He Regresado de Mexico!

[firstcoueswas80]

“Whoa, whoa, throw your suite case in the back” rang Jason Aldean on my cell phone. When looking at the caller ID, it displayed my good friend, “Jim Mullins.” “Hello” I said. “Do you want to go to Mexico?” Was the response I heard. I jumped at the chance!

 

Fast forward to January 2008. Jim’s dad Jim AKA POPS at Coueswhitetail.com as well as a friend named Gary arrived at my house at about 4:45 p.m. and off we went! We arrived in Green Valley to meet Goose and check into the hotel room. That night, we came back to Tucson to drop off a truck at my house. When we arrived back in Green Valley, Jim and Enrique, of Obregon Outfitters were they’re waiting for us. After listening to the mule deer hunt that they had just got done running on another ranch it was time for dinner and then bed.

 

Early the next morning we were off! We got through the checkpoints with no major glitches. We arrived at the gorgeous ranch house right at dark. Excitedly, we got our stuff in and picked our rooms. We were treated to a cocktail or two, as well as some awesome carne Asada kabobs.

 

Opening morning had FINALLY arrived! Sadly, Jim, Goose and myself stayed at the ranch house to get all of our gear unloaded and organized. Gary had brought two rifles, and wouldn’t you know it, when he grabbed his .30-378 Weatherby he saw the scope was loose. After the work was done, I remounted the scope and got it sighted in for him.

 

Later that evening, it was time for me to hit the woods! I went off mid afternoon to a hill over looking some senderos that were cut. It was HOT, and I didn’t see a deer.

 

Fast forward to the last day of the hunt. I had been scouting out some other ranches, and had seen very few deer. However, Jim, and Jim Sr. had been seeing some big bucks, even launching some lead at some. Jim AKA COOSEFAN and I went up to a hill we have called “Chapel Hill.” As soon as we got set up, I spotted a deer! And it was a buck! The first I had seen on the hunt! I was getting Jim’s .270 set up for a shot when Jim said, “Look below you! It’s a lion!” The way this bobcat was stretched out in the shadows a mere 90 yards away made it look like a lion! I watched the cat as he watched the buck. I opted for the cat first as we both agreed it would spook before the buck did. I got on the sendero that the bobcat was heading to. I saw it step out into the shadows and said “Jim, I got him.” Jim tried to get it on video, but we knew it was going to happen to fast to get it on tape. “When you’re ready, take him.” BOOM! WHAP! The big bobcat was down! Now onto the deer! The deer was walking between a couple openings trying to find a place to go under the fence. “Here he comes, into the clearing where you first saw him.” Said Jim. “300 yards.” I put the second cross hair on him, touched the trigger and missed left. “Reload, it didn’t bother him a bit!” “Here he comes, into the next opening.” I missed left again! “Alright, he went under the fence, he’s walking right at us. The buck turns broadside and Jim lets out a loud grunt. Missed left again! He’s STILL walking towards us! It seems he doesn’t even know the bullets are whizzing past his vitals by mere inches! The buck stops in a cholla patch, 235 yards. Jim stops him again (this is the 5th time, one time the chamber was empty and I had to reload!) This time, I settled into the gun and really concentrated. “You dumped him!” I heard from Jim, right after the return sound of the bullet thumping meat!

 

The final shot was true, and caught the top of the shoulders and top of both lungs. We finally got to put our hands on one of these unique deer! Down off the hill we went. We first gathered my cat and took him to a place where we could take pictures. Off we went to find the buck! It was awesome to finally put our hands one of these bucks! We had worked and hunted hard for 5 days before we finally got to touch one! When we got to the buck, we were both dumbfounded on how different, yet beautiful these deer are! After a couple of minutes of observations, and some video I threw the whole deer on my shoulders and off we went to take pictures!

These deer are brown, not gray like our Coues bucks. I shot my buck at a whopping 379 feet above sea level. Everything about these deer is different. Their habitat, there diet (mine had a paunch full of cholla cactus!) They have tiny feet, medium to large size bodies and unique racks. The bucks have some long main beams, and some long eye guards. Everything about these deer is unique. I am very proud of this small buck, and can not wait for Scottyboy to get his hands on this buck to show off all off his unique features!

We all agreed my buck was about 3-4 years old, and had some weird genes. He was blind in one eye, but other than that seemed perfectly healthy.

 

As a side note, the ranch is beautiful. It is tough to hunt because everything is very thick. We also had a chance to puddle jump some ducks, and we ended up bagging a couple of those as well as some dove.

 

Over all it was a blast! Coming back across the border was an adventure as Enrique who is a native and fluent in English and Spanish was not with us, which left me to all of the translating. The ranch house is very neat, and the terrain is unusual, but beautiful.

 

 

PS. I know I have committed a cardinal sin by not posting hero shots, but Jim has them all! I will post them as soon as I can!

[peloncillo]

Glad you had a succesfull trip and got to tag a deer. Now hurry up and get them pics posted.

 

Keven

[firstcoueswas80]

Here are the pictures that I have. The field phots are all in Jims Camera.

 

To start with, the ranch house.

 

 

When I say thick, I mean THICK! This is the trail i walked to my glassin spot.

 

 

This is my thumb compared to the hooves of a 90" buck that was taken the last morning by gary.

 

 

Their tails are very long, and very red!

 

 

The senderos we would over look, but we determined the hill to the right/norht of the senderos would be better to hunt from

 

 

 

I told you they had long beams!!!

 

[firstcoueswas80]

 

 

 

 

[cramerhunts]

Sounds like a great time Casey! You keep saying "little buck" but the only score I've heard you mention is a 90" from Gary. Come on man you're killing me....how about some more details? Also did Jim and/or Pops do any good?

 

Phil

[firstcoueswas80]

Phil, Jim didnt get to hunt.

 

As for Pops, I will let Jim fill you in on that.

 

When i say small, i mean like MAYBE 50". he is a very small, stunted 3x2 with funky genes. He is bigger than the buck on the mantle with beams that almos touch ( that buck a small forky)

 

 

 

 

[cramerhunts]

Phil, Jim didnt get to hunt.

 

As for Pops, I will let Jim fill you in on that.

 

When i say small, i mean like MAYBE 50". he is a very small, stunted 3x2 with funky genes. He is bigger than the buck on the mantle with beams that almos touch ( that buck a small forky)

 

 

Ok I'll be patient now and wait for Jim.

 

Sounds like a unique deer for sure! Can't wait to see the pics.

 

Thanks.

 

Phil

[More D]

Looks like you guys had a blast!

 

Where abouts did you guys hunt??

 

 

 

 

 

[firstcoueswas80]

Near Obregon city

[tjhunt2]

Casey, congratulations on your Mexico buck and thanks for sharing your story with us. Ever since I first started looking at this site you have taken a beaten by just about everyone. You are a pretty good sport and one must have a great personality to take so much crap. From everything I've seen on here, you were in some really good company with Jim and Pops. Can't wait to see more pics from your hunt.

 

TJ

[BowNut]

Thats Awesome Man! I hope to make it down there some day. Sounds like you had a great time. Maybe I can get you to come and translate for me.

[Kilimanjaro]

sounds like you and Jim had a good time for sure!! Not to worry, if you want your Mex buck on the wall, we'll make him look good for sure!!

 

I LOVE that southern Sonora country. I sure wish ya'll woulda seen some Elegante quail down there on the place.. being that close to Sinaloa, I'm sure there was a covey or 2 around. I want to load the dogs up and do a quail hunt down Obregon way. Maybe I'll tell Jim to keep his eyes open for them while he's down there chasin deer!

[az4life]

Good story of your hunt Casey. Giving you a high five right now!

[COOSEFAN]

Good story Casey! I have been goin' through all 157 emails I was greeted with this morning and havent had time to get the photos up.

 

This ranch we hunted has never been hunted for sport and only a few deer have been killed in recent years for the BBQ pit at the ranch owner's family getherings. My partners and I have spent a ton of money and effort in developing this ranch with shooting lanes ( senderos ), water catch tanks, feeders and salt and minerals. The first couple of days had me very worried with the lack of deer seen, but by the end of the hunt, i had a whole new outlook. These are definitely a different type of Coues deer. Like Casey said, they are very brown in color and have very small hooves. Part of the reason I was so worried was that I couldn't find any good buck tracks.........we later found out why...small hooves! With new glassing spots cleared and a better knowledge of the deer, we feel alot more confident in this ranch in particular. I did see one 110" plus type buck and Pops missed a fast shot at a super heavy 100" buck, and from the same spot we killed a 90" buck on the last day with Gary. I have another hunt down there next week and I'll get pictures of my hands on that 110" bad boy!

 

Casey and I had an agreement that he had to help me with the hunt, scouting and whatever else I needed before he could hunt for himself. It was fun to sit and watch him get a whole hunts' worth of lead-slingin' in on the last day!

 

Hey Scottyboy, I have seen several coveys of birds that I've never seen before, they acted just like quail but didn't look like any quail i've ever seen before....maybe they were what you are talking about? Thanks, I'll get pic's up shortly, JIM>

[firstcoueswas80]

It for sure took us a few days to figure out how to hunt the ranch.

 

Basically what we decided was that the person shooting had to be behind the gun, and one person would glass,range, give land marks to get on the deer, and call out shots. It is a tough ordeal and can be done.

 

 

Jim, you know I wasnt just wasting you ammo right? I was "herding" that buck close to us so you wouldnt have to pack him so far... Oh wait... I had to pack him out.. WHOLE! lol!

 

It was a great time and definetaly a neat/different experience! It is like a whole new world down there, especially where we were.