ways and about six hours later stuck him in his bed at 28 yards. He ran out of sight so I gave him time and went back for my pack. An hour later I started tracking, about 100 yards away I found my buck and once again had a meltdown. Believe it or not as much as I'd learned up to then I carried that deer out whole to my truck again...unbelievable. The relevance of my archery experience in this story plays a key factor in the taking of my dream buck this last rifle season. By this time a huge part of my success of learning about these amazing animals came from my archery hunting partner, Creed. Unfortunately, I was alone both times I succeeded with my bow but all along the way Creed and I spent many days hunting mostly Coues together, we did go after some mule deer and javelina a few times. I have to thank Creed for his willingness to share his knowledge with me and his patience because most days were spent watching me stalk deer due to the difference in standards. He had several good deer with his bow already and was holding out for mature bucks and I would go after just about anything.

Dream Hunt of A Lifetime

So this year for the first time in our hunting partnership neither of us tagged out before rifle season and we didn't get drawn either. So we decided to get left over tags. I was able to place some cameras throughout the unit during the summer and whenever we had the chance we would scout but due to Creeds wife recently having their second child he had much more important duties. Came up with a handful of nice bucks on camera and we felt good about our decision. Left over tag results were out and..."what are you sure?"...there wasn't any for the late November hunt we needed due to our work schedules! Whatever info we had from that summer was useless so we went with plan B and saw there were some tags for another unit that mostly Creed had hunted before but both of us had hit during archery season and knew we could find mature bucks there.

So at this point I have to backtrack some and cover the fact that although Creed and I have archery hunted together. I have a brother who over the last few years has become obsessed with Coues deer as well but for the most part only rifle hunts. We try to hunt New Mexico and the reservation together every year for Coues and have shared many awesome times together chasing the amazing and ever elusive grey ghost. For our AZ hunt my brother, Caleb, puts in with a group of his buddies and I either put in with Creed or tag out with my bow. This year Caleb happened to get the same tag as me but we had decided to stay with our groups for the hunt.

Ok. So after a ton of day dreaming, Google Earth, long text threads of hunt plans and discussions of past mature buck sightings we had a few ideas about areas to hit. One plan we were thinking for the 4th and 5th day was to park a vehicle at one end of some deep country that we had hunted the fringes of with our bows but it’s just a killer to try to day hunt it. On the Monday before our hunt I had a full day to spend scouting. I hiked to a high point before daylight and waited for the sun. Time spent in Coues country is time well spent and is unexplainable to anyone who isn't infatuated with it as well. Most of the time your muscles and lungs are burning, thorns are sticking you, rocks are killing your legs and joints, you freeze at night and sun burn during the day. You know you’re sick when you choose all that again and again. Sitting there waiting for the sun is my favorite time to soak in the comfort and pure joy I get from this lifestyle. The hillsides in front of me started illuminating before sunrise so I leaned forward to my binos on my tripod and started searching. A few hours later I was driving and called Creed to tell him it was a good morning for deer movement and that I found two maybe three mature bucks I would shoot and that I got some video. I had the rest of the day to go to the area we wanted to pack through and stash a couple gallons of water near the middle, where we would spend the night.

It was just after 1:00 and I was soaked in sweat and almost to where I'd be leaving the water. I was walking up a ridge and feeling the burn so I decided to stop for a few seconds. Of course I glanced around and saw a nice looking fairly open hillside about 1200 yards away, so I grabbed my binos from my chest to freehand a quick scan. Right away my eyes were on a dark shape in the shade of a tree with bright yellow grass causing the silhouette of a "deer shaped dead oak log with some thick branches? “. I almost looked away when all the sudden the log turned its head, turned it back and stepped out of sight...holy crap what did I just see!!! I shot to the top, no longer feeling any burn in my legs but in my chest and brain. I reached the crest and quickly set up my tripod and binos. Bam! There he was slowly walking and feeding across the hill. Dang that can't be right, I thought. He was a good heavy frame buck but for a reference he was around 100". I’m not belittling that impressive deer, I was just confused by my misjudgment. I looked around and there was a doe too but nothing else. I grabbed my phone scope and took some video that wasn't great because I was around 800 yards. Something was bothering me, I knew what I had seen but I was freehand glassing through heat waves and wind. Did I really think the buck I'm looking at was a giant? I kept watching with my naked eye and scanning to the right with the video rolling and all of the sudden there he was.
I've spent hours watching nice bucks during archery stalks and have learned decent buck fever control but you'd have thought it was the first deer I ever saw. I literally had a panic attack and was trying to video this monster and trying to look at him too. I lost control of myself completely. I started shaking and losing my breath and I even jumped up on my feet and then sat back down several times. Right now I'm trying to type, and my hands won't stop shaking just thinking about it. Finally it slowed down a little and I managed to get some terrible footage, but good enough to see he was huge. I called Creed hoping he could help me but no answer. I called Caleb but no answer. Some of this is a blur but I wound up talking to both of them enough to calm down and be told to get closer and get some good video. I've arrowed two Coues in their beds, and at that moment I was afraid to get closer than 800 yards, haha. After calming down a bit, I snuck to about 350 yards and got to watch and video him for a couple hours, life changing. I always said I’d be happy just to see a buck of this magnitude even if I wasn’t fortunate enough to kill one. I left him in his bed around 4:00 undisturbed. I went back the way I came and stashed the water about .75 miles north and ran out of that country to my truck. I called Creed and Caleb and filled them in..."Absolute giant!"

I called my wife as well. She is the most understanding, supportive, patient, loving person I've ever met and none of what I do would be possible without her. Not just in hunting but everything. She listens to my rambles about deer, always prepares anything I will need while away and wonderfully raises our three amazing kids during the times of the year I spend a lot of time in the mountains. She is my rock and I can't give her enough gratitude. Also she is my business partner and a happy spirited upbeat stay at home mom and yoga instructor all at once. Plus she's a great shot! Thanks babe I love you, never forget it.

For the next four days I slept very little and my eyes were red from watching videos on my phone. Creed and I had concluded this deer had to be priority #1 and we agreed Caleb should join us if he was willing to give up any of his hunt to help. They both did have prior commitments and I, believe it or not, had to work Friday, opening day. The plan was for me to pack in after work Friday and hunt until they both packed in together Sunday morning to join me. I arrived to the place where I had stashed water after dark Friday and set up my camp. The wind was crazy for the next couple days and nights and hardly ever paused. Saturday morning I went a couple hundred yards to a highpoint and waited for the sun. I had camped north of where I saw him to give him space and so I could hunt south, glassing north slopes as I went. I made it to where I saw him last by mid-morning and stayed near there the rest of the day. The hardest thing for me still is to pass nice bucks to hold out. I saw about twenty doe's and five bucks that day and like a moron I stalked about a 103" nice buck in the afternoon. Once again not knocking that buck but I shouldn’t have been considering it knowing what else was there. I set up on him and even put my finger on the trigger before finally convincing myself that's not what I was out there for this time. I got mad at myself, grabbed my stuff, stood up and walked away. I did watch him from a distance while glassing a bunch of other country until dark just in case my buck was with him. I walked the 30 minutes back in the dark and called Creed and Caleb to confirm Sunday’s plan. We were all relieved in a way I hadn't found him yet so we could look for him together. Sunday I wanted to leave my tent at 6 and start glassing from where I originally saw him from at daylight. I got up and ready and waited at my tent for them until 6:30, glassing light was creeping in. I tried their phones, straight to voice mail. I decided to go to the first point and wait for them while glassing from the same spot as the morning before. I scanned everything quick and then a little slower and didn't come up with any deer. Ten feet to my right was a tree that was blocking a small piece of really nice north facing slope, so I stood up and shuffled over a little to see that. It was about 7:00 and my world flipped upside down! There was my buck at about 550 yards standing broadside, feeding along.

Crap my hands are shaking again...anyway I decide to get set up on him and see where those guys were. I've been holding good groups out to 800 yards so I felt good about the distance but I was right in the wind. While explaining the rest of this bear with me and try not to call me a dummy, I lost my mind and couldn't make a good decision for anything. I wanted to get out of the wind so I got out of sight and went to set up 100 yards to the right. I got down there and couldn't find him. I forgot my binos where I had been. This caused an even greater panic, what was I doing? I looked for him in my scope and couldn't see him so I ran back to my binos. I found him right away, he had moved a little too the right into a shallow ravine on the steep hillside. I realized I couldn't have seen him from the other spot. I set my rifle up on him from where I was and snuck to the back of that point and tried to call those guys again and I looked for them along the path they should be on. I could see my tent and they weren't there. Phones were still off. I returned to the deer and he was standing there eating on a mountain mahogany. I'm still pretty much freaking out but I had everything set up to shoot. I figured I'd get in the scope and see how I felt, big mistake. I started watching him and actually calmed down a little, truly a majestic animal. I was set up on my bipod, pack and sitting pad. I became steady and was holding on him rock solid. I decided to bring it all to an end. The wind died down for about five seconds and I started squeezing. It's on him...it's on him...it's on him...BANG...WHAP! I focused back in and he was standing ten feet to the left, he started walking down and left but not fast, stopping every few feet. I then rushed two more shots when he stopped but a hard wind had returned, both missed. Then he was gone, I couldn't find him so I jumped up in my binos and started searching. Still nothing and I had the hill covered but if I know anything it’s that these deer can disappear or appear anywhere. The first shot was a hit but that's all I knew. Right then my phone went nuts. You guessed it, Creed and Caleb freaked out about then too. They had made it to a highpoint short of my tent at daylight so they had stopped to glass so not to waste sun up. They were only about 500 yards from me. When I shot they were actually watching a small buck that was apparently about 100 yards from my buck. I never saw it and they hadn’t seen mine either. Another thing I was worried about was that they would hike past me trying to catch up and spook the deer. That's part of why I shot. Ultimately, it was a huge mistake because the deer was probably going to stay on that hill the rest of the day. As it was I had no idea where he was or how good I had hit him. I should have waited for a spotter. Well, a short while later they were set up next to me and after I explained what happened we all started looking everywhere and picking apart his last known location.

It had been about 40 minute’s since I shot and I was beyond low and not very hopeful. Judging by his demeanor it wasn't a good hit and I thought I would never see him again. Both Caleb and Creed could tell I was sick to my stomach and told me the first shot connected and I can’t see him because he’s lying over there dead, they had heard the impact too. I was just hoping the wound wouldn't prove fatal later on if it was a bad shot. All of the sudden my world flipped upside down again when Creed said those sweet words, "I got him!” I panned a short distance over and there he was walking across the open, going down and to the right. He came from right where he had disappeared. He made his way toward us disappearing into another ravine. Then I found him again about ten minutes later further down the hill coming out onto the hill directly in front of us but near the bottom. He bedded down after a few minutes between some boulders tucked under brush. He was about 320 yards at this time but there was no shot. Those guys gave me good advice to get set up and shoot him when he stands up but I made another emotional decision to end it. My nerves were shot. I thought, too many times I've been under 50 yards of a nice buck waiting for him to stand up with an arrow knocked and something crazy happens. I never got a shot and I never see the deer again, I'm not taking that chance. Caleb and I snuck to another angle and got set up at 310 yards while Creed kept his eyes on the deer. Once in position Creed snuck over to us and set up to watch. Once again I got in the scope, I made sure everything was perfect and squeezed the trigger. "You busted him Cody, he's done!" Those words about killed me, but I was looking through the scope at a standing deer...what the? He was hit hard with his head hanging and after he rotated a little I put another one through the bread basket. It knocked him down and we knew it was over but after a minute he pulled his head back up and stood. Somewhere in there his antlers were in the way of any shot and I was on a whole other level of buck fever, so Caleb reached over and actually put my rifle on safety and said “you’re not shooting right now!” thanks big brother. We couldn't believe he was back up but when he turned a shot cleared so I placed another round at the back of his ribs to angle through to the off shoulder. He dropped and tumbled down the hill out of sight, we all said “ok he’s done.” I began to shake worse than ever and a massive celebration took place. The three of us at that time knew it was a special moment and a special deer and soaked it up all we could. As we approached the bottom of the steep ravine he was nowhere in sight and we were all in disbelief. The blood path hit the bottom and started up the other side. It was more of a nightmare than a dream right about now. He started side-hilling right away and finally expired about 40 yards from the bottom. We walked up to him and took a while to just appreciate this fine animal. We were careful to examine each shot and even recovered a bullet against the hide on the offside. The only explanation was that this was an extremely tough deer that just wouldn’t give up.

After some field dressing we made our way to camp and rested for a while and sent out some pictures. After we finished getting everything packed up between the three of us we started the long heavy walk out. I flew so high at the time I think I could have carried anything. That feeling is what it’s all about, out there enjoying it all with friends and family. I can never thank Creed enough for everything, without him I would have surely been many more years before successfully hunting the best deer on earth. His story of his fine buck is also on here and took place a few days later, no surprise he found another bruiser, awesome and responsible hunter and man! My brother Caleb had packed enough stuff to stay and hunt with me for seven days and if we ran out of water he was going to leave me to hunt while he went out and brought in more. That's a heck of a guy, all of course during his own hunt. He went back to his group and together they harvested 3 for 3, also some mature bucks. My love for the great outdoors all started as a kid and I have one guy to thank for that, my dad. He had us in the woods all the time and any capability I have to do anything came from his consistency of putting his kids first every time. On top of that, he’s helping me pack in for other hunts all the time with mules. I learned a lot from this deer and on this hunt and I hope I feel that way every time.

Again I want to recognize and thank my incredible wife and my kids for their support and understanding of my addiction. Thanks for reading; I hope you enjoyed it as much as I enjoyed sharing it. Merry Christmas and a happy new deer season. January here I come!

 

[BMC]

one of the best write-ups I've ever read. What an AWESOME buck! congrats

[creed_az_88]

Thanks again for letting me be part of this awesome experience. Reading that actually took me back to the moment. Your story does leave a few important details out though. One, it doesn't truly tell how much time and effort you put I to your hunts. You totally earned that deer. Two, you forgot to mention that your pack coming out of that country was 86 lbs! You look like a scrawny school girl next to me in those pictures but people need to know, you can muscle some gear into and out of the hills. Three, not one of those pictures truly does that deer justice. What a giant. I literally cannot wrap my hands around his base on the right side.

[CouesPursuit]

Great job to you guys. Aside from that TOAD of a buck, I can relate to your hunting experiences and friendship, your wife's support, etc. This was a very good read. It definitely seemed you earned and deserved the whole experience. Thanks for sharing it the way you did.

[johnnie blaze]

BOING!

[Cola Blanca]

What an amazing buck!!!!! Congrats, I really enjoyed your write up, as I was reading I felt at times like I was right there with you on your hunt.

[C.C.Cody171]

First of all Creed the pack was 92 lbs, haha. As far as details go...maybe I shouldn't have made the story so short! Lol. As far as talking about the horns, I didn't know what to say. Mind blowing every time I look at them. It's going to kill me while they're at the taxidermist!

Thanks for the kind words everyone it was harder to write than it was to do honestly. I almost didn't post it when I finally finished so I'm glad you could relate and enjoyEd it.

[Viper]

HOLY...WOW!! That is a gnarly toad! Great job to all. Great story.

Have the taxidermist cap the horns when you drop it off, so you can take them home with you. No way I would leave them there. You can deliver them when he is ready to do your mount...which will be several months, usually.

[WHT_MTNMAN]

Awesome job!!! I agree don't leave your antlers anywhere... Keep them with you until the week it gets mounted.

What a stud buck.

[Will K]

WOWZA.... Totally Awesome.

[Quagmire]

Great write up, thank you for sharing!

[roninflag]

awesome buck. great story.

[Mocha1545]

WOW! What a TOAD! Congrats. You earned that one. incredible write up. I was actually getting buck fever reading it. Even better to share it with family and friends. Like most of us here you definitely married up!

[More D]

WHHAA.....

 

I personally have never seen a bladed eye guard lIke that one.....that is just one of the awesomeness the buck have.

 

Congratulations hardly seem in order because you EARNED this deer...

[peloncillo]

Great story for an incredible buck. Way to go.

 

Keven