COOSEFAN Report post Posted October 31, 2007 Howdy guys and gals, I've been on here for several hours already just trying to catch up on everyones great stories and successes! Holy cow there are some great critters hittin' the dirt this year!!! Congrats to all of ya and best of luck to those still out! I had the good fortune to draw my early WT tag again this year and so did a few buddy's of mine. I took the ol' .270 out and got it dialed in better than it's ever been, had my confidence all jacked up and I was chompin' at the bit to get out in Coues country again! Shortypants and T-bone (Terry) would meet us down there and we arrived 2 days before the hunt started and shot our rifles to make sure everything was set. Our shooting was on and camp was soon set up. We found some bucks on Thurs. and our hopes were high, but as expected all the long lines of hunters started rolling in Thurs. night and it was hotter than heck! The full moon made for easy hikes off the mountains but it put the bucks to bed early and most had no intentions of getting up during daylight hours! This was going to be a tough hunt! My buddy Craig showed up Fri. morning to film my hunt and was a little late so we didn't make it to my hill in time and three other hunters beat us there. This rarely happens and I was frustrated but I hunted the "back door" instead and let these hunters do the hard work! I watched as they kicked up my bucks and took one shot. They missed and obviously couldn't find the bucks as they snuck out the "other back door" and dissapeared. We watched as they walked around and threw rocks trying to kick out the imaginary deer and then we headed back to camp to reorganize and change our plans. The cool thing I noticed on this hunt was that everywhere that Shorty and I found bucks last year on our backpack trip, I found bucks exactly in the same spot this year! They seemed very habitual and it made it easy to formulate game plans that would surely end up in spotting bucks! Craig and I set out mid-day to a spot where two nice bucks gave Shorty and I the slip last year. This spot had several great North facing slopes that were not visible to anyone driving roads. With sweat pouring off Craig and I, we hiked up to the biggest hill and sidehilled over to a saddle. This was a long finger ridge running south off the biggest mountain. It had several small catclaw filled draws running to the West off it which created perfect North facing bedding areas. Our plan was to sneak down one side and crawl over to the south to glass the North facing side of the next draw. As we made our way slowly down the finger just off skyline, we ran into a covey of Mearns and we held still until they walked away without busting. We continued on until we got about halfway and took off our packs. I slowly crawled over with the sun beating down on me and started glassing the ridge as it came into veiw. The distance here was only about 100 yrds, and the vegetation was very thick catclaw and beargrass with some big oaks and mesquites. I moved farther over the crest to get a complete veiw of the draw and set up my tripod and 15's to look into the dense catclaw. Craig stayed back and waited, but as soon as I scanned down the draw I panned across something white! I looked harder and noticed it was the front of a back leg on a bedded Coues! I looked left and then noticed a dark rack sticking above the catclaw and two ears out either side of the small bush. His face was blocked by this branch but he was looking my direction so I didn't move. I scanned around to see if any bigger bucks were laying with this one and saw nothing and then went back to the rack. SHOOTER! I didn't pay attention too much at first, but after looking closer I could see he had great G2's and long beams! I turned to Craig and just said I'm gonna kill em' now! Craig almost yelled at me "NO YOU AINT"! "I didn't pack this heavy tripod and camera for nothing", he said, so I got all set up on my shooting set-up with my sticks and tripod and once the crosshairs were steady I gave Craig the thumbs up to make his move with the camera. Craig crawled over next to me, acquired the buck, panned over me with the camera and zoomed in on the bedded buck. I ranged him at 190 yards and held for slightly less because of the downhill angle.........all went calm......crosshairs low on his shoulder.........BOOM....WHOP! The gun jumped off my tripod, I jacked another shell in while turning the power down on my scope, lined back up and all I could see was the bush below him moving! I scanned around and nothing else moved and soon the bush stopped moving! I turned to Craig and he just had his thumbs in the air with the camera already back on me! I knew it was solid, I heard the sound I wanted to hear, and Craig had the smile that I wanted to see! I played the video back and watched as the bullet smacked right where the crosshairs were, the buck had jumped straight up, spun on his back legs and tipped over faster than I was able to get back on him! I was thinking he was a solid 90" type buck when I shot, but was thrilled when I finally pulled him out of the catclaw an noticed how great a buck he is! Craig did a fantastic job with the video and was a huge help in packing him off that mountain, I can't thank him enough! My boys, Shorty, T-Bone, and Troy all threw lead at great deer in the following days and we came home with some fantastic bucks and incredible memories!!! Thanks to these guys for a hunt I won't forget and I can't wait to do it all over again next year! This is my biggest AZ Coues buck and is actually the 6th buck I've taken in less than 2 years! It just goes to show I can't get enough of these awesome little critters! We taped my buck out at 99 6/8" so he was only 2/8" away from me finally taking a 100" buck in AZ! Oh well.......next year I'll get that 100"er Thanks guys, JIM> And here's the one to show off the new CWT.com shirt! I was goin' to pack it in my backpack to put it on for the feild photos, but forgot Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
coueshunter Report post Posted October 31, 2007 Jim, fantastic buck........congratulations............he is a 100" buck...............AT............ Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
elkhutnaz Report post Posted October 31, 2007 Nice buck Jim, congrates good luck to you with the rest of your year Andy Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
azcouesandelk Report post Posted October 31, 2007 He is a sweet looking buck without a dought. I love the hook on his seconds. Just stick a 100 incher with your bow this January! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
shortpants Report post Posted October 31, 2007 Great write-up Jimbo and again, congratulations on an outstanding buck. I'll get my pics up here as soon as you e-mail them to me. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mulie hunter Report post Posted October 31, 2007 That's a awesome buck, great photo's and story. Congrats! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
azpackhorse Report post Posted October 31, 2007 Congratulations Jim! Great buck and story! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
DesertBull Report post Posted October 31, 2007 Nice buck and nice shirt! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
25-06 Report post Posted November 1, 2007 Jim, Thats a heck of a buck. Bet your already lookin fer space on a wall to hang him on arnt ya Congrats Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
257wby Report post Posted November 1, 2007 100 inches or not, thats a great buck. Good job Jim. Mike Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
azryan Report post Posted November 1, 2007 awesome job...that is a fanatstic deer..congrats Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
thunderbolt Report post Posted November 1, 2007 Nice buck Jim!!!!!!!!!!!! Congratulations on a beautifull buck and a great story to go with it. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Codywhi Report post Posted November 1, 2007 wow what a buck!!!!!!!! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
az4life Report post Posted November 1, 2007 Great Buck n Story Jim Congratulations! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
KGAINES Report post Posted November 1, 2007 Congrats on a great deer. Thanks for the story and pics. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
